Issue 1, 31 January 2025

Welcome to the 2025 school year. I offer a warm welcome to all our students and families for the new school year, and especially anyone who is joining our school community for the first time.  

May we use the gift of our school theme - Seeds of Hope - as a rich opportunity to make a positive difference in every encounter and interaction we have with each other. Inspired by the example of Saint Mary MacKillop, may we, like her, 'never see a need without doing something about it'. Using her legacy as a guiding light for our work, I look forward to our school community continuing to grow in love, wonder, and understanding. 

I wish all of our students, families and staff every joy and success for the hear ahead.   

At the end of last year, we were pleased to congratulate our Year 12 students on their excellent South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) results. These accomplishments highlighted a consistent pattern of excellence at our school.  

Our school values SACE as an important secondary school qualification that equips students with the skills, knowledge, and personal capabilities needed to be successful beyond school. So, we were extremely proud to have achieved 100% SACE completion rate.  

Congratulations to Zara Heritage as Dux of the College with an ATAR of 96.45 and Geri Tschirner who obtained an ATAR of 94.65. 

Impressively, 44% of all the grades obtained were in the ‘A’ grade band. Furthermore, 26% of students eligible for an ATAR achieved over 90, which included six A+ grades and one Merit.  

We are proud that over 35% of our Year 12 students successfully completed their SACE taking advantage of a vocational educational training (VET) pathway.  

I also wish to thank and congratulate the teaching and non-teaching staff who play an essential role in nurturing and supporting our students to develop a love of learning. In my mind, there is no doubt that their commitment and dedication is reflected in these great results.  

We welcome a number of new staff to Caritas College this year. They bring a broad range of knowledge and skills into our school community. I know our students, families and broader community will embrace all of our new staff and make them feel welcome at Caritas College: 

• Kaylin Chetty (Primary Teacher) 
• Jean Joseph (Secondary Teacher) 
• Georgina Pfitzner (Secondary Teacher) 
• Liam Thomas (Education Support Officer – Classroom Support) 
• Charlee Morgan (Education Support Officer – Classroom Support) 
• Robyn Neill (Education Support Officer – Classroom Support) 

I am pleased to share with you our College’s leadership structure for this year. I am appreciative of the knowledge and skills of the staff who fulfil these roles and work to maximise the wellbeing and learning opportunities for all our students.  

Executive Leadership 

• Principal (Damian Smith) 
• Deputy Principal (Lexie Morris) 
• Assistant Principal - Religious Identity & Mission (Chloe Shanahan) 
• Assistant Principal - Learning & Wellbeing (Alanah Rowe) 
• Business Manager (Piera Gough) 

Leadership of Learning & Wellbeing 

• R - 3 Director of Learning & Wellbeing (Jessica Francis) 
• 4 - 6 Director of Learning & Wellbeing (Leigh O’Shaughnessy) 
• 7 - 9 Director of Learning & Wellbeing (Toni-Marie Freer) 
• 10 - 12 Director of Learning & Wellbeing (Norah Grover) 

Teaching & Learning Coordination 

• Leader of Learning (Fiona Antonic) 
• Primary (Nicole Manning) 
• Secondary (Nathan O’Brien) 
• School Coordination (Therese Noll) 
• Inclusive Learning Coordination (Alanah Rowe & Bridget Manning)  

Lead Teachers 

• ATSI Lead Teachers (Christine Kemp & Belinda Clohessy) 
• Student Leadership (Chloe Shanahan) 
• VET Coordinator (Susy Rogers) 
• Sports Coordinator (Josh Lambert) 

Thank you to the families who attended out Family Information Evening on Thursday. It is important for teachers to share information about how we support students at school. Of course,  we seek to work together with parents/caregivers to ensure that all of our children and young people grow spiritually, socially, emotionally and academically. Knowing the busy nature of life, we understand that it can sometimes be difficult to find time to meet with teachers. In particular, this can be the case parents/caregivers in the secondary years. For this reason, we opted for teachers in Years 8-11 to create a video to share with parents/caregivers.  They can be watched at your convenience, here.  Your child’s learning and wellbeing is important to us and every teacher invites regular and open communication with families to ensure everyone is on the same page with supporting student learning and wellbeing. 

Our Year 12’s completed their first Religious Education Seminar Day today. Further to this, they will engage in another seminar day and a two-day retreat later in the year to support their faith formation, leadership and to meet the requirements of the Religious Education curriculum.  

In line with our school theme this year ‘Seeds of Hope’, students explored how they can be pillars of hope in the world and use their personal gifts and talents to make the world a better place for all.  

Most of our families will be familiar with SEQTA Engage as the online platform in which we use to connect parents/caregivers with their children’s learning at school. This learning management system provides real-time access to timetables, learning progress and other important information about your child’s progress at school.  

Student academic reports are generated through SEQTA at the end of each term. Continuous reporting (throughout the term) occurs for students via SEQTA for students in Years 3 – 12. That means, you can stay up-to-date with your child’s assessments as they happen throughout the term. * Please note that R-2 students use the SEESAW app to provide an ongoing window into student activity, learning and achievement.  

If you are new to our school community or an existing family who hasn't accessed SEQTA Engage, you will have received a welcome email today inviting you to set up and confirm a username and personal password for you SEQTA account, which will then allow you to proceed to log in. Please note this login will expire within 7 days if not completed. (If an email from the college is not in your inbox, we ask our families to check their 'Junk' box).

If you have any difficulty setting up your SEQTA Engage account, please contact the front office and we will be happy to assist you.  

It is timely at the beginning of the school year to remind everyone about the importance of road safety. Students and parents are asked to use designated crossings on Shirley Street and Woodforde Street to navigate the roads around the College. In particular, students need to always use these crossings, whether on foot or bike. It is also important for parents to adhere to designated drop-off and pick-up zones. This minimises congestion and helps maintain a safe environment for everyone in our school community when arriving and departing school each day. 

The 2025 Catholic Education Awards South Australia will again be presented this year as part of the celebrations of Catholic Education Week on 15th May. Nominations close strictly at 6pm on 17th March. 

Our College has a proud history of being acknowledged for its work through the success and achievements of Leigh O’Shaughnessy and Alanah Rowe in 2022 and also Nathan O’Brien in 2023 who all received awards in various categories.  

We have another opportunity this year to recognise and celebrate a teacher, support person, leader, volunteer or program that makes a positive difference in our school community. Please click on the link here for further information. 

This year, Pope Francis has declared as an Ordinary Year of Jubilee, with the theme ‘Pilgrims of Hope’. Jubilee years can be traced back to Old Testament times in the Bible and was celebrated every 50 years. The Jewish used to use a ram’s horn, or a yobel, to mark the start of this year and was considered an 'extra' year – happening every seven weeks of seven years, or every 49 years. It was intended to be marked as a time to re-establish a proper relationship with God, others and creation. It often included the forgiveness of debts, return of misappropriated land and a fallow periods for the fields. 

Now, we celebrate the Jubilee every 25 years, with the last one being in 2000, however sometimes the Pope will call an Extraordinary Jubilee Year, which last occurred in 2015. The Jubilee began on Christmas Eve in 2024 and will finish on the Feast of the Epiphany (January 6) in 2026.  

The Jubilee has its foundations in our 2025 Diocesan Theme which is ‘Seeds of Hope’. This theme is the first of a three-year sequential theme, where we will have a deep understanding of hope, welcome and hospitality, and how we contribute to God’s Kingdom. Throughout this year, our College community is invited to consider the ways that they can be beacons of hope to others who may experience hardships or suffering. Over the next few weeks, students will explore two foundational Scripture passages – one from Mark’s gospel, the parable of the growing seed, and the other from St Paul’s letter to the Romans, where Paul speaks to this community about having hope and how to share this with others.

As we consider the theme, we also take time to reflect on the life of our school foundress, St Mary of the Cross MacKillop, who through her service to the most vulnerable, faced significant hardships. It is clear to us that she needed hope to face these challenges and continue her good work. Focusing on the Josephite charism, we can be beacons of hope through using our God-given gifts and talents. Each of us is called to serve others and consider the needs of those in our community who need us, and our students will have many opportunities to bring hope to the world throughout 2025.

Our Opening School liturgy will be held under the St Mary’s Shelter on Thursday 13 February at 9:00am. Fr Sijo will be our celebrant while Fr Jim is on leave, as we celebrate our diocesan theme of ‘Seeds of Hope’. 

This liturgy is a great opportunity for our school community to come together and reflect on our God-given gifts and for us to show our appreciation and gratitude for the many blessings we have received.

At this liturgy, we will also commission and bless our student leaders and newly-elected SRC members and present them with their badges. Parents and carers are warmly invited to attend this wonderful celebration