Issue 15, 7 September 2023
Contents
- From the Principal, Mr Damian Smith
- National Child Protection Week
- Staff Reflection Day
- Year 11 Leadership Day
- SAPSASA Athletics Carnival
- Season of Creation Mass
- The ‘Home’ & ‘School’ Parentship
- Staffing
- From the Leader of Catholic Identity, Chloe Shanahan
- Years 7-9 All Saints Church Visits
- Season of Creation Masses
- Spotlight on RE - Year 7
- Teaching and Learning
- Reception White Literacy
- Year 9 Home Economics
- Year 11 Chemistry
- Out and About
This week is National Child Protection Week. It invites all Australians to play their part in promoting the safety and wellbeing of children and young people. The theme for this year is 'Where we start matters' and it continues to promote a safe and supported life for every child, now and into the future. Safeguarding Sunday follows National Child Protection Week and will be celebrated in all Australian Catholic Dioceses this coming Sunday. At Caritas College, child protection is our highest priority. Creating a safe environment for children is paramount and central to our endeavour to support every child and young person to feel safe and happy.
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This Friday staff will gather for our annual Staff Reflection Day. Our commitment to the children and young people in our care is contextualised by our Catholic faith and Josephite tradition. As such, it is important that we make time and space for our own faith formation which is a core element of our school and enhances the work we do. Thank you to the families who support this important experience for staff on a student free day.
Earlier in the term our Year 11 students participated in a Leadership Day at West Augusta Football Club. Each year we provide this experience for our Year 11’s as they consider how they can serve the school community in their senior year. The day allows them to explore their personal strengths and examine their thinking to help them to discern if they would like to nominate for Student Leadership. This day is an important part of our work in forming thriving people, capable learners and leaders for the world God desires.
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Well done to our Year 3 – 6 students who represented our College at the SAPSASA Athletics Carnival at Stirling North Primary School on Monday. It was a great day and we were very proud of how our students participated and competed on the day. It was lovely to see lots of parents/caregivers attend and cheer on our young people.
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Over the past few weeks our Year 7-9 students have all visited All Saints Church in preparation for celebrating the Season of Creation Mass on Thursday 14th September. These visits have assisted our students to learn more about the traditions and customs of the Catholic faith. The Season of Creation is a time to renew our relationship with God and all of his wonderous creation. In caring for our environment now and into the future, we want to instil a genuine sense of responsibility and stewardship in our students.
I have been very heartened over the past two weeks by the amount of conversation and collaboration between parents/caregivers and teachers. Last week we invited parents/caregivers in to meet with teachers for important learning conversations about student growth and achievement. This week, students and families in Year 10 and 11 have been working with teachers in subject counselling as they prepare for next year in choosing subjects aligned to their interests, strengths and possible post-school pathways.
I will be taking leave from 25 September until 22 October 2023 (Week 10, Term 3 – Week 1, Term 4). I am pleased to announce that Mary Manning has been appointed by Mrs Nichii Mardon, Director of Catholic Education, to the position of Acting Principal for this period. Mary is well known to the Caritas College community in her current role as Deputy Principal. Mary has capably performed this role many times and I appreciate her taking on this leadership position in my absence.
Our Years 8 and 9 students have both visited All Saints Church for the 9:00am mass over the last 2 weeks, preparing for their 7-9 Seasons of Creation mass. Last week, we met Fr Ranjith, who will be filling in for Fr Jim whilst he is on annual leave. Fr Ranjith spoke wonderfully about the importance of the Season of Creation in preparation for the upcoming mass. Leo Mascardo, our seminarian preparing for his ordination to the diaconate, assisted with giving our students a tour of the church at the end of mass.
The Season of Creation unites the world’s 2.2 billion Christians around one shared purpose. With so much injustice all around us, now is the time for Christians everywhere to come together and show the world how to love each other and creation. This year’s theme is 'Let Justice and Peace Flow', taken from Amos 5:24. We are called to join the river of justice and peace, to take up climate and ecological justice, and to speak out with and for communities most impacted by climate injustice and the loss of biodiversity. |
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Throughout this season, our students in Years 7-12 will celebrate a special mass at All Saints Church. Our Year 7-9 students will attend mass next Thursday 15 September and our Year 10-12 students will attend mass on Thursday 22 September. A reminder that students will need to return their acknowledgement slips to their homegroup teachers. |
Our Year 7 students have been exploring the concept of stewardship in preparation for their Season of Creation mass. They have been dissecting Pope Francis’ 2015 encyclical, Laudato Si and how to live this out, making connections between the environmental crisis and religion through our call to love our neighbour.
As a part of our literacy program the reception students listen to a variety of story books. They discuss the characters and main events and answer questions. The storybook helps the students to focus on expanding their vocabulary as they discuss and practise using new words. The receptions read the story The Very Hungry Caterpillar by Eric Carle. The students made caterpillars by threading beads onto a pipe cleaner. They used a hole punch to help the caterpillar munch through a juicy green leaf.
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The Year 9 students have been experimenting with different decorating techniques in Home Ec. They came up with a design and used icing and decorations to make their cakes come to life. They all did a great job!
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The Year 11 Chemistry class have been learning electrochemistry and the different types of electrochemical cells. They had to design their own experiment based around the question 'During the electroplating process, metal is deposited on the surface of the cathode. What factors might affect the mass of metal deposited?'. After some research, students had the opportunity to perform their experimental design with cell voltage, temperature of the electrolyte, and the type of electrodes being some of the factors that they chose to change.
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Important Dates
Student Free Day
Yr 5 Camp (14-15 Sept)
Yrs 7-9 Season of Creation Mass
Yr 8 - 360 Degrees Flinders Ranges VR Experience
Flinders University Roadshow - Samaritan College
SSSSA Girls Football - Whyalla
Yrs 3-6 Assembly (4B)
Yrs 10-12 Season of Creation Mass
SAPSASA Boys Football/Girls Netball
TAFE Auto Block Week (25-29)
Industry Immersion Day
Yr 8 Dutchman's Stern Excursion
Yrs 3-6 Feast of St Vincent de Paul Mass
R-2 Assembly (Rec G)
Term 3 Finishes
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