Issue 4, 20 March 2023

Sunday 19 May is Saint Joseph's Feast Day.  This is a significant day for our school community.  Our College is a Josephite school.  It was founded by the Sisters of St Joseph in 1871 under the leadership of St Mary MacKillop and Fr Julian Tenison Woods.  Our school was indeed called St Joseph's School before it was renamed Caritas College in 1971.  The story of St Joseph, the father of Jesus, gives us many insights into how we can be loving and caring towards others.

This year, our school theme 'Called to Community' invites us to aspire to be like St Joseph by being loving and caring to all those around us.  Our College's motto 'In Omnibus Caritas' - In All Things Love is also a constant reminder for us to live in peace and harmony with all of God's creation.

On Wednesday we held our Annual General Meeting for the College Board.  The Board has a responsibility for governance and setting direction for the College and seeks to serve the best interests of the students, staff and families.  This year, the Board membership remains unchanged with no one retiring from their current tenure.  I appreciate their willigness to contribute to our college community and look forward to working in partnership with them throughout 2023 to build on our College's success and achievements.

NAPLAN testing started this week for students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 and will continue until the end of Week 8.  These tests provide useful data for individual achievement in comparison with national results and are a means of identifying particular needs at each year level.  We recognise that these assessments can sometimes cause a level of concern for some students (and also parents/caregivers!).  I have been very pleased to see our students demonstrate self-regulation, love of learning and perseverance in the way they have engaged in the NAPLAN testing.  If you have any questions about NAPLAN please don't hesitate to contact the College.

Last week our college enjoyed a visit from Bishop Karol Kulczycki and Mrs Nichii Mardon (Director of Catholic Education SA, Port Pirie Diocese).  Our students were excited to share their learning with our special visitors on a tour of the college.  Bishop Karol was happy to talk with the students and answer questions about his role as the Bishop of the Diocese of Port Pirie.  Our School Leaders, Kimjoline and Hunter, shared their experience from their recent trip to Sydney for the JJAMM Conference.  It was wonderful to be able to share this time with Bishop Karol and Mrs Mardon.  I know they appreciated visiting our school community.

We are currently accepting enrolments for Term 3 of this year.  However, placements in Reception for Term 3 are limited.  We ask that 'Application for Enrolment' forms be completed as soon as possible if you intend for your child to start school in Term 3.  This form can be downloaded here, or, collected from the front office at any time.  The relevant dates for new Receptions are:

• If your child turns 5 on or before 30 April they can start school in Term 1 of that year.
• If your child turns 5 on or before 31 October they can start school in Term 3 of that year.
• Children starting in Reception in Term 3 will have a minimum of 6 terms in Reception.
• Children whose birthdays fall between 1 November and 31 December are not eligible to commence school before the following year. 

​If you have any questions regarding enrolling your child, and/or starting dates, please contact the college and we will be happy to assist.

On Friday 10 March all teaching staff engaged in professional learning onsite.  The focus of our learning was to become more familiar with individual student data and triangulate different data sources to better understand, analyse and utilise data across year levels to strengthen our practices to address identified student needs.

This deep learning helps us live out our vision for learning that ensures, that as a school, we are a community of learners who provide personalised and intentional learning experiences for all people leading them to be empowered and reach their full potential.  

If your child has a medical condition (eg. asthma, anaphylaxis, Diabetes), the college requires a current Health Care Plan from your child's General Practitioner (GP).  If a student requires medication to be administered during college hours, the front office staff are able to administer medication (antiobiotics) providing your chlid's GP has completed a 'Medication Agreement Form'.  Front office staff are unable to dispense medication to students if the medical authority form is not provided.  Panadol and/or Nurofen cannot be administered by college staff.  We strongly discourage medication in school bags. 

This morning saw our community gather in prayer as we celebrated with our St Joseph's Day Liturgy.  St Joseph, the patron saint of Caritas College, was the husband of Mary and the foster father of Jesus.  He was a carpenter, an ordinary and humble man, but he was able to see and speak with God in extraordinary ways.  Not much is known about Joseph from the Gospels, but what we do know is that he encountered and listened closely to God in his dreams, protecting and caring for Mary and Jesus with deep compassion.

St Joseph was a deep thinker who considered the needs of others in his community, and most importantly, Mary.  He was able to show empathy towards others and act with dignity.  Joseph always trusted in the plan that God had for him.  Today, we are continuously encouraged by St Joseph to reflect upon the many simple actions in our lives that will have the power to impact others as we consider our theme 'Called to Community'.

Let us continue to ask St Joseph to intercede for us to think about the things we say with great love that will leave a lasting and positive impression on all in our community.

We are now almost halfway through the season of Lent, the time of preparation for the season of Easter.  As Catholics, we remain in Lent and Holy Week until Easter Sunday, celebrated on 9 April.  The themes during this time are prayer, fasting and almsgiving.  On Easter Sunday, we move into the joyful season of Easter which is 50 days of celebrating.  The giving of Easter eggs is discouraged until Easter Sunday when we celebrate the Resurrection of Christ.

When considered in light of our school year, this means that we encourage our students, who may like to give something to their friends at school, to do so after the Easter break rather than before.