THE WAY (Term 4 Week 6 - 13 November 2023)
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A Spark of Rebellion at St James’ Primary School, Banora Point
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FOR ACTION
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Extension Mathematics and Extension English Programs - Stage 3 2024
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2024 CSSA Trial HSC Examinations: Expressions of Interest for a Committee Member
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CSNSW’s Submission on the Draft Stage 6 English, Mathematics and History Syllabuses
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FOR INFORMATION
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Announcements
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Social Media - Posting of Swimming Carnival Images and Video
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HSC Showcase 2022
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The Australian Early Development Census Data Collection
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School Resources for Kokoda Day and Remembrance Day
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Updated Food Standards Code (Standard 3.2.2A)
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Positions Vacant
St James’ Primary School, Banora Point, has put on an outstanding performance of Matilda Jr - The Musical. (21 September 2023)
The smell of rebellion filled the air at the St James’ Primary School, Banora Point, as the entire school sang and danced their hearts out in their own spectacular adaptation of Matilda Jr - The Musical.
The adaptation is based on Roald Dahl’s beloved book Matilda. Matilda Jr - The Musical tells the story of an extraordinary girl who, armed with a vivid imagination and a sharp mind, dares to take a stand and change her destiny.
Each week for two terms, students rigorously rehearsed their roles under the leadership of Director and Producer, Principal Nic McTaggart.
‘The musical was a great way to showcase talents, create lasting memories, promote the arts, and celebrate the creative spirit of children. I thoroughly enjoyed working with the leading characters each week to assist them with their lines, dances, staging, costuming, and props; their enthusiasm, teamwork, and energy developed each week, and seeing them shine on stage was certainly worthy of a Broadway Tony! ‘ said Nic McTaggart.
The St James’ Primary School community packed into Doyle Centre, 840 parents, friends, staff and families, to witness the joy on every student's face as they took to the stage to put on an incredible performance.
‘It was an awesome experience learning the details of putting a musical on. To be able to practise learning lines and choreography was a struggle at times, but Mr Mc Taggart helped get us through it. It was a memorable experience for the Stage 3 leads,’ said students Isobelle and Hallie.
Staff and parents loved seeing the children flourish as they discovered the joy of performing and showing their growth in self-confidence.
‘The main cast worked hard throughout the term learning and rehearsing their lines, and this was evident on the night as they performed with confidence and enthusiasm as did the rest of the school, as all children had the opportunity to perform a” Matilda” dance with their grade. Watching them have their own special moment dancing together with their peers is incredible’, said music teacher Tracey Ryan.
Congratulations to St James’ Primary School for putting on an amazing performance. In the words of Matilda, ‘Be outrageous. Go the whole hog. Make sure everything you do is so completely crazy it's unbelievable. Children are not so serious as grown-ups, and they love to laugh.’
In continued response to system and school data, the Catholic Schools Office will again offer the Stage 3 Mathematics Extension Program for selected high-potential and Gifted Learners across the Diocese during 2024.
Given this initiative is not an enrichment program but an extension program of learning for High Potential and Gifted Learners, not all schools will have students involved, and some schools may have multiple students accessing the learning.
Nominations for Semester One 2024 are only open to Year 6 students.
Please see the attached documents for more details and the nomination criteria.
The CSSA provides teachers and students in schools throughout New South Wales, ACT and internationally with premium Trial HSC Examinations that will provide a sound basis for their preparation for the HSC examinations later in the year. The CSSA Trial HSC Examinations are prepared by committees of practising teachers, university lecturers and education consultants in a variety of HSC courses.
The Head of CSSA Exams is seeking expressions of interest for the following positions.
A Committee Member for the following 2024 CSSA Trial HSC Examination:
- Engineering Studies
The letter regarding the Expression of Interest requirements for the Committee Member roles with the CSSA and the application process is found here.
Interested applicants are asked to send a Cover Letter and current Curriculum Vitae to Monica O’Brien, Head CSSA Exams, at cssa.exams@csnsw.catholic.edu.au by 9 am Friday 10 November 2023.
Please complete the Expression of Interest Form if you would like to receive a survey or register for an online forum. Please click on the link and complete and submit the form by Monday, 20 November, and a survey or meeting link will be sent to you at reception.
Online Forums are scheduled for
- English: Wednesday, 29 November, 9.00-10.00 am
- Mathematics: Wednesday, 29 November, 10.30-11.30 am
- Ancient History: Friday, 1 December, 1-1.25 pm
- Modern History: Friday, 1 December, 1.30 -2.00 pm
Have Your Say Submissions
The syllabus for each course has been placed on the CSNSW Reform Hub, and teachers of these courses are encouraged to voice their professional opinion on the future of the Stage 6 curriculum via the Have Your Say Surveys, which can be accessed via this link.
The consultation period will remain open till 18 December.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE - RETIREMENT
Linda Munro (Human Resources Business Partner - Richmond) has informed the Catholic Schools Office (CSO) of her decision to retire. Her last working day was Wednesday, 1 November 2023. Linda commenced with the CSO in March 2023.
We thank Linda for her contribution to the team and the wonderful work she has done to support schools in the Richmond region this year.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE - RESIGNATION
John Wilson has announced his intention to resign from his position as Regional Service Leader (Richmond) at the Catholic Schools Office. John’s last day of work will be Friday, 8 December 2023.
John has been offered and accepted a position as Director, School Services with Catholic Education, Tasmania, commencing in the New Year. John commenced his employment in the Lismore Diocese in 2008 with his appointment as Principal at St Finbarr’s Primary School, Byron Bay. John has since held the position of School Services Consultant with the Catholic Schools Office, and, in 2022, was appointed to the position of Regional Service Leader (Richmond).
We wish John the best in his new position with Catholic Education Tasmania.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE - APPOINTMENT
Aaron Beach has been appointed to the position of Acting Regional Service Leader for the Richmond Region for the 2024 school year. Aaron is currently the Principal at St John’s College, Lismore and has recently taken a position as Acting Regional Services Leader in the Tweed Region.
SCHOOLS - APPOINTMENTS
Nadine Slingsby has been appointed to the position of Principal at St Mary’s Primary School, Bowraville.
Nadine is widely recognised as an outstanding Catholic educational leader, with a clear focus on Catholic social teachings. Her ministry in education is one of outreach and service to her students, staff, families and community. Nadine has led learning and teaching in her many school and system leadership positions and has fostered the development of high-performing school cultures that focus on improved outcomes for all students while collaborating with and engaging the entire school community.
Annette Reen has been appointed to the position of Acting Principal at St John’s College, Lismore, for the 2024 school year. Annette is currently Assistant Principal Mission at St John’s College, Lismore.
Please join me in congratulating Nadine, Annette and Aaron.
As school swimming carnivals are currently taking place, we remind schools to be particularly cautious when posting images and videos from the swimming carnival to social media and websites. Celebrating school events and achievements on social media, school websites and in your newsletters is encouraged and images of student participation is the most effective way to do this, however, events that include students in swimwear require an additional level of curation before images and video are posted and made publicly available. This includes swimming carnivals, swimming sports lessons, camps and retreat activities.
Photos that cannot be posted include:
- Full length images and video of students in swimwear, this includes students standing, sitting and diving into the pool
- Students in swimwear on the blocks
- Students without shirts (ie. students with swimmer pants and no shirt)
If you have already posted images and videos of your recent swimming carnival, please review and remove any images or video including students in swimwear as detailed above.
Photos that can be posted include:
- Students in the pool with head and shoulders out of the water
- Students swimming where the body is slightly or completely obscured or distorted by the water and the students face is not visible (ie. the student can not be identified)
- Students wearing rash shirts or t-shirts over swimwear or with towels wrapped around them (ie. where most of the students body is covered)
- Students in fancy dress or costumes over swimwear
It is recommended that schools review swimming based historical social media posts and their social media photo library to review and remove any images or video that may not be appropriate.
Should you have any questions, concerns or require further information, please contact Leesa Kwok, Manager, Media and Communications at leesa.kwok@lism.catholic.edu.au or media@lism.catholic.edu.au or on 0429 575 722.
(These guidelines have been developed by the Australian Federal Police media department)
The Lismore Diocese HSC Showcase celebrates and captures the talents of our 2022 HSC students, reflecting their creativity, innovation, technical skills and conceptual development. These projects represent the culmination of months of diligence and commitment by students, planning and designing, developing their skills and applying them to the task of creating inspirational and engaging works.
Spotlight On …
St Joseph’s Regional College, Port Macquarie (Dance)
Student: Hannah Jennings
Title: Major Study Performance
Statement: My Major Performance Work is the exploration of the muscular and skeletal systems of the human body. Therefore it is broken into two sections; first the skeletal system where the bones are the building blocks of the body, this can be seen in the isolations of each of the major joints. The second section explores the major muscle groups of the body representing their elasticity and strength over the skeleton.
The next Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) data collection will occur in Term 2, 2024, across all NSW schools.
Kindergarten teachers complete a checklist for each child in their class – it takes about 20 minutes per child. The Australian Government provides schools with teacher relief funds to support this process.
Principals will receive an email from the AEDC before the end of the year that includes important information on the data collection process.
The Australian Early Development Census (AEDC) is a nationwide triennial census that measures how children have developed by the time they start school. The AEDC aims to highlight what is working well and what needs to be improved or developed to support children and families. It measures five developmental domains:
- Physical health and wellbeing
- Social competencies
- Emotional maturity
- Language and cognitive skills
- Communication skills and general knowledge.
Value of the data
The AEDC:
- Delivers essential information about the development of children in the community.
- Provides the opportunity to think about the social and environmental factors that influence child development.
- Moves the focus of effort from the individual to the community to make a bigger difference.
- Provides an opportunity to 'shift the curve' or future of a whole population.
More information is available on the AEDC website.
Please contact Angela Cain (angela.cain@csnsw.catholic.edu.au) with any questions.
The NSW Office for Veterans Affairs has released a school resource pack for schools to commemorate Kokoda Day and Remembrance Day for 2023, including activities and informational resources.
Schools are encouraged to organise commemoration services for Kokoda Day and Remembrance Day. It is suggested that invitations could be extended to the local Member of Parliament, Mayor and local council, and members of the local RSL sub-branch. The below link provides some details for delivering a commemorative service:
Recent changes to the Food Standards Code have introduced new food safety requirements for cafes, restaurants and retail outlets.
From Friday, 8 December 2023, food service, caterers and related retail businesses in Australia that process unpackaged, potentially hazardous food, and serve it ready-to-eat are required to:
- have a qualified onsite Food Safety Supervisor, who is reasonably available to supervise food handlers (this is already a requirement for some of these businesses),
- ensure all food handlers are trained in food safety and hygiene or can demonstrate adequate skills and knowledge, and
- be able to show their food is safe.
Businesses that only slice, weigh, repack, reheat or hot-hold potentially hazardous food they have not made themselves are required to:
- have a qualified onsite Food Safety Supervisor, who is reasonably available to supervise food handlers, and
- ensure all food handlers are trained in food safety and hygiene or can demonstrate adequate skills and knowledge.
See Standard 3.2.2A – Frequently Asked Questions for more information.
Information on employment opportunities within the Diocese of Lismore is available via Positions Vacant.
Existing staff should apply through the Internal Positions Vacant page on the intranet; select People & Safety > Recruitment > Positions vacant – internal site.
CATHOLIC SCHOOLS OFFICE
- Pastoral Care Officer (Tweed).
SCHOOLS
- Acting Assistant Principal - St Joseph’s Primary School, Woodburn.