Dear Parents, Students and Friends

It is so hard to believe that only three and a half weeks are remaining of the school year. Liturgically, this is the last week in Ordinary time Year B, and we will soon be in Advent and the beginning of the new Liturgical Cycle C. That cycle will guide us through Luke’s Gospel. Our K-12 Pathway student leaders will be meeting in Week 10 to determine our new school/college theme for 2025. This process is always enlightening as the students discern a theme that inspires and sustains us for the year.

CONGRATULATIONS
Senior and emerging leaders have been invited from across the Archdiocese to be part of a Pilgrimage to Rome next year for the Jubilee Year. I am thrilled to announce that Mrs Kym Millikin and Mr Andrew Kenneally have been selected to be part of this experience.

We have entered an extremely busy and complex time with timetabling for 2025 taking priority. Mr Kenneally, Mrs Harris and Mrs Millikin form the timetabling team. This process takes many weeks of preparation before they come together with our consultant from Melbourne to construct the timetable. The team met with the consultant over four days this week. Yesterday I was briefed on the timetable development, and I commend the team on their work in ensuring the best outcome for our students. Our priority is to allocate classes appropriately to ensure the expertise of our teaching team is maximised.

The following teachers have started leave or are about to commence a period of leave.

• Mrs Miriam Shilling - Out of the college from 20 – 29 Nov.
• Mrs Belle Barling - Out of the college from 18 Nov – 6 Dec (Mrs Erica Drewsen relieving for Mrs Barling)
• Mrs Karen Lyttle & Mr Tim Lyttle - Out of the college from 25 Nov – 9 Dec

Mrs Danielle Ciuffetelli will be stepping into the role of Xavier Pastoral Coordinator in Mrs Lyttle’s absence.

It was Mrs Cassie Johnston’s final day at work today as she prepares for the birth of her second child. Mr Luke Fuller and Mr Brendan Ashby will be teaching Mrs Johnston's classes. On behalf of the Carroll College community, I wish Mrs Johnston and her husband, Hugh all the very best for the safe arrival of their baby. Exciting times ahead! 

Flexible Work Arrangements 2025
Three of our senior Curriculum Coordinators will be working 4 days p/week in 2025. They will be supported by outstanding colleagues in a job-share arrangement.

Science Coordinator job-share – Mr Tim Hodges (0.8FTE) / Mrs Janette Soper (0.2FTE)

CaPA Coordinator job-share – Mrs Ros Maher (0.8FTE) / Mrs Miriam Shilling (0.2FTE)

English Coordinator job-share – Mr Stephen Knight (0.8FTE) / Mrs Anna Voysey-McManus (0.2FTE)

I congratulate Coordinators on their appointments who are sharing these roles in 2025. I also thank Ms Lizette Richards for her leadership in CaPA this year in her job-share capacity with Mrs Maher, and Mr Jason Szkwarek for his leadership in the job-share role of VET Coordinator with Mrs Fryer and Mrs Dalgleish.

LEARNING AND TEACHING
As part of Mrs Millikin’s recent project presentation in Canberra on the implementation of Classroom Mastery, I am happy to share the data overview on student mobile phone confiscation to illustrate the trends across the year. I am sure you will agree, a positive snapshot of the changing behaviour of students with their mobile phone usage! Thank you also to Mrs Karen Mahony for her collation of data and leadership in this area.

CONGRATULATIONS

Congratulations to Miss Kate Blackmore who is the recipient of the 2024 CMA Award for Excellence in Mathematics Education (Secondary). It is presented by the Canberra Mathematical Association to a student who displays high academic achievement in mathematics studies. This was awarded for excellence in studies of the Mathematics Pedagogical Content Knowledge unit that Kate studied last semester which encompassed her mathematics professional experience at Carroll College. We are thrilled that Kate will be joining the Carroll team as a permanent member of the teaching staff next year. Congratulations Kate!

Enjoy a lovely weekend. The weather forecast is looking good! 

With respect and encouragement to you.

Mrs Jacqueline Heffernan
Principal

‘Whoever follows me will never walk in darkness, but will have the light of life’               (John 8:12)

Dear Carroll Community,

As we approach the final weeks of the term, students in Year 10 will be engaging in an online learning experience, All My Own Work in Week 7. This program is designed to help HSC students follow the principles and practices of good scholarship. This includes understanding, valuing, and using ethical practices when locating and using information as part of their HSC studies.

Students who have completed the program will also learn about penalties for cheating and how to avoid malpractice when preparing their work for assessment.

To be eligible for the HSC, students must complete HSC: All My Own Work (or its equivalent) before they submit any work for Preliminary (Year 11) or HSC (Year 12) courses, unless they are only entered for Year 11 and Year 12 Life Skills courses.

There are five modules the students will complete next week:

• Module One: Scholarship Principles and Practices 
• Module Two: Acknowledging Sources
• Module Three: Plagiarism
• Module Four: Copyright
• Module Five: Working with others

HSC National Minimum Standards

Students need reading, writing and numeracy for everyday life after school. This is why students in NSW are being supported to meet a minimum standard of literacy and numeracy to receive the HSC. To show they meet the HSC minimum standard, students need to achieve Level 3 or 4 in short online reading, writing and numeracy tests of skills for everyday life.

Some students with a disability studying Life Skills courses may be exempt from meeting the minimum standard to receive their HSC credential.

Together with the NSW Literacy and Numeracy Strategy, the HSC minimum standard is part of an effort to improve the literacy and numeracy outcomes for students. Students at Carroll will have ample opportunity to meet the minimum standards, commencing from Year 10. Students that were unsuccessful in the first round will receive extra assistance to achieve these standards over the next few weeks. Information will be coming out shortly to map a plan forward for our students.

Mr Andrew Kenneally
Assistant Principal - Curriculum, Learning and Innovation

Year 12 Graduation Dinner 2024

Our Year 12 Students along with their parents, special guests, Fr George and CCB staff enjoyed a special evening together on Wednesday 13 November at the Bay Pavilions. On this special night school uniforms were long forgotten. Despite the dramatic storm that broke in the afternoon everyone was still able to arrive looking fantastic and ready to celebrate the end of their high school years. A huge thank you to everyone who helped to make this a special evening.

Urban Challenge 2024

Our second group of Year 10 students and staff headed to Sydney on Wednesday to take on the 2024 Urban Challenge. Thank you to Ms Boller for her amazing coordination of this event. We are all eager to see which team earns enough points to take home the perpetual Urban Challenge trophy. Thank you to our staff who supervised this unique activity.

 Academic Care Term 4 Week 6

The Academic Care period this week was devoted to House Spirit. Students gathered for an assembly organised and delivered by our House Captains. Preparations are already underway for the Swimming carnival in February 2025. Students have ideas and opportunity during the break to gather house coloured costumes and to practice their chants!

Child Safety

Parents are reminded that the eSafety Commission website is an invaluable resource to help keep young people safe and to educate parents with the latest reliable information (esafety.gov.au) . Below is an example of some recent information.

Instagram introduces teen accounts

Instagram has introduced new rules for teenagers meaning children under 17 now automatically have their accounts set to private and can’t be messaged or tagged by people they don’t follow.  

Some of the other changes include: 

• parents and carers can set daily time limits on Instagram use 
• teens get notified to leave the app after 60 minutes each day 
• parents and carers can see the accounts their children message and the content categories they view 
• hidden wordssettings automatically hide unwanted comments and messages 

The new Teen Accounts are a step in the right direction, but they still put the onus on parents and carers to understand parental supervision settings.  Share The eSafety Guide with your school community, which shares how to protect personal information and report harmful content on common social media, games, apps and sites, including Instagram. 

Celebrating Success Assembly - Save the Date!

Our final assembly for 2024 will be held on Tuesday 17 December in the Hall starting at 10.00 am. Families are welcome to attend, so please mark this date in your diaries.

Kind regards

Mrs Louise Ibbett
Assistant Principal Pastoral Care

Last week saw the launch of the 2024 St Vincent de Paul Giving Appeal. As Advent approaches, a season of preparation and anticipation leading up to Christmas, we are invited to reflect on what truly matters in the season of giving, and place the needs of others above our own. Advent marks the beginning of the Church’s liturgical year. During these four weeks, we reflect on themes of hope, peace, joy, and love as we prepare our hearts for the celebration of Jesus’ birth. Advent invites us to slow down, embrace prayer and acts of kindness, and remember the true meaning of the season: the coming of Christ into the world and into our lives.

The College contribution to the Giving Appeal is off to a festive start with our Christmas Tree Decorating Competition, held in front of the Hub. Congratulations to Chisholm House for crafting the most festive and thoughtful tree! This year, we are inviting each homeroom to contribute by collecting specific food items to support the Moruya Conference in creating hampers for local families. Monetary donations will be forwarded to the Batemans Bay Conference, where both communities are working tirelessly to provide assistance to those in need. With demand higher than ever, St Vincent de Paul in Batemans Bay is aiming to support 80 families this Christmas. Let’s come together to make a real difference for those in our community during this season of giving.

Mrs Anna Smart
Religious Education Coordinator

Student Absences

As we approach the end of the term, I would like to remind parents about completing your child's absence reasons. Years 7 – 10 reports will be distributed at the end of Term 4 and explained absences ensures your child’s attendance records are accurate and reported correctly.

To complete your child's absence reports:

1. Log in to your Sentral Parent Portal.
2. Navigate to the Absences section.
3. Review your unexplained absences and provide a brief explanation for each.

Parents can review their child’s attendance records by selecting their child's profile and navigating to Attendance.

School Photos 2025 – Save the Date

School photos will be held on Tuesday 11 March. Photo envelopes will be distributed to each student during Homeroom early next year.

2025 Calendar

I am pleased to inform you that the 2025 College Calendar is now available on Sentral. To view important dates, events and exam weeks for the upcoming year, please follow these steps:

1. Log into the Sentral app.
2. Click on Links.
3. Select College Calendar.
4. At the top right, scroll to Term 1 2025 and beyond to see relevant the term event dates.

2025 Term Dates

Term 1

Tuesday 4 February (Day 2) – Years 7, 11 and 12 return

Wednesday 5 February (Day 3) – Years 8, 9, 10 return

Thursday 10 April – Term 1 ends

Term 2

Tuesday 29 April (Day 2) – students return

Thursday 3 July – Term 2 ends

Term 3

Tuesday 22 July (Day 2) – students return

Thursday 25 September – Term 3 ends

Term 4

Tuesday 14 October (Day 2) – students return

Thursday 18 December – Term 4 ends

This weeks reminders

• The Year 7 and 10 vaccination catch up day will be held on Wednesday 27 November.
• On Wednesday 27 November the Years 9 and 10 PASS excursion will take place.
• There is a Youth Committee meeting on Thursday 28 November.
• We welcome year 6 students to the College on Friday 29 November for their Orientation Day.
• On Monday 27 November, we will have a College assembly.
• On Wednesday 4 December the 2025 SLT will participate in leadership training during periods 5 and 6.
• The Year 10 Summer Soiree will be held at Moruya Golf Club on Thursday 5 December.
• The SLT have a leadership day planned for Friday 6 December.

Mrs Sandra Harris
Administration Coordinator

Last month, I had the extraordinary opportunity to spend a week at Bell Shakespeare in Sydney as part of a work experience program. As a regional high school student passionate about the arts, this was a dream come true. Throughout the week, I immersed myself in the inner workings of one of Australia’s most renowned theatre companies.

One highlight was watching Shakespeare is Dead, performed by "The Players," a lively touring group of three actors who bring Shakespeare to life for regional students. Their innovative approach—mixing humor, energy, and modern relevance—was both educational and entertaining.

I also gained insight into the company’s depth of operations. I shadowed the marketing and advertising team to see how they engage audiences, met with the directing and casting department to understand the intricacies of assembling a production, and explored the creative world of writers. The education team shared their mission of making Shakespeare accessible, while the production management, lighting, and costume teams revealed how technical expertise brings a show to life.

On the final day at Bell Shakespeare in groups of five, we had the opportunity of presenting a pitch for a show to be performed by The Players to the company's team. The pitch included a slideshow of a show outline, casting requirements, advertisement and marketing briefs, costume designs, stage management needs and a fundraising night at which donors could decide whether or not to support the show. 

This experience was truly invaluable, deepening my appreciation for theatre while enhancing my ambition to make the arts accessible to everyone, especially in regional areas like my own.

Erin Drewsen
College Vice Captain