St Catherine's School – Small School, Big Heart

At St Catherine's School we value commitment to a shared educational vision of working collaboratively at every opportunity. Together we foster an environment where learning is valued, promoted and celebrated. We provide an environment that inspires lifelong learning through innovative and creative teaching pedagogy, catering for all students. In this way, we believe every student is capable of success and they will develop the skills to take responsibility for their learning. We promote a culture of inquiry and value the importance of positive and caring relationships. At St Catherine's School we view children as active citizens and are observant of their voice in our daily interactions. Engaging with children's voices and involving the children in the learning process, deepens their experiences as it becomes child centred and relevant to their experiences.

Fundraising for Catholic Charities:  

St Catherine’s School – Music Themed Casual Clothes Day (2022)

"This year we have celebrated 75 years of education at St Catherine’s School with a number of music themed events. To continue the musical celebration our School Captains planned a music themed casual clothes day and a kids quiz. It was great to see everyone join in the fun by coming to school dressed up as a variety of famous musicians, dances and performers. Every one was asked to make a donation to Catholic Charities as part of their participation. As part of this day the students were also put into teams to take part in a music quiz. Students in R-2 and 3-6 worked together to answer a variety of questions, putting their music knowledge to the test. Our School Captains were our quiz masters and did a magnificent job of not only preparing the event but also talking with our school community about the importance of standing in solidarity with those in need through our connection with Catholic Charities. This year we were pleased to donate $207 to Catholic Charities through the month of September."
Krystina Dawe, Assistant Principal, Religious Identity and Mission

St Catherine’s School Special Lunch  and Cash for Cans Appeal (2021)
Our work this year continued to be impacted by Covid which meant there were again restrictions in place that limited some of our fundraising ideas. Given the success of the Special Lunch day in 2020, we decided to again invite families to make a donation when taking part in the special lunches. This was able to raise $417 for Catholic Charities.

Our students also had a particular interest in raising money for Hutt Street Centre and worked on the idea of Cash for Cans. After speaking to staff at Hutt Street Centre it was evident that a financial contribution was of most use so families were invited to bring in 10c recyclables which were then deposited for cash. This raised a further $132 and was also a great discussion point about how every little bit we raised can be put together to make a big difference.

Thank you to everyone who have been able to give so generously during our charity fundraisers this year. This continues to be an important part of our service to the wider community as we assist some of the most vulnerable people. I would particularly like to thank our School Captains for their efforts in driving these initiatives.
Krystina Dawe, Assistant Principal, Religious Identity and Mission

St Catherine’s School Disco Day and Special Lunch (2020)
Our Term 3 fundraising focus during 2020 has been for Catholic Charities. With the challenges presented by Covid-19 some of our usual fundraising activities were not able to be undertaken as they normally would. This presented us with the opportunity to explore new ways to raise money for Catholic Charities which is where our Special Lunch fundraising idea came from. Each term students can order a special lunch which is arranged by our P&F group. The orders are placed through an app and in addition to their usual meal order they could also make a voluntary donation to Catholic Charities with the idea being that while enjoying their own special lunch they are also helping provide a meal for someone else who otherwise may have gone without. Classes spent time learning about the work done by Catholic Charities with our School Captains taking time to speak to each class and present at assembly. Our Special Lunch fundraiser raised over $260 for Catholic Charities.

The school disco was another opportunity to gather funds for Catholic Charities. Students were invited to dress to dazzle for our disco themed casual day which was planned to coincide with our school disco. As usual the students and staff were keen to bring glamour to the classroom in their choice of attire raising an additional $230 for Catholic Charities.

St Catherine’s School Supporting Catholic Charities Throughout Term 3 (2019)
As part of our celebrations of the Feast of St Dominic we set aside time to take part in a whole school mass as an opportunity to reflect on the teachings of St Dominic and the role he plays in the heritage of our school. Later in the week classes spent time in a range of classroom activities about St Dominic and were even fortunate enough to have staff from Catholic Education South Australia to come and spend the morning working with students and staff throughout the school. One of the highlights of the day was the St Dominic’s Fair and each class went above and beyond to plan a stall for the occasion. There was a great variety of food and activities and from the fair we were able to raise funds for Catholic Charities. Finally to complete our celebrations we finished with a ‘St Catherine’s got talent’ afternoon. Students from all year levels put forward a display of skill which covered everything from dance, stand-up comedy, singing, acting and magic. It was a fun filled afternoon and made tough work of judging for our celebrity judges consisting of the school captains and our school priest, Fr Fred.
This term we have focused our fundraising on Catholic Charities and are pleased to be able to donate over $900 to this cause. This great contribution has been a result of the money raised at the St Dominic’s Fair, Italian Day and of course our Sporting Colours Casual Clothes Day.  The work of Catholic Charities remains an important part of our fundraising routine here at St Catherine’s School with money raised supporting a number of vital agencies such as Catherine House, Centracare Catholic Family Services and SA Catholic Deaf Association, just to name a few.

St Catherine’s School Walk for Water (2017)
In September 2017 Annie O’Neill from Catholic Charities attended the St Catherine’s Walk for Water event held in their school grounds in Stirling. The event was run to raise money for Catholic Charities and the Morogoro Diocese in Tanzania.
The students were sponsored for how many laps of the school they could walk holding a container of water for a set period of time. The day began with a Mass for the whole school followed by the Walk for Water and finishing with a BBQ.
All the students had a wonderful time especially when they got to enjoy the BBQ prepared by APRIM Jamie Mulcahy and Principal Jason Mittiga *see photos below. They raised a fantastic $2255.00 for Catholic Charities!

On Friday, August 18, St Catherine's School at Stirling also celebrated their 70th birthday when members of the school community, past principals, students, teachers, Bridgewater parishioners and Dominican Sisters gathered. 

(The donations amount includes money raised since 2015).