St James Catholic College, Cygnet eNewsletter

School News

Smoking Ceremony and Welcome

On Friday our SJCC students returned for the 2025 school year. We acknowledged this by having a Welcome and Smoking Ceremony. Nicole and Arabella from SETAC led our school through a wonderful smoking ceremony where students got involved in traditional cleansing and had the opportunity to ochre up members of our school community. We look forward to celebrating culture in 2025 as a school community.

First day of Kinder

St James was filled with excitement on Tuesday as we welcomed our 2025 Kindergarten students for their first day. We look forward to a big year of learning and laughter and can't wait to see what you achieve.

New Mobile Phone and Wearable Technology Policy at Catholic Education Tasmania for Term One 2025

Catholic Education Tasmania joins a growing number of educational sectors nationally and schools worldwide managing the use of mobile phones and wearable technology.

Whilst we have had a policy in place within our School community for some time, we ask that you take some time to read the new policy that comes directly from Catholic Education Tasmania. The new policy will be in place from the start of Term One 2025.

We appreciate your ongoing support as we work to provide the best learning environments for our students!

Please visit the Catholic Education Tasmania website to access more information.

https://catholic.tas.edu.au/mobile-phones-devices-and-wearable-technologies?utm_source=cet_schools&utm_medium=link&utm_campaign=mobile_phones

2025 Aboriginal Professional Development for Staff

To begin 2025, St James Catholic College and Sacred Heart Geeveston staff attended an Aboriginal Perspectives Professional Development Session. Staff split into groups to attend Gumnuts to Buttons at Sacred Heart Geeveston with Bron Dillion from Wayti Culture and Knowledge, a Deep History Timeline and Bush foods session with Trish Hodge and Mathius Everett from nita Education, a Bush foods and feasting session with Djuker Hart from Hart Cultural Creations or a trek up to kunanyi to bushwalk and listen in a knowledge sharing session with Leroy Hart also from Hart Cultural Creations.

Here are some highlights from our staff:

“Bush Foods with Djuker Hart was a culinary journey into First Nations peoples' relationship with native ingredients and seasonal foods”.

“We were given insight to the healing properties of certain ingredients and how they can be used to enhance the flavours of different foods”.

“Leroy Hart led us on a journey of discovery. Discovering the hidden aspects of kununyi, discovering our connections with one another and discovering how the natural world connects with our curriculum”.

“Trish and Mathius went through the rich history and timeline of Tasmanian Aboriginal people".

“nita education led us through a walk on country to learn about native bush foods and the healing properties of country”.

It was a wonderful and enriching experience for all our staff and will certainly support and benefit our students.