User:Charles school

St. Charles Ryde
St. Charles' Ryde is the primary school of St Charles Borromeo Catholic parish,  Ryde. It shares the mission of the parish and Church: to proclaim and witness to the gospel of Jesus Christ in the world. The school is located in Ryde,  Sydney,  New South Wales,  Australia.

The school was established in 1858 with an enrolment of 30 children. Today the school caters for approximately 430 students from years K-6. Currently, in 2008, there are 15 classes.

2008 is the 150th Birthday Year for St. Charles Ryde, which will be celebrated on and around the 4th November 2008, the feast day of St. Charles Borromeo.

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Mission Statement
The school and parish community in partnership are committed to:

Celebrating Jesus Christ as the centre of our lives


 * Educating children in the Catholic beliefs, practices, story and traditions.


 * Assisting children to develop their relationship with the person of Jesus Christ.

Promoting Successful Learning in a supportive environment


 * Providing quality education that links faith and culture.


 * Fostering a life-long love of learning.


 * Acknowledging and catering for the diversity of learners.


 * Challenging each child to achieve personal excellence.

Fostering a true spirit of community


 * Strengthening the relationships between home, school and   parish.


 * Providing opportunities for growth for all members of the school community.


 * Valuing the gifts of each individual.


 * Celebrating the cultural diversity of our community.


 * Promoting a welcoming and caring environment.

Inspiring hope and a positive vision for the future


 * Accepting the challenge to make a difference in our world.


 * Working for a more just and peaceful future.


 * Caring for the environment through responsible stewardship.
 * }

History
The very beginning...

St Charles' School commenced in 1858 with an enrolment of 30 children. The original building was weatherboard (30 feet by 16 feet). The total cost was 250 pounds, of which the government gave a little less than half. The first teachers were lay teachers and were paid by the government, as this was the time before the Education Reform Act. Early teachers were Mr Sturgeon (1862) and Mrs Meikle (1863).

When State Aid was withdrawn in 1878 there was an influx of nuns and brothers of religious orders from Europe to teach in the schools. The Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart (Brown Josephites), an Australian Order founded by Mother Mary Mackillop taught in the school from 1883-1891.

Little Company of Mary Sisters (L.C.M sisters)

In 1892 the Little Company of Mary sisters (the Blue Nuns) arrived in Ryde from Europe to open a hospital for the insane but the prepared building was deemed to be inappropriate so they did not receive patients. The L.C.M sisters were then asked to take over St Charles' School because Cardinal Moran would not allow Catholic children to go to State schools.

The Sisters lived in great poverty and dependency. The school paid the sisters five shillings a week and Cardinal Moran gave them a cow. On Saturdays the sisters went begging in the shopping centre at Balmain to supplement their income.

Mother Antonio was one of the first sisters at Ryde. She left Europe to come to Australia believing that she was to "nurse the insane". When she arrived and found that she had to teach, she was very worried about brushing up her arithmetic!

The Sisters reported, "customs in this country are strange". The teachers take the children for trips on the harbour and into the country but we have contained ours to “tea on the lawn”. It is also recorded that they arranged a little play and tableau for Christmas. They also set up a Christmas crib at St Charles and it was the first time people had seen this.

Sisters of Mercy

In 1898 when the L.C.M. Sisters handed the school over to the Sisters of Mercy from Parramatta there were 25 children enrolled and the building, which consisted of one slab room, was reported to be well ventilated through the roof.

In 1899 the new brick school building was commenced. The next section, a two story structure, was opened in 1938. From the 30's to the 60's the school included a Secondary Certificate there, whereas the boys went to the Patrician Brothers at Borromeo Preparatory School after Year 2. In the 1983 the new hall and library were opened and finally in 1988 eight new classrooms were built and some parts of the older school were refurbished.

The Sisters of Mercy provided dedicated leadership at St Charles until the end of 1987 when Brother Paul, a Patrician Brother was appointed as Principal. He remained until 1993 when the first lay Principal, Mrs Marge Avery was appointed.

150th Birthday 2008
St Charles School commenced in 1858. That means in 2008 St. Charles Ryde will be turning 150.

The ways that St, Charles is celebrating this birthday are:
 * The 150th Birthday is on the 4th of November at St Charles Ryde.
 * A School Dinner Dance will be held on the 28th of November for past and present students and teachers.
 * On Sunday 9th of November there will be a mass at 10:00am at St Charles Ryde Church. After the mass parents and visitors will be shown through all the classes to see some of the children’s fabulous work, as well as meet and greet students and teachers.

The whole school is going to be celebrating together and there will be activities and games for the children. All the children are going to get a bookmark on the birthday to show they were a part of 150th birthday of St. Charles.

Colour House System
At St. Charles, there are four different house colours. The current colour groups are Gell, Bennelong, Milan and Mercy. In 2008, for the 150th Birthday year, the students voted on names for their colour houses and now, each colour group has a specific meaning that is related to the school.


 * Gell: (Green) Fr Edward Gell was at St Charles for 42 years. He extended the Church, built classrooms and later, a whole new school building.


 * Bennelong: (Gold) The most enduring symbol of the Aboriginal presence in the City of Ryde is the grave of Bennelong and Nanbarry, two key figures in the history of early Sydney.


 * Milan: (Red) St Charles Borromeo became a priest and was consecrated the Bishop of Milan in 1563.


 * Mercy: (Blue) From 1899 – 1987 the Sisters of Mercy (from Parramatta) ran St Charles School (both primary and secondary) on the current school site.

Uniform
Students wear a school uniform that is different for both boys and girls. The central colour of all uniforms is blue. In summer and winter months, a different uniform is worn. Hats are also a very important part of the school uniform as the playground is a ‘No Hat No Play’area.

Girls
 * Summer Uniform:	 Check dress, blue ribbons, black shoes, blue socks. Royal blue school sloppy joe or school track suit jacket.


 * Winter Uniform:	 Blue tartan tunic, blue blouse with Peter Pan collar, small tie, blue socks, black shoes, royal blue school sloppy joe or school tracksuit jacket.


 * Sport Uniform: 	Blue school shorts, blue school sport shirt, white socks, and white sandshoes or predominantly white runners. School tracksuit - winter.

Boys


 * Summer Uniform: 	 Navy shorts, blue shirt, black shoes, navy St. Charles school socks. Royal blue school sloppy joe or school track suit jacket.


 * Winter Uniform: 	Navy pants, blue shirt, black shoes, navy St. Charles school socks, school sloppy joe or school tracksuit jacket, school tie (years 3 - 6).


 * Sports Uniform: 	 Blue school sport shirt, school sport shorts, white socks, white sandshoes or predominantly white runners. School tracksuit - winter.

Curriculum
The curriculum taught at St. Charles is divided into 7 Key Learning Areas (KLA's). The Key Learning Areas are:


 * Religion
 * English
 * Mathematics
 * Science
 * Human Society and its Environment including Italian (H.S.I.E)
 * Creative Arts including art, drama, music
 * Personal Development, Health and Physical Education (PD/H/PE)

Sport
All St. Charles students are encouraged to participate in sport activities at break times and in structured sport lessons. In the summer, students play cricket and in winter students enjoy soccer.

For Physical Education, lessons are revolved around TRI-SKILLS, gymnastics, class sports lessons and Dance Fever. In 2008, students won the show dance champions for the Dance Fever Competition.

Each year there is a swimming carnival and athletics carnival that show the students skills and spirit. Students also attend sport gala days, interschool competitions and trials for representative levels of various sports.

Facilities
There are many different areas for classroom and playground use at St. Charles. Areas around the school include:


 * Large hall with stage
 * Well equipped library
 * AV Room for music classes and band
 * Art Room
 * Classrooms for each individual classes equipped with resources, furniture, whiteboards and in some classrooms, smartboards.
 * Hard surfaced quad area for play and whole school gatherings
 * Astro turf area used for playing with equipment set up with basketball rings
 * Oval with grass
 * Lunch Sheds with seating
 * Sports shed filled with a variety of sports equipment
 * Healthy canteen

Those who started this page
This page has been developed as a project especially for the 150th Birthday of St. Charles Ryde. The 4B Students and teacher at St. Charles that were involved were: Matthew, Charlotte, Ben S., Sophia, Liam, Natalie, Briana, Leonardo, Alessandra, Caitlin, Corey, Eliza, Harry and Miss Felton.