St. Columba's Primary School
NEWSLETTER | TERM 3 | WEEK 3 | 4 AUGUST 2022
From the Principal
Dear Parents and Carers,
We are very proud of our Year 5 and 6 teams who participated in the RoboCup Junior WA State Event. Our ‘Under the Sea’ team won against almost 50 other teams and the ‘Space Race’ team finished in the top 10. We also had a ‘Line Rescue’ pilot team making the finals, working tirelessly under pressure to update their robots throughout the day to tackle new challenges. St Columba’s Robotics and Coding program is an asset to our school, providing upper primary students with resources to excel at a State level in this learning area. We are grateful to the P&F for their support and funding of equipment. Congratulations and thanks to Mr Leigh Chatt and Mr Jermaine Beins (Year 5 teacher) for all the additional work they put into preparing the children for the competition.
The Performing Arts Festival has commenced and St Columba’s students are excelling in their performances. This week our Year 1 classes performed a memorable Christian Dance piece, while our Year 2 team presented a Choral Speech item which impressed the judges. This is a great way for students to express themselves creatively through the Arts. We look forward to the remaining classes performing over the next month. Three students received Certificates of Merit: Darcy H (Year4) and Isabell H and Oliver P (Year 6) – congratulations. Our thanks to Mrs Louise McDonald for all her hard work preparing the children to such a high standard.
Thank you to all parents who took the time to feed into our Climate Survey results. This data is used, in conjunction with student and staff data, to ascertain future focus areas and initiatives that positively impact school climate. We look forward to receiving our results from NSI Partnerships soon.
Please remember to donate any spare blankets or sleeping bags for the St Vinnies Winter Appeal. Tomorrow the children may wear pyjamas to school and a gold coin will also go to St Vinnies.
God Bless and keep safe.
Allen McMahon
Principal
Important dates
Friday, 5 August - Pyjama Day (gold coin donation)
Monday, 8 August - Feast Day of Mary Mackillop Mass - 9am
Tuesday, 9 August - CAPSS MHL Carnival - Year 6
Wednesday 10, August - Prayer Service - 9am - Year 2
Thursday, 11 August - Prayer Service - 9.00am - Y4
Friday, 12 August - Assembly - 1W
Merit Award Winners - Friday, 12 August
Year 1G - Max, Sasha
Year 1W - Ruby, Freddie
Year 2G - Addisyn, Jeremy
Year 2W - Eliana, Etienne
Year 3G - Ethan. G, Eliora
Year 3W - Isabelle
Year 4G - Sienna, Orlando
Year 4W - Darcey, Max
Year 5G - Charlotte
Year 5W - Xavier. M
Year 6G - Chloe, Matthew
Year 6W - Ella
Vinnies Winter Appeal
The Vinnies Winter Appeal is this term's Catholic Charity Fundraiser the school will support.
This year Vinnies have asked us to collect sleeping bags and blankets, ensuring that all items donated are in good clean condition.
With the help of the wonderful P & F this fundraiser will run for the first 3 weeks of Term 3 (Thursday 21 July – Friday 5 August), culminating in a Pyjama Day (gold coin donation) on Friday, 5 August.
The P & F will distribute a washing basket to all classes and we encourage students to bring in blankets and sleeping bags to donate to those who need them. Students can bring these to school and place in the baskets for collection.
P & F representatives will empty the baskets at regular intervals and store the items for donation.
We thank parents in advance for their support of this charitable initiative.
St Mary of the Cross Mackillop
Next Monday, 8 August we will celebrate the Feast of St Mary MacKillop with a Year 1-6 Mass.
The model of Mary MacKillop, Australia's first saint, is so relevant to school life and our motto "Charity and Peace". She truly lived her words "Never see a need without doing something about it".
Mary MacKillop founded Australia's first religious order and worked hard to establish 17 schools in difficult circumstances.
Mass will begin at 9am in the St Columba’s Church and will be led by our Year 4 students.
Parents are welcome to attend.
Bishop’s Religious Literacy Assessment (BRLA)
Our Year 3 and 5 students completed the Bishops' Religious Literacy Assessment this week.
The BRLA is a large-scale, standardised assessment that consists of Religious Education (RE) tests developed and marked by the Office of Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA).
The purpose of the BRLA is to measure student learning of the content in the RE curriculum. Formal school and student reports are produced by the Office and will become available to schools in Term Four.
We will use this data to inform future planning in the Religious Education Learning Area.
Student Code of Conduct
Our Student Code of Conduct is a student-created document that outlines the way students want to feel when they come to St Columba’s Primary School.
It outlines behaviours and actions students can take to ensure they continue to feel Safe, Happy, Included and Special.
The Student Code of Conduct also outlines steps a child can take if they feel a student is not following the Code of Conduct.
Our Student COC is reviewed annually by students and leadership to ensure that the document is still relevant and meaningful as a support to guide student behaviour at school.
Story Quest: Book Week Incursion PP – Year 6
While Book Week isn’t scheduled until Week 6, we are excited for all students in PP – Year 6 to participate in the ‘Story Quest’ Literacy Incursion next Wednesday 10 August.
This is a highly interactive incursion where students will be immersed into an engaging, original narrative filled with music, adventure and intrigue. They will explore the 2022 CBCA Book Week Theme ‘Dreaming With Eyes Open…’ and get the chance to check out a selection of the CBCA 2022 Shortlisted Books. How awesome!
We are grateful to be able to offer this wonderful learning opportunity to our students.
A Message from School Counsellor, Miss Simpson
Warm welcome back to everybody for Term 3!
I wanted to share with you all some exciting opportunities to engage in various FREE parenting workshops if interested through Communicare. Anglicare also run free parenting workshops, some of which I wrote about for last term. However, Communicare are offering some really great workshops coming up this month I’d like to shed light on.
The majority of the workshops are located South of the river (Cannington area), and majority of the workshops are held in August. There is information on each flyer (see flyers attached) about how to register to confirm your place for the workshop, and information about what the workshop entails. Communicare is offering a wide range of workshops including information sessions about ADHD (Attention Deficit Hyperactive Disorder) and Anxiety in children/ support groups for parents, along with Cyber safety information sessions amongst a few.
Get amongst it if you can! If you have any questions about the workshops reach out to the contact details on the flyer and Communicare will gladly assist.
Stay safe everyone and remember to engage in wellbeing by being mindful and looking after our mental and physical health.
- Let’s Talk Toilet Training (23rd of August, Gosnells)
- Positive Discipline in Everyday Parenting (4th of August- 1st of September, Cannington)
- Raising Children in a Digital World (16th of August, Thornlie)
- Tuning into Teens (27th of July- 31st of August, Victoria Park)
- ADHD Information session for Parents – Communication (22nd of August, Cannington)
- Support group for parents of children with ADHD (29 August, Cannington)
- Kids & Anxiety (19th of August, East Maddington)
- Let’s Talk Toddlers (2nd of September, East Maddington)
More information can be found below in Community News.
Enrolment - we welcome new families
P&F News
Hi Everyone,
Well basketball is well and truly underway with children from years 1-6 thoroughly enjoying their sessions with the Perth RedBacks. Even the rain couldn't stop them from learning some new skills this week.
If your child can no longer attend, please let me know asap so we can get one of the eager children on the waitlist a turn.
Hayley Mitchell
P&F President
Dads of St. Columba's Footy Tipping 2022
Hello St. Columba’s Families,
Some strong tipping form late in the season is seeing some big changes in our overall leader board week to week. An exciting 3 rounds awaits!
Round 20 Winner – Captain Shuey – Amelie D with 8 correct tips and a margin of 25 points.
Just pipping The Merenda Family – Lee M (8 tips and 31 point margin) and ATG -Alan G (8 tips and 37 point margin)
The Overall Leader board:
1. Binns Clan – David B – 116 points
2. The Merenda Family – Lee M - 115 points
3. Freo Donovan – Pat D - 113 points
4. Kinnane Dockers – Tristan K - 113 points
5. Trish09 – Tricia A – 112 points
6. Scarymans - Mark S – 111 points
7. Oggace – Brendon O – 108
8. Captain Shuey – Amelie D – 108 points
9. JChamps – Jennie D - 106 points
10. ATG – Alan G, BrenBristow18 – Ben B, Lilanui – Lily D tied on 105 points
3 exciting rounds remaining, Round 21 starts Friday night with a top 4 clash between Melbourne and Collingwood. The game starts at 5:50pm WA time.
Happy tipping!
Regards,
Todd Dawson
Entertainment Books
The year starts from the date of purchase of your Entertainment Book.
Alter Serving Training - St Columba's Church
Altar Serving is a very special role within our parish community and only involves serving at mass once a month. It is a fabulous way to participate more fully in the mass.
A training session will be conducted on Saturday 20th August at 3:30pm in the Parish Centre.
This session is for any children who have made their First Holy Eucharist and are interested in Altar Serving at St Columba's Parish.
Please contact Jenny Collins (0418 944 835) for more information or to confirm attendance.
Bricks 4 Kidz - Term 3
Parenting Workshop Information
School Term Dates
Term 3: Tuesday, 19 July to Wednesday, 21 September 2022
Term 4: Tuesday, 11 October to Friday, 9 December 2022
Pupil Free Dates
Term 3: Thursday, 22 September and Friday, 23 September (Catholic Day)
Term 4: Monday, 10 October 2022
Sacrament Dates
Reconciliation: Saturday, 12 November at 10am
St Columba's Catholic Primary School
Email: admin@stcolumbassp.wa.edu.au
Website: https://www.stcolumbassp.wa.edu.au/
Location: 30 York Street, South Perth WA 6151, Australia
Phone: (08) 6436 9500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Education/St-Columbas-Catholic-Primary-School-South-Perth-173160579973945/