Dear Parents and Carers,

What an exciting week it has been!

We are very proud of our Year 1 and 2 students for the high standard of their performances at the Catholic Performing Arts Festival. Thank you to Mrs McDonald for preparing the children so well.

Year 5 and 6 students are participating in the State Robo Cup competition this weekend - we wish our Dance and Line Rescue teams all the best. Thanks to Mr Chatt and Mrs Wilkes for their preparation.

Next week's Western Kids Health incursions for Years 5 and 6 (Growth Mindsets) and Years 3 and 4 (Healthy Friendships) are sponsored by the P&F and we thank them for supporting our students with these essential life skills. Currently we are exploring how to embed wellbeing practices into our school culture, moving away from Wellness Weeks to a more long-term sustainable focus. We look forward to growing and learning in this space.

Thank you for your generous donations for our St Vinnies Winter Appeal, which ends tomorrow, Friday 3 August. We end the appeal with Pyjama Day, where students and staff can wear pyjamas to school tomorrow for a gold coin donation towards St Vinnies. I can't wait to just roll out of bed and already be dressed!

Next week is our first Book Fair, which will celebrate libraries, books and reading. An excellent range of books will be on sale from Monday to Wednesday with all proceeds going towards new resources for the library. Mrs La Rosa has put a lot of work into bringing the Book Fair to St Columba's and we look forward to seeing you there.

Yesterday we held a successful lockdown drill at the school as part of our crisis management procedures.

Our condolences to the Sy Suan family on the recent passing of their grandfather. Please keep them in your prayers.

God bless you all.

Jesse Yock

Acting Principal

This year Vinnies have asked us to collect warm clothing for older women such as jumpers, pants, scarves, beanies, socks etc, ensuring that all items donated are in good clean condition.

The school 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.

The Hats Off to Reading themed Book Fair will begin in the library on Monday, 7 August. The Book Fair is a wonderful way to celebrate reading and earn valuable resources for our school library.

We ask that different year groups attend on different days to reduce the amount of people in the library at one time and to reduce queuing outside.

Please note the book fair will close after recess on Wednesday.

The children will be given a brochure with online payment details. The classes will visit the fair in school time on Friday, 4 August to complete their wish list to bring home. Students can pay with cash or use the receipted online payment form in their shopping time. Please ensure the receipt number and payment amount is clearly noted and please take a copy also in case it gets mislaid on the way. Only books can be put on the wish list and paid for using the pre -payment option. There will also be stationary, posters and journals for sale at the fair which will need to be paid for using cash.

Kindy to Year 2 parents will have access to use EFTPOS and cash option during their shopping time.

Thank you very much to the parents who have volunteered to help. Roster will be emailed to you this week.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Hats Off to Reading Book Fair!

Calling all Dads and Father Figures,

You are invited to the Father's Day Breakfast Event, run by our P & F Team, on Wednesday, 30 August from 7:30-9:00am in Kalyara Mia (Undercover Area).

This event is for dads and father figures who have children in Kindy to Year 6. (Pre-Kindy Dads will have a separate event. Class teachers will send communications regarding this.)

The P & F will provide a sausage sizzle and small selection of other items. #yesplease

We ask Dads (or mums on their behalf) to reply to our Expression of Interest form below to allow the P & F to ascertain numbers for catering purposes. We ask for this to be completed by COB Friday 18 August.

We are excited to be able to offer this community event for our dads and father figures.

Regards,

P & F Team

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.

Next Tuesday, 8 August we will celebrate the Feast of St Mary MacKillop with a number of liturgy services.

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.

Our Year 4-6 students will walk across to the Mary Mackillop Centre to participate in cohort liturgies and our Years 1-3 students will come together for their own liturgy celebration at school.

We look forward to celebrating this special Feast Day together next week.

All Year 6 students and selected Year 5 students attended the CAPSS Inter School ML competition on Tuesday, 1 August at Morris Buzacott Reserve. Students competed in 4 teams of either a Modcrosse or a League Tag competition. All teams competed at a high level, displaying wonderful enthusiasm and team spirit.

It was particularly noted how well the students continued to improve and rise to the challenge. Our students placed 4th in Modcrosse and equal 2nd in Leaguetag. Our students demonstrated fantastic determination, continually putting a big effort toward their involvement and encouragement of others throughout the day.

We are proud of our Students’ efforts, displaying their abilities over various types of sports and being excellent representatives of their school.

Well Done!!!

St Columba’s is exploring the Smiling Mind Primary School Program. This is an evidence-based approach to supporting the mental health and wellbeing of children in the classroom, school and home environment.

Part of the program provides resources for parents and carers to access to support healthy minds. The full guide is below.

The Smiling Mind app (available in the Apple Store and Google Play) provides free mindfulness-based programs for all ages.

We look forward to growing and exploring in this space.

Our Year 3 and 5 students completed the Religious Education Assessment this week.

The REA 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 REA 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.

The P&F Friend-raiser - Games Night (Op Shop Themed) is only a few weeks away. We are ready to start selling tickets.

This is for adults only (parents, caregivers and teachers are invited).

Information:

Date: Saturday 12th August

Time: 6pm - 11pm (with the main games finishing around 9:30ish)

Location: South Perth Community Hall (Cnr of Sth Terrace and Sandgate Street, South Perth)

Dress Code: Op Shop Theme

BYO: Food, drinks (both alcoholic and non-alcoholic), plastic cups (there is also a range of food available for pre-order if you prefer the convenience)

Price: $30 per ticket

ONLINE TICKETS: click on the button below. If you arrive at the CEWA landing page, just 'Request Access' to proceed.

Term 3: Monday, 17 July to Thursday, 21 September 2023

Term 4: Monday, 9 October to Friday, 8 December 2023

Term 3: Friday 22 September

Term 4: None

Reconciliation: Saturday, 11 November at 10am