Dear Families of St Columba’s,
Welcome back from our short holiday. I have enjoyed hearing the many holiday stories from students. No matter how you spent the holidays, I hope the break from the morning school rush afforded you a little more time to spend with family.
We are now in the Season of Easter, a period of fifty days after the resurrection of our Lord. This Saturday evening, many of our students will commit to receiving either the Sacrament of Penance (Reconciliation in Year 3) or Sacrament of Holy Communion (Eucharist in Year 4). It is appropriate that this commitment takes place during the Season of Easter, when we continue to celebrate the joy in the resurrection of Christ on Easter Sunday. Please continue to keep in your prayers, all our students receiving these sacraments shortly.
If you or your child are considering receiving the Sacrament of Baptism at our next Community Baptism Ceremony, please email Mrs Leesa Vinciullo at leesa.vinciullo@cewa.edu.au.
You would have noticed that safety nets have now been installed on the school oval. I can attest to how much safer the walkway is outside of the Year 5 Classrooms, preventing the soccer balls zooming into this area. This safety has been extended to the opposite side of the oval to protect our students playing on the playground and in the sandpit. As predicted by teachers, students very quickly recognised the potential for this area to be used as football posts and were keen to test who could kick their ball over the net. Who can blame them? But to do so would defeat the purpose of why the nets were installed at that end of the oval so the students must only kick towards these nets for soccer games.
We would like to thank the Rotary Club of Mount Lawley for their donation of a class set of microscopes. The microscopes are part of their “Microscopes in Schools Program” to encourage all students to pursue an interest in the area of Science. We thank Mr Geoff Russell for presenting these to us at our ANZAC Day Assembly Service last Friday 28 April. Mr Carbone is looking forward to putting these to good use.
Thanks to everyone for your patience when using our KISS N DRIVE. particularly after school. Road works in the local area have added some pressure on top of the changes in bell times. Please remember teachers remain on duty for an extra 5 minutes, until 3.20 pm. If you can schedule to arrive at the school at 3.15 pm, you will find there is a lot less time to wait.
Good luck to all our students representing St Columba’s School at this week’s interschool Swimming Carnival. Thank you for all the early morning training sessions so you can do your best in representing your school. Thank you to our parents who have planned a breakfast this Thursday to recognise the Swim Team’s effort and wish them very well.
Please save some time to attend the St Columba Mother’s Day Breakfast on Friday 12 May. We will also hold a school Mass at 9.00 am and all parents and family are welcome to attend.
Winter Uniform
As the weather starts to cool down a reminder that students will be expected to be in full winter uniform as Term 2 commences. Please note that there is a two-week grace time for transition. All students must be in winter uniform by Week 3.
In gratitude
Gina Burns
Principal
P & F News
P&F Hayshed Hill Wine Fundraiser
Once again we have partnered with Hayshed Hill to run a wine fundraiser. For every case of wine sold Hayshed Hill will donate $40 back to the school P&F to pay for the new playground equipment being installed in July. So pass the form around to family and friends so they can benefit from the great wine prices and help support the P&F in our mission.
This fundraiser will run through the month of April and into May so there is plenty of time to share the love. We need to reach a minimum of 20 cases to be eligible for free delivery so please pass the order form on to family and friends. Delivery of wine to the school will be Thursday 11th of May, pick up available from St Columba’s from Friday the 12th.
Use the form attached to this newsletter to place an order. Any questions please email Simonne Moretta on simonnemoretta@gmail.com
Our next P&F meeting is Tuesday 16 May at 7.00pm in the library.
Items for the agenda must be submitted by 5.00pm Friday 12 May. Any items after this time will be tabled for the next meeting.
Please note that we have moved to online payments using a secure payment gateway (Stripe).
The P&F bank account that was used last year for EFT transfers is now closed and we are not able to accept EFT payments. Anything not paid online will need to go to the office in cash.
Cut off dates for events are important as we need to give suppliers and volunteers time to order and purchase supplies. We leave cut off times as long as we possibly can and send out SMS reminders, but we will not able to accept late orders moving forward.
Entertainment Memberships
Online memberships are available again this year. Memberships can be purchased online.
https://www.entertainment.com.au/orderbooks/83589g
Any questions or queries, I can be contacted via email gtarmstrong@iinet.net.au
Tanya Armstrong
President P&F
Library News
Library 2023
Dear Parent, Carers and Students
The library is open every morning before school:
PP – Year 6 : 8:15am – 8:30 am
PreKindy & Kindy : 8:15am – 8:45am
(accompanied by Parent/Carers)
The library is a calming and quiet place, making it the perfect spot for students to have a smooth and calming transitions in the morning.
Students may also like to return and borrow books before school.
Looking forward to seeing you the library.
Reading and activities in the LIBRARY
LUNCHTIMES
Students may also use this time to exchange their library book.
Homework/Library Bag
Just a reminder that students require the school green ‘Homework and Library Bag’ in order to borrow from the Library.
Many students will already have the green school ‘Homework and Library Bag’ from previous years.
‘Homework and Library Bags’ can be purchased from the Uniform Shop at a cost of $12.
Parents please order via the school Uniform Shop.
Rita Cuthbert – Library Officer – Library - the original search engine
Pastoral Care
Happy Birthday to:
To the following students who will be celebrating this coming week:
Ayla Bennett PPG
Louis Fry PPW
Zara Campbell PPW
Francis Masek PPW
Juliana Versaico 2G
Owen Metherell 2W
The Pastoral Care Team along with some amazing school community Fathers will be holding the Mother’s Day Breakfast this year in Term 2 on Friday 12 May. Tickets can be booked both electronically by visiting Trybooking or by Cash by returning the slip along with your money and family name in an envelope to the school office. Please see the flyer attached to this newsletter for more information.
As always thank you for your support of the Pastoral Care Team!
WEEKLY RAFFLE ROSTER
TERM 2
Week 3 – 10 May
Week 4 – 17 May
| Kindy Green | Week 3 – Aletheia Charles Week 4 – Ayla Christie |
| Kindy White | Week 3 – Hannah Ferguson Week 4 – Ethan Harris |
| PP Green | Week 3 – Oscar Harstrom Week 4 – Flynn Hartus |
| PP White | Week 3 – Zara Campbell Week 4 – Leo Duff |
| Year 1 Green | Week 3 – Chase Gilbert Week 4 – Hugo Garrett |
| Year 1 White | Week 3 – Hudson Fernandez Week 4 – Astor Foley |
| Year 2 Green | Week 3 – Harvey Ferguson Week 4 – Connell Parker |
| Year 2 White | Week 3 – Megan Hutton Week 4 – Tristan Goh |
| Year 3 Green | Week 3 – Mia Harstrom Week 4 – Isabella Goh |
| Year 3 White | Week 3 – Connor Campbell Week 4 – Teodor Dimitrijevic |
| Year 4 Green | Week 3 – Lenny Harris Week 4 – Luca Maio |
| Year 4 White | Week 3 – Mason Campbell Week 4 – Henry Garrett |
| Year 5 Green | Week 3 – Grayson Harris Week 4 – Grace Hartus |
| Year 5 White | Week 3 – Jack Hutton Week 4 – Carys Bennetts |
| Year 6 Green | Week 3 – Jack Gilbert Week 4 – Abbie Hartus |
| Year 6 White | Week 3 – Lucy Gardiner Week 4 – Tayla Green |
Award Winners
MERIT AWARDS – Term 2, Week 1
PP Green – Indiana Grey, Cillian Tierney
PP White – Asher Borich, Mason Meenan
1 Green – Jax Fermanis, Caiden Thompson Mewburn, Mia Yanez Del Gesso
1 White – Ezekiel Byrde, Samiya McShanag, Adam Nguyen
2 Green – Ethan Borich, Isaiah Chong, Asher Shrivastava
2 White – Alessandra Cahill, Tessa Cavalli, Jack Michael, Oaklyn Payne
3 Green – Chanella Halmich, Davern Laffrey, Vaughan O’Reilly
3 White – Sajad Aljabry, Jude Allison, Aleksander Tuma
4 Green – Sofia Jaramillo Restrepo, Luca Maio
4 White – Leo Kennelly,
5 Green – Hendrik English, Filip Kryachok, Moihi Moses-Taratu
5 White – Bianca Balla, Alexi Brammer, Blake Kenyon, Giorgia Trevenen
6 Green – Olivia Cullura, Oliver May
6 White – Lila Harris, Tyson Hayward, Clyde Peters
Religious Education and Curriculum News
From our Year 1’s:
At the end of Term One in Religious Education, Year One took the time to remember the sacrifice that Jesus made to show his love for his friends. We also learnt about the ways that Jesus teaches us to love others.
We went on a journey to the crosses that sit just outside of the nature playground and when we returned to the classroom, we made our very own representations of Jesus on the cross.
From our Year 2’s:
This term in English we are using fairy tales to introduce the narrative text type. We will be learning about the structure, characters, setting and language features of a narrative. We have been looking at a variety of narrative texts, including traditional tales, short stories and novels.
Community Notices
Columba Runners 2023
Registrations now open!
Calling all returning and new members, even if you can only make one of the sessions a week. Sessions are held at Frank Drago oval 3.15-4.15pm on Mondays and Wednesdays for terms 2 and 3. Our first session will be Wednesday 26th of April.
Cost is $30 per child, parents can join free! Prizes awarded based on total kilometers achieved over both terms, including those brave enough parents! Please complete the online registration.
This club is run by volunteers. Any parents who are able to attend and assist with marking laps and encouraging everyone, we would love to have you. Those attending OSHC are also considered, please chat to the lovely Jess.
If your child is in Yr 2 and below, they must be accompanied by a parent or older sibling. It is the responsibility of the parent/caregiver to ensure the safety of the students between school and Frank Drago.
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Don’t miss your opportunity to apply for an Aranmore Catholic College Academic Scholarship for students entering Year 7 in 2024!
Our application deadline is Thursday 18 May, so visit https://www.aranmore.wa.edu.au/enrolments/scholarships for more information and to apply today.
Classifieds
School Counsellor News
Dr Justin Coulson is presenting at Padbury Primary School speaking on building resilience, developing strength, calm and kindness in our kids.
Seating is limited so tickets are essential (see more information below)
Dr Justin Coulson – Building Resilience – Monday May 8th @ 7pm – at Padbury Catholic Primary School
Renown parenting expert, keynote speaker, author and podcaster Dr Justin Coulson has been secured to speak to us on Building Resilience – developing strength, calm and kindness in our kids on May 8 @ 7pm.
Justin has a PhD in psychology and is Australia’s most published author in the area of building resilience in children. He will be providing practical and relatable content on how we can help children build resilience skills to weather the storms of life.
This is a once only, not to be missed event. Limited seating is available so secure your ticket ASAP. Tickets are $25 per person. Tickets can be purchased via Flexischools (Padbury Catholic Primary School will need to be added) or you can phone Administration on 9404 4000 and pay via credit card. Tickets will be held at the door on the evening for you.
Nicole Leach
School Counsellor