Dear Community of St Columba’s,
Remembrance Day
Thank you to our Year 6 students for leading today’s Remembrance Day Ceremony, and to all students for observing the one minute of silence with such respect.
During the ceremony, we reflected on a passage from the Gospel of John: “Love one another, just as I have loved you.” This powerful commandment reminds us, especially on days like today, to pray for all men and women who have served and continue to serve for peace.
It also calls us to bring peace into our own community here at St Columba’s School, through the words we choose, the way we resolve problems, by including others, showing patience, forgiving mistakes, and working together to create a peaceful environment for everyone.
Notice of Annual Community Meeting
All parents are invited to the Annual Community Meeting on Wednesday, November 26, at 6:00 PM in the School Library. We encourage you to join us to hear the Annual Reports from the School, the Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC), and the Parents and Friends Association (P&F). We also invite you to consider nominating yourself or another parent for membership in one of our school’s Parent Bodies.
Please refer to the Week 4 edition of the Donegal for more information about nominations for either the P&F or CSAC. (See nomination forms attached to this newsletter)
Uniform Survey Update
Thank you to everyone who took part in our recent uniform survey.
Your thoughtful feedback is greatly appreciated and plays an important role in guiding decisions that best support our students and families.
As many families begin planning for their child’s uniform requirements for 2026, we’ve prepared a summary of the feedback received along with details of any recommended changes. Please note that there will be no major changes to uniforms for 2026.
For more information, please refer to the email sent to you on Wednesday 12 November.
In gratitude,
Gina Burns
Principal
Upcoming Events
- Tuesday 18 November: Kindy Orientation Morning @ 9.00 am
Assistant Principal's Updates
KAPTURE PHOTOGRAPHY
The school photo orders will be coming home early next week. Please note:
- Magnetic photo frames and additional prints are slotted between the prints of your package.
- Photo Greeting Cards & Keychains are packed separately and distributed by the school office to the classroom teachers, who then distribute to the students. Check with your teacher if you have not received yours as yet.
- Sibling photos (if applicable to your school) are delivered to the eldest child and placed inside their photo package as additional prints.
- Digital image orders will be sent to your email address supplied within 3-5 days of the school photo delivery. Please check your junk folders.
If you ordered photos 10+ days after photo day, your order will be handled separately and mailed directly to your home address within the next 28 days. Check your confirmation email for more information.
SOCIAL MEDIA RESTRICTIONS EVENT
Parents, The Maylands Library are holding the below FREE event for Social Media restrictions for Under 16 Year olds.
Maylands Library
The RISE
28 Eighth Avenue Maylands WA,
Saturday November 15th, 2026
9:30am – 11:30am
Booking essential via Eventbrite
Social Media Restrictions for Under 16 Year Olds Tickets, Sat, Nov 15, 2025 at 9:30 AM | Eventbrite
ST VINNIES CHRISTMAS APPEAL – (Flyer attached to this newsletter)
We will again be helping out St Vinnies this year with their Christmas Appeal. Baskets will be placed in each classroom by Monday 17th November ready for donations. Please see flyer attached to this newsletter for suggested items to be donated. All dontaions to be in by Thursday 4th December 2025. Thank you for your support.
LOST PROPERTY
Our lost property is over flowing. Lots of uniform items, jackets and drink bottles. Please take some time to have a look through if you have lost anything. All items will be donated to charity or disposed of at the end of term.
Mrs Leesa Vinciullo
Assistant Principal
P & F News
CALL FOR 2026 EXEC AND CLASS REPS NOMINATIONS
As per the last newsletter, the P&F are seeking two new members for the Executive Team in 2026. Nominations are specifically sought for a Chairperson and Secretary (Nomination form attached to this newsletter).
Also, we kindly invite parents to start thinking about whether they’d like to join the P&F as a Class Rep in 2026. These nominations are called for by the Secretary in mid January. ANYONE can do this role and its great to have fresh faces, ideas and skill sets each year. Its for DADS and MUMS with all interests to take part in volunteering whilst helping the School achieve their fundraising targets and a social community!
Please see a brief description of what this role entails below:
- Attend 10 x P&F meetings including the ACM.
- Deliver friendraising/fundraising ideas to the team on behalf of your Classes.
- Be a communications leader between the P&F and Class; gathering up to date family contact lists, sending P&F news/documentation, providing reminders about general School items, organising Teacher gifts as well as encouraging social catchups amongst your Class groups when required.
- Manage 1 x whole School P&F fundraiser event during the year, supported strongly by the wider team.
- Be a kind person, who wants to listen and learn from others and encourage our community to work together in delivering a strong year of fundraising for the benefit of all the students.
Please note, the P&F advertises this on our School Facebook page mid January — if you don’t have access and wish to volunteer as Class Rep, please email back and we can put your name against the class you would like to help with (or head to the group and pop your name down on the post). If you don’t wish to be a Rep but would like to just attend meetings or play another part in assisting the team, we’d love to hear from you. If you have a business that would like to support us, we would be so lucky to have your assistance.
REMINDERS
SECOND HAND UNIFORMS FACEBOOK GROUP
A new private facebook group has been setup exclusively to buying, selling and swapping second-hand school uniforms online. Please note, this group is separate from the main school community group and is purely for uniform-related posts. Search ‘St Columba’s Bayswater | Second Hand Uniforms’ and join now heading into Term 4 uniform-selling-season!
Help Our School Move Forward — Join ‘Your Move’!
We’re inviting all parents to sign up to the Your Move website and join our school group! Every registration earns points for our school — and the more points we accumulate, the more exciting opportunities we unlock (such as grant funding for bike infrastr. From Connecting Schools Grants to bike education, student leadership labs, and Safe Routes to School guides, Your Move helps us build a more active, connected school community. Whether your child walks, wheels, scoots, or rides, your support helps us inspire healthier habits and access valuable resources. Let’s get moving — sign up today and help our school thrive! https://yourmove.org.au/register
Containers for Change
Get involved with our School yard fundraising by joining the containers for change group. All you have to do is scan the barcode attached to the newsletter with your containers from home — all funds from your deposit goes directly back to fundraising for items that benefit the kids at St Cols.
School Rewards Program — THE ATHLETE’S FOOT Morley Galleria
With $5 from every pair of shoes purchased being donated back to our School, This applies to the whole family across their fantastic range of school, sports, work and casual shoes. Make sure you mention St Col’s.
SAVE THE DATE
Welcome Back School family event / St Col’s 90th Birthday Party — Friday 6th February 5-7pm
Library News
Book Covering
The library has lots of new and exciting books needing covering so that our students can read them before the end of the year. If you can help by taking a small number of books home to cover, please call into the library Monday, Thursday or Friday. Precut covering for books is supplied. Your help is greatly appreciated by students and staff.
Many thanks.
Rita Cuthbert – Library
(Monday, Thursday & Friday)
Pastoral Care
Happy Birthday to:
The following students who will celebrate birthday’s in the coming week:
Blair Massam PKG
Arden O’Reilly 1G
Ada Marie 2G
Annabel Paulus 2G
Holly Magee 2W
Max Pizzata 4G
Megan Hutton 4W
Mariana Pulido Vargas 6G
Charlotte Eaglesham 6W
Would you like to Volunteer with us?
We are always looking for Volunteers to join the Pastoral Care Team. If you can spare a little time on a Wednesday morning after drop off, you can find us in the Church meeting room just as you enter from the basketball court entrance. Come say Hi and see what we are all about or please feel free to reach out to us by leaving a message with Lisa or Kylie in Administration and one of our amazing volunteers will talk you through volunteering with us.
WEEKLY RAFFLE ROSTER
TERM 4
Week 6 – 19 November
Week 7 – 26 November
| Kindy Green | Week 6 – Rosie Moore Week 7 – Ava Murphy |
| Kindy White | Week 6 – Evelyn Nebel Week 7 – Oisin O’Gorman-Smith |
| PP Green | Week 6 – Ruairi Meenan Week 7 – Emilio Papalia |
| PP White | Week 6 – Caolan Meenan Week 7 – Margaret Lee |
| Year 1 Green | Week 6 – Ned Moore Week 7 – Zahlia Phillips |
| Year 1 White | Week 6 – Peyton Palmer Week 7 – Clarisse Hong |
| Year 2 Green | Week 6 – Mason Meenan Week 7 – Indiana Gray |
| Year 2 White | Week 6 – Leo Sharrinovski Week 7 – Frankie Wilson |
| Year 3 Green | Week 6 – Oscar Harris Week 7 – Filip Pizzata |
| Year 3 White | Week 6 – Noah Palmer Week 7 – Ella Phillips |
| Year 4 Green | Week 6 – Tristan Goh Week 7 – NO RAFFLE |
| Year 4 White | Week 6 – Jack Michael Week 7 – Eleanor Lee |
| Year 5 Green | Week 6 – Not required Week 7 – NO RAFFLE |
| Year 5 White | Week 6 – Luca Marrapodi Week 7 – Max Nguyen |
| Year 6 Green | Week 6 – Alessia Marrapodi Week 7 – Allegra Pizzata |
| Year 6 White | Week 6 – Indi Whitbread Week 7 – Amelia Yee |
Award Winners
MERIT AWARDS – Term 4, Week 5
Congratulations to all the recipients of this week’s Merit Awards:
PP Green – Hugo Di Giallonardo, Charlie Walker, Hadley Winrow, Lucas Young
PP White – Isaac Comber, Penelope Halls, Brigid Murphy Grace, Tommy O’Donohoe
1 Green – Grace Aldworth, Theodore Billington, Abigail Lumsden
1 White – Mia Etheridge, Florence Stazzonelli, Jayden Win
2 Green – Norah Cregan, Julia Fantoni, Flynn Hartus
2 White – Clara Fuller, Frankie Wilson, Violet Zachar
3 Green – Florence Crookes, Annabel Harper
3 White – Elliott Bonnett, Felix Halls, Luciana Pulido Vargas, Ross Smith
4 Green – Ayden Shabani, Asher Shrivastava, Roisin Veale, Reuben Williams
4 White – Mathea Co, Jack Michael, Lily Vernon
5 Green – Teodor Dimitrijevic, Tom Ross, Aleksander Tuma
5 White – Savannah Ceric, Max Nguyen, Lucia O’Toole, Senumitha Ratnayake
6 Green – Ella MacPherson, Sandra Mandujano Liu, Mariana Pulido Vargas, Harriet Webb
6 White – Laclan Eaton, Jaike Evangelista, Mia Moore, Luca Scagnetti
Class News
From our Year 2 Classes
In Year Two, we have been exploring the topic of Australian Money. Students have enjoyed learning about coins and notes, identifying their differences and values, and using skip counting to add money amounts. We have also discovered that there are many different ways to make the same value — except for the tricky 5c coin! It’s been a fun and hands-on way to build real-world maths skills.
From our Year 1 Classes
This week in Year 1, we commemorated Remembrance Day by reading and discussing stories such as The Poppy Story and Lest We Forget. Students reflected on the meaning of the day and created beautiful poppy art by stamping red paint for petals and drawing green stems, while building their understanding of important national events and symbols through literature and art.
Community Notices
