Dear Community of St Columba’s,
Today we mark Ash Wednesday, the beginning of Lent, a sacred season of reflection, renewal and preparing our hearts for Easter. As a school community, we encourage our children to grow closer to God during this time through three simple actions:
- Prayer – taking quiet moments to speak with God.
- Giving Up a Little – choosing to go without something small that we enjoy helps us practise self-control and reminds us to make more space for God in our hearts. When we give something up, we are choosing to put God first.
- Giving to Others – looking for opportunities to be kind, generous and helpful in daily life.
Lent invites us all to pause, reflect and deepen our relationship with God, and I am so proud of the way our children continue to live out these values each day.
CSAC Update
Thank you to those who expressed interest in joining our Catholic School Advisory Council (CSAC). We appreciate the wonderful response from our community. The position has now been filled and will be announced shortly.
P&F Secretary Position – Still Seeking Nominations
We are still looking for a Secretary to join our P&F. Below are the criteria for the role, which can also be shared with anyone who may be a suitable candidate.
The Secretary is required to:
– take minutes of meetings;
– prepare and distribute the meeting papers and agenda;
– keep records of the P&F, including vacancies, reports, minutes, and correspondence;
– provide a list of the P&F Committee members and contact details to the Principal following the Annual Community Meeting; and
– prepare items for promotion in the Donegal and Parent FaceBook Page.
Please remember the role may also be shared. Your support in helping us fill this important position is greatly appreciated.
Annual Community Meeting Reports
At our recent Annual Community Meeting, reports from the CSAC, P&F and School were shared. These documents are now available on our School Website, along with our Annual School Performance Report. I encourage all families to take a moment to read through these important updates.
Family Fee Invoices
Family Fee Invoices were emailed to families at the end of Week One. If you have not yet received your invoice, please check your email or contact the school office.
Option for payments for fees:
Payment in full by Friday 20 February 2026 OR Complete the Payment Option Advice Form and send to the school by 17 February 2026. Fees must then be paid in full by Friday 19 November 2026.
If you are experiencing any financial difficulty, please reach out to me to arrange a confidential conversation, or email me directly at gina.burns@cewa.edu.au.
Upcoming Events
- Tuesday 24 February: Pre Kindy & Kindy 2027 Enrolment Information Morning.
- Wednesday 25 February: Years 4-6 Swimming Carnival
- Wednesday 25 February: URSTRONG Parent Child Workshop
- Thursday 26 February: Evacuation Drill
DATES now confirmed and added onto the Online Parent Calendar:
School Cross Country (Years 1-6): Thursday 28 May
- School Athletics Carnival (Years 1-6): Tuesday 15 September
Shrove Tuesday – Thank You
A heartfelt thank you to all our children and families for your generous donations on Shrove Tuesday to support Project Compassion. Your kindness helps make a meaningful difference to others in need during this Lenten season.
Wishing you all a reflective and grace-filled start to Lent.
In gratitude
Gina Burns
Principal
P & F News
🏊♀️🌭🧃YEARS 4-6 SWIMMING CARNIVAL WED, 25 FEBRUARY AT TERRY TZACK🧃🌭🏊♀️
Orders are now open for both your child & your family!
The P&F are offering lunch options for students, spectators & staff sourced from the Café at the pool.
A little different this year due to the new venue & the City of Stirling’s food handling requirements. This is not a P&F fundraiser, costs go directly to the Café providing the service.
However, we have a much tighter timeline for orders ⏳
“Please note that there will be no spares/extras, so ensure your order is in and correct.
Any missed orders or extras can be purchased directly from the cafe on site by a parent.”
‼️ All orders must be submitted by 9pm, Wed, 18 February! ‼️
Link to order:
https://www.cognitoforms.com/StColumbasPrimarySchool/_2026SwimmingCarnivalPFLunch
‼️ PLEASE REMEMBER All ORDERS MUST BE SUBMITTED BY 9pm, Wed, 18 February! ‼️
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 uniform-selling-season!
Pastoral Care
Happy Birthday to:
The following students who will celebrate birthday’s in the coming week.
Lucy Williams KW
Matilda Arfuso 1W
Kai Loong 2W
Ella Aldworth 4G
Tristan Goh 5G
Jude Allison 6G
Pastoral Care Wednesday Raffle – Starting Week 5
We are pleased to share that our Pastoral Care Wednesday Raffle will begin in Week 5 of Term 1 – Wednesday 4 March. The weekly class raffle is a simple but meaningful way to support the wellbeing of our students, families, and wider school community.
Funds raised through the raffle allow our Pastoral Care team to offer assistance during times of need and to celebrate special moments within our community. Your support through providing a weekly prize when rostered and purchasing tickets on a Wednesday directly contributes to the care we provide for your children and the families around them.
Raffle is $1 for 3 chances to win.
Pastoral Care is also seeking parent volunteers to help on Wednesday mornings. If you are able to spare 30 to 45 mins after drop-off, we would love to welcome you. It’s a great way to meet other parents and be part of a supportive school initiative.
You can find us in the Church meeting room just following the open doors to the church from the basketball court. Come say hi from Week 5.
Thank you for your ongoing generosity and community spirit.
We cannot do what we do without you!
St Columba’s Pastoral Care Team
WEEKLY RAFFLE ROSTER
TERM 1
Week 4 – 25 February – No Raffle – Swimming Carnival
Week 5 – 4 March
| Kindy Green | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Remi Andrus |
| Kindy White | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Noni Berson |
| PP Green | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Hank Brindle |
| PP White | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Riley Bowker |
| Year 1 Green | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – James Blake |
| Year 1 White | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Logan Albouni |
| Year 2 Green | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Grace Aldworth |
| Year 2 White | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Noah Bowker |
| Year 3 Green | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Hugo Allison |
| Year 3 White | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Ayla Bennett |
| Year 4 Green | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Ella Aldworth |
| Year 4 White | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Astor Foley |
| Year 5 Green | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Isaiah Chong |
| Year 5 White | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Marcus Chong |
| Year 6 Green | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 – Jude Allison |
| Year 6 White | Week 4 – No Raffle Swimming Carnival Week 5 -Alessandro Balla |
Award Winners
MERIT CERTIFICATES – Term 1, Week 3
Congratulations to all the recipients of this week’s Merit Certificates:
PP Green – Chase Dawson, Aurora Hodgetts, Evelyn Nebel, Alessio Papalia
PP White – Elias Byrde, Clementine Espie, Teddy Field, Laila Ikin
1 Green – Owen Humphreys, Charlie Williams
1 White – Mercy Alugbin, Tommy O’Donohoe, Olivia Smith, Sebastian Teal
2 Green – Ayla Christie, Frankie Pizzata, Peyton Visser
2 White – Abigail Lumsden, Ned Moore, Samuel Smith, Florence Stazzonelli
3 Green – Hugo Allison, Zara Campbell, Oscar Harstrom, Sophie MacDonald
3 White – Ayla Bennett, Cristian Evangelista, Amelia Reilly
4 Green – Ciara Carruthers, Monica Forster, Chase Gilbert, Filip Pizzata
4 White – Ivan Masnyk, Alliah Parker, Rose Pearson
5 Green – Arden Bezich, Monica Jaramillo Restrepo, Harrison Macpherson
5 White – Amelia Booth, Parker Connell
6 Green – Millie Charlett, Asher Felton, Oscar Hamilton
6 White – Imogen Halls, Lucia O’Toole
Class News
From our Year 6 Classes
Our Year 6 students have started the year working hard in Maths and settling into strong learning routines. Each lesson begins with multiplication drills and mental maths practice to build speed, accuracy and confidence with number facts. We then moved into exploring large numbers, learning how to read, write and order numbers into the millions and beyond. Students have been breaking numbers apart to understand the value of each digit and comparing numbers with confidence. We have also been revising length, where students estimate, measure and compare lengths and perimeters using metric units such as millimetres, centimetres and metres, and practise converting between these units. It has been a positive and focused start to the year, with students showing great effort and determination.
Community Notices
