Dear Families of St Columba’s,
From one of last Sunday’s Scripture Readings we hear “Jesus was led by the Spirit into the desert to be tempted by the devil. He fasted for forty days and forty nights, and afterwards he was hungry.” (Matthew 4:1-2)
Temptation is never from God. But God does permit us to be tempted. Not so that we fall, but so that we grow in holiness. Temptation forces us to rise up and make a choice either for God or for the temptation. Though mercy and forgiveness are always offered when we fail, the blessings that await those who overcome temptation are numerous.
Reflect, today, upon Jesus facing the devil in the desert after spending 40 days of fasting. He faced every temptation of the evil so as to assure us that if we but unite ourselves completely to Him in His human nature, so we also will have His strength to overcome anything and everything evil throws our way.
Thank you
Thank you to all the boys and girls who quickly modified their play before and after school to address our safety and supervision needs last week. They are to be commended for their co-operation and understanding about this.
We do request students be dropped off no earlier than 8.15 am. The school operates their own before school care program. Should you need supervision before this time, please contact Jess at oshc@stcolsbays.wa.edu.au or 9208 2723.
Therapists on site
The school receives many requests for therapists to deliver therapy programs to students onsite. Whilst we understand that therapists cannot accommodate every child before and after school, we need to give careful consideration in allowing therapists to deliver therapy on site and during school hours as your child remains our duty of care and we have a requirement to teach the curriculum.
In accordance with the Privacy Act, our teachers are unable to pass on details of your child or their education to therapists. Teachers will provide this information to you as the parent and therapists can access this information from you.
Requests for therapy to be held during the school day should be sent directly to the Principal via admin@stcolsbays.wa.edu.au
Enjoy your extra-long weekend.
In gratitude,
Gina Burns
Principal
P & F News
Class reps have contacted year groups now with minutes from the last meeting and the highlights from the meeting. Please reach out to your class rep if you have not received any contact from them.
Any items for the agenda should be bought to your class representative by the Friday prior to the scheduled P&F meeting. Any items that are bought forward after this will carry over to the following meeting. I am happy for people to email agenda items to me or post them on the parent Facebook page if you are not able to contact your class rep.
We would like to take the opportunity to remind everyone that class representatives are the representative of the class to the P&F. The P&F is about Friend Raising and Fund Raising and helping the school community. Your class teacher should still be the first port of call for any issues that involve the school rather than the P&F.
Please click on the below link for the minutes from last week’s P&F:
Italian Night (Flyer attached to this newsletter).
Our first big event of the year is our Welcome back Italian night next Friday 10th of March starting at 5:30pm. Orders are now open and will close 5pm Monday 6th.
Please note that we have moved to online payments using a secure payment gateway (Stripe).
Orders must be paid for now prior to submitting. A volunteer roster will be out next week for help getting out the food.
The link for orders is below. Orders must be paid for now prior to submitting.
Swimming Carnival Sausage Sizzle
We will be running a sausage sizzle for those year 4 – 6 students and parents attending the swimming carnival next Thursday 9th March. Orders are open and will close 5pm Tuesday 7th March.
Entertainment Memberships
Online memberships are available again this year. Memberships can be purchased online.
https://www.entertainment.com.au/orderbooks/83589g
The next meeting is on Tuesday 14 March at 7pm.
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
The WINNER of the Library Lucky Dip competition …
” WHAT IS THE NAME OF THE LARGEST LIBRARY IN THE WORLD, AND WHERE IS IT? “
Is : Lachlan Stewart Year 2W
This week’s ‘Class of the Week’ is…
Pre Primary White
Congratulations!
Pastoral Care
Happy Birthday to:
To the following students who will be celebrating this coming week:
Kieran Vernon KG
Theodore Billington KW
Holly McMenamin PPG
Oscar Harstrom PPG
Digby Weaire PPW
Ezra Ta PPW
Ivy Quach 1G
Elliott Bonnett 1W
Isaiah Chong 2G
Amelia Booth 2G
Marcus Chong 2W
Shylo Verma 4W
Maya Thompson Mewburn 5G
Grace Hartus 5G
Pastoral Care is up and running again. As a group we support and assist families and individuals in our school community during both difficult times and more joyous occasions, such as the birth of a child.
The WEDNESDAY class raffles are starting up again in Week 5 this Term.
Tickets are 20c each (maximum of 3 tickets per child).
Term rosters are placed on the classroom door and printed in the weekly newsletter for you to check when your child/children are due to donate the prize (one prize donated per child a year) for their class. The idea is to provide a small gift (eg book, puzzle, pencils etc) to the maximum value of $5.
The child rostered to donate a prize is kindly asked to hand the prize to the class teacher before the morning of their roster.
We cannot do what we do for the community without your generosity and participation.
Thank you greatly from the Pastoral Care Team!
TERM 1
Week 5 – 1 March
Week 6 – 8 March
| Kindy Green | Week 5 – Maxwell Bateman Week 6 – Remington Bennett |
| Kindy White | Week 5 – Theodore Billington Week 6 – Hugh Murphy Grace |
| PP Green | Week 5 – Blake Darcy Week 6 – Paige Booth |
| PP White | Week 5 – Hugo Allison Week 6 – Bodhi Chipperfield |
| Year 1 Green | Week 5 – Aurora Cameron Week 6 – Ciara Carruthers |
| Year 1 White | Week 5 – Charlie Bateman Week 6 – Elliott Bonnett |
| Year 2 Green | Week 5 – Aimee Alexander Week 6 – Amelia Booth |
| Year 2 White | Week 5 – Elliot Lumsden Week 6 – Mathea Co |
| Year 3 Green | Week 5 – Leo Cameron Week 6 – Max Nguyen |
| Year 3 White | Week 5 – Jude Allison Week 6 – Sajad Aljabry |
| Year 4 Green | Week 5 – Raffaele Parker Week 6 – Michael Baldwin |
| Year 4 White | Week 5 – Miranda Ahn Week 6 – Shishir Berigai |
| Year 5 Green | Week 5 – Harry Blake Week 6 – Braelyn Carruthers |
| Year 5 White | Week 5 – Edmond Cavalli Week 6 – Bianca Balla |
| Year 6 Green | Week 5 – Zara Bell Week 6 – Olivia Cotellessa |
| Year 6 White | Week 5 – Justin Ahn Week 6 – Harrison Bull |
Religious Education and Curriculum News
From our Year 2’s
Ash Wednesday
Last Wednesday we attended the Ash Wednesday Mass. Ash Wednesday is the first day in the season of Lent. This week in class we commenced our Lent program. Lent can be observed by all Christians, and it is a beautiful way to remember Jesus’ sacrifice for us and prepare us for the Easter season. During Lent, we remember the 40 days that Jesus spent in the desert. We do extra prayers, fasting, and almsgiving during this season of Lent. We will also be learning the events of Holy Week and that Christians celebrate that Jesus is risen at Easter.
From our Year 3’s
In Mathematics, the Year Three classes have been learning to tell the time to the nearest minute. We made our own clocks so that we could practise telling the time and also played a concentration game using clocks.
Community Notices
Hello and welcome to 2023
As advertised last year, Father Andrew and I are organising a community Baptism event for this term. We have had a wonderful response from a number of families expressing interest in participating in this event.
We now have dates for you to pop in your calendars, and these are also on the school website.
Thursday 2 March :
Baptism information evening 6.30pm church hall
Father and I will be providing information about the upcoming Baptism event and will assist you in your preparations. ALL families who have indicated that they would like to participate, will need to attend this event. If you have not registered your interest at this stage – it is not too late.
We ask that everyone planning to attend please RSVP to Leesa.Vinciullo@cewa.edu.au by Friday 24 February.
Thursday 16 March :
Community Baptism Event 6.30pm St Columba’s Church
Information about the ceremony will be provided at the information night. Participants are welcome to invite family and friends along to join in the celebration.
Looking forward to sharing this celebration with members of our St Columba’s community. Please don’t hesitate to contact me about this events or with any other queries you may have.
With thanks and best wishes
Leesa Vinciullo
Religious Education and Events Coordinator
—
Mercedes College is hosting its Open Day on Tuesday 14 March.
This will be an immersive experience which will include a student-led tour of the College visiting specialised learning areas where prospective families will have the opportunity to meeting the various Heads of Learning.
Two sessions are available: 8.30am and 11am, and registrations are required in order for places to be secured:
https://www.mercedes.wa.edu.au/enrolments/open-morning/
Further Information about the College is available at https://www.mercedes.wa.edu.au/
Classifieds
School Counsellor News
School Counsellor days for 2023 are every Monday and Tuesday and every second Wednesday commencing week 2.
Nicole Leach
School Counsellor