Principal's Post

Dear Parents and Caregivers

Hope you are all going well, as we head into the mid-year holiday break there are a few things I would like to quickly wrap up from the last few months. It has been a busy one for all our parents, our kids, our staff. I will write some notes below and also throw up a few short videos on Facebook if you would rather just plug in the headphones and listen. I have missed not posting on our school Facebook page, so pretty pumped up to get into it again.

Key Themes:

• Throughout the term, everyone has continued to be ‘Ubuntu’, being St Col’s. Once we make the decision to bring ‘Ubuntu’ to life, bring it with genuine care for each other, then things take care of themselves. Everyone has smashed this out of the park.
• Resilience – Our students’ positive outlook on life has thrived during the last few months. There is something about how when we release them to be independent, what happens as a natural part of their being. Although COVID-19 has brought many challenges, tough times for families, the resilience of everyone has shone through. Why would it shine through? Well that is simple, St Col’s people support each other. You all take care of what is needed between parents and staff. Just an outstanding response from everyone to be good to others and look out for them. You get it. Quality!
• Learning – After a short time of on-line learning, our kids have been engaged back in their classrooms and their learning. Our parents know our staff, our parents know our kids. The way we connect, the way we all work together is what has allowed our learning to transition seamlessly. There has been so much goodness come out of COVID-19 and the disruption to the school year. Disruption has challenged us to continue to remain focused on our kids and their learning. When staff, parents and kids work together, the world opens up.
• Acceptance – The ability to accept things for what they are is another aspect of life here at St Col’s that has emerged out of COVID-19. We have learned to accept that we are not always in control of everything in life, everything in front of us. There are times where the flow of life is not ours and we find ourselves engaged in a life we had not planned for. We get thrown curve balls and we struggle to be able to get bat on ball, we find it hard to find our way out. Acceptance of what we have thrown our way, an acceptance of who we are is one of the very best things we can experience. An acceptance of self, an acceptance of others changes the world. We change the world. Again, our community gets this, and that is why it all works.
• Donnelly, our Wellness Dog- What a cracking good dog. This little guy is an old soul and is meant to be here. He just allows us to be, and when we talk about acceptance, there is something about his unconditional love. Donnelly places no expectation on us, except to be. When I think of why I am blessed, I do look at him with a sense of joy. He brings peace.

Kiss and Drive:

• This has been the best thing ever. I do miss my playground duty on the upper basketball courts in the mornings, but while I miss this, I gain so much from being on the Roberts Street Kiss and Drive. It is something I will continue to do for the rest of my time here. I will only miss it when I am caught in meetings or are required off-site for principal stuff. There is no better way to start and end the day.
• The way our little guys jump out of their cars, how our staff greet them, is something very special. It has been great to get to see so many parents as well. Good people, good times I reckon. Love it, even when the traffic is congested.
• A big thanks to all our parents and grandparents for your patience when traffic does build up. We have over 300 cars coming through the area in a very short time frame. What I would remind parents of, is that the end of the day is 2.55 pm, and being here at 2.45 pm does cause traffic congestion initially. May I suggest that coming through at between 3.05 pm and 3.20 pm alleviates much of the traffic congestion. We remain on duty until 3.20 pm each day. Hopefully this takes some pressure off you as parents to not feel you have to be here right on 2.55 pm.
• Again, thank you to parents who have stopped doing U-Turns at the Roberts Street K and D. It is extremely dangerous and we have had official warnings about this practice in the past.
• I wish to acknowledge the work of Miss Klatt and Mrs Cuthbert on the K and D on Milne Street, especially in the morning before school. It is like the Arctic down there, no sun, gentle breeze and a chill factor sub-zero. I appreciate how Deb has offered to continue this duty in Term 3 in the morning. Mrs Dwyer and myself have been basking in the warmth of the morning sun this last couple of months, which has been a delight. I have offered Deb the option of swapping with Megan. She keeps informing me that parents have requested Art should come down and do the Milne Street morning duty. Good banter! Good fun!

Reporting and Parent/Teacher Meetings:

• Thank you to our staff and parents for keeping the channels of communication open when organising parent/teacher meetings over the last couple of weeks. You have once again shown the importance of connection between teachers and parents. You have such respect for each other. For this I am extremely grateful.
• I talk about celebrating every part of a report on my short video. The nuts and bolts are that we all have our strengths and we all have our things we are working towards developing. Our working towards achievements should be celebrated just as hard as our above standard and standard achievements. I love this belief around reporting.
• I am being reviewed this year, and I know I will have above standard for some things, at standard for many and definitely some for working towards, and that is after 18 years of being a Principal. Know that I will celebrate my working towards, just as much as the above standards.
• We set high standards, and we should always accept who we are.
• It appears that a change Mac made in their latest update has affected the way our reports display when accessed on an iOS device. On an iOS device the effort result of the last subject may not display correctly. If you are experiencing this problem please use a different device, or download the PDF to the machine and open it in Adobe Acrobat Reader.  We apologise for any inconvenience.

Term 3 Start-Up:

• Day 1 is Monday 20 July.
• New families attending St Columba’s School will commence next term. We look forward to seeing them being a part of our St Col’s family. Just think about how good we have it. Just for a moment. We are so very blessed. Two of our new students attended Year 1 and Pre Primary on yesterday. Talk about the quality of our staff and kids shining through. That is what we are talking about when we talk about who we are and what we stand for.
• We also have our second cohort of Pre-Kindy students starting next term. We are looking forward to welcoming you all after the delayed start due to COVID-19.
• Uniform –A couple of reminders about school ties and predominantly white sport shoes. Thank you to parents keeping us up to date with any issues with uniform items. I look forward to seeing the standards of uniform reach their peak in Week 2 next term, especially with school photos being planned for early Term 3.
• Sacraments – The Sacrament of Penance [Year 3] and Eucharist [Year 4] have been set for Term 3. These dates have been sent to our Year 3 and 4 staff.
• Athletics Carnival – This will be held on the Friday of Week 9, 18 September.
• School Assemblies will recommence next term. Details on the term planner.
• Year 6s will be engaged in a Social Media platform trial that is focused on children and their use of on-line platforms. This is a world first being conducted by Claire Orange and UWA. We are one of a small number of schools selected across the state to be included in this trial. It will commence in Week 1 next term. Claire has sent me a couple of videos this week for parents. I will send these through to our Year 6 families over the holiday break.
• Term Planner – The Term 3 and 4 Planners will uploaded to the school website next week and a hard copy sent home at the beginning of next term. These will be dates to assist parents with their schedules, however we are always ready to be flexible about what the future may hold with regard to COVID-19, and any changes in government directives. Please be aware, dates are subject to change.
• Data Sheets went home to all families yesterday. These are a government requirement. You would have completed these on enrolment of your children, however government require us to update these forms every year. Please return to school by Tuesday 21 July when we return at the start of next term.

Dice Football League [DFL]:

• And this is a true story. You are not going to believe it, but believe I say, believe.
• While my efforts at following through on my own DFL competition, I wish to thank Harry Mawer in Year 2, and his dad Chris, for their achievement in completing a full season. While I fell away badly after Round 7, they have smashed out their competition with an exhilarating end to the season.
• I preface the following with the fact that I am a North Melbourne fan, and the Mawer family are mad Carlton supporters. Carlton number plates, car seat covers, you name it, they have it.
• This is not rigged or made up. The dice do not lie. They only roll out the truth.
• Prelim Final – North v Carlton. North 6 goals up at half time. Carlton fight back in the third quarter, and late in the last, to snatch victory and move through to the grand final.
• Sounding questionable, sounding like corruption in the game, poor umpiring that favoured the Blues with two free kicks in front of goal late in the game. Yep, sounding dodgy. Well, that is nothing compared to the grand final.
• I repeat this is a true story. Blues supporters, get excited.
• Carlton v West Coast in the grand final. Unbelievable! You could not write a script for this. The dice thrower, Harry, the Commissioner, Harry’s dad, roll the dice on the big day.
• Match played in Perth. First DFL grand final outside of Melbourne.
• Early in the game it is obvious there is going to be an upset. West Coast have come in full of confidence, but the young Blue Baggers, Carlton, let by young Harry, have rolled the West Coast early in the game. As much as West Coast have called on the experience of JK, Shannon Hurn and Nic Nat, the margin was a bridge too far to cross.
• Carlton teach West Coast a football lesson. The youth of Harry and his team win the grand final taking home the premiership.
• Carlton are Premiers! The AFL hold a street parade for Carlton through the Hay Street Mall in Perth. History made. Harry named Norm Smith medalist. Chris, Coach of the Year.
• No this is not a fairy tale. This is the DFL.
• Congratulations to the Mawer family and their loyal Carlton supporters. Will history repeat itself in the WA hub in 2020.

Columba Runners

Columba Runners is up and running again, pardon the pun, at the start of Term 3. Columba Runners will be held on Monday and Wednesday afternoons. This is a parent organised extra curricula activity that is a very special part of what happens here at St Col’s. Without the parent support, this would not happen. Thank you to our volunteers and to all our parents who will support the team of coordinators. This is championship type support.

So as we end the term, I would like to thank everyone for their continued care for each other and their support. We have it good here at St Col’s. Embrace the imperfection, live Ikigai and Ubuntu, and you will change the world. Look after yourself and we all look forward to Term 3. Blessings your way!

Art

P & F News

Library News

The library has lots of books needing covering.  If you can help out by taking a small number of books home to cover over the holidays, please call into the library. Your help is greatly appreciated by staff and students.

If any families have Children’s Magazines that they no longer need, the students would enjoy reading them.

Please note:

 ALL students require a 

‘St Columba’s Homework/Library bag’ 

to borrow library books.

Students without the St Columba’s bag will be unable to borrow from the beginning of Term 3

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 $10.

Parents please order via the link on the Uniform Shop page of the school website.

Rita Cuthbert – Library Officer – Library - the original search engine

Pastoral Care

Award Winners

Term 2, Week 9

PP Green – Chanella Halmich
PP White – Henry Webb, Huw Humphreys, Sheara Udugama Korala, Alessandro Balla

1 Green – Zozie Higgs, Andrew Gai, Raffaele Parker
1 White – Sasha Mazurak

2 Green – Abraham Lawes, Olivia Harris
2 White – Archer Laffrey, Francis Le, Sana Bezich

3 Green – Annabel Inglis, Ryder Walsh, Eva Magill
3 White – Lachlan Preedy, Clyde Peters, Milla Robbins

4 Green – Brielle Donovan, Gabrielle Mazurak, Ella Gerick
4 White – Jett Mann, Oscar Durack, Kassandra Flexman

5 Green – Evan Juszkiewicz, Sophia O’Toole, Vy Huynh
5 White – Asha Campbell, Zac Armstrong, Drystan Chaloner

6 Green – Zoe Wolters, Mia Kowalczyk, Mary Wishart
6 White – Lilly Smith, Tyson Lee,

Community Notices

MERCEDES COLLEGE – ENROLMENT INFORMATION

Early in 2020, Mercedes College will commence interviewing Year 4 & Year 5 students who are due to start Year 7 in 2022 & 2023 respectively. If you are considering enrolling your daughter and have not yet requested a Prospectus, please contact Mrs Julie Lamb on 9323 1340 as soon as possible. Enquiries are also welcome for places in Year 7 for 2020 and 2021. For more information please refer to the College website, www.mercedes.wa.edu.au.

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Trinity College warmly invites you to attend an Open Day for prospective students on Wednesday, 1 July 2020. Families are welcome to attend the 9:15am or 4:15pm session. Each session will include a welcome by the Principal, followed by student led tours of the College, concluding with light refreshments and a chance to chat with some of our teaching staff and admissions team. Bookings can be made at: https://www.trinity.wa.edu.au/enrolments/college-open-day/.

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Learn to Swim is back at Chisholm

Learn to Swim School is back up and running following the Covid-19 shut down. In the near future a number of programs will recommence operating out of the Indoor Heated Chisholm College pool:

• July Holiday Program – 2 week block Monday to Friday (10 sessions in the mornings). Commencing Monday July 6^th ending Friday 17^th of July (No sessions on the weekends)
• Term 3 Program – 9 weeks, attend once per week. Days planned Monday afternoon, Wednesday afternoon, Saturday morning. Commencing Saturday 25^th July ending Wednesday 23^rd September.
• Ongoing Swim Squads – Afternoon sessions on Tuesday/Thursday plus Saturday Mornings. Reasonable level of swimming ability required. Squads appropriate for 10 – 18 year olds.

More information is available here: https://www.chisholm.wa.edu.au/chisholm-swim-academy/   Phone: 9471 2257. Email: learntoswim@pc.wa.edu.au

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