Principal's Post

Dear Community of St Columba’s,

Athletics Carnival 

What a wonderful day we enjoyed at yesterday’s Athletics Carnival! The weather certainly delivered, and it was fantastic to see our students enthusiastically participating, encouraging one another and demonstrating such outstanding sportsmanship throughout the day. 

Our carnival was a celebration of much more than athletic ability. Students showcased resilience, determination, teamwork and school spirit, whether they were competing on the track, participating in field events, cheering on their teammates or helping others. We are incredibly proud of the way our students represented themselves and our school community. 

A sincere thank you to Mr Banks for the considerable organisation and preparation that goes into coordinating an event of this scale. Thank you also to our staff, whose support and supervision ensured the day ran so smoothly. A special thank you to Mr O’Reilly, keeping us informed and entertained on the PA system. 

We are especially grateful to our P&F Sub-Committees and parent volunteers who generously gave their time to provide the Sausage Sizzle and Bake Sale. Your ongoing support helps make special events such as this possible and contributes greatly to the wonderful sense of community that exists within our school. 

Finally, thank you to our families who attended and supported the day. Seeing students cheered on by parents, grandparents and friends made the carnival a truly memorable occasion.  

Congratulations to our overall winners of the Performance Shield, Columbanus and the Spirit Shield Pascal and to all Champions and Runner Up Champions. 

We look forward to our Pre Primary Sports Morning this coming Friday 18 September.

Champions

Overall faction results

1^st – Columbanus
2^nd – Pascal
3^rd – McAuley
4^th – Russell

Catholic Performing Arts Festival 

On behalf of the School and Performing Arts Festival Committee, we congratulate the following students on achieving the following Award(s).

GUITAR SOLO – ELECTRIC/BASS (YRS 4-6)
EXCELLENCE
Tessa Cavalli

STRINGS SOLO (YRS 4-6)
OUTSTANDING
Isabella Goh
Ava Gallagher
Zara Fantoni

EXCELLENCE
Maya Katich
Alessandra Cahill 

PIANO SOLO (YR 4)
OUTSTANDING
Samiya McShanag

PIANO SOLO (YR 5)
OUTSTANDING
Arthur Oliveira

MERIT
Asher Shrivastava
Tessa Cavalli

PIANO SOLO (YR 6)
EXCELLENCE
Anzo Tan

CHORAL SACRED MUSIC – NON-AUDITIONED (PRI)
MERIT
St Columba’s School Choir

GUITAR SOLO – ACOUSTIC/CLASSICAL (YRS 4-6)
OUTSTANDING
Vaughan O’Reilly

EXCELLENCE
Thea O’Reilly 

PERCUSSION SOLO – DRUM KIT ONLY (YR 4-6)
EXCELLENCE
Huw Humphreys

Thank you also for your outstanding performance to your peers from Years 3 to 6 at last week’s Mini Concert. You should be incredibly proud of the confidence, enthusiasm and musical talent you displayed. Performing in front of an audience requires courage, dedication and preparation, and you represented both yourselves and our school exceptionally well. Your performance was thoroughly enjoyed by students and staff alike, and it was wonderful to see your hard work and commitment reflected in such a polished and engaging presentation.

Kiss and Drive Safety 

The safety of our students, staff and families is always a priority. 

Following several incidents in which staff sustained minor injuries while supervising Kiss and Drive, we have reviewed our procedures and introduced updated guidelines to further support the safety of everyone using the service. 

While these guidelines continue to prioritise the safety and wellbeing of our students, they also recognise the importance of protecting staff from unnecessary risk. As a result, students who can enter and exit vehicles independently will be expected to do so. Staff will only assist with opening and closing vehicle doors for Pre-Primary and Year 1 students, when required. We also ask that school bags and belongings remain with the student and are not placed in other areas of the vehicle by staff. 

Over the coming months, we will be encouraging students to develop greater independence in using Kiss and Drive. We ask parents to support this by helping children practise opening and closing doors, managing their belongings, and entering and exiting vehicles safely and independently. 

Please also note that staff are unable to retrieve items that fall from vehicles into the roadway. Should this occur, parents will need to collect these items when it is safe to do so. 

Thank you for your understanding and support as we continue to prioritise the safety of all members of our school community.  

 Upcoming Events: 

• Friday 18 September: Pre Primary Sports Morning 

• Tuesday 22 September: Assembly @ 2pm 

• Friday 25 September: Crazy Sock Day to raise money for Archbishop’s LifeLink Appeal 

• Friday 25 September: Final day of Term 3 

• Monday 12 October: Term 4 Commences for Students and Staff 

• Friday 16 October: P&F Disco 

In gratitude, 
Gina Burns

Catholic School Parents Australia Student Wellbeing and Learning Survey

A strong parent voice shapes stronger outcomes for children. This Learning and Wellbeing survey is an important opportunity for parents to share their experiences, insights and hopes for your child’s learning and wellbeing. When parents speak, decision makers listen, and when your perspectives are gathered collectively, they become a powerful source of evidence that can influence policy and guide improvement across our schools.

Surveys are an efficient and confidential way to understand what matters most to families. By taking a few minutes to participate, you help create a clearer picture of how children are experiencing school and how the partnership between home and school can be strengthened. When children see the adults in their lives, parents and teachers, communicating and working together respectfully, it builds the psychological and emotional safety they need to flourish.

Your voice genuinely makes a difference, and we would be very grateful for your participation in this survey: https://unesurveys.au1.qualtrics.com/jfe/form/SV_bDFBiwnMuAjB0Ue

Assistant Principal's Updates

ST COLUMBA’S PARISH – CAN YOU HELP??

The St Columba’s Parish is looking for an experienced paver to assist with repaving the area under the new portico. Assistance may come in the form of expertise in the area of paving or helping to engage someone who has this experience. Help with sourcing the pavers would also be appreciated.

If you are able to provide any assistance or contacts for this project, please contact Leesa.Vinciullo@cewa.edu.au

Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

UR STRONG FRIENDOLOGY

WHEN TO STEP-IN & WHEN TO STEP-BACK

We really want to work as a team to empower your child with skills to create healthy friendships and be resilient. As parents ourselves, we know it’s sometimes heartbreaking to watch your child struggle. Here’s an article from our friends at URSTRONG suggesting when to step-in or when to step-back when they’re experiencing conflict in a friendship.

https://urstrong.com/when-to-step-in-when-to-step-back/

SCHOOL PHOTOS ONLINE ORDERING

 Parents,

 We have been informed by Kapture Photography that orders are still open for this year’s class and individual photos.

 Please place your order before the closing date, Sunday 20th September 2026, to avoid a $30 custom service fee.

 You will be notified when sports and special team photos become available for viewing and purchase.

 To order, please visit www.kapture.com.au and use our school code: R28WK5

Mrs Leesa Vinciullo

APRE and Inclusive Education Coordinator

Leesa.Vinciullo@cewa.edu.au

P & F News

A BIG THANK YOU!

A huge thank you to all of our wonderful volunteers who helped out with the recent Bake Sale and Sausage Sizzle. We couldn’t run events like these without our amazing school community giving up their time to help!

We’d also like to say a big thank you to IGA and Tony’s Meat for their generous support.

THE ANNUAL CAR PARK RAFFLE IS BACK!

Want your very own personal car bay for Term 4? Now’s your chance!

This year’s raffle is online only, with one lucky winner scoring their own designated car bay for the entire term — including the EDU Dance Concert and Disco!

The winner will be drawn Tuesday 22 September, so get in quick and grab your tickets!

https://tickets.rafflelink.com/st-columbas-primary-school/car-bay-raffle-2026

Our next meeting will be held on Tuesday 27 October at 6:30pm in the school library.

Everyone is welcome. We’d love to see you there! x

Thanks,

The P&F team

Library News

LIBRARY 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, Tuesday,Thursday or Friday. Precut covering for books is supplied. Your help is greatly appreciated by students and staff.

Rita Cuthbert – Library

(Monday, Tuesday, Thursday & Friday)

Pastoral Care

Class News

From our Year 5 Classes:

This week in Religious Education, the Year 5s have been learning about how Jesus chose the first leaders of the Church and we have explored the important role of leadership within the faith community. Students have been investigating the responsibilities of different Church leaders, including the Pope, Bishops, Priests and Deacons, and discussing how they serve and support the needs of others. As part of this learning, each child has selected a Church leader to research and is creating an infographic poster to showcase their findings. This learning has linked beautifully with our preparations for the Year 6 leadership speeches, as we continue to explore the qualities and actions that make an effective and compassionate leader.

Community Notices