Dear Parents and Carers, 

Winter has definitely arrived.  With it there is a crisp shift in the air, a noticeable hush settling over the landscape. Gone are the vibrant hues of autumn, replaced by muted tones and bare branches against a steely sky. The shorter days encourage introspection, a time to retreat and reflect. This seasonal change is a reminder of the cyclical nature of life, of endings and beginnings, a period of rest before nature’s eventual resurgence in the spring. 

It is also the Church season of Pentecost. Pentecost marks the descent of the Holy Spirit and concludes the Easter season. It commemorates the transformative event where the Apostles received the Spirit's gifts, empowering them to preach and spread Christianity. This season prompts reflection on spiritual empowerment, the diverse gifts of the Spirit, and the Church's mission to evangelise. It's a call to recognise and utilise our own gifts in service and witness to faith.

In a below article you will find a summary of the recent Tell Them From Me Survey. I firstly thank all the parents and staff who took the time to complete the survey. I thank you for your honesty and constructive feedback. As I have always maintained, should you have feedback, concerns or questions (at any time of the year), please feel free to make contact with me via the School Office.  

Semester 1 Student Academic Reports were published on Compass yesterday afternooon. Take the time to read over your child's report. Questions you have about the report and your child's learning can be addressed at the Learning Conversations that are taking place for Year 1 to 6 during Weeks 9 and 10. These appointments can be made via Compass Conferences. Kindergarten parents had the opportunity to discuss their child's learning earier in the term, however if you have any questions specific to the Semester 1 Report, please make contact with the class teacher/s.  

Student workbooks were sent home on Wednesday. Parent engagement in a child's learning is crucial for their academic success, social-emotional well-being, and overall development. When parents are actively involved, children are more likely to enjoy learning, be motivated, and achieve better outcomes. This involvement includes regularly discussing the learning that is taking place at school. To support this we are asking that each family spends some time speaking with their child and discussing the learning that has taken place. Writing a positive comment and signing the slip will help let us know that your child has had this opportunity of sharing their learning. Workbooks are due back to school on Monday (or before).  

Thank you for your ongoing partnership.  

Warm regards, 

Mrs Maria Disibio 

Acting Principal

Sunday Reading Reflection

Luke 9:11-17

After Jesus finished teaching the crowd, the people were very hungry. The disciples came to Jesus- they had only 5 loaves and 2 fish and there were more than 5000 men. Jesus took the loaves and fish, said the blessing and gave them to the disciples for the people. They all ate their fill and there were twelve baskets of scraps left over.

Reflection for this week- 

Jesus shows us that He cares deeply for His followers. He nourishes us not only spiritually, but physically as well. Sunday's feast, the Body and Blood of Christ, reminds us that Jesus gives us His own body and blood so that we might live with Him forever. This week have a special family meal together but before eating make sure you offer a prayer of thanks and ask God’s blessing on your family.

Gospel Value/Virtue:

Thoughtfulness is speaking and acting in a way that considers what other people will enjoy, rather than just thinking about yourself. It’s a simple human act that lets Christ’s light and joy shine in our actions and sets an example to others. Let’s remember to be thoughtful people this week. 

St Columba Feast Day

There were many smiling faces last Friday as our school community celebrated the feast day of our patron saint, St Columba/Columbkille. Thank you to Fr Anthony, for leading us, and Year 1 staff for organising our lovely Mass. Thank you also to Mrs Andary for leading our school band the Cobras, and all those students who read or were a part of the offertory and entrance procession. Congratulations to all the recipients of the St Columbkille's Awards. 

World Refugee Day – 20 June 2025

Each year on 20 June, the world celebrates World Refugee Day (WRD). The day is designated by the United Nations to honour refugees who have been forced to flee their homes and to promote solidarity with them for a “world where refugees are welcomed.”

The Catholic Church encourages us to welcome, promote, accompany, and integrate those who knock on our doors. Information and prayer resources for WRD are available on the link below.

Confirmation Enrolments

Enrolment forms for Year 6 students are to be picked up at Mass THIS weekend (21st/22nd June) and NEXT weekend (28th/29th June). Once filled in the forms are to be emailed back to the office at Corrimal@dow.org.au or handed to the Parish office on Wednesday's between 1 pm and 3 pm by 11th July. ANy questions please contact Lisa on 42843000.

The Tell Them From Me Survey is an oppprtunity for parents to give feedback about our school to support us in celebrating areas of strength, as well as identifying areas for improvement. 

Thank you to the 72 parents who completed the survey.

Some aspects we would like to highlight can be found below. Note that our school mean is first, followed by the region mean in brackets. 

Some common themes that came from the open-response section of the survey are listed below, along with information to help support each:

Areas of Strength:

(1) Students Feel Safe and Supported

An overwhelming theme in the feedback provided was that parents felt their child was safe and supported at school. 

(2) Welcoming Catholic School Community

Parents feel that our staff model Catholic values and that there is a strong sense of our school being a faith-filled community. Parents noted that they felt welcomed and a sense of belonging. We continue to encourage our student's and their families to attend a weekend Mass, and also unpack the Sunday Gospel each week with the students. 

(3) Positive Relationships 

Parents expressed that positive, respectful relationships exist between staff and students and that their child’s teacher knows their child and how they learn best. 

(4) Diverse Learning Needs

Also reiterated at our Parent Listening Assemblies, these survey results suggest that parents feel that the diverse learning needs of our students are a priority and that this is an area that we have made significant gains in. 

(5) Special Events

It was noted that parents are very pleased with the variety of events and opportunities we provide at a school level e.g. Easter Hat Parade, Mothers/Fathers Day Events etc. Parents feel that the sense of community is a clear priority at our school and we do lots of work in fostering belonging and connectedness.  

Areas for Improvement: 

(1) Communication About Learning

Parents are requesting greater sharing of learning between home and classroom. This correlates with the feedback we gained through the Parent Listening Assemblies. In response to this request, all classes K-6, will be utilising the Seesaw platform from Week 1, Term 3. Each student will share a minimum of 1 piece of work with their family each week. We encourage all families to discuss this piece of learning each week and prioritise this learning conversation. More information about this will be shared prior to the commencement of Term 3.

As per Diocesan guidelines, Academic Reports are published twice each year (End of Term 2, End of Term 4) and there is an opportunity to meet with the teacher following each of these. Outside of these two reporting periods, a teacher will make contact with parents should there be a need. We always encourage parents that if you wish to have an update on your child’s learning or have a general check-in on progress (academic or otherwise), please know that you are able to arrange this directly with your child’s class teacher at any time. 

A selection of workbooks are also sent home in Term 2 and Term 3 to share students' learning with their families. We encourage all families to spend some time talking with their child about their work, what they have learnt, what they find challenging etc. Spending this quality time with your child, prioritising conversations about learning, are critical in the progress and development of your child, not only in learning, but also in their faith and wellbeing. 

(2) Communication (Compass, Newsletters, Social Media)

We received a variety of feedback about general communication including:

• Weekly social media posts are beneficial and useful

• Excellent communication on Compass - parents feel well informed 

• Allowing Compass alerts to always be accessible and not expire: The expiry on compass alert coincide with the conclusion of events. Keeping all compass alerts with no expiry makes it extremely difficult to navigate the mass of information. 

• Limit to only the School Newsletter, no need for the term Grade Newsletter as it’s too much information: The Grade newsletter (1 per term) is a way to keep parents informed about the learning that will take place each term, whereas the School Newsletter contains general information, upcoming events etc. 

• Too much information is sent on Compass: It is important that all necessary information is communicated via Compass.

• Event information is shared too late: Information regarding events is given when available and we always aim to give families as much notice as possible. A helpful tip would be for you to subscribe to the school calendar so that you have event dates well ahead of time. Some dates, depending on what they are, are entered for the full year at the beginning of Term 1. Information on how to subscribe to the school calendar is linked in an article below. 

It is clear from the feedback that parents have different preferences that suit their particular lifestyle, work habits etc. We always aim to keep our parent community well-informed and to be clear and transparent in our communication. We will continue to send important notices via Compass and we encourage families to read our fortnightly newsletter and follow our social media pages for the most up-to date information. 

Items for Clarification:

(1) Why do we teach Religious Education?

As a very proud, Catholic school community, our faith and the teachings of our Church are at the heart of what we do every day. This is in addition to the mandated teaching of the Syllabus in all Key Learning Areas. 

(2) Reports 

Reporting expectations are set by the Diocese and we are instructed as to what must be included (e.g. Semester 1 - no general comment, only English/Maths/RE Learning Gains and Areas for Growth). Reports are written at the end of Term 2 and again at the end of Term 4. Information/updates outside of this time can be sought directly with the class teacher. 

(3) Communication Regarding Behaviour

Feedback around consistency in the management of behaviour was highlighted, as well as the need for the school to communicate whose responsibility it is to contact parents in these instances.

Our PB4L procedures were updated at the beginning of 2025 and communicated with all families via the newsletter in Term 1, Week 2. This year we have made changes to ensure there is greater consistency and transparency, and that parents are contacted more regularly than in previous years about low-level behaviours. 

We regularly review our procedures and new updates will be provided when needed. 

Did you know that you can acces the school calendar via the Schoolzine App? In the Home tab of the App, select School Calendar in the bottom right hand corner and all school published events will appear.  You can also choose an event and then select 'Sync Event' to add the event to the calendar on your device.  This is a great way to keep up to date with up coming school events.  

Term 2 continues to be busy with many enrichment opportunities.

We have submitted entries from Stage 2 and Stage 3 to the Write On Competition - congratulations to Lucinda Merola and Keira Fabon. Results will be announced later in the year.

Groups of students in Year 6 are working on their STEM MAD submissions. (Science, Technology, Engineering, Mathematics, Making A Difference). Later next term they will present their design concepts, process and prototypes to be judged. Our winning group will represent us at the Innovate for Impact Conference where they will present to other students, staff, industry and business representatives.

Two teams of 8 students will be visiting Good Samaritan next Thursday to compete in a Diocesan Sacred Sparks Competition. They will need to problem solve in areas of Religion, Mathematics, English, Code Breaking, Cartography, Science, Engineering and Dramatic Interpretation. We look forward to hearing how the day goes.

We continue to run a regular Chess Club, following on from our success at the Illawarra Zone of the Primary Schools Chess Competition where our A Team came 3rd and our B Team 13th out of 47 teams - we will be even better next year!

Michelle Lace

Leader of Enrichment

In Week 6 we had seven work experience students join us from Holy Spirit College. Many of these were ex-students and it was an absolute pleasure having them join us for their placement.

We received a lovely email from one of the students following the placement which we thought we would share with you:

Great news! St Columbkille's has been shortlisted as a State Finalist 'PAB State SHORTLIST FINALISTS' in the 2025 Paint Australia Beautiful – Schools Competition! We’re currently #2 in NSW and in the running to win $750 worth of paint and supplies from Haymes Paint to complete our mural.

To help us reach the top spot, please vote for our school by clicking here --> 'click here'. Please feel free to share the voting link with your families, friends, and the wider community- only one vote per email address is allowed.

Voting runs from 16 June to 27 July 2025

Let’s get behind this opportunity and show our school spirit! If we win the State title, we’ll also be in the running for the National People’s Choice Award later this year.

Thank you to Gabriela Vargas and Bodie Jarman, who took inspiration from all the student submissions and combined them into one stunning mural design!

Miss Lauren Ah Tong

Application for Extended Absence - Greater than five school days

Complete this form for an absence of greater than five school days that is due to one of the following reasons: misadventure or unforeseen event; participation in special events not related to the school; domestic necessity such as serious illness of an immediate family member; attendance at funerals; travel in Australia and overseas; recognised religious festivals or ceremonial occasions.

Previously when families took leave within the school term, schools issued a certificate of extended leave, approving leave for holidays and other personal matters. As of 2025 the CEDoW Attendance Policy has been updated to reflect the importance of school attendance for all students. This means that schools now issue an Acknowledgment of Extended Absence. This acknowledgement indicates whether the explanation for the absence has been accepted by the Principal or not. An explanation that is not accepted is recorded as an unjustified absence. Generally, an explanation for extended absence for the purpose of travel outside the school holiday period can not be accepted by a Principal, unless there are exceptional circumstances, such as urgent family situations, illness, funerals or special religious ceremonies.  

Please email the completed form and supporting documents to info@sccdow.catholic.edu.au
If you have any questions please contact the school office.

To assist with your planning, these are the Pupil Free Days that will occur this year:

Term 3: Monday 21st July and Friday 26th September 

Term 4: Thursday 18th December and Friday 19th December

On these dates, staff will engage in Professional Learning and/or Spirituality Days. 

There are times when changes need to be made that are beyond our control. If there are any changes to these dates, they will be communicated with you as early as possible.

Mrs Christine Perre
Acting Assistant Principal

The Parish Council at St Michael's Anglican Cathedral, located on the South side of our school, have written to us to express ongoing concerns about parents and visitors parking in their car park.

From June 2025, they will be placing bollards in St Michael's lane and installing chains across the driveway, with signboards, to restrict access to their car park. They have clearly stated to us via written communciation that the St Michael's Anglican Church parking will be restricted for St Michael's Church visitors only. 

We appreciate your support in ensuring that all visitors to our school do not access their car park. 

Young Engineers is currently offering unique STEM programs for students in Years 1 to 6, focusing on critical skills for the digital age.

Term 3 spots are now available!

Children can learn and have fun simultaneously. To apply, please use the online link provided on the flyer.

The Council of Catholic School Parents is hosting two free webinars for parents and carers of tweens and teens. The sessions will be presented by esteemed author, speaker and educator, Michelle Mitchell.

Parenting Tweens: What Kids Need Now, Before the Teen Years
For parents and carers of primary school students aged 8+
Presented by Michelle Mitchell
Tuesday 24 June 2025
7.00 pm – 8.00 pm
Click here to register.

Parenting Teens: Staying Connected Through the Teen Years
For parents and carers of high school students aged 12+
Presented by Michelle Mitchell
Wednesday 25 June 2025
7.00 pm – 8.00 pm
Click here to register.