St Columbkille's Catholic Parish Primary School Corrimal eNewsletter

Principal's Message

Dear Parents and Carers,

Hope that you well and have found some renewed energy and inspiration as we move into the season of Spring.

‘Spring - a lovely reminder of how beautiful change can truly be’.

Last week, we were provided with a plan for the remainder of Term 3 and the scheduled return to school for both staff and students moving in Term 4. Please see below for key information re: Term 3 and Transition to School Term 4. All schools across NSW will follow the same plan moving forward. This is a positive step moving forward and we are extremely excited about the opportunity to safely bring our school community back together again.

Timeline for the COVID-19 safe return to face-to-face learning:

Present: All schools in NSW at Level 4 restrictions (remote learning).
25 October 2021:Kindergarten and Year 1 will return to face-to-face learning with Level 3 COVID restrictions on school sites.
1 November 2021: Years 2 and 6 will return to face-to-face learning with Level 3 COVID restrictions on school sites.
8 November 2021: Years 3, 4 and 5 will return to face-to-face learning with Level 3 COVID restrictions on school sites.

This morning at our Week 8 Award Assembly, we acknowledged our dad's through our Father's Day Celebration. Thank you to Mrs Herring, Ms Finlay-Joseph for their support and organisation, along with Father Rick for his wonderful tribute - 'To All the Dad’s'. Our St Columbkille's dad's Sam Immens (Tom and Hugo), Paul Stephen (Molly and Isla) and Rob Docherty (Grace and Tom) who spoke from the heart with describing what it means to be a dad, the special memories, stories and the positive impact that they and their children have on their lives, thank you.

'Dads hold our hands for a little while and hold our hearts forever'.

R U OK? Day is a reminder that every day is an opportnuity to empower people to connect, to have a chat and off a hand and/or ear of support. This year's message is : 'Are they really OK? Ask them today'. It's now more than ever we need to strengthen our connections and communication with family, friends and colleagues. If we here at St Columbkille's can help in anyway, please let us know. For further information, please refer to the R U OK day article within this newsletter.

Throughout Remote Learning, our SCC Weekly Grade Check-Ins (Monday or Tuesday) have been a wonderful platform to connect with our teachers and students after the weekend. It enables us to discuss the week’s upcoming events, learning and have some fun together (eg: games, Kahoots, and challenges).

It is an expectation that all students are in attendance for these Weekly Grade Check-Ins on a Monday or Tuesday in order to discuss the week’s events and most importantly have the opportunities to connect with their classmates and teachers.

Throughout this challenging term we have been a beacon of hope, source of calm and support for many people within our school commnuity and beyond. Thank you to the many students and their paretns/carer, who supported them, in writing letters to our parishioners and friends in aged care facilities, including Diggers here in Corrimal. We have received some wounderful feedback and this act of kindness and thoughtfullness is immeasrable. Students are currently writing lettters to children who are currently in Westmead Hospital. Thank you to Mrs Immens for delivering these letters on our behalf.

Enjoy the weekend and your Father's Day celebrations on Sunday.

Stay safe and connected.

Take care.

Brad Colquhoun (Principal)