Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to the start of the 2021 school year.

It has been wonderful see St Columbkille's, Corrimal come back to life again with the enthusiasm, joy and energy that our students bring. Thank you to our parents, grandparents and staff for their support and hard work in making the transition back to school so successful.

A very warm welcome to the many new families to our school community - Al Achkar, Atkinson, Beckman, Britton, Browne, Bulley, Cario, Carroll, Durling, Eldridge, Elliffe, Ferguson, Gilmore, Grewcock, Hyslop, Lewis, Lloyd, Macgee, McIntyre, Patris, Redpath, Ryan, Sartracom, Sinko, Sloan, Sorensen, Thompson, Timpano, Trezona, Troughton, Zemaitis, Ukotic, Woelner, Gilmour, Leigh, Hume and Bortolazzo. We look forward to developing our relationship and working with you.

Yesterday, we welcomed the Kindergarten class of 2021 to our St Columbkille’s school community. Thank you to our staff, parents and grandparents for their organisation and commitment in making this possible. It was great to see our Kindergarten parents present to celebrate the start of a new journey for our Kindergarten students. We thank you for choosing our school to share this journey and look forward to many celebrations and working together through the challenging times that life at school brings.

In relation to staffing, we welcome our back Mrs Perre (2G and Middle Leader), along with our new staff members Mrs Runko (4G), Mrs Gilmore (1B) and Mrs Carroll (School Support Officer). 

This morning, our Year 6 students where inducted into their leadership positions for 2021, with a special a presentation in the Monsignor Downey Hall. Thank you Mrs Disibio, Mrs Tyrrell, Mrs Gaffney and Mrs Barrett for supporting the students throughout today's presentation, Year 5 for their attendance and Year 6 parents for their active participation. I wish our Year 6 students every success in their new roles as student leaders within our school community.

Our Parent Information Evenings will be held during Catholic Schools Week (Week 6) - Tuesday 2 March from 6pm for Years 1, 3, 5 and Wednesday 3 March from 6pm for Years 2, 4, 6. Kindergarten will be focused on students Best Start results and will take place from Monday 1 March through to Friday 5 March. This is an opportunity to connect with class teachers and gain a greater understanding about your child/rens learning. Detailed information will be made available re: Catholic School Week including parent information evenings in the coming weeks.  

School Review and Improvement is a process of self-evaluation, targeted growth and performance across a given year. We have developed ‘School Action Plans’ that outline our strategic intent for 2021. These plans (listed below) include the areas and components that we will be working towards successfully achieving. If you have any questions in relation to these plans, please let me know.

On Wednesday, Thursday and Friday of Week 4, our Year 6 students will will leave for the annual excursion this year to 'The Tops Conference Centre', Stanwell Tops. This venue is a move away from Berry Sport and Recreation Centre due to ongoing renovations. The Year 6 students along with Mrs Gaffney, Mrs Barrett, Mrs Tyrrell and myself are looking forward to three wonderful days of teamwork, developing leadership skills, testing challenges, good food and lots of fun. Thank you to the staff who given up their personal time to attend and to parents for providing their children this exciting opportunity

St Joseph is a wonderful model for Christians as we live in the world. The Word of God spoken in the Scriptures guides us, but many times we have to apply that Word in everyday situations where we must see the reality around us, decide what God desires us to do and then act courageously, justly and with compassion. St Joseph shows us how to be persons of the Word of God, whether it is written in books or in the face of God’s creation, unfolding in history.

Once again, welcome to the start of the 2021 school year. We look forward to seeing you throughout the term.

Enjoy your weekend.

Take care

Brad Colquhoun (Principal)