Dear Parents and Carers,

It has been a sensational term that has been highlighted by several significant events including; Semester One Reports and Learning Conversations, the Sacrament of Confirmation, Masses and Liturgies, 'Understanding Our Boys' Parent Workshops, Athletics Carnival, St Columba Feast Day, Kindergarten 2020 Interviews, Gala Days, and numerous excursions and incursions. On behalf of the staff of St Columbkille’s, I would like to say thank you for your continued support of our students and staff. We have thoroughly enjoyed the celebrations and challenges that Semester One has brought, and we look forward to working together throughout Term 3, in ensuring our students are challenged, engaged and enjoying their learning.

NAIDOC Week 2019 will be held nationally from Sunday 7 July and continue through to Sunday 14 July. This year’s theme is ‘VOICE. TREATY. TRUTH. - Let's work together for a shared future'. Voice. Treaty. Truth. were three key elements to the reforms set out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart. These reforms represent the unified position of First Nations Australians.

During this time we also acknowledge the work and support our ATSI Learning Team, Mrs Lace and Mrs Orphin who organise and support our students in promoting awareness and inclusivity of the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. On Tuesday 23 July, we will be holding a NAIDOC Week School Acknowledgement in the Monsignor Downey Hall at 12.20pm.

Ms Geoghegan officially retires today after 41 years of  service to Catholic Education. In 1994, Suzanne accepted a position as a teacher at St Columbkille’s. For the next 25 years she dedicated herself to the well-being, faith and learning formation of the many, many students she taught during this time. St Columbkille's will dearly miss Ms Geoghegan both personally and professionally, and we wish her every happiness in her retirement. Below are some messages for Ms Geoghegan from Kindergarten 2018.

"I remember our assembly and we sung, 'I’m Still Standing'." "That’s the bit I remembered because it was funny". David Asher
"I remember she always said, 'Have a good day'." Andie Lucchitti
"I remember on our excursion she said, 'Have lots of fun' and we did." Chloe Copson
"I remember she laughed when some people did silly things." Ivy Powell
"I remember when she said to me, 'You have to always listen to the teacher' and now I do." Blake Carter
"I remember every time we worked she said, 'It’s okay if you need help." Felix Ibrahim "I remember she always gave me a sticker when I got my work done." Lachlan Armitage
"I remember she taught me if I wanted to talk in class I have to put my hand up." "I always do that now." Ben Franco

During the school holidays our classrooms and stairwells will be repainted, and new flooring laid in the Basement. The Natural Playground in the Paddock, funded by the P&F is expected to be finished before the start of Term 3.  

On Friday 26 July, we will be celebrating Grandparents Day. We will commence our celebration at 9.10am with a Liturgy in the Monsignor Downey Hall, followed by Classroom visits and morning tea. We look forward to celebrating this very special occasion with you and your parents.

Thank you for your ongoing commitment and dedication of our school community. Enjoy the time with your family and friends and saviour the slow pace of the holiday break. 

We look forward to seeing you again on Monday 22 July for the start of Term 3.

Take care,

Mr Brad Colquhoun - Principal

Vinnies Winter Appeal

Thank you to all those families who helped support this annual appeal. Our winter items will be forwarded to our local Corrimal St Vincent de Paul chapter to help those in our area. I know these representatives are very appreciative of our school's efforts. Also thank you our Mini Vinnies group for holding a lollie guessing competition to contribute a monetary gift towards buying further items. Every little bit counts.

Parish Mass

Please consider attending our monthly Parish Masses this weekend. It is a lovely opportunity to join with our local parishioners to celebrate the Eucharist. Bring a plate of food to share. 

Year 6 Gathering Mass

Next term our Year 6 students will attend the Year 6 Gathering Mass with Bishop Brian. Schools from our cluster will celebrate this event at St John Vianney’s Church at Fairy Meadow. More details to follow.

Important Dates For Reconciliation/First Holy Communion

The enrolment form for these Sacraments will be available for collection after Masses on the weekends of the 4 and 11 August.

Wednesday, 14 August: Liturgy in the Church @ 6.30pm for parents and carers only. (return of forms)

Preparation For Sacrament Of Reconciliation

Wednesday, 18 September: Session 1 @ 6.30pm at St Columbkille’s School. (Parent/carer/child to attend)

Wednesday, 25 September: Sacrament of Reconciliation in St Columbkille’s Church from 9.30-11.30am

Preparation For First Holy Communion

Wednesday, 23 October: Session 2 @ 6.30pm at St Columbkille’s School. (Parent/carer/child to attend)

Wednesday, 13 November: Session 3 @ 6.30pm at St Columbkille’s School. (Parent/carer/child to attend) 

Wednesday, 20 November: Communion Retreat: Child only, Parish Centre, 9.30am start – 3 pm finish.

First Holy Communion Masses 

Saturday, 23 November at 6pm and Sunday 24 November 9:30am

NB: If you know of any State school children who would like to prepare for the Sacraments please pass this on.

Plenary Council 2020: National Theme for Discernment #4 – How is God calling us to be a Christ-centred Church that is Humble, Healing and Merciful? This National Theme for Discernment is inspired by the voices of the People of God who expressed a deep and faith-filled trust in God and a need for lament and healing within the Church, acknowledging the sexual abuse crisis as a turning point for the Church in Australia. Find out more at www.plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au

Take the time to view

"It's Who We Are"

narrated by Bishop Brian Mascord.  

https://www.dow.org.au/about-us/

Congratulations to the following students:

Awards

Principal’s Award

KB - Brody Foster, Wilfrid Welch

KG - Stella Howell

1B -

1G - Nixon Breakspear, Aidan Conway, Taj Cox, Dylan Fang, Isabella Masters, Sienna Pannell, Darcy Shaw

2B - Taj Bloom, Mae Cameron, Vogue Catlin, Takoda Dorrington, Ilueka Gale, Oliver O'Rourke-Bocking

2G - Kaitlin Cram, Mason Townsend

3B – James Brown, Abbie Dyer, Isabel Gerace, Jack Lawford, Cameron Ritz

3G – Archie Malcolm

4B - Bowen Bates, Maddison Beverley, Benjamin Fenton, Anisha Hira, Phoenix Miller, Byron Morris, Zahli O'Hara, Jakob Yarworth

4G - 

5B - Jay Giblett

5G -

6B - Natasha Disibio, Elivia Duggan, Coby Huggins, Cohen Manago, Chelsea Panagiotidis, Ava Rosengren

6G - Xavier Ayers, Georgia Bartzos, Sarah Heaton, Dakota Short

Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop Award

1B -

1G - Bede Risorto

2B - Zali Munoz Letham

2G - Sonny O'Brien

3B -

3G – 

4B - Jacob Esposito, Quito Munoz Letham

4G - Isaac Ayers, Athanael Disibio

5B - Emily Sharman

5G - 

6B - Kaleb Rutledge

6G -

Medallion

2B - Laura Mannion

3G - Angus Coughlan

4G - Jack Kanati

NAIDOC Week is celebrated during the school holidays and this year's theme is Voice - Treaty - Truth. The theme takes inspiration from the reforms set out in the Uluru Statement from the Heart which can be expressed in three key goals: Voice – Treaty - Truth. These three aims represent the hopes and dreams of First Nations Australians. During NAIDOC, we remember in our thoughts and prayers the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of our country and celebrate their rich cultures and inspiring contributions to Australia.

For more information on this year's NAIDOC theme visit: https://www.naidoc.org.au/get-involved/2019-theme

On Tuesday 23 July at 12:20pm in the Monsignor Downey Hall, we invite you to join with us as a school community to celebrate NAIDOC week. We will be led by the School Choir who have been preparing a special song as part of our celebration.

Michelle Lace - Leader of ATSI Learning Team

As senior members and leaders within our school community, Year 6 are called to live according to a pattern of love and service modeled by Jesus Christ.  Each student is challenged to use their own unique skills and abilities to help bring about peace and grow our sense of community, by modelling how to best be, Respectful, Responsible and Safe. Over the course of the year, Year 6 are invited to participate in activities of service and stewardship, both at a school and community level.

Students are asked to identify areas of need and/or support, endeavoring to promote and provide positive relationships between their peers, other school students, teachers and parents.  In maintaining and sustain these relationships, students will help and support others during their own time, through making themselves available to help others within the St. Columbkille’s, Corrimal School community.

Within their Our Time to Lead booklets, student log their actions of giving which is later signed off by the teacher. 

In Semester One the follow students took up the challenge. Congratulations to:

Danielle Mullard, Matilda Collyer, Lilly Gallo, Annabelle Donarchy, Georgia Bartzos, Tayte Catlin, Kalani Good, Levi Risorto, Lachlan Sharman, Charlotte Mamoruis, Emma Warmington, Sarah Heaton, Xavier Ayers, Emy Ryan, Emilia Oliver, Ella Beaumister, Georgia Bighetti, Dakota Short, John Jones Murphy, Hamish Kelly, Nicholoas Gianetti, Gabriella Tortorici, Elijah Lim-Corby, Thomas Rohoseink, Max Minogue, Lincoln Hurley, Hannah Jenkins, Elise Leslie, Hayley Fitzpatrick, Macie Simon, Isobel Schmidt, Lacey Duvall, Chelsea Panagiotidis, Cohen Mango, Jesse Payne, Samuel Walton, Elivia Duggan, Zion Frizell, Holly Jeffery, Logan Bosevski, Natasha Disibio, Samantha Costin, Felicity McIntryre, Kaleb Rutledge, Charlotte Walton, Asha Waters, Sophia Panetta, Coby Huggins, Katerina Flury, Kye Mitchell, Ciara Dorin, Joshua Akhurstt, Layne Sweeney, Lucas Disibio and Daniel Zelinski.

Mrs Maria Disibio - Assistant Principal 

This week we congratulate another 25 super readers for completion of the Premiers Reading Challenge. 

Kinder – Darcy Fursey, Eamon Higgins, James Andary, Bronte Jansen

Yr 3 – Bronte Fursey, Cameron Ritz, Haydon Sharman

Yr 4 – Jensen Curbison, Jacob Esposito, Ben Fenton, Jonothan Logue, Jake Mannion, Phoenix Miller, Byron Morris, Sebastian Pannell, Ashleigh Whiddon, Jakob Yarworth

Yr 5 – Ellie Cram, Isaac Fielding, Harper Fursey

Yr 6 – Georgia Bartos, Lilly Gallo, Coby Huggins, Danielle Mullard, Thomas Rohoseink

School holidays are a great time to get stuck into reading. Explore the PRC student site https://online.det.nsw.edu.au/prc/home.html Discover books to read in your category and after you have read the book, you can click to add to your student reading record. You can select any books that you have read this year. It’s so easy and lots of fun.

Online entries close on August 31, so you still have time to join in the fun!

Mrs Paula Russo - Teacher Librarian

On Thursday 27 June, we had our annual St Columkille’s Athletic Carnival at Beaton Park. After a somewhat rainy morning the sun came out and the carnival was a huge success. The students were very competitive and many records were broken. A huge thank you to our parent helpers and Holy Spirit College students who assisted on the day. The following students were our 2019 age champions:

Junior Girls: Maddison Wood             Junior Boys: Bailey Mitchell

11 Year girls:  Danielle Mullard.        11 Year Boys: Jake Walsh

Senior Girls: Lacey Duvall                 Senior Boys: Kye Mitchell/Daniel Zalinski

The winning Sports House: Downey

On Tuesday 2 July, ten teams of St Columbkille's students participated in the Netball Gala Day at Berkeley.  Both boys and girls teams were very competitive and enjoyed a great day of netball and sunshine. A big thank you to parent helpers for managing teams and the many umpires who assisted throughout the day. Thank you to Mrs Gaffney and Miss Steep for organising a wonderful day.

Mrs Colleen Kipp - Leader of Sport

Powerful, peacemaker and precious. Mary MacKillop was an amazing person.

“Hi, this is Year 5 and today, which is the 4th July 2019, we embarked on an outstanding adventure to Sydney, visiting Mary Mackillop Place in North Sydney”.

Mary MacKillop was a wonderful lady and an even better teacher. She had seven siblings, however, unfortunately, her younger brother Alex died when he was 11 months old. Mary’s MacKillop’s father wasn’t a very good provider so at the age of 16, she started providing for her family and began to work.

Mary MacKillop had an enormous impact on education as she started her first school and welcomed everyone, rich or poor. Father Woods helped Mary open the first free Catholic school and one year later, the Sisters of Saint Joseph religious order was formed. 

Sadly, when going to visit her daughter in Sydney from Melbourne in 1886, Mary MacKillop’s mother died in a shipwreck.

One of Mary MacKillop’s sayings, and one of my personal favourites is 'Never see a need without doing something about it'. She was canonised as a saint 101 years after her death and is Australia’s first saint. Each and every day, we are encouraged to live in the spirit of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop through our words and actions in order to make the world a better place.

Saint Mary MacKillop passed away on the 8 of August 1909. At this time, she spoke words that her mother had taught her, these were "God will provide”.

Without the generosity and support of the P&F, this excursion would not have been possible so we’d like to thank the P&F a lot.

By Niceisha Manago (5B)

Ciao a tutti! So, we’ve come to the end of Term 2 where, in the last 2 weeks, family members and members from our school community have engaged with the students in Italian language and cultural activities.

The Italian program at St. Columbkille’s aims to provide the students awareness and experiences in the Italian culture. Language learning goes 'hand in hand' with learning about the people, the cultural practices and celebrations. We are fortunate to have members in our school community who are of Italian heritage and are eager to come and share their culture with the students.

Last week, Week 9, 5 Gold and 6 Gold made pizza and pasta from 'scratch'. Here are some reflections from the students about their experience.

Making Pizza

I really enjoyed making pizza because it was fun and the pizza was really yummy and it was my first-time making pizza.  Lucy Baggio 5G

I thought it was a great experience to do something different and it was fun to make. It smelt as good as it tasted and I wanted more.  Jed Petre 5G

It was an enjoyable time making pizza with classmates and the Nonne.  Zara Srbinoski 5G

It was lovely to make the original pizza celebrating the Italian flag. I enjoyed learning tips from the Nonne on how to make pizza. I thought the pizza was delicious!  Evelyn Ritz 5G                                                                                                              

On Wednesday my class and I made Pizza. It was very exciting! Lots of Nonne came to help and one of them was visiting from Italy. My favourite part was eating the pizza I made. I can’t wait to make Pasta next year! Olivia Otsyula 5G

On the 26^thJune, 5G were given the opportunity to make pizza with the Nonne. I thought that it was an amazing experience. It was lots of fun to create it with our friends beside us. Thank you so much Signora Molinaro and the Nonne for this splendid day! Alessandra Esquerro 5G

Making Fresh Pasta

What I really enjoyed about the pasta making day was that we got to knead and put the pasta through the machine. It tasted so fresh and delicious. I wanted more after my first bite.  Lilly Gallo 5G

Thank you for helping us make hand-made pasta! I will never forget this experience. I learnt so much about using the minimum amount of ingredients to make something so yummy! Hannah Jenkins.  6G

I enjoyed making fresh pasta. It was interesting being taught by a nonna who didn’t speak any English. Danielle Mullard 6G

I enjoyed making fresh pasta because I learnt the process and how simple it is. Gabriella Tortorici 6G

The parents, nonne and visitors were very helpful for someone like me who never made pasta. I didn’t realise how easy it was and the minimum amount of ingredients. The pasta tasted delicious! Lachlan Sharman 6G

In Italian we made pasta and it was a long process but it was worth it because it tasted really good. It was nice that people came to help us and make the process easier. I will definitely do it at home. Elijah Lim-Corby 6G

I’m not a pasta type of person but that pasta was amazing. I loved making the pasta with my friends. Thank you to everyone who helped buy all the supplies and helped organise it. I didn’t realise it was that easy to make a simple meal. Annabelle Donachy 6G

I wish to thank the wonderful group of mamma e nonne from our school community that made it possible for 5 Gold and 6 Gold to have this enjoyable (and delicious) experience. Thank, Mrs. Filomena Molinaro, Mrs Antonietta Marcantonio, Mrs. Giuseppina Disibio, Mrs. Gisella Villella, Mrs. Linda Logue and the special visitors from Italy, Mrs. Logue’s cugine, Signora Patrizia and Signorina Alessia.

Mille grazie goes to Mrs. Paula Russo who assisted in co-ordinating the activities before and on the day and also to the whole school staff for their constant encouragement and support.

Mrs Elena Molinaro - Leader of Language 

Reminder:  Rosalia Lane is strictly a no stopping zone. Therefore, it is recommended that parents and carers should not park in the laneways and/or driveways (Coxs and Rosalia) prior to afternoon dismissal. 

In respect to our neighbouring houses, it is recommended that parents/carers do not arrive before 3pm and wait in the laneways. Arriving after 3pm greatly reduces the congestion and inconvenience caused to our local residents and neighbours. 

Please ensure that the following guidelines are adhered to for the safety of all. 

• Children must only be dropped off or picked up in the clearly mark designated area
• Children must only enter and exit from the driver side of the car
• Family names are to be clearly displayed on the sunviser of all cars. Please contact the office if you need a new one
• Overtaking a stationary vehicle is not permitted - it is a dangerous practice and unsafe for students exiting vehicles.

Thank you for your ongoing support.

Thank you to all our students, parents, familiy members, parishioners and community mmembers who contributed to our Woolworth Earn and Learn campaign. The promotion has now closed and we have 772 completed forms and 46320 stickers. Once our sticker numbers have been validated we will be able to purchase new resources for our classrooms. We look forward to sharing these with you later in the year.  

Thank you again for your support.  It has been amazing.  

Footy Colours Day - Friday 20 September, is a national fundraising campaign held during the month of September to support kids living with cancer. Schools, workplaces, groups and clubs across Australia are encouraged to wear their favourite footy team’s colours and host an event to raise much-needed funds. Every dollar raised supports Fight Cancer Foundation’s education programs to help kids with cancer continue with their education during treatment and recovery.

As a school community, we will be celebrating Footy Colours Day on Friday 20 September. Students and staff are encouraged to wear a jersey from their favourite sports team and provide a gold coin donation.

If you would like more information about Footy Colours Day, please visit their website https://www.fightcancer.org.au/footy-colours-day-homepage 

Christine Perre - Leader of Literacy