Dear Parents and Carers, 

I hope all has been well this past fortnight. 

Earlier this week we reopened the Madjura (Infants) playground. The playground contains construction fencing that will keep staff and students distanced from the leaning retaining wall. The students using the playground will be reminded each time they enter the space not to climb on or under the fence and staff will need to check the fencing hasn’t been compromised by wind, high temperatures and general wear and tear. The playground will only be used during the K-3 breaks and by Year 4 on Monday and Tuesday at 4-6 breaks. It was great to see this space alive with our studnets once again and we hope to have the retaining wall fixed in the coming months.  

We held two Open Days this week to encourage new enrolments in both Kinder 2025 and other grades. We ran two sessions. One at 9:15am on Tuesday 5 March and an evening session on Thursday 7 March from 5:30pm.  The visitors were guided around the school by our Leaders of Learning and our School Captains, and on the Thursday evening some of our staff and Year 5 students.  All the visitors were highly complementary of our student leaders and the manner in which they toured our school.  

I thank our school band The Cobras and all our students, their families and our teachers for attending, partaking and celebrating at the Welcome Mass on Thursday evening. It was lovely to hear the many musical instruments, to hear the voices of our children and to see the church filled with members of our school and parish community. 

If you have yet to complete an enrolment form for your young child who will be starting school in 2025, I remind you that enrolment is completed online.  You can find the enrolment form on our school website.  

We would like to thank Maria Wright for volunteering her time each week to write up our school notice board.  She has been a great help and has always completed the board writing with positivity and a smile.  Thank you!

Maria is only able to continue volunteering her time until the end of March. Nicole Akhurst has kindly offered to take on this role. A huge thank you to both ladies for supporting our school community in this way.   

All the best for Weeks 7 and 8.  

Warm regards, 

Maria Disibio - Acting Principal

LENT & PROJECT COMPASSION

This weekend we begin the 4th Week of Lent. We continue to bring in any loose change for our Project Compassion boxes, help others in need, and pray for many intentions in our world. The students have been reflecting in their class Lenten Prayer books, with lovely prayers and illustrations.

Our Mini Vinnies will be promoting our annual Easter raffle shortly, with all money raised being donated to Project Compassion to help those in need.

WELCOME MASS

Thank you to all those who helped make our Welcome Mass such a wonderful celebration last night. All of our students who assisted with the readings, prayers, offertory and sacred space items, thank you. A huge shout out to our school band, The Cobras, and Marguerite Andary, who led our music so superbly. Father Patrick's blessings remind us of the importance of God and Jesus in our lives. It was a lovely way to celebrate the beginning of our school year.

ST PATRICKS DAY FAMILY / PARISH MASS

On Sunday 17th March at 9.30am, we will celebrate the first of our Family/Parish Masses for Term 1. It is also the feast of St Patrick, an important Irish saint who used the shamrock to explain the triune notion of God- the three leaves representing God, Jesus and the Holy Spirit. Our Stage 3 students will take on a leading role at this Mass. All are welcome to join us for this Eucharistic celebration. 

MINI VINNIES MEMBERS

We are pleased to announce, that after Year 5 votes were counted this week, our 2024 Mini Vinnies Team has been finalised. Congratulations to these 8 students from 5 Gold and 5 Blue: Jed Bell, Darcy Fursey, Keira Fabon, Theia Vincent, Ollie Stewart, Harlan Menghi, Zara Erven and Juliette Ayers.

We look forward to working with these students in their leadership of the school in fundraising and other St Vincent de Paul events this year.

ST VINCENT DE PAUL ITEMS

For the month of March our Corrimal St Vincent de Paul society are asking for specific donations. Small tins of tuna (not chilli please), small packets of Deb Potato and packets of sweet and savoury biscuits are required. They would be most grateful if you could donate to the baskets inside the church or the school office. 

YOUTH GROUP

For those Year 6 students and high school teens who are interested in some fun activities, why not come along to the next youth group gathering! It will be held on Friday 15th March from 6.30-8pm in the St Columbkille's Parish Centre. Contact Amy for more information on 0423289320.

Have a wonderful fortnight

Jo Herring - Religious Education Coordinator 

A busy week in the area of Enrichment over the last fortnight. 

Dancing: Some of our dancers from 3-6 were involved in Making a Music Video with Motion Capture. This was organised by choreographers at the Sydney Opera House, with the lesson occurring over Zoom. The link to the video will be posted on our social media accounts when finalised.

Writing: Abbie and Ciara (Year 6) have finalised their stories following the Danger, Drama, Action writing workshop they participated in during Week 4. I think you will agree that the opening paragraphs make us want to read more!

Haunted House (Abbie)

Ping ping ping I reluctantly put my book down and turn over my phone. It’s a message from Isla asking if I want to go over and HURRY . It seemed urgent and if not, I'm home alone anyway,  so I text back saying I’m on my way.  I go downstairs and hop on my bike. The ride over was quick and I knocked on the door. 

A sad looking face peers through the door. “Hi,come in, she says”. I smile and walk in and she leads me up to her room. Her eyes welled up with tears. “What’s wrong!” I exclaim. Look, she whispers as she turns over her phone and holds it up to my face so I can see. It’s on a news app and it reads. “ Four high school girls are missing, the names hit me like a hammer, Cleo Coppleton, Madeline Grey, Hazel Hugh  and Cara River. My eyes widen and fill with tears. My jaw drops and I start shaking. 

Finding (Ciara)

I was scrolling through Instagram in front of the TV when the news came on. Suddenly, I looked up from my phone and the presenter was talking about the latest story, a wildfire spreading in southern, northern territory.

Oh No! That is near where my older sister Grace was studying at university. I quickly rang Grace but she didn't answer. I'm worried she never has her phone on silent. “Mum!” I called out. But no answer, of course, mum isn't home, she never is and dad, well I haven't seen Dad in over a year. I needed to find Grace. I scribbled a note to Mum and left it on the kitchen table.

To Mum, Going for a few days. EMERGENCY! 

Love Amelia xoxo

Technology Video: Jasmine, Talon, Rosalie, Ciara, (Year 6) and Keira and Abigail (Year 5), created a video to be shown at our Open School event. The video showed a range of ways that technology is used at St Columbkilles. The recording will be shared to our social media accounts.

News Report: A group of Year 6 students have expressed an interest in providing news report videos. The first News Report is by Abbie and Ciara and is created using Keynote and eliminating the background using the Live Video feature. The recording will be shared to our social media accounts. I am looking forward to seeing what our next group of reporters do.

This week I had the opportunity to attend a 2 day professional learning opportunity about High Performing and Gifted Education and will be embedding this knowledge when working with our students.

Michelle Lace

Leader of Enrichment

We extend our sincere appreciation to the parents and guardians who have diligently fulfilled their obligation by promptly paying their 2024 school fees by the due date. Your commitment to timely payment is invaluable and greatly appreciated.

We recognize the significant role that parents and guardians play in supporting their children's education, and your proactive approach to meeting financial obligations ensures the smooth operation of our educational programs. Your contributions help create a conducive learning environment for all students, and we are truly grateful for your continued partnership.

Kind regards

Belinda Howard - Senior School Support Officer

We recommend not taking your child on holidays during the school term in order for your child to receive the most out of their schooling.

Any parent requesting leave for their child for (5) or more consecutive days is required to complete an Application for Extended Leave Form.

The form is available at the School Office or can be downloaded from the school website.

To ensure approval before the leave takes place, we require the completed form lodged at Student Services a minimum of 2 weeks before the Leave commences. 

Thank you.

Focus: Be ready to learn and do your best in all tasks

At St Columbkille’s, we strive to continually support and improve academic and social outcomes for our students by utilising the PB4L (Positive Behaviours for Learning) framework. This week, the PB4L focus is on showing respect by celebrating achievements of self and others respectfully and remembering our school’s core values of being Respectful, Responsible and Safe being practised and observed. 

When being ready to learn and doing your best in all tasks, students should... 

Research has shown that there are six key components that contribute to successful beginning reading. Because of the importance of these components, they have become known as the 'Big Six’: oral language, phonological awareness, phonics, vocabulary, fluency and comprehension. In the early years of schooling, English lessons will incorporate the Big Six.

Over the coming newsletters, we will share information about each of the 'Big Six'. 

Today's spotlight is on the first of these Big Six....Oral Language.

Oral language is the foundation of all literacy skills. When young children experience rich oral language by talking with and listening to adults and other children, they have a large ‘bank’ of spoken vocabulary, words they understand when used in spoken communication. 

Families can support their child with their oral language development by providing a variety of opportunities for children to listen and talk for different purposes.

Here are a few ideas:

• Talk to your child and listen responsively. Ask and answer questions.
• Read aloud to your child at least once a day using a wide variety of texts. Books expose children to vocabulary and sentence structures that they wouldn't normally hear in everyday situations. Research has shown that reading aloud to children is a major factor in their success in learning to read at school.
• Talk with your child about the books you read aloud together. Ask your child about the characters, plot or setting; the themes and ideas raised by the book; topics they’d like to read or learn more about as a result of reading aloud.

See our next newsletter for the next 'Big Six'... Phonological Awareness. 

Mrs Christine Perre - Acting Assistant Principal

Parent Talk newsletter aims to provide parents and carers with relevant and timely information about parenting, education, wellbeing, upcoming Council of Catholic School Parents (CCSP) events and webinars for parents, and significant Catholic news and events.

The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT represents all parents and carers of students in our Catholic schools. We value and promote the critical role that parents play in the education of their children, and provide leadership, advocacy and support for parents and carers of children in almost 600 Catholic schools. Parents and carers are invited to subscribe to CCSP’s Parent Talknewsletter to receive future editions keep up to date with how our Council supports Catholic school parents to support their children’s wellbeing, faith journey and academic outcomes. Click here to subscribe.

The P&F invite all students to dress in their favourite GREEN clothes to celebrate St Patrick's Day on Friday 15th March.

Gold Coin donation please.

The Council of Catholic School Parents NSW/ACT is conducting a survey to gauge parental involvement in their child's school including their learning. They are looking to receive feedback on areas that are really important to parents. Participants have the option to receive a 2024 Faith Diary as a token of appreciation by providing their name, address, and mobile phone number at the end of the survey.

The survey link is provided here: CCSP Survey.

The St Columbkille's Instagram and Facebook accounts have been posting photos of our students and staff enjoying their learning experiences. The accounts will continue to feature photos of our celebrations, news and events. I encourage you to follow our account - @stcolumbkilles.corrimal to view our posts thus far and so you can look out for future posts.  Our Instagram posts are also reflected in our Facebook page, so if you prefer, follow us on Facebook. Our Facebook page is also accessable via the link on the left hand side of this Newsletter.  

If you haven't already done so, I strongly encourage you to download the Compass App. Within the Compass App you will find the St Columbkille's Parent Calendar which can be viewed from the homepage or by selecting the calendar icon in the menu. The Parent Calendar can also be viewed in our Schoolzine newsletters. It is located on the lefthand side of the page.  

Links to both the latest version of our newsletter and social media posts can also be located via our school website. 

The SZapp (Schoolzine) App linked to our Schoolzine Newsletter is available to download from the App and Play Store. Downloading the App will provide you with another form of communication. In addition to the latest and archieved newsletters, the App includes links to our school website, our social media pages, school calendar and more, plus it also contains contact us facitlities.   

Simply download the App from the App or Play Store to your device, select the region, enter and select our school name and login using an exisitng email address.  

The newsletter and alerts will continue to be sent via Compass. The SZapp will just provide information via a different forum, which you may find easier to use.    

Can you help out in our Parish?

Support groups have been put into four categories. The Liturgical Life group includes Ministers of Communion, altar servers and acolytes, readers, choir, organists, singers, first Saturday devotions, Children's Liturgy, greeters, ushers and Collectors, Linen, flowers, brass cleaning, Church cleaning and powerpoint preparation/roster.

The second category, Evangelisation, includes catechists, Alpha, Legion of Mary, CWL, Wrap with Love, SVDP, KSC, Becoming a Catholic, Josephite Assoc, RCIA, Come and See, Go and Make.

Another group focuses on building our community. This involves the Hospitality team, Cuppa and Bikkies, Out and About, Youth group, Mums and Bubs, Italian Prayer group and the Lenten and Advent groups.

The fourth group mainly focuses on administration. This includes the Parish Finance Council, Money Counters, parish communication, website, Cemetery Committee, maintenance of grounds, maintenance of facilities, maintenance of Church building.

If you would like to help out in anyway, please reach out the Alice Weber (alicemaryweber@gmail.com - 0429621949 

The new Active and Creative Kids voucher is now available, helping to make activities more affordable for eligible NSW families. Parents, guardians and carers of eligible school-aged children will be able to use two $50 vouchers per calendar year.

About the new program:

• Vouchers are available to those receiving Family Tax Benefit Part A, or Family Tax Benefit Part B, or both
• Vouchers can be downloaded as a QR code and used toward either an eligible physical or creative activity
• The $50 vouchers will be issued in school term 1 and school term 3.
  Vouchers must be redeemed before their expiry date