Dear Parents and Carers,

Welcome to Term 3 Week 4.

Last Thursday we celebrated the Feast Day of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop, Australia’s first saint. She opened her heart to receive the message of God’s love and to help those who were in need. She is a role model to us all. 

May the faith and good deeds of Saint Mary MacKillop inspire us to open our hearts to receive Jesus’ message to be good people and live it out in our daily lives. May we share in her courage, see with her vision, and love with her heart'.

Yesterday, our Church celebrated the Feast Day of the Assumption of Our Lady when the Holy Mother Mary, "having completed her course of her earthly life”, was assumed body and soul into heaven with Year 1 and 6. We celebrated both of these Feast Days with Mass for our students and related activities in our Religious Education lessons.

Last Tuesday, was the annual Gathering with the Bishop for Year 6 students across the Diocese of Wollongong. Our Year 6 students and teachers along with several other Catholic Primary Schools celebrated Mass with Bishop Brian at Good Samaritan, Fairy Meadow. Our students then had the opportunity to have lunch with the other school and share in the entertainment provided by the Diocesan Youth Ministry band. Thank you to Mrs Herring, Mrs Gaffney and Mrs Shelley for preparing our Year 6 students so well and Year 6 for their reverent and respectful behaviour.

Trash-free Tuesday, new bins with the playgrounds and classrooms, along with Lids4Kids has been a great success. Thank you for supporting them using recyclable materials and reusable containers for their munch/sip, recess and lunch. It has made a considerable difference to the levels of rubbish in our bins and supports our focus on environmental stewardship. We look forward to our continued work and future initiatives  that will further enhance our environment.

On Tuesday the Natural Playground in the Paddock was opened to many enthusiastic and excited students. This addition to our playground will add far greater variety and engagement for our students across K-6. Thank you to the P&F for funding and supporting this wonderful initiative. On behalf of the students  - THANK YOU.

In relation to staffing, Mrs Anne Connelly (Kinder Support Teacher) will take leave from Monday 9 September and then retire at the end of the school year having worked  as a teacher within our Diocese of Wollongong since 1984, and at St Columbkille's from 1996. During this time at our school Mrs Connelly has worked in several K-6 teaching positions within the school and most recently supported Kindergarten in their Literacy and Numeracy. Mrs Connelly has been a most valued member of our staff for over 23 years and we will miss her dearly. We congratulate her on a wonderful career and look forward to celebrating the next few weeks with her. Mrs Angela McLeod will replace Mrs Connelly from Monday 9 September through to the end of the term.

Have a wonderful couple of weeks. Enjoy your weekend.

Take care

Brad Colquhoun - Principal

Reconciliation

Our liturgy for this sacrament was held on Wednesday evening with a number of families attending. Our first parent/student session will be held on Wednesday, 28 August at 6.30pm at St Columbkilles School. We are looking forward to preparing for this sacrament of reconciliation and forgiveness.

Feast of the Assumption

A lovely mass was celebrated yesterday with our Year 1 and Year 6 students and members of the parish. This holy day of obligation allows us to celebrate the assumption of Mary into Heaven, body and soul. As Christians we continue to pray to Mary for our intercessions and praise her for her faith and devotion to God.

Religious Literacy Assessment Year 4

On Monday our Year 4 students will sit the Diocese of Wollongong’s Religious Literacy Assessment. Our prayers will be with these children as they reflect on their learning in Religious Education from Kindergarten to Year 4.

Father's Day Breakfast and Liturgy

St Columbkilles is looking forward to our annual celebration of Fathers Day to be held on Thursday 29 August. A delicious breakfast cooked by the staff will be followed by our liturgy. A note regarding RSVP’s for this event is included within this newsletter.

Refugee Week

#WithRefugees is the continuing 3 year theme for Refugee Week 2019 in Australia. We celebrate this week from 25-31 August with the initial celebration of Refugee and Migrant Sunday on Sunday, 25 August. Refugee Week is an incredible opportunity for the whole nation to celebrate the contribution refugees make to our society, while raising awareness, remembering and honouring the often perilous journey that refugees have taken to reach Australia.

Becoming a Catholic 2019

If you or a friend have ever thought about becoming a Catholic, the parish team invites you to this gathering. The date is Wednesday 21 August at 7pm to be held at Parish House (old Convent), Bulli, Park Road. All are welcome. 

Altar Servers

An invitation is extended to students in Years 4, 5 & 6 who have received the Sacrament of Holy Communion and would like to be an altar server! If you are interested in serving at St Columbkille’s Corrimal or St Joseph’s Bulli please contact Mrs Herring. It doesn’t matter if you are unsure of what is involved, as training will be provided. This is a fabulous way to be a part of the parish Masses by living out your faith.

Mini Vinnies Visit

On Wednesday morning our Mini Vinnies team, along with Mrs Herring and Mr Colquhoun, visited the Corrimal St Vincent de Paul complex. It was an eye opening experience which is written about by the students later in the newsletter. Thanks to Neville Eager and Peter Riordan for the invitation and their hospitality and knowledge of this charitable organization.

Joanne Herring - Religious Education Coordinator

On Wednesday the 14 of August, our Minnie Vinnies walked down to the local Vinnies store in Corrimal to experience and explore what they are all about and to better understand how they work. We learnt that they are not just about receiving, but more about giving in order to help others.

We went into the meeting room to learn more about the discovery of ‘St Vincent De Paul’ and how much they raise per year due to donations of local schools. Neville and Peter showed us around the building and told us that we see a shop, but they also give out scholarships to high schools and middle schools around the globe, for children who's parents either are sick or lost their job and can’t afford to pay University fees.

Sam:  I personally enjoyed the visit in the shop.

Emily:  Overall, I really enjoyed the experience and learnt a lot more about St Vincent De Paul. Thank you Peter and Neville for informing us even more than we already knew about Minnie Vinnies.

Luca:  I personally I loved the experience and I think everyone else would agree. 

Mira:  I enjoyed seeing behind the scenes and I hope they continue to help those in need!

Harper:  I loved talking about how it was created and talking about our knowledge of St Vincent de Paul.

Zara:  Personally, I loved the discussion about what happened when St Vincent De Paul started and loved the food donation section.

Indiana:  I loved learning about how St Vincent de Paul was made and the way how St Vincent de Paul helps people.

Aly:  I loved how they believed in people and how they gave the poor a chance of having a happy life. I also enjoyed listening and sharing personal thoughts and memories with the St Vincent de Paul Society.

On behalf of all Minnie Vinnies just a big thank you to Mr Coulquhoun, Mrs Herring, Neville and Peter for this great experience.

Congratulations to the following students:

Awards

Principal’s Award

KB - James Andary, Darcy Fursey

KG - Jed Bell, Finn Conway, Keira Fabon, Daniel Fleury, Sam Raschilla

1G - Sophie Coughlan

2B - Ryder Bighetti, Sam Dorney, Rafael Gerace, Indigo Marmont, Randy O'Brien

2G - Clover Duggan, Rodrigo Minogue

3B – Aiden Heaton, William Jones-Murphy, Jackson Logue

3G – Lauren Foster, Lauren Miller, Koby Potter, Ricardo Vega

4B - Jacob Esposito, Benjamin Fenton, Ileana Lozenkovski

4G - Isaac Ayers, Athanael Disibio

5B - Matilda Bailey, Harper Fursey, Luca Tortorici

5G - Lucy Baggio, Joelle Bates, Ellie Cram, Alessandra Ezquerro, Ellie McCormack, Isabella Oliver, Olivia Otsyula, Jed Petre, Lukas Srbinoski, Jake Walsh, Maddison Wood

6G - Lucas Disibio, Lilly Gallo, Kalani Good, Danielle Mullard

Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop Award

1G - Nixon Breakspear

2B - Indigo Marmont, Claude Vincent

2G - Matthew Munn

3B - Isla Ryan

3G - Archie Malcolm

4B - Jonothan Logue

4G - Ben Purtell, Joshua Tsekouras

5B - Wil Malcolm

5G - Joelle Bates

6B - Katarina Fleury, Luke Purtell

Medallion

3B - Isabelle Stenos

4G - Benjamin Harris, Joshua Tsekouras

5B - Emily Sharman

6B - Katarina Fleury

Joel and I would like to thank all the families who have provided us with food. This has been the most amazing help to us as it has reduced having to think about what to cook, having to shop and having to actually prepare!!! 

The generosity of our School community is extraordinary and words cannot thank the Pastoral  team enough. A special mention to Zoe Jacobsen for her coordination of it all and her friendly nature. 

Kind regards

Erryn & Joel Sims

PREMIERS READING CHALLENGE: TWO WEEKS TO GO

Congratulations to another 7 super readers. Well done.

• Kindergarten: Sophia Martinus

• Yr 3: Jackson Logue, Zac Rosengren, Emily Spiers, Isabelle Stenos

• Yr 6: Lachlan Sharman and Layne Sweeney

There are now only 2 weeks to go. Online entries close August 31. 

Our grand total is now only 75 – our lowest total ever. We need your help now to encourage your child to go online and record the books that they have read online as well as any books they have read from home, Corrimal library and our school library.

CHILDREN’S BOOK WEEK 2019: Monday 19 – Friday 23 August 

This year’s theme is Reading is my secret power.   We are all very excited that Children’s Book Week is nearly here.  Next week the children will be exploring the beautiful Australian books chosen by the eight judges from all around the country, as they try to guess which book will be chosen as the Book of the Year.  K-3 will be studying the book in the ‘Early Childhood’ category while Yrs 4-6 will explore the ‘Picture Book’ of the year. Check out all the shortlisted books at the Children’s Book Council of Australia (CBCA) website.

On Monday, 18 August, the students K – Yr 3 will be entertained by the wonderful librarians from Corrimal library in our school hall.  Then on Friday, 23August, we are inviting all students to come to school dressed as their favourite book character or in a costume that reflects this year’s theme.  

• 9am: The character parade will take place immediately after morning assembly. A reminder that the children should wear closed in shoes (no studs) and should leave any dangerous weapons at home.

• 2:10: The Friday afternoon school assembly will be based on our Book Week activities and we will, again, provide parents and grandparents the opportunity to donate a book to our school library on your child’s behalf. The donations table will be set up in the hall. EFTPOS only.  This is a wonderful tradition that means a lot to the students of our school. They love to find their names in the books and share them with their friends and classmates.

We hope to see you on Friday.

Paula Russo - Teacher Librarian

On Tuesday, 13 August St Columbkilles’ Athletic squad attended the Diocesan Athletic Trials at Beaton Bark, with the following children representing;

Lucy Baggio, Matilda Collyer, Ava Cooper, Millie Dalton, Lacey Duvall, Anisha Hira, Elise Leslie, Emma Lumsden, Felicity McIntyre, Daniell Mullard, Zahli O’Hara, Olivia Otsyula, Amelia Rutledge, Layne Sweeney, Maddi Wood, Indiana Dalton, Orlando Carrasco, Lucas Dubowski, Zion Frizell, Bailey Mitchell, Randy O’Brien, Sonny O’Brien, Ben Purtell, Thomas Rohoseink, Haydon Sharman, Lachlan Sharman, Luca Tortorici, Jake Walsh, Daniel Zelinski, Riley Locke, Billy Collyer, Hamish Dorney

The students competed very well on the day and the following have now qualified for the Diocesan Time Trials at Beaton Park on Tuesday, 20 August.

Lucas Dubowski, Mitchell Bailey, Randy O’Brien, Sonny O’Brien, Ben Purtell, Luca Tortorici, Jake Walsh, Billy Collyer, Riley Locke, Olivia Otsyula, Amelia Rutledge, Maddi Wood, Daniell Mullard, Hamish Dorney

Congratulations to Randy O’Brien on his 3^rd place in the Junior Boys category and the boys team, which came 2^nd on the day.  Well done to all athletes.  A huge thank you to Mrs Otsyula for volunteering as our parent official.

On the weekend a number of students were involved in League Tag Grand Finals at Parrish Park Figtree. The Under 10 team including: Willow Jenkins, Ellie Cram and Ivy Stuart and the under 12 team including Emma Lumsden, Harper Fursey and Georia Bhegetti who both won their respective grand finals. Well done girls!

Congratulations to Aiden Heaton who has made the NSW Interschools Skiing and Snowboarding competition. He will be representing the school at the northern states championships on the 19, 20 and 21 of August

Congratulations also to Sarah Heaton will also be representing the school on 19 of August in skiing. 

A wonderful achievement for both students.  Great results in the NSW competition will make them eligible for nationals at Mt Buller, Victoria.  We wish them all the very best.  

Thank you for your support of the Lids4Kids program. Chloe N from 4G was able to add over 200 lids from St Col’s to her total of 423 lids last week. Well done Chloe!

Please visit envision.org.au for more information and possibly add to their ‘go find me’ appeal. Keep collecting lids from water, soft drink, milk and juice bottles  from home. Remember to rinse the lids and remove the white foam circles please.

This week Macie, Lilly, Emy and Lacey helped Mrs Moon and Mrs Russo complete this year’s submission to Nude Food competition. Good luck girls.

Congratulations to KB, 3B and 4B (twice) who have won Trash Free Tuesday Gnome Wward.

Unfortunately there are less children coming to school Trash Free at the moment especially in the upstairs classes. We hope that this can be something that families can start talking about again. It starts at the supermarket and thinking about the packaging you bring into your home.

Lastly, we are hoping to be eating radish soon and snow peas after the holidays after putting our seedlings into the ground. Thanks to Mr C, Hamish and the team for their many trips up and down the laneway, filling the raised garden bed the Kelly family donated to our school. Thank you to Hamish, Cohen, Lincoln and Mrs Russo’s son Michael who put the bed together.

Paula Russo - Teacher Libraian 

A huge thank you to Harper Fursey, Emily Sharman, Mira Cameron (Year 5 students who initiated the idea) and all who participated in Flanno Friday today and who donated a gold coin for Australian Farmer's in need.  All your efforts are greatly appreciated.  

A 'you beaut' effort was made in raising $521.85.  This amount of money will purchase over 11,500 litres of water to help farms who’s dams have run dry.

The annual Spring into Corrimal will be held on Sunday 8 September. St Columbkille’s has once again been invited to participate in the Grand Parade commencing at 10:00 am.  We will be marching in a school group as part of our continuing support of the local community. Children participating will meet Mr Colquhoun and Mrs Disibio at 9:30am at Short St Carpark opposite Ziems Park, Corrimal, wearing their full summer uniform.

If your child/children are able to join with fellow students from St Columbkille’s in the Grand Parade,it would be greatly appreciated, so that our school is represented in significant numbers at this important festival. A permisiion note has been sent home with further detials.  

Maria Disibo - Assistant Principal

Next week St Columbkille’s will be moving to a new Financial Management system, TechnologyOne, and adding enhancements to our Compass Student Information System. This is an exciting transition for our school and will result in more efficient electronic financial management for our school office. 

School fee management will also move to TechnologyOne. Please be aware that:

• Your school fee statement and receipts for payments will look different

• The school fee statement you receive from the new financial system will have a ‘balance carried forward’ and any transactions that have occurred during the month rather than a detailed list of any transactions completed during the year due to the movement of the fees from the old financial system to TechnologyOne

• All current BPay, Direct Debit and Centrepay arrangements will continue as normal and be electronically redirected to your new school fee account in TechnologyOne

• After you receive your first statement from TechnologyOne, if you do pay via BPay we ask that you update the BPay details as per the new reference numbers on your statement

As part of this change we will also have new features available in Compass. These will include:

• Visibility of your school fee account in the Parent Portal

• The ability to pay school fees and pay for events such as excursions via the Parent Portal

We will provide you with further information on these Compass enhancements when they become available next week.

Should you have any queries please do not hesitate to contact the school office. We appreciate your patience and understanding throughout the next few weeks as we move through this change.

If you find navagating Compass difficult, then you may find the below help sheet helpful.  

Canteen Roster

Term 3 - Week 5

Monday, 19 August - 

Janine Baumeister, Marc Fursey, Kerry Fabon, Trudie Bell (11.30-2.30)

Tuesday, 20 August – SUSHI TUESDAY

(Canteen is closed – Sushi Available via Online Order Only)

Wednesday, 21 August

Linda Logue, Gisella Villella, Tracey Disibio, Caroline Ayres

Thursday, 22 August

Pamela O'Brien, Ashley Cooper, Anita Zubovic (9.00-11.30), Lana Bloom (11.30-2.30)

Friday, 25 August

Kirsten Immens, Tanya Coughlan, Elizabeth Coll

Term 3 - Week 6

Monday, 26 August

Kirsten Stone, Diana Tasca, Olivia Seweris (9.00-12.00)

Tuesday, 27 August – SUSHI TUESDAY

(Canteen is closed – Sushi Available via Online Order Only)

Wednesday, 28 August

Avril Imber, Lesley Elms, Helen Pittman (9.00-11.30), Ashley Potts (11.30-2.30)

Thursday, 29 August

Amber Morrisey, Tienelle Anderson-Ireland, Dianne Hukins

Friday, 30 August

Lisa Bates, Carmen Petch, Lisa Esposito (11.30-2.00), Chelsea Bennett (9.00-11.30) 

Did you know that you can subscribe to the St Columbkille's Parish Bulliten by completing the required details here. The Bulliten will be emailed to you and will keep you updated with Parish news, events and weekly readings.  

A great way to keep connected.  

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