Dear Parents and Carers,

On Monday we started our celebration of Catholic Schools Week, with the theme - The Future Has a Name, and That Name is Hope. Catholic Schools Week provides us with the opportunity to acknowledge the community of Catholic schools within our Dioceses and to affirm the great work that we share together at our school St Columbkille’s, Corrimal. Catholic Schools Week is a reminder of the responsibility we have to our students to live out our vision ‘Learning together, Shaping futures’. Together we will continue to strive to provide our students with the highest quality Catholic education that they deserve.

Below is an outline of the activities completed during the week.

Monday 4 March - Whole school Liturgy (9:00am) which included guest performer Andrew Chinn

Tuesday 5 March - Classroom activities reflecting on the theme and essence of Catholic Schools Week.

Wednesday 6 March - Ash Wednesday Mass (Yr3 -6) and Liturgy (K-2)

Thursday 7 March - Coffee and Conversation

Friday 8 March - Award Assembly and presentation of Catholic Schools Week Awards

I would like to take this opportunity to thank you for your continued support and engagement in our school community, particularly during this time of Lent when we are called to strengthen our relationship with Jesus through prayer, sacrifice, serve and support. 

Enjoy the next couple of weeks.

Take care

Mr Brad Colquhoun - Principal

LENT

We have just entered the special time of the Church’s liturgical year called "Lent". It is the 6 week period leading up to "Easter" and is one of the most important times of the year for many Christians around the world.

The Church gives us Lent as a time to change, to become a better version of ourselves, and to become more like Jesus. The ashes we received at our 3-6 Mass and K-2 Liturgy remind us of our call to repent and believe in the Gospel. The disciplines of Lent—prayer, fasting, and almsgiving—help us prepare for Christ’s victory on Easter.

Ash Wednesday Celebrations

On Wednesday the school community came together to mark the start of the Lenten period, in preparation for Easter, with a Mass and Liturgy for Ash Wednesday. Ash Wednesday is a time where we can reflect on our words and actions, and for those times we may need to turn back to God and ask for forgiveness. 

Lenten Boxes

Family Prayer boxes have been sent home as the Season of Lent has commenced. The box contains all that you will need for your family to pray together. Please remember if your child doesn’t bring the prayer box home during the season of Lent they will have a chance to bring it home during October – the month of the Rosary, or in the season of Advent.

Please remember that in giving and reaching out to others, students can bring in coins to place in their class Project Compassion boxes. Any spare coins from home or left over change from the canteen is a form of almsgiving. For as the Bible notes, “It is more blessed to give than to receive.” (Acts 20:35).

Sacramental Program 2019

CONFIRMATION:      

                          Wednesday 8/05 Session 2: 6:30PM – Parent/Carer and Child 

                          Wednesday 12/06 Session 3: 6:30PM – Parent/Carer and Child

                          Wednesday 19/06 Retreat: Child only, Parish Centre, 9.30am–3pm

SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION: 20/21 JUNE 2019 (Thursday & Friday 7.30pm)

If you know of any State school children ready for their Sacraments please pass this on.

St Patrick’s Day Dinner

Parishioners of Corrimal and Bulli are invited to attend a St Patrick’s Day Dinner on Saturday 16 March in the Monsignor Downey Hall at St Columbkille’s. The evening will commence at 7pm (following 6pm Mass) and conclude at aprroximately 10pm. A two course meal will be served with pre dinner drinks and nibbles. Cost $15. Please BYO drinks. Tea and coffee provided. Tickets will be on sale at all Masses both at Bulli and Corrimal. Looking forward to a night of fun and friendship.

Mrs Jo Herring - Religious Education Coordinator

Congratulations to the following students:

Principal's Awards

6B - William Muller

6G - Xavier Ayers

Mary MacKillop Awards

2G - Benjamin Niew, Amelia Stewart

3B - Ava Cooper

3G - Zaria Nguyen

4G - Joshua Tsekouras

5B - Tahlia Capocchiano

School Medallion

3B - Ava Cooper

Applications for Year 7 2020 and 2021 for Holy Spirit College close on Friday 12 April 2019. 

Congratulations to the following student who were presented with the 2019 St Columbkille's Catholic Schools Week Awards today at our School Assembly. 

Students nominated for the Catholic Schools Week Award demonstrate Catholic values in their words and actions.

Maria Disibio - Assiatant Principal

St Columbkilles was a buzz with all things pancakes across many classes on Tuesday as we came to recognise the importance of Shrove Tuesday by making our own pancakes. Traditionally, this day, being the day before Ash Wednesday, was a day where food items like eggs, milk, butter were consumed in preparation for the fasting period of Lent starting on Ash Wednesday. There were many happy smiles from students and staff as they shared the "fruits of the labour" yesterday.

Ms Finlay-Joseph - Year 1 Gold Teacher

Catholic Schools Week is a time to celebrate all the wonderful things happening in our Diocesan schools. What better way to start our week then for St Columbkille's school community to come together in prayer. Our Liturgy Theme "‘The future has a name, and that name is HOPE’, was coordinated by Mrs Herring and led liturgically by our students of Indigenous heritage and Year 1. We were also incredibly fortunate to have Andrew Chinn, a vibrant musician who shares the mission and story of our Catholic church in his songs, as our musical minister for the liturgy.

Lent is a very important season in the Church's calendar. Last Tuesday 5 March marked the day before Lent was to begin. Mr Colquhoun, along with School Captains Kye Mitchell and Holly Jeffree, Vice Captains Xavier Ayers and Felicity McIntrye went to St Brigid's Church, Gwynneville to launch the 2019 Lenten Season and Caritas Catholic Mission. Bishop Brian led the Liturgy, with a guest speaker from Caritas Australia. Before the Mass finished, each school received a Caritas candle and mission box. The St Brigid's students were kind enough to provide us with morning tea.

Written by Holly Jeffree (School Captain) and Felicity McIntrye (Vice Captain)

On Tuesday 5  March a number of teams consisting of Year 5 and 6 students participated in the AFL Paul Kelly Cup at Thomas Dalton Park. In extremely hot conditions the students all played a number of round robin games with the Pink girls team narrowly missing out on a semi final spot and the Red boys team moving through to the final, which they lost to St Michael's, Thirroul. All the students had a great day and showed determination, good sportspersonship and developed some new skills along the way. Well done! Thank you to Mrs Gaffney for organising teams and to Mrs Shelley, Mr Ibrahim and Mrs Collyer for coaching on the day.

On Thursday 7 March, a squad of students competed in the Diocesan Swimming Trials held at Corrimal Pool.  We had a number of great races and the students were very competitive. Maddison Wood (5 Gold) had a very successful day winning the Junior Girls Champion and equalling a previously set record for the 50m Freestyle. Well done Maddison!  The following students have qualified for the Diocesan Time Trials at Corrimal Pool on Monday 11March:

Kye Mitchell, Maddison Wood, Randy O’Brien, Amelia Rutledge, Jake Walsh

A big thank you to our Year 6 Sport Captains who provided assistance throughout the day and to our parent helper, Mrs Mammouris for volunteering her time.

Our annual Cross Country will be held on Friday 22 March at Ziem's Park, Corrimal. If you are able to support the day, please fill in and return the helper's note or see Mrs Kipp. Students in Kinder, Year 1 and 2 will be travelling to and from the venue by bus, with Years 3 to 6 walking. Please ensure that students leaving the venue with parents, grandparents and/or family friends are signed out by their parent and noted by the class teacher.

If you have any SCC Sporting Team uniforms - rugby league jumpers, athletics singlets, swimming caps etc, hiding in the bottom of draws and cupboards, could you please return to the Office as soon as possible. Thank you.

Mrs Colleen Kipp - Leader of Sport

The below flyer provides information regarding National Assessment Program Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) which involoves students in Year 3 and Year 5.   

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.    

The Office of the Bishop has requested that the following parent information sessions, which will be presented by visiting theologian Fr James McEvoy, be publicised via school newsletters. 

Our Children – Engaging and Growing in God’s Love

Our children are precious to us and to God – made in his image.  As parents, grandparents, catechists and sacramental program leaders, how do we encourage and nurture our children as they grow in this awareness?  These sessions will reflect on the process of growth in faith, how children are actively involved in their own social and spiritual development – sometimes for the good and sometimes through suffering and hardship.

When and where:

Tuesday 26 March 2019, 7:30pm-9:00pm
Ingham Room, Xavier Conference Centre, 38 Harbour St Wollongong

Wednesday 27 March 2019, 7:30pm – 9:00pm
Phillip Room, Campbelltown Catholic Club, 20 Camden Rd Campbelltown

RSVP: To Helen Bennett by Friday 22 March on 4222 2403 or helen.bennett@dow.org.au  

As part of The Athletes Foot back to school promotion, each time a student from St Columbkille’s purchases school shoes (black leather or prominently white runners), $5 is donated to the school.  This promotion runs throughout the year. 

On Monday 4 March, Brett and Cameron, representatives from Athletes Foot presented a cheque for $660 to our school. A wonderful contribution that will go towards school resources to improve the learning and teaching experiences for all students. 

We also look forward to the Shoelace Tying Workshops, run by The Athletes Foot, that will occur for Year 1 and Year 2 students later in the year. 

Thank you to our families who purchased shoes and mentioned our school in the process. 

Maria Disibio - Assistant Principal