Filter Content
- Principal's Message
- Religious Education
- Spiritual Reflection
- Celebration of Term 3
- CEDoW SCC COVID-19 Update
- Kinder 2022 - Transition to School Playgroup
- Angolo Italiano
- SCC Olympic Bake Off
- Library News Update
- Footy Colours Day
- Year 1 and Year 2
- Term 4 Commences - Tuesday 5 October
- Remote Learning and Return to School Timetable - Term 4
- eSmart Week
- Cyber Safety
- Catholic Care COVID-19 Wellness Packs
- Parliament of NSW Zoom visit
- October is Mental Health Month
- Lifestart
- Webinar for Parents - 'No Scaredy Cats'
Dear Parents and Carers,
Hope that you and your family are safe and well.
On reflection, Term 3 didn't really go to plan. It's certainly been different for many of us on many levels both professionally and personally. We missed our Sacraments of Reconciliation and Communion, St Mary of The Cross Celebration, grade excursions and incursions including the Year 5 and 6 trip to Canberra along with several sporting events - our Athletics Carnival, Gala Days and Diocesan Carnivals. These events and activities are extremely important in the life of a school, but none more than it's people. Simply, we missed connection. Connection with what is truly important as a school community - our students, staff, and parents.
Thank you to our students, staff, and parents for your care, patience, creativity, resilience, persistence and ongoing support that has been evident throughout Term 3 - Remote Learning. I am extremely proud and humbled by what we have been able to accomplished and I would like to acknowledge the many challenges, successes and celebrations that we have endured together - Well done SCC Team!
"We are not a team, just because we work together. We are a team because we respect, trust and care for each other'
Throughout Term 3 we have received ongoing feedback about our Remote Learning platform and our work in supporting the well-being and learning needs of our students. Thank you for your feedback in helping us plan for Term 4 via the Remote Learning Parent Survey. We had an outstanding 87 responses to the questionaire and the feedback has been both affirming and has highlighted opportunities for improvement in our planning moving forward.
On the whole, my child received the right amount of work My child is coping well with the amount of work I/We feel confident in supporting our child with their remote learning I know how to get support from the school, Google Online Platform Weekly Class and/or Grade Check-in Zoom
Opportunities for Improvement:
- offering more face to face opportunities with teachers via Zoom (learning and connection)
- providing a greater balance between online and offline learning tasks.
NAPLAN 2021 results have been posted to our Year 3 and 5 families. Overall across Years 3 and 5, in each learning domains - Reading, Writing, Grammar/Punctuation, Spelling and Numeracy, we are very pleased with our results and our learning trend data.
Year 3 recorded their best results since 2016 in all domains and ongoing improvement has continued to trend upwards since 2018. Year 5 recorded their best results since 2013 in all domains and has continued to trend upwards since 2018. Congratulations to our students, staff and parents for their ongoing work and support in the continual improvement of our school community. There is no ceiling on learning and improving - we are life-long learners. Together, we will endeavour to grow and provide the best care, well-being and learning for our students moving into 2022 and beyond.
Our CatholicCare counsellor has accepted a leadership position at CatholicCare commencing Term 4. We thank Emily for all her work with our school community throughout the year and wish her every success in her new role. We welcome Julie Brown, who will be our interim School Counsellor commencing Term 4.
Wishing you a very safe, happy, peaceful and relaxing school holiday break. Hope that it is all that you and your family need at this time. Thank you again for all that you have done this term to support us, to support you. Looking forward to seeing our school community come alive again for Term 4 on Tuesday 5 October.
Stay safe and connected.
Take care
Mr Brad Colquhoun - Principal
Sunday Mass
The next two weeks we celebrate the 25th and 26th Sundays of the Church Year. Both Gospels are written by Saint Mark and remind us that as disciples of Jesus we must serve all people. Jesus said if you want to be great you must serve others. We can serve others by placing their needs before our own. How timely that in our weeks of remote learning all staff, families and students have assisted each other. Not only have educational needs been met but the social and wellbeing domains of all- either via Zoom, virtual incursions, dress up days, liturgies etc.
MASS AT HOME
If you would like to continue to pray the Mass in these times a good site is
Fr Richard is streaming Masses for St Columbkille’s on Tues- Fri and then the Sunday Mass which goes up on Sat night for the Vigil. Masses can be found at www.corrimalparish.org.au
CatholicCare news: National Child Protection Week
National Child Protection Week runs from 5-11 September 2021. This year's theme is: 'Every child, in every community, needs a fair go'.
To recognise the importance of the week CatholicCare is sharing activities for parents, carers, teachers, and other significant adults to use with children to help them thrive. Click on the link to view these.
Safeguarding Sunday
The Catholic Church in Australia marks Safeguarding Sunday (formerly Child Protection Sunday) on the second Sunday of September -- at the conclusion of National Child Protection Week.
Safeguarding Sunday seeks to acknowledge the immense damage caused by the sexual abuse of children and adults at risk, including by priests, religious and laypeople within Catholic contexts. It makes a commitment to practices and protocols that create and maintain safe environments for all people. It invites people to pray for those harmed by abuse directly and indirectly.
SACRAMENTS
Those families involved in sacramental preparation have been contacted and advised of what is happening moving forward. If you have not received an email, please let me know.
Mrs Joanne Herring - Religious Education Co-ordinator
On 14 September 2021, we celebrate the feast of the Exaltation of the Holy Cross. In this feast, we celebrate the cross itself. Exaltation means to raise high, to sing praise to, to lift up. This feast is a reminder whenever you see the cross to exalt, to praise God for loving us so much that God gave God’s only Son, Jesus.
Many are faced with the puzzling reality of why we honour the cross, why we relive such a horrific event, a brutal murder. In fact, the Crucifixion is the greatest act of love ever known, and for those who look upon the cross with faith, it has the power to transform us. The power to remind us to give ourselves to others.
The cross is a physical reminder of the sacrifice of Christ. In Mark 8:34 Christ invites us, “If anyone would come after me, let him deny himself and take up his cross and follow me.” This scripture is a reminder for Christians to not just wear the cross or even admire it, but to make it the heart of their lives, to serve others and carry on the mission of Jesus as they ‘take up the cross’. The message of the Gospel reminds us that we are called to serve.
The cross is a cherished symbol of atonement, forgiveness, grace, and love. This feast presents us with an opportunity, an invitation to discover love through serving others. It could be as simple as making regular phone calls to someone who may be lonely during isolation. Perhaps there is someone in our lives we feel God is calling us to forgive. Perhaps we could use some of our own resources to serve, for example mowing an eldery neighbour’s lawn or organising an uber eats delivery to a family who may be doing it tough financially.
Please find information regarding Kinder 2022 Transition to School Playgroup from the Catholic Education Office, Diocese of Wollongong and St Columbkille's, Corrimal.
• Transition to School Zoom https://dowcatholic.zoom.us/j/67431687440
• Kinder Orientation Zoom https://dowcatholic.zoom.us/j/68723884382
Angolo Italiano
"Graize mille", for all your work and efforts in completing the Italian lessons remotley this Term. I am very proud of the efforts made by our students and they parents and carers. "Siette Bravissimi!"
A short video to celelbrate the learning has been posted to our social media pages. Take a look and celelbrate with me.
Signora Disibio - Leader of Languages - Italian
The School Representative Council (SRC) held an Olympic Themed Bake Off Competition during the last few weeks of Term 3. The idea of the competition was to bring the school community together with a fun bake off themed by the recent Olympics and Paraolympics. Out of the 47 families who entered, each student received a point for their sports house. The winners of the competition were the Shaw family with Gold creating a track and field, the Fabon family with Silver creating an Olympic swimming pool and tying for Bronze were the Allman family creating a swimming pool and diving baord and the Saveski family creating a skateboard half pipe. The SRC had fun helping to select the winners, it was just a shame that we couldn’t sample all of the entries. Congratulations to all the master chefs who joined in the fun, they really were all very creative.
Jensen Curbison - Year 6 and School Representative Council Member
Book Week 2021 Photos
Here are some more Book Week photos. Enjoy!
Book Week Competition 2021 Update
I would like to acknowledge the following students for their entries in the Book Week 2021 Writing Competition. Well done boys!
Old Worlds, New Worlds and Other Worlds by John Tadros 4B
Time Machine by Arav Gaday 5G (Special Mention)
Thanks again to everyone who entered. Here is a photo of Kaylan and Ciara Pons enjoying their competition prizes.
A huge thank you to all the staff, students and family members who took part in Footy Colours Day by wearing their favourite sports team jersey and/or colours and for making a donation to help fight children's cancer. We were able to raise $138, which is a great amount, considering the current circumstances. I know that our school donation will be warmly received.
Mrs Maria Disibio - Assistant Principal
This term, we have had two University of Wollongong students complete their final Internships at our school. Thank you to Mr Adam Lowrie (Year 2) and Miss Sarah Napier (1G) who have made wonderful contributions to our students throughout the term. Your professionalism, commitment and passion for teaching is commendable. We wish you all the best in your teaching career. Thank you to their supervising teachers for your mentoring and guidance.
Year 2 participated in the Fruit and Veg Month Competition. We had so many fabulous entries and have submitted 3 of entries (see photos below).
Well done Year 2 on your creativity and having some fun while learning about the importance of eating your fruit and veggies!
Mrs Christine Perre - Middle Leader
NSW Health and Catholic Schools NSW - Remote Learning and Return to School Timetable for Term 4.
Timeline for the COVID-19 safe return to face-to-face learning
- Term 4 Weeks 1-3 (5 October - 22 October): All schools in NSW at Level 4 restrictions (remote learning).
- Term 4 Week 4 (25 October 2021): Kindergarten and Year 1 will return to face-to-face learning with Level 3 COVID restrictions on school sites.
- Term 4 Week 5 (1 November 2021): Years 2 and 6 will return to face-to-face learning with Level 3 COVID restrictions on school sites.
- Term 4 Week 6 (8 November 2021): Years 3, 4 and 5 will return to face-to-face learning with Level 3 COVID restrictions on school sites.
The web is a great place to learn, be creative and stay connected, but with one in five young Australians found to be victims of cyberbullying each year, and the many other challenges young people face online, it’s important that we invest in giving our students the skills they need to be responsible digital citizens. eSmart assists schools and communities to achieve this.
At St Columbkille’s we are an accredited eSmart school. This means we have a collaborative approach to digital inclusion, digital literacy and cybersafety, bringing together government, industry, schools, libraries, families, organisations and most importantly, you, our eSmart community.
During National eSmart Week, we encourage you to explore being smart, safe and responsible with digital technologies at home. You may find the following sites helpful:
Mrs Maria Disibio - Assistant Principal
Do you know what each of these Appilcations do and how old the user should be?
These packs were originally created these packs to support clients impacted during the 2020 outbreak of COVID. During this new COVID challenge these wellness packs are available to support anyone who may be looking for some information and helpful resources.
Free fun with the
Parliament of NSW
Monday 27 and Wednesday 29 September and Friday 1 October 2021
For children up to 12 years
Visit Australia’s oldest Parliament via ZOOM this school holidays for free fun, educational activities for children and families.
We have three sessions over three days planned including storytelling, a virtual guided tour through the chambers and a special cultural session with Mirri Mirri. Link for bookings:
Free Family Fun with the Parliament of NSW – Parliament of New South Wales
We also have a school holiday colouring-in competition. There will be four lucky winners and the prize is a Parliament of NSW Gift Box filled with goodies, valued at $100. The link to the competition is:
https://education.parliament.nsw.gov.au/school-holiday-fun-colouring-in-competition/
Mental Health Month and the theme of “Tune In” from last year, continues in 2021. “Tuning in'' reminds us to develop our awareness of self, others, and the environment by becoming allies for mental health. Below are a number of resources that may support yuo, yuor family and/ir a friend.
How can I become a mental health ally?
Mental Health Month Resources
- https://www.mhfa.org.au/cms/national-mental-health-month-2021
- https://mentalhealthmonth.wayahead.org.au/tune-in/
- https://mentalhealthmonth.wayahead.org.au/tips-to-tune-in/
Christian Meditation Resources: Meditation Practices
Support for Mental Health Contacts: Support for Mental Health Contacts
CEDoW: For Parents and Carers: Supporting Your Child’s Wellbeing
You may be interested in resources and webinars regarding teens and being safe online. Life Start is a great place to start your search.
Parentshop® developed No Scaredy Cats™, a parent-led program to give parents the tools to help their anxious children to become more resilient. For more inofrmation please refer to the link below:
https://www.parentshop.com.au/professionals/no-scaredy-cats-for-child-family-specialists