Dear Parents and Carers.

On Sunday we celebrate Mother's Day. This day is a wonderful opportunity to acknowledge and affirm the special women - our mothers, grandmothers and aunties in our lives who play such a significant role in supporting, loving and guiding us. We wish them a very happy, relaxing and joyous day with family and friends.

'Mother's hold their children's hand for a short while, but their hearts forever'

Yesterday, it was great to see so many of our mothers, grandmothers and aunties attending our  Liturgy and morning tea. Thank you to Emma McIntyre for organising the beautiful flowers, Mrs McDonald and Mrs Pasoce for organising the morning tea and Mrs Herring along with Year 1 for presenting such a thoughtful liturgy.

To Caroline and Paul Ayers, Linda Logue and Sarah Foster, along with 'Team Mother's Day' who collected, packaged and wrapped the Mother's Day gifts that our students were able to purchase today, who set up and served at the stall today. - Thank you once again.

I would like to thank the following families and business groups who kindly donated prizes for the Mother’s Day Raffle. We greatly appreciate your support and generosity.  

Thank you to the following; Lisa Murphy, Catherine Miller, Deana Misopapas, Gisella Villella, Sarah Haafkens, Craig Allman, Nelson Pires Junior, Cecilia Welch and Caroline Ayers.

Thank you to the following businesses; Evonne Ballinger Beauty, Lucia's by the Sea restaurant, Indigo and Salt, Refine Massage Therapy, Medusa Hair Gallery, Fraternity Club, The Beauty Bar, Ciao Cucina restaurant, Villa Serenity and. Polka Shoppe.

The winners were:- 1st Dakota Short, 2nd, Kalani Good, 3rd Jake Walsh, 4th Indira Lozenkovski, 5th Isabella Oliver, 6th Matthew Munn and 7th Flynn Karhof.  Congratulations to all our winners.

The Raffle raised $969.00 and the Mother's Day Stall raised $1358.70 - totalling $2327.70.

Congratulations to Mrs Perre and husband Dominic who are expecting their second child. It is a wonderful time in their lives and we wish Christine, Dominic and son Samuel all the very best.

Over the next few weeks, Mrs Disibio and I will be conducting Kindergarten Interviews for our 2020 cohort. It is has been great to meet with many of the new families wishing to enrol in our school and to become apart of our amazing St Columbkille’s School community. 

Last Monday, we held our first 'Understanding Our Boys' parent session on Trust. Thank you to Sam Immens and Kerrie Hayes-Williams (Catholic Education Office, Wollongong) who presented on the night. Their insights, knowledge and understanding were greatly appreciated and widely respected. Thank you to the many parents who attended and we look forward to our next session - 'Communication', on Monday 20 May. 

Our winter uniform transition will commence on Monday 20 May. All students are expected to wear their winter uniform by this date.  If you have any concerns regarding your child's/ren winter uniform, please let the school office know before Monday, 20 May. 

I wish you a fantastic weekend, Happy Mother's Day and thank you once again for your support of our school. 

Happy Mother's Day!

Take care

Mr Brad Colquhoun – Principal

ANZAC Day Liturgy

What a lovely celebration we had to commemorate Anzac Day for 2019.  Thank you to Mr Ray Morgan who addressed our gathering and to Mrs Bronwyn Darby and Mr Murray Bolton for their attendance. Our wonderful choir, led by Ms Patton, again sang with angelic voices. It was a lovely service to remember those who have served in wars or peace-keeping missions, and especially those who have lost their lives in war.

Confirmation

Our Year 6 students continue their journey towards Confirmation. We have just completed our second evening and look forward to our Retreat Day on Wednesday, 19 June. The actual event is being held on Thursday, 20 June and Friday, 21 June. Please continue to keep these students in your prayers.

Project Compassion

On behalf of Caritas and St Columbkilles school we would like to congratulate all the students, families and staff for supporting our Easter raffle and Project Compassion boxes. Our combined total raised was $2828.85, a tremendous effort, which will go a long way to helping those in need. Thank you all!

Year 6 Youth Day

On Monday, our Year 6 students celebrated a youth day at St Michael’s Thirroul with a number of schools from the northern region.  The theme was 'Activate Fire' and the students sang and worked in small groups, focusing on the Holy Spirit. Mission, prayer and worship sessions allowed for a wonderful day. Thanks to our Year 6 students who were commended on their behaviour and participation.

Mother's Day

Yesterday we celebrated a heart-warming liturgy with our mums, nans, grandmas, and all those who nurture us with a mothers love. Thank you to all those people who helped with the liturgy, especially to Mrs McIntyre for arranging the beautiful flowers and to Mrs McDonald and Luna Expresso for the delicious morning tea. We all hope you enjoy being spoilt this Sunday.

Jo Herring

Religious Education Coordinator

Mother's Day Photos

During the recent school break, many of our students and their families participated in the ANZAC Sunday (14 April) and ANZAC Day Dawn (25 April) March and Ceremonies, supporting the Corrimal RSL Sub Branch and honouring those men and women who have served, and continue to serve, our nation. 

Our school attendance and participation in these significant events is a notable show of our school spirit, community spirit and support and I would like to take this opportunity to thank all who took the time to be a part of these commemorative services.  Your attendance is very much appreciated. 

Assistant Principal - Maria Disibio  

Weight gain, cravings, labor and more

Nine months of waiting – our baby is born!

Startled and screaming, all pink and squished

A boy or a girl?.... whatever is wished

There’s no book, there’s no manual, ‘What do we do?’

With a baby that cries, eats, wees and poos!

Broken sleep, unwashed hair

Tracksuits with thongs – we don’t care what we wear!

Soon though a smile, and then there’s a giggle

They’re now on the floor and they’re starting to wriggle.

Suddenly a crawl, now they’re standing up tall

Was my child ever a baby at all?

In the blink of an eye they are starting at school

And with it comes attitude, eye rolling and moods

Yet sweet little pictures and new skills to show

Of writing and numbers and reading they know.

Stories at bedtime, a kiss then lights off,

“Mum, can I have a drink? I think I’ve got a bad cough”

Then unpack the dishwasher, read some emails,

Make up the lunches, us mums never fail.

Check the home-reader, read the school app,

Lay out the uniform, find the school hat,

Time for a rest, hang on, ‘Is that someone up?’

Go back to bed, the sun isn’t up!

The washing piled high, the cleaning delayed,

What is for dinner? Is there sport on today?

The toys left out, the clothes on the floor -

These are the moments we mothers live for!

Picking up bathmats, turning out jocks

Hanging up towels, pairing up socks

Being the taxi to swimming or netball,

Picking up friends for a late game of football.

Finding sports socks, tying shoe laces,

Turning off Fortnite to angry, stunned faces

Tending to scrapes, headlice and more

These are the things that we mothers endure

Would we change a thing? Never, we say!

What? The joy of on call 24 hours a day.

Our children, we love them, every inch of their being

If only they noticed the grey hairs that we’re seeing.

But being a mother, it’s simply the best

The greatest gift ever, we all will attest,

The love that we give, is doubled in return

Our hearts overwhelmed for the child we’ve yearned.

Written by by Dianne Sharman - Mother of Lachlan, Emily and Hayden.

Congratulations to the Willoughby and Kerr familiies on the arrival of their daughters. 

To Nicole, Joel and Sophie Willoughby on the birth of twins Allana and Hallie, and to Allimah, Andrew, Mackenzie and Brayden Kerr on the birth of Andie, we wish you every success and happiness moving into the future.

On Wednesday 8 May, 16 Year 5 and 6 students went to the Illawarra Christian School to compete in an academic gala day called the Da Vinci Decathlon. Around 38 teams competed with nearly 300 students. There were 10 subjects including ideation, english, mathematics, science, art and poetry, general knowledge, creative producers, engineering, cartography and code breaking. Year 6 placed 3rd in General Knowledge and Year 5 placed 3rd in Code Breaking. We were challenged to make at least one new friend from a different school.

By Jasmine Whiddon 

On Tuesday 7 May, a squad of runners participated in the Diocesan Cross Country at Willandra in Cambewarra. It was a fantastic day, great conditions for running and the students were very competitive with a number qualifying for the Mackillop Cross Country on the 14 June, 2019 at Eastern Creek. Congratulations to our squad:,

Bailey Mitchell, Sonny O’Brien, Randy O’Brien, Ava Cooper, Harper Duggan, Hamish Dorney, Bowen Bates, Luca Tortorici, Maddison Wood, Aliza Woodford, Anisha Hira, Lucas Dubowski, Isaac Fielding, Jake Walsh, Olivia Otsyula, Emma Lumsden, Alessandra Eszquerro, Lacey Duval, Samantha Costin, Gabriela Tortorici, Kye Mitchell, Lachlan Sharman, Daniel Zelinski.

Each age category had over 90 students and many of our runners achieved top 20 results. The following students have qualified for Mackillop:

Bailey Mitchell – 3^rd

Hamish Dorney – 2^nd

Maddison Wood – 7^th

Lacey Duval – 4^th

Kye Mitchell – 6^th

Out of 31 participating schools, St Columbkilles placed 7^th overall. 

Well done everyone.

Colleen Kipp - Leader of Sport

The Woolworths Earn and Learn program has commenced and St Columbkille's has regisitered.  For every $10 you spend at Woolworths you will receive a sticker.  These stickers can be placed in the box located outside Woolworths Corrimal or handed in at school.  Stickers will be collected between now and June 25 2019.  The stickers we collect as a school, will be redeemed for equipment for our students to use whilst learning.  

All students are expected to wear the full winter school uniform from Monday 23 May. If you have any concerns regarding the winter uniform, please contact the office.

Link to uniform policy and information.

National Walk Safely to School Day (WSTSD) is on Friday 17 May. Now in its 20th year, the campaign encourages all primary school children, their parents and carers to walk and commute regularly and safely to school. Supported by the Australian Government, the event seeks to promote road safety, health, public transport and the environment.

A promotional kit containing WSTSD posters, stickers and information has been posted to every primary school in Australia and is due to arrive by the end of this week to each location. Further information about WSTSD is available on the CEDoW website.

The objectives of WSTSD are to -

-Encourage parents and carers to walk to school with primary school age children.

-Promote the health benefits of walking and create regular walking habits.

-Help children develop vital road crossing skills and ensure children up to the age of 10 years hold an adult's hand when crossing the road.

-Reduce car dependency and traffic congestion.

-Reduce the level of air pollution created by motor vehicles.

-Promote the use of public transport.

We wish to thank everyone for the amazing support we received for this years Easter Raffle.  

Easter Raffle winners:-

1st - Mrs Pascoe                 8th - Mrs Finney

2nd - Ollie Stewart             9th - Wil Malcolm

3rd - Mrs Tyrrell                10th - Josh Potter

4th - Talon Mayo               11th - Abbie Stenos

5th - Miss O'Leary             12th - Riley Holl

6th - Sam Morrisey            13th - Zali Mayo

7th - Jacobson Family        14th - Lorella Tadros

We raised $2828.85 to donate to Project Compassion.

Canteen Roster

Term 2 - Week 3

Monday, 13 May

Janine Baumeister, Kristy Collyer, Lynn Harrison, Marguerite Zind (9.00-11.30) 

Tuesday, 14 May – SUSHI TUESDAY

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

Wednesday, 15 May

Donna Kelly, Yvette Vincent, Sally Ritz

Thursday, 16 May

Jennie Fitzpatrick, Lyndell Warmington

Friday, 17 May

Nicky Bishop, Mary Munn, Clare Duggan, Valentina Vega (11.30-2.30)

Term 2 - Week 4

Monday, 20 May

Marguerite Zind, Lucy Fielding, Lynda Cross, Joy Drady (9.30-11.30), Olivia Hira (11.30-2.30)

Tuesday, 21 May – SUSHI TUESDAY

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

Wednesday, 22 May

Mary Munn, Penelope Geraldi (11.30-2.30)

Thursday, 23 May

Michelle Donachy (9.00-11.30), Lisa McCormack (11.30-2.30), Fiona Humphries (11.30-2.30)

Friday, 24 May

Jessica England (9.00-11.30), Tania Erven, Aimee Mancin, Kylie Walsh

Our Parishes of St Columbkille's and St Joseph have a Facebook page “Our Parishes” @corrimalbulli. Follow the page for updated information regarding Mass times, Sacramental programs and Parish events and news.  You can also view the Weekly Bulletin and generally keep in touch with our Parish.