Dear Parents and Carers,

Hope that you are well and enjoying a sensational week.

We acknowledge National Sorry Day on Friday 26 May. This is a day when we pause to remember the Stolen Generations of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples.

National Sorry Day is followed by National Reconciliation Week which is held each year between 27 May and 3 June. This year's theme is Be A Voice for Future Generations. National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia.

Thank you to our staff, parents and grandparents for both their attendance and support in making our Athletics Carnival at Beaton Park, Gwynneville, such a success. Our students enjoyed a wonderful day of participation and competition. Mrs Olima, Mrs O'Connor and Mrs Rathbone did a fantastic job in organising and running the carnival.  Thank you to our staff and parents helpers for their time and support, along with the Holy Spirit College students and Mr Merola, for their outstanding work on the day.

Congratulations to Mrs Tyrrell and Jarred on the birth of their son, Jordan. It is a wonderful time in the life of a family, and daughter Lucy will be an amazing big sister. We wish the Tyrrell's all the very best moving into the future.

Staff are currently in the process of finalising Semester One Reports which will be sent via Compass on Thursday 16 June (Week 8). Thank you to our staff for their efforts over the last few weeks in finalising our student's Semester One Reports. Students Learning Conversations will take place in Week 9 and 10.

Enjoy your weekend and hope to see you throughout Weeks 5 and 6.

Take care

Mr Brad Colquhoun - Principal

Ascension & Pentecost

This Sunday we commemorate the Feast of the Ascension. As Christians we believe that Jesus was taken up into heaven both body and soul. It occurs on the fortieth day after Easter Sunday and in the liturgies generally the day is meant to celebrate the completion of the work of our salvation and the pledge of our glorification with Christ. It also encourages us to live a life inspired by the teachings of Christ, a way of living with our gaze towards heaven which then inspires us to look outward to “the other.”

Following the Ascension we celebrate Pentecost Sunday. The word Pentecost is Greek and it means "50th day." Fifty days after Easter Sunday, we celebrate the coming of the Holy Spirit upon the Apostles and their followers, and the beginning of their Earthly ministry to make disciples of all nations.It is also known as the birthday of the Church.

Mothers Day Celebration

Last Friday our St Columbkille's community celebrated a lovely afternoon, with our special guests being our mums, grandmas, nannas, nonnas, aunties and those who care with a mother’s love. A wonderful luncheon was provided, followed by an enjoyable liturgy. Thanks to all those who were involved, or who helped in many ways. A special thank you to Clare, Clover and Opal Duggan for their reflections.

Sacrament of Confirmation

This week our Year 6 students commence their preparations for the sacrament of Confirmation. Sunday morning will be the first compulsory lesson held at the patish centre at 9am. All forms should have been returned to the parish office or parents/carers have been in contact with Lisa to advise of enrolment. Bishop Brian will officiate at both Confirmation liturgies on Tuesday 13th June & Wednesday 14th June. Please keep these students in your prayers.

National Sorry day / Reconciliation Week

Friday May 26th marks the anniversary of National Sorry Day, a day when we pause to remember the Stolen Generations of Australia’s Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples. It leads us into the Week of Prayer for Reconciliation and National Reconciliation Week which is held each year between 27th May and 3rd June.

The theme for National Reconciliation Week 2023 is “Be A Voice For Generations.” Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. For the Catholic Church in Australia, this week offers us a time to be fully the Church that God dreams for us – a Church in which Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples make their own unique contribution and that contribution is joyfully received by others.

St Columbkille’s will recognise this event on Friday 2nd June during our weekly assembly. A huge thank you to Mrs Lattimore and Mrs McLeod for organising and leading this alongside our Aboriginal students.

Mini Vinnies Winter Appeal

Our Mini Vinnies group are in the process of finding out what items of food and clothing are needed for our local Corrimal community. This term our St Vincent de Paul focus is the “Winter Appeal” where students/families donate goods. More information will be forthcoming.

“When they had gathered together they asked him, Lord, are you at this time going to restore the kingdom of Israel?” Jesus replied, “It is not for you to know times or seasons that the Father has fixed by His own authority."

"Are you at this time going to restore the Kingdom of Israel?"

Jesus' response is sometimes taken as a ducking of their question, implying perhaps that what they ask for will only take place in end times. However, it is possible to take the Lord's response as not when but how and by who.

It is the witness of the Apostles from Jerusalem, throughout Judea and Samaria, and to the ends of the earth that will bring about the new Israel, the kingdom of God, which is apparent in the world as the Church. Witness in the early church was demonstrated through a presence in charity, dialogue and how the community loved one another. It was very effective in evangelisation. This witness is no different to what we are called to do in our work with school communities.

For some people, there is the view that we are to expect Jesus to come back and reign over a Jewish kingdom in Israel in the end times, even perhaps to rebuild the stone temple and restore animal sacrifice. For this reason, some Christians treat the modern State of Israel as a quasi-sacred entity that deserves our carte blanche political support. Perhaps here at home, our stone temples tend to be our church buildings, tabernacles and pews. They are beautiful expressions of our faith that can be easily deified.

The Catholic tradition has not and does not endorse this view, and it would seem to represent a retrograde action in salvation history. Why would we want to return to a temple of stone when we have the Temple of Christ's body, which has now transformed our bodies into His Temple? Have we not learned the lesson that God does not dwell in temples made by human hands? (Acts 7:48)

Moreover, people fail to realise that the Church (which is us) is the unfolding manifestation of the kingdom of God on earth. The Kingdom coming, therefore, is in our hands and the significance of this within the context of our schools is enormous.

On Wednesday 10th May 2023,  two teams from St Columbkille's participated in the Da Vinci Decathlon with 38 other teams from throughout the Illawarra. During the day there were three sessions with two to three papers being completed at any one time. Topics included Science, Mathematics, English, Engineering and Code Breaking.

Below is a list of the members of each team and the awards which they recieved as a result of their hard work. 

Year 5  1st Place - English, 2nd Place - Legacy, 3rd Place - Science
Jasmin Bertacco
Taavi Cooke
Dylan Fang
Rosalie Larkin
Isabella Masters
Talon Mayo
Ciara Pons
Taylor Potter

Year 6  2nd Place - English, 2nd Place - Creative Producers
Sunny Barry
Noah Bell
Mae Cameron
Noah Cotterell
Natalie Harris
Zali Munoz Letham
Juliet Ritz
Claude Vincent

Congratulations to the students, their teachers, Mrs Tyrrell and their families. St Columbkille's is exceptionally proud of your endeavours. 

Mrs O'Connor - Middle Leader: Gifted and Talented Education

School-level results available late Term 2

Teachers will get access to school-level results towards the end of Term 2 in the school and student summary report (SSSR) and a new proficiency standards report.

Further information about how to access and interpret the reports and support materials for communicating the proficiency standards to parents and carers will be emailed to principals and NAPLAN coordinators throughout Term 2.

Parent reports available early Term 3

Print copies of individual student reports (ISR) and additional student reports (ASR) are expected to be sent to schools for distribution to parents and carers early in Term 3.

Tuesday saw a stunning day on the track at Beaton Park where our students participated in our school Athletics Carnival. The day commenced early with the 800m events. The war cries were judged by the helpful Holy Spirit students, who had come to assist with the field events for the day. Primary events included 100m and 200m heats, long and high jump and shot put. Discus was conducted the day prior, at school by Mrs Olima. Infants students participated in sprints, ball games, throwing games, long jump and relay races. The day was concluded with finals for every age group in the 100m.

THANK YOU to:

- Parent volunteers who kept time, marshalled, and ensured the field events ran smoothly

- Mr Merola from Holy Spirit College for bringing his Senior Students to assist in the field events

- Our Parents for having your children ready for such a big day of events

- Our Staff of St Columbkille’s who managed large groups of students in the sun, ensuring that everyone had a turn. Your hard work is, as always, appreciated.

- Finally, thank you to Mrs Olima and Mrs Rathbone for managing such a large event, with so many different categories being run across the Infants and Primary levels.  There has been many extra hours work put into the Athletics Carnival. Without your expertise we would be lost.

Once results are input, a Compass alert will be sent out advising of when presentations will be made. 

Mrs Adelaide O’Connor - Middle Leader - Leader of Sport

On Friday, 2 June, the school community will celebrate “La Festa Della Repubblica Italiana” by wearing green, white and red, “i tre colori”, dressing as a famous Italian or wearing Italian themed clothing. 

During Italian lessons, students will learn about the history of the national day and how it is celebrated in Italy.  The school bell will also be changed to suit the theme of the day.  

Signora Disibio - Leader of Languages - Italian

All students are expected to wear the full winter school uniform from Monday 22 May. If you have any concerns regarding the winter uniform, please contact the office.

Correct uniform items are available for purchase from Poppets Direct (1/31 Montague Street, Fairy Meadow). Uniforms are also available to order online at Poppets.

You may also wish to visit our St Columbkille's second-hand uniform Facebook group to buy or sell new or used school uniforms among other members of the school community.

Today we celebrtated Walk Safely to School Day (WSTSD).  This annual event is in its 25th year.  The campaign encourages all primary school children, their parents and carers to walk safely and regulary to school.  The event seeks to promote road safety, health, public transport and the environment.

The objectives of WSTSD are:

• To encourage parents and carers to walk to school with primary school age children and reinforce safe pedestrian behaviour.
• To promote the health benefits of walking and help create regular walking habits at an early age.
• To ensure that children up to 10 years old hold an adult's hand when crossing the road.
• To help children develop the vital road-crossing skills they will need as they become mature pedestrians.
• To reduce the car dependency habits that are being created at an early age and which will be difficult to change as children become adults.
• To promote the use of Public Transport.
• To reduce the level of air pollution created by motor vehicles.
• To reduce the level of traffic congestion.

It was lovely to see so many of our students and families riding, walking and catching public transport to school.  These students received a Walk Safely to School Tattoo.  

Mrs Maria Disibio - Assistant Principal

Wollongong Running Festival

The Wollongong Running Festival is on June 4 2023. For students wanting to register for the event, parents/carers can do this online using the Wollongong Running Festival website http://www.wollongongrunningfestival.com/ 

When you register you will need to join the St Columbkille's Corrimal Team. This is easy to do. You do this by clicking on 'join a team' and then scrolling doen and selecting St Columbkille's Corrimal.

If anyone registered previously but was unaware of how to join the St Columbkille's team, please email the office and Mrs Olima will add you into the school team.

The School with the most registrations for the event will win $1000 to spend on whatever they like!

Mrs Carla Olima - PDHPE Teacher