Principal's Update - 31st July

Welcome

Dear Families,

Welcome back. We hope you all enjoyed a safe and joyful break. The school is looking fantastic, and we’re ready for an exciting Term 3. A huge thank you to our dedicated teachers who spent time over the holidays preparing classrooms and planning engaging learning experiences. This is going to be a great term of learning. 

This term, our concept is Discovery, and students across all year levels will be exploring this theme in a variety of ways. Expect plenty of colour, hands-on experiments, and perhaps even a few (safe) explosions as we explore this concept in more detail. A special thank you to all the families who attended our expo for the 3/4 community at the end of last term. The students truly loved sharing their learning with you.

We are making some tweaks to the way we use the school calendar this term, aiming to include more information related to events (when relevant) within the calender event itself. The goal is to reduce the number of locations people need to go to find information. We’ll see how it goes this term and if it’s something worth continuing into the future.

We’re also thrilled about the return of Book Week in Week 5, our Father’s Day Liturgy, and of course, the much-anticipated Arts Festival. Though it’s a slightly shorter term, it is packed with events and opportunities.

This year, our school continues to focus on strengthening curriculum and pedagogy, with a particular emphasis on literacy development. The improvements we’ve already seen through changes brought in last year are very encouraging. Our ongoing progress monitoring is giving us a lot to celebrate. We thank families for your continued support in this work through the encouragement of nightly reading practice of both decodable and authentic texts.  We’re excited about the impact our combined efforts will have on our students, both now and in the years to come.

Student motivation and wellbeing also remain central to our work. One of the most powerful drivers of motivation is the experience of success through healthy challenge. It has been great to be able to take some time this week to visit classrooms and speak with students as they share some of their successes for the start of the term.

It has also been a pleasure to sit in on some of the lessons exploring NAIDOC Week and this year’s theme: The Next Generation – Strength, Vision & Legacy. 

On the sustainability front, we met with one of our local families last week  to look at their community garden and ways we might be able to incorporate that into our school’s emerging program. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students and a great connection to our local community. Stay tuned for more information.

In this week’s update we’ve included a flyer for a parent support group looking at supporting families with challenges around school attendance, as well as general parent connection opportunities.

Thank you, as always, for your continued support. We look forward to a fantastic term of learning, discovery and connection.

Arts Festival

With the Arts Festival fast approaching, the specialist teachers and parent committee are busy preparing all elements of this event.

We are asking for parent helpers to volunteer in our kitchens to sell home made food items. We will require 6 parents per time slot listed.

If you are available to help, please list all times you're available. You will receive a text message with the time slot you are allocated closer to the day.

Fathers Day Celebrations

Our Father’s Day Stall will be held on Tuesday 2nd September. Students will have the chance to purchase a gift for their father or father figure in their lives. Gifts are all $5 each. Online payments via Quickcliq or cash on the day will be accepted.

Friday the 5th September we will celebrate the Father figures in our community, students can dress as their Dads or Significant Role Model! (eg. work uniform; sports gear; casuals that Dad wear; or a particular Dad item like tie or tool belt)

Starting with a Liturgy in the Church at 9.15am, followed by some fun indoor & outdoor activities in family groups. Remember to visit our photo booth with your special person! More information to come.

Student Led Conferences

Later in the term, we look forward to welcoming you to Student-Led Conferences, where students will proudly share their learning journeys. Bookings are open now via PAM. Dates are in the school calendar along with additional support information.

Community Garden

We’re thrilled to share that St Columba’s has been given access to a beautiful vegetable garden on Crompton Street! The generous occupants have set off on an incredible adventure—cycling around the world and even running a marathon in New York!

The win for us is that we have the opportunity to care for their garden while they’re away for the next 12 months. With raised garden beds, fruit orchards, and an abundance of vegetables, it’s a wonderful space for our students to weed, compost, plant, water, and harvest.

We feel so lucky to have this little green haven just around the corner and can’t wait to see it grow under our care!

Sacramental Program

It was wonderful to see the next generation of our faith community presented to the parish over the weekend, as our students preparing for Confirmation took part in Mass.

Over the next three weeks, at each mass, these students will receive a special gift from the community, symbolising their growing understanding of and commitment to our faith traditions.

New Staff

We are incredibly excited to welcome Scott Buchanan to our teaching team. Scott is taking over the performing arts - music role for the remainder of the year. Scott comes to us with a wealth of experience and expertise, having taught in this area across multiple schools as well as working with the Australian youth choir.

Drop Off and Pickups

A big thank you to everyone for their efforts around drop off and pick up times, this is leading to a great start to our school day leading to a calmer, smooth entrance and exit.

School TV

Building confidence and motivation in young people is essential for their development and overall wellbeing. Supporting these traits means encouraging your child to set realistic goals, celebrate their achievements, and learn from setbacks. Confidence allows young people to believe in their abilities, face challenges with resilience, and feel empowered in their decisions.

Community

Important Dates