Principal's Message (Return to Newsletter Home)
Term Four Week Ten
Our final newsletter for the year has arrived. What an incredible year it has been, I would like to personally thank Fr Marcello on behalf of Kim and myself for supporting us in the current model of co-principal and with the appointment of myself and Bambi Afford for 2020 and on.
A huge thank you to the staff who have made this year such an incredible one, our school is a flourishing environment filled with happy families and an incredible sense of community that wouldn’t be possible without their hard work and dedication. As a collective, the passion and care for students shown by our staff are beyond belief and I thank them for the numerous extra jobs that go on to make this possible.
Another thank you to our parent community and representative bodies, so many parents are involved in our school and help to contribute to what an incredible place this is. Not only does this make our local environment a happier one, but it is also great to hear how highly regarded the school is in the wider community due to the way our parents talk about the school to others. It is a privilege to be a member of and one of the leaders of this community so thank you.
Finally a thank you and farewell to my Co-Principal Kim Butler. We began working together six years ago as deputy and principal and over that time I have learnt so much about what it means to lead in a Catholic school from Kim. I am forever indebted for the learning and opportunities provided by her and wish her every happiness as she embarks on her next adventure. It’s easy to come to work each day knowing you have someone like Kim alongside you.
I’d also like to take the chance to acknowledge our departing staff. Julie Cooper has been an institution within the St Columba’s community for what feels like forever (in a good way). Julie has so many connections and knowledge about our families and her genuine care for the community is without measure. Julie has been instrumental in so many of the initiatives within the school and has made a difference in countless students lives in all of her many roles her. She will be greatly missed. We also celebrate the opportunity her new role brings to share her passion for students and community at a new school.
Anyone who has worked with Megan Walton would know of her dogged determination in ensuring justice and opportunities for students and families. Megan, like Julie, has worn a number of hats over her years here and finishes up in her area of passion, Learning Diversity. Megan has supported the school in developing processes and practices that ensure no child ‘slips through the cracks’ and every child is receiving the best support we can provide. Her depth of knowledge around student learning and particularly learning challenges has continued to grow throughout her time in the role and she lives out the idea of being a life long learner. We wish you all the best with your new school Megan and the challenges it may bring.
Kim Taylor has been a smiling face within our school community since long before I joined the staff. Kim is the first person to ask how you are going every day, and regardless of what is going on in her own life is always ready to jump in and help others. Kim has supported countless students throughout her time at St Columba’s (as well as just a few staff and parents) and is someone it is a real privilege to be able to call your friend. We will miss your positivity Kim, but know you will bring a new light to your next school as well.
Cathy Harris scores an honourable mention in the departing staff list, I’m sure it’s just to avoid giving a speech but Cathy is taking 12 months leave. Cathy recently completed her nursing degree and has taken a 12-month position at St John of God’s hospital. Like Kim Cathy is a friendly face to so many of our families and always has a smile and infectious laugh to share with the community. We wish Cathy all the best in her new journeys.
Advent
Week 2 of Advent sees us lighting the candle of Peace, Advent itself is a time of waiting. A time to reflect on what we mean to one another and the relationships in our life. To be grateful for what we have. Our staff reflection this week raised the question of what brings us Peace? Where do you find peace in your life? Is it in the material goods you have or the people in your life? Is it in the parties and gifts you receive at this time or the time spent with others? Do you find Peace in your hobbies, work or other interests? Is Peace for you time away in quiet or time spent with others? We each find Peace and meaning in a multitude of different ways, Advent is an opportunity for us to use this time to recognise what we value in our lives and work to bring this forward.
Book covering
We are seeking some volunteers to cover some recently purchased books. If you are able to help out please contact Julie Cooper at school or via email jcooper@scballarat.catholic.edu.au
Thank you
A huge thank you to
Final Assembly for 2019
The final assembly for 2019 will be held Wednesday 18th December, 2pm in the Church. All are welcome to attend.
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A huge thank you to the staff who have made this year such an incredible one, our school is a flourishing environment filled with happy families and an incredible sense of community that wouldn’t be possible without their hard work and dedication. As a collective, the passion and care for students shown by our staff are beyond belief and I thank them for the numerous extra jobs that go on to make this possible.
Another thank you to our parent community and representative bodies, so many parents are involved in our school and help to contribute to what an incredible place this is. Not only does this make our local environment a happier one, but it is also great to hear how highly regarded the school is in the wider community due to the way our parents talk about the school to others. It is a privilege to be a member of and one of the leaders of this community so thank you.
Finally a thank you and farewell to my Co-Principal Kim Butler. We began working together six years ago as deputy and principal and over that time I have learnt so much about what it means to lead in a Catholic school from Kim. I am forever indebted for the learning and opportunities provided by her and wish her every happiness as she embarks on her next adventure. It’s easy to come to work each day knowing you have someone like Kim alongside you.
I’d also like to take the chance to acknowledge our departing staff. Julie Cooper has been an institution within the St Columba’s community for what feels like forever (in a good way). Julie has so many connections and knowledge about our families and her genuine care for the community is without measure. Julie has been instrumental in so many of the initiatives within the school and has made a difference in countless students lives in all of her many roles her. She will be greatly missed. We also celebrate the opportunity her new role brings to share her passion for students and community at a new school.
Anyone who has worked with Megan Walton would know of her dogged determination in ensuring justice and opportunities for students and families. Megan, like Julie, has worn a number of hats over her years here and finishes up in her area of passion, Learning Diversity. Megan has supported the school in developing processes and practices that ensure no child ‘slips through the cracks’ and every child is receiving the best support we can provide. Her depth of knowledge around student learning and particularly learning challenges has continued to grow throughout her time in the role and she lives out the idea of being a life long learner. We wish you all the best with your new school Megan and the challenges it may bring.
Kim Taylor has been a smiling face within our school community since long before I joined the staff. Kim is the first person to ask how you are going every day, and regardless of what is going on in her own life is always ready to jump in and help others. Kim has supported countless students throughout her time at St Columba’s (as well as just a few staff and parents) and is someone it is a real privilege to be able to call your friend. We will miss your positivity Kim, but know you will bring a new light to your next school as well.
Cathy Harris scores an honourable mention in the departing staff list, I’m sure it’s just to avoid giving a speech but Cathy is taking 12 months leave. Cathy recently completed her nursing degree and has taken a 12-month position at St John of God’s hospital. Like Kim Cathy is a friendly face to so many of our families and always has a smile and infectious laugh to share with the community. We wish Cathy all the best in her new journeys.
Advent
Week 2 of Advent sees us lighting the candle of Peace, Advent itself is a time of waiting. A time to reflect on what we mean to one another and the relationships in our life. To be grateful for what we have. Our staff reflection this week raised the question of what brings us Peace? Where do you find peace in your life? Is it in the material goods you have or the people in your life? Is it in the parties and gifts you receive at this time or the time spent with others? Do you find Peace in your hobbies, work or other interests? Is Peace for you time away in quiet or time spent with others? We each find Peace and meaning in a multitude of different ways, Advent is an opportunity for us to use this time to recognise what we value in our lives and work to bring this forward.
Book covering
We are seeking some volunteers to cover some recently purchased books. If you are able to help out please contact Julie Cooper at school or via email jcooper@scballarat.catholic.edu.au
Thank you
A huge thank you to
- Pat Landrigan for giving up his time to lay the slab for our new garden shed a few weeks ago.
- The Eeles family (including Hailey's dad ......also known as Santa) for constructing our new garden shed
- Thank you also to Alan Baldwin for generously sharing his plumbing expertise with us.
Final Assembly for 2019
The final assembly for 2019 will be held Wednesday 18th December, 2pm in the Church. All are welcome to attend.
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Term Four Week Eight
Week 6 saw our Combined AGM with SAC and P&F as part of this meeting we recognised the efforts of our departing committee members and their contribution to the school. Thank you to Cam Landry as chair of the SAC and Eliza Hopkinson president of the P&F, also thank you to Christina Sadowski and Andrew Perks who have reached their 4 year maximum term on SAC. The insights and contributions of each of these members over the years has been a valuable assistance in the direction and approach we take as a school.
We also welcome our new SAC members, Kate Jervis, Fiona Newton and our new SAC Executive with Ethan Corfee as Chair, Luke Cooper Deputy Chair and Lisa Richardson as Secretary. I thank each of these members for their continued contributions to the school.
We are looking at changing the way our P&F functions next year with a greater focus on event teams rather than year long commitments to the committee. The idea is for a group of individuals to come together around a specific event, meet as required for the event and then disband following this. It is hoped that this will allow a greater number of parents to participate in the many fundraising and social events we host as a school without the need for an extended commitment to meetings and other activities.
This weekend sees the beginning of the season of Advent in the Catholic church, the school will be holding it’s first advent celebration on Friday along with our Family Group Activities - see the RE section for more details on this. This Saturday at 6 pm also sees the celebration of our school-led parish mass, the response from families has been fantastic and it will be great to see the church filled with the Parish and school community together in celebration. If you haven’t responded yet we would still encourage you to attend and join in this wonderful experience.
Class Lists
Staff have been hard at work putting class lists for 2020 together. To give parents a picture of some of the work involved in this, combined, there are close to 300 different requests and considerations that staff are working with. Whilst a small number of these come from our parents (under 20) the vast majority are things staff have added to the list. This includes everything from academic and social needs, past history, future needs, behaviour and NCCD levels. As you can imagine, with this many factors to consider we cannot meet all of them and must make best case decisions with the interests of all 320 students in mind. I would like to thank the staff for their effort and professionalism in these conversations and remind our community we always have the interests of all students at the centre of this work.
2020 Paper Work
Just a friendly reminder to families to please return the 2020 information forms that went home recently with students. The sooner this is all back the quicker we can set up for next year. Thank you.
Christmas celebrations
Our Christmas night is still going ahead, weather permitting on Wednesday 11th December. On the night there will be an option to purchase food from a P&F run sausage sizzle and ice cream stand as well as the East India Food Van. A notice will be going out on PAM this week asking families to RSVP so that we have an idea of how many students in each community will be part of the performances. We will make a call at the start of the week on the weather situation and inform parents.
Staffing 2020
Next Tuesday is our Going Up Day, with our current grade 6's off to visit their secondary schools and our new Foundation students joining us. Students will also find out their homeroom teachers for 2020 on this day.
With recent changes in staff, we are also adjusting some of our structures for 2020 to best support student learning and staff welfare. Each learning community will have an additional teacher attached to them to enable greater flexible in the delivery of curriculum. This additional teacher will support the community to run small group clinics, interventions and provide the release for teams such as the wellbeing and digital technology to meet.
Classroom staffing for 2020 is:
5/6 Community
Shane Bruty/Ruth Hackwill
Kelly Leoncini
Lucy Quinlan
Hailey Eeles
Additional support: Cleta Forrest
3/4 Community
Nicky Russell
Sarah Jones/Ruth Hackwill
Lucy Quanchi
Tim Gilbert
Additional support: Alison Thorpe
1/2 Community
Torie Waight
Megan Bourke
Keely Keating
Melissa Noonan
Additional support: Emily Mullane/Lucy Marquand
Foundation Community
Michelle Penhall
Anne Petrie/Lucy Marquand
Additional Support: Whitney Bruty
Specialists:
Visual Art - Term 1 - Caity Gordon / Term 2-4 Maree Cooper
Languages - Term 1&2 Simone Bawden / Term 3&4 Erica Hare
Phys Ed - Wayne Lynch
Music - Ruth Hackwill
School Assembly
Our next assembly will showcase will be led by LG3 and will be held Friday 6th December at the earlier time of 2.30pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will celebrate the first week of Advent, introduce our final Foundation student to the school community, Max K (Connor) and the Glee club will present a song.
All are welcome to attend.
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Term Four Week Six
Today sees the first of our 2020 foundation students transition days. It’s always incredible to see the bright eyes and excitement of students stepping into our learning spaces for the first time. This light is something that we at St Columba’s work hard to maintain throughout a student’s time with us. There are numerous articles and talks out there about Schools killing creativity and preparing students for a future that no longer exists. This is something we work hard to avoid.
The work of Regio Emilia and Maria Montesorri underpin so much of what we do at St Columba’s and heavily influenced the Walker Learning Approach. The work of Regio talks about the 100 languages of children a concept by Loris Malaguzzi; “The hundred languages… and a hundred, hundred more.” This idea that we are born with an innate curiosity and desire to explore, play and makes sense of the world around us. This concept has been explored further in academic studies on creativity and divergent thinking, asking early years school students to come up with a hundred different uses for a paper clip (which they do easily), early years students show no fear in their ideas and thoughts. The same activity presented to graduating high school students typically results in far fewer ideas. In terms of divergent thinking 98% of kindergarten students rate at the genius level.
So much of what we do at St Columba’s relates to keeping that spark alive. As I watch next years genius’ enter our school, my hope for the next 7 years is not just that we can keep it alive, but that we grow and strengthen it within them.
Just how many ways can you use a paper clip?
AGM Tonight
Our Annual General Meeting is being held at 6:30pm tonight followed by SAC and P&F meetings at 7pm. Thank you to all our standing members this year and in particular to our two chairpeople Cameron Landry and Eliza Hopkinson both of whom are stepping down at the end of this year. I thank them for their efforts and support of our school and welcome those new members stepping in.
Staff Farewell
It is with a sad but also celebratory heart that I announce the departure of Mrs Kim Taylor at the end of the 2019 year. Kim has been offered a position at Loreto College next year and this is an incredible opportunity for her to experience new things and continue to make use of the multitude of skills she has developed over her time here. Kim will be greatly missed not only for her incredible work ethic and knowledge but her compassion and commitment to others. She truly lives out the Gospel values we hold our school to in all of her interactions with others. We will miss you Kim, but congratulations on your new appointment.
Staff Recognition
Mr Wayne Lynch was recently nominated for a Sports School Victoria award. These awards come in a variety of forms and Mr Lynch was nominated for his effort in promoting involvement in sports amongst all students. Wayne’s nomination recognised his efforts in bringing a number of local sporting clubs and activities into our school to provide students with a range of new experiences, as well as his support of students involved in local competitions. Congratulations Wayne.
School Assembly
Our next assembly will showcase will be led by LG4 and will be held Friday 22nd November at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will introduce our final group of Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Max K (Connor), Evelyn (Agatha), Zhaedyn (Finn H)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
The work of Regio Emilia and Maria Montesorri underpin so much of what we do at St Columba’s and heavily influenced the Walker Learning Approach. The work of Regio talks about the 100 languages of children a concept by Loris Malaguzzi; “The hundred languages… and a hundred, hundred more.” This idea that we are born with an innate curiosity and desire to explore, play and makes sense of the world around us. This concept has been explored further in academic studies on creativity and divergent thinking, asking early years school students to come up with a hundred different uses for a paper clip (which they do easily), early years students show no fear in their ideas and thoughts. The same activity presented to graduating high school students typically results in far fewer ideas. In terms of divergent thinking 98% of kindergarten students rate at the genius level.
So much of what we do at St Columba’s relates to keeping that spark alive. As I watch next years genius’ enter our school, my hope for the next 7 years is not just that we can keep it alive, but that we grow and strengthen it within them.
Just how many ways can you use a paper clip?
AGM Tonight
Our Annual General Meeting is being held at 6:30pm tonight followed by SAC and P&F meetings at 7pm. Thank you to all our standing members this year and in particular to our two chairpeople Cameron Landry and Eliza Hopkinson both of whom are stepping down at the end of this year. I thank them for their efforts and support of our school and welcome those new members stepping in.
Staff Farewell
It is with a sad but also celebratory heart that I announce the departure of Mrs Kim Taylor at the end of the 2019 year. Kim has been offered a position at Loreto College next year and this is an incredible opportunity for her to experience new things and continue to make use of the multitude of skills she has developed over her time here. Kim will be greatly missed not only for her incredible work ethic and knowledge but her compassion and commitment to others. She truly lives out the Gospel values we hold our school to in all of her interactions with others. We will miss you Kim, but congratulations on your new appointment.
Staff Recognition
Mr Wayne Lynch was recently nominated for a Sports School Victoria award. These awards come in a variety of forms and Mr Lynch was nominated for his effort in promoting involvement in sports amongst all students. Wayne’s nomination recognised his efforts in bringing a number of local sporting clubs and activities into our school to provide students with a range of new experiences, as well as his support of students involved in local competitions. Congratulations Wayne.
School Assembly
Our next assembly will showcase will be led by LG4 and will be held Friday 22nd November at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will introduce our final group of Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Max K (Connor), Evelyn (Agatha), Zhaedyn (Finn H)
All are welcome to attend.
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Term Four Week Four
Just a few things going on of late, and lots of busy days coming up over the next few weeks. Our juniors are off on their long day excursion this week, and next week our 5/6 community are off to Urban Camp. Each of these events takes some above and beyond effort from staff to ensure they are a positive and safe experience. A big thank you to everyone involved in making this happen. Our outdoor education program provides students with a range of experiences outside of the classroom norm allowing students to build their self-esteem and develop healthy risk-taking behaviours.
A huge thank you to the families and staff involved in our recent working bee, the school always looks incredible but it's been taken to another level thanks to the hard work and time of our community. we would like to thank Bunnings Ballarat for the donation of a new "buddy bench" after ours had been vandilised. These days make an incredible difference in the opportunities and environment we can provide to our students so again thank you to the families that made this happen and as always a big thank you to Julie Cooper for her behind the scenes work in bringing it all together once again!
A huge thank you to the families and staff involved in our recent working bee, the school always looks incredible but it's been taken to another level thanks to the hard work and time of our community. we would like to thank Bunnings Ballarat for the donation of a new "buddy bench" after ours had been vandilised. These days make an incredible difference in the opportunities and environment we can provide to our students so again thank you to the families that made this happen and as always a big thank you to Julie Cooper for her behind the scenes work in bringing it all together once again!
Appointments
As part of our continuing work towards staffing for 2020 we recently held interviews for two classroom positions. I am pleased to be able to announce that we have appointment Mrs Hailey Eeles and Ms Keely Keating to our school staff for the 2020 school year. Congratulations to both of our successful applicants. Hailey is likely to be familiar to many of our families as a regular Casual Relief Teacher as well as a parent within our school community. Keely recently completed her final placement within the 1/2 community and has a strong understanding of our school and its environment.
Annual General Meeting
Our AGM will be held on Wednesday November 13th starting at 6:30pm and followed by the School Advisory Council and Parents & Friends meetings at 7:00.
The AGM will feature reports from the school, SAC and P&F. As part of the following meetings we will be looking for new members for both committees with a number of our School Advisory Council members coming to the end of their term as well as P&F members stepping down including the president and secretary roles. If you are interested in joining either group please contact myself or Kim at principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au
These committees are a valuable part of our school community and a great opportunity to have your voice heard.
End of year festivities
On Wednesday Dec 11th we will be hosting an end of year Christmas themed celebration in the school grounds. Each Learning Community will be performing some Christmas themed items. Alongside this we will be having a BBQ/Picnic, in the event of predicted bad weather we will be calling the night off early in the week so please check the App and newsletter.
Uniform Shop
Current families with Foundation students beginning in 2020 are asked to visit the uniform shop over the coming weeks to purchase their child's uniform and school bag.
The Uniform Shop is open Tuesday 8:30-9:30am and Thursday 3:00-3:30pm
Our Uniform Shop is staffed by parent volunteers. If you think you would be able to assist in the shop during 2020 please let the office know.
Sexuality Education
Sexuality Education is a vital part of the school’s curriculum and plays an important role in helping students recognise their own self-worth and safety. To support this the Catholic Education Office provides guidelines around what is appropriate to cover in each year level and in line with our Child Safety Policies and Catholic Social Teachings. The attached tables include the key concepts covered in each year level.
As part of our continuing work towards staffing for 2020 we recently held interviews for two classroom positions. I am pleased to be able to announce that we have appointment Mrs Hailey Eeles and Ms Keely Keating to our school staff for the 2020 school year. Congratulations to both of our successful applicants. Hailey is likely to be familiar to many of our families as a regular Casual Relief Teacher as well as a parent within our school community. Keely recently completed her final placement within the 1/2 community and has a strong understanding of our school and its environment.
Annual General Meeting
Our AGM will be held on Wednesday November 13th starting at 6:30pm and followed by the School Advisory Council and Parents & Friends meetings at 7:00.
The AGM will feature reports from the school, SAC and P&F. As part of the following meetings we will be looking for new members for both committees with a number of our School Advisory Council members coming to the end of their term as well as P&F members stepping down including the president and secretary roles. If you are interested in joining either group please contact myself or Kim at principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au
These committees are a valuable part of our school community and a great opportunity to have your voice heard.
End of year festivities
On Wednesday Dec 11th we will be hosting an end of year Christmas themed celebration in the school grounds. Each Learning Community will be performing some Christmas themed items. Alongside this we will be having a BBQ/Picnic, in the event of predicted bad weather we will be calling the night off early in the week so please check the App and newsletter.
Uniform Shop
Current families with Foundation students beginning in 2020 are asked to visit the uniform shop over the coming weeks to purchase their child's uniform and school bag.
The Uniform Shop is open Tuesday 8:30-9:30am and Thursday 3:00-3:30pm
Our Uniform Shop is staffed by parent volunteers. If you think you would be able to assist in the shop during 2020 please let the office know.
Sexuality Education
Sexuality Education is a vital part of the school’s curriculum and plays an important role in helping students recognise their own self-worth and safety. To support this the Catholic Education Office provides guidelines around what is appropriate to cover in each year level and in line with our Child Safety Policies and Catholic Social Teachings. The attached tables include the key concepts covered in each year level.
Book Fair
Thank you to all who supported our recent book fair. It was wonderful to see so many families attend and to see the love of reading developing in the children. Through your support of the book fair the school will receive close to $1,400 in books and resources. We appreciate your support.
School Closure Day and Public Holiday
Just a quick reminder that next Thursday 7th November is a student free day as staff work on report writing with Friday 8th November the Ballarat Show Day Public Holiday.
Thank you to all who supported our recent book fair. It was wonderful to see so many families attend and to see the love of reading developing in the children. Through your support of the book fair the school will receive close to $1,400 in books and resources. We appreciate your support.
School Closure Day and Public Holiday
Just a quick reminder that next Thursday 7th November is a student free day as staff work on report writing with Friday 8th November the Ballarat Show Day Public Holiday.
Term Four Week Two
Welcome back to Term 4, a time for endings as well as new beginnings. Our grade 6 students are beginning preparations for their graduation and the end of seven years at St Columba’s. At the same time, we have our new foundation students beginning their transition process as they get ready to start their primary school experience. In addition to this as a staff and school community, we prepare to farewell a number of current staff members as well as welcome new ones to our school.
Transition and change are often difficult times for people, we tend to be creatures of habit and like what we know. At the same time, they can be incredible opportunities and life-giving experiences, it’s our choice how we face it. Whilst staff are busy with the day to day events of a normal school life they are also in the process of making decisions for the coming year.
Our recent Insight SRC surveys have come back this week, whilst we haven’t had time to look in detail at all of it it shows positive improvements in pretty much all areas of the school over the last 5 years. In particular our parents opinion and views of the school continues to place us in the top 25% of schools in the state in almost all areas. The data from this survey is one part of the information we use when developing our ongoing action plans so thank you to the families that took the time to complete this and provide their feedback.
SAC Members
Our Annual General Meeting is taking place in week 5 of this term. As part of this our School Advisory Committee also inducts new members and farewells those who have served their term. Appointment to the SAC is for 2 years with the option of 2 terms (4 years) We will be looking for some new members for the 2020 year, if you are interested in taking part (we meet 5 times a year) can you please email me at principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au. This is a great chance to have a voice in the school community.
Parents & Friends
Our parents and friends group also meets as part of the AGM and this is a great opportunity for new or interested families to sign up. Our P&F are a critical part of our school community providing a social connection between our families and leading crucial fundraising events as well.
Congratulations to Megan Walton
Following a recent interview at Lumen Christi, Megan Walton has been appointed as Learning Diversity Leader from 2020 onwards. Megan is looking forward to the challenge of bringing her knowledge and learning into a new environment, working with a new school community. As Megan has said these roles don’t come up often and she felt St Columba’s is in a strong place to support a new person in the role. We congratulate Megan on her successful appointment and know she will do wonderful things as part of the community.
St Columba’s will certainly miss Megan, her knowledge, expertise and passion for ensuring every child is successful. A process for seeking a replacement for this role is currently underway We wish Megan all the best in her new role in 2020.
Transition and change are often difficult times for people, we tend to be creatures of habit and like what we know. At the same time, they can be incredible opportunities and life-giving experiences, it’s our choice how we face it. Whilst staff are busy with the day to day events of a normal school life they are also in the process of making decisions for the coming year.
Our recent Insight SRC surveys have come back this week, whilst we haven’t had time to look in detail at all of it it shows positive improvements in pretty much all areas of the school over the last 5 years. In particular our parents opinion and views of the school continues to place us in the top 25% of schools in the state in almost all areas. The data from this survey is one part of the information we use when developing our ongoing action plans so thank you to the families that took the time to complete this and provide their feedback.
SAC Members
Our Annual General Meeting is taking place in week 5 of this term. As part of this our School Advisory Committee also inducts new members and farewells those who have served their term. Appointment to the SAC is for 2 years with the option of 2 terms (4 years) We will be looking for some new members for the 2020 year, if you are interested in taking part (we meet 5 times a year) can you please email me at principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au. This is a great chance to have a voice in the school community.
Parents & Friends
Our parents and friends group also meets as part of the AGM and this is a great opportunity for new or interested families to sign up. Our P&F are a critical part of our school community providing a social connection between our families and leading crucial fundraising events as well.
Congratulations to Megan Walton
Following a recent interview at Lumen Christi, Megan Walton has been appointed as Learning Diversity Leader from 2020 onwards. Megan is looking forward to the challenge of bringing her knowledge and learning into a new environment, working with a new school community. As Megan has said these roles don’t come up often and she felt St Columba’s is in a strong place to support a new person in the role. We congratulate Megan on her successful appointment and know she will do wonderful things as part of the community.
St Columba’s will certainly miss Megan, her knowledge, expertise and passion for ensuring every child is successful. A process for seeking a replacement for this role is currently underway We wish Megan all the best in her new role in 2020.
Working Bee
A reminder our working bee is on this weekend both Saturday and Sunday, if you can spare some time either day please drop in and we’ll be sure to find you a job or two that needs doing. These are a great day to not only contribute to our school community but also meet parents from across the other year levels.
World Teacher’s Day Oct 25th
World teacher’s day is coming around fast, this is a great day to take a minute and acknowledge a teacher who may have made a difference in your life or the lives of your child.
Hats
From the start of this week, all students have been required to wear their hats regardless of the outside weather and UV index. This is in keeping with our SunSmart policy.
Class lists
Staff are continuing to look at students and possible combinations for next years classes. Should there be something related to your child’s learning, either academic or social-emotional that you feel it would be important for us to consider when placing student’s can you please let us know by Friday this week. Either the classroom teacher directly or emailing principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au
Congratulations
3 of our staff recently presented their final part of their leading for learning project working with CEOB staff on developing their leadership capacity. Congratulations to Emily Mullane, Kelly Lencioni and Sarah Jones on a highly successful project looking at staff planning and teamwork, following their presentation I have already been approached by other schools asking to come and see what has been achieved.
Scholastic Book Fair
This Friday we will once again be holding the very popular Scholastic Book Fair!
The Book Fair offers children a hands-on experience where they can discover a love of books and ignite a lifelong passion for reading. Children who choose their own books are more likely to read more, understand more, and are more likely to continue reading when they have access to many books.
The Book Fair will be held in the school hall on Friday 18th October. Parents are invited to shop during 3 sessions 8.00 - 8.30am, 1.40 - 2.15pm and 3.00 - 4.00pm.
A great opportunity to get a head start on your Christmas shopping!
School Assembly
Our next assembly will showcase will be led by LG13 and will be held Friday 25th October at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will continue to introduce our Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Xavier V (Max K), Elijah (Will P), Annie (Harper), Alexander (Zac), Hardy (Rex), Molly (Lotte), Mitchell (Harry D)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
This Friday we will once again be holding the very popular Scholastic Book Fair!
The Book Fair offers children a hands-on experience where they can discover a love of books and ignite a lifelong passion for reading. Children who choose their own books are more likely to read more, understand more, and are more likely to continue reading when they have access to many books.
The Book Fair will be held in the school hall on Friday 18th October. Parents are invited to shop during 3 sessions 8.00 - 8.30am, 1.40 - 2.15pm and 3.00 - 4.00pm.
A great opportunity to get a head start on your Christmas shopping!
School Assembly
Our next assembly will showcase will be led by LG13 and will be held Friday 25th October at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will continue to introduce our Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Xavier V (Max K), Elijah (Will P), Annie (Harper), Alexander (Zac), Hardy (Rex), Molly (Lotte), Mitchell (Harry D)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term Three Week Ten
And so Term 3 comes to an end, once upon a time Term 3 was considered the ‘quiet’ term, the one where you got other things done. I think those days are long in the past… As the holidays approach it is a timely reminder in the month of September to take some time out and spend it doing the things we value. To step back from our busyness and make sure we are okay, and if not ask for help.
Amongst the many things we have done this term we have recently completed our student led conversations. It has been incredible over the last 5 years to watch the evolution of these events and listen to the way our students are able to articulate their learning so clearly. From the conversations with parents, teachers and students I have had they have found them to be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the success’ and develop goals moving forward. To continue our work and make these times the most effective they can be we have a short (3 questions) survey/feedback form for families to complete.
Last week we also interviewed for ongoing positions at St Columba’s. I would like to thank the members of the panel for their time and insight into this process. After much discussion I am pleased to be able to announce that we have offered Sarah Jones and Emily Mullane ongoing positions from 2020. In addition to this, we have also appointed Melissa Noonan as a classroom teacher from 2020. Melissa completed her 4th-year placement at St Columba’s and has been teaching at St Mary’s Ararat for the past 4 years in the junior grades. Melissa is also currently the Digital Technology leader at St Mary’s and is highly regarded by parents and staff. I’m sure our community will do an incredible job of making Melissa feel welcome at St Columba’s next year. Further staffing decisions are awaiting the outcome of the Principal appointment process and will be confirmed next term.
Shane and Whitney Bruty will be away on Long Service Leave for the first two weeks of Term 4 and will be replaced by Rebecca Perks and Hailey Eeles. Cleta Forrest returns from her leave and students in LG4 will be completing their Student Led Conversations in Week 2.
A personal thank you as well for the thoughts and prayers of so many of our community in relation to my families recent loss. It really is comforting to know so many people care. And a big thank you to the staff that have stepped in to cover my recent absences.
Lost Property
We have a table of lost items including woollen jumpers, sports tops food containers and drink bottles in the office. Please take the time to check if any of these belong to your family, items remaining at the end of term will be donated. This is an opprtunity to remind famiies to ensure your child's name is clearly marked on items they bring to school so we can return lost items to them.
Hats
Under our new SunSmart policy children need to be wearing their hat when the UV is higher than 3.
As the weather is starting to improve we ask that all families send their child's hat back to school tomorrow, if they have not already done so. As we no longer follow the Term 4-1 policy, it is recommended that your child's hat remain at school.
Just a reminder that Term 4 children are required to wear summer uniform. The Uniform Shop is fully stocked with your summer uniform needs.
Thank you for your continued support and remember no hat no play!
School Assembly
Our next assembly will showcase some Performing Arts items and will be held Friday 11th October at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will continue to introduce our Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Charlotte D (Marley), Henry J (Kayden L), Stella M (Lily I), Alice (Tahlia F), Noah S (Ari), Maeve (Isabella M), Estelle M (Abby D)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Amongst the many things we have done this term we have recently completed our student led conversations. It has been incredible over the last 5 years to watch the evolution of these events and listen to the way our students are able to articulate their learning so clearly. From the conversations with parents, teachers and students I have had they have found them to be a wonderful opportunity to celebrate the success’ and develop goals moving forward. To continue our work and make these times the most effective they can be we have a short (3 questions) survey/feedback form for families to complete.
Last week we also interviewed for ongoing positions at St Columba’s. I would like to thank the members of the panel for their time and insight into this process. After much discussion I am pleased to be able to announce that we have offered Sarah Jones and Emily Mullane ongoing positions from 2020. In addition to this, we have also appointed Melissa Noonan as a classroom teacher from 2020. Melissa completed her 4th-year placement at St Columba’s and has been teaching at St Mary’s Ararat for the past 4 years in the junior grades. Melissa is also currently the Digital Technology leader at St Mary’s and is highly regarded by parents and staff. I’m sure our community will do an incredible job of making Melissa feel welcome at St Columba’s next year. Further staffing decisions are awaiting the outcome of the Principal appointment process and will be confirmed next term.
Shane and Whitney Bruty will be away on Long Service Leave for the first two weeks of Term 4 and will be replaced by Rebecca Perks and Hailey Eeles. Cleta Forrest returns from her leave and students in LG4 will be completing their Student Led Conversations in Week 2.
A personal thank you as well for the thoughts and prayers of so many of our community in relation to my families recent loss. It really is comforting to know so many people care. And a big thank you to the staff that have stepped in to cover my recent absences.
Lost Property
We have a table of lost items including woollen jumpers, sports tops food containers and drink bottles in the office. Please take the time to check if any of these belong to your family, items remaining at the end of term will be donated. This is an opprtunity to remind famiies to ensure your child's name is clearly marked on items they bring to school so we can return lost items to them.
Hats
Under our new SunSmart policy children need to be wearing their hat when the UV is higher than 3.
As the weather is starting to improve we ask that all families send their child's hat back to school tomorrow, if they have not already done so. As we no longer follow the Term 4-1 policy, it is recommended that your child's hat remain at school.
Just a reminder that Term 4 children are required to wear summer uniform. The Uniform Shop is fully stocked with your summer uniform needs.
Thank you for your continued support and remember no hat no play!
School Assembly
Our next assembly will showcase some Performing Arts items and will be held Friday 11th October at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will continue to introduce our Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Charlotte D (Marley), Henry J (Kayden L), Stella M (Lily I), Alice (Tahlia F), Noah S (Ari), Maeve (Isabella M), Estelle M (Abby D)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term Three Week Eight
Father’s Day Celebrations
A big thank you to everyone involved in last week’s Father’s Day Liturgy from the families in attendance to the behind the scenes people who made it all a success. It was a great day of celebration together and a reflection of who we are as a community.
2020 Classes
Early next term staff will begin looking at possible groupings for 2020 classes. Should you have any concerns or considerations related to your child’s educational needs please put these in writing and email them to Kim and myself at principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au
Please note whilst we take these communications into consideration we cannot guarantee they can be met.
With planning for 2020 underway can I please ask any families that are aware they will not be returning next year to inform the school as soon as possible via email to principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au.
NAPLAN 2019
NAPLAN results will come out this week. Each student who took part will receive an individual report page along with an information sheet explaining the report. In addition to this, we have access to the new VCAA data site that will provide some new reports related to the online version of the assessment. Once we have unpacked some of this information we will be sharing this information with our families.
Student Led Conversations
Next week we will be hosting our student-led conversations again. These are a great opportunity for our students to share their learning. As parents, it is a chance to see your child’s learning and growth rather than just being told about it. For teachers, it is an opportunity to build on our relationships with parents in order to support student learning. For students, it is an opportunity to take ownership of their learning and develop their ability to discuss their learning goals.
If you have yet to book in for a conversation, please log into your PAM account and book via the “Parent Teacher Interview” tab. Please note that both Cleta Forrest (LG4) and Torie Waight (LG11) will be unavailable on these days.
School Assembly
LG14 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 13th September at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will continue to introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Ruby G (Kitty), Annie M (Harper), Alexander D (Zac), Ruby H (Imogen),Thomas P (Finn O), Hazel K (Madeleine C)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
A big thank you to everyone involved in last week’s Father’s Day Liturgy from the families in attendance to the behind the scenes people who made it all a success. It was a great day of celebration together and a reflection of who we are as a community.
2020 Classes
Early next term staff will begin looking at possible groupings for 2020 classes. Should you have any concerns or considerations related to your child’s educational needs please put these in writing and email them to Kim and myself at principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au
Please note whilst we take these communications into consideration we cannot guarantee they can be met.
With planning for 2020 underway can I please ask any families that are aware they will not be returning next year to inform the school as soon as possible via email to principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au.
NAPLAN 2019
NAPLAN results will come out this week. Each student who took part will receive an individual report page along with an information sheet explaining the report. In addition to this, we have access to the new VCAA data site that will provide some new reports related to the online version of the assessment. Once we have unpacked some of this information we will be sharing this information with our families.
Student Led Conversations
Next week we will be hosting our student-led conversations again. These are a great opportunity for our students to share their learning. As parents, it is a chance to see your child’s learning and growth rather than just being told about it. For teachers, it is an opportunity to build on our relationships with parents in order to support student learning. For students, it is an opportunity to take ownership of their learning and develop their ability to discuss their learning goals.
If you have yet to book in for a conversation, please log into your PAM account and book via the “Parent Teacher Interview” tab. Please note that both Cleta Forrest (LG4) and Torie Waight (LG11) will be unavailable on these days.
School Assembly
LG14 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 13th September at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will continue to introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Ruby G (Kitty), Annie M (Harper), Alexander D (Zac), Ruby H (Imogen),Thomas P (Finn O), Hazel K (Madeleine C)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term Three Week Six
Mid Term three and we’ve had a busy one, the school continues to move forward with the year whilst also beginning some of the critical decisions around staffing for next year. The advertisement for the principal/co-principal position is live along with a short video clip showcasing the school. We have also recently advertised for 2 ongoing 2020 teaching appointments. Thank you to everyone who has contributed to the consultation process so far, for our wider parent community a notice went out on Monday about opportunities to have your voice be a part of this process as well. The notice is included below for those that may have missed this.
| principal_selection_parent_letter.pdf |
Term Three is also typically the term we see a drop in attendance numbers for a variety of reasons from illness to family holidays. Whilst we definitely do not want parents sending ill students to school it is always a timely reminder of the importance of school attendance. A recent Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership (AITSL) study into school attendance found that attendance figures across Australian schools remain high - over 75% of all students attend more than 90% of the time. However, when they looked at the work of Hancock et al (2013) who investigated student results compared to attendance figures they recognised that in addition to the multitude of other factors that influence student learning, every day of attendance has an impact. What they reported was that there is no ‘safe’ threshold for student absences, each one matters. They also found that the type of absence was a significant factor - approved absences had less of an impact than unauthorised ones, whilst this isn’t a large problem in primary schools the pattern of behaviour can grow into secondary.
Book Week Parade
This Friday we are having our Book Week Parade at 9am, students are encouraged to come dressed as their favourite story character. The theme for this year’s Book Week is ‘Reading is my Secret Power’ reading continues to be one of the most critical life skills available to everyone and developing and fostering a love of reading is one of the most precious gifts you can provide a young child in your life. I would encourage everyone to find some time over the next week to sit and read with someone, or have a discussion about the types of things you enjoy reading and why.
Pupil Free Day
The school has a pupil free day on Monday September the 2nd. This day will center around faith development and spirituality for staff drawing on the works of Pope Francis.
Calendar updates
After conversations with the School Advisory Council we are making an increased effort to ensure the school calendar is up to date, all known dates to the end of this year are currently in the Google calendar which you can access from the newsletter page under school dates. It is possible to sync Google calendar with outlook and other calendar/mail services and an internet search should find you instructions on this.
Student led Conversations
Student led conversations are fast approaching (10/11 September) bookings can be made now via PAM. For those that are new to our school community and haven’t taken part in these before, student led conversations have evolved over a number of years here. They are an opportunity for students alongside their homeroom teachers to showcase the learning that they have achieved. A key focus of these conversations is students identifying their personal learn goals and celebrating the achievements they have made towards these. What this looks like is slightly different between year levels as students develop the self reflection skills involved. By the end of their time at St Columba’s we aim to have students who are capable self directed learners. Able to identify their current skills, the next steps they need and what they can put in place to enable this to happen. Student led conversations are one of many tools we use to support this development. Should you need to talk to your child/ren’s teacher outside of this meeting, please follow the normal processes for organising a time to catch up.
To book a Student Led Conversation, please log into your PAM account and on the right hand side of the home page you will see the Parent Teacher Interviews tab.
Grade 5/6 Camp information night
Our 5/6 Melbourne Camp will be held in Term 4 on the 4th, 5th and 6th of November).
In preparation of the camp the 5/6 team will be we will be having an information night on Tuesday 3rd September at 5.30pm in the school hall.
If you cannot make it to the meeting please contact your child's teacher to request a copy of the presentation. Also, if there are any special considerations, there is also an opportunity to talk to your child's learning group teacher at student-led conversations in the following week.
School Assembly
LG6 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 30th August at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will continue to introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Koby (Gabriel), Kurtis (Connor), Pippa W (Keira M), Amilah (Hannah J), Oscar B (Billy D), Leonardo (Eddie D)
All are welcome to attend.
Book Week Parade
This Friday we are having our Book Week Parade at 9am, students are encouraged to come dressed as their favourite story character. The theme for this year’s Book Week is ‘Reading is my Secret Power’ reading continues to be one of the most critical life skills available to everyone and developing and fostering a love of reading is one of the most precious gifts you can provide a young child in your life. I would encourage everyone to find some time over the next week to sit and read with someone, or have a discussion about the types of things you enjoy reading and why.
Pupil Free Day
The school has a pupil free day on Monday September the 2nd. This day will center around faith development and spirituality for staff drawing on the works of Pope Francis.
Calendar updates
After conversations with the School Advisory Council we are making an increased effort to ensure the school calendar is up to date, all known dates to the end of this year are currently in the Google calendar which you can access from the newsletter page under school dates. It is possible to sync Google calendar with outlook and other calendar/mail services and an internet search should find you instructions on this.
Student led Conversations
Student led conversations are fast approaching (10/11 September) bookings can be made now via PAM. For those that are new to our school community and haven’t taken part in these before, student led conversations have evolved over a number of years here. They are an opportunity for students alongside their homeroom teachers to showcase the learning that they have achieved. A key focus of these conversations is students identifying their personal learn goals and celebrating the achievements they have made towards these. What this looks like is slightly different between year levels as students develop the self reflection skills involved. By the end of their time at St Columba’s we aim to have students who are capable self directed learners. Able to identify their current skills, the next steps they need and what they can put in place to enable this to happen. Student led conversations are one of many tools we use to support this development. Should you need to talk to your child/ren’s teacher outside of this meeting, please follow the normal processes for organising a time to catch up.
To book a Student Led Conversation, please log into your PAM account and on the right hand side of the home page you will see the Parent Teacher Interviews tab.
Grade 5/6 Camp information night
Our 5/6 Melbourne Camp will be held in Term 4 on the 4th, 5th and 6th of November).
In preparation of the camp the 5/6 team will be we will be having an information night on Tuesday 3rd September at 5.30pm in the school hall.
If you cannot make it to the meeting please contact your child's teacher to request a copy of the presentation. Also, if there are any special considerations, there is also an opportunity to talk to your child's learning group teacher at student-led conversations in the following week.
School Assembly
LG6 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 30th August at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will continue to introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Koby (Gabriel), Kurtis (Connor), Pippa W (Keira M), Amilah (Hannah J), Oscar B (Billy D), Leonardo (Eddie D)
All are welcome to attend.
Term Three Week Four
Last week saw the coming together of over 400 Catholic Primary School Educators in our first central zone conference in over 10 years.
Can I start by saying thank you to our parent community. Closure Days are not always easy to manage and often mean a large investment from our parents and we thank you for that.
The conference itself was an incredible experience for staff to come together and hear from people who are living out our diocesan vision of ‘fullness of life for all’ on a daily basis. We listened to a range of speakers talk on homelessness, trauma, wellbeing, refugees, what it means to be Catholic and open to other faiths. We also listened to young students whose ideas and actions are making a difference to countless people in need throughout the Ballarat community.
The conference raised an awareness of what it means to be Catholic in modern times and our call to respect the dignity of all those around us. Staff have continued that call reflecting back at school on what living a life to its fullest means. I would invite individuals and families to take some time this week to stop and consider what matters most to them. What is it within your days that gives you life and ensures that you have it to the full?
Book Week
Book week is fast approaching. Children are invited to wear a costume to school on Friday 23rd August, we will also hold a parade with further details to be released via the Skoolbag App next week.
School Assembly
LG10 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 16th August at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will continue to introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Thomas P (Finn O), Eliza S (Emily O) Hazel K (Madeleine C), Jack C (Beau C), Jett K (Lincoln C)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Can I start by saying thank you to our parent community. Closure Days are not always easy to manage and often mean a large investment from our parents and we thank you for that.
The conference itself was an incredible experience for staff to come together and hear from people who are living out our diocesan vision of ‘fullness of life for all’ on a daily basis. We listened to a range of speakers talk on homelessness, trauma, wellbeing, refugees, what it means to be Catholic and open to other faiths. We also listened to young students whose ideas and actions are making a difference to countless people in need throughout the Ballarat community.
The conference raised an awareness of what it means to be Catholic in modern times and our call to respect the dignity of all those around us. Staff have continued that call reflecting back at school on what living a life to its fullest means. I would invite individuals and families to take some time this week to stop and consider what matters most to them. What is it within your days that gives you life and ensures that you have it to the full?
Book Week
Book week is fast approaching. Children are invited to wear a costume to school on Friday 23rd August, we will also hold a parade with further details to be released via the Skoolbag App next week.
School Assembly
LG10 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 16th August at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will continue to introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Thomas P (Finn O), Eliza S (Emily O) Hazel K (Madeleine C), Jack C (Beau C), Jett K (Lincoln C)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term Three Week Two
A rather busy first week back at school for all of us. Thank you for the support and understanding shown by our parent community in relation to the announcement of Kim’s resignation. Change is always an uncertain thing and it is great to see our community respond out of care and understanding rather than fear or worry.
CZ Conference Closure Days
A reminder that next week Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd August are school closure days for the Central Zone Conference. During this time the builders are intending to complete the works begun in the holidays, so with any luck on Monday we will return to a new deck outside our Foundation and 3/4 learning spaces. Whilst the weather isn’t ideal for outdoor learning, the days are getting longer and this additional area will be a great asset for both communities.
Curriculum visits
Last week a number of staff visited schools in Melbourne who have been a part of the PLC process for up to ten years. It was a great opportunity to see what a continued commitment to ensuring high levels of learning for all students can achieve. Whilst also celebrating the incredible efforts we have made here in half the time. One thing we saw in particular was the importance of creating a safe learning environment where students are comfortable to take risks and receive feedback on their progress. I think this is something we do incredibly well with our work with the Walker Learning Approach (WLA), ensuring students have strong relationships with their teachers and peers, and understand that mistakes are the most important part of learning.
We also had a visit from our WLA mentor who met with each of the teams last Tuesday exploring how we are going with various elements of the approach. This was a great opportunity to reflect on the successes teams are having and the impact they are making on student learning as well as look at our next steps and tighten up existing practices. Our staff never ceases to amaze me in their willingness to take on feedback and continually look to improve their practice. It is part of what makes St Columba’s such a wonderful place to be.
In addition to visiting schools and mentor support ourselves, we will be hosting a number of schools over the coming months looking at the work we are doing with student writing and the Bump It Up Wall. Our use of this as a tool to support student learning and empower them to take ownership of their learning is an area of interest for a number of other schools attempting to improve their own student writing.
RE Pupil Free Day
Supporting our implementation of the new Awakenings documents for Religious Education, we will be having another closure day later in the term (Mon Sept 2nd) to support staff in the implementation and design of the new curriculum.
Father’s Day Liturgy and BBQ
On Friday 30th August we will be having a Father’s Day Liturgy at 12:00 in the Church. This will be followed by a sausage sizzle lunch back at school for families and students. If you are able to assist with the cooking of the BBQ can you please let the office know. Thank you.
Anaphylaxis
Just a reminder to our families we are an anaphylactic aware school, whilst we don’t ‘ban’ nut products we do prefer families not to send these along. This is especially critical in our junior grades where students have not developed a safe level of awareness related to the risks involved in this.
An Invitation for Parents to Gather
Continuing next Tuesday morning (July 30th), all parents and friends are invited to join together for a time of reflection, prayer and conversation around the bigger questions of life in an informal setting. Topics covered will arise from suggestions from the group.
Time - 9.00am to 10am
Place - the Sacred Space in the Iona Wing
All very much welcome. For further information, please contact Kim at school.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
CZ Conference Closure Days
A reminder that next week Thursday 1st and Friday 2nd August are school closure days for the Central Zone Conference. During this time the builders are intending to complete the works begun in the holidays, so with any luck on Monday we will return to a new deck outside our Foundation and 3/4 learning spaces. Whilst the weather isn’t ideal for outdoor learning, the days are getting longer and this additional area will be a great asset for both communities.
Curriculum visits
Last week a number of staff visited schools in Melbourne who have been a part of the PLC process for up to ten years. It was a great opportunity to see what a continued commitment to ensuring high levels of learning for all students can achieve. Whilst also celebrating the incredible efforts we have made here in half the time. One thing we saw in particular was the importance of creating a safe learning environment where students are comfortable to take risks and receive feedback on their progress. I think this is something we do incredibly well with our work with the Walker Learning Approach (WLA), ensuring students have strong relationships with their teachers and peers, and understand that mistakes are the most important part of learning.
We also had a visit from our WLA mentor who met with each of the teams last Tuesday exploring how we are going with various elements of the approach. This was a great opportunity to reflect on the successes teams are having and the impact they are making on student learning as well as look at our next steps and tighten up existing practices. Our staff never ceases to amaze me in their willingness to take on feedback and continually look to improve their practice. It is part of what makes St Columba’s such a wonderful place to be.
In addition to visiting schools and mentor support ourselves, we will be hosting a number of schools over the coming months looking at the work we are doing with student writing and the Bump It Up Wall. Our use of this as a tool to support student learning and empower them to take ownership of their learning is an area of interest for a number of other schools attempting to improve their own student writing.
RE Pupil Free Day
Supporting our implementation of the new Awakenings documents for Religious Education, we will be having another closure day later in the term (Mon Sept 2nd) to support staff in the implementation and design of the new curriculum.
Father’s Day Liturgy and BBQ
On Friday 30th August we will be having a Father’s Day Liturgy at 12:00 in the Church. This will be followed by a sausage sizzle lunch back at school for families and students. If you are able to assist with the cooking of the BBQ can you please let the office know. Thank you.
Anaphylaxis
Just a reminder to our families we are an anaphylactic aware school, whilst we don’t ‘ban’ nut products we do prefer families not to send these along. This is especially critical in our junior grades where students have not developed a safe level of awareness related to the risks involved in this.
An Invitation for Parents to Gather
Continuing next Tuesday morning (July 30th), all parents and friends are invited to join together for a time of reflection, prayer and conversation around the bigger questions of life in an informal setting. Topics covered will arise from suggestions from the group.
Time - 9.00am to 10am
Place - the Sacred Space in the Iona Wing
All very much welcome. For further information, please contact Kim at school.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term Three Week One
Welcome back to Term 3, the regular newsletter will continue in the even weeks from next week, there’s a little on though so we thought we’d take the opportunity to update families on things.
Baby News
A slightly delayed congratulations to the Cooper family on the recent birth of their third child, Alexander Cooper, born 21st May and very much adored by his sisters. Also congratulations to the Vowles family on the recent birth of their third child, Laura Vowles born 7th July also very loved by her brothers. We wish both families every happiness and health at this exciting time.
Closure Day Week 3
A reminder that the school will be closed in Week 3 on Thursday and Friday 1st & 2nd of August. These two days are the Central Zone Conference with all Catholic Schools in the area coming together to explore what it means to live a fullness of life.
Resignation of Mrs Kim Butler
Yesterday afternoon Fr Marcello attended our meeting and announced to staff that Mrs Kim Butler has advised him that she will be resigning her position at the end of the 2019 school year.
In Kim's words; This has been a difficult decision and one that I have spent much time discerning. After 18 years as principal, I feel that it is now my time to 'hang up the boots'. Though I have loved my role and feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to be a leader at St Columba's over the last 5+ years, I know that my time is drawing to an end.
At this stage I have no plans for next year. I am really open to where the Spirit leads me and have an interest in the area of spirituality and formation for mission, and am keen to remain within Catholic education in some capacity.
Please click here to see the attached letter from Fr Marcello regarding the announcement.
I’m am sure all families will join me in thanking Kim for her contribution to making St Columba’s the school it is today. Kim has provided a clear vision of Catholic education and lives out the values we hold dear on a daily basis.
Generosity of our families
A huge thank you to all our families for their efforts with our Mini Vinnies winter appeal last term. The generosity of our families never fails to astound me and the contributions in terms of warm clothing and bedding has already gone to make a significant difference in the lives of those struggling during winter.
Book Week
This year we will be celebrating book week on Friday 23rd August with a dress up day and parade. This year’s theme is ‘Reading is my secret power’
Long Service Leave
Mrs Alison Thorpe is currently on Long Service Leave and is replaced by Noreen Baxter. Alison will return in week 3
PLC Study Tour this week
This week a number of our school leadership members along with other Ballarat schools are headed down to visit some schools in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. These are schools that we visited a number of years ago when we were beginning our work around Professional Learning Communities. This will be a great opportunity to see not only the continued work of these schools but how far we have come as a learning community as well.
An Invitation for Parents to Gather
Each Tuesday morning, starting next Tuesday 23rd July, all parents and friends are invited to join together for a time of reflection, prayer and conversation around the bigger questions of life in an informal setting. Topics covered will arise from suggestions from the group.
Time - 9.00am to 10am
Place - the Sacred Space in the Iona Wing
All very much welcome. For further information, please contact Kim at school.
Illness
Please note that there has been a case of Hand, Foot and Mouth in the 1/2 community.
Urgent Host Families sought for Japanese Exchange students
Please click here to see the attached flyer for more information
The AIIU Japanese Student Exchange is taking place again this year. I am new to the role of Group Coordinator and excited to be involved in the program.
The format and itinerary for the student exchange is as follows; arrival is Friday 26th July and departure is Tuesday 6th August. Host Family Orientation Monday July 22nd and Sayonara/ Farewell Evening is Monday August 5th.
The students will attend Saint Patricks College for the duration of their stay. They will be going on excursions as part of their school experience so no need to do these on weekends.
There are a total of 40, 15 – 16 year old boys. They are very enthusiastic, polite and well mannered. They look forward to experiencing Australian culture and everyday Australian experiences.
Important about the students’ experience is the cultural exchange at home and school. Host families welcome the student into their homes and they will experience Australian, food, culture and family life.
They will learn a great deal by being a member of your own family during their stay and have the opportunity to improve their English skills. You and your family will enjoy the experience of a new culture and learn a great deal from your student.
The total experience for both Host Families and the Japanese Students was very positive last year.
I hope that you will consider being a Host Family. If interested, I would appreciate it if you could reply as soon as possible. If you agree to host I would like to interview you in your own home.
Kind Regards
Fiona O’Loughlin
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Baby News
A slightly delayed congratulations to the Cooper family on the recent birth of their third child, Alexander Cooper, born 21st May and very much adored by his sisters. Also congratulations to the Vowles family on the recent birth of their third child, Laura Vowles born 7th July also very loved by her brothers. We wish both families every happiness and health at this exciting time.
Closure Day Week 3
A reminder that the school will be closed in Week 3 on Thursday and Friday 1st & 2nd of August. These two days are the Central Zone Conference with all Catholic Schools in the area coming together to explore what it means to live a fullness of life.
Resignation of Mrs Kim Butler
Yesterday afternoon Fr Marcello attended our meeting and announced to staff that Mrs Kim Butler has advised him that she will be resigning her position at the end of the 2019 school year.
In Kim's words; This has been a difficult decision and one that I have spent much time discerning. After 18 years as principal, I feel that it is now my time to 'hang up the boots'. Though I have loved my role and feel so privileged to have had the opportunity to be a leader at St Columba's over the last 5+ years, I know that my time is drawing to an end.
At this stage I have no plans for next year. I am really open to where the Spirit leads me and have an interest in the area of spirituality and formation for mission, and am keen to remain within Catholic education in some capacity.
Please click here to see the attached letter from Fr Marcello regarding the announcement.
I’m am sure all families will join me in thanking Kim for her contribution to making St Columba’s the school it is today. Kim has provided a clear vision of Catholic education and lives out the values we hold dear on a daily basis.
Generosity of our families
A huge thank you to all our families for their efforts with our Mini Vinnies winter appeal last term. The generosity of our families never fails to astound me and the contributions in terms of warm clothing and bedding has already gone to make a significant difference in the lives of those struggling during winter.
Book Week
This year we will be celebrating book week on Friday 23rd August with a dress up day and parade. This year’s theme is ‘Reading is my secret power’
Long Service Leave
Mrs Alison Thorpe is currently on Long Service Leave and is replaced by Noreen Baxter. Alison will return in week 3
PLC Study Tour this week
This week a number of our school leadership members along with other Ballarat schools are headed down to visit some schools in Melbourne’s eastern suburbs. These are schools that we visited a number of years ago when we were beginning our work around Professional Learning Communities. This will be a great opportunity to see not only the continued work of these schools but how far we have come as a learning community as well.
An Invitation for Parents to Gather
Each Tuesday morning, starting next Tuesday 23rd July, all parents and friends are invited to join together for a time of reflection, prayer and conversation around the bigger questions of life in an informal setting. Topics covered will arise from suggestions from the group.
Time - 9.00am to 10am
Place - the Sacred Space in the Iona Wing
All very much welcome. For further information, please contact Kim at school.
Illness
Please note that there has been a case of Hand, Foot and Mouth in the 1/2 community.
Urgent Host Families sought for Japanese Exchange students
Please click here to see the attached flyer for more information
The AIIU Japanese Student Exchange is taking place again this year. I am new to the role of Group Coordinator and excited to be involved in the program.
The format and itinerary for the student exchange is as follows; arrival is Friday 26th July and departure is Tuesday 6th August. Host Family Orientation Monday July 22nd and Sayonara/ Farewell Evening is Monday August 5th.
The students will attend Saint Patricks College for the duration of their stay. They will be going on excursions as part of their school experience so no need to do these on weekends.
There are a total of 40, 15 – 16 year old boys. They are very enthusiastic, polite and well mannered. They look forward to experiencing Australian culture and everyday Australian experiences.
Important about the students’ experience is the cultural exchange at home and school. Host families welcome the student into their homes and they will experience Australian, food, culture and family life.
They will learn a great deal by being a member of your own family during their stay and have the opportunity to improve their English skills. You and your family will enjoy the experience of a new culture and learn a great deal from your student.
The total experience for both Host Families and the Japanese Students was very positive last year.
I hope that you will consider being a Host Family. If interested, I would appreciate it if you could reply as soon as possible. If you agree to host I would like to interview you in your own home.
Kind Regards
Fiona O’Loughlin
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term Two Week Ten
Semester reports will be made available this week (Thursday afternoon) via the Parent Access Module. This is a great opportunity to be able to sit with your child/ren and discuss some of the learning that is taking place. As always we recommend focussing on the development and growth in conversations with your child. What were their goals and targets and what did they do in order to meet these? What do they feel they need to work on next to continue to improve?
I touched on this last fortnight but wanted to unpack the idea in a little more detail. As with any standards based assessment there will be periods of inconsistent growth for students. Anyone that tries to tell you all 8 year olds are the same hasn’t spent long in a classroom… For now it is the system we have and whilst some countries are moving away from this, ours are here for awhile longer still. With this in mind, please understand that a single standard or dot incorporates numerous skills, for example the reading outcome is based on a student’s ability to decode, read fluently with intonation, make use of punctuation, interpret images and additional features, show comprehension of a text and respond in detail, all at an appropriate level. Whilst the dot may not have moved in six months, there will have been progress in a number of these areas. Should you ever have any concerns related to your child/ren’s progress or learning please contact their classroom teacher.
Term Three is a time when a number of our staff will be visiting other schools or attending conferences as well as hosting visitors from other schools. This is again an incredible recognition of the great work that goes on each day at St Columba's. It is great to have so many other educators excited to see what we have in place, and at the same time have the opportunity to continue growing and learning ourselves. We recognise that these days can cause disruptions to students and families and work hard to balance the value gained from them against this.
Building Projects
Whilst the students are on holidays we have a number of building projects underway at the school, weather and work playing nice students should return to a retiled and refreshed toilet block as well as the outdoor learning space for our Foundation & 3/4 area.
Safe holidays
I’d like to take the opportunity to thank all of our parents that have been in touch over the semester to offer feedback and particularly recognition of some of the fantastic work our teachers do each day. Thank you also to the parents who have been able to give up some of their time to assist in classrooms, your presence makes a big difference to our students experiences and opportunities. We wish everyone a safe and happy semester break and look forward to seeing everyone in Term 3.
Closure Day
The Central Zone conference is on again this year (after 10 years off) This event brings together Catholic Educators from across the Central Zone schools to work with keynote and expert speakers. The focus for the conference is Fullness of Life for All and it will be held over two days August 1st & 2nd. These two days will be school closure days.
Staffing News
It is with mixed emotions that I announce that Ms Julie Cooper will not be returning to St Columba’s in 2020. Julie has accepted a position at St James, Sebastopol, this is a fantastic opportunity for Julie to take her incredible wealth of knowledge and experience and share it with a wider audience. As many of you would be aware Julie has been an integral part of St Columba’s and who we are today, taking on countless roles throughout her 21 years(with a couple of breaks) here including, classroom teacher, intervention, wellbeing, development coach, deputy principal and learning and teaching leader. Not to mention the immeasurable amount of ‘extra’ that Julie puts in around the school ensuring every student is cared for. Whilst she will be greatly missed here, we know she will continue to make a difference to children’s lives throughout her career. Julie will continue in her current role until the end of this year.
Maths Competition
This year the school will not be participating in the usual UNSW Maths Competition, as the entry fees increased dramatically. Instead, I would like to offer our blossoming Mathematicians in years 3-6 the opportunity to compete in the Australian Mathematics Trust Competition. The Australian Mathematics Trust is a not for profit government-backed organisation dedicated to helping problem-solvers of the future. Their website is well worth a visit, with practice problem-solving and solutions available.
www.amt.edu.au
Entrants in years 3–6 are asked to solve 30 problems in 60 minutes. The problems get more challenging as the competition progresses, so students of all abilities will be challenged and inspired.
Entries fees cost $6.50 per student including GST.
Entries, to Mrs. Forrest, close no later than Friday 19 July for the online competition. Please include the name of the student and year level clearly on the outside of an envelope with the $6.50 enclosed.
Nationally Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD)
We are approaching that time of year again for the NCCD, the NCCD is a collection of information related to the support the school provides to students with a disability as well as the level of adjustments being made. This data is used to determine the level of funding related to student support that the school receives. We have included two documents with this newsletter, one providing an overview of the NCCD and the other outlining the privacy and data collection information. This isn't an optional collection and is required by all schools. Should you have any questions related to the NCCD please contact Megan Walton or Kim Butler.
School Assembly
We will not be having an assembly to finish Term 2, as we will be celebrating our Winter Appeal Liturgy. All are welcome to attend, please refer to the RE News for further details.
LG11 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 19th July (Term 3 week 1) at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will continue to introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community.
The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Conleith Mc (Gabby G), Archie G (Illy M), Brody B (Billy D/Archie T), Willow M (Tahlia L), Tearney Mc (Grace G)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
| fact_sheet_for_parents_guardians_and_carers.pdf |
| 2019-05-13_information_notice.pdf |
Term Two Week Eight
Semester reports will become available via the Parent Access Module in week 10. Prior to this parents have an opportunity to catch up with staff during week 9. Whilst parents are always welcome, and encouraged, to discuss their child/ren’s learning with their teachers, this is a dedicated time for these conversations.
Michael Grose offers a lot of advice on reading reports with your children. One of the key messages in his work is the importance of focussing on growth over achievement. Celebrate your child’s growth AND achievement.
When we look at the recent changes announced in New Zealand around removing the national standards it gives some insight into the challenges faced when comparing all students on the same thing, at the same time and only in a few select areas. Yes we want all students at or above standard, to be literate, numerate and have a measure of self control and reflection. What we know though is that not every child is ready for that, learning is not a linear journey with perfect lines of growth every week. Instead it tends to be a lot messier and often comes in bursts as connections made lead to more connections and understanding. Some semesters students will make significant growth and be ahead of the curve, other times the curve catches up to them. It is our job as teachers to ensure they continue to grow, even in the tough times and recognise their unique abilities and talents.
Staffing Notices
Please note Mrs Megan Bourke will be taking some well earned Long Service Leave commencing in week 9 this term (17/05) and returning in Term 3. During her absence Hailey Eeles, one of our regular Casual Relief Teachers will be in LG9. As Megan is on leave during Week 9 she will not be available for parent catch ups at this time, should you wish to talk to Megan regarding your child please contact her via diary or in person to organise a time that is mutually suitable.
Next week we will be farewelling (temporarily) Mrs Susan Vowles as she heads off on maternity leave. We wish Susan and Bruce all the best for the upcoming birth of their third child. At this stage we are still working on possible options for replacing Susan and her many roles within the school. As decisions are made we will inform families.
End of Term
The end of Term 2 is quickly approaching. A reminder that term finishes Friday 28th June at 2.30pm. Due to the early finish there will not be an assembly on this day, however please refer to the RE News page for information of the Winter Appeal Liturgy and activities on the last day of term.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Michael Grose offers a lot of advice on reading reports with your children. One of the key messages in his work is the importance of focussing on growth over achievement. Celebrate your child’s growth AND achievement.
When we look at the recent changes announced in New Zealand around removing the national standards it gives some insight into the challenges faced when comparing all students on the same thing, at the same time and only in a few select areas. Yes we want all students at or above standard, to be literate, numerate and have a measure of self control and reflection. What we know though is that not every child is ready for that, learning is not a linear journey with perfect lines of growth every week. Instead it tends to be a lot messier and often comes in bursts as connections made lead to more connections and understanding. Some semesters students will make significant growth and be ahead of the curve, other times the curve catches up to them. It is our job as teachers to ensure they continue to grow, even in the tough times and recognise their unique abilities and talents.
Staffing Notices
Please note Mrs Megan Bourke will be taking some well earned Long Service Leave commencing in week 9 this term (17/05) and returning in Term 3. During her absence Hailey Eeles, one of our regular Casual Relief Teachers will be in LG9. As Megan is on leave during Week 9 she will not be available for parent catch ups at this time, should you wish to talk to Megan regarding your child please contact her via diary or in person to organise a time that is mutually suitable.
Next week we will be farewelling (temporarily) Mrs Susan Vowles as she heads off on maternity leave. We wish Susan and Bruce all the best for the upcoming birth of their third child. At this stage we are still working on possible options for replacing Susan and her many roles within the school. As decisions are made we will inform families.
End of Term
The end of Term 2 is quickly approaching. A reminder that term finishes Friday 28th June at 2.30pm. Due to the early finish there will not be an assembly on this day, however please refer to the RE News page for information of the Winter Appeal Liturgy and activities on the last day of term.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term Two Week Six
I’m writing this following the first day of a 2 day conference I’m attending focussed on the use of data and evidence driven practice. Working with presenters from around the country and various education systems it has been an interesting experience to see how different schools and companies are responding to the use of data in education. One of the consistent messages from everyone I talk to is the importance of context and causation. What impact does the local environment and life experiences of each student bring to their results, and how can we be certain our interpretations of the data are causes of and not correlation? There’s a wonderful graph showing the relationship between ice cream consumption and PISA (international academic rankings) scores. Australia is at the top… it doesn’t mean eating more ice cream results in higher results. One thing is certain, data is an ever increasing part of education and we need to be proactive in our approach to gathering and using it to improve student learning, how do we identify what it is we want to collect data on, and how do we best go about it.
One other take away from day 1 is that we’re doing a great job of this, many of the presenters are nationally recognised award winners and what they are showing is very similar to many of the practices we already have in place at St Columba’s with teachers doing an incredible job of identifying student needs and providing needed instruction.
Behaviour Management
As we continue to review our positive behaviour approaches and follow up our work with Tom Hierck, I wanted to take the chance to talk to our families briefly about the underlying values and beliefs related to behaviour management at St Columba’s. At its core is our faith based belief in the dignity of the human person. No aspect of our behaviour management approaches at school are designed to ridicule or humiliate a child. We know from countless research projects in the area that publicly shaming children is not an effective management strategy and only serves to alienate a child from their peers, generally resulting in ever increasingly poor behaviour. One of the things we unpacked with our closure day was the importance of relationships and respect amongst our staff and students. When we have effective relationships we see improved behaviour and reduced incidents. When we work to build mutual respect between students and their peers, they display higher levels of empathy and care for one another. This isn’t always effective and students can, at times, still make poor choices. We know neurologically the control portions of our brain aren’t fully developed until our mid 20’s; to expect a seven year old to get it right alway is unrealistic. This does not mean however, that we tolerate poor behaviour or a lack of respect amongst our students.
What we also know is that behaviours stem from a cause, typically an avoidance of a situation or accessing some form of attention. Dealing with the cause of the behaviour typically has a longer lasting effect on changing behaviours than just putting consequences in place alone.
Parent Catch Ups
In week 9 of this term, prior to reports going home, we are dropping staff meetings on Tuesday/Wednesday night to give staff an opportunity to catch up with parents. These are non compulsory catch ups and are simply a way of providing an opportunity for parents to catch up with teachers if they would like to have a chat about how their children are going. Some families may also receive a request from teachers to catch up on these days. There is no expectation for all families to make a time to meet.
If you would like to meet with your child’s teacher on either Tuesday 18th or Wednesday 19th, please book here.
Illness
We have had a growing number of students home with illnesses, over 50 students today. In addition to this we are having to send a number of students who have fallen ill throughout the day home. The school has also received notification of a case of Influenza A. We would ask all parents to be mindful of the rapid spread of illnesses within a school environment and ensure they are not sending already ill students to school.
School Nurse Visits for Foundation students
Today we are sending home a School Nursing Program information pack to our foundation families. Foundation families are asked to return forms by Monday 3rd June.
Assembly
Our next Assembly will focus “Feeling Safe” and will be held on Friday 31st May at 2.40pm in the school hall.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
One other take away from day 1 is that we’re doing a great job of this, many of the presenters are nationally recognised award winners and what they are showing is very similar to many of the practices we already have in place at St Columba’s with teachers doing an incredible job of identifying student needs and providing needed instruction.
Behaviour Management
As we continue to review our positive behaviour approaches and follow up our work with Tom Hierck, I wanted to take the chance to talk to our families briefly about the underlying values and beliefs related to behaviour management at St Columba’s. At its core is our faith based belief in the dignity of the human person. No aspect of our behaviour management approaches at school are designed to ridicule or humiliate a child. We know from countless research projects in the area that publicly shaming children is not an effective management strategy and only serves to alienate a child from their peers, generally resulting in ever increasingly poor behaviour. One of the things we unpacked with our closure day was the importance of relationships and respect amongst our staff and students. When we have effective relationships we see improved behaviour and reduced incidents. When we work to build mutual respect between students and their peers, they display higher levels of empathy and care for one another. This isn’t always effective and students can, at times, still make poor choices. We know neurologically the control portions of our brain aren’t fully developed until our mid 20’s; to expect a seven year old to get it right alway is unrealistic. This does not mean however, that we tolerate poor behaviour or a lack of respect amongst our students.
What we also know is that behaviours stem from a cause, typically an avoidance of a situation or accessing some form of attention. Dealing with the cause of the behaviour typically has a longer lasting effect on changing behaviours than just putting consequences in place alone.
Parent Catch Ups
In week 9 of this term, prior to reports going home, we are dropping staff meetings on Tuesday/Wednesday night to give staff an opportunity to catch up with parents. These are non compulsory catch ups and are simply a way of providing an opportunity for parents to catch up with teachers if they would like to have a chat about how their children are going. Some families may also receive a request from teachers to catch up on these days. There is no expectation for all families to make a time to meet.
If you would like to meet with your child’s teacher on either Tuesday 18th or Wednesday 19th, please book here.
Illness
We have had a growing number of students home with illnesses, over 50 students today. In addition to this we are having to send a number of students who have fallen ill throughout the day home. The school has also received notification of a case of Influenza A. We would ask all parents to be mindful of the rapid spread of illnesses within a school environment and ensure they are not sending already ill students to school.
School Nurse Visits for Foundation students
Today we are sending home a School Nursing Program information pack to our foundation families. Foundation families are asked to return forms by Monday 3rd June.
Assembly
Our next Assembly will focus “Feeling Safe” and will be held on Friday 31st May at 2.40pm in the school hall.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term Two Week Four
This week sees the beginning of the NAPLAN. For the first time our students will be completing these assessments online, barring any technical difficulties. As with any assessment NAPLAN provides a snapshot of a student’s achievement at a moment in time. Assessments within the school are a common occurance and provide us with a clear direction of where we need to go next for student learning, guaranteeing students are engaging in learning experiences targeted at their level of need. NAPLAN differs to our typical assessments for a number of reasons, one of the biggest being the turnaround time between the testing and the results becoming available. Hopefully moving to an online environment will reduce this turnaround and we will be able to make use of the results to direct teaching. The biggest benefit we gain from NAPLAN is a picture of how our students are progressing and where we are having overall success in terms of curriculum areas, something we gain from our internal testing anyway. Whilst we want our students to always achieve their best at everything they attempt, our teachers actively work to avoid making NAPLAN a high stakes situation for students. At the same time educating them on test taking strategies and behaviours (it’s a reality of our world and higher education systems). Should your child be experiencing any concern or anxiety related to the assessments please contact your classroom teacher to discuss support for them.
A big thank you to all our families who attended the information night last week, we hope this was a valuable experience for you in gaining a deeper understanding of what we do at St Columba's. The School Advisory Council are looking at holding some further sessions and feedback forums later in the year so keep an eye out for dates as they come up.
Reporting Semester One
Formal reports will again be accessible to parents at the end of this term via the Parent Access Module (PAM) if you haven’t logged into PAM recently I would encourage you to find 5 minutes to check your details are still working. PAM also contains access to past reports and student attendance records. As we are not having parent teacher interviews or 3 way conversations this term we have been looking at ways to continue our communication with families. With this in mind we will not be having staff meetings in week 9 of the term to allow families who would like to discuss anything with teachers, or teachers who would like to talk to families, greater opportunities to catch up. These are not scheduled sessions or required for everyone, your child’s classroom teacher may request a catch up meeting with you, you also have the opportunity to make one yourself.
Upcoming Elections
Jim Miles the current Acting Executive Director for Catholic Education recently wrote to principal’s in relation to the upcoming election and a series of questions posed to the major parties in relation to Education. Without getting political I have included a section of his letter and links to the replies for your information.
Dear Principal
The 2019 Federal Election will be held on Saturday 18 May 2019.
As you will be aware, the major political parties have made a number of announcements with regard to education in the lead-up to the election.
At a national level, Catholic education has been communicating directly with major political parties on their education policy positions, particularly in relation to fair and certain funding. The National Catholic Education Commission asked for responses to the following questions from the three major parties:
1. As the Commonwealth is the predominant funder of non-government schools, how will your party ensure Catholic schools remain affordable for most Australian families?
2. What support will your party provide to help Catholic and other non-government schools upgrade learning facilities and keep pace with enrolment growth, given the rising costs of land, construction and classroom technology?
3. What is your party's position on the right of religious schools to retain faith-based exemptions from anti-discrimination legislation in relation to staffing, enrolment and policy matters?
4. Catholic schools are providing an increasing number of pre-school services for families that choose Catholic education. What will your party do to support this important stage of early childhood education?
The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd has prepared this handy guide to the parties’ responses for you to share with your school communities. I would urge you to make sure that parents and staff are aware of the education policy positions taken by the major parties at this election.
Full copies of the parties’ responses can be found at http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/2019-Election.
Regards
Jim Miles
Acting Executive Director
A big thank you to all our families who attended the information night last week, we hope this was a valuable experience for you in gaining a deeper understanding of what we do at St Columba's. The School Advisory Council are looking at holding some further sessions and feedback forums later in the year so keep an eye out for dates as they come up.
Reporting Semester One
Formal reports will again be accessible to parents at the end of this term via the Parent Access Module (PAM) if you haven’t logged into PAM recently I would encourage you to find 5 minutes to check your details are still working. PAM also contains access to past reports and student attendance records. As we are not having parent teacher interviews or 3 way conversations this term we have been looking at ways to continue our communication with families. With this in mind we will not be having staff meetings in week 9 of the term to allow families who would like to discuss anything with teachers, or teachers who would like to talk to families, greater opportunities to catch up. These are not scheduled sessions or required for everyone, your child’s classroom teacher may request a catch up meeting with you, you also have the opportunity to make one yourself.
Upcoming Elections
Jim Miles the current Acting Executive Director for Catholic Education recently wrote to principal’s in relation to the upcoming election and a series of questions posed to the major parties in relation to Education. Without getting political I have included a section of his letter and links to the replies for your information.
Dear Principal
The 2019 Federal Election will be held on Saturday 18 May 2019.
As you will be aware, the major political parties have made a number of announcements with regard to education in the lead-up to the election.
At a national level, Catholic education has been communicating directly with major political parties on their education policy positions, particularly in relation to fair and certain funding. The National Catholic Education Commission asked for responses to the following questions from the three major parties:
1. As the Commonwealth is the predominant funder of non-government schools, how will your party ensure Catholic schools remain affordable for most Australian families?
2. What support will your party provide to help Catholic and other non-government schools upgrade learning facilities and keep pace with enrolment growth, given the rising costs of land, construction and classroom technology?
3. What is your party's position on the right of religious schools to retain faith-based exemptions from anti-discrimination legislation in relation to staffing, enrolment and policy matters?
4. Catholic schools are providing an increasing number of pre-school services for families that choose Catholic education. What will your party do to support this important stage of early childhood education?
The Catholic Education Commission of Victoria Ltd has prepared this handy guide to the parties’ responses for you to share with your school communities. I would urge you to make sure that parents and staff are aware of the education policy positions taken by the major parties at this election.
Full copies of the parties’ responses can be found at http://www.cecv.catholic.edu.au/2019-Election.
Regards
Jim Miles
Acting Executive Director
| federal-election-party-responses.pdf |
Woolworths Earn and Learn Stickers
St Columba's School is participating in the Woolworths Earn and Learn Program. From now until the 25th June, anyone from our School community – staff, parents, grandparents, neighbours and friends – who shop at Woolworths can collect stickers. We would love if you could support the school gain valuable extra resources bu dropping stickers or completed sticker sheets into the office any time during the promotion.
Assembly
Our next Assembly will be hosted by LG8 on Friday 17th May at 2.40pm in the school hall.
Please note due to the 5/6 students participating in interschool sports on Fridays, during Term 2 there will not be Foundation students introduced at assembly. This will recommence in Term 3.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
St Columba's School is participating in the Woolworths Earn and Learn Program. From now until the 25th June, anyone from our School community – staff, parents, grandparents, neighbours and friends – who shop at Woolworths can collect stickers. We would love if you could support the school gain valuable extra resources bu dropping stickers or completed sticker sheets into the office any time during the promotion.
Assembly
Our next Assembly will be hosted by LG8 on Friday 17th May at 2.40pm in the school hall.
Please note due to the 5/6 students participating in interschool sports on Fridays, during Term 2 there will not be Foundation students introduced at assembly. This will recommence in Term 3.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term Two Week Two
Welcome back from the Easter Break. Week 2 and already that time away seems a fading memory for some.
It was wonderful to hear the sound of rain this morning (apart from the threat of a wet day timetable) and the colder mornings are certainly with us. A reminder to families that from next week students are expected to be in full winter uniforms.
There’s plenty on this term throughout the school including our work next week with Tom Hierck focussing on building a positive school environment, enrolments for 2020 are being finalised at the moment, students are preparing for their sacraments and as a staff we are exploring High Impact Teaching Strategies and what reading looks like throughout the school. In addition to this staff are also preparing for NAPLAN and in the early stages of putting together student’s semester reports. A reminder if you ever have any questions related to your child please contact their classroom teacher to discuss this, we value parent input highly.
SunSmart Policy
There have been some recent changes to the school’s current SunSmart Policy. In line with current recommendations we are moving away from a date to date hat policy and instead responding to the sun protection times recommended by the Bureau of Meteorology. These are the times of day when the UV index exceeds 3. This means students will need their hats at school for the entire year rather than just Term 1 and 4.
School Crossing
I had a bit of a career change last week as we were short a crossing supervisor for the day. Whilst our students were all polite and followed the safety procedures when crossing, I did notice a rather large number of cars travelling well in excess of 40km/h. A reminder to our families to be vigilant when crossing the roads with their children, particularly around cars reversing.
PSG feedback
We are currently seeking feedback from parents around our PSG meetings. If you take part in these we would appreciate you taking 5 minutes to complete the attached survey.
https://forms.gle/Lv66xfsAZPt9akYGA
Closure Day
As mentioned above the staff will be working with Tom Hierck next Monday 6th May and this will be a student free day.
Strategic Planning 2020 - 2024: Workshops
During 2019 we will be planning for our Diocesan Education Community 2020- 2024. A Planning team has been convened to lead us through this process. The Team will be led by Patricia Hindmarsh (former Director of Catholic Education in Tasmania) and will include Sr. Helen Nolen rsm, Eileen Rice, Fr. Mathew Thomas, Peter Morgan, John Meneely, Janine Hillman (Admin.) and Sandra Harvey. To ensure that the strategic plan is representative of all communities we ask that you please encourage staff, parents, parish and other interested community members to attend the workshops that have been planned for your regions. No registration required.
Central Zone: Ballarat (Enquiries: Contact Janine Hillman, E: jhillman@ceob.edu.au; P- 5337 7174)
Developing Parents’ Digital Literacy and Tackling Cyberbullying
Damascus College presents this free community workshop discussing the strengths and challenges of navigating the online world as a young person. In-depth knowledge will be shared on major social media platforms and the issue of cyberbullying, while also providing a range of hot topics and strategies that parents, guardians and carers can use to support young people online. This session allows for an open Q&A at the end. Wednesday, May 1, 2019 from 7.00pm – 8.30pm at the John Shannon Centre. Book at www.damascus.vic.edu.au. For further details please refer to the flyer in Community News.
Yard Working Party
We are currently looking for parent volunteers to form a Yard Working Party. The purpose behind this group to make our school yard more engaging for our children. This may range from organising/assisting at working bees, working on mini projects,(e.g. building a house for our chickens) sourcing grants and/or donations and general maintenance/improvements. This group would collaborate with the children through The VOICE and Environmental Reps and well as a group of interested staff members.
If you are interested or have a particular skill set that could be of assistance please email Julie Cooper jcooper@scballarat.catholic.edu.au.
Games and puzzles
We hope to run ‘Activity Clubs’ during second break on Tuesday and Thursdays to provide an alternative for children who find the school yard overwhelming. We are seeking any donations of unwanted board games, lego and puzzles in good condition.
School Photo day – Tuesday 7th May 2019
Forms for School Photos were sent home with students last week.
Please return the photo form with payment on the day. Forms will be given directly to MSP Photography staff (please note if making payment via cash to include the correct payment amount, no change will be given).
Family photos are available, please collect form from the office.
All students are required to wear full winter uniform including woollen jumper. If girls are wearing accessories in their hair, we ask that the ribbons or clips be gold or blue as per our school uniform policy.
Assembly
Our next Assembly will be hosted by LG12 on Friday 3rd May at 2.40pm in the school hall.
Please note due to the 5/6 students participating in interschool sports on Fridays, during Term 2 there will not be Foundation students introduced at assembly. This will recommence in Term 3
(Return to Newsletter Home)
It was wonderful to hear the sound of rain this morning (apart from the threat of a wet day timetable) and the colder mornings are certainly with us. A reminder to families that from next week students are expected to be in full winter uniforms.
There’s plenty on this term throughout the school including our work next week with Tom Hierck focussing on building a positive school environment, enrolments for 2020 are being finalised at the moment, students are preparing for their sacraments and as a staff we are exploring High Impact Teaching Strategies and what reading looks like throughout the school. In addition to this staff are also preparing for NAPLAN and in the early stages of putting together student’s semester reports. A reminder if you ever have any questions related to your child please contact their classroom teacher to discuss this, we value parent input highly.
SunSmart Policy
There have been some recent changes to the school’s current SunSmart Policy. In line with current recommendations we are moving away from a date to date hat policy and instead responding to the sun protection times recommended by the Bureau of Meteorology. These are the times of day when the UV index exceeds 3. This means students will need their hats at school for the entire year rather than just Term 1 and 4.
School Crossing
I had a bit of a career change last week as we were short a crossing supervisor for the day. Whilst our students were all polite and followed the safety procedures when crossing, I did notice a rather large number of cars travelling well in excess of 40km/h. A reminder to our families to be vigilant when crossing the roads with their children, particularly around cars reversing.
PSG feedback
We are currently seeking feedback from parents around our PSG meetings. If you take part in these we would appreciate you taking 5 minutes to complete the attached survey.
https://forms.gle/Lv66xfsAZPt9akYGA
Closure Day
As mentioned above the staff will be working with Tom Hierck next Monday 6th May and this will be a student free day.
Strategic Planning 2020 - 2024: Workshops
During 2019 we will be planning for our Diocesan Education Community 2020- 2024. A Planning team has been convened to lead us through this process. The Team will be led by Patricia Hindmarsh (former Director of Catholic Education in Tasmania) and will include Sr. Helen Nolen rsm, Eileen Rice, Fr. Mathew Thomas, Peter Morgan, John Meneely, Janine Hillman (Admin.) and Sandra Harvey. To ensure that the strategic plan is representative of all communities we ask that you please encourage staff, parents, parish and other interested community members to attend the workshops that have been planned for your regions. No registration required.
Central Zone: Ballarat (Enquiries: Contact Janine Hillman, E: jhillman@ceob.edu.au; P- 5337 7174)
- Tuesday 7 May, St Patrick's College- Spring Board Room, Sturt St, Ballarat. 4:30pm - 6:00pm; 7:00pm - 8:30pm
Developing Parents’ Digital Literacy and Tackling Cyberbullying
Damascus College presents this free community workshop discussing the strengths and challenges of navigating the online world as a young person. In-depth knowledge will be shared on major social media platforms and the issue of cyberbullying, while also providing a range of hot topics and strategies that parents, guardians and carers can use to support young people online. This session allows for an open Q&A at the end. Wednesday, May 1, 2019 from 7.00pm – 8.30pm at the John Shannon Centre. Book at www.damascus.vic.edu.au. For further details please refer to the flyer in Community News.
Yard Working Party
We are currently looking for parent volunteers to form a Yard Working Party. The purpose behind this group to make our school yard more engaging for our children. This may range from organising/assisting at working bees, working on mini projects,(e.g. building a house for our chickens) sourcing grants and/or donations and general maintenance/improvements. This group would collaborate with the children through The VOICE and Environmental Reps and well as a group of interested staff members.
If you are interested or have a particular skill set that could be of assistance please email Julie Cooper jcooper@scballarat.catholic.edu.au.
Games and puzzles
We hope to run ‘Activity Clubs’ during second break on Tuesday and Thursdays to provide an alternative for children who find the school yard overwhelming. We are seeking any donations of unwanted board games, lego and puzzles in good condition.
School Photo day – Tuesday 7th May 2019
Forms for School Photos were sent home with students last week.
Please return the photo form with payment on the day. Forms will be given directly to MSP Photography staff (please note if making payment via cash to include the correct payment amount, no change will be given).
Family photos are available, please collect form from the office.
All students are required to wear full winter uniform including woollen jumper. If girls are wearing accessories in their hair, we ask that the ribbons or clips be gold or blue as per our school uniform policy.
Assembly
Our next Assembly will be hosted by LG12 on Friday 3rd May at 2.40pm in the school hall.
Please note due to the 5/6 students participating in interschool sports on Fridays, during Term 2 there will not be Foundation students introduced at assembly. This will recommence in Term 3
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term One Week Ten
What an incredibly busy couple of weeks we’ve had since the last newsletter. It’s been a long time since we’ve had a ten week first term and it’s a little crazy what we’ve managed to fit into it. I'm sure there's a number of students (and parents) looking forward to a well earned break. Details around two of our big events from the last fortnight are included below.
During this time of Lent it is an opportunity for us to pause and reflect, to step away from our busyness and find some time for ourselves. It is an opportunity to reflect on the choices we are making in our own lives and drawing on our faith make the changes we may see are needed. It is also a time to recognise Christ’s light in those around us. As our families prepare to break for the Easter period I would encourage you to find some time to yourself to stop, reflect on the incredible things within your life and look for ways you can bring joy to others.
Study Tour hosting
We recently hosted 20 teachers from around Australia coming to look at our practices and learn more about what a play based education can look like. Again the visiting teachers were highly impressed with our learning spaces and the relationships our staff build with their students. We even had a few ‘I was totally against this idea but you’ve turned me around’ moments. These visits continue to be an incredible recognition of the commitment and effort our staff put into providing the highest quality education for all students. I’d like to take the chance to once again acknowledge and thank the staff who open their classrooms up to these visitors and put themselves on display. Imagine having 20 peers show up at your workplace to observe and comment on all you do for a day...
2020 Information Night
We had over 70 parents in attendance at our 2020 Foundation information session and it is great to see such a continuing support for what we do here at St Columba’s. Along with another 20+ at our day tours. We carry a strong reputation in the community and this is a great reflection on our staff and families of the tremendous efforts they put in. The feedback from visiting families continues to be one of amazement at how a school can feel so inviting and friendly, whilst it was clear we still had a dedicated focus on academic achievement at the same time.
Farewell and Welcome
With the imminent arrival of baby number 3 we say farewell again to Mrs Maree Cooper from week 2 next term. Maree will be greatly missed by the students and has laid the foundations for an incredible art program this year. Following interviews last week, replacing Maree for the remainder of the year will be someone familiar to a number of our families, Caitlyn Gordon. We wish Maree and Luke all the best with their newest addition to the family.
Winter Uniform
With the start of Term 2 we move to our winter uniform, recognising that the weather certainly isn’t playing nice right now for the first few weeks of term students may wear the uniform that is appropriate to the weather.
Term 2 Closure Day
In week 3 of next term we will be having a closure on the 6th May. The teachers will be working with renowned Canadian educator Tom Hierck. The focus for the day will be around building positive classroom cultures to support student learning
Long Service Leave
We have a number of staff taking leave over the coming term, please keep an eye on the skoolbag app and newsletter for details that may relate to your child/ren’s teacher.
Other Things
(Return to Newsletter Home)
During this time of Lent it is an opportunity for us to pause and reflect, to step away from our busyness and find some time for ourselves. It is an opportunity to reflect on the choices we are making in our own lives and drawing on our faith make the changes we may see are needed. It is also a time to recognise Christ’s light in those around us. As our families prepare to break for the Easter period I would encourage you to find some time to yourself to stop, reflect on the incredible things within your life and look for ways you can bring joy to others.
Study Tour hosting
We recently hosted 20 teachers from around Australia coming to look at our practices and learn more about what a play based education can look like. Again the visiting teachers were highly impressed with our learning spaces and the relationships our staff build with their students. We even had a few ‘I was totally against this idea but you’ve turned me around’ moments. These visits continue to be an incredible recognition of the commitment and effort our staff put into providing the highest quality education for all students. I’d like to take the chance to once again acknowledge and thank the staff who open their classrooms up to these visitors and put themselves on display. Imagine having 20 peers show up at your workplace to observe and comment on all you do for a day...
2020 Information Night
We had over 70 parents in attendance at our 2020 Foundation information session and it is great to see such a continuing support for what we do here at St Columba’s. Along with another 20+ at our day tours. We carry a strong reputation in the community and this is a great reflection on our staff and families of the tremendous efforts they put in. The feedback from visiting families continues to be one of amazement at how a school can feel so inviting and friendly, whilst it was clear we still had a dedicated focus on academic achievement at the same time.
Farewell and Welcome
With the imminent arrival of baby number 3 we say farewell again to Mrs Maree Cooper from week 2 next term. Maree will be greatly missed by the students and has laid the foundations for an incredible art program this year. Following interviews last week, replacing Maree for the remainder of the year will be someone familiar to a number of our families, Caitlyn Gordon. We wish Maree and Luke all the best with their newest addition to the family.
Winter Uniform
With the start of Term 2 we move to our winter uniform, recognising that the weather certainly isn’t playing nice right now for the first few weeks of term students may wear the uniform that is appropriate to the weather.
Term 2 Closure Day
In week 3 of next term we will be having a closure on the 6th May. The teachers will be working with renowned Canadian educator Tom Hierck. The focus for the day will be around building positive classroom cultures to support student learning
Long Service Leave
We have a number of staff taking leave over the coming term, please keep an eye on the skoolbag app and newsletter for details that may relate to your child/ren’s teacher.
Other Things
- A reminder this Friday is an early finish time for students, the school day will end at 2:30pm.
- Tomorrow is our annual Athletic’s day, a reminder that only parents who are assisting with events are allowed in the competition area in accordance with Llanberris’ OH&S guidelines.
- Assembly will be even weeks next term starting in week 2, there will be no Foundation introductions during Term 2 as the Senior students are out with interschool sports, these will resume in Term 3.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term One Week Eight
Over the next two days Principals and Priests from across the Diocese are meeting in Horsham to talk about a number of key issues. One of the major focuses over this time is the concept of partnerships, how schools and leaders can work with one another to improve education for all. This concept is an important one at St Columba’s and a critical part of who we are. The idea of partnerships in education runs through so many of our beliefs in what makes education successful.
One of the key factors in making a partnerships successful is the idea of mutual gain, that all participants benefit from the relationships. We see this daily with our parent community and the countless interactions that take place between staff and families. One area we often don’t celebrate is our buddy system. Talking to prospective parents for 2020 last week I had the pleasure of being able to talk about how much of an impact our buddy system and kinder visits has on our students. The obvious is the new foundation students and the support they receive coming into the school, the flip of that is the sense of responsibility and pride our senior students take in this role. It really does see the best qualities of all our students shine through.
Over time the Principal’s message has grown to include “anything that might be ignored in other sections” we’re working to bring this back to its original intent. For this to work, please ensure you are making use of the other sections to see what is happening in different areas of the school, particularly the RE news and upcoming dates there is almost always something on that is important to know about.
Parent Access Module
A reminder that all Parent Access Module (PAM) accounts are now active, PAM allows you to login and view things such as your child’s attendance and semester reports. PAM is also our excursion permission and medical information tool. With the upcoming Athletic’s day along with other excursions now would be a good time to check all these details are up to date and you are able to login successfully. PAM can be accessed at pam.scballarat.catholic.edu.au
School Hats
The correct school hats have finally arrived, if your child current has one of the temporary colour ones can you please return this to school and see the uniform shop to purchase a correct one. We plan to donate the misprints so would greatly appreciate these being returned.
School Assembly
LG5 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 29th March at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community. The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Henry B (Sam C), Tearney M (Grace G), Lily P (Jamila B) Paddy G (Benny R), Saxon V (Thomas W)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
One of the key factors in making a partnerships successful is the idea of mutual gain, that all participants benefit from the relationships. We see this daily with our parent community and the countless interactions that take place between staff and families. One area we often don’t celebrate is our buddy system. Talking to prospective parents for 2020 last week I had the pleasure of being able to talk about how much of an impact our buddy system and kinder visits has on our students. The obvious is the new foundation students and the support they receive coming into the school, the flip of that is the sense of responsibility and pride our senior students take in this role. It really does see the best qualities of all our students shine through.
Over time the Principal’s message has grown to include “anything that might be ignored in other sections” we’re working to bring this back to its original intent. For this to work, please ensure you are making use of the other sections to see what is happening in different areas of the school, particularly the RE news and upcoming dates there is almost always something on that is important to know about.
Parent Access Module
A reminder that all Parent Access Module (PAM) accounts are now active, PAM allows you to login and view things such as your child’s attendance and semester reports. PAM is also our excursion permission and medical information tool. With the upcoming Athletic’s day along with other excursions now would be a good time to check all these details are up to date and you are able to login successfully. PAM can be accessed at pam.scballarat.catholic.edu.au
School Hats
The correct school hats have finally arrived, if your child current has one of the temporary colour ones can you please return this to school and see the uniform shop to purchase a correct one. We plan to donate the misprints so would greatly appreciate these being returned.
School Assembly
LG5 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 29th March at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community. The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Henry B (Sam C), Tearney M (Grace G), Lily P (Jamila B) Paddy G (Benny R), Saxon V (Thomas W)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term One Week Six
What a difference a month makes, it’s incredible looking out the window of the office today and looking at the incredible change in all our students, particularly our new Foundation cohort. In those first days of school it was common to see tentative young students with a slightly nervous look on their faces just beginning to venture beyond the safety of the sandpit and deck area (designated Foundation only spaces). This week we have 48 students madly running around the yard with giant smiles forming friendships that may last the next five minutes of the game, or the rest of their lives.
Academically the difference that time makes is incredible as well. Last night we hosted a tour from another school looking at our work in the area of writing. One of the consistent comments from this group, other than a love of our learning spaces, was the incredible development that was evident in the student’s work from the start of the year to now. These results are a reflection of the hard work of staff in developing themselves as skilled writing practitioners and a positive recognition of the efforts the school went to in 2018 to improve writing across the school.
Over the last fortnight we have also had meetings of our two main parent bodies, the School Advisory Council and the Parents & Friends group. I’d like to take the chance to recognise and acknowledge the hard work of both these groups in ensuring St Columba’s continues to be a welcoming environment held in high regard throughout the community. Without the support and trust of our parent body we couldn’t achieve the many incredible things we do.
Thank you all the parents who attended welcome chats over the last week as well. The feedback I’ve heard from parents and staff has been overwhelmingly
Playgroup
Another new initiative headed up by our parents is the formation of a new St Columba’s playgroup, for more details please see the Community News section.
Welcome
Next week Simone Bawden will be joining our staff in preparation for Erica Hare’s upcoming maternity leave. Whilst we are sad to be farewelling Erica we are also excited to have the talents of Simone joining our staff to continue the fantastic Languages program Erica has built over many years at our school.
CyberSafety
As part of their Digital Education lessons this term students have been exploring the idea of cybersafety. Students in 3-6 have been looking at different scenarios related to cybersafety including password protection, online scams and the impact of online behaviour on offline behaviours. Parents may have seen reports recently in the news of the ‘latest’ craze MOMO, most of the evidence related to this event show it to be a hoax of a hoax that has been picked up on by social media and news outlets. One of the messages we constantly give to students is they will not be in trouble or lose privileges if they come across something inappropriate by chance and report it to a teacher. What we don’t want to see is students hiding information out of fear they may lose internet access. General advice for home continues to promote the importance of knowing what you children are doing when online, having devices in a public space and avoiding phones in the bedroom particularly when trying to sleep. We have also had a number of junior students discussing online games that are well outside their age classification, this can cause problems for other students in their year level. The office of eSafety commision has some general advice on supporting children with online behaviours and gaming
Statement re. Cardinal George Pell
Attached below this section is a statement from Audrey Brown Director of Catholic Education, Ballarat
Academically the difference that time makes is incredible as well. Last night we hosted a tour from another school looking at our work in the area of writing. One of the consistent comments from this group, other than a love of our learning spaces, was the incredible development that was evident in the student’s work from the start of the year to now. These results are a reflection of the hard work of staff in developing themselves as skilled writing practitioners and a positive recognition of the efforts the school went to in 2018 to improve writing across the school.
Over the last fortnight we have also had meetings of our two main parent bodies, the School Advisory Council and the Parents & Friends group. I’d like to take the chance to recognise and acknowledge the hard work of both these groups in ensuring St Columba’s continues to be a welcoming environment held in high regard throughout the community. Without the support and trust of our parent body we couldn’t achieve the many incredible things we do.
Thank you all the parents who attended welcome chats over the last week as well. The feedback I’ve heard from parents and staff has been overwhelmingly
Playgroup
Another new initiative headed up by our parents is the formation of a new St Columba’s playgroup, for more details please see the Community News section.
Welcome
Next week Simone Bawden will be joining our staff in preparation for Erica Hare’s upcoming maternity leave. Whilst we are sad to be farewelling Erica we are also excited to have the talents of Simone joining our staff to continue the fantastic Languages program Erica has built over many years at our school.
CyberSafety
As part of their Digital Education lessons this term students have been exploring the idea of cybersafety. Students in 3-6 have been looking at different scenarios related to cybersafety including password protection, online scams and the impact of online behaviour on offline behaviours. Parents may have seen reports recently in the news of the ‘latest’ craze MOMO, most of the evidence related to this event show it to be a hoax of a hoax that has been picked up on by social media and news outlets. One of the messages we constantly give to students is they will not be in trouble or lose privileges if they come across something inappropriate by chance and report it to a teacher. What we don’t want to see is students hiding information out of fear they may lose internet access. General advice for home continues to promote the importance of knowing what you children are doing when online, having devices in a public space and avoiding phones in the bedroom particularly when trying to sleep. We have also had a number of junior students discussing online games that are well outside their age classification, this can cause problems for other students in their year level. The office of eSafety commision has some general advice on supporting children with online behaviours and gaming
Statement re. Cardinal George Pell
Attached below this section is a statement from Audrey Brown Director of Catholic Education, Ballarat
| statement_from_the_director_of_catholic_education.pdf |
Kim’s Overseas Volunteering Experience
On Wednesday 13th March Kim will share her experiences of having a year’s leave to volunteer in India & Timor Leste.
Two sessions will be held in the St Columba’s Church foyer - 11am with coffee & cake and 7pm with wine & cheese.
All parents, friends and parishioners welcome to come along.
School Hats
The correct school hats have finally arrived, if your child current has one of the temporary colour ones can you please return this to school and see the uniform shop to purchase a correct one. We plan to donate the misprints so would greatly appreciate these being returned.
School Assembly
LG 1 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 15th March at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community. The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Lenny P (Archie T), Henry B (Sam C), Willow M (Tahlia L), Esther C (Eden J), Darcy B (Joel M) Lulu M (Ella G)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
On Wednesday 13th March Kim will share her experiences of having a year’s leave to volunteer in India & Timor Leste.
Two sessions will be held in the St Columba’s Church foyer - 11am with coffee & cake and 7pm with wine & cheese.
All parents, friends and parishioners welcome to come along.
School Hats
The correct school hats have finally arrived, if your child current has one of the temporary colour ones can you please return this to school and see the uniform shop to purchase a correct one. We plan to donate the misprints so would greatly appreciate these being returned.
School Assembly
LG 1 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 15th March at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community. The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Lenny P (Archie T), Henry B (Sam C), Willow M (Tahlia L), Esther C (Eden J), Darcy B (Joel M) Lulu M (Ella G)
All are welcome to attend.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term One Week Four
School involvement is a critical factor in student learning, student attendance obviously plays a large part in this, parental involvement in learning is also a major determiner of student success. Last year we looked at a number of ways our parents can be involved within the school and support students in their learning. The Parents and Friends and School Advisory Council are two of our more organised ways to get involved in school life, there are also numerous opportunities through classroom helpers and excursions. If you have a particular skill or idea please don’t hesitate to contact your child’s teacher and look at options to run a clinic for some students. These clinics provide students with experiences that we just cannot provide as individual teachers, allowing students to tap into the expertise and knowledge of our wider parent community.
Another way to connect with your child’s learning is through SeeSaw, SeeSaw is our primary form of digital portfolios and a great chance to see real time evidence of your child’s work and progress. If you already have an account you will see that your child has been moved into their new year level, whilst also keeping all their previous work samples available. If you don’t have an account, information on connecting to your child’s portfolio will be coming home soon.
We will be reviewing the use of SeeSaw throughout the year through the School Advisory Council, if you have any thoughts or considerations around it please contact a member to assist our conversations. The School Advisory Council is also exploring the idea of community connection this year and looking into ways we can connect with the Ballarat Community to provide greater learning experiences and opportunities for our students.
Information Night
Thank you to everyone in attendance at the information night last week, the weather played slightly nicer than we thought it would so we are looking at an alternative date for a welcome picnic later this term. The information nights are a great chance for parents to get a brief overview of what’s happening and the daily running of things at school as well as any key events for the year. If you have any feedback or thoughts on how we can improve these nights please let us know at office@scballarat.catholic.edu.au include information night feedback in your subject. Thanks
Partnerships/Welcome Chats
One of the things we pride ourselves on at St Columba’s is our work in partnership with parents. We recognise the importance of parents as first educators of children and the valuable knowledge you can bring to our own work within schools. To further support this we will be holding welcome chats next week to provide an opportunity for parents to meet with their child/ren’s classroom teachers. As part of this chat we would encourage you to share what you know about getting the best from your child, what is it that we should know to best support their learning and wellbeing? You may also like to share some of your hopes and aspirations and how you feel the school can assist in bringing these to life? It is also an opportunity for teachers to share how your child is settling into the new year and learning environment.
Booking information was emailed earlier this week. If you have any queries please contact the office.
School Exclusion
It’s that fun time of the year when everyone is back together and if one person catches something it’s soon passed on to everyone. One of the challenges around illness’ is often the return to school timing, the government puts out some clear guidelines around exclusion following an illness and these can be found at https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/public-health/infectious-diseases/school-exclusion/school-exclusion-table
Baby News
We would like to congratulate Mrs Susan and Bruce Vowles on the announcement of their recent pregnancy. Susan and Bruce are expecting their third child later in the year. As you can imagine this is an exciting time for their families and the school staff. We wish them every happiness and joy throughout this exciting journey
Aboriginal Literacy Foundation
The Aboriginal Literacy Foundation is again offering an after school tutoring opportunity for primary school aged Aboriginal children at the Ballarat Tutorial Center. These sessions run between 4:30pm -5:30pm Wednesday afternoon, all tutors are registered Victorian teachers. If you are interested or to find out more information please contact Jacinta Humphries on 5333 5342 or email jacinta@aboriginalliteracyfoundation.org
Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) Financial Assistance
CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips,camps and sporting activities. If you hold a current valid means-tested concession card you may be eligible for CSEF. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
The annual CSEF amount per student is $125 for primary school students.
How to apply
New applicants should contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or download from www.education.vic.gov.au/csef
If you applied for the CSEF at this school in 2018, you do not need to complete an application form in 2019 unless there have been a change in your family circumstances.
You only need to complete an application form if you have:-
School Assembly
LG 9 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 1st March at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community. The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Hudson C (Hudson A), Braxton H, (Eamonn J), Molly M (Lotte D), Stella P (Lily O), Sebbie P (Alex B) and Gina M (Ella R)
All are welcome to attend.
Another way to connect with your child’s learning is through SeeSaw, SeeSaw is our primary form of digital portfolios and a great chance to see real time evidence of your child’s work and progress. If you already have an account you will see that your child has been moved into their new year level, whilst also keeping all their previous work samples available. If you don’t have an account, information on connecting to your child’s portfolio will be coming home soon.
We will be reviewing the use of SeeSaw throughout the year through the School Advisory Council, if you have any thoughts or considerations around it please contact a member to assist our conversations. The School Advisory Council is also exploring the idea of community connection this year and looking into ways we can connect with the Ballarat Community to provide greater learning experiences and opportunities for our students.
Information Night
Thank you to everyone in attendance at the information night last week, the weather played slightly nicer than we thought it would so we are looking at an alternative date for a welcome picnic later this term. The information nights are a great chance for parents to get a brief overview of what’s happening and the daily running of things at school as well as any key events for the year. If you have any feedback or thoughts on how we can improve these nights please let us know at office@scballarat.catholic.edu.au include information night feedback in your subject. Thanks
Partnerships/Welcome Chats
One of the things we pride ourselves on at St Columba’s is our work in partnership with parents. We recognise the importance of parents as first educators of children and the valuable knowledge you can bring to our own work within schools. To further support this we will be holding welcome chats next week to provide an opportunity for parents to meet with their child/ren’s classroom teachers. As part of this chat we would encourage you to share what you know about getting the best from your child, what is it that we should know to best support their learning and wellbeing? You may also like to share some of your hopes and aspirations and how you feel the school can assist in bringing these to life? It is also an opportunity for teachers to share how your child is settling into the new year and learning environment.
Booking information was emailed earlier this week. If you have any queries please contact the office.
School Exclusion
It’s that fun time of the year when everyone is back together and if one person catches something it’s soon passed on to everyone. One of the challenges around illness’ is often the return to school timing, the government puts out some clear guidelines around exclusion following an illness and these can be found at https://www2.health.vic.gov.au/public-health/infectious-diseases/school-exclusion/school-exclusion-table
Baby News
We would like to congratulate Mrs Susan and Bruce Vowles on the announcement of their recent pregnancy. Susan and Bruce are expecting their third child later in the year. As you can imagine this is an exciting time for their families and the school staff. We wish them every happiness and joy throughout this exciting journey
Aboriginal Literacy Foundation
The Aboriginal Literacy Foundation is again offering an after school tutoring opportunity for primary school aged Aboriginal children at the Ballarat Tutorial Center. These sessions run between 4:30pm -5:30pm Wednesday afternoon, all tutors are registered Victorian teachers. If you are interested or to find out more information please contact Jacinta Humphries on 5333 5342 or email jacinta@aboriginalliteracyfoundation.org
Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) Financial Assistance
CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips,camps and sporting activities. If you hold a current valid means-tested concession card you may be eligible for CSEF. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
The annual CSEF amount per student is $125 for primary school students.
How to apply
New applicants should contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or download from www.education.vic.gov.au/csef
If you applied for the CSEF at this school in 2018, you do not need to complete an application form in 2019 unless there have been a change in your family circumstances.
You only need to complete an application form if you have:-
- a new student enrolment
- changed family circumstances
School Assembly
LG 9 will lead the next Assembly which will be held Friday 1st March at 2.40pm, in the School Hall.
At this assembly we will introduce a group of our Foundation students to the school community. The following students will be presented by their Grade 5 buddy:-
Hudson C (Hudson A), Braxton H, (Eamonn J), Molly M (Lotte D), Stella P (Lily O), Sebbie P (Alex B) and Gina M (Ella R)
All are welcome to attend.
Student Leaders
Congratulations to all our newly elected school leaders for 2019. The various leadership groups and roles will work closely with staff and our school captains in ensuring our school remains a safe and happy place to attend.
Enviro and Arts Reps for 2019
LG 1
Lotte D & Eamonn J
Ainsley Y & Joel M
LG 2
Savannah K & Gabe P
Georgia S & Luke S
LG 3
Jett D & Eden J
Illy M & Abigail (Abbey) D
LG 4
Talia L & Ella B
Ella R & Grace G
LG 5
Sadie M & Kipp M
Eddy W & Aiden O
LG 6
Xavier S & Audrey M
Emilyn-Maie C & Lucy B
LG 7
Poppy P & Manny M
Angus M & Lila M
LG 8
Piper D & Pippa M
Bridie R & Sienna B
LG 9
Samara O & Jack B
Fergus T & Grace R
LG 10
Finn C & Isabelle R
Sophie G & Caira D
LG 11
Aidan S & Oscar C
Ellie W & Tilly B
LG 12
Hannah W & Cormac M
Isla C & Zara C
LG 13
(not till Term 2)
LG 14
(not till Term 2)
VOICE Reps (for Semester 1)
Foundation LC
(not till Term 2)
1/2 LC
Elliott B & Ivy H
3/4 LC
Finn S & Bea M
5/6 LC
Hannah R & Baxter H
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Congratulations to all our newly elected school leaders for 2019. The various leadership groups and roles will work closely with staff and our school captains in ensuring our school remains a safe and happy place to attend.
Enviro and Arts Reps for 2019
LG 1
Lotte D & Eamonn J
Ainsley Y & Joel M
LG 2
Savannah K & Gabe P
Georgia S & Luke S
LG 3
Jett D & Eden J
Illy M & Abigail (Abbey) D
LG 4
Talia L & Ella B
Ella R & Grace G
LG 5
Sadie M & Kipp M
Eddy W & Aiden O
LG 6
Xavier S & Audrey M
Emilyn-Maie C & Lucy B
LG 7
Poppy P & Manny M
Angus M & Lila M
LG 8
Piper D & Pippa M
Bridie R & Sienna B
LG 9
Samara O & Jack B
Fergus T & Grace R
LG 10
Finn C & Isabelle R
Sophie G & Caira D
LG 11
Aidan S & Oscar C
Ellie W & Tilly B
LG 12
Hannah W & Cormac M
Isla C & Zara C
LG 13
(not till Term 2)
LG 14
(not till Term 2)
VOICE Reps (for Semester 1)
Foundation LC
(not till Term 2)
1/2 LC
Elliott B & Ivy H
3/4 LC
Finn S & Bea M
5/6 LC
Hannah R & Baxter H
(Return to Newsletter Home)
Term One Week 2
God of Love,
You are with us in every transition and change.
As we enter into this new school year with excitement and even some anxiety,
we recall your deep compassion, presence, and abounding love.
We thank you for the gifts, talents and skills with which you have blessed us.
We thank you for the experiences that have brought us to this moment.
We thank you for the work of others that gives breadth and depth to our own work.
We thank you for the families who entrust us with the education of their children.
Be with us as we move forward, rejoicing with you, supporting one another and sharing the Good News in our communities.
We ask this in your name. Amen
WELCOME BACK to the start of the 2019 school year and a special welcome to all the new families joining the St Columba’s School community. On Monday we welcomed 51 new students; 48 Foundation students and Keira McDonald and Sienna Brittain into the 5/6 Learning Community and Charlotte Brittain into the 3/4 Learning Community.
As it can be a little daunting when joining any new community, I ask that our current families extend a warm and friendly St Columba’s welcome to our new families.
We also welcome Tim Gilbert and Lucy Quanchi to the staff this year and officially welcome back Emily Mullane from family leave. Lucy is teaching in the 3/4 Learning Community and Tim and Emily are teaching in the 1/2 Learning Community.
The year has started very smoothly, with all children settling into their classroom routines. Walking through the school on Monday morning it was great to see the student’s enthusiasm and excitement at being back at school. There seems to have been a seamless transition with children adjusting to routines very quickly.
At the start of a new school year your child might be feeling a little anxious as they move into a new learning community, learning group or school. If so, please reassure them that everyone is finding things that are new and different. It will take a little time for all to settle. If need be, speak to your child’s teacher and make them aware of the situation.
DROP OFF AND PICK UP POINTS
In the morning students are able to enter the school grounds via the gates on Howard Street from 8.20am onwards. Until 8.35am, children are asked to gather outside the Foundation Learning Community, where they will be supervised by the teacher on duty. The gates at Armstrong Street and the doors into the Columba Wing at Gregory Street will be opened by 8.35am. At 8.35am, children are able to enter their classrooms and organise themselves for the day ahead. The first bell will ring at 8.45am, with all children expected to be in classrooms ready to learn before 8.50am when the second bell will ring. All gates will be locked at first bell 8.45am and you will need to enter via the office. If it is after 8.50 you will be required to come into the office and sign your child/ren in. (Please do not drop your child off without signing them in).
At the end of each day, students can leave the school via the gates on Howard Street, Armstrong Street or Gregory Street. Parents waiting for children at the Howard Street entrance are asked to wait on either the deck or gravel area so as to keep the path free for people entering or leaving the school.
Children must sit and wait to be picked up after school. It is not a time to be playing with sports equipment or on the playground.
We ask that all children be picked up on time. If there is any reason you can’t get here on time please call the office and advise you are running late. All gates are locked at 3.30pm. After this time, parents will need to enter the school via the office to collect their children.
We would also like to remind all parents to be especially careful when dropping off and picking up your children. Please refrain from double parking and please take care when backing out of car spaces to ensure the safety of all children.
MEET & GREET OPPORTUNITIES
Next Wednesday 13th February we will be running Information sessions for parents. This will be an opportunity to introduce yourself to your child’s teacher and find out lots of information about the learning group/community expectations for 2019.
Foundation parents will also have an opportunity to meet one of the Foundation teachers during Numeracy testing which will occur on a number of Wednesdays during this term. Parents will need to book a time for their child, more details to come.
Welcome chats will be held on Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th February. These meetings will also provide an opportunity to share information with your child’s teacher, as well as find out how your child has settled into their new learning group and how they are progressing. This is a great opportunity to talk to your child’s teacher about anything you may feel is important for them to know as they work with you throughout the year. It is also a great chance for you to share your hopes and aspirations for your child this year.
If you would like to meet with your child’s teacher at any other time, please write a note in your child’s diary or contact the office and the teacher will arrange an appointment time with you. Please note Tuesday and Wednesdays are meeting nights for staff.
SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES
Assemblies will be held every second Friday afternoon in the school hall usually starting at 2.40pm. At assembly we pray together, share our learning, recognise and affirm achievements and share school news. Assembly normally runs for about 30 minutes. All parents, grandparents and friends are most welcome to attend.
Our first Assembly will be held next Friday 15th February at the earlier starting time of 2.30pm, with LG 2 leading this assembly. At this assembly the 2019 House Captains, Voice Reps, Arts Reps and Environmental Reps will receive their badges.
SCHOOL DIARY
Each child has received a school diary. We ask that this is used by parents and students as a way of communicating with the classroom teacher. Diaries will be checked on a daily basis and returned home. Parents, please encourage your child to use the diary to assist with their organisation and to return it to school every day. Our senior students have diaries containing a lot of reflective tools from the resilience project, it might be beneficial to have a chat with your child about some of these things.
FOUNDATION REST DAY
A reminder that Wednesdays during Term One are Rest Days for the Foundation students unless there is another non- school day in the week. Foundation students will be required to attend school on Wed 13th March due to the Labour Day holiday on Monday 11th March.
LUNCH ORDERS
Lunch orders will begin next Friday the 15th of February. Bodega Cafe will again be supplying our orders this year. New families will receive a hard copy price list and instructions on how to order this week. Existing families will be able to access a lunch order price list via the Skoolbag App.
This year lunch orders MUST be pre-ordered on the Thursday by 9.30am. Children can bring their order in and place it in their lunch order tub in their classroom Thursday morning.
ICY POLES
Icy poles will begin this Friday 8th February. Students are able to purchase an icy pole for $1. Junior students order in their learning groups on Friday morning. 3-6 students purchase their icy pole at the hall kitchen window at 1.30pm.
FEES AND LEVIES 2019
Fee Statements will be sent home next Monday. The account will contain all fees and charges for the year (with the exception of keyboard fees which are charged termly).
We offer a number of payment methods (as outlined in documents sent to families late last year) to families including: cash, cheque, credit card payments, direct debit and you are able to set up EFT payments from your own online banking service. Please note that the school has eftpos facility.
Outstanding fee balances from 2018 will carry forward to this year’s fee statement. Families who foresee any difficulty in meeting payments should contact either Shaun Mohr or Kim Butler to discuss. We may be able to offer Family Fee Assistance support provided by the Catholic Education Office. However, we must receive notification of your circumstances before anything can be initiated.
CAMPS, SPORTS AND EXCURSIONS FUND (CSEF) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips,camps and sporting activities. If you hold a current valid means-tested concession card you may be eligible for CSEF. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
The annual CSEF amount per student is $125 for primary school students.
How to apply
New applicants should contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or download from www.education.vic.gov.au/csef
If you applied for the CSEF at this school in 2018, you do not need to complete an application form in 2019 unless there have been a change in your family circumstances.
You only need to complete an application form if you have:-
PLENARY LISTENING AND DIALOGUE SESSIONS
“Listen to what the Spirit is saying.”
A listening and dialogue session for Catholic school parents
Wednesday 27th February 2019
2 sessions available: 1pm–2.30pm or 5pm–6.30pm
Venue: St Patrick’s Hall, St Patrick’s Cathedral
3 Lyons Street South, Ballarat Central
Cost: Free
Catholic School Parents Victoria would like to invite parents and carers of children who currently attend Catholic schools to one of two Plenary listening and dialogue sessions in Ballarat in February.
This is a unique opportunity for parents/carers to contribute to shaping the future of the Catholic Church in Australia.
What is a Plenary listening and dialogue session?
Plenary listening and dialogue sessions have been organised specifically for parents and carers of children in Catholic schools. This is an opportunity for parents/carers to come together as important members of Catholic school communities to spend time thinking and talking about their experiences of faith, life and the Church. The sessions will be led by an experienced Plenary facilitator from the Diocese of Ballarat and responses will be collected, collated and submitted to the Plenary Council 2020 by Catholic School Parents Victoria.
This is part of CSPV’s ongoing commitment to representing parents and carers of children in Catholic schools across Victoria.
Further information about the Plenary Council 2020 can be found at www.plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au. Parents and carers are able to submit their own responses through this website if they are unable to attend a plenary session.
Who are Catholic School Parents Victoria?
Since 2007, CSPV has been representing the important voice and perspective of Victorian Catholic school parents at a diocesan and state level. CSPV is governed by a council consisting of Catholic school parent representatives from each Catholic diocese in Victoria. The CSPV mission is to empower parent perspective and leadership in Catholic education through partnerships, communication and advocacy.
Changes to Timetable
With some changes to our daily structure and specialist timings this year we are able to return to our previous timetable which allows a 2hr block in the morning, 2hrs in the middle and 1hr for the end of day. This allows us to also accommodate our specialist programs and Tier 2 supports. The change in times only affects the internal working of the day and drop off/pick up time remain the same. With the change in times we are also returning to our preferred lunch times with students going out for break one from 10:50 to 11:20 and then returning to classrooms for a 10 minute eating session. We have found this to promote better eating habits in the students allowing them time to finish their food rather than rushing or disposing of it in order to get outside and play. Break two will be from 1:30 until 2:15 and students will still be able to eat a snack at this time.
Contacting Staff outside of hours
We live in an increasingly accessible world and this brings with it benefits and challenges. One of the biggest challenges for an industry like hours is contactability. Teachers, like everyone else work set hours and in order to perform at their best need personal and family time that is protected. It’s very easy in our current world to shoot off an email or connect to someone through something like facebook messenger. We would ask that parents respect teacher’s personal time and avoid contacting them outside work hours. That quick email about a ‘minor’ incident at 9pm can leave a person awake all night worrying.
Peace Focus
Last year we had a strong focus on gratitude and this helped to shape our work, particularly in RE and through our masses and liturgies but also in our daily interactions. This year our focus is on peace, staff recently took part in a reflection together exploring what peace might mean and how we can live it out in our own lives. When we talk about peace we are talking about more than the idea of no violence, we are exploring the idea of calmness and being comfortable with ourselves. Throughout the year we will be providing more information about what this looks like throughout the school and how we can search for peace within our own lives.
Consent Forms
We still have a number of outstanding consent forms that need to be completed. In order to access these please login to your PAM account and select each individual child. A number of people have completed the forms for one child but not the others in the family. Thanks.
Co-Principalship
This year also see the start of our Co-Principalship model. We will be putting out updates around this throughout the year, from an operational model we wanted to let parents know a few details. Kim will be working on Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays and Shaun will be Monday to Friday. We can both be accessed by emailing principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au or individually on our own email accounts kbutler@scballarat.catholic.edu.au and smohr@scballarat.catholic.edu.au. As Co-Principals know that conversations had with one will be shared with the other unless specifically requested not to be. For the majority of contact if you ask to see the principal you will be directed to whichever one of us is available at the time. Should you need to see one of us in particular please make an appointment with the office. For more serious issues, please contact the office and we will make a time for both of us to be available. We see the Co-Principal model as having a number of benefits to the school and the Diocese, we also recognise that this is a new mode of working and won’t be without its issues and challenges.
(Return to Newsletter Home)
You are with us in every transition and change.
As we enter into this new school year with excitement and even some anxiety,
we recall your deep compassion, presence, and abounding love.
We thank you for the gifts, talents and skills with which you have blessed us.
We thank you for the experiences that have brought us to this moment.
We thank you for the work of others that gives breadth and depth to our own work.
We thank you for the families who entrust us with the education of their children.
Be with us as we move forward, rejoicing with you, supporting one another and sharing the Good News in our communities.
We ask this in your name. Amen
WELCOME BACK to the start of the 2019 school year and a special welcome to all the new families joining the St Columba’s School community. On Monday we welcomed 51 new students; 48 Foundation students and Keira McDonald and Sienna Brittain into the 5/6 Learning Community and Charlotte Brittain into the 3/4 Learning Community.
As it can be a little daunting when joining any new community, I ask that our current families extend a warm and friendly St Columba’s welcome to our new families.
We also welcome Tim Gilbert and Lucy Quanchi to the staff this year and officially welcome back Emily Mullane from family leave. Lucy is teaching in the 3/4 Learning Community and Tim and Emily are teaching in the 1/2 Learning Community.
The year has started very smoothly, with all children settling into their classroom routines. Walking through the school on Monday morning it was great to see the student’s enthusiasm and excitement at being back at school. There seems to have been a seamless transition with children adjusting to routines very quickly.
At the start of a new school year your child might be feeling a little anxious as they move into a new learning community, learning group or school. If so, please reassure them that everyone is finding things that are new and different. It will take a little time for all to settle. If need be, speak to your child’s teacher and make them aware of the situation.
DROP OFF AND PICK UP POINTS
In the morning students are able to enter the school grounds via the gates on Howard Street from 8.20am onwards. Until 8.35am, children are asked to gather outside the Foundation Learning Community, where they will be supervised by the teacher on duty. The gates at Armstrong Street and the doors into the Columba Wing at Gregory Street will be opened by 8.35am. At 8.35am, children are able to enter their classrooms and organise themselves for the day ahead. The first bell will ring at 8.45am, with all children expected to be in classrooms ready to learn before 8.50am when the second bell will ring. All gates will be locked at first bell 8.45am and you will need to enter via the office. If it is after 8.50 you will be required to come into the office and sign your child/ren in. (Please do not drop your child off without signing them in).
At the end of each day, students can leave the school via the gates on Howard Street, Armstrong Street or Gregory Street. Parents waiting for children at the Howard Street entrance are asked to wait on either the deck or gravel area so as to keep the path free for people entering or leaving the school.
Children must sit and wait to be picked up after school. It is not a time to be playing with sports equipment or on the playground.
We ask that all children be picked up on time. If there is any reason you can’t get here on time please call the office and advise you are running late. All gates are locked at 3.30pm. After this time, parents will need to enter the school via the office to collect their children.
We would also like to remind all parents to be especially careful when dropping off and picking up your children. Please refrain from double parking and please take care when backing out of car spaces to ensure the safety of all children.
MEET & GREET OPPORTUNITIES
Next Wednesday 13th February we will be running Information sessions for parents. This will be an opportunity to introduce yourself to your child’s teacher and find out lots of information about the learning group/community expectations for 2019.
Foundation parents will also have an opportunity to meet one of the Foundation teachers during Numeracy testing which will occur on a number of Wednesdays during this term. Parents will need to book a time for their child, more details to come.
Welcome chats will be held on Tuesday 26th and Wednesday 27th February. These meetings will also provide an opportunity to share information with your child’s teacher, as well as find out how your child has settled into their new learning group and how they are progressing. This is a great opportunity to talk to your child’s teacher about anything you may feel is important for them to know as they work with you throughout the year. It is also a great chance for you to share your hopes and aspirations for your child this year.
If you would like to meet with your child’s teacher at any other time, please write a note in your child’s diary or contact the office and the teacher will arrange an appointment time with you. Please note Tuesday and Wednesdays are meeting nights for staff.
SCHOOL ASSEMBLIES
Assemblies will be held every second Friday afternoon in the school hall usually starting at 2.40pm. At assembly we pray together, share our learning, recognise and affirm achievements and share school news. Assembly normally runs for about 30 minutes. All parents, grandparents and friends are most welcome to attend.
Our first Assembly will be held next Friday 15th February at the earlier starting time of 2.30pm, with LG 2 leading this assembly. At this assembly the 2019 House Captains, Voice Reps, Arts Reps and Environmental Reps will receive their badges.
SCHOOL DIARY
Each child has received a school diary. We ask that this is used by parents and students as a way of communicating with the classroom teacher. Diaries will be checked on a daily basis and returned home. Parents, please encourage your child to use the diary to assist with their organisation and to return it to school every day. Our senior students have diaries containing a lot of reflective tools from the resilience project, it might be beneficial to have a chat with your child about some of these things.
FOUNDATION REST DAY
A reminder that Wednesdays during Term One are Rest Days for the Foundation students unless there is another non- school day in the week. Foundation students will be required to attend school on Wed 13th March due to the Labour Day holiday on Monday 11th March.
LUNCH ORDERS
Lunch orders will begin next Friday the 15th of February. Bodega Cafe will again be supplying our orders this year. New families will receive a hard copy price list and instructions on how to order this week. Existing families will be able to access a lunch order price list via the Skoolbag App.
This year lunch orders MUST be pre-ordered on the Thursday by 9.30am. Children can bring their order in and place it in their lunch order tub in their classroom Thursday morning.
ICY POLES
Icy poles will begin this Friday 8th February. Students are able to purchase an icy pole for $1. Junior students order in their learning groups on Friday morning. 3-6 students purchase their icy pole at the hall kitchen window at 1.30pm.
FEES AND LEVIES 2019
Fee Statements will be sent home next Monday. The account will contain all fees and charges for the year (with the exception of keyboard fees which are charged termly).
We offer a number of payment methods (as outlined in documents sent to families late last year) to families including: cash, cheque, credit card payments, direct debit and you are able to set up EFT payments from your own online banking service. Please note that the school has eftpos facility.
Outstanding fee balances from 2018 will carry forward to this year’s fee statement. Families who foresee any difficulty in meeting payments should contact either Shaun Mohr or Kim Butler to discuss. We may be able to offer Family Fee Assistance support provided by the Catholic Education Office. However, we must receive notification of your circumstances before anything can be initiated.
CAMPS, SPORTS AND EXCURSIONS FUND (CSEF) FINANCIAL ASSISTANCE
CSEF is provided by the Victorian Government to assist eligible families to cover the costs of school trips,camps and sporting activities. If you hold a current valid means-tested concession card you may be eligible for CSEF. The allowance is paid to the school to use towards expenses relating to camps, excursions or sporting activities for the benefit of your child.
The annual CSEF amount per student is $125 for primary school students.
How to apply
New applicants should contact the school office to obtain a CSEF application form or download from www.education.vic.gov.au/csef
If you applied for the CSEF at this school in 2018, you do not need to complete an application form in 2019 unless there have been a change in your family circumstances.
You only need to complete an application form if you have:-
- a new student enrolment
- changed family circumstances
PLENARY LISTENING AND DIALOGUE SESSIONS
“Listen to what the Spirit is saying.”
A listening and dialogue session for Catholic school parents
Wednesday 27th February 2019
2 sessions available: 1pm–2.30pm or 5pm–6.30pm
Venue: St Patrick’s Hall, St Patrick’s Cathedral
3 Lyons Street South, Ballarat Central
Cost: Free
Catholic School Parents Victoria would like to invite parents and carers of children who currently attend Catholic schools to one of two Plenary listening and dialogue sessions in Ballarat in February.
This is a unique opportunity for parents/carers to contribute to shaping the future of the Catholic Church in Australia.
What is a Plenary listening and dialogue session?
Plenary listening and dialogue sessions have been organised specifically for parents and carers of children in Catholic schools. This is an opportunity for parents/carers to come together as important members of Catholic school communities to spend time thinking and talking about their experiences of faith, life and the Church. The sessions will be led by an experienced Plenary facilitator from the Diocese of Ballarat and responses will be collected, collated and submitted to the Plenary Council 2020 by Catholic School Parents Victoria.
This is part of CSPV’s ongoing commitment to representing parents and carers of children in Catholic schools across Victoria.
Further information about the Plenary Council 2020 can be found at www.plenarycouncil.catholic.org.au. Parents and carers are able to submit their own responses through this website if they are unable to attend a plenary session.
Who are Catholic School Parents Victoria?
Since 2007, CSPV has been representing the important voice and perspective of Victorian Catholic school parents at a diocesan and state level. CSPV is governed by a council consisting of Catholic school parent representatives from each Catholic diocese in Victoria. The CSPV mission is to empower parent perspective and leadership in Catholic education through partnerships, communication and advocacy.
Changes to Timetable
With some changes to our daily structure and specialist timings this year we are able to return to our previous timetable which allows a 2hr block in the morning, 2hrs in the middle and 1hr for the end of day. This allows us to also accommodate our specialist programs and Tier 2 supports. The change in times only affects the internal working of the day and drop off/pick up time remain the same. With the change in times we are also returning to our preferred lunch times with students going out for break one from 10:50 to 11:20 and then returning to classrooms for a 10 minute eating session. We have found this to promote better eating habits in the students allowing them time to finish their food rather than rushing or disposing of it in order to get outside and play. Break two will be from 1:30 until 2:15 and students will still be able to eat a snack at this time.
Contacting Staff outside of hours
We live in an increasingly accessible world and this brings with it benefits and challenges. One of the biggest challenges for an industry like hours is contactability. Teachers, like everyone else work set hours and in order to perform at their best need personal and family time that is protected. It’s very easy in our current world to shoot off an email or connect to someone through something like facebook messenger. We would ask that parents respect teacher’s personal time and avoid contacting them outside work hours. That quick email about a ‘minor’ incident at 9pm can leave a person awake all night worrying.
Peace Focus
Last year we had a strong focus on gratitude and this helped to shape our work, particularly in RE and through our masses and liturgies but also in our daily interactions. This year our focus is on peace, staff recently took part in a reflection together exploring what peace might mean and how we can live it out in our own lives. When we talk about peace we are talking about more than the idea of no violence, we are exploring the idea of calmness and being comfortable with ourselves. Throughout the year we will be providing more information about what this looks like throughout the school and how we can search for peace within our own lives.
Consent Forms
We still have a number of outstanding consent forms that need to be completed. In order to access these please login to your PAM account and select each individual child. A number of people have completed the forms for one child but not the others in the family. Thanks.
Co-Principalship
This year also see the start of our Co-Principalship model. We will be putting out updates around this throughout the year, from an operational model we wanted to let parents know a few details. Kim will be working on Monday, Tuesday and Thursdays and Shaun will be Monday to Friday. We can both be accessed by emailing principal@scballarat.catholic.edu.au or individually on our own email accounts kbutler@scballarat.catholic.edu.au and smohr@scballarat.catholic.edu.au. As Co-Principals know that conversations had with one will be shared with the other unless specifically requested not to be. For the majority of contact if you ask to see the principal you will be directed to whichever one of us is available at the time. Should you need to see one of us in particular please make an appointment with the office. For more serious issues, please contact the office and we will make a time for both of us to be available. We see the Co-Principal model as having a number of benefits to the school and the Diocese, we also recognise that this is a new mode of working and won’t be without its issues and challenges.
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