“May the strength of God pilot us, may the wisdom of God instruct us.

May the hand of God protect us, may the word of God direct us.

May thy Salvation, O Lord, be always ours this day and for evermore. Amen.”

Dear Parents and Carers,

Yesterday we celebrated St Joseph’s feast day. A big thank you to Sr Maree, Fr Nino and Deacon Bruce for attending our school prayer service to honour St Joseph. Many thanks to Mr Yock and the Year 4's for organising the service. It was a very reverent and moving prayer service.

Last Thursday, there was an accident where a small child on a scooter was exiting school with their family through the car entrance at Kiss and Drive and ran into the front of a stationary vehicle. I have mentioned on numerous occasions that families are not to enter and exit through the Kiss and Drive car entrance. In the interests of our children’s safety do not use this vehicle entry at Kiss and Drive as a pedestrian entry or exit. If there is not an improvement with this, I will be required to lock the gates on the Church side of the school.

Many thanks must go to Mrs La Rosa, Mrs Govorko and students for organising our Harmony Day celebration and dress up day tomorrow. It is a great reminder of just how multi-cultural Australia is and of the need for people from differing cultures to learn to recognise our differences and work together for a united Australia.

Our NAPLAN testing window will close next Monday. Any students who have missed a NAPLAN test will have until then to complete a catch-up test.

There will be a P&F meeting Tuesday, 25 March at 7:00pm in the staff meeting room.

A reminder, students will finish this term on Friday, 11 April. School will resume on Monday, 28 April.

God Bless and keep safe.

Allen McMahon

Principal

Friday 21 March

• Harmony Day - Free dress
• Ride to School Day

Tuesday 25 March

• P&F Meeting - 7pm

Friday 28 March

• Assembly - Y5

Tuesday 1 April

• CAPSS Cricket Carnival - Karoonda Reserve

Year 1G - Lukas, Finley, Florence, Bailey

Year 1W - Avery, Luke C, Peter

Year 2G - Nadia, Matthew D, Amelie

Year 2W - Adelyn, Michael, Ella, Daniela

Year 3G - Hazel, Poppy, Devan, Eliana B

Year 3W - Grace, Owen F, Christina, Charlotte, Zavier

Year 4G - Olivia, Vudhip

Year 4W - Fletcher, Bridget, Ella, Florence

Year 5G - Zara, Noah, Sebastian

Year 5W - Betty, Wesley, Emma, Matilda

Year 6G - April, Marielle, Leo, Nathan

Year 6W - Samuel, Angus, Charlotte

Harmony Week celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity. It focusses on inclusiveness, respect and a sense of belonging for everyone. The theme is EVERYONE BELONGS. St Columba’s will be celebrating this important week on Friday, 21 March, with each class participating in their own activities. On Friday, 21 March, students may wear cultural dress. As orange is the official Harmony Week colour, students may also wear an orange t-shirt if they have one, and/or suitable orange accessories. We look forward to celebrating the wonderful cultures and diversity that makes our school so special.

DOSC is looking forward to seeing you all at the Dads Campout!

Camp Out Details as follows:

Date: 29, March 2024

Time: Setup from 3pm.

Cost: $35 per family

What’s included:

Fruit & snack on arrival.

Dinner: Sausage and bun, juice and zooper dooper.

Breakfast: Bacon and egg roll, Milo, Coffee, Tea and Juice.

Coffee Van planned from 7am on the 30th for those who want to purchase coffees and other items.

Items to bring:

Camping Equipment: Tent, Mattress, pillows & sleeping bags/blankets.

Camping Chairs and Torches.

Warm clothes & spare clothes if needed.

Water bottles.

Additional food, snacks and drinks as required. Please not nuts or products containing nuts.

Please check the weather on the day and pack accordingly.

There is a power point at the bottom of the oval, available for pumping up air beds. Please bring your own pumps.

Registrations close on 24, March, please follow instructions below to register and pay.

Three registration forms to be completed below:

• Register & pay
• Complete the Working With Children Declaration form. If you're the parent attending, please select first option "Yes - Parent Volunteer Exemption"
  You do not require a WWC card
• Complete the volunteer form, please select a task/s you can help with, we need volunteers for the event to go ahead.

Please note, the camp out is only for children currently attending St Columba's. Dads, father figures, carers and Mums are welcome.

If you require any further information please contact Alan on 0423 840 411.

Children are naturally optimistic and tend to expect the best out of their experiences. We can all learn from our children’s positive outlook of the world. As significant adults in the lives of our children, we can help to nurture optimism. “Children who practise optimistic thinking are more resilient, they are less likely to give up in the face of challenge and they tend to interpret experiences in a way that gives them a sense of control and confidence.”

If you are interested in reading more on how to encourage optimism, please have a look at this article.

eSafeKids attended St Columba's last Monday for an online safety incursion with students in Years 1-6. eSafeKids provide incursions to educate children about Protective Behaviours, Body Safety, Online Safety, and Digital Wellbeing. The incursion covers a range of topics, including Digital Wellbeing, Protecting Privacy & Personal Information, Digital Footprint & Online Reputation​​​​​, Safe & Respectful Online Behaviour, Tricky & Unsafe People/Behaviours/Situations, Safe & Unsafe Secrets.

For more information parents and carers can find resources at www.esafekids.com.au

Spanning across the 6 weeks of Lent each year, Project Compassion brings thousands of Australian schools, parishes and supporters together to raise funds for people living in some of the most vulnerable communities across the world.

Caritas Project Compassion boxes have been distributed to classrooms in PP-Y6 to go home with all students.

Students are encouraged to collect any amount of money for this important cause and bring back their Project Compassion boxes with the collected money by the end of Term 1 – Friday, 11 April 2025 - to their classroom or the front office.

We are excited to be able to make a difference to the lives of those less fortunate this Lent.

We welcome all parents in PP - Year 6 to attend the Edu-dance Performance Concert on Thursday, 10 April, commencing at 2:15pm. Book this date in your diaries!

The Concert will take place on the top oval (next to the drive through) with specific sections for students/staff and parents.

Please see the information below regarding costume requirements for the Concert.

We ask students to bring their costume to school for their Week 9 Edu-dance lesson on either Wednesday, 2 April or Thursday, 3 April to allow for a full performance run-through before the actual concert date.

Students are required to bring their Edu-dance costume to school on the Concert Performance Day (Thursday, 10 April) and will have time in class to change into their outfits.

At the conclusion of the concert all classes will return to their classrooms where parents will have the option of collecting their child early from school if they wish.

The drive through will be closed on this afternoon due to the event.

We look forward to a memorable experience.

Please see your classroom teacher if you have any questions.

Hey everyone,

Footy tipping kicks off this week, so if you haven’t signed up yet, now’s the time!

Join Here
Comp Code: 5WHXJC5U

The comp officially starts today with the Blues vs Hawks game bounces at 4:30PM, so make sure you’re registered and have your tips in before then!

Any questions, feel free to reach out at doscafootytipping6151@gmail.com or give me a call on 0411253951.

Happy tipping!

Cheers, Santhosh

Hi everyone,

Our first P&F meeting for the year is next Tuesday, 7pm in the staff room. I am looking forward to meeting all our reps for the year and anyone else who would like to join.

If you would like to have something added to the agenda, please let myself or your year group rep know.

Hope you all have a lovely week with this beautiful weather.

Hayley Mitchell

P&F President

Cash payments are no longer accepted. Payments can be made by credit card - Visit scholastic.com.au/LOOP or download the LOOP app. Your order will be electronically linked to the rest of your school's order. You do not need to complete the order form.

Term 1: Wednesday 5 February - Friday 11 April

Term 2: Monday 28 April - Friday 4 July

Term 3: Tuesday 22 July - Thursday 25 September

Term 4: Monday 13 October - Friday 12 December

Term 1: Monday 3 February, Tuesday 4 February

Term 2: Monday 12 May, Friday 30 May

Term 3: Monday 21 July, Friday 26 September

Term 4: Monday 27 October

Sacramental Program Enrolment Mass: Saturday, 15 March at 6pm

Confirmation: Saturday, 7 June at 6pm, Saturday, 14 June at 6pm

Eucharist: Sunday, 17 August, Sunday, 24 August, Sunday, 31 August at 9.30am

Reconciliation: Saturday, 15 November at 10am