“We thank you for many blessings.

We pray you may bless and fill our families with love, peace and prosperity.

We also pray for joy, abundance and strength.

We pray for great health and continued healing. We pray for our loved ones.

We pray for your kindness and mercy.

We pray for your guidance and protection, Amen”

Dear Parents and Carers,

Our students have started the term well. They are working hard and enjoying the wet and cold weather (children do not seem to notice it too much). Classroom teachers have spoken positively about how well the term has started.

We completed our School Review yesterday and had an outstanding result. When we receive the official copy from CEWA I will share the results with the school community. I would like to publicly thank the staff, students, School Advisory Council and P&F Executive for the wonderful support throughout the process. It was also great that the students had an opportunity to participate.

Next week the Year 6 and Kindy classes will recognise National Tree Planting Day and along with

the support of the City of South Perth. They will be planting trees and shrubs at the back of the school oval.

Friday week we will begin our participation in the School Book fair being organised by Mrs La Rosa. There will be a walk through book display in the library and students will be able to purchase books the following week. Many thanks to Mrs La Rosa for organising what is a very large event on our school calendar.

I recently came across an article around increasing independence in today’s children and family life.

The basic task of parenting, whether you have a two year old or a twenty-two year old, is to work yourself out of a job at the first possible chance. REDUNDANCY should be the aim of the game! We never become redundant in a relationship sense – the emotional connection between our children and us is never severed. In a practical, physical way we need to make children less, rather than

more, reliant on us.

Developing independence is really about stepping back to allow children in. Doing less rather than more! We develop greater independence in our kids one job at a time.

We easily take on children’s responsibilities

It is easy as parents to take on the jobs and responsibilities that really should belong to our children. With toddlers it is so easy to dress, feed and clean up after them rather than give these jobs over to them. With school-aged children we can find ourselves making lunches, getting kids out of bed and cleaning out schoolbags, carrying their school bags for them rather than giving these basic tasks of living over to them.

TIP NO. 1 for developing independence:

Be clear about who owns jobs or tasks in your family and never take on a child’s job, or part of a task, unless there is extenuating circumstances such as illness. A mother I met recently is very clear on who does what in her home. It is her job to wash the clothes of her early teenage children but it is their job to place them in the washing basket. She doesn’t check bedrooms as it is not her job to place kids’ clothes in the washing basket.

Okay, I can hear your thought processes. Sounds good but what happens if kids don’t give a toss and they don’t mind being dirty. Good point. In this case, this mum has a son who is, to say the least, fairly slack in the area of hygiene. But she didn’t become overly fussed about that. She certainly didn’t get fussed when he played a game of football in the wet, muddy jumper that lay in his sports bag for a week. And she happily showed him how to work the washing machine when he wanted his favourite shirt (that he forgot to put in the washing basket) to be washed for a special night out.

TIP NO. 2 for developing independence:

Never be more worried about a child’s job than they are, otherwise it becomes your job, not theirs. This mum remained very clear that it was her job to wash the clothes but not to place them in the washing basket. She would remind kids about washing night, but never nag them to put clothes in the basket. She knows that as soon as she keeps reminding them, it becomes HER job rather than her children’s job to put the washing in the clothes basket.

The school holidays provide a good opportunity to reflect on the whole notion of job-sharing. It’s also a good time for kids to increase their job load when they are not burdened with schoolwork and extracurricular activities.

God bless and keep safe.

Allen McMahon

Principal

Friday 26 July

• Assembly - 2W

Tuesday 30 July

• Performing Arts Festival - Y1

Friday 2 August

• Pyjama Day - Gold coin donation

Monday 5 August

• Book Fair commences
• Performing Arts Festival - 5W

Tuesday 6 August

• CAPSS ML Carnival

Year 1G - Kaylie, Michael, Miles

Year 1W - Harper, Ella, Alex

Year 2G - Alyssa, Poppy, Hugo

Year 2W - Owen Y, Neave

Year 3G - Ava, Tayo

Year 3W - Violet

Year 4G - Leonardo, Alexandria, Barbara

Year 4W - Jeremy, Caroline

Year 5G - Onye

Year 5W - Marielle, Charlene, Angus

Year 6G - Romain, Arabelle

Year 6W - Martin, Aiden

The Vinnies Winter Appeal is the next Catholic Charity Fundraiser the school will support.

This year Vinnies have asked us to collect warm clothing for older women such as jumpers, pants, scarves, beanies, socks etc, ensuring that all items donated are in good clean condition.

This fundraiser will run for the first 3 weeks of Term 3 (Thursday 18 July – Friday 2 August), culminating in a Pyjama Day (gold coin donation) on Friday, 2 August.

A washing basket will be distributed to all classes, and we encourage students to bring in warm clothing to donate to those who need them.

Year 6 leaders will empty the baskets at regular intervals and store the items for donation.

We thank parents in advance for their support of this charitable initiative.

All classes from Pre-Primary to 6 participate in the Performing Arts Festival for Catholic Schools, which was established to help the students of Catholic schools experience the spirit and tradition of the performing arts. Letters will be sent home with further details. Please find ticketing information below.

We would really appreciate a few parent volunteers to assist with the Book Fair, before or after school. Please email Lisa La Rosa if you are able to assist: lisa.larosa@cewa.edu.au

• Monday 5 August: 8.30 am - 9 am or 3 pm - 3.30 pm
• Tuesday 6 August: 8.30 am - 9 am or 3 pm - 3.30 pm
• Wednesday 7 August: 8.30 am - 9 am

Do you want the best new children's books? They are coming to our school soon! Classes will have the opportunity to walk through the library to view all the wonderful books on offer and write their wish lists.

Our Student Code of Conduct is a student-created document that outlines the way students want to feel when they come to St Columba’s Primary School.

It outlines behaviours and actions students can take to ensure they continue to feel Safe, Happy, Included and Special.

The Student Code of Conduct also outlines steps a child can take if they feel a student is not following the Code of Conduct.

Our Student COC is reviewed annually by students and leadership to ensure that the document is still relevant and meaningful as a support to guide student behaviour at school.

School Photos have been delivered to the school and distributed to students. Classroom teachers will checklist the distribution of photos and pass onto those students who have placed orders. Please check with your child’s class teacher if you did not receive your order.

If you did not receive what you were expecting or you have any feedback, please contact MSP Photography on (08) 9240 8000.

If you know of friends interested in an upper primary position, please invite them to get in touch.

The 2024 Education Minister's Running Challenge starts in Term 3 and Student can now register. Participating means that students can be in the running for some great weekly prizes and gain the variety of benefits from the challenge.

Parents can register their child using the link: Sign up link

When signing up select "St Columba's Catholic Primary School" as your school and once completed your can log any running, walking, or wheeling.

For more information please visit https://www.ministersrunningchallenge.wa.gov.au/

Happy Week 2 everyone!

The P&F are definitely off to an exciting start this term. Chess club, Tech club and Drama club all kicked off this week with soccer commencing next week. From what I’ve been told, the children are all having a fabulous time learning new skills and meeting new friends.

On Wednesday, 31st July (next week), our Kindy and Year 6 students will be participating in National Tree Day. We are partnering with the City of South Perth with an event that will see the children planting small shrubs down the bottom of our school, enriching their knowledge with nature care and the world around them. We can’t wait to see the children transform this space into a beautiful green oasis.

Our P&F reps have been really busy organising social events for our parents and children. Please support your reps by responding yes or no to these events so they can organise accordingly. Thank you to each and every one of you for what you bring to our school.

Have a wonderful week everyone.

Hayley Mitchell

P&F President

Hi all,

Round 19 bought some dazzling performances with highs and sides with some horror showings to forget in a round of extreme ups and downs. For the WA clubs, The Dockers’ elite midfield continues to fire warning shots to the rest of the competition with a 50 point win over the demons and Eagles continue the downward spiral with the new Coach.

Big weekend of footy at the west with bragging rights on the line for the Derby this week.

Let's give a big round of applause to our standout performers from Round 19! 6 of them got 7/9 tips right.

• Craig P: Scored 7 out of 9 tips, with a margin of 11
• Mathew S: A close contender with 7 correct picks, cruising with a margin of 15
• Alan G: Held the line with 7 accurate predictions, holding steady with a margin of 16

Craig P has opened up a 3 game lead on top of the leaderboard. Mat S has moved to second followed closely by Santhosh P. It's a tight race, and every tip counts!

Here's the current leaderboard:

Craig P: Kicking goals at the top with 103 tips and a margin of 531

Mathew S: Snapping at his heels with 101 correct calls and a margin of 609

Santhosh P: Holding their own in the mix with 100 correct tips each, boasting a margin of 477.

Round 20 kicks off tomorrow with the blues taking on Port at the Marvel, with the action starting at 5:40PM.

Keep those predictions rolling in!

Term 3: Tuesday 16 July - Friday 20 September

Term 4: Monday 7 October - Friday 6 December

Term 3: Monday 15 July

Term 4: Monday 21 October

Reconciliation: Saturday, 9 November at 10am

Email: admin@stcolumbassp.wa.edu.au
Website: https://www.stcolumbassp.wa.edu.au/
Location: 30 York Street, South Perth WA 6151, Australia
Phone: (08) 6436 9500
Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/pages/category/Education/St-Columbas-Catholic-Primary-School-South-Perth-173160579973945/