“Our Heavenly Father, inspire us to distinguish between what is important and what is not,

and open our minds and hearts that we may always be people of good will

who bring life and joy to others. Amen”

Dear Parents and Carers

Welcome back to a Term that will very quickly conclude due to it being only nine weeks. Christmas will be upon us before we know it. The students have a very full term ahead of them and I am sure they will be looking forward by the end of the term, to the Christmas Holidays.

Mr Yock will be taking long service leave during Term 4. His replacement will be Mrs Manfredi. We wish Mr Yock a wonderful break and welcome Mrs Manfredi to our staff for Term 4, from next Monday.

A reminder that Monday, 21 October will be a pupil free day. Students do not attend school on this day.

During the school holidays I visited Korea, with 16 other principals and deputy principals from across Australia. It was a very eye-opening experience visiting the primary and secondary schools in Seoul, Daegu and Busan. Korea is the ninth top performing country overall in Education across the world. They have a curriculum that is the same across the country and is extremely rigorous and demanding. There is a focus on technology and partnerships with business companies. However, there is a downside in that students find very little time for leisure activities after school. The students were extremely polite and attentive during lessons and there are very few discipline issues in schools. In comparison our students have a great sense of what wellbeing is and are much more physically active after school. We can learn a lot about the academic side of their education system; however, we will always need to mindful of our student’s wellbeing. I would like to thank Mrs Kang for organising the visit and being given the opportunity to be immersed in the Korean culture, and also, through our Korean families the special welcome at the Korean War Memorial and visit to POSCO Steel.

I wish to advise families that double stream classes have been shuffled in preparation for the start of the 2025 school year. The teachers looked at a number of criteria in determining the split. This included academic, social, gender and friendships. Please note that due to the complexities of shuffling classes, the last criteria looked at is the ‘friendship’ one, as the students still have the opportunity to play together in the playground during recess and lunch. The school will look at family requests however, the decision as to which student goes into which class rests with school.

Today’s article from Michael Grosse is around ‘Raising Calm Kids’, something that we encourage here at St Columba’s, as we are working towards becoming a 'Calm School’.

Please note that school will conclude on Friday, 6 December.

Have a great Term everyone.

God bless and keep safe.

Allen McMahon

Principal

Tuesday 15 October

• Reconciliation Parent Meeting in Church - 6pm

Friday 18 October

• School Disco

Monday 21 October

• Pupil Free Day **NEW DATE**

Tuesday 22 October

• P&F Meeting - 7pm

Wednesday 23 October

• Kindy Grandparents Day

Friday 25 October

• Grandparents Day PP - Y6
• World Teachers Day

Parents of those students in Year 3 who are making their Reconciliation this term are invited to the Sacrament of Reconciliation Parent Information Night next Tuesday, 15 October at 6pm in the Church. We look forward to supporting our Year 3 students as they prepare to receive the Sacrament of Reconciliation later this term.

The P&F are proud to present this year’s school disco, 'Enchanted Forest', taking place on Friday, 18 October, 2024 (Term 4, Week 2).

This year, we have split the disco into 3 sessions.

Session 1 Kindy and Pre-Primary: 4:45-5:30pm (1 parent/carer must attend to supervise their child)

Session 2 Years 1-3: 5:45-6:45pm (no parents/carer's inside the disco area, children are required to be signed in on arrival and are unable to leave until parents sign out at the end)

Session 3 Years 4-6: 7:00-8:30pm (no parents/carer's inside the disco area, children are required to be signed in on arrival and are unable to leave until parents sign out at the end).

Please RSVP your child/ren's attendance by Friday, 11 October by clicking the below link:

A separate RSVP is required for each child please to allow easy collation of the data.

There is no cost for this event.

We kindly ask you to include emergency contact details for the night.

There will be a food truck available on the night to purchase light refreshments and ice creams.

Please note, this is strictly a no alcohol event.

A reminder that from Year 1 upwards parents are NOT allowed to go into the disco area.

Please don’t hesitate to contact your P&F rep if you have any questions.

Calling all Grandparents,

You are invited to our Grandparents Day, held on Friday, 25 October (Term 4, Week 3).

A Grandparents Day Mass for Years 3-6 students and grandparents will be held in the Church from 9:00am.

A Grandparents Day Liturgy for PP - Y2 students and grandparents will be held in the Church from 11:15am.

(Kindy students will hold their own Grandparents Day on Wednesday, 23 October. Communications will come from teachers regarding this event.)

Students will be able to sit with their grandparents at the Mass/Liturgy.

A Morning Tea for grandparents only will be provided in Kalyara Mia from 10:00am, supplied by the P&F.

Once Grandparents are finished with morning tea they may spend time with their grandchildren in the classrooms (10:00-10:50am) and then at recess time (10:50-11:10am).

We ask families to reply to our Expression of Interest form below to allow the P&F to ascertain numbers for catering purposes. We ask for this to be completed by COB Friday, 11 October (Term 1, Week 1).

We are excited to be able to offer this community event for our grandparents.

Sessions will take place on the top oval at lunchtime and cover a range of sports and skills. Funded by P&F.

• Tuesday Lunchtimes: Years 1-3
• Wednesday Lunchtime: Years 4-6

Day: Monday after school - not funded by P&F

Year groups: Years 4 - 6

Dates: 14th Oct - 2nd Dec (except 21st Oct pupil-free day)

Time: 3.15pm - 4.15pm

Location: School library

Total Sessions: 7

By Pro Football Training - not funded by P&F

Years 1 to 6

Wednesday and Friday Mornings at 7:30am

Weeks 2 - 3: on the tennis courts

Weeks 4 - 9: on the oval

Welcome back everyone.

We are on the home stretch. Term 4 is shaping up to be a fabulous term to end our year off nicely.

Here is a bit of a summary of what we have planned for Term 4:

Extra Curricular:

1. Soccer Club: Friday Mornings 7:30am, bottom oval

2. Technology Club: Monday 3:15-4:15pm, school library, commencing Monday, 14 October

3. Kidz n Sport Lunchtime Activity: Tuesdays: Years 1-3 and Fridays: Years 4-6 (no action required by yourselves, children are welcome to come and go as they please).

P&F Events:

1. School Disco Kindy to Year 6: Friday, 18 October

2. Grandparents Day: Kindy: Wednesday, 23 October, PP-Year 6: Friday, 25 October

3. Night in White: Saturday, 9 November (adults only)

If you have any questions on any of the above, please reach out to your year group reps.

Have a fantastic first week back everyone.

Hayley Mitchell

P&F President

ISSUE 7 has been sent home today. Book orders are due on Wednesday, 23 October.

Did you know that every purchase you make on Book Club earns our school 15% of the order value in Scholastic Rewards? We use these to purchase more books and educational resources for the school. It all helps!

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 4: Monday 7 October - Friday 6 December

Term 4: Monday 21 October

Reconciliation: Saturday, 9 November at 10am