“Lord, I give you all that I am this day.

Please brush away my weariness, so that I may be inspired in my work.

Help me to discover new ways to reveal your love to all I meet.

Keep my mind clear and focused on all I need to achieve, and give me the wisdom to overcome difficulties and find solutions. I look to you and trust you are with me this day. Amen”

Dear Parents and Carers,

Today we officially welcomed Fr Nino to the school in his role as the new Parish Priest at St Columba. Fr Nino spoke to our students at a special assembly and then had morning tea with the staff. We are very much looking forward to working with him and valuing his input into the Faith Life of the school. Next week we will be celebrating Mass with Fr Nino for the first time when we hold Mass for the Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop.

This week I attended two performing arts performances, performed by the Year 1's and 2's. Their performance was wonderful and they were an absolute credit to their teachers and Mrs McDonald. The students performed well and there was little sign of nerves and they spoke up with great volume and articulation.

Tomorrow, we celebrate Pyjama Day for St Vinnies. It will be a gold coin donation and the money will be donated to the St Vinnies Winter Appeal to help those who are in need.

Book Fair begins next week and a huge thank you to Mrs La Rosa for the work and organisation that has gone into organising the week. I know that the children are really looking forward to the coming week.

Just a reminder that families are not to park in the Church car park at drop off and pick up times. There have been a small number doing so and then driving out against the flow of traffic. This is very dangerous and not following the school parking protocols.

God bless and keep safe.

Allen McMahon

Principal

Friday 2 August

• Pyjama Day - Gold coin donation

Monday 5 August

• Book Fair commences
• Performing Arts Festival - 5W

Tuesday 6 August

• CAPSS ML Carnival

Thursday 8 August

• Feast Day of Mary Mackillop Mass - 9am

Friday 9 August

• Assembly - 2G

Year 1G - Teddy, Vincenzo, Sofia

Year 1W - Emerson, Hudson, Poppy

Year 2G - Kayleigh, Evelyn G

Year 2W - Emerson

Year 3G - Eloise, Harry

Year 3W - Claudia, Ruby

Year 4G - Grace, Cooper

Year 4W - Ruby, Alistair, Arthur

Year 5G - Zara M

Year 5W - Isabelle, Cooper

Year 6G - James, Olivia

Year 6W - Michaela, Anastasiia

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.

The St Columba’s Scholastic Book Fair will begin in the library on Monday 5th August. The Book Fair is a wonderful way to celebrate reading and earn valuable resources for our school library.

We ask that different year groups attend on different days to reduce the amount of people in the library at one time and to reduce queuing outside.

• Pre K & Kindy W parents and students are asked to attend on Tuesday morning 8.15-9.00am
• Kindy G parents and students are asked to attend on Wednesday morning 8.15-9.00am
• Pre-primary parents and students are asked to attend on Monday morning 8.15-9.00am
• Year 1 parents and students are asked to attend on Monday afternoon 3-3.30pm
• Year 2 parents and students are asked to attend on Tuesday afternoon 3-3.30pm
• Year 3 & 6 students will shop on Monday at lunchtime.
• Year 4 & 5 students will shop on Tuesday at lunchtime.
• Last chance to shop – Wednesday Recess time.

Please note the book fair will close after recess on Wednesday.

The children will be given a brochure with online payment details. The classes will visit the fair in school time on Friday 2nd August to complete their wish list to bring home. Students can pay with cash or use the receipted online payment form in their shopping time. Please ensure the receipt number and payment amount is clearly noted and please take a copy also in case it gets mislaid on the way. Only books can be put on the wish list and paid for using the pre -payment option. There will also be stationary, posters and journals for sale at the fair which will need to be paid for using cash or EPTPOS

Kindy to year 2 parents will have access to use EFTPOS and cash option during their shopping time.

Thank you very much to the parents who have volunteered to help. The roster has been emailed.

Looking forward to seeing you all at the Book Fair!

Next Thursday, 8 August we will celebrate the Feast of St Mary MacKillop. Our new Mary Mackillop mural in the school is a visual reminder of our Catholic Identity and links directly to the charism of our school.

The model of Mary MacKillop, Australia's first saint, is so relevant to school life and our motto "Charity and Peace". She truly lived her words "Never see a need without doing something about it".

Mary MacKillop founded Australia's first religious order and worked hard to establish 17 schools in difficult circumstances.

Our Year 4 students will lead our school Mass to celebrate this important feast day on Thursday, 8 August at 9am in the Church with new Parish Priest Fr Nino. All parents are invited to attend.

We look forward to celebrating this special Feast Day together next week.

Dear Parents,

Due to unfortunate lighting issues with the original school photos, affecting some classes, MSP has agreed to re-shoot the entire Pre-Primary to Year 6 individual portraits and family photos. These were the photos taken in the library during the school photo week in Term 2.

All students from PP-Y6 will have their individual photo re-taken by MSP in the Kalyara Mia space (undercover area) on Monday, 12 August (Week 5).

Any parents who previously ordered an individual portrait of their child will receive a free re-print at no cost.

Should any parent wish to order a copy of their child’s individual photo who did not order previously you can contact MSP photography on 9240 8000 and place an order over the phone.

Family Photos

The re-shoot of Family Photos will be completed before school in the Kalyara Mia (Undercover Area) from 8:00am-9:00am on Monday, 12 August.

Should you not be able to make this date/time parents have the option of requesting a refund or re-shoot at MSP’s Balcatta studio. To request a refund or studio session parents must contact MSP photography on 9240 8000.

All students in Years 3-6 will wear their formal uniform on Monday 12 August.

While Kindy photos were not taken in the library if parents of children in Kindergarten or Pre-Kindy wish for their child to have their individual photo taken again, they may do so by bringing their child to the family session time between 8:00-9:00am on Monday 12 August. There will be no opportunity for Kindy/Pre-Kindy photos during school time.

The DRAFT photo schedule is below. Please note that this is not set and can be changed by the photographer without notice. All photos will take place on Monday morning (12 August) before recess.

Please contact the school office if you have any questions.

NAPLAN 2024 Individual Student Reports will be sent home in an addressed envelope to parents with children in Years 3 and 5 tomorrow, Friday 2 August.

Accompanying the reports is a Frequently Asked Questions sheet with useful information to help parents understand how to interpret the report.

Should you have any questions regarding your child's NAPLAN 2024 report please see your child's classroom teacher.

Our Year 3 and 5 students completed the Religious Education Assessment this week.

The REA is a large-scale, standardised assessment that consists of Religious Education (RE) tests developed and marked by the Office of Catholic Education Western Australia (CEWA).

The purpose of the REA is to measure student learning of the content in the RE curriculum. Formal school and student reports are produced by the Office and will become available to schools in Term Four.

We will use this data to inform future planning in the Religious Education Learning Area.

Hi everyone,

I hope everyone is keeping healthy and looking after each other. I know we have a number of sick children in our community at the moment, so sending out all my love to you all.

On Wednesday 31st July, the P&F in partnership with the City of South Perth held National Tree Day. Our Kindy and Year 6 students transformed the space along Hopetoun Street with small shrubs and plants (dont worry, we won't lose the view). This call for action gave our children the opportunity to get their hands dirty and give back to the community. A massive thank you must go to our superstar kindy parent Erika for organising this event as well as all of the kindy parents and grandparents for volunteering their time to help on the day. Without your help and support, as well as our lovely teachers, this day wouldn't have been able to happen.

Our next event we are busy organising is Fathers Day. A big shout out to our Year 3 reps and families for all the work they are doing behind the scene in getting this event ready for our superstar fathers and father figures. Please RSVP in next weeks newsletter, so we know how many to cater for.

For those of you that are still enquiring about extra curricular, unfortunately we are full and there are no further spots available for this term.

Have a wonderful week everyone.

Hayley Mitchell

P&F President

Hi all,

Round 20 was another typically eventful weekend of footy that provided three major upsets to further shape finals seedings, with just four mouth-watering weeks remaining. After a fiery derby, Fremantle kept their top 4 ambitions alive after taking down a spirited Eagles, who remain on 3 wins for the season at the bottom of the pack.

Let's give a big round of applause to our standout performers from Round 20. Andrew J won the round outright with 7/9 tips right followed by 6 of our tipsters calling 6 games right.

• Andrew J: Scored 7 out of 9 tips, with a margin of 10
• Santhosh P: A close contender with 6 correct picks, cruising with a margin of 6
• Tristan K: Held the line with 6 accurate predictions, holding steady with a margin of 20

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

Here's the current leaderboard:

Craig P: Kicking goals at the top with 109 tips and a margin of 549

Santhosh P : Snapping at his heels with 106 correct calls and a margin of 483

Mathew S: Holding their own in the mix with 105 correct tips each, boasting a margin of 630

With just four rounds to go, Round 21 kicks off tomorrow with the high flying Bulldogs taking on the demons under the Marvel roof, 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/