Hello to all families,

With first term only a week from completion, I would like to thank all families for the way they have continued to be patient in working with us to get back to 'covid normal'. We have certainly had some ups and downs this term, but the resilience we have shown as a community shouldn't go unnoticed. I need to also thank our wonderful staff who have met all the challenges head on. They are an amazing bunch of people and we are very lucky to have such dedicated and courageous individuals educating our children. It was wonderful to see parents back in the school this week meeting with teachers. I am sure everyone got a lot out of those conversations and that they continue to support us in being the best educators we can be for your children.

With Term 2 not far away, we continue to look forward to many events, one in particular is the introduction of Esports to Columba. So what exactly are Esports, and aren’t video games a negative thing for our children and a distraction from things like school? That may have been the case once upon a time, but these days, Esports are being used to accelerate learning capacities and increase certain skills in school students. In Term 2 and Term 3, our 3-6 students will be competing against one another as gamers in a formal competition, The Fuse Cup. Much like our school sports competitions, we will have a number of events across the two terms, during which our grade 3-6 students will compete against each other for their house colours. Four students in Grades 5/6 can then qualify to compete in Melbourne against other schools.

We are very excited for what a great opportunity The Fuse Cup will be for our students. We know that our students are gifted in so many fields, and that gaming is a passion for some of them in their free time. The Fuse Cup therefore gives many of our students the opportunity to represent the school in a competitive arena, many the only time they will have that opportunity. We know that The Fuse Cup will help students improve communication and coordination in a team, but most importantly, we know that by creating opportunities for students to take part in co-curricular activities will boost their self-efficacy and in turn, their success at school. Whether students are participating in a chess club, the footy, or netball team, results have shown that students who are involved in co-curricular activities are more engaged in their school community, and thus their education.

One thing is for certain, at Columba we know that group activities facilitated and delivered by an education provider in a formal setting (be they online gaming or frisbee golf) bring people together. When students work together, the results are the same as any other team activity – the students participate with their peers in mind. Emotional skills, such as compassion and good sportsmanship, are acquired in these settings and more importantly, Esports is a team sport that any student can get involved in.

For more information on The FUSE CUP, please read the flyer which includes

 

DOWNLOAD FLYER HERE

Or visit their website https://www.thefusecup.com.au/

Take care

Andrew Greco