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Again I write to you all after a very busy but rewarding fortnight at Columba.
Thank you to all parents who attended our parent conference on Tuesday or Wednesday. We are very appreciative of the time you gave to talk through your child’s learning with their teachers. I am continually impressed by how dedicated our Columba staff are and it is so obvious how much they care about your children and their learning. To have parents and teachers work in partnership is exactly what we want for our children, so thank you all for your role in that.
As this will be the last newsletter for the term, I want to wish all families a safe, restful and memorable holiday. Even if you are not able to get away for a holiday, please take the time to rest and recover from what has been a rugged two terms. As the weather gets warmer, make the time to be outside, get some fresh air, go for a walk and recharge those batteries both students and parents.
As the term drawers to a close, I need to let everyone know we have had an overwhelming amount of enrolments for Prep in 2023, as well as many enrollments in our other grades. We continue to grow and welcome new families which is wonderful. You must all take credit for your part in this, as I know that you are and have been the voice for our wonderful school. There is no better way to advertise our school than ‘word of mouth’ in the community, so thank you for speaking so highly of our school. Whether it be informally at the shops, hairdresser, restaurant or caffe, or when formally asked for recommendations by prospective families, your positive talk about our school helps us all build belief within our community that we are a special school and that we can provide an excellent, well rounded education for all families that chose Columba.
PREP ENROLMENTS 2024
Our 2023 enrolments for Prep are officially closed. We currently have a waiting list for Prep for 2023 and have minimal positions for students in other classes for 2023.
In 2024 we have re designed our enrolment process. All existing families will need to enrol their Prep child for 2024 by the end of term 1 2023. This will ensure we have a clear idea of how many other Prep students we can enrol and ensure our local students have a position for 2024. To be clear the priority for enrolment for all Catholic Schools is
Priority 1. Current families (Catholic and Non-Catholic)
Priority 2. Catholics Living within our Zone*
Priority 3. Non Catholic Living within our Zone*
* Living within our Zone - Bunyip, Longwarry and Garfield (East of Mont Albert & Gillespie Rd).
Celebrating Child Safety Week in the Diocese of Sale 2022
Take care everyone
Andrew Greco
- Wednesday 14th September 'Foundation level Mass'
SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION UPDATE
IMPORTANT DATES TO REMEMBER:
The Sacrament of Confirmation will be celebrated on Saturday 29th October at the St James Nar Nar Goon Church.
We ask all families with students making their Confirmation to attend one of the Commitment Masses on either
- Saturday 6pm September 10th at Nar Nar Goon Church.
- Sunday 9:30am September 11th at the KooWeeRup Church.
- Sunday 11am September 11th at the Iona Church.
The Confirmation Parent&Child Workshop, which is compulsory for all students making their confirmation, will be on Wednesday 19th October at 7pm in the Columba Multi-purpose Room.
We are very much looking forward to sharing this next special step in your child’s faith journey.
We ask our school communities to please keep these children and families in your prayers as they continue their faith journey together.
DATES TO REMEMBER
- Confirmation Commitment Mass
- Saturday 6pm September 10th at Nar Nar Goon Church.
- Sunday 9:30am September 11th at the KooWeeRup Church.
- Sunday 11am September 11th at the Iona Church.
- Confirmation Parent & Child Workshop - Wednesday 19th October at 7pm in the Columba Multi-purpose Room.
- Confirmation Sacrament - Saturday 29th October at 6pm at the St James Nar Nar Goon Church.
NEXT Assembly
Thursday 15th September
Our next assembly will be on Thursday 15th September.
It will be held in our Junior Learning Centre.
Assembly will begin at 2:20pm.
All families and friends are welcome to attend.
On Thursday the 1st of September, Columba held a Father's Day liturgy for all Columba Dads and Dad figures. The staff was thrilled to see many people attend and spend time with their children in the classrooms! Thank you to all for taking the time out of your busy schedules. The students had a great time! We hope everyone enjoyed their morning and Father's Day at home too!
Book Week Winners
Congratulations to our Book Week raffle winners! Students were able to claim their prize vouchers at the Book Fair on Wednesday.
Grade 6 Leadership Day
On Monday 5th September, Columba grade 6 students enjoyed a Leadership Day. The day was facilitated by the YMCA Youth serivces who worked with our Grade 6 students on what it means to be a leader. All students got a lot out of the day, and continue to build their leadership skills, specificaly in our school values of
RESPECT
PERSEVERANCE
INSPIRATION
GENEROSITY
FAIRNESS
NEXT SCHOOL CLOSURES
FOOTY FUNDRAISER
Week 2 UPDATE
After two weeks of our footy fundraiser, the competition is heating up! Below are some results from the end of week 2. The fundraiser will finish the day before the footy parade.
Total Raised after Week 2 - $1,150.65
Top 5 teams after week 2
1st Tigers
2nd Pies
3rd Cats
4th Essendon
5th Dogs
Class Leaders after week 2
1st 3/4R - $170.60
2nd 3/4H - $139.45
3rd Prep SW - $139.15
4th 1/2GC - $139
Footy Parade
On Thursday 15th September, the whole school will have a Footy Dress up day where students are encouraged to wear their team colours. At 11:30 we will have a parade on the basketball courts (Parents are welcome to attend). During the parade, the winners will be announced from least to most raised. The winning AFL team with the most money will get 4 laps instead of 2! Walking to their team’s anthem in true GLORY. All teams will get two laps in celebration of the day.
NAPLAN
On Friday, parents of children in years 3 and 5 will receive NAPLAN results. These tests in key areas of Literacy and Numeracy provide parents and teachers with a snapshot of how children are progressing.
It is important to keep in mind that the NAPLAN tests are just one of the many ways we track the children’s progress, and that these are not the sole indicator of how your child is performing.
You may like to make a time to have a talk with your child’s teacher. Talking to your child’s teacher will help you to put the NAPLAN results into context and understand what you and the school can do with the results, and how to assist your child in the areas that they may need help in.
Remember that NAPLAN is only a snapshot of how your child performed in literacy and numeracy at that one point in time. Whatever you do, don’t stop any activities your child enjoys and don’t focus your child only on reading, writing and maths. All activities are crucial to the school program and contribute to developing informed, happy children who are confident in their own abilities. It should also be noted that many student have missed a large chunk of learning over the last two years and to rely solely on NAPLAN results as a measure of performance is not wise. Again please contact your child's teacher if you need more context around your child's results.
SCHOOL UNIFORM
HATS ARE BACK
A reminder to all families that hats will be compulsory for students when playing
outside starting Monday 5th September. All students must have a school hat which can be purchased from our uniform shop in Warragul - Beleza.
SEE COLUMBA UNIFORM INFORMATION HERE
We must wear hats in September due to higher levels of UV rays that arrive with September. Being a SunSmart accredited school, we ask that all parents support us in raising awareness of the dangers of over exposure to sun and why it is important to wear a hat when we are outside and playing, even when it is cloudy.
Term 4 P&F Fundraiser
Tomatoes are NOW AVAILABLE for purchase
iPads 2023
2023 iPad Parent Letter - Purchasing Support and Information
We encourage all families to visit the school's eLearning Lounge. It is best viewed on a pc however it will work on a mobile device.
The E-Learning Lounge has resources for
- General iPad and iPad case information
- Child Safety
- Learning Resources and App information
- Parent Information to help setup iPads
You are able to visit our eLearning Lounge from our school website, or using the direct link. Both are provided below.
School Website - https://columbacpsbunyip.schoolzineplus.com/digital-technologies-dtcafe
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This Week's Road Rule Highlight
DOUBLE PARKING
You are not allowed to park, stop or leave your vehicle double parked (see picture above). This includes waiting to enter a parking bay.
Some Crossing Supervisors have noticed a slight change in driver behaviour so we really do encourage you to share this information with your community. Keeping in mind the road rules apply everywhere, not just at school crossings. -School Crossings Cardinia
SCHOOL CLOSURE - NO STUDENTS 2022
School Closure Day - Monday 31st October
School Closure Day - Wednesday 9th November
Confirmation Commitment Mass - Saturday 10th September or Sunday 11th September
Assembly - Thursday 15th September @ 2:20pm
Footy Day - Parade 11:30 am Thursday 15th September
End of Term 3 (Early finish 2:15 pm) - Friday 16th September
First Day Back Term 4 - Monday 3rd October
Confirmation Workshop - Wednesday 19th October
Confirmation Sacrament - Saturday 29th October
School Closure Day - Monday 31st October
Cup Day - Tuesday 1st November
School Closure Day - Wednesday 9th November
Colour Run - Friday 18th November
Community Event Bunyip Comedy Night - Saturday 19th November
School Concert - Wednesday 7th December
Grade 6 Graduation BIG DAY OUT - Tuesday 13th December
Last Day 2022 - Friday 16th December
