Amen. Committed to the total development of the whole child in a nurturing family community, revealing Jesus Christ.

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1 ST. COLUMBA S CATHOLIC PRIMARY SCHOOL Committed to the total development of the whole child in a nurturing family community, revealing Jesus Christ. Newsletter #26 17 September 2015 Thank you Lord, for the sports I am able to play and for the skills and talents I have. Help me to play well and to use my ability to the fullest; to see it as a gift from you. Thank you for the sportsmen and women who set a good example. Help me to improve and enjoy my sport always. Amen Dear Parents, It s certainly been a busy term but there still are a few major events to go. The last day of term is next Thursday September 24. Next Friday, September 25 is a Pupil Free Day. On this day teachers will analyse trends in our school s NAPLAN results and focus on other areas of need. Tomorrow is our School Sports Carnival Track Day. A program has already been sent home. The carnival will begin at 9am and conclude at 2pm. Parent helpers are required, especially at 7.30 in the morning to help set up the oval for the day. Please assist if you can. On Monday students will present their Catholic Performing Arts Festival items. We will start with our usual morning assembly and continue with the special Performing Arts Assembly. Thank you to Mrs McDonald for organising this event. The assembly will go until recess. Recess on this day will go from to 10.50am. On Monday we will also have guests, namely about 30 teachers from Malaysia. They will be here from 10.15am to 11.30am. They will watch part of the Performing Arts Assembly and then walk around the school visiting classrooms. They are in Perth visiting a number of institutions, including ours.

2 As mentioned, Term 3 will conclude on Thursday September 24. Thursday is also our Walkathon day. Students will assemble on the tennis courts at 8.50am ready to undertake a short warm up session conducted by the Year 6 students. Shortly after they will move off on their predetermined routes. Thank you to Mrs Pinto and her many helpers for organising this event. Drink stations will be set up along the way for students to refill their drink bottles. Please ensure that your child has applied sunscreen before coming to school. Sunscreen will be supplied prior to the students undertaking their walk. Have a great week and see you at the Sports Carnival tomorrow. Assistant Principals Ondine Komnick and Stephen Popadynec Thursday September 17 Friday September 18 Monday September 21 Thursday September 24 : State League-tag Competition (Years 5 & 6 - selected students) School Sports Carnival Performing Arts Festival Assembly Walkathon TERM 3 CONCLUDES Last Thursday, at St Mary s Cathedral, Archbishop Costello launched the consultation phase of 'The Way Forward' a plan for the Archdiocese. The aim of the consultation is to reach as many members of the Catholic Community as possible. As an apostolate of the Church, it is critical that our voice is heard and clearly represented in the consultation process. You can contribute by completing an individual online survey at which will be open from September 10 until October 16. Your participation can be fully anonymous if you prefer. We are in a unique position to assist the Archbishop and the Archdiocese and we encourage as many of our families to take the time to complete this survey. Catholic Mission presents an afternoon of beautiful music. Jessica Gethin (violin), Sophie Curtis (cello) and Ray Walker (jazz guitar) will perform an original and exciting fusion of classical / jazz / popular chamber music in aid of Catholic Mission. Monies raised will support a girl child education project in Bangalore, India. Complementary afternoon tea will be available. Adults: $25, Concessions: $15. Children are free if accompanied by an adult. Tickets from from Catholic Mission , or available at the door. Thank you to those children from Year 5 who attended their class Mass last Saturday, September 12. It was pleasing to see how confidently the children participated in reading at Mass without the assistance of a teacher at the lectern. ' Due to the rescheduling of our Sports Carnival, the next Junior Joey's meeting will be held early in Term 4. The date will be advertised in next week s newsletter.

3 On Wednesday 23 September the Year 6 and 2 classes will be fund raising for Catholic Missions and Aid Agencies by setting up games for the St Columba s children to play. For further information please read the flyer attached to this newsletter. Isaac Pinto, from Year 6, explains in his thought provoking piece of writing why there will be no lolly prizes for participation, as has been the case in previous years. Ask yourself this? Ask yourself this, why do we play games? Do we do it to win? Do we do it to prove that we re better than our friends? Or do we simply do it for fun? It s not about the presents that one might get from winning a game such as bragging rights, it s about one s presence in a game so that they can have fun and their friends can have fun with them. This is an excellent principle to live by, especially as a Christian citizen like many others and myself. This year we re reinforcing this at the Mission Week games by not having prizes such as lollies. Although this may seem like a bad thing, because it may seem that there s no point in trying, think of it this way. Would you rather spend two dollars on an ice cream, eat it and then move on with your life, or give it to someone who can t afford basic needs like water or food or clothes, which will completely change their life. You can help people like this by donating this year at the Mission Week games. Keep in mind that this doesn t mean you shouldn t give up at the games, there will still be prizes for the top scoring students over all the games. I hope everyone can understand this decision and respect our choice. If you can't feed a hundred people, then feed just one. ~Mother Teresa By Isaac Pinto Year 6 Ondine Komnick and Stephen Popadynec Assistant Principals In preparation for the World Meeting of Families to be held in Philadelphia, we join in offering the official prayer: God and Father of us all. in Jesus, your Son and our Savior, you have made us your sons and daughters in the family of the Church. May your grace and love help our families in every part of the world be united to one another in fidelity to the Gospel, May the example of the Holy Family, with the aid of your Holy Spirit, guide all families, especially those most troubled, to be homes of communion and prayer and always to seek your truth and live in your love. Through Christ our Lord. Amen

4 I will be blessing the Sports Carnival and praying for you all. This Sunday at Mass, Archbishop Costelloe has sent a video for us outlining his vision and priorities. Masses are Saturday Vigil at 6pm and Sunday at 7.30am and 9.30am. Yesterday in Rome, Pope Francis spoke of family as he is travelling to Cuba on Saturday and then to Philadelphia for a World Meeting of Families. The Pope had previously spoken of Adam and Eve and their role as husband and wife and first parents. Of this alliance, the matrimonial-familiar community of man and woman is its generative grammar, its 'golden bond', so to speak. Faith draws upon knowledge of God's creation: He entrusted to the family not only the care of intimacy for its own sake, but also the project of making the entire world domestic. It is precisely the family that is at the origin and the base of this worldwide culture that saves us: it saves us from many attacks, many forms of destruction, and many forms of colonisation, for instance by money and ideologies, that so threaten the world. The family is a base from which we defend ourselves. The Biblical Word of creation has provided us with the fundamental inspiration for our brief reflections on the family during the Wednesday audiences. God's creation is not simply a philosophical premise, it is the universal horizon of life and faith. The divine plan consists only of creation and its salvation. It is for the salvation of the creature of every creature that God became man. The world he created is entrusted to man and to woman, what happens between casts the die for all that follows. Their refusal of God's blessing leads them fatally to the delirium of omnipotence that ruins all things. It is what we call 'original sin'. And we all come into the world with the legacy of this disease. However, we are not cursed or abandoned to our own devices. 'I will make you and the woman enemies to each other. Your descendants and her descendants will be enemies', God says to the deceitful and enchanting snake. With these words God bestows upon the woman a protective barrier against evil, to which she may resort, if she wishes, for every generation. This means that the women bears a secret and special blessing, for the defence of her creature against the Evil One. Many stereotypes exists, often offensive, regarding the woman as temptress who inspires evil. Instead, there is space for a theology of the woman worthy of this blessing from God, for her and for her generation. God's merciful protection of man and woman never ends. The symbolic language of the Bible tells us that before casting them out of the Garden of Eden, God gave them animal skin tunics and dressed them. This gesture of tenderness means that, even in the painful consequences of our sin, God does not want us to remain naked and abandoned to our destiny as sinners. This divine tenderness, this care for us, we see incarnate in Jesus of Nazareth, Son of God 'born of woman'.... It is God's caress to our wounds, our mistakes, our sins. But God loves us as we are and wants to lead us ahead with this plan, and the woman is the strongest at taking it forward. The promise God makes to man and woman, at the origin of history, includes all human beings, up to the end of history. If we have enough faith, the families of the peoples of the world will recognise themselves in this blessing. In any case, may whoever allows him or herself to be moved by this vision, regardless of the people, nation, or religion to which he or she belongs, walk with us and become our brother or sister, without proselytism. Let us walk together under this blessing and with God's aim to make us all brothers and sisters in life in a world that goes ahead and that is born precisely of the family, the union of man and woman. May God bless you all. Monsignor Brian O Loughlin.

5 LIBRARY ROSTER: Monday September 21 Wednesday September 23 Deanna Power Catherine Stokes Many thanks, Mrs Malarkey and Mrs Shaw The clarinet and saxophone teacher, Jacqui O Neill, is returning to St. Columba's after maternity leave. If you would like instrumental lessons, please contact the office for details. There are also lessons available for guitar, drums, piano and flute. The Performing Arts Assembly on Monday September 21 at 9am will include all group and class items. The students are excited to share their work but are also looking forward to seeing what everyone else has been working on. Parents and friends are welcome to join us for this Music Assembly. Students are to be in costume for their class item. The students have all completed an arts response for their class item. Here are a sample of their questions and answers: Year 1 Angelina My favourite thing was watching the other performances. Year 2 Charlotte Performing felt fun and happy. Oliver Performing felt amazing. Year 3 Lucas Borromei Performing felt special and good. Year 4 Heidi After my performance I felt proud, tired, confident and I wanted to do it again. Alvy My favourite thing was how everyone got a part and we all enjoyed it. Ella D. My favourite thing was that everyone had lots of fun and everyone had something to do. Year 5 Nikolas I liked the costumes and the actions. Harrison I felt very relieved and excited because all our work had paid off. Leila I have learned how to be confident on stage. Jimmy I felt proud after my solo. Year 6 Mai In reflection I have learned to have fun and enjoy the experience. Many thanks for all your support. Louise McDonald

6 Thank you to Fran Palermo and Lisa La Rosa for helping in the canteen last week and to Matija Ng for helping today. The canteen cannot operate unless we get volunteers. Please consider volunteering by contacting Emma in the canteen or your class rep. Lunch orders have now closed for the Sports Carnival tomorrow. Food, ice-cream and drinks will be available to purchase from the canteen throughout the day. ROSTER for Friday September 18 9:00am to 11:45am Mary Pike Tomorrow 11:00am to 1:30pm Sue Sartor ROSTER for Thursday September 24 9:00am to 11:45am Volunteer Required Emma McGann, Canteen Manager Sun protection is recommended 9.20am-3.00pm Please come prepared to be safe in the sun. BYO hat, sunglasses and if possible, shade. The National Heart Foundation is committed to reducing the impact of cardiovascular disease in Australia. It aims to promote quality heart health and is dedicated to saving lives through financially supporting world-class cardiovascular research, providing guidelines to health professionals, keeping the public informed and educated, building healthy communities and creating partnerships. Walk Over October is a state-wide campaign by the Heart Foundation that aims to raise awareness of the health, transport, recreational and environmental benefits of regular walking. This year the Heart Foundation has challenged school communities to walk every Wednesday in October to school. Will your family take up the challenge? Please consider this over the holidays-try to walk for your health, your child/ren, your heart, the school community, the local environment and for fitness.

7 Commonwealth Bank School Banking Update Please Read Following the decision last month to recall the Cosmic Light Beam Torch due to a potential safety issue, a decision has been made to also withdraw the upcoming Lunar Light Band reward from the School Banking Rewards Program. To avoid disappointment there is a new reward item available for redemption in Term 4 while stocks last. Students can now test their skills with a game of Frisbee with the new Galaxy Glider! Once students have collected 10 tokens, they can simply include a note, along with their 10 tokens in their deposit wallet on banking day to advise that they would like to redeem their tokens for the Galaxy Glider reward item. Vanessa Wainwright (Student Banking Coordinator) : M Residential recently ran a Father s Day Colouring Competition which was distributed through the school. Sienna Bonomini - Year 3, won the $ Master Voucher first prize. Her colouring in is on display on the front window of their office on Mill Point Road. Many thanks to M Residential and Masters.

8 In September 2016, the P&F are proposing we host a school community fete. We will not be able to host this event, without significant parental support. We would like your honest feedback to determine if we have adequate support from the school community to proceed with this event. A survey to find out parent s thoughts about this event, will be sent home with the oldest child in each family. Please complete the survey and return it to the classroom teacher by Tuesday September Francine Palermo President, Fete Committee As part of our fundraising for term 3, St. Columba s is involved with Tinyme. Tinyme is a great website where you can purchase name labels, personalised gifts jigsaws, bags, lunch boxes, wall charts, invites and much, much more! Just go to and have a look at all the things they have to offer. Keep in mind upcoming birthdays, Christmas and any other gifts you may need to purchase. All orders placed between September 15 and October 31 with our group's name will earn our school 15% commission. All you have to do is enter our group name St Columba s South Perth at the checkout. There is a fundraising tab with a drop down menu just click on our school s name. It s that easy! Many parents already purchase name labels so it s simply a bonus for the school with little effort required! Please share our group name with family and friends as their purchases also contribute to our total. Rose Pezzano Tinyme Coordinator The final count for Earn & Learn stickers is 9,480 stickers, this is our best result ever! If you have anymore stickers please hand them into the office by Monday September 21 and we will add them to our total. Thank you to everyone who handed in so many stickers. We look forward to seeing all the great resources the school will be able to buy with the credit earned. Laura Care` Earn & Learn Coordinator The P&F will be running a cake stall on Sports Day. All families are asked to bring a plate of morning tea to share to be dropped off in the undercover area on Friday morning. Parents of students in YEAR 3, please bring fruit to share in place of cakes. All families are welcome to share the morning tea for a gold coin donation. All money raised will be donated to the Mary MacKillop Foundation who help people within Australia with small life changing projects. To find out more about the Mary MacKillop Foundation go to;

9 Presented by: St Columba's P&F Topic: Real Kids in an Unreal World Venue: St Columba's Catholic Primary School Date: Friday 23rd October, 2015 Time: 7pm-9pm (doors open 6:45pm) Cost: 2 FREE tickets for St Columba's parents only Contact for inquiries: pandf@stcolumbassp.wa.edu.au or ask your class rep Booking Details: Please see the Office for 1-2 FREE tickets, first come first served. Up to TWO tickets for each family ST COLUMBA S PARENTS ONLY. Seats are LIMITED. If tickets are not all allocated to family members there will be an opportunity for other family and friends to purchase tickets at a later date. Please check next term s newsletter for further information. There will be a whole school Christmas Sundowner held on FRIDAY DECEMBER 4 5:30 6:30pm Classes will present their Christmas Carols/Items (bottom oval) 6:30 8:30pm Family picnic (Dave Sartor & Parties Kids Remember will be providing entertainment) BYO Picnic dinner and drinks. This year the money raised from the Walkathon will be going towards purchasing a 70 Interactive LED Screen on a motorised height adjustable stand. The LED screen means it can be used in full daylight and not just in darkened rooms. This is a state of the art piece of equipment to be used in the Kindy rooms, the undercover area and as a backup for all the other classes if their Smart Boards needs to be repaired. The P&F Walkathon will be conducted on Thursday September 24 (last day of Term 3) A hard copy of the attached permission slip have gone home with each student. Permission slips are due back to the class teacher by tomorrow September 18. Sponsor sheets and money are due back by Week 2 in Term 4. Cathy Pinto and Matija Ng Cheong Tin Walkathon Coordinators Thank you to all who supported the P & F Wine Fundraiser. Wines will be available for collection from the undercover area from 3pm on Monday September 21. If you're unable to collect your wines at this time, please contact Elisa Brown ( ) to make other arrangements.

10 Voluntary help needed at the Mary MacKillop Centre South Perth 16 York St, South Perth This is an opportunity to be involved in the work of St Mary MacKillop and the Sisters of St Joseph South Perth. The Sisters of St Joseph have been associated with St. Columba s School for 100 years and this is a great way to celebrate the Anniversary to be part of a team and be of service living out the charism of St. Mary MacKillop and the sisters of St. Joseph. What needs to be done? All manner of things as the saying goes? Many helpers make light work. If you can spare an hour or two or even a morning or afternoon e.g. when you drop off/or collect your child from school.i would be most grateful. Example of jobs to be done, e.g. assist in the Mary MacKillop gift shop and bookshop, sorting resources, assisting Sr Maree in many tasks. The SKY is the limit and it would be good if you were in it. There is a place and a job that fits us all!! I would love to hear from you. God bless you all. For more information about the Mary MacKillop Centre, please go to Then click on Mary MacKillop Centres WA. Sr Maree Riddler mriddler@sosjwa.org.au

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13 See main noticeboard for more information Relationships Australia Seminar The Waler Trio Catholic Mission Behaviour tonics Practical Parenting Break Point Tennis Coaching The Great Loritz Circus Mary MacKillop Online Newsletter: This E-News is published on the 8th day of each month and distributed via . What lies behind us and what lies before us are tiny matters compared to what lies within Ralph Waldo Emerson