Principal's Update - 8th April 2022

Intro

Dear Families,

As Term One draws to a close, we take this opportunity to thank you all for your support and engagement in what could be described as a near-normal school term. 

Our children have settled back into school life this year as smoothly as possible. Our staff have continued to be ready for anything and everything, adapting and pivoting each day to ensure our children have received the best education possible.

It has been marvellous to see parents back onsite and events being scheduled and carried out, rather than postponed or cancelled as we experienced over the past two years.

Events this Term

We have had a jam-packed first term, with much to celebrate: liturgies & sacraments, excursions, camps, sports days and social gatherings. Thank you to all who have played a part in the organisation of these amazing opportunities for our children and families. Seeing the engagement, smiles and hearing positive feedback has been truly gratifying.

School Picnic

We were extremely excited to invite families to our first community gathering this year, with our School Picnic held at Kirks Reservoir last Wednesday. The night was a great success with over 100 people attending. We look forward to hosting many more opportunities for families to gather in the future. 

Fundraising

A huge THANK YOU to our volunteers and families who generously donated or purchased Hot Cross Buns or tickets in our Easter Raffle. We raised the following funds:

A fantastic effort and wonderful contributions to both our school and Caritas Australia. Thank you again for your support.

Athletics Carnival

Another huge THANK YOU to Wayne Lynch and his band of merry helpers for their fantastic efforts yesterday in organising a hugely successful Athletics Carnival at Llanberris. The children participated enthusiastically, and the buzz around the school this week has been most electric as students and teachers prepared their house colour outfits and chants in readiness for the big day. Feedback has been extremely positive.  From out point of view, seeing the smiles, hearing the cheering on and encouragement of fellow students and most of all, the high level of participation once again illustrates what a fantastic school community we have. Well done St Columba’s, and well done to Gold Team and all teams for their outstanding efforts.

Holy Week Final Liturgy

To continue the Easter story and as a follow up to the Holy Week Liturgy that took place this morning, each Learning Community will continue to retell the significant events of both Good Friday and Easter Sunday. This will take place on Tuesday 26th April at 10 am.

Our Year 3/4 Community will retell the story and events of Good Friday, and our  5 / 6 Community will retell the events of Easter Sunday. We will gather together outside as a whole school community to witness these events. Some Learning Communities will require their students to dress up as people from ‘Jesus Time’. Your child’s teacher will notify you via Seesaw if this is a requirement. Due to covid restrictions, parents will not be able to attend. However, we will capture the moments and communicate with you via Facebook.  

Thanks you once again Torie and Lucy for their organisation and efforts this term.

Mothers Day 2022 - Save the Date

Mother’s Day 2022 is set for Sunday 8th May. To celebrate our Mother’s and the Special women in our lives, we will host a Mother’s Day Stall on Monday 2nd May and a special Liturgy and afternoon tea on Friday 6th May. Please save these dates with more information coming soon.

Sacraments Preparation for Term Two

Next term students from our Year 3 /4 Community will begin their preparations for receiving the Sacrament of Confirmation. More information will be forwarded to you at the beginning of next term. Please note that the preparation sessions will take place at the School.

Please save the following dates:

• Tuesday 3rd May - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
• Tuesday 10th May - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
• Tuesday 17th May - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
• Tuesday 24th May - 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm
• Celebration of the Sacrament - Sunday 29th May & Sunday 5th June at 10:00 am Mass at St Columba’s Church

Playground Redesign

As part of our ongoing building works, which will redesign our current 3 / 4 & 5 / 6 learning spaces, we have also engaged a Landscape Architect to develop a Master Plan to guide and support the redesign of our school playground. Justin Staggard is a well-known playground designer who will help reimagine our playground space to engage our students and use our space to its full potential. Justin has completed many projects around Australia and has recently moved to the Ballarat area. Justin comes highly recommended from Play Australia. His ideas utilise natural materials and provide unique spaces that are both appealing to students and are aesthetically pleasing whilst also providing a relatively maintenance-free space. Justin is keen to work with our community to ensure we capture the needs and interests of our students whilst retaining some elements that have both historical value or are much loved by our students. To ensure we are capturing the voice of students and our parent body, Justin will run a day to consult with all stakeholders. As we are keen to move forward with this relatively quickly, the consultation day is set for Friday 29th April. More details will follow in the first week of Term Two.

Road Safety

Road safety continues to be a challenge for our community, particularly with the use of crossings and cars reversing into the street. Parents have alerted us to some near misses with the After School Care bus and cars not stopping for people crossing at crossings when the flags are up. Please also be mindful of not stepping onto the manned crossing until the supervisor signals you to cross. Thank you for your cooperation and understanding.

Covid Updates

Please continue to check PAM for daily updates on COVID 19 statistics for our school community. We continue to keep high levels of cleaning and sanitisation across our school.

We ask students in years 3-6 to wear masks, along with physical distancing, to help keep our community safe and ensure our school remains open and continuity of learning is maintained.

Rapid Antigen Tests

The use of Rapid antigen tests will continue as a precautionary measure to screen students and with advice received today, will be extended into Term Two. Rapid antigen testing, while strongly recommended, will be voluntary for all students. Students are encouraged to retest prior to returning to School in Term 2. New test kits will be sent out at the beginning of next term.

School Photos

Our School Photos will take place on Thursday 5th May. Please ensure your child is in their correct winter uniform for this day.

Transition to Winter Uniform

During the first two weeks of Term Two we transition to Winter Uniform. If you require any new uniform items, please contact the front office to place an order. Please also note that after surveying parents last year, long pants will remain the recommended style for Winter, with an overwhelming vote of NO for the shorts option. Thanks for your support.

Important Dates for Term Two

Monday 25th April - ANZAC DAY  PUBLIC HOLIDAY - School Closed
Tuesday 26th April -  First Day Back for Term Two
Friday 29th April - Playground Consultation Sessions
Monday 2nd May - Mother’s Day Stall - $5 per gift - All school
Thursday 5th May - School Photos
Friday 6th May - Mother’s Day Liturgy and afternoon tea at 2:15 pm 
Monday 9th May & Tuesday 10th May - School Review 
Monday 23rd - Sunday 29th May - Catholic Education Week
Saturday 28th May - Bunnings BBQ

Kind regards,

Bambi Afford & Shaun Mohr
Co-Principals