Principal's Update - 1st March

Welcome

Dear Families,

Having an extra day this week, Thursday February 29th, was exciting as a Leap Year. It's a rare opportunity to catch up on tasks or enjoy some extra leisure time.

We also watch with anticipation as the building project progresses, and the leaves begin to change colour all around us, highlighting the change of season that is approaching at the end of the week.

We have several important dates to bring to your attention in the coming weeks.

Meet & Greet Sessions

We look forward to conducting our Term One ‘Meet & Greet’ sessions here at school in Week  7, Tuesday, 12th March, and Wednesday, 13th March. Bookings are now open and available to book via PAM.

These ‘Meet and Greet’ sessions are a valuable opportunity for you to meet your child’s teacher and discuss how they have settled into the new school year and for the teachers to gain valuable insight into your child/ren from you, your child’s first educator. 

Below are some guiding questions for your consideration before your meetings. You are not required to hand them in before or at the meeting. They are purely a prompt to guide your thinking.

Questions for your consideration:

• Are there any siblings here at school or elsewhere?
• Are there any health conditions we should be aware of?
• Are there any issues or challenges related to your current family situation that may impact your child’s learning/well-being?
• What are your child’s interests?
• Rate your child's level of independence from 1-6
• What are some of your child’s strengths and challenges?
• From your experience, how is your child best engaged? What works to get the best from them?
• How did your child manage during the previous year/remote learning?
• How well does your child manage mistakes/difficulties?
• What are your hopes and aspirations for your child? This year and by the time they graduate?

NAPLAN 2024

NAPLAN is fast approaching for our Year 3 & 5 students. For those participating for the first time, NAPLAN is a national assessment program looking at the Literacy and Numeracy skills of students. It provides a benchmark of student achievement against National Standards. Students participate in 4 assessments over two weeks, looking at writing, grammar and punctuation, spelling, reading and numeracy. We encourage all students to participate in this but also recognise that this can be a stressful or negative experience for some students. If you do not wish for your child to participate in any or all of the NAPLAN assessments, please contact their teacher to make arrangements for this. Should you have any questions or queries related to NAPLAN, please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Please ensure your child has headphones at school to facilitate these assessments.

NAPLAN Testing schedule (assessments will typically take place in the morning of the day allocated)

13th March - Writing

14th March - Reading

18th March - Conventions of Language

19th March - Numeracy (Year 3)

20th March - Numeracy (Year 5)

21st March - Catch Ups where allowed

Parent Volunteer Induction

To assist in the process of parent volunteer inductions, we are putting together an information booklet that covers the required information. As part of this, there will be an attached online quiz to complete. Parents looking to volunteer within the school or at events will be required to have read through the material and completed the quiz (successfully), or have completed the previous course, in order to take part. We will send details and access to the booklet/quiz out shortly.

School Advisory Council Meeting

Last night we held our first School Advisory Council (SAC) meeting for the year. This was a great opportunity to reconnect and meet our new members. As part of our meeting we explored the role of the Advisory Council and the responsibilities related to this. Our SAC plays an important role within the school, offering advice and support on initiatives and working to build our community. Within our Advisory Council we have a number of working parties that look at particular aspects of our school operation. These working parties are a great opportunity for other members of our community to have a chance to contribute, without the significant time investment that a longer term appointment brings. Our working parties include, Social Events, Fundraising, Sustainability and Wellbeing. Each party is led by members of the SAC, and as events or tasks come up they will call on volunteers to assist. If you are interested in supporting any of these groups please add your name to the form attached. https://forms.gle/YYFUYAjBnKic4VCM9

As part of our meeting, we also appointed positions for the 2024 school year. We are pleased to recognise Andrew Brady (Chair), Emma Powell (Deputy Chair) and Angela Tudor (Secretary).

School Closure Day - Friday 8th March

We remind families that next Friday, 8th March, is a school closure day for our staff to attend Professional Learning to extend their understanding of Structured Literacy and M-class DIBELS training. The office will be open during the day.

Foundation Enrolments for Foundation 2025 - Key 2024 Dates

• Foundation (Prep) enrolment expressions of interest opened Monday, 12th February.
• Expression of interest forms close Thursday, 23rd May
• First-round placement offers will be sent Friday, 31st May at 12.00 pm
• First round acceptance closes Friday, 7th June at 4.00 pm
• School principals meet to determine the allocation of placements on Wednesday, 12th June
• Second round placement offers will be sent Friday, 14th June at 12.00 pm
• List of schools with vacancies published Friday 14th June at 12.00 pm
• Second round acceptance closes Friday, 21st June at 4.00 pm

Register your interest in enrolling your child at a Catholic school in the City of Ballarat by completing an online “City of Ballarat Expression of Interest for Enrolment” form found here.  At this stage, you will be able to nominate St Columba’s Primary School as your first preference.

When completing the Expression of Interest form, you must indicate your first preference school and upload your child’s birth certificate and baptism certificate (if applicable).

Please note, siblings of children currently attending St Columba's are required to complete the 'City of Ballarat Expression of Interest for Enrolment' form. 

The Sacrament of Senior Reconciliation

Year 6 children will have the opportunity to celebrate their Senior Reconciliation. As Senior Reconciliation is the final Sacrament that is typically celebrated during the primary school years, in the Ballarat Diocese, we ask that you ensure your child has completed their Baptism, Confirmation, Reconciliation and First Eucharist before enrolling for the Sacrament of Senior Reconciliation. 

Two sessions will take place at the St Columba’s Church foyer as follows;

The Parish and School share the responsibility with parents and carers, together in partnership, of the spiritual development of each child in the faith of the Catholic Church. Please note that this year, the Sacramental program is family-based, school-coordinated, and parish-supported.

Family Liturgy, Lenten Activity and Caritas Walk 2024 - Monday 18th March

Our Lenten Liturgy and ‘Caritas K’s Walk’ will take place on Monday 18th, March 9:15 am to 10:30 am. The students will participate in a Lenten Liturgy at 9.15 at St Columba’s Church. Families are most welcome to join with the school community. The students will then return to school to participate in the ‘Caritas K’s Walk’. The walk takes place around our school perimeter. Caritas K’s is an opportunity to fundraise and educate people in social justice, aiming to move our compassion into action for now and for all future generations. 

The walk will commence at 9.45 and conclude at 10.15. There will be various collection tins on each street corner for your donation. Donating your icy pole money is a powerful action. The donation will go towards ‘Project Compassion’ and the work of Caritas in bringing relief to those in need. Additional family members and prams are most welcome. However, we are unable to accommodate pets due to the safety of our students.

Looking forward to seeing you all at this event. Don’t forget your gold coins for a worthy cause. 

Please note that all children are invited to wear their full sports uniform if they wish to walk in runners.

Family Group Holy Week Task - Wednesday 27th March

Please note the change in date

On Wednesday, 27th March, our students will gather at 9 am in their Family Group location. The students will participate in a liturgy focusing on the events of Holy Week, followed by a reflective craft activity. You are most welcome to join your child/ren in prayer and assist them in their response activity.

We look forward to working with you at this significant time in our church calendar.

Grattan Institute Report

Many of you may not have seen but will most likely have heard the media version of the recent Grattan Institute report on reading in schools. It outlines the current challenges faced by students and schools across the country. It presents a series of recommendations to the government regarding the changes needed to turn around the ‘failing’ rates of literacy in Australia. 

As always what makes a good sound bite grab differs greatly from the details underlying them. The good news is that the core of the recommendations being presented aligns with the current implementation changes we are bringing in at St Columba’s as part of our shift to structured literacy. 

DOBCEL have been working in this space for several years now and are currently partnering with Latrobe University around the implementation of this across around 80% of our schools. We are looking to hold a literacy information session next term to unpack this in more detail, along with regular updates and information for families on how they can support this at home. This will involve changes to things such as home reading and the ‘difficulty’ of the texts coming home for your child. See further information in the attached document with today’s letter.

Foundation Wednesday Rest Days for Term 1

Foundation students will not attend school on the following Wednesday's for Term 1:
Wednesday 28th February
Wednesday 20th March

Please be advised Foundation student literacy & numeracy assessment days will scheduled during these Foundation Rest Days. Foundation teachers will provide further information.

Please note the following:
Wednesday 6th March - Students will attend due to School Closure Day
Wednesday 13th March - Students will attend due to Labour Day Long Weekend
Wednesday 27th March - Students will attend due to Good Friday Public Holiday

Important Dates

Kind regards,

Bambi Afford & Shaun Mohr
Co-Principals