Principal's Update - 13th June

Welcome

Dear Families,

The end of the term is advancing, and our students and staff are grappling with illness and tiredness and the effects of winter setting in quickly. We would advise families to keep your child home if they are unwell. This will help to minimise the spread of illness further.

Invitation to the Winter Appeal Liturgy

We would like to invite you to join us in Liturgy on Monday, the 17th of June, at 9:45 am in Week 10, the children will gather in family groups for a liturgy to mark the Mini Vinnies Winter Appeal. It is important for our school community to turn to the gospel in prayer and make links between the example that Jesus gave his disciples and the act of generously giving to the Winter Appeal. Our celebration will focus on the Feast Of The Sacred Heart of Jesus and the call to make God’s love present through our actions. For this occasion, we are responding to God’s call by engaging in fundraising and donating to the appeal. The response activity of having a hot chocolate is only offered to the students and staff. 

We are fortunate to have Craig Schepis and the Soup Bus coming along to school on this day to chat with the Mini Vinnies members about their important role in our local Ballarat community.

If students wish to wear their pyjamas on this day, they are invited to bring one can of soup to donate towards the Soup Bus.

Winter Appeal - Organised by our Mini Vinnies

The St Columba’s Winter Appeal, along with our hot chocolate and pyjama day, is on the 17th of June. The Mini Vinnies are taking donations for the Winter Appeal- tin food, any winter clothes/coats, blankets or new beanies & socks. (PLEASE REMEMBER THAT THIS IS NOT THE CHRISTMAS APPEAL, SO NO TOYS PLEASE!) 

Please bring any donations to the school and place them in the boxes provided in each learning community.

Reports

Reports will be made available digitally via the Parent Access Module (PAM) on Tuesday 25th June, following the end of the school day. We will put a notice out on the SchoolZine app to families once they are live. If you need any assistance to access these, please contact the school office. We encourage you to take some time to discuss the academic report along with SeeSaw posts with your child/children to celebrate their learning and areas for focus and consolidation.

Foundation Enrolments 2025

We are excited to announce that the first round of Foundation Enrolments for 2025 were emailed last week, with second-round offers coming out this Friday, 14th June.

With great excitement, we prepare to welcome a new cohort of students and their families into our St Columba’s school community. This marks the beginning of a wonderful journey of learning, growth, and discovery. 

We look forward to building strong partnerships with our new families, ensuring every student feels supported and valued. Welcome to the start of an incredible educational adventure!

Building Update

We are excited about the completion of the Iona Wing and the possibility of moving our Year 5 / 6 classes into this space before the end of the term. Fingers crossed, the final phases go smoothly. This will also enable other class groups to move and give us the opportunity to spread out, providing us with some much-needed space.

Working Parties (SAC)

Thank you to our working parties who are working hard behind the scenes to organise events and fundraising opportunities for our school community. We are extremely grateful to our Social / Fundraising team members who have organised our upcoming Sip and Social tomorrow night at Grainery Lane. We look forward to a wonderful night together.
We are extremely excited to announce that our Sustainability Team have successfully secured a grant for $500 to replace some of our central garden bed plants. Thank you to all involved in the application process.

If you would like to join any of the working parties, please contact the school.

National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD)

Early next term, St Columba’s Primary School and all schools across Australia will be completing the National Consistent Collection of Data (NCCD) survey regarding students with a disability. The NCCD collects data about school students with disability who are receiving adjustments across Australia in a consistent, reliable and systematic approach. The data counts the number of students at St Columba’s who receive additional adjustments or support at school for their individual learning needs. The NCCD survey enables schools, education authorities and government to better understand the needs of students with disabilities and how they can be best supported at school. The NCCD data also helps the government plan for the needs of students with disabilities.

2024 School Fees

A reminder to any families who are not on a payment plan for their school fees, fees were due in full by 31st March 2024. If you have not made a payment as of yet can we please ask that you arrange to do so in the near future.

If you would like to discuss setting up a payment plan, or have any questions regarding fees please get in touch with our Business Manager Rebecca  rlubeek@scballarat.catholic.edu.au

Drink Bottle Reminders Please

A gentle reminder to please send your child/children to school with a full drink bottle each day, as the bubble taps are being replaced and not accessible.

End of Term 2 - Start of Term 3

Our last day of school for this term will be Friday, 28th June, and classes will cease at 2:30 pm, with children dismissed at this time. Monday 15th July will be a School Closure Day for Staff Professional Learning. The school will reopen for students on Tuesday, 16th July at 8:30 am.

Important Dates - Term 2

Important Dates - Term 3