Columba Catholic College Newsletter Volume 25 No. 4 - 17th March 2022

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Columba Families,

Learning is our core work. This term we have had a whole school focus on improving writing across the College. Staff have been engaging in targeted professional learning and have been collaborating regarding the use of explicit teaching strategies to improve student outcomes in this domain. This focus will continue through developing enhanced skills in explicit instruction and will involve staff reviewing student writing samples across learning areas to ensure that we target learning to those specific areas that require improvement. I commend the staff on their commitment to this focus in 2022 and to the use of data and team based practices to ensure our students are being met at their point of need. We are focused on student growth in all aspects of learning at the college. 

Last Monday we hosted the CSPA AGM. It is with pleasure that I announce the following CSPA Executive for 2022: 

• President - Fiona Murray
• Vice Presidents - Erin Bryant and Stephanie Couper
• Secretary - Kate King

I would also like to extend my gratitude to the commitment of outgoing Secretary Mick Kingham and outgoing Vice President Kate Scharf. We are grateful for their service, commitment and generosity and look forward to working with them and other members of the CSPA this year.

Last Thursday our Secondary students participated in the Charters Towers Secondary Interschool Swimming Carnival. We are proud to say we come out on top with a win. Special thanks to Andrew Butler, Thomas Andersen, Jerry Cakau, Cecilia Louk, Karen Spice, Christine Bell, Evelyn Capewell and Angela Carroll for your support in preparing and supporting our students. They had a great day and there were some outstanding individual achievements on the day.

Last Friday we hosted the Catholic Schools' Carnival. Albeit a smaller draw of events, it provided opportunity for students and staff to come together and enjoy sport as well as a social gathering. Special thanks to Dan Kyle, Rohan Dixon, Gerard Webber, Jerry Cakau, Cecilia Louk, Bec Wade, Natalie Grant, Michelle Burns, Larrissa Crowley and members of our Residential and Day Staff for their support and assistance with this event. It is greatly appreciated. Our 1st Rugby League Team celebrated a win against Southern Cross Catholic College and so too did our 1st Netball team. The  2nds Netball Team did a great job against St Catherine's Catholic College. What a great week in sport for Columba.

On Monday of this week we joined as a community to celebrate the Opening Celebration of the Word and Induction of Student Leaders for 2022. This is a special time in our community where we bless and welcome our leaders into their roles for the year ahead. It is also a time where we prepare for the year ahead and commit ourselves to the mission of Jesus Christ through our words and actions as servant leaders in our community.  At this celebration we also announced the Dux of the College for 2021, Olivia Stevensen. Congratulations to Olivia who received an ATAR of 92.55 and was awarded Highest Academic Achiever in Biology, Physical Education, Study of Religion, English and Chemistry. Olivia spoke authentically about her experiences at Columba and we wish her well on her journey this year as she commences her first year of study in Medicine (Specialising in Surgery) at James Cook University. Special thanks to Father Emmanuel, Father Sylvester, Ryan O’Connor, Christine O’Sullivan and to members of staff who assisted in preparing for this important event in the calendar. Thank you also to the many families and friends who joined us in this celebration.

Yesterday and today Columba turned green as we encountered St Patrick’s Day celebrations aplenty at both St Mary’s and Mt Carmel Campus. Students at St Mary’s ate plenty of green themed treats and danced the Irish Jig (So too did Father Emmanuel!) and at Mt Carmel a lucky shamrock competition and Bake Sale were St Patrick’s Day favourites. Special thanks to Ryan O’Connor and Jessica Allison, Mini Vinnies and Christine O’Sullivan and Teen Vinnies for organising these great fundraising events. Funds raised are being used to support Project Compassion and victims of the Brisbane floods. We thank the students, staff and our families for your generosity.

This week our college has been acknowledging the National Day against Bullying and Violence which is held nationally on Friday 18 March. The theme for this year is Kindness Culture- It starts with you. Students from our Healthy Minds group, with the support of our Staff and College Counselor’s Sarah Smith and Lena Hewitt, have raised awareness of this important issue through a series of information sessions, the creation of banners and through sharing important information related to this topic.  As a college, we promote positive, healthy and respectful relationships. Concerns related to alleged incidents of bullying should be reported to the College. At Assembly this week I highlighted the importance for students to speak out and share concerns if something they have heard or seen does not make them feel good or does not sit well in their “head and heart”. For those seeking further information regarding the day of action, useful resources can be found here There are some great resources focused on respectful relationships at home, with friends and at school.

As we continue our Lenten journey, let us be reminded of the teachings of Pope Francis through his 2022 Lenten message. He has called us to "sow seeds of goodness for the benefit of others”. He has also encouraged us to engage less in technological interactions and to engage more in authentic encounters where we meet people face to face. Let us think about how we can actively choose to do this in our personal and community life here at Columba.

All the best for the fortnight ahead.

Many blessings,

Melissa Turner
PRINCIPAL

FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - PASTORAL/RESIDENTIAL

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Term 1 has certainly kicked off like no other that we as a College community have experienced before. The staggered start to the year, remote informal and formal  learning have presented the school and the wider community with some unique challenges. I am happy to say though, we have embraced the challenges with positive rigour. 

Student Leaders

This week we conducted the Celebration of the Word and Induction of Student Leaders at the St Mary’s Campus. It was a wonderful ceremony for our College community to celebrate our 2022 Student Leaders. I am confident that they will do a sterling job at leading the school and will make a positive difference in the lives of others. 

Behaviour Expectations

Columba prides itself on the exemplary behaviour that our students exhibit whether in Day School, the Residences or in the wider community. Sometimes though, some students find it challenging to comply with the College expectations and this leads to consequences that are put in place to enable students to learn and grow. It is important for students to know that if students are not abiding by the expectations of the College, then they forfeit the right to represent our school elsewhere including at events/activities such as Mulkadee, Debating and school sports.  

The Resilience Project

Throughout 2022, we will be working again closely with The Resilience Project to support the wellbeing of our school community. The Resilience Project delivers emotionally engaging programs and provides evidence-based, practical strategies to build resilience.

Our Partnership Program consists of online presentations and weekly lessons for students, professional development for staff, and Parent & Carer Hub (inc. digital presentations) for our parent and carer community. 

Over the coming terms, we’ll be sharing the Parent & Carer Hub with you. The videos are 5-10 minutes long and will walk through the key pillars of resilience: Gratitude, Empathy & Mindfulness. You’ll hear stories and be introduced to activities to show how these strategies can support our kids' learning and development, and also support you as parents and carers. 

This program is an important part of our school’s effort to look after the mental health of our community.

View the first presentation of the series here: Part 1: Meet Hugh and learn about The Resilience Project - https://theresilienceproject.com.au/parent-and-carer-hub-hugh/

In this presentation, Hugh shares a personal experience about his sister's battles with Mental Illness.

Note: This video contains a story about an Eating Disorder that may be triggering. Please consider this before watching. For mental health resources and support information, visit The Resilience Project’s Support Page. 

Regards,

Dan Kyle
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - PASTORAL/RESIDENTIAL

SECONDARY INTERHOUSE CROSS COUNTRY

Tuesday 22 March 2022

Venue:     Airport Reserve.

Time:       8:15 – 10:30

MCC Arrangements for Yrs 7-12 – students must report to the Airport Reserve by 8:30am.  Pastoral Care rolls will be taken at this time.

Students should be in a full and correct sports uniform with house shirt, including a College hat.  ALL STUDENTS CAN WEAR THEIR SPORTS UNIFORM ON MONDAY 21 March,  (NOT THEIR HOUSE SHIRT).

All students are expected to run in the cross country.  If you are not able to run they must provide a written note to Mr Kyle.  Girls may choose to run in PLAIN BLUE OR BLACK skins, PLAIN BLUE OR BLACK bike pants, or CCC shorts.  Boys must run in PLAIN BLUE OR BLACK skins or CCC shorts.  Please organise this now so that if you make the interschool team you have the correct uniform. 

From 10:30 onwards, students will walk back to the Mount Carmel Campus. All students are to gather under the Edmund Undercover Area. 

For students who drive to school. You must be at school by 8am and drop your keys into the front office. You will be bussed over with the boarders and staff at 8:10am.

All students will run the distance required for their age group.

Event schedule:     

•   8:40            Open boys                 6 km
•   8:45            Open girls                 4 km
•   8:55            16 boys                       6 km
•   9:05            16 girls                       4 km
•   9:15            15 boys                        4 km
•   9:20            15 girls                       4 km
•   9:25            14 boys                       4 km
•   9:30            14 girls                       4 km
•   9:35            13 boys                       3 km
•   9:40           13 girls                        3 km
•   9:45            12 boys                       3 km
•   9:50            12 girls                       3 km
•   10:20          Presentations
•    10:30         Walk back to MC campus

SECONDARY INTERSCHOOL SWIMMING CARNIVAL

The annual Interschool Swimming Carnival was held on Thursday 10 March at the Town Pool. Columba’s swim team, captained by Hayley Zadow and Liam Brown, performed exceptionally well winning the overall aggregate trophy by 22 points from ASSG with BTC in third place. 

Full Results: 

Columba age champions and runner-ups:

One record was broken at the carnival: Azariah Hunter set a new record in the 13 years boys AWD 50m backstroke. Well done Azzy!

Special thanks to Melissa Wilson from the CTASC for all her work on nominations and compiling results. Thanks also to Jerry Cakau and Cec Louk for their organisational work, and to the Year 12 students for their support on the day. Finally, thanks to Mr Andersen for his expert coaching.

Andrew Butler
COACH

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 32

Next

YEAR ONE NEWS

Year 1 students have made the giant leap from Prep to Year 1 with gusto! The students have settled in nicely to our new room and routines, and we’ve welcomed some new friends, Adelyn and Amy, along the way. 

We spend our days learning as much as we can, through reading, written work, song, drawing, games and play. Reading plays an extremely important role in everything we do in Year 1, with 4-5 oral reading sessions a week and plenty of home reading to maximise our progress. During Maths lessons, we’ve jumped from learning numbers to 20 in Prep, to learning about numbers to 100. Our skip counting is coming along, as we learn that it’s easier to count some objects (like socks and money) in 2s, 5s and 10s. We are also learning to recognise and order money. It has been interesting to watch the students become more aware of the value of coins and notes. When we first started almost all of the children believed that 50c was the largest value coin. We now know that it’s the $2 coin that will be our favourite when the tooth fairy comes to visit.

Students have loved being introduced to our Chromebooks and ipads, learning about all the wonderful things these digital systems can do. These kids of ours can already navigate Google Docs and online classroom pages, and they have even begun playing online Soundwaves games, and Prodigy a popular Maths game. I am very impressed with their efforts. During HASS we have reflected on the human life cycle and all the things we could do as babies and toddlers, and all of the things that we can do now that we are big school kids. We’ve also thought about what we’d like to do when we become adults. Science has seen us learn about the properties of materials and how we can best describe them. This week we will complete a hands-on science investigation to demonstrate our understanding.

We are thankful for all of the learning opportunities we have had already this term, and look forward to spending the final few weeks of the term consolidating all that we have learnt. Thank you parents for your support in helping us to learn and we appreciate all the love you show, to make us be the best little learners we can be.

Marisa O'Connor
YEAR ONE NEWS

Prev

Showing images 1 - 8 of 9

Next

YEAR THREE NEWS

In Year 3, we have started the school year eager to learn after the extra long holidays. 

In Religious Education, we have been learning about God’s relationship with people. We have looked at some important scripture from the Old Testament and learned about the meaning behind them. We have also explored images of God in scripture to learn more about God’s presence in our lives. 

In English, we began the term writing narratives. Miss Carroll has been very impressed with how creative the Year 3 students are. We are now learning all about persuasive texts and the students are having fun learning how to convince each other of their opinions. 

We have been busy learning about a range of concepts in Maths including number recognition, number patterns and strategies to help us solve addition and subtraction problems. Year 3 is also home to many keen scientists who have loved investigating heat transfer and production. We have learned about sources of heat, how heat is transferred via conduction and have even learned how to use thermometers!

In HASS, we have been learning about how places in Charters Towers have changed over time. We have especially enjoyed looking at Columba’s history and seeing how our school has changed over the years.

Some things that we all love about Year 3 are our brain breaks, spending time with our Year 1 buddies and Art on Friday!

As you can see, we have been busy little bees in Year 3! 

Shae-Kia Carroll
YEAR THREE TEACHER

YEAR 3/4 NEWS

What a fantastic start of the year 3/4 has had. We learnt who our new teacher from Cairns is, our classmates and started our learning. We learnt all about forces and heat in science and made our first science experiments, making parachutes. We made the parachutes to learn more about gravity and air resistance. During their Science experiment they saw how air resistance pushes objects up into the air and gravity pushes objects down towards the centre of the Earth. The student with the winning parachute was Milton, as his parachute took the longest to float down to Earth.

We also had our first excursion to the Mt Carmel Secondary campus’ Yarning Circle. There we were privileged to join in a talk with Gudjal Elder, Tania Ault, during the afternoon. We all enjoyed damper for afternoon tea.  Recently, we commenced our College buddy system where we read our narratives to our Year 5 buddies before enjoying craft together. Overall, all students in 3/4 have had an amazing start to the year and are looking forward to the learning and experiences to come throughout the year.

Emma Wiernet
YEAR THREE TEACHER

PRIMARY T-BALL

Our T-Ball season has been a bit of a stop-start affair.  Our first games saw us travel to BTC with a handful of Year 6s backing up from last year and several playing for the first time.  Chelsea, Molly, Daniel and Clayton also got the call up from Year 5 to have a swing.  Big hitting from Liam and Sam was backed up with smart running from the team to see the end of each innings.  Some initial nerves in the field saw some fumbles but when the boys got settled, led by Ryan and Jax, they switched it on and came home with a 31-11 win.  The girls slowly warmed to their first game as they learnt the best way to navigate their gloves and attacking the ball to get it to that base. Effective communication lead by Erika, Grace and Mary allowed the girls to put a stop to BTC scoring home runs resulting in a 15-11 win. 

Our second games were against Millchester State School, a game both boys and girls lost last year so game faces were switched on.  The girls attacked this game with more confidence which was particularly evident in their strong hits each innings. This allowed their team mates to all successfully make it home which saw the girls win 18-11. 

Liam led the way again for the boys with the bat with 4 home runs in 4 innings.  The boys were definitely seeing the impact of training with some brilliant efforts again in the field.  Toby has cemented his spot on home base with some great calling and catching to keep the scores down.  Eventually, the boys ran out 29-13.

Unfortunately, Week 3 was called off because of the heat and then Richmond Hill forfeited in Week 4. The boys and girls are both sitting on top of the ladder with one game left so everything could come down to for and against. We’ve tightened things up again in our final training session this week and are now just looking to put our best foot forward and enjoy the last game of the season against All Souls.

However things end up, we are both really impressed with the improvements and attitudes of all our players this year.

Miss Burns & Mr O'Connor
2022 T-BALL COACHES

RESIDENTIAL NEWS

Dear Parents, Caregivers, staff and students,

This fortnight has certainly been a busy one for our Residential Community. On Friday 11 March, the College hosted the annual Catholic Schools’ Carnival. The number of schools that participated was down on previous years but a good time was held by all. This was the 8^th consecutive year that we have convened the carnival and incidentally is Boarding’s major fundraiser for the year. In rugby league, Columba versed Southern Cross Catholic College for the Mount Carmel Shield, with our boys winning the game 22-8. Player of the match went to our Boys’ Residential Captain, Preston Ah Wing, who performed strongly with some great charging runs into the opposition's defence.  In netball, our girls played Southern Cross Catholic College for the St Mary’s Shield in the final. This game was an absolute thriller and went into extra time. Columba eventually closed out the game 27-24. Courtney Guild, another one of our boarders, won player of the carnival. A thank you must go out to Natalie Grant for organising the catering and Michelle Burns for organising the netball component of the competition. 

Last week we voted on the Boarder Representative Council. This group provides an important voice for our students. They will meet regularly and the Chair for each group will in turn meet with the Residential Leaders to discuss all tabled agenda items. The BRC representatives are listed below:

• BOYS’ BOARDING                                                                                               GIRLS’ BOARDING
• YEAR 7                                  Nash Wilton                                                          Nikki Bethel
• YEAR 8                                  Riley Girdler                                                          Jessica Wosomo
• YEAR 9                                  Tom Kirkwood                                                     Stevie-Lee Taylor 
• YEAR 10                                Colby Whelan                                                       Temperance Holden
• YEAR 11                                 Assariah Lenoy                                                    Imogen Ruyg
• VICE CHAIR                        Liam Young                                                           Hayley Zadow
• CHAIR                                   Preston Ah Wing                                                 Constance Holden

As we are now at the busy end of the term, academic wise, time management is key for optimising academic performance. There are no shortcuts to achieving academic success and effort is obviously a key tenet for realising one’s academic goals. For those students who at this time may be struggling to meet their academic commitments, Homework Club and Assessment Support are two courses of action that students can readily access on the Mount Carmel Campus after school. 

I trust that most families are in the process of finalising their child/ren’s end of term travel arrangements. Please ensure that when your child is travelling home that they adhere to following travel safety tips: 

• Students having a fully charged mobile phone with a list of emergency contact numbers
• Students having adequate funds on their person and in their bank accounts  
• Educating your child about Stranger Danger and
• Keeping the College informed of your child/ren’s movements before and when warranted during transit. This is particularly important when students have to catch interconnecting buses, trains and or flights.

If parents wish to access the Western and Northern Bus services that the school provides at the end of each term, please email myself or Natalie Grant directly before Friday 25 March. The services will operate pending student numbers. 

Regards,

Dan Kyle
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - PASTORAL/RESIDENTIAL

CSPA NEWS

The CSPA held its AGM on Monday the 7^th March.  This year we have two new members joining our Executive.  Kate King has taken on the role of Secretary and Steph Couper has taken on a Vice Presidents role.  I would like to say a big thank you to these to ladies for stepping up and taking on a role in our CSPA.  A big thank you must go to our outgoing Secretary, Mick Kingham.  He has been in this role for 5 years.  Thank you so much for your time and effort, Mick.  Another big thank you to our outgoing Vice President Kate Scharf.  She has been in this role for 3 years.   Thank you, Kate for your time and effort in this role.  Erin Bryant has stayed on as our Vice President Events and Fiona Murray has taken on the role of President for one more year.  The CSPA plays a huge role in our school community through fundraising for equipment, offering bursaries and implementing parent engagement initiatives.  We are working towards a common goal to be constantly improving our school for our current students and the students of the future.  If you would like to be a part of our vibrant CSPA, please watch out for meeting dates in the What’s On and Newsletters.  We also send out our Zoom links close to the meetings so you can join in from anywhere.  We are looking forward to another exciting year with a few fun fundraising ideas already taking shape. 

Fiona Murray, Erin Bryant, Steph Couper and Kate King
COLUMBA CATHOLIC COLLEGE CSPA EXECUTIVE

CSPA - COOKBOOK