Columba Catholic College Newsletter Volume 25 No. 5 - 31st March 2022

A MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

Dear Columba Families,

Term 1 2022 certainly has provided us with new challenges and opportunities. The strength and resilience of our community is testament to this. COVID restrictions, isolation periods and Learning from Home has seen us encounter a unique start to the school year. In the midst of this, Columba students have been shining. They bounced straight back into school life and have taken advantage of the wide range of curricular and extra curricular opportunities that are provided at the college.

Last Tuesday 22nd March we held the Secondary Interhouse Cross Country. Rice House were announced overall winners on the day and congratulations to our students for their efforts and participation. Special thanks to Dan Kyle, Cecilia Louk and all Mt Carmel Campus teaching and support staff who assisted with the facilitation of this event for our students.

This week I had the pleasure of engaging in the Year 5 Living Gold Exhibition. Students in Year 5 have been learning all about the Victorian Gold Rush and celebrated with a showcase which involved dramatic performances, characters from a wax museum and information posters and stalls to showcase their learning. Congratulations to our Year 5 students and special thanks to Miss Allison for leading this experience for our learners. 

Last week students across Years 3, 5,7 and 9 engaged in NAPLAN Practice testing. Thanks to Joanne Andrews, Maria Peck and our Year 3, 5, 7 and 9 teaching and support staff who assisted in facilitating this testing. This was a great opportunity for us to test our processes and provide our learners with a simulated testing experience. 

Special thanks to Christine O’Sullivan, Father Emmanuel and staff for their support of the Polding House Mass on Saturday at St Columba’s Parish. We appreciate the ongoing support of our community in developing strong and authentic partnerships between our Parish and the College community.

This week tickets for our 2022 Celebrations went on sale. Please promote this wonderful community event.  Special thanks to the 2022 Celebrations Committee for their hard work in preparing for our June celebrations. With just under two months till the event there are great plans in place. Click here to find out more.

Reports: Tomorrow Years 7-12 Progress Reports will be released via the Compass Portal. These reports are important point in time indicators for our students and will be valuable discussion tools as we head into Parent Teacher Interviews in Week 1 of next Term. I strongly encourage you to take time to reflect on your child’s learning journey in Term 1. In partnership we can build a strong learning culture at Columba.

It is extremely important to be reflective. To have high expectations and a strong learning culture we must always strive to be more. More committed to learning. More committed to our community. More committed to our faith life. In synergy, we can achieve great things. Term 2 will be an opportunity for us to reflect on our individual and collective story and we will work with our students to set goals and improve in various aspects of their academic life at the college.

Staffing Updates: It is with pleasure that I wish to announce that Brett Leadbetter will be joining the Columba staff as of Term 2. Brett is an experienced leader with expertise across P-12 in the area of Wellbeing and Positive Behaviour for Learning. Brett joins us from the Toowoomba Diocese and will be teaching on the Mt Carmel Campus. Brett will assist with leading the review of Positive Behaviour across the college. We look forward to working with Brett and welcome him to the Columba community.

I wish to extend our thanks and gratitude to both Peter Crow and Sonia Bennetto who have been so supportive of our students during their contracts with us in Term 1. Please join me in thanking both Peter and Sonia for their contributions to our college community.

Special thank you to Natalie Grant who has been in the position of Acting Leader of Girl's Boarding for Term 1. We thank Natalie for the energy, enthusiasm and professional approach that she has brought to this role and wish her well as she returns to her previous role at the college in Term 2. Thanks also to Michelle Burns who commenced the school based review of Boarding as a project officer this term. The review will continue into Term 2 with consultative processes including forums and surveys. Further information will be communicated to families in Term 2.

Special thanks to Ryan O’Connor and Chrisitne O’Sullivan for their commitment and preparation of Holy Week liturgies for both St Mary’s and Mt Carmel students today and tomorrow. These are important faith formation experiences for our community.

Tomorrow  St Mary’s Campus students will participate in our Primary Interhouse Cross Country which will be held on Mt Carmel Campus. We wish all of the students the best for a great morning. 

As we head into the holiday period I wish each of you a safe and happy Easter. I hope that the holidays provide an opportunity for you to enjoy the people and places that are life-giving to you. May the joy, hope and peace of the Easter season bring the love of Jesus Christ and renewal to all in your family. We look forward to seeing you all in Term 2.

All the best for the fortnight ahead.

Many blessings,

Melissa Turner
PRINCIPAL

FROM THE ASSISTANT TO THE PRINCIPAL - RELIGIOUS EDUCATION, MT. CARMEL CAMPUS

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Below is an outline of some of the initiatives and achievements in both the Religious Education and Religious Life of the School for Term 1:

Caritas’ Project Compassion and the Brisbane Flood Appeal:  During Lent, a time when we are encouraged to engage in almsgiving, our students and staff have engaged in a range of projects to raise money for Caritas’ Project Compassion and the Brisbane Flood Appeal. Each week, we’ve shown students the Project Compassion videos that highlight the stories of people whose lives have changed through funding and education from Caritas. Empowered by an understanding of the ‘how’ and ‘why’, and focusing on the theme of ‘For All Future Generations’, students and staff have given whole heartedly to this cause through a range of initiatives including the selling of pikelets on Shrove Tuesday, a green-themed free dress day and bake sale on St. Patrick’s Day, a ‘Guess how many marbles in the jar?’ Competition (marbles to be replaced by Easter eggs for the winner) and an Easter raffle. In addition, we’ve also donated money to this worthy cause, filling many Project Compassion boxes to help those in need. As a college, we have decided that our fundraising efforts will be split 50/50 this year between Caritas and the Brisbane Flood Appeal.

St. Vincent de Paul Teen Vinnies’ Group: Teen Vinnies at Columba is passionately dedicated to social justice and community service in our College and the wider community. While many members have continued on from previous years, we warmly welcomed new members at the beginning of each year and any time throughout the year.  The following students were nominated and accepted office bearer roles for 2022: President – Caitlin Cronin; Vice-President – Tamika Truong; Secretary – Cass McIntosh.

During this term, Teen Vinnies’ members have assisted with selling pikelets on Shrove Tuesday (thank you to Girls’ Boarding for cooking the pikelets) and running a green-themed free dress day, lucky shamrock competition, ‘Luck of the Irish’ bingo and bake sale on St. Patrick’s Day. More good works are planned for Term 2 and beyond!

This year, we have changed our Vinnies’ meetings in that we meet fortnightly and each fortnight a student is invited to present a social justice talk. We thank Caitlin Cronin who bravely kicked off with her presentation on the ‘The 2022 Brisbane Floods’ and how this is a social justice issue. Students can choose their topic and are required to speak for approximately 5 minutes with the use of PowerPoint.

Lenten Program:  College staff have been invited to participate in a 6-week Lenten program titled ‘Remember’, which Ryan O’Connor and I have led on both campuses. This program focuses on enabling participants, through a series of reflections, to experience the continued grace of the Paschal Mystery through which God has revealed to His great love for us. During the busyness of the term and in the lead up to Easter, it has been deeply refreshing to journey with the participants, sharing the Good News, and getting to know one another’s stories through our faith commitment.

CCC Youth Group: The CCC Youth Group meets once a month in the Parish meeting room at St. Columba’s Parish. Each meeting is led by Secondary and Primary students and involves a liturgy, games and activities (as well as sweet treats) on a student-related religious or social justice theme. The dates for Term 2 are:  Saturday 7^th May and Saturday 18^th June. New members are always welcome to join us!

Opening Celebration of the Word and Induction of Student Leaders: On Monday 14^th March, all student leaders in Years 6 and 12 received their badges that were blessed by Father Emmanuel. All Year 12 students, as well as the Years 6 and 12 leaders, made their pledges of commitment in front of the College community. On this occasion, Olivia Stevenson received her Dux of Year 12 (2021) prize, and she presented a very fitting speech which truly encapsulated all of the fine values of a Catholic education at Columba: courage, commitment, compassion, service leadership and humility. We wish Olivia all the best as she embarks on further study in the field of Medicine at James Cook University.

Reflection Days and Retreats: The Passionist Youth Retreat Team has recently travelled to the College and engaged in highly effective Reflection Days with our Years 7, 8 and 9 students. These days are an integral part of our pastoral care program and the Religious Life of the School. 

Holy Week and Easter:  As I write this article, we are still a couple of weeks away from Holy Week – a time of devotion to the Passion (suffering) of Jesus Christ. From Palm Sunday (Sunday 10^th April) through to Easter, Christians recall the events leading up to Christ’s death by crucifixion and his resurrection. The three days prior to Easter are important for Catholics, but do we know why?

Holy Thursday is typically when we re-enact the Lord’s Last Supper, the meal that He shared with his apostles on the night He was betrayed and arrested. Like Jesus did with his apostles, our priests usually wash the feet of 12 worshippers (pre-Covid, of course!). At the Last Supper, Jesus instituted the Mass (Eucharist) and we are reminded of this.

Good Friday is the day of Jesus’ crucifixion and death, and it is a time when we venerate (honour and respect) the Cross. This service is held at 3pm (the hour at which He is believed to have died), we go forward and kiss the Cross (in pre-Covid times) and in doing so show our profound respect for Christ’s sacrifice for us.  Many parishes have ceased including the Rite of Communion in their celebration of the Lord’s Passion on Good Friday. In other parishes, parishioners will receive Communion (usually from the tabernacle) that was consecrated the night because there is no consecration of the Eucharist on Good Friday.

Holy Saturday is a vigil (at night fall) when we keep watch for the rising of Our Saviour. It is known as the day He went down into the netherworld to bring back up with Him into heaven those who had died before His coming. Up to this time, the gates to heaven were closed and no one could go there because of the original sin of Adam. Jesus changed all that. By paying the price for our sins on the Cross, He gained for us eternal salvation and heaven was opened up once more (https://www.catholiceducation.org/en/culture/catholic-contributions/the-meaning-of-holy-week.html).

If you are in Charters Towers and able to join us at St. Columba’s Parish, the times are as follows:

Holy Thursday (14^th April) – The Supper of the Lord (6pm); Good Friday (15^th April)  – 3pm; Holy Saturday (16^th April) – Vigil Mass (7pm); Easter Sunday (17^th April) – The Resurrection of the Lord (9am).

Wherever you are and whatever you are doing, spending quality time with family, friends and others – loving one another – is actively living out Jesus’ second greatest commandment.

God Bless.

Christine O'Sullivan
ASSISTANT TO THE PRINCIPAL - RELIGIOUS EDUCATION

CURRICULUM NEWS

YEAR 7-12 PROGRESS REPORTS

Year 7-12 Progress Reports will be released to parents / caregivers on Friday 1 April. Parents will be able to access reports through the Compass portal. The information contained in the Term 1 Progress Report is a summary of a student’s progress during Term 1 in relation to work habits, personal effort and behaviour.

To establish good academic habits and goals for next term, we encourage parents / caregivers to take some time to reflect with your son or daughter over the holidays on their achievements and efforts during Term 1.  Conversations about academic progress and results will occur at the Parent Student Teacher Interviews on Wednesday 20^th April. We encourage all parents and their son / daughter to attend Parent Student / Teacher Interviews to set academic goals for Term 2. If a teacher has requested an interview on the report card, it is important that parents / caregivers and students attend the Parent Student Teacher interviews or make arrangements to contact the teacher and discuss your child’s progress.

PARENT STUDENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

Prep ‐ Year 12 Parent Student Teacher Interviews will be held on Wednesday 20th April from 3.30pm – 6.30pm. P-6 Interviews will take place on the St. Mary’s Campus and Years 7 - 12 interviews will take place on the Mt. Carmel Campus in the Dining Room. Please allow time to travel between campuses when booking interviews.

Students are requested to attend Parent Student Teacher interviews in their day uniform. This will provide students with an opportunity to express their needs and set goals in partnership with parents/caregivers and teachers for Term 2.

Parents/caregivers of boarders who are unable to attend the interviews can request a phone interview with teaching staff. Please book an interview time with the teacher/s you would like to meet with and then email the office (office@columba.catholic.edu.au) to let the College know you would like a phone interview and provide us with the time booked and best phone number to contact you on.

Bookings can be made from Friday 1st April until Monday 18th 2022. Parents and Caregivers will be able to book Parent Student Teacher Interviews in the Compass Parent Portal.

COMPASS

Columba Catholic College uses the student management system called ‘Compass’. An important component of this software is the Compass Parent Portal. The Parent Portal is our main point of contact with parents. Each parent is issued with an individual login name and password for the Parent portal.

The Parent Portal allows you to:

• view your child's timetable and the school calendar
• view up-to-date attendance information for your child
• enter details of upcoming absences or explain past absences or late arrivals for your son or daughter
• access your child's Semester Reports
• make bookings for Parent Teacher Interviews
• view the news feed of school announcements, alerts and updates
• communicate by email with your child's teachers
• update your contact details (email and mobile phone number)

Parents and Caregivers will need to access Compass to receive your child’s Year 7-12 Term 1 Progress Report and book P-12 Parent Student Teacher interviews.

NAPLAN 2022: INFORMATION FOR YEARS 3, 5, 7 & 9 PARENTS

Columba Catholic College students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will be undertaking NAPLAN testing online in May this year.

The 2021 NAPLAN online test window starts on the 10^th May and finishes on the 20^th May 2021. All students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 are expected to participate in NAPLAN tests and it is important they attend school on these days.

On Thursday 24^th March students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 participated in online NAPLAN practice tests. Students completed these tests to familiarise themselves with the tests and the online platform.

The National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) assesses literacy and numeracy skills. NAPLAN is a point-in-time assessment that allows parents to see how their child is progressing in literacy and numeracy against the national standard and compared with their peers throughout Australia. At the classroom level, NAPLAN provides additional information to support teachers’ professional judgement about student progress.

Parents and caregivers of students in years 3, 5, 7 and 9 need to be aware of important information relating to privacy, which can be found on the NAPLAN Online Queensland website’s parent information page as well as the information in the fact sheet about NAPLAN Online – Information for Parents and Carers.

More information about NAPLAN Online can be found on the following website.

If you require any further information, please contact Joanne Andrews or Maria Peck.

SECONDARY INTERSCHOOL CROSS COUNTRY

On Tuesday 22 March, Columba convened the Inter House Cross Country at the Charters Towers Airport Reserve. The conditions on the day were ideal for running the event and there were many displays of athleticism and endurance for all to see. This year the Rice House took out the event narrowly edging out Polding by a mere 10 points. Many thanks are in order for all who helped organize the event. The results are shown below.

PREP NEWS

Despite an usual start to their first year of school, Prep students have transitioned with much resilience and excitement. In only eight weeks they have settled into the daily life of Prep as they have become familiar with routines, created friendships and engaged in learning cycles. Exploring their new school and meeting new people was certainly a highlight. Students went searching for a green sheep who snuck out of our book whilst we were reading. After much excitement touring the school, finding all the other coloured sheep and meeting new people, we returned to our classroom to find the Green Sheep had snuck back in and was fast asleep. 

Students have enjoyed spending time every morning learning through play and participating in gross and fine motor activities. In English, students have been exploring the alphabet as they begin to identify letters and their sounds. Through following our Soundwaves Program, students have created icons of art whilst singing and performing actions to help recall this knowledge. 

They have also been introduced to reading as they learn reading behaviours, sight words and appropriate reading strategies. 

Throughout Mathematics, students have been developing their number sense as they have discovered numbers and the different ways to represent them. Students have particularly enjoyed counting through whole body movement and perfecting their number formations by singing rhymes, engaging in sensory experiences and craft. 

Prep students are certainly looking forward to a well-earned break but most importantly a visit from a special bunny. I look forward to hearing about their holiday adventures when we return for another busy term. Happy Holidays! 

Lara Burns
PREP TEACHER

YEAR SIX NEWS

Year 6 made a terrific start to the school year after the delayed start. Students have been eager to engage in activities and learn new concepts and exciting new topics. We welcomed Ryan Kime and Aiden Menneke to our class to start the year.

In English, the students have been learning how to write an effective persuasive piece of text using the correct structure and language features. Students have just completed their assessment where they wrote a persuasive argument on the topic ‘Australia should become one nation’ after learning about Federation in HASS.

During Mathematics, the class has been focussing on the Number strand in the curriculum with plenty of work on decimal numbers.

Religious Education lessons had a strong focus on the Prophets and students recently learnt about some significant events in the Catholic Church in the 1900s and groups who’ve assisted the Catholic Church in Australia. We also participated in a Zoom meeting last week with 10 other schools around Australia and learnt more about the work of Caritas Australia.

Science lessons have involved exploring microorganisms. The class have done some interesting experiments growing mould which led to groups making a video for Media Arts. They have also done experiments with yeast and how it reacts with other ingredients inside balloons.

Music lessons with Mr Andersen have certainly been very popular among the class with plenty of singing always happening.

As leaders of our college this year, the students have been very eager to participate in Mini Vinnies and assisted with the bake stall on St Patrick’s Day and Breakfast Club throughout the term. They are to be commended for how willingly they volunteer their time. They have also enjoyed the Interschool Tee-Ball Competition on Friday afternoons.

I’m sure everyone will have earnt a well-earned holiday break after competing in the Interhouse Cross Country Carnival on Friday.

Gerard Webber
YEAR SIX TEACHER

YEAR FOUR NEWS

Although Term 1 is drawing to a close, Year 4 students have not slowed down! They have been very busy ‘showing off’ their learning to Miss Stevenson to demonstrate all they have learnt throughout the term. 

Week 7 saw students participate in a small excursion to the Town Pool. The students were absolutely ecstatic and you could not find brighter smiles! They had an awesome morning swimming and playing on the inflatable water course followed by a lovely picnic on the grass. When students returned to school, they wrote a recount of their morning as part of their English assessment. Their writing was incredible! 

During Week 8, students finished off their Science unit. Students have been investigating different types of forces. They enjoyed learning about magnetism the most. As well as this, students met with their Year 2 buddies and completed a paper chain activity for Harmony Day. This was a fun afternoon where students felt very responsible being positive role models for their buddies. 

We have had a positive start to the school year in Year 4. We are ready for a relaxing break over the Easter holidays before jumping straight back into our learning in Term 2. 

Happy Easter!

Brooke Stevenson
YEAR SIX TEACHER

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PRIMARY INTERHOUSE CROSS COUNTRY

Friday 1st April 2022

Students will start the day on the Mt. Carmel campus and will need to meet their teacher on Monagle Oval between 8.10am - 8.30am.  Students are required to wear their sports uniform with House Shirts.  Spectators are welcome and encouraged to attend and support.Schedule for the morning: 

8:30am   Rolls and check-in

8:35am   War Cries

8:45am   2km Race (Students born 2012, 2013)

9:15am   Year 2 and 8-year-olds in Year 3 run Junior loop 1 (Monagle and Hempenstall ovals)

9:30am   Prep and Year 1 run Junior Loop 2 (Mongale Oval)

9:45am   3km Race (Students born 2010, 2011)

10:30am Presentations on Monagle Oval

Please note that all times are approximate and should be taken as a guide, not a guarantee.  Students will be bussed back to the St Mary's Campus at the completion of the Cross Country Carnival.

ANZAC DAY 2022

All students are expected to attend the Anzac Day March down Gill Street to the Cenotaph.  

Uniform requirements will be as follows.

• Prep:               
  • Correct Sports Uniform and Columba Hat
• Years 1-6:     
  • Correct Day Uniform including Columba Hat
• Years 7-12:

  • Correct Formal Uniform with either the Formal or Columba  Hat only. All Prefects must wear Blazers during the Dawn Service and March

NOTE: Bucket Hats are not permitted for this event.

DAWN SERVICE AND ASSEMBLY POINTS:     

• 5.40am Assemble at War Cemetery (Front Gates). Dawn Service starts at 5.50am.

PARADE TIMES AND ASSEMBLY POINTS:

• 8.15am Assemble at Peters Holden, Corner Mosman/Mary Street.
• Parade commences at 9.05 am Mosman/Mary Street intersection.
• All Day Students marching can be dropped off by Parents / Care Givers at Tony Ireland Motors between 8.00am and 8.15am (no earlier please).  

After the service secondary students are to be picked up from the corner of Mary and High St in front of St. Mary's campus.  Primary students are to be collected from the hospital grounds. 

RESIDENTIAL NEWS

Dear Parents, Caregivers, staff and students,

The last week of school is now upon us and the residential students are chomping at the bit to get home to spend some quality time with their families. This quality time can be something as simple as mustering on the family property through to something more extravagant such as a trip to Melbourne or the Gold Coast.  Whatever way you choose to spend your holiday,  I trust that you will take some time out to rest and have some fun!!

During Week 2, Term 2, (27-29 April) the Year 7s will be involved in a 3-day camp to Echo Creek. In Week 6 (25-27 May), the Year 9s will be attending a camp at Camp Gedling, Hervey’s Range, and the Year 8s  will attend a camp at the College’s property, Marybank. As part of the College’s pastoral care program, these camps are integral to student formation and will provide the foundations for establishing and enhancing relationships, both student to student and student to teacher. Please ensure that your children have the required equipment for the camps so that they may enjoy the experiences to the fullest. Camp letters will be sent out to parents and caregivers in the very near future.

The Boarder Parent Council meeting will take place in the Edmund Rice room, located on the Mount Carmel campus on Monday 18 April, 2022 at 7.00 pm. All parents and caregivers are invited to attend this meeting. A Zoom link will be sent out to parents and caregivers over the holiday period for those who are not in a position to attend in the physical form. 

Finally, I would like to express my sincere thanks to Mrs Natalie Grant who has acted as the Girls’ Residential Leader this term. She has done a sterling job for the students under her care. Next term, we welcome back Mrs Burns after her stint as a Project Officer for the College. I would also like to extend my appreciation to the parents and caregivers who have entrusted the College with the care and education of their children. I wish everyone a Holy, safe and enjoyable holiday and look forward to seeing everyone back recharged for the new term ahead. 

Regards,

Dan Kyle
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - PASTORAL/RESIDENTIAL

2022 CELEBRATIONS