Columba Catholic College - Charters Towers eNewsletter

A Message from the Principal

Dear Columba Families,

As I begin my journey here at Columba I have been heartened by the strong sense of commitment to service within the community which has been displayed through the actions of our students, staff and families.

A very special welcome to a number of new students and families and to the new staff at the College. We welcome Miss Mia Doyle, Mr Brett Kondratiew, Miss Rebecca Wade, Mr Kitione Tuiquilia, Mrs Kinsey Toomey and Mr Graeme Brown. We look forward to working with you and thank you for your commitment to high quality teaching and learning within our community. We also farewell Ms Sharon Chelli. We thank Sharon for her contribution to the College and wish her all the best for her future endeavours.

During the holidays students attended the Rugby League Confraternity Carnival in Brisbane and our netballers participated in the QSSIN Carnival. Whilst both competitions were cut short due to Covid restrictions, the teams, their coaches and supporters should be commended for their attitude and commitment to the competition.

Last week students from across the College participated in the annual Mulkadee Youth Arts Festival at the Townsville Entertainment Centre. Special thanks to Mr O'Connor and Miss Large for supporting the students across the week. Mr O'Connor enjoyed it so much he performed as a part of the combined Guitar Ensemble! Thanks also to Mrs Porter for the organisition of our students to attend Mulkadee.

This week we celebrate Catholic Education Week. The theme this year is “ A Spirited Tomorrow”. The theme acknowledges the long tradition of Catholic education and its continued relevance in preparing students for the future. Congratulations to Olivia Stevenson who received a diocescan Deus Caritas Award at the Townsville Catholic Education Week Mass on Monday. This award is inspired by the encyclical “Deus Caritas Est” recognising loving service lived out with a faith conviction. Congratulations also to Mrs Sandra McCabe and Miss Madeleine Carter who were awarded a Spirit of Catholic Education Award for their contributions to Catholic education in our community. On Wednesday we celebrated with a special Catholic Education Week Liturgy hosted on the Mt Carmel Campus. Special thanks to Ms O’Sullivan and Mr O’Connor for preparing this celebration for members of our community.

Congratulations to the many students who participated in the Charters Towers Show. It is so wonderful to see so many of our students in the community sharing their gifts.

This week Mr Kyle and I embarked on the Annual Western Tour. I had the privilege of visiting communities including Greenvale, Mt Surprise, Georgetown, Burketown, Croydon, Cloncurry, Richmond and Hughenden. I thoroughly enjoyed meeting both existing and prospective families and thank them for the opportunity to educate their children. Thank you for a wonderful week.

As we begin a new semester I encourage each student to consider their goals and to focus on what they can do to continue to grow as a learner. Last week when addressing the students at St Mary’s and Mt Carmel, I invited students to “do their best” and to make the most of the time they have in the classroom for learning. I will continue to engage in discussions with our students about what this looks like and how we can support them to maximise their learning potential. Learning and Teaching is our core business. The success of our students is central to this. I have high expectations of our learners and for our learners. Ensuring we make the most of every day will ensure we can make a difference in our lives and in the lives of others.

On a personal note, special thank you for your support and generosity as you have warmly welcomed my family and I to the Columba family. We are looking forward to sharing in the ongoing growth and development of our College.

All the best for the week ahead.

Many blessings,

Melissa Turner
PRINCIPAL

From the Deputy Principal - St. Mary's Campus

Dear Parents and Caregivers

I would like to extend a warm welcome to our new and returning families in Term 3. This term is filled with opportunities for our students to be engaged in a range of activities both within our community and the wider community. Last week we had students across the college participate in the Mulkadee Youth Arts Festival that culminated in the Wizard of Oz concert on Friday evening. From the accounts of those who attended the week, the festival was a fantastic opportunity to shine in their particular area of The Arts while learning new skills, exploring their creative talents, making memories and meeting new friends.

This week we celebrated Catholic Education Week. CEW recognises the impact Catholic schools have within the community and this year’s theme ‘A Spirited Tomorrow’ acknowledges the long tradition of Catholic education and its continued relevance in preparing students for the future.

On Monday, our school leaders traveled with Mr O’Connor to Townsville to represent the College at the Diocesan Catholic Education Mass at the Sacred Heart Cathedral. If you are in Gill Street this week, please stop by Collins Pharmacy and take a look at the window display that highlights the many wonderful activities, events and opportunities that are offered to our students to fully participate in the life of the College and our community.

The Charters Towers Show was another opportunity for our students to shine. Our school entries were acknowledged with many of our students receiving awards. The College display in the main exhibition hall was overflowing with student art and craft, and in the ring, the students from our Cattle Club were given the opportunity to show their talents in preparing their cattle for Show, as well as the judging skills they are honing on the show circuit this year.

Term 3 Inter School Sport season kicks off with the T-ball competition commencing on August 6th. Students will try out for teams this week and the season will culminate in the Gala Day on 10th September. Please watch out for communication on team selection and training days for the T-ball competition. Our Inter-House Athletics Carnival was a great day of sportsmanship and competition. Well done to Polding House taking the shield and a big thank you to all the staff for your contribution to the carnival being a huge success. Following on from this event, the Inter-School Athletics Carnival will be held at Friemann Oval on Friday 13th August. Central and Millchester State Schools will host the carnival this year. Team information to be shared on this event in the next week.

On Friday 20th August we recognise the awe and wonder of learning for our Early Years students with the U8s Celebration Day. This is a fun filled morning with students in Prep to Year 2 participating in art and craft activities, game challenges, a petting zoo and more! Our Year 4 & 5 students will assist on the day. Our year 6 students will attend the Secondary Open Day on the Mt. Carmel campus in preparation for transition to Secondary school next year.

Students are currently preparing their instrumental, choral and voice speaking pieces in preparation for the Charters Towers Eisteddfod on 23rd August. Across this week, students will be bussed to the World Theatre to perform their individual and groups pieces. Communication regarding further details and times will be shared with families closer to this event.

The SRC Breakfast Club continues to be a huge hit with our students. I would like to thank the families who have contributed breakfast items to support the Club and its ongoing success.

In the teaching and learning space, students in Prep to Year 2 will participate in Early Years Testing over the next two weeks. In Term 1, students were tested in Numeracy and Oral communication skills. The information from these tests assisted teachers to plan to target particular areas for teaching and also to support individuals needing further development in these areas. This second round of testing will measure the success of the previous terms teaching and learning and assist teachers to plan future teaching.

Wishing you all a great term ahead and our continued commitment to planning for your children’s future successes.

Joanne Andrews
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL

Year Five News

Welcome back to Term 3 from 5A! We’ve had a great three week holiday and are ready to hit the ground running with some awesome new learning experiences. We also are so very happy to welcome Kyler-Jane to our class. She’s a wonderful new friend and we’re looking forward to showing her how we do things at Columba.

This term, we are especially excited for our Science Unit all about the States of Matter. We even get to create our own slime in Week 2. We’re also already loving our HASS Unit all about Europe and North America. So far our favourite fun fact about Europe is that soccer is the most popular sport for the whole continent! Just like St Mary’s!

We also have been reflecting on the busy and exciting last few weeks of Term 2. 5A had the best time at Founders' Day and loved trying to get as much colour all over ourselves as we could, even Miss Allison had blue hair by the end of the day!

Another highlight for us was the Primary Inter-house Athletics Carnival. A fabulous day was had by all as we wrapped up another term at Columba.

We can’t wait to show you what we get up to in Term 3 in our next addition to the College Newsletter. Wishing all of our families a great term.

Jess Allison
YEAR FIVE TEACHER

Meet our Board

Name: Sonia Bennetto

Occupation/Position in the Community: Deputy Mayor, Charters Towers Regional Council

Connection with the College: My husband, Matt, was the school captain of Columba in 2002. My children are proud, second-generation students at the Primary campus.

What is your motivation to be a Board Member? With a background in marketing and education, I am very passionate about using my skill sets to contribute to the continued progress and positive momentum of our wonderful College.

Mulkadee

Recently, I have had the opportunity to join nine of our students to attend Mulkadee 2021. The production this year was The Wizard of Oz, and with over 750 students performing from across the diocese, it was certainly an event to see. Our talented students were extended and challenged in Mulkadee week, with two students being cast as main characters. Issac Neilson portrayed the cunning and secretive Wizard, and Stacey Yeo showed just how playful Toto can be. As Mulkadee is such a great experience for students involved, I look forward to Mulkadee 2022 and what Columba can bring to it.

Kalinda Large
MUSIC TEACHER

Catholic Education Week 25-31 July 2021

All Columba students, staff and families joined together on MC campus on Wednesday 28th July to celebrate Catholic Education week with a special liturgy. The theme was 'A Spirited Tomorrow' and it acknowledged 200 years of Catholic education in Australia. At this liturgy, the recipient of the Deus Caritas Est award, Olivia Steveson and the Spirit of Catholic Education awards for Madeleine Carter and Sandra McCabe were also warmly acknowledged.

ATTENDANCE: EVERY DAY COUNTS

Regular attendance at school is one of the essential building blocks of receiving a good education and achieving both academically and socially. If students miss school regularly this will impact on their results, ATAR, QCE and relationships with other students. Students will fall behind in their class work and assessments, and this may lead to fewer subject choices, impact on achievement in Years 11 and 12 and post school pathways. Students who miss school for one day a fortnight equals missing 1.5 years over 13 years of schooling. That is a substantial loss of important learning time.

YEAR 11 AND 12 ASSESSMENT

Parents of Year 11 and 12 students should note that they will be completing many assessment items during Week 2 and 3 of Term 3 and that attendance at school is essential.

It is crucial that students dedicate adequate amounts of time to study and prepare for their assessments. At peak assessment times, it is expected that students will need to dedicate additional time to study.

ACCESS ARRANGEMENTS AND REASONABLE ADJUSTMENTS (AARA), including illness and misadventure. (Years 7-12)

Columba Catholic College recognises that some students have disability, impairment and/or medical conditions, or experience other circumstances that may be a barrier to their performance in assessment. Access arrangements and reasonable adjustments (AARA) are designed to assist these students.

AARA are provided to minimise, as much as possible, barriers for a student whose disability, impairment, medical condition or other circumstances may affect their ability to read, respond to or participate in assessment. These barriers could be permanent, temporary or intermittent. Students may also be eligible for AARA where illness and misadventure (i.e. unforeseen circumstances) or other situations may prevent them from demonstrating their learning and completing assessment tasks.

Students are not eligible for AARA on the following grounds:

unfamiliarity with the English language
teacher absence or other teacher-related difficulties
matters that the student could have avoided (e.g. misreading an examination timetable, misreading instructions in examinations)
matters of the student’s or parent’s/carer’s own choosing (e.g. family holidays).

Students who need to apply for AARA must complete the ‘Access Arrangements and Reasonable Adjustment’ Form, available from the College Office. For students in Years 10-12 relevant detailed documentation must be attached to the application. This involves attaching a detailed medical certificate or for non-medical claims, written evidence from a relevant independent professional or other third party. Students in Year 7-9, must attach a medical certificate or a detailed note form parents.

Maria Peck
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - ADMINISTRATION

Combined Schools Formal 2021

Dear Parents, Caregivers, Staff and Students,

Welcome back to Term 3! This term, just like every other term, has started off with a buzz of activity. We have already convened the Boarder Parent Council meeting and the Parent Teacher Interview evening. I thank all of those people who attended either and or both of these events. It is always great to catch up with our families. I trust that the Boarding parents who could make it found it to be a productive exercise. The first week culminated with the Interschool formal. Our young ladies looked very glamorous in their gowns and the boys looked most dapper in their suits. I would like to congratulate all who participated in the event. They were great ambassadors for their school and their families.

The impending arrival of the College’s new Boys’ Head of Boarding, Mr Peter Koen, has been unavoidably placed on hold due to the recent COVID outbreak in NSW. Mr Koen is currently working with the College and other relevant stakeholders to navigate his way through to a successful outcome which will see Mr Koen here at the College sooner rather than later. The College will keep the Boarding community up to date on his impending safe arrival to the College.

Mrs Dianne Burton has resigned from the College. I would like to thank her for the service that she has provided over the years. It has been greatly appreciated and I wish them all the best in their future endeavours. Mrs Kim Johnson has accepted a position in Boarding and I have the utmost confidence that she will do a sterling job in delivering quality residential care to her young charges.

The much-anticipated Boarders’ Long Weekend will occur over the weekend of 3-5 September 2021. Mrs Fuller and Mrs Burns are currently very busy organising their respective weekends. Please note that all Boarders will be off site over the majority of the weekend. For those students not participating in the Long weekend activities, they will be required to seek alternative leave arrangements as all available staff will be on camp with their respective Boarding houses. The Boarding houses will be closed from Friday 3 September (8.00 am) through to 5.00 pm, Sunday 5 September, 2021. More details about the weekend will be released over the coming weeks.

Finally, Mrs Turner, our new College principal, and myself will be participating in our annual northern and western tour this week. This is something that I always look forward to as it enables the College to connect with current and potential families of the College in their own environment. I hope to catch up with as many of our families as possible over the course of the next week.

Regards

Dan Kyle
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - PASTORAL/RESIDENTIAL

Term 3 Lunch Menus

Term 3 Lunch Menus are uploaded onto the College Website:

Click here to download Term 3 Lunch Menus

SWIFF's Nextwave Short Film Competition

SWIFF’s Nextwave Youth Short Film Competition is open for entries!

The Coffs Coast’s Screenwave International Film Festival is looking for the next wave of young filmmakers!

Enter a short film into the Nextwave Youth Film Competition for your chance to win awesome awards and prizes, including Best School, and have your film premiere at SWIFF 2022 on the Coffs Coast!

If you like being creative, and want to have a go at filmmaking, SWIFF wants to see what you can do!

The rules are simple: