Columba Catholic College - Charters Towers eNewsletter

A Message from the Principal

Dear Columba Families,

Welcome to Week 8 of a very busy and exciting term here at Columba. There is so much to celebrate in life and learning at our wonderful College.

Tomorrow our community will recognise R U OK? Day. Students and staff on the Mt Carmel Campus will wear yellow to highlight the importance of positive mental health. Everyone experiences life’s ups and downs. At the Mt Carmel Assembly this week I also encouraged our students to ask questions and seek support if they need it in any way. Whether this is in daily life or in their studies. I ask that we each work together to create a culture that promotes an ethic of care and respect for each individual. God loves everyone. As a Catholic school community, I pray that we can continue to work in service to support each other in our journey together.

Special thanks to Mrs Trish Phillips for the support of our Year 12 Indigenous Students who attended the Graduation Liturgy and Celebration of Awards in Townsville last Thursday. I was blessed to join our students for this rite of passage. Congratulations to Larrissa Tindale who performed for this community gathering at the Sacred Heart Cathedral.

Last Wednesday we celebrated National Indigenous Literacy and Numeracy Day. Thanks to Ms Megan Lucas and Mrs Trish Phillips for the organisation of the display in the library and for showcasing some of the wonderful texts used to connect our students with Indigenous histories and culture.

Our Year 9/10 Economics and Business class conducted their Market Stall Project last Wednesday on the Mt Carmel Campus. Students facilitated a range of stalls as a part of a mini-business experience. Special thanks to Mr Ku and Mr Butler for facilitating this and congratulations to the students on a very successful event. It was great to see our student body supporting them in the learning process.

Last Thursday St Mary's hosted a special liturgy and rotational activities to celebrate Father's Day. What a fantastic morning! It was great to see so many fathers, father figures, uncles, brothers and special family visitors joining us for the morning. We also announced the results of the CSPA Father’s Day Raffle at this assembly. Thanks very much to Mrs Fiona Murray and members of the CSPA for organising this raffle and to our families for supporting us with the purchase of tickets. This event was then backed up with a Pjama Disco in the evening...another wonderful community event. Thanks to Mrs Andrews, Mr O'Connor and to all involved in making this such a great community event.

Last Friday staff across the College participated in a range of learning experiences as a part of ongoing professional growth and renewal. This special reflective practice day enabled staff to engage in learning focused on best practice in assessment and moderation. Special thanks to Mrs Maria Peck and Mrs Jo Andrews for the organisation and delivery of this learning for our teaching staff and to all staff for their participation and engagement on the day.

Last weekend our boarding students participated in the Annual Boarders Long Weekend. Our boys visited Cairns and Green Island and our girls went to Airlie Beach in the Whitsundays. Special thanks to the amazing boarding staff led by Mrs Michelle Burns and Mrs Llana Fuller for their efforts in facilitating a very successful long weekend of activities for our boarders. We appreciate all you do to go above and beyond to support our young people and provide them with these great experiences.

And as we move forward into Week 8, please continue to support all of the students and staff participating in the College Musical. Special thanks to Mrs Gina Porter, Miss Kalinda Large, Miss Mia Doyle and to all of the students and staff involved in preparing for the show. We can't wait to see them shine on stage this weekend. Tickets can be purchased online through the World Theatre Ticket Office Here

This Friday we are hosting our Prep Come and Try Day. New and prospective families are welcome to join us at St Mary’s from 9.30-10.30am to learn all about learning at Columba.

Our Year 12 students are currently completing Mock Exams in preparation for their final external examinations in Term 4. This is an important period in their study schedule and we encourage our students to make the best use of this time and the feedback provided to them by staff.

As we near the end of the term and travel arrangements are being put into place, I ask that you please take the time to review the CoronaVirus Update on our website. Here you will find the latest Queensland Health advice and information from Catholic Education. If at any point you have any concerns regarding returning to school beyond the holiday period please contact the college.

All the best for the week ahead.

Many blessings,

Melissa Turner
PRINCIPAL

From the Assistant to the Principal - Religious Education, St. Mary's Campus

Last week we were overjoyed to help Father Emmanuel celebrate 10 years in the priesthood with the anniversary of his ordination. I’m certain that on that special day surrounded by his family and friends, Father Emmanuel had no idea that 10 years later, he’d be thousands of kilometres away in our lovely town. I am also confident that he is quite happy to be here with us. If you want to see joy in an image, go to the Parish’s Facebook page, click on the video of the mass and scroll through to the final minutes. The smile on Father Emmanuel’s face as the congregation sang the final hymn is as wide as the wings of the plane that brought him to us!

During a recent homily, Father also spoke about his joy when the children were at mass or just worshipping in their own way. He spoke about the young children that won’t always understand everything that is happening, but are able to engage in some level and spend time with God. Just last week, we ran a Professional Development session for willing staff on the various types of prayer that we can enter into ourselves and to create opportunities for spiritual development of our children. Our reasoning for this was that just as we know that not all students learn the same, we can all find our own unique way of connecting with God through prayer. Just this term, students have engaged in our Catholic Education Week liturgy, regular classroom prayer and meditation, meaningful liturgies at assembly with a highlight being our special liturgy for Dads last week, Youth Group, and mass. In the final weeks of the term, students will be immersed in reflection days aimed at getting them to connect with their own spirituality at their own level. We will also continue venturing to the church for mass with our parishioners as well as mass with classmates on campus. We always get wonderful comments from the parish about how excited they are to have the children come and celebrate with them, especially when we bring our guitars and enliven the mass with music. It is this sharing of joy that is so special and so appreciated, and just another way our students are able to encounter Christ.

It is a part of our role that we find so enriching and rewarding, when we get the privilege to watch the children grow in their faith. Knowing that students come to us from anywhere on the faith and spirituality spectrum means that we are encouraged to welcome all and simply provide the opportunity to have these encounters and hope that they enjoy the experience and grow from there. We are also lucky to have a wonderful community that encourages this growth with them.

Ryan O'Connor
ASSISTANT TO THE PRINCIPAL - RELIGIOUS EDUCATION, ST. MARY'S CAMPUS

Meet our Staff

Name: John Hegarty

Hometown: Melbourne

Subjects Taught: Math, Business and Economics

Favourite Foods: Boiled turnips with cheese

Hobbies: Watching movies

St. Mary's Campus Awards

Week 7 - Cleaning up spaces that are shared with others

Prep: Madeline Boyden
Year 1: Alyssa Jeffries
Year 2: Jack Knuth
Year 3: Oscar O’Sullivan
Year 4: Bridie Jenkins
Year 5: Erika Truong
Year 6: Nash Wilton

Week 8 - Showing consideration for your own belongings and those of others

Prep: Keeley Gundersen
Year 1: Elsie Bennetto
Year 2: Lainee Emerson
Year 3: Brodie Beatty
Year 4: Hunter Robins
Year 5: Clayte Bryant
Year 6: Nathan Purcell

Prep News

Wow! What a busy few weeks we have had both inside and outside the classroom.

Under 8’s Day was certainly a highlight with a fun-filled morning of Frozen wonderland. A special thank you to Mrs Laffey who has worked so hard to prepare such an amazing event for us. Another much-loved event was the Book Week parade. Students loved dressing up as a character from a book that suited the theme Old Worlds, New Worlds and Other Worlds. We have also been very fortunate to have visited two incursions, Deadly Australians and The Mad Food Science.

In the classroom, students have been working hard in English on identifying rhyming words and creating sentences. We have explored a variety of books such as Alpacas with Maracas, Oi Frog, Piranhas Don’t Eat Bananas and Rhyming Dust Bunnies where we have found so many words that rhyme. Students have been practicing their sentence writing using these rhyming words whilst working on their beginning writing behaviours.

Throughout Mathematics, students have been exploring 2D shapes and different 3D objects. They have been looking at sorting different shapes and objects as well as creating and copying patterns.

In Religion, students have learned about Jesus’ life and his teachings of love, compassion and forgiveness. Within these stories, they have understood the different choices we can make. The Good Samaritan and the Ten Lepers were two special stories they loved learning about.

During Science, students have been learning how people, animals, and objects move. They have then investigated how objects, particularly toys, move and how their size and shape affect their movements. Using this knowledge, students will soon design and represent their own moving toy using recycled materials.

Finally, in HASS, students have started to explore Geography. They have been learning how places are special to people and how they can care for these places. Students have each shared a place that is significant to them through Show and Share.

We look forward to seeing what the final weeks of the term bring us as we start to count down for a well-earnt holiday.

Lara Burns
PREP TEACHER

Year Two News

Year 2 have had such a magnificent term of learning so far, and there is still more to come! Our integrated units are always so fun and interesting, that we can’t wait to show our families at our Eggcellent Exhibition coming up in Week 9.

We have worked very hard to create an information report on our chosen animal and it’s life cycle. Students then have used Technology skills to create a 3D version of their life cycle, to show how the animal changes from the beginning stages of an egg. Did you know that a baby echidna is called a puggle?! Or, that baby chicks use an egg tooth to chip their way out of their egg?!

Book Week was another adventurous week, where we had the chance to study the short listed books for the year. We looked at these texts by completing character profiles, book reviews and predictions. We looked smashing in our costumes, too.

We are continuing to look at the features of different maps, and learning how to read and locate places on a globe. This has coincided very nicely with the Olympics, and we learned that each colour of the Olympic rings represent a different continent.

With only a term left of Year 2, we can’t wait to see what other things we can learn!

Toni Pilcher
YEAR TWO NEWS

Primary Tee Ball

The primary Tee ball teams consisted of Melissa Horder, Bobbi Jenkins, Saylor Whitby, Mary Sproat, Bailey McGuire, Bella Grant, Erika Troung, Isabella O’Sullivan, Grace O’Connor and Kaitlyn Venning for the girls; and Aaron and Zander Murray, Connor King, Jack Snelling, Billy Shun, James Uren, Toby Blackley, Jax Dyball and Jed Kruger for the boys.

The first round saw the girls playing 2 innings and coming away with a win of 16 to 10 against BTC. This was a fantastic start to the season as many of these girls had never ever picked up a bat or ball. The boys also experienced great success with their first outing, taking out the match 26-10.

With Year 6 Taste of Secondary on for the second round, Year 5 were invited along for the afternoon and weren't they excited! Four innings were played against Millchester. The first innings Millchester narrowly won by 1 run. After warming up, the girls came home with 6 runs and Millchester only getting one with four out. The third innings saw Millchester get 4 home and Columba only getting one home. We luckily had time for a fourth inning and we managed 2 home runs to finish off the day. The fantastic fives only lost this game by one run. The boys didn’t fare so well with a couple of Millchester boys stifling their attack all day long.

The third round saw the girls up against All Souls. Three innings were played and these little legends came together and showed a great knowledge of the rules as a team. This resulted in the girls coming away with a fantastic win of 16 to 6. The boys again started slowly conceding five runs to nil in the first innings. After a pep talk and rethink of strategy, they came home with a flurry and the game rested on the last hit. Unfortunately, Souls took a great catch and our boys went down by 1.

This Friday will wrap up the season with a Gala day at BTC. We look forward to another day of great sportsmanship and hope to see you there!

Ms. Larrissa Crowley and Mr O’Connor
TEEBALL COACHES

Prep Transition Days

Mt. Carmel Campus - Notable Mentions

Congratulations to the following students who received certificates at Assembly on Tuesday 7th September.

Respect for Self: Demonstrates determination and resilience when challenged in class.

Year 7: Clayton Dayes
Year 8: Scott Ecclestone-Patchett
Year 9: Cody Bourke
Year 10: Blake Jackson
Year 11: Ashlie O’Connor
Year 12: Ethan Bredden

From the Maths Department - Mt. Carmel Campus

The end of term 3 is a hectic time of the year for all students, with sporting teams competing in finals and the Columba Catholic College Musical as well as all the assessment tasks that students are trying to complete and prepare for.

Students in years seven to ten should be preparing for end of term exams over the next couple of weeks and senior students are completing Mock Exams. Below is a list of some of the things students can be doing to prepare for exams. While it is not suggested that students will necessarily be able to tick all of these boxes, improvement can be achieved by using some of the following strategies. It is also important for students to focus on the content and questions that they find the most difficult.

EXAM PREPARATION EVALUATION:

Have you done the following in preparation for the exam?

Completed the revision sheet
Completed the chapter review/s
Completed lessons/quizzes on Education Perfect
Regularly completed homework
Frequently asked and/or answered questions in class
Attended lunchtime tutoring
Attended after school tutoring
Made a chapter summary including all formula required for exam
Used YouTube, WooTube or Khan Academy for help in areas where assistance is needed
Paid attention in class when instruction is being given
Answered multiple questions from chapter exercises focussing on areas you need help with (and checked answers)
Frequently attended class (>95%) and caught up with missed work when you have been away
Asked your teacher questions outside of class time

Please remember that Junior Maths help is available at lunch time on Tuesdays and Thursdays in K1, homework help is available on Thursday afternoons 3:05-4:05pm in the library. Senior Maths study in available on Mondays 6:30-8:00pm in M4.

Sophia Michaelis
MATHS CURRICULUM LEADER

Careers News at Columba

For the latest information on Careers, please visit the College Careers Website. You can view it here. You will find lots of valuable information including the latest Careers Newsletter.

Click here to download the latest Careers Newsletter

College Musical - Mamma Mia!

Do you have your tickets to Mamma Mia? Tickets are still available from The World Theatre, Mosman Street, Charters Towers. To purchase tickets online please visit World Theatre

Residential News

Last week, our residential students had the good fortune of attending their relevant camps. The girls spent much of their time at the Big 4 Caravan Park at Airlie Beach having fun in the enormous adventure pools. The boys travelled to Cairns and stayed at the Coconut Palms Resort. They went to Green Island for a day cruising on the ocean, snorkelling and watching a crocodile show. From all accounts that I have heard, both the residential students and staff had a terrific time. Mrs Burns and Mrs Fuller did a great job organising their respective camps and I would like to thank them and their staff for their time and effort in making the various camps a huge success.

It is now that very point in the term that we ask parents and guardians to contact the appropriate Head of Boarding - Llana Fuller (Boys’ Boarding) and Michelle Burns (Girls’ Boarding) - to notify them of their child’s/ren’s end of term travel intention. Numbers pending, the College intends on running the end of term bus service to Richmond, Mt Surprise and Townsville. Please let the respective Head of Boarding know by Tuesday 14 September if you would like to access this service. Whilst on the topic of end of term travel, please ensure that your child/ren have on their person sufficient monies and a fully charged phone with a list of emergency contacts. This is especially important for students who will need to access connecting services.

At the beginning of next term, the College will conduct its final Boarder Parent Council meeting for the year. This meeting will take place on Monday 4 October at 7.00 pm in the Edmund Rice room. A Zoom link will be sent out during the holidays for those parents who can not make it in person. I look forward to catching up to as many parents and guardians as possible at the meeting.

As I canvassed in the last edition of the residential newsletter, if a student or students become ill over the holiday period or for any other leave period for that matter, it is in the interest of the health and wellbeing of the entire boarding community that they not return to the residences until such time they are symptom free.

Finally, I would like to say thank you for entrusting the College with the care and education of your children for another term, and I wish all parents, caregivers and students a wonderful break.

Regards

Dan Kyle
DEPUTY PRINCIPAL - PASTORAL/RESIDENTIAL

Boarders' Long Weekend

Justin Dixon - Boys’ Boarding Houseparent

Residence: I am currently working in the Ryan Residence (Boys’ Boarding).

Previous Workplace/s: James Cook University as a student where I studied accounting

Favourite meal: Seafood – prawns in particular

Favourite movie: Happy Gilmore

Favourite Music: Pop music

The best piece of advice you have received: Stay humble

What do you do in your own time? Cricket and watching my beloved Canterbury Bankstown Bulldogs

What excites you about 2021? Going to Port Douglas. I would like to go to the Boxing Day Test Match (most likely won’t happen in current COVID-19 environment) and catching up with friends and family.

CSPA Melbourne Cup Luncheon 2021

Save the Date!

Columba Catholic College Newsletter Volume 24 No. 14 9th September 2021