Thank you all for attending tonight, parents, grandparents, and special friends. Thank you, Father, for the Mass, and to our teachers and staff for being here. Most importantly, congratulations to all our graduates!

Grade 6, I'm sure that by now, many Christmas trees have gone up, Advent calendars line window sills, and dare I mention Elf on the Shelf? But like all years you can remember, the preparations for the end of the school year, Christmas, and the school holidays would be mostly familiar to you.

However, while many December traditions remain the same, for those graduating primary school tonight, change is in the wind. December is a bit different, mostly because very soon, your primary school journey will come to an end.

I know it will be a weird feeling, one that can create big emotions: nerves, excitement, sadness, relief... But as we know from those who've gone before, you will be okay.

I hope that as you sit here this evening, you all have fond memories of your time at Columba. Especially those who've been here since Prep, starting in January 2018, and those who've joined us along the way.

This year, we've begun our work with the Resilience Project in all our classes, and a big theme around the school has been Gratitude, or as the kids know it, DIS.

I hope you can take time to be grateful for the friends you've made, the teachers who've helped you keep going or inspired you to learn things you never knew you could. Or even moments during your time with us that have made you smile, challenged your mind, or even forced you to work hard, even when it would have been easy to give up. So, I ask you to ask yourselves: Who were the people who helped you meet these challenges? Not those who did it for you, but those who showed you how to grow so that when the sun shone, you could grow as tall as any other. Those are memories that will live with you forever, and people we will be forever grateful for.

From the entire Columba community, I congratulate you on making those memories and congratulate you on completing what will be one of the many chapters in your lives.

Before you move on, let's review this amazing chapter that you all have contributed to bringing to life.

For the last 7 years, you have:

• Met people who challenged you
• Met others who inspired you
• Inspired others
• Learned how to pause and think before you click send
• Had moments that made you sad, even angry
• Had plenty that made you smile and laugh
• Made mistakes
• Learned from every single one of them
• Learned so much about yourselves, the world around you
• And most importantly, how important it is to just be yourself, no matter what.

Tonight, however, isn't just about our Grade 6 kids.

Parents, I'm sure that your children are and will be so thankful for the love, kindness, and support you've shown them since they were little babies in your arms. It's moments like tonight that parents realize our babies are growing up.

From everyone at Columba, we thank you for the support you've given your children and the support you've shown the school. The patience and understanding you've given us and the faith you've shown in our educators is much appreciated. For those families leaving us this year, we wish you well for the future and please know that you will always be part of the Columba family.

I also need to acknowledge the staff who've worked closely with many of our Grade 6 students, many over the last 7 years of their schooling. Our Columba teachers truly are an amazing group. Be assured that if someone works at Columba, they are good people. People who inspire, care, and nurture students, but work hard to challenge them each day. They push them out of their comfort zone and walk with them on their learning journey.

The care my Columba staff show our students is second to none, and while I say that often, it should never be taken for granted. We are truly blessed to have such wonderful people caring for our children.

To the staff at Columba, on behalf of our Grade 6 students and their families, we all thank you very much.

Finally, to all our Grade 6 students, we will miss you, but please know that your next chapter promises to be as good as your last.

Take care and God bless.

Principal's Christmas Message

As we approach the final days of the 2024 school year, I’d like to take this time to thank everyone in the Columba community for their efforts and support during what has been another wonderful year.

A sincere thank you to all our Columba staff for their efforts throughout this year. Education has gone through a significant change in the last few years and the staff of Columba constantly go above and beyond in their roles. They have truly done an amazing job supporting and caring for all of our students in the only way they know how, love, kindness, challenge ana care.

To our parent community, thanks for placing your trust in us to provide your child with a Catholic Education which is about developing your child academically, spiritually, socially, emotionally and physically. We are glad you have chosen to entrust your children to us. They have grown in so many different areas.

To Father Avinash George, thank you for your support guidance, and wisdom you have shown towards our parish. We are blessed to have you as our Parish Priest and you are very much appreciated and valued by our school community.

Finally, well done to all our students on their efforts with their learning and development this year. You represent your families and school so well. You are an amazing group of students who have been terrific role models for all in our school. I challenge you daily to be Christ-like in everything you do and you do your best to be just that.

As we go into the Christmas period it is so easy to get caught up in the materialistic side of things, where the focus is on receiving presents or gifts. I ask all of our community to try and find a quiet moment to think about a gift that you could give to someone, without expecting anything in return. Think about a way that you can help someone less fortunate within our community to make them a little happier because that is the essence of being truly Christ-like.

To everyone in our Columba community,  stay safe and have a restful break and I wish you all a safe, happy, and holy Christmas. 

God Bless you all.

Regards 

Andrew Greco

Principal