Dear Families

It has been a wonderful fortnight full of so many events. I ask that if you know other families who do not read the newsletter, to please put it under their noses and celebrate with them the many, many events that we have had at Columba over the last month. We should continue to be ever grateful for the freedom we have to celebrate together again, and not forget how hard it was when this was taken away from us. Our prayers were answered.

I need to again thank parents for the continued effort and support you put into your children and the school. Each year, all schools are allocated 8 school closures which we can use in almost any way we like. As a school we choose to balance the closures so that we support families and teachers. As all schools do, we put aside four of our school closure days for professional development of staff. The other four are used at the beginning and end of the year and the Monday before Cup Day. This is to help families with holidays that proceed and precede scheduled school holidays, but also allow teachers some time to meet their students and understand their learning needs in the form of 'testing days'.

I need to reiterate how important these days are for the learning and development of staff and again we thank you, the parent community for supporting us with these days.

Our prep enrolments are almost at capacity. We now only have room for current families and Catholic families who live in Bunyip. If you know of families that have not enrolled and need to, please ask them to contact the school immediately as we are now starting our waiting list. While not ideal, we can only accept so many students but it is wonderful that so many Bunyip, Longwarry and Garfield families are choosing Columba and Catholic Education for their children.

Car Park Looking Good! - A Few Reminders for Families to Take it Easy

A big thank you to the folks (State Government) working down at the Bunyip Railway Station for supplying the labour and materials, free of charge, to make our car park more usable. The car park has had a large amount of crushed rock spread to help with drop off and pick-ups at the beginning and end of the day.

I remind parents to please stay patient during the drop off and pick up times. We should never hear parents tooting each other in anger or aggression or yelling at each other due to misunderstandings. We understand that pick-up time can be busy, but know that putting every child in every car without panic or rush, will ensure all our children get home safely EVERY night. If you are frustrated with someone else's actions, please talk to them calmly and politely, remind them about the rules, remembering that you catch more flies from honey than vinegar.

In 2023 we will work toward a separate pedestrian gate for those parents that park and collect their child by foot from the gate. Again these things take time and patience.

SCHOOL UNIFORM

A reminder to all families that we ask students to be in correct school uniform each day. All Columba students need to be dressed in full winter uniform which includes

black leather school shoes or all black runners. A school softshell jacket or blue or black jacket of any brand/shop. We also ask that students wear 1 of three beanies to school.

The school beanie which is supplied at our uniform shop
A plain navy blue beanie
A fight MND beanie

All three are acceptable school uniform. On Monday's we do allow students to wear their 'sports team' colours if they had a win on the weekend.

SPECIAL REPORT: Respectful Language

CLICK HERE TO SEE THE SPECIAL REPORT ON SCHOOL TV

In today’s world, it is becoming apparent that some young people are being influenced by the language around them. It is becoming more common for them to hear derogatory terms or offensive language on the streets, on social media channels, streaming services and in some forms of modern music. Proliferating the use of such language can sometimes normalise, glamorise and sanitise their impact, taking their meaning out of context. Words can be misconstrued to be hurtful, racist, homophobic, mysogynistic or even discriminatory. Using disrespectful language is considered socially unacceptable, and if not addressed early, can become a serious problem.

The use of derogatory language or the act of swearing at someone, or about someone, is actually a form of verbal violence. It transgresses the usual rules of social interaction by impinging on an individual’s self-image and sense of dignity. Therefore, many schools enforce a zero tolerance policy when it comes to such language. Parents and carers also need to play an important role in enforcing this approach by proactively monitoring what their children are viewing or being exposed to and discussing the use of words or their origin. This can help prevent inappropriate or disrespectful language being used in the classroom, school yard or other situations.

Whilst some students may use swearing or derogatory terms for attention seeking purposes, others may use it simply because they are still learning how to moderate their language. As young people develop their language skills, it is important for them to have a clear understanding of the impact of their choice of words on others and how their words can impact other people’s perspective of them - an important and essential skill to learn as they progress in their personal and professional development.

Take care everyone

Andrew Greco

On Thursday 11th August Columba celebrated Book Week!

Thank you to all families that came to our parade in the morning. The students all looked amazing with many costumes from lots of books we have read at school.

In the middle of the day our grade 6 students planned and delivered Book Week lessons for our students in grade Prep-4. The students absolutely loved the hands on activities the grade 6 students had planned and the stories and books they chose to share with the classes.

In the afternoon we had a production company visit the school and put on a show for the entire school. The show was based on the book Stellarphant. The message in the story being that you should never give up on your dreams, all you need is hard work and belief and you can achieve anything, no matter what anyone says.

The students laughed and cheered and there were many smiles as we all cheered Stella on hoping she would reach her dream of becoming an astronaut.

Thank you to Mrs. Kilmartin for organising the day. We love our book week celebrations and we are so pleased we could celebrate together as a whole school again this year.

New Recycling Hub for Columba Families

TIME TO RECYCLE

Starting Monday, Columba's new Recycling Hub will be open to all Columba Families.

To start, we have 5 things that you can send to school to get recycled

Eye Glasses

Oral Care Products

Mobile Phones

Electric Toothbrushes

Batteries

Columba has partnered with SpecSavers, Bunnings, Woolworths and Terracycle who will support us to recycle your items once our HUB fills up. As the year progresses, we will add more options for recycling to our HUB.

The Recycling HUB will live in our Multipurpose Room. You can send your items to school with your children who can drop them into the Multipurpose Room at the beginning of the school day.

The Columba recycling HUB was funded through a $1000 Junior Landcare Grant that the school secured earlier in the year. Thank you to Woolworths for the grant, to JB for building the hub and to Darren for painting it! What a community effort!

Public Speaking

Congratulations to our students Natalia, Siahli, Clancy, Greta, Isabella, Holly, Zaleah, and Caitlyn (front), who delivered exceptional speeches at the Drouin Lion's Club Junior Speaking Competition earlier this month.

Two of our students, Greta and Siahli have qualified for the next round of competition and will be competing against other schools. We wish them the very best of luck!

FUSE Cup

Columba E-Sports Success

On Friday 5th August, four students from Columba attended Melbourne Girls Grammar for the final Victorian round of the FUSE CUP (E-sports) for grade 5-6 students competing in Mario Kart.

Mia Greco, Chad Carlsen, Beau Giblin and Siahli Muir all travelled to Melbourne and battled it our in Mario Kart Rounds playing students from other schools in the Melbourne area. All Columba E-sports competitors did very well and one of our competitors, Chad, got all the way to the top 16!

Our E-Sports competition continues in Term 3 with the next game, Rocket League. All 5-6 students will have the opportunity to enter their team and play each other to see who will get through to the next competition at Ivanhoe Grammar. We wish all players the best of luck!

Assembly

Friday 19th August

Our next assembly will be on

Friday 19th August.

It will be held in our new Learning Centre.

Assembly will begin at 2:20pm.

All families and friends are welcome to attend.

RESPECT AWARDS

Well done to all our RESPECT Award Winners at our last Assembly. The award was for showing respectful behaviours and words while at school.

NEXT SCHOOL CLOSURES

Monday 31st October

Wednesday 9th November

Columba PULSE SURVEY - Parent Survey Term 3 2022

Each Term, we will send out a parent survey, with the aim to get 'the pulse' of how our parent community are going in regards to their connection and perceptions of Columba. The surveys will aim to be as short as possible and will support our school in creating the best possible learning environment for your children.

Term 1 - Pulse Survey (all families)

Term 2 - INSIGHT SRC Survey (select families)

Term 3 - Pulse Survey (all families)

Term 4 - Pulse Survey (all families)

This survey is CONFIDENTIAL and no names or email addresses will be collected unless you provide them for us. The school will not contact you personally to discuss your responses. Your responses will continue to shape the future planning of the school and help us to consider things that we may not have considered without your input.

I ask that this survey be completed by Friday 26th August for review by the leadership team.

COMPLETE SURVEY HERE

https://forms.gle/7fyh7sTG354cVnW28

iPads 2023

Grade 2 Parents and all Columba Families

At Columba Catholic Primary School, we understand that the need for our students to have the opportunity to be exposed to up to date technology. Digital Technology now forms a vital part of a high quality, fully rounded education in the 21st century. Young people are using mobile technology to assist them in life and learning, and 2020-2021 has seen many examples of this.

With the introduction of tablet computing and mobile device technology into the world market, we as a school need to ensure that our students are using rich and relevant technology to complement their learning.

Our 1:1 iPad Program achieves this by:

Providing students with access to their own iPad device. This will ensure that students can create, collaborate and have access to ‘Anytime, Anywhere’ learning.
Providing wireless Internet access that connects all students and teachers.
Allowing students to access information at hand and provide them with the opportunity to demonstrate their understanding of the curriculum.
Provide all students with opportunities for rich and relevant learning that is engaging and promotes excellence.

As a school we have investigated several methods to enact the 1:1 iPad program, and know that a viable solution is a Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) model. This will require families to purchase an iPad, if they do not already have full time access to one, for their child if they are in grades 3-6 in 2023.

Attached to this is alert is a comprehensive letter which outlines

Directions on how to access or school iPad Purchasing Portal
Which older iPads the school will support
Time line for your child needing an iPad
The appropriate iPad for purchase

2023 iPad Parent Letter - Purchasing Support and Information

We also encourage all families to visit the school's eLearning Lounge. It is best viewed on a pc however it will work on a mobile device.

The E-Learning Lounge has resources for

General iPad and iPad case information
Child Safety
Learning Resources and App information
Parent Information to help setup iPads

You are able to visit our eLearning Lounge from our school website, or using the direct link. Both are provided below.

School Website - https://columbacpsbunyip.schoolzineplus.com/digital-technologies-dtcafe

Direct Link - https://columbahome.wixsite.com/dtcafe

Stronger Standards, safer children

Victoria’s Child Safe Standards are a set of mandatory requirements to protect children and young people from harm and abuse.

The Child Safe Standards (the Standards) commenced in Victoria in January 2016. After six years, we have seen how the Standards improve safety for children and young people.

Changes have been made to make the Standards even stronger. The new Child Safe Standards came into force on 1 July 2022 and organisations now need to comply with these new Standards.

The new Child Safe Standards

There are now 11 Standards, which include new requirements such as:

involving families and communities in organisations’ efforts to keep children and young people safe
a greater focus on safety for Aboriginal children and young people
managing the risk of child abuse in online environments.

Victoria has over five years’ experience of mandatory Standards, so many organisations will already have well developed child safety frameworks. Most organisations will need to make some changes to comply with the new Standards.

The new Standards are outlined in the information sheet below.

What does this mean for Columba?

We are currently working very hard to ensure all our policies and procedures are inline with the new 11 Child Safe Standards. Over the next month, you will see changes to our school web page, specifically our policies and Child Safe sections.

We are developing ways of being more culturally sensitive through the school and working to develop procedures that involve the community in the safety of our children

We have also appointed a new Child Safe Champion, Kate Muccignat. Kate is a brilliant prep teacher but one of many Columba staff who believe keeping our children safe should be the priority for all of us. We know that Kate will do an amazing job as another key part of the Columba Leadership Team.

For more information, please visit the Commission for Young People CHILD SAFE STANDARDS Website

_________________

A message from the

Cardinia Shire:

To assist Cardinia Shire Council’s team of School Crossing Supervisors, Cardinia Shire will be campaigning a new message each fortnight. Although we should all know the road rules, there are some drivers who may not be aware, and this may be the reason that illegal parking is often a problem. Schools will be emailed with all the School Crossing Rules and introduce the Cardinia Shire Council Crossing Supervisors in your school area.

SCHOOL FEES & CONCESSIONS

Term 3 fees are now due. Please keep your account up to date. If you have not received your Term 3 fee statement, it will arrive through email shortly.

Helping Schools in

3rd World Countries

Columba furniture is going Overseas!

Last weekend, members of the Rotary Club met Andrew at school to collect some of the school furniture we no longer have use for. This furniture is stored and then shipped overseas to third world countries to help them setup schools in regional areas. Columba gave enough 'spare' furniture to start and entire school in the Solomon Islands.

A big thank you to the members of Rotary who worked very hard to load the trailer but also to organise such a thoughtful effort for those who need the help and support. How lucky Columba is to play such a small part in making the world better for others that are not as luccky as we are.