Week 5 Term 2 2022
Acknowledgement of Country
We would like to acknowledge the traditional custodians of this land the Birri-Gubba Juru people and pay our respects to the elders past, present and future for they hold the memories, the traditions, the culture and hopes of Indigenous Australia.
Principal & Teaching and Learning Update
St Colman's will be hosting their Open Day on Thursday 9th June. This is not only an opportunity for Prep students for 2023 but also other families that might be interested in coming to see what St Colman's offers. The Open Day has a theme of Farms and we will be having a petting farm, antique machinery, planting seeds and other fun farm craft. All families are welcome to attend.
If you have a child who is coming next year please ensure that you have picked up an enrolment form and return it as soon as possible.
Naplan
Congratulations to our Year 3 and Year 5 students who completed Naplan last week and some tests this week. We are extremely proud of you for doing your best.
Next Year Naplan will occur in Term 1 in early March. St Colman's will be working with our students to prepare them in Term 4 this year. We will be preparing the Year 2 students with their ICT skills so when they move to Year 3 they will be ready to complete Naplan online. Our WOW (Work on Writing) program will have a "vacation" for the rest of the term and then we will restart the program in Term 3 to focus on the specific writing skills often used in Naplan. We have found the WOW program to be extremely beneficial for the students - the amount of writing and quality has shown huge growth.
CSP
Thank you to all those that attended the CSP meeting on Monday - it was a wonderful turn out. The CSP this year has the theme " St Colman's we friend raise not fundraise." Our president Geneieve Smith would like to continue to grow the St Colman's School community feel and ensure that every family feels a part of our community. To help promote our "friend raise" the CSP is hosting a few events this term and in Term 3. These events will be free (except for the Cowboy Footy Trip) so please consider coming to them and meeting other parents and the children having the opportunity to develop their friendships.
Religious Education News
St Colman’s will be hosting their first Sunday School Mass for 2022 on Sunday 5th June at 8am at St Colman’s Church Home Hill. Father Manoj has changed the mass time to make it more family friendly.
We are asking families to come to the morning and celebrate as a community. Our seven Confirmation candidates will also be presented to the parish at this mass. A morning tea will be served afterwards for families. A note was sent home on Monday asking for volunteers. Please ensure you return the note if you are able to help.
What is the Catholic Identity Advisory Team?
The Catholic Identity Advisory Team is an advisory group within the school community that supports the work of the school leadership team in enhancing the Catholic Identity of the school.
The Catholic Identity Advisory Team (part of our CSP role) reflects, perceives, imagines and expresses the distinctiveness of the Catholic Identity of the school so that specific school-based strategies are adopted and outcomes realised.
As part of our work in the CSP we will be looking at these issues. To help everyone understand our Catholic identity we will be looking at the history and charism of our school. Our first history element deals with the first 60 years of St Colman's School.
THE FIRST 60 YEARS
In 1926, St. Colman’s Parish was officially established and the first Parish priest, Father W. O’Regan, applied to the Mother Superior of the Strand Convent, Townsville to send some sisters as soon as a convent was available. This was opened on April 7th, 1927.
The first principal of the school was Mother Benedicta. At first, there was no school building and classes were held in the convent itself and the church which had to be reconverted for Masses on Sundays. In spite of all this, the school progressed very favourably with numbers reaching almost 200 students in classes ranging from infants to scholarship.
Parish priest, Father Myles Lyons oversaw the construction of the first school building during the years 1933 to 1937. Verandahs were added on at later stages, as were partitions separating the building into separate rooms.
St. Colman’s followed the continual changes in the Queensland educational system. The external scholarship was abolished in 1963, and a new maths syllabus introduced in 1966. Education Week was held each year, to give parents the opportunity to be involved in education. School fees were introduced in 1967, as St. Colman’s became part of an education system run at diocesan level. This era also saw the introduction of ‘technology’ in the classroom, in the form of televisions, duplicators and tape recorders.
The Sisters of Mercy made a great contribution to the education of the children of St. Colman’s School. Education in faith was stressed and children were urged to lead lives which reflected their Catholic faith. High educational standards were demanded of the children in their school work. The children of St.Colman’s were also encouraged to participate in games and sports, as well as taking part in the Diocesan Mary Help of Christians Procession and Sports in Townsville.
The Sisters taught music at the convent to the children of St. Colman’s where music had traditionally been strong. They also taught music to children from the local State Schools. Each year, St. Patrick’s concerts were held, as well as fancy dress balls. In 1963, there was even a miniature Catholic Debutante Ball. In the latter part of this era, participation in the Burdekin Junior Eisteddfod enabled the children of St. Colman’s to continue their strong musical heritage.
The last Sisters of Mercy principal was Sister Ursula. She was replaced in 1977 by the school’s first lay principal, Mr. Jim O’Brien. The number of sisters on staff decreased over the ensuing years until the last sister on the teaching staff, Sister Alexis, retired at the end of 1986.
The school celebrated its Golden Jubilee in 1977, with a Mass celebrated by His Lordship, Bishop L.Faulkner. A barbecue followed in the school grounds. The occasion included speeches and the unveiling of a plaque in tribute to the Sisters of Mercy.
During this time students attended a school mass each Friday morning. Each class took turns to prepare this liturgy. Parent –Teacher interviews were introduced and teachers took part in many in-service activities to keep up with the changing curriculum.
Two competition houses, Leichhardt and Wickham, were created mainly for athletics and swimming competitions. The school had school captains as well as house captains elected each year. Children continue to compete at inter-house and inter-school levels with great enthusiasm. The inter – house athletics carnival is held each year in the grounds of the Home Hill High School while the inter-house swimming carnival is held at the Home Hill pool. Both of these events were an opportunity for both parents and children to become involved in friendly competition and develop good sportsmanship.
Next School Wednesday Mass
On Wednesday 8th June Year 5/6 will lead the school for mass with a theme of Care for Our Common Home. This theme is based on the writings of the Holy Father Pope Francis who wrote ; ‘Laudato Si’. This document calls us to love and respect all creation and to work together to ensure the health and sustainability of our common home for all peoples and creatures.
A prayer for our Earth
All-powerful God, you are present in the whole universe
and in the smallest of your creatures.
You embrace with your tenderness all that exists.
Pour out upon us the power of your love,
that we may protect life and beauty.
Fill us with peace, that we may live
as brothers and sisters, harming no one.
O God of the poor,
help us to rescue the abandoned and forgotten of this earth,
so precious in your eyes.
Bring healing to our lives,
that we may protect the world and not prey on it,
that we may sow beauty, not pollution and destruction.
Touch the hearts
of those who look only for gain
at the expense of the poor and the earth.
Teach us to discover the worth of each thing,
to be filled with awe and contemplation,
to recognize that we are profoundly united
with every creature
as we journey towards your infinite light.
We thank you for being with us each day.
Encourage us, we pray, in our struggle
for justice, love and peace.
- Pope Francis
Tuckshop news
Birthdays
Student of the Week
25 Nights Reading Awards
Sport Update
Congratulations to all our Cross Country Champions. It was a wonderful day and well received. The Champions were for 2022 Cross Country :
Under 5 Girls
Champion - Lola Smith
Runner up - Arabella Totorica
3rd - Brianna Mann
Under 5 Boys
Champion - Jaxon Watkins
Runner up - Patrick Richards
3rd - Jax Jones
Under 6 Girls
Champion - Mila Caspanello
Runner up - Aria Broadhead
3rd - Thea Woods
Under 6 Boys
Champion - River Vass
Runner up - Nate Caspanello
3rd - Theo Derlagen
Under 7 Girls
Champion - Evie Totorica
Runner up - Hudsyn Bradford
3rd - Maddison Land
Under 7 Boys
Champion - Tyler Chapman
Runner up - Kayden Fabbro
Under 8 Girls
Champion - Charlee Heatley
Runner up - Bryar Totorica
3rd - Poppi Smith
Under 8 Boys
Champion - Ryder Vass
Runner up - Archie Sgori
3rd - Daley Caspanello
Under 9 Girls
Champion - Kate Michielin
Runner up - Lilly Land
Under 9 Boys
Champion - Ben Watkins
Runner up - Lincoln Bonanno
3rd - Digby Brown
Under 10 Girls
Champion - Eden Godfrey
Runner up -Lacey Kiehne
3rd - Miley Totorica
Under 10 Boys
Champion - Raysean Conway
Runner up - Raymarl Conway
3rd - William Stanton Cook
Under 11 Girls
Champion -Harmony Dale
Runner up - Lily Lowis
Under 11 Boys
Champion - Arlow Brown
Runner up -Zachary Dale
3rd - Sam Heatley
Burdekin School Sports Representatives
Raysean Conway, Arlow Brown and Zachary Dale have been chosen for the Burdekin Cross Country team - a wonderful achievement. We would also like to congratulate Sam Heatley who has been chosen for the Burdekin Soccer team and to Will Stanton-Cook who was selected in the Burdekin Tennis Team. Well done boys.
Inter-school Sport – Term 2, 2022
Term 2 Yr 5/6 Friday sports will consist of two carnival days on Friday 20 May (week 5) and Friday 3 June (week 7) between 11.00am-2.30pm. Good luck to our Year 5/6 students who will play this Friday.
The sports and venues are as follows:
BOYS Football (Soccer) International Park, Burdekin FC
GIRLS T-ball Burdekin Touch Field
Good Luck - Netball and Rugby League Carnival
The Northern Region Primary School Netball Cup is being held on Friday 27th May, 2022 in Townsville at the Murray Sporting Complex. St Francis Ayr and St Colman’s have been able to enter two teams. The following students will represent St Colman's at this event:
Eden Godfrey Indy Jacobs Miley Totorica Harmony Dale
The NQ Bill Nettle Challenge Rugby League Carnival is also being held on this day in Townsville. Once again St Francis Ayr and St Colman’s Home Hill have formed a team participate in this competition. The following students will represent St Colman's at this event:
Arlow Brown Saxon Petersen
We wish them all the best.
Upcoming events
Mulkadee 2022 – Into the Unknown
Mulkadee 2022 is back and we invite you to venture with us Into the Unknown.
This year Mulkadee will be a variety show format and will also have an added element of audio-visual allowing Townsville Catholic Education to showcase the incredible talent in our diocese.
Mulkadee provides a unique experience for students to learn from industry experts and culminates in a performance to a sell-out crowd of family and friends at the Townsville Entertainment and Convention Centre on Friday 22 July.
MULKADEE – INTO THE UNKNOWN
FRIDAY 22 JULY, 2022
TOWNSVILLE ENTERTAINMENT & CONVENTION CENTRE
FOYER OPENS 5.15pm
ARENA OPENS 6.30pm
SHOW STARTS 7.30pm
Tickets on sale at ticketek.com.au/tsvboxoffice
On Friday 27th May we have been invited to participate in the Under 8’s program at Home Hill State Primary School.
This is an activity that our younger students have attended in the past and is a great way for the children to enjoy a range of fun activities.
Children need to be at St Colman’s School by 8.45am. We will then walk to the State school. Children need to wear their school uniform, school hat and bring a water bottle.
We require parent volunteers who will walk around the school with a small group of students - four or five students and supervise them completing the activities. Parents may walk with us or meet us at Home Hill State Primary.
Please esnure that your note is returned by next Wednesday, or you can approve consent on the Compass App.
Community News
