IONA 13

Father’s Day Breakfast

Happy Father’s Day to all of the dads, male mentors and father figures in our community. Thank you for the love, care and attention you bring to the special people in your life.

We had a terrific turn out for our Father’s Day Breakfast on the morning of 3 September. The dads in attendance were grateful for the opportunity to connect with other dads and to share this experience with their children at the College. We appreciate the support of our families in making these community events so special. Thank you to Donna Kellett and Brigitte McDonald for the care and attention that goes into the preparation of these events that build our College community.

St Vincent de Paul School Winter Sleepover

We had 82 excited students take on the responsibility of fundraising for the St Vincent de Paul Winter Sleepover, who then also spent the night sleeping out in the College’s Multi-Purpose Centre on Friday 4 September. The students’ efforts have raised a grand total of $11,414.00 to support those in need, through the good works provided by the St Vincent de Paul Society.

On the night, a representative from the Society explained to students how their fundraising efforts would help those experiencing tough times. The students took part in a decision-making exercise, trying to choose which necessities of life would have to be sacrificed due to limited or dwindling resources. A sleepout promotes compassion, empathy and practical action, and our students certainly rose to the challenge.

Thanks to each of the students who participated for their efforts, to the teachers who supported on the evening and overnight, and to Mr Lance Jilbert for building a culture of care and empathy that all our students can relate to.

Year 12 Program

As the end of the term draws near, we wish our Year 12 students preparing for exams all the best leading into their trial exam period over the Term 3 break. These exams provide a check-in for students as they develop their study programs leading into the VCAA exams.

As their academic year draws to a close, maintaining consistent standards, productive use of class time, academic focus, uniform compliance, and commitment to College expectations must be actively upheld by students and will be routinely reinforced by staff. Thank you to all the families who attend the Year 12 PIN, and for working with us to ensure a safe, respectful, and celebratory finish for the Class of 2026.

Teens and Apps

A recent article in The Guardian highlighted the changes Meta, the Facebook and Instagram parent company, must implement following a legal settlement over app design features impacting young people’s mental health. Meta must now make safety features the default option for young users, rather than requiring users to opt-in. I strongly encourage families to explore these features and consider how they can help support your child in building a healthy relationship with technology.

FATHER’S DAY BREAKFAST

Our Father’s Day Breakfast was a truly joyful occasion, with a record number of fathers and their daughters joining us for the celebration. The morning was filled with a wonderful spirit of connection, conversation and community.

A highlight of the event was our lively trivia game, featuring famous father–daughter combinations that brought plenty of friendly competition.

We extend our warm thanks to the staff team and our VET Events students who prepared the venue, organised the hospitality and supported the smooth running of the morning. Their efforts helped create a welcoming and memorable experience for all who attended.

On behalf of the St Columba’s College staff and students, we wish all fathers, grandfathers and father-figures a wonderful Father’s Day on Sunday as they are acknowledged and celebrated.

YEAR 7 TRANSITION SURVEYS

During Term 2, we invited Year 7 students and their parents/carers to complete our annual Transition Surveys, which help us understand how well students have settled into secondary schooling and into our community. These surveys have been conducted since 2019 for students and 2020 for parents/carers, giving us a clear picture of transition trends over time.

This year’s feedback was extremely positive. Highlights include:

• strong student confidence in their learning and wellbeing
• positive parent/carer perceptions of communication and support
• clear alignment with long-term improvement trends
• a small number of areas where we can continue to strengthen the transition experience

Our SEQTA Team is also responding to feedback regarding parents’/carers’ experience using our learning management system. Work is already underway, and we will communicate planned improvements soon.

ALUMNAE MENTORING PROGRAM

We are delighted to share that St Columba’s College will launch its inaugural Alumnae Mentoring Program in 2027. This initiative has been a long-term action in our Annual Action Plan, and it is wonderful to see it now coming to life.

The program will connect STCC alumnae with current students, offering mentoring, encouragement, guidance and opportunities to build meaningful connections across generations of Columban women.

What’s Ahead

• Term 3, 2026: Alumnae will be invited to participate as mentors.
• Term 4, 2026: Current Year 10 and Year 11 students will be invited to apply as mentees.
• Term 1, 2027: The program will officially commence with a breakfast launch.
• The inaugural year will begin with 15 mentor–mentee pairs.

This launch is especially fitting as it coincides with our 130th Anniversary celebrations which is a moment to honour our history, strengthen connections in the present and invest in the future of our young women.

We look forward to sharing further updates with students, staff and our alumnae community in the coming months. Students will hear more about the program in the upcoming College Assembly on Thursday 17 September.

PARENT ENGAGEMENT COMMITTEE (PEC)           

Every parent in our community is a member of the PEC and we welcome your involvement. If anyone is interested in joining the PEC or learning more about what we do you can join us in person or online – 7.30pm – meet.google.com/fij-hziu-ymk). 

Our meeting dates are as follows:

Tuesday 15 September

Tuesday 20 October

Tuesday 17 November          

FUNDRAISING

In consultation with the Student Engagement Team, funds raised through the raffle and other PEC initiatives this year will go towards the purchase of an outdoor, weather proof table tennis table for students to enjoy during breaks and lunchtime. This exciting addition will provide another active and inclusive recreational option, encouraging students to enjoy healthy physical activity in a fun and social environment.          

ALUMNAE COMMITTEE

Our Alumnae Committee meets once each term on a Wednesday evening from 7:00–8:30pm, working to strengthen and celebrate the lifelong connection between the College and our former students. Through their dedication, the Committee supports opportunities for alumnae to stay connected with one another and with the College community, fostering meaningful engagement with current staff and students and nurturing a lasting sense of belonging.

If you are an alumna and would like to become a member of the Alumnae Committee, please contact alumnae@columba.vic.edu.au. Our next meeting for is scheduled for Wednesday 14 October.

As children spend more time using apps, games, websites, and online platforms, it is important to understand how their personal information is collected and used. The Office of the Australian Information Commissioner (OAIC) is developing a Children’s Online Privacy Code to strengthen privacy protections for children and young people under 18. The Code will set additional requirements for online services that are likely to be accessed by children, including how they handle children’s personal information.

Parents can help by talking with children about what information they share online, checking privacy settings, considering which apps have access to location, photos and other information, and encouraging children to speak to a trusted adult if something doesn’t feel right.

The college has already made changes to respond to the guidance around this and will continue to make changes to our policies and procedures in response to the finalised code, which is due to be completed by December 2026. 

Please visit the link for more information OAIC Children’s Online Privacy Code

For more support,, please see: Advice for Parents around Privacy

This week, our Green Team took a massive step toward making our campus more sustainable during an exciting hands-on visit from Graziella Carta from Environment Education Victoria (EEV). Graziella led our student leaders through the first stages of a comprehensive school energy audit, equipping them with professional-grade tools to hunt down hidden energy waste across our classrooms and grounds.

This initiative is a major milestone as we actively work towards completing the ResourceSmart Schools (RSS) Energy Module and achieving our third RSS Star!

Equipped with high-tech thermal infrared imaging cameras, the girls inspected doors, windows, and walls to spot thermal leaks and drafts, seeing exactly where indoor heat escapes or sneaks in. They also put lux meters to work, measuring ambient light levels in various spaces to determine whether we are over-illuminating empty areas or if natural daylight could replace artificial lighting during peak hours.

Beyond scanning room temperatures and light levels, the Green Team expanded their energy-auditing toolkit to learn how everyday equipment impacts our carbon footprint. Graziella walked the team through transforming raw data into action, showing them how small, behavioral fixes, like closing blinds at the end of the day or adjusting thermostat targets by just one degree, can dramatically lower overall energy use.

Maya uses the thermal imaging camera on Clara.

Armed with their new findings, the Green Team is compiling data and an Energy Action Plan to present a set of practical recommendations to school leadership. Stay tuned for their upcoming energy-saving tips for the whole school community!

Take the Challenge Home!

Families can take similar simple steps at home to lower electricity bills and reduce household carbon emissions. Interested in doing a mini-audit with your children? Many libraries, including the Moonee Valley Libraries provide a free Home Environment Kit or a Thermal Imaging Camera for locals to borrow. These kits come with energy monitors, infrared thermometers, and light meters, just like the tools our students used! You can reserve a kit by calling your local library branch or placing a request directly through the online library catalogue.

Science week at St Columba’s occurred during the week of August 17th to 21st.  the National Science week theme was “Seeds of Science: Nurturing knowledge for all.” 

We had a much bigger uptake by students of the events run during Science week this year, which was pleasing. The Science staff ran a number of activities at Lunchtimes and a competition through SEQTA Notices. 

The Science club students prepared a Kahoot to run in Junior house groups and prepared show bags as prizes for each house group winner. In addition, all science students should have received a science sticker from their science teacher during a class. 

Well done to all students and staff who participated in these activities, and a big thankyou to the science staff for running these activities.

Ms Wozniak and Mr Pino discussing specimens with students in our Science Week Gallery walk event.

The students discussed various specimens with teachers, and answered a series of questions linked to their class knowledge. We had 15 entries, and the winner of the Science gallery walk competition was:  Arya DS-B- congratulations Arya. To claim your prize, please see Dr Trapani in the Slater office over the next week or so. 

Next, the winners of our Science meme competition. We had 8 entries overall and our judges had fun reading all of the memes. The winners and runners up for the student prize are below, and the Teacher winner is included too. To claim your prize, please see Dr Trapani in the Slater office over the next week or so. 

Winner: Mary B and Anne B.H

Explanation: Organic Chemistry Carboxylic Acid

Runner up prize: Allegra S 

Explanation: The meme represents the interconnectedness of biology, chemistry and physics. All three sciences study matter and how it behaves, but they examine it at different scales and levels of complexity. Physics focuses on fundamental particles, forces and energy, chemistry looks at atoms, molecules and chemical reactions, while biology examines complex living systems made from those molecules. The joke about “different zoom settings” suggests that when you zoom in on biology, you eventually reach chemistry and then physics – showing how the sciences overlap and build upon each other.

Well done for all who entered- some of your answers were extremely creative! 

Looking forward to the excitement of science week for next year!

On our Urban Experience, we spent the week exploring Melbourne’s CBD, discovering new places and learning more about the city around us. We visited many places, such as Queen Victoria Market, St Vincent’s Hospital, and lots of laneways and arcades filled with various shops and street art. One of the highlights of this experience was the freedom we were given and the trust the teachers had in us. Being able to figure out how to get to places on our own gave us a new level of independence we couldn’t have gained by sitting in a classroom. While exploring the city, we discovered its many historical stories, including how Queen Victoria Market was built over a cemetery. Having the St Bernard’s boys there made the experience even more enjoyable and memorable because of their fun personalities. Overall, the Urban Experience was a memorable week that I will never forget. The Urban Experience was not only an opportunity to explore Melbourne, but also a chance to develop our independence, create lasting memories and form new friendships.

CGSAV Junior Netball competition 

On Tuesday the 1st of September we took over 50 students, making up our Junior D-I teams to Parkville to compete in the CGSAV Junior Netball Competition. It was a fun day for all of our 6 teams, each getting to display their skills and demonstrate all the hard work they have put in at our training sessions for the last 4 weeks. 

All teams gave it their best and had a fun day making new friends – the highlight being our Junior D team making it into the Grand Final and finishing Runners up for the day!

A special shout out had to go to our 6 Student coaches from years 9 to 11 – Ava V, Lara S, Phoebe P, Ava B, April W and Olivia R for all their hard work on the day. 

Congratulations to all who went on the day.

Term 3: CAREER NEWS – Newsletter 22 | Monday 7 – 11 September

Please find below the link and summary of all the information in the Career Newsletter:

Careers Newsletter

In this edition:

In this edition:

– VTAC 2027 Upcoming Key Dates     
– Monash University News: Monash Information Evening & VCE Science Exam Revision Event
– Australian Catholic University: Missing Prerequisites                 
– Vic Uni: Early Entry
– Swinburne: Bachelor of Design (Fashion, Bachelor of Biomedical Science & Bachelor of Nutrition
– William Angliss: 2027 Course Guides & School Holidays Program
– RMIT: 2027 Course Guides & RMIT UniReady
– Bond Uni: Entry
– AIM: Music Theatre Audition Workshop
– Federation Uni: Course Guide & Early Entry
– Aviation
– Deakin: Deakin Uni Ready & Deakin Accelerated Webinar
– Collarts: Information
– Melbourne Uni: Course prerequisites for entry to Melbourne & Explore the Uni Ready Enabling Program
– Torrens University: Information
– University of Tasmania: Bachelor of Medical Science and Doctor of Medicine 
– Australian National University: Scholars Program & Diplomas
– Doctor For A Day
– SAE: Create for a day
– La Trobe University: September School Holiday Activities & Bachelor of Biomedicine
– Whitehouse Institute of Design: September School Holidays Workshops
– Carlton College of Sport
– VCE Extension Studies on offer in 2027
– September School Holiday Events 2026
– CDW Studios Online Information Session
– Elevate Education: Live Parent Webinar: How You Can Support Your Child During Exams

Also, a guide to upcoming September School Holiday Events HERE.

Happy reading! If you require any further assistance, please DM a member of the Pathways team at  pathways@columba.vic.edu.au

The Sophia Library will be open for the first week of the school holidays to coincide with the VCE Units 3/4 Trial Exams. Hours will be 8.30 am. – 3.30pm Monday to Thursday.

The team at Valley Youth have been working hard behind the scenes organising our spring school holiday program and youth month events for September.

We’ve got a jam-packed schedule for young people in Moonee Valley, including First Aid & CPR training, Craft & Connect, Clothing Swap, Screen Printing/Stamp Making and our Game Zone program. We also have our two big events; Glow Motion (a glow run/walk around Queens Park) and the 2026 Queer Youth Soiree (a pride party for LGBTQIA+ young people, friends, and allies).

Click here to view the Youth Month Flyers

9 September – Spring Music Concert

11 September – Marby Run

13 September – Alumnae Spring Market

16 September – Cape York Immersion

17 September – End of Term Assembly

18 September – End of Term 3