IONA 19

I was given the honour of being Ms Grima’s shadow as ‘Student Principal for the Day’ on Friday the 20th of November. I joined Ms Grima to participate in so many fun leadership adventures, such as online meetings with the College’s 2021 Year 7 students, in-person meetings with the Archivists in the Archives to see the College’s confidential files, beautiful uniform items and historical artifacts!

The main lessons I learnt from this humbling experience are how communication, teamwork and values are the fundamental aspects required to be a great principal and leader.

Leaders must be effective communicators to be a success. By joining Ms Grima to meet with Mrs Zanic (the College Registrar) to ask each other clarification questions about the College’s 2021 student enrolments, I learnt that tasks wouldn’t be completed well or at all with no communication.

Working in teams improves the quality of tasks by gaining insights from team members. Ms Grima’s meeting with Ms Almeida to discuss the upcoming changes to the College’s Organisation and Communication Model taught me that if the teamwork element hadn’t been included in this process, the model wouldn’t have been adjusted in a way that would be most beneficial to St. Columba’s.

Embodying the right values to lead a community effectively is vital for a principal or other powers of authority. Ms Grima informed me that her values are based on the four main pillars of the College: Catholic faith, learning and teaching, wellbeing and community engagement. Within her role as principal, she believes that being a good listener and a warm relationship-builder with students and staff is how to generate a great working environment. The quality of a leader’s leadership in a workplace would diminish without embodying the appropriate values of the workplace.

I would highly recommend all 2021 Year 7, 8 and 9 students to apply for this position as ‘Student Principal for a Day’ as it will help develop your leadership skills that will be a huge part of your success in your future after your time at the College. The fundamental skills that you’ll learn in leadership positions, like ‘Student Principal for a Day’ will not only assist you in your leadership journey but also your everyday life.

These skills Ms Grima has assisted me to develop and improve throughout my time as ‘Student Principal for the Day’ because these skills are very relevant to achieving my dream of becoming an owner of a commercial law firm. I will use my communication skills in this position as I need to be in contact with my employees to ensure my company is running smoothly throughout all sectors of my business. My teamwork skills will be required to be in constant use to gain my colleagues’ insights to further improve my company. My values will be reflected in my actions and words in everything I do for my company.

The lessons about communication, teamwork and values that I’ve learnt throughout this experience will not only be invaluable to me when I start a commercial law firm, but it’ll also apply to you no matter what career you decide to pursue. If you do go for this position or any other leadership position, you’ll be grateful for your decision to put yourself in the driver’s seat. I know this because I am extremely grateful for this opportunity. Thank you, Ms McDonald and Ms Grima for this amazing opportunity.

Advent Prayer

This Sunday we begin the sacred time of preparation to welcome Jesus into our world again. After this year of great sadness, uncertainty and hoping, may our hope in the coming of Jesus, guide and strengthen us. Let us pray…

God of hope

be with us in our Advent journey

to the stable and beyond,

As we celebrate your coming in the human person of Jesus – Emmanuel: God-with-us.

Be with us in our work today as we support the learning of our students,

be with us as we balance the demands of our lives

Be with us as we entrust this day to you

be with us in our Advent journey

to the stable and beyond,

our God of hope.

We offer this prayer in your Holy name.

Amen.

Recently, students, parents and staff were asked to provide their feedback, via a survey, about the timetable structure that has been in operation in term 4. Thank you to the 40 staff, 26 parents and 514 students who took the time to complete the survey.

The results of the survey showed that all parties, students, staff and parents, overwhelmingly shared similar opinions. When asked, if the 3.00pm finishing time was very important, the percentages of people saying that this was very important, is as follows:

                             Students – 92%

                             Parents – 96%

                             Staff – 68%

Greater importance was placed on the rest break between lessons 1 and 2, than between lessons 2 and 3 as the data below indicates.

When asked, how should the 30 minutes allocated to the breaks (other than lunch) be divided, there were several popular options that were put forward. The most popular suggestion, however, was to have a longer break between lessons 1 and 2, and a shorter break between lessons 2 and 3.

The following timetable structure will be in place for 2021 which we believe best reflects the feedback we have received.

Once again, thank you for your input.

All students progressing to Year 11 have the opportunity to have piping sewn onto their Blazer lapels.

Students who wish to take up this opportunity must submit their blazers (with their payment form) on:

DAY:             Thursday 3 December 2020
TO:               Front Reception
TIME:           any time between 8.15am and 12.30pm

The cost of the service is $48.00, payable at the time by Credit Card only. Price includes dry cleaning.

Families have been sent a copy of the payment form provided by Noone. Please print off this form or a hard copy payment form can be collected from either Student Reception or outside the House Leader’s Office.

On the day of collection, students must ensure that they have clearly labelled their Blazer with their full name on the inside pocket, that all badges have been removed and that the payment form is submitted.

The College has been working extensively with our project management consultant, Monto Projects, to complete the comprehensive details required for the tender process to replace all the College’s external cladding.  The successful building company is Linia Group who have significant experience with cladding works on school and commercial buildings.

Linia Group will be commencing work on site this month with a project target completion date of 20 January 2021. Other than a few weeks in November / December all the works will be completed when the students are not onsite.  If all goes according to plan, when the students return to the College in 2021, the current occupancy restrictions related to the use of the Nicholson Building will be removed so all areas of this building will return to full functionality.

Recently, the College celebrated National Recycling Week to bring awareness to our waste habits and consumption, and their impacts on the environment.

To celebrate the week, we launched a recycling station in the STEM lab where students can donate a number of materials like old buttons and toilet paper rolls that will be recycled in STEM activities and projects.

The College has also started a collection of breadtags in the STEM lab and at the canteen. These will be donated to Aussie Bread Tags for Wheelchairs where they are melted down into useful plastics items and sold to fund wheelchairs for people in South Africa. The new collection was advertised with a competition where students could guess how many bread tags were in the jar to go in the running for an eco-friendly prize. We encourage all members of our community to start collecting their recyclables to donate.

Students were invited to participate in a beeswax wrap workshop during lunchtime, that encouraged waste reduction and a no-sew t-shirt bag workshop that encouraged us to reuse and recycle the materials we have. I hope this week has inspired our community to make conscious decisions to reduce, reuse and recycle.

Since September, our Year 11 students have been examining messages of sacred texts (the Bible and Qur’an) around interpretations of women. We have come to understand that for the times they were written, the messages for women of the time were liberating and revolutionary.

As a final social justice activity for women of the world, this class dedicated their final lesson of Texts in Society to providing safer, more hygienic conditions where none exist for women and girls.

Ms Narelle Fewster, our Student Leadership coordinator, approached us with the proposition of packing Birthing Kits. These are provided by Zonta and distributed worldwide. Each kit holds a plastic sheet, a scalpel, string, gauze, gloves and soap to minimise dangerous infection.

Thank you girls. Yet another thing we’ll never again take for granted in this year of strange times when disadvantage has been exacerbated.

God bless all women in the important work of child bearing.

This is the final Careers Newsletter for the year. However, Year 12 students will be emailed any relevant information which may arrive between now and when results are released.

Topics in the final Careers Newsletter of 2020 include:

• Change of preference expos (Year 12)
• Courses at Victoria University that don’t require an ATAR for the 2021 intake (Year 12)
• Find a job
• Competition – win a STEM pack
• Get savvy about your finances
• Advertising and media – career articles
• Study in the United States
• Looking for an apprenticeship?
• Upcoming virtual career events (gaming and animation, engineering, design)
• Victoria Police Force careers

Change of Preference Information here

Access the Careers News here

Visit the Pathways website here