IONA 5

“You pray for the hungry. Then you feed them. That’s how prayer works.” – Pope Francis

Loving God,
We give thanks for the life and witness of Pope Francis,
whose humble example reminded the world that prayer must be lived in action.
In a time of uncertainty and change, his voice became a beacon of compassion, justice, and simplicity.
He rekindled in many a hope for a Church that walks alongside the poor, listens to the marginalised,
and holds mercy at its heart.

We thank you for all the people, like Pope Francis, Mary Aikenhead and the Sisters of Charity,
whose mission to care for the poor, the sick, and the forgotten
has inspired generations to walk gently, act justly, and love tenderly.
Through their example, may we become people of faith who listen, lead, and serve with open hearts.

Grant us the grace to be doers of the Word,
responding to the needs of our world not just with words,
but with kindness, presence, and purposeful action.

Amen.

MOTHERS’ DAY BREAKFAST

This morning, we were delighted to welcome our mothers and mother figures to St Columba’s College for a special Mothers’ Day Breakfast, held in the MPC.

It was a wonderful opportunity for our community to come together and celebrate the care, strength, and guidance these women bring into our lives. Over a shared breakfast, students and their guests enjoyed a relaxed and meaningful start to the day.

To our dear mothers and mother figures, thank you for the love, care, and wisdom you bring to our community. It was our pleasure to celebrate you.

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). Here are the PEC meeting dates and events planned for 2025:

• Tuesday 13 May  
• Tuesday 20 May PEC Father/Male Mentor Evening  
• Tuesday 10 June
• Tuesday 17 June Mother/Daughter Movie Night
• Tuesday 22 July
• Monday 4 August PEC Rep for 2026 Year 7 Parent Information Night
• Tuesday 19 August
• Saturday 30 August Trivia Night (7:00pm – 9:00pm)
• Tuesday 16 September
• Tuesday 14 October
• Tuesday 11 November
• Friday 14 November Year 7 2026 Parents Welcome

ALUMNAE COMMITTEE

Our Alumnae Committee meet once per term on a Wednesday night between 7:00pm and 8:30pm. They are working hard to build the College’s connections to our former students so that our alumnae are able to remain in touch with each other and with the college, improving engagement with our staff and students, fostering lifelong relationships and a 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. 

The team is busy planning an exciting event to be held on Sunday 20 July – a Mid Year Pop Up Market. Please save the date!

Over the coming weeks, the College’s Performing Arts Department will be highlighting the breadth of experience and talent of our instrumental music staff. This week, we showcase our music specialists, Ms Leanda Smith (Double Bass) and Mr Liam Werrett (Saxophone).

Ms Leanda Smith
Ms Smith spent her childhood years deeply involved in high school band programs, music camps and community orchestras. Growing up in a regional town, she used to travel 3 hours each way to Melbourne every Saturday during Year 12 to attend the Melbourne Youth Orchestra. This experience paved the way for her to successfully complete a Bachelor of Music Repertoire at the Victorian College of the Arts. After her studies, Ms Smith performed full time with Orchestra Victoria playing many operas and ballets as well as other lighter concerts.

In addition, she has successfully led and played with the Melbourne Tango Quintet, playing the amazing music of Piazzolla with original line up instruments, playing several sold out shows in Melbourne.

Ms Smith has also pursued teaching in schools, music camps and weekend programs, and is passionate about sharing the love of music with the next generation. She currently teaches at St Columba’s College, Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School, Ivanhoe Primary School, as well as runs individual private lessons.

Mr Liam Werrett
Mr Werrett is a highly accomplished Melbourne based saxophonist and educator specialising in jazz and improvisation. He has performed at the Melbourne International Jazz Festival, Stonnington Jazz Festival, Wangaratta Jazz and Blues Festival, Beecheworth Music Festival and MONA FOMA Festival as well as regular performances at numerous Melbourne music venues.

Mr Werrett completed his Bachelor and Honours degrees at Monash University, which included two stints at New York University. With over 10 years of teaching experience across multiple high school music programs, he loves igniting his passion for music in future generations.

Want to take your skills to the next level? Sign up now for Term 2 private lessons. Fill in a Enrolment Form and Direct Debit Form today and return them to performingarts@columba.vic.edu.au

On the 5th of March, the Languages Club hosted a fun mask-making activity at lunchtime. The activity was to honor the Italian festive tradition of Carnevale, which started on the 14th of February and ended on the 4th of March. There were lots of different masks to choose from and lots of fun art materials that everyone could use to make their own unique masquerade mask! There was even Italian music playing in the background while everyone was creating their masks! In the end, everyone had a whole lot of fun and were immersed in an engaging cultural experience. 

There were so many different masks you could choose from, lots of paper and many cardboard animal masks. I chose the butterfly cardboard mask along with the paper mask. We all had so much fun decorating (and listening to Italian music) and sharing each other’s designs all around. With the many different supplies, you could make your mask super feathery or even full of pompoms. Overall it was a great experience and I would love to do it again!

On the 1st of April, a group of 23 students and 4 staff members set off on the Cultural Study Tour to Italy. After 24 hours of travel, we arrived in Milan. Here, we saw the original Last Supper painting by Leonardo da Vinci, which was breathtaking. We also visited the famous Milan Duomo where we went all the way to the top to take in the architecture and incredible views. Of course, it wouldn’t be a trip to Italy without trying different pastas, pizzas, and gelato everywhere we went.

Next up, we caught a fast train to Venice where we explored the famous St Mark’s Basilica, Murano and Burano islands, as well as riding a gondola along the canals. From here, we travelled to Florence, where we went to a language school for three days and walked around a lot to explore the beautiful, historic city. In Florence, we also visited the iconic Statue of David and Uffizi Gallery, where we could learn about Italy’s unique history.

To conclude this amazing trip, we went to Rome, stopping over to see the Leaning Tower of Pisa along the way. In Rome, we visited the Vatican City, Spanish  Steps, Colosseum, Roman Forum and of course the stunning Trevi Fountain. Immersing ourselves in the rich culture and history that Rome had to offer was an unforgettable experience, and the day trip to Pompeii on our last day was an excellent way to round off this trip. Flying home after two weeks was bittersweet, as we had made so many friends and memories along the way, but we also had so many stories to share with our family and friends when we arrived home.

St Columba’s College is calling on Parents, Friends and Alumnae Professionals to interview and provide feedback to our Year 9 Students as part of our Pathways Program

• Monday 30th June
• Tuesday 1st July
• Wednesday 2nd July

5.30pm to 8.30pm

Location: St. Columba’s College

Both the Interviewer (Parent/Friend/Alumnae) and the Interviewee (Student) will be onsite, face to face.

A current Working with Children Check is compulsory.

If you do not have a Volunteer WWCC, apply for free, via the following link: https://service.vic.gov.au/services/working-with-children

If you are interested in participating in this valuable program, please complete the questionnaire using the following link  by Friday 23rd May indicating your availability: https://forms.gle/LY6UQ6h9Ck3MDYsT6

Should you have any questions about the 2025 Year 9 Mock Interview Program, please do not hesitate to contact Ms. Rosalba D’Astoli, Pathways Leader via the Front Office on 9337 5311  or send an email to dastoliiannuzzir@columba.vic.edu.au

Term 1 got off to a flying start with not one, but two incredible whole-school sporting events that brought our community together in the best way possible – through sport and a whole lot of house spirit!

Multi Sports Day

Our annual Multi Sports Day set the tone for a spirited year ahead! Year 7 and 8 students made a splash at the East Keilor Leisure Centre, while the Year 9 and 10 students served up some serious skill on the volleyball courts at MSAC. Meanwhile, our Year 11 and 12 students enjoyed a variety of engaging activities at the Westgate Sports Centre.

The day was bursting with energy, friendly competition, and fantastic participation from all year levels.

🎉 A huge congratulations to Cunningham, who dominated the Intermediate and Senior events to take out the overall win!

 👏 Shoutouts go to de Lacy and O’Brien for bringing the House Spirit loud and proud, and to Williams for an impressive performance at the Junior event.

Congratulations to every student and staff member who participated, cheered, and gave it their all – what a start to 2025!

Athletics Carnival

Our Athletics Carnival brought the entire school together in one vibrant venue, and what a day it was! With the sun peeking its way through the clouds, students leapt, sprinted, and tugged their way through a jam-packed day of competition and camaraderie.

Students embraced tradition with colourful costumes and gave it their best on the track and in the field, as well as the always epic tug-o-war battles.

🏆 The Results

• Relay Champions: Cunningham

• Tug of War Champions: Cahill

• Junior Aggregate Champions: Cunningham

• Intermediate Aggregate Champions: de Lacy

• Senior Aggregate Champions: Williams

• Overall Athletics Day Champions: Cunningham

🎯 Field Champions

• Year 7: Lara P (Bruton)

• Year 8: Olivia R (Cahill)

• Year 9: Eden B (Cater)

• Year 10: Tahlia C (Williams)

• Year 11: Chloe C (O’Brien) & Tiffany M (Williams)

• Year 12: Amy C (de Lacy)

⚡ Track Champions

• Year 7: Chiara N (O’Brien)

• Year 8: Annabel S (Cunningham)

• Year 9: Caitlin W (de Lacy)

• Year 10: Amelia B (de Lacy)

• Year 11: Chloe C (O’Brien)

• Year 12: Amy W (de Lacy)

Huge congratulations to everyone involved in these events, your efforts were nothing short of inspiring – we can’t wait to see what Term 2 brings!

Last term, on Thursday the 3rd of April, St Columba’s College took part in our first ever CGSAV Indoor Cricket Competition. After training for weeks at lunchtime leading up to the competition, we took our Junior and Intermediate teams to compete against other Catholic Girls Schools at the Box Hill Indoor Sports Centre. This was the first time that St Columba’s has competed in Indoor Cricket and it was overall a successful day and both teams performed really well.

The Junior team took home 3rd place and the Intermediate team made it to the Grand Final and despite losing the final, took home 2nd place. Personally, this was a new experience for me as I had never played Indoor Cricket before, only ever playing outdoor cricket. I did not know what to expect however the rules were very easy to pick up and I had heaps of fun playing. The coaches were very encouraging and helped us to work together as well as enjoy ourselves. I would highly recommend signing up to participate next year, it was an amazing experience where I got to have fun playing as well as building new friendships.

Dolphin Science

March 29, I joined an event in Mt Martha to learn about whale and dolphin science. I was keen to find out how my interest in science and maths could be applied differently, and this workshop provided an opportunity to discover more about our Port Phillip Bay and the animals that inhabit it. 

I was one of 6 young people involved in this workshop, who got to learn about tracking and studying dolphins and real research techniques, led by a local dolphin scientist Dr Sue Mason. Dr Mason shared that the study of whales and dolphins is called cetacean science, so we wore cetacean name stickers.

We learned to identify dolphins based on a photo of their dorsal fin. Damage and scarring of the dorsal fin as a result of predation or boat accidents make each fin uniquely identifiable. This is considered a humane way to track and identify dolphins as compared to applying trackers which can reduce life expectancy. I was interested in the ethics surrounding tracking and identification of dolphins in part because we’re considering ethics as part of religious education class this year.

Next, we continued in pairs and learned how to apply mark-recapture techniques to estimate population. We took a sample of dolphin toys from a bag, marked them with a pen, then returned them to the bag and obtained a second representative sample. The number of dolphins in each sample and the number of marked dolphins in the second sample allowed us to calculate the expected population of plastic dolphins in our bag. It was interesting to see the way statistics and confidence intervals can be applied in real scientific study.

We were also introduced to ‘Cetacean Sisters’ – a program consisting of regular meet-ups (like this) over a longer period where the participants gain experience observing dolphins in our Port Phillip Bay! If I lived closer to the ocean it would be very appealing! Overall, this was an incredible opportunity advertised by the Pathway Centre in their weekly ‘Careers Newsletter’ and I was interested to consider what a career as a biostatistician may look like in cetacean science!

Bond University – Future Forum

On the 30th of March, I took my mum to a dinner in the CBD, hosted by Queensland’s Bond University! We enjoyed the chance to share a lovely catered meal and meet other ambitious yr 11 and 12 students from throughout Melbourne.

Students were seated together in groups related to areas of interest. We were prompted to talk on different subjects for each course. In between our chatter, we had the President and Vice Chancellor of Bond University, Professor Tim Brailsford, and two guest speakers address us. Two Bond alumni guest speakers related their university journeys and how they reached their current career. 

Emily Pugin told us about her law experience at Bond and how their extracurriculars challenged her to become a more confident public speaker. She now works as a Diplomat in the Department of Foreign Affairs and Trade. As an Indigenous Australian woman, she has faced significant adversity to become successful in her heavily male-dominated field of work.

 Daniel Kowalski discussed his incredible Olympic achievements and how his journey to a career was very different. He shared how his dream of being an Olympic swimmer was sparked at just 9 years of age. He focussed on his elite sporting career before completing a Bachelor’s degree over the course of a decade. The final push for him to complete his studies came as he wanted to support elite athletes’ transition into the workforce. He spoke of his pride in his Bronze medal (in contrast to his Silver and Gold) and attributes it to the work and effort it took as well as his mindset during the race. Daniel encouraged us to retain a flexible idea of where our careers may take us, and to remain open-minded when opportunities present themselves.

Each speaker shared unique experiences and encouraged us to be kind and patient to ourselves. It was affirming to be reminded that even the most “successful” feel uncertainty, and that we can all try to nurture self-confidence, and aim to advocate for ourselves so we can listen to and see opportunities. These opportunities can lead us all to careers and experiences that we may have never imagined possible.

St Columba’s College is pleased to offer Academic Excellence Scholarships for students entering Year 7 in 2027, as well as Year 9 and Year 11 in 2026. We encourage all eligible students to take advantage of this opportunity. For more information and to register online, please visit the College website.

• Scholarship testing date:  Saturday 26 July 2025
• Registration closing date:  Friday 18 July 2025

Please note that the College does not provide practice papers for the assessment, as the testing is administered by an external organisation, Academic Assessment Services.

At St Columba’s our Learning Diversity team uses a multi-tiered system of support (MTSS), the proactive and preventative framework that integrates data and instruction to maximise student success from a strengths-based perspective.

The infographic below explains how we use our annual screening process of PAT R and PAT M data to find the students requiring support each year into four simple steps:

Ref: mtss4success.org/resource/mtss-snapshot

Monday 19 May – Year 8 Reflection Day

Tuesday 20 May – PEC Night for Fathers, Male Mentors and their children

Monday 26 May – Year 9 Reflection Day

Monday 9 June – King’s Birthday Public Holiday

Tuesday 10 June – Year 10 and Year 11 Exams Commence

Monday 16 June – Year 9 Exams Commence