September 8th, 2022
- Acknowledgement of Country
- Prayer
- A Note from our Principal
- Sympathies
- Congratulations to Our Mermaids
- School Improvement Survey
- Sports Night With Our Dads
- Arrangements for the End of Term
- SRC Yard Behaviour Competition
- Hats On in Term 4
- The Twilight Fair is Back!
- Twilight Fair Raffle
- Hot off the Prep Press!
- Breakfast Club News
- Canteen News - Help Required
- School Fees
- Footy Colours Day for Foodshare
- The Jungle Book Kids
- Before & After School Care
- Crisis Meals
- Second Hand Uniforms
- Breakfast Club
- Parish Contact
- Upcoming Dates
- School Canteen Roster
- Lost & Found
- Our Diocesan Community
- COVID 19 Arrangements
Acknowledgement of Country
The St Pius X Parish School Community acknowledges the Gunditjmara / Marr Nation people who have educated children on these lands for thousands of years.
Prayer
God of Love,
Jesus inspires us with the story of the Prodigal Son.
Help us to find the pieces of broken relationships
and place these back together in a new and stronger way.
AMEN
A Note from our Principal
Ngata Families & Friends,
We are hard at work putting the final touches on our school production The Jungle Book Kids, by the time of next week’s newsletter it will all be over! The students are very much looking forward to their families seeing their performance and also showing this to kindergarten students and other schools as part of a dress rehearsal.
Like the Fathers Day Sports Night, the production will be another great way for our community to come together as one. We of course ask that attendees be mindful of COVID, and encourage masks and will have hand sanitiser stations in the hall.
I’m looking forward to seeing you on Wednesday evening.
Please check the latest COVID regulations, published at the end of the newsletter. Quarantine requirements change over the weekend.
Joe Ewing
Principal
Sympathies
We offer our sincere condolences to the Brown family on the death of Mary Mugavin Brown this week. Mary is the mother in law of our staff colleague Louise Brown, and also the aunt and great aunt of Shahne Wilkinson and Charlie Kent.
Congratulations to Our Mermaids
Many school families were at the ARC on Saturday night and many others were glued to YouTube as the Warrnambool Mermaids triumphed in game 2 of the Big V Division 1 Championship. We were all especially proud of our very own Mermaids Louise Brown and Kate Sewell who both starred. Also playing were past student Matilda Sewell and past staff member Amy Wormald. Well done to the team on a thrilling victory!
School Improvement Survey
At the beginning of this week, a sample of parents received an invitation to participate in the Insight SRC school improvement survey. This survey is held every two years and the data collected is used to review school progress, chart improvement and suggest future directions. Our parent data is always very low, and sits at 6% for the current survey. If you received an invitation you are asked to consider participating - we would like to ensure a valid parent voice in our data.
Sports Night With Our Dads
A great afternoon was had by everyone last Friday afternoon when our dads and other special people were invited to school for the Sports Night. Thanks to Susan White who led the BBQ organisation and operation. Thanks also to those parents who assisted with the catering and our staff who umpired games and joined the fun in the yard. Check out the photo gallery below.
Gallery
Arrangements for the End of Term
Friday, September 16th is the final day of Term 3 and we remind families that classes finish at 2.30pm on this day.
SRC Yard Behaviour Competition
The annual SRC yard behaviour competition started this week and will run for the last 2 weeks of term. This year it is a contest between the PODS, with the most nominations of good yard behaviour winning a movie and an icy pole on the last day of term. There is also an overall prize for one lucky person in our raffle. Teachers are looking for students using equipment safely, including others, using the tag tackle technique in football, packing up the shed and following any of our outside norms.
Hats On in Term 4
In accordance with our sunsmart policy all students and staff are required to wear a school hat for all outdoor activities during Term 1 & 4.
We ask all families to locate student hats in preparation for Term 4. New hats are available to purchase from the school office for $12.00 ea.
The Twilight Fair is Back!
The Twilight Fair will return on Friday October 28th. The P&F intend that this be an intentionally small scale event - manageable, yet an opportunity for our community to come together. A list of stalls / events is below. Some are already allocated, but families who would like to take responsibility for a stall / event are invited to contact the office to claim one. Fresh ideas are welcome!
Twilight Fair Raffle
Plans are well on the way with our Twilight Fair - Friday 28th October 2022. For the last couple of years, due to COVID, we have not been able to conduct our Fair, but have had a major raffle. WELL...... this year we plan to combine the raffle with the Fair! Tickets are being prepared and prizes are being sorted.
Vouchers make a great prize along with an assortment of prizes. Please consider your response to our invitation to support this raffle. You maybe able to
- supply a voucher from your business,
- ask a business that you shop at for their support
- suggest appropriate business to approach
- donate towards the raffle
I welcome any assistance, suggestions and/or support that you may be able to provide.
Thank you in advance. Anne - akerr@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au school:- 5562 2506
This is our chance to make valuable funds and maybe contribute to new playground equipment. Remember raffle ticket sellers are very important. We need everyone’s support. Please consider helping out when tickets become available.
Hot off the Prep Press!
Olivia’s Special Show and Tell
On Tuesday, Olivia bought in some very special Show and Tell. Her brand new baby Conall came in for a visit. Big sister Olivia nursed and cuddled him the whole time. We learnt that he does a lot of sleeping, that he sometimes eats when Olivia is sleeping. We learnt that he was only 14 days old (which is the same as 2 weeks!) and that his birthday is on the 23rd of August. We also learnt that he has put on 2 kilograms in weight because of all the healthy milk that he is drinking. He has very tiny hands and long skinny arms. We loved meeting this beautiful baby boy!!
I care for God’s World
Last week we watched a clip on Clean Up Australia Day. We then spent time going on a rubbish hunt around our school. We wore some special gardening gloves and we took some rubbish bags around the school. We were amazed at all the rubbish that we found. Everyone needs to clean up Australia especially in our schools, our homes and our Warrnambool environment.
Welcome Raymond!!
This week we welcomed a new student into our Prep room. Raymond Nguyen has joined us from Vietnam and we welcome him and his family into our room. Raymond already knows Tom and Messi but he is making lots of new friends everyday. We know that he is learning his numbers, how to write his name and how to read letters and sounds. We look forward to getting to know Raymond and to help him to learn lots of things in English.
Breakfast Club News
Wednesday Morning Breakfast Club has been flat out this term with around 100 students coming along each week for some cereal, muesli bars, fruit and of course, some yummy toast! It is great to see all the smiles and the hungry tummies being filled before school. We thank our volunteers Tracey and Maddy who run our breakfast club each Wednesday and we invite any Parents or Friends that might be available to help the ladies on a Wednesday to contact the office.
Canteen News - Help Required
Next Friday (September 16) at midday there will be another thorough clean of our canteen. Any parent who is able to volunteer 30 - 60 minutes to help would be greatly appreciated. This clean will be at midday.
School Fees
A copy of your statement was sent home last week. We greatly appreciate funds that we have already received. Unfortunately, we have a number of accounts that have yet to be addressed. I draw particular attention to families who have had children who attended camps and excursions. These activities have had to be paid either before or at the time of the activity and the school has had to cover all costs and this has placed a great burden on our school budget.
Could families with outstanding fees please address this issue and save us both the embarrassment of a phone call.
Thank you Anne
Footy Colours Day for Foodshare
As the finals are nearly underway in the men's competition of the AFL and the AFLW is just getting underway for another season, we will be holding our annual footy colours day on the last day of term. Of course AFL / AFLW teams will be represented, but netball, soccer and basketball fans are welcome to wear their colours also.
Everyone wearing their team’s colours is asked to bring a gold coin donation. This money will be donated to Foodshare who not only support our Breakfast Club, but provide relief food to families all over Warrnambool.
The Jungle Book Kids
Only 6 sleeps until our talented performers take to the stage on September 14th. This week we have been performing in the large hall on the stage and puting the performance together as a whole. Our backdrop sets are being constructed and we are thinking about how we use the space of the stage.
COSTUMES:
We ask all students to please have their performance clothes, clearly labelled in a plastic bag. They will need to be brought to school as soon as possible. Hopefully all classroom and choir costume requirements have been examined by families. They are published again below.
Prep: Monkeys
Black tee shirt (can be long or short),
Black pants, leggings or shorts.
Yr 1 - 6: The Jungle
Black, brown or dark pants / shorts
Black , brown or dark top (long or short)
Choir
Black, brown or dark pants / shorts
Black, brown or dark top (long or short)
Before & After School Care
We remind everyone about TheirCare, our outside school hours care provider. Bookings can be made at https://theircare.com.au/
Please select St Pius X Warrnambool as the booking location.
Crisis Meals
Each week a volunteer has been rostered to provide a freezable meal to our school to be distributed to a family experiencing hardship, grief or unforeseen circumstances. These meals have been regularly distributed and the families receiving them have been most grateful.
The volunteer for this week is Anne Kerr.
The upcoming roster is below. More volunteers are always welcome!
Ideally meals should be easy to freeze & serve, and should be labelled so that the type meal can be easily identified. Any other families wishing to volunteer can now do so by calling the office directly. Meals can be dropped to the office.
Second Hand Uniforms
Families seeking low cost uniform items are welcome to contact Angela Verspay (mum to Dylan and Finn) who has stock of many donated uniform items. Ph: 0477660119.
Recently we have had a call on second hand uniforms. We are desperately in need of larger sizes to replenish our stock. If you have any school uniform clothing in reasonable condition we would very much appreciate your support. Please contact Angela if you are in a position to assist.
Breakfast Club
Every Wednesday from 8:15 breakfast will be available in the function room for any students that would like to have some breakfast before the school day starts! Everyone is more than welcome to come along, even if they have already had breakfast at home. It is a great initiative supported by FoodShare who provide fruit, yoghurt, cereal and yummy toast.
Thanks to our parent volunteers Maddy and Tracey.
Parish Contact
Sunday Mass 10.00 @ St Pius X Church. School families are always welcome.
The Parish office can be contacted on 5562 2231
Other information and contact details can be found on the Star of the Sea South West Coast website: https://www.ballarat.catholic.org.au/parish/southwestcoast/
Upcoming Dates
Sep 14 School Production: The Jungle Book Kids
Sep 16 Last Day of Term 3 - 2.30pm finish
Oct 3 Term 4 begins
Oct 28 Twilight Fair
School Canteen Roster
| Tuesday, 13th September | Wednesday, 14th September | Thursday, 15th September | Friday, 16th September |
| Anna McKenzie | Helper Required | Lauren Johnson | Sonja Martin |
Lost & Found
Have you seen the film Lion?
Lion is the incredible true story of an Australian man who was born in India and, after being separated from his birth family, was placed with an adoptive family in Tasmania. As an adult, and after an incredible search, he was reunited with his birth mother. I defy anyone to watch the film without at least a lump in their throat at the end of the film!
Rembrandt's version of the Prodigal Son.
The story of Saroo is amazing in its scope, but the emotion of the connection between parent and child is universal.
It gives an extra layer of meaning to Sunday’s Gospel, in which Jesus tells the story of the Prodigal (lost) Son.
The son breaks his relationship with his family and is considered lost to them. He lives life on his own terms and eventually ends up with nothing. At the end of the story, he seeks to reunite and be forgiven by his family.
More than once, Jesus uses the metaphor of something lost - the son, a sheep, a coin as a way to communicate the feeling of a broken relationship.
The real Saroo, with both of his mothers.
Saroo’s experience of being lost was the result of childhood innocence rather than selfishness, but the break in relationship for both he and his mother was just as painful as the one in Jesus’ story and the element that connects these for me.
We all experience the loss of relationship with others from time to time. Jesus encourages us to seek and find these relationships again, ready to forgive and be forgiven.
Our Diocesan Community
The link below opens the quarterly diocesan magazine that features news from across the Ballarat Diocese.
COVID 19 Arrangements
UPDATED: Managing a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19
As soon as a staff member or student becomes aware of being a suspected case - that is symptomatic (fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, loss of smell or taste:
- The suspected case is required to leave the school site, or be isolated on-site until they are able to leave.
- The suspected case is required to be tested with a rapid antigen test. A positive test result must be reported to the Department of Health
- Positive cases must be isolated for 5 days, but should only return to school if symptom free.
In the event that school receives notification that a staff member or student was infectious while onsite:
- All staff must use a rapid antigen test if they have symptoms.
- All students must use a rapid antigen test if they have symptoms.
- Staff and students will be strongly encouraged to use rapid antigen tests for the following 5 days if they don’t have symptoms.
Where a positive case is recorded from a staff member or student who has been on site, the school community will be notified. Personal information will not be released in this communication.
If a staff member or student tests positive with a rapid antigen test but does not have symptoms or has not been in contact with a positive case, a PCR test is recommended. If a subsequent PCR shows a negative result the staff member or student can return to school.
Close Contacts
A close contact (a person who has spent more than four hours with someone who has COVID 19 inside a house, accommodation or care facility) is no longer required to quarantine, as long as they follow the additional safety measures:
- Notify the school if returning within the 7 day period.
- Undertake RAT testing on school days within the 7 day period (unless the 4 week exemption applies)
- Wear a mask indoors if an adult or a student (aged 8 years or above).
- Not visit hospitals or care facilities.
- Avoid contact with people at higher risk of infection.
If symptomatic take a RAT or PCR test.
Masks
All education sectors in Victoria are strongly promoting the wearing of masks for anyone in an indoor school setting, aged 8 years and above. The wearing of masks has been a recommended practice all year.
Students will be required to wear masks in certain circumstances including bus travel or a period of high levels of prolonged transmission in the school or in a specific area of the school.
Any staff of students who are identified as close contacts must wear a mask indoors.
RAT Kits
Staff and students should only be tested with a RAT kit when symptomatic or when testing daily as a close contact over the 7 day quarantine period.
Another supply of RAT kits was sent home this week. Families who require extra kits should make contact with the administration office.
Vaccination
St Pius X strongly supports vaccination for all in our community who are eligible. However, the new COVID regulations have lifted the mandate for all employees and volunteers to be vaccinated. This means there will be no requirement for adults entering the school to declare their vaccination status.
All community adults are reminded of the child safety requirement to sign in when attending the school between 9.00am and 3.00pm
Transport
Parents who have tested positive to COVID 19 are permitted to drive children to and from school during their 7 day isolation period. They are required to return home immediately afterwards and not attend other locations.
