September 15th, 2022
- Acknowledgement of Country
- Prayer
- A Note from our Principal
- Congatulations Mrs Walsh!
- Arrangements for the End of Term
- Canteen News - Help Required
- Footy Colours Day for Foodshare
- Hats On in Term 4
- Well Done Will!
- Class Groupings 2023
- New Toasters for Breakfast Club
- The Jungle Book Kids
- SRC Yard Behaviour Competition
- Hot off the Prep Press!
- The Twilight Fair is Back!
- Twilight Fair Raffle
- Student Raffle
- Book Fair - Thank You!
- Breakfast Club News
- School Fees
- Fundraiser Movie Night
- Before & After School Care
- Crisis Meals
- Breakfast Club
- Parish Contact
- Upcoming Dates
- School Canteen Roster
- Our Diocesan Community
- Found It!
- 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,
Help us to find our way when we are lost.
Grant us the wisdom to seek help.
Grant us the humility to ask for forgiveness.
AMEN
A Note from our Principal
Ngata Families & Friends,
What a great performance! I know all families will have been very proud of their children and what they achieved last night in the school’s production of The Jungle Book Kids. It's important to point out that this was a production that the students have been working hard on for 10 weeks, and it was great to finally be able to share this with everyone after our COVID delay last year. Well done to the talented kids of our school, and a huge vote of gratitude to our generous staff who put in lots of extra work to ensure stage props, costumes, choreography and singing were to such a high standard. Thanks also to families for supporting the children in their preparation and attending last night.
After such a build up, I’m sure we’re all looking forward to the school holidays which begin tomorrow afternoon. We remind all families that classes finish at 2.30pm tomorrow. I wish everyone a restful holiday as we prepare for the end of the year.
Joe Ewing
Principal
Congatulations Mrs Walsh!
Mrs Sheree Walsh contacted us this morning to share the great news that Harry Patrick Walsh was born yesterday. We congratulate Sheree and her husband Ben. We know Harry will be looked after by his big brothers Leo and George.
Arrangements for the End of Term
Tomorrow is the final day of Term 3 and we remind families that classes finish at 2.30pm.
A reminder that country buses will also be running from 2.30pm.
Canteen News - Help Required
Tomorrow 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.
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 TOMORROW, 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.
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.
Well Done Will!
Last Thursday during our pupil free day, most students would have been enjoying a day at home. Will Carey took the opportunity to visit residents in Mercy Place, including his great grandfather. Will delivered cards that he had made himself.
Class Groupings 2023
Early next term, our staff will begin compiling draft class lists for the 2023 school year. If parents have information that relates to their child’s learning needs and will assist in the placement of their child, they are encouraged to forward this information as soon as possible.
All submissions must be in writing.
Either email:
principal@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au
or address a letter marked confidential to ‘The Principal’.
Parents are asked to submit this information before October 14th.
New Toasters for Breakfast Club
We are grateful to Harvey Norman for their generosity in supplying our breakfast club with new toasters. These were put into service on Wednesday morning as the crowds of students came in for toast. Thanks to Tracey Williams for her liaison.
The Jungle Book Kids
Thanks again to all families for supporting our school production last night. Some assorted photos are shared below in the gallery. The school engaged Fitzmedia to film the event and DVDs will be available soon.
SRC Yard Behaviour Competition
The annual SRC yard behaviour competition started last 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.
Hot off the Prep Press!
Jungle Book Kids
A huge congratulations to all the Preps for their huge efforts throughout the whole term. From the very beginning when we first learnt the words of our song to the time we began to move to the music and to then get to the precise combination of choreography and singing along with the stage set-up and costuming on performance night for these little people is nothing short of SPECTACULAR!!!! They make their families and their teachers proud each and every day.
Our special ‘read to’ session
Last Friday the Prep’s were invited into the Library to meet some very special Ladies from the Archie Graham centre. They were on an Out and About tour which was organised by Mrs Webster. We loved reading stories with them and learning their names. We met Mrs Bruce who was actually one of Ms Lane’s special primary school teachers at the old St Joseph’s school in Lava Street. She said Ms Lane was a very quiet girl (Mrs Dowling had a little chuckle when she heard that!!)
Happy Holidays
Ms Lane, Ms Osborne, Mrs Dowling, Cloe, Louise and Molly wish everyone a happy and safe holiday. We have so many wonderful events ready for Term 4. The term where we are getting ready for Grade 1!! Take a rest, boys and girls!!
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
What a great response from last week’s Newsletter appeal for support for our raffle.
Thank you to :
- Westvic Staffing Solutions - $1000
- McLaren Hunt - 2 x $200 vouchers for Tax Return Services
- Rafferty’s Tavern - $200 voucher
- Flying Horse Inn - $200 voucher
- Frolic Lane - $200 voucher
- Gateway Plaza - 2 x $100 vouchers
- Hayley Keane-Ryan Homemade Quilt
- An anonymous donation - $200 voucher from Toyworld
- Helen Best - Hamper from Helen’s Hampers and Sensory Items
Further prizes still required...........................
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.
Student Raffle
A raffle has been organised for our students. There are three major prizes. Tickets were sent home on Tuesday. Tickets are $1 each and each family has received a book of 20 tickets. It would be great if our students could take responsibility for the success of this smaller raffle by selling their tickets to grandparents, other family members and friends. The success of this smaller raffle will depend on each child’s support. A wonderful way for our students to be involved and support our school fundraising.
Book Fair - Thank You!
Thank you to all the people who attended the Book Fair! There was a great response from families and Scholastic has given the school $600 to be spent on books for the library. We aim to continue to purchase more graphic novels, chapter, picture books and nonfiction animal books. If you have any time during the school day to spare to contact books please let us know. Thank you!
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.
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
Fundraiser Movie Night
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.
We have come to the end of our rostered families. Anyone interested in joining the roster over the last term is invited to add their name to the document linked below.
Ideally meals should be easy to freeze & serve, and should be labelled so that the type meal can be easily identified. Meals can be dropped to the office.
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
Tomorrow - Footy/Sports Colours Day
Early Finish - 2.30pm
Oct 3 Term 4 begins
Oct 28 Twilight Fair
School Canteen Roster
| Tuesday, 4th October | Wednesday, 5th October | Thursday, 6th October | Friday, 7th October |
| Tammie Karnajaya | Merryn Payne | Hayley Keane | Alana Gleeson |
Our Diocesan Community
The link below opens the quarterly diocesan magazine that features news from across the Ballarat Diocese.
Found It!
Have you ever lost a treasured item?
For my 21st birthday I received many presents; shirts I’ve since thrown out, glasses that ended up breaking, a video recorder that is now obsolete - to name a few!
One gift I wasn’t expecting was a set of cufflinks. They had belonged to my grandfather who had the same initials as me: JE. These letters were engraved on each. My grandfather had set them aside for me before he died with the instruction they be gifted to me on that night.
As you can imagine, this was an emotional gift and the one I treasured the most. I didn’t use the cufflinks often, but kept them safe inside a box in a drawer.
That was until one went missing!
It was after a family wedding and I could not find the cufflink anywhere. Because of the emotional connection, I was upset. I was certain I would have to live with one of the cufflinks as an unusable memento.
One day recently, while getting a suitcase ready for a trip, the cufflink dropped out onto the floor. It had been lodged in a crack inside for two years. I was so relieved! The two cufflinks were immediately reunited.
The Gospels in the past Sundays have been the lost stories - this week it was the Lost Coin.
The point of Jesus’ story is that we can be the lost coin. But, however lost we might feel, we need to be reminded that each of us is precious and sacred in the eyes of God.
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.
