July 27th 2023
- Acknowledgement of Country
- Prayer
- A Note from our Principal.
- School Closure Day TOMORROW, Friday 28th July.
- Building Update
- Inter-School Hockey Competition
- Hot off the Prep Press!
- 5/6 Roses Gap Camp
- Movie Night August 4th
- Twilight Fair: Friday October 27th
- Meet the SAC
- Head Lice: Please tie your hair back
- Concussion
- A special message........
- Breakfast Club
- Footy Tipping 2023
- Canteen Roster
- Important Dates
- Second Hand Uniforms
- Before & After School Care
- Parish Contact
- 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
Dear God,
Bless our cherished grandparents with love, health and happiness.
Thank you for the wisdom, care and unconditional love they bring into our lives.
May our time together be filled with joy and precious memories.
Amen
July 25th is the fest day of Saints Anne and Joachim, the parents of
A Note from our Principal.
Ngata Families and Friends,
Firstly, a big thank you to Clare Green and Rachel Brown for stepping into the Principal and Deputy Principal roles last week. Their hard work is very much appreciated.
As everyone was made aware, Will broke his leg last Friday at school. Will paid us a visit yesterday and is doing very well. He is looking forward to returning to school next week. Congratulations must go to all our staff for their efforts in supporting Will and the rest of the children last Friday. They were calm, professional and compassionate. Congratulations also to the children who immediately followed directions and supported each other. It is in these moments that we realise what a great community that we have here at St Pius X.
On my holiday to Vanuatu, my friends and I had a brief visit to a school in a small village. This school had no running water, no eletricity, few resources and concrete floors. We were greeted with big smiles and singing. This experience reminded me of how fortunate we are to have such a well resourced school and what a luxury it is to be able to spend 1.5 million dollars on a renovation.
Kind Regards,
Stacey
School Closure Day TOMORROW, Friday 28th July.
A reminder regarding the school closure day tomorrow which is a designated professional development day for our teaching staff in the area of Maths.
Please note that Their Care will NOT be operating on this day and alternate child care arrangements will need to be made.
Building Update
Work on the middle pod has commenced! Last weekend asbestos was removed and we now have a fence up around the building. This will not have too much of an impact on the day to day activities of our school. However, it does mean that extra spaces are at a minimum.
All going well, our refurbished building will be ready for use early next year.
Inter-School Hockey Competition
Last Friday 21st July, St Pius was represented by 20 students in the annual Inter-School Hockey Competition at the Warrnambool Hockey complex. It was a fabulous day and the weather was very kind to us. All of the students who represented our school did so with such great enthusiasm and sportsmanship. The girls team finished 2nd overall which was a mammoth achievement. Special thanks to Jack and Kaz for all their help on the day.
Hot off the Prep Press!
Hooray for Arrays
This week in Maths we have been learning about arrays. We know that an array must have equal rows and columns. We found things in our classroom that are represented in an array such as our mat, bag boxes and tubs. We have had lots of fun creating arrays with counters and seeing how many different way we can create them. Here are some of the arrays we have made this week.
Wonder Tree
As part of our RE Unit ‘Wonder’, we have started constructing a beautiful display - The Wonder Tree. Over the duration of the term we will be adding tiles around our silhouettes that demonstrates our thinking and understanding of our natural world. We will be learning about and experiencing The Creation story through song, storytelling and Godly Play. There are so many WONDERful things in our world that we are grateful for like birds, animals, trees, plants and wind. We look forward to sharing this over the course of the term.
Yes! I can do it all by myself!
We have been so impressed with some of our Prep friends coming into school all by themselves this week. This is a big step in developing and building on our independence in getting ready for Grade 1. We would love to congratulate Oliver Meade, Harvey Meade, Evelyn Terrington, Cyril Burch and Chelsea Giddings. Keep up the great work everyone - we are proud of you!
5/6 Roses Gap Camp
The year 5 and 6 camp is a much anticipated event on the senior school calendar and this year is no exception. This year will be our first year attending Roses Gap Camp on September 13th, 14th and 15th 2023 (the final three days of term 3). All information regarding this camp and parental consent will be released via PAM shortly. We ask that consent is completed by Friday 11th August so we can finalise our booking with Roses Gap Camp. If you have any queries please feel free to contact your child's teacher.
Movie Night August 4th
Our term 2 movie night will be held next Friday night. Our SRC are currently working out which movie will be shown and Ms Atkins has recruited a tech expert to help set up the sound.
Any parent helpers who hold a Working with Children's Check are welcome to stay and assist with supervision.
Cost is a gold coin donation and BYO snacks and a drink bottle.
Please RSVP to help with preparations via the link below.
Twilight Fair: Friday October 27th
Save the date!
The PnF are currently seeking volunteers for the different stalls that we have. If you would like to coordinate a stall (perhaps with a friend) please email Stacey. Prizes for the raffle and any other suggestions would also be appreciated.
principal@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au
Meet the SAC
Mel Steffensen is another member of our SAC.
Mel is a proud Peek Whurrong woman, who works within the community sharing her local language and knowledge. Mel is married to Alan and they have 2 amazing kids Jack, Yr 7 at Emmanuel College and Lincoln in Grade 4. In her spare time she likes to do weaving, collect random bits of nature and secretly loves building Lego.
Head Lice: Please tie your hair back
We have been made aware of a case of head lice in the school. Head lice is extremely hard to get rid of if it is not treated properly. Please check your child's hair and treat if necessary. It is also important to wash all linen.
More information can be found at: www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au
A reminder that any child with shoulder length hair should have it tied up.
Concussion
Children often bump or bang their heads and it can be difficult to tell whether an injury is serious or not. Any knock to the head is considered a head injury. When a student suffers a concussion at school it is deemed a Worksafe notifiable incident.
It is important for us to be made aware of a concussion that has occurred outside of the school setting (on weekends or during extracurricular activities) to ensure that on return to school the student is monitored for ongoing symptoms.
Concussion – Important information
If your child has experienced concussion, it is important that you follow recommended medical advice. Returning to school can be a graduated approach with the aim of increasing tolerance to a full day, the same situation could occur with sport. It is always important to check with your doctor and seek medical treatment after a child sustains a concussion.
It is important to inform the school if your child has sustained a concussion outside of the school setting so we can monitor for ongoing symptoms and adapt activities if required. This factsheet link below from the Royal Children’s Hospital is valuable to read and understand.
https://www.rch.org.au/kidsinfo/fact_sheets/Head_injury_return_to_school_and_sport/
There is also a great evidence-based app from the Murdoch children’s research institute that walks you through what to do in the result of a concussion.
A special message........
Wishing the following students a very Happy Birthday for the coming week.............................
Scarlett Tanner, Emmy Rammage, Jarrah Vickery.
Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club continues to be a hit during these cold Wednesday mornings! If you arrive at school before 8:50am, head down to the function room for some yummy toast, cereal, fruit, milo and lots more!
Helpers are always welcome, even if it is for a morning, every little bit helps! If you’d like to volunteer please contact the office!
Footy Tipping 2023
Great work tippers! We had 9 tippers tip 9 this week. An excellent effort. Our top 5 is pretty stable, but with people starting to play their jokers it mightn't stay that way for long.
The big question is wether or not the Saints will squander another opportunity to make the 8. It's tough being a Saints supporter!
Our top 5 tippers are:
- Fynn20- 144
- Richo800-143
- Letty Parkinson-142
- World Class Woodwards-142
- White's Family- 141
Canteen Roster
Tuesday, 1st August: Lauren Johnson
Wednesday, 2nd August: Helper required please!
Thursday, 3rd August: Bec Stebbins
Friday, 4th August: Jane Kelly
Important Dates
Friday July 28th: School Closure
Friday 4th August: Proposed Movie Night (TBC)
Thursday 10th August: SAC meeting, 7.30pm
Monday 14th August: 3/4 Hooptime
Tuesday 15th August: Feast of the Assumption (Mass 10am)
Friday 18th August: Book Week Celebration Day (Dress Up)
Monday 21st August: St Pius X Feast Day
September 13th-15th: 5/6 Camp
Friday October 27th Twilight Fair
Advance notice:
Term 4 school closure date/ pupil free day Friday November 3rd
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.
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.
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/
COVID 19 Arrangements
All famililes are asked to familiarise thesmselves with the updated COVID 19 regulations.
Managing a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19
- It is recommended that rapid antigen tests (RATs) are used by students and staff if they:
- have symptoms of COVID-19 infection, no matter how mild
- are a household or close contact of someone who has COVID-19
- are a social contact of someone who has COVID-19.
- The Department of Health recommends that all Victorians report their positive RAT result via the online form or by calling 1800 675 398.
- Principals are no longer required to inform their school community of a positive case associated with the school.
- Staff or students who are positive are strongly recommended to stay home and isolate for a minimum of five days.
- Symptomatic students or staff should not attend school, even if failing to test positive on a RAT or PCR.
Communication
There is no longer a requirement for schools to inform their communities of positive cases. All health information is held in accordance with the school’s privacy policy.
Masks
Staff and students who wish to wear a mask will continue to be supported to do so. Masks are available from the administration office for anyone wishing to obtain one.
Any staff or students who are close contacts are recommended to wear a mask indoors.
Any staff or students returning from isolation are recommended to wear a mask for 7 days after returning to school.
RAT Kits
RATs are available for all Victorians from council sites. Individuals can obtain two free packs (10 tests) for themselves and two free packs (10 tests) for each household member. People with disability and their carers can get up to four free packs (20 tests) in line with existing RAT distribution for people with disability.
The RATs are available at the Civic Centre (25 Liebig Street) and the Archie Graham Community Centre (118 Timor Street).
Vaccination
St Pius X strongly supports vaccination for all in our community who are eligible. There is 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.
Medically At Risk Students
Students who have chronic health conditions, especially affecting the respiratory system ie Asthma, must have up to date health support plans. Families who are unsure about the status of their child’s plan should make contact with teh school administration office.