March 21st, 2024

Acknowledgement of Country

Project Compassion 2024

A Note from our Principal

Dear Parents and Carers,

On behalf of Mr Murrell, who is attending a Principal Conference this week, we'd like to acknowledge what another busy week we've had at St. Pius X.  This week has seen a group of our senior students celebrate their Reconciliation, our grade 3 & 5 students complete Naplan and grade 5 & 6 students participate in swimming lessons at Jayson Lamb's Splash Factory to name just a few of the activities undertaken.

It's hard to believe that we have almost finished term 1.   A reminder that our Easter Raffle will be drawn on the last day, next Thursday, 28th March.  Please also be aware that school finishes at 2.30pm on this day.

There will be a Lenten Liturgy tomorrow afternoon in the church.  This will be led by our Middle school students and all are welcome to attend.  A time will be confirmed tomorrow via the SZ App.

Wishing everyone a wonderful and productive week ahead before we break for the Easter School Holidays.

Thankyou.......

I sincerely thank all families for their support, friendship and trust throughout my 27 years at St. Pius X School.  It has been an amazing journey and I am pleased that I had the opportunity to spend it with you, - the families and students of St. Pius X School.  It was a wonderful place to work.

It has been my privilege to work with you and attend to your enquiries, through uniform sales, the Fair, meetings with SAC & P&F, enrolments, phone calls, maintenance issues, organising raffle tickets, along with the canteen. 

Professional and private matters such as financial situations, family, or a child's health were difficult conversations for you and I appreciated this and assure you of my confidentiality and trust that I made these conversations easy for you.  At times our communication was varied and complex and I thank you for the trust you placed in me.

It was always my pleasure (and sometimes interesting) to assist your little one as he/she came to the office in need of a band-aid, an ice pack, or Grandma’s magic ointment. There were also forgotten lunches (which was always mum or dad’s fault) along with forgotten excursion notes or not signed permission forms, Chromebooks left in cars or at home, or felt sick and the list goes on.

The students at St Pius are valued as very precious young people. I trust that I always respected their concerns no matter how small. 

I take great pleasure when past students say hello - sometimes at the supermarket, Harris Scarf, McDonald's, Target, Bunnings etc while they are working their part-time jobs.

I will miss the students and you the parents and the friendships that I have formed.

Looking forward to seeing you in the supermarket, Lake Pertobe, on the beach or at a cafe having a cuppa.  Please say hello.

Now for the retired life (and not sure what that is).

Thank you all sincerely.

With much love,

Anne.

Ride To School Day - TOMORROW!

Tomorrow,  Friday 22nd March, is Ride 2 School Day! This day is a chance for students to come to school in a healthy way (Ride, Scoot or Walk) and go into the running for prizes! If families live a long way from school, students can be dropped off a block or so away from the school and that will still count as a walk and will go into the running for a prize! Fingers crossed it is sunny weather and we can see as many students coming to school in a healthy way!

Parents and Friends meeting

All parents, carers and friends of St Pius X are invited to join our first Parents and Friends meeting for 2024 on Tuesday March 26th at 7.30pm here at school.

It would be great to see as many people as possible come along and contribute to our plan for 2024 to ensure we can provide some fun, engaging and community uniting events for our school, that can also raise some important funds for school resources and programs.

We will discuss what the key fundraising events for the year will/might be as part of the agenda. We will also discuss the compositon of the parents and friends group, to ensure clarity and understanding for everyone. I apologise for the late nature of this meeting, being so late in Term 1. 

Early Finish Thursday, 28th March

Please remember that next Thursday, 28th March is the last day of term and that classes will finish at the earlier time of 2.30pm.

Country bus travellers should also note the earlier finish time.

Easter Raffle - One Week To Go!

We would appreciate it if raffle books could be returned to school as soon as possible.  We only have a week left until the raffle is drawn.   If you did not receive a book or would like an extra, please contact the office.

A big thank you to all those families who have donated easter eggs and other easter themed goodies to use in our gift baskets, your generosity is most appreciated.

The raffle will be drawn on the last day of term, Thursday 28th March.   

In the Staff Spotlight......

EMILY BROUGH

What day of the week is your favourite and why?    Thursday is my favourite day,  because it's a short day for me and the last for my 'work week'.

What is your favourite animal?  The Dog is my favourite animal. 

Which TV Show do you like to watch with your family?  My family likes watching Bluey together. 

What is your favourite meal to cook on a weekend?  I love to cook Golden Curry from Japan.

What do you love about Japan?  I love how respectful and polite the Japanese culture is. Also, their language seems very logical to me as a native English speaker.  How they structure the language is so sensible. Oh, and the food - so much yummy food to enjoy! 

The way of the Cross

The Senior School Students have been busy practising the 2024 Way of the Cross. This year, the Way of the Cross will be in the Church at 10:30am on Thursday March 28th. The invitation to this event extends to the whole school community - parents, carers, grandparents. Please come along and support our Senior School Students for this prayerful event.

School Athletics

It has come to our notice that the U/10 girls results from our school athletics day was missing from last weeks newsletter.   Apologies to those concerned.  The results are as follows:

10 year old girls:

1.    Victoria Balash & Renata McKenzie

2.    Sofie Sueren & Freya Keane & Indie Kermond

3.    Lilah Jacobs &  Maddison Lenehan

Mini Vinnies

Today our Mini Vinnies crew went on a bus trip to Vinnies.  We  were greeted by the store manager - Danili, who took us on a tour and told us all about what happens in the store.  Then we were put to work.  We sorted clothes, looked through a magnifying glass that's used to check the codes on jewellery, and browsed around the shelves hunting for interesting toys, books and clothing.  We learnt a lot about the hard work volunteers do to help the less fortunate in our community.

Time for some Harmony..............

Mrs Parkinson's Nail Salon for Harmony Week

This week we celebrate Harmony Week. This is an opportunity for us to recognise and celebrate all of the different cultures within our school. On Wednesday the students had the opportunity to have one nail painted orange - the colour of Harmony Week.  This was well received by all of our students. 

Tour De Cure

Tour De Cure are a fundraising group who conduct events and cycling tours to raise funds for cancer projects.   Currently the group are on a 10 day tour riding from Hobart to Adelaide and yesterday morning they passed through Warrnambool.   Vonal, who is one of our school captains, was at the breakwater and met up with Mark Beretta from Channel Seven's Sunrise program.  Mark is riding in the tour this year and has been filming his advertures for segments shown on Sunrise.  

Zarli - Stawell Gift

Over sixty U/14 athletes participated across the 2023/2024 season in the Victorian Athletic League series, accumulating points based on where they finished in each race.   Congratulations to Zarli Best who has finished in the top 8 points scorers and who will now compete in the series final at the 2024 Stawell Gift on Easter Monday.  We wish you all the best for the day Zarli!

The Foundation Files

Body Parts

This week we have learnt about all the different parts of our bodies. Some parts are on the outside of our bodies and we can see them and touch them but other parts can be on the inside of our body and we can’t see them but we know that they are important. We need to eat well, exercise, sleep and drink water every day to keep ourselves and our bodies healthy. We were able to name 50 different body parts and we know there are lots more. Izaiah came up with the best synonym to describe our upper body - it was ‘torso’. 

We also learnt about the different food groups and how important it is to eat them daily and to have a balanced diet. 

Heggerty - It’s so much fun!!

Each day we spend time doing a Heggerty lesson. Heggerty is a phonemic awareness program. It takes us about 10 minutes every day. We recognise rhymes, we listen for the beginning and the end sounds in words. We recognise syllables in words and count how many parts a word can have and we add and substitute syllables in words to make new ones. We also make sentences and count the number of words. Check out our photos of us having Heggerty fun.

Comparing Collections

This week we have been learning about Numbers. I can count and compare numbers 0 - 5. We learnt about the words - more, less, equal, not equal. The word ‘more’ is used when a group is bigger. The word ‘less’ is used when the group is smaller and the word ‘equal’ is used when the groups are both the same size and have the same amounts.These words help us to compare small collections. Check out the collections we made using our blocks.

Show and Tell Focus - What makes me Healthy?

Don’t forget that for tomorrow’s Show and Tell, we’d love to see things that make me healthy - a frisbee, a basketball, a skipping rope or even a yoyo.You may even want to show us some of your fitness routines or dance moves. 

Sporting Updates

The Warrnambool District Athletics sports has been moved to Wednesday 17th April (term two, week one). This will be held at Brauerander Park.
The St Pius X Cross Country is going to be held on Wednesday 24th April (term two, week two). This is going to be held here at school from 11.40am and spectators are welcome to attend.

Head Lice

There has been a reported case of Head Lice in the school.  It is a timely reminder to be vigilant and check your child's hair and treat if necessary.

Breakfast Club

Breakfast Club is open each Wednesday morning at 8:20am.   Again, a big thankyou to Foodshare for providing us with breakfast items and Woolies for providing the fruit! Of course, this wouldn't take place without our amazing parent helpers so a big thank you to Sarah & Virginia as well!

St. Vincent De Paul Reading Program

Fee-free after school reading program

 Want your child to improve their reading and academic skills? Make new friends? Be involved in a co-curricular activity? Foster positive relationships with caring adults?

 The Vinnie’s reading program might be for you!

St Vincent de Paul run a reading program which offers children the chance to read with a volunteer each week. The program runs each Wednesday of the school term (3:30 - 4.45pm in the library). It is open to any student at St Pius X  (prep to Year 6). Students of all ages and abilities are welcome, from those who need additional support to those who are confident and avid readers. The program provides students with a safe and welcoming environment where they can experience the magic of books, enhance their skills, make new friends and enjoy the support of caring adults. Vinnie’s would love to welcome some new faces.

Acceptable use and cyber safety agreement - PAM

There are still a large number of families who have yet to complete this agreement. We would appreciate it if this could be attended to as soon as possible.  If you have any problems, please contact the office.  Thank You.

Student Medical Information Updates Required.

A reminder that we require all families to login to PAM and update their child's medical information if any details have changed or if you are a new family to St. Pius.   Please ensure that this is completed as soon as possible.

To update a medical profile for your child/children please follow these instructions:

1. Click on the link to PAM (found on SZ App or on the St. Pius website)
2. Click on student. (Remember that each child has their own medical profile)
3. Click on Medical Profile (blue writing to the left of screen)
4. Check all questions and select Edit Details for updates to be made.
5. Once you get to the end of the questions please confirm by clicking on the Green “Update Details” box found at the bottom right of screen.

As a parent/guardian you are able to access your child/rens medical profile on PAM at any time to update as needed.

If you have any queries or require your PAM login details, please do not hesitate to contact the office.  

A special message........

The following students will be celebrating their birthdays in the coming week........

Brooklynn McArthur and Brooklyn Murray.

Canteen Roster for next week.

We are currently looking for extra volunteers to help in the Canteen for the year, particularly on Tuesdays and Wednesdays.  You would only be rostered on a couple of times a term and your assistance would be greatly appreciated.  The only pre-requisite is that you have a Working With Children Check.   Please contact the office if you can help.  Thank You.

Important Dates.

Tuesday, 26th March - Parents and Friends Meeting 7.30pm

Thursday, 28th March - Last Day of Term 1

                                               The Way of the Cross - In the Church at 10:30am 

Friday, 29th March - Good Friday Public Holiday

Monday, 15th April - Term 2 Commences

Tuesday, 23rd April - School Photo Day

2024 School Closure Days

Term 1 

Monday 12th Feb - Staff First aid training (COMPLETED)

Wednesday 21st Feb - Structured Literacy Staff Professional Development (DOBCEL determined date) (COMPLETED)

Term 2

Date TBC - Wellbeing focus - Awaiting time and date confirmation from facilitator

Term 3

Tuesday 20th August- Structured Literacy Staff Professional Development (DOBCEL determined date)

Term 4

Friday 18th October - Religious Education Staff Professional Development

School Fees and Levies 2024

Uniform Price List

Before & After School Care.

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/ 

Could you make a difference to a young life?

Could this be what you are looking for? 

Foster carers come from all walks of life. They can be working, not working or retired; married or single; in same-sex relationships; and can own or rent their home. The most essential criteria are that they care, can provide a safe and nurturing home, and have room in their home to support a vulnerable child or sibling group.

If you would like to know more call MacKillop Family Services on 1300 791 677, visit www.mackillop.org.au/fostercare or ring Alana in our Warrnambool office on 5500 2000.

COVID 19 Arrangements

All famililes are asked to familiarise thesmselves with the updated COVID 19 regulations.