About Our School
Principal’s Welcome
Welcome to St Pius X Primary School, Warrnambool.
It is a privilege to serve as Principal of a school with such a strong sense of community, tradition and care for each child. St Pius X is a place where children are known, valued and supported to grow as learners, as people and as members of a faith-filled community.
At St Pius X, we believe that strong relationships sit at the heart of a great school. When children feel safe, respected and genuinely cared for, they are more confident, more engaged and more willing to challenge themselves. Our staff place a high priority on knowing each child well, building positive partnerships with families and creating classrooms where every student feels a sense of belonging.
We are equally committed to high-quality learning and teaching. Our approach is grounded in evidence-informed practice, clear expectations and a shared belief that every child can make strong progress. We focus on developing strong foundations in literacy and numeracy, while also nurturing creativity, curiosity and a love of learning across all areas of the curriculum. Students are supported and challenged at their point of need, with learning experiences designed to help them grow academically, socially and emotionally.
As a Catholic school, our faith is lived through our actions. Guided by our motto, Service to God and Our Community, we strive to foster kindness, empathy, responsibility and respect. We encourage our students to look beyond themselves, to care for others and to recognise their role in making a positive difference in the world.
St Pius X is a welcoming, inclusive and vibrant school community. We value the strong partnership we share with parents and carers and recognise that when schools and families work together, children thrive.
Choosing a school is an important decision, and I warmly invite you to visit St Pius X to see our community in action. I am confident you will find a school where children are supported to flourish, challenged to achieve their best and encouraged to grow into confident, capable and compassionate young people.
I look forward to welcoming you and your family to St Pius X.
Warm regards,
Tristan Fay
Principal
See St. Pius X in Action
Please take a moment to come and see firsthand what we do here at St. Pius X. Listen to our dedicated staff and enthusiastic students share what makes our school such a warm and welcoming community. You’re always welcome to experience it for yourself!
Learning
Wellbeing
Community
Our Patron Saint
St Pius X was born Giuseppe Sarto in Riese, Italy on June 2nd 1835.He was brought up in a poor family but was able to lift himself from his modest beginnings through his sharp mind and academic brilliance.
Ordained to the priesthood in 1858, Fr Sarto quickly became known for his charity and education especially of the poor. His work was recognised by the church when he was made a bishop in 1879 and a cardinal in 1893. Cardinal Sarto was elected Pope in 1903 at the passing of Pope Leo XIII, taking the name Pius X.
Among his efforts as Pope was his work for peace in the lead up to the First World War. The imminence of war left Pius an exhausted man who succumbed to ill health on August 20th 1914.
The story of St Pius X is one of triumph in adversity through hard work and study and he is held up as an example for all the students, staff and families of St Pius X School.
Vision and Mission
-
Each person will know the joy of successful learning, through the provision of a quality curriculum and resources, best practice teaching and personalised support which responds to individual needs and aspirations.
-
We strive to live and develop our Catholic faith through prayer, education, service and celebration with an invitation to all.
-
Each person in our community will experience welcome, respect and support, so that they may have life to the full.
-
Created in the image of God, all will know and experience, equality, respect, forgiveness and responsibility.
-
We strive to develop in ourselves and others, empathy, forgiveness and generosity.
-
All children will truly experience safety and care. We will ensure our community is empowered and committed to child safety and that our policies, structures and processes properly identify and effectively address concerns. This will include comprehensive risk management and staff and volunteer screening and recruitment procedures.
Parent Handbook
The handbook provides helpful information to families about how daily life at St. Pius X operates, learning, wellbeing and ways that families can be involved in our community. Please take some time to have a read.
Child Safety
All students enrolled and any child visiting have a right to feel safe and be safe. The wellbeing of children in our care will always be our first priority. We have zero tolerance to child abuse, including corporal punishment. We aim to create a child safe and child friendly environment where children feel safe, develop responsibility for their own safety and are free to enjoy life to the full without concerns for their safety being threatened by others.
The staff and volunteers of St. Pius X Parish School, encourage students to express their views. We listen to their suggestions, especially on matters that directly affect them. We actively encourage all students to openly express their views and feel comfortable about giving voice to the things that are important to them.
We teach students about what they can do if they feel unsafe. We listen to and act on any concerns students, or their parents or carers, raise with us.
At St. Pius X Parish School we provide every child with the opportunity to engage in social emotional programs. These programs include the school wide Bounce Back Resilience program. Other programs that provide further support to children with wellbeing concerns are Seasons For Growth and Confident Kids.
We aim to support all students, teachers and families in their wellbeing. As a Catholic school community, our policies, planning and practice are called to reflect a consistently high level of pastoral care.
Learning and Teaching
Our school is focused on providing a contemporary learning environment and continues to evaluate programs for their relevance to living in the twenty-first century. The use of research and data to inform decisions about learning and teaching, have contributed to a change in culture in this area.
The learning and teaching in the early years builds a strong foundation that supports our beliefs and understandings that children who engage in complex forms of socio-dramatic investigations have greater language skills and better developed social skills, empathy and imagination.
Student Welfare
All staff promote a positive wellbeing philosophy based on high expectations for all students within a nurturing environment. It is the basis upon which student learning is developed and extended.
Child Safety
At St Pius Catholic Primary School, we hold the care, safety and wellbeing of children and young people as a central and fundamental responsibility of our school. Our commitment is drawn from and inherent to the teaching and mission of Jesus Christ, with love, justice and the sanctity of each human person at the heart of the gospel (CECV Commitment Statement to Child Safety).
Statement of Democratic Principles
St Pius Primary School aims to promote lifelong learning and active participation as citizens in Australian society. Learning and teaching practice is based on an integrated curriculum and implemented through an inquiry approach. An important focus of curriculum development and implementation is the focus on Community and Citizenship, which is developed and explored in line with the Victorian Curriculum's Essential Learning Standards - Civics and Citizenship Domain.
The programs of St Pius, and the teaching of those programs support and promote:
the principles and practice of Australian democracy;
the elected government;
the rule of law;
equal rights for all before the law;
freedom of religion;
freedom of speech and association; and,
values of openness and tolerance.