August 1st, 2024

Acknowledgement of Country

A Note from our Principal

Ngata Families & Friends,

It has been an exciting and vibrant week at our school! Our grade 5/6 students returned from their camp from last Wednesday through to Friday, and I couldn’t be prouder of their enthusiasm and the wonderful experiences they shared. The camp was a perfect blend of fun and educational activities, fostering teamwork and resilience. Thanks to our staff for all preparation, to ensure camp was the success it was. 

This week we have been honored to welcome Indigenous artist Emma Stenhouse as our artist in residence from Tuesday to Thursday. Emma's presence has been incredibly enriching, as she shared her artistic talents and deep cultural knowledge with our students. This unique opportunity allowed our students to engage with and appreciate Indigenous culture in a meaningful way.

Additionally, the preparations for our school production, "Finding Nemo," are in full swing. The dedication and hard work shown by our students and staff, under the expert guidance of Mrs. O'Keefe, are truly commendable. The energy and creativity being poured into this production are palpable, and I am eagerly looking forward to the final performance, in the final week of term. 

Father's Day / Special Person's Day Breakfast

Further information regarding how to RSVP and what costs are involved will follow soon.

Ready, Set, School! program - Next session Friday 9th August.

Click below to register for our Ready, Set, School! program

Click here to Register

Food bank support

We are excited to propose the launch of a weekly community foodbank to support families within our school. This initiative aims to provide meals to those requiring some assistance, enhancing our strong and compassionate community. We invite you to express your interest in supporting this important cause, this would be in the form of going on a roster to cook/provide a meal. Together, we can make a meaningful difference in the lives of our fellow community members. Please text Lara on 0423 453 334 if you wish to participate or need more information. Thank you for your continued support and generosity.

Text Lara on 0423 453 334

Canteen Coordinator Term 3 - Position still available!!

We are still seeking a volunteer who would be willing to coordinate our canteen during Term 3 (and possibly Term 4 if required).   

The duties involved normally only take 1 to 2 hours each week to complete and include checking the stock of and replenishing the following items;   frozen products including icypoles, nuggets etc,  kitchen items such as paper towel, serviettes etc. and tins of pineapple which need to be put into small snack bags for the freezer.

Shopping is usually done once a week (During the warmer months extra icypoles may be required) and duties also include a tidy/clean of the canteen when needed.   

If this is something you would be happy to undertake, your assistance would be greatly appreciated.  Please contact the office for further information.

Book Week Celebration Day

On Friday 23rd August, we will be celebrating book week.The theme this year is 'Reading is Magic.'Students are invited to dress up as their favourite book character but there is no expectation that new items or costumes are purchased. There will be some dress ups provided on the day for those who would like to borrow a costume. 

The students will participate in the following activities:

9:30-10:00 Book Week Parade.

10:00-11:00 Art Activities in Mixed-Age groups.

11:30-12:00 Reading Picnic. 

Parents/Grandparents/Special people are invited to join us at anytime throughout the morning. 
More information will be communicated closer to the date.

Thank You Emma!

The Foundation Files

Lights! Camera! Action!

Yesterday we went to the Lighthouse Theatre and the Warrnambool  Library.

At the Theatre, Meg showed us around. We sat in the comfy theatre chairs and Meg told us all about the shows that they have, we went into the Auditorium theatre where they hold smaller shows and then we went and explored backstage. We went to the Green Room, the Dressing Room and deep down into the orchestra pit.

After the theatre, we went and ate some lunch on the Civic Green. We played on the Olympic rings and ran up and down the sprint lanes. It was great fun.

We then walked around to the library where we simply sat and read and coloured and explored the wonderful library and all of its books. What a great day!!

Spelling Test Stars

Since the beginning of this term we have been conducting weekly spelling tests using our dotted third books. We have been reviewing the week’s phoneme and then having a go at writing our spelling words all by ourselves. We know that some of the words can be tricky but if we use our phoneme fist to help us punch out the sounds in the word then we can have a really good try at spelling them. Here are some Spelling Stars who have been doing a super job the past few weeks. 

Wonder Tree 

We have just begun to add our ideas and thoughts to the ‘Wonder Tree’.

We had to think about what part of our natural world is our favourite. Some of us thought it was a rainbow. Others thought it was the night sky with our planets and stars. Some really like the coloured leaves that are on our trees or on the ground. Others simply love ‘dogs’!

We then explored the Creation story from the Bible. We know that God made the world in 7 days and each day he looked at what he did and said ‘This is good’. 

We also learnt that he made man, to take care of the world and its natural environment and we know that our acknowledgement to country asks us to care for the people and the animals, too.

We look forward to watching our ideas on our tree grow over the next few weeks.

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!

A special message just to say.............

The following students will be celebrating their birthday this week ........

Eva Searle, Jyotis Rahul, Skylar Leslie & Aiden Yu.

Canteen Roster for next week.

Important Dates.

Friday, 2nd August - Assembly 3pm in church

Friday, 9th August - Ready, Set, School Program 

Friday, 16th August - Young Vinnies to Emmanuel

Friday, 16th August - Assembly 3pm in church

Tuesday, 20th August - School Closure Day - Structured Literacy (DOBCEL determined date) 

Wednesday, 21st August - St Pius X Feast Day (Kaboom Sports)

Friday, 23rd August - Book Week celebration

Friday, 23rd August - Ready, Set, School Program 

Friday, 30th August - Father's Day / Special Person's Day Breakfast 7.45-8.45am

Friday, 30th August - Assembly 3pm in church

Friday, 6th Sept - Ready, Set, School Program 

Friday, 13th Sept - Assembly 3pm in church

Wednesday, 18th Sept - School Production 7.30pm

Friday, 20th Sept - Last Day of Term 2.30pm 

Friday, 20th Sept - Ready, Set, School Program 

Remaining 2024 School Closure Days

Term 3

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

Term 4

Friday 18th October - Religious Education Staff Professional Development

Uniform Price List

Before & After School Care.

Parish Contact.

Sunday Mass 9.00am @ 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/