December 12th, 2024

Acknowledgement of Country

A Note from our Principal

Ngata families, 

This week and next we celebrate some important events and traditions in our school community, and have a little fun along the way!

Graduation 

This evening we are celebrating our Grade 6 students who will graduate primary school this year. As our Graduates move forward to the next chapter in their education and lives, we hope that they carry with them the spirit of St Pius X. Continuing to be inspired and guided to live lives full of love, justice, and compassion. They have most certainly been an integral part of our learning community, and now it's time for them to take that spirit out into the world. The graduation commences at 5.30pm in the Church. All welcome to attend the ceremony.

Carols and Celebration evening

Tuesday 17th Dec, 6-7.30pm, we celebrate our Carols and Presentation evening in the Church. Students and staff have been very busy rehearsing their pod’s carols, it will certainly be a show! We also take some time on this evening to thank, farewell and acknowledge families and people who have been part of our school. All are welcome. 

Colour Run and Community Picnic - See detailed info in this newsletter

Volunteers / equipment needed

On the final day of school for students this year we will celebrate with an afternoon tea picnic on the school oval, all welcome, and enjoy some fun with a colour run! In order to make this day a success we are looking for some parent/carer/community volunteers to come along and work with parent Mel Steffensen to get the water and fun ready! If you can help at 10am Wednesday 18th Dec please put your name on the following sign up sheet. We appreciate any and all support we can get. https://volunteersignup.org/XAKKX 

We are also looking for some possible equipment to spice the event up a little!

• Large black plastic to create a Slip n Slide
• Portable water tank and pump
• Long hoses

If you have any of this equipment or have access to any of the above, can you please contact the school office 5562 2506 or text 0435 060 006 

Kind regards,

Nick Murrell

Principal

With Thanks

We would like to take this opportunity to sincerely thank everyone in the school community for the support, kindness and compassion shown to our family since the passing of our beloved Kimberley.    To have the community rally around us during this difficult time has been a comfort.   

Please accept this as our personal thank you.            Matt, Janet and Corey Nicol.

St. Pius X Raffle Results

Congratulations to our lucky winners from yesterdays raffle draw:

1st Prize of a $1200 Coles/Myer Voucher:   Natalie Geeves

2nd Prize of a $500 Coles/Myer Voucher:  Sammy Le Cerf

3rd Prize of a $300 Coles/Myer Voucher:  Mick McCue

Thank you to everyone who bought or sold tickets for this raffle.  It was our major fundraiser for the year and we are pleased to announce that 758 out of possible 1000 tickets were sold, which is a great community effort.  After costs, the total figure raised from the raffle was $5,710.   What a fantastic result! 

A big thank you goes to Bronwen Levett who organised the raffle.

Canteen Volunteers for 2025 - Can You Help?

We are seeking parents, carers and other adult family members who can help staff our canteen in 2025. 

The canteen is open between 1.50pm and 2.15pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for the sale of icy poles, frozen fruit etc.  Depending on the number of volunteers, you may only be rostered on once or twice a term.  Please note that a Working With Children Check is required. 

If you are able to help, we would love to hear from you!   Please register your interest by clicking on the following link and answering some simple questions.  Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Canteen Volunteer 2025 

End of Year Celebration..........

Well Done Arlo!

Arlo, who will be starting in Foundation next year and who is a cousin to Chloe and Blake Harzmeyer was the lucky recipient of a Rebel Sport voucher when he bought some new shoes.  Arlo nominated St. Pius as the beneficiary of the voucher which was used to get heaps of fantastic sporting equipment for our school. A big thank you to Arlo and Rebel Sport!

Carols by the Merri

Last Friday, 17 grade 3 and 4 students travelled to the Payne Reserve in Dennington to perform at Carols by the Merri with Mrs Keeley.  We were blessed to have fantastic weather on the night and many people turned out to enjoy the festivities.  Our students were very excited to get up on stage and sang beautifully.  What an incredible way to celebrate the success of our St Pius Choir.   A huge congratulations to everyone involved.  

St. Pius X Mini Golf Championships

On Monday 9th December, we held the first ever St Pius X Primary School Mini Golf Championships. Each class was represented by 1 student who all competed the course against Mr Murrell. It was lots of fun and everyone supported the competitors in true St Pius spirit.
Congratulations to Matilda Sinnott, Louie Miller, Maniah Roads, Jensen Blythe, Sol McInerney, Saxon Emeny, Flynn Meredith and Finn Lucas who all competed exceptionally. Special congratulations to third place-getter Liam Norton, equal second place-getters Leytton Meyer and Mr Murrell and finally to our 2024 champion Maddison Lenehan!

The Foundation Files

Fa La La La!! The sounds are magical!

We are sure you have been hearing the glorious sounds coming from the Prep room and even at home as the children have been practicing hard on a daily basis in readiness for their first ever St Pius X Carols Extravaganza. We have some wonderful things in store for everyone and would love everyone to Jump, Clap, Twist with us all as we get ready to POP, BANG and CRACK! There’s a move and a jiggle for everyone! Just a reminder that we all need to be wearing something festive - the more festive the better! All the Preps will meet their teachers at the side of the Church at 5.50pm and will sit together. All of our families and siblings are welcome to sit elsewhere in the Church. We look forward to a wonderful and merry evening together!

What’s Jingles up to now!!

This week Jingles has been a little bit cheeky… and maybe not so nice! Each morning we have found him in different spots in the classroom and leaving us some notes. Jingles was not impressed when the Preps went into the Grade 1 classrooms. He told the students that Prep is so much more fun than Grade 1 and may have used other words to describe what he thought of Grade 1. Another day when we walked into the classroom we found an awful mess on the classroom floor with the toy bins being tipped over and toys scattered everywhere. Jingles promised that it wasn't him that made the mess but I think we all know better! Today he was hiding in a very cosy and warm place - the stable where Jesus was born. He told us that he thought the baby was very cute and that he needed a bit of rest to get through the day. Jingles is bringing us all a lot of joy every morning as we search for him high and low! Let’s see what he gets up to next!

HANDS ON LEARNING PROGRAMS 2024

WHAT A YEAR IT HAS BEEN. 74 STUDENTS INVOLVED IN  HANDS ON LEARNING PROGRAMS.  THAT IS AN AMAZING 32% OF OUR STUDENTS IN THE  SCHOOL!

Ten students attended the Men’s Shed  and learnt some amazing building skills. They have been mentored by some amazing volunteers of the Men’s Shed and enjoyed interacting weekly with them and the occasional joke. The year ended with a Christmas party and the annual game of pool with the winning side earning a trophy. For many of our students this has been the highlight of the week for them. We are so grateful for the Men’s Shed for providing this opportunity. One student commented “It was great to learn how to build and talk to older people.” Another student said “I learnt hands-on skills and how to be creative.”

Twenty eight  students were involved in the Hands on Learning program this year. They have constructed lots of project, painted the props for the school musical Finding Nemo, cooked and ran a cafe for each class, assisted at Volcanic Produce by planting hundred of lettuces for Food Share, hosted Archie Graham where they have conducted some craft activities, fun games and cooked and served morning teas. We are so proud of these students. One student commented “It gets you to talk to more people and learn new skills like building and cooking.”

Another student said “I can use tools properly and have skills  to help the community. I have learnt how to make food for the school and the community.”

Twenty  students in the middle and junior school were able to access a mini Hands on Learning Program once a week for ten weeks. They were able to learn construction skills in the school shed and develop their cooking skills. Many of them entered the Warrnambool Agricultural Show and won prizes for their cooking. One student commented “It was awesome as we got to do stuff that we have never done before.”

Twelve  students participated in an alternate afternoon program where they were able to experience extra physical education sessions, learn how to cook, participated in science, craft and art activities.and constructed wooden projects in the Hands on Learning Shed. One student commented, “I loved how I could improve my sporting skills.”  Another student stated. “I  got to do fun things and learnt how to get on with others.”

All students identified weekly a focus that they would like to work on, whether it was developing their leadership skills to working on how to communicate effectively to others. Each week they evaluated how successful they were  and others in achieving their focus plans. They then voted on the MVP  person (Most Valued Person )  for the week.

Four students were fortunate to be able to attend RDA for a weekly horse riding experience. Due to a grant these students were the only mainstream school to be fortunate enough to have this wonderful opportunity. One student stated, “It was very helpful and the volunteers were very kind. It was a fun experience for me doing it for the first time.” Another student said, “It was very good to teach kids lots to do with horses. I now know how to ride horses by myself and how to look after them and what breed they are.”

Looking forward to another great year working with students in a variety of Hands on Learning programs

Xavier Mills and Adele Webster

Sensory Play Outdoors

Country Bus Travellers - Important Notice for 2025

The first day for students in 2025 is Wednesday, 29th January.  We have been informed by the country bus co-0rdinator that the first day the country buses are running will be Thursday, 30th January.  Therefore, please remember that families will need to arrange their own transport to and from school on Wednesday, 29th January.

Free Uniforms!

If you are looking for some good quality second hand uniforms, we currently have a display set up in the foyer area near the office.  You are welcome to come in anytime and have a look through what we have.   Items include summer dresses, shorts, pants, shirts etc. in various sizes.  All items are FREE to take. 

Do You Have Any Uniforms To Donate?

If you have any uniforms/shoes/bags in good order that are no longer required, you are welcome to drop them into the trolley in the foyer area.  Thank You.

Breakfast Club

It's been another great year for the Breakfast Club.  A big thankyou to Foodshare for providing us with breakfast items and Woolies Dennington for providing the fruit over the course of the year. Breakfast Club would also not take place if it weren't for 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 over the coming week and into the school holidays..........

December: Lochie McKenna, Serah Sijo, Emelia Watson, Lilah Jacobs, Ivy Miller, Kosta Maglaras, Arlo Sloane, and James Tanner.

January: Georgia Woodhams, Carter Searle, Ethan Malikudy, Alice McDuff, Harrison Keegan, Leo Johnson, Carla Elkomos, Matilda Sinnott, Elizabeth Norton, Letty Parkinson, Charlee Best, Jayden Farley, Lucy Sloane, Ned Widdrington, Indi Neale, Darcy O'Shannassy, Leytton Meyer, Maggie Corbett, Renata McKenzie, Josie Foard, Ashley Huang, Fynn McInnes, Maggie Shand and Payson Walker.

Canteen Roster for next week.

We are seeking parents, carers and other adult family members who can help staff our canteen in 2025. The canteen is open between 1.50pm and 2.15pm on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, Thursdays and Fridays for the sale of icy poles, frozen fruit etc.  Depending on the number of volunteers, you may only be rostered on once or twice a term.  Please note that a Working With Children Check is required. If you are able to help, we would love to hear from you!   Please register your interest by clicking on the following link and answering some simple questions.  Your assistance is greatly appreciated.

Canteen Volunteer 2025 

Important Dates.

Thursday, 12th December - Gr 6 Graduation Ceremony at the church 5.30pm.  

Tuesday, 17th December - Carols and Presentation evening 6pm.  All Welcome

Wednesday, 18th December - Final day for students - Normal 3.30pm finish.

Wednesday, 29th January - First Day for students 2025

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/