February 13, 2025

Acknowledgement of Country

Prayer

Loving God,

Today we remember the National Apology and the pain of the Stolen Generation. Help us to listen with open hearts, seek justice with kindness and walk together in reconciliation.

May we build a future of love, respect and healing for all. 

Amen

February 13th is National Apology Day. 

A Note from our Principal

Ngata families, 

Parents and Friends 2025

As we embark on a new year, I’d like to take a moment to recognize the invaluable contribution of our Parents & Friends Committee and extend a warm invitation for all parents, carers or extended family to get involved in 2025. The energy, enthusiasm and support of this group play a crucial role in enhancing our school community and providing our students with even more opportunities to thrive.

Thanks to the hard work of the committee and the generosity of our school community, last year the Parents & Friends Committee raised an impressive $18,006.21 for our school! This amazing sum was made possible through events like the major raffle, Mother’s and Father’s Day breakfasts and the Bunnings BBQ, just to name a few. These events not only raised funds but also helped bring families together and created lasting memories.

If you’re looking for a way to get more involved in our school and make a meaningful contribution to our students’ experiences, we’d love for you to join the committee this year. It’s a wonderful way to meet other parents and carers, share ideas and be part of something truly special. Every bit of support helps, whether it’s attending meetings, volunteering for events, or simply offering your ideas.

Here are the proposed meeting dates for 2025**.  All meetings 7.30pm

           Mon 17th Feb

• Tues 18th March

• Tues 6th May

• Tues 10th June 

• Tues 5th Aug

• Tues 9th Sept

• Tues Oct 21st

• Tues Nov 25th 

**This meeting schedule will be reviewed at our first meeting. Any changes will be noted in the newsletter. 

We would love to see new faces at these meetings and welcome your involvement in any capacity. Together, we can continue to support our school and provide even more enriching experiences for our students. This year we will also offer the ability to attend the meeting via video conference. We have had feedback that some people would like to be involved but can’t attend meetings in person at school. If you can't make every meeting that is OK too!

Thank you again to all who have supported our school through the Parents & Friends Committee. We look forward to another fantastic year working together!

Nick Murrell

Principal

New Year, New Insta Account!

As we kick off another exciting year at St. Pius X, we’re thrilled to announce the launch of our new Instagram page! 🎉📸

We know that social media is a great way to stay connected, celebrate achievements and share the vibrant life of our school community. Our Instagram will showcase all the wonderful things happening here—classroom activities, events, special projects and plenty of fun moments that make St. Pius X so unique.

We’d love for you to follow, share and spread the word about our new page! Here’s how you can get involved:

✨ Follow us: Stay up to date with all the latest happenings by following us at @saintpiusxwarrnambool (link below)
✨ Share: Don’t forget to share our posts with your friends and family!
✨ Tag us: If you’re sharing school memories or events, tag us and we may feature your posts on our page!

We will still be keeping our Facebook Page (link below) active, so don’t worry—there’s no change to that. Both platforms will work together to keep everyone connected and informed in the best possible ways.

Let’s make 2025 a year full of sharing, celebrating, and showcasing all that makes our school community shine. We can’t wait to see you on Instagram!

Thank you for your continued support.

Whooping Cough (Pertussis)

We wish to inform families that we have had a confirmed case of whooping cough in the Middle Pod.    

Please click on the following link to access important information regarding this health issue.

https://www.health.gov.au/diseases/pertussis-whooping-cough?language=en

Opening School Mass and Smoking Ceremony

Everyone is welcome to attend our Opening School Mass on tomorrow Friday 14th February. This is a great opportunity to gather together and celebrate the beginning of our school year. During Mass we will be officially welcoming all the new members of our school community, including our foundation students, other new students and new staff members. All of our Grade 6 students, as leaders in our school, will be commissioned. 

Before Mass there will be a Smoking Ceremony on the lawn beside the church. Everyone is welcome to attend this as well. 

The Smoking Ceremony will begin at 9.30am and Mass will begin at 10am. 

We look forward to seeing you there. 

Sacraments 2025

Those children in our community who are baptised Catholic are supported through our school, the Star of the Sea Parish and the wider network of Warrnambool and District Catholic schools to prepare for and celebrate the sacraments of Confirmation, Eucharist and Reconciliation. The preparation is very gentle and child centered.

Our parent information night is next week so please fill in the google form if your child will be participating. 

The key dates for these sacraments in 2025 are: 

Reconciliation (Grade 6)

• February 18th- Parent information meeting, 7pm at St Joseph's Church.
• March 24th- Reconciliation Formation Day at Emmanuel College (school supported).
• 3rd April- Reconciliation celebration, 6pm 

Confirmation (Grade 3)

• April 29th- Parent information meeting, 7pm at St Joseph's Church. 
• May 11th- Presentation of candidates at Mass.
• May 12th- Confrimation Formation Day at St John's Primary School (school supported)
• May 27th- Confirmation celebration 6pm

Eucharist (Grade 4)

• July 29th- Parent information meeting, 7pm at St Joseph's Church. 
• August 5th- Eucharist Formation Day (school supported)
• August 10th-Presentation of candidates at Mass
• August 24th- Celebration of First Eucharist 

Those families who would like their child to participate in the sacrament of Reconciliation this year are invited to fill in the attached form. A separate form for Confirmation and Eucharist will be shared at a later date. 

If you have any questions or would like to chat about this further please contact Stacey Atkins at school or send an email to satkins@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au

School Pick Up - Wait & Play

We would like to extend an invitation to any school family and younger siblings (with adult supervision) to wait/play at the playground area inside the school grounds from 3.15pm each day.  You are welcome to enter through the office area and sit or play in the new playground area while you wait for your child/ren to finish school at 3.30pm. 

IMPORTANT TO NOTE:

We ask families only use this playground space and no other area of the school, due to child safety compliance purposes. 

Please be mindful that Theircare operates in our school grounds from 3.30pm and often uses the playground after school.

Please be aware that we have no active staff supervision in this area after 3.30pm. 

CDFpay & Flexischools

Online Ordering is going from Flexischools to CDFpay powered by Flexischools.

St Pius X Primary School will be transitioning from Flexischools to CDFpay powered by Flexischools for online canteen ordering, uniform shops, events, fundraising, and over-the-counter purchases at our school from the 31^st of January, Term 1 2025.

Please find instructions below for closing your existing Flexischools account and opening a new CDFpay account. With CDFpay, there will be no 29c order fees and multi-ordering will be available as a feature from the start of Term 1 2025.

How to close your existing Flexischools account

1. In the Flexischools mobile app, select the ‘Profile’ icon from the bottom navigation bar, then select ‘Manage my details’.
2. Scroll down, then select the red ‘Close my Flexischools account’ button. If you have an account balance, it will be refunded back to you.

How to register for a CDFpay account

1. Download the CDFpay app on the Apple or Google store, then click ‘Sign up now’.
   
   
2. Enter and confirm your email address, then click ‘Sign up’.

Note: You can use the same email address as your original Flexischools account if you wish.

1. Check your email inbox and follow the prompts to complete your account registration (check junk/spam if lost).

• Order and pay in seconds!

Have questions?   See Below

PAM (Parent Access Module)

St Pius X uses PAM (Parent Access Module). This online module allows parents to access and view important information about their children.  The following information is available through PAM (Parent Access Module).   This will give you access, in real time, to: 

• Notify of student absences
• Update student medical information
• Consent to excursions & camps
• Student Reports
• Medical profile
• Parent Teacher Interview/PSG bookings

If you are new to PAM, click the below link, enter your email address (email address that you provided to the school upon enrolment) and click forgot password to set one up. 

Link to PAM https://pam.spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au/Login/Default.aspx?ReturnUrl=%2fLogin 

Student Medical Information

A reminder that we require all families to login to PAM and verify their child's Medical Information.

This information assists with our electronic permission forms. 

Please follow the instructions below to update a medical profile for each of your children by:

1. Click on link to PAM (found on our webpage or SZapp)
2. Click on student (if more than 1 child, this will need to be done individually)
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 get in contact with the office.  

2025 Cyber Safety Agreement

In accordance with St Pius X Acceptable Use and Cyber Safety Agreement, it is a requirement for parents/guardians to discuss the agreement with their child/ren and accept the terms.

This agreement is to ensure that all students that have access to the school’s digital resources are aware of their responsibilities and agree to abide by the school’s Acceptable Use and Cybersafety Agreement.

The agreement covers the student’s use of technology equipment (such as computers, hand held devices, cameras, printers) and digital platforms (such as Internet, networks and email. social media, apps and software).

Permission is required for each child in your family from Foundation to Year 6.

To access this agreement:

1. Login into your PAM account
2. Select the red bell icon in the top right corner (you will then see the agreement)
3. Download, read and discuss this agreement with each of your children.
4. Select YES for your child to agree to abide by the Acceptable Use and Cyber Safety Agreement at St. Pius X School for the 2025 school year.

This is required to be accepted by all families as soon as possible. 

We appreciate your support in helping us keep our students safe in a digital world.

Media Permissions 2025 (PAM) - Update Required

In your Parent Access Module (PAM) there is also a short survey requiring a response regarding your child/ren's 2025 Media Permissions. 

The purpose of this permission is to provide (or withhold) consent for your child's image to be used in media circulated outside the school community. The information provided will be referred to for the remainder of the school year and reviewed again in 2026. 

(Responses are recorded once for families with multiple children at the school. If you have individual preferences for each of your children, please contact the school office.)

Could you please ensure that this permission is completed as soon as possible.  Thank You.

School Closure Days 2025

11th March – Structured Literacy

24th April – Southern Zone Collaboration Day (DOBCEL determined date)

30th May – School Review 

2nd June – School Review 

Term 3 – School-Wide Positive Behaviour Support (SWPBS) Date TBC

6th October – Structured Literacy T4

7th November  – Religious Education 

Ballarat Diocese FLARE Primary Literacy Strategy - Letter to parents/carers

District Swimming Carnival

The Warrnambool region swimming carnival will be held for district primary school at the end of this month. Students must meet age requirements and qualifying times. If you have a child that may wish to participate, please contact me prior to the end of next week and I will forward some information.

emcdonald@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au

Foundation Files

Pastoral Care Day

Tomorrow is our first Pastoral Care Day for St Pius X 2025. Our whole school will celebrate and learn together about our school wide Norms - Safety, Respect and Responsibility and how we use them at school in different ways to help us to learn to our full potential. We will also look at the Zones of Regulation and think about how we are feeling and what tools we could use to help us stay in the Green zone and be ready to learn. We will also begin to use our safety plan which we will send home as well. It may be useful for whenever we get into the red zone (we might be cross!) or the blue zone (we might be sad!).

We would love the Prep’s to bring along a Show and Tell item that makes them happy so that we can have fun and be happy at the end of our week. 

Buddy Time!

Last Wednesday our buddies came with us to the Library. They had to do a little bit of research on us so that they could introduce us to our school community at assembly. What a great job they did, too. But don’t panic, there are some more introductions to come at our next assembly on Friday 21st at 3:00pm.

The best part of our Library time was when they got to help us borrow our books to take home and when they read us some of the best picture books ever! We love our buddies!

Buddy Time!

Words I need to read…

We are working so hard at school on learning sounds and spellings and how to write simple sentences but don’t forget that we have words to learn as well. Our words to know are in the back of our green books which are in our reading bags and it’s important that we practice reading them each night. There are only 4 words at a time but they will change once we know them. You can help us to read them, write them or even find them in our little books like a game of hide and seek.

Mini Vinnies 2025

A big congratulations to our school Mini Vinnies representatives for 2025.We met for the first time this week and are already putting into action some great work promoting Project Compassion.  Many thanks to Jillian who came to speak to us about Caritas and the good work they do around the world.  We discovered that we all have some very fine strengths which we will bring to the group.

St. Pius X Choir 2025

Welcome to the St Pius X Choir for 2025!!
These students from Grade 3 and 4 will meet 2 times every three weeks to share in our love of singing. They will represent us on some special occasions. We look forward to hearing more from them in the weeks ahead. Many thanks go to Evie, Harper, Annika, Annie, Oscar, Ellie, Maddy, Olivia, Leo, Brooklyn, Zahra, Willow, Jensen, James, Ivy, Codan and Reg. Absent: Skiie. 

Breakfast Club - SAVE THE DATE!

We wish to advise that the first Breakfast Club for 2025 will be in week 6 on Wednesday, 5th March.      We look forward to sharing breakfast with you then! 

A big thank you to Sarah Searle who has kindly agreed to co-ordinate again this year.  If any other parent would like to help out, you would be more than welcome!   A Working With Children Check is required.

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

The following students are celebrating their birthdays this coming week ........

Macsen Gill-Arundell, Harshith Moothezhath Dijesh, West Sassmannshausen, Maddison Lenehan, Liam Brozinski.

Canteen Roster for next week.

A big thank you to those Parents who have kindly donated their time to help in our canteen this year. 

Your help is greatly appreciated.

Before & After School Care.

Important Dates.

TOMORROW Friday, 14th February - Smoking Ceremony, 9.30am - All Welcome

TOMORROW Friday, 14th February- Opening School Mass 10am to 11am  - All Welcome

Tuesday 18th February - Reconciliation Parent Meeting 

Wed-Fri 19th-21st February - PSG meetings

Friday 21st February - Assembly

Monday, 24th February - Gr 3/4 Camp Kangaroobie

Tuesday 4th March - Shrove Tuesday

Tuesday 4th March - Lions Eye Health Program (Gr. F, 3, 6)

Wednesday 5th March - Ash Wednesday

                                                - First Breakfast Club for 2025!

Friday 7th March - Assembly

Monday, 10th March - Labour Day Public Holiday

Tuesday, 11th March - School Closure Day for Structured Literacy

Friday 21st March - Assembly

Monday 24th March - Reconciliation Formation Day - Emmanuel College

Tuesday, 25th March - School Sports Day

Wed-Fri 26th-28th March - 5/6 Swimming Program 

Monday 31st March - 5/6 Swimming Program 

Wednesday 2nd April - 5/6 Swimming Program 

Thursday 3rd April - Reconciliation Sacrament

Friday 4th April - Last Day of Term 1

Friday 4th April - Assembly

Monday 21st April -Easter Monday Public Holiday

Tuesday 22nd April - First Day Term 2

Thursday 24th April - Closure Day - Southern Zone Collaboration Day (DOBCEL determined date)

Friday 25th April - ANZAC Day Public Holiday

Monday 28th April - Confirmation Parent Meeting (7pm St Joseph's church)

Tuesday 29th April - School Photo Day

Wednesday 30th April - Cross Country

Thursday 1st May - May Races Public Holiday

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.

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/ 

Join the Questacon Science Circus for a FREE pop-up science centre experience like no other!  

 Come along to spin yourself dizzy, test your reflexes, explore your fingertips under the microscope, and watch some of our spectacular science shows.  

 With over 30 hands-on exhibits, the Science Circus pop-up is a fantastic STEM day out for the whole family. Don't miss out on this exciting opportunity to ignite your curiosity!  

 This is a FREE event, but bookings are essential.  

• Most people spend 1–2 hours at our pop-up. 

• Children under 12 must be accompanied by an adult at all times. 

 Hurry, book your FREE ticket now! ️ https://bit.ly/QSC25-VIC