July 14th, 2022

Acknowledgement of Country

Prayer

A Note from our Principal

Ngata Families & Friends,

Welcome back to Term 3. If your family was like mine, you took things slowly, stayed close to home, caught up with friends and family, and read a book. However, I know many families who took the opportunity to travel away to seek warmer weather - I’m not sure how successful they were, but I’m sure getting away was fantastic whatever the weather was.

The prayer on today’s newsletter was especially written to mark the revised Child Safe Standards that have come into place across Victoria from July 1st. Whilst this prayer might spiritually centre us in the need for the protection of children, prayer and good intentions are only part of the work required by all schools, agencies, hospitals, clubs and organisations. Structures and procedures need to be present and visible for all families.

Our documentation has been updated and our staff have been made aware of these standards. Our next School Advisory Council Meeting will also have these standards as the main agenda item. More information is linked in the newsletter.

It has been great to see our students happy to be back and engaging with their learning immediately. There has been no easing back to routine for our 5/6s however, starting the term with their annual camp, which this year is to Melbourne. Much planning has gone into this event by our staff, and we know that they and the students will have a great time. Some photos have been published in today’s newsletter.

Next week preparation time begins for First Eucharist. We ask all families who intend to be a part of this preparation time to read the information again included today.

Don't forget to consider supporting our P&F by booking a family portrait for August 6th. Booking and payment details are included below.

Joe Ewing

Principal

Welcome Chenran and Mary

This week we welcomed two new students to our school. Chenran Liao has commenced in Yr 3 in MP2 and Mary Pantino has begun in SP4. We are delighted to have these two new friends in our school and look forward to getting to know them and their families during their time with us at St Pius X.

Mrs Walsh's Maternity Leave: Update

At the end of Term 2, we wrote that Mrs Sheree Walsh would be commencing her maternity leave in the third week of Term 3. During the school holidays Sheree’s family suffered a tragedy and instead of returning for the first fortnight, Sheree will begin her leave early in order to support her family.

As indicated Ms Sam O’Keefe will assume full responsibility for the class from now until the end of the school year. Thanks to Sam for her flexibility in this regard. We wish Sheree and her family the very best during this challenging time.

Circuit Breaker Long Weekend

At the end of last term a letter was shared with families from Mr Tom Sexton, the Executive Director of our school's governance body; DOBCEL (Diocese of Ballarat Catholic Education Ltd). DOBCEL has directed  that all its schools will be taking 2 days in the middle of Term 3 as a wellbeing measure against COVID / flu illness and fatigue. 

The days set aside for this are Friday August 12 and Monday August 15, creating a 4 day long weekend.

Usually families are given more notice of pupil free days and school  closures, and so we thank families for the arrangements and flexibility that is required in ensuring care for children. It is anticipated that TheirCare will offer a service for both the Friday and the Monday. More details will be provided on next week's newsletter.

This arrangement affects  all Catholic primary schools in the Warrnambool Network. The letter from Mr Sexton is again linked below:

Vision Family Portraits Fundraiser

Are you overdue for a family portrait or some beautiful shots of the kids to share with loved ones? Our P & F are hosting a Vision Portaits fundaiser on Saturday August 6th at school.

Please help the P&F raise funds & book your photo session.

• Includes a free digital image

• 100% of your booking fee goes to the school

• 50 families will raise over $1500

• Gorgeous family memories AND supporting the school.

BOOKINGS NOW OPEN.

To book simply go to:

https://stpiusxwarrnambool.eventbrite.com.au

and secure your booking time!

For further information, call 03 8689 0033

School Report Folders

Thanks to families who made the time to participate in the learning conversations. Most of these were held during the last week of Term 2. Families who speak English as an additional language at home have had learning conversations this week with the assistance of interpreters. We appreciate the time and flexibility of parents and carers to prioritise these conversations about the learning, development and wellbeing of our students.

After families have had a look over the report documents, we ask that these be returned to school so that they can be kept until the next round of assessment and reporting at the end of semester 2.

New Child Safety Standards

The new revised Child Safe Standards came into effect on July 1st.  The new standards recognise the critical importance of families and the broader school community in maintaining and promoting child safety and wellbeing and replace the previous standards which came into effect in 2016. There is also a strong recognition of the cultural needs of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander children.

St Pius X has reviewed and updated our child safety policies and procedures to ensure they meet the requirements of the new standards. The first batch of these reviewed documents is available on the policies page of our school website:

We are committed to continuous improvement in our approach to child safety and wellbeing and welcome feedback from families and members of our school community on ways we can further strengthen our child safety policies, procedures and practices. For more information, visit:

If you have any suggestions, comments or questions, please contact Joe Ewing

Earrings

As the new term begins, we have a number students returning with lovely and deorative dangling earrings. Whilst these look great - they pose a danger for these children, as any knocks or pulling could result in a nasty injury to the ear lobe.

Please ensure children wear only sleepers or studs to school.

Student Attendance Rates

We ask all families to be aware of the attendance rates of children that were published on the school reports. For some families that have suffered through long bouts of illness and isolation these rates may be low for the first two terms.

In a normal year we would send a letter home to families with low attendance rates, reminding them of the requirement of school attendance for their children. However, we understand the situation and are sympathetic to the reality that families have been in.

While we are grateful to families who have been vigilant in keeping symptomatic children home, we do want to remind everyone about the importance of regular school attendance.  

Hot off the Prep Press!

REPORT FOLDERS & LEARNING JOURNALS

Thanks to all the families who booked an appointment to meet with us in Term 2 to discuss the progress of their children. At these meetings we handed out the children’s learning journals that showed all of their works samples from the first 6 months of their schooling. We ask that both the report folder and learning journal be returned to school in the coming weeks. Gold stars for those who already have!

WOW! WE ARE IN FOR A BUSY TERM!

Over the next few weeks the Prep students and their teachers are going to be very busy! We have some awesome things planned and can’t wait to share them with you all. Please keep an eye out for notes and online permission forms.

SHARING - IS IT FAIR OR NOT FAIR?   

This week we have been bounced back into school life and straight into learning. We have been engaged in learning to share items between people and into groups. We even pretended we were at McDonald’s and were sharing food items like hot chips, drinks, nuggets, McFlurry’s and Big Mac’s. Some people were happy with what they got because it was fair, however some not so much! We love learning about numbers and counting in fun ways. Check out Codan, Patrick, Minty, Evelyn, Messi, Aubri, Arlo and Zahra at Maccas - some look very hungry!

Year 5/6 Camp

Two busloads of excited students and staff left yesterday morning ready for a fun filled 3 day camp in Melbourne. From the looks of these photos they’re having a great time!

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ReLATE Student Survey: Last Chance!

During Term 2 we gave all families of students in Yrs 4-6 the opportunity to complete a survey to support the school’s work in implementing the ReFraming Learning and Teaching Environments model. This link is provided today for the final time.

This model is being evaluated by Monash University in partnership with its provider - the MacKillop Institute. As part of this process, Monash University is inviting you to complete a survey with your Yr 4-6 child(ren). It is completely anonymous and voluntary.

There are 21 questions about safety, school environment and the teaching relationships that your child(ren) experiences. Our school will receive a report based on the findings that will be distributed.

Please use the link below with your child if they fall into the Yr 4-6 age range.

First Eucharist

This term the opportunity is open to students who are ready to receive their First Eucharist. For the St Pius X community this is usually (but not limited to) Year 4 students who have been Baptised & Confirmed. A family formation evening will be held this Wednesday evening (July 20th) for all children and parents who will be taking part.

The dates for Eucharist are as follows:

July 20th Formation Meeting 7.00pm

July 25th Family Group 1

July 31st Children presented at Mass 10.00am

August 1st Family Group 2

August 7th Children’s pictures displayed in the Church

August 8th Family Group 3

August 14th Prayer scrolls distributed at Mass

August 15th Family Group 4

August 21st Sacrament of Eucharist 10.00am

All families who intend to participate in this preparation are required to register their child using the enrolment form which can be accessed using the link below.

Book Fair - Save the Date!

The annual school book fair will run from

Monday 5th September until Wednesday 7th September. 

Each learning area will have a buying day:

Monday - Juniors

Tuesday- Middles

Wednesday- Seniors

The theme this year is Paws for Books! 

The Jungle Book Kids

As reported at the end of Term 2 The Jungle Book Kids is coming on September 14th! Organisation and rehearsal rebooted this week after our COVID postponement last year. We are excited to be getting back to a school production. Some of our leading cast have changed after a number of the original performers graduated Yr 6 at the end of 2021. These parts were offered to students who were either understudies or close to a part based on last year’s auditions.

Jungle Book Kids leading Cast 2022

Bagheera: Zoe Everall

Baloo: Charles McLeod

Mowgli: Kosta Maglaras

Shere Khan: Jack Steffensen

Shanti: Naomi Kishinaka

Kaa: Isabella McMahon

Coil 1: Addison Holcombe

Coil 2: Ava Bull

Coil 3: Summer Farley

Coil 5:  Peretta Keane-Ryan

Colonel Hathi: James Turner

King Louie: Hamish Corbett

See the links below to the music and lyrics to the Jungle Book Kids. Students are welcome to practise at home as well!

Before and After School Care

We remind everyone about TheirCare, our outside school hours care provider. Bookings can be made at https://theircare.com.au/

Please select St Pius X Warrnambool as the booking location.

Crisis Meals

Each week a volunteer has been rostered to provide a freezable meal to our school to be distributed to a family experiencing hardship, grief or unforeseen circumstances. These meals have been regularly distributed and the families receiving them have been most grateful.

The volunteer for this week is Jane Kelly.

The upcoming roster is below. More volunteers are always welcome!

Ideally meals should be easy to freeze & serve, and should be labelled so that the type meal can be easily identified. Any other families wishing to volunteer can now do so by calling the office directly. Meals can be dropped to the office.

Second Hand Uniforms

Families seeking low cost uniform items are welcome to contact Angela Verspay (mum to Dylan and Finn) who has stock of many donated uniform items. Ph: 0477660119.

Recently we have had a call on  second hand uniforms.  We are desperately in need of larger sizes to replenish our stock.  If you have any school uniform clothing in reasonable condition we would very much appreciate your support.  Please contact Angela if you are in a position to assist.

Breakfast Club

Every Wednesday from 8:15 breakfast will be available in the function room for any students that would like to have some breakfast before the school day starts! Everyone is more than welcome to come along, even if they have already had breakfast at home. It is a great initiative supported by FoodShare who provide fruit, yoghurt, cereal and yummy toast. 

Thanks  to our parent volunteers Maddy and Tracey.

Footy Tipping

Can anyone catch Bluesfan 17? The chances seem to be dwindling with each passing round! The three tippers most likely to challenge seem to be the World Class Woodwards, the Merediths and Anne Kerr, all who have a joker left in their bag of tricks. Great to see tippers were concentrating over the 3 weekends that were covered by the holidays. Top tippers were:

Round 15: Monique Evans (9)

Round 16: Darren Edge & 13Bomber (8)

Round 17: Seurens & 13Bomber (8)

A danger game this week for the Tigers, the Dandelyons will be hoping for a Kangaroos win. A change of coach always produces an unpredictable match. Go Kangas!

Thanks to our generous sponsor:

Bojangles Pizzeria Restaurant

61 Liebig St

Warrnambool

5562 0666

Parish Contact

Sunday Mass 10.30 @ 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/ 

Upcoming Dates

Jul 15 Year 5/6 camp to Melbourne concludes

Jul 18-22 Dental van visit 

Jul 18 Parents & Friends Meeting 7.30pm

Jul 20 Eucharist Family Meeting

Jul 27 Musica Viva performance

Jul 28 School Advisory Council meeting 7.30pm

Aug 6 Vision Portraits Fundraiser

Aug 8 Feast of St Mary MacKillop

Aug 10 Brauer Lion King Performance (Yr 5/6)

Aug 11 Yr 3/4 Hooptime

Aug 12 Circuit Breaker Long Weekend

Aug 15 Circuit Breaker Long Weekend

Aug 16 Volleyball Yr 3-6

Aug 19 St Pius X feast celebration

Aug 21 Sacrament of First Eucharist

Aug 21  St Pius X feast day

 Aug 25 Rock-It Performance

 Aug 25 School Advisory Council meeting 7.30pm

Aug 26 Yr 5/6 Hooptime

Aug 29 Parents & Friends meeting 7.30pm

Sep 8 Pupil Free Day: Staff Professional Learning

Sep 14 School Production: The Jungle Book Kids

School Canteen Roster

Help Required!     We are seeking a Canteen helper for the following dates this Term: 

Wednesday, 27th July, Wednesday, 17th August and Wednesday, 7th September. 

If you are able to assist on any of these days please contact the office.  Thank You.

Giving Voice to the Voiceless

During the school holidays I found time to search out a couple of good movies on Netflix. I hadn’t seen the movie ‘The Piano’ for almost 30 years, but found myself again captured by its haunting  story, beautiful music and striking visuals.

The film (strictly for mature audiences) is set in the early 19th century, and tells the story of Ada, a woman who has travelled across the world to New Zealand to live with a man she has married but never met. Since a childhood trauma Ada has chosen not to speak. She communicates by signing and having this translated by her young daughter Flora. Flora is Ada’s voice for functional communication, but it is her piano that is her voice to communicate her emotion, her desires and her true self. When Ada’s new husband refuses to have her piano carried up off the beach, her voice is removed. 

In Sunday’s Gospel we are presented with the well known story of the sisters Mary and Martha. In the story Jesus visits their home, and while Mary sits at his feet and listens, Martha busies herself with chores around the house. Martha challenges Mary on her inaction, but is firmly rebuked by Jesus.

A traditional reading of this story was that Mary had made a better choice than Martha by sitting and listening to Jesus, but a deeper view of the possible significance of this story has developed in recent years. Many scholars now believe that this story exposes a debate in the early Church over the role of women as leaders of community. These scholars argue that the writer of this story (writing about 40 years after Jesus' crucifixion) was possibly intent on removing the voice of women as leaders in his community, subtly hinting that women should not speak with authority or lead in these early communities. 

This debate sounds familiar doesn’t it? 2000 years later, the MeToo movement has reminded us that women can still be silenced in subtle and sometimes overt ways. There is also still a danger that all kinds of vulnerable people also lack a voice. 

While the Gospel story prizes Mary’s listening silence, perhaps this should be balanced with the action and voice of Martha. Hopefully the stories of Mary & Martha, and Ada & Flora inspire us to give a voice to the disempowered and to listen carefully.

Our Diocesan Community

The link below opens the quarterly diocesan magazine that features news from across the Ballarat Diocese.

https://www.ballarat.catholic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/07/ODC-July-2022-web.pdf

COVID 19 Arrangements

RAT Kits

Staff and students should only be tested with a RAT kit when symptomatic or when testing daily as a close contact over the 7 day quarantine period.

We understand that RAT kits will continue to be supplied to families during Term 3.

Vaccination 

St Pius X strongly supports vaccination for all in our community who are eligible. However, the new COVID regulations have lifted the mandate for all employees and volunteers to be vaccinated. This means there will be no requirement for adults entering the school to declare their vaccination status.

All community adults are reminded of the child safety requirement to sign in when attending the school between 9.00am and 3.00pm

Transport 

Parents who have tested positive to COVID 19 are permitted to drive children to and from school during their 7 day isolation period. They are required to return home immediately afterwards and not attend other locations.

Managing a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19 

As soon as a staff member or student becomes aware of being a suspected case - that is symptomatic (fever, cough, shortness of breath, sore throat, loss of smell or taste:

1. The suspected case is required to leave the school site, or be isolated on-site until they are able to leave.
2. The suspected case is required to be tested with a rapid antigen test. A positive test result must be reported to the Department of Health
3. Positive cases must be isolated for 7 days, testing again on day 6.

In the event that school receives notification that a staff member or student was infectious while onsite:

1. All staff must use a rapid antigen test if they have symptoms.
2. All students must use a rapid antigen test if they have symptoms.
3. Staff and students will be strongly encouraged to use rapid antigen tests for the following 5 days if they don’t have symptoms.

Where a positive case is recorded from a staff member or student who has been on site, the school community will be notified. Personal information will not be released in this communication.

If a staff member or student tests positive with a rapid antigen test but does not have symptoms or has not been in contact with a positive case, a PCR test is recommended. If a subsequent PCR shows a negative result the staff member or student can return to school.

Close Contacts

A close contact (a person who has spent more than four hours with someone who has COVID 19 inside a house, accommodation or care facility) is no longer required to quarantine, as long as they follow the additional safety measures:

• Undertake RAT testing on school days within the 7 day period (unless the 12 week exemption applies)
• Wear a mask indoors if an adult or a student Yr 3-6.
• Not visit hospitals or care facilities.
• Avoid contact with people at higher risk of infection.
• If symptomatic take a RAT or PCR test.

Masks

The wearing of masks continues to be a recommended practice which will still be required in certain circumstances including bus travel or a period of high levels of prolonged transmission.

Any staff of students who are identified as close contacts must wear a mask indoors.