July 21st, 2022

Acknowledgement of Country

Prayer

A Note from our Principal

Ngata Families & Friends,

Our 5/6 classes returned on Friday afternoon after a fantastic camp. I am sure senior families will have been regaled with stories about the varied places that the students visited, their accommodation and who snored in their room. The students were outstanding on the camp and their behaviour and interaction across the three days was commented upon by tour coordinators at the different locations.

I again thank the team of staff who not only organised this event but needed to be ‘switched on’ with little down time for three days straight. They will have slept soundly over the weekend, as I’m sure that the students did also.

I am also thankful to our Learning Diversity Leaders Clare Green & Kate Harzmeyer, their team and all classroom teachers for the work in compiling data on adjustments made for students with disability in our school. The collection and maintenance of this data is crucial for the financial provision of students with diverse learning needs. Without this work, a number of programs and personnel would not be available to us. 

Our Parents and Friends currently have two fundraisers running concurrently, the Chitticks Pie Drive and Vision Portraits. We ask all families to consider supporting these. Details are provided later in the newsletter.

All families were sent a letter from the heads of the three Victorian education sectors this week, asking that students wear masks indoors at school while possible. This letter is again provided today. We thank all families who are keeping us updated with positive cases. We are required to accurately keep this data.

Joe Ewing

Principal

Congratulations!

Congratulations to Stacey  Delaney and Damien Simpson on the arrival of Harley born on July 6th, a new baby  brother for Indi Pulham in JP5.

Circuit Breaker Long Weekend

A further reminder about the circuit breaker long weekend, which all families were notified about on June 24th. The school will be closed on August 12th and 15th. This measure has been instituted by our school’s governing authority DOBCEL, to alleviate the pressures of sickness on school organisation, attendance & staffing. A letter from Mr Tom Sexton is again provided later in the newsletter.

TheirCare will be providing onsite care on these days. Bookings can be made at https://theircare.com.au/

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 - Still 7 time slots available!

To book simply go to:

https://stpiusxwarrnambool.eventbrite.com.au

and secure your booking time!

For further information, call 03 8689 0033

Chitticks Pie Drive

A Chitticks pie is a great option for a family dinner in the midst of Winter! Why not support our P&F who are running a pie drive in conjunction with Chitticks. Simply click on the link below to access the online order form. Payment should be made to the administration office next week. Orders close Friday July 28th and will be available for pick-up on the 11th of August.

School Report Folders

Thanks to families for the return of report folders. There are still many to be returned however. Please have these back to school as soon as possible.

School Uniform

As the weather changes, so too does our clothing! We thank families for making sure that children are in the correct school uniform. Some extra items have begun appearing including logo sports shorts and ‘skins’ on non sports days, as well as coloured sneakers. We ask that these are kept to your child’s sports days. We also require earrings to be kept to only sleepers and studs.

Coats and beanies are a great choice on cold mornings, but we also ask that these are put in bags during class time in warm classrooms.

School Advisory Council & Parents and Friends

Members of our SAC are reminded that a meeting will be held next Thursday (July 28th) 7.30pm onsite at school. An agenda will be shared shortly. General reports will be held over, with a large focus on the revised Child Safe Standards.

Thanks to members of the Parents and Friends Association who gathered on Monday evening. The minutes of the meeting have been shared but are also linked below. A decision was made at the meeting to go ahead with our annual Twilight Fair on a manageable level in late October.

https://docs.google.com/document/d/1pqz18zYFT8NP9VFcTc9LLf1OH_PF2Srx8mcwcW4pi5A/edit?usp=sharing 

School Administration News

This week the school administration office is in  the process of installing a new Administration Package.  The transfer of data and information is being transferred by the Catholic Education Office, Ballarat.  The timeline that has been provided to us is that all will be up and running by this weekend. All ICON schools in the Ballarat diocese are reverting back to Tribal (SAS) in preparation for another supplier/company in two years time. 

We sincerely hope that all of our data will be up to date, but after speaking with another school who has already transitioned, the move provided some challenges.  Please if you find anything that we send out to incorrect e.g. address, phone numbers, etc please let us know as soon as possible.

The changes will not affect Schoolzine or PAM.

Thank you,

Anne

School Fees & Levies

As we enter the second semester, I draw your attention to your school fees and levies.  Firstly, thank you to our families who have finalised their fees or who are making regular payments.  For those making regular payments please ensure that your instalments will finalise your fees by the end of the year.

Unfortunately, I am unable to send out statements this week due to the change over of admin packages.  

Should you have not made any payments please address this as soon as possible.  May I suggest your tax return may be a good revenue for payment?  Once again, please do not hesitate to contact me should you wish to organise a payment plan. 

Thank you,

Anne

Hot off the Prep Press!

I can do it by myself!! 

Term 3 is all about growing in independence. This term is the ‘I can do it all by myself’ term. That means I can walk into school all by myself, I can do my morning jobs all by myself, I can give messages to my teachers all by myself and I can wait in the circle at the end of the day all by myself. We will be looking for people who are doing a super job in this area for assembly awards.

Just a friendly reminder!!

We are getting ready to go on our first excursion for the term. We are heading off to discover 4 Warrnambool wonders. Please make sure you have filled out the online permission form on PAM so that your child can go. We don’t want to leave anyone behind!

Sharing, sharing and more sharing!

This week in Maths we have continued our work in learning to share items into equal groups. We read a great story called ‘The Doorbell Rang’ and we pretended we were the characters in the story. We got to share the yummy cookies between different numbers of plates. Sometimes it was fair and sometimes it wasn’t. Sometimes we were happy and sometimes we weren’t. We were all happy when we got to eat our cookies at lunchtime together.

Hands On Learning

The Men’s Shed students were excited to work in the brand new Men’s Shed at Hyland Street. They have watched over the last twelve months the progress of this enormous shed. Phil at the Men’s Shed kindly donated some of the shed’s excess tools to the school which we are very grateful for.

The students in Hands on Learning at school are going to take on a challenge, in teams, of being crowned the Master Renovators of 2022. We have been collecting furniture that has been thrown out to transform into something new. We are on the lookout for an old TV unit similar to the photos below. Please contact Adele Webster if you have one.

We are hoping to enter the Warrnambool Agricultural Show Decorated Boot Competition, so we are looking for donations of any kind of boots e.g rubber boots. Thanks for your support.

Year 5/6 Camp

I think camp  was great fun. We had lot of activities planned by teachers. They were really enjoyable. My favourite part about camp was the Victorian Markets. 

Charlea Macleod

Camp was the best. I think the teachers had the best time. It was an awesome experience. I would like to thank all the adults and LSOs who came with us. My favourite activity was MSAC  because there was a  wave pool.                                     

Izzy McMahon 

I had the best experience out of all my school camps ever. I really enjoyed everything there, they were all great, exciting stuff. It was good how the teachers got to have fun as well. I  really enjoyed MCG, it  was my favourite. I also loved diving off the board at MSAC. Overall it was the best.

Beau Allen

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Japanese Class Captains

Congratulations to the Term 3 Class Captains:

Preps: Patrick C & Indi-Rose M

JP3: Elkie M & Brooklyn M

JP4: Dylan S & Zach F

JP5: Ethan B & Indi P

MP1: Flynn M & Mathew H 

MP2: Emily B & Blake J-S

MP3: Ivy M & Payson W

MP4: Austin F & Maddy M

SP1: Will R & Freya C

SP3: Byron K & Zoe L

SP4: Taden B & Annabelle S

The Great St Pius X Tournament of Books!

In preparation for Book Week, the books are playing off for the title of St Pius X Book Champion for 2022. Classes will be reading two of the Book Week Nominated Books and voting which one they like the best. This is a knock out competition that will end with the whole school reading the final two books and deciding on the winner! Stay tuned to see who the first round winners are!

Book Week this year will be held on Monday 22nd August, beginning with a Book Week Parade in the big hall that family members are welcome to attend.

ReLATE Student Survey: Please Help!

We reported that last week would be the last week for the ReLATE survey, but the researchers at Monash University would like a larger sample than they have currently received (12).

We would really love families with children in the Yrs 4-6 bracket to take a few moments to complete this survey which wil support the school’s work in implementing the ReFraming Learning and Teaching Environments model. The survey is designed to be completed by parent(s) and their child.

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

Thanks to the 8 families who gathered in the Church last night for a formatiuon meeting to begin preparation for First Eucharist. These families will begin their first week of preparation activities. Families are welcome to come together on their preferred afternoon to complete these activities at the end of school. MP4 will be available with the required materials. These children will also be presented at the end of Mass on July 31st and given a special blessing by the St Pius X Community.

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

Online registration is now closed. Any families who have not registered but intend to take part need to call the school administration office as soon as possible.

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

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 Anne Kerr.

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

Bluesfan17, the World Class Woodwards are coming! A well placed joker could turn first place into a bottle neck. While we’re talking about tippers sprinting up the rankings, just look at the Whites, who having perfected joker tipping  and are comfortably in the top 10!

Well done to our top tippers for Round 18: Alfie Parkinson, SLQUINN, Finn the Tiggy, Shahne7, Anne Kerr and the White Family.

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

Tomorrow:  Assembly at 2.45pm

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 22-26  Book Week

 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 next Wednesday, 27th July. 

If you are able to assist on this day please contact the office.  Thank You

Seeking Goodness

If you met the man pictured above there is a strong chance you may not have liked him very much. He seemed obsessed with making money, was absent to his two children for most of their childhoods and was constantly unfaithful to his wife. He bribed government officials to get lucrative contracts for his company and when he had the opportunity to get cheap or even free labour in his factories,  he took it. To top things off, he was a Nazi.

The next fact might change things - he saved the lives of more than 1000 Jewish people, preventing their murder in Auchwitz during the Holocaust. He is Oskar Schindler.

Schindler’s story is well known through the book Schindler’s Ark and the subsequent film Schindler’s List. What these don’t make clear is his unremarkable life before and after the war. During these periods he showed he was a fallible person with more than his fair share of faults. However, between 1939 and 1945 he did everything he could to preserve the lives of Jewish families working in his factories by lying to authorities and hiding his true intentions.

It all could have turned out badly for Oskar, but what kept him safe was his wealth. Over the course of the war his money was used to bribe people to make favourable decisions, or to keep their mouths shut about the reality of what was happening in his factories. At the end of the war he was bankrupt.

In Sunday’s Gospel, Jesus tells the people to trust in God, but also to trust in the goodness of their community:

“Ask, and it shall be given to you,

Search, and you will find,

Knock, and the door will be opened.”

Schindler’s amazing story reminds me that even in the midst of great evil, it was still possible to find goodness or even Godliness. I am always heartened when I witness acts of goodness happening in our school community and our Warrnambool community. Sometimes this goodness comes from an unexpected place, but it always exposes for us the face of God.

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

Masks

All education sectors in Victoria are strongly promoting the wearing of masks for anyone in an indoor school setting, aged 8 years and above. The wearing of masks has been a recommended practice for some time (the letter from education sector heads is included below).

Students will be required to wear masks in certain circumstances including bus travel or a period of high levels of prolonged transmission in the school or in a specific area of the school.

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

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.

Another supply of RAT kits was sent home this week. Families who require extra kits should make contact with the administration office.

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:

• Notify the school if returning within the 7 day period.
• Undertake RAT testing on school days within the 7 day period (unless the 4 week exemption applies)
• Wear a mask indoors if an adult or a student (aged 8 years or above).
• Not visit hospitals or care facilities.
• Avoid contact with people at higher risk of infection.
• If symptomatic take a RAT or PCR test.