August 18th, 2022

Acknowledgement of Country

Prayer

A Note from our Principal

Ngata Families & Friends,

Thanks again to all families for the flexibility required to enable the circuit breaker long weekend. This weekend was an opportunity for students and staff to rest up before the last part of the term. It coincided with a number of people in our community being ill, mainly from cold and flu, and so the timing seems to have been about right. 

This coming Sunday is an important one for a number of children in our school community who will be celebrating their First Eucharist as part of Sunday Mass. We offer our school’s congratulations to these children and their families. Sunday is also notable as St Pius X Feast Day - a day of commemoration and celebration for our school and parish. While the Eucharist is one way we are maring this occasion on Sunday, our school will have a special celebration tomorrow, with Mass at 9.30am, followed by a tabloid sports carnival. 

Our celebrations continue on Monday with our Book Week celebrations. We thank Mrs Sewell for her organisation. She has provided details regarding this later in our newsletter.

Joe Ewing

Principal

Sympathies

We received sad news this week regarding the death of a former student; Ben Ralston. Ben went to St Pius X for all of his primary education and completed Yr 6 in 2002. Ben’s funeral was held today at St Pius X Church. We extend our condolences to his family and his school friends.

Pupil Free Day: September 8th

Our 3rd staff professional learning day remains scheduled for September 8.

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

The Twilight Fair is Back!

The Twilight Fair will return on Friday October 28th. The P&F intend that this be an intentionally small scale event - manageable, yet an opportunity for our community to come together. A list of stalls /  events is below. Some are already allocated, but families who would like to take responsibility for a stall / event are invited to contact the office to claim one. Fresh ideas are welcome!

St Pius X Feast Day

Tomorrow we will celebrate St Pius X Feast Day with Mass beginning at 9.30am in our church. Any family members who would like to join us are very welcome. Mass will be said by Fr Bill Lowry, the newest priest in our parish. Later in the morning, all students will get an opportunity to participate in tabloid sports with Kaboom Sports.

Could children please wear their sports uniform and runners tomorrow.

Please note, our scheduled assembly will not go ahead tomorrow due to an afternoon funeral.

Car Park Alert

Tomorrow afternoon a funeral has been scheduled at our church, starting at 2.00pm. This could create some overlap between the traffic of mourners leaving the car park and families arriving for school pickup after 3.00pm. We ask all drivers to be patient.

Puka Up Cycling Challenge

This coming November staff member Xavier Mills has been invited to join the Puka Up cycling group, riding through the beautiful King Valley area in order to raise awareness and funds for mental health prevention. Over the course of these three days he will ride 313.9kms to honour the 3139 people who tragically died by suicide in 2020. If you are able to support Xavier please go to the Go Fund Me page linked below:

https://gofund.me/8bd3efef

Sports Night With Our Dads

On September 2nd, we would like to invite all dads, grandfathers and special men to school for a special sports afternoon between 4.00pm and 6.00. There will be a number of organised sporting clashes on this afternoon, but there will also be some sporting equipment left out for use by everyone at their leisure.

A sausage sizzle will be cooked during the afternoon. Attendees will have the opportunity of ordering  sausages next week when order forms will be sent home.

Hot off the Prep Press!

Survey and Graphing

This week we have had so much fun collecting our own data from our friends. We wanted to find out things like ‘What is the vegetable that people like to eat most?, What would be the best pet to have? What is the best hobby?’ The results we found out were so interesting. We had to survey our friends, record the information and share the information with the class. We found out that lots of people like carrots, a bird would be the best to have  and some people enjoy painting. 

100 Days of School

Can you believe that we have been at school for 100 Days! On Tuesday the Prep students celebrated 100 days of learning and fun at St Pius X. We know that 100 is a big number and if we were to turn 100 then we would look a lot older than what we do know. Lachie and Indi-rose look as though they will age well! We created our own set of 100 glasses and a friendly monster that 100 features. Check out our super creations below. We all agreed that they have been the best 100 words ever!

Our norms in action!

We have been so happy with so many people in our room who have been following their norms of happiness, learning and safety. Oscar has been a good friend to Kaden by inviting him into a group and showing compassion. Leo has been working hard to learn his new indigo words. Emmy has been following her safety norm by crossing the carpark safely. Well done Oscar, Leo and Emmy!!

Book Week

Our Book Week Celebration will be held on Monday 21st August. Students can come dressed up as a book character. Parents and friends are invited to view the Book Week Parade at the Big Hall at approximately 9.15am.

The Great St Pius X Tournament of Books!

Grand Final Week!
The school is buzzing with excitement for the Grand Final of The Great St Pius X Tournament of Books. In the final are Great White Shark by Claire Saxby and Stellaphant by James Foley. Stellaphant tells the story of an elephant that dreams of being an astronaut. She is an example of resilience as she seeks resolutions to every setback she encounters. Stellarphant is a beautifully illustrated, thought-provoking story with themes of self-worth, resilience and courage.
In contrast, in Great White Shark Claire Saxby places the reader in the water with an expectant shark. The spectacular watercolour pictures take the reader on the journey with the shark with information dispersed throughout.  Both the author and illustrator have taken great care to present this majestic beast in a non-threatening manner.
Winner of The Great St Pius X Tournament of Books will be announced at the Book Week Parade which will be held in the Big Hall on Monday at approximately 9.15am.

First Eucharist

Congratulations to  the students from our school who will receive their First Eucharist this Sunday at 10.00am:

Piper Matheson

Fynn McInnes

William Carey

Grace Wilde

Mia Kermond

Holly Woodward

Flynn Meredith

These children have been completing their last week of preparation and today had a rehearsal in the church.

Seats will be reserved for families on Sunday. We ask that you are seated by 9.50 am.  Morning tea will be served in the foyer after Mass and all are welcome.

We thank those children who are coming along to form a choir for the Mass. They are asked to meet Mr Ewing near the organ before Mass begins.

Northern Adventure!

Tomorrow we say farewell but not goodbye to the Dufty family as they embark on a trip to warmer climes. Cris, Jayce, Grace, Pippa and Harriet will head North on an adventure that has been planned for quite some time and is now finally coming to fruition. 

Grace completed her primary schooling at St Pius X in 2020.  Pippa, currently in MP2, will be greatly missed.  We thank Pippa for her valued contribution to so many and varied aspects of life at St Pius X. 

We wish them a safe and rewarding journey and look forward to their return in 2024. 

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

Our rehearsals are ramping up now, as we have passed the halfway mark of the term. We hope our audience is looking forward to the production as much as our performers! Thanks to families who have organised the costume elements for their children:

Prep: Monkeys

Black tee shirt (can be long or short), 

Black pants, leggings or shorts.

Yr 1 - 6: The Jungle

Black, brown or dark pants / shorts 

Black , brown or dark top (long or short)

Choir

Black, brown or dark pants / shorts

Black, brown or dark top (long or short)

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 Kerrie Donlan

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

Well, after 22 rounds its come to this. Two families atop the tipping ladder who have played the home and away draw like a game of poker, bluffing us all. The Dandelyons are in first place, displaying admirable tipping and strategy over the past month, with the Merediths breathing down their neck, also having a golden run coming into the final month of tipping. Last year’s winner Scott Kelly and the White Family are in the vicinity, but we think too far away to make the gap. The danger for the Danelyons and Merediths is at position 5 with the World Class Woodwards and position 7 with Shahne  Wilkinson. Both have a joker still to play! Without any hyperbole - this is going down to the wire!

Picking 9 winners was possible and wide spread, with plenty of tipping teams just falling short on 8 winners. Congratulations to the Dandelyons,  Team Milson, Moniquevans, SJacobs83, espn25590726, and Verspay’s Tigers, all with perfect scores in the penultimate round. 

Good luck to all tippers for round 23!

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

Aug 19 St Pius X feast celebration

Aug 21 Sacrament of First Eucharist

Aug 21  St Pius X feast day

Aug 22  Book Week Dress Up 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

Aug 31 2023 Prep Interviews

Sep 1 2023 Prep Interviews

Sep 8 Pupil Free Day: Staff Professional Learning

Sep 14 School Production: The Jungle Book Kids

School Canteen Roster

Held in Reverence

In this last week many people have been mourning the loss of Olivia Newton John (ONJ). Many revere her, but most of us never knew her. It's interesting that when someone of her fame and longevity dies, we reflect on the parts of own lives where their music, films, appearances intersect. In a sense we mourn the loss of those parts of our lives that are now in the past.

 TV, radio and even podcasts set aside time this last week to offer a retrospective of ONJ’s career. One podcast I listened to, replayed an interview from about 5 years ago and the presenter made the point that before and after the interview Olivia had spoken to all of the staff in the office, posed for photos and listened to their stories of childhood fascination with Grease and Xanadu. The interviewer said none of them would ever forget the experience. It was held in absolute reverence.

This week we celebrate the life of a revered figure of faith in St Pius X. This feast day is important to our school as a celebration, but its easy to forget that the name was a real person. Pius (originally named Giuseppi Sarto) grew up in poverty, but was able to lift himself from modest beginnings through hard work and determination to eventually become Pope. It’s important to note that Pius was not proclaimed a saint because he was Pope. He was recognised because of his selfless charity and work for world peace. 

But, like the stories of ONJ, recollections of St Pius don’t concentrate on the big events and achievements, rather in the small moments where he gave time and dignity to other people. Saints are more common than we realise - I’m betting you’ve known more than a couple. We are all capable of saintly actions, and, like ONJ, that can be as easy as giving time to people and showing patience.

Happy St Pius X Day!

Our Diocesan Community

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

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.