November 10th 2022

Acknowledgement of Country

Prayer

For those who live with the loss of a loved one through war. May they find peace.

For those who live with the effects of war, especially those in Ukraine. May members of the world community bring relief.

For those who have died in war. May they be held close in the peaceful embrace of our loving God.

For those whose war scars will forever be raw. May our nation be open to hearing their voices and working to bring them relief.

AMEN

A Note from our Principal

Ngata Families & Friends,

Yesterday I announced that my time working at St Pius X will conclude at the end of this school year. I am hoping that all families were able to access this information (via Schoolzine channels) in a timely manner yesterday. The coordination of the announcement was that our staff were briefed shortly before the information was sent out to families.  The announcement was then made to the wider diocesan education community.

My new appointment will be to oversee learning and teaching across the Ballarat Diocese, to work with curriculum advisors and principals to maintain and improve learning for students. I certainly have sadness about leaving the St Pius X Parish School community, but have identified that the new role will give me the opportunity to work for the betterment of thousands of students across the South West, Wimmera, Mallee and Sunraysia regions.

As you will remember, Ms Stacey Atkins was seconded to St Colman’s School in Mortlake at the beginning of the 2022 school year. Stacey will return to St Pius X in 2023 and will be the interim Principal until the process to appoint an ongoing Principal is completed.

Joe Ewing

Principal

Remembrance Day

Tomorrow we pause to remember those who have died in war, a ritual that dates back to the end of the First World War. Shortly before 11am our students and staff will gather at the flagpoles in the school courtyard to observe a minute’s silence. Our school captains Isaiah Dawson and Tessa Maher will lay a wreath on our behalf at the Warrnambool cenotaph at the top of Liebig St, as part of the official Warrnambool observance.

Lollies at School

A notable number of students are attending school with lollies  either from home or purchased on the way to school. We are concerned that some students are eating these as they enter the school in the morning. While we endorse an occasional treat for class birthday celebrations, events such as Twilight Fair and Christmas preparations, the norm is for students to have a nutritious lunch high in carbohydrates and protein, fruit and water.

Students eating lollies will be directed to put these into their school bag to be taken home at the end of the day.

Head Lice Alert

Our Yr 3/4 classes have again had some cases of lice in the past days. We ask parents of children in this area of the school to keep a check on hair.

Yr 6 Graduation

Our Yr 6s will be graduating on the evening of Thursday December 8th. The ceremony will be held at our parish church beginning at 5.30pm. Following this formal component, a celebration will be held at Brother Fox at Deakin University for the Yr 6 students and their parents. A formal invitation will be sent home tomorrow with students.  RSVP by 25th November.

Thanks to Janine Lyons, mum to Anna, who has volunteered to organise the event that will be held afterwards.

St. Pius X Recipe Book

Our school recipe book is available to purchase from the school office. Make sure you get your copy of this great collection contributed by families of our school.    The books are priced at $10 ea.

Pupil Free Day: Friday November 18th

Families are reminded that our final pupil free day for 2022 will be held on on Friday November 18th. This day will enable our staff to engage in learning and planning for our Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP). A RAP is a formal commitment and plan for recognition and acknowledgment of First Nations people, for us, in particular the Gunditjmara-Maar Nation.

In the lead up to this day, we are required to complete a school survey on cultural awareness and recognition practices in our school. Families are welcome to contribute to this survey:

Jungle Book Kids DVDs

Families wishing to purchase a DVD of our school production The Jungle Book Kids may do so from our administration office.

DVDs are $15 and are available from tomorrow.

Crazy Socks! Pastoral Care Day and Social Justice Day

Next Thursday we have combined our scheduled pastoral care day and our social justice day together. On this day students are encouraged to walk, ride or scoot to school. They are also invited to wear a pair of crazy, colourful or odd socks as we again seek to ‘sock it to poverty’. Students wearing crazy socks are asked to bring a gold coin donation which will be collected on behalf of Caritas Australia to assist their work with communities in developing countries.

In the morning we will celebrate a prayer liturgy together and over the remainder of the day the students will be complete wellbeing activities in multi age groups. We thank Mr Bacon and Mrs Graham for coordinating this.

Walk to School Month!

For the month of November we are running Walk to School Month.  Students are encouraged to walk, ride or scoot to school to earn points for a whole school competition with the house team with the most healthy movers to win a free sausage at a sausage sizzle at the end of the month.  Yum!  Remember students can be dropped off a block from the school and walk from there which will count towards the competition.  There are some other prizes such as drink bottles, stickers and badges that can be won throughout the month so lets get moving!!

Lets hope this rain goes on holiday soon!

Attention Yr 4 Families: Chromebooks Senior Laptop Program

Over the past 6 years, as part of our implementation of the Victorian Curriculum, our Year 5 & 6 classes have been using individual Chromebook laptop computers in their classrooms.  Our current Yr 4 students will be receiving their laptop from the beginning of 2023, and to prepare for this a information session will be held on November 22nd at 5.30pm for families. Keeping with the technology we will be speaking about, the meeting will be held online and recorded for families unable to attend.

A handbook will be shared with all families, and we are happy to answer questions at the meeting or at another time convenient to families.

Opening the Doors Foundation Grant 2023

Opening The Doors Foundation provides grants to families to assist with the extra costs of schooling of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students.  If this is your child’s first application with Opening The Doors Foundation you will need to provide/submit a Confirmation of Aboriginality Certificate with your application.  If this is not able to be obtained I can provide a phone number to call.  I am more than happy to assist families with this process should you qualify.

Rates are Foundation - $750 and Yr. 1-6 $600, Year 7 $1,200 and Yr. 8 - 12 $1,000.  All applicants must be enrolled in a Catholic or Independent educational institution located within the State boundaries of Victoria.  Please contact me (Anne)  on 5562 2506 for further information.

Hot off the Prep Press!

Smokey Update

Well Smokey is still going strong. He is bonding with us in so many ways. We love caring for him and making sure that he has everything he needs to keep ‘Staying Alive’.

Last weekend he spent the weekend with Levi and the Williamson family.

Measuring Madness

Our new topic for Maths is Measurement. We are talking about words like - length, width, height, weight and capacity. We have compared our handspans and used them to find objects that are shorter or longer or the same length as our own hands. We read ‘How Big Is A Foot?’ and ‘The Clowns New Clothes’. Measuring is so much fun and we still have so much to learn over the next few weeks.

Show and Tell Sharing

Every Friday we make time for some Show and Tell fun. It is such a great opportunity for us to share with our friends some of the amazing toys and games and books and activities that we have at home. There is always a wide variety of items bought along and the children thoroughly enjoy talking about what they have and then being able to have a play with each other. So let’s wait and see what turns up tomorrow!!

School Fees and Levies

With only 5 weeks of the 2022 school year remaining it would be greatly appreciated if school fees and levies could be finalised as soon as possible. For families who have committed to regular instalments, please continue with your payment plan as per your arrangements.

Ringing families as a reminder to pay fees is not only embarrassing and uncomfortable to you but also to the admin staff. Please contact the school office to organise a payment plan should you wish to set up a payment plan.  Thank you.

Crisis Meals

Thanks to our meals volunteer this week: Bec Mills

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.

Thanks to those who have added their name to the list for the final weeks of Term 4. Still some empty slots:

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 leader Tracey Williams.

Before & After School Care

Lest We Forget

Over 100 years ago, Australian soldiers were instrumental in a victory in the First World War at Villers-Bretonneux in France. 

It is thought that this Allied victory was a key to shortening the bloodbath that the Western Front had become. The sacrifice of Australian families is still remembered in Villers-Bretonneux, with children at the local school educated on the story of the battles and the role played by Australia. A sign at the school reads N'oublions jamais l'Australie, or in English, Let us never forget Australia. In another amazing feat this school was rebuilt after the war, with donations raised by Victorian school children.

During the battles fought in this area of France, Gunner Andrew Watt (pictured above) was killed in action. Andrew is the great, great uncle of Holly Woodward from MP3.

Andrew, like many Australian boys, volunteered for the Great War out of duty, with an eye to adventure.

Most Australian families would have had similar stories from this time a century ago. Nothing could bring these boys back from their tragic deaths, but Remembrance Day and ANZAC Day became occasions for those left behind to honour and keep alive memories of their loved ones. Today November 11 is a marker of remembrance of the dead from all wars.

During the Mass we are reminded of Jesus’ words to ‘do this in memory of me’. There is something reminiscent of this as we gather each year to remember the fallen. Just as Jesus is present for us through the Eucharist, the legacy of young people like Andrew will continue to survive, as we recall their sacrifice and strive for peace in our world.

Parish Contact

Sunday Mass 10.00 @ 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/ 

School Canteen Roster

Our Diocesan Community

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

Upcoming Dates

Nov 11 Remembrance Day 

Nov 18 Pupil Free Day - Reconciliation Action Plan

Nov 21 - 29 PSG Meetings

Nov 28 Yr 5/6 beach safety commences

Nov 30 SAC & P&F social evening

Dec 6 Transition experience 1

Dec 7 Learning Conversations 1

Dec 8 Yr 6 Graduation (early evening)

Dec 8 Transition experience 2

Dec 9 End of Year Mass (daytime)

Dec 12 Learning Conversations 2

Dec 13 Transition experience 3

Dec 14 Learning Conversations 3

Dec 15 Carols and Presentation Evening

Dec 16 Final day of school classes for 2022. (Final bell at 3.30pm)

COVID 19 Arrangements

All famililes are asked to familiarise thesmselves with the updated COVID 19 regulations.