February 23rd 2023

Acknowledgement of Country

Prayer

Let us pray

Creator God,

This Lent, help us to 
Fast from words that hurt;
Feast on speech that builds up.
Fast from discontent;
Feast on gratitude.
Fast from anger;
Feast on patience.
Fast from pessimism;
Feast on hope.
Amen

A Note from our Principal.

Ngata Families and Friends,

It was great to see so many happy campers, although a little tired, disembark the bus from Kangaroobie on Tuesday afternoon. A big thank you to Jake Bacon for his leadership in organising the camp and to Kate, Jane, David, Mick, Clare, Katie, Liz, Erin, Paula and Jenna for their commitment to ensuring that each child had an enriching experience. 

Thank you to those families who were able to join us for Mass yesterday to mark the beginning of Lent. It was great to gather with the students from St John's as well. Tomorrow afternoon we will have our first Lenten liturgy in the parish church beginning at 3.10pm. All are welcome. 

Please remember to book your spot at the restraint fitting and safety checks happening on Tuesday (flyer below). There are only a few bookings left, but there will be another chance in May if you miss out. 

We have our first Parents and Friends meeting this coming Monday night at 7.30pm. All welcome! If you are unable to attend but would like to be involved in our events please get in touch. principal@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au

Kind regards, 

Stacey Atkins 

The Season of Lent

Yesterday we marked the beginning of Lent with Ash Wednesday. Lent is the season in the Christian Churches calendar that prepares us for Easter. Catholics do this in 3 ways- almsgiving, praying and fasting. 

Almsgiving is about helping those in need.

How does your family show compassion to others?

Praying is about spending time in conversation with God to develop a relationship with God.

How do you listen to others to form meaningful connections?

Fasting helps us to develop a sense of discipline through imitating the actions of Jesus in the desert. 

How are you imitating the people that inspire you?

Catholics hope to grow closer to God during the season of Lent as we move towards the celebration that is Easter Sunday. 

Cyber Safety

This week Digital Technology classes have been focusing on online safety. Providing safe online learning environments is an important part of the child safe standards. 

We strive for physical and online environments that promote safety and wellbeing while minimising the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed. (standard 9)

Parents also have an important role to play. Each child will be asked to commit to a safe user agreement in connection to their use of technology at school. We ask families to supervise their child's use of technology and to support their development of safe online habits. These agreements will be distributed shortly. 

Sacrament of Reconciliation

Dear Grade 6 Families, 
For those children who are wishing to Celebrate the Sacrament of Reconciliation, can you please fill out the linked google form.  Further Information and important dates are included in the google form.

Regards, Sara Graham

Pastoral Care Day

Last Friday was our first Pastoral Care Day for 2023. This was an important day for our whole school in setting up our year ahead. Our goal is to make our beautiful school a happy and safe place for everyone.

We spent time in the morning re-familiarising ourselves with the Zones of Regulation and for the Prep’s this was brand new learning for most. The Zone colours are such a simple way of identifying your emotions and allows for consistent language across the whole school.

Through resources such as online yoga, picture story books, slideshows and tactile practice, children had time discussing emotions and emotional regulation before experiencing a number of “tools” they could access when they are feeling overwhelmed, ultimately trying to get back into the green zone. Some of these tools included:

• breathing techniques
• squishy balls
• fidget toys
• actions
• drawing
• stretching
• counting
• drinking water

All children now have their own Safety Plan to refer to when they are trying to get back into the Green zone. Ask your child to share their strategies with you as this is a plan they can use anywhere, anytime.

During the middle block, the concept of trust was explored. While doing this, important characteristics of what makes a person trustworthy was discussed. Students then had to choose four adults within the school they trust and know they can go to for help whenever they need it. They completed the My Circle of Trust at School poster.

Check out all our great photos from this amazing day at St Pius X. Thanks to Mr Bacon for helping us explore, experience and share this day of fun and for giving us time to learn about how we can regulate our emotions, trust others and seek help to keep everyone safe. 

Kangaroobie

Some fun memories from Camp Kangaroobie...............................

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Camp Medication:

Please note we still have some student medication which needs to be collected from the office. 

Pokemon Cards

A number of children have been bringing Pokeman Cards to school and swapping them. We appreciate that a number of children really enjoy this activity so we are trying to prevent any potential issues.  It would be helpful if parents could please discuss this with their child and communicate the following rules. 

• Only swap cards that you are happy to give up. 
• Only swap with friends.
• Don't bring anything precious to school. 

These rules will also be communicated to children at school. Hopefully we can prevent any tears before they happen. 

Well done Zarli!

Congratulations to Zarli who competed at the Ballarat regionals competition last weekend. 

Zarli gained the following results:

200m sprint: 3rd place time, 33.22 seconds

100m sprint: 3rd place time, 15.41 seconds

Triple jump: 7.63 metres

Shot put:  6.10 metres

Long jump: 3.41 metres

Zarli achieved a Personal Best in each of these events. 

If you have something to share with the community, please email principal@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au

Hot off the Prep Press

Pancake Day

On Tuesday the Prep’s helped to prepare themselves a feast of Pancakes to celebrate Shrove Tuesday. Shrove Tuesday is the feast day before the start of Lent on Ash Wednesday. It is a custom to use up rich foods such as eggs, milk and sugar before the fasting season of the 40 days of Lent. 

You can see that we had a delicious time following the Pancake recipe, mixing the ingredients into the bowl and then eating our special treats together outside in the playground.

Painting Patterns and Writing Numbers

This week we have been busy painting some fantastic patterns. Check them out!

We have also had lots of fun with Jack Hartmann learning how to write our numbers 1 to 5. We had fun and worked hard. 

Together We Complete A Colourful Picture

Our classroom norms are such an important part of our day. We have been using our ‘Happiness’ norm every morning in our community meetings and we have made our crayons to put in our pots. Each term we will set ourselves a new goal to think about as we learn. The teachers have seen lots of children spreading happiness - working with a partner, shaking hands, lining up with a friend, playing chasey in the playground and helping each other with our classroom jobs (just to name a few!). Well done, Preppies - keep it up!

Arts News.

Today we opened the art room at second lunch to do some quiet drawing and colouring. Many  students came in out of the heat to enjoy the quiet and get creative. 

Healthy Moves.

It has been so great to see so many smiling happy faces back at school, ready for a big year at St Pius X! This year we would love to see as many students travelling to school in a healthy way, which could be by bus, walking, riding or scooting. For those who live a little way away from the school we would encourage you to be dropped off a block or two away and walk, ride or scoot to school from there! Throughout the year we will have lots and lots of prizes to give out so start the day on the right foot and get moving!

St. Vincent De Paul Lenten Appeal.

The customary Lenten Appeal organised by the St Pius X Conference will commence on the First Sunday of Lent.  Those who wish to donate are asked to contribute goods which correspond to these weekends in Lent.  Please leave at the school Office or take with you toMass each weekend.

5-26 February - Cereal.

4 -5 March  Spaghetti/baked beans.

11-12 March - Tinned fruit.

18-19 March  Pasta/pasta sauce.

25-26 March  Tea/coffee.

1-2 April Tinned soup.

A special message........

Wishing these students are very Happy Birthday for this coming week..................

Chelsea Giddings, Braxton McGregor, Johnny Nguyen, Navya Heenpalla, Jett Greene & Blake Jenkins Smith.

Canteen Roster

Roster for next week:

District Tennis Championships.

The combined Warrnambool and District Primary School Tennis Championships will be held on Thursday 9th March for students in years 5 and 6. They will be held at Beachside Tennis in Warrnambool.

Expressions of interest are sought from any students in Year 5 and 6 who may be interested in competing. This is a whole day event and it will be the responsibility of parents to take their child and remain with them for the day.
If you are interested in competing, please forward your interest to myself either via the front office or directly via email on emcdonald@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au by Tuesday 21st February.

Emma McDonald

Before & After School Care

Important Dates

Friday 24th Feb                    Lenten liturgy 3.10pm

Monday 27th Feb                 PnF meeting, 7.30pm

Tuesday 28th Feb                Safe Seats, Safe Kids

Wednesday 1st March        Reconciliation Formation Evening

Thursday 2nd March          School Advisory Council 

Monday 6th March             Grade 5/6 Swimming begins 

Monday 13th March           Public Holiday

Tuesday 14th March          School Closure (Literacy)

CLASS AWARDS WEEK 4

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.

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/ 

FOR SALE!     Personalised Zooper Dooper holders made by William Carey.   They are $5.00 each and come in a range of colours.  Please phone Jodie on 0459 115 004 for more information.

COVID 19 Arrangements

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