July 13th 2023
- Acknowledgement of Country
- Prayer
- A Note from our Principal.
- Twilight Fair: Friday October 27th
- The Arts
- Congratulations!
- Congratulations Jordan
- Head Lice
- Hot Off the Prep Press
- Mini Vinnies Book and Toy Sale
- Sacrament of Eucharist
- Parents and Friends Raffle-$1030
- A special message........
- Breakfast Club
- Footy Tipping 2023
- Canteen Roster
- Important Dates
- Second Hand Uniforms
- Parish Contact
- Before & After School Care
- COVID 19 Arrangements
Acknowledgement of Country
The St Pius X Parish School Community acknowledges the Gunditjmara / Marr Nation people who have educated children on these lands for thousands of years.
Prayer
Dear God,
Help us to listen to, respect and appreciate the history, culture and achievements of First Nations People.
Thank you for the opportunities all around us to learn the ways of our nation's first peoples, which are precious and important to all life in this Country.
With your love and spirit, let us walk together in unity, peace and harmony on this land.
Amen
St Vincent de Paul Naidoc Week Prayer.
A Note from our Principal.
Ngata Families and Friends,
Dear Families,
It's been lovely to welcome everyone back to school this week, with many students having happy news to report (some of it is in the newsletter).
A reminder to our SAC members that our next meeting has been confirmed for August 1oth.
It's been great to see our Preps and our 1/2s getting out and about this week and heading to see the great work at the Art Gallery. It's well worth a trip and it is free! A perfect winter activity.
I will be away next week as I am taking some long service leave. Clare Green will be Acting Principal in my absence and Rachel Brown will be stepping into the Deputy Principal role.
Kind regards,
Stacey
Twilight Fair: Friday October 27th
Save the date!
Planning has commenced for our annual Twilight Fair, which will be held on Friday October 27th. Thank you to Richard Verspay, Kimberley Lack, Merryn Payne, Alana Gleeson, Virginia Short and Bronwen Levett for attending our planning meeting on Tuesday night. Thanks also to Kerry Talbot for sending in suggestions and to those people who returned the PnF survey with suggestions and offers to help. All contributions are appreciated and valued.
The fair is a great opportunity for our school to raise some money, but also to come together and celebrate our wonderful community.
The PnF are currently seeking volunteers for the different stalls that we have. If you would like to coordinate a stall (perhaps with a friend) please email Stacey. Prizes for the raffle and any other suggestions would also be appreciated.
principal@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au
The Arts
Last term everyone in our school created a beautiful portrait of someone special in their life who they look up to. Over the holidays the grade 5/6’s and the grade 3/4’s had their artwork delivered to the Warrnambool Art gallery to be a part of the Junior Warrnibald prize exhibition. Today our Preps visited the Gallery and were lucky to see it hanging there ready for judging.
It is presumed that the artwork will be up until September so please drop in for a look. It is a free exhibition and it is fantastic to see our artwork on their walls.
(NB. Only students who completed the form on PAM had their artwork exhibited and some are still to be hung).
The grade 1/2’s and preps created a beautiful portrait as part of our NAIDOC Week display and these artworks are hanging in the foyer of our school and in their classrooms.
Congratulations!
Congratulations to the Woodhams family and Bailee in JP3 on the arrival of her new baby brother Harrison Thomas. It was wonderful news on the first day back after the holidays. We hope everybody is doing well and keeping warm!
Congratulations Jordan
Over Term 2 and during the school holidays Jordan has been preparing for his Baptism after school and on weekends. Congratulations Jordan on this special celebration at the St. Pius Church with Fr. Anthony.
Please feel free to share any good news stories for the newsletter principal@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au
Head Lice
We have been made aware of a case of head lice in the school. Head lice is extremely hard to get rid of if it is not treated properly. Please check your child's hair and treat if necessary. It is also important to wash all linen.
More information can be found at: www.betterhealth.vic.gov.au
A reminder that any child with shoulder length hair should have it tied up.
Hot Off the Prep Press
Art Attack Excursion
As part of our ‘kick off’ to our integrated unit ‘Art Attack’, we hopped on a bus and visited the Warrnambool Art Gallery. We were met there by a lovely art expert, Megan, who showed us around the main gallery. We looked at many pieces of art that showed the art elements of colour, line, shape, texture and form. We knew some things about the elements but Megan told us so much more! After that we went into the Art Studio and completed our own artwork. We had to take a line for a walk and then explore contrast between different colours.
We highly recommend a visit to the WAG as some St Pius X students have their very own artwork on display as part of the Junior Warrnibald and they are fabulous!
Share so things are fair!
We all enjoyed our holidays but it’s right back into learning for us! This week in Maths we have been learning about sharing. We pretended we were workers and customers at McDonald’s and the workers had to share their food items with the customers. Some customers got more than others and we all found that it wasn’t fair! Some customers were happy and some were not! This week we have learnt that a good way to share is by 1’s - one for me, one for you, one for me, one for you. We have lots more learning to do and we are loving it.
Here comes the Bride....
During the holidays our beautiful friend Cloe got married to Cameron. We let Cloe have a practise of walking down the aisle last term when we all had fun pretending we were guests at the wedding. During ‘our wedding’ we had many mini Cameron’s declare their vows and love to Cloe. What a great wedding we had. We wish Cloe and Cameron all the happiness and love in the world as they enter a new and exciting chapter in their lives. Congratulations Mr and Mrs O’Flaherty! Check out how stunning Cloe and Louise (bridesmaid) looked on the special day!
Mini Vinnies Book and Toy Sale
In term 3 the Mini Vinnies team will be supporting CRISP to raise $12,000 for a Refugee family who are coming to Warrnambool to live. This family were originally from Iraq, but have been displaced in Lebanon since 2014. The family has two boys aged 4 & 11 & a girl aged 13.
So far CRISP have collected the essentials to furnish a house but now they are turning their attention to the children. During the holidays we are asking our students to go through all their old books and toys to see if there is anything they could donate for a stall. If you have anything please bring it along to the Drama room in weeks 1 and 2.
We ask that you bring no more than 1-2 books and/or 1 toy per family.
Please only donate goods that are in a reasonable condition. Remember to check with your families first! Then in week 6 (Bookweek) we will hold a stall. Money raised from the stall will be given to CRISP who will then buy essential items for the children.
Thank you for your support.
Sacrament of Eucharist
Preparation for the Sacrament of Eucharist will commence next week, with a Formation meeting in the Church on Wednesday evening, July 19th, at 7pm. We thank those families who have already registered their child. For those who have not, we require that all participating families register their interest by filling in the registration form linked below.
Students attending on Wednesday evening are asked to bring along a special object - not a photo. The object should hold a special meaning or memory for your child.
We look forward to seeing you and your objects at the church on Wednesday evening.
Parents and Friends Raffle-$1030
Congratulations to Messi for winning our raffle at the end of last term. Thank you to everyone who bought a ticket. We raised $1030. A big effort!
A big thank you to Rafferty's for the generous donation.
A special message........
This week we celebrated the following birthdays.
Annie Cawthorn and Braxton Bond on the 10th July, and then on 13th July Angus McKenna and Alyssa Britten celebrated their birthdays. Big birthday wishes to Annie, Braxton, Angus and Alyssa.
Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club continues to be a hit during these cold Wednesday mornings! If you arrive at school before 8:50am, head down to the function room for some yummy toast, cereal, fruit, milo and lots more!
Helpers are always welcome, even if it is for a morning, every little bit helps! If you’d like to volunteer please contact the office!
Footy Tipping 2023
A couple of weeks of hoidays has resulted in some changes to our top 5 tippers. Letty is looking dangerous sitting in second place and only having used 3 jokers!
A number of tippers used round 16 and 17 to play their joker with excellent results. A 16 at this stage of the season is a big win! Keep up the great work team.
Our top 5 tippers are:
- Fynn20- 131
- Letty Parkinson - 129
- World Class Woodwards- 127
- White's Family- 127
- Brad Everall-126
Canteen Roster
Tuesday, 18th July- Tammy Karnajaya
Wednesday, 19th July- Leonie Neale
Thursday, 20th July- Cherie Geyer
Friday, 21st July- Alana Gleeson
Important Dates
Friday 14th July: PSG meetings
Monday 17th July: Dental Health Van Visit this week
Monday 17th July: PSG Meetings
Wednesday 19th July: Eucharist Family Formation, 7pm
Friday 21st July: Assembly
Friday July 28th: School Closure
Friday 4th August: Proposed Movie Night (TBC)
Thursday 10th August: SAC meeting, 7.30pm
Friday October 27thL Twilight Fair
Advance notice:
Term 4 closure date Friday November 3rd
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/
Before & 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.
COVID 19 Arrangements
All famililes are asked to familiarise thesmselves with the updated COVID 19 regulations.
Managing a suspected or confirmed case of COVID-19
- It is recommended that rapid antigen tests (RATs) are used by students and staff if they:
- have symptoms of COVID-19 infection, no matter how mild
- are a household or close contact of someone who has COVID-19
- are a social contact of someone who has COVID-19.
- The Department of Health recommends that all Victorians report their positive RAT result via the online form or by calling 1800 675 398.
- Principals are no longer required to inform their school community of a positive case associated with the school.
- Staff or students who are positive are strongly recommended to stay home and isolate for a minimum of five days.
- Symptomatic students or staff should not attend school, even if failing to test positive on a RAT or PCR.
Communication
There is no longer a requirement for schools to inform their communities of positive cases. All health information is held in accordance with the school’s privacy policy.
Masks
Staff and students who wish to wear a mask will continue to be supported to do so. Masks are available from the administration office for anyone wishing to obtain one.
Any staff or students who are close contacts are recommended to wear a mask indoors.
Any staff or students returning from isolation are recommended to wear a mask for 7 days after returning to school.
RAT Kits
RATs are available for all Victorians from council sites. Individuals can obtain two free packs (10 tests) for themselves and two free packs (10 tests) for each household member. People with disability and their carers can get up to four free packs (20 tests) in line with existing RAT distribution for people with disability.
The RATs are available at the Civic Centre (25 Liebig Street) and the Archie Graham Community Centre (118 Timor Street).
Vaccination
St Pius X strongly supports vaccination for all in our community who are eligible. There is 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.
Medically At Risk Students
Students who have chronic health conditions, especially affecting the respiratory system ie Asthma, must have up to date health support plans. Families who are unsure about the status of their child’s plan should make contact with teh school administration office.