October 12th 2023
- Acknowledgement of Country
- Prayer
- A Note from our Principal
- Hats Off to Teachers this World Teachers’ Day
- Class Groupings 2024
- School opening times
- Twilight Fair
- Twilight Fair- we need your help!
- Year 6 Graduation
- Breakfast Club
- Walking School Bus - November 1st!
- Greater Western Region Sports
- Junior Sports
- Job Vacancy- Parish Secretary
- ReLATE Research
- Student Raffle
- A special message........
- Canteen Roster for next week.
- Updated Uniform Price List
- Important Dates.
- Before & After School Care.
- Parish Contact.
- 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
God of peace and justice, who change the hardened heart and break the power of violence, we entrust the people in war torn countries to you.
Protect them in their time of peril; let them know not death but life, not slavery but freedom.
Give us the strength to live that truth in love, choosing peace not war.
Amen
Adapted from the Australian Catholic Bishops Conference
A Note from our Principal
Ngata Families and Friends,
Well, you never get bored of the weather in Warrnambool! What a great day on Wednesday with plenty of sunshine for our first day of Bike Ed. Let's hope that it is a sign of things to come.
Thanks to those families who have shown their support for the fair. We have had 6 responses. Please consider adding your name via the survey in this newsletter.
A reminder that our school closure day for this term is during week 4, Friday 3rd of November.
Today we were also excited to have our playground repaired. A number of pieces with significant rust were replaced. A happy day for all the slide lovers of our school.
Things are certainly busy at school with preparations for next year. We will be advertising for a classroom teacher, so please share our ad if you know of anyone that is interested.
https://www.spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au/employment
Kind Regards,
Stacey
Hooray! Much to the delight of our students, our slide has returned!
Hats Off to Teachers this World Teachers’ Day
World Teachers’ Day will be on Friday 27 October 2023. We invite our school community to recognise and celebrate our remarkable teachers for their contribution to educating, inspiring our kids and acknowledge the support they provide each day.
Students are encouraged to share creative content, such as a snippet of writing, a short video or a piece of artwork or drawing. Let your creativity and imagination run wild! With relevant permissions in place, this content will be shared via our and the DOBCEL social media platforms. Please ensure all content is submitted no later than Friday 20 October.
Please email any contributions to Stacey via email principal@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au
Class Groupings 2024
In the coming weeks our staff will be drafting class lists for the 2024 school year. If parents have information that relates to their child’s learning needs and will assist in the placement of their child, they are encouraged to forward this information as soon as possible.
All submissions must be in writing.
Either email:
principal@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au
or address a letter marked confidential to ‘The Principal’.
Parents are asked to submit this information before October 16.
School opening times
Thank you to those parents who are supporting our change of morning routine.
Classes will not be open until 8.40am. Supervision of children also begins at 8.40am.
Breakfast Club still commences at 8.15am on a Wednesday.
Twilight Fair
Friday, November 10th 2023
Twilight Fair- we need your help!
The PnF are looking for volunteers to help with our Twilight Fair Stalls. This year we are hoping to have the following stalls.
Food
- Cake sall
- Popcorn
- BBQ
- Fairy Floss
- Coffee
- Snow Cones
And definitely some dumplings.
Activities
- Christmas Photos
- Face Paint
- Lucky Sticks
- Chocolate toss
- Step up the ladder
And other games.
The aim is for every family in our school to contribute an hour of their time to support one of these stalls on the night. To volunteer and pick your preferred time please fill in the form linked below.
Please support our Twilight Fair.
Year 6 Graduation
A massive thank you to Tracey Williams, mum to Ruby, who has offered to organise the Grade 6 graduation dinner. More details of this event will become available in coming weeks.
Breakfast Club
Breakfast Club
Our Beyond Bank Breakfast club is up and running for another Term on Wednesday mornings from 8:15-8:55. It is a great chance for students to come together and begin their school day with their friends over some yummy toast, cereal or even just a cup of milk or juice.
Tracey has been doing an amazing job with Breakfast Club and will be continuing to do so for the remainder of the year! Tracey will be moving on next year with all her children off to high school which means we will need a volunteer to take over for next year! Tracey will be more than happy to show people the ropes over the remaining weeks of the term. If this is something that might interest you for 2024, please make contact with the office, we really appreciate the time and effort that goes into these roles.
Walking School Bus - November 1st!
This term we are hoping to run a walking school bus on the morning of Wednesday November 1st. On that day we will be running a Pastoral Care day with a major focus being student wellbeing. The walking school bus will involve student gathering at a meeting point with staff at 8:10 and then walking to school from 8:20. Breakfast Club will be running so that students will be able to access this when they arrive at school. A plan for the morning is attached below including meeting points and routes.
8:10am - Gather at Meeting Point with staff members
8:20am - Group leaves following the route to school
8:30-8:40am - Arrive at school for Breakfast Club
Greater Western Region Sports
Last Friday, Zarli Best competed at the Greater Western Region schools track and field competition which was held in Ballarat. Zarli raced in the 100m sprint race with a time of 15.46 sec and she was placed 7th overall. Well Done Zarli!
Junior Sports
The Junior School Sports Day will be held (fingers crossed!) on Thursday 19th October. Students will participate in a number of different events from 11.45 onwards. All events will be held on the St Pius oval. Students are encouraged to wear their team colours, but the school sports uniform is still to be worn. Parents and families are welcome to attend and there will be a designated area for spectators.
Job Vacancy- Parish Secretary
Our Parish Secretary for the past 13 years, Leanne McElgunn, has advised of her intending retirement on Friday 24th November.
This position will need to be filled and the Parish seeks interest from either experienced and/or qualified individuals. Interested individuals may call into the Parish office at St. Joseph’s Warrnambool to collect a role description or call 5562 2231 for further information.
This is a role of about 32 hours per week (9.00am - 4.00pm) with award wages but this could be negotiable.
There is also a part-time administrative position as well. The work load has increased for our administrative staff due to our larger Parish. The latter position would be a 0.4 or 0.5 position.
Regards, Fr John Fitzgerald
ReLATE Research
Parents of students in Grade 4-6 are invited to complete this survey as part of our work with ReLATE.
The VOCAL-21 collects student views regarding their engagement, safety, and environment at school. Responses are completely non-identifiable.
The survey is linked below.
All results help us to evaluate what we are implementing at school including areas for improvement.
Student Raffle
Please consider purchasing tickets for our student raffle to be in the running for some yummy goodies! Tickets were sent home with students or mailed out at the end of last term. If you did not receive a booklet or would like another, please notify the office.
Please remember that all funds raised contribute to resources for your children.
A special message........
The following students will be celebrating their birthdays in the coming week.................
Jensen Blythe, April Kelly, Bailee Woodhams and Thomas Short.
Canteen Roster for next week.
Tuesday 17th October: Tammy Karnajaya
Wednesday 18th October: Sue Coulson
Thursday 19th September: Sarah Searle
Friday 20th September: Helper Required
Updated Uniform Price List
Important Dates.
Friday October 13th: Bike Ed big ride
Wednesday October 18th: Prep excursion, Warrnambool Wildlife Encounters
Thursday October 19th: Junior school atheletics carnival
Friday October 20th: Taiko Drumming Concert
Friday November 3rd: Pupil Free day
Wednesday November 15: 2024 Prep information evening
Monday December 4th: Transition 1
December 5th-7th: Learning conversations
Thursday December 7th: Year 6 Graduation
Friday December 8th: Transition 2
Tuesday December 12th: Global Transition Day
Thursday December 14th: Carols and Celebration Evening
Friday December 15th: Last day of classes. Fun day/colour run
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.
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/
Could you make a difference to a young life?
Could this be what you are looking for?
Foster carers come from all walks of life. They can be working, not working or retired; married or single; in same-sex relationships; and can own or rent their home. The most essential criteria are that they care, can provide a safe and nurturing home, and have room in their home to support a vulnerable child or sibling group.
If you would like to know more call MacKillop Family Services on 1300 791 677, visit www.mackillop.org.au/fostercare or ring Alana in our Warrnambool office on 5500 2000.
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.