October 19th 2023

Acknowledgement of Country

Prayer

Let Us Pray

God of all creation, bring justice and peace to our world.

Teach us to be peacemakers.

Guide us in our pursuit of justice and the common good.
Inspire us to welcome all, forgive all, and love all.
Direct us as we walk in the shadow of Jesus:
the Way, the Truth, and the Life.

Inspire us to perceive the world through your eyes,
that we might find hope and joy each day,
supportive of each other, for the sake of your Kingdom.

Amen

A Note from our Principal

Ngata Families and Friends,

There has certainly been a lot happening at St Pius X this week. A number of classes have been on excursions, we have enjoyed our junior school athletics today (finally!) and tomorrow the Grade 3-6 students are headed to a performance by Japanese drummers. Thank you to our teachers who are constantly looking for ways to engage our students in their learning. 

Throughout the newsletter there are lots of opportunities for you to get involved and support our school. We are appreciative of all the many hands that help us to create this great community. 

Enjoy the sunshine while it lasts. 

Kind Regards,

Stacey

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

Learning Conversations Term 4

This term we will be holding learning conversations on Tuesday December 5th, Wednesday December 6th and Thursday December 7th. Parents will have the chance to book at 20 minute time slot. 

In the past, term 4 interviews have not had high attendance. We are hoping to get an indication from parents on how many people are interested in attending so that we accurately plan for how many timeslots each teacher will need. 

We are asking ALL families to respond to the survey below. This will assist with planning. Thank you. 

Twilight Fair

Ways to support our fair

Volunteers Needed!

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. 

Buskers Wanted

Do you know anyone who has a musical talent and would like a chance to busk at our Twilight Fair?

Please contact Stacey if you are interested principal@spwarrnambool.catholic.edu.au 

School Fun Run

We’re holding the School Fun Run’s Crazy Colour Day as a major fundraising event this year!  The event will be held on Friday December 15th, which is the last day of school. We are really hoping to raise money to support the upgrade of our playground. 

Sponsorship forms were sent home on Tuesday. Once you have the form, you should sign up for a Student Profile Page at schoolfunrun.com.au. You’ll be able to access online fundraising and can win a $20,000 Ultimate Family Package!

Students who raise $10 or more will receive a reward, and the more money you raise the better the reward, and the more you help the school!

We’re looking for all students to participate and we’re organising a great day for our community, so we’d love everyone to come down to support the kids.

If you have any questions about the Crazy Colour Day please contact the School Fun Run Office on 1800 FUN RUN.

Thanks for supporting the school and we hope to see you at the event!

Grade 1/2 Excursion to Flagstaff Hill

Due to staffing shortages at Flagstaff Hill, we have to postpone our excursion to Flagstaff Hill.  This has now be scheduled for Thursday, 9th November.  An updated permission form will be sent out via PAM shortly.

Jan Nolan Awards 2023

Congratulations to the following recipients of the annual Jan Nolan Awards.

Layla Vandijk - Winner

Byron Keane - Most Improved

Maya, Austin, Zahra, Piper, Will, James, Matthew, Brax, Tommy and Naomi were all honourable mentions and voted in by their peers.

Hot off the Prep Press!

Welcome Back Ms Lane and Get Well Soon Ms Osborne

Ms Lane has returned from her extra long holiday and is very happy to be back working with all the Prep’s again. Ms Osborne had a few sick days which led to a small stint in hospital but she is now home resting and will have a few more days to recuperate. 

Prep Pet Parade

Don’t forget that tomorrow is Pet Day at School. Have you got a pet to bring along and share? Will it be the biggest? The smallest? The quietest? The Best Dressed? 

We can’t wait for your special show and tell tomorrow at 9:30am.

Vet Clinic Excursion

On Tuesday, we all went on a bus trip to visit Sarah the vet nurse at the Fur Life Vet Clinic. We learnt so many things about how to care for our pets and what services the clinic provides. We know that looking after our pets is just as important as looking after ourselves. 

After touring the clinic and seeing the Vets and the Nurses hard at work, we went to Albert Park for a play. It was a perfect day and we had so much fun together.

Cudgee Wildlife Park Excursion

On Wednesday, we got another bus to take us on our next adventure. Zara and Ellie at the Cudgee Wildlife Park were amazing. We got to hold and pet a python, a saddleback Lizard, a possum with her baby, a huge big Wombat and a beautiful little joey. 

We got buckets of healthy seeds, grains and fruit and went exploring the park to feed the animals. They were sooooo hungry.

We saw a Barking Owl, some monkeys and a very sleepy Koala in their cages. The day was so interactive and we learnt so many things about our native land and its animals.

Of course, we finished our day with a play at Pecten Avenue. Another perfect adventure for all of us to enjoy.

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

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.

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 

A special message........

The following students will be celebrating their birthdays in the coming week.................

Quinn Geyer-Fox, Owen Geyer-Fox, Isayah Jenkins, Tully Williams, Charlie Williams.

Canteen Roster for next week.

Tuesday 24th October: Aliesha Williamson

Wednesday 25th October: Leonie Neale

Thursday 26th October: Cherie Geyer

Friday 27th October: Alana Gleeson

Updated Uniform Price List

Important Dates.

Friday October 20th:   Taiko Drumming Concert

Tuesday October 24th:   PnF Meeting, 7pm

Wednesday October 25th:   Super Science Show

Wednesday November 1st:   Walk to School/Pastoral Care Day

Friday November 3rd:   Pupil Free day

Monday November 6th:   Grade 5 visit to Emmanuel College

Thursday November 9th:  Grade 1/2 Visit to Flagstaff Hill

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.

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.