Dear Parents

Welcome to Term 4, it is hard to believe that we are nearing the end of the School Year.

Staffing Announcements.

After a very long and distinguished career in Catholic Education, Deb Madgen has made the decision to resign from her full-time position at St Pius X to undertake relief teaching roles closer to home. Deb has been a very long-standing staff member who has made an enormous contribution to the St Pius X community. We wish Deb all the best with the next chapter in her life and hopefully, we can entice her back for a few relief teaching days at St Pius X School in 2024.

I can also announce that Lisa Parletta will be leaving St Pius X at the end of the school year in order to take up a permanent position at St David’s school at Tea Tree Gully. Lisa has been a contract staff member at our school for several years, teaching across multiple year levels. In the last 2 years, she has taught our Year 5 students. We wish Lisa all the best in her future endeavours, and we know St David’s will benefit from Lisa’s skills and experience.

I would also like to announce that Amy Rypstra and Natasha Castelluzo have both accepted teaching positions at St David’s School for the 2024 school year. Amy has worked at the school since the middle of last year in out mid-year Reception classes and has also undertaken a variety of relief teaching roles around the school. Natasha joined us in the middle of this year as a teacher in our mid-year Reception class.   

We will have the opportunity to farewell Deb, Lisa, Amy and Natasha at our end of year mass.

I am pleased to announce that we have appointed two new staff members for the 2024 school year. Ms Jacqueline Walters will be joining us from St David’s Catholic School at Tea Tree Gully where she currently teaches Year 4 and has also taught in Junior Primary classes for a number of years.

Amelia Honner will also be joining us from St Paul’s College. Amelia has been teaching Year 6  in 2023 and before this, has worked in the country teaching across several year levels.

Both Jacqueline and Amelia come to us very highly recommended, and we look forward to the contribution that they will make to our school community in 2024.

Planning for 2024:

Planning for the 2024 school year has well and truly commenced. We are currently starting the process of ordering stationery and resources for our students for 2024. We will also be starting the process of putting children into their classes for the 2024 school year. Please be aware that a significant amount of time and effort is put into this task to try and achieve the best social and educational environment for each child.

If your child will not be returning to St Pius X in 2024 and you have not yet informed the school, then we ask that you do this as a matter of urgency. Once we have ordered resources for the 2024 school year, we will be charging families who withdraw their children without sufficient notice a full term’s fees in line with our School Fee policy.

School Camps:

Over the last week, I have had the pleasure of attending two different camps with our Year 6 and Year 4 students. Last Wednesday to Friday our Year 6’s went on a 3-day camp to Narnu Farm at Hindmarsh Island. As part of this camp, the children were engaged in kayaking, Archery, building and racing billy karts, cooking cockles on the beach and also had the chance to feed animals and nurse baby chicks as part of a working farm. At nighttime, the children were engaged in some very competitive games of spotlight and could be heard across the island belting out Living on a Prayer by Bon Jovi as they toasted Marshmallows on the campfire.

The manners of our year 6 students were impeccable, and the staff made several comments on what a wonderful group they were to work with.

On Monday and Tuesday this week, I had the opportunity to join the Year 4 children for their first-ever camp at Nunyara campsite at Belair. The children had a great time participating in team-building games, facing their fear of heights in a tree climbing activity and working as a team to conquer a water obstacle challenge. This camp was a great way for the children to experience being away from home and develop some independence. 

It was great spending some time with all of these students and get to know them better.

I would like to thank the staff who attended the camps, Chris Hyde, Jenny Mittiga, Antony Scarfo, Jess Jenkins, Rachel Bond, Carena Warnes, Rita Campbell, Jamie Deverson, Nigel Armstrong, Andrew Getgood, Jane Buhagiar & Angela Terminello. Without the full support of such committed staff, experiences like our school camps would not be as successful as they are.

Colour Run

Next Friday we will be hosting our first-ever school colour run. This event has been organised by our Parents and Friends committee as a fun way to raise funds for resources for our children to use in the new school library. Information has been sent home to all families about the colour run and I encourage all students to get involved in the spirit of the day.

Our goal is to raise $20,000 as a community and to have a lot of fun on the day. If you have not already done so, please register your child so they can join in the fun. On the day, all children will receive a headband and a pair of glasses and will be run around the obstacle course. The event should be very colourful. There are wonderful prizes and incentives for children to raise money. Please feel free to come along and join in the spirit of the day. Please contact the front office if you have any questions about the colour run.

Catholic Schools Music Festival

In the last week of last term, our school choir performed as part of the opening night of the Catholic School’s Music Festival which was held at the Festival Theatre. We had approximately 40 children from Years 5 & 6 who performed in our school choir this year. As part of their commitment to the choir, the children had to learn the words and actions to 10 songs. They started rehearsals for this performance back in Term One this year.

The chance to perform on the Festival Theatre stage in front of a capacity audience presents a wonderful opportunity for our students. Whilst I couldn’t attend on the night due to being away on leave, I did get the opportunity to watch the choir perform for me in the week before the performance. They sounded amazing and I heard they were wonderful on the night of the performance as well.

I would like to acknowledge and thank Basia Jedrzejczak for her wonderful work in preparing the choir. Basia puts her heart and soul into the school’s music program and as a result, the quality of our children’s singing and performances are always of a very high calibre.

God Bless

Ashley Keane