As the term enters its final week and we prepare for the most significant period of our Catholic faith, Lent and Easter, I wish each of you a faith filled break and a sincere thankyou for making our start to the year so memorable and enjoyable. This week the children have commenced walking the ‘Stations of the Cross’ which are located in various places around the school. They stop and pause at each station to hear about the events that occurred at each station, but most importantly, link the trials of Jesus to their own life; reflecting on moments of doubt, grief, pity, sorrow. All of these are real human emotions and it is important to acknowledge these and understand them. Most importantly, all of these pass, and new life (Easter) gives way to great joy, celebration and acknowledgment of God’s love for each of us.

School Uniform
Thankyou to those parents who have either dropped in, emailed or spoken with me around the school with thoughts and questions about the new ‘Active Wear’ uniform that will be selected by our Uniform Committee over the next Term. I have had an equal number of ‘I love the idea’ as I have ‘we really like the existing uniform’ and I really understand both opinions. I would like the chance to meet with parents to discuss the decision in more detail in a Meeting prior to our next P&F Committee Meeting at 6:30pm on May 7^th, so if you would like to join us please do so. You are also most welcome to then join the P&F Committee Meeting as we need lots of support this year to achieve our goals as we continue our ‘community building’.  

School Development
I have attached some images of the Plans that have been presented to the Port Adelaide Enfield Council for approval. As stated earlier, we are hoping to get all 3 major stages approved rather than 3 separate approvals which will accelerate the project. Our first step will be to develop the Hillburn Ave carpark, move the sheds and develop the Primary Years Nature Play on the Acton Avenue site. We should see this action commencing next term!

St_Pius_X_School_Building_Plan.pdf

Late Arrivals
I was in the Reception classes first thing this morning and very impressed with how quickly the formal teaching (phonics drills) commenced after the bell. This is beginning to flow through to other year levels as new literacy programs are being introduced. You may remember that I determined back in 2017 that up to 1½ hours of learning time was being lost whilst teachers were waiting for late students to arrive. This led to a restructure of the day and my expectation that learning commences after roll is taken and prayer. Thus, children who are arriving 5 and 10 minutes late are missing key learning and this will impact their progress. Please be mindful of this and plan your day to ensure that your children are here ready to go into class on the 8:43am bell.

By way of interest, we had 27 children sign in ‘late’ this morning. I will need to contact parents next term to discuss this if this is a regular event.

Again, a final thanks for the term that has been and your support for St Pius X School. God bless you and your family throughout our Lent and Easter seasons, may you find time to reflect on not only the Christian story, but in our multi-faith community, how your faith and life continues to be shaped and inspired by an unconditionally loving God.