Welcome back to Term Three. It is hard to believe that we are already half way through the year. I hope that you all had an enjoyable school holiday break and that you had the opportunity to spend some quality time with your children.

I would like to take this opportunity to especially welcome all of our new students and families to the St Pius X community. Last week we had 33 children start in our Mid Year Reception classes, one student commence in our existing Reception classes and we also had two new students commence in Year One.

I would also like to welcome our new staff members who have started at the beginning of this term.  Cherry Greenslade and Amy Rypstra join our team as our Mid Year Reception teachers. We have also employed Adam Barber, Adrianna Scaffidi-Muta and Martin Pascoe as Education Support Officers and will be working with all of our children across the school.

I have no doubt that all of our new families, students and staff will love being part of this fantastic community.

COVID & Illness
As you would be well aware, Australia is currently experiencing a second wave of COVID with many people being reinfected with the virus for a second time.

At this stage our COVID protocols in regards to parent access to the school site and the wearing of masks on site has not changed since the end of last term. SA Health strongly encourage the wearing of masks by parents on school sites but as a school we are not mandating the wearing of masks by adults on site. If these measures change I will inform the community.

As a school we will continue to follow the advice from SA Health and Catholic Education South Australia in how we deal with this new outbreak and will respond as required if there was to be a significant outbreak of COVID within our school community.

As a school we will continue to plan our usual community events and undertake our usual school operations with as much normality as possible and I know you will understand if some plans need to be altered or changed at short notice.

It is important that we work together to protect the health and wellbeing of all members of our school community. In order to do this I ask for your support with the following measures.

1. If your child is ill or displaying even mild COVID like symptoms, please keep them home and administer a RAT test.
2. If parents are not feeling well then please refrain from entering the school site.
3. If you or your child is a close contact of someone with COVID then please wear a mask whilst on the school site, in line with SA Health guidelines.

Thank you for your ongoing support and understanding as we deal with the everchanging COVID pandemic.

SPARX Transition Program
I am pleased to announce that last week we commenced our SPARX transition program. SPARX stands for Students Prepared And Ready for St Pius X School. SPARX is an optional transition program for children in the year before they start school in Reception at St Pius X.  This term we are running our SPARX program on Wednesday and Friday mornings.

Children in the program have the opportunity to come to school for half day each week, where they engage in activities which support them to become familiar with the school environment as well as the routines and expectations which are part of school life. Sarah Tirimacco and Laura Baohm are running the program are supported by Judy Menezes who is volunteering in this program. I would like to thank Sarah, Laura and Judy for all of their hard work in setting up this program. SPARX will run for a full year in 2023, and children who are commencing school in either Term 3, 2023 or Term 1, 2024 are invited to join the program. If you would like any further information about our SPARX program, please do not hesitate to contact the school.

Planning for 2023
As we head into second half of the school year, the leadership team will start the early stages of planning for 2023. As part of this process I will be starting to make decisions around class structures and staffing for next year. In order to accurately set up class structures and set budgets for the 2023 school year, we need an accurate indication of the number of students we will have in each year level. In the near future I will be sending home a note asking families to inform me if their children will not be returning to St Pius X in 2023. Likewise, if you know of anyone who is looking to enrol their children at St Pius in 2023, then please encourage them to contact me so I can factor them into our numbers for next year. If you are still undecided about your plans for 2023 and would like to have a discussion with me about these, then please do not hesitate to contact me at the school or via email akeane@stpiusx.catholic.edu.au. I thank you in anticipation of your support of the above.