Dear Parents

It is hard to believe that we are almost at the end of Term 3. The year just seems to be flying by.

Reinvigorating our Community
After two years of limited community events due to COVID it is great to see our community atmosphere at St Pius X begin to flourish. Over the last 4 weeks we have celebrated the following events at St Pius X:

Book Week Dress up Parade
On Friday the 26th August we celebrated the joy of books and fiction in our lives with our Book-Week dress up day. It was great to see so many children and staff get into the spirit of the day by dressing up as their favourite book or movie character. The parade around the oval was a colourful event. I would like to thank all of the parents who supported their children with costumes for this day. The effort put into the costumes was wonderful and it was great to see the children enjoying the day. The only puzzle that remained un-resolved for the day was – Who was Mickey Mouse?   

60th Anniversary Dinner
On Saturday the 27th August we had our 60th Anniversary Dinner at the Marche Club at Newton. Almost 200 people attended this event, including former staff and students (some who were at the school when it opened), former parents and community members as well as a large number of current staff and parents. As part of the night we had a fun and light hearted quiz about the history of St Pius X School and also tested people’s knowledge of the music which has spanned the last few decades. We were also entertained by a live band called Breezin who played a mix a 70’s, 80’s and 90’s music. A big thank you must go to all those who assisted in the organisation of the dinner including Cassandra Figg, Susan Trimboli, Julie Parsons, Tokuyo Sneddon and Neville Nichols. Our dinner was a huge success and a wonderful community event. 

Parent Breakfast, Open Morning and Father’s Day Stall
On Friday the 2nd September we hosted a breakfast and open morning for all parents which coincided with Father’s Day. We had over 500 people in attendance and it was great to see the community gather together. It was also wonderful to be able to have the children take their parents into their classrooms. I would like to say a big thank you to all of the staff who were at school by 7am to support with cooking the breakfast. It was a wonderful team effort.

On this day we also had our P&F Father’s Day Stall. The children were able to come over in year level groups and purchase a small gift for their Dads or special people in their lives.

R U OK Day? – Student Well-being Day
On Friday the 9th September we hosted R U Ok Day? This is a day which focusses on well-being and when we are reminded to stop and ask people “are you ok”? At St Pius X we strongly believe in supporting the well-being of our children and we host a dedicated well-being day each term. On this day the children wore casual clothes and had the chance to decorate and eat a biscuit and also engage in well-being activities at school. I would like to acknowledge the work of Ashlee Stanley and Amy Raymond who led our student well-being initiatives.

School Disco
To conclude our student well-being day we had a School Disco on Friday night. All of the children appeared to have a wonderful night dancing and enjoying time with their friends. There were some very impressive dance moves and the night was very enjoyable for all involved. I would like to thank Neville Nichols for being our DJ and ensuring that the children had a wonderful night.

I would like to acknowledge the hard work of the P&F who spent hours organising both the Father’s Day Stall and the Disco. Without the support of our P&F group we would not be able to run these types of events for our children. We have seen a growth in our Parents and Friends group this year and we are always looking for new people to join. The Parents and Friends group is not only a good way to support your children and the school, but it is also a good way to meet people. If you are interested in joining the P&F group, please contact Cassandra Figg in the front office and she will add you to our P&F mailing list.

It is fair to say that St Pius X has been a very busy place in the last few weeks.

All of these events have been very well supported by our school community and have brought great sense of enjoyment to St Pius X School. Thank you to all parents and staff for your support of these events. 

Year 5 Camp
On Monday 29th and Tuesday 30th of August, I had the pleasure of spending 2 days on camp with our Year Five students at the Nunyara camp site in Belair. This was a great couple of days and I greatly appreciated the opportunity to spend some time with these wonderful children and getting to know them better. I was very impressed with the way in which the children supported each other and despite the average weather the children embraced the camp with a sense of adventure and enjoyment. School camps provide a great opportunity for children to step outside their comfort zone and develop some independence away from their home in a safe and supportive environment. I would like to thank Annette Rowe, Chris Hyde, Lisa Parletta, Alaina Basso, Jamie Deverson and Eric Lauterbach for their attendance and participation on camp. I would also like to congratulate the Year Five children on their exemplary behaviour as they really made the camp an enjoyable experience for all.

Swimming in 2022
Unfortunately St Pius X will not be able to offer a swimming program in 2022. There are a number of reasons for this. Firstly our swimming program was not booked in at the end of last year and when COVID stopped schools from undertaking swimming in Term One a number of schools had their bookings moved to the later part of the year which significantly limited the spaces available for other schools to book. Added to this, we are squeezing a large number of other community events into our calendar in the 2nd half of the year, which has meant trying to juggle these events and find a full week that is available for swimming has not been possible. We will aim to re-commence swimming in 2023.

Reminder about Enrolments and change to Fee Policy
Earlier this term you would have received a letter about notifying the school if your child will not be continuing at St Pius X in 2023. In this letter we also outlined a change to our School Fee Policy which now states that families who do not provide sufficient notice about their child leaving at the end of the year will be charged a full term’s fees. Can you please ensure that you let the school know by Friday the 30th September if your child will not be returning to St Pius X in 2023. We will finalise planning based around the numbers we have during the upcoming school holiday period. If you would like to discuss your options, then please don’t hesitate to contact the school and a member of the leadership team will be in contact with you.