Welcome back to school for 2023! It has been wonderful to chat to so many of you at the gate, before and after school and hear about your holiday adventures. This year promises to be full of excitement, albeit without a 60^th anniversary concert!

In the coming weeks, I will be writing to families in our Year 3 cohort regarding the Sacrament Programme for 2023. All children who are baptised Catholics are invited to commence this programme in Year 3. Upon enrolment at St Pius X School, families were asked to indicate if their child was Catholic. If you did not indicate this at the time, please contact me so we can make arrangements for your child to participate in the programme.

Our Beginning of Year Mass will be celebrated by Fr Mathew on Thursday 16^th February at 11am. All community members are invited to attend this celebration. Our staff will also be commissioned at this Mass.

Fr Mathew, our parish priest, has almost reached the end of his time at St Pius X, Dernancourt. Just after Easter, he leaves our parish and heads to Western Australia to take up a new placement there. A farewell and thanksgiving Mass will be held at St Pius X Church on Thursday 23^rd March at 7pm. All families from our school community are invited to attend this Mass as we offer our heartfelt thanks to Fr Mathew for his 6 years of service to our community. Stay tuned for more information.

Lent begins with Ash Wednesday on February 22^nd. As usual, we are invited to participate in Project Compassion throughout the weeks leading up to Easter. Each week, we will focus on the work of Caritas – the Catholic Church’s overseas aid organisation, and how our donations are helping disadvantaged communities around the world. In the coming weeks, each family will receive a ‘Project Compassion’ donation box. We invite all families to contribute to this cause and return these boxes before the end of Term 1.

Blessings for the week ahead,

James Lloyd