Dear Families,

It seems like yesterday that I was welcoming you to 2020 – a year full of hopes and dreams. And now, we are in our last few days of the school year – a year that has turned out a little different from what we expected! Thank you for your support and prayers throughout 2020. Our staff, like you, navigated some tricky times. Together, we made it.

On Monday evening, we farewelled our Year 6 Graduating Students. This was a beautiful way to honour their years in our school community and an opportunity to say goodbye. I felt particularly ‘old’ as I had taught many of these children in their junior primary years. Many of them are now much taller than me! Whilst we will miss their presence, their memory will linger on here at Saint Pius X for years to come.

As you prepare for Christmas, I pray that this will be a time of reflection, love, sharing, joy and peace in your families. Although the world is in disarray in the midst of a pandemic, we can also reflect on how that first Christmas felt for Mary and Joseph – they too were worried, panicked, looking for shelter, all while Mary was about to give birth to Jesus. No doubt, they were experiencing that same feeling of desperation that many of us have felt during 2020.

Please stay safe during the holidays. Make some time for sleep ins, stories, movies, outdoor play, quietness and time with our loving Creator God.

Wishing you a blessed Christmas.

See you in 2021.

2021 'Book a Chat' and Stationery Pack Collection Information.

Your child's stationery pack will only be available for collection on Thursday 21st January from their teacher at the 'Book a Chat' meeting time you choose via the 'School Interviews' programme - please see below for 'how to' instructions. If you are unable to attend a meeting on 21st January your child's stationery pack will be brought home by your child when school commences.

Please visit www.schoolinterviews.com.au and follow these instructions-

• Enter the code y3zua and press "Go"
• Enter your details
• Select the teachers you wish to see
• Select the appointment times that suit your family best

When you click FINISH, your interview timetable will be emailed to you automatically.  If you do not receive your email immediately - check your junk mail folder and make sure you have spelled your email address correctly. You can return to www.schoolinterviews.com.au at any time and change your appointment(s) - until bookings close on Monday, 18th January at 4:00pm. If you have any issues with the programme please speak with Susan Trimboli at the school office.

We congratulate Jonathan from RC for his winning entry in Archbishop Patrick O’Regan’s 2020 Christmas Card Competition.

Well done on creating such a beautiful picture of ‘Baby Jesus, Mary and Joseph in the stable’.

Congratulations to the six students who recently sat an AMEB Singing for Leisure exam, all successfully passing with pleasing results – well done!

They are:

• Jameson from 5R, who received an A grade (Honours) for his Grade 3 exam
• Sophie of 5R, who received a B+ (Credit) for her Grade 3 exam
• Alissandra from 4A, who received an A grade (Honours) for her Grade 2 exam
• Yvy of 4P, who received a B+ (Credit) for her Grade 2 exam
• Diya of 4P, who received a B (Credit) for her Grade 2 exam
• Eva-Maria of 4P who received a C+ (Satisfactory) for her Grade 2 exam

Of the above students, only Yvy and Sophie had ever sat an exam before – all the others started at an already advanced level with no prior exam experience, so special congratulations to them! You are all proving yourselves not only talented, but skilled and able learners.

Virginia Rawlinson, Singing Teacher (and a brand new grandmother!)