This week - Catholic Education Week
P&F Meeting - Tonight at 7:00pm
Mother's Day Stall - Friday 7th May 2021

I am very excited to finally be here at St Pius X!

Please make sure that you say hello when you see me in the yard.

I am slowly getting to know the children, introducing myself in the yard and visiting the classrooms.  They have all been very friendly and happy for a chat! It is always wonderful to see how happy the children are to return to school, to see their friends and be back in the classroom again.

We will also have the NAPLAN assessments for children in Year 3 and Year 5 during Week 3, and we are busy preparing for this already. 

I am looking forward to this term and to working closely with you all!

Welcome to Week 2. This week, we celebrate Catholic Education in South Australia. There are many moments each day when we celebrate teaching and learning at Saint Pius X. I encourage you to talk with your children about what they enjoy in their learning. Here at Saint Pius X, and indeed, in all Catholic schools, we raise hearts and minds of the young people in our care. We encourage our children to think and act with compassion and be active in creating a world that God desires. I have included the ‘Raising Hearts and Minds’ Prayer for you to reflect on as a family.

Raising Hearts and Minds Prayer

Loving God, 
Guide us to know life in its fullness, to raise our hearts and minds to know God’s love. 
Raise our hearts and minds to be inspired by Jesus, the Catholic faith and tradition. 
Raise our hearts to be loving, compassionate and respectful. 
Raise our minds to be inquisitive, capable and seek truth. 
May we be aware of listening to the stirring of our hearts to prompt action. 
Guide us to respond to the needs of others and all of God’s creation.
In all our thoughts, words and actions, help us raise our hearts and minds
in creating the world you desire. 
Loving God hear our prayer Amen

Each family will receive a commemorative prayer card which acknowledges 200 years of Catholic Education in Australia. This is an incredible milestone for the Catholic community in Australia. I wonder how many children have been educated in Catholic schools over the last 200 years?

This week also marks the beginning of May. During the month of May, the Catholic Church traditionally honours Mary, the mother of Jesus and the mother of us all. May is particularly special as this coming Sunday, we celebrate the wonderful gifts of our mums on Mother’s Day. To all our mums, I wish you a peace-filled and gentle day. If you are lucky enough to receive breakfast in bed, make sure the same hands who pass this treat to you also have the vacuum cleaner nearby to clean up the crumbs!

Blessings for the week ahead.

James

Dear Community

We will be running our Mother's Day stall for students on Friday 7th May.  Students will have the opportunity to visit the stall and purchase a gift for the significant females in their life.  Gifts will range from 50c - $10.  

Parents and Friends have organised a Mums night.  For $40 a ticket you will get a glass of bubbles or wine, entree and main meal.  Best of all you will have the opportunity to catch up with friends and enjoy a great night out at the Paradise Hotel. More information to follow.

St Pius X has recommenced a SHIP (Students with High Intellectual Potential) initiative program. The program is designed to enhance, expand and inspire students that we believe will benefit from enrichment and extension of the classroom program. St Pius X is committed to giving its gifted and talented students the opportunity to develop their special gifts or talents through opportunities within the classroom environment and beyond the school via radio, universities and other relevant institutions. It is our vision that all students have the potential to be gifted and talented and, are recognised and catered for in an understanding and supportive environment.

It has been a positive start to the program where year 5/6 students have had an Introduction to Podcast and how Podcast is similar to radio. During term 2, year 3 and 4 students will join, to explore solutions and existing information systems that meet common personal, school or community needs. Throughout the year the aspiring skills of students will be transferred to radio where they will develop recordings which will be informative for the community.

Stay tuned for more exciting projects!

Rosemarie Villano