Adelaide Cup Day Public Holiday - Monday 14th March 2022
Term 1 concludes on Holy Thursday 14th April 2022

Hi All

Can you believe that we are at the half way mark of Term One already?

I would like to start my newsletter article by offering my gratitude to the St Pius X School community. To be honest I don’t feel that my feet have really touched the ground yet and I am still learning a lot about St Pius. However, what I have quickly come to realise is how lucky I am to be part of such a wonderful community. I have been grateful to all of the staff for the manner in which they have managed the start to the school year and how well they have settled the children into a learning routine.

I am also very grateful to the parents for your patience and flexibility in adapting to the ever changing COVID regulations and the impact that these directions have on our school operations. Your support of our staff has been wonderful.

Finally I would like to thank our wonderful students. I have been made to feel so welcome by all of the students. I told the students at the beginning of the year that my aim was to learn every name in the school by the end of 2022. I can say that the children are definitely holding me accountable to this statement, but are also being very patient and forgiving when I forget their names or when I need to ask them multiple times in one week to remind me of their name. They are wonderful group of children and I am looking forward to getting to know them better as the year progresses.

School Board:
Earlier this week I sent out a letter to every family about nominating for the School Board. I would like to really encourage any parents who are interested in being part of the School Board to nominate for this role. I believe that the next few years are going to be very exciting times at St Pius and the School Board will play a vital role in providing further direction and insight into the ongoing development of the school. The only qualification you need to be on the School Board is a desire to help shape the school into a great learning and social community for your child. Please consider nominating for this important role within our school community.

Year 6 Top Presentation:
Last Friday we had a short ceremony where we presented our Year Six students with their senior leadership tops. It was great to be able to welcome parents back onto site for an outdoor celebration and morning tea. I know that the Year 6 children enjoyed having their parents as part of this celebration. I would like to thank all of our teaching and admin staff who helped to put this celebration together.

Celebrating our 60^th Year
As mentioned in my last newsletter article, 2022 marks the 60^th anniversary for St Pius X. As part of this year, I would like to explore some different ways to re-engage our community and look for ways to bring parents back onto our school site and involve parents in school activities (COVID restrictions permitting). As part of our first School Board meeting last Monday night we discussed a number of community ideas for our 60^th Anniversary. Some of these ideas included:

• Time Capsule opening ceremony
• Mother’s and Father’s day breakfast (COVID Permitting)
• Celebrating our theme day with a difference (whole school picnic).
• Family Quiz Night
• School Concert event
• School Gala Day (we would need community support for this)
• 60^th Anniversary dinner
• School open mornings

These are just some of the many ideas we discussed. In the coming weeks we will send out a survey to all families, seeking your input into the types of activities that we might be able to celebrate together as a school community. I am hopeful that as the year progresses, life may return to some sense of normality whereby we can host events with full parent participation, which I know is something that has been missed by many parents over the last couple of years.

Sporting activities resume:
It is wonderful for our children to be involved in extra school based sporting activities again.

Since the beginning of last week we have seen basketball competitions resume with over 12 teams participating in extra curricula basketball.

We have also seen Tennis lessons start with a professional tennis coach for all of our Reception to Year 4 students as a result of funding we have received from the Federal Government as part of the Sporting Schools program.

Bike Education lessons have also commenced for our Year 4 students.

We also have a number of children trialling for our upcoming swimming carnivals.

I would like to thank Angelo Zamparelli for all of his hard work and time in setting up all of these experiences for our children. Angelo gives up a lot of his own time to ensure that the children at St Pius have access to wonderful sporting opportunities.

I would also like thank Deb Madgen and Basia Jedrzejczak for supporting Angelo with the Basketball and swimming.

A big thank you also must go out to our parent volunteers who are coaching our basketball teams this year.

It is wonderful that our children benefit from these opportunities.

Hi everyone and welcome to Week 6! The term is flying by, and I am so hopefully that restrictions start easing soon so we can start welcoming families back into the school.

Students have settled back into school life really well and it has been great to get to know them on a personal level.

As a Deputy Principal you do many jobs, but one of my main focus areas at St Pius is Inclusive Education. I also had this role as the Deputy at St Joseph’s, Kingswood. I work with teachers to support them in differentiating the curriculum so that all students have equal access no matter their ability level. I have recently led staff through the process of tracking our students needs and how to fill out Personal Plans for Learning (PPLs). A PPL is used to keep records, make plans and track progress. I meet with teachers regularly and look at classroom data to see if students are reaching their goals from the PPL. Teachers will also meet with parents to let them know how they will be supporting their child and give parents an opportunity to have their say and be involved in the learning process. If a child has a PPL, meetings with parents will be scheduled in the next coming weeks. If you would like to include me in those conversations, or discuss any matter of classroom support or intervention please let me know.

I hope the term is travelling well for you and that you’re settling into a routine. If you have any concerns or worries please don’t hesitate to contact Ashley or myself so that we can support you and your family through whatever you’re going through. It’s very important that the lines of communication between parents and the school remain open and honest so that we’re all working on the same page and can help each other out from time to time.

I hope you have a great few weeks.

The stories of loss through war and natural disasters seem to be dominating the news at the moment. We hear tragic stories of families losing their houses and belongings due to floods in New South Wales and Queensland, and watch from a distance as conflict escalates in Ukraine every day. Of course, closer to home, the Covid-19 pandemic continues to impact our lives in many ways. As a community of faith, we hold all those who are suffering in our prayers and ask God to bring peace where there is fighting, healing where there is sickness and hope where there is despair.

Last week, we began our Lenten journey. These weeks of Lent, leading up to Easter, offer us an opportunity to reflect on our own lives as we walk with Jesus. During Lent, we are called to do more for others and like Jesus, show care and concern for the poor, the sick, the lonely and those on the fringes of our society.

The Project Compassion theme for this year is “For All Future Generations”. We are reminded that the choices we make today will affect our children and their children for years to come. Each week, we will publish a story from a community who has been assisted by our Project Compassion donations. Every family should have received a Project Compassion box last week. I invite you to talk with your children about Project Compassion, and read the weekly stories as a family.

On Friday 25^th March, we will be fundraising for the Vinnies Flood Appeal and having a casual clothes day at school. We ask that children bring a monetary donation to school on this day to support the work of Vinnies to assist thousands of families who have suffered loss due to flooding in Queensland and New South Wales in recent weeks. More information about this will be sent to families in the coming days.

A reminder to parents of Year 4 Sacrament Candidates, that the parent information evening will be held on Monday 21^st March at 6pm in Saint Pius X Church, Avoca Street, Dernancourt. At least one parent and your child’s sponsor must attend. Children do not need to come to this meeting.

I pray the week ahead will be a blessed for you.

For more information please refer to the below flyer.

On Wednesday 23^rd March (Week 8), St Pius X School will be celebrating Harmony Day. Children can choose to wear the colour orange, which represents communication and respect between cultures. They can also choose to dress in clothes that represent their culture.

The day will begin with a whole school prayer service, followed by a parade and a 20 minute performance by Nayumi from the Adelaide Belly Dance Academy. Parents are invited to stay for the morning celebrations, which will commence on the oval at 9:00am and finish at approximately 10:15am. Students will return to their classes to engage in cultural activities.

We kindly ask that all students bring a gold coin donation on the day. Each student will receive an orange Krispy Kreme donut to enjoy.

We look forward to celebrating the day with our community!

For more information please refer to the below flyer.

Reception in 2023
Have you enrolled your child to commence with us next year?  If not and you would like to apply for them to attend St Pius X School please contact Susan as soon as possible on 8266 9400 as places are limited.

Reception in 2024
Do you have a child born between 1st November 2018 and 31st October 2019 and you would like to apply for them to attend Reception at St Pius X School in 2024? If so,  Prospectus and Application for Enrolment forms are available from Reception or please contact Susan if you would like information regarding the enrolment process.

Instalment 1 of Tuition Fees was due & payable on Friday 25/2/22.  Reminder Statements are being posted home this week.

If you have entered into a part time agreement to pay your fees over the whole year this due date does not apply. 

If you were unable to meet this deadline, please do not hesitate to contact me and part time arrangements can be made.  For parent’s convenience, EFT, BPay, QKR, Visa and Mastercard are available. 

Some parents omitted to pay the Year Book Levy of $25.00 which was due in the current instalment, this amount is now due in Instalment 2 or can be paid separately now.

If you wish to pay your fees with internet banking, please ensure that you use the BPAY Reference number which can be found at the bottom of your statement.  If you chose to pay by Direct Funds Transfer, please use the Family/Billing ID number at the top right side of your statement.  This will ensure that the funds are applied to the correct account.

If you are holders of a Health Care Card you may be eligible for School Card and therefore Fee Remission.  Please see me if you feel you may meet the criteria or have any queries relating to fees.  Please note that cut off dates apply to School Card Applications so the earlier you lodge these, the more chance that eligibility will be granted promptly.

Thank you.

Monday 28 February was our first School Board meeting of the year, and our first with Ashley & Jamie. We learned more about Ashley and Jamie, which included their strong emphasis on student wellbeing, building community & leading teaching & learning, along with both being Port Power supporters.

Building Update
We heard that in the coming weeks, the school will be preparing for the commencement of Stage 2 of the building project. This will see the development of a new two storey building which will host new Reception classrooms, library, music room, Junior Primary toilet block, staff room & admin area.

Community Engagement
This year St Pius X will be celebrating the school’s 60th Anniversary. We heard the school is planning to use this occasion to relaunch and re-invigorate our school community after a quiet couple of years. Some early ideas to reconnect community were discussed among the group. The School Board are really excited by the prospect of the whole community coming together to celebrate St Pius X’s 60^th Anniversary throughout 2022. We also discussed how there will be opportunities for those interested, to help prepare an activity. More information to come.

Nature Play
We heard that Reception, Year 1 and Year 2 children are now allowed on the current nature play space. The children are really enjoying playing on this exciting play space.

Thank you for the support you continue to provide by being a Registered Volunteer here at St Pius X School.  

The changes to the requirements for being a Registered Volunteer in an educational setting, which were advised in Term 4 last year have come into effect - these are

• Completion of the new Responding to Risks of Harm Abuse and Neglect - Education and Care (RRHAN-EC) training  

• The SA Government has specified that all staff, volunteers (including Board members) in all schools and education and care settings must show evidence of compliance with the COVID 19 vaccination direction.

If you have not already done so and wish to continue to volunteer at our school please forward your RRHAN-EC training and digital COVID 19 Certificates to Susan Trimboli (either paper copy or via email to strimboli@stpiusx.catholic.edu.au)

Once compliance with the above is received new Volunteer Badges will be printed and  kept at Reception for you to collect when you sign in.

Please contact the school if you have questions and thank you again for your participation in the life of our school.

Parent Help… 

You have been deeply missed around our school community and we welcome you back with open arms! From Week 7 - Week 10 we would like to invite parents on site to support teachers in creating a range of resources that will be used in the classroom. A lot of time is spent in creating meaningful resources across all year levels and we would love your support with this. 

If you have a current clearance and you are available on a Wednesday or Thursday afternoon from 2:15 – 3:00pm. Please join me in Room 26 (the previous Mid-Year Reception room). Come and chat with like-minded people whilst you cut, laminate, pack, label, and sort! 

Please let me know if you can assist by emailing me at stirimacco@stpiusx.catholic.edu.au

Thank you Sarah Tirimacco