Term 4 Concludes: Wednesday 14th December at 3:00pm
Pupil Free Days: Thursday 15th & Friday 16th December

The 2023 School Year commences on: Monday 30th January

Dear Parents

Wow, Wow, Wow! What an amazing night our 60^th Anniversary Concert was. I would like to start by thanking all of our community for supporting this wonderful event. Our school concert was a spectacular celebration and I was very proud of our staff and students for putting together such a high quality evening of entertainment. At the beginning of this year we were not able to gather as a whole school community due to COVID restrictions and there was a lot of uncertainty around the community events that we would be able to hold in order to celebrate our 60^th year. In a very short period of time we have been able to plan a Mass, Gala Dinner, Whole School Picnic and our fourth and final event was the amazing concert that we witnessed last Wednesday night.

All of the acts and audio visual displays for each of the year level items were put together by our teaching and ESO staff. The hours of planning and preparation that were devoted to the items by our staff was over and above what is normally expected. It this dedication and commitment from the staff that contributed to the success of the night. I would like to thank all of our teaching and ESO staff for not only their planning and preparation, but also for the way they worked together backstage on the night in order to ensure that the event ran smoothly. Organising 500 children to move on and off stage throughout the night requires a team effort and every staff member played a role in making this evening successful.

I would like to thank Basia Jedrzejczak for her amazing work with organising the opening and closing items for the evening and for her work with the choir. Preparing 500 children to perform in unison in a short period of time is an amazing achievement and is a true testament to Basia’s skills and abilities as a music teacher. I would also like to thank Basia for putting together the running sheet for the concert and for coordinating the whole school rehearsals. Basia did an amazing job and was a big part of the concert’s success.

Thank you James Lloyd for narrating the concert and for putting together the script which tied the acts together. I am sure you will agree that James did an amazing job.

I would like to thank Hadyn Smith for putting the music together for all of the acts. Hadyn spent hours cutting and recording music for the concert and did most of this in his own time.

I would like to acknowledge Chris Hyde and Jamie Deverson for helping put together some of the i-movies and acknowledgement of country presentations.

The front office staff also need recognition for their handling of the ticket sales. Hours of work went into the organisation and distribution of tickets for the event.

Last but by no means least – my biggest thank you goes to our wonderful students who provided the entertainment on the night. I am sure you will agree our children were amazing and we have a lot of talented performers at our school. The community atmosphere and the way in which the children cheered and supported each other at the rehearsal was heart warming and really made me realise what a special group of children we have at St Pius X School. When I went around to thank the children on Friday, it was evident that there was still a buzz around the school and the children really enjoyed the concert and felt proud of what they had achieved. I know that the 60^th Anniversary School Concert will be one that I look back on with fond memories for many years to come, and I hope this is the same for all of our students and parents.

St Pius X school is a very special place and I feel privileged to be working with such beautiful students, committed and talented staff and a supportive parent community.

THANK YOU!

In our last week of school we will be putting on a special day of fun and wellbeing as a way to thank the children for their wonderful efforts at the concert.

Staffing News:  
It is with mixed emotions that I inform the community Miss Olivia Ventura has been appointed to a permanent teaching position at St Margaret Mary’s at Croydon Park commencing from the beginning of 2023. Olivia currently teaches in a Year One class and her skills and talents have been recognised and sought after by St Margaret Mary’s. I know you will join me in congratulating Olivia on her appointment and wishing her well at her new school.

I can also inform the community that Mandy Richardson who has been our permanent OSHC Director for 30 years has resigned from her position. Mandy took a year’s leave this year to take up a leadership and advisory role in the Department of Education. I would like to thank Mandy for her hard work throughout her time at St Pius X. Mandy is responsible for making the St Pius X OSHC such a high quality service and one which is highly regarded as being one of the best OSHC services in the state. We wish Mandy all the best for her future and will be forever grateful for her contribution to our school community

I am pleased to announce that Lauren Ryder has been appointed as the new permanent OSHC Director at St Pius X. Lauren has been the joint director with Jessica Harmer this year and together they have continued to operate a high quality OSHC service. Lauren brings a great deal of experience and knowledge to the role and is well known to our OSHC families.

I am also delighted to announce that Laura Baohm has been appointed as the permanent Assistant Director at St Pius X OSHC. Laura has excellent relationships with our families and children and is a great asset to our service. I look forward to working with both Lauren and Laura as they continue to run a wonderful OSHC service for our families.  

I would also like to thank Jessica Harmer for stepping in to Co-Direct the OSHC service in Mandy’s absence this year. Jessica and Lauren have done an amazing job. We are fortunate that Jessica is still going to be working in a senior position and supporting Lauren and Laura with running the service.

School Camps:
This Wednesday, Thursday and Friday I will be attending the Year Six camp at Narnu Farm. I look forward to getting to know these children a bit better on camp.

Camps provide a wonderful social and educational experience for our children. In 2023 we will be introducing a one night camp for our Year 4 students. Our Year Five classes and Year Six classes will both be attending two night camp in 2023. We will share further details about these camps with families, early next year.

End of Year Planning: 
Planning for the 2023 School Year is well underway. Student stationery and ICT devices have been ordered and teachers are currently working on preparing school reports and putting children into classes for the 2023 school year. Children will visit their new classes on Friday the 9^th of December and we are aiming to send school reports home on this day as well.

Vinnies Christmas Appeal

It won’t be long and we will all be thinking about Christmas. Carols will be playing in the shops, Santa is already posing for thousands of ‘socially distant’ photos in shopping centres, and discussions about where lunch will be on Christmas Day will begin!

Sadly, there are many people in our community who experience financial hardship, particularly at Christmas time. During 2022, Vinnies have provided support for the most vulnerable in our community through food hampers, vouchers and clothing. This year, more than ever, our local St Vincent de Paul conference needs our help.

The Vinnies Christmas Appeal is a worthwhile cause which our school community has supported for many years. Every Christmas, the Dernancourt Vinnies conference distributes over 100 Christmas Hampers to families and new gifts for children. The demand for assistance has steadily increased over the last few years.

We are inviting our school community to contribute to the wonderful work that Vinnies do, particularly at Christmas by donating food and/or new toys/gifts for children.

Please send non-perishable food items in a plastic shopping bag to your child’s classroom. You may also like to include Christmas napkins, wrapping paper or other festive items which could help a family celebrate.

There is a ‘Giving Tree’ placed near the Year 2 and 3 classrooms for donations of new gifts/toys (downstairs break out space in the new building). Some ideas for possible gifts accompany this letter. The volunteers from Vinnies need to see each gift before offering them to families so we ask that if you donate gifts, they be new and not wrapped.

If you would like to send a voucher for families to use to purchase food or gifts, please place this in a sealed envelope and deliver to the office.

Vinnies volunteers will collect our donated items in Week 8.

I invite you to take part in our mission of outreach at Christmas and support the work of our local Vinnies conference in whatever way you are able.

Food Hamper Suggestions
Bon-bons
Christmas lollies
Coffee
Cordial
Custard powder
Jam
Jelly
Long life milk
Mince pies
Pasta, spaghetti, sauce
Reduced cream
Savoury biscuits
Sweet biscuits
Tea bags
Tinned carrots
Tinned fruit
Tinned green beans
Tinned peas

Giving Tree Gift Ideas
Board games
Craft sets
Crayons/Texta Set
Balls (basket ball, soccer etc)
Gift vouchers
Hair ornaments
Sports hats
Teddy bears
Lego
Outdoor games
Puzzles
Sports Equipment
Toiletries (eg deodorant set)
Toys
Wrapping paper
Blankets

Please don’t send second hand items or clothing.

Vinnies volunteers will wrap presents before gifting at Christmas, so please don’t wrap!

Building Update

Despite the weather, the completion of the current build is still set for June 2023.

Preliminary work has started with the planning of Stage 3 of our building works – this being the redevelopment of the top classroom spaces into a library/Inclusive Education area and an Italian room. This stage also includes planned redevelopment of the administration spaces. 

Traffic Management
The proposal to make the below roads one-way has been declined by the council:

• Hillburn Ave (between Windsor Grove and Cooke’s Road) Westbound
• Acton Ave Eastbound

Communication standards and planning for 2023
The school is assessing the best way to communicate with parents. This includes the assessment of the Seesaw, SZapp app, email and other existing methods.

The school is also looking into:

• Establishing guidelines for internal and external communication processes for staff
• Relaunching the student leadership structure
• Introducing staff professional learning

NAPLAN
Year 3 and 5 have undertaken the NAPLAN test. The results are as follows:

• For Year 3 we scored above the national average and placed in the top 3 Catholic Schools in SA

It is also worth mentioning that it is the first year that the Year 3 has completed the full process of the InitialLit program

• For Year 5 we also scored above the national average in all the modules
  
  

Tuition Fees - Final Instalment 

The final instalment of Tuition Fees was due & payable on Friday 5th August 2022. If you were unable to meet this deadline, please do not hesitate to contact me and part time arrangements can be made.

If you have entered into a part time agreement to pay your fees over the whole year this due date does not apply. Thank you to those parents who have paid their fee statement promptly.

Overdue Fee Statements were posted earlier this term to notify parents of the balance due. This payment is now well overdue and prompt payment would be appreciated.

For parent’s convenience, EFT, BPay, Visa and Mastercard are available.

If you wish to pay your fees with direct banking via internet banking, please ensure that your 11 digit reference number which starts with 9088 is placed as a reference so funds can be applied to the correct family.

Please see me if you have any queries relating to fees.

Thank you.

“Congratulations to singing students Yesha & Yashica, both of 5P, on their recent AMEB Singing for Leisure Grade 3 exam success – Yesha received a High Distinction (A+) and Yashica received a High Credit (B+). Well done to these two dedicated students who well deserve their success".

Please find the latest edition of The Southern Cross - The Southern Cross November 2022