Dear Parents 

Welcome to the 2023 school year. I hope that everyone enjoyed the Christmas holiday break. I am looking forward to another exciting year working with the children and families at St Pius X.

I would like to take this opportunity to welcome all of our new students and families to the St Pius X community. I have no doubt that you will enjoy being part of our wonderful community and I hope that you have already been made to feel welcome. Please know that our staff are always available to support you if you have any questions or concerns. 

Meet the Teacher

It was great to see so many families take the opportunity to come in and meet their child’s class teacher on Wednesday the 25^th of January. I know that the teachers found these meetings very useful and I hope that you also found these meetings to be beneficial.

If you did not get the opportunity to meet your child's class teacher and would like to do so, then please do not hesitate to contact them and make a mutually convenient time to meet.

As we move away from the restrictions of COVID, we would like to make our classrooms parent friendly spaces. Parents are welcome to pop into classrooms if they need to see their child’s class teacher. Our teacher’s will also be inviting parents in for an open classroom session once per term this year. We look forward to working in partnership with you again in 2023. 

School and Family communication:

This year the school will be sending many of our communications home to families via our online communication portals SZAPP and Seesaw. The SZAPP will be used to communicate with parents about whole school events and will also be used to send home permission forms for school excursions and other necessary forms. Cassandra Figg has spent a lot of time updating this app in order to make it more user friendly for parents. I would like to thank Cassandra for all of her hard work in this area.

The Seesaw app will be used by teachers to communicate with parents about their children’s learning and class events. If you have not already done so, please sign up to both of these apps. If you need any help or support with these apps, please do not hesitate to contact your child’s class teacher or Cassandra Figg in the front office for assistance.

School start time and gates in the morning:

Just a reminder to parents that the school bell will sound at 8:42am each day and classes commence at 8:45am. The gate on Acton Avenue and the gates near Kiss and Drop on Hilburn Avenue will be locked shortly after at 8:45am for the safety of our children. If parents are still on site after this time then they can leave through the pool gate at the front of the school. This gate will not be locked until about 9am. Children arriving after 8:45am are reminded to sign in at the front office so that their attendance at school can be accurately recorded. Thank you with your cooperation with the above procedures. 

School Board Vacancies

This year there will be up to three vacancies on our School Board and I am calling on nominations from parents who are willing to join our School Board in 2023. Earlier this week I sent a letter home asking parents to consider nominating for this very important role in our school community. If you are interested in more information about our School Board, then please  contact me to discuss. 

School Developments and Buildings:

You may have seen that a there has been some progress with our new building and much of the steel work and roofing are now complete. This new building will consist of 2 new classrooms for our Reception students and a new Junior Primary toilet block on the bottom level. The top level will have a new Music teaching and performance space, 4 rooms for our instrumental tutors and a disabled toilet. We are expecting the building to be completed and ready for use by the beginning of Term 3.

Whilst this building project is being completed, we are well into the planning of the next stage of our building project. This stage will consist of internal refurbishments of the top level above our Admin area to include the development of a new Library, Italian room, multipurpose meeting and learning space and a new Inclusive Education Centre.

We will also be totally refurbishing our front office space, admin offices, first aid room and will be extending our staff room and admin building on the ground level.

We have also started plans with a landscape architect for the re-development of a new playground space and the court space. The design ideas for this development have been generated from a meeting that the architects had with our children last year. As part of this design we are looking to re-surface our basketball courts and we have plans to include a large shade structure over the court area in order to both provide extra shade for our children and also make this space an all weather facility.

All of the ideas are very exciting and I look forward to sharing further updates with our school community.  

Parents and Friends

It is that time of the year when we are looking for interested parents and community members to join our P&F group. The P&F group are a very important part of our school and their prime function is to develop a strong sense of community and support the school by organising special events such Mother’s & Father’s day stalls and school discos for our children. The P&F also help to raise funds for some of our school projects. All funds raised directly benefit our children. Joining the P&F can also be a great way to meet new people and also provide a social outlet for parents. This year our P&F group will focus on continuing to re-build our sense of community after a very successful 60^th Anniversary year. If you have ideas about the types of events and social gatherings we can run in order to promote a stronger sense of community around our school, then we would love to hear your ideas. Any parent can join the P&F group and you don’t need to commit to assisting at every event. If you are interested in supporting our P&F group then please contact Cassandra Figg in the front office. As the saying goes “many hands make for lighter work”. I encourage you all to consider supporting the work of the P&F in 2023, even if you can only help with one thing.

God bless,

Ashley 

 

 

2023 promises to be a great year. Hopefully it’s one in which you feel more engaged with the school and your child’s learning. I wish for you all to know that Ashley and I love working with families to ensure their children are flourishing while at school. If you have any concerns or questions, please know that our doors are always open, and we would love to work alongside you, to support your families relationship with the school. Additionally, this year we are excited to announce that Matt Richards, an experienced Apple Educator Specialist will be working with our school. Matt has a wealth of knowledge about Apple products and features and will further develop the competencies of the staff and students in the digital space. We are very lucky to have Matt working with us and are excited about the possibilities of what this appointment will lead to.  

Take care, 

Jamie

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

TUITION FEES INSTALMENT 1

Instalment 1 of Tuition Fees is due & payable by Friday 24/2/23. 

Statements were  posted on Friday 3^rd February. 

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 wish to pay your yearly fees in full by 24/2/23 a discount will be given.

1 child family discount of $157.00 can be deducted.

2 child family discount of $282.00 can be deducted.

3 child family discount of $376.00 can be deducted.

Please note that Years 4, 5, and 6 students will be attending a camp this year.  This charge has been added to your yearly account as a separate item.  You can either pay this camp fee upfront if you chose to pay your fee account in full, pay it part time over the year with your normal part time payments or wait until the camp note goes home later this year and pay the cost before your child attends the camp.

If you were unable to meet the 24/02/23 deadline for paying your fee amount, 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. 

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.

School Card applications can take up to 6 weeks to be processed, letters will be posted directly to you.

Thank you,

JULIE PARSONS
FINANCE MANAGER

Uniform items are available from JS Sports, 10 Newton Road, Campbelltown and online from their website

A |10 Newton Rd Campbelltown

M | 0451 725 600

To book your appointment or access the online store:

 https://www.belgraviaapparelschools.com/pages/collections/st-pius-x-school

The school hat is also available for purchase from the School Office or via QKR

Schedule of Items

• Polo Shirt (long or short sleeve) – with school crest
• Shorts - with embroidered school name
• Skort – with embroidered school name
• Rugby top - with school crest
• Boss top – with school crest
• Soft-shell jacket – with school crest
• Track-pants - with embroidered school name
• Socks - white sports socks – must be visible above the shoe
• Sport shoes - must be predominantly white
• School hat with school crest

Jewellery

The only jewellery permitted is:

• Wrist watch
• Earrings which are small sleepers or studs (one only in the ear lobe)
• One chain with Religious symbol, to be worn under clothing.

School Hat

The school hat with crest is to be worn at for all outdoor activities in Terms 1 and 4. This includes matches and training for school sporting teams. From May to August care should still be taken if planning to be outside for an extended period of time on a clear sunny day (eg a sports day/outdoor excursion). Non school hats are not permitted.

Shoes

Predominantly white sports shoes are to be worn at all times.  

School Bags

Monogrammed school back-packs, which are fully ergonomic and recommended by the Chiropractors Association, are available but not compulsory.

A school bag designed for Reception students and a ‘reader bag’ are also available.

Grooming

Students are expected to show pride in themselves and their school by paying attention to their personal appearance. Clothing is to be clean and in a good state of repair. Make-up and nail polish are not permitted. 

Hair

Hairstyle is also a part of the school uniform. Shoulder length hair or longer is to be tied back.

• Hair is to be tidy and away from the face
• Natural colour only is permitted
• Extreme hairstyles are not permitted
• No glitter gel
• No hair wraps 

Should a student be unable to wear the designated uniform due to extenuating circumstances a note from the parent/caregiver must be presented to the student’s class teacher outlining the circumstances and a date when the problem will be rectified

Lost Unifom items

Please ensure all your child's belongings are labelled - lost items which are handed into the school office will be returned to your child's class if clearly identifiable.

Swimming Squad 2023

Remember: Swimming training starts next Friday, February 17th at Norwood Swimming Centre beginning at 3:30pm - There is still time to register click here - https://stpiusx.schoolzineplus.com/form/359

Basketball Semester 1

SPX Cyclones and SPX Hurricaines started games this week. All other teams will play their first game of the season next week ( week 3 )

Good Luck to all our teams.

Auskick 

Next Monday Auskick footy begins. To register for Auskick at St Pius X school click here - www.playafl/auskick