Dear Parents

Welcome to Term 3! Wow it is hard to believe that we are already halfway through the school year. I hope that you had an enjoyable school holiday break with your children.

Welcome to our new Mid-Year Receptions

I would like to take this opportunity to formally welcome our Mid-Year Reception students to our community.  31 children who commenced across the two classes and will be taught by Sarah Tirimacco, Natasha Castelluzzo and Amy Rypstra. Our new children have settled in beautifully to their learning environment and we look forward to getting to know them better over coming months.

Staffing News

I would like to inform the community that Susan Trimboli has made the decision to retire from the end of August this year. As she is currently my Principal’s Assistant and the school’s enrolment registrar many of you would have met her when you enrolled your children here.  Susan has been a staff member at St Pius X school for 28 years and during this time has made an enormous contribution to the school community in various roles including managing the school’s Reception and WHS coordinator. Susan is outstanding at her job and will be greatly missed by the St Pius X community. I wish Susan all the best with her retirement, and I am sure she will enjoy the extra time with her family. Susan’s last day at St Pius will be Friday 25^th August.

Jessica Harmer, who currently works as an administrator for our OSHC service and previously as Acting Director, will be taking over Susan’s duties for the remainder of this year and next year and I look forward to working with Jessica in this role.  Natalie Tompkins has joined us from St Martins Catholic School and will be working with us in an administration capacity to support OSHC and school office. We welcome Natalie to our school community.

New Building

Over the school holidays you would have noticed that quite a lot of work was completed in the courtyard area and the new Reception classrooms, Music Room and Music Tuition suites were completed. Although there are still some minor touch-ups required to fully complete these buildings, we have moved classes into the new learning spaces. They are wonderful new facilities for the children to learn in and we are very happy with the flexibility that these spaces offer. If you haven’t had a chance to look through these rooms yet, please don’t hesitate to pull myself or another staff member aside in the school and yard and we would be more than happy to show you through.

Next Monday the new Junior Primary toilets will be available for use which will ease the congestion on the current toilet facilities.

Also, during the holiday period new electric blinds were installed in the upstairs STEM Terrace to make it a more useable space all year round. We are awaiting one more blind to be installed to enable new storage and furniture to be placed in the Terrace.  We are also investigating the possibility of outdoors heaters for the space.

Landscaping of the main courtyard continues, and we are expecting the new lawn to be laid within the next 1-2 weeks with the hope that the extra space will be available at the beginning of Term 4. A rock retaining wall will be installed to support drainage at the and mulch will be placed within the rock borders around the trees in the courtyard area.

At the end of this term, we will commence Stage 3 of the Building Project. This stage will see the upstairs area adjacent to the new Music classroom (above the administration offices) converted into an Italian classroom, Library, Inclusive Education space (complete with 3 small group tuition rooms) and a multipurpose Meeting Room and SHIP room (which will include a green screen for film production). The development will include the re-configuration of the staircase, a couple of the administration offices and the staff toilets to which create more space on the ground floor. Plans have been drawn up and we are waiting on final pricing. It is anticipated that work on this Stage will commence either at the end of Term 3 or beginning of Term 4 this year.

All these improvements will benefit the children greatly and I can’t wait until they are finished, and I can see the school without any temporary fencing.

Netball Carnival

At the end of last term, I had the pleasure of attending the Catholic School’s Years 3-6 Netball Carnival held at Priceline Stadium. 157 children from St Pius X attended the Carnival and enjoyed a day where they played 6 x 15-minute games. The focus of the day was on participation and fun and as such there were no Premiership tables. It was great to see so many of our children enjoying themselves and working together as a team. For many of the children they had never played netball before, however they picked up the game very quickly and enjoyed participating. I was very proud of the children’s sportsmanship and behaviour throughout the day.

I would like to thank Cassandra Figg for her meticulous planning for the day which included, organising buses, permission notes, organising volunteers and highlighting draws for both parents and umpires, as well as helping to sort children into teams. This high level or organisation ensured that the day ran smoothly. I would also like to thank Angelo Zamparelli for teaching the children how to play netball and for ensuring we had all the equipment that we needed for the day. Finally, I would like to thank the wonderful group of parent volunteers who came along to assist at the Carnival. Without the support of volunteers, we would not have been able to take as many children as we did. Participating in events like the Netball Carnival, provides children with not only a sense of fun, but also helps them to build their teamwork skills. We look forward to making the Catholic School’s Netball Carnival an annual event in our calendar. 

Instrumental Concerts

Towards the end of last term, some of the 230 children enrolled in the instrumental program had the opportunity to perform for their parents. It is great to see so many children enjoying the benefits of learning to play a musical instrument or developing their singing and acting skills. I would like to thank Basia Jedrzejczak for her strong commitment and dedication to ensuring that as many children as possible may join our instrumental program and for inspiring all our children with a love and enjoyment for music. I would also like to thank the instrumental teachers for their wonderful work they do in teaching our children. We are very lucky to have such a strong music program at St Pius X school.

Community Events

Over coming weeks, we will be hosting 2 community events, please take notes of the dates below for your diary -

Friday 25^th August: Book Week Dress-up Parade.

Children will be invited to dress up for our annual Parade which will be held on the school oval at 9:00am. Parents and grandparents are invited to join us for the parade and then read a book with their child in their classroom.

Friday 1st September: Father’s Day Breakfast and class visits.

More information to come.

God Bless

Ashley Keane

 

Feast of St Mary of the Cross MacKillop – August 8th

Mary MacKillop,

woman of faith

woman of the poor

teacher and educator

pilgrim on the way

woman of the cross

woman of the community

woman of the gospel

woman expanding boundaries

woman of charism.

Pray with us.

2012 Trustees of the Sisters of Saint Joseph of the Sacred Heart

Mary Helen MacKillop was born in 1842 in Victoria to Scottish immigrant parents and grew up with seven brothers and sisters.

At the age of twenty-four, she dedicated her life to God and took on the name “Mary of the Cross.”

As a passionate educator, Mary broke through the prejudice of the early 19th century to educate all — regardless of gender, race, faith, or wealth.

She established Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart with Fr Julian Tenison Woods.  The sisters went wherever the need was greatest.

They gave up everything to live and teach amongst the people they served. Mary was canonised in October 2010.

This August let’s walk in the footsteps of Australia’s most loved Saint. Just like Mary MacKillop… Let’s be fierce in the face of adversity.

Let’s be fair and act when we see injustice. Let’s give love to those we encounter each day. Together, let’s be Fierce for Fair.

Sacrament of Reconciliation

If you wish to enrol your child for the Sacrament of Reconciliation,

Please attend the Information Meeting on Wednesday 9^th August at 6:30pm

The meeting will be held at St Pius X Church, Avoca St, Dernancourt.

Essential: enrolment form, child’s Baptism certificate and $30 fee (Qkr! app)

Feast of the Assumption

Tuesday 15^th August

Join us for a whole school Mass at 11:50am in the De Mazenod Hall with Fr John Sebastian (OMI)

We will honour the life and dedication of Mary to her son Jesus and to all of us, her children in Christ.

 

Reporting Absences

If your child is absent from school please notify us through SZapp.  Use the 'Absences' tab.  Additionally, you may like to notify your child's class teacher via Seesaw or email.

Change of clothes

Due to the current wet weather please have spare pants and socks in your child's bag incase of slips in the yard. This is for all children as we have noticed a renewed interest in the nature play space.  JP parents please ensure there is always change of clothes in your child's bag. 

Labelling reminder

Please ensure ALL your children's belongings (uniforms, lunchboxes, drinkbottles, pencil cases etc.) are CLEARLY LABELLED with your child's name.

Labelled property can be easily returned to their owner.

Payment receipting 

For parents convenience payment receipting can now be done at reception.

SZapp Update

There is a new version of SZapp available for Android and IOS Devices. Please ensure that you have updated this version on your device. If you experience any difficulties with completing this process, please reach out to Schoolzine using support@schoolzine.com. To assist with your query, they ask that you provide a description of the issue you are facing, the email address you are using when facing this issue and a screenshot of the issue.

TUITION FEE INSTALMENT 3 REMINDER

Instalment 3 of the Yearly Fee is due for payment by 4^th AUGUST 2023.  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 already paid.  Reminder statements will be posted home for parents who have not met the due date.  Please pay promptly on receiving your overdue fee statement so figures can be finalised for 2023.

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

If you wish to pay your fees via BPAY please ensure that the full reference number (which is found at the bottom left hand side of your statement) is entered so funds can be applied to the correct family. 

If you pay by EFT or QKR please use for your reference number, the ID Number at the top right hand side of your statement.  This will ensure that funds are applied to the correct family.

If you are holders of a Health Care Card, you may be eligible for School Card which is granted by the school.  Please see me if you feel you meet either of these criteria or have any queries relating to fees.

Thank you.

JULIE PARSONS

FINANCE MANAGER

My name is Ottilia. 

I'm from China, and I'm studying a Masters of Social Work at Flinders University. 

That means I love helping people and making them happy. 

I also have two fun hobbies: playing the piano and playing RPG games. 

Playing the piano makes beautiful music, and RPG games are like exciting adventures where I get to be a hero.

I really hope we can get to know each other while I am here and have lots of fun together

 

 

Thank you!

 

Ottilia

Tuesday 19th September

Athletics – State Metro Championships –  at Mile End Stadium

(This carnival is for children that win their event in the above district carnival).

Friday 3rd November

Athletics – Catholic Schools –  at Mile End Stadium

(This carnival is open to all students in Year 3 to Year 6)

Basketball

The Semester 2 season has started this term. Parents of players please remember to check the "Game Day" app for times and locations each week.

Our next P & F meeting will be held TOMORROW, Friday August 4th at 2pm in the school staffroom.

All welcome.

Please come along to meet other parents and share ideas. 

We are holding our annual Father's Day Stall on Friday September 1st.

If you are a registerd volunteer and available to help on the stall please contact the school office on 8266 9400 or email pandf@stpiusx.catholic.edu.au

Are you available to help at any of our events? You need to be a registered volunteer. To become a registered volunteer please contact Susan Trimboli at the school office on 8266 9400.

Families are invited to attend our school assemblies on the following days:

Week 4 - Thursday 17th August @ 9am - Year 4 team

Week 8  - Thursday 14th September @ 9am - Year 1 team

Please see the latest edition of The Southern Cross.

"The services and events contained in this bulletin are in no way connected with the school and are included in this newsletter for your information only. Parents and caregivers need to make their own enquiries and assessments about the suitabilityof these events and services for their needs and those of their children.