Holy Week Celebrations 
This week the children have been involved in a number of Easter Liturgies. As part of these liturgies the children were given the opportunity to hear and reflect on the Easter story and in doing so learn about the death and resurrection of Jesus Christ.

Easter is the most important and significant time in the liturgical calendar of the Christian church. It is a time where we as Christians re-call the death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ, which is central to the Christian faith. By sharing the Easter story with our children, we are inviting them to reflect on the true meaning of Easter and trying to help them understand that there is more to the Easter story than chocolate eggs. By reflecting on the story of Jesus Christ’s death and resurrection at Easter we are inviting children to connect with our faith tradition.

As a Catholic School community, we are called to help children to be people of hope and love. One simple way we can do this, is by being a community of people who radiate God’s love in our world by being human beings who demonstrate a commitment to respecting and valuing the dignity of all people and who provide children with an atmosphere of love, belonging and positivity. This Easter I encourage you to make time for your family and spend valuable and joyous time with those who you love, renewing and strengthening your relationships.

I would like to thank Rita Campbell and Jenny Mittiga for their organisation of the Easter Liturgies. I would also like to thank our Year 2 students, the children from 4B and our Year 6 children who were part of presenting the Easter story to our children.

I would like to take this opportunity to wish all of our families a Happy and Safe Easter.

Thank you Julie Parsons
I would like to take this opportunity to say thank you to Julie Parsons for all of her hard work at St Pius X School over the last 35 years. Julie is the longest serving staff member at St Pius X School and her dedication to our school community has been unquestionable. Julie’s sound financial management skills have put St Pius X in the very strong position whereby we have been able to undertake the large building projects over the last few years, but at the same time we have still been able to achieve great staffing levels as well as maintain high quality programs and resources. I have only worked with Julie for just over 2 years, and I have quickly come to realise the love she has for St Pius X community. Julie is a person of very high integrity whose work ethic is unquestionable. I will personally miss having Julie on staff and I wish Julie and her husband Terry all the very best with their retirement.

On Thursday 4th April we will be having a School Assembly where we will farewell Julie and this will be followed by a shared morning tea for Julie. I encourage all who are able to attend this event to do so as we celebrate the career of a remarkable person.

Condolences
I share with the community the sad news that Amy Raymond’s husband, Shane, passed away unexpectedly earlier this week. Amy is a teacher of one of our Year One classes and I ask that you keep Amy and her 3 daughters in your thoughts and prayers throughout this very tragic time. Shane is also the uncle of Eddie and Jack who attend our school. We offer our sincere condolences to the Raymond family during this very difficult time.

Sports Day
On Thursday 11th April we will be celebrating our annual Sport Day event at Bridgestone Athletics Centre on Frost Road at Salisbury. This promises to be a great community event and the children have been practising for their events and will be working on their chants in the coming week. Permission forms have been sent home on the SZapp and parents who need their children transported to the venue from the school are reminded that they need to book a seat on the bus ASAP so we can finalise our bus booking.

We hope that you are able to join us for what should be a very fun and colourful day. A full program of events will be sent home via SZapp next week.

Swimming Carnival
Over the last couple of weeks we have had a number of children participate in both the SAPSASA and Catholic School’s Swimming Carnivals. These events provide children with an opportunity to compete in some competitive, yet friendly competition against other schools. Well done to all children who have committed to swimming training after school over the last few weeks and who participated in the carnival. I would like to thank Angelo Zamparelli and Basia Jedrzejczak for their time and efforts in training the swimming team. Without the dedication of these staff members, the children may not receive this opportunity. I would also like to thank Cassandra Figg who undertook a lot of the behind the scenes admin work which made the carnivals possible.

God Bless

Ashley Keane

Tuition Fees Instalment 1 

Instalment 1 of Tuition Fees was due on Friday 23rd February 2024.
Reminder Statements have been posted and payment of overdue fees are due within 14 days of the date on the letter.
If you have entered into a part time agreement to pay your fees over the whole year this due date does not apply.

Please note that Years 3, 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 and pay the cost before your child attends the camp.

If you were unable to meet the 23/2/24 deadline for paying your fee amount, please do not hesitate to contact me and part payment 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 six weeks to process and you will be notified by letter re eligibility.

Thank you.

Julie Parsons 

Swimming
Congratulations to all our swimmers who participated in the Adelaide North East District Swimming Carnival on Wednesday 6th March. We have 7 swimmers who will be competing at SAPSASA State Day on Tuesday 9th April. We wish you Good Luck!

Our swim team also participated in the Catholic Schools Swimming Carnival on Tuesday this week, what a fabulous day of school spirit.

We would like to thank the children who swam amazingly and supported one another with so much energy, making our school very proud. A big thankyou to our parents who brought their children to the many weeks of training and the carnivals.

Swimming payment option is now available on Qkr! app (Camps & Competitive Sports/Sports/2024 Competitive Swimming).

Soccer (Saturday morning competition)
Our soccer teams gathered today and were sized up for their tops for the 2024 season. Thank you to our 2 coaches who have volunteered to coach our Year 3 and 4 teams. We look forward to an exciting season which will begin on Saturday 11th May. Times will be advised soon.

Registration must be completed by Friday 10th May via Playfootball. Details will be sent to parents directly next term.

Soccer payment option is now available on Qkr! app (Camps & Competitive Sports/Sports/Soccer 2024).

Netball (Thursday after school competition)
Year 3-6 children interested in playing after school Netball in Term 2 and 3 in 2024. Games will be played at Netball SA, Mile End on Thursday afternoons 4:30pm-5:30pm.

You might like to register your child for after school netball into the Thunder Cup.
Please click the following link - After School Netball 2024 Registration.

Sports Day - Thursday 11th April 2024
Thank you to the many parents who have completed the permission form.

Please click the following link -Whole School Sports Day 2024 to complete and submit ASAP if you have not completed it.

If your child will be absent from school on the day or if you have booked a spot for your child to travel on the bus and you need to cancel it, please email Cassandra at cfigg@stpiusx.catholic.edu.au.

Catholic Schools Netball Carnival 
After the success of our participation in last years carnival, we will again be nominating to participate in the Catholic Schools Netball Carnival which will be held at Netball SA Stadium, Mile End on Friday 28th June between 10am and 3pm. The carnival is a full day event in Week 9 of the school term with the children participating in approximately 5 to 6 mini games throughout the day.

Registrations close this Sunday. If your child is interested in participating, please click the following link - Catholic Schools Netball Carnival 2024.

All welcome to join our next P&F meeting which will be held on Friday 5th April at 2pm in the school staffroom.

Please come along to meet other parents and share ideas. 
We are holding our annual Mother's Day Stall on Friday 10th May.

We still need volunteers, are you available to help?
Please email us at pandf@stpiusx.catholic.edu.au

Within our SPX community there is a team of inspired students, educators and parents who are committed towards lifelong learning of sustainable practice and a greener future. We are inspired by our school motto of strength and kindness.

Making big changes towards a greener future can be daunting but it can be as simple as taking lots of small actions that add up over time.

Wipe Out Waste website has some inspiring ideas on actions you can take.
www.wow.sa.gov.au

Some of those “small” changes can start with the lunch box. Check out this YouTube video that has great ideas on what to put in a lunch box. It contains lots of great strategies on how to plan for and prepare lunches in advance.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mN4pdClNsdM

Nude Food is a popular term in schools, but what exactly does this mean? Simply put, it's food without excess packaging. Usually, this means food that is not processed, often making it a healthier and more environmentally friendly option.

Nude Food reduces the amount of 'stuff' that needs to go in bins to be sent to landfill. Durable, reusable containers are a great way to bring food, as they may last from pre-school through to high school and beyond, providing long term cost savings and environmental benefits.