Dear Parents

It is hard to believe that we are halfway through Term 3.

Environmental Day
On Wednesday this week, we had an Environmental and Loose Parts and Junk day. This day aimed to give children a chance to connect with nature and use their imagination to build and engage in creative play with sticks, sand, mud, old tyres, hay, tarps, tents, ropes and crates.

It was great to see the children working together to build large shelters, swings, use mud in various ways and engage in creative play inside the tents and with the hay.

In today’s technological world it is easy for children to be consumed by their electronic devices and to dis-connect with nature. Our Environmental and Nature play day promoted imagination, teamwork, creativity and cooperative play and the children really enjoyed themselves.

I would like to thank Jane Buhagiar and the children from the Eco Guardians who organised the day. It was a wonderful day and based on the response from the children, I would not be surprised if it becomes an annual event.

Children leaving in 2025 – Notification
Earlier this week a letter was sent home via the SZapp to all families requesting that parents notify us if their children (with the exception of those currently in Year 6) will not be returning to St Pius X in 2025. This letter also outlined our school fee policy which now requires families to provide the school with at least one term’s notice if their children will not be returning to the school in 2025.

In Term 4 we order student stationery, ICT devices, make decisions about class placements and staffing for the 2025 school year. Families who do not inform us with aleast one term's notice that their children will be leaving the school will be charged a full term’s school fees.  Late notifications does have financial implications on the school. I thank all families for their support and understanding about this and welcome any families who would like to discuss any aspects of their child’s enrolment in 2025, to come and speak with me.

Book Week Dress up and Wellbeing Day
Today we had our Book Week Parade. It was so great to see so many children dressed up as their favourite fictional character. It was also great to see so many parents join us for the parade.

Book Week allows us to celebrate the joy that books and fictional stories bring into our lives. This afternoon all the children engaged in some fun art and craft activities in their buddy classes.

The day was focused on enjoyment and wellbeing, with children having the opportunity to engage in a day of creativity.

Thank you to all of the parents who supported their children in organising a costume and also to Holli Caputo and Grace Armfield for organising our wellbeing afternoon.

Father’s Day Breakfast and Stall
Friday 30^th August, we have our Father’s Day Breakfast. All Dads and special people are invited to come along and have breakfast at school from 8:00am and then spend some time visiting classrooms.

In addition to the breakfast provided by the school, there will also be a coffee van and a donut van on site which will have items available for purchase.

Donuts are available for pre-order on Qkr! so that children can avoid the line up on the morning. Donuts will be delivered to children’s classes when they are ready. The Parents and Friends Committee will also be running a Father’s Day stall on Friday and children will have the opportunity to purchase a gift for their dad or another special person in their life.

I would like to thank our Parents and Friends group for all their hard work in organising the Father’s Day stall for our children.

An RSVP form has been sent out on the SZapp, for catering purposes, please complete the RSVP before Monday.

I look forward to seeing many of you at our breakfast and open morning next Friday.

God Bless

Ashley Keane

“We are pleased to share some exciting updates from our School Board. Firstly, we have made significant progress in our building works over the school holidays. The staffroom and Italian room have been completed and handed over for use, although we are currently using portable air-conditioning in these spaces until permanent units can be installed. The construction of the library staircase has been delayed due to structural issues, but we expect it to be completed by late August. We are also working with the builders to ensure the lawn in the courtyard area is properly redone by a professional landscape company. We anticipate the completion of all building works by the end of this year.

Secondly, we are thrilled to report the immense success of our School Concert. The positive feedback from parents, children, and the community has been overwhelming. We are incredibly proud of all the children who participated and the staff who dedicated their time and effort to ensure the concert was a success. The concert was a wonderful opportunity to bring our school community together and we are already looking forward to the next one.

Lastly, we have been developing a strategic plan for our school, focusing on four key pillars: teaching and learning, community, resources, and Catholic identity and wellbeing. We have obtained valuable feedback from our community and staff members, and we are working closely with the school management to implement this plan. We look forward to sharing more details about this in the near future.

Thank you for your continued support and involvement in our school community”.

Any questions, please do not hesitate to reach out.

Many thanks

Maggie

We invite parents and grandparents to join us for a Father's Day breakfast on Friday 30th August from 8:00am. 

To assist with catering please complete the form below for all adults and accompanying children by Friday 23rd August 2:00pm Father's Day Breakfast Invitation

Please email Cassandra cfigg@stpiusx.catholic.edu.au with any dietary requirements ie gluten free, vegeterian etc. and arrangements will be made to cater for your needs.

To avoid long line ups we are trialling something new, children can pre order donuts to be delivered to their classrooms on the morning of Father's Day Breakfast.

This does not prevent children purchasing over the counter. The donut van will stay until all pre-orders are delivered to classrooms.

Head to Qkr! to pre-order Donuts. Pre orders close 9am Wednesday 28th August.

$2.50 for 1
$5.00 for 2

Our P&F team will be on hand selling flavoured milk drinks for only $2.50.

Catholic Schools Cross Country
Our team of 39 athletes from Year 3-6 made us proud at the annual Catholic Schools Cross Country Carnival in the city this term. It was great to see so many of our children enjoying the sunshine, being active and some even breaking a PB.

Special shout out to Lexi earning a ribbon with her 4th place, 2km run!! 

Athletics District Team
On August 29th our District Athletics team will be participating at Bridgestone Athletics Centre. Permission form is due Monday 26th August - Catholic Schools Athletics Carnival 2024

It is extremely important that selected students and students still in the running for selection, attend as many training sessions as possible between now and the District Carnival. Any assistance with training, especially after school sessions, will be greatly appreciated.

Training recommenced on Wednesday 14th August as follows: 

Please note: there will be no training on Wednesday 28th August.

ANE Soccer Representative
Congratulations to Leo B, Austin Ha & Austin Hy who competed in the ANE Soccer Team Carnival this week.

ANE AFL Girls Trials
Please read information here - Girls AFL-Adelaide North East.docx

ANE Golf qualifier 12yrs & under
Please read information here - 2024_Metropolitan_Qualifying_Schedule.pdf

ANE Boys & Girls Tennis Trials
Please read information here - Adelaide_North_East_Tennis.

Speech and Drama students are busy rehearsing their short plays for week 2 Term 4.

Mr Laurie’s classes are all working on plays written by Mr Laurie with his senior student Anna. Lots of monsters, ghosts, and silliness is involved! Performing a play means developing lots of transferable skills: listening, patience, empathy, memorisation, discipline, and teamwork. And students are learning to be brave – to have a go, to work on their grit and resilience. In Term 4, after the play is performed, you can try out 5 classes of improvisation and skill-building games. Contact Bec on  info@speechanddramasa.com.au if you would like to enrol your child for these lessons that encourage imagination and confidence.

We would like to congratulate our AMEB exam students from St Pius X School who achieved excellent results from their June exam. Congratulations Angus L and Aidan L on your brilliant results – It takes commitment to plan, prepare, practise and perform an exam.

Bec Pannell
Director, Speech and Drama Studios SA

The St Pius X School Choir, made up of 50 students from Years 5 and 6 will be performing in the front and 2nd row at the Festival Theatre on Thursday 26th September at the Catholic School's Music Festival starting at 7pm.

Please join us for a wonderful evening of music.
Tickets are on sale now via Ticketek - Catholic Schools Music Festival

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

Thursday 19th September at 9am
Thursday 7th November at 9am
Monday 9th December at 9am (end of year assembly)

All welcome to join our next P&F meeting on Tuesday 10th September at 7pm in the school staffroom. Please come along to meet other parents and share ideas. 

Flavoured milks will be for sale for $2.50 at the Father's Day Breakfast from 8am on Friday 30th August.

We are holding our annual Father's Day Stall on Friday 30th August.

We still need volunteers, can you help?
If you are a registered volunteer and available to help on the stall please contact us via email  pandf@stpiusx.catholic.edu.au

The 2024 Premier's Be Active Challenge is open from Monday 26th August until Monday 23rd September. Please click on the link below for more information. 

“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 suitability of these events and services for their needs and those of their children.”