St Pius X Catholic Parish Primary School Unanderra eNewsletter

Dear Parents and Caregivers of St Pius X,

As we continue to encourage our students to take pride in their appearance and represent St Pius X, Unanderra with respect and responsibility, we would like to remind families of our school’s uniform policy.

Wearing the correct uniform not only fosters a sense of belonging and equality among students, but also reflects our high standards and expectations. We ask for your support in ensuring that your child is wearing the correct uniform each day, including appropriate footwear, hats, and hairstyles, and that items are clearly labelled. A reminder also that chewing gum is not permitted at school.

You can find the full uniform policy on our school website at the following link:

St Pius X Uniform Policy

If you have any questions or require assistance with uniform items, please don’t hesitate to contact the school office. We appreciate your ongoing support in helping our students develop habits of responsibility and pride in their school.

Staffing news

As you may be aware, Mr Bill Whittle is currently working at St John’s Dapto, fulfilling the role of Acting Middle Leader 3. The position of Acting Religious Education Coordinator at St John’s Dapto for Term 3 2025 was recently advertised, and Mr Bill Whittle was the successful applicant. This will be a wonderful opportunity for him to further develop his leadership skills and we wish him all the very best.

Mrs Samantha Walker will continue as Acting Middle Leader 2 and Miss Christina Dominis will continue teaching in Year 5 each Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday. Miss Tierney Dunne will continue working with us each Wednesday in her current role. I thank these teachers for their excellent work in their new roles this term and thank them for their willingness to continue for the duration of Term 3. This will create great stability for the ongoing learning of our students and for the leadership of our Stage 3 staff and students.

Lisa Tyson

Principal

SCHOOL PHOTO INFORMATION

On Wednesday 25 June 2025 St Pius X will hold “School Photos day”. Students are asked to wear their full Winter school uniform with correct socks and footwear on the day of their photograph. Their hair styles should be reflective of how they wear it each day and the normal school expectations. Please do not send children in their sports uniform.

The School Photographer envelopes have been sent home with your children. Please read this important information about the upcoming photo day on June 25, 2025 and the ordering process for 2025.

Ordering Process: All purchasing for school photographs will be done online. Follow the instructions on the envelopes to place your order. Please return the envelope to school on photo day. NO CASH PAYMENTS ARE AVAILABLE.

Sibling Photos: To order sibling photos, collect an additional envelope from the school office. It contains instructions on how to order sibling photographs online. This needs to be done by Friday 20 June 2025.

Tell them from Me Survey results are in!

Thank you to all families, students, and staff who contributed to our recent Tell Them From Me surveys. These surveys provide valuable insights into how we’re travelling as a school—and how we can keep improving together.

What’s Going Well

Students feel supported by their teachers and report strong relationships and clear behaviour expectations.
Teachers report high levels of collaboration and a shared commitment to improving learning outcomes.
Parents feel welcomed, can easily communicate with staff, and see our school’s Catholic identity reflected in daily life.
Student safety — particularly travelling to and from school — was strongly affirmed by families.
Staff and families noted the school’s strong focus on respectful behaviour and positive relationships.

Opportunities for Growth

We are exploring ways to keep parents more informed about their child’s learning progress and how they can support learning at home.
Our students have shared a desire for greater voice and choice in their learning, which aligns with our continued focus on student agency.
Teachers are looking forward to deepening their use of data to further personalise learning for every student.
We see an opportunity to build on existing parent involvement, with more flexible and inclusive options for engagement.
Supporting student wellbeing and social-emotional growth continues to be a key focus across the school.

This valuable feedback is helping to shape our future priorities and inform whole-school planning. We look forward to continuing this journey in partnership with our community—ensuring St Pius X remains a place where every student is encouraged to grow, feel a sense of belonging, and reach their full potential.

Our ongoing work is grounded in our school vision:
"With faith as our guide, we nurture hearts and empower minds."

Together, we are committed to building a learning environment where every child is known, supported, and inspired to flourish.

Donut, Hot Chocolate and PJ Day

- Monday 23rd June.

On Monday our school community will be supporting the good works of St Vincent de Paul and their 2025 Winter Appeal by holding a PJ DAY! Students are invited to wear their winter woolly PJs (along with enclosed shoes and school hat) to school on Monday 23rd June, and will have the opportunity to enjoy a hot chocolate and cinnamon donut. There will be a special visit onsite by the Wollongong Vinnies Van.

VINNIES WINTER APPEAL

Vinnies_NSW_Schools_Winter_Appeal_2025_How_to_Give.pdf

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	JUNE
Friday 20th	Year 4 Excursion- Hyde Park Barracks
Monday 23rd	Hot Chocolate and Donut Day
Tuesday 24th	Netball Gala Day
Wednesday 25th	WHOLE SCHOOL PHOTO DAY
	JULY
Thursday 3rd	Last Day TERM 2
Friday 4th	PUPIL FREE DAY - STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY
	TERM 3
Monday 21st	PUPIL FREE DAY - STAFF DEVELOPMENT DAY
Tuesday 22nd	STUDENTS RETURN TO SCHOOL

Fluent and Fantastic: Growing Great Readers!

At St. Pius, we are committed to growing every child into a confident, capable reader. A major focus this year is building reading fluency — the ability to read smoothly, accurately, and with expression.

Reading fluency is the ability to read text not just accurately, but also quickly and with expression. It's like the difference between carefully stepping stone by stone across a stream, and smoothly sailing across on a boat. When a child is fluent, they can focus more on understanding what they're reading, rather than just decoding the words.

How can you help at home?

 1. **Read together daily**: Set aside some time each day to read with your child. This could be a bedtime story or a chapter from their favourite book.

 2. **Echo reading**: This is where you read a line, then your child repeats it. It's a great way to model fluent reading.

 3. **Choral reading**: Read a passage together at the same time. This can help your child feel more confident and enjoy the reading process.

 4. **Encourage repeated readings**: Rereading familiar books can boost speed and accuracy.

5. **Make it fun – use silly voices, act out parts, or read to a pet or teddy!**

As Dr Seuss wisely said:
"The more that you read, the more things you will know. The more that you learn, the more places you’ll go!"

Here are some photos of some of our students practising reading fluency

2025 ICAS

The University of New South Wales is offering children in Years Two to Six the opportunity to participate in the International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS). These assessments will be online.

ICAS is an independent, quality skills-based assessment program, which rewards and recognises outstanding achievement. ICAS gives you broad insights into your child’s performance across English, Mathematics, Science, and Spelling.

This year the school will be participating in:

English, Maths, Science – Years 2 – 6
Digital Technology and Spelling Bee - Years 2 – 6
Writing - Years 3 – 6

If you would like your child/ren to participate, please refer to the COMPASS post sent out last week, for further information and the parent payment portal.

Being_Assertive_Without_Being_Mean.docx.pdf

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Do you have access to the SPX Parent Calendar? If not, follow these instructions:

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Send us your receipts!

If you don’t have time to scan your receipts from Figtree Grove, send them to us and we can do it for you!

St Pius X Unanderra is joining Figtree Grove Shopping Centre’s "Shop for Schools" campaign! We invite parents, staff, and families to shop at Figtree Grove to collect as many points for our school!

The Illawarra schools participating in the campaign are:

Figtree Heights Public School
Nareena Hills Public School
Mount St Thomas Public School
Mt Keira Demonstration School
Figtree Public School
Lindsay Park Public School
Mount Kembla Public School
St Pius X Catholic Primary School

The 3 schools with the most points will win one of the prizes below, and the potential of our National first prize of $10,000 cash.

Illawarra 1st Prize $2,000
Illawarra 2nd Prize $1,000
Illawarra 3rd Prize $500

Campaign Dates: 12 May 2025 – 22 June 2025

YOU’RE INVITED! PLEASE JOIN CCSP’S

TERM 2 WEBINARS

PARENTAL CONTROLS

USING PARENTAL CONTROLS TO HELP PROTECT YOUR CHILD ONLINE

For parents and carers of primary school students

Presented by eSafety Commissioner Team

Thursday 19 June 2025
12.30pm – 1.15pm

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER

PARENTING TWEENS: WHAT KIDS NEED NOW, BEFORE THE TEEN YEARS

For parents and carers of primary school students 8+

Presented by Michelle Mitchell

Tuesday 24 June
7pm - 8pm

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR PARENTING TWEENS

PARENTING TEENS: STAYING CONNECTED THROUGH THE TEEN YEARS

Parents of high school kids 12+

Presented by Michelle Mitchell

Wednesday 25 June
7pm - 8pm

CLICK HERE TO REGISTER FOR PARENTING TEENS

PRINCIPAL AWARDS

Kruz Kuzmanovski Soares - 2B

Phoenix Dowley - 2B

Daniella Sopovski - 2R

Ellie Lloyd - 2R

Ella Stewart - 2R

Henry Llamas - 2R

Kennedy Welsh - 2R

Orlando Passilongo - 2R

Allegra Benedetti - 3B

Ryan Garretty - 3B

William Boncompagni - 3B

Cameron Maher - 3R

Cody Fox - 4R

MACKILLOP AWARDS

Zara Moretti - 3B

Joelle Cremen - 3R

Leo Panayiotou - 3R

Logan Veljanoski - 3R

Michael Scognamiglio - 3R

Sophia Guerrera - 6R

Congratulations to all of these students.

Play Spaces and Activities at SPX

At SPX, we are fortunate to have a range of playground spaces that cater to a variety of student interests—from structured games and climbing areas to quiet, passive play zones. Teachers explicitly teach students how to use these areas safely and responsibly to ensure fair and enjoyable play for everyone. This has included supporting students through a new rotation system, which helps ensure all students have opportunities to access different play areas and use equipment appropriately.

Students continue to enjoy active play across the school, including the adventure playground and other designated zones. We are also excited to be introducing new playground equipment and activities in the coming weeks—stay tuned!

Here are some of the structured activities available to students during lunch and recess:

Passive Play Area (available during lunch and recess)
Library (open at recess)
Basketball shooting and half-court games
Big Astro Turf (on rotation):

- Soccer goal-kicking for Infants, games for Primary

- Running games

Newcombe Ball
Adventure Playground
Cricket
Skippin
Footy ball passing
Handball

In addition to these, we are incredibly grateful to have staff who volunteer their time before school to run special interest groups such as Running Club and Gardening Club. These clubs are offered outside of regular teaching duties, so we carefully manage group sizes to ensure safe and effective supervision.

Starting from this week (Week 8), both Run Club and Gardening Club will be held on Friday mornings only, from 8:00am to 8:20am. These clubs are open to students in Years 1 to 6 who are willing to participate.

Dear Parents and Carers,

Our final sporting event for this term is:

South Coast Netball Gala Day – Week 9, Tuesday 24 June (Please note: this event is only for girls in Years 3–6 and boys in Years 3 - 6)

PE Lessons:

We are very fortunate to have secured basketball coaches who will be attending St Pius X each week on Tuesdays, Wednesdays, and Thursdays until the end of Term 2. These sessions began the day after our Athletics Carnival, on Wednesday 11 June. Students will be supported by Mrs Hertsch during these lessons.

NSWCPS & NSWCCC Cross Country:

Congratulations to Mia Handly, Zara Vaassan, and Georgia Vaassan, who attended the NSWCPS & NSWCCC Cross Country at the Sydney Equestrian Centre on Wednesday, 11 June. The girls ran extremely well, with Georgia placing 13th, Zara 15th, and Olivia 21st! Overall, Olivia and Zara’s team finished first. What a great achievement!