From the Parent Handbook 

AWARDS

St Pius X Awards work on a four tier process.

Students should receive one Merit Award per term handed out in class by the classroom teacher, generally on a Friday. Once a student has received 5 Merit Awards or a combination of five, such as ten, fifteen etc, the Compass system will automatically notify parents that their child has received a Principal Award. This will be handed out at the NEXT assembly, after it has been communicated in the school newsletter. 

When a child has received 14 Merit Awards the Compass system will automatically notify parents that their child has received a MacKillop Award. This will be handed out at the NEXT assembly, after it has been communicated in the school newsletter. This will be repeated for 28 Merit Awards. All children by the completion of Year Six should receive 28 merit awards and therefore two MacKillop Awards.

The final tier is when a student receives 30 Merit Awards, the Compass system will notify parents that their child has earnt a Medallion. This will be handed out during the Graduation evening in Term 4 for Year 6 students. Not all students will receive this significant award.

05 Merit Awards = Principal Award 1

10 Merit Awards = Principal Award 2

14 Merit Awards = MacKillop Award 1

15 Merit Awards = Principal Award 3

20 Merit Awards = Principal Award 4

25 Merit Awards = Principal Award 5

28 Merit Awards = MacKillop Award 2

30 Merit Awards = Principal Award 6

30 Merit Awards = 1 Medallion

There are also a number of stand alone awards that are given. The ACE Award, which stands for Academic, Citizenship and Endeavour is given for high achievement, actions towards others and effort. Recipients may be selected for one or a combination of these reasons. This award is given once a Semester to two or three students per class. These awards are classroom teacher selected and students can earn multiple of these throughout their time at St Pius X. These awards count as one Merit Award towards the above system. 

The other awards given are Year Six Awards handed out at the Year Six Graduation. Recipients of these awards are nominated by the Year Six classroom teachers and voted on by the staff leadership team, their current teachers and school support officers along with their previous Year Five and Four teachers. These awards are:

• Excellence - This is given for achievement in one or multiple areas of school life
• Good Samaritan - Kindness and compassion towards others
• Principal’s - Effort in school life
• St Pius X Shining Star - A combination of all three awards

The staff leadership team may give a spontaneous Merit Award to any student who they feel is deserving of one throughout the school year.

If a child joins our school post Term One Kindergarten, they are assigned their calculated level of awards in the system, that is one award per term they have missed. 

e-Safety

We can help our children safely navigate the online world by taking some basic steps to reduce the risks.

Our support and guidance can give our children the knowledge to make sound decisions online and the confidence to ask for help when they need it. 

Use safety features and settings

• Get to know the devices you and your children use and set them up for privacy and online safety. Take advantage of parental controls to monitor and control screen time and access to content, based on your child’s age and experience. See our guide to parental controls.
• Choose apps and games carefully, and visit the App Store or Google Play for age ratings and consumer advice.
• Refer to our advice about screen time and online gaming if these are of concern.
• The eSafety Guide provides valuable information about the latest games, apps and social media, including how to protect your personal information and report harmful content.
• You can visit the Australian Classification Board’s online database, Children and Media Australia and Common Sense Media (US) for information about movies, apps, games and websites, searchable by age.