Dear Parents and Carers,

It was wonderful to witness the connectedness of our community during our Carnival Week celebrations. Whilst, we were not able to celebrate on site, it was lovely to see the children interacting with staff on their classroom zooms and participating with enthusiasm in the various competitions throughout the week. The positive attitude of students towards the celebrations was certainly in the spirit of St Pius X and demonstrated our sense of strong togetherness, even in challenging times.

Last week the NSW Premier and Education Minister announced that a phased return to face-to-face learning will begin from Monday 25 October. On Friday afternoon a letter was sent via Compass to all parents and carers from the Catholic Education Office Diocese of Wollongong and the school, advising the NSW Government's Strategy for all NSW students.  When safe, we look forward to welcoming our students back, further information will follow as the date draws closer for our students to commence their return to school.

I would once again like to extend a big thank you to all of our families who are assisting their child(ren) with remote learning. I understand it can be very challenging, but by limiting the number of students at school to only those who have no option to stay home, we are able to keep all of our students, staff, and school families as safe as possible. If you require any support, please do not hesitate to make contact with the front office and we can direct your call.

Next week, to honour R U Ok day, we have dedicated a whole week to well-being. Student work load will be reduced for this week and the children will be required to submit one teacher identified task only.

A focus, after midday each day will be on screen free activities. Mr Simon Farrugia and myself are looking forward to signing the children off line at midday each day with a special story. A zoom link for story time will be sent next week and I encourage as many children as possible to join Mr Farrugia and myself in these zooms. Hopefully, the reduced expectations will also benefit the well-being of parents and teachers.

I would like to leave you with a special global blessing delivered by our own Pope Francis on the steps of St. Peter’s Basilica. Over an emptied square, Pope Francis delivered the Urbi et orbi, a blessing typically given just at Christmas or Easter. In his address, was a call to live differently.

"We find ourselves afraid and lost," he said, "caught off guard by an unexpected, turbulent storm. We have realised that we are on the same boat, all of us fragile and disoriented, but at the same time important and needed, all of us called to row together, each of us in need of comforting the other." 

Yours Sincerely,

Pauline Chrostowski - Principal

Happy Father’s Day

Wishing all our wonderful Dads, Grandfathers, uncles, and significant male role models a wonderful day on Sunday. It is with a heavy heart that we are unable to acknowledge our dads with a sausage sizzle and gift stall.  We hope our dads are given a sleep in and some time to relax this Sunday.    

 Fee Information

Please find PDf for deferment of 2021 school fees, more information can be found on the CEDoW website regarding COVID-19 request to defer school fees.

 Fruit and vegetable Month

Playground Update

There certainly has been a lot of changes and progress on the bottom play space as the construction of the adventure playground continues. Slides, climbing ropes, balance beams and a sunken pirate ship have already been installed and the rubber soft fall is being laid, moulded and coloured at this very moment.

Careful planning and consideration have been taken not only for the enjoyment and safety aspects of the playground but even down to the finer details of symbolism. The flag on top of the sinking pirate ship has an anchor drawn on it. This anchor comes from our school crest which consists of the Papal coat of arms. The anchor in a stormy see is a symbol of hope. St Pius was inspired by Hebrews 6:19, which states that “the hope we have is the sure and steadfast anchor of the soul”. How apt this is copied on our playground!! A reminder of stormy seas and the need for hope.

Attendance Reminder

Our students are asked to indicate their attendance each day via a Google form shared with them through their remote learning platform. This is an essential part of their day as we take our attendance data from this at 10am each morning. Students who have not registered their attendance by 10am will be marked as absent from learning for that day. Teachers have also been asked to register an absence for any student who does not submit evidence of work for that day.

Remote Learning

Thank you to all our parents and carers as you continue to support St Pius X staff with motivating and engaging your child(ren) on their remote learning journey. Staff have been conducting pastoral check-ins with parents and carers over the past couple of weeks and we have received an overwhelming amount of positive feedback for the efforts of our staff and our mode of learning. We are extremely proud of the students’ efforts at this time. We also appreciate the feedback and suggestions as we look to keep improving the experience for all.

We encourage you, along with your child(ren), to remain focused on the core subjects of English, Mathematics and Religion while supplementing their learning with other Key Learning Area activities. Teacher identified tasks are of particular note as these tasks receive specific feedback from teachers.

As always, if you have any questions or feedback, please contact the school to discuss further.

Simon Farrugia (Assistant Principal)   

World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation

The Season of Creation begins on September 1st, the World Day of Prayer for the Care of Creation. This annual day, established by Pope Francis in 2015, is an opportunity to pray, reflect and act to care for God’s creation. All of us, both those who most contribute to climate change and those whom it most affects, pray today for better stewardship of the Earth. Students of St Pius X have engaged in virtual liturgies and participated in specially designed activities to mark this special day.

A Prayer for the Care of Creation

Creator of Life,

The Earth is full of Your creatures, and by Your wisdom you made them all. 

At Your word, the Earth brought forth plants yielding seed of every kind and trees of every kind bearing fruit, the waters teemed with swarms of living creatures of every kind, and the world was filled with every kind of winged bird, walking animal, and creatures that creep upon the ground.

Mountains, plains, rocks, and rivers shelter diverse communities, and through the changing seasons Your Spirit renews cycles of life.

During this Season of Creation, open our eyes to see the precious diversity that is all around us. Enlighten our minds to appreciate the delicate balance maintained by each creature. Inspire us to conserve the precious habitats that nurture this web of life.

In the name of the One who came to proclaim good news to all creation, Jesus Christ.

Amen.

STAFF TIPS & STRATEGIES for R U OK WEEK

To support the upcoming R U OK Week initiative at St Pius X, the staff have shared some of their strategies and tips for keeping a healthy mind and body during lockdown.

Have a look and see if you can find something you might like to try.

CARNIVAL WEEK REVIEW

Wow! What a wonderful week was had throughout Carnival Week.

So many fun activities to engage with and so many wonderful competition entries!

Once again thank you to each and every student who submitted entries – they were all FABULOUS!

Congratulations to the following competition winners, who are the lucky recipients of a $20 BIG W eVoucher! We hope you get to choose something super special for yourself.

WINNERS:

Kindergarten Drawing Competition

       Brohdy O

Stage 1 Design Competition

Year 1: Logan S

Year 2: Evie N

Stage 2 Photography Competition

Year 3: David C

Year 4: Bentley F

Stage 3 Video Competition

Year 5: Elisabeth S

Year 6: Harper M

Congratulations to MONTANA B (Year 4) and ESTELLE L (Year 5) who were the chosen entries for the Who Has the Best Moves activity. I am sure all of the students cannot WAIT to learn your moves!