St Pius X Catholic Parish Primary School Unanderra eNewsletter

Dear Parents and Carers,

On Tuesday we were joined by over two hundred and fifty Grandparents, God Parents and Good Friends, for our special “G” day celebrations. It was certainly fitting that this day was on the feast of Saints Joachim and Anne, the grandparents of Jesus and parents of the blessed Virgin Mary.

I wish to thank all of those that attended our celebrations, you play a significant role in the life of the children at St Pius X. I was overwhelmed with positive messages from the community about the welcome they felt and as I said to those present, it certainly takes a village to raise a child!

I also wish to thank the staff that so capably led the Morning Tea in the Hall. It was a beautiful event and I appreciate the catering they provided for this.

Pope Francis, on his papal flight to Canada, also remembered and praised grandparents, as the Church observed the second World Day for Grandparents and the Elderly last Sunday. Pope Francis instituted this Day in 2021 stating grandparents, "are the link between generations, passing on the experience of life and faith to the young."

Thank you for your contribution to our community and your help in raising “Our Village”.

Yours Sincerely

Pauline Chrostowski - Principal

“A grandparent is a little bit parent, a little bit teacher, and a little bit best friend.” – Author Unknown

The following students will receive awards for Week 1 and Week 2

Merit Awards

Week 1

Week 2

KB: Joelle C, Jacob G, Miller S

KR: Luca J, Zara M, Stefan S

1B: Scarlette D, Mila M

1R: William J, Zara V

2B: Orlando S, Scarlett M

2R: Wyatt K, Zia P

3B: Imogen C, Zamelia B

3R: Emmett T, Olivia J

4B: David C, Rome G, Laynie H

5B: Mason M, Sebastian R

5R: Georgia C, Matteo N

6B: Ruby H

6R: Elisabeth S, Xavier O

KB: Elias A, Maddison M, Olivia W

KR: Sierra S, Adam D

1B: Ryley M, Isaiah H

1R: Neev G, Matisse K

2B: Chloe R, Fionn K

2R: Claire B, Max M

3B: Katie V, Tom F

3R: Claudia D, Luka S

4B: Hudson O, Kaylee B, Bronte C

5B: Mia H, Diego G

5R: William S, Georgia F

6B: Jayden H, Egan M

6R: Alejandro M, Ike M

When you have 5 Merit Awards, you qualify for a PRINCIPAL AWARD

Principal's Award

Blake M - 1R

Thomas M - 2B

Aaliyah H - 3B

Zachary E - 3B

Riley H - 3B

Catherine O - 3B

Zamelia B - 3B

Imogen C - 3B

Savannah H - 3B

Madison H -3R

Emmett T - 3R

Olivia J - 3R

Scarlett T - 3R

Rafael S - 3R

Zac M - 3R

Oliver B - 3R

Laynie H - 4B

Hudson O - 4B x2

Emma V - 5B

Montana B - 5B

Egan M - 6B x2

When you have 3 Principal's Awards, you will qualify for a Mackillop Award

Mackillop Award

Aaliyah H - 3B

Zachary E - 3B

Riley H - 3B

Catherine O - 3B

Zamelia B - 3B

Imogen C - 3B

Savannah H - 3B

Emmett T - 3R

Olivia J - 3R

Scarlett T - 3R

Rafael S - 3R

Zac M - 3R

Oliver B - 3R

Hudson O - 4B

Emma V - 5B

Montana B - 5B

Egan M - 6B

When you have 2 Mackillop Awards, You qualify for a School Medallion

School Medallion

Medallions will be presented later in year by Mrs Chrostowski.

Congratulations to all of these students.

Cyclic Review

This week we welcome representatives of the Catholic Education Office
and renowned educator, Dr Mark Turkington. The panel will speak with
staff, student and parent representatives. St Pius X is committed to our
school improvement agenda that characterises contemporary thinking. I
look forward to sharing the findings of the Panel; our celebrations,
successes and future recommendations.

Book Week

Book Cover Competition

The theme is Dreaming with your eyes open.

Students are asked to design a A4 cover on this theme, with the theme written on the cover also.

Some ideas:

- If you can dream it you can be it

- Future ambitions

- Thoughts of ancient times

- Aboriginal art design

- dreamcatchers

- Use of imagery

- Design elements colour, font, images and illustrations.

- Use of photography

- Use of watercolours and sketching

- Use Pinterest for inspiration

The closing date is Monday 15th August.

Each grade will be judged independently and prizes given.

Please contact Mrs Poder or Mrs Suartama for more information.

Completed covers can be given to Mrs Poder in the library.

Your in Reading,

Mrs Clare Suartama

Mrs Jan Poder

Return and Earn Update

Last term we made some modifications to our St Vinnie's Return and Earn initiative at school. Thank you to the school community for their continued support with this. Our very first donation came to $25.40, which we were able to donate to St Vinnies - what a huge improvement from previous years! We look forward to our next drop off and adding to our donation so far, this year.

If you would like to add to this donation, you can drop your items into the light blue Return and Earn bin, under the cola on the school grounds, or take your donation straight to the depot in Unanderra and ask for your earnings to be a donation. The receipt you receive can then be passed to Ms Sartor in the school office.

Parent resources

CSPA_2022_Parent_Survey_flyer.pdf

CSPA_2022_Parent_Survey_flyer _pdf 94.82 KB

ACTIVATE FIRE - YEAR 6

As part of the Year 6 Religion Curriculum our Year 6 students will be involved in an Immersive Spiritual Experience this Thursday 28th July at St Therese Catholic Primary School, West Wollongong along with students from St Brigid's and Good Samaritan. Students will be transported to and from this event via bus. This event occurs annually and is a real highlight for the spiritual formation for our students. We are very thankful to our hosts, St Therese Catholic Primary School for providing a wonderful location for this event and for providing a tasty BBQ lunch for all attendees. We hope our St Pius X students have a wonderful time among their peers and look forward to hearing all about it upon their return.

RELIGIOUS LITERACY ASSESSMENT - 1st AUGUST

On Monday 1st August students of Year 4 will participate in the 2022 Religious Literacy Assessment. This is an online assessment created by the Catholic Education Office of Wollongong in conjunction with the Australian Catholic University. This assessment project provides a sustained and systemic Diocesan approach to the documentation and reporting of students’ learning in the key learning area of Religious Education (RE) across the diocese and in particular, aspects of religious literacy. It is a means of celebrating and sharing the good news about students' learning in Religious Education and enables the story to be told on a continuing basis.

The Assessment:
● is completed by Year 4 students.
● is online using a Google Form.
● is embedded in the teaching/learning process and addresses assessment as, for
and of learning.
● has a diversity of questions, drawing on a range of outcomes identified across
Early Stage 1, Stage 1 and Stage 2.
● includes 40 multiple choice questions which reflect Early Stage 1, Stage 1 and
Stage 2 outcomes and content in Religious Education.
● addresses predetermined criteria and has a spread of questions weighted
across the religious literacy framework of:
○ Knowing the tradition (knowledge and understanding outcomes)
○ Working with the tradition (reasoning skills)
○ Applying the tradition (practical and social skills).

We wish our Year 4 students all the very best with this assessment and look forward to receiving the results in the near future.

Upcoming Canberra Excursion - PACER REBATE

Students from our school will soon be undertaking an education tour of the national capital. Students will be given the opportunity to participate in a variety of educational programs with a focus on Australia’s history, culture, heritage and democracy.

The Australian Government recognises the importance of all young Australians being able to visit the national capital as part of their Civics and Citizenship education.

To assist families in meeting the cost of the excursion the Australian Government is contributing funding of $30 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate program towards those costs.

The rebate is paid directly to the school upon completion of the excursion.