St Pius X Catholic Parish Primary School Unanderra eNewsletter

Dear Parents and Carers,

Yesterday we celebrated the culmination of a successful year of learning, embedded in faith with a Whole School Liturgy. I thank Father Duane and Sr Kerry Gardiner for supporting me in leading this wonderful Catholic community. St Pius X is a special place and I am extremely proud of our beautiful students and strong parent / parish partnerships.

Following the liturgy it was my pleasure to announce our ACE ( Academic, Citizenship and Endeavour) award recipients. These awards are not only designed to recognise student academic achievement but also to foster and develop our student’s sense of community involvement and the importance of working hard consistently.

Congratulations to the following students:

Leonardo Manfredi

Kruz Kuzmanovski Soares

Mila Nguyen

Mateo Tubaro

Sophie Gauci

Bronte Connolly

Evie Grayson

Sienna Curcio

Ryan Garretty

Alexia-Rose Sanchez-Bruce

Marlie Holland

William Boncompagni

Kyla Moretti

Liam Newman

Isla Farrugia

Levi Lima

Abhi Abihilash Nair

Adon Dolphin

Logan Sepple

Jonas Coopes

Ruby Gamosh

Sophie Chard

Samuel Panayiotou

Chiara Curcio

Pj Pedron

Joshua Suartama

Allira Cremonisi

Izabel Brejniak

Rocco Scaglia

Mia Hanna

Owen Schembri

As we journey into the season of advent I am delighted that the students continue to demonstrate positive behaviours, with a sense of strong routines and calmness in the classrooms. Please take note of important dates and times in this newsletter and I look forward to connecting with many of you at our upcoming events.

Yours Sincerely,

Pauline Chrostowski - Principal

Vinnies Christmas Hamper Appeal

We are collecting food items to be donated to St Vincent De Paul in December.

Please see below for items to be brought in for each Year group.

Thank you in advance for your kind donations.

Kinder: Lollies, chips, chocolates

Year 1: Biscuits, Tea, Coffee

Year 2: Drinks, cordial, juice, fizzy drink

Year 3: Christmas pudding/cake, desserts

Year 4: Tinned fruit, long life custard

Year 5: Breakfast items eg. Boxed cereal, Long life milk

Year 6: Pasta, Pasta Sauce

CHRISTMAS CARDS for VILLA MARIA

This year the students of St Pius X will again be writing Christmas cards to the residents of our local Villa Maria Nursing Home in Unanderra. If you could please start to bring in 2 x blank Christmas cards with envelopes that would be greatly appreciated. Students DO NOT need to bring in stamps as the cards will be hand delivered to the nursing home by Ms Sartor. The residents are very appreciative of our thoughts and efforts through this initiative and very much look forward to receiving our cards every year.

CHRISTMAS CONCERT REMINDERS

On Friday the 8th December, the St Pius X community will come together to celebrate Christmas. There will be a picnic lunch opportunity from 12:30pm - 1:15pm, followed by our concert commencing at 1:30pm under the school cola. Everyone is welcome to come along and share in the Christmas Spirit with our community.

On the day, all students are asked to come to school dressed in a white t-shirt, and denim bottoms (jeans, shorts, or skirt), along with any silver coloured accessories they may wish to wear (headbands, tinsel etc). Our infants students (Kindergarten - Year 2) may also choose to dress up as angels for the performance.

SEMESTER 2 REPORTS 2023

Semester Two reports, following NSW K-10 syllabuses, will be sent to parents on December 11. These reports adhere to national legislation requiring primary schools to provide two written reports for students in Years 1 - 6. Grades are awarded based on the Common Grade Scale, with 'C' indicating sound performance in a particular Key Learning Area (KLA). The overall grades are determined by teachers, considering evidence of each student's learning and the corresponding Common Grade Scale standard (See below). The report also includes Effort Descriptors, Strands detailing the breakdown of learning, Comments covering learning gains and areas for growth, Positive Behaviors for Learning Descriptors, and information on absences for the semester.

Kindergarten will receive their first written report for the year. Kindergarten requirements outline that reports are awarded based on a three point scale using the descriptors Basic, Sound, Thorough.

Comments:

There are three kinds of comments on the report:

Learning Gains – These comments use syllabus text to capture the new learning the student has demonstrated in the reporting period

Areas for Growth – These comments use syllabus text to capture the new learning the student will encounter as the ‘next step’ or ‘targeted area for growth’ on their learning path

Final Comment – The longer, final comment is written by the teacher and may cover a range of academic and non-academic areas

Common Grade Scale:

A	The student has *extensive knowledge and understanding* of the content and can readily apply this knowledge. In addition, the student has achieved a very high level of competence in the processes and skills and can apply these skills to new situations.
B	The student has a *thorough knowledge and understanding* of the content and a high level of competence in the processes and skills. In addition, the student is able to apply this knowledge and these skills in most situations.
C	The student has a *sound knowledge and understanding* of the main areas of content and has achieved an adequate level of competence in the processes and skills.
D	The student has a *basic knowledge and understanding* of the content and has achieved a limited level of competence in the processes and skills.
E	The student has an *elementary knowledge and understanding* in few areas of the content and has achieved very limited competence in some of the processes and skills.

New Year! New Class!

A number of students will take part in a transition program over the next few weeks to prepare for the new year. This program introduces students to the changes that will take place next year. This is a Tier 2 program and consists of small group sessions. Whole class transitions will still occur. At the end of the program they will meet their teacher for the 2024 school year and share information about themselves with their new teacher.

All students will have the opportunity to meet their 2024 class teacher on Thursday 14th December.

	TERM FOUR 9th OCTOBER - 15th DECEMBER
DECEMBER
Tuesday 5th	Year 6 Jamberoo Action Park
Thursday 8th	Christmas Picnic 12.30pm - 1.15pm
	Christmas Concert 1.30pm - 2.30pm
Monday 11th	Year Six Graduation at WESTS 5.30pm
Wednesday 13th	Kindergarten and Year 6 Teddy Bears picnic in the school grounds for students in these classes, BYO Teddy Bear. Year 6 Colour Run and BBQ
Thursday 14th	Christmas Mufti Day
	Promotions Day - students meet their 2024 teacher - Special visitor to arrive after lunch Ho Ho Ho
Friday 15th	Year 6 Assembly 2.30pm and ringing of the bell
	Last Day for students
Monday 18th	PUPIL FREE DAY
Tuesday 19th	PUPIL FREE DAY

	2024
JANUARY
Tuesday 30th	PUPIL FREE DAY
Wednesday 31st	PUPIL FREE DAY
FEBRUARY
Thursday 1st	FIRST DAY STUDENTS
1st - 6th	BEST START - KINDERGARTEN
Wednesday 7th	FIRST DAY - KINDERGARTEN
Wednesday 21st	P&F MEETING 7pm

FEE INFORMATION

2024_PAYMENT_OF_SCHOOL_FEES_BY_INSTALMENT.pdf

2024_PAYMENT_OF_SCHOOL_FEES_BY_INSTALMENT _pdf 222.14 KB

PRINCIPAL AWARDS

Matthew Holland - 3R

Jakob Pretzler - 4B

Evie Newman - 4B

Max moon - 4B

Logan Dragovic - 4B

Marco Pires - 4B

Javier Meezs - 4R

Luka Sladakovic - 4R

David Carolan - 5R

Charlotte Mackay - 5R

Oliver Morath - 5R

Marlee McIntyre - 5R

Matteo Naumovski - 6B

Izabel Brejniak - 6B

Mason Bonham - 6B

Natasha Pope - 6B

Georgia Fraser - 6R

Diego Garcia - 6R

Georgia Correa - 6R

Owen Schembri - 6R

William Staples - 6R

Trinity Vergan - 6R

MACKILLOP AWARDS

Liam Newman - 2B

Daniel Zugic - 6B

Arlie Martin - 6B

Rocco Scaglia - 6B

Xavier Gaffney - 6B

Cooper Campbell - 6R

William Staples - 6R

Marley Jackson - 6R

SCHOOL MEDALLIONS

Matteo Naumovski - 6B

Izabel Brejniak - 6B

Mason Bonham - 6B

Natasha Pope - 6B

Georgia Fraser - 6R

Diego Garcia - 6R

Georgia Correa - 6R

Owen Schembri - 6R

William Staples - 6R

Trinity Vergan - 6R

Medallions will be presented in Term 4 by Mrs Chrostowski.

Congratulations to all of these students.

KINDERGARTEN

Kinder loved visiting Happy Harold during Term 4 to learn all about healthy foods, hygiene, and the benefits of getting the right amount of physical activity and sleep.

In HSIE, Kinder learnt about a variety of holidays and special events observed in Australia and in other countries. We learnt all about Chinese New Year, Diwali and Bastille Day. Kinder created beautiful Chinese lanterns, colourful rangoli, and a drawing of the Eiffel Tower on Bastille Day.

In Religious Education, Kinder have been busy preparing their own Advent Wreath. An Advent Wreath is used in church and in some homes to mark the time of waiting before Christmas. The lighting of the candles of the Advent Wreath light the way towards the coming of Jesus at Christmas.

YEAR ONE

Term 4 has absolutely flown by so far. Year 1 has been enjoying lots of wonderful activities like the Colour Run and Healthy Harold! In class we have been learning about Bundjalung woman and artist Bronwyn Bancroft and her stunningly colourful books like Big Rain Coming.

YEAR TWO

Year 2 has been trying to persuade their teachers that Trees Are Important! They have written some wonderful persuasive texts and produced posters with excellent reasons to convince us to save our trees!

In Geography, the students were designing their own Park. They incorporated spaces for things they needed, like toilets, and benches as well as fun activities, like the flying fox.

We have also been learning how to draw, like Bronwyn Bancroft, and have created some fabulous artworks that include the same techniques as Bronwyn. Many used these techniques in their posters as well!

Year 2 students are certainly ready for Year 3 in 2024! ?‍??‍?