Newsletter 3 – 12 March 2025

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

What a busy couple of weeks our students and staff have had. They have certainly hit the ground running since returning from their long weekend last week.

Swimming Carnival

We were blessed with mild weather for our swimming carnival, a stark contrast from last year’s sweltering conditions. Our students swam competently, were incredibly well behaved and encouraged one another from the sidelines. The standout faction for cheering on their teammates were the Josephites. It was a surprise that none of them lost their voices by the end of the day.

Congratulations to our champion girls and champion boys:

Year 3: Priya and Jye
Year 4: Eloise and Alex
Year 5: Mila and William
Year 6: Tess and Finn

A huge, big thank you to all the parents who assisted on the day. We had a record number of parents volunteer to help. As a result of the parental support we had, combined with Mr Cooper’s thorough preparation, the carnival flowed seamlessly. Thank you also to the students from Clontarf Aboriginal College who gave up their time to assist with setting up the bays, marshalling the students, and cheering the students on.

Ash Wednesday

On Wednesday, our whole school came together to celebrate Ash Wednesday. Our Year 5s did a wonderful job with the readings and prayers of the faithful. During Mass, our students were marked with the sign of the cross on their foreheads. The cross served as powerful reminder of the sacrifices Christ made for us and God’s call for us to live out our faith more deeply.

Ash Wednesday marks the beginning of the Lenten season. Lent is a season of prayer, fasting and almsgiving. During his homily, Father Anthony encouraged the students to talk to God more frequently, to identify some things they can fast from and to reflect on what sacrifices they can make for the benefit of others. It would be so beneficial to our students’ faith journey, if families could set aside time to pray together and discuss how well they are fasting from the things they identified and how well they are carrying out the almsgiving commitments they made.

Disco

On Friday night, our P&F hosted a fun filled disco for our students. It was such a joy to watch our students dancing and singing the night away. It was equally heart-warming to see so many of our parents giving up their time to sell merchandise, food and ensure the safety of our students. A wonderful night was had by all thanks to the community spirit and dedication to service that our parents foster.

NAPLAN

This week and early next week, our Year 3 and 5 students will be undertaking their NAPLAN assessments. Whilst we have not made a big fuss about NAPLAN, it is important our students have early nights and eat well over the coming days so they are able to concentrate and do their best in the assessments.

Year 6 Canberra Camp

The excitement is building for our first ever Year 6 Canberra Camp. In fact, I am not certain who is more excited; our students or the staff attending. Our Year 6s will be visiting Parliament House, the National Museum of Australia, Australian War Memorial, Questacon, Australian Institute of Sport and the National Botanic Gardens plus many other exciting venues within Canberra.

Whilst Mrs Gregory and I are at camp with Mr Stone and the Year 6s, Mrs Tiffany Miranda will be taking care of our school. Mrs Miranda was previously an Assistant Principal and will be the contact person in our absence. She will be in the office Monday – Wednesday and in class on Thursday – Friday.

Head Lice

Please note that there has been a confirmed case of head lice in the school. It would be a good idea to check your child’s hair tonight and treat if necessary so that we can avoid them spreading across the school.

Clean-up Australia Day

Last Wednesday afternoon our students participated in Clean-Up Australia Day. The Kindy and Pre-Primary students cleaned up the early childhood area, whilst our Yr 1 and Yr 2 students searched the main school grounds for rubbish, our Yr 3-4 students ventured outside, along the perimeter of our school and the Yr 5-6s walked across to James Miller Reserve, filling three bags with rubbish. Thank you to all our students for doing their bit to uphold Pope Francis’ call for us to care for our common home. A special thank you to Mrs Sanchez who registered our school and organised gloves and bin bags to be delivered for our students to use.

I invite you to click on the link below and watch the short video with your children. It’s a powerful reminder that the Earth is God’s gift to us and that the whole human family needs to work together to look after it.

Don’t forget to rise to the Lenten challenge of talking to God more often (prayer), fasting and almsgiving!

God bless,

Melissa Vranjes
Principal

This year, our Pre-Primary classroom has been full of exciting and meaningful activities centred around the classroom theme All About Me. We’ve been focusing on making everyone feel welcome and safe as we begin our learning journey together. The children have created beautiful “All About Me” posters, featuring handprint stamping, independent self-portraits, and their own unique family houses built out of pop sticks with their family members inside. These activities have sparked wonderful conversations about families and helped us build connections within our classroom community.

In the lead up to Lent the students had been learning how to do the Sign of the Cross and it’s significance. Last Wednesday we went out on a nature walk to collect sticks to build our own versions of the Sign of the Cross. Using pipe cleaners and the sticks children then created their own unique cross, which are beautifully displayed in the PP classroom.

We look forward to continuing this wonderful learning journey and watching the children connect, grow, and build on their learning in creative and meaningful ways.

Miss Beattie
Pre-Primary Teacher

The students have had a very hot and busy start to the year in sport! Years 3-6 students were occupied with swimming lessons in the lead up to the St Pius X Swimming Carnival. The Swimming Carnival provided the perfect opportunity for the students to showcase their abilities, and what a job they did! Congratulations to Josephite for winning the Spirit Award and to Carmody for winning the 2025 Swimming Carnival trophy. 

In sport the year 5 and 6 students have been preparing for the upcoming ASCS Cricket Carnival, playing in game-like simulations working on their bowling, fielding, batting, strategies and tactics. Cricket has been incorporated into the year 1 to 4 sports lessons and it has been great to see the students love of the game seep into recess and lunch where there are usually multiple games of cricket being played simultaneously across all year groups. Pre-Primary have been working on their line walk, various locomotor skills, underarm throw, underarm roll, and catch.”

Mr. Cooper
PE Teacher

What an exciting weekend it has been for our school community! The P&F has been busy, and we’ve had some wonderful events that brought everyone together.

Firstly, we’d like to extend a huge thank you to everyone who helped make our Disco Night a fantastic success. It was an unforgettable evening filled with laughter, dancing, and fun for all ages. A special shoutout goes to our amazing Year 4 parents, whose hard work and dedication made the event possible. Your support and enthusiasm were greatly appreciated!

The very next day, we continued the fun at the Manning Laneway Festival, where the P&F hosted a popular book stall. All books were sold for a gold coin donation, and the kids did an outstanding job representing the school and encouraging the community to come and check out the stall. A huge thank you to all the families who generously donated books—we couldn’t have done it without your support!

The Festival was also a chance for our school to showcase our talented athletes in the Manning Rippers Sprint. We had students from both Year 5 and Year 6 participating, and we’re so proud of their efforts. A special congratulations to Tess, who won her division, and Eloise, who came in as a well-deserved runner-up—what an incredible achievement!

Looking ahead, we’re excited to remind you about the upcoming Parent Social on April 4th. Be sure to keep an eye out for more information from your class reps so you don’t miss out on what promises to be another great evening of socialising and fun.

Thanks again to all of our volunteers and the broader school community for making these events such a success. We look forward to seeing you all at the Parent Social and other future P&F activities!

Warm regards,
The P&F Team

The City of South Perth will be undertaking road works as follows:

Location:   Intersection of Ley Street & Cloister Avenue, Como

Date:           Week Commencing Monday 10 March 2025

Duration:  Approximately 4 weeks, weather permitting Mon to Sat between the hours of 7am – 5pm