Newsletter 4 – 26 March 2025

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Last week, our Year 6s, together with Mr Stone, Mrs Gregory and I, had the most amazing time in Canberra. We could not have asked for a better experience. The students savoured every moment and immersed themselves in the rich learning opportunities they were given. At each venue, the tour guides commented on the depth of our students’ knowledge, their inquisitiveness, respectful nature, the quality of their responses to questions and level of enthusiasm. We could not be more proud of our Year 6s who made the most of every minute of their time away.

Below is a brief synopsis of some of the many magnificent learning experiences our Year 6s had whilst in Canberra.

Royal Australian Mint

At the Mint, the students observed the process by which robots are utilised to make, sort and package the coins. Amazingly, the Royal Australian Mint can produce up to two million coins per day. It was eye-opening to see the robots at work and mind boggling to see the many collections of coins that have been produced over the years.

Australian War Memorial

We spent two hours at the Australian War Memorial but could have spent the whole day, if not several days, there. There was so much to explore. The Memorial’s galleries and exhibitions share the story of Australia’s involvement in major conflicts. The low lighting and soundscapes of military themes including voices, music and battle noise helped us to picture what it must have been like for those who served in the wars. Our students listened astutely to the stories shared with them by their tour guides and asked thought-provoking questions which demonstrated their maturity, high level of engagement and empathy with the soldiers and nurses they learnt about. Although we all felt a deep sense of heaviness and sadness in our hearts, we couldn’t help but yearn to explore more of the many galleries at the memorial.

Parliament House

Our students had the privilege of having a tour of both the current and old Parliament House. At Parliament House, the students sat in both the House of Representatives and the Senate reviewing the core functions of both. The students also participated in the process of passing a Bill for free transport which they thoroughly enjoyed. At Old Parliament House, the Year 6s marvelled at the architecture and relished the opportunity to sit in the same seats that our Prime Ministers and Members of Parliament sat in 98 years ago. They were captivated by the history of parliament and marvelled at the progression of attire worn by the Governor Generals over the years.

Questacon

I recall Mrs Gregory describing Questacon as Scitech on steroids. My goodness was she right. There was so much to explore at Questacon – there were six levels of fun, interactive science and technology centred learning experiences. There was a constant buzz of excitement as the students made their way through the engaging hands-on activities and simulations. Earthquake House was a particularly big hit for all. Complete with state-of-the-art special effects our students were able to experience what an earthquake would be like if it were to occur in the Canberra region.

National Portrait Gallery

After admiring and analysing portraits by prestigious artists, our students had the opportunity to sketch some portraits of their own. They attempted to capture the emotions displayed by their subjects and shared them with one another, discussing the challenges and processes involved. This experience gave them greater appreciation of the work that went into each of the portraits on display.

Twilight tour of the Botanic Gardens

Whilst most people were settling in for the night, our Year 6s embarked on a twilight tour of the National Botanic Gardens. In addition to learning about the creation and maintenance of the gardens, students learnt about the elaborate collection of native Australian plant life. Once the sun had completely set, the fauna came to life and our focus shifted to the abundant nocturnal animals that call the botanic gardens home. We were incredibly fortunate to see bats, kangaroos, sugar gliders, possums and water dragons at play.

National Film and Sound Archive

Our students marvelled at the evolution of film and sound over the decades. They analysed advertisements as well as film clips, identifying the purpose, target audience and media techniques used.

Australian Institute of Sport

We commenced our visit to AIS with a play at Sportex. Sportex is an interactive educational sports complex in which the students had an opportunity to try out wheelchair basketball, virtual downhill skiing, rock climbing, football penalty shootouts, cycling, push up challenges and reaction time challenges among other activities. This was proceeded by a tour of the Australian Institute of Sports. We saw an Olympic gymnast stretching under the guidance of his physiotherapist and another practicing his routines. In the gym we witnessed several athletes engaging in strength training with their coaches and personal trainers. It was enlightening to watch the national volleyball players training – the speed at which the balls are fired at the players by a serving machine. The tour gave us all an appreciation of the intensity of training our athletes engage in on a day-to-day basis.

A heartfelt thank you to our Year 6 parents who rallied together and fundraised extensively to make this Canberra Camp possible. We are also grateful to the Australian Government for contributing $510 per student under the Parliament and Civics Education Rebate Program. Thank you to Enable Realty for their donation of $1000 and to Geoff Baker MLA for contributing $800. Without these donations, the Canberra Camp would not have eventuated.

A sincere thank you to Mr Stone and Mrs Gregory for giving so generously of their time and making camp such a joyous and memorable experience for all.

Melissa Vranjes
Principal

The Year One’s have settled into their new learning environment beautifully!

In Literacy we have been learning how to write a ‘recount’, about something that has happened in the past. We have begun each week doing something fun, so that we are excited to begin our writing. Every week we have practiced filling out a recount planner based on an event that has taken place on Monday. We have written about our trip to the playground, St Patrick’s Day and what we did on the weekend. We have focused on the language of recount writing, using words such as first, next, then and finally.

In Maths, the focus has been on place value, and identifying how many tens and ones are in a two-digit number. This week we made ‘place value pictures’ and counted how many tens and ones we used to create our pictures. We have also been playing lots of games and doing lots of hands-on activities to help consolidate our counting skills, practicing what comes before or after a given number, and learning how to skip count in tens.

In Health, the students have embraced the topic of ‘Character Strengths’, identifying their own strengths and thinking of a strength they would like to work towards. They learnt that strengths can change over time with effort and focus.

We end Term One with the strong focus on the Easter Story, and of course some fun Easter activities before the holidays! We will be listening to each part of the Easter Story in the lead up to Jesus’ crucifixion and resurrection, sequencing the parts of the story, and creating some beautiful Easter art.

It has been a very busy and fun term and we look forward to more fun and learning over the next few weeks.

Lee-Ann Trabucchi
Year 1 Teacher

What an incredible day at the ASCS Swimming Carnival! Despite the pouring rain at the start, our students swam with incredible energy and determination, and it showed in the final results. Our school proudly placed 2nd in both the Championship Shield and the Points Shield, finishing just 2 points shy of 1^st in the Points Shield!

A special congratulations to Eloise in Year 4 for being awarded Runner-Up Champion Girl, and to Mila in Year 5 for also taking the title of Runner-Up Champion Girl. It was truly a team effort, and every swimmer gave their all.

A huge thank you to Miss Cohen and Mr. Stone for their invaluable support throughout the day. And of course, thank you to the St Pius X families for their amazing support—they were definitely the loudest and most enthusiastic supporters on the day, adding so much energy and spirit to the event! What a fantastic team effort and celebration of community!”

Mr. Cooper
PE Teacher