Newsletter 9 – 15 June 2022

Dear Parents and Caregivers,

Although it feels like a lifetime ago already, I hope you enjoyed your long weekend -particularly the beautiful sunny weather we were blessed with.

CONFIRMATION:

Congratulations to our Year 6 students who received the Sacrament of Confirmation on Friday night. The weekend before Confirmation, our Church celebrated Pentecost Sunday. The Pentecost story is a wonderful depiction of the many gifts granted to us by the Holy Spirit; these very gifts strengthened the disciples to be the light of Christ to all they encountered and to live their lives to the full. The weekend directly after Confirmation, we celebrated the feast of the Holy Trinity. It is somewhat fitting that our Year 6s received the Sacrament of Confirmation between these two significant celebrations. With the Father, the Son and the Holy Spirit as their guide and protector I am confident that each of our Year 6 students will live out their call to discipleship throughout their lives and be blessed with the peace, love and joy that being in relationship with Jesus brings.

Thank you to Fr Patrick for celebrating this special Mass, Lionel for altar serving, to our Year 6 students who conducted themselves ever so reverently, Mr Hughes and Mrs Murphy our Year 6 teachers for preparing the students so well and to all our staff who gave up their time to support and witness our Confirmation candidates making their profession of faith and commitment to serving Christ. A special thank you also to our parents, for allowing us to share the faith journey of their children.

STUDENT COUNCIL MEETING

Under the guidance of our Assistant Principal Clare Thomson, student representatives from each class gathered to share what their class members feel are the strengths of our school and what improvements students would like to see made. This process is incredibly empowering for our students, not only giving them a voice in the goings on of our school, but also building their leadership capacity, problem solving and public speaking/listening skills.

Our students identified the following as some of our school’s strengths:

• We have really nice teachers
• Our school work is fun and interesting
• We love Music with Mr Dabbs
• The focus on values at Monday Assemblies helps us grow and be our best selves
• Students are good at listening and caring for each other
• Our school is clean
• We have a welcoming school
• We can play before school instead of having to sit on the benches (Yr 3-6)
• We have lots of different equipment

Below are the improvements our students would like to see:

• More ideas and fundraisers to support people in need
• Expand our ‘secret garden’ materials e.g. fairies, dress ups, bed sheets to build cubbies/teepees.
• Wet weather box – we have Lego but some Uno card sets and board games would be good for recess and lunch when it is raining.
• Resume after school clubs like robotics.

As I am sure you will agree, our students identified some great causes for celebration and ways to enhance our school. If you happen to have some board games, dress up items and bed-sheets that you no longer use I am sure our students would be happy to make use of them during their play times. Next Semester, we endeavour to resume our Robotics Club. Instead of a Drama Club, we may introduce an ‘Arts Club’. More details will follow shortly.

STAFF PD

On Friday 3^rd June, our staff gathered together at the Mary MacKillop Centre for a faith focused PD centred on ‘Prayer’. The day was designed around staff survey data and hit the mark in every way imaginable. Sr Maree and Sr Maura facilitated the day, educating us on the link between St Pius X and the Sisters of St Joseph of the Sacred Heart. They provided opportunities for staff to engage in various forms of prayer and connect with Christ, culminating in a powerful Spirit filled Taize prayer session in the chapel. It was the perfect way to end the week and helped staff transition from a busy week into a slower paced long weekend.

For those of you who might be interested in expanding your prayer practices, Sister Maree and Sr Maura shared an exceptional App that you can download for free on your phones. It is called ‘Pray as You Go’. Each day has a different prayer, complete with Gospel reflections and music, which bring you to a great feeling of calm and peace.

QUIZ & GAMES NIGHT

Our incredible P&F are busily preparing our Year 3-6 ‘Quiz & Games Night’ which will take place here at SPX on Friday 24^th June between 4.45-7.30pm. It will be a fun filled evening and we hope to see as many of our Year 3-6 students there. To assist our P&F in their preparations, it would be wonderful if parents could purchase tickets for their children via QuickCliq sooner than later. Ticket sales close on Monday 20th June.

PHYSICAL EDUCATION

Mrs Linda Matthews will be taking leave next term. She will be replaced by Mr Caleb Cooper who is a familiar face here at St Pius X. We wish Mrs Matthews well during her leave and warmly welcome Mr Cooper.

Thank you for taking the time to read our school newsletter.

God bless,

Melissa Vranjes
Principal