Junior School News
- From the Junior School
- Rugby Club AGM
- Junior School Sport
From the Junior School
REFLECTION
In this week’s Gospel reading, Jesus tells his disciples that the coming of the Son of Man will catch many people unprepared. Jesus tells his disciples that they are to always be ready for the day of the Lord.
Many of us feel the pressure early in the holiday season to be ready for Christmas. But this week’s Gospel challenges us to be ready for something other than the gift-giving of Christmas.
What does it mean to be ready for the day of the Lord? One of the roles of the family, the domestic church, is to be a school of faith, leading one another to salvation. How does your family help one another to be better Christians? What is one thing that your family could commit to, this Advent season, to help one another be better Christians? Some families choose to write this commitment down and post it in a prominent place in their home, near the Advent wreath or the Christmas tree.
TWILIGHT CONCERT
Congratulations to those students who participated in the Twilight Christmas Concert last Friday evening. It was one of our largest audiences ever. I spoke to one family who are joining the college next year and had heard about how beautiful the Pius Twilight Concert was so came along with their whole family! The boys were outstanding on stage, and a credit to themselves as they waited for their turn in the spotlight. Thank you to Mr Cummins, Mr Sismey, Mrs Talati, Ms Power, Ms Chen, Ms Metlenko, Ms Lewis, Mr Cranney and Mr Talati for all their hours of work in preparing the boys for such a successful night.
YEAR 6 END OF YEAR PARTY
The Year 6, 2022 students and their families enjoyed an afternoon of sunshine and games in Lane Cove on Saturday afternoon. Congratulations to the Year 6 Class Parents for their organisation, and for bringing the families together to celebrate the end of Year 6.
JUNIOR SCHOOL STARS OF THE WEEK
On Thursday of last week, I joined Junior School students Henry B, Frank L, Tom Millar, Ethan Z and Javien F at the Wildlife Storybook 2022 launch at the Chatswood Library. These five students had written and/or illustrated a story which has been published in the book. This is an extraordinary achievement given the number of submissions that were received. The boys were also asked to put on a performance of Tom M’s story: Bill the Waterboatman. The performance was an absolute hit with the large audience, including Mayor, Mrs Tanya Taylor.
MULTIPLICATION MASTERS
Congratulations to students in Mr Patterson’s class who today celebrated a significant whole-class achievement. Every student is now able to answer 180 multiplication questions in under 5 minutes – that’s 1.875 seconds per question! Well done 5 Blue!
I am thrilled to share the news that Julian K in 6 Gold scored an A+/High Distinction in his AMEB Grade 6 Piano recital recently. This incredible achievement was a result of an enormous amount of practice and commitment – well done Julian.
Congratulations also to Zach F who competed at the School Sport Australia Track and Field Championships in Brisbane over the weekend. Zach was a member of the PSSA NSW team, competing in the discus. He threw a personal best 35.29m which saw him placed 7th. We are so proud of this amazing achievement – a great reward for all the hours of training Zach has put in over this year.
JUNIOR SCHOOL AWARDS’ CEREMONIES
Sports’ Awards – Monday 5 December, College Gym from 1.30 pm. Parents are welcome. Event will be live-streamed.
Academic Awards - Tuesday 6 December, College Gym from 12.30 pm. Parents are welcome. Event will be live-streamed.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
Friday 25 November – Founder's Day at Oxford Falls
Tuesday 6 December – Closing Mass, Junior School Academic Awards, Semester 2 Reports issued, last day of school year for students.
Mrs Jill Greenwood - Head of Junior School
ST VINCENT de PAUL CHRISTMAS APPEAL
Our Christmas Appeal collections commenced this week and runs until the end of Week 8. This provides a great opportunity for students to live out the faith they learn about in the classroom.
Vinnies are in particular need of men’s travel sized toiletry kits (no razors please!). Ordinarily, these would contain a combination of soap and shampoo, toothbrush, comb etc. in a portable bag or case of some kind.
Please ask your son to hand his donation to his classroom teacher.
Thank you in advance for enabling our students to give, and spread, some Christmas spirit to those in need.
Mr Ryan Balboa - Social Justice Coordinator
Rugby Club AGM
The Rugby Club will be holding its AGM on tonight in the Sarto Centre, commencing at 6.30 pm. All positions on the committee will be up for re-election. We look forward to seeing any Rugby parents attend.
Mr Matt Stearn for Mr Martin Gillogly - Rugby Convenor
Junior School Sport
School Sport Australia Track and Field Championship:
I am proud to report that Zach Fourie (6 Red) performed extremely well over the weekend at the SSA Track and Field Championship which was held in Brisbane. Zach took part in the Discus event, throwing a personal best distance of 35.29m, placing him 7th in Australia for his age group. A phenomenal achievement for Zach who has put in countless hours building his strength and honing his skill. We all hope to see Zach competing again in Brisbane at the 2032 Olympics!
Thursday Sport:
The boys enjoyed their second session of the Swimming Program under blue sky and sunshine last week. Well done particularly to the Year 6 students and their teachers for seamlessly adapting to the modified program held at Manly. It is a timely reminder that safety is always the first consideration with Junior Sport at SPX and that we are extremely fortunate to have access to alternative venues if the need arises.
Results - Saturday 19 November:
It is hard to believe that the IPSHA season has now come to an end for 2022. I would like to take this opportunity to thank the SPX staff and students, external coaches, SPX Old Boys and parents who have contributed to SPX Junior Sport in any way this year.
Triumphant Junior Softball Team!
We congratulate the Junior Softball team on winning the season. Please see Mrs Williams' report below.
Basketball G Team - coached by Old Boy, Mitch Princi
Return of SPX loan uniforms:
With the completion of the IPSHA season, students are now required to return any loan uniforms. Students can hand them directly to me each recess and lunch break this week and next in the 5 Red classroom. Some loan items include:
- Touch Football singlets
- Athletics singlets
- Cross Country singlets
- AFL jerseys and shorts
- Basketball singlets
- Basketball shorts (As and Bs only)
Any items still unaccounted for on Friday 2 December will be charged to individual students, as replacements will need to be arranged in time for the 2023 seasons. If you have any questions or concerns, please let me know.
Sydney Swans Academy:
I am pleased to report that Max Barnett (6 Green) was recently selected in the Sydney Swans Academy U13 program. Max has excelled across numerous sports in his first year at SPX and this acknowledgement of his dedication and skill comes as no surprise to those who have seen him in action with a Sherrin.
Mr Glen Carroll - Junior School Sports Coordinator
Softball 2022
We were so fortunate this season as we were the outright winners!
The team’s camaraderie and determination to do their best every game was outstanding. Christopher Yastreboff and Marc Floridia captained our team over the season and showed wonderful ability to lead and organise the team.
Each outfielder, Paolo Mirenzi, Christopher Yastreboff, Nicholas Keung, Oliver Shoudra and Samson Symeonidis demonstrated great speed and fielding skills. The infielders, Marc Floridia, Toby Wilson, Aidan Floridia, Aaron Klarich, Jake Badawi and Justin Meza displayed fantastic defensive play and were agile and quick. The position of catcher was held by Vinn Buckingham and Yuma Shimoda Chehab, who were mentally and physically focussed. Our pitchers, Justin Meza and Harrison Zanello kept control and pace of the game.
I want to thank the parents for all their support and Mr Floridia for being our scorer.
NSTA Tennis
It was another exciting week at Talus St last week which marked the end of the first 5 rounds, this weekend we are heading into the Finals and Play-Offs. All teams will be playing this weekendexcept those teams that only had 5 teams in their division. In these divisions the team that placed 5th will have a BYE.
Please ensure that you are checking your weekly scores, rankings and draw on the Xpoint site: https://www.xpointsports.com/region/325/currentEvents
SPX 29 – Sebastian DalMolin and Lachlan McGrath vs SPX 31 – Jayden Kwok and Christian Sorrentino was the match to watch at 8.00 am. It was such a close match with both teams winning 12 games however, SPX 31 won 2 sets making them the overall winners. Jason Bau and Jayden Meguerditchian, SPX 27 dominated the court winning 18 games to 2. Marcus Ulevik, Justin Lee and Alex Kim, SPX 25 played an excellent match against Cammeraygal 5, winning all 3 sets. Thanks must also go to Jack Costa who stepped up into division 1 at the last minute helping Samuel Hernandez Martinez. Thank you to Antony Autore, Oliver Johnston and Jake Yu who helped out with mentoring and umpiring.
The 10.00 am games are usually pretty quiet but this week we had some really exciting matches. Izaac Tan and Lucas Halim SPX 1 had a great week this week winning 17 games to 12 games. Adrian Yip, Boston Bannister and Jake Yu SPX 3 played some excellent games against SPX 4 to win 15 games to 8. Cooper and Spencer Anderson had the twin advantage again winning all 3 sets against SPX 7.
Mrs Samantha Iwatani - NSTA Convenor
SPX Football Supporters' Club
NEW TREASURER
Welcome to Geoff Linders, who will be joining the SPX Football Supporters' Club as Treasurer in 2023.
Thank you to Cathy Thomson who is stepping down as Club Treasurer in 2022, after many years in this role.
RAFFLE
The “Sizza Boom Bah 2022 Football Raffle” has been drawn. Congratulations to the winning students. The SPX Football Supporters Club would like to thank Coerver Coaching for their generous prize contribution of six 1:1 football coaching sessions. Please see the below message from the College regarding further raffle details.
FOOTBALL CLUB RAFFLE
At the Assembly on Monday 14 November 2022 the Football Club Raffle was drawn. The prizes and winners were
1st Prize - Coerver Coaching 1:1 Voucher for 5 Sessions
Additional gifts "Under Armor" Sports Bag; "2022 World Cup"
Football; St Pius X Baseball Cap & Sports whistle
Winner: Hamish Dewhurst - Year 8
2nd Prize - CoerverCoaching1:1Voucherfor1Session Rebel Gift Card -$100
Additional gifts "2022 World Cup" Football & Sports whistle
Winner: Bradley Balfour - Year 7
3rd Prize - Rebel Gift Card -$50
Additional gifts Microfibre Gym Towel & "Nike" drink bottle
Winner: Jack Manning-O'Donnell - Year 8
Congratulations to the winners. The College wishes to thank Coerver Coaching, Cathy Thompson and all the Football Club Committee. Thanks to all who supported this raffle.
All proceeds raised by the raffle will be used to support the Football related activities of students.
Mrs Lorna Hammond - SPX Football Supporters' Club President