St Pius X College Newsletter

Junior School News 

  • From the Head of the Junior School
  • Junior School Sport
  • NSTA Tennis

From the Head of the Junior School 

It was with great excitement yesterday morning that we welcomed students in the Junior School back for another year of learning, growth, and community building.

 

At St Pius X, we believe that education is a partnership between families, teachers, and students. With your support, we are confident that this school year will be filled with meaningful experiences and opportunities for your sons.

 

We have been hard at work preparing for the new school year and are eager to share some of the exciting initiatives and events we have planned. Our teachers have been collaborating and planning engaging lessons and preparing classrooms to provide the best possible learning environment for your boys.

 

Please take some time to familiarise yourself with the school’s policies, procedures, and events for the year. Our website, https://www.spx.nsw.edu.au/ is an excellent resource for this information. You can also follow us on Facebook for updates and highlights from the school:  https://www.facebook.com/spxchatswood.  Please ensure that you have downloaded the College App as this is where you will receive timely notifications regarding our Sport program (for example, games cancelled due to rain).  When in doubt, please consult the Parent Information Guide that you received at the Orientation Day.

 

We are looking forward to working together to make this a successful and fulfilling school year for your sons. If you have any questions or concerns, please don’t hesitate to reach out to your son’s teacher.

 

STAFFING

The Junior School welcomes new and returning staff in 2024.  As part of our plan to reduce class sizes to 28, we have added an additional Year 5 class this year.  In 2025, all classes in the Junior School will have 28 students.

 

JUNIOR SCHOOL CLASSROOM TEACHERS

JUNIOR SCHOOL DIVERSE LEARNING TEAM

JUNIOR SCHOOL RESOURCE CENTRE (Junior Library)

JUNIOR SCHOOL SPORTS COORDINATOR

PERSONAL LEARNING DEVICES (PLDs) 

Please ensure you have read, understood, and co-signed the CODE OF CONDUCT and ACCEPTABLE USE POLICY FOR STUDENTS AND TECHNOLOGY on page 16 in the diary.  This might also be an opportunity to explain expectations around the use of the boys’ PLDs both at school, and at home. 

 

SPORT TRIALS | OXFORD FALLS

Everyone is very much looking forward to three days of sport trials starting today and continuing on Friday and next Thursday at the St Pius X Campus at Oxford Falls.  If you would like to collect your son from Oxford Falls, please do so by 2:20 pm, as that is when the rest of us will be heading back to school on the buses. A reminder that you cannot take another person’s child from Oxford Falls unless we have written permission from that child’s parent.  If you are collecting your own son from Oxford Falls, please send your classroom teacher an email (if you are picking up from Oxford Falls every week, one email will suffice).  To enable us to keep our boys, staff, and community safe, if you are collecting your son from Oxford Falls, please meet us at Watkins Oval (see image below). Any students who are not collected by 2:30 pm will travel back to the College with us on the bus.

Boys are to wear their sports uniform to school during these days and should bring recess, lunch and a drink. They do not need their PLDs (computers) on Friday.

WELCOME CELEBRATION | MONDAY FEBRUARY 5 (WEEK 2) 

New families are invited to our Welcome Celebration starting with Mass at Our Lady of Dolours Church at 5:00 pm on Monday 5 February.  This will be followed by a BBQ and a visit to the Junior School where your son’s teacher will answer any questions you might have.

 

“GET TO KNOW YOU” MEETINGS | MONDAY 19 FEBRUARY and TUESDAY 20 FEBRUARY

You will have an opportunity to meet with your son’s classroom teacher online on Monday 19 or 20 February.  At this meeting, you are encouraged to share your son’s strengths, needs, behaviours and learning styles – anything you feel would help his teacher to know and understand him more broadly.

 

Sick Leave and short-term non-attendance

Parents should contact the College to explain any student absence, at their earliest opportunity, and preferably before roll call, by emailing

studentmanagement@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au and copying your son’s teacher.

 

Application for Leave/Exemption from Attendance at School

When a student is planning to be absent from the College for three or more days, please complete the Application for Leave/Exemption from Attendance at School Form and email to Mrs Greenwood.

https://www.spx.nsw.edu.au/wp-content/uploads/2022/08/SPX-Application-for-Leave.pdf 

Absences of five days or more need to be approved by the College Principal.

 

DATES FOR THE DIARY:

WEEK 1

Thursday 1 Feb                 Junior School Sport Trials #1

Friday 2 Feb                       Junior School Sport Trials #2

 

WEEK 2

Monday 5 Feb                   Welcome Celebration from 5:00pm at Our Lady of Dolours Church

Thursday 8 Feb                 Junior School Sports Trials #3

Friday 9 Feb                       10:00 am College Commencement Mass – Oxford Falls

Saturday 10 Feb               IPSHA Sport Round 1

 

WEEK 3

Wednesday 14 Feb          Ash Wednesday liturgy

Wednesday 14 Feb          Junior School Swimming Carnival (Macquarie Aquatic Centre)

Tuesday 15 Feb                 Junior School Blazer Fittings 

 

WEEK 4

Monday 19 Feb                 Getting to Know You Meetings (online via Teams)

Tuesday 20 Feb                 Getting to Know You Meetings (online via Teams)

Friday 23 Feb                     Year 5 Reflection Day at Oxford Falls

 

CAMP DATES

Wednesday 6 March - Friday 8 March - Canberra – Year 6 

Monday 25 March - Wednesday 27 March - Broken Bay – Year 5 

 

CLASS PARENTS

If you are interested in becoming a Class Parent in 2024, please email Mrs Fromager at hfromager@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au.  No experience needed!  If you are new to the school, you are very welcome to volunteer, and we have some very experienced Class Parents who can show you the ropes. 

  

Thank you for your ongoing support of the Junior School.

 

Mrs Jill Greenwood - Head of the Junior School

Junior School Sport

Welcome to Junior Sport for 2024. Please make sure you are across details in Woodchatta each week as well as The College app, where draws and team lists will be published as soon as they are finalised. Our Saturday Sport commitments will commence on 10 February.  More details will be available in next week’s issue of Woodchatta.

Summer Sports Trials: We will be having Sport Days on Thursday and Friday, Week 1. Both days will be full days at Oxford Falls for trials and students are to wear their sports uniform.

At the conclusion of the trials, parents can collect their sons from Oxford Falls at 2:20 pm on Thursday and Friday. 

Cricket- Saturday 27 January

SPX U13 Black

On a drizzly wet morning, we lost the toss & were asked to bowl. Eddie Harkin & Cameron Cheah got us off to a great start with tight opening spells, but Harbord then got away from us & put 201 on the board. Captain Riley Silver was the pick of the bowlers with 4/11 off 4 overs plus a run out off his own bowling.

What was a tough chase started well, with Will Tully (48*) and Riley Silver putting on 64 for the first wicket in 10 overs. Luka Hilton (52) & Felix Keeler then put on 76 in quick time for the 2nd wicket, with Luka bringing up his 50 off 19 balls! At 1/145 after 18 overs we were looking good, but unfortunately we quickly lost 5/6 and despite a valiant last wicket stand, we fell 10 runs short. We were very proud of the boys' effort with the bat & their never say die attitude.

 

SPX U12 Blue

We lost the toss & were sent into bat on an overcast day. We found the early going tough, and were in a bit of trouble at 3/21, before Gianluca Spillane (30*) and Felix Keeler (25) shared a 44 run partnership. Massimo Guerrera helped us bat out our overs and we got to 6/103.

Wakefield started their case at a fast pace, reaching 0/46 in the 8th over, before Nick Belov started to pull us back into the game with some excellent bowling. Unfortunately despite Nick’s 4/15, Wakefield chased down our total without many problems. It was a good first hit out for the year, and a big welcome to Richie Spencer who made his debut.

James Keeler

Mr James Bourke - Junior Sports Coordinator

NSTA Tennis

Welcome back to tennis for 2024! Hopefully you have all been practising over the holidays and are eager to get back out on the courts after watching the Australian Open! 

 

Please note that the start date for NSTA has now moved to Saturday, 17 February. The draw will be out in that same week and if we are lucky it could be the end of the week before. 

 

Thank you to Mrs Keighery for coordinating tennis in my absence in Term 4 and I look forward to seeing you all again on 17 February. 

Mrs Samantha Iwatani - NSTA Tennis Convenor