Parent & Student Matters
- Winter sports and other photos
- Science
- English
- History
- Lights, Camera, Pius! Film Festival
- Splinters, Splashes, Sounds, Stage and Stories - Tonight
- From the Senior Resource Centre
Winter sports and other photos
On Wednesday 4 September the winter sports and other photos will be taken during Periods 1 – 4. Sports and other group photos include, Rugby, Football, Boxercise, Robotics, Tennis, Cross Country, Athletics, Chess, Public Speaking, Debating, Duke of Edinburgh, Senior Mentors, Eucharistic Ministers, Edmund Rice Society, Prefect, College Leaders, Captains of Sport (Year 12 only) and Sports House Captains. (See Attachment).
Photos that require students to be wearing their school uniform will be taken first. All boys need to make sure they bring the appropriate sports uniform for their sports to be worn as well as their ID card.
As Year 8 have their PE at Oxford Falls on this day, all photos that have Year 8 students in them will be taken during Period 1. Year 8 students are responsible for bringing the correct uniform for their photos with them. Not having the correct uniform will result in being left out of the photo.
NOTE: The Year 12 photo and Year 11 Peer Support photo will be taken on the morning of Tuesday 3 September.
Ms Leisa Proc - General Coordinator
Science
SPX SCIENCE WEEK- Species Survival: More than just Sustainability
A huge thank you to all students and staff who came along to enjoy the activities provided by the Science Department this week to celebrate Science Week.
Activities this year included: ecosystems in a jar, chemical analysis of whale snot, crocheting nests for injured birds for WIRES, a Science-week themed Kahoot and some microscope use looking at the variety in insects.
There was a guessing game at Student Reception, Lucky Door prizes each day for participants, prizes for winners of any of our competitions and a small gift for the first 20 students arriving each lunchtime.
Congratulations to the student winners:
Monday Lucky Door Prizes: Ronan O (5) and Marcus E (8)
Tuesday Lucky Door Prizes: Jason B (8) and Paddy Molloy (6)
Wednesday Lucky Door Prizes: Brendan F (7) and Noah Menezes (6)
Kahoot Winner ($10 canteen voucher): Ryan De-Fina (6)
Guessing game winner ($15 canteen voucher): Luke Chater (11)… with a guess of 86… there were 85 animals in the jar
Mrs Joanne Schuster - Leader of Learning, Science
English
2024 Microfiction Competition
The first round of the 2024 Microfiction Competition is open! Students have until Sunday 1st September to submit their stories. This is a writing competition solely for St Pius X College students that is now in its third year. Students from all year groups are encouraged to enter.
Participants in the Grand Final will be announced next Wednesday 4 September at the College Assembly. The Grand Final will be held in the Senior Library during Week 8, with the winners announced at the start of Term 4.
The best authors will be awarded the following amounts in Dymocks vouchers, generously donated by the P&F:
First Place: $200
Second Place: $50
Third Place: $50
Primary School Winner: $100
Principal’s Award: $50
English Faculty Prize: $50
Mr Daniel Quilty - English Teacher
History
The 2024 Australian History Competition
Each year the College enters History students in the Australian History Competition. Over 30,000 students around the country take part in the competition which consists of 50 multiple choice questions based on the National History Curriculum.
This year students from St Pius X performed outstandingly. The best results were received by 15 boys who gained a High Distinction which placed them in the top 2% of Australia for their Stage.
The following were presented with their certificates at Assembly this week:
Year 7: Thomas Graham and Lachlan Yu
Year 8: Matthew Liang, Xavier Lines, Yuma Shimoda Chehab and Tobias Wilson
Year 9: Zachary Rapa, Oliver Reiner, Liam Spatola, Kobe Chand, Simon Ellis, Myles Jory and Charles Li
Year 10: Rohan Chang and Marcus Cheung
The following students gained Distinction certificates which will be presented at Year Meetings:
Year 7: Thomas Burke, Matthew Higgins, Oliver Jones, Jamie Lum, Linas Magyla, Joel Pagano and Bryan Pham
Year 8: Patrick Cornes, Lachlan Dormer, Lucas Powell, Akain Premachandra
Year 9: Lukas Vivot, Darcy Horstead, Nikolas Cheung, Noah Beuchat and Oscar Roberts
Year 10: Liam Chan, Enzo Gambino, Aidan Lam, Kieran Yu
Congratulations on these excellent achievements from all of these History students.
Mr Pat Rodgers - Leader of Learning, History
Lights, Camera, Pius! Film Festival
An exciting program of films has been finalised for the 2024 Lights, Camera Pius! Film Festival.
Student tickets were released on Wednesday 28 August.
Ticket numbers are limited so students are encouraged to get in quickly to secure a seat.
Event details:
Thursday 5 September
1:20 pm – 3:00 pm
Hoyts Extreme Screen Cinema
Parents and carers, there is no cost for students to attend this event. Students will be supervised by staff, walking to Hoyts in Chatswood Westfield and attending the Extreme Screen Cinema, then supervised returning to campus. If you do not want your son to attend, please contact Ms Frances Doyle on fdoyle@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au or Ms Donna Janes djanes@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au.
Students will be back on campus for dismissal at 3:10 pm. No food, drinks or school bags will be allowed in the cinema.
Ms Frances Doyle - Leader of Learning, Visual Arts
Splinters, Splashes, Sounds, Stage & Stories - TONIGHT
From the Senior Resource Centre
Celebrate the life and poetry of Francis Webb: this Saturday 2:00 pm - 4:00 pm
Francis Webb (1925-1973) joined St Pius X College or Christian Brothers’ Chatswood, as it was then known, in 1938 as a 1st Grader (Year 7). In those days our school only went to Year 10, so Webb travelled to Christian Brothers’ Lewisham to complete his Leaving Certificate, achieving second in the State in English and a scholarship to Sydney University.
Webb’s talent was obvious in his school years with Retreat written when Webb was 17 years old. This poem reflects his deep spirituality, born of his Catholic upbringing and education in the Edmund Rice tradition. Webb is regarded as one of Australia’s greatest poets and his poems feature in books and countless anthologies.
Since 2012 we have joined Willoughby Library in celebrating this local boy at the Francis Webb Poetry Reading where his poems are read and discussed by poets and scholars.
This year, our College is proud to be represented by Angus Gibson of Year 10. He’ll be introduced by MC Toby Davidson (Macquarie University Professor, poet and editor of Webb's Collected Poems).
Join me in supporting Angus at 2:00 pm at Chatswood Library. Reserve a seat here & learn more about Francis Webb here.
First image - Francis aged 25 years with his pet cockatiel, George. Taken at his home on the corner of Johnson & Neridah Street, Chatswood; two blocks from the College.