Parent and Student Matters

• Market Day 2026
• Film Festival Winners 2026
• Write a Book in a Day 2026
• Languages
• Summer Uniforms
• Maths Drop-In 
• From the SRC
• St Gabriel's School Musical

Market Day 2026 

A reminder that there will be no Canteen facilities available tomorrow due to Market Day.

Mr Simon Yue - Leader of Learning EGBC

Film Festival Winners 2026 : assembly presentation

Last Thursday we celebrated the 11th annual Lights Camera Pius Film Festival which was a spectacular display of creativity by students from Year 5 to Year 12. The Film Festival has become a cornerstone of creativity and cultural expression at the College.

The Festival would not happen without the College Leadership Team who support and promote it and who also attended on the day to assist with supervision. There is a lot of behind the scenes work in preparing a film festival and my thanks go the wonderful support offered by Ms Lisa Sutton and Ms Sue Cheney from the office. The IT Department lent a high degree of professionalism  to the event; Ms Georgia Mutch from IT was responsible for knitting the films together, streamlining audio and testing the films at Hoyts days before the event.

Congratulations to all our contestants at this year’s Lights Camera Pius! Film Festival. The audience was treated to a fantastic array of imaginative films - experimental, scary, funny, questioning and wonderfully other‑worldly.

A huge thank you to our judges: 2026 School Captain Sean O’Donnell, Mr Glen Carroll and Dr Lesley Gissane, for generously sharing their time and expertise.

The prizes were generously supported by the College Parents and Friends who recognise the importance of encouraging film culture at the College

Junior School               (Years 5, 6 and 7)

Middle School             (Years 8, 9 and 10) 

Senior School              (Years 11 and 12)

Our Film Festival Committee did a superb job organising and compering the event, and at the College Assembly on Wednesday they were acknowledged for their efforts.  Some of the committee have been working on the Film Festival for a number of years and were recognised with the presentation of a Film Festival Committee badge, which was designed by committee member Jake Swan.

We thank all our committee for volunteering their time. The committee, like the festival, is open to students from all years, and is a great way to connect with students from different year groups who share a passion for film.  Next year, students are encouraged to consider joining the committee in Term 1.

Well done to everyone involved in this year’s film festival - it was a brilliant celebration of creativity and filmmaking at Pius.

Ms Frances Doyle - Leader of Learning, Visual Arts

Write a Book in a Day 2026

In a revised format for 2026, two teams from Year 7 and Year 9 competed in the Write a Book in a Day challenge. The students who participated had taken part in a series of writing workshops in the weeks leading up to the event. So, when given their writing parameters at 8:00 am last Wednesday they were primed and raring to go. The result was a full day of discussion, planning, writing, editing and illustrating and when the 5:00 pm deadline hit both teams had successfully completed their project. The result was two entertaining and thought provoking 5,000-word books with illustrations that will be read in hospitals around Australia, not to mention money raised for the Children with Cancer charity. 

Mr Nicholas Westhoff - Teacher Librarian

Languages

French Club

This week's French Club gave our French Clubbers the chance to discover Basque Pelota, an exciting traditional sport from the Basque region of southwestern France and northern Spain. 

After watching a short video, we learned the basics of how the game is played, using quick reflexes to hit a ball against a wall with a paddle. Known as one of the fastest ball sports in the world, our version of ‘Classroom Basque Pelota’ was enjoyed by all and was a way for our students to explore a unique aspect of French culture whilst trying something new.

Madame Matthews - French Teacher

From the Uniform Shop

Maths Drop-In

Help is around the corner with the Maths assessment tasks fast approaching.  Come along to Maths Drop-In to get some assistance on what to study…how to study … and where to start! Do not waste time and come along.

Please see the outline of fast approaching dates:

Year 7 - Tuesday 15 September (Week 9)

Year 8 - Monday 14 September (Week 9)

Year 9 - Wednesday 16 September ( Week 9)

Year 10 - Monday 14 September (Week 9)

Year 11 - Preliminary Timetable set for:

• Thursday 17/9 (Day 4)

  9:00 am - 11:05 am  Mathematics Standard and Mathematics Advanced (including Year 10 Mathematics Accelerants)

• Monday 21/9 (Day 6)

  9:00 am - 10:35 am  Mathematics Extension 1

Please come along:

Where: C1

When: Tuesdays & Thursdays 

Time: 7:40 am - 8:30 am

Mrs Amanda Fileman - Mathematics Teacher

From the SRC

Final Call for the Premier’s Reading Challenge

The Premier’s Reading Challenge concludes next week on 18 September. Students are encouraged to log their reading now and ensure their records are up to date before the challenge closes. Don’t miss the opportunity to have your reading efforts recognised.

A world of fun and learning, one piece at a time

In addition to the many recess and lunchtime activities available at the College, the Library’s world jigsaw puzzle proved to be a popular attraction, with many students contributing to its piece-by-piece completion. The activity was not only fun but also encouraged incidental learning about world geography. For Jake, discovering the location of the South Sandwich Island is likely to remain a lasting memory and may prove surprisingly useful one day when Google Maps is unavailable.

Year 8’s Maximus, Jake and Jake pictured. 

Mrs Karen Keighery - Leader of Learning, Library and Information Services