Co-Curricular - Junior Sport Stage 3

I hope that everyone enjoyed their long weekend and was able to use the time to spend together as family. Either in travelling, playing sport or taking the time to be at home and just being. The long weekend always comes at a good time when playing a winter sport, nearly always in the middle of the season. Affording many to rest and overcome the niggles that many of us feel by midseason.

One aspect of education that St Patrick’s holds dear is its ability to give a holistic education. An education that lies both within and outside the walls of the classroom. An education that fare exceeds the information required to pass tests and do well in assignments. It is an education that opens the eyes of the student to the world, encourages students to give to it and builds person skills that will benefit them for life.

Participating in co-curricular activities, such as sport, are integral to this holistic education. Sport presents us with real life problems that are not often found in the classroom and require the students involved be problem solvers and solutions based. It is great to see so many students putting themselves forward to play sport and not look at ways to avoid it.

Over the past week we have had a number of boys continue to participate in sport at representative levels. Last week, there were boys from the Junior School representing IPSHA at the CIS Touch Football trials. The trials are a competition with the various associations playing against each other. This year I am happy to report that the IPSHA team won the competition. A great achievement for all our students that were involved. A particular congratulations to Isaiah of Year 5 and Atticus of Year 6 for their selection into the CIS Team. We wish you all the best for the upcoming PSSA competition.

While on the topic of participation, the Junior School were once again heavily involved in the Waterford Mile, run on Founder’s Day. It was the boys in the Junior School that led the race and made all the runners behind them work hard to catch them. Many of our students were in the mix with only a few laps to go. Congratulations to Aston of Year 6 for his third place finish. Aston ran strongly and was only a few meters behind the winner on the day.

Due to the long weekend, the draw for Junior School sport will be a little late this week. Thursday is most likely the day for its release.

The Junior School Athletics Carnival will be held on Thursday 18 June, on Breen Oval. Parents and carers are welcome to come and watch for part or all of the day. Those attending as spectators are requested to utilise the bench seating located along the Fraser Street side of the oval. Students will be occupying a number of the other stands, and it is important that parents and students remain in their designated areas throughout the event.

Please also note that there is limited shade available on this side of the oval, and attendees are advised to dress appropriately for the weather conditions on the day.

.With only two rounds of sport remaining for the term, I wish all our teams the very best of luck and look forward to seeing your results. Remember to play hard, but fair and always show respect to your coaches, opposition and referees.

John Locke

Head of Co-curricular Stage 3