Parent & Student Matters
Duke of Ed Bronze Adventurous Journey
What's happening in the College?
- Year 11 Mid-Course Reports and Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews
- Duke of Ed Bronze Adventurous Journey
- Science Club is ON this Thursday
- National Youth Science Forum 2022
- Year 11 Study Day
- House Captains Promote Edmund Rice Reading Challenge
- From the Diverse Learning Department
- Maths Drop In
- Willoughby Council Community Information Seminar
Year 11 Mid-Course Reports and Parent / Teacher / Student Interviews
Year 11 Academic Mid-Course Reports are scheduled to be available on the Portal after 3.15 pm this afternoon (19 May).
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Year 11 Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews will be conducted online on Monday 24 May from 4.00 pm - 8.00 pm.
On Monday 24 May, Year 11 students (only) will be dismissed from school at 2.20 pm to allow enough time to return home so they can participate in these meetings. If parents require more than the allocated meeting time, we encourage both parent and teacher to work together to find a suitable time for further discussion.
Meetings are scheduled for 5 minutes.
Bookings for meetings are now open and will close on Sunday May 23 at 7.00 pm.
Bookings are made using the following link and event code:
Link: https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code?z=P6cCBy
Event Code: 4xet7
After making bookings, parents will receive an email containing ‘video’ links for each teacher they have made a booking. Please ensure everyone participating in the meeting (parent and student) has access to the booking confirmation email containing the links so they can gain access into the meeting.
Please ensure to test one of these links well before your scheduled meeting to ensure you will be able to access the meetings on the day.
At the designated time, parents/students access the link on the email and will then be admitted into a 'waiting room' and the teacher will be notified that you have ‘arrived’. The meeting will commence once the teacher grants permission for entry.
This information has also been emailed to all Year 11 parents/carers.
Mr Alex Damo - Assistant Principal, Teaching and Learning
Bronze Duke of Edinburgh - Bronze Adventurous Journey
Sunny days and a crisp night were witness for our 28 Bronze Duke of Edinburgh students who completed their Adventurous Journey on the weekend. The boys hiked 28km from North Turramurra, through Bobbin Head to the train at Mt Ku-Ring-Gai. After an exceptionally long wait (we missed the train by 6 minutes) the group finally arrived in Brooklyn. As the sun was setting, the boys then made their way to Brooklyn Dam where they camped for the night. Sunday the boys hiked to Cowan via the picturesque Apple Tree Bay.
Congratulations to the boys for the completion of the Adventurous Journey for their Bronze level Award. A very big thank you for the tireless effort, patience and experience to our helpers, Zac de Silva and old boys Daniel Butler and Jack Schyvens. Their contributions to our Outdoor Education program are greatly appreciated and extremely valuable to the holistic development of our young men.
Mr Paul de Silva - Outdoor Education Coordinator
Science Club is ON This Thursday
Come along to Science Club this Thursday at 1.00 pm in S2.
National Youth Science Forum 2022
The NYSF Year 12 Program to be held in January 2022 offers an exciting range of in-person and digital science, technology, engineering and mathematics (STEM) experiences for participants across Australia. In 2022, the NYSF will deliver a 12-day program from 10-25 January via a combination of in-person and digital STEM experiences. 2022 participants will experience everything the NYSF is famous for, including keynote speakers, lectures, hands-on workshops, debates, expos and enriching social activities. In-person STEM visit days and events will be held over a week of the program at major city hubs across the country, enabling students to meet each other and network with like-minded peers. A continuous program of digital events will run alongside the in-person events meaning the program is accessible to all. This option also means the NYSF experience is still accessible and stimulating should there be a COVID-19 hotspot emerge or lockdown called at a hub location.
For more information, please go to: https://www.nysf.edu.au/programs/year-12-program/
Mrs Joanne Schuster - Science Coordinator
Year 11 Study Day
Last week Dr Prue Salter from Enhanced Learning Educational Services (www.enhanced-learning.net) ran a study skills session with Year 11. The session focused on helping students identify changes and improvements they could make to their approach to their studies in order to maximise their results in their final years of school. The main areas covered with Year 11 were working effectively in the evenings and dealing with distractions, managing time efficiently, planning for assessments, making brain-friendly study notes on a regular basis and using a wide variety of active study techniques to suit individual learning styles. Parents are encouraged to review the handout from the session with students and discuss the main areas identified where changes need to be made. Parents can also find extra study skills tips on the following website: http://studyskillstoptipsparents.com/. All secondary students and parents at our school also have access to a great study skills website to help students develop their skills. Go to www.studyskillshandbook.com.au and enter the username: spx and the password: 25success. There are lots of useful handouts on the THINGS TO PRINT page on this site and students can work through the units where they need additional help. Session two was a student led workshop on NESA key verbs and Malpractice and Mr Russo finished off our day with a mindful meditation.
Ms Donna Janes - Year 11 Coordinator
House Captains urge Bears, Panthers, Tridents and Titans to read
Our College House Captains, Dom (Treacy Titans), Pat (Barron Bears) and Fred (Purton Panthers) pictured below, promoted the Edmund Rice Reading Challenge (ERRC) to the Year 10 Assembly today. The captains were united in their call for students to read more with the points accumulated pivotal to their Houses’ success in the House Cup.
The ERRC provides opportunities for all Year 10 students to extend their reading and is promoted in library wide-reading classes, full details are available at http://libguides.spx.nsw.edu.au/reading/ERRC
Mrs Karen Keighery - SRC Teacher Librarian
From the Diverse Learning Department
Assessments and Unexpected Injuries
If your son has an injury which limits his ability to write for an assessment task please notify Diverse Learning as we will be able to provide for a scribe, rest breaks or extra time to write. Contact agunns@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au
Provisions for a Reader or Writer
A reminder to all students and parents that Diverse Learning provides reader and writer support for assessment tasks across the curriculum. Year 5 - 10 have rest breaks and extra time administered by the classroom teacher where applicable.
Morning Study Class Years 5-11
Three Mornings per week any student in Year 5 to 11 is welcome to attend the Morning Study Class in C5 from 7:30 am. This is available on Tuesday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings. Please take advantage of this opportunity to have help with any coursework or homework.
Nationally Consistent Collection on School Students with a Disability (NCCD)
Every year, all schools in Australia participate in the Nationally Consistent Collection of Data on School Students with Disability (NCCD). The NCCD process requires St Pius X College to identify information already available in the school about supports provided to students with a disability. The privacy and confidentiality of all students is ensured. All information is protected by privacy laws that regulate the collection, storage and disclosure of personal information.
Please follow the link to read more.
https://www.nccd.edu.au/wider-support-materials/notify-students-parents-guardians-and-carers-nccd
Mrs Annabel Gunns – Diverse Learning Coordinator
Super 6 Comprehension
- Making Connections
- Predicting
- Questioning
- Monitoring
- Visualising
- Summarising
Last week we highlighted the first strategy “Making Connection”. This week the focus is on “Predicting”. This strategy allows students to use information from the text, including the titles, headings, pictures and diagrams to anticipate what will happen in the story. These predictions allow students to visualise the themes and the story outline by predicting what may come next. This encourages students to actively think ahead, draw on their prior knowledge and ask questions. Using “Predicting” encourages a reader to use critical thinking and problem-solving skills whilst helping to enhance comprehension.
Mrs Petah Jamieson – Diverse Learning Year 7 and 8
Maths Drop-In
A reminder that all students in Years 7 - 12 are welcome to Maths Drop-in. The sessions are run each Tuesday & Thursday morning 7.30 am - 8.30 am in C1.
Mrs Amanda Fileman - Teacher
Willoughby Council Community Information Seminar
Willoughby Council will be holding its next Community Information Seminar on Monday 24 May, commencing at 6.30 pm. It is an online seminar about esafety, with a section on child protection and a talk from Chatswood Police on how to protect yourself from scams and e crimes. Please see the attached for further information.