Junior School News

• From the Head of the Junior School 
• Junior School Sport
• From the Junior Resource Centre

From the Head of the Junior School 

PRAYER

Advent

The Joy of Giving

Somehow, not only for Christmas

But all the year through,

The joy that you give to others

Is the joy that comes back to you;

And the more you spend in blessing

The poor the lonely and sad,

The more of your heart’s possessing

Returns to make you glad.

 John Greenleaf Whittier.

NAIDOC ASSEMBLY  AND YEAR 5 INCURSION

Last Friday we had a Whole School Assembly where the College’s progress in the development of  the Narragunawalli Reconciliation Action Plan was discussed. Our visitors were Jayde Ward who is the State Manager Policy and Programs for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Education - Catholic Schools NSW and accompanying her was Ms Riley McElhon, an indigenous student teacher.

After the Assembly, Year 5 had the privilege of having a presentation, Q and A style, with our visitors.

They learnt a lot of interesting facts about the Aboriginal culture and the fact it has been going for 80 000 years.  They asked questions around language and were told there were 600 Aboriginal dialects but about 200 are being spoken today. The boys spoke to the visitors about the Aboriginal flag. The importance of not assuming if a person is or isn’t Aboriginal and like anybody, don’t assume you know their thoughts or the journey they have taken.  Don’t judge people on their looks.  Mr Brannan talked about some experiences that will be available to the boys as they progress through the College such as the Red Dirt Immersion and other Immersion experiences.   The boys learnt about the Brewarrina Fish traps which are at least 20 000 years old and about kinship.  Towards the conclusion of the meeting, Jayde said that we shouldn’t  treat others differently, no matter who they are or where they are from; we are all the same.

YEAR 6 RETREAT

Last Friday we had our Year 6 Retreat at Oxford Falls.  The 4 activities were

• Reflect on their Primary School years
• Look to the future
• Explore what we are grateful for
• Remind ourselves of the importance of prayer in our lives

With the session on being grateful, the teachers initiated the conversation by watching a ‘You Tube’ video entitled, ‘Teenager Affluenza’, and then by the end of the session the boys made a gratitude chain.  This could be a good conversation starter for Year 6 parents especially as we approach Christmas and the advertisers focus on the children to harass their parents for items. I would prefer if Year 5 parents didn’t show video as it will take away from the session next year.

Thank you also to Mrs Iwatani for her leadership of the event.  Thank you to all the parents for a brilliant video at the end.  There was lots of laughter and I hope you enjoy watching the presentation with your sons. I believe Mrs Kwan had a lot to do with the formatting. Well done! The boys were well fed with the subway lunch which was a parent initiative led by Mrs Lineen. Thank you. It was a successful day that was recorded and will be made available for you to watch.

AWARD ASSEMBLIES

We will be holding two Assemblies this week on-line.  The first one is our Sports Awards Assembly, on Thursday, which will be larger than normal due to the fact that we couldn’t have any Winter Sport Assemblies this year.  The second is the Junior School Academic Awards Ceremony which will be held on Friday.

The Sports Award Ceremony will commence at approximately 11.45 am on Thursday and the Junior Academic Awards Ceremony will commence at 11.20 am on Friday.

Both events will be recorded and live-streamed to parents to watch.  If you do not want your son to be filmed, please email privacy@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au.

The videos (linked below) are password protected and the password can be found on the Portal. 

FUTURE EVENTS

Thursday 3 December – Reports issued / Sports Assembly at Oxford Falls - streamed/ recorded.

Friday 4 December – End of Year Liturgy / Junior School Academic Awards - streamed/ recorded.

CHRISTMAS COLLECTIONS 

Thank you to everybody who contributed to the Christmas collection of presents for Bowraville.

YEAR 7 BOOK LIST

Last Friday all current Year 6 and new Year 7 parents were emailed a Year 7 book list.  Please check your inbox.  It came from Mrs Jennings in the Registrar's Office.

YEAR 7 BOOT CAMP HOLIDAY PROGRAM

Please see the attached flyer for a Transition to High School Boot Camp.  

Future Events

Wednesday 20 January – Office opens

Thursday 28 January – All students return – in Summer uniform (tie/black shoes etc)

Friday 29 January – Junior School sports trials 1- Boys wear summer sport uniform

Monday 1 February – Yr 5, 6 and 7 Parent information evening. Teachers discuss the educative process your son will go through in 2021

Tuesday 2 February – Senior School Swimming Carnival - if entering Year 7

Wednesday 3 February - Junior School Swimming Carnival – Coloured House Sports shirt- outdoor pool - good to have a rashie, and definitely sunscreen  and a hat

Thursday 4 February – Junior School Sports Trials # 2 – sports uniform

Saturday 13 February – IPSHA Sport Round 1

Monday 15 February – Junior School Parent teacher interviews in the evening – you complete a survey before the meeting and inform us about your son.

Wednesday 24 February till 26  February – Year 5 Camp

Tuesday 9 March – Year 5 and 6 Bible liturgy

Wednesday 17 March till 19 March – Year 6 Camp

Saturday 20 March – Open Day - Your son may wish to be a guide

Thursday 1 April – Term 1 Concludes

BIRTHDAYS

Congratulations to the following boys who celebrate or celebrated their birthdays in December:

Antony Autore, Luca Basso, Nicholas Borovac, Sean Cleary, Oliver Costain, Hugo Godfrey, Liam Godfrey, Ethan Lines, Edward Moss, Thomas Onslow, Nicolas Roperti, Christian Shahinian, Liam Spatola, Shay Tachjian and Regan Yun.

Enjoy!

THOUGHT TO PONDER

Please drive safely during the holiday period.

Thank you for your support

Mr Tim Long - Head of the Junior School 

Junior School Sport

Junior School Sport News:  Thursday at Oxford Falls will be our 2020 Junior School Sports Presentation Day. Please wear House Polo and PE shorts. Any time left over after the presentations will be spent playing games outside. Pick-up from Oxford Falls will be 2.10 pm - 2.20 pm.

Thanks to all those who have returned AFL / Basketball / Touch Football singlets so far. Last chance to return them and avoid the $40 charge is Friday 4 December. Please ensure items returned are clean and dry, have a name and team on a post-it note. 

YouTube Link for Sports Presentation:

The Sports Presentation will be broadcast live on YouTube from around 11.45 am.  The video (access link below) is password protected and the password can be found on the Portal. 

This event will be live-streamed.  If you do not want your son to be filmed, please email privacy@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au 

Mr Benn McBrearty - Junior School Sports Master

From the Junior Resource Centre

This week's highlights:

Sizzling Summer Reads 

Are you ready for Summer? We have lots of great, sizzling summer reads to keep you going over the holidays. Pop into the Junior Resource Centre and borrow your list for the summer.

Sizzling Summer Hints for reading at home

Reading to and with your child can be a very special time spent together.

Set a regular time to read each day. You might even set a timer.

Talk about the book as you read – think of this as a discussion not a set of formal questions.

Match books with family activities.

Always carry a book

Have a family reading time

Consider reading the library book yourself so you can connect with your child and the books they enjoy.

From the JRC Library Monitors

A Very Merry Christmas and safe holiday reading. We look forward to seeing you all in the JRC in 2021.

PRC Certificate Update

2020 PRC challenge certificates have now been distributed to all students who have completed the challenge, and who are NOT eligible for a gold or platinum certificate. Gold and platinum certificates and medals are currently being printed and collated for shipping by the PRC office. Hopefully they will arrive before the end of Term 4.

Thank you to Mrs Keighery for compiling the PRC Statistics for 2021

Virtual Author Visit with Lindsay Holliday

A new and upcoming Author has a new series out called 'Danger versus Ranger' written and Illustrated by Lindsay Holliday. She kindly accepted to give an Author Virtual talk with our students.

The talk went for about 40 mins and then the students were able to ask some questions. - Lindsay talked about creative writing - ideas, place and character. Lindsay also spoke about the students themselves and their qualities in the context of resilience, resourcefulness and kindness. 

Visit Lindsay Holliday’s website to order her books, or to simply explore the wonderful array of activities for students and teachers to complete over the school holiday break.

www.dangermedia.com.au 

Farewell Mr Patterson 

Veni, vidi, vici

“I came, I saw, I conquered.” – Julius Caesar

Full of enthusiasm, young Mr Patterson came to teach at St Pius X Chatswood in 1978.  This gentle and caring man helped shape the lives of generation after generation of boys. He has become a legend at St Pius X, as enduring as the school itself.

A tremendously interesting character is our Mr Patterson, teaching our students, seeing their characters develop and what they become when they leave school and the world gets hold of them. Mr Patterson will never get old in a world that's always young. Thank you for sharing all your wisdom with us all here at St Pius X College Chatswood.

Book Week 2020 Parade Video

The Parade video (linked below) is password protected and the password can be found on the Portal. 

Talented Self-taught young Artist Jasper Wetherill

A big thank you to our budding and talented young artist Jasper Wetherill from Year 5 for sharing his drawing today in library. An illustrator in the making!

Mrs Martin’s Book Trail: Australian Geographic - Awesome Aussie Dogs.

Filled with fascinating, feel-good stories of Australian dogs, this book will put a smile on any dog lover’s face. 'Awesome Aussie Dogs' contains 50 amazing stories arranged with photos, illustrated portraits, feature stories in categories such as Faithful Friends, Real Rescuers, Eager Explorers, Working Dogs, and more. Captivating and uplifting stories;  The Dog on the Tuckerbox, and Fizo the eight-year-old silky terrier who protected three children from an eastern brown snake in Taree, NSW really touched my heart. #mrsmartinsbooktrail2020

As the year closes, I would like to acknowledge our wonderful Library Monitors who were a huge help ensuring all aspects of the Library ran well. Looking forward to 2021, with lots of reading, author and illustrator visits and of course Book Week!!

Finally, to all the students who borrow and return their books each week – THANK YOU. Thou shalt read books!

Mrs Elena Martin - Teacher Librarian