Pastoral Care and Old Boys' News

• Study Skills Sessions
• Landcare Project
• Reconciliation Action Plan
• Old Boys' News - Vale Dr James Crawford Biggs

Study Skills Sessions

Note the upcoming study skill sessions for our students and families:

• Wednesday 17 May - Year 11 Study Day at Oxford Falls 
• Monday 19 June from 6.30pm in the Gym - students and their parents from Year 7, and others who may have missed this valuable session during COVID years.

Landcare Project

It was pleasing to see students represent us at the Frenchs Forest Parish Terrey Hills Landcare Project on Sunday. After braving the dire weather forecasts, we were fortunate to plant and weed along the Kieran Creek ancient pathway between the Cammeraygal, Cowan and Darkinjung peoples to the Dyarubbin - Hawkesbury River, under sunny skies.  

Students Pat Frost, Dom Mitchell (Year 11), Sebastian Blane, George Stewart (Year 10), Josh Booth, James Thomson (Year 9) and Oliver Ryder (Year 6) joined their Brigidine College counterparts and the parish team to continue this bush regeneration project supporting waters and a creek which springs from ancient bora springs.  

Reconciliation Action Plan

In the context of our recent work with the Landcare project, with Cammeraygal man Professor Dennis Foley and Susan Moylan Coombes who is consulting with Willoughby City Council on their RAP. As well as the upcoming Reconciliation Week, Gai-Mariagal Festival, Singing up country, and our own Red Dirt Expedition, the college student RAP team will hold its meeting on Tuesday to prepare Reconciliation lessons to be shared with Year 5, 6 and 7 prior to Reconciliation Week.

Upcoming events associated with our RAP:

1. National Reconciliation Week 27 May – 3 June
2. Gai Mariagal Festival June – 2July 2023 Karen Smith at Willoughby Library 22/6/23 6:00 pm - 7:00 pm 
3. Singing Up Country Sunday 4 June
4. Red Dirt Expedition Sunday 25 June – Saturday 1 July
5. NAIDOC Week: For our Elders 2 – 9 July 
6. Ambassadors for Reconciliation 1st XV Rugby Tour 4 – 9 July 
7. Landcare - 23 July, 15 October 11:00 am - 1:30 pm, also 2nd Saturday of each month 9:00 am - 12:00 pm

Please contact Mr Brannan, Pat Frost or Dominic Mitchell to register your interest in representing the college at these events.

Old Boys' News

It was a privilege on Tuesday 2 May to join his family and attend the funeral and celebration of the life of our first College Captain, Dr James Biggs AM, SPX Class of 1948. Earlier classes left SPX in Year 9 to finish school at Christian Brothers Lewisham.

James was also the 1948 1st XV and XI Captain, and an energetic, 'larger than life positive personality' who went on to have a long and distinguished career as a physician of great renown, leading Haematology in both St Vincent’s and Mater hospitals. He also reached out in social justice and medicine to share his great intellect, skills, and sense of humanity to positively affect the lives of many people throughout the Pacific and Asia.  

The concelebrants, Fr Jim Carty and Fr Phil Linder, are good friends of St Pius (Fr Jim lead a recent staff Mass for us, and his father was a WWII Cameraman. Jim shared with me his stories in the jungles of Papua New Guinea “Flickers of History”, while Fr Phil worked with Mr Couani at St Pats Sutherland). In a great mark of respect St Pius was represented at the funeral by 2023 College Captain Eamon Boyle and Vice Captains Josh Bewley and Mitch McGrath, for which Dr Bigg’s son Michael and daughters Susan and Carolyn Biggs expressed their gratitude.

Vale Dr James Crawford Biggs AM, D.Phil, MBBS, FRACP, FRCPA.

23/11/1931 – 22/4/2023

Rest In Peace 

Fide et Labore

Mr Sean Brannan - Acting Deputy Principal