St Pius X College Newsletter

Pastoral Care

  • Welcome
  • Year 7 Parent Information Evening (online)
  • Attendance Notification
  • Holiday Christmas Giving and Holiday Reconciliation Activities 

Welcome

Welcome to the 2022 St Pius X College school year and I trust you and your sons are enjoying a calm and positive start to the year regardless of some of the distractions. I particularly extend a warm Pius welcome to those students and families new to the school and invite communication of any questions and concerns in support of your sons smooth transition to the school via his teachers, homeroom pastoral care staff and Year Coordinator.

In the spirit of welcome, I appreciate the work of our new staff in coming up to speed in support of your sons' wellbeing and learning and from a Pastoral Care perspective I particularly welcome our new Year 9 Coordinator Mr Martin Gillogly. Mr Gillogly is representative of the caring staff who have joined us this year, and will be a great advocate in supporting the students Curriculum of Story as they continue their pastoral care and wellbeing journey through the school to Year 12 and beyond. 

Also in the spirit of welcome, I thank the Year 7 students and Year 12 student leaders who supported our mini orientation Day for the New Year 7 students last Friday. I am sure the familiarisation session and tour of the school did much to support a calm and happy start for our new Year 7s. Thank you to: Year 7 Mentors: Madden Balvarde, Graham Halgreen, Zac Rapa, Liam Spatola, Callum Koruga, Bradley Newton, Boston Bannister and Michael Chung, and our Year 12 Student Leaders of Will Staber, Ben Cullen, Ronan Crispe, Max Leo, Andrew Guerrera, Andrew McKinnon, Cody Choi, Ethan Rossetto and Nathan McAdam.

Year 7 Parent Information Evening (online)

The Year 7 Parent Information Meeting scheduled for Monday 7 February will be held online from 7.00 pm and can be accessed from the Microsoft Teams Meeting Link attached below. The meeting will include information relating to the 2022 Year 7 program and upcoming school events. We look forward to seeing you online.

Click here for the link to Year 7 Parent Information Evening Presentation

Attendance Notification

If your son is absent for any reason, please communicate this and provide explanation for the absence at your earliest opportunity by any of the following means:

  1. Our preferred method is via email to our Attendance Roll Manager: studentmanagement@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au
  2. Ringing the attendance line/ voicemail: 9414 4377 (and choosing Option 1)
  3. Using the Portal to explain an absence http://iwise.stpiusx.nsw.edu.au/igloo/portal
  4. Providing a written/printed note to his Homeroom teacher explaining the absence at the next available opportunity.

If he is absent for a longer period (i.e. three days or more), please telephone the College. Extended periods of leave outside holiday time are discouraged except on compassionate grounds, however any leave over four days is granted at the discretion of the Principal, and should be requested using the form found on our website.

https://www.spx.nsw.edu.au/student-wellbeing/policies-procedures/student-attendance/

 

You are reminded that staff and students cannot attend school if they are showing any symptoms of COVID-19. These include fever, cough, sore throat, shortness of breath, runny nose, loss of smell/taste, muscle/joint pains, diarrhoea, nausea/vomiting, extreme tiredness, unexplained chest pain or conjunctivitis (eye infection).

If symptoms occur at any time, students and staff should undertake a Rapid Antigen Test and should not attend school. If a Rapid Antigen Test is positive you/your child must isolate as someone who has tested positive to COVID-19. If you cannot access a Rapid Antigen Test, you can attend a PCR (nose and throat swab) testing clinic.

Advice and further resources are available on the NSW Health website including COVID-19 guidelines and fact sheets for People who tested positive or were exposed to COVID-19. Additional resources are also available on the NSW Government website.

Any positive results must be registered on the Service NSW App and the College must be notified immediately through studentmanagement@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au

A reminder that if anyone in your household tests positive, then your son will need to isolate for 7 days before coming back to school irrespective on negative RAT results.

Holiday Christmas Giving and St Pius X College Reconciliation Actions

While the Summer break was a restful one, we can celebrate the following initiatives in support of our Reconciliation Action Plan and Christmas Giving programs in late December.

 

Bowraville Mini Immersion to deliver our Year 7 Christmas Gifts and connect with St Mary's Primary 

Year 10 and 11 students Pat Frost, Dominic Mitchell, Luke Sissons, Aaron Lau and Declan Carroll, as well as Year 7 and 8 Coordinators Mr Steinman and Mr Stollery, visited our good friends and highly respected Aboriginal Educators Mark Smith, Principal Ms Nadine Slingsby, Deputy Ms Tameeka Glass, Aunts Brenda and George as well as Christian Brother Steve Morelli at St Mary’s Bowraville. We enjoyed time with their students and staff on Gumbayngirr country at Bowraville, Scotts Head and Nambucca.

 

Frenchs Forest Parish Christmas Parish Hamper Mass and Delivery, St Anthony in the Fields Church Terrey Hills

College Captain Will Staber, Year 9 student Orlando Domenici along with Year 5 students, Oliver Ryder and Joseph Wilson, represented the College at the St Anthony’s Terrey Hills Church Hamper Mass to bless the Hampers which were subsequently delivered to needy families by Mr Di Sano, and student leaders Elliot Cook and Will Ramsbottom.

 

Our Lady of Dolours Parish Youth Group for young people living with disability held a Christmas gathering at which student leaders Cody Choi, Chris Zilifian, Andrew Guerrera along with Alfie Wragge of Yr 8 assisted by cooking a BBQ and engaging in games and conversation with the Youth Group and their families at the Parish Centre.

All these students were great examples and ambassadors for the ongoing initiatives conducted by the St Pius X Community in support of important contemporary social priorities.

 

Fide et Labore

Mr Sean Brannan - Assistant Principal, Pastoral Care and Wellbeing