Co-Curricular - Junior Sport Stage 3

After a furious few weeks, we finally got the first round of summer sport under our belts. There were, as expected, a few teething issues; however, it was great to see the excitement and delight on the boys’ faces as they started their College representation for the year. There were many pleasing results, with many St Patrick’s teams coming away victorious. While we also experienced some losses, as is the nature of sport, the teams from SPC were more than competitive. In a few instances games were decided by only one point. A great start for all our teams.

Junior School Training

Over the weekend, the full training schedule was released to parents/carers and boys. I am hoping that you have been able to view this document and that you are all aware of training times and venues. Boys involved in G, H, K and L Basketball teams will notice that they train at Marie Bashir School in the afternoons on Thursday and Friday. Marie Bashir is a local primary school located on Albert Road, Strathfield. For this venue, boys will meet their coaches at the Powell Pavilion before walking down to the courts, about a five-minute walk. Boys will take their bags with them, and they can be collected from outside the school on Albert Road at 4:00 PM. Any student not collected by 4:05 PM will be walked back to the College for collection from the Kiss and Ride area on Fraser Street.

All boys need to be collected promptly at the conclusion of training. While there may be senior teams still training at the conclusion of the Junior School sessions, pick-up areas are largely unsupervised. This is a significant child safeguarding issue. In an effort to keep the boys safe, boys not collected within 10 minutes of their training concluding will be directed to Homework Club in the McGlade Library. There, they will begin their homework while waiting to be collected.

Playing Uniform and Training Uniform

By now, all boys should have visited the College Uniform Shop to purchase their playing uniform for the summer season. Boys in basketball receive their singlets on a ‘hire’ basis. Boys in touch football, if playing in the C, D, E and F teams, wear their training shirt for games. The training shirt is compulsory for all boys involved in co-curricular sporting activities and is expected to be worn at all training sessions, both summer and winter, unless advised otherwise. Boys playing softball are reminded that mouthguards and shin pads are required at all training and games.

Junior School Cross Country Carnival

On Wednesday 25 February all boys in the Junior School will be involved in the Cross Country Carnival. This year, it will be held on the back ovals. Boys will come to and leave school dressed in their PE (colour house shirt) uniform, College tracksuit if it is cold. The carnival will run for Periods 1 and 2 and then a normal school day follows. Boys must be prepared to run on the day and also be prepared for lessons from Period 3 onwards. Boys that have training on Wednesday afternoon will be expected to attend. It is a great morning and is the first opportunity for our new Year 5 students to earn points and represent their house. The boys will race between 2km for under 10s and 3km for 11 and 12-year-olds. The carnival is also part of our Lenten Fundraising in the Junior School, so please sponsor the boys generously for running.

Winter Sport Tours

It is not too late for boys in Year 6 to express their interest in the Armidale Rugby Tour and the Brisbane Football Tour. Both tours occur during the Term 1 school holidays. Please see links to Expression of Interest Forms in last week’s Especean and emailed to families. They are wonderful opportunities for the boys and offer a unique experience to those that are successful.

I look forward to seeing how our teams develop over the next few weeks as we begin our proper training.

John Locke

Head of Co-curricular Stage 3