St Pius X College Newsletter

Junior School News 

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

From the Head of the Junior School

TEACHING AND LEARNING

 

YEAR 6 SCIENCE

Year 6 students are embarking on an exciting journey into the world of engineering and science! They've just launched a thrilling project where they will research and create earthquake-proof structures. In the coming days, our budding architects and engineers will be hard at work planning, building, and testing their designs. Stay tuned for updates on their creative solutions and discoveries as they tackle this real-world challenge.  

YEAR 5 SCIENCE

Year 5 students are continuing to discover the fascinating world of biomes, unravelling the unique characteristics of diverse ecosystems from deserts to rainforests. They're also connecting this newfound knowledge to their learning about animal adaptations in their Science lessons.  As I write, our Year 5 students are enjoying a day out at Centennial Park where they are engaging in a field study that will attempt to solve the problem of heat stress on the threatened Grey-Headed Flying Fox.

 

YEAR 6 GREEN (TEAM BUILDING PROJECT) 

Mr Morris beat a room full of other teachers to win an enormous Lego prize at the recent EREA conference in Brisbane and kindly gifted it to 6 Green to use as a team-building project.  Students have been challenged to use teamwork, cooperation, and effective communication skills to piece together this 979-piece Lego Thor Hammer. Watch this space! 

YEAR 5 GOLD (DRAMA) 

5 Gold have been working on creating Fractured fairy tales this term.  Fractured fairy tales are a form of storytelling that uses an existing story as a foundation for something new. Retellings can be applied to historical events, myths and legends, or even classic novels. Fractured fairy tales are all about the ‘what ifs’ of the story, exploring brand new angles of the classic narrative to create something that’s totally original.  Because every writer will look at a story with a different ‘what if?’, the same basic plot can be transformed into countless new ways.

The groups will be presenting the performances to the class as part of their ongoing work in Drama. 

IPSHA SOCIAL ACTION EXPO

Last week, Mrs Doheny and I travelled to The Kings School with the Junior School Class Captains to take part in the IPSHA Social Action Expo.  We enjoyed presentations by three inspiring keynote speakers and then had an opportunity to tour the Expo.  A highlight of the day was watching our boys join in a lunchtime soccer match with students from all over Sydney.  Our Year 5 Class Captains are keen to showcase all the incredible social justice initiatives at St Pius X at the 2024 Expo. 

YEAR 6 GRADUATION LITURGY AND AFTERNOON TEA

This year we are introducing a Year 6 Graduation Liturgy and Afternoon Tea which will be held at Oxford Falls on Monday 27 November (after lunch).  If there are any Year 5 parents who would like to be involved in the organisation of the event, or could help out on the day (it would only involve a few hours from approximately midday to help set up afternoon tea), please send an email to Ms Fromager - hfromager@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au.

More details will be made available closer to the date, but in the meantime, please keep the afternoon of the 27 November free.

 

EREA CONFERENCE

Mr Morris and I joined over 100 delegates from Edmund Rice schools across the country at the EREA Liberating Education conference at St Laurence’s College, Brisbane last week.  It was great to see how other schools live the Edmund Rice mission in a variety of contexts, to engage in a range of interesting workshops and to meet, and learn from, colleagues from around Australia. 

KOBIE

It’s always lovely to get a visit from our very special therapy dog, Kobie, when he needs a quick break from the wonderful work he is doing with students in the Junior School and across the college.  We are grateful to Mrs McCarthy for sharing her beautiful pooch with us.

DATES FOR THE DIARY

  • Friday 15 September | P&F Trivia Night
  • Friday 22 September | Last day of Term 3
  • Monday 9 October | Students return for Term 4

Thank you for your continued support of the Junior School.

Mrs Jill Greenwood - Head of the Junior School

Junior School Sport

Thursday Sport: Training for Basketball, Touch Football, Cricket, Softball and Tennis continues this week. 

Summer Sports: I have been really impressed with the commitment and development of all the boys involved in Term 4 competitive sport this term. It is very clear that many have worked hard in their off-season to get ready for the summer season. A reminder that for Cricketers, as your season has started please ensure you have all the equipment you need and have easy access to the MWJCA web page and PlayHQ details. Here you will be able to find upcoming fixtures and locations of games.

I intend publishing draws for Touch, Basketball, and Softball at the end of the week or early next week via the College App.

 

CIS Athletics: Good luck once again to the following boys who will be heading to the CIS Athletics carnival next Tuesday 19 September. All information regarding the carnival has been emailed to the families of those competing. 

 

IPSHA Athletics Representatives for CIS:

Looking ahead… beginning weeks of Term 4 :

Please note that the Swim Program (pool for Year 5 and surf safety for Year 6) will commence on 2 November and for the following 3 weeks after. Further information will be distributed in the coming weeks to ensure your son is swimming in the appropriate ability group.

 

Football:

Are your sons missing the football season? Please see details below regarding COERVER Football camps and Academy Trials.

Coerver Coaching Sydney North Shore would like to extend an invitation to students to join our upcoming Performance Academy Trials on 8 October. 

Coerver Coaching is a Global football coaching program for both boys and girls. They have been operating worldwide for the past 39 years. Partnered with Adidas (for 29 years), Coerver Coaching is the World’s No 1 football skills teaching method, suitable for players of all ages and ability levels.

For more information, please go to: https://coerver.com.au/performance-academy-programs.

Mr Ben Ryan - Junior School Sports Coordinator