From the Acting Principal

- Prayer
- Welcome back to Term 2
- Activities During the Holiday Break
- Term 2
- Prayers and Sympathy
- Request for Prayers
- Thank you to the P&F
- COVID-19
- Enrolments for 2023 Close 14 May
Prayer
Prayer for our new Term 2
A new term is a fresh start,
a new beginning for us to strengthen our relationships
and to commit ourselves fully to each facet of life at Pius.
Blessed Edmund Rice’s authentic witness to Gospel values
inspired men of his time to join him in his work and lifestyle.
Women and men today, filled with the same spirit as Edmund,
respond to his call to be disciples of Christ as part of the Edmund Rice Family.
Loving God, help us to open the hearts and minds
of the young men of Pius to the vision of compassion and humanity
that you desire for all in creation.
May our school continue to espouse our College Values
of Faith, Respect, Excellence and Opportunity,
not just for our students,
but for all who desire to live life to the full.
Blessed Edmund Rice, Pray for Us
St Pius X, Pray for Us
Live Jesus in our Hearts, Forever
Amen.
Welcome back to Term 2
I warmly welcome everyone back for Term 2. We also welcome back Ms Denise Ramsey in Science and the return of Mr Ross Masters to cover classes due to Mr John Couani’s Professional Leave this term. Also joining our Staff is Ms Laura Coombe in PD/H/PE and Mr Phil O’Sullivan in Maths, covering Mr Greg Bell who is on Long Service Leave this Term.
With Mr Couani and Mr Bell on leave, I have the privilege of filling the role of Acting Principal, with Mr Sean Brannan, in the role of Acting Deputy Principal. Mr Paul Ticli is our Acting Assistant Principal – Pastoral Care and Mr Joe Lynch takes on the role of Acting Year 12 Coordinator in addition to his regular role as PD/H/PE Coordinator.
In Mr Bell’s absence Ms Leisa Proc will be undertaking the roles of Curriculum and Knowledge Management Coordinator and Mr Antony Horan as our Administration Coordinator. I thank all these staff for taking on these roles and maintaining the continued and seamless management of our College.
Activities during the Holiday Break
I do hope you were able to grab some down time with your family over Easter and the Term Break. It certainly was a chance for rejuvenating with plenty of opportunity still for our young men.
The holidays commenced with our Duke of Edinburgh Hike with 17 students lead by Mr de Silva and Mr Long's venture from Woy Woy to the Wondabyne region.
Oxford Falls was busy with our Football and Rugby Clinics attracting large numbers of our students.
A group of our Drama students spent two days at the College doing filming on their topic of Climate led by Ms Lindley, who were also joined on campus by classes held for our Senior Students in English, Maths and Ancient History.
Our 1st XI Football spent Week 1 competing in the St Andrew's Cup before travelling to Queensland in Week 2 to compete in the EREA National Football Tournament in Brisbane where they were Champions of this event. I particularly thank Mr Quilty, Mr Yue, Mr Lacey and Ms Proc for leading this important development tour for our 1st XI Footballers.
Week 1 also saw over 30 of our Year 10 & 11 students volunteer for service work at Centacare at Belmore which was an outstanding experience in assisting with the employees of this important workshop.
A further 20 plus students were involved as officials or competitors in the Kuring Gai Youth Counselling Services Fun Run supporting this important initiative.
I must give a huge thanks to the Staff and families for providing these great opportunities for our young men.
Term 2
Our students are fortunate to have so many opportunities and Term 2 is no different, being an important Term for each of them to embrace.
Every student will receive important feedback with full reporting being completed for every student. This is then followed up with our Parent/ Teacher/ Student Interviews. This is a very positive experience, acknowledging excellence in efforts as well encouraging re-direction and re-setting of goals to ensure the desired improvement.
Term 2 is now the time to embrace again our College values of Respect for all, Excellence in giving your best, Faith in living our gospel values and morals in all we do, embracing every Opportunity to achieve this in the classroom, in the Performing Arts, in all our sports and co-curricula activities and in all we do. This can only ensure the satisfaction that you know you have given your best.
Prayers and Sympathy
The College offers our prayers and sympathies on the passing of Mrs Raelene Seeto.
Raelene passed away peacefully on Easter Sunday morning. Raelene is the mother of Riley in Year 9 and auntie of Jamie Todd in Year 11. We keep all the Seeto family in our prayers at this very sad time.
Request for Prayers
Kate Glendenning, daughter of Phil Glendenning (Director of the Edmund Rice Centre Homebush) facing a serious health crisis. As part of the Edmund Rice community, we are invited to join together in praying for a miracle for Kate Glendenning, through the intercession of Blessed Edmund Rice. Please click on the following link for the Prayers on Intercession for Kate Glendenning.
Thank You to the P&F
On our Staff Day on Monday 19 April the P&F hosted a delicious breakfast for the staff of bacon and eggs, fruit and cereals and the like as well as a coffee cart. On behalf of the staff, I offer our sincerest appreciation to the P&F for this beautiful breakfast but even more so this generous act of appreciation from our parents to our staff. It is truly a great Pius family we all enjoy together. THANK YOU!
COVID-19
COVID-19 is a continuing part of our landscape. The excellent directive and management of all the protocols is certainly allowing more opportunity for the Pius community to come together more with coming events offering exciting opportunities.
We resume with Rugby Trials, IPSHA Sports, Debating and some rescheduled Football and Tennis fixtures. Our canteen will be in operation with the Old Boys BBQ re-opening in Week 2.
We still need to maintain COVID-19 protocols, especially contact tracing, good hygiene and awareness of social distancing to maintain our healthy environment for all. I look forward to watching our young men compete over the weekend.
Enrolments Closing on 14 May
Enrolment applications for commencement into Year 5, 6 and 7 in 2023 close on 14 May 2021.
Mr Mark Casey - Acting Principal