From the Head of the Junior School
Junior School Sport
From the Junior Resource Centre

From the Head of the Junior School

It’s hard to believe that there are only six days left of Term 3 and then we’ll be back for only eight weeks in Term 4 before we break up again for the Christmas holidays. Where has the year gone?

Next Friday, 27 September, is the last day of Term 3 for staff and students however, for me, it will be the first day of a two-week pilgrimage I am taking with Mr Di Sano (Mission and Identity faculty) and a group of other Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) educators to India and Ireland.

The pilgrimage will be a journey of reflection and inspiration, giving us the opportunity to trace the footsteps of Blessed Edmund Rice. This formation and leadership program begins in India, where we will see how Edmund Rice's educational principles are applied in a society marked by profound extremes of wealth and poverty. We will then head to Ireland where we’ll walk the very streets once trodden by Edmund Rice. From his birthplace to his final years, we will have the chance to connect deeply with the places that shaped his vision and mission.

Mr Di Sano and I are excited about what promises to be a profound personal and professional journey and look forward to sharing our experiences with students, staff and parents on our return.

THE WILD ROBOT

On Tuesday 24 September, Year 5 will be visiting Hoyts Cinema at the Mandarin Centre in Chatswood for a private screening of the film The Wild Robot. This event is part of their Term 1 novel study and will provide an excellent opportunity for students to engage in a textual comparison between the film and the novel. Keep an eye out for the permission note which will be coming home this week.

YEAR 5 PLANETARY PARADE

Join us on Friday 27 September from 1:30 pm to 2:30 pm in the College gym for an out-of-this-world experience at the Year 5 Planetary Parade! This exciting event will introduce visitors to the incredible tours they can take of the planets in our solar system. From the scorching surface of Mercury to the icy rings of Saturn, our Year 5 students have been hard at work creating fun, interactive exhibits that will transport you across the cosmos. Discover what it would be like to skydive through the clouds of Jupiter, hike on Mars, or explore the mysterious depths of Neptune. Don’t miss this stellar adventure - your interplanetary passport awaits!

CHAPEL MASS

5 Gold was honoured to lead Tuesday's Chapel Mass, marking a significant milestone as the first-ever Junior School-led Chapel Mass. This event is especially poignant as Mrs Iwatani, who has dedicated over 20 years to the college, prepares to embark on a new chapter at St Gabriel's School.

SAVE THE DATE: MONDAY 25 NOVEMBER – YEAR 6 GRADUATION

Please save this date to come along and celebrate with your Year 6 son as he graduates from his primary schooling and looks forward to starting his senior years at the college in 2025. The students will travel to Oxford Falls early in the day and Year 6 parents and special guests are invited to arrive for a 12:45 pm start.

DATES FOR THE DIARY

Tuesday 24 September | Year 5 'The Wild Robot' Movie experience
Friday 27 September | Year 5 Planetary Parade 1:30 pm – 2:30 pm | Term 3 concludes

Thank you for your continued support of the Junior School.

Mrs Jill Greenwood - Head of the Junior School

Junior School Sport

Thursday Sport: Our Basketball, Touch Football, Cricket, Softball and Tennis grading continues this week. Please remember to bring any additional gear you may require.

Term 3 Schedule:

Return of SPX Uniforms:

Thank you to everyone who returned their borrowed SPX uniforms by the due date last week. If your son no longer requires a uniform for the sport they participated in, please ensure it is returned asap. This includes uniforms from Term 1 sports like basketball singlets and touch football tops, as well as those from the recent Term 2/3 winter season.

Uniforms are needed for boys joining new sports in Term 4. Please also remember to return any athletics or AFL gear. Any outstanding uniforms will be charged on the final school fees later in the year. An audit of this will be completed next week and sent to finance.

Your cooperation helps us prepare for the upcoming season.

Term 4 IPSHA Summer Season

The Term 4 Summer season commences in Week 1 of Term 4. Please see below a list of fixture dates. Times and venues will be shared in Clipboard once confirmed with opposition schools.

Round 7: Saturday 19 October
Round 8: Saturday 26 October
Round 9: Saturday 2 November
Round 10: Saturday 9 November
Round 11: Saturday 16 November
Round 12 Saturday 23 November

District Cricket

The MWJCA season kicked off last Saturday under beautiful blue skies. The boys were excited to get out and play after a few weeks of trials and training. Both our Year 5 and Year 6 teams had wins first up, with some really good performances.

Special thanks to the parent coaches, team managers and volunteers.

SPX Cricket Committee

U12 Blue

Just reporting in that the U12s won their first game on the weekend by an impressive 76 runs! All the boys played exceptionally well, with some new to cricket showing great promise and determination. The team worked together seamlessly, both in the field and at the crease, demonstrating fantastic sportsmanship and enthusiasm throughout the match. The perfect weather added to the day, making it a wonderful start to the season.

Congratulations to the boys on a well-deserved win, and we look forward to seeing how they develop over the coming weeks!

Therese Tully

U13 Black

An excellent start to the season for SPX U13 cricket. All of the boys contributed in a tight win against Peninsula. We batted first and notched up a competitive 147 runs with several solid knocks and excellent running between the wickets. In the field we were on top early, bowling full and straight to strategy. We prevailed in the end by 18 runs, staving off a fightback by Peninsula. The boys came off the field with big smiles and cheers. Nicholas Belov received man of the match for his full, straight bowling which was rewarded with figures of 4/18. A shout out to the injured Liam Gallery for coming along and supporting his teammates. Thank you also to parent Simon Moskvin for finding the local sport store and delivering the correct size ball.

Andrew Ward

Upcoming Fixtures: Saturday 21 September

SPX U12 Blue play Seaforth Vipers at Oxford Falls at 1:00 pm
SPX U13 Black play Seaforth Blasters at Oxford Falls at 8:00 am

Please note that the Rural Fire Service is planning a Hazard Reduction Burn around the Oxford Falls area on Saturday. Please see the attached for further information.

NSWPSSA Golf

This week, Cuba Nicholas is representing St Pius X as part of the CIS team in the NSW Regional Championships. Competing against 81 of the state's best young golfers, Cuba’s team set a remarkable new record, finishing 11 under par! The team played exceptionally well and emerged as the top group of the day.

Cuba remains in high spirits as he prepares for the individual stroke play rounds. We look forward to seeing how his efforts contribute to the overall results when the combined team scores are tallied on Thursday. Best of luck, Cuba!

Upcoming Events

Rugby

Holiday Rugby Camp

Hey everyone!

With the holidays just around the corner, we’re excited to offer some fantastic rugby camps that will keep your kids active, engaged, and having a blast! The camps are being held in Mosman and Belrose. More information can be found in the link below.

Why Join Our Rugby Camps?

Fun and Engaging: We know it’s the end of the rugby season, so we’ll make sure our camps are all about fun and skill-building.
Active Play: Let’s get kids off the couch and onto the field, honing their rugby skills and staying active.
Future Stars: More kids playing rugby means more talent for clubs and maybe even future Wallabies!

Check Out Our Camps:

Club Camps: Great for all skill levels!
School Camps: Convenient and exciting!
Social Camps: Fun for friends and teammates!

Spread the Word! Help us reach more families by sharing our new video that showcases the excitement and enjoyment of our camps: Watch Our Video

For more details and to register, visit our website: Try Time Rugby Camps

Let’s make this holiday season one to remember for our young rugby stars!

Trytime Rugby

Mr James Bourke - Junior School Sport Coordinator

Cricket School Holiday Camp

Mr Ryan Balboa - MWJCA Cricket Convenor

From the Junior Resource Centre

This week’s highlights are:

Reading – It is so much more than it looks like.

New Books in the JRC – BOOKS WITH BITE!

Lunchtime happenings in the JRC

NSW Premier’s Reading Challenge

PRC Winners in the JRC - popcorn and a movie! Congratulations 5 Gold and 6 Gold. A big thank you to Mrs Iwatani. Her passion for literature and promoting reading in her classroom shows her students that reading is a pleasurable activity and that means finding books that they enjoy and giving them access to those books and letting them read them.

Library Monitor

Introducing Thomas Dowley our newest member of the library team. We look forward to Thomas helping in the library space this term and next.

Mrs Martin’s Book Trail: The Grown-Up’s Guide to Picture Books written by Lara Cain Gray Illustrated by Timothy Ide and Lorena Carrington.

I love this book. Everything you need to know about the ins and outs and whys of picture books. It’s an A-Z guide about all those properties that make up these wonderfully beautiful books. Picture books are not just for kids, and that kids shouldn’t be ‘moved on’ from them as their reading becomes more advanced. This provides all the reasons why we all (kids and adults) should be reading picture books. Picture books have so much to teach us, and this exceptional book explains why. I am drawn to picture books for so many reasons and enjoy sharing and reading them to my students.#mrsmartinsbooktrail2024

Ms Elena Martin – Teacher Librarian

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