Pastoral Care 

Well done to all students (and parents and teachers) on the start they have made to online learning this week. I have met with several year groups to emphasise the importance of proactive communication in taking ownership of learning, and I am pleased to report that the majority of our students are working incredibly well with their teachers to address any challenges in the online learning environment.

When confronted with difficulties it is important that we look to control the things we can control and show resilience to cope with the variables that cannot be changed. All of our students are encouraged to reach out and communicate early whenever they can, to access support and guidance. All of our staff including teaching, counselling and support staff are keen to support the students in their wellbeing and learning. Pastoral Care staff and Year Coordinators are a good first port of call, however any number of connections across the school are available. Please reach out and support one another.  You can find the contact details for our Counselling Team in their page of this Woodchatta.

One of the greatest supportive behavioural factors for our wellbeing is connection to school and community. To that end please support your son in his online learning to have a positive functional workspace in a common area of the house, and to maintain his pattern of exercising, sleeping and attending classes. If for any reason your son is unable to attend any online lessons please communicate this to our student attendance officer: studentmanagement@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au as well as his relevant teachers and year coordinator. 

Our Year 12 Student Leadership Team have addressed their concerns, at the uncertain lead into Term 3, with a light video, which will be shared with Homerooms this week. It provides a good example by which our students can philosophically lighten the mood of our current circumstances. Thank you to Liam Chang, Nick Ward, Alec Ramsbottom, Paddy Moore, Ben Giles and their team for their creativity and leadership.

Overnight there have been COVID-19 contact tracing hotspot reports concerning the Frenchs Forest – Belrose shopping precincts, close to where some of our families reside. Please be attentive to NSW Health advice, and follow the COVID-19 Safety protocols and advice in place. Very few people are currently onsite at the Chatswood Campus conducting essential teaching and learning activities not otherwise possible, with almost all of our community studying and working from home as per the NSW Government advice.

St Pius X College Red Dirt Immersion 2021

Albeit in a very different holiday break, there is still much to celebrate.

FIfty students and staff of the College travelled in the first week of the winter break to remote and rural communities of NSW to connect with schools and communities, and learn more about the country, and its Aboriginal history, heritage and culture. 

We were fortunate to connect again with Kamilaroi man and NPWS Discovery Ranger Brett Ashby at the Sandstone Caves and Dandry Gorge Reconciliation Sculptures in the Scrub, as well as our good friend Brad Hardy at the 40,000 year old Brewarrina Fish Traps. We held a reflection at Fred Hollows' burial site at Bourke, and from the Port of Bourke wharf, compared the flow of the Darling River to the algae puddles we witnessed at the height of the drought of 2019.

In managing to avoid the worst of the mice plague, and cold weather, we beat the Covid Lockdown back to Sydney by hours. 

The school communities we connected with included St John’s Baradine, St Lawrence’s Coonabarabran, Coonabarabran High, St Brigid’s Coonamble, St Patrick's Brewarrina and St Ignatius Bourke. These simple interpersonal connections with countless individuals were the learning interactions which each member of the expedition found invaluable. 

The rich learning earned by the students will be invaluable in informing our understanding of some foundational principles of the ideals of Australian reconciliation and celebration of our indigenous roots. 

Thank you to all the families and community members who donated learning and sports equipment, and the ongoing initiatives of many of our students and families who are keen to support our rural and remote partners in meaningful ways. Thanks also, to Mr Couani, who took time from his family travels and joined us in our visits to St Joseph’s Brewarrina and the Brewarrina Aboriginal Cultural Museum, the P&F and the Old Boys Association who supported our expedition.

Lastly I sincerely thank the staff who gave up the first, and as it turned out, only non-locked down week of holidays to lead this invaluable experience for our students: Mr Di Sano, Ms Fryar, Mr Mendez, Mr Mulheron, and Mr Stollery.  We also thank one of our parents and Advisory Council members, Mr Scott Larsen, who came along to assist.

Fide et Labore

St Pius X College acknowledges our First Nations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and particularly the Cammeraygal people, 

whose interconnection with this land sustained and 

fulfilled them mentally, physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually, 

over thousands of years. 

May we learn from their wisdom.

Mr Sean Brannan - Acting Deputy Principal