Junior School News
- From the Head of the Junior School
- Junior School Sport
- From the Junior Resource Centre
- Junior Chess
From the Head of the Junior School
REFLECTION
“A man had a fig tree growing in his vineyard, and he went to look for fruit on it but did not find any. So, he said to the man who took care of the vineyard, ‘For three years now I’ve been coming to look for fruit on this fig tree and haven’t found any. Cut it down! Why should it use up the soil?’
Luke 13:6-7
We may be unfamiliar with fig trees, but we might know about the growth of spring flowers. Perhaps we have looked at a dry, brown flower bulb and wondered how this produces the colourful tulip or daffodil blossom that we expect to bloom in the spring. Perhaps we've even thought about the patience and hope that are required to plant flower bulbs in October. We don't have to be gardeners, however, to know about patience and hopefulness. As parents, we practice these virtues each day with our children. We may become frustrated and even angered by their wilfulness and lack of cooperation. Yet we continue to offer our attention and guidance in hope that one day our efforts will bear fruit. Today's parable suggests that God is like that with us, working with us in patience and in hope that one day we will show evidence that such work is not in vain. As parents, we know God's kindness when we find evidence for our hope for our children. Does God find such glimmers of hope as he works with us?
Credit: Sunday Connection
THE MEMBER FOR BRADFIELD
On Monday, Year 6 were delighted to welcome Federal MP, The Honourable Mr Paul Fletcher, Minister for Communications, Urban Infrastructure, Cities, and the Arts. Mr Fletcher spoke to the boys about federal politics, democratic government, and the forthcoming election. I was so proud of the mature and knowledgeable contributions of our Year 6 boys. Thank you to Mrs Martin for preparing the Junior Resource Centre for the visit.
HARMONY DAY | National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence
The College is celebrating Harmony Day, and acknowledging the National Day of Action Against Bullying and Violence this Friday, and into Week 8. On Tuesday of next week, boys will be able to purchase an orange Squelch ice block with a gold coin donation which will go towards our Project Compassion fundraising efforts.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
As part of their HSIE studies this term, 6 Red have been learning about the Australian political system. Each student has chosen an Australian Prime Minister to research, and the facts gathered will be used to create informative texts that will then be used to develop a timeline of Australia’s leadership history. The boys were very excited to share their chosen Prime Minister with me when I visited the classroom this week and I’m very much looking forward to seeing the final timeline.
IPSHA FOOTBALL TRIALS
Great news from the IPSHA Football Trials: both Sam Carden and Matthew Castorina made it through to the last phase of the trial before Matthew was successful in progressing to the next step: selection in the IPSHA Football Team. Congratulations boys for representing St Pius X so superbly and thank you Mr Cummins and Mr Carroll for the organisation involved in giving the boys this opportunity.
BIBLE LITURGY
Yesterday, those boys who are new to the Junior School received their very own copy of the Holy Bible in a special liturgy prepared by Mr Mulheron and officiated by Father Woldan. The boys enjoyed hearing Mr Ure talk about receiving his first Holy Bible – gifted to him by his grandmother on the occasion of his First Holy Communion. Mr Ure reminded us of the words of Blessed Edmund Rice, “Let us do ever so little for God. We know he will never forget it. One thing you may be sure of, that while you work for God, whether you succeed or not, He will amply reward you.”
Thank you to Mr Couani for joining us to help present the Bibles to the boys, Mr Timmins and his musicians for the wonderful accompanying music, Mrs Barrett for the stunning photos, and to those parents who were able to join us.
OPEN DAY THIS SATURDAY
Everyone in the Junior School is very much looking forward to showing off our wonderful part of the College to potential new families this Saturday. Many thanks to the boys and families who have volunteered to contribute in some capacity; the day will be all the greater for your involvement in it.
WINTER UNIFORM
A reminder that students return to school in Term 2 in full Winter Uniform. This includes the College blazer, tie, grey trousers, black belt, black or grey socks, long sleeved shirt, and the College grey jumper for extra warmth.
The College rain jacket is an addition to the uniform, over the blazer. It does not replace the College blazer. The rain jacket should only be worn on rainy days.
There are only 9 shopping days left to finalise your purchases for winter as the Uniform Shop closes on Wednesday, 6 April at 1.30 pm. For more details, please refer to the Uniform Shop section of Woodchatta.
MATHS DROP-IN CENTRE | FRIDAYS 8.00 am – 8.40 am
Mrs Fileman’s Maths Drop-In Centre continues each Friday. Please encourage your son to come along if he would like some extra help with any mathematical concepts, topics, or homework.
Thank you for your ongoing support of the Junior School.
Mrs Jill Greenwood - Head of the Junior School
Junior School Sport
IPSHA Football
Well done to all the boys who attended the IPSHA Football trial with Mr Cummins on Monday. Congratulations to Matthew Castorina who was selected to represent IPSHA at the upcoming CIS trial. Best of luck Matthew!
IPSHA Cross Country
Congratulations to the following boys who will represent St Pius X at the IPSHA Cross Country carnival to be held in Term 2 – date TBC.
U10: Maxwell Sunjaya
U11: Parker Ball, Cristiano Calcarao, Harry Layton, Rory Rapa, Blake Sobey
U12: Jonas Satterthwaite, Jenson Whitby, Max Barnett, Matthew Castorina, Connor Chitterer
Cross Country Training
While it is expected that the IPSHA Cross Country runners attend as many of the remaining Cross Country Training sessions as possible, the sessions are open to ALL students wanting to increase their fitness and get active.
When: Monday, Wednesday and Thursday mornings
Where: Beauchamp Park, Chatswood
Time: 7.15 am – 8.15 am
Who: All Senior and Junior School students are welcome
Summer Sports Photos – Tuesday, 22 March
The running order for the Summer Sports photos to be taken on Tuesday 22 March (starting at 9.00 am) in the Junior School Yard is as follows. The uniform to be worn in the photos is stated next to each of the sports. Please remind your son to bring their correct uniform to wear for their photo on the day.
Swimming - School Uniform
Junior School Swimming Squad
Junior School Age Champions
Cross Country - School Uniform
Junior School Cross Country Squad
Junior School Age Champions
Softball - Softball Uniform
Softball (Junior)
Tennis - Tennis Uniform
NSTA Summer
Junior School Touch Football - Touch Football Uniform
All players
Junior School Basketball - Basketball Uniform
All players
Basketball
Touch Football
Softball
Players remember to bring, hat, water bottle, mouth guard, shin pads and to eat breakfast.
Parents remember to bring a chair.
Thursday Sport
Don’t forget, we will switch our focus next week (Thursday 24 March) to Winter sports. Now would be a good time to start arranging mouth guards, dust off the football boots, etc.
Mr Glen Carroll - Junior School Sports Coordinator
NSTA Tennis
Another fantastic day at Talus St was had by all. With 6 Pius vs Pius matches in the 8.00 am session there was good healthy competition and a lot of friendly banter to be seen and heard. Thank you to Richard Gauci, Alex Vaccher, Ethan Li, Riley Seeto and Andrew McKinnon for coming early to help umpire the earlier matches.
Thanks also must go to Nicholas Kwan, Justin Lee, Marcus Ulevik, Sebastian Dal Molin and Venedict Valerio who stepped up to play for other teams. With so many absences each week, it has been a challenge but all boys have taken it in their stride and have been more than happy to help out which has made my job so much easier. Thank you also to the parents for any last-minute changes that have been made to their Saturday schedules.
The highlight match of the weekend had to have been between Edward Yangoyan and his opponent from Redlands. Eddie played a fantastic singles which ended in a nail-biting tie-break that he won 8-6. Even Mr and Mrs Couani who came to pay us a visit were captivated by the standard of play.
Well done to all players for the season, we have one more week to go where ALL teams will be involved in the finals and play offs this Saturday, 19 March. Please keep your eye on the draw to see where you will be playing.
https://www.xpointsports.com/region/325/currentEvents
Mrs Samantha Iwatani - NSTA Convenor
From the Junior Resource Centre
Gabrielle Wang – Follow the Dragon Adventure
AUSTRALIAN CHILDREN’S LAUREATE 2022-2023. Author and illustrator of books for young people.
This is the illustration that Gabrielle painted for her term as Australian Children’s Laureate. It includes dragons, dogs, leopards, books and of course, magpies. Now the dragon has been made into a card by @nuovo_group and money from the sale of the card will go to support the Australian Children’s Laureate Foundation.
As Australian Children’s Laureate, every month Gabrielle will post up a writing and drawing activity to keep kids’ imaginations strong the @ozchildrenslaureate website. March’s protagonist is the hermit crab.
‘Here’s an amazing fact about these beautiful creatures. As they grow, hermit crabs need to find empty shells. With some species, when a crab finds a new empty shell it will leave its own shell and inspect the empty one. If the shell is too big, the crab goes back to its own shell and waits for up to 8 hours. More crabs arrive who also inspect the empty shell. If it’s too big for them they wait with the others. Up to 20 crabs could be waiting in the group. They hold onto each other in a line from the largest to the smallest crab. Then, when a crab arrives that’s just the right size for the empty shell, it leaves its old shell behind. That’s when all the crabs in the queue quickly exchange shells in order, each one moving up to the next size.’ Gabrielle Wang.
What an amazing story of team work and collaboration! So, love this amazing, phenomenal artwork!
To find out about Gabrielle’s March month’s writing and drawing activity click on the link: https://www.childrenslaureate.org.au/
Lunch Time Activities – Return of Chess and UNO!
Avid Year 5 students are enjoying Chess and UNO in the JRC at lunch times! #Opportunityandgrowth#Aspiretoinspire
Star Wars - Where's The Wookie?
It's always nice to see boys enjoying a good book at lunch time. Pop into the JRC, pick up a new book or just enjoy the ambience!
Mrs Martin’s Book Trail – The Wishbird by Gabrielle Wang. Time to celebrate our New Laureate for 2022. Gabrielle Wang’s style – from the fusion of ancient Chinese traditions and mysticism to her lyrical prose, her stories have it all!! The incredible bond between Orielle and Boy – their friendship was simple and stronger than you could imagine.
The quest to save Mellow and the Kingdom of Solace – though the adventure occurs over the space of about a week, Orielle and Boy are tested by the corrupt Chancellor, a weakened King, a controlling leader of a gang of thieves to name but a few. Their strength of character and their resolve to look out for those they love was captivating. So loved this book! #MrsMartinsBooktrail2022#juniorresourcecentre
Mrs Elena Martin – Teacher Librarian
Junior School Chess Club
A gentle reminder that training begins Week 8, Tuesday 22 March, 2022 at 7.30 am in the Junior Resource Centre. Looking forward to seeing you all there.
Mrs Elena Martin - Junior School Chess Convenor