Pastoral Care

From the Assistant Principal Pastoral Care

Student Diary Planners

• eSafety Forum:  7pm to 8.30pm next Tuesday 19 February in the College Gym
• Weekly Chapel Mass​
• Old Boys vs Students Gala Day on Saturday 23 February
• Year 7 EREA Touchstone Inclusivity and Induction Day

Student Diary Planners

All students from Years 5 to 12 are now in possession of their College Student Diary Planner which includes a wealth of positive education, goal setting, and growth mindset stimulus and support material to promote effective learning and wellbeing.

Our Student Wellbeing Prefects - Alex Pelle, Jason Sacre and Tom Jamieson - supported by College Captain Oliver Tysoe and Vice Captains Nic MacLachlan and Luke Forwood, will address the College Assembly on Monday to promote the College Theme, Unity in Community and related Wellbeing Team Theme, Respectful Relationships.    

This is also a classic Mr Russoism: “Siempre con Respecto” - Always with Respect. Is that Sicillian/ Spanish/ Latin, or all three?

You can support your son's learning and effective use of the diary as a learning tool by ensuring he: writes every lesson subject in, and an outcome: homework or key learning from each lesson. Also sign Pages 12, 18  and his weekly page, once they have been filled in.

Our Growth Mindset Quote of the Week from our Diary Planner on Page 51 is:

“I do the very best I know how, the very best I can, and I mean to keep doing it to the end.”    

Abraham Lincoln

Register for the eSafety Forum:  7pm to 8.30pm next

Tuesday 19 February in the College Gym

Ninety five percent of 12-24 year-olds are on social media.  The challenges they face online include:

• managing their social media,
• contact with strangers online,
• sharing of personal information and passwords and
• dealing with negative online experiences.

The Office of  eSafety reports the top five negative experiences of young people are:

• being contacted by strangers/someone they did not know, 25%
• being left out by others, 21%
• having mean things said about them/called names, 19%
• receiving repeated unwanted online messages from someone, 13%
• having lies/rumours spread about them, 13%.

So in keeping with the 2019 College Student Leadership Team theme of Unity in Community, parents and members of the wider College and Parish community are warmly invited to attend a forum conducted by the Office of the Commissioner of eSafety next Tuesday 19 February. The forum will take place in the College Gym from 7pm to 8.30pm followed by a P & F sponsored cup of tea / coffee, for those wishing to have the latest information and advice on how to help their children navigate the world of social media.

Parking will be available in the school yard, and I encourage you to attend and invite other parents who may have similar concerns with the online challenges faced by our young people. The forum investigates and answers questions pertaining to how we can make ourselves aware of, and mitigate some of the risks around young people, social media behaviours and the internet. The Office of the Commissioner of eSafety is a source of up to date information regarding the latest trends and reported concerns relating to young people online. See their promotional material below or their website for more information and support material. A similar forum conducted last December in North Sydney was found to be most worthwhile and informative by members of our Counselling and Pastoral Care Teams, Mr Rick Russo and Mr Phil Stollery.

Please communicate the link below for interested participants to book their free attendance:

https://www.trybooking.com/453005

Weekly Chapel Mass

Accolades to our two Year 6 students who attended the weekly Chapel Mass held on Tuesday 5 February in the Mercy College Chapel.  Beau Gaughan of 6 Green and Oscar Anderson of 6 Gold made the early morning journey across Archer Street to represent our College with distinction last week.

This week Fr Jim’s homily featuring the Marvel Comic heroes at our College Commencement Mass took precedence over the morning Chapel Mass. There will be a Chapel Mass at 8am in Mercy College Chapel next Tuesday 19 February and in the St Pius Christian Brothers Chapel on Tuesday 26 February, with all members of the Our Lady of Dolours, Mercy and St Pius X College Communities welcome to attend.

Old Boys vs Students Gala Day

The annual Old Boys vs Students Gala Day will be held at Oxford Falls on Saturday 23 February (Basketball and Touch) and Sunday 24 February for the Football.  As the event coincides with the tragic accidental death last year of Lachlan Ridley (Class of 2017) there will be a short prayer and moment of silent reflection preceding each event, and members of the Classes of 2017 and 2018 are particularly invited.  Details are as follows:

• Basketball:  Christian Brothers Centre Gym 2.30pm
• Touch:  Walsh Oval 2.30pm
• BBQ:   at 4pm

• Contact Mr Brannan to register for catering purposes if you can attend, play, spectate or are able to help with the refereeing, scoring or BBQ. sbrannan@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au

• Football:  Walsh Oval Sunday 24 February at 9am - BBQ at 11.30am

• Mr Quilty is organising his annual 1st XI vs Old Boys and Past XI Captains Football trials from 9am. Contact Mr Quilty if you wish to play or contact Mr Brannan to register for catering purposes if you can attend to spectate or are able to help with the refereeing, scoring or BBQ. sbrannan@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au

Year 7 EREA Touchstone Inclusivity & Induction Day

Last Friday 8 February all of Year 7 travelled to Oxford Falls to learn something of the history of the area and the College from Mr Tony Cunneen; MindMatters Year 7, 2019 to Year 12, 2024 community building from Mr Russo, Mr Lynch and Mr Stollery; Social Justice and awareness-raising from Mr Balboa, Ms Doyle and Mr Mulheron and the Edmund Rice/St Pius X College story from Br Carl Sherrin and myself.  For some, including our new Mission and Identity Assistant Principal, Mr Mulheron, it was their first trip and introduction to Oxford Falls.

One outcome from the day is that the boys write a letter introducing themselves, and articulating what it means to be a student in the  Edmund Rice tradition (the Touchstones as explained in the Student Diary are a useful starting point). The drafted letter should be written up in RE books and then typed so that we can email them to Year 7 students at fellow Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders schools around the world including Stella Maris College Uruguay, Cardinal Newman College Argentina, St Mary's Grammar School Ireland, St Anselm's College England, St Thomas More Collegiate Canada, Mt Edmund College South Africa and Br Damien Memorial School in the USA.

Please click on the photo gallery below.

Fide et labore

Mr Sean Brannan - Assistant Principal Pastoral Care