Student & Parent Matters

• Year 12 Study Day
• Year 12 Parent/Teacher Meeting - Tuesday 6th March
• ​From the Head of Student Services:   

          -  Student Diary Planners

           -  House Vice-Captains

• Old Boys vs Students Gala Day this Sunday 25th February
• Public Speaking & Debating
• Duke of Edinburgh Award
• Chess
• NSW Touch Football State Cup 2018

Year 12 Study Day

Last week Year 12 students attended their first Study Day for 2018. Students had a variety of presentations during the day to promote deep learning and engagement in their HSC studies. Students attended sessions on Mathematics and SOR/Catholic Studies. Guest speaker, Will Kostakis, challenged the students with an informative presentation on 'Discovery' (Section 1 on the HSC English examination paper). It was impressive to see students actively participate and engage in the learning activities throughout the day.

Ms D Janes - Senior Studies Coordinator

Year 12 Parent/Teacher Meetings

Year 12 Parent/Teacher Meetings are being held in the College Gym on the afternoon of Tuesday 6th March, beginning at 4pm and concluding at 7pm.  Details of how to book have been emailed to parents and are also on the Year 12 Portal page.

Mr B Batchelor - Year 12 Coordinator

From the Head of Student Services

STUDENT DIARY PLANNERS

Our Wellbeing Prefects for 2018,  Sam Massey, James Brown and Carlo Obegoso-Jordan, eloquently launched our Anti Bullying Guides at the whole school assembly last Monday.  I then spoke to the student body regarding the biggest protective factor to our social and emotional health: respectful connectedness to family, school and community. To this end students are challenged to ensure they fulfil their role as a student and work with others to:

• complete the IT Contract on Page 11B to ensure they use their PLDs for learning and education in the most effective and innovative ways possible,
• plan their curricula and extra curricula connection with the student body, staff and College as a whole on Page A19, and
• fill in all their lessons, homework, priorities and reading log, and use the goal setting and thinking activities to achieve optimum progress as a student.

Students must learn that well considered risk taking can be a positive learning experience, and it is OK to fail providing we learn effective lessons along the way. There are many great people who attribute their ultimate success to learning achieved through minor failures along the way.

The new student Diary Planners are the students’ tool to support their literacy, thinking and learning, and to this end I welcome all the feedback and thinking which can inform improvements for the future. There is a degree of student ownership and planning in the Diaries with versions tailored and illustrated specifically for Years 5 and 6, Years 7-9, and Years 10-12. It would be great next year to canvas and incorporate even more student work and plan the diaries using student input. To this end please read and use the Planners functionally so that we can make good decisions on what should be included, and how best to support student learning and organisation through them.

The Diaries are an important means of communication and should be used as such. Equally, all students and parents should feel free to communicate any concerns through our Pastoral Care and Teaching staff, who take seriously their Duty of Care to the students and will act to see that the best outcomes in learning and wellbeing of the whole community are achieved.

We are blessed with a high calibre of students and staff, both long serving and new, who have a range of initiatives through which we can all connect positively with the College with the P&F’s great work at the Welcome Mass last Saturday night being one such example. So please take the opportunities to communicate with us effectively through teaching, pastoral care and counselling staff so that we can best address the needs of each member of the community.

Please don’t forget to sign and take note of your/ your son’s work in the Diary each and every week.

HOUSE VICE CAPTAINS - SEMESTER 1, 2018

House Vice Captains for each of the Houses:  Baron (Red), Purton (Green), Rice (Blue and Treacy (Yellow) are in the process of being elected in Years 7 – 11.

Responsibilities for the House Vice Captains include leading their cohort in Year and whole school events such as Swimming and Athletic Carnivals and days at Oxford Falls, as well as representing the school at upcoming events such as Open Day (Saturday 17th March) and at the ANZAC Day Ceremonies (NSW Schools at Hyde Park, Chatswood Garden of Remembrance and Willoughby Legion Club), or at The Christian Brothers Swimming Carnival which St Pius X College will host this Saturday at North Sydney Pool.

Our student leaders take up responsibility in many different ways and we look forward to giving more students the opportunity to fulfil these roles in Semester 1 this year.

A description of House Captain Responsibilities and Duties reads:

• Assist the House Captains and patrons as/when appropriate, e.g. House Assemblies, Carnivals.
• Assist the Senior and Junior School Sportsmasters as/when called upon, e.g. Gala Days, Colour Assemblies, helpers officiating at Carnivals, ISA and IPSHA.
• Provide leadership of their House in their year cohort, e.g. working with Year Co-ordinator and PD/H/PE and other staff.
• Speak, report on sports/ activities at Year/House meetings.
• With House Captains, represent and voice opinions of their House from their year cohort, e.g. uniform changes, activities which contribute towards the House Cup.
• Be involved with distributed leadership training and skills development opportunities which the College will provide.
• Undertake other duties, from time to time, as directed.

Fide et Labore

Mr S Brannan - Head of Student Services

Old Boys vs Students Gala Day this Sunday 25th February

The annual Gala Day matches between students and recent Old Boys will take place this Sunday as follows:

• Football (Soccer):  Mr Quilty has organised his 1st XI squad to play several recent Old Boy squads on Walsh Oval with a 9.00am warm up preceding a 9.30am kick off.
• Basketball:  A senior students team will play recent Old Boys including Coaches with a 9.40am warm up for a 10.00am tip off.
• Touch Rugby:  Senior Student players are again invited to play a Brothers' (Christian Brothers Old Boys) Touch Team warming up from 10.00am on Watkins Oval. Sandshoes rather than boots please.

Following the matches there will be drinks and sausage sandwiches sponsored by the SPX Old Boys Association at the Old Boys BBQ where the trophies will be presented in honour of former OBA Founding Member Michael Watkins RIP (Class of 1970) and David Bullard (Class of 1982) as well as Old Boys Association Patron Br Carl Sherrin (Class of 1954).  Festivities should conclude with the BBQ at 11.00am.

We are looking forward to our students connecting positively with our Old Boys Association networks to further the contacts which may improve their prospects of accessing effective advice to help them through University, the jobs market, careers and all the challenges of contemporary life.  Any expressions of interest for involvement please contact Mr Sean Brannan at the College via email sbrannan@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au

Fide et Labore

Mr Sean Brannan - Old Boys Association – School Liaison Officer

Public Speaking & Debating

Public Speaking & Debating information can be found in the document below.

Mrs M Waterson - Debating and Public Speaking Convener

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award

This Year’s Duke of Edinburgh’s Award meetings will be held on Day 4 in C1. Any student who is 14 and over is eligible to join the scheme. Students who are interested should come along to the meeting to see how they can be involved.

Mr de Silva will be taking Duke of Edinburgh Award students out on Adventurous Journeys again this year as part of the Outdoor Education Program. However, students who are unable to attend such events may also like to use other outdoor providers, such as Camp Somerset. This is a much more expensive option but it may be of interest for anyone unable to attend a College-run Adventurous Practise or Qualifying Journey.

The latest information about Adventurous Journeys organised by Camp Somerset can be found below.

Mrs K Manga - Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Coordinator

Chess Training

Chess training is held on Mondays from 3.15 to 4.30pm in D1. Training is open for all students from beginners to experts!  We welcome any student who is considering taking up Chess as their extracurricular activity and will allow them a free two week trial.

Competition matches are played on Friday afternoons during Term 2.  If you have any questions please contact Mrs Janelle Dempsey or Ms Denise Ramsey.

Ms D Ramsey - Convenor of Chess

NSW Touch Football State Cup 2018

Last Friday and Saturday, approximately 15 St Pius X College boys travelled with their respective Club Teams to Port Macquarie for the NSW Touch Football State Cup. This 2-3 day representative competition hosted 358 teams this year and around 18,000 people. The conditions were extremely hot, humid and dusty and there was a lot of talent on display.

Of the SPX boys who attended, 11 were from the Hornsby Lions club and others from some nearby areas such as Hills, Ryde-Eastwood and Norths. Whilst the competition was extremely strong, all of the boys played well and showed great sportsmanship. Congratulations to all the boys for their effort.

Mrs J Schuster