From the Acting Deputy Principal

• Years 5 to 10 Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews on Monday 23rd July
• Classes resume for all students on Tuesday 24th July
• The Winter Holiday Break
• Congratulations to our Dramatic Arts Students
• The Year of Youth Cross
• Debating success
• Year 10 MindMatters Team
• The 'Mr Russo World Series Peer Mentoring Handball Competition'
• Write a Book in a Day
• Kokoda Expedition
• 1st XV Rugby Tour to Queensland
• 1st XI Football - July Cup
• Junior 1st XI Football holiday competition
• Scheduled formal and informal opportunities  during the holidays
• Students’ standards of interaction, presentation and behaviours
• RIP:  Two past parents of the College
• Thank you for your support of my role as Acting Deputy Principal

As Term 2 draws to its conclusion this Friday 29th June, all members of the College community are reminded that we resume for Term 3 with our Years 5 to 10 Parent Teacher-Student interviews on Monday 23rd July.  All Years 5 to 10 students are expected to attend with their parents, in full Winter Uniform. The interviews are held around the College Gymnasium and parking will be available in the school yard, taking due care of pedestrians and other traffic.

Classes resume for all Year groups on Tuesday 24th July as our Year 12 students prepare for their  Trial HSC Examinations in Weeks 3-5 and Year 12 Retreats in Week 5.  Year 7 will be similarly excited in preparing for their Ski Expedition with Mr Lynch and the Year 7 Pastoral Care Team in Week 3. Prepare appropriately for Term 3, with your equipment, growth mindset processes and learning.

The three week Winter break provides all members of the College community with the opportunity to enjoy some respite from the daily routine. At Assembly on Monday I reminded all students to responsibly exercise their privilege in such a generous break. Hopefully some of our students will assist their parents, family and friends with some domestic responsibilities such as helping out with lunches, cooking, cleaning, house maintenance, and acting supportively for others who may not have such a generous winter break! A balance of rest, nutritional intake, exercise (particularly for those developing skills and maintaining performance fitness) and limited screen time are important considerations, albeit with the vicarious opportunities offered by the World Cup, Tour de France, upcoming Robotics competitions.  Enjoy the break!

We celebrate our Dramatic Arts students who feature in The Mercy-St Pius X College production “1000 Cranes” this week at the Sarto Centre. Best wishes to the cast, including Kai Simpson, Sam Schyvens, Tim McLachlan, James Bleasdale, Nick Mackenzie, Lachlan Donlevy, Adam Hawthorne, Luke Thompson, John Paul Shahady et al. The core of this group will rehearse in the holidays and back-up for a conference encore of their 2017 Australian Catholic Youth Festival dramatic performance “Mary of now”, to be performed in  Week 1 of Term 3. Make sure you don’t drop those Mercy girls!

Monday’s assembly also celebrated the journey of the Youth Cross which is currently visiting our Diocesan Parishes, challenging students to consider their purpose in life in the context of the Gospels and example of Jesus. Oliver Tysoe and our Edmund Rice Society team were supported by our Drama students in the prayer and reflection of our roles in acting for greater good and reaching out to others.

I am pleased to report that while our 8A team (Ben Cullen, Will Ramsbottom, Jai Oorloff-Kay and James Hanna) were philosophical in defeat last Friday, our Year 10B debating team featuring Ethan Tat, Matthew Hogan and Luke McManus won through to the CSDA Quarter Finals this week, earning a trip to St Andrew’s College Marayong to debate Loreto 10A team in the bargain. Well done teams.

Our Year 10 MindMatters Team, who attended the Conviction Young Men’s Health Forum with Mr McBrearty at the Concourse last Friday, spoke highly of the experience. They are preparing to take up the mantle as Student Wellbeing Leaders for events such as RUOK Day, Wellbeing Week and National Day of Action Against Violence and Bullying. They will be great supporters of our Year 12 and 11 MindMatters Student Empowerment Teams in developing the student-led dimensions of our pastoral care programs. We thank the Old Boys Association and P&F for supporting this among many wellbeing opportunities for our students and school community.

Last Friday our student leaders Dan Hall, Jack Moran and Nikita Papastamatis led the MindMatters event, The Mr Russo World Series Peer Mentoring Handball Competition, and I am pleased to say a good time was had by all Peer Mentors and Mentees. In the spirit of Big Wave Waterman and Surfer Eddie Aikau (whose philosophises that the best surfer in the water is the one having the most fun), the awards of Best Connected Handball Player on the day went to: 1st Evan Ausling, 2nd Declan Fitzgerald and 3rd Will Pearce, although all participants in the Peer Mentoring Program, and Handball, were the real winners.

Our Write a Book in a Day teams from Years 7 to 11 were industriously busy on Monday in the Senior Library supported by Ms Keighery, Ms Mak and College Vice Captain Nikita Papastamatis. The students worked diligently from 8am to 5pm in a Herculean effort to complete their original works, which will be passed on for the entertainment and support of Sydney Children’s Hospitals.  A worthy cause and, from what we could observe, some talented authors and illustrators, excellent material, and even better lessons in teamwork.

As our Kokoda Expedition Team embark for Port Moresby this Friday to follow in the 1942 footsteps of Maroubra Force’s 39th Battalion Mud over Bloods, we reflect on those who showed courage and went before us. At Bomana War Cemetery, after hiking the 100km mountainous Kokoda Track, the group will visit the grave and consider the story of St Pius ex-student Jacob deSisto of Roseville KIA Bougainville, 1944. Mass that evening at St Joseph’s, Boroko will have considerable significance both for the day’s experience and colours of PNG Catholicism.

The Immersion Team, featuring Sam Barrell, Charlie Cullen, Liam Benson and Alec Paterson of Year 10, will remain in Port Moresby for another five days to work with Callan Services school for students with disabilities, and visit the Cardinal’s outreach project for street kids. A visit to Jubilee Catholic Secondary School, Parliament House, and Jackson Airfield Liberator Bomber WWII crash memorial, among other experiences, will provide the students with a unique perspective and insight into the confronting social justice aspects at work in the colourful capital city of our nearest national neighbour. These are insights which our students will be able to articulate and share with the rest of the school community on our return.

Best wishes also to our 1st XV Rugby tour squad who will represent us at the Gold Coast Tournament for approximately the 26th consecutive time. Mr Stearn, Mr Virgona, Mr Lynch, Mr Brannan, Mr Russo and Mr McBrearty will keep the squad in positive spirit and form for the final few ISA matches of the season on their return.

Our 1st XI under the guidance of Mr Quilty and Mr Yue, will have a home defence of the July Cup at Oxford Falls.  Best wishes also to Paul Cummins and the Junior 1st XI Football on their holiday competition.

In addition to this there are many scheduled formal and informal opportunities for learning, planned and facilitated by our staff throughout the holidays. We acknowledge the generous dedication of all our staff who go out of their way to support the learning and development of St Pius X College students. 

Staff are reminding all students this week that their learning in the final week of term should be as valuable and effective as it was at the commencement of the term. That engagement and cooperation in the learning process, and in routines and cultures of deep and critical thinking, are enhanced by practice and commitment, even under fatigue. To this end we expect our students’ standards of interaction, presentation and behaviours to be of the highest order, be it on public transport, in the playground, online, and in the classroom.

RIP:  Sadly the College learned recently of the passing of two past parents of the College. Mrs Marguerite Shanahan had two sons and a daughter through the College in the 1970s - Mark Shanahan (77), Pauline attended Mercy (79), and Rodger Shanahan (82). Dr Rodger Shanahan, who is a former Australian Military Attache to the Middle East, now works at the Lowy Institute and guest supports the SPX Year 11 leadership development and reflection program. The mother of Peter Coulter (‘74) also passed away this week and was farewelled from Our Lady of Dolours Church today.  Vale Mrs Shanahan and Mrs Coulter.