From the Principal
- Prayer
- Today's COVID-19 Government Announcements
- Year 12 and HSC Students
- This Week's Online Assembly - Go For Gold!
- Contacting Staff
- Building Works Update
- Annual Survey Results
- Census Collection of Information
Prayer
Dear God,
At this time of change and challenge,
Teach me to appreciate and show gratitude for the people around me,
Help me to reach out to others in ways that enable me to be a source of hope in their lives,
Allow me to see the challenges around me as opportunities to concentrate on those little things that are important in making the world a better place.
Make me a vehicle for positive change in my lessons and in the wider community.
In the spirit of our Touchstones:
At a time when we are restricted to home based learning,
let me be a force for Liberating myself and others through Education.
Help me follow the example of Jesus and
the Gospel Spirituality of celebrating others’ gifts along with my own.
Allow me to be a voice for Justice and Solidarity in the world,
remembering that not everyone has the privileges and connections that I enjoy
And finally let me live out our ideal of Inclusiveness in community.
Being a force for positive unity,
connecting people through our ideals, values and actions,
even while we are physically distant from many of the things and people we love.
Blessed Edmund Rice, Pray for Us
St Pius the tenth, Pray for Us
Live Jesus in our hearts, Forever.
Today's COVID-19 Government Announcements
This morning, the NSW Premier announced an extension to the lockdown provisions for Greater Sydney until 28 August 2021. As a result, the College’s online learning program will continue.
St Pius X College has responded in extraordinary ways to online learning and again I thank all students, parents and staff for their continued efforts. We are extremely conscious of the wellbeing of all in our community and I do urge any parent who has wellbeing concerns for their son to contact their Year coordinator or the College Counsellors.
As the details for the school sector emerge more clearly over coming days, I will communicate with parents regarding our ongoing provision of online learning. It is my intention to write to parents this Friday.
I attach today's NSW Government's Press Release for further information.
Year 12 and HSC Students
The Premier also announced this morning that Year 12 are set to return to face-to-face learning on Monday 16 August, with the Government finalising plans for the resumption of in-class study under strict COVID protocols. We will need to ensure the safety and wellbeing of students and staff with such a decision. I await further clarification from NSW Government Health and Education Departments and will communicate with Year 12 and the Year 11 HSC accelerants as soon as more information comes to hand.
The Year 12 Trial Examinations that are set to commence on Monday 9 August are currently under re-consideration given these announcements today. There are currently a range of meetings with Catholic Schools NSW (CSNSW) regarding the schooling sector and the scheduling of Year 12 Trial examinations. Again, I will communicate with our students and parents as soon as these details are made clear.
All HSC candidates must keep working towards their final assessment whether this be the Trial Examinations or an alternative assessment task. The College staff remain fully committed to providing our students with the best opportunity for their HSC.
If parents or students have any wellbeing concerns, please reach out to the College staff and Counselling team.
Last Friday, NESA announced changes to the HSC dates and these have been published for all Year 12 HSC students and Year 11 Accelerants.
If parents or students have any questions please direct them to the Year 12 Coordinator, Mr Joe Lynch at jlynch@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au or our Assistant Principal - Teaching and Learning, Mr Alex Damo at adamo@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au.
This Week's Assembly - Go for Gold!
Friday 30 July
This Friday all students and staff are encouraged to wear something green or gold to support our Australian Olympic Team. All of Australia is being encouraged to support our team this Friday and it should be some fun as well. Our Friday Assembly this week will adopt this green and gold theme.
Please find the link to this Friday's online College Assembly. The Assembly will commence at 8.55 am and parents are welcome to view. Parents can also view the assembly on-demand using this same link .
Contacting Staff
I appreciate that parents need to contact their son’s teachers for many reasons during this period of online learning. I would ask parents to be patient waiting for a reply as the teachers have been receiving quite a volume of emails and they do try to address these as quickly as possible between classes and lesson preparation. I thank parents for their understanding in this matter.
Building Works Update
The College continues to progress its plans for further facilities and improvements.
B Wing Refurbishment
I am pleased to advise that our architects, TKD, have called for tenders for the refurbishment of “B Wing” which will be undertaken during this Christmas holiday period.
Learning Hub 39-41 Anderson St
Tenders have closed for the Learning Hub and the College Council’s Property Committee is reviewing six tenders. It is expected that Builders will be appointed early in August. It is anticipated that Construction will commence later this year and through 2022 for completion for the start of 2023.
Annual College Survey Results
The College annually conducts surveys of the parents and students. I thank all those who participated in these surveys. The survey is conducted by an external organisation, My Yardstick, and they conduct similar surveys across Australia. The overall satisfaction was very pleasing and recommendations for parents and students will help form our future development and improvements. Below is a summary from both the Parent and Student survey reports. These reports will be given detailed analysis and consideration by the College Council and Leadership Team. Further detail on the results will be provided in coming weeks of Woodchatta.
From the data and the individual comments, there are a range of issues for further consideration in improving the College. These include:
- Timely communication to parents about the progress of their son.
- Needs in learning and extension in regard to areas such as Special Education and Gifted and Talented Education.
- Type and amount of Homework in Years 5 -7 particularly.
- Continued vigilance towards Bullying at school and online.
- Vaping.
- Induction program for new parents.
- Sporting and Extra-curricular programs - more options, promotion of all sports, etc.
- Continued upgrade of Chatswood Campus Facilities.
- Involvement with Girls' schools such as Mercy College.
- Consistency in the quality of teaching.
- Improve communication from school in Woodchatta, website and the APP.
Student Summary Results
This report compares two SRS – Student surveys conducted for St Pius X College by My Yardstick Corporation.
Overall Score
St Pius X College achieved an overall score of 3.95 out of 5.00 (79.0%). This score is statistically 6% higher than the average satisfaction score for 'Comparable Schools' of 3.71 out of 5.00 (74.2%) and 6% higher than the average satisfaction score for 'All Schools' of 3.74 out of 5.00 (74.8%).
Parent Summary Results
This report compares two SRS - Parent surveys conducted for St Pius X College by My Yardstick Corporation.
There was no significant change from 2020 to 2021
Overall Score
St Pius X College achieved an overall score of 4.12 out of 5.00 (82.4%). This score is statistically 2% higher than the average satisfaction score for 'Comparable Schools' of 4.05 out of 5.00 (81.0%) and 2% higher than the average satisfaction score for 'All Schools' of 4.05 out of 5.00 (81.0%).
Census Collection of Information
Please see the attached document regarding the Census Collection of Information.
Mr John Couani - Principal