Student Matters
Robotics: First Lego League Success
- From the Deputy Principal
- From the Assistant Principal Teaching & Learning: Years 5 to 10 Semester One Academic Reports
- From the Innovation & Knowledge Management Coordinator: PDL Rollout for Years 7, 9 & 11 (2017)
- From the Business Manager: Tuition Statements for Term 1, 2017
- From the Head of Student Services:
SPX Students Living the SPX Ethos
Years 7 to 9 Leadership Forum
Social Justice & Community Involvement Program Opportunity
Year 8 Pastoral Care Awards
Year 10 Peer Support Training
Lads and their Dads Boot Camp Exercise Workouts
Year 9 Christmas Hamper Appeal and Year 7 Giving Tree Appeal
- Robotics: Fist Lego League Success
- Year 10 Fundraising for Eddie Rice Camps
- General Notices - Holiday Programs
From the Deputy Principal
I wish to compliment our young men who have worn their Uniform and continue to present themselves so proudly each day. Our young men have achieved a great deal in their overall holistic development throughout 2016.
The Summer Break is certainly quality time for family and friends and the celebration of our Christmas Season. Amidst this time I remind our young men they have a part to play in helping and ensuring the holiday break is a positive time for all and that they do not become the centre of attention but to remember their role within their family and social structures.
Our students return in 2017 on Monday, 30th January, in full Summer Uniform.
The Summer Uniform consists of a regulation grey (Year 5 – 10) or white short sleeve shirt (Year 11 & 12), that does up at the collar and worn with the College tie. The College blue shorts or grey trousers (Years 7-12 only) are worn at the waist supported by a black belt.
If wearing shorts, our boys wear the College long socks with garters, or black or grey socks with the long pants. Footwear must be black leather lace-up shoes that take a shine.
The College rain jacket is the only wet weather jacket to be worn on wet days.
The College Uniform also includes the College Back Pack.
In returning after the Summer Break your son’s haircut must comply with College regulation. It is to be of an even grade and of a style and length unlikely to cause comment. Shaved sides with longer fringes hanging over the top and exaggerated parts are not permissible. Hair must be clean, tidy, gel-less and of natural colour.
These regulations are standard for all, ensuring your son’s own good self-discipline as we join together as one Pius community.
Thank you for reminding your son on leaving home in the morning of these routine Uniform, Grooming and Hair regulations. We are very proud of our boys who deserve praise for presenting themselves so well.
I wish you a very Happy and Holy Christmas for your whole family and look forward to your son’s excellent attire and well-groomed appearance on his return in the New Year.
Mr M Casey - Deputy Principal
Years 5 to 10 Semester One Academic Reports
Dear Parents
Teachers are now well in the process of finalising grades for the End of Year Academic Reports for students in Years 5 to 10. Evidence of student's learning has been collated and used to determine levels of achievement.
As stipulated by BOSTES, a standards-referenced approach is used for assessing and determining student achievement in Years 5 through to 12. In standards-referenced assessment, the achievements of a student are reported using the A to E Common Grade Scale which will appear on the End of Year Academic Report.
Years 5 and 6 Reports will be available on the Parent Portal this Thursday the 8th December. Years 7 to 10 Reports will be available on the Parent Portal on the afternoon of Friday 9th December. All reports will then be sent in the mail.
Please take the opportunity to check your access to the Portal by using the link on the College webpage. If you do have difficulties, in the first instance please use the 'forgot password' facility.
When you log onto your Portal page, please click on the blue and white 'MORE' icon which appears next to your son’s photo. This will take you to the page containing his report.
If problems persist, please email Ms Leonie Millar on lmillar@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au
Mr A Damo - Assistant Principal, Teaching & Learning
PLD Rollout for Years 7, 9 & 11 (2017)
- This will take place in the Gym on 24th January 2017.
- There will be TWO sessions: 9am – 11am or 1pm – 3pm.
- You MUST come to pick up your PLD in that time.
- Contracts will be sent out soon, and must be returned to the College BEFORE your son can pick up his PLD. PLDs will not be given out without a contract.
If you have any questions, please do no hesitate to contact the Innovative Learning Coordinator, Anne Gripton: agripton@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au
Ms A Gripton - Innovative Learning Coordinator
Tuition Statements for
Term 1, 2017
Tuition Statements for Term 1, 2017 will be emailed to all families at the end of next week. If you do not receive your statement, please contact the Finance Office urgently at fees@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au.
Unless you have a payment arrangement in place with the College, payment is due by 30 January 2017
Please note that from 2017 the P&F Levy is compulsory and will be included in the total payable amount on each family’s statement. As previously advised by the P&F, the annual levy for 2017 is $200.
Mr N Carson - Business Manager
From the Head of Student Services
SPX Students living the Edmund Rice ethos
Congratulations to Daniel Hall (Year 10) who completed his St Joseph’s Walgett indigenous education immersion experience last week with Mr Reay and Mr Pembroke and returned to compete at the Australian National Schools Athletics in his favourite Discus events. What a great example of living the Edmund Rice ethos of pursuing community social justice and personal excellence and endeavour. We can be immensely proud of this mature young man, along with all St Pius X men who have risen to the challenge and call of outreach this year: Walgett, Bowraville, St Edmund's Wahroonga and Callan Services PNG to name but a few.
I can vouch for the positive influence of Jack Morgan, Harry Pfeiffer, Euan Mendoza, Oliver Tysoe and Nick Cowie (Years 9 and 10) in particular, who stayed and worked at Callan Services Edmund Rice Special Education Resource Centre and Jubilee Catholic Secondary School in Port Moresby before our Kokoda Track Mother, Father, Sister and Student Expedition in July. Ms Dempsey and Mr Reay have similarly reported to me the great work of our young men in Walgett and Bowraville.
I reflect also of the outreach earlier in the year when Nikita Papastamatis (Year 10) represented the College, through the history department, on the NSW Premier’s Centenary Anzac Memorial Tour in July. Nikita and many of our other Immersion students also backed up for the Performing Arts Christmas Twilight Concert on Friday night.
Years 7 to 9 Leadership Forum
Our Year 9 MindMatters Team and House Vice Captain Leaders were magnificent in leading the way for our Year 7, Year 8 and Year 9 House Vice Captains and Student leaders at the Leadership Forum on Friday at Oxford Falls. With our Year 9 Leaders and students I extend my thanks for the generosity of our guest presenters:
- Mr Brian Canavan: Head of NRL Football
- Mr Nick Papastamatis: Former College Captain and CEO Balance Health and Performance
- Ms Eunice Grimes: Mentor for Tribal Warrior and Clean slate without prejudice: joint programs of Redfern Police and Tribal Warrior Association for Indigenous Culture.
- Inspector Sam Crisafulli: Redfern Police Local Area Command
Inspector Sam Crisafulli and Eunice Grimes Tribal Warrior mentor
with Mr Couani and myself
Our future student leaders were presented with a range of challenging presentations and activities to consider what contemporary and best practice effective leadership, of individuals and organisations, requires of us, and challenges us to adapt to.
Mr Canavan related his experience of keeping teams within an organisation engaged in positive aims, goals and meaningful achievements. Nick Papastamatis communicated the need for socially minded connections, teamwork and cooperation in running organisations that benefit people and address needs in society. And Inspector Crisafulli and Ms Eunice Grimes provided a history of how Police and the indigenous community of Redfern had worked together to develop programs to address the cultural and change needs of the people in keeping young people positively connected and engaged with organisations in their community such as the Police, Leisure and Recreation centre, Tribal Warrior Association and Redfern All Blacks Rugby League Sports Club. This work has been led by “Uncle Shane Phillips“ CEO of Tribal Warrior Indigenous Cultural organisation, and Superintendent Luke Freudenstein.
Social Justice & Community Involvement Boxercise Program Opportunity
Superintendent Sam Crisafulli (Redfern Police Local Area Command) and Eunice Grimes (Mentor with Tribal Warrior Association) have invited a small group of students in Years 8-11 to participate in the Boxercise Program at Redfern Leisure Centre on a Monday, Wednesday or Friday morning over the holidays (TBA). It will be an early start from Chatswood Station to arrive at Redfern by 6am. Our Year 11 students, Mitch and Jacob Crisafulli, piloted this program for their CIP earlier this year.
It important at this stage of the year to keep the young people in the program engaged, connected and active to enhance their patterns of positive community minded behaviours.
Please see Mr Brannan, Mr Russo or Ms Kuagananthan for more information and to seek your parent's permission.
Year 8 Pastoral Care Awards
Congratulations to those students nominated by Year 8 Pastoral Care staff at the Pastoral Care period last Wednesday to receive literature prizes for their contribution to the enhancement of an Inclusive Community of learners at St Pius X College in 2016. It was pleasing to see the calibre of students nominated and importantly the sharing of literature ideas from teacher to student at this excellent initiative of Year 8 Coordinator, Mr Paul Ticli.
My two award recipients were:
Gary Mullins who led the way as a Year 8 U/13s Rugby player and demonstrated a highly conscientious and humble team example playing Cs, Bs and As through the season. I presented Gary with one of my favourite inspirational stories of finding resilience to overcome adversity, in Bryce Courtenay’s The Power of One.
Jude Boyle, an exceptional leader by example in debating (CSDA Year 8 Runner-Up Team), Rugby Captain of 13B moral Joint Premiers and many other areas of College community culture and life. Jude received Patsy Adam-Smith’s ANZACs, a documentation of the lives of our WWI forebears, including her two uncles killed in action 100 years ago at the Gallipoli Battle of Lone Pine August 7-8 1915. An amazing book to read: Lest we forget.
On my holiday reading list is a book I have borrowed from Barack Obama’s Summer reading list: Barbarian Days: A Surfing Life by William Finnegan (Does anyone have a copy?) and also I had to survive by Dr Roberto Canessa, an Edmund Rice Old Boy from Stella Maris, Uruguay, who I was lucky enough to meet in April this year. An inspirational man and part of our Edmund Rice Beyond Borders family.
Year 10 Peer Support Training
Congratulations to our resilient Year 10 students who backed up from a successful Dinner Dance on Tuesday night at today’s Peer Support Leaders Training day. Our Year 10 students will become our Peer Support Leaders for our Year 5 and 7 2017 students. Today’s training under the leadership of Ms Dempsey and Mr Lynch will set them up to take on that responsibility which we are confident will be to the great benefit of our younger students and the school community next year and beyond.
The training was group based with students developing the leadership skills and confidence to cope with leading their junior peers through their transitions to St Pius X Year 5 and 7 respectively. Tomorrow the Year 10 cohort will workshop with James Cummins, prominent educator, mindfulness and positive psychology facilitator, and CEO of the “Positivity Project”. James worked with our 2017 Student Leadership Team Camp at Huntington House in August, and we look forward to his input in positively equipping our Year 11 2017 students for the leadership challenges ahead.
No doubt Mr Russo, Ms Foord, Ms Dempsey and Mr Pawlak will work closely James with Mr Lynch departing tonight to travel overnight with our Year 11 Snowy Mountains 6 Day Mt Jagungal Wilderness Expedition.
Lads & Their Dads Boot Camp Exercise Workouts
Our hardy band of Tuesday morning workout warriors completed their final 2016 gym session with Mr Lynch and Mr Cullimore yesterday looking fit, lean, mean and hungry for the Christmas Holy season. Mentioned in dispatches were Mr Peter Hawthorne and Matthew, Mr Adrian Fragiacomo and Nick, Mr Phil Paterson and Alec, and Mr Nick Ward and Nigel.
Stay tuned for the 2017 incarnation of this program when we hope to include Mums and significant others in this wonderful connecting opportunity for our students in instilling the values of lifelong physical activity and fitness.
Year 9 Christmas Hampers
Year 7 Giving Tree
We need everyone to make a concerted effort to ensure we reach out to these communities in generosity and friendship this week by contributing to the Year 9 collection of non-perishable food items for the Christmas Hampers, and gifts for the Year 7 Giving Tree to distribute to the children at Bowraville and Walgett.
Crucially many of our hampers will be distributed through the Fr Peter McGrath inspired Family Group movement from St Anthony’s Church, 46 Myoora Rd, Terrey Hills. Any student available to represent the College and assist with loading of the Hampers for delivery to needy families and groups is invited to see our Youth Minister Mr Adrian Brannan before Friday. The Hamper Mass will be at 9am (unload hampers from 8.20am) on Sunday 11th December and the loading of the hampers for delivery will take place from the same Church on Tuesday 13th December from 8.30am onwards.
This engagement and link with one of our local Parishes (Frenchs Forest Parish), in reaching out to people in greater need than ourselves, is an important one for our students. It will be great to have a good representation of students at both the Mass to bless the hampers and in the loading, delivery of the hampers to those in need (8.30 – 1pm).
Mr S Brannan - Head of Student Services
Robotics
First Lego League Success!
The theme this year for FLL is Animal Allies with a focus on what can be done when we work together with our furry, feathered and finned friends. The competition includes over 28 000 teams from 80 countries.
Two teams of students from Years 6 and 7 attended the Northern Beaches Regional tournament for the FLL robotics challenge on Wednesday. They were tested on their ability to build and program a robot to complete a set of challenges, as well as their ability to work as a team and work with other competitors. The Year 7 team, the ‘PsychoStarfish’, found the most success in the robot challenge finishing 3rd overall. The Year 6 team, ‘SkyHighPigeons’, were the most successful across the various robotics and teamwork challenges and were given direct entry into the National tournament to be held at Macquarie University on the 10th of December. Good luck to Toby Thornton-Bott, Charlie Crowe-Maxwell, Thomas Fong and Joseph Reyes as they represent the College at the National competition.
A big thank you to Mr ten Seldam for his organisation of this event and to Mr Lai for his coaching on the day. Please click on the photo gallery below:
Mr P de Silva - Robotics Convenor
Year 10 Fundraising for Eddie Rice Kids' Camps
We are extremely grateful to Kathmandu Chatswood for providing a Corporate Discount on 40 already 50% discounted water bottles for Eddie Rice Kids’ Camps. These water bottles are made from high density polyethylene containing NO BPA and are recyclable.
We are extremely grateful to Mr Matthew Stearn for organising 20 soccer balls and 20 footballs at exceptional ‘mates rates’ for Eddie Rice Kids’ Camps. These balls will be personal gifts for the senior boys and siblings camps held this January at Mulgoa.
We are extremely grateful to Year 10 for providing the funds for the above purchases. We gain rewards points from The Epping Club when we pay for the Year 10 Dinner Dance and the money from the Dinner Dance is paying for the above products.
Ms M Waterson on behalf of Mr M Pawlak
General Notices
- The Go4Fun Program will be running in Willoughby during Term 1, 2017. Please go to www.go4fun.com.au or click on the flyer below for more information.
- Beauchamp Park Holiday Recreational Program