Junior School News

• From the Head of the Junior School 
• Junior School Sport
• Junior Resource Centre News

From the Head of the Junior School 

PRAYER

THE ORANGE TREE 

God of good neighbours, 

We thank you for the gardener down the street 

Who is so proud of his oranges. 

Mary Magdalene is famous for mistaking Jesus for a gardener.

In a way, it was a compliment. 

Gardeners love creation!

 They respect even the smallest seedling. 

St Teresa of Avila said that God was like a gardener 

And our lives are God’s garden. 

God plants all sorts of things in them. 

May we also be gardeners of our own lives

 Caring for ourselves and caring for others

 In wonder and gratitude. 

Amen.

Prayer by Michael McGirr

CLASS CAPTAINS FOR TERM 4

Congratulations to the following boys on being selected as Class Captains for Term 4.  

They are:- 

6 Red – Luc Opie

6 Gold – Alex Dal Molin

6 Blue – Edward Moss

6 Green – Jude Cunningham

5 Red – Boston Bannister

5 gold – Oliver Hartry

5 Blue Graham Halgreen

Please see their photo as the banner of this page.

THURSDAY - SUMMER SPORTS TRAINING

The boys will leave after recess and if you wish to collect your son it will be in front of the Christian Brothers Centre (CBC Gym) at the bottom of the carpark at 2.10 pm - 2.20 pm.

Term 4 Sports Plan:

Swimming Program

Please note that due to Covid restrictions our Year 5 booking at Macquarie Pool was affected so Mr McBrearty has managed a great alternative where we alternate between Macquarie University and Fitness First, Chatswood.  Please note that Macquarie University Pool is outdoors so a ‘rashie’ is recommended. In the past we have received rash shirts from the Surf Safety School but just in case I would recommend Year 6 parents also pack a rashie.

TWO DAYS TO GO UNTIL THE BIG DAY!

Book Week Parade will be held on Friday 23 October in the Junior School playground at 9:00 am.  This year's theme is Curious Creatures, Wild Minds!  There are 2 days to go and it is a lot of fun so please get involved.

We are planning to record the event so that you can see your son all dressed up.  If you have any issues with this please contact me.

ORIENTATION FOR NEW YEAR 7 STUDENTS

Orientation for new Year 7 students and parents will be ONLINE on Saturday 31 October from 11.00 am until 12.30 pm.  If your son is currently in Year 6 and you wish to join this, a link will be sent to you from Mrs Christine Jennings.  You will need to register for the event.

FUTURE EVENTS

Tuesday 27/10 -  Book Week 2020: Chatswood Library have reserved a spot for Year 5 with a ZOOM talk. Year 5 Literacy will be the lesson when this will occur. It will be an exciting and informative talk based on the Eve Pownall Information Books.

Wednesday 28/10 - 9.00am   Book Week Celebrations -James Foley - Author Zoom talk for Year 6

Saturday 31/10 - Yrs 5 & 6 (2021) Orientation Morning online – videoed speeches and then live online question and answer session.

THOUGHT TO PONDER

Life is change.

Growth is optional.

Choose wisely.

From the salvation Army noticeboard, Chatswood.

Stay Safe as we are all in this together

Thank you for your support

Mr Tim Long - Head of the Junior School 

Junior School Sport

Junior School Sport News:  Saturday fixtures for this weekend are listed below. Please note that occasionally there are changes to the draw. Current, correct and confirmed times and locations are published in Woodchatta. If there are discrepancies to the draw published in Woodchatta, this is due to a change to the initial draw, the information in Woodchatta supersedes the initial draw. Please ensure you are at the venue 30 mins prior to the start of you match. 

Thursday Sport: Training for Basketball, Cricket, Tennis & Touch. Pick-up time from Oxford falls of 2.10-2.20pm. 

Basketball:

Swimming Squad Training 2020/21

Location: Fitness First, Chatswood (24 Endeavour St, Chatswood)

Requirements: Suitable swimwear, goggles and swim cap.

• Students wear PE / Pius Sports Uniform to the sessions. They then shower and change into school uniform at 8.15 am before returning to school. A snack/breakfast is also recommended at this point.

Monday mornings (7.15 am – 8.15 am) Starting 19 Oct until 23 Nov (6 sessions)

Resuming 8 Feb until 8 March (5 sessions)

Tuesday mornings (7.15 am – 8.15 am) Starting 20 Oct until 24 Nov (6 sessions)

Resuming 9 Feb until 9 March (5 sessions)

Friday Mornings - *Term 1 only* (7.15 am – 8.15 am)

Starting 12 Feb until 12 March (5 sessions)

Touch Football

Mr Benn McBrearty - Junior School Sports Master

NSTA Tennis

Firstly, thank you to Mr Garvey and Mrs Keighery who ran the tennis so efficiently last Saturday. We had 12 Pius Teams playing in the 8.00 am time slot, with 5 of the 7 matches being Pius vs Pius. It was an exciting doubles match between Team 11 - Martin Chan and Aidan Dominguez and Team 12 - Alex Vaccher and Alex Dal Molin, with Team 11 just edging forward with a final score of 6 - 5. Riley Seeto, Team 16 also played a great game against Ethan Li, Team 15, with Li just edging in front for the win in the end.

The 10.00 am session was a quiet one last week with only 4 matches being played. Well done to Pius 7, 8 and 3 who all walked away with a win. 

Please ensure that you are checking your weekly scores, rankings and draw on the xpoint site: https://www.xpointsports.com/region/325/currentEvents

Mrs Samantha Iwatani, NSTA Convenor

Junior Resource Centre News

This week's Highlights: 

Congratulations to all the winners for the CBCA Book of the Year and the honour books. Some wonderful choices and worthy winners.

#cbcabookoftheyear2020

Book Week 2020

Curious Creatures, Wild Minds!

Library Monitors Helping with Book Week

Book Week Parade

Our Book Parade will be held on Friday 23 October in the Junior School playground at 9.00 am.  We will live-stream the event for parents.  If you do not want your son to be filmed, please email privacy@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au

#bookweek2020#bookparade#funinthelibrary.

Book Week Guessing Competition for Term 4 Week 1 – And the Winners are:

The Book in the jar was …… The Mark of Athena by Rick Riordan. (Series: Heroes of Olympus 3)

Congratulations to Year 5 Kobe Chand, Zac Troughton, Luca Basso, Charles Garnys, Daniel Gorken -Spyrou, Liam Spatola, Noah Watson, Shahe Tachjian and Hudson Savage.

Year 6: Jack Manning-O’Donnell, Regan Yun, Daniel Caroll, Reilly Bois, Oliver Butler, Joshua Paul, Noah Marshall, Kayden Foo, and James Thomson.

Year 9: Luca Van Vuuren.

Book Week Celebrations continue – A guessing competition – Book in a Jar! Number Three

Inside this jar there is an actual book (damaged one) that has been torn up and squashed inside this jar. There are many clues within the text that can be seen for a keen book sleuth to discover the title. Pop into the library, take a guess and the winner will get an awesome book prize during our book week activities. Don’t spoil the fun if you can guess!! #bookweek #bookweek2020

Where Am I? - Competition Number 3

Today I am enjoying a leisurely ride down a river that rises high in the mountains of one state and empties itself into the sea 2520 kilometres later, making it the third longest navigable river in the world, after the Amazon and Nile. It is the 16th longest river in the whole world.

On that journey the water passes through 4 major dams, 16 storage weirs and 15 navigable locks. Along with its tributaries it is part of the third largest water catchment on earth providing the major domestic water supply for over 1.5 million households.

Its drainage area is one of the largest in the world and certainly the largest in Australia, draining most of inland Victoria, New South Wales, and southern Queensland from the western side of the Great Australian Divide. It has remained in virtually the same place for millions of years, with the valleys that cradle it being formed 40 000 000 years ago. 

Indigenous people have lived on its banks and relied on it for at least 40 000 years, with many groups calling its banks home. They believed that in the Dreamtime, it was just a creek until Ngurunderi chased a large fish, a fish so large that the movement of its tail made waves that made it wider and wider. When that fish swam into a lake near the river's mouth and disappeared, Ngurunderi gave up the chase but left a long, bountiful river as his legacy. Fish and shellfish were the main food. Men did the hunting with spears or nets as well as dams. Flocks of ducks, pelicans, black swans and other water birds were trapped in the nets that they strung across the creeks.

The river is known to indigenous peoples as Millewa or Tongala. 

It was first discovered by European explorers Hamilton H. Hume and William H. Hovell in 1824 but it wasn't until five years later, however, that Charles Sturt navigated down the Murrumbidgee to encounter this river and named it after a British soldier and politician. 

From 1853 it became the water highway that opened up much of the inland of this country, with paddle steamers used to carry wool, wheat, and other goods up and down the river system allowing settlement and prosperity. However the development of railways meant that it's use for that declined quickly.

Nowadays the river is under threat from various sources. It contains a high salt content, meaning that it has an impact on all who use it. The intense pressure placed on it from overuse is also a concern which can lead to erosion and overall poor water quality and its management to meet the needs of all those who want to draw on it is complex and controversial. 

Where am I? If You Know where I am, Pop into the library and drop your answer in the gold box, located on my desk. Prizes on offer.

Who Am I?  - Guessing Competition for Book Week 2020

Prizes on Offer for the student who can guess who I am?

Mr Darbin's Curious Creature Competition

Mr Darbin has created these amazing cut outs for our Book Week celebrations. A very clever competition has evolved. Can you guess the Curious Creatures on the cut outs?

Pop into the library and drop in your answers. Prizes on offer.

Mrs Martin’s Book Trail: Migrants by Issa Watanabe

This is a confronting yet poetic picture book about the migrant / refugee experience. For older readers (Stage 3 plus), Migrants raises important concerns and forces the reader to pay attention to the details of the journey. This is done so beautifully in this wordless picture book.

#mrsmartinsbooktrail2020

Mrs Elena Martin - Teacher Librarian, Junior Resource Centre