St Pius X College Newsletter

Parent & Student Matters 

  • Science
  • Calling all filmmakers - Lights Camera Pius! Film Festival 
  • IFTAR Dinner
  • Visual Arts

Science

Science Club

Last week in Science Club, students were challenged to balance as many nails as they could on top of a nail hammered into a block of wood. After many failed attempts, only one student figured out the trick... and the rest were given some hints about constructing a contraption with the nails and using them to pick up the set-up and find the centre of gravity (this is the Science). If they constructed the correct contraption they were able to balance as many as 12 nails onto the top of the hammered nail. After this, students were able to continue investigating the concept of balancing using our many and varied scientific balances.

Mrs Joanne Schuster - Science Coordinator

Calling all filmmakers  

On Monday at assembly Alexander Regan and Jonathon Webster spoke to the boys about a great holiday activity idea for the upcoming break – filmmaking! As members of the Year 12 Photography, Video and Digital Imaging class they have been very busy making films themselves and want to spread the word about the opportunity of making a film for the Lights Camera Pius! Film Festival held annually. As they said…..

 

…With the holidays fast approaching it is the perfect time to start thinking about making a film for this year's 8th annual Lights Camera Pius! film festival. It is a good opportunity for you to get creative, have some fun with your mates and get amongst it. Your films must be PG rated, no longer than 2 minutes and they can be any genre you want, ranging from action, to drama to comedy. 

 

The film festival will be held in Week 7 of Term 3, in August. Now that may seem like a long time but in this industry you need as much time as you can get. For all those students in Years 7-12 who are interested in joining the committee to organize the film festival, there will be a meeting early next term. We wish you luck with the production of your films and encourage all of you to get involved. 

Ms Frances Doyle - Visual Arts Coordinator

 

IFTAR Dinner - Amity College,  ‘Empower Youth, Inspire Tomorrow’

On the evening of Monday 3 April Mr Brannan and I had the privilege of attending the Amity College Annual Student Leaders’ Iftar Dinner. Iftar is the meal eaten after sunset to the break the fast that occurs during Ramadan. The invitation from Amity College is extended as a symbol of friendship, with the aim of fostering understanding and social harmony amongst the community. Our students were able to meet other teenagers of faith, establish relationships and join in discussions about contemporary issues. Students listened to a Quranic recitation, a call to prayer, and listened to the wise words of several keynote speakers. A big thank you to the following students from Year 11 who volunteered to attend and participate in the event: Hugo Kalcher, Billy Waite, Daniel Staal, Lenox Makarewicz, Max Spurr, Stephen Walter, Riley Seeto, Dominic Mitchell, and Ben Vaccarella. Special mention to Hugo for representing St Pius X College in the Student Panel. He articulated the importance of strong leadership and the need to be true to oneself in order to achieve a team's goals. St Pius X College has an ongoing relationship with Amity College and the evening gave both students and staff an opportunity to reconnect and meet new people. The importance of the dialogue shared cannot be underestimated as our society continues to navigate equality and justice for all regardless of race, religion, or gender. 

Mrs Lisa Guerrera - Religious Education Coordinator

Visual Arts

In Year 9 Photography and Digital Media, we were allowed to go into the photographic darkroom and create photograms. We used small everyday objects, laying them down on the paper then processing them. It was a very fun experience especially watching the image form on the paper when washing it with the developer.

John Medalla – Year 9 Photography and Digital Media student

TAS

Senior Industrial Technology Excursion

On Friday 31 March the Year 11 and 12 Industrial Technology Timber students along with Mr Mendez and Mr Gates visited the Ind Tech 2023 Exhibition at Carbetec Showroom in Auburn. This exhibit displayed exemplary Major Projects from the 2022 HSC year. 

Our boys were able to interact with the students who created the high achieving works to ask questions and gain motivation for their own projects. The corresponding portfolios were also there for students to browse through. 

This experience gives our students exposure to the standards and necessary planning involved to create such high-end projects of which our students are more than capable of doing. 

Our students also had the pleasure of witnessing a CNC milling machine being used along with various wood turning demonstrations. The Carbetec showroom also allowed the students an opportunity to purchase various timber specific resources such as resins and colour pigments along with templates to produce hidden dovetail joints.

Mr Fernando Mendez - TAS Teacher