Junior School News & Sport

• Junior School News
• Highlights from the Junior Resource Centre
• Junior School Chess Club
• Junior School Sport

Junior School News

PRAYER/REFLECTION:  This week is National Refugee Week.  In considering this I would like to offer the following thoughts from Albert Einstein and a prayer.

In 1905 the scientist, Albert Einstein, produced his “Special Theory of Relativity”, which linked time and space and movement.  A couple of months ago, the 11th May, was the anniversary in 1916 of Einstein producing a new “General Theory of Relativity” about gravity and space.

Einstein was born a German and was of Jewish background. For many years there was hatred and  rivalry between Germany and France, and he was all too well-aware of the persecution of the Jews down the ages. Einstein said:

“If my Theory of Relativity is proven correct, Germany will claim me as a German, and France will declare that I am a citizen of the world. Should my theory prove untrue, France will say that I am a German, and Germany will declare that I am a Jew.”

Let us pray:

Lord, I ask for the gifts of knowledge and wisdom and understanding.

What I pray for I intend to work at, so that I may be someone with an open mind,

a thirst for knowledge, and a wisdom that makes good use

of my knowledge and experience.

I know that any gifts are useless if I do not also have love and concern for others,

and so I ask that you inspire me to live in such a way

that I am caring and compassionate and promote understanding

between people in the most compassionate way.

May others respect me, Lord, as much as I respect them.

Amen.

YEAR 5 AUTHOR'S VISIT – JAMES O’LOUGHLIN

Year 5 had a wonderful educational opportunity today.  Mr James O’Loughlin very graciously gave of his time to talk to the boys about his books and the whole writing process.  You may know of James from the radio, TV or as a stand-up comedian.  When he read a part of his book he got plenty of laughs from the boys.

It was good for the boys to hear about how authors get rejected by publishers and how JK Rowling got rejected 30 times before Harry Potter and the Philosophers Stone was published.  It is a good lesson in perseverance and resilience.  Thank you to Mrs Martin for organising this special event.

HIGH JUMP:  The boys will have the opportunity to compete tomorrow in the high jump event that we didn’t have at the athletics carnival. 

INVITATION TO DANCE FINALE AND BLUE FIDE AWARD PRESENTATION:  Parents are most welcome to attend the Dance Finale on Thursday 28th June.  The Dance Finale will commence at 12.45pm in the Christian Brothers Centre Gym at Oxford Falls and is a highly enjoyable experience.  At the conclusion of the Dance Finale we will have a presentation of Blue Fide Awards which are for significant effort leading to improvement. Following the Blue Fide Award presentation we will have afternoon tea. 

A larger, more comprehensive Academic Awards Ceremony will be held with Subject Awards towards the end of the school year.

AN INVITATION TO AN EDUCATIONAL EXPERIENCE:  Year 5 have been studying light and reflection in Science which fits in well with the Vivid Festival.  Year 6 have been studying famous Australians.  You are invited to attend this experience and see what your son and his friends have been doing - see the invitation below.  It will also enable Year 5 parents to see what their sons will be doing in Year 6 History.

REPORTS:  Reports will be accessible on the Portal from late afternoon on Thursday 28th June.  Please ensure you know how to access the portal. Instructions can be found below.

INTERVIEW DAY - MONDAY 23rd JULY:  You will have received an email stating how you can book your  Parent/Student/Teacher Interview on Monday 23rd July  via our online booking system.  Details are provided again below.  I would recommend you leave time between appointments in case somebody is running overtime.  If you have any booking issues please call Hilary Fromager at the Student Office on  9411 4733.

Primary Students should only book to see their son’s Homeroom Teacher who will have a full overview of all other subjects. You can also book to see Mrs Bettina Spanyik and Mr Tim Long.  However, specialty teachers for Music, Technology and Languages will not be available for interviews on this day.  Please contact them directly by email or phone if you have any concerns.

THE SACRAMENT OF CONFIRMATION AT ST MARK’S DRUMMOYNE:  Parents who reside in the parish of St Mark’s Drummoyne are welcome to enrol their children who are in years 6 & 7 & above for the Sacrament of Confirmation. Enrolment letters are available from the Church foyer or the Parish website. http://www.stmarksdrummoyne.org.au/sacraments/confirmation. Enrolments close 29th June 2018.  Preparation sessions commence at the start of the third term, all dates can be found on our website.  The Confirmation celebration Masses are Saturday 6pm Mass 1st September 2018 & Sunday 9am Mass 2nd September 2018.  For further information, contact the Parish Office on 9181 1795 or email: pa@stmarksdrummoyne.org.au

P&F NEWS & EVENTS   

Full details of all events, including those for Years 5 & 6 and the Trivia Night, can be found on the P&F Page of this Newsletter.

UPCOMING EVENTS/ACTIVITIES

• Thursday 21st June:  Sport – dance and training - leaving at 9 am.  Boys require morning tea and sporting gear, i.e. mouthguards or shin pads.  Please move any music specialist lessons away from today.
• Thursday 28th June:  Dance finale at Oxford Falls 12.45 pm followed by a Blue Fide Award presentation and afternoon tea. Parents welcomel
• Thursday 28th June (late afternoon):  Reports posted on portal.
• Friday 29th June:  Festival of Light and Famous Australians 1.30 pm till 3 pm (see invitation above)
• Monday 23rd July:  Parent/Teacher/Student meetings. Boys attend in school uniform. Bookings open at 9am as per instructions above.
• Tuesday 24th July:  Classes resume for Term 3.

Thanking you for your support.

Mr T Long - Head of Junior School

Junior School Chess Club

Round 7:  All our teams play AWAY this week. Please check the draw for further details.

Mrs E Martin - Junior School Chess Convenor

Highlights from the Junior Resource Centre

In Refugee Week, so many great books that focus on the plight of displaced people. Waves – a picture book that recontextualises what it is to be a refugee, and Room on our Rock a clever picture book has one story that can be read two different ways. Perhaps the picture book of the year to date.

Author Visit – James O’Loghlin -   Wednesday 20th June, 2018 – 9:00am

One of my favourite kid’s reads for the year has to be The New Kid by James O’Loghlin. Funny. Interesting text types within. A brilliant read aloud. A disguised funny memoir perhaps? A great fast read for 8-12 year olds. Love it. Thanks James, for visiting the Year 5 St Pius X Boys today. We love your enthusiasm and dedication!

Jigsaw Connection in the JRC

Finished! Thanks to Mrs Iwatani, now onto a 1000 piece puzzle!!

Position Vacant:  Library Monitor for Semester 2, 2018

Are you in Year 5 or 6? Are you responsible, helpful and like putting things in order?  Express your interest in this exciting position in person or by letter to the JRC.

Applications close Friday 29th June.

A big thank you to our dedicated group of library monitors for this semester; Isaac Donlevy, Aidan Mensforth, Jordan Hill, William Zahra, Alexandre Colinard . They were a huge help in ensuring all aspects of the library ran smoothly.

Mrs Martin’s Book Trail  

Stories For Boys Who Dare to be Different by Ben Brooks; illustrated by Quinton Winter

The book everyone is talking about. True tales of amazing boys who changed the world without killing dragons.

Mrs E Martin 

Junior School Sport

Thursday Sport: at Oxford Falls. Another hybrid session with Dance and Winter training for Rugby, Football and AFL. Please note the early departure and requirement for a packed lunch.

Athletics: We will conduct high jump selections at Oxford Falls this week with qualification taking place at lunchtime on Thursday for all interested students. We will then continue on Friday at school for those students who qualify.

Cross-Country: Congratulations to Jacob Magner who competed in the near 100-man field at the CIS Cross-Country last week. He finished a highly commendable 6th in a time of 12:20 and will now represent CIS at the PSSA (State Championships). Congratulations Jacob on this wonderful achievement.

Dance: Our Dance program continues this week and is integrated with our Thursday sport program of winter training. Please note the amendments to travel times in the table above. Boys will require a packed lunch. The cost of the four week program is $30 and will be charged to Term 3 Fees. Parents are warmly invited to attend from 12.45pm on Thursday 28th June for our Final Performance. Afternoon Tea will be served from 1.30pm.

Rugby: 

Mr G Virgona - Junior School Sportsmaster

Football:  

Mr P Cummins - Junior Football Convenor

AFL:  What a difference a Woodchatta report and a night at a Swans game makes! In a tight and very competitive match against Barker every play was literally a fight for possession. But the St Pius boys, like the Swans the night before, did not give up. Defence was the key and there was some strong tackling by both sides to the point that the coaches of both teams had to tell the players in the third quarter break to control their aggression and ensure everyone works hard but enjoys the match.

Scores were locked in the last quarter but some outstanding team and individual plays set up a comfortable win for our team.

All were in agreement that Rory Squires had a ‘man of the match’ performance both in the ruck and as a defensive back. Ollie Johnston requested a change to the forwards and instantly proved he was just as capable there as in the back line while Will Zahra put himself consistently in good leading positions to receive the ball.  Thanks to Tristan Squires for assisting as goal umpire.

Player Points:  3- Rory Squires  2- Ollie Johnston 1 – Will Zahra

Next game:    Saturday 23rdJune  v Waverley -  9:15am at Acron Oval, St Ives

AFL fans at the Swans game last weekend

Ms D Cummins - Junior AFL Convenor