Pastoral Care

• Year 12
• Year 11 Exams
• House Cup 2020
• Year 9 Term 4 Activities
• Big News Story of the Week
• Brothers Rugby Grand Final

 Well-being Anecdote from the Student Diary Planner

“The most important relationship we can all have, is the one you have with yourselves."  Aristotle

"The best way to find yourself is to lose yourself in the service of others."

Mahatma Gandhi

St Pius X College acknowledges our First Nations, Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, and particularly the Cammeryagal people, 

whose interconnection with this land sustained and 

fulfilled them mentally, physically, emotionally, socially and spiritually, 

over thousands of years. 

May we learn from their wisdom.

Year 12

Congratulations to the graduating class of 2020 as they complete their last day of lesson based learning and ceremoniously graduate from the College this Thursday. We wish them every positive outcome for the HSC in a few weeks' time, and more importantly their life beyond that. The Class of 2020 has provided inspired and resilient leadership of the College through a time of challenge and adversity. 

Thanks go to Year Coordinator, Ms Donna Janes, and Senior Studies Coordinator, Mr Bernard Batchelor, as they support the students through these latter stages of their St Pius X College school based journey.

On graduating, all Year 12 students are sponsored to Life Membership of the SPX Old Boys Association when they provide membership contact details required by governance of the association. Membership includes an Old Boys Tie, Tie Pin and free invitation to the Old Boys Annual Dinner next September, conditions allowing. See Mr Brannan or respond to the Formstack email to proceed with your membership.

Year 11 Exams

Year 11 Exams conclude this Thursday and have been a valuable and challenging time through which our students have risen to the occasion under the careful leadership of Mr Paul Ticli. Their experiences and the feedback from these assessments will stand the students in good stead for their HSC year ahead.

House Cup 2020

Last Friday’s Sports Assembly provided the opportunity to not only finalise and present the 2020 House Cup, but importantly to reflect on the quality of our student leaders' contributions this year.

Twelve months ago, when College Vice Captains Tyson McCallum and Michael Fakhoury began the 2020 House Cup Competition, and our Sports Captains Will Chen, Kiefer O’Brien, Duncan Dingley and Sam Barrell, took leadership of both their Houses and Friday Sports Assemblies, we could not have predicted the breadth and variety of activities that would contribute to the competition.

Yet these young men as representatives of the Student Leadership Team, Year 12, and St Pius more broadly inspired us through the COVID Isolation with their PURSUE YOUR PASSION video, and subsequently through all manner of celebration and commemorations including ANZAC Day, Mother's Day, Edmund Rice’s Feast Day, and more recently, RUOK? Day, under some challenging circumstances. While many of the House Cup points were drawn from traditional sources such as the College Swimming Carnival and Representatives sports, Debating, Public Speaking and Drama, Music and Performance Ensembles. This year more even than in previous years, inter-house sports and events have led to students accruing points for their Houses:  The Year 10 Student Empowerment Team’s House Table Tennis Competition which continues into Term 4, House Athletics and Cross Country and PDHPE competitions at Oxford Falls were all included. The Edmund Rice Reading Challenge, Write a Book in a Day, the highly successful Pius Camera Action Short Film Festival, as well as the traditional participation of students in House Sports, Performing and Visual Arts in house participation have contributed to the vibrancy of this competition.

To mark their contribution and the transition of student leadership within the College our Year 11 Student leaders elect were on hand to express the College’s gratitude to our 2020 Leaders. College Vice Captain 2021 Nick Ward came in on a non-exam day to wish Tyson and Michael every best hope for the future, while College House Captain for Treacy House Will Chen was thanked by Dom Panozzo, Rice House’s Sam Barrell by Ben Ferguson. Purton House Duncan Dingley was thanked by Fred Braddock and Barron House’s Kiefer O’Brien was thanked by Patrick Moore.

For the House Cup record, in fourth place having earned 10,483 points RICE House trailed TREACY who earned 10,630 points, and BARRON on 10,648 points were held off by PURTON the winner of the HOUSE CUP for 2020 on 12,354 points.

Congratulations to PURTON House and indeed all the students actively involved to allow Purton Captain Duncan Dingley to celebrate by taking the trophy aloft.

A big thank you must also go to Mrs Hilary Fromager in the front office who supports our College Vice Captains and the House Cup by maintaining and updating the spreadsheets of scores which our student leaders bring to hand.

YEAR 9 Term 4 Activities

Please note the Year 9 Activities days have now been consolidated to include a whole form Wellbeing Day – AIS Mental Health Program, REACH wellbeing – “New Normal” workshop and House sports activities on Day 1 of Term 4. Students need to bring Sports uniform (House shirt) Recess, Lunch and Water bottle with a muffin and Popper added for recess for students where appropriate.

Each Homeroom will then attend the following Day 2 Activities in turn as below. Please bring swimming gear, towel, T shirt, shorts and 'wet shoes' along with your recess, lunch and a water bottle in a small day pack.

Big News Story of the Week

On Tuesday evening’s SBS news, recent Old Boy Matt Connellan interviewed Middle Eastern expert Dr Rodger Shanahan, class of 1982. I was half expecting SPX parent and SBS Journalist Mr John Baldock to file the next news story. It is a small world.

Brothers Rugby Grand Final

St Pius X Old Boys Rugby was on display last Saturday evening when the Old Boys “Brothers” Rugby Club played their Halligan Cup Grand Final under lights at Manly Oval against a strong Manly Savers Club. Unfortunately the team featuring Nick McCamley, Pat Dermott, Michael Parker, Jayden Wall and Francis Phillips, to name a few, were unable to prevail in a see-sawing contest, but certainly challenged their strong opponents with some entertaining Rugby played in the best traditions of Christian Brothers Old Boys (CBOB) sport. The Old Boys' Rugby Club are certainly keen to ensure that our graduating students take the opportunity to show solidarity and adventure and continue to support one another in rugby and life beyond the College gate.

Fide et Labore

Mr Sean Brannan - Assistant Principal, Pastoral Care and Wellbeing