Junior School News & Sport

• Junior School News and Information
• Highlights from the Junior Resource Centre
• Learning Enrichment Notices
• Junior School Sport

Prayer/Reflection:  

On Monday we celebrated International Women’s Day.   May you take a moment to read this beautiful prayer for those women in the world who may be facing hardships in their lives.

On this day when the call is for gender equality, we pray for all women and girl children and,

in particular,

The vulnerable and oppressed, especially the trafficked and victims of domestic violence and abuse

May they experience justice and know mercy

Women who are struggling to make ends meet

May they experience justice and know mercy

Women raising children on their own without support

May they experience justice and know mercy

Women whose jobs are in doubt or who can’t find work

May they experience justice and know mercy

Women experiencing the effects of climate change

May they experience justice and know mercy

Those who are lonely, lost, alone

May they experience justice and know mercy

Children who are neglected or abandoned

May they experience justice and know mercy

THE WEEK THAT WAS:

Last week Year 5 were lucky enough to be visited by Alison Croggon. Alison Croggon is an award-winning novelist, poet, theatre writer, critic and editor who lives in Melbourne, Australia. A more detailed account of the visit can be found in Mrs Martin’s, Junior School Library section.

Well done to the Year 5 students who began the school week with a prayer for the whole school to celebrate International Women’s Day. Due to the rain the boys had to read over the loud speaker to deliver their prayer and they are all to be congratulated on their clear voices and the wonderful messages that they shared with us.

On Tuesday the Junior School Bible Liturgy was held. Mr Patterson was our guest speaker and was able to capture the attention of all boys with an interesting story about the role of the bible in his life. Mr Patterson has a very special way of relaying his stories and the boys couldn’t wait to get their bibles so that they could read more about the exciting characters that were mentioned. After the Year 5 students received their Bibles the Year 6 students then had a chance to make the Year 6 Student Pledge for the Broken Bay Diocese.

Good luck to all the Year 5 campers and a big thank you to the teachers who are accompanying the students: Mrs Williams, Mr Patterson, Mr Cummins, Mrs Doheny and myself in Mr Long’s absence.

Please note also that the Year 6 excursion to NSW Parliament House that Mr Long mentioned in last week’s Woodchatta has had to be postponed until Friday of Week 1, Term 2.

THIS COMING WEEK:

It is great to see so many students taking up the opportunity to attend After School Study but please note that due to a Whole School Staff Meeting next Tuesday afternoon, there will be no After School Study for the students.

All boys who have played a summer sport for the College will be involved in team photos next week on Wednesday, 18 March. The running order for the morning is attached.  The boys will need to come to school in their Summer Uniform and bring their respective sports uniforms with them. Any boy who forgets his uniform will miss out on being in the photograph.

Our Year 6 Class Captains have been invited to take part in a CSO Leaders Mass next Thursday. They will make their way to Our Lady of the Rosary, Waitara to represent the Junior School.

Next Friday the Junior School will join the whole school in celebrating National Day of Action Against Bullying & Violence at a whole school Assembly. This should be a great starting point for discussions both in the classroom and at home.

SATURDAY 14 March – Open Day - we would love boys to volunteer to be guides.  I will show them where to walk beforehand.  It is actually a good way to boost confidence in speaking to others. It is also a good way to ‘give back.’ Boys can be buddied up with a more talkative or older student.  Many boys come after sport and they will change into their full school uniform.  They will be ‘fed and watered’ and I will be amused by some of the comments they make!  The Open Day at Chatswood Campus is from 10.00 am till 2.00 pm so if they come after sport that will be fine.  You can go have some ‘R & R’ while they are being guides.

Please complete the attached permission note and have your son return to the Administration Reception.

Happy Birthday

Wishing all the March birthday boys a very big Happy Birthday!

Marco Akdagcik, Oliver Byrne, Jude Cuninghame, Jake Desertine, Joel Fieldus, Maximus Jammal, Noah MacAndrews, Jack McSweeney, Alex Moores, James Patchett, Cameron  Powell, Zachary Rapa, Tristan Squires, Jacques Strydom and Sebastian van Vuuren.

Maths drop in

Ms Barrett holds a Maths drop in service every Friday from 8.10 am onwards where your son can come and seek extra assistance and clarification regarding his Mathematics.  The location is the LSE room at the end of the corridor on the left, opposite Mr Carroll’s 6 Red classroom.

P & F EVENTS

Please see the P & F page for upcoming P&F events.

TERM 1 DATES

I attach the calendar for this term below.

A THOUGHT TO PONDER

Wilfred Peterson

Thanking you for your support.

Mrs Samantha Iwatani -  Acting Head of Junior School

Highlights from the Junior Resource Centre

Author Visit

On Friday 6 March, 2020, Year 5 were invited to listen to the author Alison Croggon discuss her new middle grade novel ‘The Threads of Magic’. A fast-paced historical fantasy adventure. The boys were richly drawn into readings from the novel. Lots of questions were asked and answered, including where Alison got her inspiration for the novel. ‘The novel was inspired by the story of the Lost Dauphin, the son of Louis XVI and Marie Antoinette, who was imprisoned and mysteriously disappeared during the French Revolution’.  Great classroom discussion.   

Premier's Reading Challenge

Opened on Monday 2 March.  Please check that your son has received their username and password.  (This was emailed to them last week.)  If there are any problems, ask your son to contact Mrs Martin.

Mrs Martin’s Book Trail – 

"Big IDEAS Young Thinkers"  by Jamia Wilson, Andrea Pippins (Illustrator). Big Ideas being discussed.

Who are you? Who are we?

Why do I think?

What is gender?

Why do we exist?

What happens when we die?

What is right and wrong?

What is bias? Do I have it?

What is freedom?

What is an imagination?

What is memory?

Philosophy rules at the moment in Children’s information picture books, which is brilliant. This is a top read for kids aged 9 plus.#mrsmartin’sbooktrail2020

Mrs Elena Martin - Junior Librarian

Learning Enrichment Notices

IPSHA Junior School Debating – Selection Trials

Boys in the Junior School have the opportunity to become involved in Debating. The College enters two teams in the IPSHA Debating Competition. Twelve boys from the Junior School form the two teams and these are selected to compete. The teams debate fortnightly on a Friday afternoon (during school hours Periods 4-6) during Terms 2, 3 and 4 on a rotational basis. The emphasis is on learning the skills of debating and workshops will be held during lunchtimes leading up to the competitions. Training begins every Wednesday and Friday lunchtimes beginning Week 10 Term 1.

Boys are invited to present a short two minute speech to assist in selection of these teams. These speeches are to be presented during the set trial sessions on Wednesday and Friday lunchtimes:

The topic for the speech is "THAT PETS ARE A PEST". Further details will be given to the boys at the Junior School assembly. 

Mrs Bettina Spanyik - Learning Enrichment Teacher

Junior Sport

Thursday Sport: Year 6 Cross-Country. Then training for Basketball, Cricket, Softball, Tennis and Touch Football and mixed sport activities.

AFL - BREAKING NEWS!!!

Breaking news is that AFL is back for the St Pius X Junior School in 2020! A junior team has been entered this year’s IPSHA winter competition. The AFL will provide support for the team during Thursday sports training at Oxford Falls and we also have an AFL accredited coach on board. We currently have the minimum number of boys needed but would like 3-4 more boys to join the team, so if you are interested please let Mr McBrearty know by the end of this week. It is a fantastic team sport and a great way to have fun, keep fit and make new friends.

Basketball:  Our final round of the Term 1 half-season takes place this Saturday. Good luck to all teams.

Cross-Country:  

Training is in full swing in preparation for our upcoming Representative Carnivals:

• IPSHA Cross-Country (Yrs 5-6) on Saturday 4 April
• ISA Cross-Country (Yrs 7-12) on Wednesday 27 May

We have already had 44 runners attend the first 3 sessions, with a dozen die-hards holding a perfect training record – keep it up. Shout out to Year 9, our most strongly represented cohort, followed by Years 7 and 10. Calling Year 8 runners to get involved ASAP – SPX needs you!

Matt North (Yr 11) is our runner of the week smashing out 6km in 21:17 (3:30 m/km pace) and not missing a session. Jonah Steele (Yr 7) gets the young gun award for his perfect attendance and brisk 13:10 3km time trial.

Training commences at 7.30 am at Beauchamp Oval, Chatswood on Tuesday and Thursday mornings. We finish at 8.10 am, in time to return to school for showers/changing, breakfast (incl. a well-earnt pancake on Tuesdays in Lent perhaps) and morning preparation. All are welcome, irrespective of aspirations.

Rugby:  

Trial games for all Junior School Rugby players are scheduled for Saturday 28 March at Oxford Falls against St Aloysius

12’s: 8.00 am Oxford Falls - Chaplin 1

11’s:  8.00 am Oxford Falls - Chaplin 2

Holiday Training Clinic:  The Annual Holiday Rugby Clinic will be held on 14 and 15 April.  This will be run by Mike Cross and the Trytime Team.  It will include transport to and from Chatswood as well as recess and lunch each day.  To register, please use the link below:

https://www.trybooking.com/612479

Football:  Trial games for Football are scheduled for Saturday 28 March at Oxford Falls against St Aloysius.

12A’s: 8.00 am Oxford Falls - Walsh

12B’s: 9.00 am Oxford Falls - Walsh

11A’s: 8.00 am Oxford Falls - Watkins

11B’s: 8.00 am Oxford Falls - Watkins

Touch Football: A fun Saturday of inter-school matches was played in a carnival like atmosphere at Oxford Falls. Congratulations to everyone on the way you played the games in good spirit. Our final round of the Term 1 half-season takes place this Saturday. Good luck to all teams.

Mr  Benn McBrearty - Junior School Sports Master

NSTA Tennis:  Please check under NSTA Tennis in the Senior School Sport and Co-curricular section for future correspondence.

IPSHA Tennis:  It was funny weather last weekend, we started with blue skies followed by grey skies and showers. The boys played through the showers and showed great Pius spirit in every match. It is great to see the boys improving each week, they have been eager to learn how to umpire and score. The B team were all enthusiastic at their games and when they weren’t playing they were great ball boys and aspiring umpires.

Thank you to Alex Dal Molin and Martin Chan who filled in for the A team and to Robert Ponniah and Angus Gibson who played for the B team last weekend. Alex had a great singles winning his games 3-2. It was also very exciting for Owen and Luca from the B team who made a great team and won their doubles match.

Mrs Samantha Iwatani - IPSHA Tennis Convenor

Softball: 

Last week our game was against Trinity. It was a rainy morning and we only had 8 players. The team was ready for a win. Yes, this week was ours. The players fielded and batted well.

St Pius came away with a convincing win.

Well done Joshua, Sebastian, Benjamin, Logan, Benji, Jake, Andrew, Michael, Luca and Oliver on a fun season.

I hope to see you all on the team Term 4.

Thank you to Mr Van Katwyk for keeping score.

Parents please note no game next week.

Mrs Jennifer Williams - Softball Convenor

SPX Rugby Supporters Club Golf Day - held on Friday 6 March - Roseville Golf Club

Our second SPX Rugby Supporters' Club Fundraising Golf Day was held at the Roseville Golf Club from 1pm on Friday, 6 March.

The Tournament:

Ninety five (95) players, comprised into twenty four (24) teams, took part in an 'Ambrose Foursome' 18 hole golf tournament on the day.

The tournament was won by the 'Richard Mills Consulting/Firths The Compensation Lawyers' team with a score of 49. Congratulations to team members Richard Mills, Andy Haldane, Evan Griffith and Mark Tonelli (former Olympic Games swimming gold medallist).

The runners up in the Team Competition were 'Cactus Imaging' with a score of 49.375. Congratulations to team members Paul Clarke, Keith Ferrel, Richard Jones and Ron Ryan.

Third place in the Team Competition went to the 'Invasta Global/Sissons Architects' team with a score of 51.5. Congratulations to team members Nick Sissons, Ryan James, Rod Kafer and Justin Harrison (former Australian Wallaby representative).

'Team Russell' members Andy O'Hehir, Will Russell, John Russell and Steve Russell proudly accepted the 'Reverse Winners' award with a score of 63.25.

Former Australian Wallaby

Junior School Chess Club

Junior School Chess training begins Tuesday 17 March 2020 at 7.30 am in the Junior Resource Centre.

Mrs Elena Martin - Junior School Chess Convenor