Junior School News
- From the Head of the Junior School
- Junior School Sport
- Junior School Chess
From the Head of the Junior School
MERIT AWARDS
Congratulations to last week’s Merit Award winners:
CLASS CAPTAINS
Congratulations to those boys who were voted by their peers to represent them as Class Captain this term: Harrison S (6 Gold), Angus R (5 Gold), Joseph W (6 Red), Dominik P (5 Red), Henry M (6 Blue), Mason M (5 Blue), and Matthew H (6 Green). I enjoyed meeting with our new Class Captains this morning for a special morning tea in the Boardroom and hearing their feedback on life in the Junior School.
TEACHING AND LEARNING
GEOGRAPHY
6 Blue’s tastebuds were immersed in a taste test of Asian foods in 6 Blue last week. Thank you to Michael Q who shared some of the delicious dumplings he made as part of the Asian studies taking place this term in Year 6.
SCIENCE
Yesterday in their study of natural disasters, 6 Blue used paper cups, sand, and sugar to replicate the effect of a sink hole. The results were almost immediate and very exciting!
If you’d like to see what 6 Blue have been up to and perhaps recreate the experiment at home, click here:'
https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NNUgJCB8Hrg&ab_channel=DiscoveryLab
GRANDPARENT’S DAY LITURGY / WALK-A-THON (Oxford Falls)
Each year, Junior School students and staff participate in a Walk-a-thon, raising money for our two partner schools, St Joseph’s Walgett and St Mary’s Bowraville as well as for our World Vision child, Gloria from Zambia. This year, we invite Grandparents to join us for the day on Thursday 10 August at Oxford Falls starting with a special liturgy at 10:45 am.
Please share this invitation with Grandparents and for catering purposes, please RSVP using this link: https://forms.gle/Gv2e8ipHD9M68hfS6
FATHER AND SON SPORTS DAY & LITURGY (Oxford Falls)
This year, Dads are warmly invited to join us for a special liturgy (at 10:45 am) in the Christian Brothers Centre at Oxford Falls before putting on the sports gear for a fun day of sport with their son. Keep an eye out for an invitation from Mr Ryan in the coming weeks.
NAPLAN
Yesterday, students in Year 5 took home their NAPLAN reports. The teachers made sure that reports were placed into bags, so if yours hasn’t surfaced, that’s where I’d check first.
NAPLAN assesses aspects of literacy, including reading, writing, spelling, grammar and punctuation as well as numeracy. The assessments are designed to provide you, your son, and their teachers with information about how your child’s literacy and numeracy skills and understanding compare to national standards.
NAPLAN results should be considered together with school-based assessments and reports. Your son’s teacher will have the best insight into your child’s educational progress.
NESA, 2023
If you have any questions about your son’s NAPLAN results, please contact his classroom teacher.
DA VINCI DECATHLON
The da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of school students. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines: Engineering, Mathematics and Chess, Code breaking, Art and Poetry, Science, English, Ideation, Creative producers, Cartography and Legacy.
On Thursday, we wish our Junior School da Vinci Decathlon students all the very best as they compete against other schools at Knox College: Conor B, Cameron C, Bryce D, Matthew H, Jayden K, Rory R, Lachlan Y, Nicholas B, Sean G, Connor K, Noah M, Alexander N, Angus R, James S, James U, and Alexander Z.
We thank Mr Damo, Mrs Gunns, and Mr Cummins for their time in supporting the boys to prepare for tomorrow’s competition.
APPA CONFERENCE
Next week (Monday to Wednesday), I will be in Hobart for the Australia Primary Principals Association Annual conference. I am looking forward to a number of keynote speakers presenting on a range of topics that relate to education at the Primary level as well as connecting with Heads of Junior schools from across the country. Mr Morris will be Acting Head of Junior School in my absence.
RUGBY CLUB DINNER
It was wonderful to catch up with old friends and new at the Rugby Club dinner on Saturday night at the Kirribilli Club. Looking forward to seeing all the Football crew at the Greengate on Saturday night from 7:00 pm.
11Es
Last Saturday I had an opportunity to watch the 11Es up against Barker at Barker. The boys came away with a comprehensive 7 – 1 win and continued my winning streak as #1 supporter! Special thanks to Mr Do for his huge contribution with the 11Es.
CRISTIANO CALCARAO
Congratulations to Cristiano who competed in the 3km State Cross Country Championships last week. Cristiano sustained a painful injury in the first part of the race but continued on despite the pain to achieve a very brave 4th.
DATES FOR THE DIARY
- Saturday 29 July | Football Cocktail Party, Greengate Hotel
- Thursday 10 August | Grandparents’ Day Liturgy & Walk-a-thon RSVP essential
- Friday 11 August | Year 6 Chinatown Excursion
- Saturday 12 August | P & F Trivia Night
- Friday 25 August | Book Week Parade
- Monday 28 August | St Pius X Feast Day holiday (Pupil- and Staff-free day)
- Thursday 31 August | Fathers Day Liturgy and Sports Day at Oxford Falls
Thank you for your continued support of the Junior School.
Mrs Jill Greenwood - Head of the Junior School
MATHS DROP-IN AND HOMEWORK HELP FOR YEARS 5 - 6
FRIDAYS 8:00 am – 8:40 am
Drop-in to 5 Gold for help with difficult mathematics concepts or general homework. This is an ideal place where students can come and feel comfortable to ask questions. Students are encouraged to bring along specific queries, tasks, assessments, homework, general revision and problems to work on, with Mrs Fileman on hand, ready to help.
Mrs Amanda Fileman - Mathematics Teacher
Junior School Sport
Thursday Sport:
Winter Sport training will continue this week for Australian Rules Football, Football and Rugby. Term 3 program is as follows: A reminder again that parents/carers picking their son up from Oxford Falls need to do so by 2.20pm please.
Term 3 program continues as follows:
Football:
There were some mixed results following the first round back after a 3 week lay-off. There was great excitement in the way the boys played at Oxford Falls with plenty of shots on target. Thankfully for SPX in the 11C’s and 11D’s the shots were accurate as each team dominated the first and second half to win comfortably. Unfortunately the 10A’s went down in a relatively close match which saw both teams build pressure when in possession. Despite several scoring chances, SPX were unable to convert these into goals. Whilst at the other end, Waverley were clinical when they had attempts at goal. Both teams have been standouts this year with SPX beating Waverley when they first met in Round 2. The 11A’s came from behind to secure a victory with steely determination and resilience the order of the day on Walsh Oval. In the 12 years age group all games proved challenging against a well organised Newington and St Patrick’s (12A’s) outfits. Congratulations to the 12D’s for securing the only win in this age group.
Round 9 Fixtures – Saturday, 29 July
Rugby:
The students were back in action on the rugby field after the break over the holidays. The Prep Firsts took some time to get back into the swing of things but had a strong second half finishing with a good win against Tudor House. The 11As faced a strong Trinity squad for their first game back after the break. From all reports, there were good moments of individual brilliance and cooperation between the boys. The Rugby 7s teams played well and demonstrated great team work to secure two good wins against St Pats and Scots.
Round 9 Fixtures – Saturday, 29 July
Australian Rules Football:
Round 9 Fixtures – Saturday, 29 July
Athletics - Training: Training officially commenced this week for all athletes. Despite Monday’s weather resulting in a cancelled session, it is crucial that all boys chosen in the extended squad are able to commit to the training days, especially once the Winter season of Junior sport concludes. Training takes place on Monday, Wednesday and Thursday afternoons at Rotary Athletics Field, Mowbray Rd West, Lane Cove. We will leave via Anderson Street no later than 3:30 pm. After school dismissal, the College will transport the students to the venue by private bus, and the sessions will run until 4:55 pm where a bus will return the students to Chatswood. If you wish to collect your son from the venue, please be there no later than 4:50 pm.
Athletics - 1500m Event: Anyone wishing to join the athletics squad in the 1500m event can attend training where a time trial will be held. Please consider the following minimum standards used for qualifying:
10’s: 5m37s
11’s: 5m22s
12’s: 5m14s
NSWPSSA Cross Country: We were very proud to see Cristiano Calcarao (6 Red) compete for CIS in the NSWPSSA Cross Country championships last week. Racing against boys in the 12/13yrs event, Cristiano had his work cut out competing against boys a year older. Nevertheless, he ran a tremendous 3000m race coming in 4th overall with a time of 11:05.8 (only 0.3 seconds behind 3rd place). We look forward to following and celebrating Cristiano’s continued success in the coming months.
Mr Ben Ryan - Junior School Sports Coordinator
From the SPX Rugby Club
Gala Dinner
What a fantastic night at the Rugby Gala dinner! Thank you to all parents, teachers and coaches who attended the evening and supported the Rugby Club to raise funds for our boys and the sport they love. It was also a perfect opportunity for our community to come together for a fun-filled night!
Galabid was successful and we thank all our parent and business sponsors for their generosity. There was incredible support shown. Also, to everyone who purchased items on the night as well as the many who bought items and were unable to attend the event.
We also welcome any feedback from the night. As always, direct all enquiries to spxrugby@gmail.com.
The SPX Rugby Committee
Annual Social Cocktail Night
Annual Social Cocktail Night this Saturday – Last chance to get tickets
Come along and enjoy the World Cup Football Games with us
Saturday,7pm, 29th July, 2023 – Greengate Hotel
Click here to buy tickets
https://events.humanitix.com/spxfootballcocktailevening2023
Old boy SPX football players (over 18) are also invited.
Great Spirit at SPX Football Supporter's Day
The third and final Football Supporters day was held at Oxford Falls last Saturday.
We were happy to hear a group from another school tell us that they like coming to St Pius to play football as we have good food and a great community spirit.
Thank you to everyone in our football community who donated baked and BBQ goods, volunteered on the day and bought the delicious food and coffee. Your efforts are raising funds for the future football program.
SPX Football Supporters' Club Committee
Junior Chess
My apologies for the mix up last week.
This week Teams A (LN1) and C (LN1) are not playing.
Teams B (LN2), D (LN3), E (LN4) and F (LN3) are all playing at home.
Consequently, those teams will be home a bit later than usual, on Friday.
Teams B, D and E will be playing against St Aloysius, while Team F will be playing Neutral Bay.
Mrs Roslynne Hunt - Junior Chess Convenor