St Pius X College Newsletter

Pastoral Care

Year 6 Camp

From the Assistant Principal Pastoral Care

  • Student Diary Planners
  • Attendance
  • House Vice Captains
  • Years 5, 6 and 8 Camps

Student Diary Planners

It is timely that all students and parents are reminded that the College Student Diary Planners should be in daily use now, with each lesson and an outcome - key learnings, set tasks or revision and extension prompts - summarised on the weekly pages. The extra curricula involvement planning scaffold on Pg 12 and Responsible Use of ICT Agreement on Pg 16 should have been filled in and signed off, and each weekly page should be signed off by both parents and Pastoral Care staff as a measure and indicator of student organisation, wellbeing and learning progress for the week.

It was interesting yesterday as I met with some colleagues from Scots and Pymble Ladies Colleges at Bellevue Hill, to share insights into the opportunities we take to link the measures of connectedness with family, school and peers, with physical activity and wellbeing, fitness and academic outcomes. The links between student organisation, involvement and flourishing both in wellbeing and learning performance measures are evident.

In this vein, there is a wealth of content to stimulate a culture of thinking, consideration and action on wellbeing within the sections of the Student Diary Planner and I encourage all members of the College community to explore the goal setting and planning for positive engagement, meaning and purpose exercises and provide feedback which can inform the planning and evolution of our pastoral care programs into 2020.

I know the Year 8 cohort explored the Values In Action (VIA) character strengths (Pg 28) last week in preparation for their Pastoral Care component of the Year 8 Camp which begins today.

Attendance

It has been pleasing to note the response of our Year 12 students, under Mr Masters' direction, to the challenges of the HSC, particularly through their high attendance rates in classes and school activities. The first step to being a good learner is immersing yourself in the learning by being  there and “present” in all senses of the word.

All parents are reminded that if your son is away from school this can be indicated via the channels below.  All communication should detail your son’s name and class, reason for absence, your name and return contact details for verification.

Longer planned periods of absence can be communicated by filling in the form on the portal/website and forwarding this to Mr Couani via your son's Year Coordinator and to Ms Hemmerman, our Student Attendance Manager, via  studentmanagement@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au

Your keeping us informed of your son’s inability to attend on any given day is greatly appreciated in supporting our duty of care to all students.

House Vice Captains

Years 7 – 11 House Vice Captains are in the process of being elected and appointed in their House and Year Groups as we write. These complement our Student Leadership Team (Year 12) and Class Captains in Years 5-6 as part of our apparatus for inviting student voice and representation at all levels and activities throughout the College.

These appointees have responsibilities in organising and representing/advocating for their peers in practical and House-based activities and carnivals throughout the school.  Some of their duties in Semester 1 involve attendance at:

  • College Open Day Saturday 16 March at both Chatswood and Oxford Falls Campuses- see Ms Jennings for details.
  • NSW RSL and Schools Remember ANZAC Day Service Tuesday 9 April ANZAC Memorial Hyde Park
  • ANZAC Day Dawn Services Thursday 25th April Chatswood Garden of Remembrance and Willoughby
  • Indigenous Service Men and Women Commemoration Friday 31st May ANZAC Memorial Hyde Park

Other students who might have an interest in attending these or other student representative and leadership opportunity events can see Mr Brannan to express their interest in the first instance and in a timely manner.

2019 Semester 1 House Vice Captains will collect their badges from their 2018 Semester 2 Predecessors listed below who have provided great leadership and service over their tenure as House Vice Captains:

Years 5, 6 and 8 Camps

Following the triumphal return and celebration of our students and staff from the Pastoral Care Camps last week - Year 5 at Milson Island and Year 6 at Wombaroo - our Year 8 students depart today on their Tea Gardens Great Aussie Bush Camp. This is a significant step in the students' pastoral care journey through the school and a great opportunity for their growth in mindset, experience and interpersonal relationships.

I take this opportunity to thank the Year 8 Pastoral care staff, under Mr Ticli’s leadership, for the great contribution they make to the wellbeing and development of the students under their duty of care. I greatly appreciate the sacrifices the staff, and by extension their families, are making to facilitate this rich learning experience.

 

Fide et labore

Mr Sean Brannan - Assistant Principal Pastoral Care