Student Matters
Chatswood RSL Garden of Remembrance Ceremony
Student Matters
Chatswood RSL Garden of Remembrance Ceremony
Please find below the timetables for the Years 7-9 exams.
Mr A Damo - Assistant Principal Teaching & Learning
Remembrance Day saw the main College student body and many guests commemorate Remembrance Day in our Junior School playground adjacent to the plaque commemorating Jacob DeSisto, ex-student, killed in action in December 1944. The Kokoda Expedition Team visited Jacob’s grave in Bomana Cemetery Port Moresby after hiking the Kokoda Track with 28 students, and their mothers, fathers and sisters, to show our respects in July this year. A small group of students also represented the College at the Chatswood RSL Garden of Remembrance Ceremony last Friday at 11am.
College Vice Captain Daniel Butler and the Years 7–9 House Vice Captains attended a moving ceremony and laid a wreath in the Garden of Remembrance, Chatswood, during which Mayor Gail Giles-Gidney described the impact of war upon Willoughby District. The Garden of Remembrance, having been dedicated after The Boer War of 1901, was rededicated after WWI, WWII, Korea, Malaya, and Vietnam conflicts. The Mayor recounted that of 60 members of Chatswood’s Gordon Cricket Club to serve in WWI, 7 were killed in action; however, 38 were never able to play cricket for the club again.
In attendance at the ceremony was 97 year old Mrs Daphne Chowne- Dunne whose husband, and Chatswood resident, Albert Chowne VC, MM, was posthumously awarded the Victoria Cross for actions in Papua New Guinea. Chowne had earlier fought with the 9th Division as a “Rat of Tobruk” in Libya and at El Alamein in Egypt. Daniel Butler, Nick Cowie and Declan Langreiter, whose Great Uncle Flt Sgt Anthony Gillespie was another ex-student who lost his life in 1944 over Germany, were able to relay to an enthralled Mrs Chowne our experiences of PNG on the Kokoda Track, and in Immersion at Callan Services in Port Moresby. It was a formative experience for our House Vice Captains, elected leaders in Years 7-9, to meet and speak with Mrs Chowne, the Mayor and other dignitaries present, representing the College in a manner which was both educational and distinguished.
Congratulations to Paddy Moore, Zac Davidson, Riley Kennedy, Alex Hart, Nick Fusca, Joel Ghannoum, Robbie Kraszewski and Zac Fleming who performed so well in this capacity.
Photo: College Vice Captain Daniel Butler, Nicholas Cowie and Declan Langreiter (Grand Nephew of Ex-students, Flt Sgt Anthony Gillespie, KIA 1945) who hiked the Kokoda Track with the SPX Kokoda Expedition 2016, with the House Vice Captains Years 7-9 at the Chatswood Garden of Remembrance Day Ceremony.
Mayor Gail Giles-Gidney and in the front row Mrs Daphne Chowne whose husband was a local resident who won the Military Medal in New Guinea during WWII are photographed along with local dignatories.
Mr S Brannan - Head of Student Services
All Year 9 Students are reminded that as an important component of their PDHPE curriculum and Pastoral Care/Wellbeing Program, they will participate in a CEROC Modern Dance workshop combined with Year 9 students from Brigidine College St Ives, at Oxford Falls on Tuesday 29th November.
The event was a highly successful and entertaining one last year in which our students really rose to the occasion, hosting our guests in a responsible and inclusive manner, working particularly well to include students from Brigidine’s Caroline Chisolm program for students with disability. The title of best “on ground” performer was awarded to Angus Growden last year and is up for grabs in 2016.
Students will need to wear correct sports uniform, travel from school as normal, and bring their lunch on the day. Dismissal from Oxford Falls or at Jamieson Square on the return trip home may be possible with a permission note. Looking forward to a successful day of energy and dance performance.
Mr S Brannan - Head of Student Services
Our Semester 1 and 2 House Vice Captains and Stage 4 and 5 Leadership Group of students will attend a Leadership Forum at Oxford Falls on Friday 2nd December. All students invited will be required to wear correct Sports Uniform, assemble at the podium and travel to Oxford Falls after morning roll call on the day. Dismissal from Oxford Falls or at Jamieson Square on the return trip home may be possible with a permission note.
Guest presenters for the Leadership Forum include:
Lunch details are yet to be confirmed but students will need to bring their lunch at this point, unless P&F funding and the Year 9 Mindmatters Student Empowerment Team manpower allows us to run a BBQ. See Mr Brannan or Mr McBrearty for more information and stay tuned for distribution and return processes of permission notes.
Mr S Brannan - Head of Student Services
This week Year 10 students have the opportunity to participate in a library survey. Feedback from our community, especially our students, is vital to ensure that our service and space is meeting the needs of everyone. In response to past surveys and student feedback, for 2016 we have:
The library continues our school’s aim to provide safe and inclusive spaces. With a welcome smile and a helpful, can-do attitude we hope that every library experience is a positive one. A survey gives voice to every student and a chance for us to build more positive experiences.
If you have any feedback or suggestions please email me at KKeighery@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au
Ms K Keighery - Senior Teacher Librarian
We have been advised by Transport NSW that Student Opal Card Applications for 2017 can now be processed online. Parents no longer need to submit a printed copy of the application to the College for endorsement and lodgement. However, parents can be assured that printed applications which have already been submitted to the College will be endorsed and lodged.
Please find below a Fact Sheet issued by Transport NSW.
Ms R Gaston - Student Travel
Bubbledome Holiday Courses
Please go to the link below to access full details of all courses.