St Pius X College Newsletter

Pastoral Care 

  • Child Safeguarding Standards
  • Positive Education and Growth Mindset
  • Parental Input
  • Reconciliation Action Plan Team
  • St Mary's Bowraville Connection
  • St Anthony's Hamper Mass and Delivery
  • Year 11 Schools Police Liaison Officer
  • Congratulations to Pat Moore

Child Safeguarding Standards

A major focus of the College, and indeed Edmund Rice Education Australia this year, has been in ensuring we exercise best practice in applying the Child Safeguarding Standards Framework, and in particular:

Standard 2. Children and young people are safe, informed and participate. That is: Children and young people are informed about their rights, participate in decisions affecting them, and are taken seriously.

and

Standard 8. Safe Physical and Online Environments: Physical and online environments promote safety and contain appropriate safeguards to minimise the opportunity for children and young people to be harmed.

In the context of the 2021 school year these topical priorities have been key considerations across the operation of the school both in the physical environment and during online learning. We welcome any suggestions or feedback to inform our implementation of safety, pastoral care and wellbeing practices for learning throughout the school community. Please email sbrannan@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au if you have any relevant observations of pertinent suggestions for innovation in this area of the College.

Positive Education and Growth Mindset

The 2022 school year will see us renew our commitment to our pastoral care and wellbeing framework with an emphasis on enhancing the positive education and growth mindset principles of all members of the St Pius X College community.

The emphasis of connecting our school and students through engagement with our “curriculum of story” is a key pillar in this initiative to enhance the principles of ensuring Meaning and Purpose, Engagement, Relationships, Accomplishments, Health and Positive emotions are tangible for all our students and community.

Parental Input

After a year in which Open Days, campus visits and face to face activities were curtailed, we look forward to a year next year in which we can celebrate as a community with greater parental input at our P & F Functions, Masses, Sporting and Extra-curricular functions in support of the school and its students.

Please take the opportunities to support the P & F and Sporting clubs as they adjust to the new situations. With due diligence there may be opportunity for parental input and support of our Student Empowerment Teams activities, the Red Dirt Expedition and other initiatives if we can organise support and mobilise early. Please stay tuned for these communications.

Reconciliation Action Plan Team

An important element of our commitment to acknowledging the contribution, culture, history and heritage of our First Nations peoples is our Student Reconciliation Action Plan Team. While several of our student leaders depart the College this year in Connor Ryan of Year 12 and Caleb Hanrahan (Year 10), we welcome several new members including Declan Fitzgerald, Jesse Mansbridge, Billy Sykes, Mitch McGrath, Luke Sissons and Aaron Lau of Year 10 who have presented at our recent Founders Day celebrations, and Nick Kwan of Year 7 who will all be a voice for this important area of our College’s social responsibilities.

St Mary’s Bowraville Connection

The excellent work of Mr Balboa, Mr Steinman and Year 7 in generously collecting gifts for our  St Mary’s Primary School Social Justice partner school in BowravIlle provides an opportunity for us to connect at the kind invitation of Principal Nadine Slingsby and Aboriginal Education Officer, Souths supporter and good friend of the College Mr Mark Smith.

A small group of students including Pat Frost and Dominic Mitchell of Year 9 and Aaron Lau and Luke Sissons of Year 10 will accompany myself and Mr Steinman to deliver our Christmas gifts to St Mary's on Monday 13 and Tuesday 14 December. During our visit Mark Smith has kindly offered to take us “on country” around Bowraville, Scott’s Head and Nambucca to better understand the local Gumbaygirr culture and history, and to interact with the students after their swimming day in Bellingen.

We also hope to connect with Christian Brothers' Pat Lynch who lived for many years in the community at Goodooga and Steve Morelli who has consolidated the Gumbaygirr dictionary and runs an educational and cultural centre on the North Coast. It promises to be a rich way in which we can connect with the St Mary’s community and celebrate our shared journey of learning and reconciliation and I thank the students and staff who are making this possible.  

St Anthony’s Hamper Mass and Delivery

Mr Balboa’s Christmas giving program also offers an opportunity for student involvement in 

1. Delivering the Hampers to Frenchs Forest Parish Terry Hills Church, 

2. Attending the Blessing of The Hampers Mass on Sunday 12 December 

3. The Delivery of hampers on Tuesday 14 December

Those who might be able to attend the 9.30 am 12 December Hamper Mass in SPX Sports shirt to represent the College should contact Mr Brannan for further details, and those able to assist in delivery of the Hampers can also contact Mr Balboa and Mr Di Sano who generously facilitate this initiative, respectively.

In giving we receive!

Year 11 Schools Police Liaison Officer

In a timely reminder of their responsibilities to safeguard themselves and the community, Year 11 students were addressed on Monday by Snr Constable Lynda Hart as they commenced their last school week of 2021. Constable Hart was able to provide the students with information and answer topical questions around keeping safe and aware of our responsibilities while driving, as passengers, socially, and online. Our Year 11 young men conclude the school year on Thursday and are encouraged to act safely and responsibly at all times over the Summer Break and into their continued HSC year in Year 12.

Congratulations to Pat Moore

St Pius X College Old Boys Association was proud to congratulate Patrick Moore: Barron House Captain, and Recipient of the Old Boys All Rounder Award Study and Sport, 2021. 

Presented here with a cheque to support his future studies as he completed his final HSC Studies of Religion II Exam. Patrick was goalkeeper in Mr Quilty's recent NSWCIS Cup Champion Football team and has a proud record of prevailing over adversity. We are confident that he, and the HSC Class of 2021, will continue to demonstrate the resilience which has seen them through a challenging and formative HSC Year after 8 years of study "neath the blue and gold"

Congratulations Pat!

 

Fide et Labore

Mr Sean Brannan - Assistant Principal, Pastoral Care and Wellbeing