Junior School News 

• From the Head of the Junior School 
• Junior School Sport
• IPSHA Junior Debating
• From the Junior Resource Centre
• Junior Chess

From the Head of the Junior School 

IMPORTANT MESSAGE REGARDING TOMORROW (THURSDAY 10 JUNE)

As our Oxford Falls Campus is closed for essential maintenance tomorrow, the Dance Program will be held at our Chatswood Campus during Periods 1 and 2.  We will hold normal classes for the remainder of the day.  Students can wear their sports uniform. Please remind your son to bring his PLD.

PRAYER

May the Spirit bless us …

May the face of all creation shine upon us …

the grace of life be within our soul.

May we find in the eyes of a baby the light of truth …

And in the branches of the trees, arms to hold us …

And in the warmth of sunshine, be surrounded and caressed by gentle light of the moon …

May our own heartbeat accompany us into fullness of life

And as our feet meet the earth

and as the wind caresses our face

be blessed with all of creation as one with God.

Amen.

Blessed Edmund Rice, Pray for Us

St Pius X, Pray for Us

 Live Jesus in our Hearts, Forever

THE WEEK THAT WAS

The boys have been busy learning their dances for the performance next week. They have been working on house and group performances and this is looking like it is going to be a rather spectacular event! The boys will be competing for points that go towards the annual House Cup. 

Last Friday it was wonderful to see so many boys receive Merit Cards.  In addition to this, 13 boys received Blue Awards. The Blue Awards are given out to those boys who have accumulated 5 yellow merit cards in one calendar year. Three Blue Awards in one calendar year and the boys will receive a Principal’s Award. 

ATHLETICS CARNIVAL

What excellent weather we had for today's Athletics Carnival!  The boys had a great day and gave it their all. Team spirit was certainly evident in each event and sadly there could only be one winner on the day. Congratulations to the winning team, Treacy.

Thank you to all the parents who volunteered to help make the day so successful and thank you also to Mr McBrearty for all the hard work and preparation put into the day.

DANCE PERFORMANCES

The Dance Finale will take place on Thursday, 17 June in the CBC Centre (new gym) at Oxford Falls and will run from approximately 12.45 pm till 1.20 pm. After the finale we will be awarding blue Fide certificates for effort. This presentation will be live-streamed but you are also most welcome to attend. As the event will be live-streamed, if you do not wish your son to be filmed, please email privacy@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au.

After the performance parents may take their sons home.  

PHOTOS

On Friday 11 June the boys will have their class, individual and some group photos.

• check that your son/s are appropriately attired (full WINTER UNIFORM - blazer with at least one button, shoes polished etc) and presented (hair).
• Please remind students that they must bring their St Pius X Student ID Card to all photos.
• Please see the attached document for photos which will be taken on the day.

STANDARDISED ASSESSMENTS

Next week the boys will do the English Reach Assessment. Year 5 on Tuesday (15 June) and Year 6 on Wednesday (16 June). Reach is the cornerstone of assessments by ICAS which provides us with diagnostic data. As this is an online test, the boys will need to ensure that their PLDs are charged and brought to school. 

PORTFOLIOS COMING HOME

The boys will be bringing home their portfolios before the end of the term, please take some time to go through them with your sons before the interviews. After looking at the portfolios and their Report it would be a good idea to discuss future goals with your son for Semester 2. 

REPORTING AND PARENT INTERVIEWS

Parent/Teacher/Student meetings will be conducted ONLINE on  Friday  18 June from  8.00 am to 5.30 pm. It is expected that your son is also present for the interview.  The meetings will run for 8 minutes.

Bookings for meetings will close Wednesday lunchtime (16 June) at 12.00 pm (noon).

Bookings can be made using the following link and event code:

Link:                 https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code?code=9bk2d

Event Code:   9bk2d

To help put the A-E reporting system into perspective, it may be useful to look at the analogy below using driving experience in an A-E context:

Please note the following:

• Meetings with Class Teachers are the priority.
• Avoid multiple bookings with the same teacher, e.g. If the Mathematics Teacher also has your son for Literacy please make only one booking. If more time is needed, a follow up meeting can be arranged. 
• Please do not make bookings with specialist teachers (ie: Mandarin, Computers, PE, Art and Music). Instead, please contact them by email for a follow up discussion. 

THE UPCOMING WEEK 

Thursday 10/6 - Dance Session 3 – Periods 1 & 2 – Students will remain at Chatswood Campus tomorrow as Oxford Falls Campus is closed for essential maintenance.  After the Dance Session, students will have normal classes for the remainder of the day.  Please remind your son to wear sport uniform and to bring their PLD tomorrow.

Friday 11/6 – Class and individual photos. 

DATES TO SAVE

Monday 14/6 - Long Weekend - Queen’s Birthday holiday - No Sport on Saturday.

Thursday 17/6  - The Dance Finale - It will be in the CBC Centre at Oxford Falls and will run from approximately 12.45 pm till 1.20 pm. After the finale we will be awarding blue Fide certificates for effort.  This presentation will also be live-streamed.  As the event is live-streamed if you do not want your son to be filmed, please email privacy@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au.

A THOUGHT TO PONDER

Thanking you for your support.

Mrs Sam Iwatani - Junior School Coordinator and 

Mr Tim Long - Head of the Junior School 

Junior School Sport

Junior School Sport News:  No Saturday Sport until we return in Term 3 (Saturday 17 July).

Thursday: As Oxford Falls campus is closed for essential maintenance this week, our Dance Program will be held in the morning (Periods 1 and 2) at our Chatswood Campus, followed by normal classes.  Please remind your sons to wear sport uniform and bring their PLD.  

Next week our Dance Program concludes with a performance. Parents are welcome to attend with the performance, which starts at 12.45 pm. This will also be live-streamed for those unable to attend. At the conclusion of the Dance Performance there will be a presentation to conclude the term, after-which those parents in attendance will be able to take their son home.  

As this event will be live-streamed, if you do not wish your son to be filmed, please email privacy@stpiusx.nsw.edu.au to advise your wishes.

AFL

After a tough outing at ESL Hall Park, the coaching staff agreed to scale back training this week, opting for a ‘back to basics’ session indoors in the ‘Old Gym’. Utilizing the sporting expertise of Mr Simpson and some of the students not normally involved in Saturday sport, we conducted a number of games based on kicking and catching. Our team seemed to enjoy a friendly sense of rivalry against their non-AFL peers. By the time we were packing up to head back to Chatswood, the boys had found their spark again, ready for their return trip to ESL Hall Park.

The 'AFL Gods' were on our side early on Saturday, as we were instructed we would be playing on the preferred, sun-drenched part of the field. Trinity were down on troops with only 12 men, which forced us to adopt a 4-4-4 game plan and the prospect of more open space had our fast midfielders salivating.

Trinity turned in a gallant performance, but our SPX lads were on fire! While there were moments of individual brilliance and leadership, with both Boston and Hudson savaging the score card, it was something else that made this match truly special - the overall ‘team game’ attitude. The clean disposals and accurate kicking, the screamers and shepherds, I could go on and on. And all the while, as we kept the scoreboard ticking over, we never once disrespected our opposition, who never gave in until the final whistle.

A special mention goes to the SPX players that ‘took one for the team’ and switched their guernsey inside out to help out the under-manned Trinity team at different stages of the game. In particular, Hamish Sullivan, who didn’t hesitate to help out the opposition when we first asked for volunteers.

Mr Glen Carroll - AFL Convenor

Enjoy the long weekend!

Rugby

TryTime Holiday Rugby Camps

Please see below for holiday rugby camp information.  For further information and registration please go to www.trytimerugby.com/camps.

Mr Benn McBrearty - Junior School Sports Master

Junior Football

Round 7 Results 

Round 7 is the last game for the term and all teams have been working hard to improve. Some impressive wins for the Preps, while a tough round for our U11s (except the all-conquering 11E’s and F’s!!)

Thanks for the photos that are being sent in, some great action and team shots. 

Mr Paul Cummins - Junior Football Convenor

IPSHA Junior School Debating

Congratulations to our debaters on a successful Round 3. We hosted Oxford Falls Grammar. Well done to the boys; for many it was their first time debating in speaking positions. Congratulations to the Affirmative side on their win and the Negative team were narrowly defeated. Well done to the boys on their efforts in both debates. The debate was on a difficult topic of : “That we should ban tests in primary schools". The next debate we will be travelling to Pymble Ladies’ College (PLC) on Friday 23 July.  The debate begins at 1.00 pm (TBC), parents are most welcome to attend pending a COVID-Safe Plan by PLC.

Mrs Bettina Spanyik - Learning Enrichment Coordinator

From the Junior Resource Centre

This Week's Highlights are:

Libraries are magical places. They allow everyone, rich and poor, to enjoy art, to learn about the world and beyond, and to stay connected. Everyone deserves that.

#libarieschangelives#libariesareawesome

FIND YOUR BOOK WEEK PARADE COSTUME

Theme: Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds. #CBCA2021

Get ready... Term Three is almost upon us and Book Week is coming!!!! (21 - 27 August, 2021). You have two choices when it comes to your Book Week Parade costume – wing it at the last moment and hope for the best, or plan weeks (or months) in advance and win ‘Most Awesome-est Book Week Costume Ever’ award. My suggestion is… go for the latter.

Some ideas to help you are:

• Read as many books as you can get your hands on.
• Make a list of your favourite characters.
• Gather your supplies and do a costume run-through to make sure it all works.
• If you’re struggling for ideas, the CBCA has partnered exclusively with Spotlight for costume parade inspiration, so you could check out their site and DIY suggestions.

Here are some winners of last year's Parade.

THE UNDERDOGS OFFICIAL

The Underdgogs Official. Want to see your pet in the pages of the next Underdogs mystery? Here’s your chance! Three lucky pets will be illustrated by @shilohillustration and featured in "The Underdogs: Fake It Till They Make It”. For your chance to have your dog, cat, chook, turtle, goldfish, guinea pig or whatever included in their next book, share your pet pic on Instagram and tag it with @the_underdogs_official. Pet pics need to be in before MONDAY JUNE 14 so get snapping!

Here is my entry - Teddy!

Mrs Martin’s Book Trail

The Underdogs: Catch a Cat Burglarby Kate and Jol Temple.

Illustrated texts rule and this new series by Kate and Jol Temple deserves to be a big selling series for young readers aged 9 plus. Fun. Fast. This represents reading for pleasure at its best. ‘Jump on the case with Fang and Barkley as they hit the mean streets of Dogtown. Will they catch the cat burglar? Is Barkley’s bark worse than his bite? Will they bond over furballs? Find out all this and more in The Underdogs Catch a Cat Burglar. Looks like a winner!

Mrs Elena Martin – Teacher Librarian

JUNIOR SCHOOL CHESS CLUB

Junior School Chess Competition continues this week, Friday 11th June 2021. All teams will be AWAY this week. Please check the updated draw for more details. 

Mrs Elena Martin - Junior School Chess Convenor