Junior School News

From the Head of the Junior School
Junior School Sport
Winter Sports Photos - Ordering
From the Junior Resource Centre

From the Head of the Junior School

PRAYER

This week the mother of Emilio Circosta in Year 6 Green passed away after a long illness. Please remember Mrs Tara Circosta, her husband Ross and Emilio in your prayers.

This Week:

Lest we forget!

Last Thursday was Remembrance Day, the boys watched a service online and then we had a great afternoon of sport. We were very fortunate with the weather on Thursday at Oxford Falls. On Tuesday, Year 5 had an interesting online author talk with John Larkin during their literacy classes.

Upcoming:

We have published authors and illustrators in the Junior School. Year 5 earlier this year participated in the Willoughby Council Story writing competition. The boys will participate in an online awards presentation on Thursday afternoon.

Christmas Appeal:

Every year the Junior School has a Walkathon which goes to our partner organisations. This year due to lockdown this couldn’t occur. We normally also have a Christmas Appeal. This year, for the Christmas Appeal we will be making snack packs for the St Vincent de Paul, Woy Woy branch, night patrol to distribute. This is a request from them so we know it will be appreciated and used. I used to do the night patrol for Vinnies in Sydney and then later on I used to take senior students with me on night patrols where you offer homeless people a drink and some food. Some of your sons will probably assist at Matthew Talbot Hostel when they are in Years 9 and 10. This is the beginning of that journey where we do something for those less fortunate than ourselves. It is a positive lesson in helping others and recognising that we are fortunate. It is part of the Edmund Rice Charism. To quote Blessed Edmund, ‘Give to the poor in handfuls.’

Items Needed

We will be starting our Christmas Appeal collections from Monday next week (Week 7), running until the end of Week 9. We will be making the snack packs as a class. If your son could bring in some of the following:-

Zip lock bags that are large enough to hold the items
1x popper juice
1x can of tuna OR cuppa soup/sachet soup OR noodles
Le Snak/Cheese Dippits;
Packet of chips;
Packet of sultanas;
Fruit cup;
Packet of biscuits (e.g. single serve Tiny Teddies);
Muesli bar (nut-free) Please note: muesli bars must be chewy e.g. Uncle Toby’s Choc Chip Bars.

The boys will then pack in their classrooms the following items: Please follow the instructions below for offsite snack-packing.

Each snack pack should have all 5 items in total in a zip lock bag.

This MUST include:

1x popper juice

1x can of tuna OR cuppa soup/sachet soup OR noodles

AND three of the following items:

Le Snak/Cheese Dippits;
Packet of chips;
Packet of sultanas;
Fruit cup;
Packet of biscuits (e.g. single serve Tiny Teddies);
Muesli bar (nut-free) Please note: muesli bars must be chewy e.g. Uncle Toby’s Choc Chip Bars.

Timetable for Junior School

We are running a different timetable to allow the Junior School to be out in the playground when the remainder of the school are in class and vice versa. It means that the boys will have three periods in a row in the morning with a crunch and sip time sometime in Periods 2 and 3. Please ensure you pack a snack that is easy for the boys to eat in class.

(No roast dinners allowed! It has to be quick and easy and preferable not messy.)

ADMINISTRATION: 8:42 am - 8:57 am

Allow a crunch and sip for 5 minutes in Period 2 or 3. Remember a water bottle for the classroom.

Period 1 8:57 am – 9:50 am

Period 2 9:50 am - 10:43 am

Period 3 10:43 am - 11:36 am

Recess 11:36 am - 11:56 am

Period 4 11:56 am – 12:49 pm

Period 5 12:49 pm - 1:42 pm

Lunch 1:42 pm - 2:22 pm

Period 6 2:22 pm - 3:00 pm

CONGRATULATIONS TO OUR MERIT AWARD WINNERS

Congratulations to the following boys for being awarded a Merit Award last Friday. Keep up the good work.

Oliver Ibrahim, Jake Yu, Aidan Floridia, Aidan Robinson, Oliver Sudbury, Jonas Satterthwaite, Flynn Clulow, Cooper Thomason, Marc Floridia, Mason Dabile, Jake Kiem, Harry Greenwood, William Pile, Sebastian VanVuuren, Jared Fernandes & Riley Patten, James Borg, Kobe Chand, Toby Wilson, Lachlan Mirabello, Owen Gleeson, Jack Carruthers, Ollie Price, Jake Desertine and all of 6 Blue.

CONGRATULATIONS TO THIS WEEK'S CERTIFICATE OF ACHIEVEMENT WINNERS

A special congratulations to Jackson Byak, Aaron Klarich, Samson Symeonidis, Ryan Chung, Thomas Rochford and Hudson Savage who have achieved 5 Merit Awards and will be receiving a Certificate of Achievement.

MATHS DROP-IN

Junior School students are welcome to attend our Maths Drop-In sessions on Friday mornings from 7.40 am. It is held in the Diverse Learning Room of the Junior School - across the hall from Mrs Fileman's classroom.

This is the ideal place where students can come and feel comfortable to ask questions and nut out some challenging problems. Rewards are given, laughter is heard and words of encouragement are shared. Come along and be a part of the team.

A THOUGHT TO PONDER

“God, grant me the serenity to accept the things I cannot change,

the courage to change the things I can,

and the wisdom to know the difference.”

Reinhold Niebuhr

Thanking you for your support.

Mr Tim Long - Head of the Junior School

Junior School Sport

Junior School Sport News:

Any basketball, touch football, athletics and AFL uniforms yet to be returned are now overdue. To avoid a $40 charge to replace unreturned items please ensure they are handed in by the end of this week at the latest. Please return with a post-it note label indicating who is returning the uniform to Mr McBrearty’s office.

Thursday Sport:

All sports will go to Oxford Falls as per usual. Internal games for each sport or training for Cricket and Tennis.

Pick-up Information: For parents who wish to pick their son up from Oxford Falls pick-up will be at 2.10pm via the car park as per usual.

NSTA Tennis

Thanks to all involved last weekend in making the day a positive and valuable experience. Again, this week each boy will be responsible for organising an opponent and time to play. The ladder and timesheet are posted outside the gym. Please find an opponent no more than 2 places above or below you on the ladder, who you didn’t play last weekend.

Mr Benn McBrearty - Junior School Sports Coordinator

Winter Sports Photos - Ordering

As photos have been delayed this year due to COVID Melba have organised a new ordering system for the Winter Sport photos. You will need to order online with the following instructions:

Select School Orders

Password: Archer

Once ordered, the photos will be posted to your nominated address. The postage is capped at no more than $3.50 for A4 size photos.

If you have ordered Performing Arts and Other Group photos from Term 2 via an Order Form, these are currently being processed. Year Group/Individual photos are also currently being processed. If you missed ordering any photos throughout the year, all Co-curricular photos will be available to purchase.

If you have any problems with the ordering process please contact the College for further instructions.

Ms Leisa Proc - General Coordinator

From the Junior Resource Centre

This week's highlights: PROTECT IT, RESPECT IT, SAVE IT, LOVE IT

This is a great planet! Let’s save it for the next generations too! This week we looked at Climate Change, discussed COP26, read and discussed amazing books that we have in our library on the topic of Climate Change.

Sunflower Sunshine

During online learning Mrs Martin’s Literacy classes were sent a care package. In the package there were some sunflower seeds that the boys planted and watched grow.

Thanks Jake Yu for your wonderful care with the sunflowers.

‘Dear Mrs Martin,

Thank you for the sunflower seeds. I had a wonderful time watching them grow and water them. Here is a photo of the sunflowers.’

From

Jake Yu 5G

We are celebrating Australian Pollinator Week!

Did you know that Australia is home to 2,000 different species of native bees? They range from the astoundingly large 24mm yellow and black carpenter bee down to the world’s smallest bee – the 2mm Quasihesma bee.

We even have blue bees – as seen in this picture of the northern blue-banded bee found in Darwin!

Have you ever been lucky enough to see any of these in your backyard? Bee-utiful!

(image: Nick Volpe Photography)

How to Bee by Bren Macdibble

How to Bee. Great title! This book for upper primary readers is fascinating. A world not too distant. Real bees are extinct. The quickest, bravest kids climb fruit trees and pollinate by hand. A great original voice.

Summer Reading 2021 – Coming soon!

Exams come to an end, excitement builds because we know what is coming ….IT’S TIME FOR SUMMER READING! The JRC has put together a brilliant selection of new releases, most popular titles and great authors for you to prepare for your summer holiday reading – Watch this space!

John Larkin – Virtual Author visit with Year 5. Tuesday November 16, 2021

Sydney based Author John Larkin returned virtually to St Pius X Junior School and discussed the release of his new novel, Zombies Vs the Illuminati. John teaches writing full time and has taught writer workshops in the Junior School pre COVID19.

We were very fortunate to have this award-winning author speak to the boys via TEAMS on Tuesday 16 November, 2021.

‘Three 12-year-old boys and the world’s sassiest teenage girl join forces to defeat the zombie hordes before the world is plunged into a new Dark Age.’

‘The quartet’s weapons of choice? A light-sabre that doesn’t have any batteries, a sack of doorknobs, and a non-existent Pegasus.’

‘What could possibly go wrong?’

Please find the link below that has a trailer for the new book.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=agMed6WLWAs&t=2s

The students can order the book online at

https://www.thechildrensbookshopspeakersagency.com.au/person/larkin-john-speaker/

Signed books are delivered after the event.

Mrs Martin’s Book Trail:Always by Morris Gleitzman

‘Always’ is the much-anticipated final leg of the journey in the story of Felix, whom we met in ‘Once’ as an orphaned 13-year-old desperately trying to survive the horrors of the Holocaust. Our hero is now an old man and life seems to have come full circle when he meets Wassim, a boy in desperate trouble who has reached out to Felix for help. #mrsmartinsbooktrail2020

Mrs Elena Martin – Teacher Librarian