Student & Parent Matters

From the Head of Student Services

-  Guests from Cardinal Newman College, Buenos Aires, Argentina

-  NSW Parliament House Visit by Year 11 Students Jacob Hassan and Tom Jamieson

-  Student Leadership Camp

-  Peer Mentoring Rockclimbing Afternoon

Winter Sports Photos - Wednesday 5th September​

Celebrate the life and poetry of Francis Webb this Saturday 2-4 pm​

Debating Information

SAN Hospital 'RunForLife'

Duke of Edinburgh's Award​

Market Days 4th & 12th September - CANTEEN CLOSED​

FREE WORKSHOP:  How to teach a Learner Driver​

Bright Futures:  October School Holiday Workshops run by UTS

From the Head of Student Services

Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders:  Guests from Cardinal Newman College, Buenos Aires, Argentina

St Pius X College is proudly a lead school in EREBB which is an initiative of EREA Executive Director Dr Wayne Tinsey, and seeks to connect schools globally in the Edmund Rice tradition. As such, last week we were proud to host five students and their English Coordinator Mrs Carmen Simon-Garcia from Cardinal Newman College which is one of the premier schools in Buenos Aires Argentina and boasts the National President and former Boca Juniors President as an ex student.

On Wednesday the 5 Year 11 student ambassadors were greeted by Lachlan Onslow, Jacob Glass and Matthew Brannan at the airport who hosted them on a visit to St Pius and Manly Ferry ride before dinner with Mr Couani. They then accompanied Year 10 Geography Excursion to the Zoo, before Rugby training on Thursday with the 16Bs with whom they played with great passion on Saturday. Friday saw them presented at Assembly before Music and Junior Lesson visits (thanks Ms Waters, Mrs Williams and Mr Carroll, 8 Music and 5 Red and Blue) and then a tour of the City with their Billet hosts Jarvis Hearne and Sarah Brannan (Year 11). On Friday afternoon the students belayed as Peer Mentors at Mindmatters Rockclimbing with Mr Russo’s Peer Mentoring program. 16Bs rugby victory over St Gregs Campbelltown preceded a visit to the Olympic Stadium pre Bledisloe Cup, before an, albeit windy, Sunday morning visit to Bondi and Watsons Bay before their international departure.

This comprehensive visit did much to enhance St Pius’ reputation as a great school with great students, in the global Edmund Rice network, with holistic learning programs which are integral to the insightful contribution to the positive growth, wellbeing and development of our students and community.

I thank all those who contributed to the positive experiences of our visitors, and particularly the Hearne family (Jarvis and Caelan), Mr Adrian Brannan and all our students and staff. We look forward to building upon the partnership with Cardinal Newman College and all our global ER partners through communication in RE lessons, skype conversations, tours and expeditions, as well as students and teacher exchanges. Anyone keen for the 2019 Machu Pichu expedition and tour of our Edmund Rice Schools in Peru, Bolivia, Argentina and Uruguay? Direct all expressions of interest to Mr Couani via Mr Brannan.

NSW Parliament House Visit by Year 11 Students Jacob Hassan and Tom Jamieson, hosted by Local Member and Premier the Honourable Gladys Berejiklian

Last Wednesday two of our outstanding Year 11 students were invited to attend a school advocate workshop at NSW Parliament which at times has been known as “The Bear Pit” in Macquarie St, Sydney. Here are some of Jacob’s general observations and experiences from the visit to State Parliament:

• The opportunity allowed us to build personal relationships with our local representative, Premier Gladys Berejiklian. Who revealed the inner workings of State Parliament and gave an insight into the life of a premier.
• Having the chance to observe Question Time, which as you may be aware can often become quite heated, provided an exciting and educational experience which opened our eyes and provided real political context to current issues, such as the severe droughts facing NSW farmers.
• The premier described Question Time as, “More theatrics than politics” and advised us that the conduct during question time is not reflective of actual political work and should not be an attitude to aspire towards.
• All in all, the visit provided a unique experience, which allowed us to discover more about our political system and form a greater closeness with both our neighbouring schools and with our local member and premier, The Hon. Gladys Berejiklian.

Student Leadership Camp

With the announcement of our Student leadership Team we also acknowledge the many students who may be disappointed in not being appointed as Prefects but still have a vital role to play as peer leaders in the college.

The elected Student Leadership Team will attend a training camp at “Workul Koo” Huntington House next Wednesday, Thursday and Friday where they will develop their goals and aspirations for their tenure as leaders of the college, integrating ways in which they can include the wider Year 11 leadership group in contributing to the development of our great school and students.

Following the conclusion of the Preliminary Exams in Weeks 9 and 10 the team will attend two Speechcraft sessions on the October holidays (dates to be confirmed after consultation as to availability), Friday afternoon Weeks 1 and 2, Term 4, a practice dinner and at the Leadership Investiture in Week 3.

We look forward to working with all Year 11 as they take over from our HSC bound Year 12 over the coming weeks.

Peer Mentoring Rockclimbing Afternoon

Congratulations to Mr Russo, Mr Virgona, Mr Stollery and all who participated in the Term 3 Peer Mentoring Rockclimbing session at St Leonards last Friday after school. The session was incredibly well attended, requiring all three school transport vehicles to get us there. Highlights of the afternoon was the rockclimbing prowess shown by our Juniors including Luca Franzin of Year 6, and the enthusiastically impressed involvement of our 5 Year 11 EREBB student guests from Cardinal Newman College, Argentina.

Mr S Brannan - Head of Student Services

Winter Sports Photos - Wednesday 5th September

The Winter Sports photos are being taken on Wednesday September 5 during Periods 1 – 3. Full sport uniform will be required for Rugby, Football and Tennis. All other photos will be taken in full school uniform including Blazers. Below is a summary of the photos to be taken on the day. All students need to bring their ID card for each photo they are in.

Group photo orders from the previous photo day have not been processed yet.  All group photos will be processed after the Winter Sports Photos have been taken.

Miss L Proc - General Coordinator

Celebrate the life and poetry of Francis Webb this Saturday 2-4 pm

Francis Webb (1925-1973) joined St Pius X College (or Christian Brothers’ Chatswood as it was then known) in 1938 as a 1st Grader (Year 7).  In those days our school only went to Year 10 so Webb travelled to Christian Brothers’ Lewisham to complete his Leaving Certificate, achieving second in the State in English and a scholarship to Sydney University.

Webb’s talent was obvious in his school years with Retreat (see below) written when Webb was 17 years old. This poem reflects his deep spirituality, born of his Catholic upbringing and education in the Edmund Rice tradition. Webb is regarded as one of Australia’s greatest poets, he published a number of books and his poems feature in countless anthologies.

Les Murray said, "Francis Webb’s verse has been the gold standard by which complex poetic language has been judged… a master of last lines, of last stanzas and final phrases."

Since 2012 we have joined Willoughby Library in celebrating this local boy at the Francis Webb: Poetry Out Loud event where his poems are read and discussed.  

This year, our College is proud to be represented by Alec Ramsbottom of Year 9.  He will be introduced by MC, Toby Davidson (Macquarie University Professor, poet and editor of Webb's Collected Poems). Other readers include:

• Craig Munro, writer and publisher
• Meg Stewart, filmmaker, author and daughter of Douglas Stewart
• Oliver Miller, filmmaker in the process of filming Webb's 'Electric'
• Peter Rogers, poet and scholar
• Achala Green, poet and poetry facilitator
• A Year 9 boy from CBHS Lewisham

The reading will be followed by afternoon tea.  If you are able, please join us for this fascinating and unique event. Bookings: https://www.willoughby.nsw.gov.au/EventDetails.aspx?PageID=1892&eventid=5595

Ms K Keighery - Senior Resource Centre Teacher/Librarian

Debating

Debating information from Mrs Waterson can be found in the document below.

Mrs M Waterson - Public Speaking and Debating Convenor

San Hospital 'RunForLife'

Fifty of our SPX students and staff took part on Sunday in the SanRunForLife at Wahroonga. The run helped raise $30,000 towards the refurbishment of the Jacaranda Cancer Support Centre at the SAN Hospital. Student James Brown came fourth in the 5km while Mr Stearn placed 31st. Mr Cogan finished 12th in the 10km. SPX students took out the fastest team, collecting the trophy for the second successive year. Thanks for all the support on a cold early Sunday morning.

Results:  James Brown 4th, Simon Magner 5th, Jacob Magner 7th, Tyson McCallum 12th, Aiden Teuma 16th, Zac Hollinger 18th, Neil D'Silva 20th, Jamie Miller 21st.

Mr S Quilty

Duke of Edinburgh's Award

A reminder that DoE meetings are held at lunch times in C1, every Day 2. Please make the effort to attend the meetings if you need to hand in paperwork or seek advice about your Duke Of Edinburgh’s Award.

Some students may have missed the opportunity to participate in one of the Duke of Edinburgh Hikes offered by SPX through the Outdoor Education Program.  If you are looking for an option to complete a Bronze, Silver or Gold Practice or Qualifying Hike, then you may like to book one through Southbound Adventures.

Please ensure that you are aware that you should maintain the same mode all the way through your DoE.  Therefore if you have done a HIKE then you should continue to use HIKING as your mode of travel. If you choose to do a PACK “N “ PADDLE, then you will need to maintain this throughout your Award. The choice is yours.

Information about the dates and cost of upcoming AJ’s are available online at the following link:

https://www.southbound.com.au/duke-of-edinburgh

Please also ensure that you communicate you intention to participate in ANY AJ with Mrs Manga, the SPX Duke of Edinburgh’s Award Coordinator, prior to ensure that your experience counts towards your Award.

Mrs K Manga - DoE Coordinator

Market Days - 4th  & 12th September

CANTEEN CLOSED

Please note change of date from Tuesday 11th to Wednesday 12th.  The Canteen will be closed at recess and lunchtime on Tuesday 4th and Tuesday 11th September due to Market Day Stalls operating.  It will be open before school from 8am until 8.45am only.  There will be no Flexischool facility and no orders taken.

Ms A Coombs - Canteen Supervisor

Free Workshop:  How to teach a learner driver

UTS October School Holiday Workshops

The University Technology Sydney (UTS) is again running a series of exciting as well as educational workshops targeting primary and early secondary school aged students in the October school holidays. The program is called Bright Futures and offers a unique combination of eye-opening experiences based around subjects studied at UTS.

2018 Workshops:  2nd - 5th October

• Tuesday 2 October – Creativity Workshop – Animal Kingdom
• Wednesday 3 October – Technology Workshop - SatLab
• Thursday 4 October –  Visual Storytelling: The Art of Making Worlds
• Friday 5 October – Engineering Workshop: Reach for the Skies!

Please see the flyer below for further information.