Junior School Report

by Gavin Webb, Director of the Junior School

A warm hello to all. The fourth week of Term 1 is now complete, and the vast majority of boys have made an exceptional start to the year in the Junior School. There has been quite a number of year level and College events that the boys have participated in already. This will continue for the remainder of the Term, but some normality and structured routines have been established. It is vital moving forward that your son does have routines before, during and after school hours. This will allow homework to be completed, whilst allowing plenty of time for leisure and family.

Academic Assembly

Congratulations to the Year 8 boys who were awarded a “Chris Nolan” award at last Tuesday’s Academic Assembly. To be eligible you need to have been in the top 15% across all assessment tasks for the Semester (Semester 2, 2019). A number of these boys also were awarded a Chris Nolan at the end of Semester 1 in 2019. This shows a consistency of effort and a want to learn and improve. All boys need to strive to do their best, even if that means you may never win a Chris Nolan award, this is okay as you have done your best. As educators we understand everyone has different abilities so all we ask is your best effort. This habit will hold you in good stead for the future.

Year 7 Camp

There were some very tired boys (and staff) at the completion of the Year 7 Camps at Log Cabin Camp, Creswick, last week. Having visited all the camps I saw first hand the great time that was being had by all. By having the camps so early in the year allows the ice to be broken and friendships to form and a real sense of identity and belonging to SPC. The staff enjoy getting to know all the boys in their care and remarked on how well behaved the boys were. Thanks must go to Ms Elizabeth Ryan and the Senior student leaders who visited the boys and taught them the College Song and War Cry.

Swimming Carnival

Once again the SPC Swimming Carnival was a huge success despite the chilly temperature. The Year 7 and 8’s had the highest amount of swimmers compared to the older year levels. The “have a go” attitude of the boys on the day was fantastic, be it in competitive races or novelty events. Year level champions and final results were announced at todays college assembly

Key dates – Term 1

SPC is quite a busy place, especially in Term 1. It is vital that you and your son are aware of what is happening on a day to day basis, be it with homework or a major college event. A reminder that all permissions are done electronically via PAM (Parent Access Module) and to ring the college by 8:30am if your son is going to be absent on a particular day. Besides this the Pastoral Tutor is the first port of call. The table below highlights just some of the key dates in Term 1.

 

Fri, Feb 21	SPC Sport Assembly
Mon, Feb 24	Year 7 Immunisations
Tue, Feb 25	House Assembly – Athletics carnival sign up
Wed, Feb 26	Ash Wednesday Liturgy
Tue, March 10	Parent/Teacher/Student Interviews
Tue, March 17	St. Patrick’s Day Mass
Tue, March 17	Year 8 Father/Son evening
Wed, March 18	SPC Athletics Carnival
Fri, March 27	Last day of term

Final word

In closing I would like to welcome Mr Gerry Willis to the role of Acting Director of Junior School, as I commence Long Service Leave for the remainder of the term. Upon my return at the start of Term 2 I look forward to re-establishing the relationships formed in the first month of Term 1.

Regards

Mr Gavin Webb

Director of Junior School