Messages from Key School Bodies

Principal

In 2012, St Pius X HS had a student population of 999 in Years 7 to 10, 70 teachers and 31 Support Staff.

St Pius X is located in Park Avenue, Adamstown and draws pupils from the local Catholic primary schools including St Therese’s Primary School, New Lambton, St John’s Primary School, Lambton, St Patrick’s Primary School, Wallsend, St James’ Primary School, Kotara South, St Columba’s Primary School, Adamstown, Holy Family Primary School, Merewether Beach, St Joseph’s Primary School, Merewether and Our Lady of Victories Primary School, Shortland. On completion of Year 10, our students move on to St Francis Xavier’s College at Hamilton for Years 11 & 12. Together, all of the schools mentioned here form the Central Cluster of the Maitland-Newcastle Diocese.

2012 was a successful year academically, culturally and in sport for our student community. Highlights included excellent results for Year 10 in the School Certificate and for Years 7 and 9 students in the NAPLAN tests and an excellent Year 10 Retreat. In the final School Certificate Examinations, four St Pius students gained five First Place in the Diocese Awards out of a total of 10 Awards conferred.

Mr Robert Emery

MEdLead BSc(Hons) DipEd DipRE MACEL

P & F

St Pius X High School has an active P&F. Meetings are held every second Tuesday of the month. All parents and friends are welcome to attend. The P&F provides parents with a forum in which they can raise questions, discuss issues pertinent to the school, make comment and offer suggestions on policy and procedures. The P&F prides itself on its ability to raise much needed funds for the school. Much of these funds are raised through the extremely successful and well-run School Dances held up to six times through the year. Other activities vary from year to year.

Mrs Louise Ptolemy

P&F President 2012

Student Leaders/SRC

Overall, students have a very strong school spirit and enjoy their time at St Pius. Students highly value the great school dances, good choice of electives, teacher personalities, current sporting opportunities and equipment, canteen food and music and drama performances. Excursions, overseas trips and the Yr.9 Snow Trip are also valuable experiences that are on offer.

Abbey Dorman & Andrew de Souza

School Captains

Religious Dimension and Culture of School Life

Catholic Identity

St Pius X High School, Adamstown is named after the first Pope of the Church canonised in the 20th Century.

The school crest is modelled on the Pope’s coat of arms and the school motto “Instaurare omnia in Christo” (To renew all things in Christ) reminds staff and students that everything we do, we do for Christ. The school community of St Pius X seeks to provide an education grounded in the Gospel values of love, justice and truth.

The school came into existence on its present site in 1959 as a fulfilment of the late Bishop Toohey’s dream of a school directed and fully staffed by Diocesan Priests. Today the school is completely lay staff. Originally a boys’ high school, it became a co-educational junior high school in 1983.

Each year the school community celebrates our patron saint’s feast day on the 21st August by organising activities to raise funds for Catholic Mission, Caritas and other needy charities.

In 2008, St Anne’s Hall, for assemblies and meetings, was re-named Sr Marie Hall in honour of Sr Marie Therese Fahey, a Josephite Sister who had a long relationship of service with our school. Sadly, this hall was burnt to the ground on June 30 2012 by arsonists. The name “St Anne’s Hall” was a reminder of St Anne’s College, a senior girls’ high school that was opened adjacent to St Pius X High School, run by religious sisters of the Diocese and opened in 1966. The vacated St Anne’s buildings became incorporated into the St Pius X campus when the students transferred to the present St Francis Xavier’s College, Hamilton in 1983.

As well as the Religious Studies programme, there are whole school liturgies to celebrate special occasions, weekly staff prayers, Community days for Years 7, 8 & 9 and a three-day Retreat and a special Graduation Liturgy for Year 10.

The School as part of Parish and Diocesan Life

Students from St Pius X are involved in each of their Parish churches as readers, altar servers and in youth groups.

St Pius X has a very active St Vincent de Paul junior group within the school. Run by members of the teaching Staff, the group meets regularly and involves the members in a number of activities including visits to local aged-care facilities, food collections for the needy and raising funds through activities such as out-of-uniform days, cake stalls and sausage sizzles to assist students within the diocese who need assistance.

Every year the Principal meets with the Bishop, Director of Schools and priests to discuss matters relevant to the operation of the school and its support for the Church in the wider community.

Contact with the Parish Priests is via involvement in school Liturgies and via committees such as the Enrolment Committee. Many staff are Special Ministers, readers and commentators in their local Parishes.

The Liturgical and Prayer Life of the School

St Pius X Ministry Coordinator organises prayers, liturgies, Masses, reflection/community days and retreats for the school community. The details can be read on the Ministry page of our school website.

Teaching of Religion

The Religious Education at St Pius X High School promotes an understanding of Catholic beliefs and practices and incorporates content with the same academic demands as other subjects taught within the school.

The teaching of Religion aims to:

·  Encourage students to find meaning and excitement in learning about the teaching of Christ

·  Assist students to articulate Christian values and the teachings of the Catholic Church

·  Encourage students to be active members of their local Catholic Community

·  Encourage students to integrate Gospel values into their daily life.

The Religion Program is underpinned by four strands: Jesus and Scripture, History and Belief, Celebration and Prayer and Justice and Morality.

Retreats and Faith Development Programs

Every Wednesday morning, staff members meet for prayer. They take turns and great care to prepare the material. A Staff Retreat program ran 3 times throughout the year and was a great success. Post-graduate study in theology and education is both encouraged and subsidized at CSO level, such as MA at ACU, BBI/SCD. Several staff are completing Diplomas in Religious Education by correspondence and face to face mode at Newcastle CSO.

Year 10 students participated in a three-day annual retreat at Collaroy. This was organised by the Ministry Committee, which includes the Ministry Co-ordinator, Student Co-ordinators and volunteer staff. 190 Students from Year 10 attended the “Timeout” Retreat which assisted students to reflect upon the period of transition they were experiencing. It aimed to empower the students with the wisdom to make appropriate choices. Community Days were held for Yrs 7, 8 and 9 to bring the Year groups together, have fun and focus on a particular aspect of Christian life relevant to their current circumstances.

The Catholicity of the school has been nurtured through liturgical celebrations and other forms of worship. These include welcoming of staff and Year 7 and their parents, Commissioning of Student Leaders, Ash Wednesday and Holy Week Liturgies, Anzac Day Liturgy, Vinnies’ Day Fashion Parade, St Pius X Day Celebration, Year 10 Graduation and Presentation Day Ceremonies (Yrs 7-9).

Values (including Social Justice Initiatives)

Student respect and responsibility is promoted as a natural part of the ethos of the school. The School Pastoral Care program, Religious Studies lessons, social justice initiatives, Community Day programs, Retreats and Reflection Days, Assemblies and Year Meetings are all used to promote strong Christian values amongst the students. The school more than meets the requirements of the Australian Government’s Values for Schools policy.

Social justice is given a high priority at St Pius. Each year, student leaders travel to Sydney to attend the “Just Leadership Day” run by Caritas global education officers. They return inspired to embark on the annual “Project Compassion” appeal on Ash Wednesday. In 2012 over 40 students attended an immersion experience to Vietnam. These students were actively involved in building projects for parishes & villages in both North & South Vietnam. This was an extremely eye-opening and practical social justice experience for all involved.

The school celebrates St Pius X Feast Day in August. Each Care Group consisting of students and their teacher organise a stall to raise money for development projects for neighbouring nations in the Majority World living in poverty.

Towards the end of the Year 10 teaching programs a variety of speakers were invited to the school and included people with a disability, drug dependency and the police. These activities were designed to raise student awareness of the less fortunate in our society and of the importance social justice initiatives.

A number of out-of-uniform days have been organised and the money raised was given to local charities.

St Pius X has a very active St Vincent de Paul Society which ensures that the school is made aware of and takes responsibility for issues facing the wider community.

Policies

Enrolment Policy

St Pius X High School, Adamstown, follows the guidelines provided by the Catholic Schools Office Policy Enrolment (Amended 2008). The Policy has been devised to accommodate, as far as is possible, the needs of families seeking a Catholic education. In situations where enrolments have to be restricted because of limitations on capacity, preference may need to be given to children of Catholic families, as defined in the Policy. Implementation of the Policy is via our local school Enrolment Committee which has discretionary authority in keeping with Diocesan guidelines. Copies of the Policy are available from the school, or from the Catholic Schools Office website (cf end of Report). Parents concerned about school fees should ensure they make contact with the school. Diocesan provisions (including standard discounts for those with a Health Card) exist to help in this area, and the Principal can also exercise discretion where genuine need exists.

Student Welfare

At St Pius X High School the Pastoral Care (Student Welfare) Policy clearly defines student rights and responsibilities. The full text of the policy can be read in the student planner and student handbook and is available on our school website and on request from the school.

The school provides an extensive structure to support students. The structure is designed to provide support of all individuals within the school community.

This process is achieved via a House structure with a Student Coordinator in charge of each House and students within each Year being subdivided into Care Groups with a teacher responsible for each group.

This structure allows the school to effectively monitor and act rapidly on any student welfare issue.

To encourage harmonious relationships within the school, we have developed a range of student based activities such as peer support programs, anti-bullying programs, “Get Organised” and a range of student centred activities based on the premise of ‘care for one another within a caring community’.

St Pius X High School aims for excellence in all areas, providing opportunities for our students to achieve success. A merit and award system operates within the school as a way of celebrating academic success and as an incentive to strive for excellence. These include: Blue Slip, acknowledging academic and class performance, Bronze, Silver, Gold and Diamond Certificates each representing an increasing level of achievement and presented at special assemblies and award days.

No change was made to the Pastoral Care (Student Welfare) Policy during 2012.

Discipline

The school has developed an extensive policy related to student discipline in compliance with the Catholic Schools Office Pastoral Care Policy 2002. The school’s Discipline Policy is implemented in conjunction with the Restorative Justice Policy. The Discipline Policy provides clear guidelines for procedural fairness that provide support to students and parents in matters of disciplinary action.

The Discipline Policy has been designed to provide positive re-enforcement of acceptable practices within the school community. It also places considerable emphasis on positive reinforcement of appropriate behaviour via the use of the Award scheme. The full text of the Discipline Policy can be read in the student planner and student handbook and is available on our school website and on request from the school.

Discipline procedures are identified for minor and major misbehaviour. These procedures include playground clean up, lunch detention, after school detention, student review panel and internal or external suspension. No change was made to the Discipline Policy in 2012.

Complaints and Grievances

St Pius X High School has as its major premise that the education of the child is a three way process involving a unique relationship between the school, parents and the child. To do this effectively the school actively encourages open communication between all stakeholders in the educative process. Parents and caregivers are encouraged to contact the school with any concerns related to their child’s education at St Pius X High School.

The school has established a policy that encourages stakeholders in the educative process to contact the relevant person - Teachers, Student Coordinators/Studies Coordinators, Assistant Principal (Students), Assistant Principal (Studies) or Principal - when they have any concerns or grievances. The full text of the school’s Complaints & Grievance Policy is available on the school website and from the school on request. This policy is in accordance with the Catholic Schools Office Complaints Management Policy 2007. The policy provides clear guidelines for procedural fairness that provide support to students and parents when matters of grievance occur. No change has been made to this policy in 2012.

The school provides opportunities to parents and caregivers to attend a number of information evenings throughout the year where these processes of communication are explained in detail.