23 March 2023

23.03.23

From the Principal

Dear Families and friends of St Paul’s,

Week 8 of the term has been a significant mixture of events and celebrations at St Paul’s. Then again, as you all know, that is very much what it is like every week!

You would have all heard, seen, or read about Harmony Week in the news. This is a wonderful opportunity for the whole of society to celebrate Australia’s great diversity of cultures and to acknowledge the positive impact each and everyone has had on who our country has become.

St Paul’s College has, at its heart and one of our core values, Diversity, and Edmund Rice education have Inclusive Community as one of its Touchstones. This means we live harmony week and harmony day regularly, hopefully, every week and day. What this week does allow us to do however is to more formally celebrate the beautiful diversity that exists within our community. These celebrations are many and varied and certainly very well accepted by both students and staff alike.

This week also contained the International Day of Happiness and on Tuesday World Down Syndrome Day. Our primary years in particular were keen to raise awareness of Down Syndrome, so everyone was invited to wear their most eye-catching socks. They were mismatched socks and peoples’ craziest and most colourful socks, but ‘Lots of Socks’ is a celebration that makes all of us different, and yet the same!

NAPLAN Week

The very much talked about, discussed, debated and argued about NAPLAN tests were conducted this week. We acknowledge several things in this regard. Firstly, we acknowledge that any form of test or exam can bring with it some forms of anxiety for students, and even parents and staff! Secondly, we believe as a college that these tests are exactly that, just a test, just one measure of what any of our students are capable of. We know that these tests are not the be-all and end-all of all achievements and measurements. We look at them as providing us with some information that can assist us in helping students by knowing which areas require additional support.

Given there are over 40 different languages spoken in our family homes we know that English is not the first, not second or third in some cases, language our families know and understand so we use this data to make sure we provide the very best support we can. Thirdly, however, we do expect that the students, with the support of families, take the tests seriously, give their best and allow other students to do the same. We all need to continually try to be the very best we can be, our most excellent selves and NAPLAN is another opportunity for that to be put into practice.

RAMADAN

Adding to our diversity and harmony-focused activities this week, we would also like to acknowledge the beginning of RAMADAN for our Muslim families. Like LENT for all Catholics RAMADAN is enormously important to them as a time of prayer and fasting. We offer our support and join with them in prayer throughout this time. I know Mr. Hicks is working with some of our senior Muslim students to make they have some time, space and opportunity to practice the prayerful components of their faith.

Take Care and God Bless
Mr Paul Belton

Primary News

Dear Families,

Sports Days are much anticipated days on our college calendar and a great deal of planning and practise goes into making the days the very best they can be for all. We invite families to come along and enjoy watching the Primary Years activities next Thursday 30 March.

Sports Day is compulsory, and it is an opportunity for all Reception – Year 6 students to participate in events which allow them to practise a range of skills that are taught in their PE lessons. Our Year 6 House Captains and Student Leaders will help all our Primary Years students participate and engage with positivity and enjoy themselves.

Mr Nicholas Gillard communicated with families a few weeks ago, that our Primary Years Sports Day is a twilight event from 1pm - 6pm. This means students are not onsite and alternative care is needed until 1pm, when students are asked to arrive to school. Staff are not available to supervise students until 1pm as they are participating in their own professional learning at this time. OSHC will be open for students from 7am – 1pm; however, this is first in best dressed as spots are limited to 45. If not already registered, you will need to register and book for OSHC on www.extend.com.au/ We look forward to seeing many families come along at 1pm to encourage and cheer on our students.

This week is Harmony Week which is celebrated from the 20 - 26 March. Harmony Week celebrates Australia’s cultural diversity. It’s about inclusiveness, respect and having a sense of belonging.

As a multiculturally diverse college, we acknowledged Harmony Week by wearing a touch of orange. Traditionally orange signifies social communication and meaningful conversations. It is also connected with freedom of ideas and encouragement of mutual respect. Over the week students participated in activities that promoted the message that everyone belongs.

We also celebrated World Down Syndrome Day by wearing eye catching socks to raise awareness around supporting people with a learning disability. The odd socks campaign was conceived as the 3 strands of Chromosome 21 just happen to look like socks! This was a wonderful way to recognise that all of us are different, and yet the same!

A reminder that the school holidays are fast approaching. Now is the time to book into Extend, our OSHC provider’s, onsite holiday program if your child/ren need care over the break. The program provides a great variety of activities including some excursions. Please use the link above to register.

As we are currently in the season of Lent, we respectfully ask that no Easter eggs or Easter gifts be distributed among the children before Easter. Easter Eggs are a symbol of new life which is what we share and give each other at the time of Jesus’ resurrection on Easter Sunday. If your children wish to share Easter Eggs, please bring them in after Easter Sunday, in Week 11.

Until next fortnight, take care.

Mrs Marianne Loftus
Head of Primary Years

6 Great Apps to Supercharge Your Study

Article from Explore Careers

Whether you want help with concentration, productivity, stress levels or revision skills – there’s an app for that! Below are six we’ve tried and tested – and LOVE – for helping us get stuff done!

1. FOREST APP

Need something to motivate you to concentrate and overcome getting distracted by scrolling? The Forest App has you covered! With this app, you’ll set a timeframe for your study session and then be able to plant a virtual tree – which is then held hostage by the app! If you try to use your phone before your study session ends, your poor tree will wilt and die. If you stay committed to studying, your tree will grow and flourish! It’s a fun visual aid to help you stay on track and away from social media.

2. WHITE NOISE LITE APP

Listening to music is a favourite for many young people when studying (and adults when working!), but it’s easy to lose focus when your fav tunes hit the playlist. And total silence isn’t a great alternative …

Instead, you could try some white noise. The White Noise Lite app allows you to build soundscapes to support your focus while studying. White noise has been shown to help boost concentration and a range of other powerful benefits. When you’re done studying, you can use the app to switch to a soundscape that will soothe you to sleep – a great bonus!

3. MYHOMEWORK APP

Need a bit of help getting organised across all of the things?! The myHomework App was specifically developed for high school students to help you keep track of all your classes, homework deadlines, group assignments, and exams. You plot everything into the app, and it sends you prompt reminders of what you have coming up and what deadlines are imminent! You can add the app to your phone, tablet or laptop and stay on top of everything whenever and wherever you need.

4. EVERNOTE APP

Are you, like us, fully committed to paying attention when someone asks you to do something – only to forget five minutes after the conversation ends?! Evernote could be the perfect solution. It’s essentially a notetaking app, but one you can tap into easily on the fly and then utilise the great formatting tools to add more, organise and plot out your next steps – you can even add audio and pictures. It also has a search function, making it easy to find what you need when you need it (no flipping through dozens of scrunched paper notebooks to find where you wrote something down!).

5. HEADSPACE APP

There’s no denying it: studying can get stressful. Especially when you’re working on an assignment for a tight deadline or revising for an upcoming exam. A vital part of successful study is ensuring you look after yourself – and give your brain regular breaks. The Headspace app is your one-stop shop for everything you’ll need to help combat the stress and pressure of studying. With guided meditation, mindfulness, sleep exercises, and calming playlists – it’s everything you need to support your best self to be the study pro you can be.

6. STUDYBLUE APP

Using flashcards when studying for exams or prepping for a presentation is a tried and tested method for success. But you know what? Paper flashcards are messy – they get out of order, get ripped, smudged and lost. Luckily, there’s an app to help. StudyBlue is a flashcard app designed specifically for high school students. It includes over 400 million flashcards, notes, and study guides. You can also create custom quizzes to support your learning and prep your knowledge for exams.

Ready to Supercharge Your Studies?

All of these apps are designed to support and aid your study habits – but you’ll need to ensure you have some good ones in place, to begin with! If studying feels like a real struggle, make sure you chat with your teachers, friends and parents to help get the support you need to set yourself up with a strong game plan. Adding the apps that help aid you in the ways you need most will then see you fly through this school year!