News

Dear Friends of St Paul’s,

Welcome Back to the 2022 academic year! As we have mentioned many times over the last 18 months 2022 marks the beginning of a new era for St Paul’s in us becoming a co-educational College in the Edmund Rice tradition. We begin this new era with a greats sense of appreciation and gratitude for all those who have gone before us, staff, students, and families. We well and truly stand on the shoulders of you all. It is also because of our great tradition that we approach this era with great confidence and excitement.

Many people have contributed to the extensive and thorough preparation for this year, and I would like to sincerely thank them all, EREA, CESA, our own staff and community as well as the present student population who have all worked with us – in difficult situations too with the school being a building site. It is so wonderful to be able to welcome students (albeit not all) back into the school for 2022. The COVID scenario, while not being great for the students doing on-line learning, has made the first few days for all the new students in Reception, 1 and 2 as well as the year 7’s and 8 somewhat easier. It has also given us increased opportunity to engage with students and help them settle in.

Day 1

To welcome our students back on day one of any year is always a wonderful experience. Whether it is all the little Reception students to the new year 7s and 8s the excitement on the faces of the students (and parents!) is always particularly special. This year however, with many of these being young girls, it was even more significant and emotional. By the end of the day, we were all delighted with just how wonderful it had been, and for all the staff, the culmination of 18 months of diligent planning and extremely hard work. It will go down in our history as one of the most significant and certainly one of the most emotional!

New Facilities

Another great part of the welcome back to the new year has been the opportunity for the students to enjoy the new courtyard, the renovated Wilson Building (housing Inclusive Ed., Library, ICT), and the new primary bathrooms (for the girls in 7/8 also). The new sports and senior centre have suffered delays, like most building projects, due to COVID caused labor and material supplies. We are expecting to have it completed in time for us to move in prior to the end of the term. It is going to be a sensational addition to the college resources, and we look forward to showing these off to our extended St Paul’s community.

New Staff

With the significant increase in student number, we have also employed and welcomed a significant number of new staff. Each one has settled in well and brought into the St Paul’s family an extraordinary amount of talent and genuine character. Our normal extensive welcoming procedures and activities have taken a hit with the COVID scenario, but each have felt the positivity and enjoyment that comes with working in this beautiful community. On behalf of our community, we welcome.

New staff starting:

Marisa Liddle – Finance Manager – Monday 10 Jan

Beata Kucaba – Assistant Business Manager – Thursday 13 Jan

Tim Martin – Business Manager – Monday 17 Jan

New Teaching staff:

Matthew Bailey, Rachel Delaney, Amber Dias, Sarah Fedele

Emily Halls, Joseph Hicks, David Knight, Marianne Loftus

Keera Masters, Nadia Morris, Emily Norris, Jessica Stace

Stephanie Vidoni, Chad Wood, Kevin Wang, Mark Damm

New ESO staff:

Inclusive Ed, Drew Akin, Ivana Cikos, Amelia Marcuccio, Joanne Palakat

Inclusive Ed, Owen Selby, Bianca Sheehan, Abby Violi, Kayla Willacy

Alice Ward – Student Counsellor, Lucy May – Student Counsellor

We welcome all these staff, all our new students and families. We are sure it is going to be a wonderful year for St. Paul’s College.

God Bless

Paul Belton
Principal