News

Dear Families and friends of St Paul’s,

We are in week 10 of Term 1 and the most holy and significant of our Catholic calendar – Holy Week.

Holy Week starts with Palm Sunday, the celebration of Jesus triumphant return to Jerusalem. How magnificent that must have been to see and hear crowds of people not only welcome this very special person but for them to believe Him to be their long awaited saviour. All of us need a saviour at various times in our lives, someone we have absolute trust and confidence in, someone we can share our most personal and vulnerable traits with. There is no doubt that we need a living colleague for that, but as a people of faith we have also the utmost confidence that we always have our God to rely on for the same reason.

From the immense joy and celebration of Palm Sunday we move into the wonderful celebration of the Last Supper on Thursday. Here Jesus makes the eternal promise to be with us whenever we need him – “Where two or more are gathered in my name, there am I in the midst of them.” We also remember the breaking of the bread, the sharing of the meal, another powerful symbol of friendship, love, and family. Who do you invite to your table? People we share meals with are special to us and it bonds families and friends alike together. We have this opportunity every Sunday, in community with those who are like-minded and share this great belief.

Good Friday, while horrible in its actions of the crucifixion is the acknowledgement of the ultimate sacrifice Jesus made for us all and when we combine that with the celebration of the resurrection on Easter Sunday, we have the most perfect celebration and recognition of hope. As Catholics we must be people of hope. As a Catholic school we must not only preach but practice hope, on a daily basis. Our world is too full of scenarios of hopelessness and we have an obligation to try to turn that around.

On behalf of our committed staff I would like to offer all our families a most happy, hope-filled, and holy Easter. May the joys of the resurrection fill you all with great hope and love for God and each other.

The fact that our Catholic celebrations coincide with the very significant Muslim season of Ramadan adds even more beauty to the multi-faith and multicultural community we share here at St Paul’s.

Term 2 Staffing

After the easter break we only have a short four-day week before concluding Term 1. There are a number of staffing arrangements I need to let you know about.

Firstly, and most importantly I need to let you know that after 36 years of extremely dedicated service to the St Paul’s community Mr Mark Ryan has decided to move on into the next chapter of his life. Mark has held many different positions at the College and has been a beacon of care and compassion for the students. We wish Mark and his family every happiness and success in the future and we thank him most sincerely for his service to the St Paul’s community.

In the first few weeks of the term the international Edmund Rice family will be holding a congress in Dublin, Ireland. Most of the 220+ principals from our schools around the world, will gather to both celebrate what we do in Edmund’s name but also plan as to how we can continue to make a positive difference to our world. I will be going to this and then having some extended time away from the College to recharge my batteries!

In my place Mr Josh Foulis will be Principal and Mr Joe Hicks will be Deputy Principal. I’m sure both the staff, and the whole community will support Josh and Joe in these important roles. With Joe stepping up into the Deputy role, Mrs Maria Girolamo-Corbo will become our APRIM and Mr Matthew Stramare will take on Maria’s role as Religious Identity Leader in the Middle Years.

Our Music and Performance Coordinator, Ms Libby Verrall, will also be taking long service leave in Term 2. Her music classes will be taken by Mr Drew Akin, while her other responsibilities will be shared by Drew and Mr Victor Oria.

We will also welcome back, Messer Walter Chatindiara, Paul Kemp and Grant Howarth from long service leave.

It has been a very fast-moving and activity-filled term. So many wonderful experiences occur every day here at St Paul’s and we have so much to be grateful for. I hope all students, staff and families have a very restful holiday break and a great Term 2.

God Bless

Paul Belton