News
From the Principal
Dear Friends of St Paul’s,
As Term 2 draws to a close we have so much to be grateful for at the College and so much to look forward to in the coming terms. It has been a particularly busy term and that means it has been a particularly tiring one for all of us. While it was exciting to have all our traditional activities back in motion post COVID, the number and complexity of them meant even more work for our committed and diligent staff. It is enormously pleasing to say that each one of these activities was extremely successful. To name a few:
NAIDOC Week
Week 10 has been the national celebration of NAIDOC week. This is of enormous significance not only at St Paul’s but within the whole Australian society. We acknowledge that there has been significant wrongdoing in the lives of our Aboriginal and Torres Strait brothers and sisters. For any pain, that in any way could be attributed to us we apologise profusely.
Our week here at St Paul’s has had a number of different events, liturgies, reflections, and lessons.
We sincerely thank the staff for their preparatory work and the students for warmly embracing every aspect. All events and conversations have been in recognition of the great contribution made by past and current Aboriginal people and of the excellent value they add to who we all are as a school and a nation. We thank all our Aboriginal students and families for trusting us with their education and promise to build on our strong partnership.
Primary Music Afternoon
Another great celebration was the Primary Music performance. We offer our heartfelt congratulations to Ms Sarah Crisp (Primary Music teacher) in particular, but also to Ms Libby Verrall, Mr Matthew Bailey, Mr Victor Oria and all the primary teachers for all their work in preparing the students and for other staff in helping with the set-up etc. It was enormously successful, and the faces of students and families clearly told the story. Well done.
Middle Years Learning Expo
Last Thursday we held our best yet Middle Years Learning Expo. To be able to wander around alongside staff, students and families to see and witness the great depth of learning that has happened with the integrated STEM and LEAF classes are wonderful. The crowd was bigger than we have experienced before, and the quality of the presentations are outstanding. We often speak of “Student Voice” as being an important and essential part of the learning cycle for students and this expo massively demonstrated just that. Our thanks and congratulations go to all the Middle Years teachers but especially to our two Middle Years Leaders of Learning Ms Sue O’Malley (STEM) and Ms Joanna D’Angelo (LEAF) who were outstanding in their assiduous preparation for this event.
First Communion
On the very same evening as the Learning Expo, some of us were blessed to be at St Pius X church for the celebration of the sacrament of First Communion for several of our students. This rounds out the sacramental preparation done so very well for and with our students by Ms Kristynn Ross, Ms Maria Girolamo-Corbo and Mr Joe Hicks (our catholic Identity Team). These special occasions are the very heartbeat of our Catholic community and are so beautiful to be a part of. We wish these wonderful young students all the absolute best as they further develop their love of God and journey with Jesus throughout their lives.
Mr Jim Holmes
As we communicated during the last week, Mr Jim Holmes, who has worked in the St Paul’s community for 27.5 years has decided to bring this chapter of his life to a close. Jim has been a very valued member of our college and is enormously enthusiastic about the students and providing opportunities for everyone to succeed, regardless of academic ability or background. Jim has always been great to have a conversation and a laugh with and we are certain he will be dearly missed across the extended current and past families of the College. We wish him and his family all the absolute best for the future and thank them all sincerely.
2023 Planning
While it is only the concluding week of term two the College Executive and Leadership Teams have been busy beginning our planning for 2023 and beyond. With the ongoing success and growth of the college since the introduction of coeducation we have been and need to be thorough in our understanding and execution of strategic decisions that will continue to allow us to live out our great passion for providing a very excellent and affordable education for families in the inner north-east area of Adelaide. We will review all things curricula, co-curricular, human, and physical resources as well as the culture we are continuing to build as a growing coeducational College.
We hope you all have a great break and come back renewed and revitalised for another great term at St Paul’s.
Take care and God Bless.
Paul Belton
From the Principal
Dear Families and Friends of St Paul’s,
As you would all be aware this week, we begin a new semester in our academic year. It is an unusual time for this to happen given it is not the start of a new term, but the reality of our work is that there are not four even terms that we can split in half for two equal semesters!
With a change of semester comes a change of timetable and with that several subject, staff, and lesson swaps. This year, more than ever before, considering COVID implications and staff taking leave, we have been stretched in more ways than one to sort through all of this. There has been a huge amount of work done behind the scenes by Mr Michael White our Timetable Coordinator, Mr Matthew Muscat our Senior Years Head of Teaching and Learning and our Deputy Principal Mr Josh Foulis. It has been enormously time consuming and stressful for many but as always at St Paul’s we are so grateful for the patience and resilience offered us by the staff and the students. As always, we continue to hold the students at the centre of all our planning and we look forward to another successful semester.
Year 12 Formal
Last Friday we had the absolute pleasure of sharing the evening with our Year 12 cohort and partners at our Year 12 Formal. It was a tremendous evening; they were extremely well behaved – even extremely well mannered and respectful in front of their guests – but we would have expected that from this group of fine young men! We are grateful for all the work our College Organiser, Ms Bonnie Phillips, Mr Callary, Head of Student Wellbeing (Year 7-12) and all the Leaders of House, who worked together to ensure the success of this important function.
Year 9 Camp
While the current weather is not fantastic, the Year 9 students under the guidance of Mr Chris Martin and his team of staff, have set off for chilly Kuipto Forrest. While this may be challenging it is an experience that the College believes are a particularly important part of what we call a holistic education. I’m sure they will remember the experience!
Staff Professional Development
On Friday of week 6 the whole staff finally had the opportunity to meet for some professional development. In 2015 when we all gathered there approximately 50 of us. Given our growth of over 200 this year we now have approximately 120 staff! To be able to gather in the new senior Learning Centre and be able to physically introduce the 30+ new staff to the community was a significantly special occasion.
College Tours
Over the last couple of years being able to show prospective families around St Paul’s has been difficult. With the COVID restrictions being eased we are now able to conduct these tours with greater freedom. Two Saturday’s ago, we had approximately 160 visitors to the College. Following the presentation in the new building and after a complete “lap” of the school, families couldn't wait to submit enrolment forms. For your interest since July, 2020, when we announced we were becoming co-ed until now we have had between 2,500 and 3,000 enrolment enquiries. That is quite phenomenal and sadly we will not be able to enrol them all. Hence, if you know families or in fact have siblings who you want to attend St Paul’s we require enrolment forms at least two years out from any anticipated starting date.
It is a great news story for St Paul’s, and we are sure that Blessed Edmund Rice and Br Dally (our first principal) would be very proud of how the College has progressed.
God Bless
Paul Belton
From the Principal
Dear Families and Friends of St Paul’s,
Last week I had the absolute pleasure of attending our Year 11 Retreat at Victor Harbor. It was an experience that all the staff that attend and all our students thoroughly enjoy. As a Catholic College in the Edmund Rice Tradition, it is imperative that we continually help students discover their true spiritual selves. We are a very multicultural and very multi-faith community but we all share the common need for a spiritual life!
When we all think about it, our spirit is what drives us to become the best version of ourselves that we can be. It is like team spirit in a sporting or community sense. The spirit we believe so deeply in, is the Holy Spirit, the influence in our lives that connects us to God and gives us the real purpose of living. This purpose is to live, in love, with each other and with our God. We sincerely hope that our students do experience this sense of spirit and this sense of purpose. We thank our APRIM, Mr Joe Hicks and all the staff that made this experience so special.
Staff Potential Development
Our ongoing commitment to being the best we can be as a Catholic College, requires us to provide opportunities for our staff to gather together to undertake activities aimed at helping us provide the best environment for our students. On Friday of this week we had the focus, in the Middle and Senior Years, a Student Wellbeing and in the Primary Years on all things Literacy. We appreciate the support of our families in allowing these activities to take place.
Building Developments
You would all be aware of the recent developments happening at the College in terms of the main courtyard as well as the Senior Learning Centre building. Whilst these are not completely finalised we are continuing to plan for the next major project which will be a new Primary Years Precinct.
A letter outlining these intentions will be forwarded to families. In becoming a co-educational school we have been inundated with interest and enrolment enquiries. The number now exceeds 2,500 since the original amount.
These exciting times mean that we will be able to further develop the College’s facilities, including an infrastructure that enables the delivery of a wide-ranging curriculum offering.
It is really very exciting times for St Paul’s and as our 2002 theme suggests 'Together We Grow'.
God Bless,
Mr Paul Belton
Principal
Primary Years Precinct
Dear Families and Friends of St Paul’s
We are delighted to share the latest details in relation to the next step in our building program. We have been working with a team of consultants to progress designs for a new Primary Years Precinct on the primary oval near the Trade Training Centre.
From the Principal
Dear Families and Friends of St. Paul’s,
This week we took another giant step toward normality! We were fortunate to hold our very first 2022 assembly in the gymnasium! Our “Academic Assembly” is normally held in week one of term one! Obviously, all things COVID have prevented us from having these celebrations and so it was wonderful to be able to do that again. At this assembly, we welcome back the high achievers of the Class of 2021. There were some outstanding success stories there and we were able present the 2021 School Dux, Hayden Reddick. What made it even more special was to be able to then share a morning tea with the families in the new senior centre. It was an incredibly special time in our history.
Unfortunately given the growth of the student numbers over the last 12 months we were unable to fit the whole college in, so we had all the students from Year 7 through to year 12. What was marvellous, though was this celebration presented us with the opportunity to have a co-ed assembly with the girls in Year 7 and 8 joining us for the first time. It was such a delight to hear young Kadijat and Prisha speak of their experience of being welcomed into the college, along with our first group of Year 7 and 8 girls. As we have said before, despite the impact of COVID on the community the first term of this year was absolutely wonderful. Not only are we now operating in that co-ed setting but the new courtyard, bathroom facilities and senior learning centre have all allowed the college to take on a whole fresh look and more importantly a whole new feel. We are sure that all our old scholars and all past staff and families would be immensely proud of the “new St Paul’s.”
More Exciting Opportunities
Again, as all things (hopefully) return to the new normal, we have been able to provide the students with many more of the amazing opportunities that are able to enjoy as a part of the holistic education all students receive at the College. This week the Year 10 Outdoor Education class went off on their kayak journey camp, our Year 7’s are undertaking the very important CLS (Christian Service learning) experiences, the Year 10’s are preparing for a week’s work experience (thanks Ms Jo Williams) and the Year 11’s are preparing for what will be one of the most memorable experiences in their whole college life, the Year 11 Retreat. Our APRIM, Mr Joe Hicks is preparing a tremendous program for the boys, and we are certain it will be an amazing spiritual and fun experience for them.
Sacrement of Reconcilition
Congratulations to the nine students on their Reconciliation this week. Many thanks to Mr Joe Hicks, Ms Maria Girolamo-Corbo and Ms Kristynn Ross (Catholic Identity Team) for their support of these students.
Parent / Student / Staff Learning Conversations
I would like to thank all the staff, students and families who have participated in the recent learning Conversations. While again, not all back to the face-to-face preferred style, they are so especially important in the support we give each other in enabling the students to become the absolute best they can – which is all we ever ask! These opportunities provide feedback and feedback is one of the most crucial components of success.
We all very much look forward to the rest of the term and being able to share more of the great opportunities that we have missed so much over the last couple of years.
Take care, God Bless
Paul Belton
From the Principal
Dear Friends of St Paul’s,
Welcome back to term two!
We hope that everyone has had an impressive easter and a restful break at the end of term one. (Given it is week two that seems a long time ago now!!) Term two brings a great deal of excitement at the College as, finally, we hope the COVID restrictions start to lift, and we can again celebrate all the wonderful things that happen at St Paul’s in a more formal and more relaxed way.
Parents and family members are allowed back on-site and while we will continue to maintain safety precautions such as masks and spreading people out, we hope to be able to share with the community on a much more personal level.
As a staff, we have not met all together in the one-room all year. This has been frustrating given we had over 25 new members of staff join us this year and to also not have a whole school assembly means we have not been able to all be together to formally welcome the additional 200+ students who joined our community in 2022.
Having said that the celebration of the Stations of the Cross that Mr Joe Hicks our new APRIM and the Catholic Identity team led on the last day of last term, in the courtyard was amazing and a tremendously inclusive celebration of the most significant event in our Catholic, Christian calendar – the death and resurrection of Jesus. The whole community was there in the open and everyone enjoyed and appreciated the power, solemnity, and celebration of the liturgy.
One example of just how important returning to more face-to-face is to our community occurred this week when, as a staff, we were able to go into the Chapel together for staff prayer. In speaking to a staff member who started at St Paul’s at the beginning of 2021, this was the first time he had experienced the beautiful staff prayer we share together every Friday morning, collectively in the chapel. It is so much better than the online versions!
Parent / student / teacher conversations’
By now most families would have engaged in our mid-semester learning conversations. Again, while these could not be held face-to-face the staff have reported back on how well they all went and how valuable they are in assisting the students in their learning, and in fact helping them reach their full potential. We often speak of the three-way partnership that exists at St Paul’s between parents, students, and staff. When this partnership is strong, and we are all “on the same page” there is no limit to the achievements that can be reached. The most important message to come out of these meetings is that we are all working and will continue to work, together, for the students in our care.
New Building
Another wonderful occasion occurred this Monday when we were finally able to start the usage of the new senior learning centre. While things are not fully completed, we are so delighted, and so are the senior students, to be able to use what is a quite remarkable facility. The college will have a formal opening later in the term or year and we look forward to sharing this beautiful environment with as many of you as we can, through parent meetings etc. It fills us with such an enthusiastic sense of pride to be able to have a state-of-the-art learning facility that is as good as what would be provided in any school. And, as a bonus, the view across the ovals to the Adelaide hills is as good a view as you could get in any school! St Paul’s gets to have and share such a facility because of the enormous amount of work that has been done by so many community members, over a long time. It is indeed a just reward for that diligence and great belief in the College.
God Bless, take care
Paul Belton
From the Principal
Dear Friends of St Paul’s
What a term!
Over the last two years we have all had to live with the challenges of our new COVID world. Term 1 2022 has been by far the most challenging of these. Our community, like many schools has been hit extremely hard with the sheer numbers of staff and students who have either contracted the illness or have been deemed close contacts and forced into isolation. Every level of our staff from senior leadership to all sections of our ESO staff have been impacted. This has caused many significant challenges and our staff lead so admirably by our Deputy Principal, Josh Foulis and our amazing College Organiser Ms Bonnie Phillips have navigated our way through a myriad of relief lessons and juggling of staff to ensure a sense of continuity in learning and commitment to the student has been maintained. While we should mention more than just a few, Mr Foulis and Ms Phillips have worked tirelessly and been of huge support to the staff, all of whom, in turn, have been formidable.
At the beginning of the year, we welcomed over twenty-five fresh staff and their introduction to the College could not have come at a more challenging time. Each of them has made a significant contribution to the College and we thank them sincerely. Ms Marianne Loftus as Head of the Primary, Ms Nadia Morris as Head of Teaching and Learning in the Primary, Mr Joe Hicks as APRIM and Mr Matthew Muscat as Head of Teaching and Learning in the Middle and Senior Years have excelled in their senior leadership roles and laid the foundation for continued growth and development across the College.
Co-education success
The 2022 year also signalled the beginning of a new era for the College as we welcomed young girls in all year levels from Reception to Year 8. This has been an outstanding success, due to the diligent work by many staff, through eleven different working parties, which explored and researched all structures, procedures and programs that would make this stage in our proud history, successful. We should congratulate Ms Donna Nguyen in her role as Transition Coordinator and Mr Nick Callary as Head Student Development whose preparation and ongoing work with and support of the girls has been outstanding
Building challenges and progress
Another of our challenges this term was the delay in the finishing of both our main courtyard and the sports and learning centre. This delay caused staff, students, and classes to be relocated to different and some unusual spots. The great news is that we have received our Certificate of Occupancy to the new building, and we have started moving in and classes will begin in there by week two of next term.
We also hope to be announcing some more exciting news in terms of building development early next term. Our continued growth and development have resulted in unprecedented demand on enrolments and this in turn has provided us with the opportunity to provide even better resources for our families and broader community.
Thank you
On behalf of the senior leadership team of the College I would really like to thank all our staff, students and families for their ongoing support and commitment to making St Paul’s such a wonderful community. Despite the challenges of the term, it continues to be an amazingly positive and welcoming family environment. Have an incredibly happy and very Holy Easter season and relaxing holiday period. May the joys of the risen Christ bring much happiness to you all.
God Bless
Paul Belton
From the Principal
Dear Friends of St Paul’s,
It has been wonderful being able to welcome some families back onto the property for the College’s two Sports days this week. With our world of uncertainty, it is lucky that all things aligned so these events could occur, outdoors and COVID-wise as we can be too. We know from speaking to lots of parents that they too, have missed not being able to feel more of the community and for so many it was their first genuine taste of these amazing family days at the College. I must thank Mr Nick Gillard, all the Physical Education staff, Leaders of house and Wellbeing as well as all the staff who so willingly embrace the spirit of these days. In addition to the Sports Days, we also celebrated Harmony Day, albeit in a different format to what we would like. St Paul’s is an extremely multicultural community and Harmony Day provides us with an opportunity to not only teach about who we are and who we want to be as a community but also to show off the fact that we do live in harmony within this community.
Sports and Learning Centre
As we approach the end of term 1 (in whatever way that may evolve over the next week or so) we are pleased to tell you that our brand-new building is nearing completion. We have had an MFS inspection this week, which is a big step towards occupation, we have had the use of some of the amazing new bathrooms and hopefully our staff will be able to move into their new offices in the next two weeks. This will allow full occupancy and hopefully use by students by the beginning of next term (hopefully!) To see the look on the faces of the students and to listen to their conversations when most of the building fences came down on Wednesday morning was wonderful. They, like all of you, are really excited about the way the college looks and feels now!!
End of Term Arrangements
By now you would have heard or been reading that there are conversations happening around how this term will end, i.e., speculation that will we be asked by the government to close for week 11 or other arrangement. As of today, we do not know the answer to that, but we will certainly communicate to all our families as soon as we can in relation to that. Like every school and college, and so many families, we have had our COVID challenges. Our staff and students have been wonderfully resilient and as we know, work so closely together to make the most of the time and opportunities we have together.
Term 1 Reports
Also, as we near the end of the term the teaching staff are busily preparing reports for students and families. As we always say at the end of each term, we ask the students to undertake the “mirror test” and ask that person if the report reflects their absolute best. In the year where we acknowledge that “Together We Grow” we understand that this growth applies in all facets of our lives and particularly academically. We challenge students to strive not only for their personal best, but personal excellence!
Take care, God Bless
Paul Belton
From the Principal
Dear Friends of St Paul’s,
Last Wednesday we began the important Christian season of Lent with an Ash Wednesday liturgy (by Zoom!) It was a particularly powerful liturgy and with the involvement of our students for the first time, became significant. As a very multi-cultural and multi faith College we welcome and celebrate inclusivity regularly. At the same time, we will always remain faithful to our Catholic and Edmund Rice charism and history. The way all our students embrace this spiritual setting is one of the most wonderful aspects of this great school. We are sure the students, from reception to year 12 will now understand the significance of this Lenten season and make every attempt to put that understanding into practice (hopefully around the home!!)
Year 8 Camps & Tours
With the distinctly various times we are living in, the staff of St Paul’s need to be even more adaptive and flexible than ever. This has been clearly demonstrated by Mr Campbell, Mr Stewart and our marketing department in recent times. We have been scheduled to run several camps and College tours throughout the early part of the year and COVID has made it exceedingly difficult. Our staff have negotiated different structures, times, and scenario so that the students and prospective families can experience the full vitality of the College. We thank the staff for making sure these events happen in some way shape or form!
In terms of tours and enrolments can I encourage all families who may know of others who are considering enrolling children at St Paul’s to tell them to do so as soon as they can. With pressure on now for positions we are having to close our books and stop accepting enrolments over 18 months to two years out from commencement. While this is positive for the College it is an awful situation where we have to say no to families. It is by far one of the worst parts of our roles here.
From the Head of Primary
Dear Families,
This past couple of weeks I have enjoyed talking to students during my duties. They have been sharing memories of their holidays and camping trips, not only from recently, but previous months and even from some years ago! The conversations were many and varied.
Through our musings I was reminded of AA Milne - “We didn’t realise we were making memories, we just knew we were having fun.” How lovely that these children I spoke with have the opportunity to build memories. There was a touch of mischief, adventure and as another cried very enthusiastically, “I had to make my own fun playing outside and not with my iPad”. Our memories, feelings and thoughts affect all of us and what is created in childhood is often transferred into our adult lives.
