News & Events

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