News & Events

Dear families and friends of St Paul’s,

As Week 4 of Term 3 draws to a close we can already stop and reflect on the myriad of events and experiences that have taken place so far this term.

This week as a whole College community we celebrated the Feast of the Assumption in the gymnasium. This feast has for centuries been known in the Catholic Church as a Holy Day of Obligation. This meant that it was one of several days in the Church’s year (outside all Sundays) whereby all Catholics were expected to attend Mass. Times change in regards to many aspects of the Catholic Church, but one thing that hasn’t is the doctrine, the absolute belief, that Mary, the mother of Jesus was taken to Heaven body and soul.

Mary was an extraordinary person, the best example ever of a person saying yes to a calling from God. An impressive example of total commitment to God and a life dedicated to the nurturing of Jesus. This feast is one we always celebrate at St Paul’s for several reasons. Firstly, the fact of it being the special feast day for Mary. Secondly, the Christian Brothers all around the world and from the time of Blessed Edmund Rice have always had an incredibly special devotion to Mary, calling on her and praying to her to support them in their work of education. Thirdly, it provides us as a community a reason to celebrate and pray for all our mothers' none of us would be here without our mums, and to celebrate all the special women in our lives. We say an especially big thank you to all the wonderful female staff we have at St Paul’s and give thanks for the ongoing love, care, and compassion they bring to their roles.

Careers Night and Subject Expos

While still only early in term three we are working particularly diligently on preparing for next year, and beyond. At this point in the year, we hold both a Careers evening and also Subject Expos, both of which are aimed at helping our students think about their future pathways and what subjects, marks, grades etc. they need to chase their dreams. While some if not many may hope and dream to represent Australia in their chosen sport, we all know that they need to have a plan “B.”

Our sincere thanks go to Ms Jo-Anne Williams (VET & Careers Co-ordinator) Mr Peter Staley (Trade Training Centre Manager) and to Mr Matthew Muscat (Head of Teaching & Learning 7-12) and the Leaders of Learning for the huge amount of work they put into these events. From my experience St Paul’s is as good, if not, better than any school I know of, in supporting students throughout these processes. As always, we ask both students and their families to contact us and seek any clarification and advice that they need throughout this term in relation to this.

College Musical

This week is also “College Musical Week.” Another musical extravaganza, “Gumshoe” has been produced by Mr Damian Antenucci, Mr Paul Elliott, Ms Donna Nguyen and their band of willing actors, musicians, and support staff. An enormous amount of work goes into one of these productions, and while it is very demanding, we know of the joy it brings to those involved and their families.

It gives us intense pleasure to see this joy and to see great confidence emerge in some students who otherwise may not experience that. We very much say thanks to everyone involved.

Science Week and Co-curricular

This week is also National Science Week. This is another opportunity for teachers and students to explore this great area of both nature and human-made scientific phenomena. We have a large number of budding scientists in our midst who will no doubt make a significant contribution to society like so many other St Paul’s old scholars before them.

We are getting close to the end of the winter co-curricular season and our senior volleyballers are the latest in experiencing much success at a state-wide knockout competition. We will write in more detail about all the winter successes but at this time our most sincere thanks go to Mr Nick Gillard for all his coordination of this and to all students, families, and staff for their support in making it all happen.

Take care.

God Bless

Paul Belton