11 March 2022

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. 

Dear Families,

One of the wonderful things about sending our children to school is that they get to experience a whole world outside their life at home; be they social, emotional, spiritual and, of course, educational. They are growing in their knowledge of our college culture, making friends, connecting with teachers, and changing as young people.

Through this, many families relay the challenges they face when asking their children about their day at school, often because children don’t talk about their experiences, or give a broad comment like, “it was good”.  Below are some open questions you can use to help initiate conversations with your children.

Try one a day of these questions and see how your child responds:

1. What was the best thing you did today and why?
2. What was something different that happened today?  
3. What made you laugh?
4. Who did you play with?
5. What are you looking forward to about tomorrow?
6. What did you learn about in Music/PE/Italian?
7. What’s something your teacher said to you today that made you think?
8. If you could change one thing that happened today, what would it be?
9. What part of your day went the quickest? Why?
10. What games did you play at lunchtime?

This is such a wonderful way to engage in rich conversations with your children, in the car, at the dinner table, in fact, anywhere.

Last week during our Ash Wednesday Liturgy, we were reminded that Lent is a time for prayer and reflection.  By praying for ourselves, each other and our world, it is a great way to prepare ourselves throughout Lent for the season of Easter. Currently in our local community, our country and our world, there are many people suffering and facing challenges. We pray for the members of St Paul’s community who are sick and particularly those coping with Covid-19.  We pray for those who have lost their homes and possessions during the recent floods.  We pray for the people living in countries who are experiencing war, especially the people of Ukraine.  We should always remember our fellow human beings in our prayers.

Thank you to all for your cooperation with adhering to all directives associated with Covid-19.  We truly appreciate your assistance in ensuring the safety of all in our community.   If your child develops symptoms or is unwell, please keep them home for their own wellbeing and notify your child’s teacher. A reminder that you need to notify the school should your child return a positive result.  If you are ever unsure as to how long your family might have to isolate, please contact SA Health for directions.  Thank you again for your ongoing understanding and support in these challenging times.

Parents and Caregivers of Year 3 and Year 5 students are reminded of the following important information for NAPLAN 2022:

• Year 3 and 5 students will be involved in some practice tests. One of the main aims for the practice sessions is to test the college’s capacity with the technological demands during NAPLAN.
• As NAPLAN is now online, tests are scheduled over a 9-day period which allows for any make up tests required
• Tests involve:
  • Year 3 Writing Test
  • Year 5 Writing Test  
  • Year 3 and 5 Reading Test / Conventions of Language Test / Numeracy Test

In the coming weeks, Year 3 and Year 5 will be notified of the specific date for each of the tests.

If you want to discuss this further, please contact your child’s teacher or Nadia Morris - Leader of Teaching and Learning.

Together We Grow!

Take care and have a great fortnight.

Marianne Loftus
Head of Primary Years

There was a great start to co-curricular over the weekend, with a fwe stand out performances in cricket, basketball, badminton and volleyball. 

St Paul’s College 1st XI Cricket Team (4/128) defeated Rostrevor College (69) by 59 runs.
Batting: Chetas scored 50 runs, Zach scored 45 runs.
Bowling: Parth 2/3, Levi 2/3, Logan 2/3

Congratulations to our 7/8 girls basketball team on defeating Kildare in their first game 25-6!

Click here to view all results

The Year 7 students have been learning about Colour Theory in Art. Their focus for the last few weeks has been mixing and creating colours. Students have worked well to produce their colour wheels by mixing only primary colours to make secondary and tertiary colours. Students have enjoyed using paint learning the skills to apply paint correctly. Mrs Fedele and Mr Howarth are very excited about the talented artists in Year 7.

On Thursday 3 March, our Year 7 girls participated in their first Girl Power session. It was great to see our students strengthen their relationships with each other, discover their common interests, and form new friendships. The girls discussed their strengths and created some impressive star catchers. Students enjoyed the opportunity to spend time with their peers and are looking forward to the next session!

We are looking forward to our Years 3-6 girls participating in their first Girl Power session in week 10.

Donna Nguyen

On Tuesday, students from Reception to Year 12 celebrated International Women’s Day. As part of the day’s activities, students discussed the importance of gender inequality to #BreakTheBias in the St Paul’s Community.

Students spent time reflecting on the women who they admire and are thankful for, as well as the ways we can promote gender equality in our society. In their home groups, students created posters expressing their reflections and gratitude which were then displayed in our main quadrangle

Thank you to all our students who participated on this day. It was a wonderful day to celebrate to achievements of women.

Donna Nguyen

We came together as a whole St Paul’s College (via Zoom) on two occasions recently to observe and celebrate Shrove Tuesday and Ash Wednesday.

Due to COVID restrictions, the wonders of technology were used on both occasions across the College.

Students were given the opportunity to learn, reflect, and pray together on the importance of Lent within our Catholic tradition, and how it speaks to us in a relevant way as a Catholic community of faith.

Our girls and boys led the liturgy and did a wonderful job in setting the scene for the students, as to the focus for discernment as we journey through Lent.

The reflective questions asked of our students were:

What do I hope to do for others during this Lent?
How can I make a difference to those around me at St Paul’s College this Lent?
What am I going to do for those who are less fortunate than me?

We will continue to use Lent as a focus for our journey ahead in term one, both within the lens of our students, and our staff when we gather (via Zoom) for our weekly Staff Prayer and Reflection on Friday mornings. These are led by staff and are a wonderful way of a living faith community sharing personal stories and reflections of their faith journey.

Joe Hicks
(APRIM)

Project Compassion which is organized by Caritas Australia have been working for over 50 years with their main goals to end poverty, promote justice and uphold dignity.

This organization helps the most vulnerable to provide a brighter future, and this year the theme for Project Compassion is - For All Future Generations.

So, lets help provide a brighter future for all generations everywhere and support Project Compassion by donating. Every classroom has a project compassion donation box for your generous donations. Also, if you wish to provide a donation in a sealed envelope and drop it of at student reception, your contribution will be greatly appreciated.

Please donate and remember Project Compassion changes the lives for many future generations.

Thank you

Religious Identity Team 

Adelaide Careers & Employment Expo
May 6 & 7 2022
Wayville Showgrounds - Click to view flyer

TSCEA Tertiary Studies & Careers Expo
10 & 11 April 2022
Adelaide Convention Centre - Click to view flyer

Athletes Foot Modbury - School Fundraising
$5 from every pair purchased will be donated back to the school. 
Click to view flyer