7 July 2022

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

Dear Families,

As this is the last Newsletter for Term 2 it’s a great opportunity to say thank you to:

• the students who have all have given their best efforts to their work in achieving their learning goals.  Many students have had a very successful term of learning which is reflected in their Semester 1 Report. 
• the staff for their hard work and professionalism, especially at this busy time of assessing and reporting.  Staff work tirelessly in catering for the needs of all the students in their care.
• the parents and carers for the support given to the life of our college, particularly through your communication and engagement in your child’s learning.   
• the families and friends who were able to come along to the Primary Years Music Afternoon and the 1/2 Village Expo last week. Beautiful celebrations of learning and fun.

R – 6 Music Afternoon

How wonderful it was to see so many families and friends able to attend our Music Afternoon last Wednesday.  Congratulations to Mrs Sarah Crisp and the Music Team!  What a great celebration it was. There was such a buzz in the gym and the children were very excited and clearly loved performing. Music definitely is food for the soul and very welcome.

We have high-quality music education at St Paul’s College which engages and inspires students to develop a life-long love of music, increases their self-confidence, creativity, imagination, and provides opportunities for self-expression and a sense of personal achievement.  We certainly saw all of these qualities come to life last week.  It’s a very positive sign of things to come as we begin to gather again together for our assemblies.  Brava, Bravo and a huge thank you to everyone. 

Year 1/2 Learning Expo

The Year 1s and 2s have been hard at work all term learning about the factual information report writing text type. Classes have engaged in learning about researching facts, writing using the features and structure of information texts, designing and constructing their animal out of clay and orally presenting their findings to a chosen audience.

It has been wonderful to see the participation, enthusiasm and diligence that the Years 1 and 2 students applied to creating detailed Information Reports on their chosen animal. Their teachers have seen improvements in punctuation, grammar, paragraphing, content, engagement and topic specific vocabulary.

This learning was showcased last Thursday at an Expo led by the Year 1/2 students.  Their oral language skill set in sharing their understanding and knowledge was outstanding and the staff, parents and families who were able to attend were obviously impressed and enjoyed the experience.

We have so much to be proud of in our community and this first semester has shown that we are resilient, thriving and ready for so much more!

Until next term, have a safe and relaxing break with your family, whatever you may be doing.  May it be an opportunity for everyone to rest and rejuvenate. Take care.

Together We Grow!

Marianne Loftus
Head of Primary Years

Wow! It has been a busy term for the Middle Years students and teachers! Let’s start from the beginning!

Year 7 Dry Creek

We started the term with the Year 7 Christian Service Learning (CSL) experience.  On this day, we worked with Emily Zhang from Environmental Conservation Volunteers.  We learnt about the impact of litter on the environment and took part in the LitterStoppers Research project. 

At the creek, we looked for all the ways that humans have impacted the natural environment, both good and bad.  While we were at the creek, we collected all the rubbish we could find, not just to CLEAN IT UP, but also to gather data on the types of rubbish there.  We collected weighed over 48 kg of rubbish and back at school, we sorted the rubbish and calculated what percentage of plastics, recyclables and more, made up the total.  We then shared our data with LitterStoppers. 

The Year 7 students weren’t happy with the way Dry Creek was being treated so they decided to inform their community about the issues.  After visiting the creek several times, students became familiar with the creek, and they created a plan to reduce human impact.  

Year 9 Camp

Students travelled to Kuitpo Forest for 3 days and 2 nights.  While they were on camp, they rode bikes through various terrains, camped overnight and cooked their own meals.  Other activities included orienteering, rock climbing and ab sailing. Students really enjoyed spending time with their peers, participating in campfire games and exploring the forest.  Some new skills were learnt were cooking on trangias and erecting their tents.  They look forward to using these newfound skills on Year 10 camp in 2023.

Middle Years Learning Exhibition

What a turn out! This year was the largest Learning Exhibition that St Paul’s College Middle Years has experienced since the start of the programme in 2019.  The Year 7 Sustainable Citizens presented their plans for a cleaner and more sustainable Dry Creek. The Year 8 Civil Engineers considered the needs and impacts of communities, designing and building towns that not only used sustainable energy sources but also considered the human rights of their people.  The Year 9 LEAF Story Tellers presented stories of the environment, the people and the church and their varied responses to Global Warming. They also told the story of young children during the Industrial Revolution.  Year 9 STEM presented their hopes for the future, using technology available today to solve current issues that could lead to problems in the future. 

Overall, it was fantastic to see students, families and staff questioning, listening and supporting the students.

Year 8 CSL

The Year 8 CSL programme was spent at school and looked at how we could create a more sustainable future, improve the lives of those around us and build on our work at Dry Creek in Year 7.  The students worked together to create a native garden nursery and plant over 1500 seeds, including Kangaroo Paws, dwarf wattle and more.  They were particularly proud to work with the Adelaide Botanic Gardens to plant over 200 Casuarina Seeds.  These small native trees are the favourite food of the Black Cockatoo, and when established, our seedlings will be travelling to the Eyre Peninsula to be used reforestation and remediation of the native landscape.

They also rebuilt the Vertical Gardens and planted out hundreds of lettuces.  They will be used by the Year 10 CSL teams to prepare meals for the Vinnie’s Hutt Street Men’s Crisis Centre.

NAIDOC Week Celebrations and Activities

Throughout the Middle Years, students have been learning First Nations people during NAIDOC week.  In Year 7, they have learnt about the Indigenous Map of Australia and why connection to land is important to First Nations People.  Students have also learnt about stereotypes that Indigenous People face and the impact this has on them. Year 7 students have created displays that inform audiences about Indigenous culture, art, astrology, communication and many more aspects of their lives. 

Year 8 students have followed the story of Adam Goodes, learning about the challenges that he faced, and still faces, around racism and stereotyping.  They have learnt that it is important to stand up for what is right, and that no human should be treated in a disrespectful manner, no matter their background.  Students then watched The Final Quarter, discussed the themes and how they can take action for a more inclusive future.

Year 9 students have learnt about the Frontier Wars and the significant female figures that have supported Indigenous people who have changed Australia.

All Middle Years students have been challenged to take action by recognising the past and standing up for the rights of First Nations people and all people in Australia.

We look forward to another semester filled with fantastic learning opportunities!

Sue O'Malley & Joanna D'Angelo

Middle Years Leaders of Learning

Its on in Week 4 of next term - Tues 16th – Fri 19th August

Held in Callan Hall, 7pm start

Tickets are now available from Student Reception- Adults $10 and Children $7

Don’t miss out.

Please be advised we are currently finalising places for Year 7 and Reception entry in 2024. 

While siblings do recevie priorty, we do need a completed application form for each younger sibling. It's never to early to apply, so we encourge you to please submit an application form for all your children well in advance.

Our Application for Enrolment form is available online here: https://www.stpauls.sa.edu.au/enrol  

Please feel free to contact the Tania Stone, Enrolments Officer with any questions regarding enrolment.

St Paul’s College School Uniform Shop will close for the school holidays on Thursday 7 July at 5.00pm.

Extended Trading Hours:

Thursday 21 July 2022 9.00 am - 3.00 pm 
The uniform shop will return to normal trading hours on Tuesday 26 July 2022.