Dear Friends of St Paul’s
Welcome back to Term 2 of the Year, a term we refer to as “Edmund Rice Term” here at the College. This is because each year we celebrate the Feast Day of Blessed Edmund Rice on or as close to the 5th May as possible.
Hence, this week on Wednesday we held several significant events, all contributing to what is the most wonderful community building day in our calendar. Our community celebrates the fact that if it were not for the amazing efforts, dedication, and commitment by Blessed Edmund and all the Christian Brothers that joined him, over 200 schools in over 20 different countries would not be in existence today.
Our day contained a beautiful Mass, a solidarity walk, a food festival, guest presentations and a fun-filled obstacle challenge to end the day. A day such as this cannot happen without a huge amount of planning and organization and we collectively thank our APRIM, Ms Angela Collins for all her efforts in bringing the day together. Several staff also contributed “above and beyond” including Mrs. Maria Girolamo-Corbo and Mrs. Maria Gibson who worked tirelessly on preparing food for us all to share.
Mr Nick Gillard again prepared and ran the fun obstacle course for the College and every member of the staff contributed significantly to making sure the whole day ram smoothly. We were blessed with awesome weather and we raised a significant amount of money to send to India and support of the millions of people who are doing it really tough with the second wave of COVID 19. As an international Edmund Rice family, we have many schools in India and we remember them especially currently.
The month of May is also a very significant month in the Catholic calendar as it is devoted to Mary, the mother of Jesus. It is no coincidence then that in May we also celebrate Mother’s Day. To all the mothers in our community can I offer you on behalf of the children a very special thanks for everything you do for you them. The word mother is synonymous with commitment, sacrifice, dedication, and hard work. I hope that Sunday is a very special day for you all and that you get really spoiled.
Parent / teacher / Student Interviews
On Tuesday night we held our Parent / Student /Teacher subject interviews in Callan Hall. To say the Hall was buzzing is an understatement! It was by far the best attended, positive, and enthusiastic evening of this type that I have witnessed in all my time at ST Paul’s. The positive vibe throughout the afternoon and evening was lovely to see and hear, as were the many smiling faces that were obvious – both on the way in and the way out!! If that reflects how we are going as a community of learners, supporting each other in our desire to help everyone be the very best version of themselves, then we are going well,
Staffing News
At the end of next week (week 3) I will be taking a short, 5-week break during which time I will attend an EREA Principal’s gathering in Brisbane, a SA Principal’s Retreat in Darwin and visit several schools to learn more about all things co-education and about the infrastructure needed for a College of 900-1000 which we will become in the not-to-distant future. I will have a bit of long service leave too and be back at the beginning of Week 8.
In this time Mr Josh Foulis will be Acting Principal, Mr Nick Callary Acting Deputy and Mr John Grave will step up into the head of Student Development role. We wish them well and thank them for their continued efforts in leading our community. I thank everyone also for their support of the Leadership Team throughout this time (and always of course!)
Take Care, God Bless
Paul Belton