Dear Friends of St Paul’s,
As we approach the end of term 3, much planning in underway across all areas of the College. It can appear like the duck on the pond, where everything seems to be quite calm on the surface but beneath the water things are paddling feverishly! It is our normal budgeting time and we build this around the number of students that are expected at the College in the upcoming year. This in turn influences the number of staff, both academic and ESO, that are necessary to provide the best environment for the students. With 2022 being the year St Paul’s starts a whole new chapter in its rich history by becoming a co-educational school, this planning is magnified and multiplied many times over. Over recent weeks and again in this week’s press and online via our website etc. you may see a significant number of positions being advertised, some of which are our most senior roles, and some are newly created ones. The significant growth in student numbers that we are experiencing means that every area of our operational structure is expanding. Senior leadership positions, senior POR (Position of Responsibility) positions, ESO support staff in areas like inclusive education, maintenance, counselling services, admin staff, in addition to several new teachers are all required for this growth.
While this is all very exciting, it is creating a great deal of extra work, on top of all the wonderful work being done on a day-by-day basis by all the staff. We have not lost sight of the ongoing commitment and dedication of our staff and I reiterate my gratitude, on the community’s behalf, for everything they do.
Our students, too, have been wonderfully patient and supportive of us as our environment continues to be difficult to manage. The courtyard, Wilson Building renovations, and new building are progressing well, and we hope with the warmer spring weather we will see even quicker progress. The walls of the new building will start to appear next week!!
Father's Day
We hope everyone had the opportunity to, in some way shape or form, celebrate the recent Father's Day. Likewise, we acknowledge that this may take various forms and mean different things to different families. It can also represent a sad time for those who may not have their fathers present in their lives. To all the fathers and male role models, we say a very sincere thanks for the role you are playing in the lives of our boys – you are so very important. On a day such as Thursday this week (R U OK Day) we acknowledge that we all need support at different times, and that we all need to be present with and for each other continuously. As a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition, we would hope that this love and support for each other would be an essential part of our DNA and a significant part of how we go about living our lives continuously.
Year 12 Retreat
This week we also had the opportunity to spend some time with our Year 12 students, away from school and our normal routine, to reflect on our lives, where we are, where we are heading, and how we manage to keep everything both in balance and in perspective. We are very grateful to our Year 12 cohort for they have missed out on a great deal over the last 18 months or so, have had their final year at school severely disrupted with all the building and renovation occurring - and they won’t be here to experience the finished product! They are being very gracious and have provided terrific leadership for the rest of the community. Hopefully the retreat day and the awesome meal at Anthony’s Cucina and Pizzeria were a small sign of our gratitude. Special thanks to Anthony Troncone (Old scholar and current parent) for hosting the dinner! We highly recommend his food!
We also thank Ms Collins and all the staff who attended the day for their support of these young men.
I hope you are all taking good care of yourselves and all your loved ones.
God Bless,
Paul Belton
Principal
