Term 4 Week 4 - 8 November 2024
- Principal's Message
- Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching
- Assistant Principal - Mission and Wellbeing
- Catechesis
- The Learning Collaborative
- Curriculum
- Sport
- Pastoral Care
- Library
- P & F Meeting - 11 November
- Save the Date - Creative and Performing Arts Night
- Upper Hunter Beef Bonanza 2024
- Student Focus - Dakotah Harris
- 2025 Tuition Fees
- Term Dates
- Year 7 2025 Orientation Day
- Save the Date - Year 6 2025/Year 7 2026
- Device Charging and Borrowing
- For Attention - Parents/Carers of Year 9 Students
- Careers in Health - Information Evening
- eSafety Webinars for Parents and Carers
- Macleay Valley Parish Christmas Masses
- Team Spirit - Uniform Purchases
- Trial Bay Triathlon
- Newsletter Sponsors
We attended our All Saints Mass last Thursday and I acknowledge what a tremendous experience it was. All Saints Church was full, the students were exceptionally well dressed in academic uniform and our music was enriched by the presence of WILDFIRE, the Proclaim Lismore Diocese Catholic worship team. I commend Mr Geoff Melville and the Mission Team who facilitated such a wonderful liturgical event and once again thank Fr James for his support of such important liturgical experiences.
Shortly we will be releasing the end of Preliminary Higher School Certificate reports to our current Year 11 students. It is worth acknowledging the excellent work of our Year 11 students and the great results achieved by many within this year group. As they commence Higher School Certificate work, they should have confidence in the strong foundation of knowledge and skills developed across the Preliminary course.
Well done to our Duke of Edinburgh students who attended another outdoor adventure last week. By all accounts it was a tremendous experience which the students and staff thoroughly enjoyed. The Duke of Edinburgh Award continues to provide excellent experiences for those taking part. I would encourage all eligible College students to consider this opportunity in 2025.
Over the next few weeks we will be assessing student work (Year 7-10) that will inform reporting for the end of Semester Two. I would encourage families to regularly check in with their child/ren about what they are learning and the assessments they are currently involved in. By doing this families will have an increased sense of what is being worked on and when it is to be completed. It would be valuable for reports to be based on what a student has learnt and can do, rather than a non-submission of work or submitted work that is incomplete.
Finally I would like families to be conscious that as the end of year approaches there is continued efforts from staff to provide engaging lessons that all our students will benefit from. If there are any concerns regarding work that is being presented in class I would encourage families to reach out to the subject teacher or the relevant Leader of Learning for clarification. The College is also preparing an exciting final week of Term involving Stoney Aqua Park, a Colour Run along with an end of year Liturgy and Awards Presentation. It would be great to see as many students as possible attend these activities.
Wishing you all a great weekend.
Kind regards
Mr David JOHNS B.Ed., Cert. Gifted Ed., Grad. Cert. Adol. Health and Welfare, M.Ed. (Ed Lead), M.Ed. (Theol)
Principal
Year 12 Assessments - Week 8/9
The Year 11 students have now moved into Year 12 and can expect their first HSC assessment tasks in Week 8 of this Term. The students have been working on what these tasks look like in their lessons and will receive notifications from their teachers. Please ensure students are allowing themselves plenty of time to work on their assessments in the lead up to this period.
Year 12 Term 4 Assessment Schedule
Holidays During Term Time
Please remember that we discourage families from taking holidays during Term time. This is to ensure that students are here and learning from their teachers in class. This becomes particularly important in Year 10, 11 and 12 in the lead up to their crucial HSC period. We appreciate your support on this in our partnership to achieve the best educational outcomes for the students.
Year 7-10 Assessments
As mentioned in my last article - all students from Year 7-10 will be completing assessments in the coming weeks to culminate their year of learning. Mrs Amy Tovey has sent the schedule out to all students. We encourage you to sit with your child/ren and map out their time to ensure they are prepared for their tasks. We encourage 100% attendance especially during this period so students do not miss their learning in the lead up to assessments. Thank you for your support on this.
Atomi
Congratulations to Xanthe Cristian and Ava Bennett who were the highest Atomi users over the last 7 days! The students will receive a canteen voucher for their reward. The Year 11 students have transitioned to Year 12 on Atomi so all classes should be updated.
Please reach out if you have any questions about the learning for your students.
Ms Kate Fullbrook - Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching
Recognising our College counsellors
Friday 8 November is School Counsellor and School Psychologist Recognition Day. The theme for 2024 is 'Little Moments, Lasting Change', which captures the essence of the invaluable work our counsellors do every day. They have provided little moments of listening, understanding, and connecting that have supported students, families and staff to notice their needs and strengths, persevere and grow.
At St Paul’s we are incredibly fortunate to have two wonderful counsellors on our staff. Ms Megan James and Mrs Carmel Muddle are two outstanding practitioners in my view, I have worked in leadership in the Pastoral Care space in schools for over 30 years and I have such a high regard for their care, compassion and professionalism supporting the students, staff and families at St Paul’s. The nature of Pastoral Care in schools has changed dramatically during this time so the positive influence and expertise that Megan and Carmel bring to our College community is greatly appreciated.
The impact of social media on the development of adolescents since the 2010’s has been significant. The NSW Premier Chris Minns recently held a social media summit and invited noted American social psychologist and author Jonathan Haidt as guest presenter. In his book The Anxious Generation, Dr Haidt examines the rising levels of anxiety and depression among young people in today’s society. He argues that smartphones have ignited a wildfire of anxiety and depression in Generation Z around the world, by granting them “continuous access to social media, online games and other internet-based activities”. He says there are four foundational harms in this degradation of youth: social deprivation, sleep deprivation, attention fragmentation and addiction. His solutions to this massive social issue includes no smartphones before high school, no social media before 16 and more independence, free play, and responsibility in the real world.
The College is very supportive to work as partners with families and their children at St Paul’s regarding societal influences on anxiety in adolescents. You are always welcome to contact the College directly and ask for Megan, Carmel or members of our Pastoral Care team as we work together supporting all our wonderful students at St Paul's.
Mr Geoffrey Melville - Assistant Principal - Mission and Wellbeing
Faith Q&A for St Paul’s Staff, Students and Parents
St Paul’s College has an email address and Google Form for members of our College community to send in questions regarding faith, church, religion or spirituality.
Please note: this form is not a crisis or mental health service. If you are experiencing mental health concerns, please reach out to your parents or carers, a staff member at the College, or any of the mental health outlines.
For example:
- Beyond Blue on 1300 22 4236
- Kids Helpline on 1800 55 1800
- Parent Line NSW on 1300 1300 52
Anonymous author option - complete this Google Form (leave name and email address fields blank). Where appropriate, answers to anonymous questions will be posted in the College newsletter.
Known author option - send an email to the below address, or complete this Google Form (complete the name and email address fields). If you include your name and email address, we will send you an answer directly.
Thank you and God bless.
Mr Brendan Goswell - Leader of Catechesis
kmps-faithquestions@lism.catholic.edu.au
The Assessment Waterfall
The Assessment Waterfall Chart (Sharratt, 2019), shown in the diagram, provides a framework for teachers to ensure that quality assessment informs instruction and that the instruction is differentiated to meet the needs of all learners. Teachers know what they are teaching and why, and the students know what they are learning and why.
The assessment waterfall chart ties in to the 5 essential questions that are asked by the Learning Collaborative team on our Learning Walks and Talks. The five essential questions and how they link to the assessment waterfall chart are as follows:
- What are you learning and why are you learning this? This is addressed by having relevant and thought-provoking big ideas and essential questions, as well as clear learning intentions.
- How are you going in that learning? This is addressed when students are able to access and co-construct success criteria that link directly to the learning intentions.
- How do you know how you are doing in that learning? Students are able to determine this if they are provided with effective feedback linked to the success criteria.
- How do you improve? Students can address this by undergoing peer and self-assessment and by setting goals for improvement.
- Where do you go for help if you’re stuck? Students can seek help by referring to the success criteria, the descriptive feedback and by looking at exemplars provided on the bump-it-up wall.
Through the assessment waterfall chart, St Paul’s promotes a culture of learning, and supports our students to become assessment capable learners.
Ms Maria Littlejohn - Leader of Pedagogy
Year 7-10 Assessments
Below are the assessment schedules for Year 7-10 which will be held during week 5-8 this Term. Each task notification is hyperlinked into the document and can be accessed by clicking on the subject name.
- Year_7_Assessment_Schedule_4_1_.pdf
- Year_8_Assessment_Schedule_1_1_.pdf
- Year_9_Assessment_Schedule_2_2_.pdf
- Year_10_Assessment_Schedule_1_1_.pdf
An assessment block is essential as it provides students with early experience in an exam setting, helping to build foundational skills and resilience needed for future assessments like the HSC.
If your child is away during one of the assessments, please contact the classroom teacher and/or myself to organise a suitable catch up time.
Mrs Amy Tovey - Leader of Curriculum
Over the past two weeks the St Paul’s sporting community has been very busy across a range of sports. We’ve competed in, and had success in cricket (Berg and Downie), Touch Football and Volleyball. Thank you to all the staff who have taken time out of their days to coach, train and take away teams, and to the students for all their effort and behaviour during these events.
Diocesan Touch Football
U15’s Girls Team
I had the pleasure of coaching the U15 girls touch football team, who travelled to Port Macquarie last week to compete in the Lismore Dio Southern tournament. The girls played 3 pool games, going down 5-1 to a very strong St Josephs Regional team, a very close 1-1 draw against Mackillop College, and another close 4-3 loss to St John Paul College. The girls played one more game against St Joseph's Regional College in the semi final, and the result again stood at 5-1 loss. The St Joseph's Regional team convincingly won the tournament and will progress to the next round. Congratulations to the girls who all played hard and fair, and enjoyed the experience.
- Coach Robins
U15’s Boys Team
The U15’s Boys were competitive throughout the day, taking on St Joseph's Regional College, St John Paul College and Mackillop College. They had a convincing win against St John Paul College (6-3) in their second game, and ended up placing third in their division. Regional and MacKillop College were well drilled, but we were in both games until the final few minutes, going down by two tries in both games.
Thank you to all the boys who showed up to training and were willing to learn new skills throughout the training sessions. Always a pleasure to coach these teams.
- Coach Needs
Diocesan Volleyball
St Paul’s attended the Dio Volleyball tournament with senior male and female teams and a junior female team. All students had a great time and competed with great sportsmanship. Despite winning three out of four rounds matches, the boys missed out on the finals by 2 points on point differential. The senior female team didn’t make the finals but showed improvement in every match. The junior female team made the quarter finals and are looking forward to competing next year.
Cricket – Berg and Downie
Both Berg and Downie teams have been successful in their matches so far across the NSWCCC knockout competition. They are now set to play in Singleton or Newcastle, versing schools from Bathurst (Berg) and Orange (Downie). We wish these students all the best in their next fixtures and hope they continue to experience success on the pitch.
Upcoming Sporting Events
- Diocesan Golf Championships – Monday 11 Novemeber
- Diocesan Netball Championships – Tuesday 19 November
- Berg and Downie Cricket – 21 and 22 November* (TBC)
Mr Heath Needs - Teacher and Sports Coordinator
EmpowHer
This week selected students from Year 10 took part in an exciting pilot program called EmpowHer. EmpowHer is a 3 hour workshop aimed at Year 10 girls. The aim of the workshop is to empower young women as they begin their transition into the adult world. The workshop was facilitated by Greta Boadle from Nambucca Valley Circle for Girls and covered topics such as dealing with tricky social situations, using assertive language, recognising your values, taking responsibility for yourself, enhancing self esteem and building each other up with an interactive and creative program. There was a guest speaker from the Coffs Harbour Bypass Team who told their story about the challenges of working in a non-traditional industry and how they navigated this, along with their career journey.
The students involved engaged in a respectful and cooperative manner. It was wonderful to see the strong values that these students identified with. With young empowered women like this, the future looks more just and respectful.
As this pilot program progresses we hope to invite these speakers back to St Paul’s to engage with a broader audience.
Ms Fiona Stuart - Leader of Pastoral Care
Mrs Patrice Martin, Mrs Cathy Whalen & Ms Karen Irvine - Library Assistants
All parents/carers and friends of the College are warmly invited to attend the P & F meeting on Monday 11 November in the staff lunchroom at 5:30pm.
All parents/carers, family and friends are warmly invited to St Paul's Creative and Performing Arts (CAPA) night on Thursday 28 November at 5:30pm in the Edmund Rice Centre. The evening will feature Year 7-11 Visual Art works, Music and Drama performances. No RSVP required.
The Upper Hunter Beef Bonanza, held in Scone from October 24-27, is a renowned event featuring open led and unled cattle classes, carcass competitions, interactive judging, meat judging, paraders, and junior judging competitions. This year, over 400 head of cattle and 700 students gathered from various NSW schools to showcase their skills in agriculture.
Ms Lisa Frewen, Mr Ash Gardiner, Mrs Jodene Barnett, 17 students, and a supportive team of parents proudly represented St Paul’s. The College exhibited six steers and three Limousin heifers from Back Creek Limousin. This event offered an invaluable opportunity for our students to apply classroom knowledge to real-world agricultural practices, reinforcing their skills and experience in the field. Our 17 students devoted months of preparation to train and present their animals.
Steer Results:
- Whiskey (Limousin): 5th in Heavy-weight class
- Rusty (Back Creek Limousin): 5th in Mid-weight class
- Stevo (Charbray): Special Mention in Mid-weight class
Individual Results:
- Hugh Lyttle – Encouragement in Parader’s
- Drew Edwards – Highly Commended in Parader’s
- Zoe Sutherland – 3rd in Parader’s
- Ivy Miller – 5th in Parader’s
- Beau Willett – Highly Commended in Junior Judging
- Mackenzie Sutherland – 5th in Parader’s, 5th in Junior Judging
- Ava McCarthy – 1st in Parader’s, 2nd in Junior Judging
- Greta Johnson – 5th in Parader’s
- Jayden Swaine – 4th in Parader’s
- Brianna O’Donnell – 3rd in Parader’s
- Isabelle Preston – 3rd in Parader class, 3rd in ICMJ Primal/Retail Cuts, 4th Overall in the Intercollegiate Meat Judging Competition (ICMJ).
Congratulations to the Ag Team members and their parents for making this experience possible through their dedication and support.
Ms Lisa Frewen - Agriculture/Primary Industries Teacher
Congratulations to St Paul's Year 12 student, Dakotah Harris, who has successfully gained a traineeship at Little Adventures Early Learning Centre to complete her Certificate 3 in Early Childhood Education and Care. Dakotah studied a Statement of Attainment in Early Childhood Education and Care as a VET course during Year 11 and 12. We wish you all the best Dakotah!
The schedule of Tuition Fees for 2025 have now been uploaded to our website and to the Parent Resources in Compass School Documentation for families to access. Please be aware that relevant subject fees and resource fee charges will be made available to you separately with total costs billed at the start of 2025. Once again we thank those families who have ensured that their current accounts are up to date.
We are very much looking forward to welcoming all our Year 7, 2025 students to their Orientation Day at St Paul’s College on Wednesday 13 November 2024. Please note that this is a day for enrolled students only.
Parents/carers of Year 7 2025 students are invited to join us at the College for a delicious bacon and egg roll starting at 8:00am hosted by the St Paul’s College Parents and Friends Association. This is a wonderful opportunity to connect with other parents and hear from the Principal, who will address attendees at 8:15am.
While parents/carers are being addressed all Year 7 2025 students will be moved to the Edmund Rice Centre, without their parent/carer, to allow plenty of time to be checked in ready for their student program to commence:
- Students to be checked in by - 8:45am
- Student program starts - 8:55am
- Student program ends (end of school day) - 3:25pm
To help us with catering for the parent/carer breakfast, please RSVP by filling out the following form.
The breakfast and the Principal’s address will conclude at 8:30am, at which point we will say our farewells to all parents/carers.
Important Information:
Absence: this is a COMPULSORY day for all enrolled students to attend. Please inform your child’s primary school that they will be absent on this day. If your child is unable to attend the Orientation Day e.g. due to sickness, please contact us as soon as possible to advise us of their absence (before 8:55am Wednesday 13 November 2024).
Transport: it is the responsibility of families to arrange transport for their child to and from the College for this day. Please note, your child's primary school will NOT be arranging transport.
Bus - families will need to confirm with the relevant bus company if there will be space for their child to use bus transportation to and from the College - please DO NOT assume this is the case. Students travelling to and from the College by bus will use the College bus bay area. Staff will assist students in the afternoon to ensure that they catch the correct bus.
Car - if transporting your child yourself please drop them off and pick them up outside the main Sea Street entrance. If you are staying for breakfast please park in the surrounding streets. Please DO NOT use the North Street entrance/car park or Sea Street entrance/car parks. Pedestrian access is via the main gate on Sea Street.
Uniform: your child should wear their primary school sport uniform including a hat.
Lunch: we will provide a sausage sizzle for lunch. If your child has special dietary requirements or requires additional food to satisfy their appetite at lunchtime, please send alternative/additional food with them.
Your child should bring with them:
- school bag
- pen
- their own recess
- water for the day
- additional/alternative food if required
Medication: if your child would normally carry medication such as an asthma puffer or Epipen please ensure that they have these with them on the day. If they require other medication through the day please contact the College via email kmps@lism.catholic.edu.au to discuss arrangements.
If there is any information that you feel the College requires to ensure the health and wellbeing of you child during Orientation Day please email kmps@lism.catholic.edu.au
This is a very important day for all our Year 7, 2025 students. The program that has been prepared will be engaging and will provide activities allowing students to get to know their year group, their teachers and an orientation of College classrooms and related facilities.
Year 6 2025/Year 7 2026 students from ALL Macleay and Nambucca Valley schools are invited to save the date for a Day in the Life of a St Paul’s College student on Thursday 27 February 2025. Open to all Year 6 primary school students interested in a Catholic high school education at St Paul's commencing in 2026.
Parents/carers are required to register their child for a Day in the Life event via a registration link that will open on Monday 10 February 2025. The link will be placed on the College website and advertised on the College Facebook page and via Compass.
For more information about enrolments at St Paul's College, please visit the College website.
St Paul's College Open Afternoon will be held after school on Thursday 27 February 2025. All current and prospective parents, students and siblings are welcome to attend. No registration required. More details to follow.
A charged device is an essential tool for your child's learning at St Paul's College. Concerningly, a number of students are arriving at school with uncharged devices and are asking the teacher to charge their device at the office which is resulting in valuable learning time being missed. As part of our monitoring system, teachers record an uncharged device into Compass and should this occur more than once per Term, students may be given detention for being unprepared for learning.
We encourage parents/carers to check with your child to ensure that their device is charged so as to minimise disruptions to their learning.
Borrowing a Device
In addition, should a student need to borrow a device (no matter the reason), then they will "swap" their mobile phone for the borrowed device in the library. At the end of the day, students will return the borrowed device to the library and retrieve their mobile phone. (Students will be given time at the end of Period 5 to complete this exchange so will not miss their bus.)
Thank you for your support with your child's learning at St Paul's College.
Mr Douglas Gately - Acting Leader of Technology
douglas.gately@lism.catholic.edu.au
Should you have any concerns, please reach out to Mr Douglas Gately, either by phoning the College or emailing douglas.gately@lism.catholic.
When: Wednesday 20 November, 5:30 - 7:30pm- Where: Charles Sturt University, Port Macquarie
Join us on the Port Macquarie campus in November to get a real-world look into a wide range of health careers. Hear from a range of healthcare professionals, from pharmacists, podiatrists and pathologists to nurses, dentists and physiotherapists.
Learn about health careers from the front-line workers who are living, breathing, and making a difference in health plus chat with health academics at our mini expo! Current high school students, school leavers, those looking for a career change, TAFE students, parents, carers, and career advisers are all welcome to attend.
We will be joined by local healthcare teams from Mid North Coast Local Health District, Ramsay Health Care and Garden Village Port Macquarie.
The eSafety live webinars give parents and carers the knowledge, skills, and tools to support their children in having safe online experiences.
Supporting healthy tech use as your child transitions into high school
This webinar explores the social pressures, peer influences, and technological challenges young people face as they transition into high school. It also offers practical strategies for navigating online friendships and connections to help minimise negative experiences.
It is suitable for parents and carers of children in upper primary school (ages 11 to 12) and Year 7.
- Thursday 28 November - 12.30 pm
- Registration link
eSafety 101: how eSafety can help you
An overview of The eSafety Commissioner and supporting programs and resources for parents and carers, children, and young people.
It is suitable for parents and carers of children and young people in primary and secondary school.
- Wednesday 4 December - 12.30pm
- Registration link
St Paul's uniform supplier, Team Spirit, has announced a new uniform fitting service for back to school uniform purchases. The booking platform will provide a dedicated time slot for students who require more time or assistance with new uniform purchases, such as students starting Year 7 in 2025.
Please refer to the flyer below for booking instructions and opening times. For more information regarding uniform and presentation please click HERE
