Term 4 Week 8 - 6 December 2024

Dear Parent/Carer

‘Every valley shall be filled; and every mountain and hill shall be brought low; and the crooked shall be made straight; and the rough ways plain; And all flesh shall see the salvation of God.’

Luke 3: 1-6

Across the last few weeks the College community has been involved in a number of activities highlighting social concerns of significance. We have had a visit from the Police Liaison Team talking with our students on Cyber Safety. It was quite timely as some of our students across the College have made poor choices in how they have navigated the social media world and have found themselves in a ‘spot of bother’. The information delivered was clear, concise and well received and I thank the Police Liaison Team for taking the time to speak to our community.

We also have been running TEEN MENTAL HEALTH TRAINING for our Year 10 students and I acknowledge Mrs Di Mascord and her team for facilitating this experience. Mental health is critical for all in our community and such opportunities normalise discussions in this space and create safety among all in our College community who experience good and bad days. The students have communicated that a tremendous amount has been gained from this training and sets a tone of acceptance and support that is very welcome.

We have seen significant success from our BERG SHIELD Cricket team who have now reached the quarter finals and will be playing in Grafton over the next few days. We wish them every success in the knowledge that anything is possible on the day and that they are well served by team members who are skilled and supportive of one another.

The Positive School Conference in Melbourne was attended by our 2025 Pastoral Care team last week and much was gained from this experience. I thank all staff for their attendance and commitment to the well being of our students across the College. It is a significant sacrifice to take time away from family and friends to attend such an experience and it is very much appreciated.

How amazing was our CAPA Evening last week? I thank Ms Donna Swan and her team for putting together such an excellent evening to celebrate the many talented students we have at the College. I thank the staff for their efforts and the families who came to support their children. Such an impressive collection of performances and art work.

We continue to work towards the development of comprehensive end of Semester reports for our students. The assessment period was most successful and I acknowledge the efforts of students in preparing for these and to the staff for facilitating and marking this work. I am hearing that the standard of assessments submitted across the College was quite strong.

Note that there is still work to be done and classes will continue engaging academic activity right up to our last day of Term, which will be Wednesday 18 December. I ask that parents/carers continue to support the College in ensuring that our students keep up their attendance throughout the remaining few weeks. There are several activities including the End of Year Presentation that honours the work of students and staff. Such events also build community and I hope families are cognizant of the importance of this.

Wishing you all a great weekend.

Mr David JOHNS   B.Ed., Cert. Gifted Ed., Grad. Cert. Adol. Health and Welfare, M.Ed. (Ed Lead), M.Ed. (Theol) 

Principal

kmps@lism.catholic.edu.au

Year 12 Assessments - Week 8/9
Year 12 students are nearing the end of their first assessment block. Thank you to all students who submitted their best work on time and without issue! Please remember as we move into 2025 that assessment blocks are critical times for students and they are not allowed any leave in this period. All medical/sick leave must be explained by a doctors certificate on the day.

Year 12 Term 4 Assessment Schedule

Work Experience
Mrs Tess Meehan has been incredibly busy organising work experience opportunities for Year 10 students across week 8 and 9 this Term. We thank her for all her hard work in this area. I had the pleasure of visiting some students on their work experience this week and they were representing the College so positively. Congratulations to you all.

Atomi
Congratulations to Parker Phillips and Isabelle Huxley 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.

Equipment for 2025
Looking for a stocking filler for Christmas? Why not buy your child all the essentials they need for their pencil case for return to school?! We ask parents to please ensure that their children return in 2025 with all equipment necessary to set them up for success in their learning. Please also cover their books in contact so they last for the year.

Please reach out if you have any questions about the learning for your students.

Ms Kate Fullbrook - Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching

kate.fullbrook@lism.catholic.edu.au

Families are asked to ensure that their child/ren are equipped throughout the school year with the listed equipment. 

Required equipment lists for students in 2025 can be found here:

• Year 7 and 8 Compulsory Equipment
• Year 9 and 10 Compulsory Equipment
• Year 11 and 12 Compulsory Equipment

The required equipment lists are also available via Parent Resources in Compass School Documentation.

An attitude of gratitude
One of the beautiful experiences of being a staff member of St Paul’s College is meeting together weekly in staff prayer. A large number of staff place their name into the staff prayer roster and lead our staff in prayer on the day, and these experiences are very rich and supportive of the charism of the College. I had the great pleasure of leading the prayer this week and the theme of the prayer was an attitude of gratitude. I was able to speak to the staff of a wonderful email I received about a particular staff member and their tremendous work supporting a family’s son at St Paul’s. I regularly receive such emails from families (and please keep sending them through always) who wish to acknowledge their gratitude towards staff and support of their children at St Paul's. The College greatly appreciates the acknowledgement of our staff who I note daily provide genuine care for our students and interest in supporting opportunities for their improvement.

In the spirit of gratitude I wanted to acknowledge the work of Mr Adam Mascord who completes his term as a Pastoral leader at the College this Term. Mr Mascord will continue to work as a staff member in 2025 as Adam and his wonderful wife, Mrs Di Mascord, expect their fourth child. Adam is a very caring leader at St Paul's whose empathy and support of students is very much appreciated by staff, students and families.

I would also like to acknowledge two other staff members in the pastoral space of the College who have made a considerable contribution supporting students and families. Mr Heath Needs and Ms Shannon Thomas will conclude their roles of administrating sport at St Paul's at the end of this year as they move into new roles within the College in 2025. Heath and Shannon are outstanding administrators of sport at St Paul’s, always promoting opportunities for students within a spirit of good sportsmanship and fair play. Heath and Shannon have spent countless hours of their own time to support students representing sport for the College, often hours away from their families and a significant distance from Kempsey. I would like to acknowledge the gratitude our community has for these two outstanding staff members and wish them the very best in their new roles at the College in 2025.

Mr Geoffrey Melville - Assistant Principal - Mission 

geoffrey.melville@lism.catholic.edu.au

Vinnies Christmas Appeal
With Christmas fast approaching, we have until Thursday 12 December to gather food donations for the 2024 Vinnies Christmas Appeal.

Our local St Vincent de Paul organisation has 50 families to support at Christmas time this year. St Paul's College has set an ambitious goal to cater for 35 of these families. That works out to be 1 full laundry basket worth of donations per PC class.

Thank you to the families who have already made a donation. In order to meet our target, we are hoping for one food donation per student. If you can afford to help us reach the target by donating one food item, that would be greatly appreciated. Please refer to the suggested list below. If you are in a position to donate more than one item, you are welcome to do so of course.

Please contact myself, or your child's PC teacher, if you have any questions or concerns.

May God Bless you and your family as we approach this extra special time of the year.

Mr Brendan Goswell - Leader of Catechesis

brendan.goswell@lism.catholic.edu.au

Mrs Patrice Martin, Mrs Cathy Whalen & Ms Karen Irvine - Library Assistants

St Paul's held the 2024 CAPA Night on Thursday 28 November. This was a spectacular showcase of Visual Arts, Drama and Music performances featuring the work of students from Year 7 through to Year 11. The artworks included paintings, drawings, lino prints and sculptures.

The Drama students performed a selection of pieces which represented Comedia Del-Arte and self written monologues, as well as set and costume designs, and the musical performances featured the piano, clarinet and singers.

Congratulations to the students who contributed to the evening through their artworks and performances. Thank you to all who attended and supported CAPA, and a special thank you to the teachers involved in preparing students throughout the year.

Congratulations to St Paul's Year 12 2024 student, Caitlin Williams, for being awarded the Diocese of Lismore Catholic Schools Undergraduate Teaching Scholarship for 2025. Caitlin will undertake her Bachelor of Education studies at Charles Sturt University in Port Macquarie. We are very proud of your achievements Caitlin and wish you all the best in your studies!

Congratulations to St Paul's Year 12 2024 student, Lynete Bridgwater, whose HSC graphic design artwork 'Elysian Escape' has been successfully selected to be exhibited in ARTEXPRESS. We are incredibly proud of your achievements Lynete!

Congratulations to St Paul's Year 12 student, Aden Mills, who has been awarded the 2024 Kempsey West Rotary Citizenship Award. This special award recognizes the outstanding contributions of one student in each Macleay Valley school and their involvement in the community as a volunteer.

Aden has been an inspiring example through his contribution of many hours as a member of the South West Rocks Surf Club since 2022. Well done Aden, we are incredibly proud of you!

Congratulations to St Paul's Year 10 student, Kaiden Sheppard, who has been selected as the Kempsey Macleay RSL Club Sportsperson of the Month for November. 

Kaiden has also achieved Australian Champion in one of his events at the 2024 Australian Titles Martial Arts Championships held in the Gold Coast last weekend. Well done Kaiden!

Congratulations to St Paul's Year 7 student, Patrick Browning, for his outstanding achievement of first place in two events at the Australian Titles Martial Arts Championships held in the Gold Coast over the weekend. Well done Patrick!

Parents/carers are invited to join us as we acknowledge the academic, community and sporting achievements of our Year 7-11 students at the End of Year Presentation being held on Wednesday 18 December from 12:30pm at the College.

Families will be notified if their child is receiving an award by Wednesday 11 December. No RSVP required.

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.

1. The easiest way to consent (and pay, if required) is via Compass, either the app or desktop version. If you are having any difficulties with Compass please contact the College office for assistance.
2. If you are unable to access Compass you may request a paper consent form be emailed to you or sent home with your child. This will need to be completed, signed and returned to the College.

We are unable to accept verbal consent (e.g. phone call) or other written consent (e.g. email or note) for your child to attend an Event. However, please be aware that if you pay for an Event via the College office (phone or face to face) this will be considered consent for your child to attend the Event.

If a student does not have consent given in the required manner they will be unable to attend the Event.

Students who need a travel pass for 2025 can apply HERE.

A new application will need to be submitted if they are applying for the first time, or if they are requesting additional travel entitlement because of a new shared parental arrangement (e.g. joint custody). Students who change address, school (including starting at high school), have repeated a year or received an expiry notification from Transport for NSW for their school travel entitlement should renew or update their details before the end of Term 4. This will ensure that the College can endorse applications, and entitlements remain valid for the start of the 2025 school year.

We ask that parents plan ahead and make sure their child knows which service/s to use and has a valid travel pass from the start of the school year. For all enquiries please contact your nominated transport operator (Busways or Cavanaghs).

The start of the year is a busy period for local transport operators, and students travelling without a valid ticket make service planning and operations difficult.

Bus operators are flexible and understanding, particularly at the start of the school year, and will ensure students can travel safely to and from school. But to best support our operators we encourage all students to have a valid Travel Pass, as early as possible, from the start of the school year.

Students should receive their travel pass at the start of the new school year from their nominated transport operator. It may be given to the student by the bus driver or be sent directly to them at home. Students/parents should contact their nominated operator if they do not receive a pass.

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