Principal's Message
There were many aspects of last Sunday’s Gospel (Luke 6:27-38) that support the fundamental learning for young students growing up in our schools in today’s 21st Century society. This gospel reading focused on Jesus’ message to his disciples regarding dealing with very difficult situations: “Love your enemies, do good to those who hate you, bless those who curse you, pray for those who treat you badly; Treat others as you would like them to treat you; Be compassionate as your Father is compassionate. Do not judge, and you will not be judged yourselves; do not condemn, and you will not be condemned yourselves”.
While we don’t use the same language of this gospel, the message is the same at St Paul’s in 2025. I would like to be treated with respect and dignity and I will treat you in the same way; I am not perfect but I attend a school where we are all constantly speaking towards helping others and finding compassion and kindness during the school day. I experience these gifts every day at the College, so many staff, students and families offer me such warm welcomes with glowing smiles every day!
I have spoken at length this year about the gates to our school, and when we pass through the gates each day we support each other as a community, especially if difficult situations arise. St Paul’s College Kempsey is a Catholic school who strives to live the Gospels each day in our own way, and it is a tremendous honour to lead such a friendly and supportive community who are achieving great things.
Important Matters
- Swimming Carnival
The College celebrated a wonderful swimming carnival on Friday 21 February. The best aspect of these days is the great school spirit and the outstanding behaviour of our students in a non-school setting, which was clearly on display throughout the day. My congratulations especially to Mr Leon Robinson, our Sport Coordinator, for the excellent organisation of the day, to all our staff (both teaching and non-teaching) for their example and support of our spirit, our magnificent Year 12 group whose example set a new bench mark for Year 12 swimming carnival leadership with the great support of Ms Meg Ryan and all our students who attended during the day, your support of such an important community day is very important for us all. - Mercy Centre
The Mercy centre has become operational for the beginning of Week 5. This facility is an outstanding resource serving our College and wider community, and we are looking forward to hosting a number of events which provide our parents the opportunity to engage within this state of the art complex during 2025 and beyond. - Attendance
The whole school attendance has begun in great style with a 90% attendance up until and during Week 3. My only concern during our first three weeks of Term has been the absence, without reasonable explanation, for students during our first two major community events - Opening Mass and Swimming carnival. I will be contacting families personally regarding this matter. Families have every right to present legitimate reasons for student absence, however a pattern of absence during important College community days will be followed up by myself personally, these are days where our spirit lifts significantly via our school motto “Let your light shine”. - Excursions
There is a detailed outline of the change to the College excursion policy in this newsletter. Please read through this policy which explains the non-refund process and requirement to pay for excursions by the due date, the compulsory nature of College retreats and their fee payment requirement, the importance of appropriate behaviour providing the opportunity to attend excursions and finally the mandatory requirement for families to provide the necessary Compass consent as a part of the excursion permission requirement. All of these matters are a very important responsibility for families in their support of St Paul’s students. - Required Equipment
I consider that too many students are presenting to class without required learning equipment already this year. We are a College community that can and will achieve an ideal that every student attending class does so with a pencil case with required writing equipment and a charged technology device. PC teachers have supported students who have not met these minimum standards across the first few weeks, however I ask you to ensure that these mandatory learning requirements are resolved by your family ongoing allowing our students the best chance to improve their learning in 2025. Information regarding each year's required equipment is available in Parent Resources under School Documentation in Compass.
We have enjoyed a great start to the 2025 academic year, the next few weeks is founded on hard work in the classroom and organisation towards upcoming assessments. I look forward to the continuing enjoyment of meeting our wonderful students each day as we all strive to “Let our light shine”.
Kind regards
Mr Geoff Melville BRurScEd, MEd, GCertRE
Principal