Term 4 Week 2 - 25 October 2024
- Principal's Message
- Extended Leave for Family Travel, etc
- Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching
- Assistant Principal - Mission and Wellbeing
- 2025 Tuition Fees
- The Learning Collaborative
- Device Charging and Borrowing
- Catechesis
- Pastoral Care
- Soctober Fundraiser - Wednesday 30 October
- Year 7 2025 Orientation Day
- World Teachers Day
- Worldskills Australia - Primary Industries
- WorldSkills Australia Carpentry Competition
- Student Focus - Amelia Wilson and Wilton Townsend
- Student Focus - Isla Grafin Von Mengersen
- For Attention - Parents/Carers of Year 9 Students
- Student Drivers/Riders - New Process
- Lost Property
- Term Dates
- Save the Date - Year 6 2025/Year 7 2026
- St Pius X High School 50 Year Reunion
- Free Parent Webinar - Unpacking the Crisis in Youth Mental Health
- eSafety Webinars for Parents and Carers
- Team Spirit - Academic Shoes
- Trial Bay Triathlon
- Newsletter Sponsors
‘Then Jesus spoke, 'What do you want me to do for you?' The blind man said to him, 'Rabbuni, let me see again.' Jesus said to him, 'Go; your faith has saved you.' And at once his sight returned and he followed him along the road.’
Kind regards
Mr David JOHNS B.Ed., Cert. Gifted Ed., Grad. Cert. Adol. Health and Welfare, M.Ed. (Ed Lead), M.Ed. (Theol)
Principal
We have noticed an increase in the number of students who are missing school due to family holidays or other non-school activities. We have also noticed that parents are failing to notify the College of their child’s absence in accordance with the required procedure.
Please be aware that since 2015, Principals are no longer able to approve leave for family holidays or other similar absences, however, parents/carers are to notify the College of the absence in advance:
- Leave less than 10 days - parents should complete a Compass attendance note or email the College on kmps@lism.catholic.edu.au BEFORE the proposed leave.
- Leave of 10 days (2 weeks of a school term) or more - parents must complete the prescribed form BEFORE the proposed leave (ideally at least 2 school weeks before).
Please contact the College office for a copy of the appropriate form and return it to the office for review by the Principal. - Leave greater than 50 days (10 weeks of a school term) - access to distance education or enrolment in another school must be considered.
Please contact the College to discuss.
When planning a family holiday or similar absence during term time please consider the following:
The impact of missing school
When students miss school, they miss lessons, can fall behind and become distanced from their social networks. There is a great deal of research on the relationship between school attendance and academic achievement, with some studies suggesting school attendance is the best predictor of success at school and in later life. While there isn’t a specific indicator of how many absences it takes, higher levels of absence are associated with higher failure rates.
In some instances, taking your child out of school could exacerbate any school refusal tendencies or could unintentionally reinforce behaviours such as a fear of separation, tests, or fear of just being at school. It may also impact the development of social skills.
In some cases it might be tempting to ask your child’s teachers to provide work to complete whilst travelling to mitigate the missed work but this is often difficult to complete away from home and providing it goes beyond the scope of a teacher’s job description.
Required attendance
The College has a legal responsibility to monitor attendance and Diocesan procedures indicate that 95% is normal attendance. If your child's attendance falls below 90% it is considered an attendance concern and requires follow up action by the College.
For more information regarding student attendance and supervision, please click here.
Year 11 is now Year 12!
The Year 11 students have transitioned beautifully into Year 12 to start this Term. This marks the final year of their formal schooling and we are very excited about working with this cohort of students. Mrs Amy Tovey has informed the students about the process of changing subjects and there has been some movement already this Term. Please let us know if you, as parents, have questions about this process.
Year 7-10 Assessments
All students from Year 7-10 will be completing assessments in the coming weeks to culminate their year of learning. The schedule will be published to students by the end of the week. We encourage you to sit with your children and map out their schedule 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.
Curriculum Reform
Teachers in schools around the state have been writing new programs for the biggest curriculum change in decades. Our staff have been very busy with the implementation of new syllabuses in English, Maths, Geography and Languages this year. The updates are to ensure our programs are relevant and preparing the students for the world they will enter after school. Exciting times in education!
Atomi
Congratulations to Alec Gorline-Singleman and Parker Phillips 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 student/s.
Ms Kate Fullbrook - Assistant Principal - Learning and Teaching
Term 4 Mission Events for the St Paul’s College Community
2024 has been notable at St Paul’s for so many reasons, one of the central opportunities that provide our staff, students and their families with great joy are many events supported in the Mission space within the College. During Term 4 there are a number of exciting events that support the Mission of St Paul’s College, where the community can come together and celebrate our Catholic values and support for each other:
- The beautiful Mass celebrated by Father James in the St Paul’s chapel each Tuesday beginning at 8:30am.
- Our Socktober appeal for Catholic Mission on Wednesday 30 October.
- The Feast of All Saints Mass celebrated by Father James in the All Saints Church Kempsey at St Paul’s beginning at 10:00am on Thursday 31 October.
- Our Year 8 retreat day, Catch the Wave, held at the St Joseph’s Primary School Hall on Thursday 31 October.
- The McAuley Feast Liturgy on Wednesday 6 November in the All Saints Church Kempsey.
- Our Orientation day for Year 7 2025 at St Paul’s on Wednesday 13 November.
- The annual retreat for Year 10 - ‘Above the line’, at the Francis Retreat Centre at Bonny Hills from 14-15 November.
- Our Christmas St Vincent de Paul Society appeal culminating during Week 9 of Term 4 with hamper packing and delivery throughout Kempsey.
- Our Thanksgiving Christmas Mass on Wednesday 18 December.
The upcoming Year 10 retreat is a compulsory event with the College expectation that all students will attend, any questions regarding these activities please contact me at St Paul’s.
As outlined above, there are so many wonderful opportunities for our whole College community to celebrate our Catholic Mission throughout Term 4 2024 and I look forward to reflecting on these gatherings throughout this Term.
Mr Geoffrey Melville - Assistant Principal - Mission and Wellbeing
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.
Case Management Meetings
To ensure our teachers are targeting specific skills within their teaching practice, the work of one student is analysed in a meeting by all the teachers of that student. With a variety of writing samples from various learning areas, the teachers identify specific areas in their writing that would benefit from development. The teachers then decide on one strategy they will all employ in their class over the upcoming fortnight to address this area. The case is then reviewed after two or three weeks with analysis of another collection of writing samples.
Involvement in this process ensures the teachers are not only focusing on a particular student and strategy but also all the other students who may be encountering difficulty with that area.
Mr Roger Shipton - Learning Collaborative Team
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
Faith Q&A for St Paul’s Staff, Students and Parents/Carers
Last term, St Paul’s created an email address for members of our College community to send in any questions they may have regarding faith, church, religion, spirituality, etc.
We have now included an anonymous option. These questions, and their answers, will be posted in future College newsletters.
Anonymous author option
- complete this Google Form (leave name and email address fields blank).
Known author option
- send an email to kmps-faithquestions@lism.catholic.edu.au or complete this Google Form (complete the name and email address fields).
Thank you and God bless.
Mr Brendan Goswell - Leader of Catechesis
brendan.goswell@lism.catholic.edu.au
Bite Back Program
This term in Pastoral Care students will be engaging in a program that focuses on boosting their mental fitness and in turn promotes resilience.
Bite Back is a fun and structured way for young people (and teachers) to boost their mental fitness! It goes beyond conversations and helps promote resilience. It’s all based on positive psychology principles, so you can be sure you are getting the most out of it.
Topics covered include: gratitude, connections, meaning/purpose, mindfulness, strengths and mental fitness.
Term 3 PBRS Points Winners and High Achievers
Congratulations to the following students for their consistent efforts in Term 3, this is reflected in the amount of PBRS points that you were awarded.
Ms Fiona Stuart - Leader of Pastoral Care
This year the College is partnering with Catholic Mission by participating in Socktober. We invite our students to connect with young people experiencing challenges in the developing world through education and the world game of soccer. In 2024, our collective fundraising efforts will support vulnerable children in Mongolia. This project offers loving care for the most vulnerable children in Mongolia, who are orphans and at risk of missing out on education, or facing serious illness.
As a school, we have the opportunity to contribute in a special way, but only if all of our stars jump onboard. We’d like to invite you to take this opportunity to help your child(ren) fundraise for Socktober by encouraging them to wearing crazy socks on Wednesday 30 October. We ask that each student who participates in Socktober brings a gold coin donation. Gold coin donations will be collected during PC class at the beginning of the day. If you would like to donate please follow the link here.
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.
World Teachers Day 2024 is celebrated on Friday 25 October. We thank our incredible teachers at St Paul's for their skilled work in educating, inspiring and supporting our students!
Congratulations to St Paul's Year 11 student, Brianna O'Donnell, who represented St Paul's College for Primary Industries at the VET in Schools (VETis) Worldskills Regional Competition in Casino at the end of September.
Brianna showcased her skills across various activities, including fencing, tractor handling, and cattle drenching. She competed against 15 competitors and achieved an outstanding second place, missing first place by just 0.5 points. Well done Brianna - we are incredibly proud of you!
St Paul's hosted the regional VETis (VET in schools) WorldSkills Australia Carpentry Competition at the College this week. The regional level of competition tests the students skills and knowledge and provides students with a chance to compete at a national level.
A total of seven Year 11 students from St Paul's College, Newman College and St Columba Anglican School competed. Well done to Oliver Hill and Bryce Rixon for representing St Paul's College in the competition. The students will find out in November whether they will be progressing to the national level of competition which is the 2025 WorldSkills Australia National Championships to be held in Brisbane from 12-14 June 2025 at the Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre.
Congratulations to St Paul's students, Amelia Wilson and Wilton Townsend, who competed in the NSW All Schools Athletics Championships in Sydney over the holidays and both achieved impressive results. Amelia qualified for the Australian All Schools Championships 2024 which will be held in Queensland in early December - we wish you the best of luck in the next level of competition!
Congratulations to St Paul's Year 9 student, Isla Grafin Von Mengersen, who has been selected for the NSW Rugby Waratahs U16 Northern Academy. Isla will participate in a three day camp in Bathurst in January 2025, followed by games against other NSW Academy's. We wish you the best of luck!
Should you have any concerns, please reach out to Mr Douglas Gately, either by phoning the College or emailing douglas.gately@lism.catholic.
Please be aware that DLCS (Catholic Schools Office) have updated the process that must be followed if a student wishes to drive/ride to school.
Parents/carers of students who wish to drive themselves to and from the College must complete a Student Rider/Driver Registration form before the student drives themselves. The form is available online via Compass. Parents can access the form as follows:
Compass App Users
- Navigate to the 'More' icon at the bottom right of the app.
- Click on the School Documentation tile, navigate to the Parent Resources/Driving-Students folder and select the Student Rider/Driver Registration Form.
Compass Desktop Users
- Navigate to the Community Icon (two people).
- Click on School Documentation then navigate to the Parent Resources/Driving-Students folder and select the Student Rider/Driver Registration Form.
The form is secure and fillable. It must be signed by a parent/guardian. If you require assistance please contact the College office on 6562 7200 or kmps@lism.catholic.edu.au.
Already driving to school?
If your child has already completed a Permission to Drive form under the previous system they are now required to complete the new Student Rider/Driver Registration form.
Further details regarding the Student Driver Guidelines and College policy in respect of student drivers and car parking can be found here.
Thank you for your attention to this important matter.
A large number of school hoodies have been handed in to lost property and remain unclaimed. Students are asked to please check lost property in the College Office if they have misplaced their school hoodie.
Please ensure that your child's uniform and other personal property has their name clearly marked on it.
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.
Ex students of St Joseph's Primary school and St Pius X High School celebrated their 50 year reunion since finishing school in 1974. The class of 1974 was a small class of around 25 girls and many of the students have remained good friends for 60 years. The reunion held last weekend in Kempsey was well enjoyed by all who attended, with time spent together at a number of events and memories shared.
Pictured Left to Right: Therese Quinn, Joanne Wood, Gillian Mainey, Vivian Clark, Josie Henry, Annette Henry, Debbie Hedges, Judy Duggan, Pauline Cain.
The NSW Council of Catholic School Parents is again providing an opportunity for all Catholic school parents/carers to attend a free webinar by Justin Coulson on Wednesday 30 October at 7pm.
If you missed out last term, this webinar will assist parents/carers to learn more about how you can understand what is happening in regard to youth mental health issues and how to support your young person to thrive.
To attend the webinar on Wednesday 30 October, 7pm - 8pm, please click on the link here
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
Team Spirit our uniform supplier has added academic school shoes to their range for your convenience. These are available in the St Paul's online shop via Team Spirit's website and in their store.
Website
Team Spirit Sports
Username: stpauls Pwd: uniform10
Address
11 Zylpha Drive, Kempsey (Next to the Service Centre, South Kempsey)
Please see the flyer below for more details.
Please click here for more information about Uniform, Shoes and Presentation at St Paul's College
