Dear Parents/Carers,

The last two  weeks have been significant ones for me as I have journeyed into classrooms to check in with anyone prepared to give me the time!  It is incredibly rewarding to watch the students back at school and very settled.  A few still have a way to go, but it is remarkable how settled each class is.  This rests with you and the teachers who have been the reassurance needed to enable most students to independently  walk through the gate each morning excited about what their day at school might hold for them.  It is so obvious that part of being human and a child is that desire to be connected to something important and valuable.  The St Paul’s community and the motto we live by :“Truth, Love and Faith” are enabling each child the opportunity to create their own personal pathway to happiness.  If they are having difficulty creating that pathway, then we are here to help.  Just the other day, one of the students came around to the side windows, where my office is, at lunch break and waved at me.  For a moment, I thought “Well that was nice”, but then I realised it might be wise for me to go outside, find the child and be in their presence.  Thank goodness I did, because the child began to talk to me about their anxiety because they had been away from school for so long. When I started to dig a little more deeply it was all about fear of the unknown, back at school, new class, different students and a new teacher.  I also spoke to the parent at the gate and I was very much “on the mark”!  Then I became fearful about the potential missed opportunity to support someone who is only eight if I hadn’t read the visit to my window more than just the act itself!

I share this with you, because no matter whether it is a child or an adult, it is all about relationships.  If the relationships are right, then you pick up the small things, such as a visit to my window by one of the students.  When relationships are “covenantal” in nature, no matter whether it is a child or adult, they have the greatest positive impact.  A covenant is an emotional contract built on the sacred relationships between people.  These relationships I see over and over again every day in our school.  They are the glue that binds our community together in such difficult times and are the heartbeat that keeps everything pumping as the ebb and flow of students, teachers, parents and visitors throughout the day contribute to the life of the school.  In the six schools I have led, I have only experienced this at one other.  This is why our school has been so successful in the way we have responded to the COVID challenges and yet still managed to achieve our best overall results since 2008 in the National Testing Program.  When the relationships are right we are better able to look at with different eyes any roadblocks that come our way and find a way through.  This doesn’t mean an absence of conflict or disagreement, they can be necessary as schools are so organic in how they develop and not one is exactly the same as the other.  HOWEVER, ST PAUL’S IS THE BEST!

Go gently,

Michael Reardon
Principal

Large Shade Tree Removed

Last Saturday the beautiful Manchurian Pear shade tree facing Mitchell Street, in front of the Year 1 classrooms was removed.  During the Christmas vacation a large branch fell and when it was inspected by a tree arborist, the recommendation was for it’s removal as it potentially was in danger of parts falling again.  It is never an easy decision to take away a tree at St Paul’s as we are not blessed with an abundance of them.  

We will be replacing it with an advanced Japanese Maple, as they appear to flourish in that area of the school as you walk past the Year 1 classrooms.