Dear Parents/Carers,                                                                        

Welcome back for term 2. I trust your children are well rested and keen to return to school life, where learning is infused with reconnecting with old friendships, making new friends and the many social activities of school that are needed to create well rounded young people.

This term will be a very important one for St Paul’s. Since 2009, Catholic Schools of the Diocese of Wollongong have engaged in a school review process, as part of school review and improvement. In 2021/22, following extensive consultation with principals and senior CEO staff, the process has evolved with greater school ownership.

As far as St Paul’s is concerned, people bring their own stories to the school community. These stories need to be shared and celebrated. The many diverse elements of this renewal process need to be connected to the inner wholeness of the school. It is not helpful to work on specific issues of change without linking these issues to the almost mysterious inner core of our school’s story and culture. It is important to situate the movement for school improvement in the wider context of social, religious and educational improvements.

This Cyclic Review Process has been renamed School Cyclic Inquiry (SCI), emphasising that the Cyclic Inquiry Process is one of professional inquiry and discernment. The Inquiry Process is informed and enriched by local stakeholder data, objective survey data (Tell Them For Me surveys completed by parents, students and teachers in term 1), system data and an external panel.

SCI is not a one off “inspection” but a unique opportunity for the school community and its leadership to stop, reflect (inquire) and celebrate its improvement and growth journey and to identify a limited number of strategic priorities that will further enhance student improvement in the future. The School Cyclic Inquiry Process is outlined in the diagram below, which is implemented over a four year cycle.

Each year the school sets goals based on data collected (including recommendations from the Listening Assembly held in 2023) and current context; plans and implements strategies to work towards a limited number of goals and monitors and reflects on their impact. In the fourth year there is a year of renewal where SCI enables the school to stop and reflect  on the previous three years and plan for the future. This process will occur over two days (Tue 13 June and Wed 19 June, Week 7 and 8). More detail will be provided as we get closer to this date.

In conclusion, Cyclic Inquiry is not a one off enterprise but another step in the unfolding journey at St Paul’s where we seek to be an authentic wisdom learning community. A positive culture of change, acknowledges that change is inevitable and desirable. This process will enable St Paul’s to be proactive in focusing its energy rather than spending time reacting to the buffeting winds of change frequently felt during the COVID pandemic. The process of Cyclic Inquiry is not an event but a movement towards wisdom. People like to sail in peaceful waters but the world of contemporary education is a turbulent sea of heavy waters. This Cyclic Inquiry Process will allow the St Paul’s School community to be like intrepid explorers who will push ahead through forests of change with maps that have to be regularly redrawn. The staff at St Paul’s are currently updating those maps to reflect our current context, ready for Cyclic Inquiry.

Go Gently,

Winter Uniform - Monday, 13 May 2024

From next week beginning Monday, 13 May 2024 all students must wear full Winter uniform.

School Counsellor

Following a recent review by CatholicCare of our school counselling requirements, our school has been allocated an additional counsellor, Sarah White.  Sarah commenced last Friday, she will work Fridays of every odd week in conjunction with Alison our current school counsellor who will continue to work every Monday, Tuesday and Wednesday. The school is very blessed to have the expertise of two experienced school counsellors to work with our students, parents and staff. 

Book Club

Book Club orders for issue 3 are due via the scholastic online loop by Monday, 20 May 2024.

Fortnightly Target - At St Paul’s I will walk to my lines.

Teaching students about walking to lines and moving around the school safely is essential. It ensures that all children are kept safe, and teaches children the importance of respecting the safety of themselves and others. It also allows the students to be settled on their lines, and be ready to listen to the person who is speaking. 

Students are being reminded to use our Stop, Think, Choose process at these times when moving to lines or walking around the school.

We are excited to launch our school based extension and enrichment program, previously known as SPLICED. Students participating in this program have been carefully selected based upon assessment data and consultation with classroom teachers and parents. The SPEEK program will aim to provide students with a greater variety of learning opportunities throughout the year. During term two the students will engage in a project called ‘Colour your world’  which aims to develop creative and critical thinking skills by exploring colour within all key learning areas. The students will participate in an hour of this per week with Mrs King and Mrs Rae and therefore is no in class or at home requirements. A compass event for invited students is now accessible for you to consent to if your children is in the program and wishing to participate. 

Mrs King & Mrs Rae

Wollongong Representative Honours - 2024

At the end of last term, some of our students participated in Mackillop sporting events, including swimming and hockey. Congratulations to our boys' relay team for finishing 11th, Chase for achieving 6th in the butterfly, and Jaimee, who has been selected to represent the Mackillop Hockey team and will play in the NSW PSSA championships later this month in Newcastle. Well done to all the students.

Cross Country - 2024

Our Annual Cross-Country was held on Wednesday, 27 April 2024 at the Camden Bicentennial Equestrian Park. We were fortunate enough to have beautiful sunshine, not just in the sky but also in the smiles of our students. Seeing our students wearing their house colours and cheering on their teammates throughout the day was a fantastic display of our school's sporting spirit. For our senior students, it was their first 3km cross-country event, and it was fabulous to see all the runners completing the track with great determination.

We wish the top three primary competitors all the best in the upcoming Catholic Education Diocese of Wollongong Cross Country Championships, which will take place in Nowra.

The school would like to thank the parent and staff community for their continued support and participation in school sporting events.

St Paul's School Fete

Final Fete Meeting

The final fete meeting will be held, tonight, Tuesday, 7 May 2024 at 6:30pm in the school hall.

If you are interested in becoming a part of our fete community, please come along! The fete commitee welcome all new families that want to get involved in this great event. Or you could come along with a friend and work together as a team!

Fete Mufti Day

There will be a fete mufti day on Monday, 20 May 2024. Each class will be allocated items to bring in to help create hampers or materials for stalls. A list of items will be sent in the coming week.

Fete Raffle - Tickets Now On Sale

The Fete Raffle Tickets are now available to purchase via the link below. 

Fete Tickets

Volunteers Needed

The fete committee are still in need of volunteers to help on the following stalls on the day. With your help, we can make the fete run smoothly so our children can have a great day. Below are the times and gaps that still require volunteers.

• BBQ Cook  - 2-4pm
• Hot Dogs and Chips - Various Times
• Donuts – 11-12 (one person) and 2-3pm (two people please)
• Devonshire Tea – 9-10am and 12-2pm
• Face Painting/Hairspray – 11-4pm (or any time in between)
• Gelato - 10-11am or 3-4pm
• Gift Boxes Serving – 10-12 or 1-4pm
• Friendship Bracelets – any time between 9 and 4pm
• Produce – 12-3pm
• Ride Booth 2-4pm
• Sand Art – 9-12 or 12-3pm
• Show Bags – 1-2pm
• Snow Cones 1-4pm
• Tattoos – 9-12 or 2-4pm
• White Elephant – 10-12pm

Please email Emma-Jane Garbutt at your earliest convenience with your offer of assistance.

emmajaneellis@yahoo.com.au
 

Congratulations Archie

On Saturday, 13 and Sunday, 14th April 2024, Archie competed at the Sam Willoughby BMX track in South Australia for rounds two and three of the 2024 National BMX Series.

On day one (round two) of the series, Archie raced well in all his motos progressing through to the semi final, followed by the final in which he came away with a podium finish, coming in third.

Unfortunately, after another amazing day of racing on day two (round three) qualifying third going into the final, Archie's tyre was clipped by another rider on the first berm. Thankfully he was able to stay upright on his bike and finish in sixth. Although a little disappointed, he was happy to be riding away in one piece with two plates in hand.

Archie loved his experience in South Australia and is looking forward to competing at his home track (Macarthur BMX) in July for rounds four and five of the National Series!

Congratulations Harper & Willow

Catholic Family Camping Weekend