RevelationsThe fortnightly newsletter for Pre-K to Year 12 families of St Paul’s

Revelations - St Paul’s Fortnightly Newsletter. Issue No. 58 1

Issue No. 58 30th July 2020

From the Principal

Ian Wake Principal

"My soul finds rest in God alone; my salvation comes from him. He alone is my rock and my salvation; he is my fortress, I will never be shaken. " Psalm 62: 1-2

Earlier this week you will have received an email from me inviting you to participate in a survey that looks at all aspects of our school. For your convenience, a copy of this email is included on the following page.

It has been several years since we have collected this type of feedback and it will be essential in developing a new Strategic Plan to guide the school over the next five years. We plan to survey all parents, staff and students from Years 5-12. It is important for us to identify what the school is doing well and what strategies we can put in place to address areas that require improvement. This stakeholder feedback will also be useful as we prepare for our NESA Inspection and IB Review next year. I would encourage you to participate in this process as we seek to continue to improve and develop our school.

We are continuing to monitor the COVID situation in our state and the implications for the school’s operations. All current sanitising and hygiene procedures will remain in place in an ongoing fashion. Unfortunately, we are still minimising adult visitors to the school which means the café will remain closed to parents and adult guests until this restriction is lifted. All camps scheduled for this term have either been cancelled or postponed due to COVID restrictions. Parent/teacher meetings have commenced using Skype for which we have had some positive feedback. Information evenings have been redesigned to enable remote participation.

We are currently discussing other events and activities between now and the end of the year. We are hopeful that if the COVID clusters in the state stabilise then some of the existing restrictions may be relaxed allowing us more scope for some of these to occur, at least in a modified manner.

It has been encouraging to see the reintroduction of sport this term even though there are also restrictions in place to increase safety for all involved. Any visitor to the school site on a Saturday for sport is asked to register their details to facilitate contact tracing in the event of a positive COVID case. Spectators are either limited or not allowed depending on the sport.

Despite all this, I am so pleased that our students can once again compete and enjoy all the benefits that sport brings.

I think one of the hardest aspects of the current restrictions is our inability to meet together physically as a community. Meeting remotely keeps us in communication and connected but we are looking forward to the day where we welcome everyone back on campus.

I pray for God’s blessing and protection on you and your families as we continue to navigate this extraordinary and uncertain year.

CRICOS 02267A

Revelations - St Paul’s Fortnightly Newsletter. Issue No. 58 2

Perspectives: Your School in Focus Survey

Dear Parents

I am excited to invite you to participate in the 'Perspectives: Your school in focus' survey. This is a school-wide survey for staff, students, parents, leaders and board members to assist in the growth and development of our whole school community.

Gathering your valuable insights on the full educational experience provided at St Paul’s is the first step towards building a new strategic plan for the school and will help guide our ongoing improvement processes.

The survey focuses on five important domains: School Environment, Teaching and Learning, Student Wellbeing, Leadership and Community. Collecting information about these areas from our school community members ensures we gain a full understanding of your needs and can work to meet and exceed them.

The survey will take approximately twenty minutes to complete on any device and will be available from Monday, 3rd to Friday, 14th August 2020.

Only one parent from each household should complete the survey. If you have more than one child currently at the school, please respond considering the child with the next birthday.

More information about the survey can be found here. You will also be emailed details about how to access the survey. If you do not receive further details by Tuesday, 4th August, or if you have any questions regarding the survey, please contact the school's Survey Liaison, Mandy Turner.

If you do not wish your child to participate in the survey, please complete the Opt-out Option form (available here) and return to the school by Tuesday, 4th August.

As a valued member of our community, thank you in advance for engaging with this important survey. In sharing your feedback and observations, you join me and the rest of the St Paul’s community in shaping the future of our vibrant school.

In Christo Futurum.

Ian Wake Principal

Sport AnnouncementJunior and Secondary School Athletics Carnivals Both the Junior and Secondary School Athletics Carnivals have now been rescheduled:

Junior School Athletics Carnival: Wednesday, 12th August 2020

Secondary School Athletics Carnival: Tuesday, 4th August 2020

Please note: Due to COVID-19 restrictions, parents are unable to attend the events.

Revelations - St Paul’s Fortnightly Newsletter. Issue No. 58 3

From the Head of Junior School

Welcome to Term 3

It has been lovely to welcome all students back for the commencement of Term 3.I would like to extend a special welcome to our new families who have joined our community and commenced in the Junior School:

Ariah – Pre-K, Dashiell – Year 1, Xavier – Year 2, Harrison – Year 4, Nicholas – Year 5, Matilda – Year 6, Michael – Year 6.

It would be fair to say that Term 3 has started a little differently to what we all expected. For now, the same arrangements we adhered to in Term 2 regarding hand sanitising and parents being onsite still apply. Parents are requested to remain with their vehicles during drop-off and pick-up unless they need to attend School Reception or have an appointment at the uniform shop.

In relation to student birthdays and bringing in party food to share, may I ask that individual portions are store bought and where possible, individually wrapped.

We will continue to assess camps, excursions and incursions as to their safety regarding COVID-19 and communicate changes to families as decisions are made.

Staffing News

Mrs Bromage, Year 5 Grade Coordinator and House Patron for Cornwallis has announced her retirement effective at the end of 2020. Please join me in congratulating her on her long and successful career as an educator and her association with St Paul’s.

Mrs Newton has been placed on Class 4B until the end of the year to replace Mrs Bonazza who left St Paul's at the end of last term. Mrs Newton continues in her role as Deputy Head of Junior School, Welfare and Administration. New appointments to replace Mrs Bonazza and Mrs Bromage will be determined in the coming term.

Ian Brooker Head of Junior School

Revelations - St Paul’s Fortnightly Newsletter. Issue No. 58 4

From the Director of Learning Services

Final Year 12 Examination Timetables for HSC and IB Diploma

Some parents and students have been asking whether the HSC and IB Diploma examinations are likely to change dates. No changes are foreseen at this stage. HSC students can log into their NESA account to access their individual HSC timetables. The HSC dates run from Tuesday, 20th October to Wednesday, 11th November. The HSC release date is Friday, 18th December.

IB Diploma students have been given individual exam timetables. IB Diploma exams are scheduled to run from Monday, 26th October to Friday, 13th November. The IB Diploma results will be released on Thursday, 17th December.

Copies of these exam timetables as well as current assessment calendars may be found on the following link to my.stpauls.

Year 10 into Year 11 2021 - Updated Information

Year 10 students are well underway with the process of choosing courses and subjects for Year 11 2021. A summary of the differences between the NESA Higher School Certificate and International Baccalaureate Diploma Programme is now available on a dedicated my.stpauls page for Year 10 2020 into Year 11, 2021. Although this page has a specific focus for Year 10 students, parents with children in younger year groups may find this information helpful as they start to plan for senior years.

Last week, Year 10 students attended a Year 10 into 11 information afternoon in The Centre, providing an opportunity to speak with teachers about courses and subjects. We are currently interviewing Year 10 students to provide personalised advice regarding this process. Parents are encouraged to be involved in this process through discussion with their child or contacting the school if they wish to participate in the interview process. Student subject selection surveys are due to be completed by Monday, 10th August.

Revelations - St Paul’s Fortnightly Newsletter. Issue No. 58 5

From the Director of Learning Services Continued

Mr Antony MayrhoferDirector of Learning ServicesE: antony.mayrhofer@stpauls.nsw.edu.auP: +61 2 4776 4705

Year 8/MYP Year 3 into Year 9/MYP Year 4 2021 Student Elective Process

Year 8 /MYP Year 3 students and their parents have been emailed information regarding the selection of their two electives for Year 9/MYP Year 4 2021.As with Year 10 into Year 11, the subject selections are made via an electronic survey, enabling the school to build a timetable for 2021 to best meet the requests of students.

Parent/Teacher Meeting Dates-for the Rest of the Year

This week we were able to successfully run our Year 8 parent/teacher meeting via Skype for Business. This was the first time that St Paul’s has run remote parent/teacher interviews. Initial feedback was positive and we will survey parents to gather more detailed feedback regarding this change. Other parent/teacher interviews this term will operate remotely with parents being able to book interviews via their my.stpauls login.

The following dates have been scheduled for parent teacher meetings to occur in the afternoon/evening:

• Thursday, 6th August: Year 10

• Tuesday, 18th August: Year 9

• Wednesday, 14th October: Year 7 and Year 11

Invitations, with more detail, will be sent to parents as these dates approach.

If you have any questions about any of the matters raised here please do not hesitate to contact me.

Revelations - St Paul’s Fortnightly Newsletter. Issue No. 58 6

From the Director of Students and Family Services

Term 3 Underway

Welcome back to Term 3. Hopefully this is a fruitful and productive time for all our students, particularly Year 12 as they commence their final term of classes at St Paul’s. We concluded Term 2 with our annual Combined House Day to raise funds in support of Congo Aid. By necessity this year’s House Day looked very different to recent years in order to be COVID-19 compliant. Despite this, the school community showed amazing support for Congo Aid and raised just over $3,300. This surpassed any expectations I had for the day. I would like to offer my thanks to all our students and families for your generosity. Donations for the online talent quest raised in excess of $1,200 alone, with the winning act being our PE department’s hilarious COVID-19 workout routine. A mega trivia/scavenger hunt competition was also held on the day with Melville narrowly defeating Castlereagh and Claremont. Thank you to our incredibly hardworking, outgoing group of senior prefects and our Heads of House for the enormous effort they put in to ensure the day was a success. I was especially happy that our prefects were able to organise and execute the day as they have not had the opportunity to undertake several of their normal duties due to current circumstances. My sincere thanks to the outgoing leadership group listed below for their willing service to St Paul’s over the last year.

With one group of prefects ending their term of office, another group commences theirs. I was happy to be able to announce our incoming prefects in the last week of Term 2. Ordinarily at the start of Term 3 we would hold our Prefect Induction Ceremony in front of the entire Secondary School. However, this is not possible at present due to the current restrictions. Nevertheless, the prefects below will start their duties immediately and we will seek to honour them and their appointment at a later time.

My congratulations to the Senior Prefect team for 2020/21 listed below.

OUTGOING PREFECTSSchool Captains Sophie Reeves and Keaton Daniels

School Vice-Captains Piper McElrea and Thomas Keane

Castlereagh House Captains Lachlan Ming and Wilbur Luk

Claremont House Captains Sophie Burr and Luke Zoglmeyer

Cornwallis House Captains Keunwoo Song and Zali-Anne Humphries

Melville House Captains Kaya Patel and Claira Jovanovski

Strathdon House Captains Alysha Pearson and Brendan Love

Wilberforce House Captains Karis Statheos and Michaela Hoffman

Captain of the Arts Teah Bell

Captain of Christian Fellowship Alexandra Bishop

Captains of International Relations Olivia Cooper

Captain of Outdoor Education and Service Learning Reese Robinson

Captain of School Culture and Student Wellbeing Mikayla Weber

Captain of Sport Isabella Podesta

INCOMING PREFECTSCaptains Juliette Ruming and Sam Capararo

Vice Captains Olivia Fawns and Josh Lim

Captain of the Arts Grace Heckenberg

Captain of Sport Jasmine Vella

Captain of Culture and Student Wellbeing Georgia Gale

Captain of International Relations Kyle McDonough

Captain of Out Education and Service Learning Lexy Thorpe

Captain of Christian Fellowship Lauren Hogan

Castlereagh House Captains Lauren Jeffery and Josh Esveld

Claremont House Captains Brianna Thurling and Lucy McDonnell

Cornwallis House Captains Madeleine O’Rourke and Serena Monteleone

Melville House Captains Mondira Paul and Marvin Madfouni

Strathdon House Captains Ravdeesh Toor and Kel Tredinnick

Revelations - St Paul’s Fortnightly Newsletter. Issue No. 58 7

From the Music Academy

Cathy Jarman Coordinator of Music

Curriculum Music: News

Year 8 elective choices for Year 9 2021 and Year 10 elective choices for Year 11 2021 are currently underway. Please feel free to contact the Music Coordinator Cathy Jarman on cathy.jarman@stpauls.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions relating to elective music courses or if you would like to know more about the units of study available.

Why Study Music?

The following information is taken from the The Royal Conservatory in New York.Unlock your child’s potential

Music education can be an amazing tool for helping children develop. Engaging them creatively. Challenging them intellectually. Building strong relationships with other students and teachers. We believe you can bring out a child’s potential through music. Learn more about the research and the long-term value of music training.

Click the link to access the research papers related to the following questions https://www.rcmusic.com/learning/about-the-royal-conservatory-certificate-program/why-study-music

The study of music does more than just create musicians. How does music education help children as their brains develop?

Conservatorium and Ensembles Programmes

After a well-earned break following a very unusual Term 2, it is pleasing to see students returning with enthusiasm to Music and Speech & Drama lessons and Ensemble rehearsals in Term 3. Places are still available in both the Conservatorium and Ensembles Programmes.

To find out more about the Music Academy please visit the Music Academy my.stpauls page.

Here you can register for the Conservatorium Programme or the Ensembles Programme, or find out more information about our Tutors, as well as the types of ensembles available.

We know that studying music can have positive effects on your brain. But what additional benefits do students get from structured music education?

Everyone loves music. It is, along with language, the most important form of communication we have. For many people music is something that they experience, but do not believe themselves able to produce or express – read more…

Music makes you smarter. We’ve all heard that before. But is it true? Is there any evidence for this claim? What parts of intelligence might music affect? How does it make you smarter?

Revelations - St Paul’s Fortnightly Newsletter. Issue No. 58 8

From the Dance Academy

Dance Returns for Term 3

Dance Academy students and staff are excited to return to classes this term. While the classes do look slightly different due to social distancing, students have enjoyed getting back into the studio and learning movement together with their peers and tutors.

The staff have loved seeing students show them what they learnt during the period of isolation from the online dance lessons. These online dance classes were a great resource for the students at home during their time of isolation. A reminder, that there is also a suite of Wellbeing Videos available to students for free, on the Student Wellbeing mystpauls page.

Student enrolments have automatically rolled over from the previous term. Students do not need to re-enrol for this term’s classes. However, if you do not wish to continue with the Academy for this term, please contact Mrs Lauren Cullimore to inform her of the withdrawn enrolment, at lauren.cullimore@stpauls.nsw.edu.au

The Dance Academy staff have been briefed on safety requirements for the term ahead and have implemented various strategies in classes to encourage social distancing and safe hygiene practices.