Traralgon Junior School

From the Head of Traralgon Junior School,
Mr Andy McNabb.

 

Dear Parents,

Two more busy weeks have flown by and we have managed to fit in the following events: ELC Picnic where families had the chance to chat and play (depending on your age!), Year 6 visit to The Summit to hone their leadership skills, Year 6 also fitted in a visit to Traralgon Library, Years 3 to 6 held their Athletics on a fairly warm day (more about that later), Parent Teacher Interviews were then held on Wednesday and Thursday evenings.  Year 4 held a Dr Seuss book tasting which they reported about in assembly and the Preps concluded their testing and from now on, they will be at school full-time!

Next week we are visiting the wetlands on Tuesday and Wednesday.  Your child will be down there on one of those days as we again welcome Lisa and Peter from Landcare Australia and start to observe the bird life, test the water and once again look at soil samples.  The ELC students will also be walking down there.  They will not be working specifically with Landcare but will be taking part in other activities to help them understand the importance of preserving and working with the wonderful resource we have within our grounds.

I hope you have found the Parent Teacher Interviews helpful.  Some parents have booked another time to come back and talk as it was difficult to cover all aspects in the time provided.  We appreciate that many of our parents are very busy and I trust that finishing later at 8:00 pm on the Wednesday has made the meetings a bit more accessible.

Do not forget Labour Day next Monday and I trust you all enjoy the longer weekend.  On a particularly busy Wednesday next week, we will also have our first Walking School Bus of the year.  Miss Bec, along with Ms McNally from the Library are now in charge and if you can possibly make it, I thoroughly recommend ‘jumping on board’.  We did have one very disappointed child some time ago, when he realised there was no actual bus to travel on but I will be there with the school minibus to transport bags so the students can walk to school without the hindrance of a large school bag on their shoulders.

Walking School Bus – Meet at Latrobe City Library at 7:45 am, Wednesday 14 March.  The walk to school will take about thirty minutes.

As we mentioned earlier, we have held our Years 3 to 6 Athletics Day this week and as usual, there was much discussion about the best way to proceed next year.  Mr Reed and I talked throughout the event and then he attended the regional meeting for sports teachers in the area.  We have a number of ideas about how we can improve the event for 2019, where some children excel and others, quite frankly dread the experience.  This is Australia and sport is regarded very highly but it is not everyone’s cup of tea and we wondered how productive the day was for some of our students?  Do we hold a fun House Sports event where all students can genuinely enjoy themselves and just trial a smaller group of children who want to compete at the next level.  Much of the emphasis behind the day is getting times for students to compete at District level and there may be a more effective way of achieving this which does not involve all students being down there in the sun.  As it became warmer, we finished early again and if we were to hold a fun House Sports event at school, we are closer to good shelter and have the ability to run a shorter program.  Some of the staff and parents spoke about the changes which have been made at Little Aths and so if you have any specific feedback we would love to hear from you.  You can chat with me or Mr Reed or email us with your thoughts at dreed@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au or aamcnabb@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Now if you will excuse me, further training is needed.  Last week I just about survived the chin-up challenge with Year 2 boys.  As we go to press I can not tell you if I have managed to stay with the students in this week’s push-up challenge.  Either I am getting older, or they are getting stronger…

 

WHAT’S ON IN THE JUNIOR SCHOOL

MARCH
12 March  LABOUR DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY
21 March  School Tours, between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm
District Athletics
27 March  Possum and Koala ELC Photos
28 March  Joey and Wombat ELC Photos
29 March  Easter Service and FOSP Easter Egg Hunt
End of Term 1, 2:30 pm finish

 

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BECOMING A ST PAUL’S COMPANY MEMBER or BOARD DIRECTOR?

MEMBERSHIP OF COMPANY

Are you aware parents are able to become members of the St Paul’s School Company?

At present there are over seventy members of the School’s Company.  Applying for membership involves completing an application form and submitting a fee of $20.00.  Continued membership involves renewing your membership once a year and paying an ongoing annual fee of $20.00.

Company membership entitles the member to attend the School’s Annual General Meeting in May each year and also to cast a vote in the event of an election of Directors to the School Board.

If you have any questions in relation to the Board vacancies you are invited to contact Mrs Leah Young, Company Secretary on email companysecretary@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au or phone 5623 5833.

BECOMING A BOARD DIRECTOR

In keeping with the Board’s commitment to an inclusive governance approach within the school community, persons interested in potentially filling a Board vacancy are encouraged to become a member of the company and respond to the nomination/election process prior to the Annual General Meeting on 23 May 2018.

Nomination forms for Board Directorship are required to be forwarded to the Company Secretary no later than Monday 23 April 2018 at 5:00 pm.

If you have any questions in relation to the Board vacancies or are seeking a nomination form, please contact Mrs Leah Young, Company Secretary on email companysecretary@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au or phone 5623 5833.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – 23 MAY 2018

The Annual General Meeting of St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School is to be held on Wednesday 23 May 2018.  Persons interested in applying for new membership of the company can obtain an Application for Company Membership form from the School’s website or by contacting Jenni Griffiths on email mailto:jgriffiths@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Applications should be received by 17 April 2018 for consideration at the April Board Meeting in preparation of this year’s Annual General Meeting.  Later applications can also be considered but must be received by 15 May 2018 to be able to attend the Annual General Meeting.

 

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE

Annual Fee Account
Families have recently received via email an annual fee account for 2018.  If you have any queries in relation to your annual fee account, please contact Mr Peter Lees on 5623 5833.  As detailed on the second page of the account, payment options are:

Direct Debit:
All families are encouraged to participate in the School’s direct debit payment arrangement.
Fortnightly instalments (22 payments) commencing 9 February 2018
Monthly instalments (10 payments) commencing 15 February 2018

Should families wish to commence payment by Direct Debit, please contact Mr Peter Lees, accountsreceivable@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Instalments (due dates):
Instalment 1 – 9 February 2018
Instalment 2 – 6 April 2018
Instalment 3 – 8 June 2018
Instalment 4 – 17 August 2018

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)
The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments directly to the school for the benefit of the eligible student to attend camps, sports and excursions.  Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply.  $125 per year will be paid for eligible primary school students and $225 per year paid for eligible secondary school students.  Payments will go directly to the school and be tied to the student.  For more information and to download the application form please go to www.education.vic.gov.au/csef.  Parents are encouraged to lodge the application form as soon as possible, so that payments can be made from March 2018.  However schools can accept parent applications up until 8 June 2018 for processing in Term 2.

For parents who received CSEF at the school in 2017 (and the student/s are still enrolled in 2018), the school will ‘copy’ the application across from 2017 to 2018 on the CSEF system.  The CSEF system automatically validated the parent’s eligibility with Centrelink on 29 January 2018.

Traralgon Secondary School

From the Head of Traralgon Secondary School, Mr Stephen Klemke.   PARENT STUDENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS In case you missed the recent email I have included …

view ARTICLE

Traralgon Secondary School

From the Head of Traralgon Secondary School,
Mr Stephen Klemke.

 

PARENT STUDENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS

In case you missed the recent email I have included instructions below.

Semester 1 Parent Student Teacher Interviews (PSTIs) will be held on Monday 19 March from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm and from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm.  Interviews will also be held on Wednesday 28 from 4:00 pm to 5:30 pm and from 6:00 pm to 7:30 pm at the Traralgon Secondary School Main Building.

St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School has an online booking system for the PSTIs.  To access the booking system go to https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au
You will be required to enter a School Code which is rwmnt.  Once you have made your bookings, please print out the ‘Interview Timetable’ generated by the system and bring this to your interviews.  Students are required to wear full school uniform when attending interviews.

Interview times are five minutes per teacher.  Appointments that exceed the allocated time significantly inconvenience all parties involved, hence your cooperation in this matter would be greatly appreciated.

To access details relating to your child’s classes and teachers please log onto the MyStPauls website and click on their timetable.  This will display the information required for booking the interviews.  Alternatively you can also access the information on the MyStPauls app. If you need assistance with your login details please contact IT services at itsupport@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

PSTIs Booking times
Bookings will be available from 4:00 pm on Tuesday 6 March for both PSTIs sessions.
Session 1: Monday 19 March (bookings close at 3:30 pm on Friday 16 March)
Session 2: Wednesday 28 March (bookings close at 4:00 pm on Tuesday 27 March)

 

YEAR 7 2019 AND BEYOND INFORMATION EVENING

If you know anyone who might be interested in attending the Secondary School in 2019 please be encouraged to mention our Year 7 2019 and Beyond Information Evening.

This evening will commence at 6:00 pm with tours conducted by our Year 9 tour guides, supper supplied by our catering students, music performed by our Performing Arts students and an information session commencing at 7:00 pm.

 

YEAR 8 ROBOTICS

In my wanderings this week I was delighted to meet Geoffrey the robot.  Geoffrey can hit a hockey ball from a stand and was made and programmed in our Year 8 Robotics elective.

Geoffrey.

Geoffrey with creator Mick Edgar.

 

WHAT’S ON IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL

MARCH
12 March  LABOUR DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY
13 to 16 March
  Year 9 Outdoor Ed Camp
15 March  SEISA Summer Sports, Years 9 and 10, Round 5
19 March  Parent Student Teacher Interviews
20 March Traralgon and Warragul Secondary Schools Combined Athletics Carnival
21 March  ESP Seminar – Emma Doyle
23 March  St James Church Community Lunch Excursion
27 March  Year 7 2019 and Beyond Information Evening
28 March  Parent Student Teacher Interviews
29 March  Traralgon Campus Easter Service
Last day of Term 1

 

SPORT NEWS

It certainly has been one very busy five weeks in sport.  We started off with our Combined House Swimming Carnival at the Moe Outdoor Pool where we were almost blown away by the horrendous winds.  Conditions were not really ideal for swimming but we saw four records broken by Molly and Jordyn Cargill.  Jordyn broke a record set by Brenton Ford in 2001 for backstroke.  Franklin House were victors on the day and they also took the honours for House Spirit.  A few days later our campus held its athletics trials in Traralgon where students competed in the 100m and 200m events and then were able to select other events they wanted to compete in in order to vie for a spot for the upcoming Combined House Athletics.  Franklin were our victors on the day.

The day before our SEISA Swimming Carnival, several swimmers travelled to the Warragul Leisure Centre in the early hours of the morning to train with the team as part of our team bonding sessions.  We hosted the SEISA Swimming Carnival at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, along with badminton and table tennis on 1 March.  Our campus had sixteen swimmers selected and four from the Junior School.  St Paul’s had a successful day by winning for the twenty-second time in a row; though it was close with Gippsland Grammar coming second.  We had four Age Champions: U13 Molly Cargill, U14 Abby Warner, U15 Sophie Waller and U17 Caydence Bezzina.

Rachel Jennings competed in the Victorian Champs and was aiming for a personal best even though she has already qualified for nationals and she was successful at that.  She ran the 3000m and came third with a time of 10:20.07 recorded which was a seventeen second personal best.

We also wish our swimmers all the best who are competing this long weekend in the Gippsland Championships in Sale.

Sandra Timmer-Arends
Head of Sport – Traralgon Campus
Health and Physical Education

Age Champion – Molly Cargill.

Age Champion – Sophie Waller.

House Athletics Trials – boys racing the 100m.

Early morning swimming training.

 

House Swimming.

 

FIRE BRIGADE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Five students from St Paul’s represented their respective fire brigades at the VFBV Urban Junior Fire Brigade State Championships on 24 and 25 February in Warrnambool.

Cole Miller, Nate Lucas, Euan Lucas, Harrison Miller (representing the combined Drouin Bunyip Junior Running Team) from St Paul’s Warragul Secondary School and Sam Pollerd (representing Traralgon) from St Paul’s Traralgon Secondary School were all successful gaining places at the championships.

Cole Miller: Second in U17 4 Man, first in Disc Twice, second in U17 Hydrant Run, fourth in 4 Man Y Coupling and fourth in 1 Man Marshall.
Nate Lucas and Euan Lucas: Second in U14 2 Man Marshall
Sam Pollerd: Second in U17 Wet Hose 2nd Disc
Nate Lucas: Fourth in U14 1 Man Marshall
Nate Lucas, Euan Lucas and Harrison Miller: Fifth in U14 4 Man Wet Hose 2nd Disc and fifth in U14 4 Man Wet Hose 1st Disc Twice.

Overall the Drouin Bunyip team came fourth out of sixty six teams.  Traralgon equal fourteenth.

It was a highly competitive weekend and these five students can be very proud of their performances and their sportsmanship over the weekend.  A big thank you to the Traralgon Friends of St Paul’s  for providing a bus for the weekend.

 

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE

Annual Fee Account
Families have recently received via email an annual fee account for 2018.  If you have any queries in relation to your annual fee account, please contact Mr Peter Lees on 5623 5833.  As detailed on the second page of the account, payment options are:

Direct Debit:
All families are encouraged to participate in the School’s direct debit payment arrangement.
Fortnightly instalments (22 payments) commencing 9 February 2018
Monthly instalments (10 payments) commencing 15 February 2018

Should families wish to commence payment by Direct Debit, please contact Mr Peter Lees, accountsreceivable@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Instalments (due dates):
Instalment 1 – 9 February 2018
Instalment 2 – 6 April 2018
Instalment 3 – 8 June 2018
Instalment 4 – 17 August 2018

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)
The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments directly to the school for the benefit of the eligible student to attend camps, sports and excursions.  Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply.  $125 per year will be paid for eligible primary school students and $225 per year paid for eligible secondary school students.  Payments will go directly to the school and be tied to the student.  For more information and to download the application form please go to www.education.vic.gov.au/csef.  Parents are encouraged to lodge the application form as soon as possible, so that payments can be made from March 2018.  However schools can accept parent applications up until 8 June 2018 for processing in Term 2.

For parents who received CSEF at the school in 2017 (and the student/s are still enrolled in 2018), the school will ‘copy’ the application across from 2017 to 2018 on the CSEF system.  The CSEF system automatically validated the parent’s eligibility with Centrelink on 29 January 2018.

Warragul Junior School

From the Acting Head of Warragul Junior School, Mr Phil Barkla. JUNIOR SCHOOL ACTION! One of the highlights of the past two weeks was definitely …

view ARTICLE

Warragul Junior School

From the Acting Head of Warragul Junior School,
Mr Phil Barkla.

JUNIOR SCHOOL ACTION!

One of the highlights of the past two weeks was definitely the Family Welcome Evening Barbeque.  We had a majority of families attend the night with almost five hundred sausages dispatched!  The Preps (and their parents) as usual provided a highlight in the St Paul’s Prep Grand Prix and parent races.  There was lots of fun and cheering on of all the participants.  The fire truck which attended from Warragul CFA was a great hit, with children sitting in the cabin, sounding the siren and switching on the flashing lights.  As well as this many enjoyed the experience of aiming the fire hoses at a cut out of a fire and ‘extinguishing’ it (knocking it over) with the spray.

In a demonstration of the caring attitude of our students, a number of the Year 12 Prefects attended and interacted with the Junior School students.  A big thank you to all of them.  The fastest boy and girl races were hotly contested and eventually won in fine style by James Denton and Lilly Leighton.  It was a great opportunity for families to meet and socialise and with the weather being so kind to us, many were there until late in the evening enjoying good company and watching the cricket match.

Dr Seuss Day was an opportunity for the Preps, Years 1s and 2s to dress up and celebrate their favourite books by an author beloved by children throughout the world.  The day started with a parade of Cats in Hats, Things 1 and  2, The Lorax (who speaks for the trees), Foxes in Socks and many others, lots of fun and excitement and very colourful.  This was followed by some well targeted and enjoyable classroom activities.  Many thanks to the many parents who were able to attend and to the teachers for providing a very stimulating morning.

On the sporting front swimming has continued with many students continuing on through District and Divisional competitions.  Good luck to all of those who have continued on to Regional next week.  Congratulations to Seth Cannon, Mia Nippers and Thomas Halloran-Lavelle who represented the School in SEISA swimming at Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre, they all represented the School very well.

The House Athletics Carnival was held in perfect weather and again attended by many parents.  I would like to thank all of those parents who pitched in and helped and also to the Year 9 students who were an invaluable help on the day.  The children had a wonderful day and their attitude and behaviour were excellent.  I loved the way that they encouraged each other and did their best in all of the events, whether it was one of their favourites or not.  The end of the day saw the first tied result with Burgundy and Emerald finishing on exactly the same points total.  The final race of the day saw four fine athletes take out the staff/student race, with the staff winning for the second year in a row!

Parent/Teacher Interviews (PTIs): Information regarding PTIs will be sent home by email today.  These will take place in Week 9 on Tuesday 27 and Wednesday 28 March.  Could I please remind parents that you need to book your PTIs via our online booking system.  Look for details on how to book in the email this afternoon of Friday 9 March.

Once you have made your bookings, please print out the ‘Interview Timetable’ generated by the system.  A reminder that if parents book a phone interview with a staff member, these calls will be made at some stage during Week 9 and not necessarily at the designated time you select.  Please contact us at school if you have any problems booking online.

After School Care:  A reminder that After School Care is available each day after school and I ask parents interested in using this service to click on the Camp Australia icon on the MyStPauls Junior School information page, visit the Camp Australia website www.campaustralia.com.au  or contact their Customer Service team on 1300 105 343 to register your child/ren.  Camp Australia oversees all billing and accounts with regard to OHSC.  Parents should also apply for the Child Care Tax Rebate to help meet your out-of-pocket child care costs.

Enjoy a safe and happy long weekend everyone.

Prep Grand Prix, ready to go!

What it feels like to be a fire fighter.

Dr Seuss Day – Thing 2.

Flying over the bar at the athletics.

 

WHAT’S ON IN THE JUNIOR SCHOOL

MARCH
12 March  LABOUR DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY
13 March  Year 2 Incursion, Animals of Oz
15 March  Regional Swimming (selected students only)
20 March  Year 4 Excursion to Captain Cook’s Cottage
23 March  Hot Cross Bun Orders due
24 March  School Tours
27 March  Parent Teacher Interviews, 3:30 pm to 5:30 pm
28 March  Parent Teacher Interviews, 3:30 pm to 8:30 pm
29 March  Easter Service, 9:15 am to 10:00 am
End of term FOSTA special lunch
End of Term 1, 2:20 pm finish

 

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BECOMING A ST PAUL’S COMPANY MEMBER or BOARD DIRECTOR?

MEMBERSHIP OF COMPANY

Are you aware parents are able to become members of the St Paul’s School Company?

At present there are over seventy members of the School’s Company.  Applying for membership involves completing an application form and submitting a fee of $20.00.  Continued membership involves renewing your membership once a year and paying an ongoing annual fee of $20.00.

Company membership entitles the member to attend the School’s Annual General Meeting in May each year and also to cast a vote in the event of an election of Directors to the School Board.

If you have any questions in relation to the Board vacancies you are invited to contact Mrs Leah Young, Company Secretary on email companysecretary@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au or phone 5623 5833.

BECOMING A BOARD DIRECTOR

In keeping with the Board’s commitment to an inclusive governance approach within the school community, persons interested in potentially filling a Board vacancy are encouraged to become a member of the company and respond to the nomination/election process prior to the Annual General Meeting on 23 May 2018.

Nomination forms for Board Directorship are required to be forwarded to the Company Secretary no later than Monday 23 April 2018 at 5:00 pm.

If you have any questions in relation to the Board vacancies or are seeking a nomination form, please contact Mrs Leah Young, Company Secretary on email companysecretary@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au or phone 5623 5833.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – 23 MAY 2018

The Annual General Meeting of St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School is to be held on Wednesday 23 May 2018.  Persons interested in applying for new membership of the company can obtain an Application for Company Membership form from the School’s website or by contacting Jenni Griffiths on email  jgriffiths@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Applications should be received by 17 April 2018 for consideration at the April Board Meeting in preparation of this year’s Annual General Meeting.  Later applications can also be considered but must be received by 15 May 2018 to be able to attend the Annual General Meeting.

 

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE

Annual Fee Account
Families have recently received via email an annual fee account for 2018.  If you have any queries in relation to your annual fee account, please contact Mr Peter Lees on 5623 5833.  As detailed on the second page of the account, payment options are:

Direct Debit:
All families are encouraged to participate in the School’s direct debit payment arrangement.
Fortnightly instalments (22 payments) commencing 9 February 2018
Monthly instalments (10 payments) commencing 15 February 2018

Should families wish to commence payment by Direct Debit, please contact Mr Peter Lees, accountsreceivable@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Instalments (due dates):
Instalment 1 – 9 February 2018
Instalment 2 – 6 April 2018
Instalment 3 – 8 June 2018
Instalment 4 – 17 August 2018

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)
The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments directly to the school for the benefit of the eligible student to attend camps, sports and excursions.  Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply.  $125 per year will be paid for eligible primary school students and $225 per year paid for eligible secondary school students.  Payments will go directly to the school and be tied to the student.  For more information and to download the application form please go to www.education.vic.gov.au/csef.  Parents are encouraged to lodge the application form as soon as possible, so that payments can be made from March 2018.  However schools can accept parent applications up until 8 June 2018 for processing in Term 2.

For parents who received CSEF at the school in 2017 (and the student/s are still enrolled in 2018), the school will ‘copy’ the application across from 2017 to 2018 on the CSEF system.  The CSEF system automatically validated the parent’s eligibility with Centrelink on 29 January 2018.

 

Warragul Secondary School

From the Head of Warragul Secondary School, Ms Laura Butterworth.   FAMILY PICNIC The 2018 Family Picnic is on tonight from 4:00 pm to 7:00 …

view ARTICLE

Warragul Secondary School

From the Head of Warragul Secondary School,
Ms Laura Butterworth.

 

FAMILY PICNIC

The 2018 Family Picnic is on tonight from 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm.  Our Prefects will be cooking a barbeque, the Human Powered Vehicle team will be selling drinks, the Catering Club has been working hard preparing some goods for sale and we have musicians and entertainment.  We look forward to seeing those who can attend between 4:00 pm and 7:00 pm for a relaxing get together.

ALLERGY AWARE SECONDARY SCHOOL

Just a reminder to families that we are an allergy aware school and we take our responsibility for our students with allergies very seriously.  We always ask our students to be mindful of the snacks and food they take on camps and excursions, and ensure they do not contain nuts and other known allergens.  We appreciate your continued mindfulness and support.  Our Year 9s will attend their Outdoor Education Camp next week and it is particularly important that they do not take any nut products on this camp.  Please do not hesitate to contact your child’s Head of Year if you require any assistance with this.

PARENT STUDENT TEACHER INTERVIEWS (PSTIs)

All families should have received information regarding our Parent Student Teacher Interviews to be held on Thursday 22 March 4:00 pm to 8:00 pm and Monday 26 March 4:00 pm to 9:00 pm in the Warragul Secondary School Gymnasium.  If you have not received instructions on how to book PSTIs please contact the school on 5623 5833.

UNIFORM

Our uniform is a crucial part of being a St Paul’s student.  We are very proud of the way the vast majority of our students wear it and it contributes to their belonging and identity with our school.  We work very hard to maintain the standard and expect that our uniform policy is adhered to by every student.  Having said this, we have seen an increase in girls getting a piercing in parts of the ear that are not the lobe.  Our policy is very clear and states:

Jewellery and Makeup

  • No visible jewellery may be worn except for wrist watches.  Girls only may wear one small, plain (gold or silver) sleeper or stud in the lobe of each ear.  A small, discreet plain crucifix pendant on a thin chain necklace is accepted, but this must hang lower than the collar opening of the dress or shirt.
  • Boys are not to wear piercings, or jewellery (including bracelets, necklaces and rings) of any kind.
  • Other than clear nail polish, cosmetics may not be worn at school.  There should be no visible makeup.  This includes blush, lipstick, eyeliner and mascara.

If girls choose to wear earrings they must be in the lobe and can only be a plain stud or sleeper (gold or silver).  Students are very aware of our uniform requirements and we appreciate the support of our parent body.  You can find a copy of our full uniform policy under the ‘Enrolment’ tab on our website.

ATHLETICS

The House Athletics Carnival will be held on Tuesday 20 March.  We hope the weather conditions will be fine but students need to be prepared.  The warm conditions on the morning of our Swimming Carnival caught some students without adequate warm clothing when the afternoon turned cool.  Please ensure your child is wearing their house top but also has their spray jacket and a hat.

SUMMER SUN

Just a reminder to parents to please ensure that your child has a wide brimmed navy school hat for the summer terms.  When outside students are expected to either sit in the shade or have a hat on at all times in Terms 1 and 4.

LABOUR DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY

I am quite sure this has not been overlooked but Monday is the Labour Day Public Holiday and the school will be closed.  Enjoy your long weekend!

 

ARE YOU INTERESTED IN BECOMING A ST PAUL’S COMPANY MEMBER or BOARD DIRECTOR?

MEMBERSHIP OF COMPANY

Are you aware parents are able to become members of the St Paul’s School Company?

At present there are over seventy members of the School’s Company.  Applying for membership involves completing an application form and submitting a fee of $20.00.  Continued membership involves renewing your membership once a year and paying an ongoing annual fee of $20.00.

Company membership entitles the member to attend the School’s Annual General Meeting in May each year and also to cast a vote in the event of an election of Directors to the School Board.

If you have any questions in relation to the Board vacancies you are invited to contact Mrs Leah Young, Company Secretary on email companysecretary@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au or phone 5623 5833.

BECOMING A BOARD DIRECTOR

In keeping with the Board’s commitment to an inclusive governance approach within the school community, persons interested in potentially filling a Board vacancy are encouraged to become a member of the company and respond to the nomination/election process prior to the Annual General Meeting on 23 May 2018.

Nomination forms for Board Directorship are required to be forwarded to the Company Secretary no later than Monday 23 April 2018 at 5:00 pm.

If you have any questions in relation to the Board vacancies or are seeking a nomination form, please contact Mrs Leah Young, Company Secretary on email companysecretary@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au or phone 5623 5833.

ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING – 23 MAY 2018

The Annual General Meeting of St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School is to be held on Wednesday 23 May 2018.  Persons interested in applying for new membership of the company can obtain an Application for Company Membership form from the School’s website or by contacting Jenni Griffiths on email  jgriffiths@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Applications should be received by 17 April 2018 for consideration at the April Board Meeting in preparation of this year’s Annual General Meeting.  Later applications can also be considered but must be received by 15 May 2018 to be able to attend the Annual General Meeting.

 

WHAT’S ON IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL

MARCH
9 March  Warragul Secondary School Family Picnic, 4:00 pm to 7:00 pm
12 March  LABOUR DAY PUBLIC HOLIDAY
13 to 26 March  Year 9 Outdoor Education Camp
13 March  Presentation Ball Training
14 March  French Exchange Meeting, 7:00 pm, Year 11 Common room
15 March  SEISA Senior/Intermediate, Round 5
16 to 18 March  Wonthaggi Human Powered Grand Prix
17 March  VEIS: Interschool Dressage, Ayr Hill Equestrian Centre
18 March  SEISA Surfing Trials, Inverloch
20 March  Traralgon and Warragul Secondary Schools Combined Athletics Carnival
Presentation Ball Training
21 March  ESP Guest Presenter, Emma Doyle
‘Top Designs’ at Melbourne Museum Excursion
22 March  SEISA Senior/Intermediate Summer Finals
PSTIs Session 1
26 March  PSTIs Session 2
27 March  Presentation Ball Training
29 March – 15 April  World Challenge, Indonesia
29 March  VEIS: Boneo Park Dressage and combined Training Day (Round 1 Boneo Series 2018)
Last Day of Term 1

 

EXCITING OPPORTUNITY TO HOST A FRENCH EXCHANGE STUDENT!

We have an exciting opportunity for two school families to be involved in hosting a French Exchange student.  For many years now the school has participated in an exchange program with Lycée Aimé Césaire, a high school in France.  The students are beginning their Year 11 studies and come to St Paul’s for seven weeks during their summer holidays.  Our Year 11 French students then join them for seven weeks in our summer school holidays.

This year we are sending a smaller group of students to France.  However, Lycée Aimé Césaire have asked if fifteen French students can visit us at St Paul’s.  As a result, we are looking for two host families to host French students.  This is a wonderful opportunity to have a native French speaker in your home to assist with your child’s French without the cost of sending your child to France as part of the exchange.

Whilst we do not have confirmed dates, generally the group arrive in the middle of June and stay with us until the end of July.  Please be aware that the exchange runs over the school holiday period and your exchange student would stay with your family for the duration of the holidays.  This is often a great opportunity to show your exchange student a little bit more of our country.  There is great camaraderie amongst those who host our ‘Frenchies’ and it is a wonderful way to be involved in the life of the school!

If you would like any further information or would like to register your interest, please do not hesitate to contact me via email cbransgrove@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

 

PRESENTATION BALL UPDATE

Preparations for the Presentation Ball are in full swing now!  The tickets are selling fast and I encourage all families to make their ticket purchases as soon as possible to ensure they do not miss out.  Please ensure that when you have ordered tickets, you have purchased one for your son/daughter who is participating.

A few key reminders for families:

  • Tuesday 13 March – BOYS ONLY training session
  • Tuesday 20 March – GIRLS ONLY training session
  • Tuesday 27 March – Everyone training

If your son has ordered a suit, they will be ready for pick up in the last week of the school holidays.  The boys need to make an appointment by phoning Warragul Mensland on 5623 2017, 30 Smith St Warragul, open from 9:00 am to 5:30 pm.

 

NEW SPONSORSHIP PUTS HPV ON TRACK FOR SUCCESS

Team Jaffa valiantly competed in the first round of the Victorian Human Powered Vehicle (HPV) Series on Saturday 3 March at Casey Fields.  In this 6 hour race, there were thrills, some spills and true camaraderie amongst our students, this made the teachers and parents in attendance very proud.

Team Jaffa 1 placed sixth in their class, an improvement of four places on last year, and nineteenth overall, defeating seventy one other teams made of up of students, adults and professional riders.  Team Jaffa 2, made up of mostly new students who were developing their riding skills, came in ahead of thirty two other teams overall and tenth in their class.  Congratulations to everyone who participated!

Without the support of our major sponsor, Select Office Supplies, events such as this would not be possible.  We also wish to thank the team at Warragul Sheet Metal for coming to our rescue and repairing one of our vehicles before the race.

 

MATHS TUTORIAL CLASSES

Monday – Year 9, 1:20 pm, Year 9 Centre
Wednesday – Years 7 and 8, lunchtime, YS2
Thursday – Years 10 to 12, lunchtime, JM4

 

MEET A SCIENTIST DAY

On 9 February, we, along with other selected students throughout Victoria, went to Government House for the Royal Women’s Hospital ‘Meet a Scientist’ day.  During the day, many successful women in STEM shared their stories in the specific areas that they work/research in.  They were introduced by the Governor of Victoria, Linda Dessau, who gave a brief history of the building and spoke about the lack of women working in STEM fields.  We felt extremely privileged to learn from some of Australia’s most motivated women.  The event was sponsored by the Royal Women’s Hospital and each student received a small care package from the hospital.  By hosting this event and many others, the Royal Women’s Hospital encourages young girls around the country to pursue careers in the STEM areas.

By Sara Jovanovic, Lydia Reiske and Demi Durrand

 

YEAR 7 CAMP

It was 19 February and we were all pumped with energy and enthusiasm.  We had all spent most of our weekend preparing and at last we reached the school with our luggage packed to leave for Camp Coonawarra.  All the Year 7s, from both the Warragul and Traralgon Campuses were going away for five days.

From the time we reached the camp site till the time we returned, there was never a dull moment.  Everyone from both the campuses had an amazing experience and enjoyed the time at camp thoroughly.  Although the first day was met with some rain and a few of the groups missed out on camping out, the rest of the camp was filled with warm weather and lots of sunny smiles.  Camp Coonawarra was a fantastic opportunity to get to know new students and work on our team building skills as a group.  We did a lot of activities like hiking to the Den of Nargun, canoeing, rock climbing, raft building, the flying fox and the all-time favourite giant swing.

One of the other main highlights for a lot of Year 7s including me was the Peer Support Leaders who were always there for us when we needed them.  They were kind, supportive, encouraging and fun to be with.  Despite the camp being filled with lots of activities and opportunities to have fun, some of us became homesick.  Everybody supported these students wholeheartedly and tried their best to be there when they needed someone.  Although some of the activities were difficult for some of us, everybody encouraged each other to do their best and at the end of the day everyone had a great time.

The end of the camp arrived quickly and we left Camp Coonawarra with sweet memories and mixed feelings, such as being sad that we had to leave such a great place but happy that we would soon see our family.

By Shivi Maheshwari

 

FIRE BRIGADE STATE CHAMPIONSHIPS

Five students from St Paul’s represented their respective fire brigades at the VFBV Urban Junior Fire Brigade State Championships on 24 and 25 February in Warrnambool.

Cole Miller, Nate Lucas, Euan Lucas, Harrison Miller (representing the combined Drouin Bunyip Junior Running Team) from St Paul’s Warragul Secondary School and Sam Pollerd (representing Traralgon) from St Paul’s Traralgon Secondary School were all successful gaining places at the championships.

Cole Miller: Second in U17 4 Man, first in Disc Twice, second in U17 Hydrant Run, fourth in 4 Man Y Coupling and fourth in 1 Man Marshall.
Nate Lucas and Euan Lucas: Second in U14 2 Man Marshall
Sam Pollerd: Second in U17 Wet Hose 2nd Disc
Nate Lucas: Fourth in U14 1 Man Marshall
Nate Lucas, Euan Lucas and Harrison Miller: Fifth in U14 4 Man Wet Hose 2nd Disc and fifth in U14 4 Man Wet Hose 1st Disc Twice.

Overall the Drouin Bunyip team came fourth out of sixty six teams.  Traralgon equal fourteenth.

It was a highly competitive weekend and these five students can be very proud of their performances and their sportsmanship over the weekend.  A big thank you to the Traralgon Friends of St Paul’s  for providing a bus for the weekend.

 

SPORT NEWS

TWENTY-TWO YEARS IN A ROW!

On 1 March our swim team headed to Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre to compete in their annual competition.  The team did an outstanding job managing to fill every event and be declared champions for the twenty second year in a row.  A big mention must go to the captains Melina de Cort and Rachael Emmett and head coach Michelle Sullivan who all work extremely hard to ensure this great result.

We also had six individual age group champions, congratulations to the following students:
U13 girls – Molly Cargill (Traralgon Secondary School)
U14 girls – Abby Warner (Traralgon Secondary School)
U14 boys – Callum Halloran-Lavelle (Warragul Secondary School)
U15 girls – Sophie Waller (Traralgon Secondary School)
U16 girls – Neisha Ablett (Warragul Secondary School)
U17 girls – Caydence Bezzina (Traralgon Secondary School)

Records broken on the day included:
U21 Female Medley Relay – 2:21.19 (old record 2:22.80)
U15 Female Freestyle Relay – 2:03.00 (old record 2:04.42)
U13 Female 50m Freestyle, Molly Cargill – 28.71 (old record 30.05)
U21 Female 50m Backstroke, Melina de Cort – 32.17 (old record 32.79)

Overall results:
St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School 904, Gippsland Grammar 837, Newhaven College 697, Beaconhills College Pakenham 599 and Beaconhills College Berwick 551.

Lastly, a big congratulations to the entire team for your exceptional efforts, well done.

Swim captains: Rachael Emmett and Melina de Cort.

SEISA TABLE TENNIS

On 1 March the Table Tennis squad travelled to Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre to participate in a round robin event against other SEISA schools.  While the squad did not have seasoned competition players, they acquitted themselves well and remained determined to the end.

The squad consisted of:
Junior boys:  Liam Hill, Edward DaBinett and Euan Lucas.
Junior girls:  Amelia Kelly and Chloe Hunt.
Intermediate boys:  Tully Loomes, Thomas Chilinski and Kieran Lewis.
Intermediate girls:  Katarina Yalizis, Mae Williamson and Amy Zhou.
Senior boys:  Liam Giliam, Jake Newnham and Mitchell Brown.
Senior girls:  Ruby Larkin (Captain), Lizzy Bayley and Alana Rippon.

Results: Junior boys came equal third, Intermediate boys came thrid, while the senior boys and senior girls teams both came second.
Overall St Paul’s Warragul placed third behind Gippsland Grammar and Newhaven College respectively.  The seniors were especially competitive and determined to do their best right until the end.

With lots of laughs and fun, all students played their best and with great sportsmanship.  The squad’s behaviour was exemplary. A big thank you to Mr Sowdon and Ms Pyman for all the help leading up to the day and also Ms Stockwell for assisting on the day.

Ruby Larkin
Table Tennis Captain

SEISA BADMINTON

On Thursday 1 March St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School sent seventeen budding badminton students to Melbourne Sports and Aquatic Centre for the annual SEISA competition.  We had some very competitive matches, leading to some strong results.  Our senior girls were crowned champions while both our intermediate and junior boys were runners up.  Overall, our school finished in second place, well done!

Thank you to our captain Sabrina Chung and head coach Stuart Woollett who worked extremely hard to ensure the team had a fantastic day.

Ben Zanella
Head of Sport – Warragul Campus

 

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE

Annual Fee Account
Families have recently received via email an annual fee account for 2018.  If you have any queries in relation to your annual fee account, please contact Mr Peter Lees on 5623 5833.  As detailed on the second page of the account, payment options are:

Direct Debit:
All families are encouraged to participate in the School’s direct debit payment arrangement.
Fortnightly instalments (22 payments) commencing 9 February 2018
Monthly instalments (10 payments) commencing 15 February 2018

Should families wish to commence payment by Direct Debit, please contact Mr Peter Lees, accountsreceivable@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Instalments (due dates):
Instalment 1 – 9 February 2018
Instalment 2 – 6 April 2018
Instalment 3 – 8 June 2018
Instalment 4 – 17 August 2018

The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF)
The Camps, Sports and Excursions Fund (CSEF) provides payments directly to the school for the benefit of the eligible student to attend camps, sports and excursions.  Families holding a valid means-tested concession card or temporary foster parents are eligible to apply.  $125 per year will be paid for eligible primary school students and $225 per year paid for eligible secondary school students.  Payments will go directly to the school and be tied to the student.  For more information and to download the application form please go to www.education.vic.gov.au/csef.  Parents are encouraged to lodge the application form as soon as possible, so that payments can be made from March 2018.  However schools can accept parent applications up until 8 June 2018 for processing in Term 2.

For parents who received CSEF at the school in 2017 (and the student/s are still enrolled in 2018), the school will ‘copy’ the application across from 2017 to 2018 on the CSEF system.  The CSEF system automatically validated the parent’s eligibility with Centrelink on 29 January 2018.

From the Chaplain

BEYOND OUR MEMES I found myself wondering recently if cemeteries of the future would be filled with gravestones adorned not with solemn or whimsical epitaphs …

view ARTICLE

From the Chaplain

BEYOND OUR MEMES

I found myself wondering recently if cemeteries of the future would be filled with gravestones adorned not with solemn or whimsical epitaphs but with satirical memes instead.  This strange thought was prompted by the observation that our default response to difficult or complex questions and topics is often to resort to memes.  I witnessed this recently in an Ethics class when students were invited to contribute answers on a social stream to the question ‘what is life?’  The first response from many students was to post or quote a meme.  Interestingly, as the discussion progressed, these meme responses became increasingly inadequate to address the complexities of the question.  Now do not get me wrong, a thoughtfully constructed meme can be a powerful communication device.  I am not anti-meme.  I am even tempted to argue that Jesus created one of the first memes when he held up a Roman coin and asked ‘whose face and name is this?’ (Matthew 22:20) but memes seem to have become so ubiquitous (since 2008, Know Your Meme’s staff has indexed some 11,228 memes[1]) that they actually hinder serious thought and engagement.  A quote taken from an article about political meme culture illustrates this perfectly.  Susie, an eighteen year old English Literature student says, “A lot of people don’t have time to write a whole article or make a whole stand-up special really getting into the grit of political conversations but most people have time to make a meme.[2]”

So why is the chaplain concerned about memes?  Because I think we have a tendency to dismiss Christianity without thinking beyond the meme version of it.  There are plenty of ‘Jesus memes’ out there and some of them are quite funny.  There are plenty of damning ‘church memes’ out there and sadly some of them are probably deserved.  But too often that is where we stop.  In our aggressively secular culture it can feel like Christianity is being ‘memed out of existence’.  But are we willing to look beyond the memes?  How many of us have actually read the Bible ourselves?  How much do we really know about Jesus?  When was the last time we actually visited a church?  How willing are we to discuss matters of faith and belief with a genuinely inquiring mind?

I suspect the words of G. K. Chesterton still hold true today, “Christianity has not been tried and found wanting; it has been found difficult and not tried.”

Perhaps that would make a good meme…

[1] Why is millennial humor so weird? By Elizabeth Bruenig August 11, 2017
[2] How Meme Culture Is Getting Teens into Marxism: Hannah Ballantyne April 28, 2017

Reverend Daniel Lowe
Senior Chaplain

 

From the Acting Principal

CYBERSAFETY Most of our St Paul’s Community would be aware that we are an eSmart membership school (eSmart Membership is available exclusively to those schools …

view ARTICLE

From the Acting Principal

CYBERSAFETY

Most of our St Paul’s Community would be aware that we are an eSmart membership school (eSmart Membership is available exclusively to those schools who have achieved eSmart status and completed the original eSmart framework).  What that means is that we have proven to the eSmart organisation that we have a number of measures in place to try to keep our students safe online and to educate them about how that can be achieved.  For the most part, these measures are quite successful.  Their school devices are filtered and monitored by our staff, our pastoral curriculum contains regular age appropriate reminders of how to stay safe and biennially we bring in expert guest speakers for our students, staff and parents to increase the level of their understanding in this constantly changing world of IT. We also have a parent eSmart page on MyStPauls which acts as a resource for additional parent information.

However, from the School’s point of view, the time we spend on addressing issues that do arise, by and large, comes from students’ unfiltered and unmonitored smart phones and home internet connections.  These are the domain of our families and not within the School’s control.

The good news is that there are quite a lot that our families can do to protect their children from harm online.  They include, but are certainly not limited to, the following:

  • Hold off on giving children mobile phones until they are of an age where they may be able to understand the risks and consequences (we are seeing this age getting younger and younger, but the students capacity to manage it is not present).
  • Never allowing mobile devices in bedrooms.  Monitor their use in family rooms only.
  • Install parent control software on all devices, including mobile phones (HG659, Bitdefender and Windows 10 filtering are but a few of the available products).
  • Check the privacy settings on your child’s mobile devices and disable geolocation (including on photos taken with the devices), so they cannot be traced.
  • Remind them not to use gaming or other chat rooms (they are filled with adults masquerading as children).
  • Remind them to only ‘talk’ online to people they have met face to face.  No one has 160 ‘friends’!
  • Make them aware that inappropriate photos taken and posted in a moment can haunt them for life.  Try to implement a system where they check things they are going to post with someone they trust.  They should never assume that a photo (even a SnapChat one) will not have been copied and forwarded.
  • Periodically check the device for high risk apps and be mindful that children easily create multiple accounts; one for parental checking and the ones actually used.  They can also hide apps behind others.
  • Talk about safety online with them and encourage them to tell you when something does not feel right.
  • Watch for behaviour changes that might indicate something is amiss (particularly lack of sleep and secrecy/withdrawal).
  • Keep the School in the loop and ask for help as needed.

If we all work together we have a much greater chance of keeping our children safe online.

Donna Sweeney
Acting Principal