In this issue

From the Head of Warragul Secondary School,
Mrs Debbie Cameron.

The best job in the world
As a Head of School, I was recently told that it can be the best job in the world with some of the hardest days. I do feel this is an accurate reflection of the role. With the privilege of leadership and through connection with the school community, I am involved in many different tasks each day. I could be delivering feedback to staff, connecting different groups of people to achieve a common goal, setting up a morning tea, conducting a raffle, hiding easter eggs, waving the finishing flag at the end of the race track, delivering a school address at assembly, having a chat with Maintenance team members, a laugh with colleagues, teaching a lesson, attending camps to awesome locations, or simply just listening to students and staff go about their daily routines, while the school works together to deliver high-quality learning experiences. I love the diversity of the role and the privilege of leading such a wonderful school. Having such a strong sense of school community and strength makes it that much easier to be able to have those more challenging conversations when they arise.  I thank the school community for so warmly welcoming me this term and I look forward to working alongside you all as the year continues.

Independent Schools Victoria (ISV) Survey Results – A Healthy Temperature Check for our Warragul Secondary School
This week we are sharing with our Warragul Secondary School community the results of the Independent Schools Victoria (ISV) LEAD Survey results from July 2023. You may recall the three sample groups invited to participate; these included all current parents/guardians, as well as all current students and staff. The ISV LEAD Surveys are completed by a number of independent schools across Victoria, and the results provided to St Paul’s include comparisons to 2021 results as well as to the ISV mean.
The results have been collated, reviewed and discussed at staff meetings, and with the School Board. Given that we ask our students to seek continuous improvement, we aim to model this same objective as a Secondary School. We can do this by celebrating our successes and looking to develop and enrich standards of educational excellence. In response to the parent/guardian survey, we saw 138 parents respond, while 460 students participated (response time allocated during school hours) and 82 Warragul Secondary School staff responded (this sample comprised of 48 teaching and 34 general staff).
We were extremely pleased with our Lead Survey results for the Warragul Secondary School.  While we have scored higher than the ISV mean in nearly all categories for student, parent and staff responses, there are, as always, areas in which we know we can do even better.
Heartwarmingly, our community is overwhelmingly pleased with the learning environment and opportunities in the Secondary School and the measurements provided by ISV indicate that our parents are very happy to recommend our school to other families.
Our highest scores in the parent survey were in response to the following statements:

• The school buildings and grounds are attractive and well maintained.
• This school is a safe place in which to learn.
• Students from different backgrounds and cultures are treated equally.
• This school ensures that students learn to make appropriate use of computers.
• School staff are approachable when parents want to talk about their children.

Our lower scoring areas were in relation to the following:

• Teachers understand the differing abilities of students and teach accordingly.
• Support for students with special needs.
• Parents being informed about their child’s academic performance in relation to other students.

As with any organisation, it is paramount that we not only maintain but commit to continuous improvement. There are several programs and areas we have recently targeted and will continue to develop, including but not limited to:

• A commitment to embedding the recently ratified Racism Prevention and Intervention Policy to ensure that all minority groups feel connected, respected and appreciated for the many diverse cultures and experiences they richly contribute to our St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School community.
• Continuing to enjoy a strong partnership with ySafe, the online safety experts, with access to the Safety Hub for parent/family support.
• Implementing the Trust Mapping program once again this year to track student friendships and identify any possible conflicts to support student growth and development.

We remind our families that twice yearly we offer an opportunity through the Grammarian to obtain a report of your child’s performance in comparison to other students with a ‘class placement report’. This is promoted in the Grammarian twice a year and just prior to student reporting periods.
As always, I warmly invite our Warragul Secondary School families, staff and students for feedback at any time. It is only through open, honest and transparent conversations that we can learn, share our understandings and pinpoint exactly how we can continue to ‘do better’ as we serve the educational needs of our flourishing Secondary School community.

Year 7 2025 Information Evening
We enjoyed a brilliant evening with many new and current families at our recent Year 7 2025 Information Evening. Students from primary schools throughout Gippsland as well as current and continuing Year 6 families joined us for tours and an opportunity to explore our Secondary School, speak with our staff and attend a formal presentation. Many of our brilliant and very kind students were also present and generously gave their time to speak with families and guide them to various locations. Thank you to our staff who kindly shared their love and excitement for their work with our students at Warragul Secondary School with our many, many visitors.

Harmony Week

SPECIAL REPORT SCHOOL TV: Celebrating Harmony Week

Harmony Week is a celebration held annually in March across Australia. It is aimed at promoting diversity, respect and inclusiveness. This event is an excellent opportunity for parents to teach their children about different cultures, traditions and customs. The goal is to encourage everyone to appreciate and celebrate differences and promote a sense of community and belonging for everyone.
During Harmony Week, there are a number of events and activities held to bring people from different cultures together. These activities include multicultural food festivals, cultural performances, art exhibitions and workshops. Participating in these events helps children to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the diverse communities that make up Australia.
As a parent, you can engage your children in discussions about multiculturalism and encourage them to ask questions. Promoting a more harmonious and inclusive society can help children grow up with a greater appreciation for the richness and diversity of Australia’s cultural landscape.
This special report hopes to instil positive values and create an opportunity to start a conversation with your child about understanding diversity and multiculturalism.

To access this special report, please click here.

Easter Holidays – School Holiday Support Services
We know that all the students are looking forward to a lovely Easter Holiday period with family and friends. Whilst the school counselling team does not provide support over the school holidays or long weekends, should you find that your child needs help, your child is always able to speak to someone at Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800), Headspace (1800 650 890), Lifeline (13 11 14) or Beyond Blue (1300 224 636 ). If you are after advice as a parent, you can also utilise these services, or call Parentline on 13 22 89.

Managing Assessment Periods
It is a busy time for students as we move closer to due dates and some end of unit reportable assessments. It is important that students plan their study time at home and ensure that they balance their revision and leisure time carefully. As much as we support our students to consistently work hard so that they can reach their potential in each task, we also hope and encourage our students to enjoy time away from screens with their sporting teams, family and friends. Please reach out to your child’s Mentor if you are concerned about your child’s ability to plan and organise their time to meet due dates.

Debbie Cameron
Head of Warragul Secondary School

WHAT’S ON

MARCH
24 March  Surf Training, Phillip Island, 9:30 am to 12:00 noon
25 March  Presentation Ball Training, Warragul Secondary School Gymnasium, 3:20 pm to 5:15 pm
27 March  PSTIs Session 2, ZOOM session, Warragul Secondary School Gymnasium, 3:40 pm to 8:10 pm
28 March  End of Term 1, 2:10 pm finish

APRIL
1 to 8 April  New Caledonia Tour
1 to 10 April  East Timor Tour
4 April  Theatre Studies Holiday Rehearsal
16 April  Term 2 Commences
18 April  SEISA Junior Trials
19 April  Year 9 Urban Experience Day 2, Group 1 (9MGT1 and 9MGT3), 7:06 am to 4:48 pm
Mountain Bike Training, Warragul Secondary School, 7:15 am to 8:15 am
Presentation Ball Training, Warragul Secondary School Gymnasium, 3:20 pm to 5:15 pm
22 April  Live4Life Year 8 Launch Event, 9:15 am to 11:15 am
Presentation Ball Training, Warragul Secondary School Gymnasium, 3:20 pm to 5:15 pm
22 April to 24 April  VET Sport and Recreation Mitchell River Bushwalking Camp
23 April  SEISA Surfing
24 April  Year 9 Faiths Excursion, Greater Dandenong area, 9:00 am to 3:10 pm
25 April  ANZAC Day
26 April  Rocky Trail Academy – Schools MTB Racing, Mt Buller
Presentation Ball Rehearsal, Lardner Park, 11:00 am to 3:00 pm
27 April  Presentation Ball, 6:00 pm (doors open at 5:30 pm)

ST PAUL’S PARENT PRAYER GROUP

“Where two or three people gather in my name, I am there with them.” Matthew 18:20

The St Paul’s parent prayer group meets on the first Monday of each month during school terms. We try to keep the meeting brief (we are usually done by 9:45 am) and casual (younger children are most welcome). The group encompasses people both very comfortable with praying, as well as those newer to praying with others. Feel free to get in touch with any questions beforehand or just attend when you are able during the year.

Our next gathering is on Monday 6 May, at 9:00 am in the Prideaux Centre, Warragul Junior School
Contact: Sheryn Cutler 0417 158 937 or sheryn.cutler@gmail.com

DOBSONS UNIFORM SHOP

Order online or click and collect: Please ensure that you only attend the store to collect your items once you have received notification that your order is ready, order here.

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR PARENTS

Students who may be leaving St Paul’s
As per the Enrolment Agreement, it is a requirement at St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School that a term’s notice in advance is given before any student withdraws. If you are planning to withdraw your child/ren, please confirm your intention in writing to our Principal, Mr Cameron Herbert, prior to the end of Term 1.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Enrolments Officers: Mrs Jen Christensen (Warragul) on 5623 5833 or Ms Bonnie Cameron (Traralgon) on 5175 0133 or by emailing enrolments@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au.

Year 9 Urban Experience Day One

Recently our Year 9 students embarked on the first of their three day trips to Melbourne for the “Urban Experience” program. To manage the large size of the cohort, they were divided into two groups, 9.1 and 9.3 together and 9.2, 9.4 and 9.5 together. A highlight of the trip was the visit to the Eureka Skydeck, the highest observation deck in the southern hemisphere, offering stunning city views from almost 300 metres above ground. The students enjoyed exploring and purchasing delicious food from the Melbourne CBD during their free time. The remaining two day trips are scheduled for April and May.

Mr Jack Deen
Head of Year 9

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 forty 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.
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 Carol Reid by email: creid@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au.
New applications should be received by 16 April 2024 for consideration at the April Board Meeting in preparation for this year’s Annual General Meeting.

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 22 May 2024.
Nomination forms for Board Directorship are required to be forwarded to the Company Secretary no later than Wednesday 24 April 2024 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 – WEDNESDAY 22 MAY 2024
The Annual General Meeting of St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School is to be held on Wednesday 22 May 2024 at the Warragul Campus commencing at 5:00 pm for members of the Company.

DONATE A DICTIONARY!

During the upcoming April holidays, a total of nine students from the Traralgon and Warragul Secondary Schools, together with teachers Kirsten Enders, Andrea Heard and Jan Park, will be travelling to the Ermera District in East Timor.

Amongst many wonderful experiences, we will be visiting the Pre-Secondary School in Ponilala, built with money raised by St Paul’s and be honoured guests at the inauguration of the English Language Study Centre in Malimea Village. We are hoping to present each student at the Ponilala School with an English/Tetun dictionary and leave a class set of dictionaries at the language centre. Each dictionary costs the equivalent of $10AUD and we have approximately one hundred and fifty to buy.

We are hoping that students or families of the St Paul’s community would be willing to donate $10 to buy a dictionary for a Timorese student. A nameplate with the donor’s name will be placed inside each dictionary noting that the dictionary was a gift.

Donations can be made via direct deposit into the school’s account or at Reception.

Payment by direct deposit:
Account Name: St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School
BSB: 033 262
Account Number: 190554

Please include the following reference for your payment:
Team Timor [family name]

Our Timorese colleagues will be most grateful for your support.

Kirsten Enders, Andrea Heard and Jan Park
Team Timor

WARRAGUL CAMPUS ENSEMBLE SCHEDULE

New members, including students receiving tuition outside of school, are most welcome. Please contact Mrs Heather Mason, and/or the listed ensemble director for further information hjmason@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au .

Heather Mason
Head of Performing Arts – Co-Curricular

ALUMNI REUNIONS

Saturday 4 May 2024
Year 9 Centre, St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School, 150 Bowen Street Warragul
• Class of 2019 – 5 Year Reunion
• Class of 2014 – 10 Year Reunion
• Class of 2004 – 20 Year Reunion

This year we have brought forward the timing of our Alumni Reunions to coincide with the school’s annual Open Day. Moving the reunions earlier provides us with a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and tour the school in action, see how it has changed and meet some of the current St Paul’s students and staff. Please join us at any stage between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm, chat with our Alumni representatives and reminisce over the range of memorabilia on display. You might also like to join the Alumni school tour which will take place at 12:30 pm, before continuing your celebrations with some drinks, nibbles and catch-ups at Bandolier Brewing, 28 Mason Street Warragul, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Please RSVP by completing the registration here before 12 April 2024 for catering purposes.

Michelle Ireland
Community Coordinator
alumni@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE

Private Car Conveyance Allowance
Families driving students more than 4.8 kilometres to attend St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School may be eligible to receive a conveyance allowance. For further information on the eligibility criteria and application process, please refer to https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/conveyance-allowance/policy

Eligible families applying for the car conveyance allowance will have funds credited to their fee account during the year. If the fee account has been paid in full, or is on a direct debit arrangement, any allocation will show as a credit on the following year’s invoice.

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 https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund/resources

Parents are encouraged to lodge the application form immediately. The CSEF program for 2024 closes at the end of Term 2. All forms must be received by 24 June 2024 to be processed.

For parents who received CSEF at the school in 2023 (and the student/s are still enrolled in 2024), the schools will ‘copy’ the application across from 2023 to 2024 on the CSEF system. The CSEF system will automatically validate the parent’s eligibility with Centrelink.

From the Head of Warragul Junior School,
Mr Rowan van Raay.

Term 1 is quickly passing by and while the past fortnight has been a ‘little quieter’, we still managed to squeeze a few things in; NAPLAN, Year 4 Camp, Division Tennis, Regional Swimming, District Athletics, Year 5 Camp, Harmony Day and a Prep excursion to Farm World today.

Division Tennis
Well done and congratulations to Year 6 students Peter Baker, Henry James, Jimmy Joyce-Biss and Siena Rikken who all won their way through to Regional Tennis, to be held in Traralgon in April.

Regional Swimming
Well done to all our students who recently competed in the Regional Swimming Carnival in Sale. This level of competition is extremely tough and our congratulations are extended to all students who competed. Congratulations to Sasha Reidy, who made it through to the State Championships at MSAC in April. Congratulations also go to Charleigh Pendlebury, Georgia Joyce, Eloise Gorton and Isla Seebeck-Dixon who were selected to represent St Paul’s Secondary School Swim team at the SEISA Swimming Carnival yesterday. Our Years 3 to 6 swimming program has now concluded and our thanks to Mr Boraston for overseeing this program.

Year 4 Camp
What a delight it was to attend the Year 4 camp last week with our Year 4 students, Mrs Faumuina, Mrs Naismith, Kooloos Sensei, Mr Faumuina and Mr Barkla. The students and staff had a wonderful time together at The Island Camp – Cowes. There were a range of amazing activities including a giant swing, flying fox, pedal racers, low ropes, disc golf, pinnacle, mechanical rock wall and initiatives. The camp concluded with some fun activities at the beach. It is always fun to spend time with students on camp in a different setting. I enjoyed the basketball games during free time, with the famous nutmeg coming out from time to time 😊.

Year 5 Camp
At the time of writing my article this week, our Year 5 students are enjoying a fabulous time together at Golden Valleys Camp – Flinders. It has been a wonderful opportunity for them to spend time together building on current friendships, or creating new ones, while taking part in a range of adventure activities. I joined the cohort yesterday and I must say that the students really did support each other in a positive way throughout the activities. My thanks to Ms Denton, Mrs Diston, Ms McCormack, Mr Rock, Kooloos Sensei, Mr Barkla and Mrs Gray for organising and supporting our Year 5 students on camp.

Year 6 Camp
A reminder to Year 6 families that Year 6 Camp departs on Tuesday 30 April (Week 3 of Term 2). Parents/Carers will receive information via Consent2Go early next term and I ask that you complete all required tasks and update all information using Consent2Go so everything can be finalised during the first two weeks of Term 2.

LEAD Surveys
Members of the St Paul’s community were invited to respond to the ISV LEAD Surveys during 2023. ISV LEAD Surveys are completed by a number of independent schools across Victoria and the results provided to St Paul’s include comparisons to 2021 results and to the ISV mean. The results have been collated, reviewed and discussed at staff meetings and with the School Board, as well as through various student groups (SRC). We ask our students to seek continuous improvement and aim to model this same goal as staff and as a School; we can do this by celebrating our successes and also looking to develop and enhance as needed to maintain standards of excellence.
We were extremely pleased with our Lead Survey results for the Warragul Junior School. While we have scored higher than the ISV mean on nearly all categories for student, parent and staff responses, there are, as always, areas in which we know we can do even better.
Our community is overwhelmingly pleased with the learning environment and opportunities in the Junior School and the measurements provided by ISV indicate that our parents feel students from different backgrounds and cultures are treated equally, it is a safe place to learn and are very happy to recommend our school to other families.
Our highest scores in the parent survey were in response to the following statements:

• Students from different backgrounds and cultures are treated equally at this school.
• This school is a safe place in which to learn.
• Overall, I am very satisfied with my decision to send my child to this school.
• School staff are approachable when parents want to talk about their children.
• Teachers in this school know and care about my child.

Our lower scoring areas were in relation to the following:

• Bullying does not pose a problem at this school.
• Support for students with special needs.
• The school emphasises drug awareness and prevention education.
• Parents being informed about their child’s academic performance in relation to other students.

Our student results were also overwhelmingly positive with every single category higher than the ISV mean.
Our highest scores in the student survey were in response to the following statements:

• I understand my school’s expectations for student behaviour.
• I have respect for my teachers.
• Students from different backgrounds and cultures are treated fairly.
• I am encouraged to try my best at my school.
• My school is a safe place in which to learn.

Our lower scoring areas were in relation to the following:

• Bullying does not pose a problem at this school.
• My teachers make the work we do in class interesting.
• In class, students help each other to learn.
• I feel confident when new topics are introduced.

As with any organisation, it is vital that we not only maintain, but commit to, continuous improvement. There are a number of programs and areas we have recently targeted and will continue to develop, including but not limited to:

• Continuing to enjoy a strong partnership with ySafe, the online safety experts, with access to the Safety Hub for parent/family support.
• Wellbeing room created to provide extra support for students if/when they require it.
• Wellbeing and Pastoral Care teams have introduced social skill groups.
• Implementing the Trust Mapping program once again this year to track student friendships and identify any possible conflicts to support student growth and development while a trusted adult within the school is also selected by all students. A modified version introduced for Prep-Year 2.
• Introduction of Rock and Water earlier for Year 5 students and the WELS Leadership program with Year 6.
• Audit and review of current Integrated Units of work.
• Investigate appropriate drug awareness and prevention education programs.

We remind our families that twice yearly we offer an opportunity through the Grammarian to obtain a report of your child’s performance in comparison to other students with a ‘class placement report’.
As always, I invite our Junior School families, staff and students for feedback. It is only through open, honest and transparent conversations that we can learn, share our understandings and pinpoint exactly how we can continue to ‘do better’.

FOSP Fundraiser – Hot Cross Bun Drive
A huge thanks to all of our families who have supported our FOSP Hot Cross Bun Drive. Orders will be sent home next Tuesday 26 March.

Easter Services
We will be holding two Easter Services this year. Our Years 3 to 6 service will be held on Tuesday 26 March 2:30 pm to 3:15 pm while our Prep to Year 2 students will enjoy their service on Wednesday 27 March from 2:30 pm to 3:15 pm. Both services will be held in the Warragul Junior School gym and parents are welcome to join us. I thank Mrs Board and Reverend Lowe for organising these services for us. A reminder that the Community Easter Egg hunt next Tuesday after school is for families who do not attend St Paul’s. We will be holding our own Prep to Year 3 Easter Egg Hunt (with our older classes supporting them) next Thursday.

A reminder that we finish at 2:20 pm on the last day of Term, Thursday 28 March.

Uniform
A reminder that during Weeks 1 and 2 next term, Years 3 to 6 students may wear either the summer or winter uniform as we transition from the warmer days to the cooler days. From Week 3 (Monday 29 April), students must wear the winter uniform, including the blazer to and from school (students may wear shorts).

School Photos
Family and Junior School photos will be held on Friday 17 May.

Please find below the Junior School office hours over the upcoming holidays.

• CLOSED Friday 29 March – Wednesday 10 April
• OPEN Thursday 11 April – Friday 12 April 10:00 am to 3:00 pm
• OPEN Monday 15 April – 8:00 am to 4:30 pm
• Term 2 commences on Tuesday 16 April
• CLOSED Thursday 25 April (ANZAC DAY)

This will be the final newsletter for Term 1. I wish families and staff a safe and relaxing break and hope everyone enjoys some ‘down time’ over the Easter break. For those heading away, please travel safely and I look forward to seeing you next term.

Rowan van Raay
Head of Warragul Junior School

Harmony Week – Special Report on SchoolTV

SPECIAL REPORT: Celebrating Harmony Week

Harmony Week is a celebration held annually in March across Australia. It is aimed at promoting diversity, respect and inclusiveness. This event is an excellent opportunity for parents to teach their children about different cultures, traditions and customs. The goal is to encourage everyone to appreciate and celebrate differences and promote a sense of community and belonging for everyone.

During Harmony Week, there are a number of events and activities held to bring people from different cultures together. These activities include multicultural food festivals, cultural performances, art exhibitions and workshops. Participating in these events helps children to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the diverse communities that make up Australia.

As a parent, you can engage your children in discussions about multiculturalism and encourage them to ask questions. Promoting a more harmonious and inclusive society can help children grow up with a greater appreciation for the richness and diversity of Australia’s cultural landscape.

This special report hopes to instil positive values and create an opportunity to start a conversation with your child about understanding diversity and multiculturalism.

To access this special report, click here.

WHAT’S ON

MARCH
20 to 22 March  Year 5 Camp
22 March  Prep Excursion to Farm World
28 March  End of Term 1, 2:20 pm finish
29 March  Good Friday

APRIL
16 April  Start of Term 2
19 April State Swimming (selected students)
24 April  ANZAC Day Service
25 April  ANZAC Day Public Holiday
26 April Years 3 to 6 Cross Country
30 April to 3 May  Year 6 Camp

ST PAUL’S PARENT PRAYER GROUP

“Where two or three people gather in my name, I am there with them.” Matthew 18:20

The Warragul St Paul’s Parent Prayer Group will again be meeting on the first Monday of each month during the school terms in 2024. The group is a wonderful way to connect with other families of faith and bring the needs of the school and our communities before God in prayer. There is no obligation to pray aloud, nor ongoing commitment to attend each month. We try to keep the meeting brief (we are usually done by 9:45 am) and casual (younger children are most welcome).  Feel free to get in touch with any questions beforehand or just attend when you are able during the year.

Our next gathering is Monday 6 May at 9:00 am in the Prideaux Centre, Warragul Junior School

Contact: Sheryn Cutler 0417 158 937

DOBSONS UNIFORM SHOP

Order online or click and collect: Please ensure that you only attend the store to collect your items once you have received notification that your order is ready, order here.

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR PARENTS

Students who may be leaving St Paul’s
As per the Enrolment Agreement, it is a requirement at St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School that a term’s notice in advance is given before any student withdraws. If you are planning to withdraw your child/ren, please confirm your intention in writing to our Principal, Mr Cameron Herbert, prior to the end of Term 1.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Enrolments Officers: Mrs Jen Christensen (Warragul) on 5623 5833 or Ms Bonnie Cameron (Traralgon) on 5175 0133 or by emailing enrolments@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au.

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 forty 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.
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 Carol Reid by email: creid@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au.
New applications should be received by 16 April 2024 for consideration at the April Board Meeting in preparation for this year’s Annual General Meeting.

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 22 May 2024.
Nomination forms for Board Directorship are required to be forwarded to the Company Secretary no later than Wednesday 24 April 2024 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 – WEDNESDAY 22 MAY 2024
The Annual General Meeting of St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School is to be held on Wednesday 22 May 2024 at the Warragul Campus commencing at 5:00 pm for members of the Company.

DONATE A DICTIONARY!

During the upcoming April holidays, a total of nine students from the Traralgon and Warragul Secondary Schools, together with teachers Kirsten Enders, Andrea Heard and Jan Park, will be travelling to the Ermera District in East Timor.

Amongst many wonderful experiences, we will be visiting the Pre-Secondary School in Ponilala, built with money raised by St Paul’s and be honoured guests at the inauguration of the English Language Study Centre in Malimea Village. We are hoping to present each student at the Ponilala School with an English/Tetun dictionary and leave a class set of dictionaries at the language centre. Each dictionary costs the equivalent of $10AUD and we have approximately one hundred and fifty to buy.

We are hoping that students or families of the St Paul’s community would be willing to donate $10 to buy a dictionary for a Timorese student. A nameplate with the donor’s name will be placed inside each dictionary noting that the dictionary was a gift.

Donations can be made via direct deposit into the school’s account or at Reception.

Payment by direct deposit:
Account Name: St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School
BSB: 033 262
Account Number: 190554

Please include the following reference for your payment:
Team Timor [family name]

Our Timorese colleagues will be most grateful for your support.

Kirsten Enders, Andrea Heard and Jan Park
Team Timor

WARRAGUL CAMPUS ENSEMBLE SCHEDULE

New members, including students receiving tuition outside of school, are most welcome. Please contact Mrs Heather Mason, and/or the listed ensemble director for further information hjmason@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au .

Heather Mason
Head of Performing Arts – Co-Curricular

ALUMNI REUNIONS

Saturday 4 May 2024
Year 9 Centre, St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School, 150 Bowen Street Warragul
• Class of 2019 – 5 Year Reunion
• Class of 2014 – 10 Year Reunion
• Class of 2004 – 20 Year Reunion

This year we have brought forward the timing of our Alumni Reunions to coincide with the school’s annual Open Day. Moving the reunions earlier provides us with a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and tour the school in action, see how it has changed and meet some of the current St Paul’s students and staff. Please join us at any stage between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm, chat with our Alumni representatives and reminisce over the range of memorabilia on display. You might also like to join the Alumni school tour which will take place at 12:30 pm, before continuing your celebrations with some drinks, nibbles and catch-ups at Bandolier Brewing, 28 Mason Street Warragul, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Please RSVP by completing the registration here before 12 April 2024 for catering purposes.

Michelle Ireland
Community Coordinator
alumni@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE

Private Car Conveyance Allowance
Families driving students more than 4.8 kilometres to attend St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School may be eligible to receive a conveyance allowance. For further information on the eligibility criteria and application process, please refer to https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/conveyance-allowance/policy

Eligible families applying for the car conveyance allowance will have funds credited to their fee account during the year. If the fee account has been paid in full, or is on a direct debit arrangement, any allocation will show as a credit on the following year’s invoice.

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 https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund/resources

Parents are encouraged to lodge the application form immediately. The CSEF program for 2024 closes at the end of Term 2. All forms must be received by 24 June 2024 to be processed.

For parents who received CSEF at the school in 2023 (and the student/s are still enrolled in 2024), the schools will ‘copy’ the application across from 2023 to 2024 on the CSEF system. The CSEF system will automatically validate the parent’s eligibility with Centrelink.

CLUB HOUSE BOOT CAMP

From the Head of Traralgon Secondary School,
Mrs Leonie Clark

Independent Schools Victoria (ISV) Survey Results – A Healthy Temperature Check for our Traralgon Secondary School
This week we are sharing with our Traralgon Secondary School community the results of the Independent Schools Victoria (ISV) LEAD survey results from July 2023. You may recall the three sample groups invited to participate, these included all current parents/guardians, as well as all current students and staff. The ISV LEAD Surveys are completed by a number of independent schools across Victoria and the results provided to St Paul’s include comparisons to 2021 results as well as to the ISV mean.
The results have been collated, reviewed and discussed at staff meetings and with the School Board. Given that we ask our students to seek continuous improvement, we also aim to model this same objective as a Secondary School. We can do this by celebrating our successes and also looking to develop and enrich standards of educational excellence. In response to the parent/guardian survey, we saw sixty parents respond, while 161 students participated (response time allocated during school hours) and 22 Traralgon Secondary School staff responded (this sample comprised of 14 teaching and eight general staff).
We were extremely pleased with our Lead Survey results for the Traralgon Secondary School.  While we have scored higher than the ISV mean in nearly all categories for student, parent and staff responses, there are, as always, areas in which we know we can do even better.
Heartwarmingly, our community is overwhelmingly pleased with the learning environment and opportunities in the Secondary School and the measurements provided by ISV indicate that our parents are very happy to recommend our school to other families.
Our highest scores in the parent survey were in response to the following statements:

• Overall, I am very satisfied with my decision to send my child to this school.
• This school is a safe place in which to learn.
• There are excellent opportunities for contact with teachers at this school.
• This school ensures that students learn to make appropriate use of computers.

Our lower scoring areas were in relation to the following:

• Opportunities for parent involvement.
• Support for students with special needs.
• Parents being informed about their child’s academic performance in relation to other students.

As with any organisation, it is paramount that we not only maintain but commit to continuous improvement. There are a number of programs and areas we have recently targeted and will continue to develop, including but not limited to:

• A commitment to embedding the recently ratified Racism Prevention and Intervention Policy to ensure that all minority groups feel connected, respected and appreciated for the many diverse cultures and experiences they richly contribute to our St Paul’s community.
• Continuing to enjoy a strong partnership with ySafe, the online safety experts, with access to the Safety Hub for parent/family support.
• Implementing the Trust Mapping program once again this year to track student friendships and identify any possible conflicts to support student growth and development.

We remind our families that twice yearly we offer an opportunity through the Grammarian to obtain a report of your child’s performance in comparison to other students with a ‘class placement report’. This is promoted in the Grammarian twice a year and just prior to student reporting periods.
As always, I warmly invite our Traralgon Secondary School families, staff and students for feedback at any time. It is only through open, honest and transparent conversations that we can learn, share our understandings and pinpoint exactly how we can continue to ‘do better’ as we serve the educational needs of our flourishing Secondary School community.

A gritty path to success
This is an article I published last year which reminds us to consider what we can all do as a learning community to support a student who has become ‘stuck’, particularly when a growth mindset approach just does not seem enough.

Why do some students succeed, whereas others do not? While talent in a particular area is certainly an advantage, having a passionate interest in a subject or topic as well as the desire to persist and keep going after several setbacks seem to be key. In fact, it has been found that passion and resilience are far greater predictors of one’s success than intelligence. Angela Duckworth PhD discovered through her extensive research into ‘grit’ that those people with a strong-minded determination to master a skill or remain focused on their long-term goals, as well as each of the micro goals in between, were far more successful than those who changed direction continuously or who were easily distracted by new ideas or those who lost interest after setbacks. Developing the traits of a hard worker, finishing what you begin and managing and overcoming setbacks were all characteristics of highly successful individuals with ‘gritty’ personal qualities.
So why do some individuals develop grittiness more than others? In Duckworth’s text ‘Grit’ she shares that she is asked “how to parent for Grit at least once a day” (A, 2017) and admits that there is a great deal of research still to be done to determine the factors that see some children growing up with gritty characteristics. However, in the anecdotes she has included within the text it is suggested that teaching children not to quit, raising them with a sense of discipline, and instilling a sense of hope and belief in themselves that they can do whatever it is that interests them is vital.  She is also an advocate for ‘tough love’ which she describes as a trade-off between supportive parenting and demanding parenting. She describes tough love as “a carefully struck balance between affection and respect on the one hand, and firmly enforced expectations on the other” (A, 2017). Duckworth also exchanges the term authoritative parenting with ‘wise’ parenting.  She describes parents who instil wise parenting in their children as “accurate judges of the psychological needs of their children. They appreciate that their children need love, limits and latitude to reach their full potential. Their authority is based on knowledge and wisdom, rather than power” (A, 2017).
As teachers, guardians and parents of adolescent children we are role-modelling characteristics of grit to our children every single day. Highly successful children often describe their most influential role models as their parents. Although there is no evidence yet in this space, Duckworth suggests that “growing up with support, respect and high standards confers a lot of benefits, one of which is especially relevant to grit – in other words, wise parenting encourages children to emulate their parents” (A, 2017). Similarly, “wise teaching, that is, teachers who are supportive and respectful enhance students’ happiness, voluntary effort in class, and aspirations” (A, 2017).
Duckworth admits that grit is not the only psychological factor to determine success she acknowledges that there are many others including emotional intelligence, physical talent, intelligence, conscientiousness, impulse control and imagination among others. However, she remains steadfast in her understanding that grit “holds a special significance for the achievement of excellence” (A, 2017).
And when you consider the most successful individuals in their fields of interest a sustained combination of passion and perseverance is the common characteristic, as she states in her text, “It’s often said that the last mile is the longest. Grit keeps you in the path.” (A, 2017)

References:
https://www.ted.com/talks/angela_lee_duckworth_grit_the_power_of_passion_and_perseverance/no-comments
Duckworth A, Grit Why passion and resilience are the secrets to success 2017 Vermilion

Year 7 2025 Information Evening
We enjoyed a brilliant evening with many new and current families at our recent Year 7 2025 Information Evening. Students from primary schools throughout Gippsland as well as current and continuing Year 6 families joined us for tours and an opportunity to explore our Secondary School, speak with our staff, and attend a formal presentation in the brand-new Futures Centre auditorium. Many of our brilliant and very kind students were also present and generously gave their time to speak with families and guide them to various locations. Thank you to our FOSP (Friends of St Paul’s) parents and guardians for assisting with the evening and also to our staff who kindly shared their love and excitement for their work with our students at Traralgon Secondary School with our many, many visitors.

Harmony Week

SPECIAL REPORT SCHOOL TV: Celebrating Harmony Week

Harmony Week is a celebration held annually in March across Australia. It is aimed at promoting diversity, respect and inclusiveness. This event is an excellent opportunity for parents to teach their children about different cultures, traditions and customs. The goal is to encourage everyone to appreciate and celebrate differences and promote a sense of community and belonging for everyone.

During Harmony Week, there are a number of events and activities held to bring people from different cultures together. These activities include multicultural food festivals, cultural performances, art exhibitions and workshops. Participating in these events helps children to gain a deeper understanding and appreciation of the diverse communities that make up Australia.

As a parent, you can engage your children in discussions about multiculturalism and encourage them to ask questions. Promoting a more harmonious and inclusive society can help children grow up with a greater appreciation for the richness and diversity of Australia’s cultural landscape.

This special report hopes to instil positive values and create an opportunity to start a conversation with your child about understanding diversity and multiculturalism.

To access this special report, click here.

Easter Holidays – School Holiday Support Services
We know that all of the students are looking forward to a lovely Easter Holiday period with family and friends. Whilst the school counselling team does not provide support over the school holidays or long weekends, should you find that your child needs help, your child is always able to speak to someone at Kids Helpline (1800 55 1800), Headspace (1800 650 890), Lifeline (13 11 14) or Beyond Blue (1300 224 636 ). If you are after advice as a parent, you can also utilise these services, or call Parentline on 13 22 89.

Managing Assessment Periods
It is a busy time for students as we move closer to due dates and some end of unit reportable assessments. It is important that students plan their study time at home and ensure that they balance their revision and leisure time carefully. As much as we support our students to consistently work hard so that they can reach their potential in each task, we also hope and encourage our students to enjoy time away from screens with their sporting teams, family and friends. Please reach out to your child’s Mentor if you are concerned about your child’s ability to plan and organise their time to meet due dates.

Leonie Clark
Head of Traralgon Secondary School

WHAT’S ON

MARCH
27 March  Parent Student Teacher Interviews (PSTIs) – Online via ZOOM
28 March  Easter Service
FOSP Easter Egg Hunt
End Of Term 1,  2:10 pm Finish

APRIL
16 April First Day of Term 2
18 April SEISA Junior Trials
24 March ANZAC Service
25 April ANZAC Day

DOBSONS TRADING HOURS

Order online or click and collect: Please ensure that you only attend the store to collect your items once you have received notification that your order is ready, order here.

Hop into Easter!

Get ready to hop into the Easter spirit with Team Timor at our upcoming Easter stall on Tuesday 26 and Wednesday 27 March!
Join us as we embrace the season of new beginnings with a selection of delightful treats, fit for the season. From Easter eggs to mouthwatering hot cross buns to carrots, there is something for everyone to enjoy … and all for 50c to $1. Amidst the end of term chaos, everyone deserves a treat … or two! Take a moment to treat yourself and celebrate with the ones you love this Easter. Supporting our cause not only spreads Easter cheer but enables us to make a meaningful impact on the community in Timor-Leste. All money raised directly supports the Ermera District and builds a brighter future for us all.
Join the festivities and help us further our mission! Hope to see you there and on behalf of Team Timor, thank you for all your support!

Georgia Kam
Team Timor Publicity Manager

Mastering Croquet

At Traralgon Secondary School, students are loving the new and exciting Year 7 elective ‘Active for Life’.
On Wednesday 13 March, our class ventured to the Traralgon Croquet Club to learn the rules and master the skills required. All students had a fantastic time and came away with many positive experiences, including some great tactical gameplay that resulted in some very close and exciting matches.
The class is now looking forward to our next leisure activity.

In the zone

A picture of concentration

Mr Ben Zanella
Head of Health, Food and Physical Education

MAKING CONNECTIONS AT PSTIs!

We look forward to meeting our new and existing St Paul’s families at the upcoming Semester 1 Parent Student Teacher Interviews (PSTIs). These will be held on Monday 18 March from 3:40 pm to 7:40 pm and Wednesday 27 March from 3:40 pm to 7:40 pm.

St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School has an online booking system for the PSTIs. You will be required to use a link that is different for each night. Once you have made your bookings, please print the “Interview Timetable” generated by the system. Students are required to wear formal school uniform when attending face-to-face interviews. Instructions for setting up a Zoom account have been emailed home.  It is important that the name on the Zoom account matches the name that you use to book your PSTIs.

For IT technical support on this night, parents can call 0408 032 740 to speak to a member of our IT team. 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 on to MyStPauls and click on their timetable. If you need assistance with your login details, please contact IT services at itsupport@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au or via phone during office hours on 5175 9222.

PSTI Booking Windows and Links

Session 2: (Zoom only | Wednesday 27 March)
For this evening, bookings will be available from 11:00 am on Wednesday 13 March.
https://www.schoolinterviews.com.au/code/tj87u
Bookings close at 8:00 pm on Monday 25 March.

Mr Chris Ambrozy
Director of Studies

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR PARENTS

Students who may be leaving St Paul’s
As per the Enrolment Agreement, it is a requirement at St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School that a term’s notice in advance is given before any student withdraws. If you are planning to withdraw your child/ren, please confirm your intention in writing to our Principal, Mr Cameron Herbert, prior to the end of Term 1.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Enrolments Officers: Mrs Jen Christensen (Warragul) on 5623 5833 or Ms Bonnie Cameron (Traralgon) on 5175 0133 or by emailing enrolments@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au.

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 40 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.
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 Carol Reid by email: creid@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au.
New applications should be received by 16 April 2024 for consideration at the April Board Meeting in preparation for this year’s Annual General Meeting.

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 22 May 2024.

Nomination forms for Board Directorship are required to be forwarded to the Company Secretary no later than Wednesday 24 April 2024 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 – WEDNESDAY 22 MAY 2024
The Annual General Meeting of St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School is to be held on Wednesday 22 May 2024 at the Warragul Campus commencing at 5:00 pm for members of the Company.

DONATE A DICTIONARY!

During the upcoming April holidays, a total of nine students from the Traralgon and Warragul Secondary Schools, together with teachers Kirsten Enders, Andrea Heard and Jan Park, will be travelling to the Ermera District in East Timor.

Amongst many wonderful experiences, we will be visiting the Pre-Secondary School in Ponilala, built with money raised by St Paul’s and be honoured guests at the inauguration of the English Language Study Centre in Malimea Village. We are hoping to present each student at the Ponilala School with an English/Tetun dictionary and leave a class set of dictionaries at the language centre. Each dictionary costs the equivalent of $10AUD and we have approximately one hundred and fifty to buy.

We are hoping that students or families of the St Paul’s community would be willing to donate $10 to buy a dictionary for a Timorese student. A nameplate with the donor’s name will be placed inside each dictionary noting that the dictionary was a gift.

Donations can be made via direct deposit into the school’s account or at Reception.

Payment by direct deposit:
Account Name: St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School
BSB: 033 262
Account Number: 190554

Please include the following reference for your payment:
Team Timor [family name]

Our Timorese colleagues will be most grateful for your support.

Kirsten Enders, Andrea Heard and Jan Park
Team Timor

TRARALGON CAMPUS ENSEMBLE REHEARSAL SCHEDULE

New members, including students receiving tuition outside of school, are most welcome. Please contact Mrs Heather Mason, and/or the listed ensemble director for further information hjmason@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au .

Heather Mason
Head of Performing Arts – Co-Curricular

ALUMNI REUNIONS

Saturday 4 May 2024
Year 9 Centre, St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School, 150 Bowen Street Warragul
• Class of 2019 – 5 Year Reunion
• Class of 2014 – 10 Year Reunion
• Class of 2004 – 20 Year Reunion

This year we have brought forward the timing of our Alumni Reunions to coincide with the school’s annual Open Day. Moving the reunions earlier provides us with a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and tour the school in action, see how it has changed and meet some of the current St Paul’s students and staff. Please join us at any stage between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm, chat with our Alumni representatives and reminisce over the range of memorabilia on display. You might also like to join the Alumni school tour which will take place at 12:30 pm, before continuing your celebrations with some drinks, nibbles and catch-ups at Bandolier Brewing, 28 Mason Street Warragul, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Please RSVP by completing the registration here before 12 April 2024 for catering purposes.

Michelle Ireland
Community Coordinator
alumni@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE

Private Car Conveyance Allowance
Families driving students more than 4.8 kilometres to attend St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School may be eligible to receive a conveyance allowance. For further information on the eligibility criteria and application process, please refer to https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/conveyance-allowance/policy

Eligible families applying for the car conveyance allowance will have funds credited to their fee account during the year. If the fee account has been paid in full, or is on a direct debit arrangement, any allocation will show as a credit on the following year’s invoice.

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 https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund/resources

Parents are encouraged to lodge the application form immediately. The CSEF program for 2024 closes at the end of Term 2. All forms must be received by 24 June 2024 to be processed.

For parents who received CSEF at the school in 2023 (and the student/s are still enrolled in 2024), the schools will ‘copy’ the application across from 2023 to 2024 on the CSEF system. The CSEF system will automatically validate the parent’s eligibility with Centrelink.

From the Head of Traralgon Junior School,
Ms Tracey King.

The school grounds have been bustling with activity and classrooms have been hard at work with lessons and learning. It is hard to believe we only have one week left of Term 1. It has certainly been a whirlwind of activity and learning!

Hoodie Up for Autism Monday 25 March

Our Junior School will acknowledge Hoodie Up for Autism on Monday 25 March. This day is a terrific opportunity to share with students the need for inclusion and acceptance of difference. Students can wear a hoodie to school, with their PE uniform, in support of this day. Students are asked to bring a gold coin donation to assist with raising funds for AMAZE. Teachers will engage students in open discussions across the school about neurodiversity, and acceptance and inclusion.
Autism is a condition that affects how a person thinks, feels, interacts with others and experiences their environment. It is estimated that 1 in 70 people are on the autism spectrum. There are lots of myths and misunderstandings about autism but while many autistic people experience difficulties, with the right support, understanding and acceptance, autistic people can achieve great things in their lives and can make significant contributions to their communities.
Some autistic people experience sensory sensitivities and can become overloaded by stimuli in their environment. Wearing their hoodie up means they can block out bright lights and busy environments to help calm down. Whether you are autistic, love someone who is or just want to stand in solidarity with the autism community, join us in putting your ‘Hoodie Up’ and celebrating the diversity autism brings to our world.
The most radical act you can perform as an ally to autistic people is to accept them exactly as they are, and beyond that, celebrate them and their neurotype. How wonderful it would be to live in a world in which all neurotypes are celebrated for the rich diversity they contribute, just as we do with unusual hair or eye colour, specific skills and traits in athleticism, art, and a variety of personalities for example. The world would be dull if we were all the same.

Class EXPOs Wednesday 27 March 2:30 pm
All classrooms will be open for our Class EXPOs in the final week of term. Students will share their Term 1 learning, and teachers will model some lessons and provide parents with further information about classroom learning programs. We warmly invite all our families to this important afternoon. Your child will be excited to share their achievements and favourite learning tasks with you. Classrooms will be open from 2:30 pm until 3:20 pm.

FOSP Easter Hunt and Raffle
Our wonderful FOSP parents have been very busy organising our annual Easter Egg Hunt which is always a highlight and very exciting, as well as our Easter Raffle. Many thanks to families who have donated eggs and special treats for the raffle, and to those who have sold their raffle tickets.  Raffle ticket stubs and money are due back at the Junior School Office now.

Athletics Carnival
Our annual Athletics Carnival was again a successful day with students competing in a range of track and field events. Congratulations to students who have been selected to attend the upcoming District Athletics. A huge thanks to Mr Rilen for his organisation of this event and to all teachers and family members who assisted on the day.  It was wonderful to see so many parents cheering on students and supporting the Junior School.

Year 6 Urban Camp
Year 6 students had an absolute blast at Urban Camp! With many highlights including Courtroom Drama, Old Melbourne Gaol, MCG Tour, Melbourne Zoo Night Tour, The Big Issue, O’Brien’s Icehouse, Go Climb and the Queen Victoria Market. Our campers managed to stick to a tight schedule and see and experience many iconic Melbourne places. Thank you to our teachers, Mrs Tegan Clavarino, Mrs Carly Sellings, Ms Laura Vannapraseuth, Mr Glen Treble and Miss Kayla Ludbey, who ensured everyone was safe and cared for whilst away from home.

Regional Swimming
Congratulations to our swimmers who gave it their all against tough competition in the Sale pool last Thursday. Avaya Mittelmajer, Tyrone Ke, Abigail Dean, Dylan Wu, Willow Orchard, Ruby Demetrios, William Lambert, Ellie Richmond-Smith, Nik Hector, Rumindu Rohanachandra and Patrik Wu can all be very proud of their achievements and efforts.

NAPLAN
We are very proud of our students who successfully completed their NAPLAN assessments online over the past week. I wish to acknowledge the efforts and determination of our Years 3 and 5 students. Every student met the challenges of online testing sustaining their commitment to do their very best on each occasion. They managed very well with a calm and sensible approach. Our students were very well prepared and certainly gave the tests their best efforts. NAPLAN results are generally provided to schools later in the year, with reports sent home to parents shortly after. They are of course just one of many useful diagnostics tools that help our dedicated teachers to identify areas of strength as well as areas requiring support. Many thanks to Ms Rachael Geerts, our Director of Learning and Teaching, for her organisation and preparation, and to IT and administration staff for ensuring that these online tests were completed with very few technical issues. Many thanks to our classroom teachers for their preparations, and to our education support staff who assisted with supervision and providing support throughout the week.

International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination and Harmony Week

Traralgon Junior School acknowledged Harmony Day on Thursday 21 March. Students were invited to wear a splash of orange and were engaged in a range of activities to develop their respect, understandings and awareness of our multicultural and diverse communities.  While we acknowledged Harmony Day and our students celebrated and enjoyed activities, it is important to remember that the learning sitting behind these lessons is to develop attitudes and values in our students to eliminate racial discrimination, and create an inclusive school community where everyone belongs and learns together in harmony.
Did you know?  March 21 marks the International Day for the Elimination of Racial Discrimination  (IDERD), which is known as ‘Harmony Day’ in Australia.

International history of IDERD
On 21 March 1960, police in Sharpeville, South Africa opened fire on peaceful anti-apartheid demonstrators protesting in response to the Pass Laws Act of 1952. The laws required Black South Africans over the age of 16 to carry a ‘passbook’ – a kind of internal passport known as ‘dompas’ designed to enforce segregation and restrict movement – at all times. A Black South African who forgot to carry the dompas could face arrest and imprisonment. The Pass Law worked in conjunction with other apartheid legislation, working to enforce systemic race-based oppression in South Africa.
On this day, huge numbers of protestors in Sharpeville turned up to the police station without their dompas, exercising their human right to freedom. The planned peaceful protest turned to tragedy when police opened fire on the 7000-person strong crowd, killing 69 people and wounding 180 others. Nineteen years later, the United Nations (UN) General Assembly resolved that a week of solidarity with people struggling against racism and racial discrimination, beginning on 21 March and coined IDERD, would be held annually.  Since then, the international community has built a framework for fighting racism, guided by the International Convention on the Elimination of Racial Discrimination, which Australia ratified in 1975. This led to Australia’s first law actively addressing racial discrimination, the Racial Discrimination Act 1975 (Cth).  Yet still, around the globe – Australia included – too many individuals, communities and societies suffer from the injustice and stigma of both structural and systemic racism.
In 1998, the Department of Immigration and Citizenship commissioned Eureka Strategic Research to conduct the first national survey on Australian attitudes about race. This led to a report which recommended that the Government build the belief that Australian society was fundamentally harmonious and that this harmony should be a cause for celebration. In 1999, Australia rebranded IDERD from a day of solidarity with people struggling with racial discrimination, to a day for celebration and the focal point of ‘Harmony Week.’  (Human Rights Commission 2024)
Harmony Week is celebrated annually in March across Australia. It is aimed at promoting diversity, respect and inclusiveness. As a parent, you can engage your children in discussions and reflections on multiculturalism and foster an interest in Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander culture. Encouraging children to ask questions and reflect with empathy creates a more harmonious and inclusive society, helping children grow up with a greater appreciation for the richness and diversity of Australia’s cultural landscape.

SchoolTV Special Report: Cultural Diversity
Cultural diversity encompasses the variety of cultures, beliefs and traditions present globally, contributing to a rich tapestry of human experiences and perspectives. By valuing every child’s cultural background, we enable them to excel in all facets of life. Nurturing an environment of curiosity, open-mindedness and respect for all cultures, will not only promote unity but a deeper appreciation of the nuances that distinguish us.
Inclusion is about more than just words; it is about fostering a sense of belonging and acceptance for every child, regardless of their cultural background. When children and adolescents feel seen and valued for who they are, they can thrive academically, socially, and emotionally. Valuing and understanding cultural diversity, helps our communities benefit from a wealth of perspectives and experiences, enhancing our collective capacity for empathy and innovation.
As parents and adult carers, instilling an appreciation for cultural diversity is vital to equip young people with the tools they need to navigate an increasingly interconnected world. Through leading by example and showing that kindness and understanding know no boundaries, we can encourage them to embrace multiculturalism. This will not only prepare young people for personal success but also for contributing to a world that views diversity as a strength. Through collective efforts, we can help pave the way for a more accepting and vibrant future.
In this edition of SchoolTV, learn how best to embrace and celebrate cultural diversity with your children. We hope you take time to reflect on the information offered in this month’s edition and we always welcome your feedback.  If you have any concerns about the wellbeing of your child, please contact the school wellbeing team for further information or seek medical or professional help.
Please click here to access the report.

LEAD Survey Data
Members of the St Paul’s community were invited to respond to the Independent Schools Victoria (ISV) LEAD Surveys during 2023. ISV LEAD Surveys are completed by a number of independent schools across Victoria and the results provided to St Paul’s include comparisons to 2021 results and to the ISV mean. The results have been collated, reviewed and discussed at staff meetings and with the School Board, as well as through various student groups.  We ask our students to seek continuous improvement and aim to model this same goal as staff and as a school. We can do this by celebrating our successes and also looking to develop and enhance as needed to maintain standards of excellence.
We were extremely pleased with our Lead Survey results for the Traralgon Junior School.  While we have scored higher than the ISV mean on many categories for student, parent and staff responses, and have seen improvements over the past two years, there are, as always, areas in which we know we can do even better.
Our community is increasingly pleased with the learning environment and opportunities in the Junior School and the measurements provided by ISV indicate that our parents are happy to recommend our school to other families.
Our highest scores in the parent survey were in response to the following statements:

• School staff are approachable when parents want to talk about their children.
• Teachers stay up to date in the things they teach.
• Students from different cultures and backgrounds are treated equally at this school.
• The school teaches children about different cultures.
• The school buildings are attractive and well-maintained.

Our lower scoring areas were in relation to the following:

• Parents being informed of the academic performance of their child relative to the performance of others.
• The school uses a broad range of communication types to keep parents informed.

It is very pleasing to report that our students have responded with significantly high scores across all areas of the survey demonstrating that they feel safe, are learning well and feel connected at school.

Our highest scores in the student survey were in response to the following statements:

• I have respect for my teachers.
• I am encouraged to try my best at the school.
• My teachers treat me fairly.
• Students from different backgrounds and cultures are treated fairly.
• I understand my school’s expectations for student behaviour.
• The School provides me with high-quality teachers.
• My teachers show me how to do things when I am having trouble with my learning.
• My teachers care about my feelings.
• I am proud to be part of this school.

Our lower scoring areas, although still above the ISV mean, were in relation to the following:

• Students respect each other at school.
• Other students treat me well.
• In class, students help each other to learn.
• I feel close to classmates.

As with any organisation, it is paramount that we not only maintain but commit to continuous improvement. There are a number of programs and areas we have recently targeted and will continue to develop, including but not limited to:

• A commitment to student wellbeing through the provision of a carefully designed IGNITE pastoral curriculum from Prep to Year 6.
• Provision of a broad range of co-curricular opportunities to further develop student interests, passions and skills.
• Development of teacher capacity to deliver high-impact evidence-based learning experiences.

We remind our families that:

• We offer an opportunity at the end of each semester to obtain a report of your child’s performance in comparison to other students with a ‘class placement report’.
• Accessing the MyStPauls portal regularly and reading the School’s Grammarian Newsletter are opportunities to stay up to date with communications and happenings in the Junior School.

As always, I warmly invite our Traralgon Junior School families, staff and students to share feedback. It is only through open, honest and transparent conversations that we can learn, share our understandings and pinpoint exactly how we can continue to improve and ‘do better’.

This week is National eSmart Week 2024.
National eSmart Week is a week-long event that celebrates all the incredible work that schools across the country are doing to promote positive digital citizenship. Throughout Term 1, students across all year levels in the Junior School have been building digital habits and skills needed to be great digital citizens and make smart choices online and in life.
As we watch our children grow, it can be confronting to see them navigate tech that even we are struggling to master and defend against. While it is exciting to see all the possibilities that the digital world can offer, it is important to remind ourselves that unless technology is enhancing our humanness it should not only take a backseat as Education Futurist Louka Parry explains, “it shouldn’t even be in the car”.
You can only do your best, with the tools that you have on hand. Louka has helped to develop some simple yet impactful advice:

1. Only embrace technology that serves us (not the other way around).
2. Cultivate a love of nature (and offline activities).
3. Model intentional behaviour.
4. Create space for safe conversations.

The Alannah & Madeline Foundation eSmart website has a range of resources to support Australian families in building essential digital skills to develop a generation of safe and strong digital citizens who are capable and compassionate. These resources are developed to help children and young people, and the people who care for them to reduce their risk of exposure to online harm and empower them to successfully, and safely, navigate the digital world.
To learn more about starting and continuing great conversations with the children and young people in your life, explore the resources in the DigiTalk Hub.

Nude Food
As part of our commitment to promoting health and sustainability, we are introducing a new approach to school snacks and lunches called “Nude Food”. This approach encourages students to bring in healthy snacks and lunches that do not require packaging, thereby reducing waste.
So, what exactly is Nude Food? It is a playful way of referring to litter-free lunches that are free of disposable wrappers and single-use items like plastic utensils, straws, juice or milk boxes, cling wrap, foil, or zip-lock bags.
Why should we adopt Nude Food? On average, a school-age child creates about three pieces of litter from their lunch box each school day, which equates to approximately 30 kilograms of waste per child per year at school. Adopting Nude Food helps to reduce waste and promote sustainability.
What are the benefits of Nude Food? One of the primary benefits is that it encourages students to eat healthier lunches, as fruits and vegetables are examples of Nude Food and do not require wrappers. Additionally, snacks that normally come wrapped can be unwrapped before arriving at school, thereby reducing waste.

Happy Easter and Safe Holidays
Many thanks to our teachers, students and families for a successful term working together.
Our final day of term is Thursday 28 March and students will be dismissed at 2:20 pm. Everyone is wished a Happy Easter and safe holidays. We look forward to starting Term 2 together on Tuesday 16 April.

Tracey King
Head of Traralgon Junior School

WHAT’S ON

MARCH
25 March Hoodie Up for Autism
26 March District Athletics (selected students)
27 March Classroom EXPOs, 2:30 pm, Community Easter Hunt
28 March Easter Service, FOSP Easter Hunt, Easter Raffle
End of Term 1, 2:20 pm finish
29 March Good Friday

APRIL
15 April Student Free Day
16 April Term 2 begins for students
19 April School Photos
23 April Traralgon Junior School Cross Country
24 April ANZAC Day Service, Individual Tennis
25 April ANZAC Day Public Holiday
30 April District Cross Country

CLASS UPDATES

Prep
Prep students this fortnight had been looking forward to finally competing at our Athletics Day after weeks of practising the various events.
During our Mathematics lessons, students have continued to develop an understanding of shapes, sorting them based on features including size, colour and shape. Through our literacy activities, students have been identifying and correcting the missing capital letters and full stops in sentences.
Students have also explored activities that allow them to develop gross, fine and perceptual motor skills during our Developmental Play sessions. Students were eager to try and use water guns to hit targets, bounce balls around a track they designed and shape Play-Doh using their pencil grip fingers only.

Year 1
In Year 1, we have been learning how to describe polygons using the terms ‘sides’ and ‘vertices.’ Students enjoyed using the iPad to scan QR codes which then gave them a 2D shape to record the name, number of sides and vertices. It was great fun to move around the room and still be learning. We have also been learning different strategies to help with addition and subtraction equations.
We also participated in a STEM challenge using cups, icy pole sticks and pegs, students had to make a tower taller than their drink bottle. It was a great activity to practise problem-solving as what seemed like an easy activity proved to be somewhat challenging, yet fun at the same time.
In literacy, we have been learning the difference between fragments and sentences. Students know that a sentence needs to have a subject and a verb as well as punctuation.

Year 2
During weeks 7 and 8, students have continued to work on their reading fluency. They have practised using punctuation to guide their expression as they read. They have continued to learn about specific prefixes and suffixes, and the rules that they can use to support their understanding of words and how to spell them. During our writing lessons, students have created and used flow maps to support them in structuring and writing a recount of an event.
In Numeracy, their capacity to solve addition and subtraction equations has been developed by using a vertical algorithm and with regrouping. They have also begun to investigate length using centimetres. Students have enjoyed estimating the length of objects before using a ruler to find the exact measurement.
Students have learnt about fruits and vegetables and where they are grown as well as the need for seeds to germinate.

Year 3
We have survived and thrived this past fortnight in Year 3, despite a flurry of activity and assessments! Our students showed incredible resilience, aptitude, and dedication in undertaking NAPLAN, during which our classrooms were merged but their focus was unwavering. We are proud of their commitment to their learning and respect for each other throughout.

Having our classes conjoined for a couple of days was opportunistic, with the inclusion of our health incursion for STEAMing Ahead. This was also a timely event, allowing the students to utilise their bodies and minds in a positive and energetic way whilst learning about the different aspects of health; social, emotional, cognitive and physical. They explored the abundance of resources within our local communities that can contribute to making strong decisions regarding their individual health and thoroughly enjoyed their boxing and meditation sessions.

On Wednesday we went to Harold Preston Reserve for our annual Athletics Carnival and all our students participated in every event to their fullest capability, even in the face of less than favourable weather conditions. Our students cheered their houses on, celebrated their wins, supported each other and undoubtedly returned home tired but accomplished in their own efforts.

This was followed with our Harmony Day activities on Thursday which afforded our diverse and rich demographic in Year 3 the opportunity to share their heritage and further foster a sense of belonging amongst our students, who exemplify these inclusive qualities every single day. We learnt so much about our classes’ cultures, heritages, and each other. We also spent some time with our Buddies from the ELC, playing Harmony Day themed games and doing colouring activities together. It is always enriching to see our students take on their roles as a Buddy with such responsibility and enthusiasm.

As we look toward the final week of Term 1, we can certainly reflect on how much we have achieved in what has been a whirlwind of learning, developing, and settling into another year.

Year 4
STEAMing Ahead
This fortnight, students have been busy starting their Action Plan assessment. This assessment involves creating healthy eating plans, understanding how sleep thieves can affect our sleep, and creating schedules to include mindfulness and family time. We look forward to showcasing these plans at our EXPO next week.
Maths
We have been learning about categorical and numerical data and graphs. Students collected data on their favourite pets and then created a bar graph to present their findings. We have also been solving a range of word problems using the bar modelling strategy.
Literacy
We have been revising writing narratives over the last month. This fortnight our focus has been on writing descriptive action and resolution paragraphs. We have practised using direct speech, similes and personification and to further engage our readers. No doubt students will be proudly sharing these at our EXPO too.

Year 5
Congratulations to all the Year 5 students on completing NAPLAN over the past few weeks.  All the students did an amazing job, demonstrating their ability to undertake multiple tests under test conditions. We were proud of how well they respected each other and sat quietly until the final person had finished. Well done, Year 5!
Congratulations also to our girls swimming freestyle team.  Ruby, Abi, Ellie and Avaya (Year 6) represented the school last Thursday at Regional. They left just after 7:00 am and competed against some very strong competitors, achieving an amazing fifth place. Well done, girls!
This term has been super busy.
These are some reflections on Term 1:
This Term I have enjoyed attending camp. It was good as we got to learn whilst we were having fun. I have also enjoyed catching up with all my friends after the Christmas break and have enjoyed getting to know my teachers.
I really enjoyed this term and getting to know my teachers. They are nice! I really liked learning new mathematical concepts, especially long division. It was also a great opportunity to be able to dissect a brain early in the term.
I think Term 1 was amazing and the teachers are really kind and generous. Even though there are a lot of kids in Year 5, the teachers do a great job in helping me learn. A highlight was making new friends and socialising with them.

Year 6
Over the course of four days and three nights, our students immersed themselves in a diverse array of learning experiences, exploration, and cultural engagements on Urban Camp.
One highlight of our camp was the visit to Parliament House, where our young leaders had the opportunity to gain firsthand insight into the workings of our parliamentary system.
Our students also stepped back in time to be part of the courtroom drama surrounding the infamous Ned Kelly case. Venturing into the historic confines of the Old Melbourne Gaol, they experienced the gripping tale of one of Australia’s most notorious figures.
Exploring the cultural heritage of Melbourne, our students visited St Paul’s Cathedral, a magnificent symbol of faith and architectural wonder. This spiritual journey provided them with a deeper appreciation for the city’s rich history and diverse cultural tapestry.
No visit to Melbourne would be complete without a tour of the iconic Melbourne Cricket Ground (MCG) and a visit to the Australian Sports Museum. Exploring halls of sporting greatness, our students were immersed in the essence of Australian sportsmanship and achievement.
Venturing into new territory, our students tried their hand at the ancient Scottish sport of curling at the Icehouse. Amidst laughter and camaraderie, they discovered the joy of mastering a new skill and embracing the spirit of adventure.
As night fell, our students embarked on a thrilling nocturnal adventure at the zoo, where they encountered a menagerie of creatures under the stars. From the majestic lions to the playful meerkats, the zoo provided a unique opportunity for our students to connect with nature in a magical setting.
Finally, our students honed their negotiation skills in the vibrant atmosphere of the Queen Victoria Market, where they navigated the bustling aisles and engaged in the age-old art of bartering.
Overall, our Year 6 Urban Camp was a success, filled with moments of learning, discovery and friendship. We are proud of our students for their curiosity, enthusiasm and resilience throughout the journey.

Music
This fortnight in music, students have been exploring rhythm, pitch, dynamics and form. By engaging in hands-on activities and basic theory concepts, they have not only developed musical skills but also enhanced their critical thinking and creativity.
Each station covered a different element of music:
Rhythm: Children drummed, learning whole and half notes, and understanding musical timing.
Pitch: Exploring melodies with xylophones, grasping high and low pitches, developing musical ear.
Dynamics: Engaging with shakers and rain sticks, discovering volume and intensity control.
Form: Composing music in Rondo or Ternary forms, applying knowledge of musical structure.
Students are also beginning to learn their “Aladdin JR.” songs for their upcoming performance in Term 2.

Community Culture and Country
In Community, Culture and Country we have continued to build our understanding and awareness of differences in knowledge, languages and cultural identities.
Students have demonstrated an interest in learning more about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander histories, cultural identities and perspectives, and have explored the significance of Uluru, Uluru Kata Tjuta National Park and Anangu storytelling.
We have also explored the local Gunaikurnai story “Jiddelek”, which tells the story of a small mischievous and very thirsty frog, whose greed results in all the water in the creeks, lakes and rivers being depleted.
This story, along with dreaming stories from across Australia, blends scientifically verifiable events from our ancient past with stories that relate to our beliefs, tales of morality and life lessons.
The “Jiddelek” story has encouraged students to understand and reflect on the importance of our environment and the preciousness of our water resources, sharing with others and the importance of teamwork to ensure great outcomes.

Japanese
In our recent lessons in Year 6, we focused on the study of hiragana characters. The students engaged in various activities and exercises aimed at improving their recognition and understanding of hiragana. Through interactive games, writing exercises and pronunciation drills, they have been developing their proficiency in this fundamental aspect of Japanese language learning.

Exciting Update from our Junior School Library!
We are thrilled to share that our students are diving deep into their Information Process Model research projects!
With the help of our class set of iPads, many classes are now mastering the art of navigating databases, including the fantastic resource we subscribe to – Britannica School.
This hands-on experience not only enhances their research skills but also fosters critical thinking and digital literacy.
We are proud to see our young learners flourishing as they explore, analyse and synthesize information. The journey of knowledge has never been more engaging!

DOBSONS TRADING HOURS

Order online or click and collect: Please ensure that you only attend the store to collect your items once you have received notification that your order is ready, order here.

IMPORTANT NOTICE FOR PARENTS

Students who may be leaving St Paul’s
As per the Enrolment Agreement, it is a requirement at St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School that a term’s notice in advance is given before any student withdraws. If you are planning to withdraw your child/ren, please confirm your intention in writing to our Principal, Mr Cameron Herbert, prior to the end of Term 1.

If you have any questions, please do not hesitate to contact our Enrolments Officers: Mrs Jen Christensen (Warragul) on 5623 5833 or Ms Bonnie Cameron (Traralgon) on 5175 0133 or by emailing enrolments@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au.

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 forty 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.

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 Carol Reid by email: creid@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au.

New applications should be received by 16 April 2024 for consideration at the April Board Meeting in preparation for this year’s Annual General Meeting.

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 22 May 2024.

Nomination forms for Board Directorship are required to be forwarded to the Company Secretary no later than Wednesday 24 April 2024 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 – WEDNESDAY 22 MAY 2024
The Annual General Meeting of St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School is to be held on Wednesday 22 May 2024 at the Warragul Campus commencing at 5:00 pm for members of the Company.

DONATE A DICTIONARY!

During the upcoming April holidays, a total of nine students from the Traralgon and Warragul Secondary Schools, together with teachers Kirsten Enders, Andrea Heard and Jan Park, will be travelling to the Ermera District in East Timor.

Amongst many wonderful experiences, we will be visiting the Pre-Secondary School in Ponilala, built with money raised by St Paul’s and be honoured guests at the inauguration of the English Language Study Centre in Malimea Village. We are hoping to present each student at the Ponilala School with an English/Tetun dictionary and leave a class set of dictionaries at the language centre. Each dictionary costs the equivalent of $10AUD and we have approximately one hundred and fifty to buy.

We are hoping that students or families of the St Paul’s community would be willing to donate $10 to buy a dictionary for a Timorese student. A nameplate with the donor’s name will be placed inside each dictionary noting that the dictionary was a gift.

Donations can be made via direct deposit into the school’s account or at Reception.

Payment by direct deposit:
Account Name: St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School
BSB: 033 262
Account Number: 190554

Please include the following reference for your payment:
Team Timor [family name]

Our Timorese colleagues will be most grateful for your support.

Kirsten Enders, Andrea Heard and Jan Park
Team Timor

TRARALGON CAMPUS ENSEMBLE REHEARSAL SCHEDULE

New members, including students receiving tuition outside of school, are most welcome. Please contact Mrs Heather Mason, and/or the listed ensemble director for further information hjmason@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au .

Heather Mason
Head of Performing Arts – Co-Curricular

ALUMNI REUNIONS

Saturday 4 May 2024
Year 9 Centre, St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School, 150 Bowen Street Warragul
• Class of 2019 – 5 Year Reunion
• Class of 2014 – 10 Year Reunion
• Class of 2004 – 20 Year Reunion

This year we have brought forward the timing of our Alumni Reunions to coincide with the school’s annual Open Day. Moving the reunions earlier provides us with a wonderful opportunity to celebrate and tour the school in action, see how it has changed and meet some of the current St Paul’s students and staff. Please join us at any stage between 10:00 am and 2:00 pm, chat with our Alumni representatives and reminisce over the range of memorabilia on display. You might also like to join the Alumni school tour which will take place at 12:30 pm, before continuing your celebrations with some drinks, nibbles and catch-ups at Bandolier Brewing, 28 Mason Street Warragul, from 2:00 pm to 5:00 pm.

Please RSVP by completing the registration here before 12 April 2024 for catering purposes.

Michelle Ireland
Community Coordinator
alumni@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE

Private Car Conveyance Allowance
Families driving students more than 4.8 kilometres to attend St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School may be eligible to receive a conveyance allowance. For further information on the eligibility criteria and application process, please refer to https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/conveyance-allowance/policy

Eligible families applying for the car conveyance allowance will have funds credited to their fee account during the year. If the fee account has been paid in full, or is on a direct debit arrangement, any allocation will show as a credit on the following year’s invoice.

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 https://www2.education.vic.gov.au/pal/camps-sports-and-excursions-fund/resources

Parents are encouraged to lodge the application form immediately. The CSEF program for 2024 closes at the end of Term 2. All forms must be received by 24 June 2024 to be processed.

For parents who received CSEF at the school in 2023 (and the student/s are still enrolled in 2024), the schools will ‘copy’ the application across from 2023 to 2024 on the CSEF system. The CSEF system will automatically validate the parent’s eligibility with Centrelink.

CLUBHOUSE BOOT CAMP

The Bloodwood Tree

Historically, Indigenous Australians used the desert bloodwood tree for traditional medicine. The exudate from the trunk or branches was diluted and used as an antiseptic treatment for facial cuts and sores; larger leaves were also useful for staunching wounds. The red bark kino can be stripped from the tree and mixed in water then consumed for diarrhoea, indigestion and chest pain. The wood from the tree was also used by Indigenous peoples to make spear-throwers, digging bowls and carrying vessels. As Easter approaches, I view the cross that Jesus died on like the bloodwood tree. From the Easter tree/cross, so many benefits flow. There is deep peace and joy, healing for inner sorrow and painful wounds, and the easing of fear and anxiety. All of this is accessible through faith because of God’s immense love for us as revealed in the Easter event. Happy Easter from the Chaplaincy Team at St Paul’s.

Reverend Lynton Allan

MEGAN CONNOLLY,
Class of 2012.

Current occupation: Comedian and freelance theatre maker.
What age/year were you when you joined St Paul’s? 2000
What are your fondest memories of St Paul’s? School camps and being a part of a school that has such a strong arts program. Doing school shows from such a young age was huge! Getting to put on multiple shows a year with all your friends will always be my favourite memory.
Did you have a favourite teacher/teachers and why? Mrs Patrickson was my Year 1 teacher and first-ever at the school. She helped me feel supported as a new student who had just moved countries!
Were you involved in any co-curricular activities at the School? It’s not going to come as a surprise that I mainly did Drama and Theatre Sports but I was also part of many sport teams over the years like soccer, softball and dance.
What do you see as your greatest achievements at the School? Performing at the VCE Art Exhibition with my Year 12 Theatre Studies monologue. It set me up to feel more confident in solo performance going forward.
What has your pathway been since graduating? I completed a Bachelor of Arts at the University of Canterbury in Cinema Studies and Media and Communication. I worked as a journalist for many years as well as directing, producing and making theatre and comedy independently.
What training/course was required to get into that field? Learning to make theatre from scratch was learnt from other theatre makers while on the job. The saying “If you want to see it, just make it” is the motto that keeps coming back, even now!
Why did you choose this field? Choosing to go into The Arts is a bold choice because there just isn’t the same amount of funding or financial stability for it as there is for other fields. You have to choose it for passion, love and laughs!
What or who influenced you to take this path? Acting teachers like Kylie Sinclair and Mr Shaw had faith in me!
What do you enjoy most about your current occupation? Meeting new comedians and being able to make a room of people laugh for an hour and forget their troubles. Bringing happiness is more important now than ever. Everyone deserves to sit back and enjoy a night out.
What do you find most challenging about what you do now? Growing and challenging yourself with each new project.
What do you think is different about St Paul’s from other schools? The way they support all young artists as they learn to find their individual voices as they navigate the crazy time that is adolescence.
Are there specific areas where you think St Paul’s contributed to your current career and/or interests? Having multiple options to explore creation – digital media, drama, musical theatre, psychology – all helped me understand people and independent creation more!
What are your interests outside of work? Tattooing, writing and yoga.
Are there any other comments that you might like to add? I’ll be performing at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival for the very first time this 9 to 21 April with my queer bogan comedy show ‘Jez & Jace’, which I hope people will enjoy and laugh at! Find out more information here.

(Profile information correct at time of collection.)

Keep in touch

We love sharing alumni stories that provide inspiration to current students – and teachers always love to hear what former students are up to now!
If you would like to share your story with the St Paul’s community or would like to mentor or speak with our current students or join the Alumni Committee, please reach out by emailing alumni@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au or connect with us on our St Paul’s Alumni Association Facebook page and our St Paul’s Anglican Grammar School official LinkedIn page.

So we can contact you with alumni news and invitations please update your details via the new St Paul’s webpage https://www.stpaulsags.vic.edu.au/community/alumni/.

If you would like to join us in creating an event of nostalgia, connection and laughter for our Class of 1994, 2004, 2014 and 2019 cohorts, email alumni@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au to be a part of our next celebration!