In this issue

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

Our Scarred Tree
We had the pleasure of a visit from Paula Martin, a Cultural Heritage Officer, who was checking the health of our Scarred Tree.  If you have not noticed the scarred tree it is located adjacent to our car park on the western border.  It is a forest river red gum and is estimated to be over a hundred years old.  Aboriginal people removed bark from trees to make canoes, containers and shields, and to build temporary shelters.  In our case it is believed a canoe was carved from our tree.

Paula at our scarred tree.

Aboriginal people in canoes on Lake Tyers in 1886.

Give a Damn. Give a Can.  Schools Collection 
Each year the Rotary Club of Traralgon Central conducts a canned food appeal.  Last year the club collected over 7,500 tins of food for needy families.  This lasts the Vinnies food bank just five months, however, it does mean St Vincent de Paul can meet the needs of the Traralgon community for the full twelve months.

Our campus is supporting Rotary and we are asking students to bring in a can of food to their mentor group.  The cans will be collected from Monday 21 May to Wednesday 23 May.  In keeping with our core value of compassion, we are asking students and their families to support the Rotary canned food appeal.

Comparative Reports
At the end of each semester, parents may request that the school provide them with written information that clearly shows their child’s achievement compared to his or her peer group at the school.  The information will show parents the number of children in the group in each of the achievement levels/subjects.  However, where group numbers are less than 12 this data will not be provided, in order to protect the privacy of the students in the class.  Class teachers will instead explain the student’s level relative to their peers, without identifying the number in each band.

WHAT’S ON IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL

MAY
19 May  Performing Arts Scholarship Auditions, Parker Centre, Warragul Secondary School
22 May  SEISA Visual Arts, Music and Choir Excursion
23 May  Simultaneous Storytime
24 May  SEISA Winter Sport, Junior, Round 2
FOSP Fun Run
25 May  St James Community Church Lunch Excursion
31 May  SEISA Winter Sport, Junior, Round 3

EAST TIMOR TRIP

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As many of you will be aware, the School has a long association with East Timor, supporting schools and students in education.  Every two years our students have the opportunity to experience both the wonders of Timor Leste and the support our school provides in the Ermera district.

At this stage the trip is planned to leave Sunday 24 June, returning Monday 1 July 2019.

If you are interested in finding out more about this trip, we will be holding information nights as follows.

Traralgon Campus:  7:00 pm, Room 3, Traralgon Secondary School, Thursday 14 June 2018

Warragul Campus:  7:00 pm, Library, Warragul Secondary School, Tuesday 12 June 2018

If you would like more information about the trip prior to the Information Evening or our Team Timor activities please contact either:

Andrea Heard at Warragul on 5623 5833 or aaheard@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Kirsten Enders at Traralgon on 5175 9222 or kenders@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Andrea Heard and Kirsten Enders
Team Timor

YEAR 7 DA VINCI DECATHALON

On Wednesday 9 May, a select number of Year 7 students travelled to Gippsland Grammar Sale to compete in a very challenging competition known as the ‘da Vinci Decathlon’.  The competition involves a team of eight students working together to solve complicated problems in the fields of Science, Engineering, Mathematics, Art and Poetry, Cartography, Code Breaking, General Knowledge, Creative Producers, Ideation and English.  Teams were given two to three topics to complete during each two hour session.

Our team was successful in winning three of the ten categories: Art and Poetry, Engineering and General Knowledge.  In the overall stakes we came second.

The students had a fantastic day even though they found it very challenging.  The way they worked together was admirable, their team spirit and support of other teams was pleasing to see.

Thank you for a great day out.

Ready for action.

Lachlan Speairs and Malintha Galagangodage.

Team work.

SPORT NEWS

Rachel Jennings (ESP)
A couple of weeks ago, Rachel travelled to St Anne’s Winery in Myrniong to compete in the XCR Country Championships U18 girls 3 kilometre.  Rachel recorded a great time of 11.02 which placed her second overall and first country runner.  She pushed herself to the limit as she ended up feeling dizzy and sick afterwards.  Rachel will be racing in a few more of these events over the coming months.

Rachel Jennings.

House Cross Country Trials
Last Thursday we held our annual House Cross Country trials.  With the weather being forecast for showers and wind, we were very lucky that it was only bitterly cold.  The Years 9 and 10 boys ran five kilometres while the girls completed a three kilometre course which took all students through our picturesque wetlands.  Some excellent times were recorded, in particular Cory Johnson (16.54) and Rachel Jennings (11.34).  The Years 7 and 8 students completed the same three kilometre course later in the day.  Again some good times were recorded: Cooper Millar (11.26) and Alannah Rogalsky (12.08).

Cross Country runners.

Year 8 boys Cross Country winners.

Runners along the wetlands.

CLAY TARGET SHOOTING
On Monday 14 May both Lachlan Balcombe and Alec Garcia travelled to Bairnsdale for round one of the Clay Target Shooting competition.  With over two hundred students from all across Gippsland the competition was red hot, including a student who had recently competed on the Gold Coast in the Commonwealth Games.  This round was focused around field and game with both boys competing well, hitting multiple targets.

Both Lachlan and Alec will be involved in round two later in the term.  I would also like to thank the parents who drove and supported their children at this event.

SEISA ATHLETICS
On Thursday 3 May, our athletics team ventured to Casey Fields to compete in the annual SEISA Athletics Carnival.  We had some very strong performances throughout the day and we were able to fill nearly all track and field events.  With our captains Declan Morrison and Elly Radford leading from the front and supporting all members of our team we were able to finish the day in second place overall.

We also had six age group champions:

• U12G Tia Paku (Traralgon Secondary School)
• U12B Rogan Rutter (Traralgon Secondary School)
• U13B Samuel Williamson (Warragul Secondary School)
• U16G Tip Incha (Warragul Secondary School)
• U21G Elly Radford (Warragul Secondary School)
• U21B Declan Morrison (Warragul Secondary School)

A special mention must also go to the whole team for both their behaviour and participation, especially those students who filled in at the last minute for various events.

Lastly, a huge thanks to the staff involved with the team: Stuart Woollett, Brad Kooloos, Brad McCabe, Merryn Finlayson, Sandra Timmer-Arends, Emily McInnes and Thomas Northe.  I would also like to thank our Athletics Captains Elly Radford and Declan Morrison for all their help this year.

Athletics Captains with Principal Cameron Herbert.

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE

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

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

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

TABLE TENNIS BIG HIT

Due to FOSTA’s fundraising efforts, our students are now enjoying playing table tennis on our new outdoor table.  We thank FOSTA for all of the work they do for our Junior School, contributing to make the students’ time at school most enjoyable.  The new table has been a big hit already.

Our first Soirée for the year was held recently with many Years 5 and 6 students performing.  My thanks to all of the students who performed and to families, friends and staff who attended to support the students.  A special thanks to Mrs Davies who organised the evening, staff who attended and to the Year 6 Performing Arts and Co-curricular Leaders who compered the night.  Well done everyone.

We concluded last week with our Mother’s Day Stall and School photos.  I would like to thank Mrs Leighton and the parent helpers who assisted with organising and running the stall.  The new online ordering system is now in place for ordering school photos.  If you are having trouble ordering photos or you have not received information on how to do so, please contact the Junior School office and we will be able to assist you.

Well done to all Years 3 to 6 students who competed in our House Cross Country competition on Wednesday.  It is always a tricky course and whilst Mr B acknowledged that distance running is not everyone’s favourite, he did congratulate every student who competed to gain points for their house.  The top six place getters in each age group will move on to the Divisional stage.

National Simultaneous Storytime (NSST): Next Wednesday our ‘guest reader’, Mr Herbert, will be reading ‘Hickory Dickory Dash’ to all of our Prep to Year 6 students as part of NSST.  This year our Year 10s will also be joining us and sharing their favourite picture story books.  This is an annual campaign put on by the Australian Library and Information Association.  The aim is to encourage more young children to read and enjoy books.  This colourful, vibrant and fun event aims to promote the value of reading and literacy using an Australian children’s book.  It explores age appropriate themes and addresses key learning areas of the National Curriculum with this year’s story ‘Hickory Dickory Dash’ written by Tony Wilson and illustrated by Laura Wood, very popular with our students.  Happy reading everyone!

Could I please remind students who intend to play on the ovals at recess and lunch that they need to bring a spare jumper (footy or soccer top) to cover their uniform and runners to wear now that the wet weather is upon us.  Staff have been asked not to let students play on the ovals if they do not have a top or runners beginning next week to save a daily wash of uniforms for parents.

Thank you to all parents who are driving with great care when travelling in and out of our Junior School.  Traffic always gets busier during the wetter months and I ask that you remain patient when looking for a park.  Please try to keep the drop-off lane moving, particularly during the morning drop-off period.  This should be a ‘kiss and go’ lane so families are not held up causing congestion.

Student Free day: A reminder that next Friday 25 May is a student free day for the Warragul Junior School only.  ELC and Secondary School classes will run as normal.

WHAT’S ON IN THE JUNIOR SCHOOL

MAY
18 May  Prep Community Excursion
Divisional Athletics
23 May  National Simultaneous Storytime
25 May  Report Writing Day STUDENT FREE DAY

JUNE
1 June  Winter Round Robin, Years 5 and 6 Students
11 June  Queen’s Birthday Public Holiday
14 June  Prep to Year 2 Revue, 1:45 pm to 3:00 pm, Junior School Gymnasium
Performing Arts Concert,  7:00 pm, Junior School Gymnasium
16 June  RoboCup Junior Competition, Junior School Gymnasium
21 June  Divisional Winter Round Robin (selected students only)
22 June  School Fun Run
Reports Distributed
Last Day of Term 2, 3:20 pm finish

Drouin and Warragul public school bus network notice

Please be advised the public school bus network services will not run on the following date in Term 2:
• Friday 8 June 2018, Drouin Bus Network

Please ensure you have alternative travel arrangements for this day.  All St Paul’s buses will run as normal on these days.

BAW BAW SCHOOL’S CHINA EXCHANGE 

We have an exciting opportunity for school families to be involved in the Baw Baw Shire Combined Schools China Tour.  We require school families to host a Chinese Exchange student for one week from Tuesday 31 July through to Tuesday 7 August 2018.

St Paul’s is part of a sister school relationship with the Number One Middle School in Jiujiang Province of China.  This relationship is also part of a broader connection with Jiujiang that is shared by the Baw Baw Shire.  As a result, students and staff from both Warragul Regional College and Drouin Secondary College will also participate in hosting the students from China.

During the week the Chinese students will attend classes at St Paul’s and also participate in some excursions to a local dairy farm and the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary.

If you are able to host, your child will also be able to attend the day at Healesville to accompany your host student.  There will also be a Mayoral reception held by the Baw Baw Shire at the beginning of the week and a farewell celebration dinner to be held at Warragul Regional College on Monday 6 August.  Your family will also be invited to attend these events.  The student will stay with you over the weekend and you are able to share with them a little of your life or take them on a day trip to explore the region during this time.

If you are interested in hosting, please contact Christie Bransgrove via email at cbransgrove@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au or by contacting the school directly.

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE

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

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

DON’T WORRY

An eight year old worried about the world running out of fuel in his lifetime; a twelve year old worried about NAPLAN; a fourteen year old worried about their sick parent; a seventeen year old worried about a folio assignment deadline; a parent worried about how they are managing their adolescent child.  These are just some of the worries I have heard people express in the last few days!

Life seems to give us plenty of things to worry about and no matter what our age, we all worry.  If you look up Bible passages on ‘worry’ you will likely be taken to Matthew 6:25-34 where Jesus tells his followers “Do not worry about your life.”  I always struggled with this passage, mostly because I stopped paying attention after the first line and consequently misunderstood the whole thing.  I think in my head I heard the message that worry is bad and if you worry then you are not trusting God enough.  Because this was not sitting right with me, I decided to try something.  So I found some good psychological advice on dealing with worry and compared it to the words of Jesus to see if they matched up at all.  Here is a brief summary of what I came up with.

Ways to manage worry:

1. Challenge your beliefs about worry.  Worry can actually be useful but only if it motivates problem solving.  Worry that is not followed by action is pointless.  Or, in the words of Jesus, “Can worry make you live longer?” (Matthew 6:27)
2. Determine if your worries are simply noise.  Some things are worth worrying about while others really are not.  It is a matter of perspective.  For example, Jesus asks, “Why worry about clothes?” (Matthew 6:28)
3. Postpone your worries.  This one intrigued me!  The idea is to set aside a specific time to deal with your worries and problem solve.  This way you do not need to be constantly consumed by your worries.  Perhaps that is why Jesus said, “Do not worry about tomorrow.  It will take care of itself.  You have enough to worry about today.” (Matthew 6:34)
4. Practice realistic thinking.  This is about perspective again.  Are you really assessing the situation accurately?  I wonder if Jesus was trying to give some perspective when he pointed out things like this, “Look how the wild flowers grow.  They do not work hard to make their clothes.  But I tell you that Solomon with all his wealth was not as well clothed as one of them.” (Matthew 6:28-29)

There were two more bits of advice that did not quite match up with this particular Bible passage but seemed consistent with Jesus’ teaching.

1. Manage stress.  Stress is the body’s reaction to worry.  Meditation, exercise and deep breathing can all be helpful.  The apostle Paul suggests this:
   “Do not worry about anything, but pray about everything.  With thankful hearts offer up your prayers and requests to God.  Then, because you belong to Christ Jesus, God will bless you with peace that no one can completely understand.  And this peace will control the way you think and feel.” (Philippians 4:6-7)
2. And finally, accept the things you cannot change.  It seems fitting to end this reflection with a well-known prayer that may be helpful for you or your children in times of worry.

The Serenity Prayer
by Reinhold Niebuhr

“God grant me the serenity
to accept the things I cannot change;
courage to change the things I can;
and wisdom to know the difference.

Living one day at a time;
Enjoying one moment at a time;
Accepting hardships as the pathway to peace;
Taking, as He did, this sinful world
as it is, not as I would have it;
Trusting that He will make all things right
if I surrender to His Will;
That I may be reasonably happy in this life
and supremely happy with Him
 forever in the next.
Amen.”

Reverend Daniel Lowe
Senior Chaplain

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

OPEN DAY
Our Open Day held on Saturday 5 May was a wonderful success as we invited many new families into our school to see for themselves what St Paul’s has to offer.  Our new building was open for families to view and it was lovely to see many current families taking the opportunity to walk through as well.  I would like to thank all of the teaching and non-teaching staff for their preparation and assistance on the day as well as the wonderful students who came in on a Saturday to showcase their school.  We also had a number of parents, from our FOSP group, welcoming prospective families and serving tea and coffee, and I would like to thank them very much for their generosity and time.

NAPLAN
There was a collective sigh of relief amongst our Years 7 and 9 cohorts yesterday after they finished their NAPLAN testing.  For our Year 7s there is still more to come but the Year 9s can celebrate the end of their NAPLAN testing.  I would like to congratulate all of our students who took part for their behaviour and application throughout all of the tests.

MID-YEAR EXAMS
The mid-year examination period for Years 9 to 11 students will be held in June and students have received their examination timetables.  Students should now be managing their time to include study for examinations in their homework program.  The pastoral program at each year level will be teaching students strategies to strengthen their study habits and capabilities.  Please note that Thursday 7 June is an exam catch up day for Years 10 and 11 and therefore, students who have completed all of their exams are not required at school.  Friday 8 June is a student free day for students in Years 7 to 12.

The examination timetable for each year level is included below:

Year 9 Examination timetable – Semester 1, 2018

Years 10 and 11 Student Examination timetable – Semester 1, 2018

On Thursday 24 May all students studying a Unit 3 and 4 subject in 2018 will sit the practice General Achievement Test (GAT) at school followed by the actual GAT at 10:00 am on 13 June.  For those families new to the GAT it is –
“a test of general knowledge and skills in:

• written communication
• mathematics, science and technology
• humanities, the arts and social sciences.

These areas are very broad.

Each represents a body of general knowledge and skills that students are likely to have built up through their school years.

Because it is a general test, no special study is required for the GAT. Students will already have done preparation for the GAT in past study of subjects like English, Mathematics, Science and History, where they have built up general knowledge and skills in writing, numeracy and reasoning. These are the knowledge and skills that will be tested.

Students can get a good idea of the questions by looking at previous GAT papers. Students are encouraged to familiarise themselves with these questions and note that all the information needed to work out the right answer is provided.”

http://www.vcaa.vic.edu.au/Pages/vce/exams/gat/aboutgat.aspx

WHAT’S ON IN THE SECONDARY SCHOOL

MAY
18 May HPV Training, 4:00 pm
19 May  Performing Arts Scholarship Auditions
VEIS:  Interschool Dressage
21 May  HPV Training, 7:00 am
22 May  SEISA Music/Drama/Visual Arts
23 May  National Simultaneous Storytime
24 May  SEISA Winter Sport, Junior, Round 2
AIME Program Day, 9:10 am
Practice GAT, 1:00 pm
Psychology Lecture, 2:45 pm
25 May  Year 10 Vaccinations
26 May  VEIS:  Combined Training and Dressage
28 May  Year 10s Australia’s Biggest Morning Tea, 11:10 am
28 May to 1 June  ‘The Great Book Swap’, Library, lunchtimes and after school
29 May  Studio Concert, 7:00 pm
ICAS Science Competition
31 May  SEISA Winter Sport, Junior, Round 3
31 May to 6 June  Year 11 Exams

JUNE
2 June  Sports Aerobics State Titles
4 June to 6 June  Years 9 and 10 Exams

Drouin and Warragul public school bus network notice

Please be advised the public school bus network services will not run on the following date in Term 2:
• Friday 8 June 2018, Drouin Bus Network

Please ensure you have alternative travel arrangements for this day.  All St Paul’s buses will run as normal on these days.

BAW BAW SCHOOL’S CHINA EXCHANGE 

We have an exciting opportunity for school families to be involved in the Baw Baw Shire Combined Schools China Tour.  We require school families to host a Chinese Exchange student for one week from Tuesday 31 July through to Tuesday 7 August 2018.

St Paul’s is part of a sister school relationship with the Number One Middle School in Jiujiang Province of China.  This relationship is also part of a broader connection with Jiujiang that is shared by the Baw Baw Shire.  As a result, students and staff from both Warragul Regional College and Drouin Secondary College will also participate in hosting the students from China.

During the week the Chinese students will attend classes at St Paul’s and also participate in some excursions to a local dairy farm and the Healesville Wildlife Sanctuary.

If you are able to host, your child will also be able to attend the day at Healesville to accompany your host student.  There will also be a Mayoral reception held by the Baw Baw Shire at the beginning of the week and a farewell celebration dinner to be held at Warragul Regional College on Monday 6 August.  Your family will also be invited to attend these events.  The student will stay with you over the weekend and you are able to share with them a little of your life or take them on a day trip to explore the region during this time.

If you are interested in hosting, please contact Christie Bransgrove via email at cbransgrove@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au or by contacting the school directly.

EAST TIMOR TRIP

Dear Parents/Guardians,

As many of you will be aware, the School has a long association with East Timor, supporting schools and students in education.  Every two years our students have the opportunity to experience both the wonders of Timor Leste and the support our school provides in the Ermera district.

At this stage the trip is planned to leave Sunday 24 June, returning Monday 1 July 2019.

If you are interested in finding out more about this trip, we will be holding information nights as follows.

Traralgon Campus:  7:00 pm, Room 3, Traralgon Secondary School, Thursday 14 June 2018

Warragul Campus:  7:00 pm, Library, Warragul Secondary School, Tuesday 12 June 2018

If you would like more information about the trip prior to the Information Evening or our Team Timor activities please contact either:

Andrea Heard at Warragul on 5623 5833 or aaheard@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Kirsten Enders at Traralgon on 5175 9222 or kenders@stpaulsags.vic.edu.au

Andrea Heard and Kirsten Enders
Team Timor

YEAR 12 PHYSICAL EDUCATION VO₂ MAX EXPERIENCE

This week both Year 12 Physical Education classes were lucky enough to experience a VO₂ Max Cycle Ergometer test, performed at school and conducted by leading Exercise Scientists.  This type of test is usually only performed in a lab setting, so it was a once in a lifetime opportunity for our two students who volunteered to undertake the test.

The session included two different tests, with lots of discussion and real life application of all of the theory work that students have been studying in Term 2.  Results that were collected included a gas analysis, heart rates and respiratory rates, as well as blood lactate levels.  It was a really interesting and beneficial experience and one that will greatly enhance the students’ knowledge and understanding of this topic.

SPORT NEWS

CLAY TARGET SHOOTING
On Monday 14 May both Lachlan Balcombe and Alec Garcia travelled to Bairnsdale for round one of the Clay Target Shooting competition.  With over two hundred students from all across Gippsland the competition was red hot, including a student who had recently competed on the Gold Coast in the Commonwealth Games.  This round was focused around field and game with both boys competing well, hitting multiple targets.

Both Lachlan and Alec will be involved in round two later in the term.  I would also like to thank the parents who drove and supported their children at this event.

SEISA ATHLETICS
On Thursday 3 May, our athletics team ventured to Casey Fields to compete in the annual SEISA Athletics Carnival.  We had some very strong performances throughout the day and we were able to fill nearly all track and field events.  With our captains Declan Morrison and Elly Radford leading from the front and supporting all members of our team we were able to finish the day in second place overall.

We also had six age group champions:

• U12G Tia Paku (Traralgon Secondary School)
• U12B Rogan Rutter (Traralgon Secondary School)
• U13B Samuel Williamson (Warragul Secondary School)
• U16G Tip Incha (Warragul Secondary School)
• U21G Elly Radford (Warragul Secondary School)
• U21B Declan Morrison (Warragul Secondary School)

A special mention must also go to the whole team for both their behaviour and participation, especially those students who filled in at the last minute for various events.

Lastly, a huge thanks to the staff involved with the team: Stuart Woollett, Brad Kooloos, Brad McCabe, Merryn Finlayson, Sandra Timmer-Arends, Emily McInnes and Thomas Northe.  I would also like to thank our Athletics Captains Elly Radford and Declan Morrison for all their help this year.

Athletics Captains with Principal Cameron Herbert.

Elly Radford.

Xavier Cox.

Molly Galvin.

Stacie Myers.

THE GREAT BOOK SWAP

The Great Book Swap is a fantastic way to celebrate reading in our school community and raise much needed funds for remote Indigenous communities.

The idea is to bring along a favourite book and swap it for another for a gold coin donation.

Last year, the Indigenous Literacy Foundation raised over $190,000 from the Great Book Swap and this year their goal is to raise $300,000 to gift 30,000 new books to remote communities who have few to none.  After all, how can you learn to read without books?

We will hold the event during National Reconciliation Week: 28 May to 1 June, at the Warragul Secondary School Library.  Help us to help close the literacy gap.

For information on the Indigenous Literacy Foundation, the Great Book Swap and how you can help visit https://www.indigenousliteracyfoundation.org.au

MATHS TUTORIAL CLASSES

Monday – Year 9, 1:20 pm, Year 9 Centre
Wednesday – Years 7 and 8, lunchtime, YS2
Thursday – Years 10 to 12, lunchtime, JM4
Thursday – VCE classes, after school, JM3

FROM THE FINANCE OFFICE

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

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

The development of the ‘whole person’ has long been a central tenet of independent schooling.  At the heart of developing the whole person is the ‘personalisation’ of a child’s education by teachers who know the individual well and care deeply about their wellbeing and success.  It also results from a student’s wholehearted engagement in a variety of co-curricular pursuits on offer.  My early impressions at St Paul’s are that this belief – and the programs, people and opportunities that make it possible – are as strong as anywhere that I have been in my career.

So, why is the development of the whole person so vital to us?  I believe that it has probably always been important to be a well-rounded individual, but it seems that the value of being multi-dimensional is becoming increasingly crucial in our ever-more dynamic, complex society.  As prominent educational speaker, Sir Ken Robinson, reminds us, “If all you had was academic ability, you wouldn’t have been able to get out of bed this morning.”  Of course, the world needs capable minds and productive minds, but the world also needs people with many other qualities.  We want our students to be sensitive people who care about others, especially those in need, yet also to have grit and resilience when required.  We want them to possess a thorough understanding of the world and its people, with a deep sense of social and global responsibility.  We want them to be able to forgive and to empathise with others, including those with whom they share little in common.  Our hope is that our students will have their natural curiosity aroused by their educational experience and that they will develop several keen interests to pursue in life, which will feed their soul and enrich them as human beings.  We want our students to lead healthy, active lives and be well equipped to make good choices regarding their wellbeing, including maintaining a balance between their engagement with the real world and the potentially ever-present electronic one.  And we want our students to leave us with a steadfast confidence in themselves that is grounded in genuine humility and gratitude.

We can never be all things to all people, but there is no shame in aiming to be as well rounded as we can so that we might serve others and contribute meaningfully to our society.  To quote Sir Ken again, “For most of us the problem isn’t that we aim too high and fail – it’s just the opposite – we aim too low and succeed.”  This is central to what St Paul’s is all about in our quest to develop the ‘whole person’ as much as possible.

Cameron Herbert
Principal