As we approach the Easter season, we are reminded of the powerful themes of renewal, hope, and reflection that resonate deeply within our School community. While Easter holds religious significance for many, its universal themes offer valuable insights that transcend religious boundaries and speak to the human experience.
At its core, Easter symbolises the concept of renewal – a reminder that even in the face of adversity, there is always the potential for growth and transformation. Easter invites us to reflect on our own lives and embrace the opportunity for personal and collective renewal. It is a time to let go of the past, to shed what no longer serves us, and to embrace the promise of new beginnings.
Easter also underscores the importance of hope – the belief that better days lie ahead, even in our darkest moments. In a world often marked by uncertainty and challenges, Easter reminds us to hold onto hope and to trust in the inherent resilience of the human spirit. It is a beacon of light in times of darkness, a reminder that even the smallest acts of kindness and compassion have the power to ignite hope and inspire positive change.
Moreover, Easter encourages us to cultivate a spirit of gratitude and appreciation for the blessings in our lives. Whether it’s the support of loved ones, the beauty of nature, or the simple joys of everyday life, Easter invites us to pause and express gratitude for the abundance that surrounds us. By cultivating an attitude of gratitude, we can find greater fulfillment and joy in our lives and deepen our connections with others.
As we celebrate Easter this year, let us embody the values of renewal, hope, and gratitude in all that we do. Let us strive to be agents of positive change in our School community and beyond, and to uplift and support one another on our respective journeys.
It has been a wonderful term. 10 weeks is quite the challenge for the first term for our students (and I’m sure staff and families!) and this break comes just at the right time. Please enjoy your time with family. Be safe. And like I say to the students, take the time to disconnect from all distractions and enjoy precious time with those special people in your lives.
On behalf of the entire St Paul’s School community, I wish you and your loved ones a season filled with renewal, hope, and abundant blessings.
John O’Sullivan Williams
Acting Principal
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Greetings from the Chaplain
After the sabbath, as the first day of the week was dawning, Mary Magdalene and the other Mary went to see the tomb. And suddenly there was a great earthquake; for an angel of the Lord, descending from heaven, came and rolled back the stone and sat on it. His appearance was like lightning, and his clothing white as snow. For fear of him the guards shook and became like dead men. But the angel said to the women, "Do not be afraid; I know that you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said. Come, see the place where he lay. Then go quickly and tell his disciples, 'He has been raised from the dead, and indeed he is going ahead of you to Galilee; there you will see him.' This is my message for you." So they left the tomb quickly with fear and great joy, and ran to tell his disciples. Suddenly Jesus met them and said, "Greetings!" And they came to him, took hold of his feet, and worshiped him. Then Jesus said to them, "Do not be afraid; go and tell my brothers to go to Galilee; there they will see me." (Matthew 28:1-10 NRSV)
This week in our worship at school, we spent time looking at the events of the last week of Jesus life as a Holy Week reflection, in the lead up to Easter. Sometimes Easter can become lost in the middle or end of the school holidays. However, this year as we finish school on Maundy Thursday, we can continue the Holy Week journey through the special three days to Easter. We can enter into the events that take us through, the disciples and Jesus gathering in the upper room, to the moving ceremony of Jesus washing the disciples’ feet and then sharing the bread and the wine in the last supper. We are then catapulted into the events that climax in the crucifixion, and Jesus’ burial in the tomb, which sets the stage for the Easter mystery.
We are reminded that Jesus disciples went to the tomb on the first day of the week not to celebrate but to continue their rituals and mourning. However, the events that unfolded were unprecedented and unexpected causing great confusion, panic and excitement. When they finally met Jesus again, they would never be the same. The disciples came to realise what had happened, and it meant their lives would change forever. That of course is what Easter is all about.
The risen Jesus meant the world from that day on was different. For us also, it can be a profound experience. When we meet the risen Jesus, and are blessed with a relationship with him, our lives can never be the same. Jesus rising from the dead that Easter morning, meant we now make a choice as to whether we will follow him or not. In the busyness of twenty first century life, we may be tempted to slip back into the daily routine of all we do and don’t do. We do what we think we should, do but perhaps not always what we need to do.
Easter is a chance to get excited again because, Christ is risen! Yes, Christ is risen and for us that means we have the opportunity through the love and grace of God to have eternal life. What a wonderful time Easter is and what a wonderful time it will be for us when we meet the risen Jesus face to face in his kingdom. Now that is an exciting thought.
Let us pray; Lord of all life and power, who, through the mighty resurrection of your Son, overcame the old order of sin and death to make all things new in him: grant that we, being dead to sin and alive to you in Jesus Christ, may reign with him in glory; to whom with you and the Holy Spirit be praise, honour and thanksgiving, now and for all eternity. Amen.
(Prayer from A Prayer Book for Australia, P454; Reproduced with permission)
Peace and blessings this Easter to everyone and may you continue to be excited by all it means for you.
Reverend Mark Leam
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School Life
Flourishing Futures
It was delivery day for our Temporary Junior School Village last week.
This is the first of multiple deliveries that mark the start of Project: Flourishing Futures.
Deliveries will continue over the coming days and we look forward to keeping you updated on the progress of this exciting journey.
The Junior basketball court was a hive of activity on Friday morning 22 March as Junior and Senior School entrepreneurs showcased their products at the Grand Bazaar. There was a range of products for sale including key rings, bracelets, handmade card, plants, dog treats, and human baked goods. There was a constant stream of visitors asking questions and making purchases. Our thanks to all the parents and students who dropped by.
The Grand Bazaar is a key event in St Paul’s program of Entrepreneurial activities. The objectives of the Bazaar are to practice creating an attractive stall, talking to potential customers about your product and listening to their feedback, taking payment and managing future orders. There’s also the practical transportation of goods to consider.
The next Grand Bazaar dates, times and locations are:
Want to get involved? Prompt your child to register their interest in hosting a stall by emailing Dr Stanley at [email protected] You can keep up to date on upcoming entrepreneurial events at https://thinkcie.com.au/events/
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Secondary School
Secondary School celebrates Harmony Day
Our Secondary School students came dressed in their orange accessories and commemorated our cultural diversity as we celebrated Harmony Day!
From trivia and origami to the bake sale and the tunes pumping from the Karaoke Korner at lunch, everyone had a fantastic time!
It was lovely to see our students embracing this year’s theme of “Everybody Belongs”.
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Year 10 IPE
Our Year 10 IPE students have been learning the science behind recovery, injury prevention and biomechanics. Students had the opportunity to partake in one of many recovery options that they will experience - ice baths!
Miss Litherland’s class spent time playing a high-intensity game of Fast 5 netball before braving the chilly 8-10°C ice baths kindly set-up by Mr Dunbar & Mr Radford.
All students stayed in the ice baths for an impressive 3 minutes before journaling about their experience and wondering how it could potentially benefit their recovery in netball and for physical adventures outside of the classroom.
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Basketball Success for Secondary Students
Congratulations to Secondary School students Blythe (Year 10), Holly (Year 12), Megan (Year 9), and Ingrid (Year 10) for their selection in their respective Met North Basketball teams.
Blyth, Ingrid, and Megan are headed to Cairns in May to represent the 13–17 Years Met North Team, while Holly will be in Townsville competing in the 17–19 Years Met North team.
Goodluck girls! We are immensely proud and will be cheering from home!
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Beach Volleyball Success
We’re extremely proud of the results that our St Paul’s beach volleyball teams achieved at this year’s QLD Beach Schools Cup!
The QLD Beach Schools Cup is an annual beach volleyball tournament held down at Coolangatta that sees a number of keen St Paul’s volleyball players test their ability to transfer from the court to the sand. This year, the event was held on Sunday 3rd and Monday 4th March, and a total of 10 teams with students from Years 8-12 attended. All teams represented the School exceptionally well and the tournament saw a number of exciting wins, hard fought losses and a lot of learning about the sport.
While all teams did a fantastic job, we wanted to particularly acknowledge the following teams who placed in the top 4 of their divisions:
Pairs
Year 12 boys (Andrew & Lachlan) – 2nd place in Division 2
Year 12 girls (Hannah & Serena) – 3rd place in Division 2
Year 11 boys (Alfie & Isaac) – 3rd in Division 2
Four a-side
Year 8 boys 1 (Hugh, Max, Jack & Cooper) – 4th place in Division 1
Year 8 boys 2 (Ezekiel, Jack, Henry & Neel) – 1st place in Division 1
Overall, St Paul’s finished a fantastic 17th place in the overall championship points out of a total of 55 schools. All students are to be commended on their excellent performances and a successful 2024 tournament!
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Junior School
Junior School Disco
Last Friday, our Prep to Year 6 students enjoyed a fun evening at the Junior School Easter-themed Disco. The tunes were pumping, the glow sticks were in high demand and the students danced the night away while the parents enjoyed the food trucks and social atmosphere.
Our Pre-Prep students also had their own special disco in their classroom, complete with glow sticks and Easter hats to commemorate the occasion!
Thank you to our Junior School Supporters Group for organising such a fun event for our students.
Check out the happy faces and cool dance moves that hit the dance floor.
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Harmony Day
Our Junior School students are dressed in orange shirts to celebrate Harmony Day. Each student has kindly contributed a non-perishable item, which will be donated to the Redcliffe Breakfast Club, extending a helping hand to those who are in need.
Our Junior School students are dedicated to embodying this year’s theme of “Everyone Belongs” by nurturing inclusivity, respect, and a profound sense of belonging for all.
Thank you Mrs Keyt and our Junior School Service Learning Captains for their outstanding efforts in promoting the core values of Harmony Day. We are so proud of the contributions from our Junior School students!
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International School
Farewell Vacation Program students
This week we farewell 10 Vacation Program students from Japan. They have completed their 10 weeks program in our HSP class and some of them in Year 9 class.
All students had such a wonderful time here at St Paul’s! Thank you everyone St Paul’s students, teachers and homestay families for your kind support and warm welcome.
They are going back to Japan this weekend and start their new year back in school (In Japan new school year starts April with full of Cherry blossom season).
There are lots of opportunities to meet new friends from all over the world at school! In Term 2, we will have groups of students from France (Year 10) and Thailand (Year 7,8, 9). We are looking forward to another fun term
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Library
WHAT’S BEEN HAPPENING IN THE HUB
Lego Club
We have some very excited Lego lovers at the moment. This week a very generous student donated his entire Lego collection to the Innovation Precinct!! We now have several Lego kits with instructions for students to build at our lunchtime Lego drop-in sessions. Watch this space. We will soon have Lego Kits available to take home and borrow!
Sewing & Textiles Club
Students are enjoying the challenge of making their own hand-puppets. Two Year Four students are up to their last finishing touches. Well done Zahra (4R) & Kiara (4G)
This week we also drew the names for our four Sewing machines. The 4 winners are:
Sewing Machine #1 – “Aliona” – named by Lily. Yr 7
Sewing Machine #2 – “Bob” – named by Grace. Yr 6B
Sewing Machine #3 – “Paul” – Saana. Yr 7
Sewing Machine #4 – “Debbie” – Chelsea. Yr 9
Create
This term we have focused on making products out of recycled materials. The challenge was to make something to hang in the Innovation Precinct’s Create space. Some students chose to make a drink bottle snake. While Harper (6B) worked on her own unique design a Blue Jellyfish. With the last two week of school we have been celebrating Easter by making Paper Mache Easter eggs.
Innovators & Inventors (Monday)
Danika (6G) has prototyped corporate gifts for her parent’s business. She created bibs for employees who have recently had a baby. While Isabella (6G) & Kaitlin (6R) have been creating merchandise for the next Grand Bazaar.
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General News & Notices
Attention St Paul's Community!
Brisbane City Council have contracted Brisbane Bushcare to come to St Paul’s to conduct controlled chemical spraying from Tuesday, April 2 to Friday, April 5.
Residual chemical traces may be evident for a few days and up to two weeks afterwards.
The area of the riverside zone which includes the track, path and surrounding wooded areas will be affected.
Please look for marked areas on the map provided by Brisbane City Council. To protect your health and wellbeing please avoid the vicinity during the school holidays and shortly afterwards.
Spraying also serves to support the health and vitality of our Service-Learning initiative, the Koala Corridor, as those species identified for treatment threaten the important work done by staff and students to encourage koalas and other native species back to the area.
Your safety and our environment’s health are paramount and we thank you for your cooperation.
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Sign up for DLV today!
Have you heard about Design Led Ventures (DLV)? For over 5 years, DLVs have been a beacon of innovation and creativity at St Paul's.
The way the program works sees a group of students work for 16 weeks utilising the Design Thinking Process (Engage, Ideate, Prototype) to create tangible business solutions for companies with genuine business challenges.
Last year’s DLV cohort collaborated with a little company called: Amazon (yes, that Amazon). Their mission? To tackle the challenge of processing times at Amazon’s Brisbane warehouse. With a focus on innovation, the DLV team crafted a solution centred on automation, AI, and robotics, envisioning a future where efficiency and technology work hand in hand.
In fact, the project was so successful that St Paul’s received an excellence award at the 2023 National Education Awards for best Innovation in Curriculum Design.
We’re hoping to receive an update from Amazon in the coming weeks on the progress of the DLV ideas.
DLVs are a great opportunity for students to grow their own character virtues and further engage with creative, entrepreneurial and critical thinking. If your child is interested in signing up for this year’s DLV, speak with Mr Osborne ([email protected]) or Ms Stanley ([email protected])
Hearing stories is such a great way to learn. On Friday March 15, we had our first Start-up Story session learning from a parent, Paul Gehan and founder of My Tesla Accessories.
He shared his story from when he left school and wanted to be a wool classer, to joining the military and becoming a cook and then a fitness instructor before starting My Tesla Accessories. Many valuable lessons about just starting, experimenting, setting up processes to improve visibility and efficiency and in being clear about what your goals for the business are.
We will continue to host story sharing and other entrepreneurial events. You can keep up to date and register for these at https://thinkcie.com.au/events/
We know that within the St Paul’s parent community, we have deep expertise across a range of professions, industries and entrepreneurial ventures. If you’d be open to sharing your story, we’d love to hear from you. Please email Dr Tracy Stanley on [email protected] to let her know.
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Term 1 Fees
Term 1 fees were due for payment on the first day of term, Monday 22 January 2024. If you have not made payment please do so immediately to avoid overdue fee charges. If you have any queries regarding your account please email Charyn at [email protected]
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Reminder: Keep Students at Home When Unwell
If your child is experiencing any symptoms of illness, especially those associated with COVID-19, we urge you to keep them at home. This precautionary measure is vital to safeguard the health of all students, staff, and their families.
Symptoms to watch out for include but are not limited to:
Fever
Cough
Shortness of breath
Fatigue
Loss of taste or smell
Sore throat
Body aches
By adhering to this reminder, we collectively contribute to the wellbeing of our entire school community and help prevent the further spread of illness.
Your cooperation and commitment to the health and safety of our students and staff are greatly appreciated.
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2024/2025 Term Dates
2024 TERM DATES:
Term 1: Monday 22 January to Thursday 28 March
Monday 22 January: Pre-Prep to Year 6, Years 7, 11 & 12, and New International (all day)
Tuesday 23 January: All students (Pre-Prep to Year 12 & International)
Term 2: Tuesday 16 April – Friday 14 June
Term 3: Monday 8 July – Friday 13 September
Monday 8 July: Pre-Prep only
Tuesday 9 July: Prep to Year 12
Term 4: Monday 30 September to Friday 22 November
For a more detailed look at the term dates for 2024, see HERE.
2025 TERM DATES:
Term 1: Tuesday 28 January to Friday 4 April
Tuesday 28 January: Pre-Prep to Year 6, Years 7, 11 & 12, and New International (all day)
Wednesday 29 January: All students (Pre-Prep to Year 12 & International)
Term 2: Wednesday 23 April – Friday 20 June
Term 3: Monday 15 July – Friday 19 September
Term 4: Tuesday 7 October to Friday 28 November
For a more detailed look at the term dates for 2025, see HERE.
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Have you considered becoming a Homestay Family?
For more information, please contact the Homestay Coordinator:
[email protected]
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Are your contact details up to date?
If your details have changed, please log into Parent Lounge to make necessary amendments.
It is vital that all contact details remain up to date so that we can contact you as necessary and continue providing your family with relevant information via email, phone and post.
Did you know you can report your child’s absence from School via Parent Lounge?
Parents/guardians can report their child’s absence from school via parent lounge. An email detailing the process will be sent to you in the coming days.
If you have forgotten your Parent Lounge password, you can reset this yourself via theParent Lounge login screen. If you have forgotten your Parent Lounge username, please contact the School’s reception.
Please note, if your child will be absent for three days or longer email your child’s House Leader.
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Wellbeing Centre
Careers
ST PAUL’S SCHOOL CAREERS WEBSITE
Did you know that we have a SPS Careers Website? You can find it on the School Portal or at https://www.stpaulscareers.com.au/. Check out the Important Info section that has a Calendar of Events from Universities, Defence, TAFE, Expo’s etc!
To see the latest Career Tools Newsletter click here. You can also click here to view SPS Career Tools Weekly on the SPS Careers Website.
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Supporter Groups
Past Students Supporter Group - SAVE THE DATE
The annual Back To St Paul's Reunion Day will take place on Saturday, 4 May in conjunction with Pink Day. Please save the date and follow our Facebook page for more information.
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Football Supporter Group
It has been our pleasure to continue to support girls' football at this school. We are proud to see both community growth and growth in numbers in this sport in 2024.
The thank you list is always my key priority and must begin with Brisbane Yamaha as our first ever gold sponsor!
Silver sponsor: Grydale.
Bronze sponsors: Albany Creek Physiotherapy, Ball and Doggett, Discount Chemist and Trueline.
Outstanding in effort has been our head of football rev Stephen Brown, you have made a huge impact in our sport this term and your calm considered approach is appreciated.
Thank you to our coaches John, Abby, Ella, Maddie, Phillip and Yubo. We acknowledge your efforts and are grateful for your time spent not only as coaches but as role models too.
I feel a special mention is needed for the grade 8 team who made the finials this season, whilst they might not have taken the silverware, they are to be commended in their team spirit and sportsmanship!
We look forward to the expansion of our second football pitch and the time that our teams can be reunited in one location to continue to build our community spirt in 2025.
