2022 Term 4, Week 6

The problem with NAPLAN, as I have regularly said, is not the test per say, but how the data is used. When it is used by the media and politicians to rank schools and name and shame out of a desire to lift standards, you create a culture of fear. The test has become a high-stakes event with the community thinking that the outcomes are the measure of how good their school is. Schools and teachers respond in fear and focus all their efforts on test preparation to the detriment of other vital curriculum.

Fortunately, many in the wider community have started to realise the detrimental side of NAPLAN and have begun to place it in proper context.

These things being said, we did receive the School’s NAPLAN results last week. Individual results give you as a parent a reasonable indication of how your son or daughter is performing against benchmarks (if they are good at sitting a test/exam, which my daughter wasn’t). The School results give us a good indication of how our teaching practice is going and what adjustments we need to make for particular cohorts.

I am really pleased to say that all grade levels, Years 3, 5, 7 and 9, performed higher to significantly higher than the State and National average. But then you would hope that was the case. St Paul’s School’s results over the years have been consistently higher than the benchmarks.

The Year 3 cohort performed significantly higher than the State and National average this year, up to 16% higher.

Last week, there was quite a bit of media commentary around the results for Year 9 boys. On the National level, the Year 9 boys performed a year behind the girls. I was invited to make some comments on this matter on ABC Radio. I am pleased to confirm that we are not seeing that same trend at St Paul’s School. The boys are on a par with the girls, performing above to well above the State and National average (3 to 7% above).

The Year 9 boys’ weakest area was writing, particularly spelling, grammar and punctuation. This might come as no surprise to you as a parent. The advent of social media and technology has brought with it a whole new language and conventions. Year 9 boys are particularly engrossed in this form of communication, BTW.

What can you do as parents to partner with us in the education of your child/ren?

I strongly encourage you to model to your son and daughter the behaviours and traits you would like to see. Be the very best version of yourself. Read yourself. Read to your children. Eat together and converse.

We will continue to work hard and improve what we do so your children can achieve great things.

The weather was kind for the first four days, however, turned nasty on the Thursday and both camps were disrupted by a storm cell that came through late in the afternoon. The programs were not disrupted overly and contingency plans were put in place and the programs were able to run without change.

The year 8 students travelled to the Noosa hinterland for their four-day camp experience. This is the second year our 8s have used this venue and provider. The students were hosted by QCCC at a picturesque campus just outside Tewantin. The program involved students learning bush survival skills, taking on a number of challenging problem-solving activities and gaining a richer understanding of indigenous culture through presentations from Indigenous Education organisation, Tribalink.

Students camped out across the week, however, the storms on Thursday saw all groups battening down in large undercover areas for the night. Each group was responsible for maintaining their campsite and preparing all their meals. Night time meals were cooked on an open campfire which students built and lit using the skills they had learnt throughout the day. Groups also learnt how to construct paperbark shelters, navigate using a variety of traditional techniques and identify bush tucker. On the final night, the students experienced a traditional First Nations dance presentation.

The camp was a great learning experience for all our year 8s and across the week each group grew in responsibility and became highly effective functioning teams.

The Year Ten cohort, for their camp, travelled to Imbil for their Rite of Passage Outdoor Experience. The camp is a four-day challenge that is organized along House lines. Each House group is divided into two, thereby creating ten camp groups in total. These ten groups work an individual program comprised of hiking, canoeing and mountain biking. For the first two days of the camp each group camps out as an individual unit; they then all traverse back to a central camp site at Stirling’s Crossing, where all groups spend the final night of the camp. This final evening sees the entire year level come together to share their experiences and the challenges of their individual programs as they enjoy a BBQ meal together. All groups then take part in a Rite of Passage ceremony, which is the culmination of their four-day experience. The Rite of Passage Ceremony is led by Reverend Mark and is a highly symbolic ceremony which is always well received by the students. It marks their transition into the final two years of their schooling and their important role as student leaders at St Paul’s.

Students spend the final morning of camp in quiet, individual reflection where they make a plan for themselves in terms of moving forward in their learning journey over the next two years. The camp finishes with a group challenge where each group performs their team war cry, and then completes across a range of camp skills set into a relay event which identifies the most efficient camp group within the year level.

Both camps were highly successful and our students appreciated the time away from the normal weekly routine. It provides an opportunity to spend time away from technology and provides a space where students can share meaningful learning experiences and be responsible for their own wellbeing. They thrive in these circumstances and learn tremendously about themselves and their fellow students.

Wing Yee (Joey) WONG was a student at St Paul’s School from 2017 until she graduated from Year 12 in 2020.  Joey is from Hong Kong and arrived at SPS with a high level of English language which meant she went straight into the main school.  During her time in SPS her main goal was to become a more independent young woman and gain more self confidence especially when speaking and interacting with a wide range of  people. She certainly got added help towards this goal by being selected as the Executive Captain International in her final year.

In the Senior School, her academic load included Biology, Chemistry, Psychology, Math Methods and English as an Additional Language (EAL).  Not surprisingly, her further studies are also closely aligned with science.  She is currently studying Biomedical Science at the University of Queensland.

She has some interesting memories of her SPS teachers.  One day, during a Psychology class, Mr Hylton was demonstrating a remote controlled drone when suddenly he lost control of it and it got stuck in his hair!  Ouch!  Joey and Beatrice stepped in had to cut some of his hair off to get the drone free!

She recalls one student really testing Mrs Power’s patience in her EAL classes because of another student, Alfred, who Joey says was always talking and making ‘annoyng comments’.

In general, Joey has fond memories of eveerything about her time at St Paul’s School.  She loved her House, Scudo, and Mrs Hughes. She loved the fun,laughter and friendship of lunchtimes – especially with Michaelyn – who, Joey says, without fail, managed to spill the whole sachet of soy sauce all over herself EVERY day! She is still in contact with a number of her school friends.

Being away from home is always difficult but Joey says her homestay families were all brilliant. She is still in pretty regular contact with Helen, Rosie and Chris and remembers Lily and Paul warmly, too.

Fitting in to life in her new environment was helped with both the support of her teachers, everyone in the International School and her homestay families.  However, one thing all these people forgot to tell her was to touch on AND off the bus with her Go Card!  She forgot to do this often – rather absentmindedly – and every time got such a shock when the bus drivers yelled at her about it.

Even though this is only a small and rather unimportant memory, and the “yelling” was mostly just so the driver could be heard over the racket of all the other students on the bus, she reflects that it is something funny she will always remember about her time at St Paul’s School!

This session will examine what we currently know about the use of e-cigarettes and vaping amongst Australian school-based young people. This is an area that is constantly changing and parents attempting to make sense of the information provided by both the ‘pro-vaping’ and ‘anti-vaping’ lobbies may find it extremely difficult to navigate.

Date:  Monday, 14 November 2022

Time: 7.00 – 8.30pm (AEDT)

Cost:  $27.50 + Booking Fee

For further information and to register please click here

Michelle Mitchell is an award-winning speaker, and bestselling parenting author. She has been termed ‘the teenage expert’ by the media and is sought after for her compassionate and grounded advice for parenting tweens and teens.

We have a membership with Parenting Ideas, one of Australia’s most trusted sources of parenting education and support. As part of this membership, all the parents and carers in our community can attend this webinar at no cost.

Learn more about the webinar and how to watch it here.

Girls TAS, Term 1, 2023

Sign on now for Girls TAS tennis in Term 1 2023.  All players receive a free training shirt courtesy of the Tennis Supporters’ Group (select your size on the sign on form).

Supporters’ Group Committee 2023

We’re pleased to announce the following Office Bearers were elected at the AGM held on Tuesday 11 October 2022:

President – Debbie Burches

Secretary – Kelly Spencer

Treasurer – Tanya Donaldson

The committee would like to say a huge thank you to outgoing Treasurer Steve Weller for his commitment and support as Treasurer for the past two years. Steve is continuing to support the TSG as a committee member in 2023.

The TSG is always keen to welcome new members. Join us to make new friends and help us find ways to support, improve and grow the tennis program for players and families.  It’s not a big commitment, we usually have 4-6 meetings per year (held online so you can join in from the comfort of home). To express interest for next year, contact Kelly Spencer, TSG Secretary on [email protected]

Next TSG Meeting – Tuesday 31 January, 7.30pm (online)

Join us for this online meeting to kick off plans for 2023.  New faces always welcome!  Email [email protected] to receive the meeting link.

 TSG Facebook Page

Don’t forget to follow our TSG Facebook page for photos and videos from match days and training sessions and information on upcoming events.