What an inspiring keynote from Dr Jordan Nguyen at last week’s special event. I loved his catch cry, “One life, improve many.” Jordan is the epitome of a student St Paul’s School seeks to grow: a resilient global citizen, who is an innovative thinker, with a heart for servant leadership.
Jordan, along with the Deputy Premier, was here to “open” our new Innovation Precinct (even though we weren’t able to). Before the event in the Walker Centre, I took Jordan for a walk through the new building. He commented, “I’ve opened a lot of innovation centres in schools, some named for me, but I’ve never seen anything like that building.”
While it has been much delayed, I am now quite confident (not quite 100%!) that we can hold an “Open Building Event” on Monday 13 March 2023. Sippers will be reopened and serving free coffee for staff and parents until midday. If you would like to come and see the building, I invite you to drop in anytime between 8.00am and 12.00 midday.
The building is a showcase of the unique way of teaching we have developed at St Paul’s School, Realms of Thinking. You will understand what I mean as soon as you walk into the entrance foyer. Thank you to Franz Casablanca, husband of Erin Casablanca, for telling our story in such a unique way.
The next step in our strategic journey is to change the way we report to you how your child is developing not only academically, but also the vital skills and dispositions they need to thrive when they leave School. If we say we value creativity (and character) we should be assessing and reporting on those things.
With the support of the University of Melbourne, we have found a way to measure the skills and dispositions that are Realms of Thinking that is both valid and reliable. From the second half of next year, we intend on introducing a new reporting system: a learner profile. More about this to come.
Dr Paul Browning
Headmaster
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Dr Jordan Nguyen
We were fortunate to recently have internationally acclaimed author, inventor, engineer and innovator, Dr Jordan Nguyen, visit the school. Jordan spoke about how he gets inspired and what challenges/opportunities will emerge for St Paul’s students in a rapidly-changing future.
Jordan also sat down for a conversation with our Headmaster, Dr Paul Browning, to discuss the future of education, human creativity, and the soon-to-be-opened St Paul’s School Innovation Precinct.
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Faith & Community
From the Executive Director of Faith & Community
Parenting is sometimes difficult, there is no doubt about that. However, let’s remember that sometimes adolescence can be really tough too. In an episode of SchoolTV which was published early last year (you can still find it in the archive on our school website here), Dr Michael Carr-Gregg reminds us of the extraordinary changes that children undergo as they transition to become adults.
It’s a process that may begin at 10 years and may not be completed until the age of 24. The biological growth and development during this stage of life is obvious; less obvious are the psychological and social transformation that is also occurring – mostly inside your child’s still-developing brain. This is as it has always been. However, in some ways I would suggest that it’s more difficult to be a teenager growing up in Australia in 2023 than it has ever been. Let me explain.
The evidence suggests that our young people are facing extraordinarily high levels of mental health concerns. The World Health Organisation (2020) reported that “mental health conditions account for 16% of the global burden of disease and injury in people aged 10-19 years”. In some ongoing research being conducted by the Black Dog Institute in Australia (in which a number of our students are participating), 31.6% of students in Year 8 indicated that they experience “significant psychological distress”, with 18.6% showing severe symptoms of anxiety and 15.1% severe symptoms of depression. Why is this so?
My research has led me to the conclusion that young people growing up in the early 21st century are subject to a never-seen-before combination of stressors, as summarised in this graphic –
I ‘borrowed’ the three stressors on the left of the graphic from Tom Friedman’s book, “Thank you for being late: An Optimist’s Guide to Thriving in the Age of Accelerations”. There seems to be no doubt that these three factors are creating huge uncertainty in the minds of young people, and the changes that they will bring are occurring at an accelerating rate.
The impact of the COVID-19 pandemic is clear to most of us; however, some of the psychological impacts of months of lock-downs and isolation are only just becoming evident.
The final two stressors, “telos-crisis” and the loss of a sense of community, are the domains in which I think we, as school and parents working together, can be of most help to young people who are finding the adolescent years especially challenging.
As an Anglican School, we are in some ways counter-cultural. Recent census data shows that Australian society is becoming more secular. Indeed, Christianity has been replaced as the dominant worldview in most Western societies over the past two or three centuries. Now, other worldviews dominate, most of which have excluded transcendence, eternal hope and everlasting virtues. This situation was described by David Brooks (2019) as a “telos-crisis” (p. 30), where telos refers to having a moral purpose or ultimate aim. I think it is really important that, as parents and as a school, we collaborate on helping our children to grow up with a strong moral, ethical and spiritual framework, so they are clear about the purpose of their lives and have that “inner compass” to give their lives direction.
In a book called “Tribe” (2016), Sebastian Junger described another stressor when he proposed that “we have lost our sense of community” (p. 108). Junger went on to suggest that the chronic loneliness experienced by many moderns in Western societies may be contributing to “some of the highest rates of depression, schizophrenia, poor health and anxiety in history” (p. 18). While we cannot, perhaps, shield all our children from mental health problems, we can offer the support of a community that is bigger than just the family. St Paul’s is a community – of children, parents, past-students and staff. ‘Community’ is one of our core values (along with ‘Faith’ and ‘Learning’). May I encourage you to become active members of the community, as much as you possibly can? It might be by becoming more engaged with your child’s class or Tutor Groups activities, or it could be by encouraging your child(ren) to participate in some of our wide variety of extracurricular activities (and coming along to support your kids, while also getting to know other parents).
To finish back where I began, parenting can sometimes be difficult, but in community we can help one another – especially in the hard times.
My wife Melissa and I have three wonderful children. They are active and bright and seem to be doing well at school.
But I have one big issue and bug-bear. Screens!
When things are quiet in the house, I’m pretty sure I know why…the kids are on that passive device again.
It seems like I’m constantly fending off requests for screens or asking them to get off the sneaky screen that has magically materialised in their bedroom.
It can feel like a losing battle.
Time with family is fleeting enough with my own business, and screens don’t help the situation. In fact, screens are one of the biggest reasons we disconnect from family. The irony is thick, because the online world was always meant to connect us. But we know better now!
What to do? That is the question.
How do we take back some agency and restore lost family engagement if we have allowed screen culture to become rampant in our homes?
Here are just a few screen hacks to help reconnect family time if you feel it has slipped a little.
Take Charge: Setting some sensible boundaries around screen time and usage is the first step. In my house, the children can only use screens during weekdays for school related work. The weekends are for screen play. That’s a hard-line to draw. But it’s clear and our children understand it. Well, mostly!
No Screens in Bedrooms: This is a big one. Bedrooms are for sleeping. Devices are placed in the loungeroom to charge overnight. Children (including teenagers) need between 8-9 hours of sleep to function well at school. Besides, after 9pm young minds get tired and find it hard to make rational decisions, the emotions kick in. That’s not a good recipe for unvetted communication at night-time behind closed doors. I’ve found that devices in bedrooms as one of the biggest negative contributors to academic (and family) engagement.
Dinner Time is for Family: When we eat together, we look at each other. We even talk to each other. It’s rude and anti-social to have phones at the table. My children now pick me up on this if I quickly look at my phone at the table…good for them.
Limit the Time: On the weekend, when the children get their ‘fun’ screen-time we still set a limit. We live in a world that likes to binge. But binging on anything for too long isn’t healthy. We desire our children to develop prudence and moderation. To be creative, tactile and physically active on the weekends. We give our kids a total of four hours of screen time over the weekend for them to manage.
Family Discussion about Screens: We try to talk about screen rules as a family. It’s a conversation! We give the children an opportunity to let us know how they are going on screens. It can descend into them asking for more and claiming we are too strict. But we allow them to voice their feelings and discuss our reasons with them. Sometimes, we tweak the rules and give them more liberty. They need some agency in this topic as it directly impacts them.
I know families approach this issue in different ways. Each family will have differing degrees of comfort around screen time. I’m certainly not claiming our way is best. We certainly haven’t cracked the code and won the victory in this space. It’s an ongoing battle.
However, the underlining principle of our family’s screen boundaries is simple: We want to control screens for our family, not allow screens to control our family.
Time is precious. So are our families.
Taking back control to repair or foster more family engagement is always a good work.
Please use the St Paul’s Happy Families link here to access another excellent article about this important topic.
May your family be richly blessed,
Head of Family Engagement
Rev. Stephen Brown
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Secondary School
Year 7
We had visiting Archaeologist, Ceda Byrne, from the University of NSW on campus last Friday to talk to the Year 7’s.
His discussion covered what is considered as an artefact, how Archaeology can be applied to the interconnected world of the 21st Century, and what evidence we have of human migration and the earliest civilisations.
He brought some casts of significant archaeological findings to share with the students, such as an early hand axe dating to over 20,000 years ago, a replica of Australopithecus Africanus’ skull and that of Homo Erectus, our earliest known bipedal ancestor, the first one who walked upright on two legs.
Our students and teachers had an incredibly valuable learning experience, and we look forward to having Cedar return next year.
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Assembly
During this week's assembly we recognised those students who were successful in making the Firsts teams for Term 1 TAS sport. Well done to all of them and we wish you great success for the season ahead.
We also acknowledged the students who have been members of the St Paul’s community for 13 years, having started in Prep and now reaching Year 12.
There was also some exceptional bravery demonstrated from our House Captains who shared some of their thoughts for the year ahead while tackling a chilli challenge!
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Broad-brimmed Hats
This year in the Secondary School at St Paul’s we are making a concerted effort to promote the wearing of broad-brimmed hats, rather than caps, and the Student Leaders have been showing the way.
Although the wearing of broad-brimmed hats is not compulsory, the hats obviously offer a much higher level of sun-safety than caps do. This was our prime reason for making the change; however, I think you’ll agree that the hats also look a lot smarter.
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Junior School
Year 3 Excursion
Last week our Year 3 Students went on an excursion to the Ipswich Art Gallery and Ipswich Library.
Students explored the Wind Tubes exhibition – a hands-on experience that challenges you to make a flying creation out of everyday materials and launch it into large, clear vertical tubes of moving air. It’s a playful way to explore the effect that moving air has on objects.
The Year 3 students are studying Influence and Impact in IST and this was a great way to explore the influence and impact wind can have on various objects.
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Year 1 and Year 2
In IST our Year 1 and Year 2 students engaged their Mindset of playfulness, to welcome Larrikin Puppets.
They enjoyed hearing about how puppeteers perform, the different types of puppets and how puppets can be made. Students were then able to pose meaningful questions to the puppeteers. We loved watching the students fill the Sutton Theatre with laughter and joy.
The smiles say it all!
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International School
Geckoes Wildlife
This week some of our Vacation Program students got to meet some special Aussie Animals, when Martin from Geckoes Wildlife visited on Tuesday!
The students learnt about pythons, turtles, snakes, lizards, possums, owls, and special guest Bumpy the Wombat! We wish the students returning home next week a safe trip home, and we hope you leave with great memories of your time at St Paul’s School.
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Library
BEYOND SUPERHUMAN
On the 13th of February it was incredible to hear Dr Jordan Nguyen speak as part of the opening of the Innovation Precinct. Dr Nguyen’s presentation on advanced technology and the positive impact it can have on the world and people’s lives was inspiring and exciting.
Dr Nguyen left the School with four signed copies of his book, A Human’s Guide to the Future. Students can borrow these from the Secondary Library. The ebook is also available from the Library’s ebook platform.
Students might also like to watch Dr Jordan Nguyen’s documentaries, available through Clickview, or learn more about the technology and innovations he is working on. Students can find these links and more on artificial intelligence and robotics on the Beyond Superhuman LibPath.
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General News & Notices
NAPLAN 2023
Students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will participate in the National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN).
Years 3 & 5 will undertake the tests on 15, 16, 17 & 18 March as previously advised through Junior School communications.
Years 7 & 9 will undertake the tests on Wednesday 15 & Thursday 16 March in the Walker Centre.
NAPLAN involves tests in Reading, Writing, Language Conventions (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and Numeracy. This year, we will once again deliver NAPLAN in an online environment. To help prepare students, our school has undertaken a practice test in the online environment, and students can access the NAPLAN Online Public Demonstration site to further familiarise themselves with the online delivery mode.
It is important to note that NAPLAN is not testing content. Therefore, beyond ensuring that students are familiar with the test formats, it is not something that requires extensive preparation. Teachers will have explained the conditions of the tests and they will have provided students with opportunities to experience these.
Parents can support their children by encouraging them to have a good night’s sleep and to eat a healthy breakfast. Checking that students have the appropriate equipment for each test will also be helpful. Parents can talk about the test in a positive way and they should consider it as an activity within students’ normal learning programs. NAPLAN results provide parents and schools with an understanding of how students are performing at the time of the tests and are not intended to replace the extensive, ongoing assessments made by teachers about each students’ performance.
The NAPLAN website provides useful information and answers to “Frequently Asked Questions” about:
By now parents of students in Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 will have received an email outlining specific details about the testing programs.
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Cyber Safety Information Session for Parents
Protecting children in their digital worlds is an ever-evolving task for Australian families. Now more than ever parents are looking for guidance in how to manage screen time and navigate the world of games and social media.
We are therefore pleased to help our parent community by offering a crucial and engaging education session with ySafe, Australia’s leading provider of cyber safety education. This practical, strategy-rich session will cover the most important points that all families need to know about online safety, covering key information about social media and gaming, screen time recommendations and step-by-step instructions on how to set up a cyber safe home for children of all ages.
If you’ve ever struggled with getting your children off their games and into bed, worried about the content of the games that they are playing or felt concerned that your child was spending too much time in the digital world, this workshop is for you!
This online session will be held on Wednesday 1st March between 5.00pm – 6.00pm
Congratulations to Skye & Emelia Winfield who were chosen to represent the Under 12’s Queensland Indoor Netball team to play at Nationals in Melbourne.
There were 8 teams in the competition with Skye playing Goal Shooter (GS) and Emelia as Goal Defence (GD) for the Queensland Blaze team over the 7-day carnival. Their team came runners up by a narrow margin to the other Queensland team in the 6 a side game and were undefeated champions in the 7 a side competition! Skye was awarded 3rd best player of the tournament and was named to the Australian All Stars team.
The St Paul’s community is very proud of your achievements, and we can’t wait to hear about your next Indoor Netball event.
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Madie Rand
Congratulations to Madie Rand on her recent success in Hervey Bay at the QLD School Sport State Triathlon titles.
Madie raced in the individual event finished in 6th place. Her amazing achievement has earnt her selection in the QLD State Team to contest the National Titles in Tasmania in March.
The St Paul’s community is so proud of your grit, determination and success and wish you all the best for March, Madie!
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Apology
On Friday, 17 February afternoon a number of fee reminder statements were emailed to families in error.
If you received one of these and have already paid your Term 1 fee account or made a payment arrangement, we ask that you please ignore this email.
We sincerely apologise for any distress this has caused.
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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.
This change is another improvement in the School’s approach towards child protection as it adds a level of security and authentication to child absences from school. If you have any questions please contact the Risk and Compliance Officer, Mark Barratt ([email protected]).
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
Counselling
We’re excited to introduce our new School Counsellors: Ms. Morrison, Ms Bertwistle, and Mr Adams. They bring a wealth of experience and are dedicated to providing outstanding support to our students.
If you’re in Years 10 – 12 and would like to schedule a counselling session, you can book an appointment by contacting Mrs Harding at [email protected].
Hi from Ms Morrison!
Given that I am brand new to the St Paul’s community, I would like to take the opportunity to say hello and introduce myself. I’m a registered Clinical Psychologist and have worked predominantly in Queensland Health with Children’s Health Queensland. I work with young people and their families and have experience treating an array of mental health presentations. I’m a big believer in protecting and looking after mental health in order to build a meaningful life, where you can make the most of opportunities, have positive relationships with others, and most importantly like the person that you are! Outside of the psychology world, I love camping, being at the beach, hanging out with my big Golden Retriever, and of course cheering on the Brisbane Lions at the Gabba. I’m still finding my way around campus, so please forgive me as I will likely need some help to learn all the buildings. But please don’t hesitate to reach out for support. I am very happy to be a part of the wonderful counselling team at St Paul’s School.
Hello from Ms Bertwistle! (Wed & Friday Y10-12)
So lovely to be part of this wonderful community! I am slowly getting to know some faces and my way around the beautiful grounds. Feel free to come and say hello if you see me, I would love to meet you.
A little about me, I am a registered counsellor and run my own private counselling practice. My background is primarily working with at risk young people, and I have spent many years working with homeless young people and their families within a residential setting. It is the greatest privilege to walk with someone as they share their story. To work together to identify ways to navigate this life with all of its ups and downs. Prioritizing wellbeing and providing space for each person to seek out a full, rich and meaningful life.
I have two amazing children who are now young adults, and we adore our little dog, Maverick! I live locally and love being out and about with my family and friends. I treasure people and love nothing more than good quality conversation and sharing the journey with others. Thanks for the warm smiles and welcome and I look forward to being part of the amazing wellbeing team here at St Pauls.
Hi all from Mr Adams!
I am Ross Adams and I have done part time work in the counselling centre at St Paul’s since mid-2020. I have thoroughly enjoyed working here and being part of the team here with the other counsellors and the House Leaders.
My background with St Paul’s actually goes back to 1968 when I started as a student here in Grade 8 and I did Senior in 1972 which was the last year of a completely external exam process for school leaving.
My history in counselling is that I am a Clinical Family Therapist and have been involved in School Counselling since 1984 with the Department of Education in schools mainly on the Redcliffe Peninsula and surrounding areas.
Coming back to St Paul’s has given me an opportunity to witness many wonderful changes in how students are supported and how staff work together for their wellbeing.
Outside of work I am involved in Veterans Cricket and play throughout our season in the middle of the year.
I look forward to more wonderful experiences in my work here at St Pauls in this coming year and to be part of a great counselling staff, well supported by our wonderful Mrs Harding on the front desk.
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.
Congratulations to Millicent Griffiths (class of 2014) who was recently named as one of the top 30 interior designers in Australia under 30 years of age by the Australian Design Review. The 30UNDER30 awards celebrates young and talented Australians working across the design and architecture industry.
Millicent has been working in the Architecture/Interior Design team at Arkhefield Architects where she works with clients across a variety of sectors including residential, multi-residential, hospitality, workplace, retail and way-finding.
Well done Millicent on your outstanding achievement! We look forward to what the future holds for you in the architecture and design industry.
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Kyffin Williams
Congratulations to past student Kyffin Williams (class of 2020) for his recent outstanding academic achievements at Queensland University of Technology.
Kyffin is studying a dual degree in Behavioural Science (Psychology) and Business (Economics) and was recently named to the Dean’s List for achieving a 7 GPA in his Business and Economics study in Semester Two, 2022. He also recently completed an internship at Boeing furthering his skills in economics, strategy, people skills, software, analysis, finance and behavioural management.
Well done Kyffin on your outstanding achievement. We wish you all the best for the reminder of your studies.
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Supporter Groups
Parent Supports Group
An Education Worth Having.
At St Paul’s we do things differently. Realms of Thinking and Way of Being teach students to be creative innovators with a heart to lift others up and change the world for the better.
‘An Education Worth Having’ is an interactive introduction to the ways St Paul’s is leading education in the 21st century.
All parents are invited to come and experience the brand-new Innovation Precinct and the St Paul’s School educational model.
The Music Supporters Group (MSG) is one of the sub-groups of the St Paul's School Supporters’ Association. We are a committed group of enthusiastic parents who help to promote the development of music within the school. The MSG meets on the first Monday of each month, during term time, in the Music Centre at 6:30pm (refer to School Calendar).
The MSG supports the St Paul’s School Music program through fundraising and provides support to the many activities necessary for the development and implementation of a successful music program. Our work has a direct benefit to all students in the program from beginners to advanced students.
Membership in this group enables parents to be more actively involved in music within the school with extra advantages, such as:
Providing a clearer understanding of the learning environment and Music Department processes
Knowledge is shared and decisions are owned collaboratively through discussion
The opportunity to put ideas forward and discuss new initiatives. Innovation is encouraged!
Meeting with a group of like-minded people to share ideas and socialise
You are hereby given notice of the Music Supporters Group Annual General Meeting (AGM) will be held on Monday 8th March 2021 at 6.30pm in the Music Department. Please find the official notice and nomination form for executive and committee member positions HERE.
To ensure the Music Supporters Group continues to support the music department we encourage all families to play their part moving forward. To achieve this we need voices from across all year levels, so please accept our invitation to become involved. There are many ways in which you can become involved:
Participate at MSG meetings (held 1st Monday of each month during term time)
2. Sign up to volunteer at Music events like Music in the Dark and Con Brio
3. Sign up to receive the MSG meeting minutes to be kept informed
We understand that attending meetings is not possible for everyone so I ask that you support the team in other ways, like helping out at events when we send out a call for extra volunteer support. This is especially the case for Music in the Dark and Con Brio.
If you have any queries or would like to know more, please don’t hesitate to make contact: [email protected]
Dr Paul Browning
