Dear Families,

Father’s Day

I hope all our St Paul’s dads had a wonderful Father’s Day yesterday. Whether it was breakfast prepared by the kids, a lunch out somewhere, or a day visiting family, I sincerely hope everyone had a lovely day in the spectacular sunshine. 

We’ve had a great week celebrating our dads, starting off with our very successful Father’s Day breakfast earlier in the week. Thanks so much to all families for coming and celebrating yet another wonderful Father’s Day with us! The breakfast was, as always, a great opportunity to get together and socialise . The school hall was buzzing with dads and kids enjoying the morning together. A very big thank you to Kelly Swanson, Dean Salomone, Rob Esposto, and the P&F team who organised and cooked brekky for everyone. It’s an enormous effort and the breakfast was a great success. 

The Father’s Day stall on Friday (always a favourite, I’m sure) had lots of wonderful goodies for the children to buy. I’m sure plenty of mugs, glasses and other goodies were opened up on Sunday morning to great delight. Thank you to Vanessa Bevaqua and the P&F team for organising and running the stall.

And finally, the success of Saturday’s annual St Peter’s v St Paul’s Dads Football match! Centenary Park was packed with families from both school communities enjoying the day and watching a very entertaining match of footy. Forgive me as I channel my inner Gerard Wheateley…St Paul’s were on from the start, looking faster and slicker than their opponents. Clean possessions through the middle and a formidable forward line gave us an early lead, which was maintained for the entire day. The defensive backline let nothing through as the dads laid a few great tackles. Congratulations to the 2023 dads footy team! I know victory has been a long time coming and the months of training have really paid off. I’m sure celebrations kicked on. Let’s hope the family freezers haven’t run out of ice nursing all those sore bodies! A very big thank you to Danny Maher who, not only coached the winning team, but has also been integral in coordinating with the P&F our successful breakfast.

It’s in weeks like these that we are reminded of what a vibrant, close-knit community we have here at St Paul’s.

Parking in Higgins Rd

We have received complaints from neighbours in Higgins Rd, regarding drivers opening and closing their doors carelessly, resulting in some scratches and paint damage to neighbours vehicles.  There was a blue car that has swiped a white car this morning with no note left (the owner has asked us to contact families and urge the driver to please leave your details if your car was involved this morning).  We plead with all drivers to take care of pedestrians and other cars at pickup and drop off times.

Footy Day - last day of term 15 September

Don't forget to wear your footy colours on the last day of term - and remember it's a 2.30pm finish.

Class Awards

St Paul’s Production 

Each year, St Paul’s puts on a whole school event that celebrates the Arts. Last year we had an incredible Art Festival. This year, we have a dance production that will take place in Term 4. Students will be taking dance lessons by “Stomp” in preparation. The venue is yet to be confirmed but please lock in Thursday 23 November into your calendars.

Grandparents Day 

Another date for the calendar - Friday 20 October. More details about the day will be provided early in Term 4.

MACSSIS Survey Reminder

Last week each family was sent an email with a link and their own unique PIN to complete the MACSSIS survey. This survey is an important way for the school to gather perception data about what different people in our school community think and feel about their learning environment. This feedback is of vital importance as we use the information to inform our school improvement cycle. 

We kindly ask that you please take some time to complete this survey. It is open until 15th September, the last day of Term 3, and should only take about 10 - 15 minutes to complete. We are very grateful for your participation.    

Term 4 School Closure Days:

Monday 6 November - Report Writing Day

Tuesday 7 November - Melbourne Cup day

Friday 1 December - 2024 Planning

Final Day Year 6 - Thursday 14 December 3:30 finish (Graduation to follow)

Final Day Prep to Year 5 - Friday 15 December 3:30 finish

Staff Final day - Monday 18 December

Lost Property

There is quite a pile of unnamed uniform items - please come and check lost property in the junior building and outside the uniform shop before the end of term!

This is the final newsletter for Term 3 but we will send more end-of-term information next week.

Kind regards,

Freda