Revelations - St Paul's Grammar School€¦ · Revelation. Over the holidays our properties team...

RevelationsThe fortnightly newsletter for Pre-K to Year 12 families of St Paul’s

Revelations - St Paul’s Fortnightly Newsletter. Issue No. 50 1

Issue No.50 11th February 2020

From the Principal

Prior to this heavy rainfall, conversations around the school have often been reflections on the intensity of the fire season that our state and country have experienced. Nearly everyone seems to have been affected by the fires to some extent and we are all very mindful of those who have lost loved ones and property. As a community, we stand in awe of the incredible volunteers and emergency workers who have given so much of themselves for such a long period of time. Our thoughts and prayers are with all who have been part of this experience.

As we commence the year, it was wonderful to see so many parents at school attending our welcome assemblies and at the Sunset Social. I would particularly like to welcome all of the new families to our school community. We also have some new staff who we welcome to the school: Junior School• Mrs Smyth – Year 5

• Mrs Arthur – Pre Kindergarten Coordinator

• Mrs Gale – Year 6

Secondary School• Mr Storm in the TAS faculty

• Miss Bray in the PDHPE faculty

• Mrs Huston in the Language faculty

• Mrs Taylor in the English faculty

• Mrs Dunn as our new ESL teacher

One great way to get involved in the life of the school is to be part of our parent group, Friends of St Paul’s. The first meeting is the AGM and is coming up on Tuesday, 18th February at 7.30pm in the Main Administration Building (North Gate). It would be wonderful to see you there.

We are of course very proud of our outgoing Year 12 students who have achieved amazing results. We are currently about to publish our annual results brochure and Mr Mayrhofer will provide his analysis of the results later in this edition of Revelation.

Over the holidays our properties team has once again been very busy ensuring the school is looking its best as the year commences.

One of the main projects that has been completed is that every light in the school (and there are a lot of them) have been replaced with new LED lighting. This provides an excellent quality light and uses much less energy resulting in a significant

The start of the 2020 school year has been unusual. The school closure yesterday due to the impact of extensive rainfall over the weekend was not a decision taken lightly and I greatly appreciate the inconvenience this can cause. I am very pleased to welcome everyone back onto campus today.

Thank you to all those who have offered assistance to the school during this time - it is greatly appreciated. For those of our community who have been directly impacted by the floods be assured of our thoughts and prayers.

CRICOS 02267A


From the Principal Continues

reduction in electricity usage for the school.

2020 is shaping up to be an exciting year at St Paul’s. This year we will be surveying all our stakeholders to get feedback that will shape our new Strategic Plan. We will also be striving to roll out our Master Plan, which aims to provide new learning environments and facilities across the school. I am looking forward to working with you on this exciting journey.

We pray for God’s blessing on our school as we commence the year and look forward expectantly to all He will do in this place.

"For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the LORD, “plans to prosper you and not to harm you, plans to give you hope and a future." Jeremiah 29: 11

Ian Wake Principal

Year 7, 2021 Information Evening Tuesday, 3rd March at 7:00pm in the Junior School Hall. This introductory session is offered to parents of students entering the Secondary School at St Paul's in 2021. The aim is to familiarise families and give valuable insight into the transition from Junior to Secondary School. Students are encouraged to attend.

The evening will feature a brief presentation by the Principal of St Paul’s, Mr Ian Wake, and an introduction to senior staff. Dr Mary Robyn will give an overview of the IB and NESA curriculum at St Paul's, and current students will speak about their experiences at the school. There will also be the opportunity to discuss Secondary School Learning at St Paul's with Heads of Department, Heads of House and Academy Coordinators, and to ask any questions you may have.

Please contact the Office of Enrolments and Public Relations on (02) 4777 4888 if you have any queries.


From the Head of Junior School

A New School Year

I would like to welcome you all back to a new school year and hope you had a relaxing time over the break. A special welcome to all the following new students in the Junior School:

The Junior School gathers every Monday morning in the Junior School Hall at 8.40am for our assembly. All parents are welcome to attend.

Parent Information

All parents are able to access ‘Seesaw’ and find out about their child’s class routines and keep up to date with their learning. Teachers will begin posting in the next week and will also provide a helpful link to my.stpauls where additional information for parents can be found.

New families have also been notified about ‘Seesaw’ and I am sure will enjoy connecting with their child’s learning in this way. Mrs Kerry McCaffery is the ICT integrator and is available to talk with any families needing help with ‘Seesaw’.

Parents can always contact their child’s teacher via email or by contacting the Junior School Office by phone on 4777 4888 or via email [email protected]. Teachers are always willing to make a meeting time if parents have questions or concerns.

Induction Assembly

On Monday, 17th February we will be holding our Junior School Induction Assembly. At this assembly we will present badges to our Junior School Captains, Prefects, House Captains, Student Representative Council, Sport Monitors, Flag Monitors, Library Monitors and Class Captains. The ceremony will be followed by morning tea.

Kiss N Drop As we are settling into the new school year may I ask all families using Kiss N Drop to please write their surname, child’s name and class on paper to place on the dashboard of their car. This will help things flow smoothly in Kiss N Drop for all families. If you wish to park and pick up your child/ren please use the car park adjacent to the Kiss N Drop area.

Pre-K: Jacob, Chelsea, Luca, Lawrence, Rosey, Aubrey,

Adelaide, Imogen, Thomas, Mila, Arya, Joseph, Chase,

Amelia, Ivy, Briar, Patrick, Annabelle, Allen, Chase,

Zaynab, Jack, Oliver, Alexander, Zara, Mee Mee, Van,

Harper, Ridhi, Max, Edi, Spencer, Eliza, Zachary, Chase,

Harrison, Xavier, Delilah, Valentino, Robert

Kindergarten: Jacob, Ryan, Mason, Rayan, Zara,

Kaylee, Ryan, Jayden, Cooper

Year 2: Chris, Joshua

Year 3: Luella, Isaac, Yuri

Year 4: Charlie, Jacob, Jade, Arush, Jay, Emma

Year 5: Eunnu, Annika, Mason, Matthew, Nalini

Year 6: Adam, Ethan, Charlotte, Nihal, Ashton

Ian BrookerHead of Junior School

https://my.stpauls.nsw.edu.au/mailto:juniorschool%40stpauls.nsw.edu.au?subject=


From the Director of Learning Services

Congratulations to Year 12, 2019 for their Outstanding Academic Achievement

It is with great pleasure that we can begin the academic year celebrating the success of Year 12, 2019. From our graduating class of 2019 the Dux is Kirsty Lavender, achieving an ATAR of 98.70. Kirsty has been accepted to study a Bachelor of Engineering (honours), majoring in Biomedical Engineering with a Diploma of Professional Engineering Practice under a Women in IT and Engineering faculty scholarship at the University of Technology.

Combining HSC and IB scores, 14 students achieved ATARs above 90 (19%) and 37 students achieved ATARs above 80 (48%)! University and private college course offers are still being made, but feedback so far is that, as in previous years, most students were offered places in their first choice of course. We are also very pleased that a number of our students have been accepted as apprentices and are enrolled in TAFE courses whilst others take the opportunity to have a ‘gap’ year. We congratulate all of our outgoing Year 12 students and wish them the very best for the future!

Some parents have asked about the information from the school regarding HSC results release and are unaware that NESA only releases subject results to schools. Information regarding HSC scaling and ATARs is not provided to schools. To access this information St Paul’s employs a statistician who recently met with senior executive staff to confirm that 2019 results were consistent with previous years. A full outline of the HSC and IB Diploma results will be published in the annual school report later this year.

I would also like to welcome new and continuing students back to a new academic year. I encourage students and parents to continue to contact the school to discuss any questions or aspect of concern regarding academic progress. Please contact classroom teachers in the first instance if you have any enquiry about your child’s progress.

Secondary School Curriculum Contacts If you have any questions about Secondary School Curriculum please feel free to contact me, especially with regard to NESA Year 11 HSC and IB Diploma curriculum and assessment questions. Dr Mary Robyn continues to be responsible for NESA and IB MYP middle year’s curriculum and assessment, so any curricula or assessment questions for these years should be addressed to her. Dr Robyn also oversees the Secondary School Library. In the Junior School, Mrs Corinne Day as Deputy Head - Curriculum has overall responsibility for Junior School NESA and IB PYP curricula.

Mr Matthew Berg continues as the Coordinator of Learning Enrichment, answering questions regarding student inclusion and support in the Secondary School.

Secondary School Appointments

A number of appointments have been made in the Secondary School this year. Mrs Julie McDonough’s role has recently changed regarding International students. In addition to looking after homestay, her role now also includes greater responsibility for the provision of International Student pastoral and academic support.

A number of new teachers have also joined St Paul’s due to growth in Years 7-10, where the school is now four streams throughout. These teachers have all had significant teaching and/or other experience at their previous schools. Mrs Casey Taylor joins the Language and Literature faculty, Mr Nicholas Storm joins the Design faculty, Mrs Valerie Huston joins the Language

mailto:mary.robyn%40stpauls.nsw.edu.au?subject=mailto:Matthew.berg%40stpauls.nsw.edu.au?subject=


From the Director of Learning Services Continued

Mr Antony MayrhoferDirector of Learning ServicesE: [email protected]: +61 2 4776 4705

Acquisition faculty, Mrs Ruth Dunn joins the Inclusion faculty as an English as a Second Language (ESL) teacher, Mrs Amanda Brotherton joins the Sciences faculty and Miss Heather Bray joins the Physical and Health Education faculty whilst Mr Anthony Kelshaw remains on leave. Miss Kate Ridge continues a maternity leave position in this faculty whilst Mrs Patten remains on leave.

Online Classes, my.stpauls and Timetable Structure Student timetables are published on my.stpauls with class pages allowing students to engage in activities for the class. These are updated throughout the year as students commence new units of work. Parents are able to access aspects of class pages, allowing them to support student learning.

Class composition differs from year to year. Year 7 classes are all mixed ability, colour coded to enable students and teachers to distinguish between classes. In Years 8 to 10, one class has been created with students whose average academic achievement across a range of subjects in the previous year placed them at the top of their year group. Other classes in these years are of equal academic composition. These classes will be reviewed at the end of Semester One. Elective subjects, including languages other than English, are formed based on student choice. Mathematics classes are based on the specific Mathematics curriculum requirements in Years 8-10.

Year 11 and 12 classes are based on student choice within the restrictions placed by NESA or the IB.

Further information regarding Years 7 to 10 may be found at the Middle Years my.stpauls page.

Further information regarding Years 11 and 12 may be found at Senior Years my.stpauls page.

Please do not hesitate to contact me if you have any teaching or learning enquiries.

mailto:[email protected]://my.stpauls.nsw.edu.au/https://my.stpauls.nsw.edu.au/homepage/1951https://my.stpauls.nsw.edu.au/homepage/6783


From the Director of Students and Family Services

CONGRATULATIONS

Castlereagh House CaptainsAlice Wake and Holly Jayakody

Claremont House CaptainsHelen Adams and Janita Khun

Cornwallis House CaptainsSummer Robins and Carissa Monteleone

Melville House CaptainsAmaya Polutele and Ameya Deshpande

Strathdon House CaptainsSophia Lusk and Alana Muller

Wilberforce House CaptainsGracie Hasler and Hamish Fellowes

Vice Captains Daniel Tioukavkin and Gwendolyn Agahari

Captains Luis Harmata and Elliene Smith

Welcome Back Welcome back to the 2020 academic year to all our

students and their Families.Our year commenced with our annual assembly that both welcomes our new Year 7 students and inducts the Middle Years Prefects who were announced at the end of 2019. This assembly is a significant one as our prefects make public declarations in the form of oaths, about what they will do in service to St Paul’s over the next 12 months and perhaps even more importantly, the manner in which they will go about their service. I would like to congratulate the following students on their appointments:

Our new team of prefects will soon be helping our Junior School staff run the Swimming Carnival on Monday, 24th February. Our prefects always do an exceptional job of instilling plenty of enthusiasm and house spirit into the day as well as providing invaluable help in running activities such as the novelty events. The Secondary School Swimming Carnival takes place this Friday, 14th February at Oasis Swimming centre in South Windsor.

All our students have settled into the school year well from an academic perspective, with Year 7 coping particularly well to the changes associated with starting Secondary School.

However, one area that does need improvement is compliance with the school uniform.

The areas of most concern are the wearing of jewellery and coloured nail polish/false nails amongst our girls and not wearing shirts appropriately (i.e not having them tucked in) and the associated problem of not wearing a school belt for our boys.

Much of this is no doubt due to the fact that students get used to not having the restrictions of school uniform over the extended summer break. This is something that needs to be rectified immediately for all areas of uniform except the wearing of false fingernails.

I understand there is a lead time required for the removal of the nails therefore please ensure that all false fingernails are removed by the commencement of Week 5 (Monday, 24th February).

I hope all students have a great year at St Paul’s in 2020.

Philip Heath Director of Students and Family Services


Welcome to 2020!

We are looking forward to another great year in the Dance Academy with more classes and students than ever before.

In 2020, we will be running 27 class from Pre-K through to Year 12. To cater for the additional enrolments in the Dance programme we will be running extra Secondary School classes in Jazz, Hip Hop and Contemporary as well as new Teen classes in Ballet, Jazz and Lyrical for Junior students in Years 6.

For your convenience, the 2020 Dance Academy Timetable is included on the following two pages.

I am also pleased to announce that we will have a third dance studio operating to facilitate the additional classes. Over the Christmas break our grounds team worked extremely hard to transform the space. This studio is located in the Secondary School, close to The Hall.

RegistrationsThe SPGS Dance Academy online registration has now closed. If you have any queries about the Academy or are still interested in registering, then please contact Mrs Lauren Cullimore, Coordinator of Dance at [email protected].

Please note: many classes are full, however, we have some limited places in Secondary School and Junior School classes.

From the Dance Academy

Royal Academy of Dance (RAD) Ballet ProgrammeThis year we will run three RAD Ballet classes. The RAD programme will be led by Yasmin Sayah, an ex-student of the St Paul’s Dance Programme.

Yasmin has experience in coaching students in ballet and the RAD syllabus from Pre-Primary through to Advanced 2, whilst currently being enrolled in the RAD Certificate of Ballet Teaching Studies and a Bachelor of Business- Human Resource Management.

After completing all of her RAD exams with distinctions, she moved to Melbourne where she attended full-time training at the Melbourne City Ballet in 2016 and was offered a Pre-professional position in their company.

Yasmin has also competed in RAD’s most prestigious international competition, the Genée International Ballet Competition, in 2016 as a semi-finalist. Since then, Yasmin has taught many students in different styles, focussing on classical ballet, and looks forward to coaching the students throughout the RAD grades at St Paul’s Grammar School.

Lauren Cullimore Coordinator of Dance

mailto:lauren.cullimore%40stpauls.nsw.edu.au?subject=mailto:lauren.cullimore%40stpauls.nsw.edu.au?subject=


From the Dance AcademyContinued

Page 1 of 2

AM Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

PA3 High

School Dance Room

7:30-

8:30

SPGS

Jazz Company (Years 7-12) AUDITION

ONLY

SPGS Senior

Contemporary Company

(Years 10-12) AUDITION

ONLY

Momentum Ensemble


ONLY

SPGS Junior

Company (Years 3-6) AUDITION

ONLY

SPGS

Intermediate Contemporary

Company (Years 7-9) AUDITION

ONLY

PM Monday Tuesday Wednesday Thursday Friday

PA3 High

School Dance Room

3:30-

4:30pm

High School Jazz

(Years 7-12)

Musical Rehearsals

(Years 7-12)

High School Ballet

(Years 7-12)

Pre Junior Hip Hop

(K – 2)

High School Contemporary

(Years 7-12)

4:30-

5:30pm

High School Hip Hop

(Years 7-12)

High School Jazz

(Years 7-12)

5:30-

6:30pm

High School Contemporary

(Years 7-12)

High School Hip

Hop

(Years 7-12)


Junior School Dance Room

7:30-

8:30

RAD Junior

Ballet (Years 5-6)

RAD Beginner

Ballet (Pre K – Year 4)


Junior School Dance Room

3:30-

4:30pm

Petites

(Pre-K –K)

Junior

Hip hop (Years 3-6)

Pre-Junior Ballet

(Years 1-2)

Junior Ballet

(Years 3-4)

Pre-Teen Jazz &

Lyrical (Years 5)

4:30-

5:30pm

Pre-Junior

Jazz & Lyrical (Years 1-2)

Junior Jazz

& Lyrical

(Years 3-4)

Pre-Teen

Ballet (Years 5)

2020 REVISED Dance Academy Timetable: Please note: Timetable is subject to change depending on registration numbers.


From the Dance AcademyContinued

Page 2 of 2


S8 High

School Dance Room

7:30- 8:30

Studio Unavailable (Curriculum

Dance)


Dance)


Dance)

SPGS Ballet Company


ONLY


Dance)


S8 High

School Dance Room

3:30- 4:30pm RAD

Intermediate Ballet

(High School)

Drama Academy

Teen Jazz & Lyrical (Year 6)

4:30- 5:30pm

Teen Ballet

(Year 6)

2020 DRAFT Dance Academy Timetable: Please note: Timetable is subject to change depending on registration numbers.


From the Music Academy

Welcome to 2020 at St Paul's The Music Academy offers positive, rigorous and contemporary instruction and experiences in a range of instruments, musical styles, musical ensembles and speech and drama. The Music Academy has two strands – The Conservatorium Programme and The Ensembles Programme.

The Conservatorium Programme offers individual tuition to the St Paul’s community. Lessons are available on a range of instruments and voice as well as music theory, composition and speech and drama. Lessons are available for students as well as family members.

The Ensembles Programme provides an opportunity for students to choose from a range of ensembles to attend weekly rehearsals in order to develop their musicianship, performance and ensemble skills.

To find out more about the Music Academy please visit the Music Academy my.stpauls page. Here you can register for the Conservatorium Programme or the Ensembles Programme, or find out more information about our Tutors, as well as the types of ensembles available.

Cathy Jarman Coordinator of Music

Ensembles Programme

Congratulations to the 7-12 String Ensemble, The Secondary School Chamber Ensemble and The Céilí Band who performed at the Sunset Social on Friday, 31st January. Congratulations also to the various soloists who also performed. It was fantastic to see and hear such excellent music so early in the school term. Well done!

Music ensembles are commencing rehearsals at various times over the coming weeks. Please check the Music Academy Page on my.stpauls (Ensembles link) for more details.

https://my.stpauls.nsw.edu.au/homepage/1701/ https://my.stpauls.nsw.edu.au/homepage/10777/https://my.stpauls.nsw.edu.au/homepage/10777/


From the Music AcademyContinued

Conservatorium Programme Conservatorium ConcertsAnnually, the Conservatorium holds four concerts to provide an opportunity for students to perform in front of a live audience. The concerts are held in the Secondary School in our Performance Studio PA1. In 2020, the dates for these concerts will be:

Term 1 – Wednesday, 25th March (Instrumental and Speech and Drama focus)

Term 2 – Saturday, 16th May (Vocal focus)

Term 4 – Wednesday, 21st October (Instrumental and Speech and Drama focus)

Term 4 – Saturday, 7th November (Vocal focus)

Speech and Drama report by Music Academy Tutor Lyn SibleyWith great pleasure and pride I watched my students from St Pauls Grammar School participate in the Australian Speech and Communication Assoc. (ASCA) Examinations on the 9th November at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts Centre. They all excelled. Geoffrey Norris topped the marks with 94% for Senior Grade 4. Mohammad Ahmed received a High Distinction for a Senior Grade exam. Richard Norris and Daniel Schouten can now sign letters after their name now they have been awarded the Certificate of Communication.

It is always gratifying to see all the hard work my students put in over the year be awarded excellent results. Their confidence and self-esteem is always reinforced when they stand in front of an audience and give a well-presented speech or story. Not only do they give the speech but have the opportunity to speak and answer questions spontaneously about the speech and their ideas. The poetry section introduces everyone to new ideas, words and the creative thoughts of others. It is always entertaining when they present a favourite novel - talking about it and reading part of it aloud.

Congratulations to you all. Here are the results:

Junior Grade exams Diya Singh – Credit, Junior Preliminary Grade Zayn Ahmed – High Distinction, Junior Introductory Daksh Malik – Distinction, Junior IntroductoryMiley Madfouni – High Distinction, Junior Grade TwoFreya Lock – Distinction, Junior Grade TwoAddy Lock – Distinction, Junior Grade Three

Senior Grade Exams Saisha Nariani – Distinction, Senior Grade 1Martin Drayton – High Distinction, Senior Grade 2Mohammad Ahmed – High Distinction, Senior Grade 2Geoffrey Norris – High Distinction, Senior Grade 4Ammarah Ahmed – High Distinction, Senior Grade 5Richard Norris – High Distinction, Certificate of CommunicationDaniel Schouten – High Distinction, Certificate of Communication.

Piano Student Examination Results by Music Academy Tutor Phyllis Huthnance

Congratulations to the following students for impressive piano and musicianship examination results:

Marvin Madfouni – Grade 8, A+, High DistinctionMarvin Madfouni – Musicianship Grade 4, 92%Serena Madfouni – Grade 5, A+, High Distinction Serena Madfouni – Musicianship Grade 2, 100%Joel Ong – Grade 6, A, HonoursGeoffrey Norris – Grade 5, A, HonoursPaige Hawkes – Grade 2, A, HonoursRichard Norris – Grade 8, B+, Credit


From the Drama Academy

DRAMA

ACADEMY

IS LOOKING FOR SOMEONE JUST LIKE YOU….

If you love: Playing

Friendships Using your imagination

Being creative Communicating

or Just being yourself…

WE HAVE THE AFTER SCHOOL FUN ACTIVITY FOR YOU. Classes start week 3.

Please find registrations forms in my.stpauls under Co-curricular –

Drama Academy and email to [email protected] or deliver to VAPA staff room

Drama Academy TutorBronte McElreaJunior Theatricals - Pre SetBronte is currently in her third year of a Western Sydney University Bachelor degree. When she is not studying or at St Paul’s with our Pre-K and Kindergarten Junior Theatrical class, Bronte can be found working as a nanny or with children with special needs.

Bronte recently performed in the ensemble for Harvest Rain’s production of “The Wizard of Oz” at Qudos Arena

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