Year 10 2021

Mr Murray works with Year 10 as they construct their FlipGrid presentation. Year 10 students have been considering how an understanding of the Laws of Physics can help to improve our lives. Some of our students have been modelling optical devices, including an eye and a refracting telescope to observe the formation of images in those models. Students used convex lenses to form inverted, reduced images of the Harbour on a screen at the back of the eye model. They also used two convex lenses to model a refracting telescope observing inverted images.

Thanks to COVID and Sydney lockdown, we were back into Home Based Learning mode for all of term 3 and the first 4 four weeks of term 4, 2021. It made for quality photos a challenge - but the C23 boys love a challenge and came through with the goods on at least these occasions. Check 'em out below.

Jersey Day is the perfect opportunity to start a conversation with your loved ones about organ donation.  Organ donation can save the lives of many people.  Around 1,650 Australian are currently waitlisted for a transplant. St Paul's staff joined in the "Pass it on" challenge to raise awareness for this important cause as you can see in this video.

Year 10 got involved as well. They popped on their favourite jersey, snapped a selfie, wore it to classes, and Mr Rowse did the rest.

Stage 5 Industrial Technology Timber students were provided a design challenge based around repurposing timber. This timber design challenge allowed them to engage in problem solving, critical thinking, resources management and the opportunity to participate in hours of outdoor practical timber activities over a 2-week period.

Task Option 1:

Make a ‘Bush Chair / Stick Furniture” - using any fallen branches, sticks, logs or recycled scrap timber to which you may have access. Grab some nails, screws, tape or string and create a piece of bush furniture that you can sit on…and prove it.

Task Option 2:

Make something of your choice using recycled timber using the tools and equipment you have available.

Many thanks go to Mr Henry Chapman for his creative ideas and for continuing to engage the students in a mixture of theory-based tasks as well as providing the opportunity to do something a little more creative utilising their practical skills during Home Based Learning. Here are the results from some of our Year 10 Industrial Technology Timber students.

It was a fantastic day and I have already had contact with one of the chefs who has agreed to come and run a workshop at St Pauls in the future,

‘On Thursday 10th June a group of fifteen Year 10 Food Technology students went to Brookvale TAFE to attend an event called ‘Shaping the Future Through Food’.  During the day the students were instructed by Giovanni Pilu (the owner of Pilu at Freshwater) to make ‘Gnocetti Sardi with a Pork Sausage Ragu’.  Giovanni demonstrated how to make Gnocetti Sardi, the pasta he grew up eating in Sardinia, giving several useful hints and tips throughout.  The students then made their own dough and used the advice given by Giovanni to cook their pasta and perfect their sauce.  It was a pleasure to see the students cooking with such confidence and using the guidance they had learnt from such a renowned chef. Once everyone had devoured the fruits of their labour, the St Paul’s students joined pupils from Forest High School to take part in the panel discussion.

The panel interview was run by Peter O’Doherty from NSW Education, who questioned the local hospitality experts on their experiences. The panel included Anna Pavoni, the a co-owner of two successful restaurants in Sydney, including Ormeggio at The Spit. Guy Bortz who is the Managing Director of Little Italy Coffee Roasters, Scott Drinkwater the Executive Chef at Dee Why RSL and Giovanni Pilu the owner of Pilu at Freshwater and Aqua Fresca by Pilu.

The panel gave useful insights into the hospitality industry and how to be successful in this line of work. The students listened intently and asked several questions to the panel about their experiences.  There was also an opportunity for smaller groups of students to speak to the panel guests. The feedback from the organisers and chefs about the St Pauls students was fantastic – I was very proud to watch the boys shake hands with the industry experts, ask relevant questions and even request contact details from the chefs for future work experience.  Overall, a brilliant day with some fantastic outcomes for all involved, we very much hope to be invited again to such an inspiring networking event – well done gentlemen for representing the college in such a mature way.’

Our boys come up with all kinds of weird and wonderful initiatives to keep themselves entertained at break times. Pokemon Go, backyard cricket and handshake practice are among some of them. What is pictured below is a slightly misguided idea around re-use. Labels from the Oak milk bottles were removed to help with the container recycling, and the labels stuck to a recess/lunch break table. If the labels didn't come off so easily and end up with some of the other rubbish floating around thanks to the bird life here, this idea might have been a keeper. Keep thinking boys.

Our annual St Paul's Classic has become a highly anticipated race. It involves a lightning lap around the College grounds (500 metres give or take), and the overall winner gets their name immortalised on the St Paul's Classic honour board. The tradition is that the race is run on the day of our Feast of St Paul celebrations, our College patron and spirit. The year groups ran their qualifying race in the weeks leading up to the classic (Alex and Lachlan pictured in the qualifier just below), and the top 2 qualifiers get to race on the big day. Alex (pictured middle right below) was the fastest qualifier, and lost the handicap by less than a second, but won overall. You can see him below nervously stumbling through an interview with our College vice Captain Harry Forsyth. 

By Benjamin Rowse

Year 10 Leader of Student Wellbeing

Our Year 9 and Year 10 Rugby students were harbourside during school sport as they developed their skills down at Collins Flat playing some touch football.  Looking forward to seeing how the season goes in term 3 gents!

A highly successful and engaging Careers Expo was held here, at St Paul's, in the Waterford Hall! The many exhibitors present provided information to all students, parents, staff and others who attended. The energy, enthusiasm and clarity in what post high school options are available enlivened our boys as they headed to their Stage 6 (2022-2023) information evening.

A HUGE thank you to Mr Casburn who, almost single-handedly, organised the event. It was enormously successful and the boys appreciated the hard work that went into organising the first event Careers Expo held at St Paul's!

This photo was taken after our U16 Football team had a fantastic 3-nil win against NBCS in the Peninsula Cup. Yes, you counted that correctly (and no, the goalkeeper wasn’t missing); the team of only 10 players defied the odds beating a team that had 15 players! The boys showed fantastic spirt and teamwork that made it seem that they did have the full allotment of players on the field. Goals from Jed Dias-Carter, Harry Larcos and Luka Delaney sealed the victory. This was their fifth win from six matches that included a 5-0 win and a come from behind 8-2 victory. With heart like this we could have some future Sydney FC Manly United FC or Socceroos players on our hands.

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Students in Year 9 and 10 participated in the Shine Youth Ministry Gathering at St Peter’s Catholic College, Tuggerah. Students were alive with their faith as they prayed and reflected on their own faith journeys. Fr Rob Galea featured throughout the day and students enjoyed his message of ‘not just seeing your school as a place you go to but a place you come from’. Students participated in a wide variety of workshops ranging from dance, leadership, music, Vinnies, and personal testimony. We would sincerely like to thank Mr Michael Tobin for his vision and leadership and St Peter’s Youth Ministry team for running such a great day. Thanks to Harry, Remy, Josh and Ash for representing Year 10 on the day.

Students from the elective subject, Commerce, are engaging with members from the local community who own a business. The students pictured here are working with local industry experts on their Enterprise in the Community project. Those participating include Jai, Beau, Leo, Luka, Jed, Joseph, Josh, Will, Oskar, Harry, James and Lachlan.

The Prima Primum Class Award acknowledges students who are committed to their academic study. To be nominated as a potential recipient for this award a student must work with due diligence to achieve his best possible result in all classes. This award is for students who do not necessarily achieve a top rank in their class but demonstrate a sustained commitment to their learning by always putting their learning first. These students show genuine engagement in whole-class, small group and individual activities, complete class tasks and home-study with interest and care, contribute positively to the learning environment and are consistently organised and prepared for class.

Teachers nominate one student from each class who is fitting the criteria. The Leader of Student Wellbeing and the Director of Wellbeing select a small number from those with multiple nominations. There are Prima Primum term awards each term. All nominations are accumulated for a Prima Primum year award.

Pictured below are term 1's recipients: Luca, Josh and Sam.

Our Under 16 Soccer side is off to a good start this season. 2 wins, 1 loss including an 8-2 win after being 0-2 down at halftime.

Pictured amongst these legends are (back row) Kye, Nathan, Ben, Lachlan, Harry, Luca, Tyler, Luka, (front row) Josh, Callum, Jed, Remy, James and Jay.

Here's the stage 5 and stage 6 music students having a jam and preparing for the next SPCC Music Showcase. The students are looking forward to bringing you an outstanding showcase of Music during Week 8 of Term 2. Our next Music @ St Paul’s Concert will be held on Monday 7th June 2021 starting at 5pm. Year 10 students pictured below are Ryan, Alex and Sam.

After the Mass for the Feast Day of Blessed Edmund Rice on Wednesday 5 May, our Year 10 students travelled to Bondi to volunteer at "Our Big Kitchen". This is a community kitchen that makes over 120,000 meals a year that are distributed to disadvantaged Australians. Our students made a lentil and vegetable dahl, fruit compote and biscuits before sampling their handiwork. Pictured are the boys completing some service hours at the Big Kitchen, which was a great opportunity for them to step outside of their daily routine, embrace the charism of Edmund Rice, and help out those less fortunate than themselves.

St Paul's are 2021 Broken Bay Open Boys Football (soccer) Champions. On the way to the final against St Leo's, they beat Mater Maria, St Augustine's and St Edward's. The boys worked hard all day and seized the opportunities when they arose. Why mention an opens' side on a Year 10 page? Because Nathan, the only Year 10 player in the side, was a star. He's standing next to coach, Mr Emmerson.

Mr Chapman’s Year 10 Timber class finished their jewellery boxes just in time for Mother’s Day. Students have crafted the jewellery boxes from spotted gum and merbau timber incorporating both machine and handmade dove tail joints. A perfect gift for Mother’s Day! Pictured below are Lachlan, Jamie, Max, Lochie and Jack.

Our Social Justice Group reformed this month and we are delighted to reveal that students have named this group BTC (Be the Change) Inspired by their Lenten promise to “Be More”. Students are keen to make changes both within our College and the wider community. BTC meets weekly in the ERC during Recess 2 and all students are invited to participate. Thank you to Lachie and Will for being the first Year 10s to put their hand up to BTC.

Another reminder of how lucky we are...AND that the cricket season isn't over just yet! A couple of awesome snaps of Year 10 playing, harbourside, an enthusiastic game of cricket on our back oval. The picture on the right I'm particularly fond of - it's Jamie getting bowled (though he will never admit it).

If Easter is rolling around, the staff are excited! This isn't just because the celebration of our risen Lord is upon us. Nor is it because of the extra few days off, or time spent with family and friends. The staff are excited because every year, without fail, Harry and his family provide the staff with a lovely mini-banquet to enjoy. This year, as you can see, they have outdone themselves. The staff were very happy on Holy Thursday! Thanks Harry (and Mum!!!).

This year St Paul’s started Stage 5 iSTEM with interested year 9 and 10 students. The students have been focussing on engineering fields such as Civil, Electrical, Chemical and Mechanical and looking at the science maths and technology behind these. One task this term has been to design and construct physical bridges using balsa and glue and simulated bridge designs using CAD software. During bridge testing this week all the students designs were able to reach the maximum capacity of our test rig at 27kg. Our Year 10 students are flying the iSTEM flag - Joseph, William, Kye, Samuel and Ash.

A reminder of how lucky we are, or at least the students are. This is just some of the action from Thursday Sport. Surfing, Fishing, but also Football at Football factory and Rugby training with students completing strength and conditioning activities run by some St Paul’s Old Boys at Chocolate Box Training. It's great being a St Paul's boy, but especially on Thursdays!

Well done to our Year 10 students Harry, Joshua and Ash for participating in Youth Ministry Leaders Retreat at St Joseph’s Retreat Centre in Kincumber. The retreat was a weekend which featured participation in Eucharistic Adoration, meditation, labyrinth, small group discussion leading up to Mass with Bishop Anthony. Thank you to Michael Tobin at St Peter’s Catholic College, Tuggerah for the invitation and we look forward to offering this opportunity to our students again next year.

Year 10 worked in small groups to design, plan and facilitate lessons on a game they created. Their modifications and changes were innovative and made for great additions to the PDHPE department's repertoire of games for prac lessons.

Year 10 Reflection Day was held at school and hosted by well-renoun Chris Doyle. Chris is a talented and engaging presenter who used his music (even getting a few staff and students to sing!)  to encourage students to reflect on their lives, the choices they are making, and their relationships. The aim of days like these are to build the sense of community amongst the year group.  Amongst the photos are some reflections from the house leaders on the day.

Finn: Moran House Leader

The year 10 Reflection Day has had a positive impact on us as a group at this stage of High. It reminded us to be grateful for all of the privileges that we have in life. Chris Doyle, the man, he came and helped us with through the day. He told us that “every decision that we make will impact our future, so we need to make them good ones”. What he said made us all think about what we can do to have a better future. A big part of this is about our decision making.

Sonny: Gilroy House Leader

Year 10 boys had a great laugh and learnt many things during our Reflection Day. We sang songs, broke down barriers to closeness and felt more together than ever. We even had a good feed of pizza and a juice box, a nice way of coming together as one big group of friends while having heaps of fun. The effect it had on us was awesome. Chris was a very genuine and happy person and we learnt so much from his humorous jokes to his life lessons and stories he had to share. One big take away from him is how happy he's been through kids and 29 years of marriage and how loving and loyal he is to his wife. Something that many of us aspire toward – happiness and fulfilment.

Lochie: Taylor House Leader

The Year 10 Reflection Day was a great day to get closer with our friends, but also those who don’t spend a lot of time with. The day was also great because it was an opportunity to help release stress because we are in the middle of our assessment period. A key learning from the day was how our decisions now will affect us in the future – such as the keys to a happy marriage, how to be happy in ourselves and how to respect others.

Harry: Bourke House Leader

Chris Doyle’s visit to Year 10 was very much appreciated by the group. He helped our year group by showing us how lucky we are to have what we have in our lives. He also explained how in life we all have to make good and bad choices and the consequences of those choices. Overall, I can speak for the group by saying it was a very fun day where we all had things to take away from important life lessons, and those will stick with us forever.

A wonderful was had by all students and staff at Manly ‘Boy’ Charlton Pool. Congratulations to the champion house – Moran. A big thank you to all our staff and students who all played their part in making it successful. One of the highlights was watching Joseph "The Fish" Fountain compete in the College swimming gift. His result was an outstanding...

The results from the carnival are:

Moran House - 981 points

Gilroy House - 811 points

Taylor House - 704 points

Bourke House - 597 points

New house leaders were elected by the Year 10 students from each colour house, and just in time for the carnival too. Well done to these boys for putting their hand up to lead their house this year:

Bourke House - Harry

Moran House - Finn

Taylor House - Lochie

Gilroy House - Sonny

Top of the morning to ye me-lads. Year 10, never shy of getting into the spirit of a celebration, embraced the spirit...the spirit of St Patrick. Besides enjoy GREEN milkshakes with a donation to Caritas, students were encouraged to get into a piece of green dress up to acknowledge our College's Irish Catholic heritage. Pictured below are Luka, Ash, Lachlan, Leo, Jack, Lee, Zac, Mr Newton and Fin.

Open Night, or rather the St Paul's Catholic College Open Expo, was well-attended once again, with plenty of energy and enthusiasm in the community about all we do here at the College. As always, the Class of 2023 were on hand to put their best foot forward in showing the community what we are about - learning, fun and character. Below is a couple of snapshots capturing the Year 10s in action.

Congratulations to our Year 10 students who were commissioned by Fr John Puliparambil to become Catechists at St John the Baptist, Freshwater. Thank you goes to Lee, Ash, Ben, Josh, Harry, Ash, Robbie, Max and Michael for their service and assistance with Special Religious Education classes at Harbord Public School.

Year 3 Day is a day devoted to a bite-sized experience of High School, with each of our Catholic feeder schools invited to attend. Our Year 10s were in the thick of leading the future stars of St Paul's through activities. The activities included building bridges, baking, playing music, skill development in soccer and basketball and playtime as recess and lunch. 

St Paul's Open Touch Football team had a successful tournament reaching the final of the BBSSSA Touch Gala Day against St Edward’s. The side played their best game in the semi-final beating local rivals St Augustine’s. Year 10's starring in this side were Ben, Blake, Max and Michael. Blake then went on to be selected into the Broken Bay Open Team.

The U15s Touch Football team also had a successful tournament reaching the semi-final. They finished second in their pool, beat St Peter’s in the quarter-final, and then lost to the winning team of the day St Augustine’s in the semi-final. The Year 10 star for this side was Zane.

batyr was launched in 2011, after founder Sebastian Robertson experienced the frustration and isolation of living silently with mental ill-health whilst at university. Sebastian recognised that it was time to have open honest conversations about mental health with young people, and founded the organisation, naming it after batyr (‘hero’), The Talking Elephant From Kazakhstan. batyr aims to empower students to take charge of their mental health. Their goal will always remain the same, that all young people are engaged in positive conversations about mental health and empowered to reach out for support when needed. 

The significance of this cannot be overstated. Recent statistics show that of every 30 students in Australia, 7 will be dealing with a mental health issue, yet only 2 will reach out for support, meaning 5 will suffer in silence. This supports what was stated at last year’s RUOK session, which said that sadly, 3250 Australians will lose their life to suicide every year, and a further 65000 attempt it. This means that 9 Australians tragically take their life every day, making suicide the single biggest killer of Australians under 44. Of those 9 souls, at least 6 of them will be MEN. A beyondblue report found that 50% of males have deeper personal issues that we rarely talk about, but a third of them wish they could open up more. In an ideal world, men who are struggling or in crisis would feel confident and empowered enough to speak up and ask for help - but many don't.  

Batyr aims to smash the stigma surrounding mental health and empower young people to reach out for support. The session aimed to help cultivate a community that supports young people’s mental health and wellbeing.

Ash Wednesday is the first day of Lent – we are starting a Lenten journey. It is a season of temptation for 40 days resembling Jesus’ temptation to give in to the devil and sin. The boys each received their ashes and heard said to them “Turn away from sin and be faithful to the Bible” - the day and the season of Lent began with a liturgy led by Mr Callow and our College prefects, and began the College's Lenten commitment.

Pictured below are a number of highlights which celebrated the spirituality underlying these days, including:

• Year 10 boys cooking pancakes on Shrove Tuesday for the whole school as part of the "Be more" focus (Kye, Josh, Lochie, Jedd, Sam, George, Ash and Harry)

• Our Musicians performing for the Ash Wednesday liturgy (Lee, Ryan, Alex, Fin, Sam)

• Our boys with their lenten promise wristbands, in St Paul's red and black colours.

• Mr McDonnell's annual Caritas fundraiser (baked goods and milkshakes) and he stepped it up this year, pulled pork rolls!

What a contribution SPCC made this year! For a school under 400 students, we raised $4850! Great generosity from the boys!