Year 11 2022

In one of the first formal occasions the Class of 2023 officially leads the school, the year wrapped up with a celebratory Mass at St Mary's in Manly. Besides being a nice occasion to get together and acknowledge the year that's been, it was great to see our boys doing the readings, singing in the choir and being our Eucharistic ministers.

In what may be the last BBSSSA Volleyball tournament (because there is no longer a pathway for it), St Paul's, on behalf of Manly, hosted other schools in the diocese at Manly Beach. The weather was glorious, the boys were amped, and the Volleyball was competitive. We finished 3rd, narrowly losing to eventual winners St Edwards by 2 points, and then throwing away an easy win against Mater Maria in the name of fun. But honestly, the day was spent mostly showboating the winter bodies in the sleeveless summer.

Our College is aiming to improve the mentoring of our young students from the wisdom of our more experienced ones. The Class of 2023 have been 'buddied up' with the incumbent Year 7s of 2023 in the same house groups. Today was as much of an orientation to high school day as it was making friends with someone who will look out for you...day.
Of course we finished up with a little house vs house dodgeball!

There are not enough good things that can be said about the great work that the crew from Tomorrow Man do with young men's mental health. The boys were encouraged, supported and challenged on their understanding of what being a man is, and took some lifelong learnings away from the experience.

Part of being in a system school is connecting with the other students in the diocese. These are always great opportunities to learn about how other schools are doing things, and bring these learnings back into our own school. Thanks to the boys for putting their hands up to be a part of this.

Finn and Josh wasted no time taking on their new roles and doing everything that comes with the position. This ranged from going to Youth Ambassador meetings with Zali Steggall in the local council chambers, to serving at the College canteen, to talking about leadership and making the jump to high school in our local feeder schools.

Taking the next step from the Year 11 Leadership day, was a day of activities and learning (expertly and excellently led by the ever talented Mr Callow) to prepare students for the role of prefect. The boys were by no means guaranteed a leadership position, there are afterall only so many places. But it was a deeper insight to the role and what's required to manage it and balance Year 12 duties as well. Thanks to all the boys for stepping up and saying yes to being leaders - whether you were the badge or not.

Part of the leadership handover assembly is the receipt of Year 12 ties. Here's a few snaps to show the Class of 2023 suiting up for the year ahead.

St Paul's has voted and elected its new leaders for 2023. Congratulations to Finn our Captain, Josh our Vice-Captain, George our Wellbeing prefect, Lachlan our Mission prefect and Robbie our Co-Curricular prefect for being chosen to lead the College in these formal roles over the next 12 months. They were recognised at the College leadership handover assembly.

End of Prelim exams - a week or so long event which helps assess the progress of the students before they start the HSC. Thanks goes out to the engineering boys, amongst others, for modelling the level of dedication and commitment required for academic excellence each and every day.

A 'new' liturgy to the St Paul's calendar. The Season of Creation is a time to renew our relationship with our Creator and all creation through celebration, conversion, and commitment together.  Our new prefect nominees were the proud College representatives to lead the liturgy, which was well-spoken and well-led. It concluded in giving the Leaders of Wellbeing a plant to each look after (note: despite Mr Rowse's "best" efforts, his plant did not make it).

On the back of the hard work by Miss Murphy, St Paul's has been making regular contributions to a local charity, One Meal. We buy the ingredients, we cook the meals and the boys (now they can drive) drop them off!

A St Paul's tradition - cooking the Father's Day breakfast for Year 7 and Year 8. Now the boys are grown up and leading the College, it's their turn to do the cooking.

In preparing to step into Year 12, the boys were put through their paces in a day designed to help boys understand what leadership is - more importantly, what leadership is in our Catholic, Christian Brothers context. We were lucky to have Shannon Nevin of Walk n' Talk to speak to the boys about leadership in the Mental Health domain. But the day went beyond that - lots of team building exercises and bonding activities - the leaky pipe challenge was a clear favourite. This was also about helping the boys identify who they think should be the leaders in Year 12.

These boys have been doing great work all year, but here's a small selection of things they have been doing at St Paul's and beyond to enhance their skills.

Our PDHPE students extending their learning in the options unit First Aid by participating in an optional First Aid qualification course. Their skills are now so developed, they would feel comfortable being the first responder in a number of first aid situations, should they ever encounter one.

Never ones to shy away from a challenge, Ben Harry and Ben participated in an online forum to help review Project Compassion. As you know, Project Compassion has been an immense part of our social justice program, and is highlighted every year especially during Lent.

Thanks to Miss Murphy and Mr Aird who helped organise a Food Technology career pathways and skills incursion.

On Friday 2nd September, a team of Year 7-11 students drove up to the Central Coast to represent St Paul’s College at the BBSSSA Golf Championship at the Shelly Beach Links Course. Despite the early start and the relatively small size of our team, the boys performed exceptionally well in chilly conditions at the picturesque course.

Playing off a handicap of 30, Hunter Dempsey in Year 9 won the Under 15’s net competition with a score of 61 net (90 off the stick). Jedd Thomas in Year 11 played an extraordinary round of golf, recording no bogeys on his scoreboard and making three birdies to finish at 3 under par. A definite highlight was his chip in from the off the green to make birdie on the 17th hole. His final score of 67 was easily enough to secure the Open Trophy.

As a team, St Paul’s finished in second place, narrowly missing out on victory by two shots to St Edwards College, East Gosford. All the boys are to be congratulated on their exemplary sportsmanship and great attitude throughout the day.

Eight schools within the Diocese of Broken Bay came together to battle it out to claim their victory and title as winner of Battle of the Chefs in the Diocese. The competition was rife, as students delved into their culinary expertise to create, serve and deliver on quality from concept to completion.
First on the menu was a mystery box challenge, where students were given 60 minutes to plan and develop a menu from ingredients such as pork fillet, green beans, capsicum, carrots, leek, mushrooms and bacon rashers. This was certainly no easy feat, these students took it in their stride and showcased their hospitality skills they have learned from their VET Educators and displayed their commitment to learning.
Next up was the Dessert Challenge – Apple Crumble Tart with Sauce Anglaise. The standards rose to new heights this year, with students delivering dishes that would give a well seasoned Chef a run for their money. These tarts were just desserts and delivered visually, textualy and on taste that matched resteraunt quality.

St Paul's boy love their sport, and year 11 and 12 in particular love their footy. They took on all the local competition and came out on top in the GF. Onya lads!

The games of futsal and basketball at recess and lunch are becoming the stuff of legend. These boys are so eager to get amongst it, sometimes they forget to clean up!

St Paul's boys have always had generous hearts and we have always punched above our weight when it comes to donations. Year 11 had the pleasure of sorting these donations and making sure they got to where they needed to go.

The Church celebration of Saint Paul, the earliest Christian, whom our College is named after. The day begins with a Mass at St Mary's and ends with activities back at school. The highlight this year was Leo's painting reveal during the Gospel acclamation.

The boys have been to Athletics Carnival before - the only difference here is that they are seniors and the dressing up privilege is taken at liberty.
The results? Another Moran victory.

We're Australians. We love a snag. We love a chat. We love getting past hump day. We combined all of these into a hump-day BBQ - the boys are more than halfway through their prelim course. So we celebrated with a snag, a drink and a chat.

The Church celebration of the founder of the Christian Brothers (which St Paul's was originally named) - Blessed Edmund Rice. The day begins with a Mass at St Mary's and ends with a few laughs on the way back to classes at school.

Respect, Understanding and Acceptance (RUA) conference is a day where selected students from the multitude of different faiths in Sydney come together to discuss and understand what makes each community unique, but also what unites them - notably issues around social justice and treatment of others always comes up here. Thanks to archie, Jago and Jay for representing St Paul's on this day.

We were blessed by the availability of Fr John to come to St Paul's and celebrate a Mass in a makeshift chapel for the purpose of energising Year 11 on their journey ahead.

Sometimes we get visitors. Sometimes those visitors are a big. Bishop Anthony Randazzo, Broken Bay's Bishop, wanted to come and speak to the students and the teachers about the future of St Paul's and his vision for the diocese. Here's a nice photo which commemorates that visit with our house leaders in it.

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. 

The boys have been to Swimming Carnivals before - the only difference here is that they are seniors and the dressing up privilege is taken at liberty.
The results? Another Moran victory.

What day is Tim Tam Day? Australians celebrate Tim Tam Day each year on February 16. So instead of a year assembly, we shared some Tim Tams and had a chat overlooking one of the best views in Sydney. Learn more about this momentous occasion here: https://www.daysoftheyear.com/days/tim-tam-day/ 

In true St Paul's tradition, we welcomed the year with a welcoming Mass and celebration at St Mary's in Manly. Notice the masks - COVID was still hanging around!

I'm always excited to see the boys when the first come back to school for the year. It might be fair to say, the feeling isn't always mutual. Welcome back boys!