Principal's Message
The Feast of All Saints Mass
The College had the wonderful opportunity to celebrate the Feast of All Saints Mass together with Fr James on Friday 31 October in the Mercy Centre. This is a significant feast day in the Catholic church as incredible Christian figures are remembered for their actions and devotion to faith. In Kempsey this feast day is especially important as the Macleay Valley Catholic Church is named All Saints Church, which has stood as an important beacon within the valley for over 100 years. Fr James spoke of the particular leadership that came from the stories of the saints remembered during this feast day Mass. St Paul’s has recently hosted the outstanding exhibition of St Carlo Acutis, the church’s new millennial saint. The incredible life of St Paul, the College's patron saint, is a great story studied by our senior Studies of Religion students. The energy and leadership of St Paul to educate different people within the Roman Empire at the time, is an inspiring reminder that having a go and sticking to your life principles allows a clear pathway forward for others to follow.
Year 10 Retreat
One of the important highlights for our Year 10 students beginning their journey towards senior studies is the Year 10 retreat which is being held at Bonny Hills on 13-14 November. This is a compulsory event for all Year 10 students, especially those students who wish to take up their Preliminary and HSC courses beginning next year. My previous item highlighting the personal leadership of the saints is exemplified during this time together at Bonny Hills. The theme of the retreat is Legacy, where the staff and students can consider their journey in life thus far and a pledge of leadership and supporting our St Paul’s community across this next phase.
Upper Hunter Beef Bonanza
The College received some incredible news from the Upper Hunter Beef Bonanza held in Scone at the beginning of this Term. This is one of the largest beef steer and heifer shows in NSW and St Paul’s achieved some fantastic results. Year 12 student, Isabelle Preston, was awarded the prestigious Waverley Station scholarship following the judging process at the show. This scholarship is highly regarded within the beef cattle industry and involves a range of public speaking and cattle judging stages within a highly competitive field. Isabelle had completed her HSC Primary Industries examination on the Friday and then drove to Scone for the judging process the next day, what an impressive effort. Isabelle joins Jorja Barnett as the second St Paul’s winner in three years in this event.
A school heifer was the winner in the live classes, then out of 470 carcasses in the on the hook judging, Rumbo, a school bred steer, was awarded Supreme Champion Carcase for the whole event. St Paul’s also achieved the Reserve Champion Heavy middleweight steer in another judging class. Our great congratulations to Isabelle and the many students who competed at the show. In particular I would like to sincerely thank Mr Graham Bramley, Ms Lisa Frewen and Mr Ash Gardiner for the expert preparation of the animals representing the College. The results clearly demonstrate what tremendous staff they are in a very specific industry.
HSC progress and the upcoming Graduation
The HSC continues strongly with our final examinations concluding on Friday 7 November with Physics and Food Technology. This year’s exam process has been without issues due to the great support of our students working with our outstanding examination supervisors. We are looking forward to some excellent results at the end of this Term. The final opportunity for us to celebrate our wonderful 2025 Year 12 cohort will take place on Saturday 15 November with our Graduation Dinner at the Edmund Rice Centre. Particular thanks to Ms Meg Ryan who has coordinated this event and provided expert care and support for our Year 12 cohort during Term 4 2024 and throughout this year.
Kind regards
Mr Geoff Melville BRurScEd, MEd, GCertRE
Principal