St Paul's
Albion Park
Albion Park
A Catholic Parish Primary School
St Paul’s Catholic Parish Primary school is a vibrant learning community supported by quality teaching and innovative technology; an integrated pastoral care program, of which parental partnership plays a key role; excellent sporting and creative opportunities and a focus on the spiritual formation of students.
At St Paul’s we provide opportunities for students, staff and parents and carers to know and celebrate our Catholic faith and we have a proud history of providing a very sound educational basis within the context of the Gospel message of Jesus Christ.
Our vision at St Paul’s is to offer a Catholic education that liberates, empowers and motivates students to use their gifts with confidence and generosity.
St Paul’s is a dynamic faith community that cherishes its Catholic heritage and is committed to living the Gospel values of Jesus and the charism of Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop. At St Paul’s, we value each student’s gifts and talents and endeavour to weave our Christian faith into all that we do so that our students are challenged and nurtured to achieve their full potential through quality learning and teaching experiences in a culture based on Gospel values.
St Paul’s expresses and gives witness to its Catholic identity, ensuring that prayer and liturgy are central to all aspects of school life. Members of our community experience a rich liturgical and prayer life, celebration of the sacraments, faith formation and participate in social outreach activities. Throughout the term, students attend grade masses with their class, as well as whole school masses on significant feast days and special school events.
At the heart of St Paul’s is a vibrant community of prayer. It is one of the defining characteristics of this community. In so many ways our students are given the opportunity to experience prayer and liturgy.
Our school values our strong connection to our parish, under the guidance of our parish priest, Father Leo Duck who celebrates masses and liturgies both at school and St Paul's Church. Fr Leo regularly visits the classroom to assist with deepening the understanding and knowledge of all students.
The school has further established partnerships in the broader church community, providing an opportunity for our student-led Mini Vinnies group to be involved in a variety of social justice and community outreach initiatives.
Our vision at St Paul’s is to offer a Catholic education that empowers and motivates students to use their talents with confidence and generosity. The educational philosophy at St Paul’s recognises the individuality of each student and personal excellence is encouraged by providing students with diverse and challenging learning experiences.
Ongoing assessment data is used to differentiate learning experiences and instruction based on modelled, guided and independent teaching practices.
The use of learning intentions and co-constructed success criteria supports students to make meaning, gain conceptual understanding and communicate learning effectively. Individual and collective feedback linked to learning intentions and success criteria is a core component of a learning culture at St Paul’s that informs, transforms and empowers our students.
St Paul’s seeks to nurture the unique diversity of all learners in our school community, ensuring each student reaches their academic and personal potential in a learning culture of continual growth.
We acknowledge that some students have specific academic and behavioural and wellbeing needs which require intervention beyond those readily available in the classroom; as such we employ the Response to Intervention 3-tier approach when identifying and responding to students’ precise learning and behavioural needs.
Within the structure of a collaborative curriculum planning model, students with diverse learning, wellbeing and behavioural needs are provided with suitable adjustments to participate and progress through the curriculum within an inclusive learning culture. Adjustments to teaching, learning and assessment experiences support students in accessing the NSW syllabus outcomes in suitable ways.
The development of Individual Learning Plans and Personalised Learning Plans is a collaborative process that involves the Diverse Learning Support teacher, classroom teachers, the student and their parents and carers, providing the student with an opportunity to set learning goals in the spirit of growth that is an imperative of the St Paul’s philosophy of learning and teaching.
Student wellbeing at St Paul’s is focused on maximising learning and growth whilst developing our students’ values and attitudes, knowledge, skills and practices. At St Paul’s, pastoral care and student wellbeing is based on a belief in the value and uniqueness of each individual student who is created in the image of God.
We are committed to providing safe and supportive environments which ensure the wellbeing of all students and acknowledge that when students are safe and supported they are more engaged with their learning.
The concepts and practices of our pastoral care include the understanding, appreciation and use of student strengths, and the practices of gratitude and mindfulness. The authentic expression of love, care and concern shown by Jesus in the Gospels, is reflected in all aspects of life in the St Paul’s school community.
Our students benefit from wellbeing programs and pastoral care support in areas such as anti-bullying, positive behaviour, student counselling, which range from support for all students, to targeted interventions for students with complex social and emotional needs.
With a strong community focus St Paul’s ensures parents and carers are valued partners, assisting and complementing the pastoral care and education of their child.
At St Paul’s we recognise the responsibility given to us by Pope Francis in his environmental encyclical, ‘Laudato Si’ to respond to the environmental challenges placed before us.
Our commitment to being responsible members of planet Earth is evident in our classroom learning and teaching, the prayer and liturgical life of our school, our resource and grounds management. Our students learn the importance of the relationship between human activities and natural systems, sustainable management of the earth's resources and the inter-related nature of processes in the natural environment.
At St Paul’s we take an active role in caring for our planet in a sustainable manner and participate in concrete actions that can make a difference to the health of our planet, all people and all creatures.
As a school community we participate in community days such as 'Clean Up Australia Day' and 'National Recycling Week' and celebrate celebrate ‘World Day of Prayer of the Care of Creation’ and the ‘Season of Creation.
Students with the support of staff maintain the school vegetable and fruit gardens. We also participate in an advanced waste management system including the Vinnies ‘Return and Earn’ scheme, and have a focus in classrooms on environmental awareness and sustainability.
At St Paul’s we develop responsible and ethical digital citizens who are proficient in their use of technology. Teachers incorporate the use of technology in their planned teaching and learning experiences in all classrooms within the school. Teachers also embed Science, Technology, Engineering and Mathematics (STEM) activities in Science units and across other KLAs where applicable.
The school is equipped with STEM kits which contain materials to design and make models to explore and solve real-world concepts and problems. Students use robotics packs in their classrooms and also bluetooth enabled Blue-Bot robots to code, debug and simulate algorithms, and control them using their iPads to plan their algorithm and send it remotely to the Blue-Bot.
At St Paul’s, we provide our students with opportunities to reach their full potential by using a range of learning tools and pedagogies including the explicit teaching of foundational skills, immersion in rich literature, communicating ideas in a variety of modes, real life problem solving, making connections, demonstrating their learning creatively and accessing a range of modern technologies.
The presence and use of Information, Communication and Learning Technologies (ICLT) are an integrated feature of each classroom at St Paul’s. iPads are used by students to access the internet and appropriate applications. All learning spaces have a large flat screen TV installed, which allow easy integration across all Key learning Areas as well as the interaction between mobile devices. All classrooms have access to a printer that can be used from any device through Air Printing. The school is supported by high speed wireless infrastructure.
At St Paul’s a strong grounding in social justice is instilled into every aspect of daily life. St Paul’s is a school community focused on justice as a core value of the spirituality and tradition of the Josephite sisters. Saint Mary of the Cross MacKillop understood justice to be a sense of personal integrity, based on a harmonious relationship with God, with other people and with the whole of creation.
Students have the opportunity to participate in a wide array of social justice initiatives and make connections with the community including Project Compassion, Caritas' Sock-it-to-Poverty, Catholic Mission Month and the St Vincent de Paul Winter and Christmas Appeals. In addition to these opportunities, the school also identifies current areas of need for the school community to support.
At St Paul’s we recognise and value the unique gifts and talents of our students. Students are encouraged to discover their athletic ability with individual and team sports; release their creativity with our performing and creative arts; share their generous spirit with social justice groups; and build strength of character with leadership opportunities.
St Paul’s offers a variety of co-curricular activities, which provide our students with opportunities to excel in a diverse range of interests. These include:
Co-curricular activities create valuable learning experiences for our students as we seek to continually extend their boundaries and enrich their education.
St Paul’s recognises the importance of learning continuity and transition of our students into a secondary educational setting. St Paul’s is fortunate to be geographically located adjacent to St Joseph’s Catholic High School. We are committed to providing our students with opportunities to make learning and social connections with students and staff at St Joseph’s Catholic High School.
The partnership between St Paul’s and St Joseph’s provides opportunities for our students to develop strategies to build relationships with their secondary peers, to work collaboratively inside and outside the classroom and for students to act as mentors.
At St Paul’s we value positive relationships with parents and carers and the wider community and acknowledge that parents and carers are the primary educators of their child’s spiritual, intellectual and social development.
We provide opportunities for our parents and carers to be involved in all aspect of the school community and recognise that this participation provides a forum for exchanging ideas and contributes to discussions that shape our students’ experience at St Paul’s.
Whether it is coaching a sporting team or attending our school liturgies, school concerts, social functions and the many other events which make up our school year, the participation of parents and carers is crucial to strengthening our school spirit and the formation of faith.
One of the strengths of St Paul’s that we are proud of is our friendly community for students, parents, staff and the wider community.
In keeping with Gospel values, no child is refused a Catholic education due to financial inability or difficulty. New or existing parents who find themselves in this situation are encouraged to discuss fee concessions with our school principal who will treat the situation with understanding, sensitivity and confidentiality.
Read more information for parents and carers at the link below.
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