Year 7 2025 Inform Booklet
1. Principals Welcome
2. General information
3. Transitioning to Secondary School
4. Preparing for your child's first day
5. Student laptop requirements
6. Uniform information
7. Uniform fittings
8. Stationery
9. Transport information
10. Student Management System
10. College Campus
11. Day 1, Term 1, 2025
12. Year 7 Camp
13. Parent Engagement
14. Check list
Introduction
Dear Parents and Carers,
Welcome St Paul’s Catholic College Year 7, 2025.
We are excited to have you join our school community and embark on this new and exciting journey into coeducational secondary education. This booklet is designed to help you prepare for the transition and provide all the essential information you need for a smooth start.
St Paul’s is a safe and inclusive community that offers an authentic, professional Catholic education, delivered with care and compassion. Our teaching staff are committed to knowing and understanding the learning needs of every student and ensuring that they experience success. We have high expectations of our students, backed up by strong support, and the clear and consistent boundaries that provide them with structure and room to grow.
Our students’ successes are wide ranging and built on a foundation of mutual respect, and self-discipline. We are proud to celebrate the success of all our students, from the field of academia to business, cultural and sporting life, recognising and nurturing their individual gifts and passions.
As a Catholic faith community, we work to build relationships that are life-giving, based on the life and teachings of Jesus Christ. The Gospel values of love, compassion, justice and forgiveness underpin our efforts to shape young people who will live lives of meaning and purpose, find future happiness and success in their own lives, but strive to bring the same to others.
We warmly welcome your family into the St Paul’s Catholic College community and look forward to Term 1, 2025.
Mr Mark Robinson Senior Executive Strategic Delivery
Principal’s Welcome
It is with great pleasure that I welcome you to St Paul’s Catholic College. I am delighted to have been appointed as College Principal and look forward to sharing in the journey to the transition to co-education with your children. I hope you will gain a sense of what a wonderful school this is; a place that is a dynamic, innovative and vibrant learning community.
St Paul’s has a long history of providing an authentic Catholic education, grounded in faith and nurturing generations of students to live out the Gospel values of courage, compassion and stewardship in all that we do.
We offer a comprehensive and challenging curriculum that inspires our students to be curious, independent and innovative learners. Our team of experienced and dedicated teachers focus on quality teaching that caters to the diverse learning needs of our students.
We understand the importance of fostering a supportive and inclusive school environment where students feel safe, valued, and empowered. We prioritise the social and emotional wellbeing of our students through various programs and co-curricular activities.
The transition from primary school to Year 7 can be both an exciting and nervous time for students and our focus for the year will be on preparing our students for a positive and successful high school experience. We aim to develop within our students a sense of independence and responsibility and provide a supportive environment where they can reach their full potential.
This parent/student handbook is an introduction to your child’s St Paul’s journey. I look forward to working in partnership with parents and encourage our Year 7 students to become actively involved in the St Paul’s community.
As we walk forward together, bringing our shared hopes and dreams may we be inspired by St Paul to together build a strong community of faith. Best wishes for an exciting and rewarding school year.
Ms Gabie Stojanovski College Principal 2025
General Information
The College office hours are 8:00am to 4:00pm each day.
Phone: 02 7256 2112
Email: stpauls@dbb.catholic.edu.au
Website: stpaulsdbb.catholic.edu.au
College reception is open during the school term. It is closed over the Christmas break and reopens on Tuesday 28 January 2025.
If you have any questions or concerns before your daughter or son’s first day of school, please contact the College via phone or email.
2025 Term Dates
Term 1 commences on Monday 3rd February for all Year 7, 11 and 12 students and all additional new students in other year groups.
Bell Times
** On Thursdays there will be no Pastoral Care time at the start of the day. As such the first roll will be taken by timetabled Period 1 teachers at the start of the lesson.
Thursday COURAGE sessions in Week A and Week B will be timetabled as COURAGE PC classes in PC rooms.
COURAGE Year Assemblies will be scheduled as and when needed by the Leader of Student Wellbeing. The Leader of Student Wellbeing will communicate to their team and students when and where Year Assemblies are scheduled.
Transitioning to Secondary School
Our aim is to make your daughters’ / sons’ transition to secondary school as smooth as possible. Our school Wellbeing Team and all staff and students will look after them from the moment they arrive on their first day.
On their first day they will be introduced to their Leader of Wellbeing and their Pastoral Care Teacher. Any concerns that you or your child has at any time should be discussed with their Pastoral Care Teacher or Leader of Wellbeing.
Other staff they meet can support you child with any questions or concerns:
The College Counsellor School Services Team
Any of their class teachers
Students, who are all very welcoming and friendly
Preparing for the First Day
Between now and the first day, you will need to purchase your daughter / son a laptop, there is no need to purchase additional software. You will also need to apply for a Student Opal Card, purchase the necessary Uniform items, order textbooks and ensure you have the required stationery. Instructions for all of this follow over the next few pages.
Information will be sent to parents' email in the week commencing 13th January 2025 and will contain information on how to onboard your child's device to the college internet. This onboarding requires the student's college email address which is specific to them.
Student Laptop Requirements
Uniform Information
As a St Paul’s student, your daughter / son is an ambassador for the College. The College uniform enhances our sense of belonging to the College community.
Wearing the uniform correctly shows pride in your daughters / son’s appearance and enhances the reputation of the College in the wider community.
As part of enrolment at the College, students and parents agree on the importance of uniform standards and the need to wear the College uniform with pride.
Your daughter / son will be wearing the summer uniform for their first day. A list of the items they will need for their first day at St Paul’s is listed below.
Uniforms are available from Pickles School wear retail shop in Brookvale or online. Pickles School wear outlet is located at 48 Carter Street, Brookvale.
*For additional uniform items and appearance expectations etc. please see the schools Uniform Policy
Uniform Fittings
As2025willbethefirstyearoftheintroductionofthenewuniform, Picklesareofferingearlyuniformfittingappointmentstoensurestock availabilityforthestartofthe2025schoolyear.Pick-upwillbeavailable fromtheBrookvaleRetailOutletinearlyJanuary.
Tosecureyouruniformintimeforthenewschoolyear,pleasebooka pre-orderfittingappointmentthroughoutNovemberandDecember. YourorderandpaymentwillsecureyouruniformforearlyJanuary pickup.Atextwillbesenttoyouwhentheorderisreadyforcollection.
Atthepre-orderappointment,BlazersandWeatherproofJacketswill alsobefittedwitha$50.00depositrequired.Theseitemswillbe availableforpick-upintheEasterholidays.
UniformFittingBookings
Bookanappointmentatwww.picklesschoolwear.com
Tobook,select“StPaul’sCatholicCollege”fromtheSHOPONLINE SCHOOLSdropdownmenu.Thenonyourschoollandingpageclick 'BOOKNOW'.
Bookoneappointmentperchild(30minuteappointments)
OrderOnline
Orderonlineandhaveyourordersenttoyourhomeaddressfor$12.50. DeliverywillbeearlyJanuary.
Stationery / Booklist
Below are the stationery requirements for Year 7. These items are available from Campion or alternatively you can purchase your own.
Textbooks
Textbooks are ordered through Campion and delivered directly to your home. Booklists are available now via www.campion.com.au using "BD4K" as your code. Please order by 20 December 2024 to ensure delivery prior to school commencing.
Diary
Each student is issued a diary that is to be used each day for tracking homework and assessments. Timetables should be placed in the diary to ensure that students are punctual to class and organised. The diary also contains important information that students will need throughout the year, for example the mobile phone policy.
Locker
Every student is allocated a locker and a combination lock on the first day of Term 1. Students are to keep their bags in their lockers and only carry their books, diary, laptop and stationery to classes.
Transport Information
Travel to and from School
We encourage all students to travel by bus to and from school. This is a great opportunity to meet other students who live in the same area.
School Opal Card
Students may be eligible for free (if you live more than 2km away) or subsidised travel to and from school. If you would like your daughter or son to travel to school by bus, you will need to apply for a ‘school opal card’. This can be done by visiting the Transport NSW website, scan this QR code to go directly to the School Student Travel Page and follow the instructions to determine if your child is eligible for a free School Opal card and apply.
To ensure the card arrives on time, we encourage you to apply for this card as early as possible.
What bus number will your daughter / son need to catch:
You and your child will need to determine what bus number to catch. You will need to look up the bus number for both ways as the return bus numbers are sometimes different. This information can be found on the Transport NSW website.
Trip Planner
Scan this QR code to take you to the ‘trip planner’ page. To see the school bus options, click ‘Refine’ and be sure to tick the ‘school bus’ option in the ‘Public Transport Option’ section and place your address in the ‘from’ section and type in ‘St Pauls Catholic College Manly’ in the ‘to’ sections.
Transport NSW
St Paul’s Private Bus
The St Paul’s bus is a private, partially subsidised bus which runs from Belrose to the College via Frenches Forest, Seaforth and Balgowlah. It is a new well-maintained bus for St Paul’s students only. If you live in one of these suburbs and wish to learn more, send an email to stpauls@dbb.org.au
Student Management System
Compass
Compass is our web-based student management system for which every teacher, parent and student has a unique log in. This system is used for attendance, teaching and learning, timetables, behaviour management and news items. Teachers will communicate to parents and students via Compass. Any merits/awards or demerits are issued through Compass.
As Compass is web-based it is in real time. Compass also has an app for your mobile device. Compass logins will be sent to parents at the beginning of Term 1. Student logins are automatically activated when their device is onboarded.
College Campus
Day 1 - Term 1 (2025)
Your child should arrive by 8:40am in summer uniform. The day starts at 8:58am.
If you are arriving by car, please park in the surrounding streets as there is no parking available on the school grounds at this time of the morning.
Students and staff will gather outside North Block, at the front of the school where you can have some photos and say goodbye to your son or daughter. At 9:10 am your child will be taken into The Waterford Hall where they will start their high school journey! Parents will be invited to stay for morning tea.
During your child’s first day, they will be given their timetable so that they will know what books to bring to school each day. On the first day they will need to bring their school bag, laptop, pencil case, stationery pack, exercise books, and sparts cap. They will also need to bring food for recess and lunch.
Please make sure your child’s name is on their belongings.
They will be dismissed at 3:20pm. Parents are advised that parking is not available on site.
If your child is catching a bus home, they will assemble at the front of North Block and wait for the directions from the teacher on duty.
Your child will need to know the number of the bus they need to catch before they get to school. Please find this information out during the Christmas holidays and try to have a Plan B in case your child misses the bus.
Year 7 Camp
On Wednesday 5 February – Friday 7 February, 2025, your child will set off at 8:00am from St Paul’s for Camp Somerset, on the Colo river 90 minutes North West of Sydney. The students will arrive at 10:30 am where they will begin an action packed three days. Students will arrive back to St Paul’s at approximately 3:00pm on Friday.
Somerset offers a unique blend of learning experiences and outdoor activities delivered in a professionally managed outdoor education program.
Groupings for the camp will be arranged at the beginning of Term 1.
You will receive a letter in the coming weeks with a link to access more information about the camp, complete medical forms and a declaration.
Parent Engagement
There are always various ways that parents, carers and families can be involved at St Paul’s Catholic College. Parents and carers are provided with opportunities throughout the year to be a part of events, liturgies and celebrations at the school.
Events throughout the year often involve parents and carers volunteering to serve tea, coffee and food. Parents and carers can participate in many other ways to contribute to the community of St Paul’s and be involved in their child's school journey, such as assisting at excursions and around the school.
Expressions of interest to get involved at St Paul’s Catholic College can be submitted via the QR code or completing the following Parent Engagement Expression of Interest Form
Checklist
Use the below checklist to make sure your child has done everything required prior to your daughters / sons first day of school.
November
Book uniform fitting and purchase all items required
Purchase device
November / December
Apply for School Opal Card (if your child will be travelling to school via bus)
Order textbooks via Campion
December / January
Onboard laptop following instructions sent the week commencing 13 January
Determine school bus numbers for trip to and from school
Purchase all required stationery
If applicable, obtain current medical action plan from your doctor and ensure medication is provided to the School Services Team at the start of Term 1
