Flourishing at St Paul’s
NOURISH | GROW | FLOURISH
Introduction Vision and Mission
St Paul’s will be a dynamic, transformative, and exemplary Christian Grammar School, where students and staff can flourish, both within and beyond the school.
As a Christ-centred community, St Paul’s Grammar School enables excellence in all areas, empowering students to be discerning and knowledgeable individuals of integrity, who are called to serve in the world with respect and compassion.
WELLBEING DEFINITION
At St Paul’s, flourishing is living a life that navigates the tension between what is beautiful and hard, through connection, love, and service, and is grounded in a hope in Jesus Christ.
WELLBEING INTENTION
Wellbeing at St Paul’s strives to nourish wonder in our learning; to grow in love, grace, and humility; and to flourish in truth and faith, so that all people at St Paul’s may bring hope to our community.
Living Out Our Vision Statement
St Paul’s will be a dynamic, transformative, and exemplary Christian Grammar School, where students and staff can flourish, both within and beyond the school.
St Paul’s sets a vision to be a place for students and staff to provide a living picture of a community who are living a flourishing life, consistent with our understanding of human flourishing. ‘where’
‘within’ At St Paul’s, people experience loving, peaceful, and joyful relationships as they go about their work and learning. It means sharing the Gospel to illustrate what it means to live a flourishing life, both now and for eternity.
‘beyond’ To equip and enable each other to consistently live a flourishing life beyond St Paul’s, influencing and impacting the lives of others.
Flourishing at St Paul’s
Our Wellbeing Framework encapsulates the principles and practices designed to enhance the wellbeing of our staff and students. It aims to illustrate what it means to live well.
The concept of flourishing acknowledges the complexity of human experiences and emotions. We understand that life encompasses both joy and sorrow, with its highs and lows. Together, we can lament and celebrate, embracing life in its entirety. By living in community, we cultivate resilience, empathy, and a deeper connection to ourselves and others, leading to a more authentic and fulfilling life.
Our framework is based on the following principles:
• That every person at St Paul’s is valuable.
• People are created by God to be in community with others.
• A positive environment allows students to be known and live out their values.
• Individual character is developed through relationships and connections.
• Striving for school satisfaction is achieved through affect, meaning, and purpose.
• Overall wellbeing is fostered through positive emotions, engagement, relationships, meaning, accomplishment, and health.
The Flourishing Life The Good Life
Commonly, human flourishing describes a life of meaning, purpose, and satisfaction. This is considered to be “the good life” (Aristotle, 384–322 BC; Maslow, 1954; Seligman, 2011; and Volf, 2015), where the person is able to not just survive but achieve a personally rewarding, balanced, and fulfilling life. The idea of human flourishing has been considered by many theologians and philosophers as best achieved through living a virtuous and purposeful life.
FLOURISHING
Abridged from the St Paul’s Flourishing Document
M. Palmer (2023)
Flourishing in a Biblical sense is synonymous with ideas of living in the Kingdom of God under the Lordship of Jesus. Essentially, a flourishing life navigates the tension that exists for all humans; living in a time between a fallen yet partially-redeemed world and the full realisation of God’s eternal Kingdom in the world yet to come. The tension between these two worlds points to the dynamic nature of a flourishing life.
A flourishing life at St Paul’s adopts a vision of hope for the world with an assurance in our future. A life that is:
Going Well
Feeling as it Should
Marked by peaceful relationships with God, people, and the world; yet not a peace without conflict.
Marked by a joyful emotional presence; yet a joy that experiences lament and mourning.
Led Well
Marked by faithfulness and love; yet a love that often suffers.
The Flourishing Tree
The image of the flourishing tree is a rich illustration that represents how and why students flourish. In many respects, the flourishing tree is a visual representation of what is taking place at any point along a student’s journey at St Paul’s.
NOURISH | Beliefs and Values
The concept of nourish lies at the base of the flourishing tree, providing the foundation for a flourishing life. The blue colour acknowledges our belief that God is the living water that provides the life source for our flourishing. This element of the tree shows that the source of the flourishing life is God himself, and his son Jesus. Without this, true flourishing is not possible.
The roots of the tree represent the school’s values. These values have been deliberately chosen to provide the foundations that underpin all aspects of life at St Paul’s: Hope, Grace, Love, Wonder, Humility, Faith, Truth, and Community
GROW | Character Development
The trunk and branches of the tree represent the individual growth and character development of our students. This takes place due to the deliberate and recurrent nourishment provided by the relationships that exist between our staff and students. These relationships model the living water of God and His son Jesus, in a real and practical sense.
Students grow character through the IB Approaches to Learning Skills and the Learner Profile Attributes:
Approaches to Learning Skills
Communication, Research, Thinking, Social, Self Management
Learner Profile Attributes
Inquirers, Knowledgeable, Thinkers, Communicators, Balanced, Caring, Risk-takers, Principled, Open-minded, Reflective
FLOURISH | PERMAH
The leaves and fruit are illustrative of the observable facets of a flourishing life in action. A targeted wellbeing programme with specific, age-appropriate lessons and learning activities is taught within the context of the nourish and grow elements of the tree. This programme is designed to have students live a flourishing life consistent with the six elements of the PERMAH acronym, enhancing a student’s lifelong wellbeing:
Positive Emotions, Engagement, Relationships, Meaning, Accomplishment, and Health
Nourish Beliefs and Values
Our beliefs and values as a school inform our views of the world. They shape how we develop staff and students within and beyond our school community. St Paul’s is dedicated to equipping students to become people of discernment, integrity, and excellence in all of life, and who serve in the world as confident, competent, and compassionate adults.
Nourish in the Classroom
Through our beliefs and values, students explore all wellbeing dimensions (social, emotional, physical, and spiritual), with a strong emphasis on understanding how their own personal wellbeing relates to their beliefs and behaviours. Knowledge and understanding of personal wellbeing.
Hope Strength to persevere; an assurance of tomorrow.
Hope is grounded in the unshakable, unchanging nature of God. It sets before us the certainity of a heavenly future. Hope enables joyful perseverance in the present, as well as a way to view, analyse, and make sense of past and present circumstances. This confidence in the future comes not from material possessions, achievements, or ideology. Rather, it is found and anchored in the work of Jesus, the living hope, to redeem humanity and provide his Spirit, the promise of eternal life.
“For in this hope we were saved. But hope that is seen is no hope at all. Who hopes for what they already have? But if we hope for what we do not yet have, we wait for it patiently.”
Romans 8:24-25
Grace
Demonstrating love, forgiveness, mercy, and compassion.
Grace is God’s unmerited favour. His love and value for us is not dependent on our performance in life. Flowing from His common and saving grace towards us, we model God’s grace in our relationships by demonstrating love, forgiveness, mercy, and compassion. Grace is also demonstrated in how we respectfully engage in conflict, debate ideas, and seek compromise in learning and working situations at St Paul’s.
“For it is by grace you have been saved, through faith - and this is not from yourselves, it is the gift of God - not by works, so that no one can boast.” Ephesians 2:8-9
Love
With all our heart, soul, mind, and strength.
Love flows from the very nature of the Trinity. Therefore, love is the ideal way to express relationship with God and others. The command to love God with all our heart, soul, mind, and strength flows into loving our neighbours. God himself models sacrificial, selfless, compassionate, and enduring love. In the same way, we are called to love each other as we learn, work, and serve in our community.
“Love is patient, love is kind. It does not envy, it does not boast, it is not proud. It does not dishonour others, it is not self-seeking, it is not easily angered, it keeps no record of wrongs. Love does not delight in evil but rejoices with the truth. It always protects, always trusts, always hopes, always perseveres.”
1 Corinthians 13:4-7
Wonder
Curiosity, inquiry, and thanksgiving.
The value of wonder draws upon the awe and curiosity we have for God and his creation. When we wonder, we can look to creation to point towards the all-knowing God who made it, with opportunity to see His eternal power and divine nature. This leads to curiosity and inquiry, with a positive direction towards knowing God and actively participating in His world with thanksgiving.
“When I consider your heavens, the work of your fingers, the moon and the stars, which you have set in place, what is mankind that you are mindful of them, human beings that you care for them?” Psalm 8:3-4
Humility
Placing others before
Humility is an extension of love and the posture of worship and service. It is the admission that we are fallible humans, creatures dependent on the Creator. It leads us to worship God and to use our intellect, skills, and talents in His service, for His glory and for the good of others.
It places others before ourselves. It leads to an open-minded, respectful, and collaborative attitude towards learning and working at St Paul’s.
“Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit. Rather, in humility value others above yourselves, not looking to your own interests but each of you to the interests of the others.”
Philippians 2:3-4 ourselves.
Faith Believing with your heart;
“For in the gospel the righteousness of God is revealed—a righteousness that is by faith from first to last, just as it is written: ‘The righteous will live by faith.’” Romans 1:17 knowing with your mind.
Trust is the basis of relationships. It is trust exercised through faith that enables us to know God, understand His word, learn of His world, and live an assured life with certainty of the things we cannot see. This faith is based on the knowledge revealed in God’s word and His creation. Faithfulness exudes a deep trust in God that flows into a godly life of trustworthiness, exploring the unknown, and integrity of character.
Truth
Illuminating the unknown.
Truth originating from God is absolute. This truth is the foundation of knowledge, morality, and ethics. Knowing the truth equips us to discover and understand reality. It illuminates the unknown and shapes how we engage in learning and work. It is the basis of how we behave with personal integrity and in how we relate to one another in of our school community.
“Show me your ways, Lord, teach me your paths. Guide me in your truth and teach me, for you are God my Saviour, and my hope is in you all day long.”
Psalm 25:4-5
Community
Working together for the good of all.
As a school we value our relationships with each other and the responsibility to work together for the glory of God. It draws upon our role as people created in God’s image to live out His desire for us to serve Him and each other.
“And let us consider how we may spur one another on toward love and good deeds, not giving up meeting together, as some are in the habit of doing, but encouraging one another - and all the more as you see the day approaching.”
Hebrews 10:24-25
Character Development
At St Paul’s, we focus on developing character through the ten IB Learner Profile attributes as a way to instil a set of core values and behaviours in students. These work together in and outside of the classroom to collectively shape a student to develop through the acquistion of the Approaches to Learning Skills, along with strong moral values, interpersonal skills, and a balanced approach to life.
Grow in the Classroom
Skills for wellbeing development.
Students acquire and refine Approaches to Learning
Skills to develop and recognise Learner Profile Attributes through practical experiences tailored to their stage of development. These developmental experiences aim to cultivate individual character, self-worth, and a sense of belonging.
Learner Profile Attributes
The IB Learner Profile shapes students into curious, confident, and engaged learners. Each attribute of the Learner Profile contributes to developing students of character and purpose into well-rounded individuals.
Inquirers
Nurturing curiosity and promoting independence fosters a love of learning and leads to a sense of accomplishment.
Knowledgeable
Engaging with diverse concepts and global issue broadens perspectives and deepens an understanding of meaning and purpose.
Thinkers
Developing critical and creative thinking skills empowers us to approach problems confidently and fosters high levels of engagement.
Communicators
Expressing ideas confidently and collaborating builds strong relationships and social skills.
Balanced
Recognising the importance of balancing all the wellbeing dimensions promoting health.
Caring
Demonstrating empathy, compassion, and respect nurtures positive relationships and emotions.
Risk-takers
Approaching uncertainty with determination and resilience empowers us to tackle challenges confidently, providing a sense of accomplishment and positive emotions.
Principled
Acting with integrity, fairness, and respect instils responsibility and ethical behaviour, contributing to moral development and a sense of meaning.
Open-minded
Appreciating diverse cultures and perspectives cultivates empathy and a broader worldview, supporting our engagement in the world around us.
Reflective
Thoughtfully considering our learning experiences promotes continuous personal development and our relationships with others.
Flourish PERMAH
At St Paul’s, we aim to inspire students and staff to live lives of meaning and purpose. A fulfilling life is experienced through our perceptions and feelings. To support this, Martin Seligman’s PERMAH model outlines six key components essential for human wellbeing and flourishing. Understanding these elements helps students cultivate a holistic sense of wellbeing.
Flourish in the Classroom
Personal and social application of skills.
Students apply their skills through active participation and collaboration. This is encouraged through strategies aimed at fostering positive relationships, responsible engagement, increased self-awareness, and enhanced interpersonal skills. Through meaningful relationships and targeted goal-setting, students tackle challenges and find resolutions.
Positive Emotions
Boosting resilience by navigating emotions and cultivating joy, gratitude, and hope contributes to overall happiness. Positive emotions are reflections of God’s love and grace.
Engagement
Using your strengths to engage deeply in activities often leads to a state of flow to foster deep engagement. Using one’s talents and gifts to serve others aligns one’s actions with a greater purpose.
Relationships
Having positive and supportive connections with other people and a sense of belonging are central to the Christian faith, emphasising the importance of love and Christian fellowship.
Meaning
A sense of purpose and understanding that one’s life is significant. Meaning helps us to live in a way that reflects our identity in God and helps contribute to the greater good.
Accomplishment
Pursuing and achieving goals leads to a sense of success and competence. Through our Christian faith, we seek to make a positive impact, rather than just for personal achievement.
Health
Increasing energy through maintaining a healthy body and mind maintains a form of stewardship and places value on what we have been given.
Learning to Flourish A Journey of Growth and Nourishment
Throughout their journey from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12, we strive to nurture our students, helping them become well-rounded individuals who will positively impact their communities long after they leave St Paul’s. We believe a student’s journey through school revolves around the following key characteristics of teacher-student relationships:
NOURISH | Beliefs and Values
St Paul’s places importance on all the wellbeing dimensions - social, emotional, cognitive, physical, moral, mental, spiritual, and academic - to equip students in understanding how and where they belong in the world.
GROW | Character Development
At any point of the St Paul’s journey, teachers strive to understand and develop students as the unique individuals they are. By emphasising character development alongside intellectual growth, challenges are seen as opportunities to build resilience and faith.
FLOURISH | PERMAH
At St Paul’s, we focus on helping students refine their sense of purpose and prepare for the future with confidence and hope.
Pre-Kindergarten
Nourishing Minds Through Play
NOURISH | In the early years, flourishing begins with foundational lessons of love, kindness, and respect. Curiosity and wonder are nourished through play, the language of childhood, where children express thoughts, feelings, and experiences, fostering authenticity and creativity.
GROW | Students develop relationships through play. Relationships expand beyond caregivers as they explore and interact with the world around them. This environment nurtures problem-solving, critical thinking, and curiosity.
FLOURISH | As members of our community, students are made to feel valuable. Their ideas and questions are encouraged as they explore their surroundings through play.
Kindergarten to Year 2
Guiding Friendships with Growing Hearts
NOURISH | Foundational for the development of social and emotional skills, friendships are a fundamental need to provide love, security, and comfort at school.
GROW | Shared experiences provide the building blocks of empathy, trust, and social awareness. Friendships are established through innate interactions and mutual responsiveness, often forming bonds based on proximity and connection.
FLOURISH | Understanding and nurturing early friendships are essential for fostering well-rounded and emotionally healthy individuals. They are crucial for emotional growth influencing our ability to form secure attachments later in life.
Year 3 to Year 6
Flourishing Identities Through Exploration
NOURISH | Children begin to construct their personal and social identities through interactions with family, peers, teachers, and their broader communities. Identity formation shapes their sense of self, belonging, and place in the world.
GROW | Collaborative work assists students to learn about themselves and their peers, promoting social skills and mutual respect. Identity is not static, but a dynamic and evolving personal story influenced by their experiences, reflections, social roles, relationships, and affiliations.
FLOURISH | Students learn to discern right from wrong and act with integrity in their choices and relationships. This promotes healthy identity formation in a supportive environment.
Year 7 to Year 10
Fostering Gifts and Abilities
NOURISH | Adolescence is a time of change and includes an important phase of personal, emotional, and intellectual development. Students learn to make their own choices to foster their own gifts and abilities.
GROW | Students are encouraged to explore their gifts and abilities through opportunities to develop, serve, lead, and contribute positively to their school community. Connections are created through shared interests in sports, service, and the arts.
FLOURISH | Activities create important connection points, fostering a sense of belonging and helping students flourish. They are guided to view their abilities as gifts from God and to be thankful for them.
Year 11 to Year 12
Preparing for the Future
NOURISH | Our senior students are encouraged to be principled and wise young adults. Developing strong and resilient traits for their future, students realise their potential while maximising the opportunities available to them.
GROW | Students are empowered to develop into young adults of discernment, taking responsibility for their own learning, enabling them to continue to serve in the future with respect and compassion.
FLOURISH | We aim to inspire, challenge, and foster the confidence necessary to achieve personal goals and ensure our students are well-equipped to flourish in the future. St Paul’s provides a place for students to think critically, engage with the world, develop beliefs through wisdom, and reflect the love of Christ in all they do.
A Network of Support
The heart of our school is relationships. At every stage, students are supported in building and maintaining connection and belonging. In class, teachers maintain unconditional positive regard for their students, enabling them to make wise choices. Our staff are tasked to nurture the values and engagement of students to support relationships, achievement, and a sense of community.
Classroom Teacher ( P - 6 )
Tracks students academic and pastoral development, acting as the conduit between all supports at school.
Head of House ( 7 - 12 )
Partners with parents and creates connection between school and family, maintaining presence throughout a students’ education.
Tutor ( 7 - 12 )
Seeks to know their students better than anyone else in the school, encouraging engagement in the life of the school.
Learning to Flourish
Service-Learning
Our service-learning opportunities provide students with meaningful experiences that foster a sense of purpose and commitment to the greater good, developing empathy and leadership.
Students impact their local community, fostering responsibility and a servant heart.
Engaging nationally broadens students’ understanding of diverse communities, promoting unity and a broader societal perspective.
Cultivating global citizenship supports cultural awareness and personal growth.
Cocurricular
Our cocurricular programmes seek to offer a range of opportunities to engage with the life of the school.
They allow students to build friendships and skills in a supportive environment where they feel valued, connected, and a sense of identity within the school community.
Students challenge themselves both physically and spiritually, which in turn helps to contribute to and respond to the culture of the school and the broader culture.
Supporting the Flourishing Life
Working at St Paul’s
Our staff are our greatest resource. Their dedication, expertise, and passion are distinctive of St Paul’s culture, as they inspire and educate our students, fostering a love of learning and a commitment to personal growth. By providing high-quality support, our staff members ensure that each student can achieve their full potential. Recognising the immense value they bring to our community, it is essential that we invest in their wellbeing and professional development.
Caring for those who care for our kids.
By prioritising the wellbeing of our staff, we empower them to continue delivering exceptional education and support to students. Caring for them means recognising and appreciating their hard work and dedication. By fostering a sense of belonging and community among our teaching and support staff, we create a positive and sustainable environment where everyone can flourish. This not only benefits our staff, but also enriches our entire school community.
Supporting the Flourishing Life Parent Partnerships
Our Wellbeing Framework recognises that families have the most significant influence on their child’s learning, wellbeing, and development. When families and schools maintain a successful partnership, students have increased confidence, social skills, emotional resilience, communication skills, and general wellbeing.
Partnering together fosters protective factors for student wellbeing. Schools play a vital role in a child’s life by promoting relationships, creating a sense of belonging and connectedness, emphasising social and emotional learning, and implementing effective wellbeing policies and procedures. Together, these factors create a robust network of support that empowers students to flourish.
Supporting the Flourishing Life House System
Each student from Pre-Kindergarten to Year 12 is placed in a House group, with members of the same family placed in the same House. This system seeks to cultivate a sense of belonging for our students within the whole school.
Junior School: A foundation of House spirit and community is developed through the school's traditions which foster friendly competition and service-learning opportunites.
Secondary School: Tutor groups are organised by House, with students from Year 7 to Year 12 assigned a staff member who remains with them throughout their entire Secondary School journey.
St Paul’s has six house groups, each named after a local parish and distinguished with an emblem.
castlereagh Cornwallis Melville Strathdon WILBERFORCE
Chaplaincy
A strong chaplaincy programme is essential for creating an enriching and flourishing culture that exemplifies a living model of a community with Jesus Christ at its centre.
Our Chaplains offer one-on-one support and guidance, helping students and staff navigate challenges. They provide opportunities for faith development and connection with the community through chapel services, prayer groups, Bible studies, and theological training, whilst also helping students grow in their Biblical literacy through the Christian Studies curriculum.
Counselling
Our Counselling team supports students in their emotional and psychological wellbeing, providing a safe and confidential environment. This allows students to nourish, grow, and flourish as individuals within a community that values and supports their mental and emotional wellbeing.
Furry Counsellors
Therapy dogs create a welcoming and relaxed school environment, reducing anxiety and stress. Their presence helps to improve mood, foster empathy and regulate emotions through pats, tail wags, and cuddles.
Flourishing at St Paul’s