St Paul’s College will become co-educational from January 2022
28 July 2020
Dear Friends of St Paul’s College
It is with enormous excitement and pride that St Paul’s makes a significant announcement regarding the future enrolment profile of our College.
Following extensive research, consultation, and the unanimous support from the St Paul’s College Board, the South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools, Catholic Education South Australia and Edmund Rice Education Australia, we are pleased to announce that St Paul’s will become a co-educational Catholic College in the Edmund Rice tradition from January 2022.
Co-education will be introduced from Reception through to and including Year 8 in 2022 and we will grow to a complete co-educational College by 2026. A letter from Dr Wayne Tinsey, Executive Director of Edmund Rice Education Australia, affirms this announcement and is attached.
For over six decades, St Paul’s has served the needs of the surrounding Catholic parishes of Walkerville, Dernancourt, Enfield and Greenacres, and exemplifies an inclusive community. From January 2022, this ongoing commitment will see St Paul’s enter a new chapter of our life and realign with the emerging needs of families within the inner north east of Adelaide. Following in the footsteps of our founder Edmund Rice, we respond to the needs of the community in which we live by providing the only affordable Catholic co-educational school for Reception to Year 12 in this area as a renewed commitment to inclusivity.
In the 21st century, schools must work diligently to prepare students for a world beyond their school gates, where traits such as tolerance, respect, initiative, service, resilience, and co-operation are as valuable as academic knowledge and skills.
Our uncertain and ever-changing world that we prepare our young people to enter has many challenges. More than ever before the role of St Paul’s College is to ready girls and boys for these challenges with a deep understanding of diversity and inclusivity within a co-educational setting, and a belief in their individual value and self-worth. For St Paul’s to best educate young people for the world God desires, we must develop these human characteristics as well as the ability to think, learn and collaborate. Just as students are at the centre of our strategic plan, we continue to embrace students, their interests, families, strengths and individual needs to ensure that every student can develop deeper levels of self-confidence, empathy and justice to make meaningful contributions to their community as a young woman or young man.
Currently, our College has more students enrolled than at any other stage in its rich history. In 2019, we restructured our fee levels to provide much needed financial relief for our families. In 2020, we had a 0% increase in tuition fees and we are pleased to announce that in 2021 we will again have a 0% rise in our fees. Our student numbers are growing and to support our transition to co-education, the College has recently undertaken a Master Plan for our grounds and facilities. We have developed plans to spend 10.2 million dollars on works associated with our Resource Centre, the main courtyard and a new amenities / senior years building which will overlook our beautiful ovals and the Adelaide Hills. This building program is in addition to the recent re-development of our Primary Quadrangle and will be completed by January 2022.
As we enter this new life of the College and while significant preparation for 2022 is well underway, our transition to co-education requires further planning. Already the College Leadership team has established eleven working parties to review all aspects of our College and prepare for co-education from 2022. Working Parties include Catholic Identity and Mission, curriculum, co-curricular and sport offerings, buildings and learning spaces, uniforms, pastoral care and wellbeing, and staff development.
We will be continuously updating our community as we journey towards co-education, including an invitation to attend information evenings and forums to hear about exciting plans and ask questions about this particularly exhilarating time for the College. We believe that embracing co-education at St Paul’s College is very much aligned to Blessed Edmund’s vision of responding to the needs of the community in our time and place, and we know that girls and boys will thrive at St Paul’s College given our commitment to excellence and attention to individual students within our inclusive community.
As you join in this significant development, the College Leadership Team welcomes any questions that you may have, so please do not hesitate to contact the College. We urge you to visit our College website for frequently asked questions and for opportunities to respond to this announcement.
Together we grow.
Yours sincerely
Chris Edge
Board Chair
Paul Belton
Principal