Parents & Partnership
Parent Engagement
Parent Partnership Group
The new Parent Partnership Group at St Paul’s Catholic College is dedicated to fostering authentic engagement between families, the school, parish, and wider community. This collaborative forum encourages meaningful involvement from the entire community in decision-making processes, ensuring genuine partnership and shared responsibility.
The group will focus on building capacity among parents and carers through an educative approach, empowering families to actively participate and contribute to the school’s ongoing development.
The group will be led by elected parent representatives- including a President, Vice President, and Secretary- and guided by the Principal, who oversees the meeting structure and documentation. Meetings will follow a published agenda, with parents invited to submit agenda items in advance through elected members.
Key activities include:
- Providing regular updates on school matters
- Clarifying school and Catholic Schools Broken Bay policies and procedures
- Consulting parents on new initiatives and programs
- Coordinating volunteer support for events such as Open Day
- Developing project groups based on community interests, such as social justice or parent social committees
- Organizing fundraising efforts aligned with CSBB guidelines to support school resources and experiences
The Parent Partnership Group is committed to nurturing a strong, connected community where families are valued partners in the education and wellbeing of students.
Parent Engagement Coordinator
The Parent Engagement Coordinator at St Paul’s is Katrina McDonnell. The role of Parent Engagement Coordinator is to support family’s wellbeing by facilitating and promoting parental involvement in all areas of school life, provide valuable resources, parent education, support services and referrals for parents and effectively communicate with parents as their wellbeing needs arise. The Parent Engagement Coordinator facilitates ways to ensure that the voice of parents and carers is sought and heard in relation to their engagement in the life of the school community.
St Paul’s Communication Channels
At St Paul’s Catholic College, we understand that effective communication is crucial for fostering a strong partnership between the College and families, which in turn supports the best possible learning environment for our students. We utilize several methods to keep everyone informed, including:
Compass Portal
The College Student Management Portal, Compass is designed to provide active links so you can easily access important information relating to your son/daughter’s wellbeing and progress at any time including attendance and academic results. Parents should advise the College of absences, view student timetables and progress through the portal.
Reminders and messages from various staff are also distributed through Compass and will arrive to parents as an email or SMS depending on your setup preferences.
New students and parents will be added to Compass by Catholic Schools Broken Bay (CSBB) once the College year has started and provided with further information/instructions about using the portal once school begins.
College Calendar
A reminder that the College Calendar is available to parents and students via Compass. To access the calendar, simply click on the Calendar icon in Compass in the toolbar at the top of the screen (next to the House icon) and view activities by day, week or month.
College Newsletter
Our College news publication is emailed to all parents/carers, currently sent twice per term. Whilst the newsletter provides valuable insight and updates on the happenings of the College, Compass and Social Media will provide more timely reminders of upcoming events and general information.
Student Planners
All Year 7-12 students are given a Student diary at the start of each year for their use. The diary is a valuable source for information on College policies and procedures and is also an important organisation and communication tool for students. As such, the College expects them to be kept in a neat and tidy condition. Your support of the diary system is essential for sound communication and monitoring of your child’s progress.
Social Media & Parent Groups
Follow us on Facebook and Instagram for regular updates on day-to-day activities at the College. We are also on LinkedIn where you can find out about position vacancies and Careers & Pathways activities within the College.
We have closed (private) Parent Facebook Groups set up for interested parents of each year group to share information (please email the College with your details and your child’s, such as Year Group, to join).
Expectations
Note that it is an expectation of the College that families read College notifications and newsletters as they are essential communication tools.
