As a Catholic school, St Paul’s shares in the mission of the Catholic Church. Christ’s commandment “love one another - just as I have loved you, you should love one another” is the basis for all faith communities. Pastoral care gathers all the qualities and practices within a community that seek to make this commandment real.

The Pastoral Care Policy at St Paul’s reflects the Diocesan Vision Statement, especially the following:

• Be an integral part of the evangelising mission of the Church and reflect Gospel values of justice, truth, peace, forgiveness, love, reconciliation and service of one another.
• Be centred on the person of Jesus and grounded in the Scriptures, in the teaching, traditions of faith and prayer in the Catholic Church and the witness of its past and present saints and scholars.
• Recognise the individuality of each young person and foster the development of each one’s unique potential and spirituality.

Where a need for specialist assistance is identified, St Paul's offers the services of a Pastoral Care Worker and a School Psychologist. The school runs programs throughout the year targeted at the needs of individual students such as Seasons for Growth, Peer Support, Rock and Water, Bounce Back and Positive Behaviours for Learning.

Buddy Program

When students enrol in Kindergarten at St Paul's, they are supported in their transition by a buddy assigned to them from Year 6. These buddies meet them at transition, when they are in Year 5, and assist them in their transition to Kindergarten by helping them with the routines of the "big school" playground.

Community

St Paul's is part of the community of West Maitland and we believe that community is not just a word, it is an important part of who we are and is essential in providing students with a sense of belonging, which is important in building personal wellbeing.

Students interact with various entities from the community throughout the school year. The Mini Vinnies team work in conjunction with St Vincent De Paul Society to help raise awareness of the underprivileged and they also visit the local nursing home to sing and provide companionship to the residents. Students are active participants in the Maitland ANZAC March, with many of our students attending marches in other various localities.

As a school community, we celebrate a variety of significant religious and non-religious events throughout the year. We reflect on Easter and Christmas as the most significant celebrations of our Church. We celebrate our own St Paul's Feast Day during July with a liturgy or Mass that highlight the attributes of our Patron Saint.