There are a variety of co-curricular activities on offer for students at Ss Peter and Paul. All students are encouraged to participate in some of the co-curricular programs available. These programs develop students’ confidence, talents and sense of responsibility.

Some of the opportunities available at Ss Peter and Paul include:

• Premier's Reading Challenge
• International Competitions and Assessments for Schools (ICAS)
• STEM:
  • VEX Robotics Club - read more below
  • Robotics competitions – including the mBot Robotics Challenge and VEX Robotics Challenge
  • AAVC Aeronautical Velocity Challenge (Rocket Engineering for K-6)
  • Mathematics Challenges for Stage 3
• Sport:
  • Diocesan Sports Gala Days and other opportunities to participate in sports including soccer, cricket, netball, basketball, AFL, rugby union, rugby league, touch football and tennis.
  • Opportunities to represent at Diocesan, MacKillop, State and even National levels in a range of sports, including swimming, athletics and cross country
  • NSW Catholic Primary Schools (CPS) Basketball Challenge
• The Arts @ SsPP (read more here):
  • Art competitions – including the Kiama Art Society Art Competition and the Christmas Story Art Competition
  • Choir
  • Band
  • Biannual School Production
  • PlaySpace Drama
• SPLICED Gifted and Talented Program
• Multicultural Public Speaking
• Chess Club
• Mini Vinnies Social Justice Team (and opportunities to organise and participate in social justice initiatives, raising funds and awareness for a range of causes)
• Environmental Team - learn more here about our engagement with eco-spirituality, environmental education and action to implement environmental stewardship and sustainability.

VEX ROBOTICS AT Ss PETER AND PAUL

At Ss Peter and Paul, we understand that the best way to instil a lifelong interest in the areas of Science, Technology, Engineering, and Math (STEM) is to provide a fun, engaging, and hands-on opportunity for students to explore and experience it for themselves. That's why we have an after-school VEX Robotics Club for students in Years 2-6.

By its nature, the study of robotics inherently incorporates all four pillars of STEM. VEX IQ is a snap-together robotics system designed from the ground up to provide this opportunity to future engineers of all skill levels. By packaging advanced concepts into an accessible package, the system also naturally encourages teamwork, problem solving, and leadership for students and we see students as young as seven, quickly advancing in their coding, engineering and computational skills after just a few weeks.

As the world grows more technologically complex, computer science and computational thinking are becoming even more crucial fundamentals for students to learn. Since you can physically see the results of your coding exercises, robots offer a uniquely engaging format for learning these concepts.

The VEX IQ Challenge serves as a great introduction to competition for primary students. Each year, students solve an engineering challenge presented in the form of a game. Teams can participate in a variety of skill-based and judged events, like demonstrating a Programming Skills autonomous routine. The flagship Teamwork Challenge emphasises the value of collaboration over combat by pairing teams together to achieve the highest combined score possible. Besides hands-on engineering expertise, a competitive environment instinctively instills other life skills like teamwork, perseverance, communication, collaboration, project management, and critical thinking.

Ss Peter and Paul is proud to be a VEX Event Partner in hosting regional competitions for South Coast NSW for all Independent, Catholic and Public Schools.
 

Did You Know: Ss Peter and Paul consistently performs extremely well in Illawarra robotics competitions – we have achieved several podium finishes in mBot and VEX challenges since beginning to enter competitions a few years ago!