The first weeks of the school year have started with much energy and excitement. Last Friday, our whole student body and staff marked the beginning of the new school year with a Mass celebrated by Bishop Tim Norton. We were blessed to have Bishop Tim with us given his busy schedule. At the beginning of the Mass, Bishop Tim spoke of his association with Father Liam Horsfall who was a part of our community for over a decade in the early to mid-2000s. Bishop Tim joined the priesthood through the influence of Father Liam and joined the same order. Since his ordination, he has worked in places across the globe and now has returned to Brisbane to undertake the role of Bishop. We hope to be able to have him at more celebrations in the future if he is available.

At the conclusion of the Mass, I reminded the students about what the Year of Solidarity means to us as a community and what they can do individually to stand in solidarity to others. I explained that our aspiration is to be a learning community that respects and honours the diversity, and dignity of everyone. Such an aspiration means that each of us carries a responsibility to ensure everyone around us feels safe, valued, and supported because we are there with them and that we do this by being the face of Christ to all. To elaborate, I explained…

“…So how can 1600 people gather in a relatively small space each day and not just survive together but thrive together? I believe that the answer is held within this idea of humanity. We are a collection of people who do show care and concern towards one another and this, in turn promulgates to a loving community. I often hear past and present students say that they LOVE this College. … In essence, they are saying that they love the people around them because they make them feel valued, special, and loved.

It our daily actions in showing compassion, support, and care for one another that creates our humanity. Our Catholic faith describes this as bringing about the Kingdom of God. A Kingdom is a community; hence a Kingdom of God is a community that has Jesus at its heart. That is how we be the face of Jesus to others.

In Matthew’s Gospel reading about the transfiguration of Jesus, Peter said to Jesus … “It is good for us to be here.” I hope that this reading will always be a beacon that guides the St Patrick’s community in acknowledging that it is good for each of us to be here because we chose…

love over tolerance.

wonder and understanding over judgement.

fairness and justice over power and to

Walk towards rather than away from others.”

If all staff, parents, carers and students can make these choices through our words and actions to each other, we cannot help but be a loving community that understands that everyone’s personal story builds the fabric of St Patrick’s College: Our Place.

On Tuesday, we also acknowledged the efforts and academic achievements of many of our students from 2023 at our Scholars’ Assembly. The Christian Brothers Building was packed with record numbers of achievers including those from the senior cohort of 2023. It is always pleasing to see so many of our students proudly receiving awards for their efforts. Students received gold, silver or bronze awards according to their results and several others also received awards for their learning gains from the first semester to the second semester last year.

We also applauded the efforts of Lachlan Silver-Thomas our 2023 College Dux (ATAR 99.85) along with Angus Lenske who was awarded 2023 Vocational Education Student of the Year. There were also a significant number of students who received a Tom Hardyman Medal for receiving an ATAR score above 95. Before this presentation, I explained the significance of this award to the students and parents. It can be found here in my address to the assembly.

Our students have also been practising for next Thursday night’s Showcase event. Parents who are new to the College will find this night to be a real treat. We have already sold close to 2,000 tickets and I recommend families who have not yet purchased their tickets to do so as quickly as possible.

Our Year 12 students will also have their senior formal on Saturday night. This is always a special event for them and their partners. I look forward to joining them with nearly 40 other staff on the night.

I would like to thank the many parents who were able to attend our Parent Information evenings (Years 5, 6, 7, 11 and 12) and those were able attend our morning coffee gathering and tour of Morven (Years 6 & 10). Parent with students in Year 9 will have an opportunity to see Morven on Monday 19 February before the Rite Journey Information Evening. If you were able to join us, I hope that you found the events useful and relevant. We are always open to feedback to improve such events. If you have any feedback, please send an email to me at cmayes@stpatricks.qld.edu.au.

The AIC sporting competitions for Term One are now well under way. This term includes AFL, Swimming, Cricket, and Volleyball. We had our season launches during our recent Spirit Assembly and I would like to congratulate the following students who were selected as captains of the sports:

Cricket: Matt Pereira

Volleyball: Malakai Maher

Swimming: Dominic Porter

AFL: Joe Byers

I thank all our students who have chosen to represent our College in sport and hope that they each have an enjoyable and safe season.

I look forward to seeing many of you at Showcase next Thursday night.

Live Jesus in our Hearts!


Chris Mayes
College Principal

The commencement of the school year is always packed with excitement and energy from students and staff alike. It is a wonderful time of year, lots of new beginnings and a chance to reset and prepare for the year ahead. Over the past few weeks, the teachers have been working diligently to get to know your sons; their strengths, their challenges, their interests and motivations. They have been setting clear expectations and working collaboratively with each of their classes to create safe and inviting classrooms that promote collaboration and active learning.

In collaboration with Heads of Faculty, classroom teachers have also reviewed your son’s academic results, attendance and standardised testing results. The triangulation of this information helps paint a picture of what your son is capable of achieving in the classroom. To this end, our teaching team will use this information to set achievable, ambitious goals for your son and his performance in their class.

TG Mentoring
Each year the students across Year 6-11 set goals for the semester ahead. They reflect on their previous results and recalibrate for the upcoming semester in our online analytics program. This information is then communicated to their classroom teachers and once approved by their Group Tutor will become available to you. As part of the goal setting process this year, the students were reminded of the following concepts:

• Active Learning 
  • Summarising; Explaining; Creating mental images; Asking questions
• Spaced Repetition 
  • Reviewing new information at spaced intervals; Using flashcards; Repetition; Reviewing regularly
• Practice Testing
  • Self-testing; Using practice exams; Responding to the Feedback

It is hoped that these concepts will inform and add to the study strategies your son has developed over their time at the College.

Parent Teacher Interviews
On Tuesday 27 February we will host our first Parent Teacher Interviews for 2024 via Teams. These interviews provide a platform to discuss your son’s goals, his attitude and to meet and establish a relationship with classroom teachers. Part of the interview will be dedicated to discussing your son’s goals and the strategies he has identified to help him succeed. It is a wonderful and valuable opportunity that will set the foundation for a successful year ahead.

Please note the following:

• The PTI sessions are also available for Year 12 students to meet with their Academic Mentors.
• Year 11 SET Planners are available ONLY if you need to discuss subject choices or changes to pathways.
• If you have the same teacher for two subjects, the preference is to make one appointment.
• This helps with the volume of parents wanting to meet classroom teachers.
  

I look forward to working with you and your son/s throughout the year.

Mr Adam McPhee
Dean of Administration and Business Intelligence

Year of Solidarity

Here at St Patrick’s College, 2024 has been named the Year of Solidarity. I’m not sure what your associations with the word solidarity are. Maybe you are seeing a picture of union members standing shoulder to shoulder or the Polish Solidarity movement starting to bring down the Soviet Bloc. I’m sure there are many other ideas that cross your mind.


For us as a Catholic community, solidarity is a very natural part of our religious identity. Solidarity is key to being a follower of Jesus. Even the merest understanding of the story of Jesus will tell you that his practice was to deliberately position himself with people who are lost or excluded. He sought out people on the edge and made their concerns his own. He stood with them and challenged the systems that were holding people back. The key practice of Jesus was solidarity.


For us as an Edmund Rice community we build all parts of the life of our school on the four touchstones of EREA – Liberating Education, Gospel Spirituality, Inclusive Community and Justice and Solidarity as we create our educational approach with our students. Justice and Solidarity means positioning all the work of our community towards people who are poor and marginalised first and foremost. Solidarity reminds us that, for our community, what is good for “Us” is the key idea rather than what is good for “Me”, as important as each of us are. This approach runs counter to the practice of our world.


During the coming week, the Church community celebrates the beginning of the great season of Lent – our time of preparing for the new life of Easter. Pope Francis has written a beautiful message to the Church about the meaning of Lent this year, I encourage you to read it Message of the Holy Father Francis for Lent 2024 (vatican.va). The core idea that he reflects on is the journey from slavery to freedom – away from those things that hold us back from the fullness of life and toward the place of hope in our lives. His holiness says:


“In the presence of God, we become brothers and sisters, more sensitive to one another: in place of threats and enemies, we discover companions and fellow travelers. This is God’s dream, the promised land to which we journey once we have left our slavery behind.”


This surely is solidarity.


Upcoming Identity Events:

• This weekend we host the Head to Heart Camp at the College. Some of our Year 11 students, working with students from St John Fisher College and volunteers from Edmund Rice Camps, offer a fun camp experience for children from disadvantaged backgrounds. Please pray for our young people.
• On Tuesday 13 February, before school, ERA for Change will be cooking and selling pancakes to mark Pancake Tuesday.
• Tuesday 13 February is also the anniversary of the Apology to the Stolen Generations – Let's keep working for Reconciliation in our country.
• The St Patrick’s College Ash Wednesday liturgy will be on Wednesday during extended Tutor Group time.
• Our St Paddy’s Van Ministry continues on Mondays, Fridays, and Saturdays.
• Friday 16 February will be our first Friday morning Mass at 8.00 am in the College Chapel, everyone is welcome.

Introducing the Development Office
In the past, the Development Office has been an enigma. So, what is the Development Office and what do we actually do? Located in the Seaview Building, the St Patrick’s College Development Office provides marketing, communication, enrolment, archive and alumni expertise across the campus. This support includes REALM, enrolments, communication, marketing, publications, Foundation, events, advertising, website, social media and alumni.

Meet our Staff
The Development Office is a busy department of 4 staff providing support to our fellow colleagues, students, past students, and families. Our Department may be small but what we lack in size we certainly make up for with enthusiasm and passion for the College.

Stacey Bishop - Director of Marketing
Stacey provides a strategic approach to marketing, communications, enrolments & archives and in particular focuses on the following:

• College events including Open Day and Celebration of Excellence
• Communications
• Social Media
• Photography
• Foundation
• Advertising
• Website
• Yearbook

Jessica Watkins – Community Engagement Officer
Jess comes with expertise and a passion for archiving and alumni. She loves nothing more than searching through our archives to bring you an interesting social media story or newsletter article. Her work encompasses:

• Publications and Digital Media
• Morven Magazine
• Events such as Mother Son and Father Son
• Alumni
• Archives

Alison Stokes – Marketing Officer

Alison brings to us a background in corporate affairs and a vast array of public relations and marketing experience. Her role includes:

• College Publications
• Realm
• Social Media
• Enrolment Assistance
• SchoolBench – our College photography Management System
• Assistance with External Photography

Trish Watkins – College Development Officer
Trish brings a wealth of experience and knowledge in enrolments and database management. She is the first point of contact for our new families to the College. Trish’s role encompasses:

• Enrolments
• Oversight of our database
• Management of external school photos

The Development Office looks forward to working with our community during 2024. If you have any questions about any of the above, please do not hesitate to contact me at sbishop@stpatricks.qld.edu.au.