It has been such a wonderful start to the year for this incredible community, welcoming our new students and staff and engaging with so many families at various information nights and events. The College Leadership Team, consisting of a number of new members, each of whom bring a wealth of skills, experience and expertise, have been engaging with our community of students, families and staff, ensuring the 2024-2026 Strategic Plan has been at the very centre of our planning. We are strongly aligned on purpose, deeply committed to the Mission and Vision of this College, honouring and respecting the past, whilst ensuring we keep our eyes open for new opportunities to build for the future, ensuring this College continues to thrive.

I have also been working closely with the Student Leadership Team to support their vision for the year ahead, and I would like to take this opportunity to commend this cohort on their energy and enthusiasm. I am so impressed with how strongly this cohort have started the year in their role as Big Brothers for our new students, and as the leaders and stewards of this College. Their Senior Motto of Together We Rise: Brothers to All, really speaks to this College’s steadfast foundation of courage, inclusivity and community.

We launched our 2025 theme of the Year of Gratitude with staff and students and I am very excited to work with the community to reflect on the concept of gratitude, and how we are all able to strengthen and develop more grateful hearts, which not only has a positive impact on each individual, it will also have a wonderful and positive impact on this whole community. Living and learning with gratitude is more than just a theme or words on a poster or slide; it is a way of living that helps build a more deeply connected, authentic and inclusive community. It is a way of living that encourages us to more deeply appreciate the extraordinary wonder and beauty in the seemingly ordinary moments when we connect with nature and engage with others.

In my beginning address to students I did acknowledge that the world is complex and dynamic, loud, busy, and sometimes quite negative in the media. I also recognised that at times, so much can seem out of our control. So, I suggested that a great place to begin is to remember we always have control over our attitude and this year we can elevate this to be an attitude of gratitude.

I shared with them some words from author, Charles R Swindoll, who stated that “the remarkable thing is we all have a choice everyday regarding the attitude we will bring to situations. I read recently that life is 10% what happens to you and 90% about how you react to it. We cannot change our past...we cannot change the fact that people will act in a certain way. We cannot change the inevitable. The only thing we can do is play on the one string we have, and that is our attitude...I am convinced that life is 10% what happens to me and 90% how I react to it. And so, it is with you...we are in charge of our attitudes.”

I am confident that our approach to the year ahead with an attitude of gratitude, 2025 will certainly be one filled with joy, inspiration, growth, and shared accomplishments, further amplifying all that is great in this community.

Live Jesus in our Hearts forever!

Scholar’s Assembly
On Tuesday 11 February we gathered as a community to celebrate our scholars and Semester 2, 2024 Academic Medallion Award winners. It was a wonderful celebration of recognition with many students being congratulated for their dedication, persistence and resilience to achieving high academic results.

In this our Year of Gratitude, students were reminded to cultivate gratitude to develop a deep appreciation for the opportunity to learn and grow. When we are grateful for the chance to learn, we can view challenges as opportunities for both personal and academic growth. I encourage all our students to push their boundaries, work hard, set high goals and be grateful that you have staff and family to help support you to achieve this and motivate you to keep pushing forward.

Our Semester 2 Academic Medallion Award Recipients are as follows:

YEAR 5

Gold - Harvey Bell, Bailey Brandon, Cory Bugler, Hayden Cook, Julian Cruice, Harrison Dellit, Levi McKinley, Harrison Munce, Aarush Paudel, Flinders Petersen, Henry Pollock and James Searle.

Silver - Jack Amato, Oscar Giezen, Finley Kuys and Carter Masson.

Bronze - Jayden Devine, LeBron Foondun, Hunter Gray, Lewis Herrod, William Hewitt, Cody Kelly Grice, Liam Tiru, Louis Tucker and Oliver Wickett.

Exceptional Learning Gains - Jagger Evans, Oscar Johnson, Jack Love, Levi McKinley and Louie Rowe

YEAR 6

Gold - Jude Ainsworth, Benjamin Bell, Alexander Churchill, Benjamin Craker, Alexander Dashwood, Oisin Lacey, Oska Littlewood, Jack McCubbin, Finbar Newton, Hayden Oxley, Rex Smith, Joshua Straton, Jonah Valcovich and Max Wheeler.

Silver - Hudson Jack, Liam Mancini and Junsei Martin.

Bronze - Thomas Dearling, Nicolai Fitz-Lauritsen, Benjamin Ingram, Logan Jurkiewicz, Noah Le Marsney, Patrick O'Dea, Sebastian Robertson and Declan Stafford.

Exceptional Learning Gains - Daniel Taylor, Noah Le Marsney, Oska Littlewood, Hayden Oxley and Max Wheeler.

YEAR 7

Gold - Dane Audibert, Percy Baker, Jethro Cope, Archie Denning, I Gede Donaldson, Flynn Esaias, Archie Fraser, Ashwyn Gamage, Xavier Geary, Finn Gilbert, Hugh Gow, Angus Harris, Abhijot Kingra, Oliver Lichtwark, Noah Lindner, Lachlan Maskell, Owen McKinley, Ciaran Nicholas, Lachlan Page, Jastaj Rai, Mitchell Southby, Charlton Volter and Penn Wilson.

Silver - Zach Balnaves, Thomas Burton, Zeke Greenfield, Jacob Hadwick, Anderson Hennessy, Callan Hutton, Jack McKeering, Tristan Mullins and Jaireet Tej.

Bronze - Kristian Amato, Dempsey Anstiss, Elliot Hitchcock, Parker James, Zachary Macks, Nathaniel Mangilit, Jude McClure, Dylan Miller, Jacob Monk, Tobias Overell, Rowan Thapa, George Thomas, Noah Warner, Jaxson White, Thomas Wickett, and Ashton Young.

Exceptional Learning Gains - Damon Langan, Mossi Smith, Gantin Taulani, Tristan Mullins and Owen McKinley.

YEAR 8

Gold - Samuel Allison, Lucas Anthony, Ethan Archard, Sam Asnicar, Kavi Bhagwan, Izaiah Brodie-Tomich, Zac Bugler, Spencer Fox, Sebastiaan Giezen, Samuel Green, Joshua Gonzales, Marius Graham, Jack Grant, Oliver Hinwood, Finn Marlow, Eli Miles, Harvey Mortimer, Jake Reid, Joshua Parkin, Finley Peppler, Gurtaj Sandhu, Riley Slingsby, Hayden Tait, Charlton Toth, Spencer Toth, Harry Williams and Edward Wright.

Silver - Luca Bicanic, Luke Bishop, Benjamin Clynes, Thomas Caldwell, Hunter Fitz-Lauritsen, Charlie Jones, Thomas Leftley, Declan McGuire, Nathanael Passagne and Campbell Smith.

Bronze - Jaedon Albayalde, Lucas Batucan, Carmelo Cartia, Owen Cruice, Oliver Howe, Divjot Kainth, Harrison Lawther, Finn Maddock, Aidan Megaw, Liam Mudgway, Joseph Pryce-Davies, Elijah Richards and Ryden Sutton.

Exceptional Learning Gains - Lewis Copping, Mika Cvetko-Lueger, Griffith Jones, Goldit Mabor, Eli Miles, Riley Slingsby and Edward Wright.

YEAR 9

Gold - Charlie Bott, Archie Ceccato, Hayden Craddock, Joshua D'Addona, Rhodes De Clercq, Sol De Clercq, Elijah Doran, Inglis Goff, Mason Gow, Rory Grant, Edward Hennessy, Jack Hillard, Trent Kearney, Dylan McMurray, Connor Mitchell, Percy Page, Finn Pickwell, Arya Prabhuram, Japjot Singh, Jackson Smith, Eamon Stanton, Ethan Volker and Patrick Weedon.

Silver - William Crago, Finn Dutschke, Harry Hahn, Nicholas Liddell, Angus Long, Isaac Noone, Sebastian Pastoors and William Wood.

Bronze - Aarnav Bankar, Oliver Bilek, Beau Edwards, Hayden George, Liam Goves, Alexander McLeod, Elijah Pastourel, Brady Polinski and Cuan van Bart.

Exceptional Learning Gains - Alexander Addison, Tui Nalatu, Peeter Sheppard, Clyff Watson, Elijah Doran and William Crago.

YEAR 10

Gold - Oliver Allen, Charlie Burton, Ryan Colsen, Lincoln Conlon, Dashiell Crutcher, Jack Davis, Matthew Doyle, Shida Fadeyibi, Ayden Fontana, Neil Gundecha, Marley Hanlon, Bailey Macks, Dylan Maskell, Henry Mattiske, William Mortimer, Samuel Noud and Hue Tan.

Silver - Nicholas Altmann, James Black, Ethan Esaias, Tanay Gulati, Joshua Manton, Hudson McKay, William Miles, Harry Parchimowicz, Taj Perrins, Alexander Rynn and Benjamin Whiteside.

Bronze - Will Amos, Jack Avila, Patrick Clarke, Thomas Cook, Tahj Hubbard, William Jones, Silas Kelly, Henry Moore, Hamish Page, Benjamin Rowley, Oliver Smith, Lewis Tatti and Angus Turton.

Exceptional Learning Gains - Matthew Marsberg, Max Terecans, Silas Killey, James Black, Charlie Burton, Marley Hanlon and Dylan Maskell.

Our Senior students were also acknowledged for their Unit 2 achievements at the 2024 Celebration of Excellence award night. However, we have four students who deserve our recognition for improvement during their Year 11 studies receiving an Outstanding Achievement in Learning Gains:

Marcus Audibert, Riley Chard, Jacob Cimbaljevic and Samuel Nicholls.

We also celebrated those students in our community who achieved Straight As across Semester 2 in 2024.

Year 5 - Harvey Bell and Henry Pollock.

Year 6 - Hayden Oxley and Jonah Valcovich.

Year 7 - Dane Audibert, Finn Gilbert, Oliver Lichtwark, Noah Lindner, Owen McKinley, Lachlan Page, Mitchell Southby, Charlton Volter and Penn Wilson.

Year 8 - Ethan Archard, Izaiah Brodie-Tomich, Jack Grant, Finn Marlow, Harvey Mortimer, Jake Reid, Charlton Toth, Spencer Toth and Edward Wright.

Year 9 - Joshua D'Addona, Rhodes De Clercq, Sol De Clercq, Mason Gow, Rory Grant, Trent Kearney, Finn Pickwell, Eamon Stanton and Ethan Volker.

Year 10 - Oliver Allen, Charlie Burton, Ryan Colsen, Dashiell Crutcher, Matthew Doyle, Ayden Fontana, William Mortimer, Samuel Noud and Hue Tan.

2025 Academic Firsts

These Year 12 students play a key role in promoting and demonstrating academic achievement and leadership within their cohort and across the whole student body. Congratulations to these students and we look forward to their leadership as we continue to build academic excellence across the College:

Sebastian Bilek, Isaac Caruana, Hudson Fanning, Hamish Gaskell, Jack Goves, Michael Grew, Alexander Hewitt, James Howie, Daniel Howie, Reese Jenkins, Dane Knudsen, Jude Lee, Alexander McKay, Daniel Pereira and Henley Thomas.

Congratulations to these students and we look forward to their leadership as we continue to build academic excellence across the College:

2024 Scholars - Special Award Winners

Quota Award - Lui Phillips (left)
2024 School Based Trainee of the Year - Isaac Wallenburg (middle)
2024 School Based Trainee of the Year - Denzel Robertson (right)

Tom Hardyman Recipients:
This year we had 15 scholars receive the Tom Hardyman Medal. We know that these boys accept this medal with pride and with an understanding that it carries the well wishes of a past St Patrick's College giant, Tom Hardyman (2016 Alumni).

Thomas Smith, Henry Armstrong, Thomas Small, Matthew Birthisel, Mason Keogh, Christopher Mazzer, Riley Horn, Angus McKenna, Daniel Flinn, Jared Volker, Shriyans Bista, Bailey Foy, Paul Mikhail-Gouda, Joel Philip, and Joe Byers.

Finally, we were able to congratulate our 2024 scholars who were Subject Dux, Proxime Accessit and College Dux for 2024. We celebrate their success as a community and wish them well as they embark on their chosen pathways:

Proxime Accessit - Paul Mikhail-Gouda (left)
Joint College Dux - Joe Byers (middle) and Joel Phillip (right)

2024 Subject Dux

• Biology - Henry Armstrong
• Joint Dux of Chemistry - Shriyans Bista
• Joint Dux of Design - Ryan Mitchell and Logan Morse
• Digital Solutions - George Scotney
• Essential Mathematics, Religion Ethics and Joint Dux of Drama - Baxter Coleman
• Drama - Krrish Singh
• Joint Dux Economics and Physical Education - Riley Horn
• Economics - Brock McDonald
• English - Paul Mikhail-Gouda
• Essential English - Marco Niccoli
• Film, TV and New Media - Jack Dwyer
• General Mathematics - Vincent Tatti
• Geography - Matthew Birthisel
• Legal Studies and Music - Nicholas Ironside
• Literature - Jarde Volker
• Joint Dux of Mathematical Methods and Physics and Dux of Specialist Mathematics and Study of Religion - Joe Byers
• Joint Dux of Chemistry, Mathematical Methods and Physics - Joel Phillip
• Modern History - Zac Hogan
• Music Extension - Lucas Van Stam
• Physical Education - Mason Keogh
• Psychology - Christian Hentscher
• Visual Art - Joseph Short

Congratulations to all our deserving award winners. Your hard work, dedication and perseverance have seen you all achieve success in your academic pursuits. Good luck to all our community this semester in your learning. Let’s make sure we continue to do the little things right so that we are all achieving our best academically and to always Fight The Good Fight!

Last Friday, we celebrated our Opening Mass, and our Year of Gratitude took on extra significance with the commissioning of our new College Principal, Mrs Amber Hauff. This important moment in the history of our College marks the beginning of a new era, and it is fitting that we celebrate it with gratitude in our hearts.

The Mass was a wonderful occasion, and we were privileged to have both Fr Joseph Duffy and Fr Joseph Kanatt from the Sandgate Parish to lead our celebration. The Mass began with a stirring Welcome to Country delivered by Turrbal and Songwoman Maroochy Barambah (pictured). Aunty Maroochy reminded us of the deep spiritual connection the Turrbal people have with this land and the importance of honoring that relationship.

Ms Kate Mulvihill, along with students and staff, helped launch our theme of Gratitude (pictured), reflecting on how it is woven into the fabric of our community. As so beautifully expressed in our opening reflection:

“…May we be grateful for one another, for the opportunities we have, and for the chance to make a difference... May we see the beauty in each moment, embrace our call to serve, and strengthen the foundation of who we are.”

The commissioning ceremony was led by Mr Chris Woolley, CEO of Colleges Ltd, alongside other members of our community, including Ms Emily Pritchard, Chair of our Advisory Council. As part of the ceremony, Mrs Hauff – pictured alongside Fr Joseph Duffy - was presented with a photograph from the College’s first day in 1952 - a meaningful tradition, as Mr Mayes received the same gift during his commissioning in 2015. This photograph serves as both a reminder of the shoulders we stand on and a symbol of the legacy we carry forward.

Ours is a blessed community, and we hope that everyone continues to live in gratitude for the gifts and talents each person brings. May we work together to build a place where learning, service, and humility remain at the heart of all we do.

The College Formal was an unforgettable occasion for the St Patrick’s community, held in the elegant function room at the Sofitel (pictured). The evening was a memorable celebration that brought together not only our students but also their wonderful partners and dedicated staff for a night filled with joy, elegance, and lasting memories.

This event, a key highlight of the Senior year, is often seen as a rite of passage - a milestone marking the culmination of years of growth and development. However, the College Formal is about far more than the glamour of tuxedos, flowing gowns, and the excitement of dancing. It is, above all, a celebration of the journey our young St Patrick’s men have undertaken. It serves as a reminder of the countless memories, challenges, and accomplishments that have shaped them into the individuals they are today. Importantly, it offers our young men a moment of reflection as they transition from adolescence to adulthood, surrounded by their closest friends, mentors, and families.

This evening was not only significant for the students themselves but also for the families, friends, and staff who have played such an important role in their lives. These individuals have been there through the highs and lows, providing support, encouragement, and guidance as the students navigated the challenges of both their academic and personal growth. The Formal is a time for everyone involved to reflect on their contributions to the students’ journeys and to celebrate the collective effort that has brought them to this moment.

I would like to express my heartfelt gratitude to the Year 12 students for making the evening so memorable. Their enthusiasm, poise, and hospitality made the event truly special, exemplifying what it means to be exceptional hosts. I would also like to extend my deepest thanks to Ms Melissa Rudd and Mrs Sandra Fowlie for their incredible work behind the scenes. Their tireless efforts in organising and coordinating the event ensured its success and created an atmosphere of warmth and joy.

Lastly, I want to thank the many staff members who attended and participated in the evening. Your presence meant so much - not only to the students but also to the entire St Patrick’s community. It speaks volumes about the character of this cohort that the teaching staff are so deeply invested in their journey, demonstrating that the transition from boys to young men is one supported and celebrated by the entire community.

As we reflect on this beautiful evening, we are reminded of the strong sense of family and unity that defines St Patrick’s, and we look forward to the bright future that lies ahead for these remarkable young men.

AIC Ecumenical Service

Last Thursday the Associated Independent Colleges (AIC) celebrated their annual Ecumenical Service, hosted by Villanova College (pictured). While the service marks the commencement of the AIC competition season, more importantly, it provides an opportunity for the Association to celebrate the strong relationships and shared Christian values that unite our schools.

Throughout the service, the Colleges shared symbols of hope that illuminate their respective communities. Representing St Patrick’s College were student leadership team members Henley Thomas, Isaac Caruana, and Lewis Bullock, accompanied by our Term 1 Sports Captains: Sam Megaw (Swimming), Aidan Innes (Volleyball), Sean Rowe (Cricket), and Noah Polinski (AFL). All did a fine job in representing the College.

Following the Service, students from all eight member Colleges and AIC Guest College Ambrose Treacy, participated in a student forum featuring a presentation from Mr Malcolm Watts - CEO of the Brisbane Bullets. Malcolm’s engaging talk emphasised that a student’s journey through life can take many different paths, as he shared insights from his own journey to becoming the CEO of one of Brisbane’s leading national sporting teams.

Last weekend, St Patrick’s College competed against St Peter’s Lutheran College in the first round of the Term 1 AIC Competitions. Over the course of the weekend, a total of 46 matches were played: 18 Volleyball, 10 AFL, and 18 Cricket.

The St Patrick’s teams recorded 27 wins, a strong start to the season. While there were many impressive performances, there were also several frustrating losses that I suspect will keep some of our coaches awake at night!

Some match highlights included:

• Our 1st AFL (pictured) and 1st Volleyball teams both secured opening-round victories. The AFL boys held off a strong finish from Ambrose Treacy College, earning a morale-boosting win.
• The Volleyballers fought back from 0-2 down to claim a thrilling 3-2 victory in a five-set battle. Their resilience and teamwork kept the large crowd on the edge of their seats. Notably, this is the first time we have defeated St Peter’s Lutheran College in a 1st Volleyball match since 2016.
• Our 1st Cricket team appeared poised for victory after bowling St Peter’s Lutheran College out for 109 runs in the 40th over. It was a brilliant bowling and fielding effort, with a standout performance from William Mortimer (pictured), who took 7/23 off 9.4 overs, completely outfoxing the opposition. Unfortunately, despite his heroics, the team suffered a batting collapse and fell just seven runs short.

In the Junior Grades, there were strong performances across all sports from Year 5 through Year 10. Special mention goes to our Year 5 Cricketers and AFL teams, who kicked off their St Patrick’s College sporting journey with impressive wins and excellent sportsmanship. May they continue to Fight the Good Fight!