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Upcoming Events
WORKING IN PARTNERSHIP WITH PARENTS EVENING
WEDNESDAY, 23 AUGUST 2023
YEAR 5
The Year 5 Parent Information Evening will be held on Wednesday, 23 August 2023 in the W203-204 at 6pm - 7:15pm. Please note this event is for parents only. This event will focus on supporting parents of young men to understand healthy relationships and the concept of Respect and Trust. PLEASE USE THIS LINK TO RSVP FOR THIS EVENT
YEAR 10
The annual ‘Father Son' evening is scheduled on Wednesday, 23 August 2023 in the Christian Brothers Building from 5.45pm for a 6pm start. This event is for Year 10 students and their father or adult male mentor. Register here for the event, fill in the details and click submit. You will know you are registered when you receive a confirmation email from Time & Space.
YEAR 11
The Year 11 Parent Evening will be held on Wednesday, 23 August 2023 in the Library at 6pm. The topic for this presentation will be Risk Taking in Young Men which will be presented by Davina Donovan. Davina is a registered psychologist with over 15 years industry experience. She has worked alongside teens and young people since 2010, specialising in the area of suicide prevention. PLEASE USE THIS LINK TO RSVP FOR THIS EVENT
YEAR 12
The Year 12 Mother/Caregiver and Son Evening will be held on Wednesday, 23 August 2022 in the Callan Centre at 6pm - 7:30pm. This event will focus on the importance and fundamentals of how we can support our boys as they move into the critical years after school. PLEASE USE THIS LINK TO RSVP FOR THIS EVENT
This Week
From the Principal : Term 3 - Week 6
On Wednesday – Friday next week, the College will participate in a School Renewal Program. The program will be facilitated by a renewal team led Mr Ray Paxton (National Director-Educational Strategy, EREA) and include other representatives from our National Office, interstate EREA schools and a representative from the Brisbane Catholic Education Centre. St Patrick’s participates in a school renewal program every five years. The last renewal was done in 2017. The renewal team look over a series of College areas regarding our Teaching and Learning Practices, Formation and Service Programs and any other relevant documentation including strategic planning and a report on how we have met the recommendations from the 2017 review. The team will be here for three days during which they will interview many of our staff and students, as well as past students, community stakeholders associated with the College and parents who responded to our recent requests for assistance. In essence, the renewal team will gauge the extent to which we offer a liberating education to our students and nurture a community in a manner that is authentic to the EREA Charter. After completing the renewal, the team will give a list of commendations, affirmations and recommendations around possible future challenges to consider moving forward in our next phase of strategic planning. This information will add to the large source of data that we have already collected to inform our new Strategic Plan (2024-2026) that we are currently developing.
This morning I had the great pleasure to listen to Alborz Fallah, the founder of CarExpert.com. Alborz arrived in Brisbane from Iran as his family fled the Iraq/Iran war. He was nine years of age and could not speak English. By the age of 22 he had been involved in several start-up companies and is now a very successful businessman. I was not only fascinated by Alborz’s story but also his humble nature and clearly articulated messages for the students amongst the audience. He spoke about the importance of having persistence in achieving your goals. He also spoke of the importance and clarity goalsetting played in his life across a number of dimensions. Alborz is an excellent example of how extraordinary things can be achieved by ordinary people who have persistence fueled by passion for what they do. I certainly left the breakfast grateful that I had the chance to listen to him and energized by his words.
Our parents have various ways that they can contribute to the College. One such way is to be a part of our School Advisory Council or the College Foundation Board. We are currently looking for new members to join each of these groups starting in 2024. We will hold a parent information workshop explaining these opportunities on Wednesday 6 September starting at 7:00pm. It will be an informal gathering that will include a short presentation enjoyed with drinks and finger food. Ms Jackie Upton will send out an invitation to the event as well as a link to register an expression of interest in joining either of these groups. Please give them careful consideration as our College benefits greatly by the expertise that our parent body has to offer us.
I would also like to thank the many parents who participated in our recent parent surveys and volunteered to assist with the renewal program by making themselves available to meet or speak with members of the renewal team.
During this weekend, many of our students are performing in the Queensland Catholic Schools & Colleges Music Festival. The festival draws thousands of students from across Queensland as well as some interstate and New Zealand schools. Our staff and students have worked hard to prepare for this festival, and I am sure that they will enjoy the experience and get the opportunity to meet so many other students who are also attending the event. The festival started on Thursday afternoon and finishes on Sunday night.
Our Year 12 students participated in the KAIROS retreats last Sunday through until Tuesday night. This is always a great experience for the students and can only happen if several staff make themselves available to attend. We hold four retreats simultaneously and, whilst it is hard on staff resourcing, we believe it to be worthwhile because of the opportunity it offers our students. The students are also now participating in the Year 12 Rite of Passage in the lead-up to their final days at school before embarking on external exams.
On Monday, it was a pleasure to be able to introduce the new senior student leaders who will take over the role at the beginning of Term 4 this year. Over recent weeks the Year 11 students have been participating in leadership workshops and voting for their new peer leaders. They have chosen well for their House Leaders and the Student Leadership Team consisting of Riley Horn (College Captain), Cohen Taylor (Vice Captain), Finn O’Sullivan (Vice Captain) and Paul Mikhail-Gouda (Vice Captain) who I am confident, will lead them with distinction.
We are now coming to the completion of our enrolment interviews for Year 5 (2025) and other students who wish to enter the College in other year levels next year. If you are aware of any families that are in this position and have not arranged an interview, please advise them to contact Mrs Trish Watkins in our Development Office as soon as possible.
Just a reminder to Years 5, 10, 11 & 12 families, our Working Partnership with Parents Evening is coming up on Wednesday, 23 August. These are specifically tailoured to address the important stages and challenges our young men are currently facing on the Journey to Men of Action. I strongly encourage you to read more about these events in the News section of REALM.
As always, I look forward to catching up with parents at the many cocurricular programs and other events in the coming weeks.
Live Jesus in our Hearts!
Mr Chris Mayes
College Principal
