This week has been a celebration of all things Harry Potter. This week is also our Men of Action week. So why is Harry Potter celebrated during this week. Firstly, it has become a tradition at St Patrick’s that we celebrate Harry Potter. This was initiated by our Library staff and certainly well accepted by our students. The week incorporates many activities for the students during lunch including activities, quizzes, Café menu items and culminates on Friday with the Senior student Quidditch match.

Why Harry Potter?
But this week is also a celebration and reminder to be Men of Action. So how does Harry fit with this? Harry Potter is beloved and world-renowned character from J.K. Rowling’s series. He is portrayed as a wizard but there is more to the character than just wands and magic tricks. Deeper analysis would suggest that his character is really one of courage, resilience, and the power of taking action to make the world a better place. Harry’s journey can offer young people some valuable lessons on how to be a person of action. Despite his anxieties, fears, and doubts about himself, he consistently chooses to act, whether it be standing up to bullies, fighting against dark forces, or protecting his friends. His actions are driven by a strong sense of justice and compassion. Harry is a true upstander.

The stories of Harry Potter highlight the importance of community and friendship. He does not face his battles alone; he relies on the support of his friends, teachers, and mentors. This is a valuable lesson to young people and one that we speak of regularly at St Patrick’s. We are a good community because we wish to support one another and work together to create a positive environment where everyone feels that they belong. Harry’s journey teaches us that even small actions can have a significant impact. Acts of kindness and courage inspire others, our actions, no matter how small, can contribute to making the world a better place for others. Harry’s character embodies the values of courage, compassion, and community, so why would we not celebrate such a character during our Men of Action week.

Touchstone – Gospel Spirituality
Following up from last week’s article, this week we introduce the Touchstone of Gospel Spirituality. This touchstone calls our community to be one that is faith-sharing through fostering personal relationships with God and nurturing the spiritual growth of each person within our college. This is done through our religious education, school rituals, service opportunities and religious celebrations. Our formation program from Years 5-12 is also central to our commitment to this touchstone. This touchstone is very much connected to the works of the Christian Brothers and the central place of commitment to the marginalised through the preferential option for the poor.

Congratulations Steven Hogan
Steven is one of our Year 11 students. From an early age, he has shown exceptional talent in Cricket. Steven has been a member of our First XI Cricket team since Year 9 and last year was awarded the Player of the Carnival at the Australian National Championships even though he was two years younger than many of his opponents. Steven played most of last season in the Sandgate First Grade team and was, understandably, only able to play a handful of games for us due to the season timings. This year, he was picked in the Queensland Under 17 & Under 19 squads as he is still 16 years old. This week, Steven learned that he has been selected in the Australian Under 19 Cricket team which will tour India later this year.

Steven is a very humble young person and has achieved an amazing feat at such an age. I am sure that everyone will support me in congratulating him for such a wonderful effort. He is a true example of what persistence, effort and attitude can do.

Social Media
This week I will concentrate on the issue of Catfishing. This involves creating a fake online persona to deceive others, often to form relationships or manipulate them. This can include using someone else’s photos, fabricating personal details, and pretending to be someone entirely different. In my experience in dealing with this issue and young people, it is used as a means to blackmail, embarrass or means of revenge to others. It causes great distress to the person who has been deceived and can have significant effects on their physical and mental health as well as a significant impact on their family. In most cases that I have dealt with, the perpetrator, if a student, has very little idea of their impact and consider their actions to be funny and not malicious.

In Queensland, actions associated with catfishing can lead to legal consequences. For instance, if catfishing involves fraud, such as obtaining money or property through deception, it can result in severe penalties of up to 10 years imprisonment.

Additionally, if catfishing involves the exploitation or grooming of minors, it becomes a serious criminal offense. Laws like Carly’s Law, introduced federally in 2017, make it illegal to use a carriage service (like the internet) to misrepresent age or gender with the intention of grooming children for sexual purposes. Again, this can result in up to 10 years imprisonment.

It is important to be aware of these legal implications and to use social media responsibly to avoid causing harm to others.

Support mechanisms
As mentioned previously, the following steps are recognised as the best way to support your son in the matters of social media use and related issues.

1. Recognise the Signs.
2. Open Communication.
3. Online privacy by stressing the importance of privacy settings and the risks of sharing personal information with strangers online.
4. Legal Knowledge: Inform your children about the legal implications of sharing and receiving explicit content.
5. Support Networks: Encourage your children to have a support network they can turn to, such as trusted adults, if they find themselves in a distressing online situation.
6. No Blame Policy: Assure your children that they can come to you without fear of judgment or punishment if they are ever threatened online.
7. Reporting Mechanisms: Make sure your children know how to report any online abuse or threats to platforms and authorities.
8. Cyber Hygiene: Teach your children about strong passwords, secure networks, and the dangers of phishing and scamming attempts.
9. Utilising the resources provided by organisations like Headspace and eSafety for guidance and support.

I would also remind everyone about the Parent Information evening hosted by Madonna King in the Christian Brothers Building on Wednesday 28 August starting at 6:30pm. The session is entitled Stories you need to hear because, unfortunately, many adults including parents, have very little knowledge of what our young people encounter regularly through their use of social media. This is a very relevant and compelling presentation.

KAIROS RETREATS
This Sunday almost all of the Year 12 cohort will leave for their KAIROS retreat. There are four retreats held at different centres across the north coast. There are a significant number of staff involved and I thank them for giving their time away from their families to offer this opportunity for our students. This is a significant time of reflection for our senior students before they start the final phase of their schooling journey.

INDONESIAN INDEPENDENCE DAY
The Indonesian National Independence Day is celebrated each year on 17 August to commemorate the country’s declaration of independence from three hundred years of Dutch colonial rule in 1945. The declaration on August 17, 1945, was a bold and pivotal step towards establishing a sovereign nation and a strategic choice of date symbolizing a new beginning and the end of colonial oppression. As Indonesian is our LOTE subject at St Patrick’s, we will commemorate this day with a flag raising ceremony on Friday 16 August.

EREA COLLEGES LTD PRINCIPALS MEETING
We will be hosting several College Principals from EREA schools from Tasmania, ACT, and Queensland on Thursday 22 August. The Principals will participate in workshops and discussions (across the 22-23 August) facilitated by Mr Peter Fullagar (Regional Director) and Mr Chris Woolley (CEO) form the EREA College office. They are always interesting meetings and a great way to network and share ideas from across our schools.

Dear Parents and Guardians, 
NAPLAN was hosted in Term 1 with results released to schools and families earlier in Term 3. Some data analysis has been undertaken and below represents a snapshot of the Proficiency Bands compared to the 2023 Cohort.

It is pleasing to see the 2024 cohorts have increased in the Exceeding category across Writing and Numeracy in each cohort. This is reflective of the excellent work of our teaching team and the College’s commitment to improve writing.

The NAPLAN results offer insights in relation to the skills students are expected to learn and develop in literacy and numeracy. This information, along with other data sources, continues to inform decisions the College makes in terms of the curriculum design and delivery, support and improvement agendas. We will also continue to identify teaching strategies that provide opportunities to lift and stretch students across all aspects of their learning considering their updated NAPLAN results.

Where to from here?
The focus moving forward will be to consolidate the excellent teaching and learning that is taking place across Years 5–9. We will continue to identify teaching strategies that provide opportunities to lift and stretch students across all aspects of their learning.

What can I expect from the College?
For many students, there will be no specific response. The NAPLAN assessment results form just one part of the overall picture, and the results often support what we already know about each learner.

However, the College will contact you with a more specific follow up if:

• Your son had a result of ‘Needs Additional Support’ in either Numeracy, Reading, or Writing
• Your son had a result of ‘Exceeding’ in several test categories, and his school academic results do not reflect this.

This communication will be sent to parents in the last week of August.

If your son received results in the ‘Developing’ band for several test categories and you believe there is not currently a plan in place for your son, please contact the College to discuss this further.

*Please note the NAPLAN Proficiency Bands and the Scaled Scoring was reset in 2023 under improvements that were made as part of the NAPLAN Review.

For further information on the changes: NAPLAN Proficiency level descriptions