Membership of any community requires contribution and compromise. For the St Patrick’s College Boarding community to enjoy harmony and happiness, each member of the community must contribute:

Respect

To every other member of the community whether staff or boarder, older or younger. All are seen to be integral members of the community, be they Housemasters, Residential Tutors, assistants in the kitchen, dining room, or residences, and boarders themselves. This respect is cultivated when all recognise and endeavour to live out the true Christian values espoused by the total St Patrick’s College community.

Rights & Responsibilities

To Housemasters and to the regulations which are so essential to ensure that such a large community runs smoothly. No community, large or small, can function without basic laws which guarantee the rights and privileges of each member. The basic principles and aspirations of the family are the model on which the House system is based. Thus, as in the family, it is important that certain regular times are kept and permissions are sought and received, for example, before leaving the property.

Friendliness

To everyone in the community, as is displayed by the cheerful greeting, the interest in others’ welfare and activities, common courtesy extended to all, and genuine helpfulness. Our community survives, develops and grows stronger, in so far as its members respect and support one another. As a community, Christian love in its total reality is what should characterise each of us. We hope the boarder will find our boarding community a place where he will want to be, because he can find acceptance, tolerance, forgiveness and the challenge to grow in the many aspects of his life.

Trust

Trust is essential for the well-being of the whole boarding community. Trust is twofold. It concerns the staff member’s ability to trust, to rely on the boy to do what he has to do. It also concerns the boy’s knowledge that he can rely on consistent, understanding care in times of trouble. The boy’s privacy and confidence must be respected. As difficult as it may appear to be at times, the aim of all encounters must be the Christian development of the persons involved. Another dimension of this principle of boarding community life is the trust that each boarder must be able to have for one another. This is a very precious dimension of community living.

Involvement

Boarding life provides also, the opportunity to engage in a whole range of extra-curricular activities. It is expected that all will become involved in several activities irrespective of previous experience or skills.

Religion

St Patrick’s College is a Catholic school where respect for things Catholic is taken for granted, where Religious Education is accorded priority in the curriculum, and where prayer and the celebration of the Eucharist are focal points of life. All in the boarding community have a special chance to participate more fully in these celebrations.

Boarders who are not Catholic should not feel under any special pressure. However, in accepting the invitation to enrol at St Patrick’s, each did so knowing the Catholic Ethos of the school. Each boarder is expected to be able to accept the basic Christian background to life at St Patrick’s College. He is, therefore, expected to participate in the regular celebration of the Eucharist and other devotional practices. One recognises that many are still searching to find the real meaning of their lives and St Patrick’s College offers a supportive environment for such development.

Endeavour

Schools are for learning and the boarding community exists to enable those, who, for one reason or another, find that they are isolated from educational opportunities; offering them an environment in which to develop their talents to the full – religiously, academically, socially and culturally. Hence it is expected that anyone who enters the boarding community, does so of his own free will. It can be rightfully expected then, that he will give his best in all areas of learning and not waste opportunities that are provided at high human and financial cost.

Continuation

New and continuing enrolments will be accepted according to the criteria that students can be reasonably expected to contribute well to the harmony, co-operation and spirit of the boarding community.

Courtesy, cooperation and behaviour

The success and happiness of the boarding community depends on the courtesy and co-operation of all members of that community. These courtesies should be extended to staff and fellow boarders alike.

Consideration For Others

Respect for each other’s need for ‘space’ and personal property is important.