Headmaster’s Message – August 25, 2016

Dear Members of the St Patrick’s College Community,

I write to inform you of the upcoming visit by the School Renewal Identity Team.

As you will know, St Patrick’s is a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition. As such, it is one of over 50 schools around Australia governed by Edmund Rice Education Australia. Most of these schools were established by the Christian Brothers.

School Renewal is an ongoing process for our school. We have in place ways in which we continuously review the way in which we are being authentic as a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition. We use the Charter for Catholic Schools in the Edmund Rice Tradition as a lens for this ongoing renewal; we reflect on how the four Touchstones in the Charter are a reality in the life of St Patrick’s College.

In a few weeks’ time, a School Renewal Identity Team will visit us and validate our processes of ongoing renewal. The team will speak to a broad range of members from our community to hear for itself how our school culture reflects the Touchstones. The Team will also make some recommendations for our ongoing renewal.

The members of the School Renewal Identity Team are: Mr Chris Smith, National Director Identity for EREA (Leader), Mr Paul Williams, EREA Director Regional Support, Mr Bill Slatter, Secondary Education Consultant with CEO Ballarat and Chris Mayes, Principal, St Patrick’s College, Shorncliffe, QLD. The team’s visit will be from September 14 to 16, 2016.

The Team will join the life of the school and speak with representatives of the many people who make up our community. A final School Renewal Report will ultimately lead to the Accreditation of St Patrick’s at a Catholic School in the Edmund Rice tradition. I will be sharing outcomes with you in the weeks following receipt of the report.

If you are being interviewed by Team Members, please speak frankly of your perception of the culture here at St Patrick’s. Give your opinions on our strengths and the challenges facing us. It is only by honest and constructive feedback that we truly grow.

Thank you for the ways in which you support us here at St Patrick’s College as we share the role of educating your son with you. We look forward to engaging in this opportunity for reflection and listening so that we may be an even more authentic expression of Jesus alive in our community through the inspiration and example of Blessed Edmund Rice.

Regards

John Crowley

Headmaster