Acting Co-Headmaster – Wellbeing Message

As Week 4 draws to an end, one can declare that Term 3 is well and truly in -‘full swing’. Our Parent/Teacher/Student meeting occurred last Tuesday, and special thanks goes to all the parents who braved the cold in order to meet and discuss their sons’ academic endeavours. Senior School subject selection interviews are completed and 2020 subject selections and intentions are coming in thick and fast. Parents please take note of the following deadlines:

• 2020 Year 12 subject selections closed July 25

• 2020 Year 10 subject selections are due on August 8

• 2020 Year 11 subject selections are due onAugust 14

Once this is complete, we begin the complicated task of preparing classes and timetabling for next year.

Academic success at St Patricks College, evident at this week’s Chris Nolan Assembly, is due to the hard work of the students, the support and guidance of the teachers and the strong partnership between home and school. However, the key to academic success is delivered by the hard work of the students and the strong culture of learning that exists. It is imperative that all students are consistently working at their studies. For this culture to continue to blossom it is critical that the routine of study, homework and assignment preparation is well underway. Special thanks to our invited guests:

Mr Chris Nolan

Mrs Mary Nolan

Professor Terry Lloyd SPC Board Chair

Mrs Jane Charles SPC Board Chair Elect

Mrs Audrey Brown Director CEOB

SPC Board members Mrs Jo Stevens and Mr Peter Flynn

Mr Peter Wilson, SPC Board member and Foundation Committee Chair

President, Mr Allan McKinnon Old Collegians Association,

Previous Headmasters Dr Peter Casey and Br Laurie Collins,

Rak Hargrave Carer of Chris Nolan –

Friends of Chris Nolan Craig Sharp, John Gleeson, Noelene Gleeson and Jane Clark.

During the Assembly our College Captain, Aidan Hanrahan along with College Vice Captains, Jobe Quick and Matthew Duffy launched our new Great Man video. The boys were simply asked to say a few words about the video so that our audience, primarily made up of their peers, could get a sense of what they were about. Their speeches were so powerful and impressive that I thought I would finish off this article by including them.

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From our School Captain Aidan Hanrahan:

-Raising fine boys to the status of Great Men-. That is what we strive to achieve whilst here at St Patrick’s College, but what does it truly mean to be great?- That is the question that was posed to you, the College community, and the five values that embodied the notion of transitioning to a Great Man were: respect, honour, hope, aspiration and compassion.

However, greatness is not merely confined to these five core values.- We can see examples of greatness all around us here at St Pat’s, for instance Shane MacKinlay’s recent appointment as Bishop of Sandhurst, or closer yet, the living example who our academic achievement awards are named after: Chris Nolan, who illustrated his great strength in character despite the significant challenges he has and continues to face.- Ultimately, greatness isn’t a destination, it is a journey we are all on together.

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From our Vice Captain Jobe Quick:

With the release of our renewed depiction of what it means to be a great man, I am reminded of one attribute I believe to be the most important of all -“ equality. Equality in the sense that no one person is better than the next. Equality, in the sense that you are capable of completely disregarding the way someone looks, communicates or behaves, and therefore appreciating that they deserve the exact same level of respect and attention as your best mate.

Last week, the Year 12s and a select few students from around the College had the privilege of listening to the incredible children’s rights advocate, Steve Rocha. Steve is a passionate and inspirational Christian Brother who has spent the greater half of his life understanding that it is the neglect to pursue equity and strive for equality that results in the many poverty-based issues his country faces today.

Equality is the one key attribute that allows us to comprehend that the millions of people we consider to be less fortunate, are actually no less deserving of a healthy, educated and luxurious life as we are -“ because at the end of the day, they are no different to us and therefore deserve no less.

I encourage you to allow equality to govern your journey down discovering what it means for you to be a -‘great man’.

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From our Vice Captain Matthew Duffy:

It’s difficult, dare I say impossible to stand up here and to tell you how to be great. The very notion of that is impossible; you’re not just going to wake up one morning and be great. You can’t quantify greatness, and a lot of the time you aren’t necessarily rewarded for greatness. The truth is, all of us here are still learning and at times failing. It’s a purely personal process and it can only be fuelled by ourselves; the desire to be the best we can be. But we can see greatness around us, in the actions of people- the Old Boys who join us today who have given so much to the St Patrick’s and wider community. What we can do is look to others and be inspired to better ourselves. It could be any of us returning to these assemblies 20 years down the road as an Old Boy. But for now, for this year, for today, it’s in your hands, so keep aspiring and keep on truckin’.

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Amazing aren’t they? We must be doing something right!

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VSRU Grand Final Day Saturday, August 10

St Patrick’s College will host the VSRU grand final day tomorrow Saturday, August 10. There will be about 8-10 schools represented across six games of rugby on both the Shed and Main Oval. Our 1st XV rugby team will be playing in the final against St Kevin’s College. It will commence at 12:15 pm on the Main Oval. Preparations are well under way with the assistance of John Resuggan, Gavin Webb, Tina Benoit, Mark McLean and Mike Silcock. BBQ, coffee van, marquee’s etc. have all been organised. All members of the College community are welcome to attend what should be a very exciting day at the College. Needless to say a very large crowd cheering our boys on to defeat St Kevin’s would certainly not go a miss!!

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Have a great week.

Mrs Elizabeth Ryan