Boarding Bulletin Board

by Director of Boarding, Mr Brendon Gilbert

It was a nice feeling to get to the halfway mark of term. Our boys were exhausted and in need of rest so they could recharge to finish the term well. Despite the many challenges our boarding community has faced in the past five weeks, including COVID, learning to live with an eclectic mixture of people, and the daily school challenges, it’s been a successful term.

Our senior students have taken on the leadership responsibility of supporting our youngest and newest students to transition successfully into living away from home. A measure of their success is generally how many junior and new boarders talk with boarding staff about homesickness. In this instance, it is very few. We look forward to watching our senior students develop their leadership skills throughout the year to enhance the boarding experience for our young people.

To support the leadership development of our boarders, we have had various guest speakers discuss their beliefs and philosophies on leadership, character, personal growth and citizenship. Last week, Deputy Principal Mr Rick Brodrick discussed his thoughts on the school motto – “Raising fine boys to the status of great man.” He unpacked this motto with the boarders, and they discussed the great people in their lives and what characteristics constitute their greatness. The common people discussed were mothers, fathers, family members and local community members. The factors that underpinned these great people were selflessness, honesty, courage, caring, reliability, and trust. It was a great discussion that helped the boarders reflect on the critical people in their lives and how they have shaped their beliefs and attitudes. This term, Rick has been a visible presence in our boarding community, often tutoring senior boys, sharing a meal, doing duty, and even playing basketball during the study break. We are very grateful to him for his support of our program.

Furthermore, Director of Football and long-standing staff member Howard Clark discussed values with our young people. Howard has been part of the St Pat’s community for 35 years, starting his career as a Boarding Head of House for eight years. Howard was a boarder at Xavier, so his experiences as a boarding student were insightful for our community. The central values that shone through in Howard’s presentation were respect and courage. Respect for yourself, your peers, your environment and the opportunities boarding offers. He challenged each young man to be courageous and lead when the opportunity presented. Inevitably, there will be times when our young people fall short; it is the collective responsibility of each boarder to hold their peers accountable for their choices. The culture of our boarding house is made up of our boys’ daily actions; it is up to everyone to play their role in challenging poor behaviour to continue to raise the bar.

Student achievements

Hugo Johnston – Congratulations to Hugo for making the Final of the McNeil Cup.

Ollie Hannaford and Jack Ough – Congratulations to both boys for making the U16 Rebels and Bendigo Pioneers football squads, respectively.

BAS Swimming – Congratulations to Hugo Johnson, Nathan Louw, Oliver Daykin, Nick and Lachie Belleville for representing the College in the BAS Swimming Carnival.

Respect Cup

On Wednesday, March 9, the Respect Cup was played between St Pat’s and St Joseph’s Geelong before Loreto faced off against Sacred Heart. Well done to Beau Tedcastle, Jack James, Brayden Purchase, Luke Smith, Ed Turner, and Khy Jess for representing the school and boarding community so well. Furthermore, our goal umpires, Hugo Delaney and Ned Gorman, had their hands full in the blustery conditions.

Mother and Son

We look forward to welcoming the significant females in our boarders’ lives to our inaugural Mother and Son event on Saturday, March 26. It will be a fantastic event to build connections between our community members.