Boarding Bulletin Board – June 7, 2018

-‘Boarding Bulletin Board (T2)’

News around the Boarding Precinct

On Sunday May 27^th, we welcomed over a hundred guests, from both our Boarding Community and wider College Community, to our Term 2 Family Dinner and Mass, that coincides with the commencement of National Reconciliation Week. The Mass was a wonderful celebration, which concluded with all of our attending Boarders and Indigenous day students receiving a candle on the altar. The distinct and spectacular sound of bagpipes greeted our arrival at the Old Collegians’ Pavilion, expertly played by one of our GAP Tutors, Ryan McDougall. A -‘Welcome to Country’ was given by Tammy Gilson, before we all enjoyed a meal of traditional Scottish delicacies that everyone was game to try. Washed down with Irn Bru, certainly our Scottish GAP Tutors and our Director of Boarding were thrilled!! – It was a fantastic evening, celebrating the cultural diversity in our community -“ and an opportunity to be thankful -“ for the many enriched young men who make St Patrick’s College the inclusive community it is. We also commend Jayden Cooper, one of our Yr11 Prefects, who gave the annual address, stepping in at the last minute for our Captain of Boarding. Jayden’s speech spoke volumes to the calibre of young man that boards with us.

It was an absolute pleasure to see our Yr12 boarders dressed to the nines for their official Yr12 Formal this past Friday evening. A fun and enjoyable night was had by all who attended. Ethan McMasters won our Director of Boarding’s award for -‘Best Dressed’ on the night, although none of our young men let the team down.

Mid-year examinations have now begun for our students in years 9, 10 and 11. We have been stressing the importance of prioritising, preparing appropriately and keeping one eye on themselves and each other during this time. For some, it is their first experience with exams, while others are aware of expectations, but no matter where they come in, we know that they will do the best job they can possibly do, and that is all we ask.

The third stage of our Boarding Precinct is nearing completion with excitement building around the construction of the new dining room and kitchen. Plans are underway to farewell the current dining room with a -return to the past- meal and celebration in which we have invited back former chef Joe Phyland to join us and share a story or two. It will be an historic moment after 125years of using the current dining room.

A very special guest joined us this past Monday evening as part of our -‘Monday Night Guest Speaker’ Program. The Mayor of Ballarat, Samantha McIntosh, (or Hudson Hair’s aunt) generously gave up her time to come and speak to our Boarders to offer an insight into her journey and her vision for Ballarat in the coming years. We thank Ryan for his organisation of this term’s program and look forward to Jarryd continuing this in Term (3).

With the end of term now firmly in our sights we must begin to farewell our two of our three GAP Tutors. Both Arras and Ryan have become integral members of our community and will be sorely missed by all. There will be opportunities to acknowledge their outstanding contributions in the coming days, but we would like to publicly thank them both in this forum for what they have done. We have no doubt that they shall have stellar careers ahead of them. They are both impressive young men.

Several of our Yr10 boarders are gearing up for a week of work experience at the end of term. Experience is being gained across different fields and professions including Primary Schools, Car Sales, Plumbing, Electricians and many more. We hope all that participate have an enjoyable experience and remember just that, it is an experience and like any experience it will be as successful as they wish it to be. If Boarding creates opportunities then this is an invaluable one that may provide some guidance for their futures.

Speaking of experiences, the 2018 Melbourne Experience is also fast approaching for our Yr9 cohort of Boarders. This experience is aimed at developing life skills, such as navigating around the city independently and learning to work as part of a team. It also focuses on communication, cooperating and taking responsibility, all skills that we are sure that our Boarders will take on board and perhaps be slightly advantaged over their day counterparts.

Term 2 Up-Coming Events