Boarding Report – November 23, 2017

If you can recall Boarding’s first Crest contribution of this year you will remember that I prefaced our 2017 year as a year of opportunity -“ an opportunity (first and foremost) for our boarders, with an array of potential endeavours, that the College offered, ahead of them, for our wider Boarding Community to take an active part of our future, as our Boarding staff and I took a fine toothcomb to the how and why Boarding operates. I am grateful to those of you who have offered you opinions and continue to encourage others to share how our forward journey will continue. One such discussion that we have had is how we can communicate our -‘day to day’ with our wider Boarding Community. For many of you, even with the advent of technology, you feel very removed from your son’s time -“ and perhaps only catch momentary snapshots of what your son and his friends accomplish. On a daily basis I am reminded of the exceptional young men that board with us, the diversity of engagement in the many College offerings and want to turn a greater spotlight for you on their many accomplishments and triumphs. In the past we introduced Boarding-specific social media channels, which were popular with many, however perhaps not the best way to reach our broad demographic. The College’s fortnightly Crest is well established, available online and emailed to our parent group. It seems to us to be a captive audience that we can better utilise. We have provided an article for the Crest for a number of years, focussing our contributions on a variety of topics, however specifically targeting Boarding as broad, discursive item -“ and allowing for our Boarding Staff and Students to offer their personal insights. This will continue, however as we so desperately aim to always better what we offer we have decided to introduce a -‘Boarding Bulletin Board’. As opposed to great paragraphs of text that perhaps puts off our audience, we shall provide you with a -‘snappy’ reflection on everything and anything that has occurred or is forthcoming within Boarding. I would love your feedback after this first attempt at this new format. Our aim is to bring you along on your son’s journey at the College, I hope it is successful.

This will be our final contribution to the Crest for 2017. As the final publication goes to -‘print’ in a fortnight’s time all of our boarders shall have left for home -“ and Tam and I will be somewhere over the Pacific, bound for the United States as part of the College’s US Basketball Tour. I thought I might use this last contribution of ours to -‘reflect’ on 2017, however ultimately I decided that a -‘trial’ of our new Bulletin Board would be more appropriate. I could I find a way to succinctly surmise a whole year -“ it has certainly been challenging and, as clichéd and well used by me as it is, it has certainly been with its -‘ups and downs’. Our boarders have faced adversity, shown resilience, supported one another -“ grown as young men. I am proud of what all our Boarding cohort have achieved -“ and I include our great staff within that. This summer holiday will be shorter for those returning to us in 2018 as our sights are now firmly set on our new Precinct that will mark a new chapter in the rich history of Boarding at St Patrick’s College. We shall spend time in January finessing the outstanding new facility that awaits many new (and returning) faces in the new College year. Until then I wish all the most enjoyable of summer holidays -“ to spend time with loved ones, create wonderful memories, refresh -“ and prepare to return to us, for we already are waiting for you.

Look after yourselves.

Mike Silcock

Director of Boarding

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-‘Inaugural Boarding Bulletin Board (v1)’

News around the Boarding Precinct

• On Saturday November 16, it was our pleasure to host many Old Collegian Boarders who returned to the College for a Boarding reunion. We were able to show them a glimpse of the new Boarding Precinct and share many stories on how boarding at St Patrick’s College has changed throughout the years. There was also a great deal of envy at the quality of the food these days!!

• Also on Saturday November 16, one of our current Year 11 Boarders, Regan Champley was a member of our Senior rowing crew who won the schoolboys coxed four race at the Head of the Yarra Regatta in Melbourne. This is a tremendous achievement and we congratulate Regan and the rest of the crew on their fabulous effort. We also celebrate Head Coach, Brendan Scott, who joined our Boarding Community earlier this year to assist with our boarders’ academic study.

• Our final Year 12 boarder finished exams on Friday and all in the Boarding Community are extremely proud of all of our Year 12s and what they have achieved throughout the year. I am certain that their efforts will be rewarded in the coming weeks.

• It is with great pleasure that we are able to announce the appointment of Mr Ryan Bullock as Housemaster in 2018. Mr Bullock comes to us with a wealth of experience in Boarding and we are looking forward to having him join our Boarding Community. Mr Bullock will work closely with our current boarding staff, Miss Westwood (Housemaster) and Mr Briggs (Boarding Assistant) overseeing the daily operation of our new Boarding Precinct.

• On a sadder note, at the end of 2017, we will say farewell to Mr Daniel Willey who will leave Boarding to concentrate on teaching within our VCAL program to many of our senior students. Thankfully we will still see Mr Willey around the College and we wish him well in his new role.

Up-Coming Events

• On Friday November 24, we will have the chance to farewell our Year 12 cohort at the 2017 Valedictory Dinner. This night is one of celebration and fun and we look forward to seeing the current Year 12s before they set out on their future journey beyond our College gates.

• On Tuesday November 28, we farewell the Year 11 boarders as they break for the year before beginning their final year of education at St Patrick’s College. This past week they have been introduced to Yr12 via our Headstart program, which has challenged them with what awaits in their final year.

• From Monday December 4 until Tuesday December 5, we will welcome some of our new boarding students joining us in 2018. This is a wonderful opportunity for the new boarders to meet staff and develop an understanding of boarding at St Patrick’s College. We are particularly excited to welcome our new Junior boarders as we continue to develop and grow our 6 year boarding program.

• Thursday December 7 is the final day for all remaining boarders and we wish the boys and their families a safe and enjoyable summer break.

  2018

• Please note that in 2018 there will be a new laundry system in operation. In order for this to function effectively we must ask that all boarders’ clothing be clearly labelled with their name. If clothing is not labelled then our Housekeepers will not be able to wash it.

• Please ensure that a copy of your son’s Medicare card (or number) is given to our Housemasters at the start of 2018. This expedites the speed with which we are able to assist your son in the case of an emergency.