Celebrations Commence for 125th Anniversary

March 15, 2018

Celebrations for the College’s 125th Anniversary officially commenced today with a symbolic gathering of students in the front gardens where a 125 year commemorative photo was taken.

The entire Ballarat community is encouraged to join St Patrick’s College tomorrow, Saturday March 17, to celebrate the historic school’s 125th– anniversary celebrations.

Among the highlights on the day are:

  • Free family portrait sessions in the front garden. Between 2pm and 5pm professional photographer Jeremy Bannister will be available to take your portrait in the iconic front gardens of the College. You may wish to have a family portrait taken, or a father-son or mother-son photo, or even a photo of generations of Old Collegians, or any combination you like. Jeremy will take the photo you desire and then the College will email hi-res versions to you at no charge at all.

  • A Mass in the College Chapel, being celebrated by Old Collegian Fr Justin Driscoll at 11am to celebrate St Patrick’s Day.

  • An exhibition football match on the Main Oval from 2pm featuring a St Patrick’s College team taking on their old foes from Assumption College.

  • An exhibition rugby match on the Shed Oval at 3pm against the Melbourne Harlequins Under 18 team;

  • Between 2.30pm and 4pm -“ tours of the College every half hour led by current students, including guided tours of our stunning new Boarding facility.

  • An archival display in the College Canteen area tracing the key moments in the 125-year history of the College; and

  • An Old Collegians all-inclusive luncheon in the OCA Pavilion from 12 noon to 2pm. Note that this is the only event which is not free. Tickets are $30 per head and are available at- http://www.trybooking.com/TDGK

The College hopes to have as many members of our community as possible in attendance to help celebrate this historic moment.

-Throughout our history St Patrick’s College has been an important part of the Ballarat community,- Director of Community Development Mr Paul Nolan said.

-As such, as we celebrate our milestone we feel it is very important to open our doors to the whole Ballarat community for this day. We hope many take the opportunity to participate in the school tours, to see our new boarding facility, to join us at Mass and to watch our boys in action on the football and rugby fields throughout the day.

-We hope too that the opportunity to have professional family portraits taken in our stunning front garden at no cost will encourage families to attend today’s activities.-