Headmaster’s Message – July 16, 2015

Dear Parents and Guardians,

ICON (Integrated Catholic Online Network)

The CECV Integrated Catholic Online Network (ICON) is a state-wide project that is underpinned by our commitment, as educators in Catholic schools,- to ensuring that every child and young person in Victorian Catholic schools has access to the- same educational opportunities and resources. ICON will build capacity across all Victorian Catholic schools and Diocesan offices to support and enable students, teachers, school leaders and parents to work together to improve student learning. It will ensure that every child and young person in Victorian Catholic schools has access to the same educational opportunities and resources. For the first time, every Catholic school in Victoria, regardless of size or resources, will have equal access to a package of learning, teaching, collaboration, and administration, planning and reporting technologies. It is a very exciting time to be in Catholic education.

As part as the preparation for the roll-out of the ICON project the College has updated its personal information collection notice. This document is available at- – this link. It now includes a specific reference to ICON and the data that will need to be provided for our participation in this project.

St Patrick’s College takes its management of parent and student personal information seriously, and is conscious of its obligations under the Privacy Act (1988) and the Australian Privacy Principles. Therefore, the College has carefully and diligently considered the privacy implications with respect to the ICON project and has sought legal advice to ensure that it meets all legal privacy obligations, together with fully discharging all of its duties to parents.

Please do not hesitate to contact the College if you have any questions regarding the ICON project and/or the management of your personal information.

I also take this opportunity to welcome our students back for the commencement of Term 3. I was most proud over the mid-year break to witness and hear about many of our students freely giving up their time to represent the College in extra-curricular activities. In particular, three high-profile events stand out.

On Saturday, June 27 we had 34 boys donate their time to form the St Patrick’s College Chamber Choir which sang beautifully at St Patrick’s Cathedral in Melbourne at the ordination of Old Collegian Fr Francis Denton (SPC 1994-99). Fr Denton became the 317^th Old Boy to pursue a life in the priesthood and it was wonderful to have our current students play such an important role in his special day. The feedback from the 1500 people in attendance was overwhelmingly positive.

I was also delighted to hear of the exemplary behaviour of the boys who participated along with three staff members and several parents on the Kokoda Trail trip in Papua New Guinea. This once-in-a-lifetime experience presented boys with enormous physical, mental and emotional challenges which they overcame with tremendous character.

Finally, it was also pleasing to see so many of our footballers volunteer a day of their holidays to help celebrate NAIDOC Week by competing in an exhibition match against an Under 21 Indigenous team known as the Eastern Eaglehawks. The Eaglehawks are aligned with the Hawthorn Football Club and the game was played at Hawthorn’s home ground under the watchful eye of several of their Indigenous premiership stars.

All three events represented fabulous opportunities for our students and we are very proud that they put their hand up to take advantage of them. I encourage you to visit the College Facebook page (www.facebook.com/spcoca) to view photo galleries and videos from these events. I also thank all staff who worked so hard in their own holidays to ensure these opportunities are made available.

Yours Sincerely

John Crowley

Headmaster