Principal’s Message

February 4, 2022

by Principal, Mr Steven O’Connor

2022 Welcome

It is my pleasure to welcome everyone to the 2022 school year. Like many, I had hoped that the new school year would have started without any significant impacts of the pandemic. It is great to have students back on site and in our classrooms and I hope that 2022 will not involve any interruptions to the College’s full range of educational opportunities and programs for all of our students. The impact of regular lockdowns and remote learning over the last two years is immeasurable at this stage. But we begin 2022 with a renewed optimism and sense of purpose and drive; there is much of which we are proud at SPC, we are very well resourced as a school, we are blessed to work with magnificent young men and their parents, the calibre of the staff is very high and there is so much scope for us to build on our strengths and strive to become stronger and more successful as a school.

A couple of weeks ago, the College Leadership Team had a three day planning retreat, as we prepared for 2022. Following the review of the College’s Organisational and Leadership Structures in 2021, I am very excited to start this year with the new Leadership Team in place. The team consists of the Principal, Deputy Principal (Mr Richard Brodrick), Business Manager (Mr Andrew Ballesty), Director of Human Resources (Ms Kathy Prince), Assistant Principal: Mission & Identity (Mr Geoff Brodie), Assistant Principal: Learning Innovation (Ms Carol Roberts), Assistant Principal: Pastoral Care & Wellbeing (Mr Kevin Robillard) and the Assistant Principal: Staff & Culture (Mr Tom Ferguson).

The retreat opened in prayer and reflection, led by Mr Geoff Brodie. Central to this was a passage from the letter of St Paul to the Philippians, which we have decided to use as a theme or guide for 2022 for the College:

‘My prayer is that your love for each other may increase more and more and never stop improving your knowledge and deepening your perception so that you can always

recognise what is best’.

(Philippians 1:9)

The passage highlights many important elements of what the Leadership Team and College staff see as important to us, as a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition. It emphasises the importance of relationships within our community and the care and love we hold for every member of the community. It also illustrates that through our commitment to every student and to the community as a whole, we continuously seek improvement as we want the best for all.

The passage serves in some ways as a foundation statement for the College for the new school year. With a new Leadership Team in place and a number of new staff who have commenced at the College, I am really excited about what lies ahead for St Patrick’s College. As a school, we remain entirely committed to providing the best possible educational experiences for every student and we remain aspirational and optimistic in our outlook for the outcomes we can achieve with and for them and for the future beyond the College.

New Staff to the College

I warmly welcome the following new staff to St Patrick’s. These staff bring wonderful qualifications, experience, energy and new ideas to their work at the College and I am really looking forward to working with them as part of the SPC team.

Mr Richard Brodrick – Assistant Principal

Ms Carol Roberts – Assistant Principal Teaching Innovation

Mr Kevin Robillard – Assistant Principal Pastoral & Wellbeing

Mr Brendon Gilbert – Director of Boarding

Mr Brett Barfoot – Teacher – RE/Humanities/IT

Mr Brett Hendrickson – Teacher – Food Tech/Computing

Mr James Couzens – Teacher – Humanities

Ms Kate Millan – Teacher – English/Humanities

Ms Kiera Davidson – Teacher – English

Mr Matt Carroll – Teacher – Maths/Science

Mr Rod Clarke – Teacher – Science

Ms Rylee Booth – Teacher – HaPE/Science

Ms Sarah Lamanna – Teacher – English

Ms Sarah Siakew – Teacher – English/Humanities

Ms Nathan Hurwood – Senior ICT Technician

Ms Tom Nash – HaPE Teacher and Coordinator of Rowing (commencing Term 2, 2022)

Mr Hayden Walters – Teacher – HaPE (Term 1, 2022)

Mr Paul Stephens – Teacher – Literacy Support/English/Maths (2022 School Year)

Mr Simon Dwyer – Sports & PE Administrator (2022 School Year)

Ms Hilary O’Connor – Learning Support Office (2022 School Year)

Mr Harvey Woodburn – Sports & PE Trainee (2022 School Year)

Mr Spence Jenks – Enhanced Learning Trainee (2022 School Year)

Mr Rorey O’Kelly – Faith in Action Trainee (2022 School Year)

Mr Joshy Bennison – GAP Tutor (from the UK)

Mr Barney Hall – GAP Tutor (from the UK) and

Mr Brendon Mudyanadzo – GAP Tutor (from South Africa)

Welcome to all new staff and students to St Patrick’s College!

Main Oval Refurbishment

Many people will have noticed the enormous amount of work which has occurred on the College’s main oval over recent months. This week, the turf is being laid and our oval will soon look like an oval once again. The refurbishment of our oval is a major undertaking which will provide all students (and members of the Ballarat community) with a first rate playing field and surface.

Thanks to those members of staff who have been managing and steering this project, particularly John Resuggan (Property Manager) and Andrew Ballesty (Business Manager).

I hope that we will be able to commence using the oval in Term 2.