Senior School Report

by Director of the Senior School, Mr Hamish McCrum

We are about to embark on a first at my time at St Pats, a four-day weekend in the middle of August.  In our family this “circuit breaker” is arriving about a fortnight too late in terms of giving us a chance to stop the spread of / recover from various respiratory illnesses.  The timing varies, but I know most families this year have had some experience of COVID, influenza and or other respiratory illnesses.  The four-day break will be welcome at our place even if it means a chance to get some proper rest and catch-up on a few tasks.  I hope the same for each of our students, that they take the time to improve their health, get some decent sleep, and also get some of their schoolwork done.  Our Year 12s are entering that phase where they are very busy with SACs and folios, and also needing to be mindful that there are exams on the horizon.  Students who excel take care of the day-to-day requirements in terms of attendance, homework and preparing for SACs, and they also find some time to be doing and learning from practice exam questions through these next few weeks.  Year 12s and Year 11s doing a 3/4 subject are reminded that they are required at school to do practice exams in the week September 12 to 16.  A timetable for this week will be issued in the coming week.

Year 10s and 11s will by now have submitted their subject selections for 2023.  This has required them to look further ahead than just next year in terms of what they hope to do when they leave St Pats.  This is a very worthwhile exercise, because while it is normal for a Year 10 or 11 boy to not know exactly what jobs they may want to do in the future, giving some time to thinking about what attributes they have, and what purposeful and meaningful pathways they may map out is much better than the alternative which is just drifting along, or being like a mouse in a wheel, never really knowing why you are doing what you are doing.  I would like to acknowledge the many teachers and parents who spent time with students helping them through this process, often after school.  One thing that became apparent through many of the interviews was that while boys have different strengths and weaknesses, those who have engaged with their schoolwork over a number of years have created more options for themselves.  Working in class and completing homework grows a student’s abilities from where they are now, regardless of their age.

On August 25 and 26 our Year 10s will have a two day “Melbourne Experience”, a condensed and modified version of the event they missed out on in Year 9.  Please be watching for emails for more information regarding this trip.

Be aware that most of the university Open Days take place in August.  Go to   https://www.openday.com.au/calendar/melbourne/  or google “Open Days Melbourne Victoria” and you will find a useful list.  Some Universities are offering Online Open Days, which may not be as attractive but at least cut out the travel time.

God Bless and take care of each other.