Principal's report

Welcome to 2024

Welcome to 2024 – a year full of hope, opportunity, endeavour, growth and joy! We start the year with 1300 students at the College and amongst these, we welcome about 270 new students, which is really exciting. To those students who are new, I extend a very special and warm welcome. We pride ourselves on the quality and strength of our community, so I trust that in the first few days at St Pat’s for our new students reflect this and that all are feeling welcome and supported. It is wonderful to have these young people and their families as part of the St Pat’s family! 

I also welcome our new staff to the College. I am excited about the wonderful skills and experiences these colleagues will bring to their work and to the students at St Pat’s. Welcome to: 

• Polly Durey – teacher of English and Philosophy
• Sarah Sharp – Enhanced Learning teacher and facilitator
• Daniela Harrington – Humanities teacher
• Mark O’Callaghan – HaPE, Outdoor Ed and Photography teacher
• Liam Brown – English, Philosophy and Humanities teacher 
• Jason Whittingham – HaPE and Sport & Rec teacher
• Jarrod Fryar – HaPE and Humanities teacher
• Cameron Veal – Maths, Humanities and HaPE teacher
• Matthew Pankhurst – Head of Music
• Patrick Rush – Mathematics teacher
• Nicholas Moll – English and Humanities teacher
• Rebecca Matson – English teacher
• Jordyn McCarthy – Maths and HaPE teacher
• Colleen Pope – Science teacher
• Terri Giri – English teacher
• Cobain Tipiloura – Boarding trainee
• Jack O’Brien – Sports trainee
• Kathleen Gerdtz – Learning Support Officer
• Jessica Griffiths – Learning Support Officer
• Erin Spenceley – Learning Support Officer 
• Rhys Grace – Learning Support Officer
• Claire Garrett - Librarian
• Wendy Sheridan – Art teacher (Term 1)
• Genevieve Browne – RE and English teacher

I am excited about 2024 and what it promises for our students and for the entire school community. I am excited about commencing our first year as a Liverpool Football Academy Club School – this partnership promises much for all students via our PE program and those involved in our Soccer program. Working in partnership with an iconic sports club, such as Liverpool, is really exciting and I look forward to witnessing the benefits of this this year and in the years to come. 

I am excited that in 2024, we will see once again, a number of students and staff participate in major international tours at different times across the year. During the first term holidays, a group of 50 students and seven staff will travel to Ireland, England and France on the College’s Football trip, which hasn’t occurred since 2019. We will see a number of students studying Japanese travel to Japan on language immersion trips and exchanges this year – again, another regular part of our offering but something which was interrupted by COVID. Late this year, a group of approximately 50 boys will travel to the USA on a Basketball and Drama trip – to New York and the East Coast. 

These trips represent incredible opportunities for many students at SPC. An enormous amount of work goes into them, but I know that the staff involved are committed to providing opportunities like these to enhance the educational opportunities at the College. It is wonderful to see these trips back on the calendar!  Of course, many students may prefer to be closer to home, and we also have lots of opportunities via inter-school sports (ACC and BAS), camps, excursions and other extra-curricular activities, such as our annual cricket trip to Mildura, our Year 9 Melbourne experience and many other activities and events. 

I am really excited about our new Performing Arts Centre and what this incredible resource and facility will bring to the College. I think it is the finest Performing Arts building I have seen in any school! And I am really proud of the end result, the facilities it brings to our performing arts programs and how it sits so beautifully in its place, alongside Kennedy House and adjacent to the College’s beautiful front entrance and gardens.

An artwork commissioned as part of the Performing Arts project and has been installed in the forecourt of the Performing Arts Centre. It captures a crucial moment in the life of Blessed Edmund Rice. It is his revelation; his moment of realisation about his future, his calling, his vocation. And, without this moment, we would not be here as a school – certainly not as the school we are – a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition.

As a young man, Edmund was sent to a hedge school and then to kind of like a TAFE College – near Kilkenny. His brother, John, had entered the seminary and so, it was unlikely that Edmund would also study towards priesthood. A couple of his elder brothers were being prepared to take over the family’s modest farm in Callan in southern Ireland, so it was decided that Edmund would be apprenticed by his Uncle – Michael – quite a successful merchant in the port town of Waterford, not too far from Callan. Edmund took to his work in Waterford and in his own right, became a well-known and successful merchant and business man. Waterford at this time, was the second largest port in Europe. 

At age 23, Edmund married Mary Elliott in 1785. Sadly, not a lot is known about Mary, but we do know that she died only three years after they were married, most likely from typhoid. Edmund and Mary did have a daughter, named Mary, who influenced Edmund’s view of children and his outlook about their futures. Edmund was quite traumatised by the death of his wife and concerned about the health and apparent disability his daughter experienced. Edmund’s brother, Patrick, who had a young family at this time, more and more took young Mary, Edmund’s daughter, into his family home and routine – and this is where she ended up after Edmund established his religious orders. 

But as Edmund reflected and grieved the loss of his wife, Mary, he began to question his life and his work in Waterford. One of his close friends, Mary Power, the other statue in our artwork in the forecourt of the Performing Arts Centre, was very influential in Edmund’s discernment and reflection. Edmund was seriously considering giving everything away in terms of his business in Waterford and knew that his daughter would be looked after by his brother and sister-in-law…he was considering joining a closed order of Augustinian Monks in France and living the rest of his life in silent, prayerful devotion in a monastery. 

Edmund’s life and his decisions were significantly influenced by the women in his life. His mother, Margaret, his wife, his daughter, his female friends, particularly Mary Power, Nano Nagle and the many sisters he worked with in and around Waterford. 

As Edmund stood in his home in Waterford, contemplating his options in the future, it was Mary Power who encouraged him to ‘Look out the window…to look down at the wharves on the quay in Waterford…and to see the poor children running around these spaces’. Mary encouraged Edmund not to leave Waterford to join a monastery in France, but to respond to his calling in providing a quality education to the poor boys in and around Waterford. 

This was Edmund’s revelation; the moment he heard and understood his calling. And from there, Edmund went onto establish the Christian Brothers and establish a school in Waterford – which still exists today – to provide these poor children with an education, to provide them with opportunities that would transform them and hopefully prepare them for success in their personal and professional lives. 

Our artwork, I understand, is the first of its type in any Edmund Rice school or setting. It is entitled ‘Revelation’ by the artist, Jenny Steiner, and I think it is wonderful we now have something which articulates the Edmund Rice story and heritage so beautifully. Something which reminds us so clearly and so simply, of our heritage and purpose, of where we come from. 

St Augustine said many things about education; he was an incredibly influential figure on the development of Western education. One of the many things he said was ‘Seek not to understand that you may believe, but believe that you may understand’. This sits comfortably with who we are as a school and what we aim to achieve with and for our students. Our aim, through what they experience on their educational journey at St Pat’s, is to fill them with hope and confidence as they  prepare for their place in the world. We hope that our young men will be equipped with intellect, resilience, good humour and character, courage, commitment, compassion and wisdom so that they contribute significantly to the world in their personal and professional lives.

I pray that all of our students open their hearts and minds to all that is on offer, all that we encourage them to do this year, all that we expect of them in 2024. I hope that they approach every lesson, every activity and every day with appreciation, enthusiasm and determination to do their very best and to make the most of every opportunity. 

St Augustine also said that ‘God provides the wind, Man must raise the sail’. In this sense, the wind is good at St Patrick’s – it is very good…together with teachers’ support and with the help and guidance of all staff at St Pat’s, may all students raise their sails this year and maximise the winds in their journey in this great school. 

Good luck and welcome to all.