Clontarf Academy
Mr David Friebel, Clontarf Academy Director
St Patrick's College
As we build into the term in the Clontarf Academy, we have been ramping up our activities to keep our boys engaged. Our numbers have grown to 55 which is a large increase from the 32 we finished the 2023 school year with. It’s been great to see the increase in local boys getting involved and this important work is ongoing.
We recently held our Year 12 Leadership afternoon where our Employment Officer, Declan Waddington, did a session with our Year 12’s on ‘The Why’. We spoke about what drives us and what will be the motivator moving forward to get the boys through Year 12 and set up for life beyond school.
2023 Alumni Callum Smith also joined us and spoke about some of the challenges he faced in his final year and how he overcame them. This was a great session, and the boys were really open and honest about what drives them and makes them tick. We followed the session with some go-karting where the competitive juices came out. After a few pretests were overlooked, Tashaun Wright took out the race. We shared a meal at the Western Hotel with families to end what was a great afternoon.
Our Year 7’s enjoyed a couple of days out at Mt Beckworth last week for their Clontarf Induction camp. This is a really important camp for our boys to learn the Clontarf 101’s and build some strong relationships with each other and Clontarf staff.
We commenced the camp with a yabbying session at what has previously been a yabby hotspot however low water levels and a cold snap had turned the yabbies off for this trip…looks like plan B for dinner!
The remainder of the camp included multiple team games and challenges. There were plenty of opportunities for the boys to display their leadership and the way the boys carried themselves on the first camp has us excited about what they can bring over the next six years at St Pat's.
Nine of our boys commenced AFL Umpire training on Monday afternoon with a view to have the boys ready to earn a few dollars over the upcoming footy season and beyond. The boys had a fantastic start and the enthusiasm they showed came to the fore. After four more sessions the lads will be ready to go. There will also be opportunities for the boys to umpire the Auskickers at halftime of Dreamtime at the G this year which is very exciting for the boys.
Life in the Clontarf space has continued with some great feeds and strong rivalries being built on the table tennis table. It’s been great seeing our older boys welcoming in our new members and ensuring they feel at home.