Principal

Parents And Friends Meeting

Last week, I was delighted to attend and report to the large number of parents/carers present for the first meeting of the year. We are so appreciative of the efforts of our parents/carers in raising $52,000 for the College. These monies went towards capital works on the Campus, namely:

• Replacement of seating in the Powell Pavilion.
• Air-conditioning has been installed in the rooms in the Hanrahan and Raymer Buildings, which means that all classrooms are now air-conditioned.
• Refurbishment of the Hodda Laboratories into bright, open general learning spaces, mainly occupied by classes in English.
• Conversion of one computer room in the Crichton Building into a TAS workshop.
• Replacement of dated PCs in the Crichton Building.
• Classroom furniture and fit-out of the break-out space on Level 1, in the Crichton Building and in the Wellness Room in Scientia for use by PDHPE and other classes.

It is disappointing to know that there is a running commentary about the Gymnasium and the lack of air-conditioning there. At the end of last year, I wrote to parents/carers regarding the 2024 College Fee Schedule and the reasons behind their rise. In short, the shortfall in government funding, the budgeting for a huge pay increase to teachers and support staff and the completion of all the landscape works around Scientia all meant a very careful and thoughtful process was needed to establish a balanced budget. All projected expenses needed prioritisation so that we keep our fee increases to the bare minimum.

With the Capital Works budget we had, we managed to complete all the projects above during the Christmas vacation period, and they were all ready for use on the first day back. I am very proud of our Finance and Facilities team for their work in having things ready for our students at a time when contractors are hard to engage with and when a tight timeframe is part of the tender process.

In prioritising capital works, we decided to spend our limited funds on the spaces the students need each day for learning. While the Gym is also used for learning, assemblies, and liturgical events, it was lower in our priority list given that hot, humid conditions are limited to Summer in our school, that is, February/March and late November (we are finished by the first week in December). 

As we move to planning capital works for 2025, I simply ask that parents/carers commit to paying the building levy (which is tax-deductible) and also contribute where possible to running our Parents and Friends Barbeques on Saturdays. They continue to raise substantial funds for the College, and those funds will be put towards our last air-conditioning project, the Gymnasium.

Br Berg LCD Scoreboard

The College has commenced a special, fund-raising effort to replace the previous scoreboard on Breen Oval.

We want to install a giant LCD screen on the Fraser Street side of Breen Oval to enhance the enjoyment of our Rugby Union and Cricket fixtures. An LCD, multi-purpose screen will also allow us the flexibility to host other things on the oval: liturgies, assemblies, open-air movie nights and a live venue for an important fixture like a World Cup.

  (Joshua Malone, Year 11 and Charlie Gray Year 11, L to R)

I launched the appeal at the recent Old Boys Association luncheon, and we have already raised over $13,000. All donations are tax deductible, and no contribution is too great or too small. If you include your family’s name in the donation, we will ensure it will be memorialised on a plaque installed near Breen Oval.

It would be fabulous if you could contribute in some way. The link to do so is available here. 

Alternatively, you can scan this QR code. 

You can also keep this site handy to check on the progress towards our total.

Changes To Domestic Living Arrangements

It is vitally important that the College keeps abreast of its students’ living arrangements. Many times, these change during the possible eight-year journey through the College: new address, family separation, etc.

Please check the TASS Parent Lounge. If your current family arrangement looks different from that on the Parent Lounge, please contact Mrs Emily Saoud at enrolments@spc.nsw.edu.au. We will keep the information in the strictest confidence, as we value your privacy.

Regrettably, when the records are not current, we find ourselves calling the wrong parent or carer in an emergency or when a boy is unwell and needs to be collected. When we have followed up, parents/carers have assumed that advising a teacher or a Year Coordinator will suffice however, only the Enrolment Registrar has the authority and access to change/alter a boy’s record.

Holy Week and the Preparation for Easter 

Today was a special day with a Holy Week liturgy held on Breen Oval. In my address to the students, I spoke to them about the Passion of Our Lord Jesus Christ. 

“Why do we call Jesus’ suffering just before his death his passion?” I always understood passion to mean “intense sufferings.” I have been reading Father Ron Rolheiser’s book, The Passion and the Cross and he says this isn’t wrong – however, that we miss a “key point” in that “passion comes from the Latin word passio meaning passiveness, non-activity, absorbing something more than actively doing anything. “ 

The passion of Jesus refers to that time in his life that is not defined by what he was doing but rather by what was being done to him.    

The last supper marks the moment when Jesus stopped doing. He stopped preaching and teaching, healing others, he stopped performing miracles. He entered the Garden of Gethsemane and he prayed, he stopped doing all the things he did in his ministry and understood he was now entering this end time of his life. This ending of his active ministry meant he would be humiliated, beaten, abandoned, and falsely accused. All of this would lead to him being nailed to a cross to die. These things would all be done to him, and this passivity is what we refer to as the passion; an understanding that nothing more could be taken from him. After praying and experiencing the anxiety of anticipating what was to come, Jesus came to an acceptance and from a place of inner freedom, he gave of himself, no one took his life from him.  

Many of us have experienced being misunderstood, or we heard a sarcastic remark directed to us, perhaps that critical comment or the indifference of being dismissed that we experienced from a family member or friend, or another’s bias or prejudice was directed toward us. In these examples we have a glimpse of what Jesus felt when he was in Gethsemane. I ask you today in these moments, will we “'let go of our light?' In the face of hatred, 'will we let go of love?' Will our hearts be 'angry, clinging, unforgiving, and bitter at the unfairness of life?' Or will our hearts be 'grateful, empathetic, and warm,' as was the heart of Jesus when he said to his Father, “not my will but yours be done (Luke 22:24).”  He states this is the “real and central drama of the passion of the Christ": not the ropes, whips, and nails. 

As we enter Holy Week let us acknowledge and experience the passion of acceptance, surrender, forgiveness, gratitude, empathy and warmness of heart, of not doing? Through prayer, giving voice to our anxiety about what has been and what is to come and then the choice to freely give what cannot be taken from us; understanding the agony (Latin agonia meaning readying yourself) for what Holy Week can be for us, readying ourselves.  

We can be one who helps carry life for others, to give ourselves over in love, duty, and service without resentment. Through the transformation of prayer we arrive at a moment in our life when we can say “Nobody takes my love and service from me; I give it over freely.” Is that not what Jesus did when he let Pilate know that he could not take his (Jesus’) life from him when he (Jesus) was giving it freely?  We are good people, holy people, people with the capacity to love deeply and pray unceasingly. The Holy Week invitation is to be attentive and notice these gifts that come from the passion of Jesus.  

“Nobody takes my love and service from me; I give it over freely.”  

There is no greater LOVE. 

Holy Week blessings and Easter Peace be yours. 

In Memoriam

• It is with great sadness that I let you know of the recent passing of Ava Grace Lynch. She was the younger sister of two former students of St Patrick’s College, Charles and Harrison Lynch. Charles and Harrison relocated to Adelaide in 2018 and attended Rostrevor College where they completed their final years of high school. Ava was diagnosed with a brain tumour in Term 4 2023, and she did not return to school after this. Such a devastating and heartbreaking loss for their family, Ava was 12-years-old. 
   
• We pray for Xavier Brogan (Year 8) and the Gascoigne and Brogan families on the recent loss of Xavier’s grandfather, John Brogan, President of the St Patrick's College Parents and Friends 1995 and 1996. Mr Borgan was a father to Old Boys Adrian Brogan (’97), Stephen Brogan (’98), Daniel Brogan (’00) and Gregory Brogan (’02).  
   
• We keep the Abraham family in our thoughts and prayers. Brittany Abraham, 24-year-old sister of Jason Abraham (Year 8), daughter of Joe and Danielle Abraham (Joe is the President of St Patrick’s Junior Rugby Club), passed away suddenly and tragically over last weekend after a fatal car accident in Tamworth.

“Wish not so much to live long as to live well.” — Benjamin Franklin

• We pray for the Woodward family on the recent loss of their patriarch Old Boy Paul Woodward (’44). The Woodward family’s connection to the College spans three generations, with Mr Woodward being grandfather to Old Boy Simon Walsh (’01), great grandfather to Harry Walsh (Year 7) and Liam Walsh (Year 6), and great uncle to Olawe Kelly-Hanku (Year 8). 
   
• We keep in our prayers James Prichard (Year 11) and Ben Prichard (Year 8) andtheir familyon the loss of their grandmother Mrs Glenys Connolly, mother of Old Boys John Connolly (’90) and Michael Connolly (’96).  

Dr Vittoria Lavorato

Principal

SPC boys can do anything! 

**except divide by zero