Curriculum

Reminder: Speech Night 2023

As has been communicated via numerous platforms, the College’s Annual Speech Night will be held at the Sydney Olympic Park Quaycentre, Homebush Friday 1 December commencing, at 6:30 PM with an estimated finish time around 8:30 – 8.45 PM. Parking for the Quaycentre will be available in Sydney Olympic Park P3 on Sarah Durack Avenue. Please refer to the map below.

Attendance is compulsory for all students from Years 5 to 11. All students from Years 5 to 10 are to be in attendance in full College summer uniform. All Year 11 students, all prize winners and some performers will be required to wear their blazers and they have been reminded separately.

Entry doors to the venue’s Main Arena are scheduled to open at 5:45 PM. Parents, carers and guests are to enter via Door 2. College students and staff will enter via Door 5. Invited VIPs will enter via Reception.

Outside purchased food or drink are not allowed inside the venue. Students are not allowed to chew gum nor have water/drink bottles on the Main Arena floor.

As per the current HSW Health advice, masks may be worn inside the venue, but it is not mandatory. 

All students are to report to their homeroom teacher on arrival at the Main Area to have their names marked off and they will be shown where to sit.

Please note that the upper concourse level kiosks will be trading for snacks and refreshments from 5:45 PM but will close at 8:00 PM. Parents/carers cannot deliver food nor drink to their sons on the Main Arena floor once inside the venue, that includes before, during or after official proceedings.

It is also important to note that full student attendance at the College is compulsory and expected on each school day up to 3:10 PM on Tuesday 5 December.

Another Reminder: Years 7 to 11 Optional Parent/Teacher Interviews

Optional Parent/Teacher Interviews are scheduled for Wednesday 6 December in two sessions, 8.00 – 11.00 AM and then 3.00 – 6.00 PM. The Interviews shall take place in the College Gymnasium.

The interview booking facility in TASS is currently open for parents/carers but will close at 12.00 noon on Tuesday 5 December. Thereafter, any parental request to change an interview time must be made by mutual agreement with the teacher via email. 

Parents/carers are reminded that they are to book interview time slots themselves via the TASS Parent Lounge using the interview tab. The College will not be allocating interview times. Parents/carers need to ensure interviews are booked by no later than 12.00 noon, Tuesday 5 December.

Interviews are for 5 minutes only. There is a 2-minute break between each interview to allow the interviews to run smoothly. Please note that parents/carers cannot double book a teacher for a longer interview. Should more interview time be required, parents/carers may arrange with the teacher another mutually suitable time.

For parents/carers encountering difficulties logging on to the TASS Parent Lounge, please contact the College’s IT Department via College Reception on 02 9763 1000.

If for any reason a parent/carer needs to cancel or change a booked interview time after the closing times stated above, then please contact the relevant teacher via email.

The interviews are an opportunity for parents/carers to discuss aspects of the Yearly Report with their sons’ teachers with the intention of making improvements for the new scholastic year ahead.

Please note that for parents/carers of Years 8 and 10, the interviews will not be an appropriate forum to discuss prospective elective subject changes for next year with individual class teachers. As has been emphasised in appropriate forums this year, applications for elective subject changes will open in Week 4 of Term 1 next year and not before.

End of Term, the Holidays and Year 12-2024 HSC Preparations

I would like to encourage all boys of Year 11 to use the upcoming holidays wisely and not to let the time pass without having done substantial preparation for the 2024 HSC. Preparation for the Year 12 Assessment Block, which commences Monday 4 March, is essential. There will be enough time to enjoy the upcoming festive season and holidays with family and friends as well as time for constructive study.

It certainly has been a very busy fourth term for all and the boys are obviously looking forward to the break.

I wish all parents/carers and boys a joyful and peaceful Christmas, a Happy New Year, and a safe return to first term in 2024 which commences Wednesday 31 January for Years 5, 7 and 12 and Thursday 1 February for Years 6, 8, 9, 10 and 11.

God Bless.

Michael Cutrupi 

Director of Curriculum

Class Structures 2024

The process of the placement of your son in his classes for 2024 is being completed this week. As you can appreciate, it is essential that as professionals we engage in rich and genuine discussion around the structure and composition of all classes to best meet the learning needs of your son at St Patrick’s College. The process of constructing classes is a lengthy one involving evaluation of assessment results, collation of feedback from current class teachers, input from diverse learning specialists, counsellors and faculty leaders, and extensive work with year coordinators. Class structures for any given year will vary based on the data for each cohort. For 2024, the following structures apply:

• In Year 5, all seven classes will be mixed ability, based on information from primary schools and data from the Academic Assessment Services test (Allwell).
   
• In Year 6, there will be one advanced class and six mixed ability classes.
   
• In Year 7, there will be:
  • two advanced classes for English and Mathematics, one small cohort targeted intervention class to support skill development in literacy and numeracy, and the remainder of classes will be mixed ability. 
     
  • two advanced classes in the core subjects of Religion, Science, History, Geography and PDHPE, and the remainder of the core classes will be mixed ability. 
     
  • Visual Arts, Music and Technology Mandatory are all mixed ability groupings.
     
• In Year 8, there will be:
  • two advanced classes for English and Mathematics, one small cohort targeted intervention class to support skill development in literacy and numeracy, and the remainder of classes will be mixed ability. 
     
  • two advanced classes in the core subjects of Religion, Science, History, Geography, PDHPE and Languages, with the remainder of classes mixed ability.
     
  • Visual Arts, Music and Technology Mandatory are all mixed ability. 
     
• In Year 9, there will be:
  • two advanced classes in English with the remainder mixed ability. 
     
  • a pathways structure reflective of greater opportunities afforded by the new Mathematics syllabus, implemented from 2024. This includes an accelerated class, a pathway to extension class, two pathways to advanced, one combination class, and two pathways to standard. Results will be reviewed at the semester and changes made if required.
     
  • two advanced classes in Science, which will differ in composition from the advanced classes for the remaining core subjects of Religion, History, Geography and PDHPE, with all other classes mixed ability.
     
• In Year 10, there will be:
  • two advanced classes in English with the remainder mixed ability. 
     
  • an accelerated Mathematics class as the extension group, with the remainder of students continuing in their 5.1 – 5.3 pathways unless notified by Mr Tabbara of any changes.
     
  • two advanced classes in Science which will differ in composition from the two advanced classes for the remaining core subjects of Religion, History, Geography and PDHPE, with all other classes mixed ability.

Advanced classes are carefully constructed using multiple measures of student aptitude and ability, including school-based and external assessments such as the Allwell test, but also referencing characteristics of giftedness, classroom performance and teacher professional judgement. In some cases, the Raven’s Standard Progressive Matrices test has also been administered to help guide our discernment regarding appropriate placement of students into advanced classes. For Years 9 and 10, placement in an advanced class is influenced more heavily by school-based assessment results which by Stage 5 are a demonstration of a student’s applied skills.

Mixed ability classes are true mixed ability. These classes are also carefully constructed, looking at combinations of students, learning needs and abilities and demonstrated achievement.

Students will find out their classes and teachers when timetables are released on Edval in late January 2024. Any initial questions regarding class placements for 2024 should be directed to the relevant faculty leader for Mathematics and English classes, or to me for core classes.

Denise Lombardo

Director of Learning and Innovation