Focus Newsletter - Term 4 Issue 1 - 2024
Acting Principal Leader
Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Staff,
We welcome back staff, students and families for what promises to be an exciting but busy Term 4 for 2024. As you might recall, Term 3 ended on a particularly high note with a very successful Year 12 Graduation Day, and we hope this momentum will continue into Term 4 for the rest of the school community.
HSC Examinations
The HSC Examinations are now well underway and the HSC supervisors have commented on the determination and focus of our students as they navigate what can sometimes be an overwhelming experience. While there are no guarantees – students who have done the hard yards in terms of preparation and study, will usually feel considerably less anxious before and throughout the HSC examinations, and will achieve the results they actually deserve. We will certainly keep Year 12 in our prayers over the next 4 weeks.
Term 4 Calendar
The Term 4 calendar features numerous major events – including the Investiture and training of our newly-announced 2025 Student Leadership Team, Year 12 Formal, Step Up into Senior School program for Year 10, and Lifesaving program for Year 9 - culminating in the distribution of Semester 2 reports and our Annual Prize-Giving ceremony in the final week of school for the year.
Also included in the calendar are several events related to our next generation of Patties students - namely the Year 7 2025 Parent Information Evening and Orientation Day. We look forward to welcoming these students and their families into our community in the final week of November.
Focus Newsletter
You will have noticed that The Focus school newsletter has a new format and accessibility features. We trust this new format will be more user friendly for parents and students who are viewing it on their devices, and it certainly provides a whole range of improvements in terms of production and layout for our office staff who compile the newsletter each fortnight.
Prayers for our Families in the Middle East
Finally – and on a far more sombre note - we extend our prayers and support to the families in our community who are struggling with the tragic news and images that continue to emerge from the Middle East. While many of us will never fully understand the depth of anger, frustration and powerlessness that these families have experienced, we can offer our prayers for an end to this ongoing cycle of conflict and grief.
Brian Edmonds
Acting Principal Leader
Announcement of 2025 Student Leadership Team
It is with great pleasure that we announce the Student Leadership Team for 2025. The new team is a group of outstanding young men who will serve and represent the College with distinction. A thorough process of selection and discernment was undertaken and we wish to thank all Year 11 students and staff members for their contributions. In particular, we acknowledge and thank Mr Dominic Willliams, our Year 11 Student Formation Leader, for his co-ordination of this process.
Congratulations to the following students:
Acting Assistant Principal - Pastoral Care
As we approach All Saints' Day on November 1st, we honour the countless holy men and women who have gone before us, living lives of faith and devotion. This feast reminds us of the universal call to holiness, showing us that sainthood is not reserved for a select few, but is attainable for all who follow Christ with love, humility, and perseverance. The saints, both known and unknown, inspire us to live out our own faith daily, and through their intercession, they encourage us to continue our journey toward God. May their example guide us as we strive for holiness in our everyday lives.
Attendance
I want to stress the importance of attendance and how critical it is for learning gains. We thank parents for their ongoing support in this area. A reminder that satisfactory school attendance is one of our conditions for participation in school representative sport and extra-curricular activities such as excursions. The attendance of all students who nominate for school, PDSSSC, and subsequently NSWCCC representative teams, will be checked by the Assistant Principals before squads/teams are selected and announced. Students with poor attendance will not be included in these teams and a process of monitoring and review will be applied until the attendance rate of the student/s in question has improved. As the students are well aware, the same attendance rules apply to several of our elite competitions such as NRL Schoolboy Cup.
Reminders and Updates
In terms of reminders and updates – we would ask all parents to check that their sons are fully equipped each day in terms of devices, stationery and books. It is difficult to ensure that students in classes are participating fully and completing their work when they arrive for classes with no pens, books or laptop.
In addition to this, I want to thank students and parents for supporting the school in regards to haircuts, shaving and uniform standards. A reminder that hair must be neat and tidy. Hair must be of natural colour. Extremes of length or fashion are not acceptable. Student hairstyles that are not acceptable include – mullets, shaved sides, long or swept fringes, shaved lines, rat tails and all large tufts. Boys’ hair should be no longer than collar length and the fringe must be above the eyes. The school reserves the right to make rulings on the acceptability of any student hairstyles. It is expected that boys will be clean-shaven at all times.
Early Sign Out
A reminder to all students and parents about procedures for students who need to sign out early on school days. If your son needs to leave school early on any particular day, parents or carers need to write a note in their son’s diary indicating the reason for early sign-out from school and the exact time of departure. This note must be shown to the relevant Student Formation Leader who will co-sign the note to give approval. If there is no note and/or it has not been approved by the SFL, the student administration office staff will not allow the student to leave school. The only exception to this procedure will be students whose parents have been contacted by the office staff for other reasons such as illness or injury.
Victor Hunt
Acting Assistant Principal - Pastoral Care
Assistant Principal - Learning, Teaching & Innovation
Year 12, 2025 - Assessment Information Evening for Students, Parents and Carers
A compulsory meeting providing an overview of the HSC Assessment Program for 2024/2025 HSC students at Patrician Brothers’ College, Blacktown will be held this Tuesday 29th October. At this meeting the HSC Assessment Handbook will be launched and this provides details of tasks for all courses for the HSC program. This meeting will be facilitated twice, with two time slots to ensure ease of access for families and accommodate questions and answers in each session: Session 1: 5:00pm to 5:45pm or Session 2 - 6:00pm to 6:45pm. Students must attend ONE of the time sessions in their school uniform with at least one parent/carer. An RSVP email, where a selection of session can be made has been sent to the students. We look forward to discussing the commencement of HSC courses and associated topics with students and their parents/carers.
HSC Study Sessions
Congratulations to all Year 12 students as you pass the halfway mark of the HSC examinations. Only 2 weeks to go. Remember to stay focused and take care of yourself during this time. Don't forget about the afternoon study sessions that being held in the Resource Centre from 3:00pm - 5:00pm, Monday - Thursday for the duration of the examinations. They are a great opportunity to reinforce your learning and connect with your peers and teachers.
Heath Borg
Assistant Principal
Learning, Teaching and Innovation
Religious Education and Mission
Feasts of All Saints and All Souls
As we enter the month of November, the Church calls us to reflect on all of the saints who show us ways to follow Christ through their deeds and words. We are also called to pray for the souls of all who have died. We encourage students to attend Thursday Mass at 8:15am throughout November in prayerful remembrance.
Thursday Morning Mass
We continue to have our Thursday Morning Mass. We welcome any student who wishes to attend the Mass.
Welcome to Father Wim
Bishop Vincent has installed Father Wim Hoekstra as the new Parish Priest for our parish. He has already started celebrating Thursday Masses with us, and we look forward to his involvement in the College during the years to come
Farewell to the Graduating Class of 2024
At the end of last term we celebrated the graduation of our Year 12 students with a Mass celebrated by the entire College community, and led by Father Rooney. We wish our graduates every blessing as they complete their final HSC examinations and prepare for their next steps towards work or further study.
Patrician Student Leadership Retreat
Our new student leaders have been elected, and to guide them in their formation, they will be attending the Patrician Student Leadership Retreat next month at Mulgoa. The retreat brings together student leaders from all of the Patrician Colleges around Sydney to share ideas, deepen their understanding of their call to leadership, and to focus on what it means to follow the example of Christ in leadership. Thank you to Ms Ellen Lombo (Faith in Action Team Leader) and Ms Melanie Gearing (Assistant Year 12 Student Formation Leader) for preparing our student leaders for the retreat, and facilitating part of its delivery.
SRE
We have a great new group of Year 9 students who have volunteered to teach Religious Education once a week at Blacktown South Public School next year. They will participate in a training day early this month. Thank you to Mr Greg Beacroft for his leadership of the SRE program.
LIFTED - Go
During Week 1 of Term 4, eight students across Years 8 and 9 took part in LIFTED - Go. This event allowed the boys to join with other CSPD schools to discuss and create an action plan aligned with the Social Justice Statement of 2024/25 “Truth & Peace: A Gospel word in a violent world”. The boys discussed what peace looks like in our College and how to include all students in day-to-day activities. I would like to thank Hunter, Jude, Kellan, Levii and Leo from Year 8 and Leerce, Alessandro and Jet from Year 9 for volunteering to take part in this fantastic opportunity.
Vinnies Van
On Wednesday night a group of Year 11 students served on the Vinnies Van. This gave the boys an opportunity to serve the communities of Mount Druitt and Parramatta. I would like to thank Zak, Josh, Thomas, Daniel and Miss Chadid for giving up their time to help those who need it the most in our local community. It has been pleasing to see a large number of Year 11 students express their interest in training to volunteer on the Vinnies Van in 2025.
Anthony Pope
Acting Leader of Religious Education & Mission
Dean of Knowledge Management & Analytics
Year 9 Assessment Block
In Week 5 of this term (11/11 - 15/11), Year 9 will have their Assessment Block. They will complete two exams per day in the Hall. The timetable and arrangements for the week were published on Compass on Wednesday 23rd October. As per the letter, students will be able to leave the College at lunchtime after their second exam for the day.
The Hall will be available for any student who would like to study during Period 5. Students will be required to bring their own equipment for each exam.
Mark Robinson
Dean of Knowledge Management and Analytics
Pathways and Partnership Update
What role does the HSC play in preparing students for their post school pathways?
Recently, much time has been spent having conversations around subject selections with Year 10 students and their parents, assisting Year 11 students changing their patterns of study, as well as helping Year 12 students to explore post school pathways. In all of these experiences, discussions around the Higher School Certificate (HSC), its role, and its value, have been had.
The Higher School Certificate (HSC) is the highest educational award in New South Wales schools. It is awarded to NSW students who have satisfactorily completed Years 11 and 12 at secondary school. To be eligible, students must meet HSC course requirements and sit for the statewide HSC examinations. The HSC is an internationally recognised credential that provides a strong foundation for students wishing to pursue tertiary qualifications, vocational training or employment.
Within the Australian Qualifications Framework (AQF), the HSC is recognised as the Senior Secondary Certificate of Education, designed to “...qualify individuals with knowledge, skills and values for diverse pathways to further learning, work and effective participation in civic life”.
Additionally, it is important to understand there is a difference between an ATAR (Australian Tertiary Admission Rank) and a HSC. The HSC is a credential as opposed to the ATAR which is a rank used for administrative purposes.
HSC marks and the ATAR have different purposes:
The HSC mark for each course shows your performance in the exam and assessments for that course. The HSC mark shows the standard you achieved.
The ATAR shows your position or ranking compared to other students in NSW and takes into account their achievement in the best 10 units of their HSC courses including 2U of English.
Its only purpose is to help universities select applicants for their courses.
Here at Patrician Brothers’ College, Blacktown, we create a learning environment where all senior students work towards being awarded their HSC. However, this does not mean that all of these students undertake a pattern of study that leads to an ATAR. For many of our students, the post school pathway they wish to pursue does not require them to enter university, rather earning a qualification through other avenues. Whether it be an apprenticeship, traineeship or even pursuing a career in professional sport, most students following these pathways still work towards gaining an AQF qualification through TAFE or other Registered Training Organisations (RTOs).
Overall, work is becoming more highly skilled. Most of the jobs in the future will require a Vocational Education and Training (VET) or university qualification. The workforce has also become more skilled.
In 2022, more than two-thirds of Australians aged 20–64 years (70% or 10.6 million people) had a non-school qualification (a certificate, diploma, or degree). This has increased from 57% or 6.7 million people in 2005.
Employment outcomes improve for those that have completed further post-school education.
It is important to understand that university is not the only pathway to a good job. Apprenticeships, traineeships, diplomas, Certificate III or IV level qualifications will also set you up for a stable and rewarding career.
Australian Jobs Report 2023
In summary, studying the HSC prepares students for their future, developing the whole person and helping them to successfully transition into their post school pathway. Whilst university will always remain a pathway for many students, there is an increasing number of students studying their HSC who pursue alternative pathways. The labour market data shows the focus is on skills and that earning a post school qualification is one of the strongest contributing factors to a successful career.
If you would like to know more about the Australian Government’s focus on developing skills, I encourage you to read the recently released National Skills Plan.
Marie Lane
Pathways and Partnerships Leader
Year 11 Ancient History Excursion
On Tuesday 22 October, Year 11 Ancient History students attended an exciting opportunity at the Chau Chak Wing Museum at the University of Sydney. The day consisted of many insights that allowed students to hone in on the core skills needed for success in the HSC Ancient History course. The museum staff led the students through and unpacked their extensive collection of ancient artefacts ranging from the societies throughout the ancient past.
"An insightful day that challenged our understanding of the Stage 6 Ancient History HSC course that we're about to embark upon." - Zackary Armitage
"The day would not have been such a success without the genuine appreciation of the ancient past shown by both the students and museum staff alike." - Mr. Daniel Huynh.
