Focus Newsletter - Term 4 Issue 2 - 2024
Acting Principal Leader
Dear Parents, Carers, Staff and Students,
In the coming weeks, we will see the change of seasons as summer arrives - but we will also see significant changes within our school community. Year 12 will wrap up their HSC examinations, Year 11 students will conclude their Preliminary courses and commence their Year 12 HSC courses, the Investiture Ceremony for the 2025 Student Leadership Team will be held, we will welcome the Year 7 2025 students and parents at their information and orientation events, and finally, Year 10 students will undertake the Step Up Into Senior School (SUISS) program, which includes a symbolic and much-anticipated transition into their senior white shirts.
This time of the year always provokes reflection about it means to be “Patties Boy”, and whether it be in the context of a discussion in an enrolment interview, planning workshops with the new student leaders, or an address to parents at an information night– it is important that we have a clear and shared understanding of what our school community values and prioritises.
As we have communicated to parents and students for many years – at Patrician Brothers’ Blacktown we are here to learn and grow in our faith. No other dream, goal or outcome supersedes these basic tenets of our community. As a school, we try to offer our students the widest range of experiences and opportunities possible, in order that every student will find and develop their particular gifts and talents. It doesn’t matter whether your son loves debating, engineering, painting or writing; or if he wants to be a plumber, research scientist, pastry chef or elite sportsman – we will try to help him to become the best he can be. Just as importantly, we make every effort to create an environment and school spirit that encourages, celebrates and supports our students to become the best young men they can be – young men of faith, compassion and generosity.
But to be honest – this is only one part of the equation. For our students, your sons, to become their best and greatest, we need support from our parents and carers. Sometimes parents think this commitment is a bridge too far, impossible to squeeze into their already busy schedules. But ironically, the support that we need the most is actually not very difficult at all. Reading the school newsletter, answering the phone when the school number comes up on your screen, responding to the email from a teacher, or maybe insisting that your son gets up in the morning and goes to school even when he feels tired – these are some of the moments of trust and support at home that can either make or break the success of your son at school. None of us is perfect, and neither school nor home can succeed alone – so all the more reason that we need to work together for the benefit of your sons.
St Patrick – Pray for us.
Brian Edmonds
Acting Principal Leader
Acting Assistant Principal - Pastoral Care
It has been a great start to Term Four with our HSC students completing their exams.
I want to stress the importance of attendance and how critical it is for learning gains. We thank parents for their ongoing support. 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.
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.
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
Assistant Principal - Learning, Teaching & Innovation
As we continue to provide opportunities that support boys' education and the successful completion of the HSC, we are very pleased to offer the early commencement of HSC courses for selected students in Year 9 and 10 in 2025. Courses that we will be offering Early Commencement in Year 9 will be VET Business Services Certificate III and VET Hospitality Food and Beverage Certificate II. In Year 10 we will be offering Accelerated Studies of Religion 1 unit. Accelerated or Early Commencement of HSC courses requires maturity, commitment to study and excellence attendance. The enrolment process for these courses has commenced. This is an exciting initiative and we wish our first cohorts all the best.
Year 9 examinations are scheduled to commence on Monday 11 November. With Year 11, 2026 Subject Selections coming around quickly in 2025, this is a great opportunity to achieve your very best in all subjects to assist you in making the right subject choices. Good luck to all of our Year 9 students.
Finally, HSC examinations have now concluded. We are extremely proud of the Year 12 students and wish them all the best for their future endeavours.
Mr Heath Borg
Assistant Principal
Learning, Teaching & Innovation
Religious Education and Mission
Thursday Morning Mass
We continue to celebrate Mass each Thursday morning at 8:15am in the College Chapel. All students and parents are welcome to attend. So far this term we have had great participation from students in every year group, and we look forward to that continuing each week. If parents wish to attend Mass they should come to the College Office first before heading to the Chapel.
November is a special time in our Church where we pray for the souls of those who have gone before us. Our month of remembrance and prayer began on November 1 and 2 with the Feasts of All Saints and All Souls, and continues for the remainder of the month until the start of the season of Advent. Attending Thursday morning Mass during the month of November is a valuable opportunity to pray for all of our loved ones who have passed away.
Breakfast Club
Each week the College holds a Breakfast for the community. It is run by the College Faith in Action Team. This is an opportunity for students of all year groups to come together as a community and to be of service to one another. This will be held in the Cafe on Wednesdays and Fridays at 8:00am. Thank you to Miss Lombo, Mrs Solo, Miss Chadid, and Mr Mamo for supporting the students in serving breakfast every week.
2024 Special Religious Education Training (SRE)
On Friday 1st November, Patrician Brothers’ and Nagle College students from Year 9 came together to be trained as SRE teachers for our local public schools. This is an important program that allows our students to demonstrate their leadership skills and pass on their knowledge of the Catholic faith. Thank you to Nagle College for joining us in the Patrician Learning Centre, and to Connie Cassar and Father Wim Hoekstra for guiding us our students through the training. Thank you also to Mr Greg Beacroft for leading the program with our students and supporting them to prepare their weekly lessons. We look forward to the new group of SRE teachers starting next year.
Vinnies Christmas Appeal
We will be continuing our close connection with the Blacktown St Vincent de Paul Chapter by collecting donations for the local community. We will be starting in the next couple of weeks. We welcome donations of non-perishable food items, such as dry pasta, jars of pasta sauce, rice, Christmas cakes, and other tinned foods. These items will be collected in Homerooms during Weeks 7-9 of this term.
Patrician Students’ Leadership Retreat
Our new student leaders attended the Patrician Student Leaders’ Retreat at Mulgoa from November 6-8, along with students from the other four Patrican-linked schools in Sydney. The students were immersed in Patrician spirituality, and led through a range of activities that helped them to focus on their faith and understand how it guides them in their formation as leaders. Our students represented the College enthusiastically, and formed lasting friendships with the leaders from the other participating Colleges. We thank Miss Lombo and Miss Gearing for accompanying our students, and for facilitating part of the Retreat program.
Anthony Pope
Acting Leader of Religious Education & Mission
Dean of Knowledge Management & Analytics
During the next two weeks, Year 10 will complete the HSC: All My Own Work program. This program is designed to help HSC students follow the principles and practices of good scholarship.
Students who have completed the program will also know about penalties for cheating and how to avoid malpractice when preparing their work for assessment.
Completing the HSC: All My Own Work program is a mandatory requirement from NESA and must be completed before students complete any assessment in Year 11.
More information can be found on the NEAS website.
Mark Robinson
Dean of Knowledge Management & Analytics
Pathways & Partnership Update
The Future Work
Recently, I attended the Careers Advisers Association of NSW/ACT Annual Conference. Not only was it a fantastic networking opportunity, it was a chance to develop my own knowledge of the labour market, both in its current state as well as future predictions of work.
The keynote speaker was Dr Ben Hamer, an accredited futurist, who among many things, researches and predicts trends that will shape the way we will live, work and play in the future.
He explored seven trends that he believes will disrupt the world of work in the future:
- Artificial Intelligence - or AI as we have come to know it as
- Metaverse - think all things virtual reality
- Generation Z - in the next 5 years, half of the workforce will Gen Z
- Flexible working - work is now what we do, not where we go
- eSg - greater emphasis is being placed on the environment, social agenda and governance in the world of work
- Wellbeing - workers are increasingly wanting their workplace to provide wellbeing support
- The Reskilling Revolution - the importance of constantly upskilling, but in a microcredential fashion.
In a different take on looking at the world of work now and in the future, a workshop presented by Job and Skills Australia explored where the jobs in Australia are now and which industries will be in demand in the future. In its current state, the labour market is heavily a services-based economy with healthcare, retail and construction the top 3 industries. Interestingly, with the constant changes expected in the near future, the classification of jobs/occupations and industries in Australia will also change. For example, the industry referred to as aged and disability care will now be split into two separate industries. With regards to where jobs will be in the future, the data clearly shows that healthcare is the driving force.
Sentiments of the keynote speech were also echoed by Job and Skills Australia. There was a very strong message that having a post-school qualification plus employability skills is what will lead to employment. This means that having both technical and personal skills is the key to success.
In our roles as teachers and parents and carers, it is important we recognise the influential role we play in young people developing their own understanding of the labour market, the future and the world of work. It is vital that we are having valuable conversations with young people about how best to prepare for the future. We need to move beyond just asking “what do you want to do when you leave school?” and have discussions as to which jobs are in demand, how young people can develop their employability skills and what do young people want their working life to look like.
If you or your son have any questions related to career pathways, please contact me via email at:
mlane1@parra.catholic.edu.au
or by
phone
02 8811 0316
Marie Lane
Pathways and Partnership Leader
Year 11 VET Training
The Year 11 VET Fitness class has had a head start with their work placement at World Gym, Prospect. The boys get an opportunity to utilise theory and practical components from their lessons and apply it within a professional environment. The work experience provides an understanding of the expectations employers have for their employees and gain insights into the dynamics, work ethics, and professional conduct required within the gym facility.
Chelsea Te Ariki
Teacher
Sports Report
Tongan Rugby League Team
Last Friday we hosted a training session for the Tongan Rugby League team who were preparing for the Pacific Championships final against the Kangaroos. Two of the Tongan players are former Patties students - namely Isaiah Katoa (halfback) and Soni Luke (hooker). Both boys were very excited to return to their school and were quite overwhelmed by the support of their teachers and our current students.
Many thanks to the staff who organised and assisted with this event - especially Mr Greg Beacroft and Mr Scott Durham.
Several media outlets covered the event, including Channels 7, 9 and 10 and Fox Sports, with several stories highlighting the strong community and school connections.
Australian Schoolboys 18’s v Papua New Guinea Junior Kumuls (U20’s)
Our four Australian Schoolboys for 2024, Jacob Halangahu, Lachlan Coinakis, Tyson Sangalang and Jared Haywood all participated in the Aussie Schoolboys Camp in QLD over the last holiday period, enjoying a range of training and learning experiences before playing for the Australian Schoolboys team in Papua New Guinea against the Junior Kumuls. Their first game was playing against the France U19 team, where the Australian team were dominant, running away with a 56-4 victory, with Jacob Halangahu being named Man of the Match. In a stark contrast, their main game was playing against Papua New Guinea’s Junior Kumuls which turned out to be an incredibly tough fixture, our boys and the Australian Schoolboys side fought back from a 22-4 deficit to draw the match 22-22. Jacob was again a dominant presence on the left edge, while Lachlan and Jared worked their magic around the ruck and were stout defensively, while Tyson, as is his trademark, brought energy and footspeed into the middle during his stints. As a College we congratulate all four of our boys on their success in the green and gold, and thoroughly look forward to following and celebrating their future Rugby League achievements.
Season 3 PDSSSC
Season 3 of the PDSSSC Competitions commenced late in Term 3 and has continued into Term 4, with the competitions for AFL, Touch Football and, for the first time ever, Fives Football, still playing round games currently. In the Fives Football competition playing at the Wanderers Fives facility, our Junior and Intermediate teams commenced their cross-over pool games this week, with the Juniors defeating St Luke’s 4-0, and the Intermediate side defeating St Patrick’s Marist 4-3 in a tight match. Unfortunately that was the final game for the season for our Junior teams, however the Intermediate team progressed through to the Semi Final in Week 5 where they will go up against Marian College Kenthurst to fight it out for a place in the inaugural Grand Final.
Over at the Kingsway, the Touch Football competition was changed this season to involve a single full length game each week, as opposed to the former model of 2-3 shorter games. This change created some difficulty, or disruption rather for our Senior team, whose exam periods and injuries left the team quite short at times, though the boys who took the field should be commended for their efforts regardless of the challenges thrown at them. In the Junior and Intermediate competitions, where players were more plentiful, both our teams have qualified for their respective Semi Finals series in Week 5. The Junior side go into their match undefeated, and they will turn their attention to St Gregory’s next week with hopes of continuing that winning streak. In the Intermediate competition, our team has endured a much more varied level of success, scraping into 4th place, where they go up against St Gregory’s B team who finished top of the ladder. Last time the two teams met our boys went down narrowly 4-3, and are hopeful of turning the tables next week.
In anticipation of these finals fixtures, it would be remiss of us to not both congratulate our staff and students on their efforts and successes this season across the three sports, and to wish our finals-bound teams the best of luck for the upcoming games.
Noah Meares
Representative Sport Leader and Leader of Learning PDHPE