Saint Patrick’s College

Newsletter

Edmund Rice, founder of the

Christian Brothers. Icons by

Desmond Kyne

Nano Nagle, founder of the

Presentation Sisters.

Seek Wisdom In Christ Friday, July 24 2015

Week 2 Term 3

A Prayer

God, no one is a stranger to you

and no one is ever far from your loving care.

In your kindness watch over refugees and asylum seekers,

those separated from their loved ones:

those who are lost and those who have been

exiled from their homes.

Bring them safely to the place where they

long to be and help us always to show your kindness

to strangers and those in need. Amen

Cont’d Page 2

Dear Parents, Students and Friends of the College

DUX

With the media attention and continued discussion around the government policy on asylum seekers, the following statistics tell the real story –

Globally, 1 in every 122 people are now either refugees, internally displaced or seeking asylum.

51% of refugees are children under 18 years of age.

Developing countries host 86% of the world’s refugees

The top 6 refugee host countries are Turkey 1.59 million Pakistan 1.51 million Lebanon 1.15 million Iran 982,000 Ethiopia 659,500 Jordan 653, 100

Australia ranks at No. 47 with an intake of 35,582. (source - Go Back to Where you Came From poster – Education resources created in partnership with Australian Red Cross and SBS.)

Do we really have “boundless plains to share”? Are we able to open our minds and stretch our hearts to respond with compassion to the face of Christ who comes to us as the migrant, the refugee, the asylum seeker?

This is a significant time for Year 12 as they undertake their final term of classes. Students and their teachers are working extremely hard as the HSC Trials approach in a few days. I ask everyone in the College community to keep our Year 12 students in their prayers over the next few months.

HSC Trial Examination

College Assembly At the College Assembly this week, we celebrated the success of a student from the cohort of Year 12, 2014. This student was unable to attend our High Achievers Assembly at the start of the year due to University commitments. We know he will be an inspiration to our Year 12 students in their lead up to the Trials.This student was outstanding in his efforts and as a result, his achievements. He was motivated to give himself the best chance of academic success. At the end of his education at the school, he could indeed say he was the best St Pat’s student he could be.

He showed his independence by maintaining a focus on the work that needed to be completed and the routine of study that needed to be done away from school. He also was selfless in sharing his study tips, ideas and resources with his fellow students - understanding that the cohort does the HSC journey together, by working as a team.

This student showed persistence by having the courage to commit himself to the hours needed and by asking his teachers for support to help him achieve the best result he could. Perhaps his most endearing quality was the spirit in which he went about his HSC studies. He was humble and never boasted of his talents and gifts, he never made others feel less than by highlighting his own success.

In the HSC class of 2014, this student achieved a Band 6 in Advanced English, Chemistry, Physics, PDHPE, Mathematics, and a Band 4 in Extension 1 Mathematics. As a result he achieved a Premier’s Award for All Round Excellence. This student also achieved 4th in the State in Chemistry and 9th in the State in PDHPE. He achieved an ATAR of 99.9 and is currently studying Applied Science at

Sydney University. This student is the College Dux for 2014—Brandon Davis.

Week 2 Term 3 Page 2 Seeking Wisdom

From the Principal (cont’d)An extract from Mr Ray Wooby’s (parishioner of St Joseph’s Como and Principal of Freeman Catholic College) address at the 50th Anniversary Celebration for Father Bob Stevens on Saturday, 18 July at St Joseph’s Church, Como.

A 50th anniversary of anything is special but a golden jubilee of a life dedicated to the service of God and the mission of the Church, to bring the love of Jesus to all, is so much more than special. Fr Bob and his vocation is part of an unbroken tradition of more than 2000 years and the priesthood stands as the longest continuous human institution that we have.

A golden jubilee deserves to be celebrated in a special place and there can no more special place or indeed a more appropriate place than here in St Josephs Como- Oyster Bay, the heart of “God’s own country”, as the shire is known affectionately by its residents and so envious ly known by the rest of Sydney.

St John Vianney, the Patron Saint of Parish Priests said: “"The priesthood is the love of the heart of Jesus. The priest is not a priest for himself, he is a priest for others." Fr Bob this quote is written about you. Your concern for others, the warmth of your smile, your quiet humility, your no fuss approach, your knowledge and love of the Word of God and your scepticism of consumerism and bureaucracy echo the sentiments of Jesus.

Your homilies have always challenged us, entreating us to find more time for the Word of God in our daily lives. They are gems of theological, historical and Church knowledge but your eyes light up and your voice has a glint that belies its years whenever we hear you talk about: the Lion, the Witch and the Wardrobe, Harry Potter, Lord of the Rings, Taize, or your overseas travels as a younger priest, and these l essons stand out, as they show us the way that the ordinary in life, literature and movies connect to the way of Jesus.

Fr Bob, we have been blessed to have you as our Pastor at St Joseph’s Como-Oyster Bay for over 24 years. Your obvious love of God stands out for us as a beacon, a shining light, as the way to authentically proclaim the Good News. One of your favourite quotes attributed to St Francis of Assisi is: “ Preach the gospel at all times and when necessary, use words”. Congratulations on living out your vocation so wonderfully. Would you please join with me now in showing Fr Bob our appreciation for him and his work. Father Bob, may God bless you and keep you all the days of your life.

Father Bob thanked everyone for their support over the 24 years of his service at St Joseph’s and particularly thanked those who had been involved in the organisation of his Golden Jubilee celebration. He reminisced about the life and times of the parish and noted “it seems I have baptised most children in our school”! He concluded his address by quoting the Parish motto “Let us continue to love one another”- John 4:7: and so say all of us!

On Tuesday and Wednesday, 21 and 22 July, 12 St Pat’s students attended the Year 10 Evangelisation Retreat which was a two day gathering of students from across the Southern Region Diocese. In total, about 175 Year 10 students and teachers attended to discuss, explore, and discover the theme of World Youth Day 2016:“Blessed are the Merciful”. The guest speakers included Mr Sam Clear - a man who walked around the world; Deacon Joshua Michels - who spoke to us about mercy in a modern context and Mr Stephen Kirk - a church singer who talked about Jesus and his relevance in our everyday lives. Deacon Josh discussed the importance and relevance of mercy in our society. He also spoke about God’s eternal love and, that no matter what we do, no matter how many times we turn against and away from him, he will always be there for us; to love and accept us. After this very down-to-earth speech, Deacon Josh concluded by telling us that all actions of the “Catholic lifestyle” come from Jesus’ final commandment to love everyone equally.

In the evening, after a lovely dinner, the St Pat’s students formed a team to compete in a Trivia Quiz. We answered questions on a range of subjects including Sport, Music, Movies, The Bible, Maths, Entertainment and History/Geography . The St Pat’s student sworked well and eventually came in second only missing out on first place by one point! We then all gathered in the main hall for Reconciliation and Benediction. The main hall was lit by several candles placed on the beautifully constructed altar. Stephen Kirk sang religious hymns while playing the guitar, which was a backdrop to people who were confessing to the two present priests. After this chance to reconcile with God, everyone headed back to their cabins and eventually went to sleep.

On the second day after breakfast, Mr Sam Clear, the founder of Walk4one, and who is also a member of Harvest INROADS, spoke to us about what he does and why he does it. He showed his documentary, ‘The Road to Adolfo’ and some of his adventures in Russia. We gained an insight into how Christianity is thought of in different countries and we also recognised what a kind and brave man Sam is: walking 15,600 kms to spread the Christian message of love and unity. Christopher Schwartz 10M

Go gently,

Ms Libby Denny—College Principal

From the RE Department

From the Director of Studies YEAR 11 2016 SUBJECT INTERVIEWS Year 10 parents and students are reminded of next Tuesday's interviews which are being held in two sessions:

Session 1: 8:00am to 10:00am and Session 2: 3:00pm to 6:00pm. Students have been given confirmation today of their scheduled interview times and parents will receive an email this afternoon. A reminder that next Tuesday is pupil free for Year 10 students (only) which allows them time to prepare for both their interviews and the Snow Trip. The interviews will be held in Nagle Hall and students are to wear their full winter uniform.

Mr Paul McSweeney—Director of Studies

The finals of the Sutherland Shire Public Speaking Competition were held on Tuesday evening, 21 July, in the Sutherland Shire Council Chamber. This is a prestigious event as it is sponsored by Sutherland Council and so the audience included the Mayor, Deputy Mayor and several councillors. Our Principal, Miss Denny, also attended to support our St Patrick’s students. We had representatives from all grades from 7 to 10. In fact, five of the total fourteen finalists were from the College. The competition is in two parts: a prepared speech of three minutes (Junior) and five minutes (Senior) followed by an impromptu speech where Juniors are given four minutes to plan a two

minute speech and Seniors are given three minutes to prepare a three minute speech. Both speeches carry equal marks.

For his prepared speech Sam Noakes from Year 7 spoke on the topic “Life is Beautiful”, contrasting many of the bad things about our lives with the good and encouraging us to believe that, “although it’s not perfect, it is beautiful”. Mara Glowacki from Year 8 used the popular acronym, “YOLO”, to show us that the life we have is best enjoyed being a positive role model rather than wasting it on mindless and destructive activities. The impromptu topic was “Shaky Ground” and Sam spoke about people who had overcome adversity to get their lives back on track. Mara also spoke about overcoming adversity and also showed how many people can turn their “shaky ground” into ways of helping others.

Although neither of our Juniors won a place, they spoke convincingly and engaged the audience well. I know they have a great future in Public Speaking.

The results for St Pat’s in the Senior competition were spectacular! We took all three places. Leo Nosatti from Year 9 took third with a prepared speech on the Greed of the West. Leo spoke about the developed nations’ insatiable desire for consumer goods and its impact on third world countries like Bangladesh. His plea for social justice was outstanding. Lauren Forrester had a unique take on the topic YOLO – You Obviously Love Oreos! She discussed the increasing problem of obesity in Australia, encouraging us to value the one life we are given by taking care of ourselves both physically and mentally. It is pleasing to know we don’t have to give up Oreos completely, just remember moderation is the key. Lauren gained second place.

Adam Bryant from Year 10 lifted the mood with a very funny speech about advertising – is it persuasion or manipulation? There was a serious message underlying the amusing references – just how far will we allow ourselves to be controlled by the sales tactics of major organisations like Apple and Woolworths? Everyone in the audience could relate to his tale of the cost of a set of Woolies dominoes – to get a complete set meant paying out over $1000 for four weeks of groceries. Very expensive dominoes! Adam won first place, a very worthy winner. All of our speakers can be very proud of their achievements this year. Well done to you all!

Mrs Jennie Smith—Debating and Public Speaking Co-ordinator

News from the Public Speaking Department—July 2015

Week 2 Term 3 Page 3 Seeking Wisdom

On Wednesday 22 July, I was, once again, privileged to attend the prestigious Duke of Edinburgh Gold Award Ceremony which was held at St Stephen’s Uniting Church, Macquarie Street, Sydney and the NSW Governor, His Excellency General, the Honourable David Hurley AC DSC (Ret’d) presented the awards to the students who completed the Gold Award in 2014. It was with much pride that the 13 Year 12 2014 students from St Pat’s who were able to attend the event (out of a total of 19 who participated in the Program) ) were among those who received the awards.

The College community congratulates the 2014 Gold Duke of Edinburgh Awardees:

Gabrielle Bishop, Liam Cashman, Tara Danzey, Michael Kendall, Jack Kibby, Bethany Mayo, Caitlin Miller, Joshua Muscat, Nathan Neale, Shamus O’Çonnor, Guy Pagano, Annie Parkin, Meg Robinson, Sarah Ryan, Aaron Tomlins, Bianca Ward, Kayla Warncken, Tara Werger and Harrison Williams.

The students certainly deserve this recognition as the Duke of Edinburgh Gold Program requires participants to undertake 52 hours of work for each of the three mandatory sections of the Award—Community Service, Skills Development and Physical Recreation—as well as attending two four-day/three-nights Explorations and completing a Residential project where the students spend a minimum of five days and four nights in a volunteer capacity offering significance benefits to the community. On a personal note, I was very honoured to receive an Award from the State Duke of Edinburgh committee in

acknowledgment of my long service (13 years) with the Duke of Edinburgh program as the St Patrick’s College,

Sutherland, Co-ordinator.

Mr Lou Pagano—Duke of Edinburgh Co-ordinator

Gold 2014 Duke of Edinburgh Award Ceremony

Week 2 Term 3 Page 4 Seeking Wisdom

From the Sports Department

SSCCC ATHLETICS REPORT

On Monday, 20 July, a team of our best athletes travelled to Campbelltown to compete against seven other schools The students who

attended were outstanding and achieved fantastic results. Many team members also filled in for students who were missing, even if it

wasn’t their speciality!

Our students placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd or 4th in 72 events– a great result!

Congratulations to all the students—a great effort! Thanks also to the parents who came and supported the College and also to Mr

Wilkins and Ms Danzey for their help on the day.

The following students gained first place in their events.

Mrs Donna Franke—Teacher

RESULTS

Kiara Summers 12 Years Girls Age Championship Iram Palma 13 Years Boys Age Championship

Six of our team were in the top four in their age group and five records were broken by our students as

follows:

Kiara Summers 12 Year - 400m

Nathan Breen 17+ - 1500m

Zach Holdsworth 17+ - 200m

Morgan Griffiths 16 years - 400m

Senior Boys Relay

Team

Broke a 12 year old record

St Patrick’s College won the Male team trophy and we were placed fourth in the Girls team and 4th in the overall team scores.

Nathan Breen x 2 Joel Cashman x 2 Alexis Dimon x 2 Erin O’Bryan x 2

Iram Palma x 2 Kiara Summers x 3 Patric Tegg x 2 Billy Thoroughgood x 2

Morgan Griffiths Andrea Hill Zach Holdsworth Chris Livirizzi

Jirah Pineda Andie Robinson Brittany Robinson Keelie Smith

Boys Relay Relay Liam Hanrahan Zach Holdsworth Blake Jonas Rhys Timmins

NOTICE TO OUR CANTEEN VOLUNTEERS

After 9.15am, entry to the College is now only

via the pedestrian gate on President Avenue.

Please ring the buzzer ONCE to gain admission

PASTORAL CARE AND REFLECTION DAYS COMMUNITY HALL, ENGAGINE

YEAR 9—MONDAY 27 JULY FROM 8.30AM—3.00PM

YEAR 11—TUESDAY 28 JULY FROM 8.30AM—3.00PM

The students are to wear appropriate casual clothing (see page 6 of the Collage Diary)

MORNING TEA AND LUNCH PROVIDED.

STUDENTS NEED TO BRING ALONG A PEN

IMPORTANT DATES FOR TERM 3

HSC TRAIL EXAMINATIONS

MONDAY 27 JULY—WEDNESDAY 12 AUGUST

YEAR 11 EXAMINATIONS

MONDAY 31 AUGUST—11 SEPTEMBER

Mon 27 July Year 9 Pastoral Care Day

Tues 28 July Year 11 2016 Subject

Interviews

Tues 28 July Year 11 Pastoral Care Day

Wed 29 July Year 10 Snow Trip and

Canberra Science Excursion .

Returning Friday 31 July

Thurs 30 July PAC Meeting 7.15am

Fri 31 July WYD—One Year Out Event

Wed 12 Aug HSC Drama Showcase

Evening

Fri 14 Aug Year 7 2016 Orientation

Testing Day

Wed 19 Aug Sports Photo Day

Mon 24 Aug Central Australia Trip

Information Evening

Tues 25 Aug HSC Music Showcase

Evening

Tues 25 Aug Year 11 BStreetSmart

Excursion

Wed 2 Sept Southern Region Youth

Forum

Thurs 3 Sept PAC Meeting 7.15am

Mon 14 Aug Year 11 VET

workplacements—through

to Fri18 Aug

YEAR 12 GRADUATION INFORMATION

Tuesday 15 September Graduation Mass at 6.00pm

Wednesday 16 September

Farewell Breakfast and Assembly

HSC Exams commence Monday 12 October

Wednesday 11 November Graduation Ball

Week 2 Term 3 Page 5 Seeking Wisdom

JUNIOR PLAYER REGISTRATIONS

To register for Tee ball U/7, U/9, Zooka ball U/10 or

Baseball U/12-U/17 for the coming season?

New players please bring along the original copy of your Birth Certificate

for viewing by the Registrar.

When: Saturday 18th and 25th July 2014 from 1.00pm to 3.00pm

Where: St Pat’s Baseball Club, Waratah Park, Sutherland

For more details please visit our website

www.stpatsbaseball.com.au

Or contact: Claire Kirgan 0402 044 793,spbc.vicepresjuniors@gmail.com

Jamie Roberts 0405 356 742, spbc.president@gmail.com

CLOTHING POOL NEWS

OPENING HOURS 8.00AM—10.00AM

TUESDAY AND THURSDAY

UNIFORM ITEMS NOW IN STOCK

NEW

Senior Boys shirts—Sizes 20—30 $20.00

Only 2 Size 16 Blazers— $130.00

Sport Track Tops—All sizes Special Price $35.00

Girls Junior Winter Skirts Sizes 12 and 22 $35.00

Senior Girl Blouses—Sizes 6,8,10,14 and 22-28

$25.00

+++

Good selection

of second

hand uniform

items