Indigenous Education
The College curriculum, College events, and daily classroom activities promote justice and peace, with a particular focus on the poor and marginalised. We seek to support our young men to become critical thinkers who can help to transform our world in the light of Jesus’ teachings.
St Patrick's College acknowledges the traditional custodians of the land upon which the school is built, the Turrbul people. We acknowledge that they cared for this beautiful land for countless generations and we pay respect to their unique culture, customs and their stewardship over thousands of years. We recognise that we have a role to play in helping our nation move toward Reconciliation and closing the gap between Indigenous and non-Indigenous Australians with particular respect to educational outcomes and opportunities.
We build strong relationships with local Indigenous communities who help to form our young men and offer them opportunities to grow in their understanding of culture, voice and truth for Australia’s First Nations People.
We are very fortunate that several of our families are supported through QATSIF. The Queensland Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Foundation, known as QATSIF, is an independent public trust established to provide young Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Queenslanders with a secure funding source for educational bursaries and scholarships.
Annually,
we celebrate key events in the national calendar including National
Reconciliation Week, Close the Gap Day and NAIDOC Week. The College proudly
flies the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander flags and College visitors will
find our Reconciliation Garden.
Further,
St Patrick's proudly welcomes Indigenous students from both local and remote
communities. Since2012 the College has run a Homestay Program for Indigenous
boys from remote communities. The boys live
in a homestay arrangement with St Patrick's families sharing life as they
complete their education with us. The program has developed over the years and
today we are building relationships with the community at Normanton in the Gulf
region of North Queensland. The students from Normanton enrich our College and
we are very grateful for their inclusion in our community.
To
support these students, St Patrick's has a Program Leader for Liberating
Education whose major focus is on supporting our Aboriginal and Torres Strait
Islander students and their learning. In
addition to this the College employs a
Learning Support Aide for Indigenous Students and a Cultural Mentor to assist
with formation and academic progress for our Indigenous students.
To find out more about our Indigenous Homestay Program, click on the link below.