In my previous article, I mentioned the 10th year anniversary of Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA). Since 2008, our College and over 50 others across the country were no longer known as Christian Brothers schools. The change was made by the Christian Brothers, as an order, to ensure that their schools would remain as a separate Catholic system, across the country, into the future. Under canonical law, it would not be possible to have a system of Christian Brothers’ schools if there were no Christian Brothers left in the order. The move to EREA was a forward-thinking decision by the Christian Brothers Order. When the decision was made, there was much discussion around what could be done to ensure that the colleges across Australia remained authentic to the Mission of the Christian Brothers. This was done through the development of the Charter for Catholic Schools in the Edmund Rice Tradition. In the introduction to the recently revised Charter, it is stated…

The Charter, provides a practical expression of EREA identity

and so is crucial for use in decision-making, planning and review… The

Charter continues to use four touchstones to describe the culture of a

Catholic School in the Edmund Rice Tradition which

is striving for authenticity. These touchstones give us

ideals authentically linked with the Charism which underpins

the ministry in our schools and educational endeavours.

They help us set our direction and define our goals as,

following Blessed Edmund’s vision, we

continue to reflect and seek to make the Gospel

a living reality in our communities.

The four touchstones of Liberating Education, Inclusive Community, Justice and Solidarityand GospelSpirituality are still present in the new Charter. There are some minor changes to their descriptors and graphics have been designed to represent each of the touchstones. We are very fortunate to be a part of a national network of EREA schools and St Patrick’s has benefited from and contributed to the network since 2008.

We held our Orientation Evening for new students (2018) last night. During my address, I acknowledged our connection with EREA and the influence of the Charter on our school culture, procedures and decision-making. I enjoyed meeting so many new parents and students. The enthusiasm and energy of the new young men is quite infectious. I would also like to acknowledge the work of Mrs Stacey Bishop, Mrs Jackie Upton, Mrs Sandra Fowlie and Mr Darren Kearney in planning the night. Our Year 11 students also attended and linked with their Little Brothers for next year. The current Year 12 House Leaders and Student Leadership Team were also present to assist with the organisation, and Thomas Giuliano addressed the new parents and students and passed the baton onto next year’s College Captain; Daniel Champness. Both young men should be very proud of their presentations.

During Tuesday and Wednesday of this week, I attended the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) conference with Mr Chris Campbell. The conference had some wonderful presenters and very informative information regarding the new Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) system that will be introduced from the beginning of 2019. This new system will affect our young men who are in Year 9 or below. We have previously presented to parents on these changes and currently have information posted on our website. We are receiving more detail to information that we have been given and I was impressed with the services that will be available to schools, teachers and students (and their families). The QCAA and Queensland Tertiary Admissions Centre (QTAC) has done a significant amount of work to date in in-servicing over 5000 teachers and developing over 50 new syllabuses for the change. We will provide information about the services and programs available to students and parents as they become available. Chris and I certainly left the conference feeling very confident about the rollout of the new system. We have already started preparing for the changes at St Patrick’s and will continue to prioritise other changes during next year ready for 2019.

Next Wednesday, a large number of our young men will represent the College at the AIC Track and Field Championships. This year, they will be supported by our Year 9 cohort. We wish the students the very best in each of their events.

On Thursday evening, we will hold our Showcase. This year promises to be bigger and better than past years with the introduction of food vans on the oval. The boys seem to be very happy with this decision. I know that every house has been working busily behind the scenes to prepare for the night. This is always one of our best attended events from both students and families and I look forward to meeting with so many of our families. May the best House win!

There is a student within our College who is immunosupressed, meaning that this child has a lower immunity and cannot fight infections in the normal way. Viruses that cause measles, chickenpox and shingles could make this child extremely unwell. Therefore, I would be grateful if you would contact the College immediately if your child was found to have one of these illnesses. If we know that there has been exposure to measles, chickenpox or shingles, medicine can be given to lessen the side effect of such an infection to this child. This medicine does need to be given as soon as possible after the contact has taken place.

I must assure you that your child is not at any risk because of this child.

Live Jesus in our Hearts!

Mr Chris Mayes – College Principal

Today Mrs Gillions’ 10A Business class visited Mrs Bliss’ 7B Mathematics to conduct surveys for the Year 10 Enterprise unit. The Year 10’s are required to design a product or service and market it to Year 5-7 students at St Patrick’s College. It has been very impressive to see the ideas of personalised pencil cases, longboards, yo-yo’s, lollies and USB pens put forward by our budding Year 10 entrepreneurs. Through the use of surveys, the Year 7’s gave the Year 10’s constructive feedback on product design, promotion, pricing and place of distribution. Thank you for your contribution Year 7’s!

Mrs Gillions - Business Teacher

Please see Paddies' Van Roster below:

Paddies Van Roster

A leading Victorian independent school is actively encouraging its students to fail, which is an absoutely genius idea.

As reported in The Age (28 August 2017), Ivanhoe Girls Grammar School is holding Failure Week to teach students that making mistakes is a crucial part of learning.

Teachers are sharing their personal stories of failure and students from prep to Year 12 are learning challenging activities such as abstract painting, juggling, reciting poetry and dancing. At the end of the week they’ll be displaying their new skills in front of each other with the emphasis being on stuff ups rather than perfection.

I suspect for many students making errors, stuffing up and struggling to get things right will feel uncomfortable. But that’s the whole point.

Kids need to fail more if they are to succeed
Traditionally, schools and, in recent years, parents have excelled at celebrating student success. “Top marks”, “Dux of the school” and “Perfect score!” are the types of aspirations that teachers and parents have for kids.

But to many students academic success means “Don’t stuff it up!”, “No mistakes please!” and “You’ve got to get it right!”

It’s been widely reported that Australian kids are anxious, perfectionistic and risk averse. They just don’t feel comfortable with failure. And who could blame them? We’ve hidden failure and disappointment from them for far too long. In recent years there’s been a common perception that failure damages people. Unfortunately, this is to the detriment of young people’s future success.

Failure is an integral part of learning anything significant, challenging or worthwhile. Resilient learners realise that they don’t always get things right the first or even second time but with effort and practice they will master skills, find solutions and gain the knowledge they need to succeed.

As reported in The Age, failure, if handled properly, provides kids with the feedback they need to help them achieve excellence. Yes, kids need positive feedback too … but only when it’s deserved. When we tell a child everything is wonderful when, in fact, his work is mediocre at best, we give him a false sense of achievement.

Failure takes bravery
I’ve long been a fan of encouragement. What I mean by that is parents and teachers focusing their comments on the processes (effort, contribution, improvement) of what kids do rather than the outcomes. Encouragement places the locus of control onto the child, which is essential for resilience. That doesn’t mean that we avoid giving a child feedback if their work or behaviour isn’t up to scratch. By all means, we should inform kids when they need to lift their game, but this feedback needs to be provided respectfully and with sensitivity if we want it to be taken on board.

The real strength of encouragement is hidden in its French derivative, the verb coure: ‘to give heart’. Encouraging teachers and parents to somehow find a way to give their kids the courage to be imperfect. It takes a brave soul to make a mistake sometimes, particularly when others may be watching.

Failure needs a supportive environment
It’s all very well to encourage kids to have a go but they won’t stretch themselves unless mistakes are truly accepted by the people that matter to them. A child won’t speak up in class when he’s unsure of the answer if he knows his classmates will laugh at his errors. Similarly, if kids are to take more learning and social risks they need to know that mistakes and stuff ups won’t be thrown back in their faces at home by parents or siblings.

Five simple ways to encourage kids to fail and celebrate errors

1. Model failure: Next time you break a plate when emptying the dishwasher, avoid negative language (“What a klutz!”) or catastrophising (“This is the worst thing ever!). It’s a plate. Stuff happens.
2. Tell stories of failure: We tend to be nostalgic of the past and tell kids of the good stuff when we talk about our childhoods. But kids love to hear the warts’n’all stories of the difficulties you faced and stuff-ups you made as a kid. It makes you more human and also gives them permission to do the same.
3. Encourage them: Develop a vocabulary around effort, improvement, contribution and enjoyment. Be your child’s cheerleader but don’t avoid giving feedback when necessary.
4. Tell and show kids how to improve: Feedback is always best when it has a teaching focus. So next time you pick up a child on their poor schoolwork or untidy bedroom, make sure you remind them how to do it right.
5. Provide the time to fail and get it right: Modern teachers and parents are time poor. Crowded curriculum and busy lifestyles make us less tolerant of failure. But as anyone who has taught a young child to do up his or her shoelaces will know, some things can’t be rushed. Time and patience can be your best assets when helping kids to handle learning challenges.

Failure doesn’t sit comfortably with many of us, but it’s an essential element to success. The idea of a school setting aside a week to encourage their students to fail more may challenge our perceptions of the education process. But it’s a very timely, very smart idea that should be adopted and adapted by schools and families everywhere.

Mr Darren Kearney - Dean of Students

Our last Co-curricular Sports Awards for Cross Country, Basketball, Tennis, Golf and Track and Field will be held at 1:30pm on Tuesday 31 October. Award winner’s families will be notified by email and are welcome to attend the ceremony.

Last Saturday night the local Sandgate Community held the annual Sunset Run. A running relay around the Sandgate roundabout. The event has a festive atmosphere with the local area a real buzz of activity. The SPC X-Men (Cross Country) entered four teams in the Junior 20 Minute Relay and one team in the two hour Open Men’s event. The junior teams placed 1st, 2nd, 3rd and 5th. A terrific effort. The winning team SPC X-Men Green was Phil Wilkinson, Finn Cates, Finn Kelly and Joshua Stewart. In the Open men’s event our team of Lucas Lutter, Pearson Locke, Adam Ravbar and Brock Roberts ran a near record 40.5km in the two hours to win the event by over 1km. The team defeated an St Patrick’s OLD team of recently graduated past Cross Country runners. Trophies and prizes where distributed to our winning teams. A great night for St Patrick’s to show case our community spirit. Well done!

Our St Patrick’s Golf team competes for AIC Championship on Monday. This year’s team coordinated by Mr Troy Schultz is Liam Smith, Lachlan Nolan, Denni Boyle, Brock McLean and Zachary Caldwell. The students will play at the Indooroopilly Golf Club. It is a single stroke event with teams eligible for the Balharry Shield based on the best four nett scores. Good luck to our team.

The Track and Field session has been interrupted by weather events this year. A big thanks to the coaches and students who have suffered through the disjointed preparation and selection process. The final team will be announced Sunday. Emails will be sent outlining the events participants have been nominated for and the day of their event. This year’s event is being held at the SAF where space is limited. Unfortunately, St Patrick’s will only be taking nominated athletes with very limited reserves. In past years, all students who have trained have been allowed to attend. We apologise to the students who cannot attend this year and thank you for your effort this season.

This week’s final Track and Field meet was held at SAF. It was pleasing to see so many students attending. Head Coach, Mrs Kate Colahan will consult with all coaches as mentioned to finalise the team on Saturday. The Track and Field spirit assembly will be held Tuesday’s morning 8:25am assembly. Selected students must be in full formal school uniform and Year 10-12’s in blazers to participate in the spirit assembly. A final team session has been planned for Monday afternoon at Nudgee College for all athletes except shot put, javelin and discuss. The throwers will have their last session Monday morning at Curlew Park. Good luck to our students and coaches for Tuesday and Wednesday’s AIC Championships. The competition is always tough. The College will be proud of your achievements no matter the result.

The Swimming program begins in week five of this term. Ms Kelsey Duke will be organising and coaching the program. Training sessions will be advertised via the App. Students who have a current swim coach/club are encouraged to continue training with them. The school sessions are open to all comers however the squad is mainly assisting students who don’t currently train in a squad to prepare for the AIC Championships next March. All enquiries should be directed to Ms Kelsey Duke kduke@stpatricks.qld.edu.auSwim camp invitations have been sent to students. Any enquiries regarding camp please contact Kelsey. AIC swim meets begin on Friday 2 February 2018.

Brisbane Roar will be running a four week Football program for Year 5, 6 & 7 on the back oval at St Patrick’s starting Friday 27 October. Brisbane Roar are delighted with the St Patrick’s student response so far. Some positions still remain in the before school clinics. Students and parents received an email regarding the details of the program some time ago. Any questions please contact Mrs Diane Twist dtwist@stpatricks.qld.edu.au

A QLD Reds coaching clinic for Year 5-7 is also available in November. This will be held on the St Patrick’s back oval.Communication will be distributed regarding this opportunity early next week.

Contacts for Term 4 Sport

• Track & Field - Kate Colahan katecolahan@me.com
• Swimming – Kelsey Duke kduke@stpatricks.qld.edu.au (begins week 5)

Outstanding Student Achievements

Nash Killalea during the September holidays successfully competed at the Pony Club Queensland State Championships held in Roma.He came second Overall in the Campdraft for 12,13,14 age group and sixth overall in the Stockmans Challenge. Well done Nash

Creedence Watson-Feilo competed for his kayak club at the 2017 Trans-Tasman Gubbi Gubbi National Sprints Titles held on the Sunshine Coast. His team’s results qualified them for the National Sprints next year. Success here will see Creedence qualify to attend the International Sprints held in Tahiti. Good luck!

Results from Trans-Tasman Gubbi Gubbi National

• Under 19 Mixed 500m Sprints – Gold
• Under 19 Mixed 1000m Turns Sprints – Gold
• Under 19 Same Gender 500m Sprints – Bronze
• Under 19 Same Gender 1000m Sprints – Gold
• Under 19 Mixed V12 500m Sprints – Gold

Mr Doug Locke - Director of Sport

SHOWCASE 2017 Program

This year we have added a Food Van Festival before Showcase commences. There will be live music and food available on the oval from 4:30 pm and will continue serving until 9:00 pm. Doors will be open from 6:00 pm to allow entry by parents, family members and guests only. Entry will be via the doors from Pier Avenue and the stairway from the oval of the Christian Brothers Building. ALL STUDENTS will be seated on the oval and watch the show on a large outdoor television screen with concert style speakers.

The program for SHOWCASE 2017 is:

We will have a variety of entertaining acts performing between each House to round out a great night of entertainment.

Food Vans at SHOWCASE

Below is the list of Food Vans that will be at this year's Showcase selling a wide range of foods to tempt your taste buds. Please click on the link beside the vendor's name and have a look at what foods are available. Prices will range from $5.00 - $20.00

Mr America Hotdogs and Fries - American. https://www.facebook.com/MrAmericaHotDogsAndFries/

Abbiocco Food Truck - Italian. https://www.facebook.com/abbioccofoodtruck/

Lips & Lattes - Coffee. https://www.facebook.com/lipsandlattescoffee/

The Dapper & Chic - New Orleans Cajun Inspired. https://www.facebook.com/thedapperandchic/

Schnitzel Von Yumm - Schnitzels / Burgers. https://www.facebook.com/Schnitzel-Von-Yumm-129604040913039/

How We Rolls - American BBQ - Low and Slow meats. https://www.facebook.com/howwerolls/

Roamin Pizza - Wood Fire Pizza. https://www.facebook.com/roaminpizza/

Yummi Fruit Ice creamery - Ice Cream & Milkshakes. https://www.facebook.com/yummifruiticecreamery/

Sushi To The Max - Sushi. https://www.facebook.com/Sushi-To-The-Max-158479624664896/

Wild Rissole - Burgers. https://www.facebook.com/WildRissole/

Dinky D’s Donuts - Donuts and Milkshakes. https://www.facebook.com/dinkydsminidonuts/

Please note that the Cultural Support Group will not be providing burgers or sausages. We will however be selling cold drinks, chips, lollies and chocolates from the back oval and from the canteen in the Christian Brothers Building - prices $1.00 - $2.00

Mr Geoff Samuels - Head of Culture

Theatresports

Theatresports Junior and Senior Gran Final Information - see below

Mr Adam McPhee - Theatresports Coorindator

Debating

The debating season at St Patrick’s concluded in entertaining fashion on Thursday with the staff vs students debate.

The staff team of Mr Oxford, Mr Merrett and Mrs O’Sullivan received a lesson in debating skill from the talented and disciplined 12.1 team of Sam Hanelt, Josep Grew-Figuerola and Ethan Callaway who ran away emphatic 10-point winners.

A healthy crowd – including a large contingent of Year 12 students – packed the Waterford Building to hear the teams argue the topic “That classes at St Patrick’s should be live streamed online.” The debating program would like to thank the staff and student competitors and Mr Chris Campbell for adjudicating the contest.

Debating awards will be presented at the co-curricular awards assembly later this month.

Mr Dennis Clough - Debating Coordinator

Please find below Tuckshop Roster for October

Tuckshop Roster October