Last night, our Year 12 students and their families gathered at the College for the last time for the Graduation Mass and Dinner. It was quite an emotional evening for many families who have had a long association with the College. The senior students have been wonderful role models to our young men, and I am sure they are looking to the next phase of their lives with great anticipation and excitement. I am also sure that the young men will remember the night for some time. There were many people involved in the organisation of the event. I would...
Last night, our Year 12 students and their families gathered at the College for the last time for the Graduation Mass and Dinner. It was quite an emotional evening for many families who have had a long association with the College. The senior students have been wonderful role models to our young men, and I am sure they are looking to the next phase of their lives with great anticipation and excitement. I am also sure that the young men will remember the night for some time. There were many people involved in the organisation of the event. I would like to particularly mention Mr Luke Royes, Mrs Helen Righetti, Mr Kane McNally and Mr Clint McGoldrick from our Service and Ministry team, as well as Fr Bryan Roe who is always so generous with his time in assisting us to celebrate our Masses. Mr Darren Kearney, Mrs Sandra Fowlie and Mrs Jackie Upton did a significant amount of work in planning and delivering the graduation dinner and Mr Jason Christie and Mr Chris Lampard assisted with the IT requirements during the day and night. Mr Darren Wells and the property and services team did a significant amount of work in setting up for the events.
During the holiday period, we will be undertaking some building renovations. This will include; a rebuild under the Morrissey Building to gain an extra classroom; and two rooms at the top of the stairs in the Waterford Building will be converted into an additional two classrooms. We will also begin several landscaping projects with initial work on the large area on the back oval. This area was previously covered with shade cloth and will be converted into a more inviting seating area and green space. Our plans are to have all the works completed for the first school day next year.
Over the course of this year, a staff committee has been looking at ways that we can make our learning spaces more engaging and better places for learning and teaching. Consequently, next year we will trial new learning spaces in 10 rooms within the College. These changes will include different furnishings, technologies and room layouts. It is intended that we will trial the rooms over next year and gain information about the most effective learning spaces that are engaging to students and allow teachers to improve student learning and outcomes. These spaces have been planned with our pedagogical framework, The Art and Science of Teaching, in mind. We are looking forward to trialling the new rooms and getting feedback from teachers and students.
In last week’s newsletter I mentioned the great work that had been done in our Exceptional Learner’s Department with our Year 9 students participating in the International Space Settlement Design Competition. Over the past two years we have been tracking the progress of many students within this department who have been a part of the Macquarie Literacy Program. The young men who were the initial students when they started in Year 5 are now about to complete the Year 7 program. Approximately 60 students have participated in the program since its inception in Term 3, 2016. We would like to congratulate these young men for their considerable progress which was reflected in their NAPLAN reading results. They have worked hard to remain focussed and enthusiastic throughout the program. With the ongoing support of the teachers from the Exceptional Learners Department and most importantly, their parents, they have gained enormous confidence in their reading ability. I look forward to sharing lunch with the young men in the last week of the 2018 school year to celebrate their success. Never underestimate a Paddy’s Man!
In the latter part of next week, and during the last week of school, our Years 5 -11 students will complete their final assessments. It is most important that each young man has turned his attention to preparing for these assessments to allow himself the best opportunity to achieve his goals for the semester. We will track these results to see how many boys achieved their targets. This will give us some idea of the effectiveness of the young men setting targets and how well this might be done. It is important for everyone, especially our students, not to treat this process as a “tick the box” exercise. It is a part of working with them to improve their outcomes and in developing a growth mindset. Each young man needs to develop a realistic idea of where he is currently positioned within his subjects and set a target that is realistic and achievable. The more significant part of the process is for the students to put a plan of action into place to allow them to reach their goals.
This afternoon, our Year 9 students and their parents attended the final phase of the Rite Journey Program. The ritual is called “The Return and Homecoming”. It is an opportunity for our young men to share time with their parents and mentors and discuss their learnings from the program over the year and their plans and growth into the future. I would like to particularly thank Mr Brian Polich for his leadership and facilitation of this program throughout this year and to all the staff who were mentors to the students.
Live Jesus in our Hearts!
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