Cultural Activities for 2024

Current students, please contact culture@stpatricks.qld.edu.au if you wish to enrol in a cultural activity.

New students to the College in 2024, please read all the information below and contact culture@stpatricks.qld.edu.au if you wish to enrol in a cultural activity.

ART CLUB 

Students with an interest in visual arts are invited to join the Art Club. The group meets weekly to discuss and produce art works across a wide variety of genres and media.

Students' work is displayed within the College where possible, and in 2023 we were part of the Inaugural Art Show for the St Patrick’s College Art Festival.  Students enjoy working on sets and props for the College musical and in 2021 worked with an artist in residence to create a beautiful mural for our water tank.

Art Club (Years 5-12) is held one afternoon per week in Art Room B1A2.

CHESS 

The game of Chess is over 1300 years old and is one of the most popular games in the world.  At St Patrick's College, Chess is highly valued, seen not only as a fun pastime but as a great way for students to develop thinking skills, develop friendships, become a team member and represent their House or College.  

The St Patrick's Chess program provides all students with an opportunity to participate in competition against other students in a safe and social environment. The program begins with Chess Club, which operates out of the scenic Waterford rooms overlooking the sea. It is an opportunity for all players of all ages and abilities to come along and enjoy a social game of Chess.  Chess Club also provides an opportunity for those students wishing to learn Chess a chance to develop strategies and tactics.  

Term 2 is the start of the inter-school AIC season. Students in Years 5-12 compete in Junior, Intermediate and Senior divisions on Friday afternoons in a home and away style competition. St Patrick's College has regularly placed in the top three of this competition. In addition, students have the opportunity to compete for their house at friendly lunchtime competitions in the Inter-House Chess Competition. 

Extension Chess will be held Tuesday afternoons and Foundational Chess on Wednesday mornings during Semester 1 in W202.  Students of any age or ability are able to attend both sessions. 

DANCE CREW 

Students with an interest in dance are invited to join the Dance Crew. The group rehearses weekly to choreograph and create dance items from a range of dance styles. Partly student-led, this is a great opportunity to build or extend your dance skills. 

This is a new activity that began in 2021.  The students performed at Showcase for the wider school community, assemblies and competed in a nation-wide dance competition.

Excitingly, a new auditioned performance troupe will be starting in 2024 for the members of Dance Crew.  

Dance Crew (Years 5-12) is currently held Thursday afternoons in W203/4 throughout the school year. 

DEBATING 

Debating is an enjoyable activity that develops confidence and an ability to work in a team, research and logically argue both sides of a given topic, and speak confidently.  

Debating has been strongly supported at St Patrick’s College for many years with opportunities for participation in Inter-House and inter-school competitions. Both experienced and new debaters are welcome to join the teams in early February each year. Astute coaching of the many talented young men has frequently resulted in competition victory.  

Each year St Patrick's College takes part in the Queensland Debating Union (QDU) Schools Competition and acts as a host school for one or more year levels. The competition runs across most of the year, with preliminary debates held in Terms 1 and 2 and finals held during Terms 3 and 4. Students in Years 7 to 12 are able to join teams competing in the QDU competition, with the College regularly participating in the finals' rounds, particularly in Year 12.  

Once selected, debating teams meet at lunchtime once per week leading up to each debate. 

FILM CREW 

The SPC Film Crew is a group of dedicated students who learn about photography and Film Making and then put these skills into practice by; documenting the college year in photos and videos producing shots /film for College based 'clients' eg sporting, cultural or community projects competing in themed Photography Competitions  

Film Crew members have access to state of the art DSLR Cameras and High Definition Video camera in addition to a well-equipped editing / post-production facility. 

Film Crews members are nominated by staff and classroom Media Arts teachers.  

MUSICAL 

Every second year St Patrick's College, in collaboration with St John Fisher College, present a senior musical for our College and local communities. A project such as this brings together a large and diverse range of talents in an environment of acceptance and fun.  

Students in Year 8 - 12 are welcome to audition and each production sees more than 100 young men and women taking on the roles of performers, musicians, artists and designers, technical and backstage crew, costume design and 'front of house' volunteers. Certainly, the chance of working in a large cast with a live band and professional level technical assistance is a once in a lifetime moment. The whole event is rich in its possibilities to allow each individual to shine and the rewards for both College communities cannot be measured.  

Our Previous Musicals Productions include:  

2015 – Popstars

2017 – High School Musical

2019 – Grease

2021 – The Addams Family

2023 - Shrek 

In the alternate year to a senior musical, St Patrick’s College produce a Junior Musical, which also involves female students from local high schools.  Including students from Year 5 – 8 the junior musical gives an opportunity for students to learn stage craft and develop their singing, dancing and acting skills.  The chorus is made up of ALL students who sing in Junior Voices, while leads are decided through auditions. 

Our previous Junior Musical Productions include:

2018 – Lion King Jnr

• 2020 – Aladdin Jnr (Cancelled due to lockdowns)
• 2022 – Oliver Jnr
• 2024 – Newsies Jnr 

If you are new to St Patrick’s College and are interested in a lead role or ensemble, you can sign-on before Monday 16 October. Auditions will begin Tuesday 17 October.  After this date, students wishing to be a part of the ensemble can join Junior Voices.  Two intensive workshops will be held in Term 4 2023.  Rehearsals will be throughout Term 1, on both Tuesday and Friday afternoons, with occasional Sundays. Performance dates are 17th – 20th April.

SHOWCASE 

Showcase is an opportunity for all members of a house to come together in a massed performance to present for the school and wider community.  It takes most boys out of their comfort zone and is a powerful lesson in teamwork.  It is a strong tradition at SPC that has seen much growth in the spectacle of the presentation and investment of time and energy to produce a polished and entertaining performance.  It is a wonderful opportunity for boys experienced in the performing arts to take a leadership role. 

Showcase will be held on Thursday, 15 February 2024.

TECHNICAL CREW 

Students with an interest in technical aspects of lighting, staging and sound are nominated by teaching staff to join the Technical Crew (Tech Crew). The group meets weekly to learn technical skills that they can then apply to real events such as Showcase, musicals and concerts.  

This is a new activity that began in 2021, and already we have seen this crew developing and honing their skills to compliment what is learnt in the Certificate II Creative Industries Course.  

Live events include: 

• Cafe Series Live Music
• Assemblies
• SPC Performance events 

Skills students learn include: 

• Setting and packing equipment for performances safely and efficiently
• Running the technical production side of live events
• Setting and running audio and visuals
• Setting and running lighting
• Audio and visual recording of performances and events
• Setting the stage
• Trouble-shooting technical difficulties 

Tech Crew students are expected to attend many events throughout the year, and this is negotiated with the Tech Crew Director at the start of each term.  There is no sign on form for this activity as entry is by invitation only for senior students.

THEATRESPORTS 

Theatresports is a team based event where teams of four or five engage in 'games' where they must create a scene out of a 'theme' or 'idea' given to them only a few seconds prior to beginning. Within these few seconds, players must create a scene with a beginning, a middle and an end. This is based on surprise offers and audience suggestions, with no preparation time. The scenes could be done as songs, dance and poems and the teams then compete for points.  

Theatresports at St Patrick’s focuses on engendering a spirit of being in the moment, inspiring your fellow performers, listening, collaboration and above all, fun.  

Each year an Inter-House Theatresports Competition allows students from a variety of grades to train together and then represent their house in a fun-filled lunchtime competition.  

We enter teams into the Youth Theatres Sport Competition held by Theatre Sport Queensland every year and have built a reputation as the most consistently high performing school in the state.  In 2021 the Senior Team and in 2023 the Junior Team made the semi finals.   We also host competitions at the College and this gives students the opportunity to support their teams at home.  

It is open to all students from Years 5 – 12, with teams being finalised after all students have had weeks of practise and training.  Theatresports team rehearse at least once per week throughout the year.