Message From the Principal
Paulina Skerman
College Principal
Building the Visual and Creative Arts programs has certainly been a priority for the College over the past five years. This year we hosted our first musical, we have a growing instrumental music program with more than 100 girls participating, and music is a compulsory yearlong subject studied by our Year 7 and 8 students. Our girls have won countless accolades for their visual art creations and their artworks have been exhibited at the National Gallery of Australia and QAGOMA. Last year we held the inaugural Flourish Arts Evening which was well attended and we have played our part in Strand Ephemera. Our sculpture, ‘Plenty More’ is currently an entry in Strand Ephemera and we are hopeful that we might win the People’s Choice Award this year. We have also revived our participation in the Eisteddfod across a variety of performance areas, our girls are well represented in Mulkadee and our extracurricular program boasts Drama Club, Dance Club, Choirs, String Ensemble, Orchestra, Extension Art and many other artistic pursuits. Our new performing arts complex, currently under construction, will house new music rooms, drama rooms, a dance hall and provide a wonderful indoor auditorium for us to be able to enjoy performances. There is no doubt that the Arts are highly valued at St Patrick’s College Townsville and we have an awesome, talented team of Arts teachers who share their expertise and love of the Arts with our girls.
Last week, the ABC shared a news article that reinforced findings that there exists a high correlation between school students studying music and performing well at Maths, Science and English. The study, published in the Journal of Educational Psychology stated that “the students who learned to play a musical instrument in elementary and continued playing in high school not only score significantly higher, but were about one academic year ahead of their non-music peers.” One of the researchers involved in the study, Martin Guhn, said that, “learning to play a musical instrument and playing in an ensemble is very demanding. A student has to learn to read music notation, develop eye-hand-mind coordination, develop keen listening skills, develop team skills for playing in an ensemble and develop discipline to practice. All those learning experiences, and more, play a role in enhancing the learner’s cognitive capacities, executive functions, motivation to learn in school, and self-efficacy.”
Apart from all of those benefits, performance and the Arts builds confidence, brings great joy and works to unify people from all walks of life. Our school will continue to allocate substantial resources in building the Arts programs. The benefits are too many to ignore and we encourage all girls to take advantage of the many wonderful Arts opportunities on offer at the school.
Congratulations to all our hard working and high achieving girls who were honoured at our Academic and Diligence Assembly today. Thank you to our Director of Studies, Ms Amy Byrnes for once again organising a wonderful celebration of success.
Our Interhouse Athletics Carnival will be held next Friday 9 August at the Townsville Sports Reserve. I look forward to welcoming parents to join us for the carnival.
Blessings,
Paulina
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