Message From the Principal

This Sunday marks the 45^thanniversary of the decision by the United Nations General Assembly to announce that March 8 would acknowledge International Women’s Day. Only last week, our student Senior Prefect Team attended a Soroptimist International IWD Breakfast event, hosted by Ignatius Park College, where the Hon Pru Goward spoke from a place of incredible honesty, passion and experience. She was able to create a sense of urgency, responsibility and a call to action, never forgetting that “the goals of the #EachforEqual movement have been in existence for over a century and that we all carry the hopes and dreams of the women that have walked before us.”

Ali Clarke (nee Lyons), College Alumna 2001, qualified barrister, business owner and proud feminist spoke from the heart at our International Women’s Day Assembly last Wednesday. She was able to beautifully articulate for our students the importance of their roles as individuals in changing the narrative of women in society. She challenged them to face the real statistics of inequality and injustice for women globally. She empowered them to seek to be genuine champions of real change in this regard. Ali reminded them that they each have the power within them to lift each other up, call out bias and injustice and seek out male champions of change to walk alongside them towards a more gender equal world for the betterment of everyone.

We are incredibly fortunate in an all-girls school environment to provide the ultimate environment for our young women to feel empowered to use their education to embrace every opportunity, take their seat at the table of life and use their voice to effect change that is for the betterment of all. Our students know that gender equality is a human rights issue and fundamentally a question of power. Antonio Guterres, Secretary General of the United Nations delivered a powerful speech only last week on ‘Women & Power’. He stated that ‘only through equal participation of women can we benefit from the intelligence, experience and insights of all humanity’.

We remind our students regularly about the notion that empowered women, empower women. They are encouraged to believe in themselves and those around them. As key role models, our teachers and staff demonstrate in behaviour, word and action that we always seek to lift up our female peers, celebrate the strengths of women and help to spread the good news about women instead of tearing them down.

I feel very blessed to work with a women’s empowerment environment and have also been incredibly fortunate to have worked for and alongside incredibly strong and fearless female role models and genuine male champions of change. However, sadly there is still much work to be done in the world for all women and the real power lies within each of us, individually changing the narrative for a gender equal world.

I have some staffing updates to share with our community. Sadly, I have accepted Ms Anderson’s resignation from the College at the end of this term. Ms Anderson has during her time here, completely fallen in love with the place and its people. She is an extraordinary teacher and has carried out her role as Powers Head of House with compassion and commitment. We will officially farewell Ms Anderson at the end of this term as we send her off with our blessings and love as she joins her partner Chris in Cairns.

As you would be well aware through my updates to families via email, the Australian Government announced updated measures that specifically address travel restrictions from a number of countries. I will continue to provide updates to our community via email. For more information, please refer to the Queensland Health website: http://conditions.health.qld.gov.au/HealthCondition/condition/14/217/838/novel-coronavirus These are important preventative measures that have been put in place in the interest of public health.

Queensland Health urges all communities to be vigilant about health and hygiene at this time and to that end, have asked us to remind communities of simple hygiene practices that support public health by:

Cleaning hands with soap and water or alcohol-based hand rubs;
Covering your nose and mouth with a tissue or flexed elbow when coughing or sneezing; and
Avoiding contact with anyone who has flu-like symptoms.

If your daughter is unwell or show symptoms of illness, they should see their doctor. As always, the health and wellbeing of your daughters, and our staff, remains our priority.

Please be rest assured we continue to take advice from Queensland Health and the Department of Education in relation to this matter and the latest information is available at novel coronavirus on the Queensland Health website. Again, thank you for your understanding and attention to this important matter.

Lastly, I am looking forward to welcoming parents to the annual P&F Welcome Function tonight at 5:30 pm. Following this, excitement is building for our Twilight Open Evening being held next week on St Patrick’s Day, where will we showcase the College to our community.

May God bless you and your families.

Amber Hauff

College Principal

Deputy Principal

Cameran Triffett

Excursion Management via the Learning Hub parent Lounge

2020 has brought improvement and change across various areas of the College. A significant and exciting development with the Learning Hub has been the rollout of a new system for the approval of excursions and activities. In the interest of sustainability, utilising the Learning Hub Parent Lounge will replace the need for paper notes to be created and distributed.

We thank all our families for their patience while getting used to the new system.

For those that have not yet had occasion to respond to an excursion, please find the following information to assist you.

You will be sent an email when your daughter has an excursion needing to be acknowledged. The email will contain the following instructions:

Please note that your daughter will not be able to attend the excursion or participate in the activity until permission is granted.

OPEN EVENING ARRANGEMENTS – Tuesday 17 March

Please note the following changes to the school day on Tuesday 17 March 2020 to accommodate the St Patrick’s Day Mass Celebration and Twilight Open Evening Preparations. The normal school day will end at 12.45pm with the College Bus Runs departing the College at 1.00pm.

Please be aware that if your daughter is not able to travel home at this time, supervision will be provided at the College until the normal dismissal time of 3.15pm. If your daughter requires supervision at the College until 3.15pm, please have her collect a note from Student Reception.

Please note that there will be no regular bus run at 3.15pm on this day.

Deputy Principal – Academic

Amy Byrnes

Study – What Is It and How Is It Done?

By now, your daughter should be well and truly into a study routine. Most students benefit from multiple opportunities to learn and retain new ideas, particularly if this occurs over a period of time. As we are on the edge of starting the busy time of assessment in the term, please encourage and support your daughter to schedule daily studying time. Students should:

Keep a list of things to accomplish during studying time;
Read the assigned work (revise the work covered that day or read ahead to prepare for the next lesson);
Utilise the College Learning Hub to review resources for each subject;
Create vivid mental images to aid learning;
Memorise the material through repetition;
Self-verbalise the steps to complete a given task;
Use chapter review questions to self-test;
Make a plan (outline) before beginning an assessment task;
Seek feedback from the teacher and talk to the teacher about what she knows and where her knowledge gaps are (teacher feedback from assigned tasks and exams will also help);
Act on written and verbal feedback provided;
Check both drafts and good copies carefully and deliberately before handing in an assignment;
Once assessment is returned, review the items missed, including questions that were guessed.

Pages 110 and 111 of the College diary includes further hints on how to study, including the average times per day that are suggested for study for each year level, including:

Year 7 – 1 to 1 ½ hours
Year 8 – 1 ½ hours
Year 9 – 2 hours
Year 10 – 2 ½ hours
Year 11 – 3 hours
Year 12 – 3 ½ hours

Term 1 Exam Block

In 2020, per the Semester One Assessment Calendars, only Year 10 and Year 12 students will have a designated Exam Block in Term 1. All other year levels will complete assessment during their timetabled lessons. The Term 1 Exam Block Schedule will be emailed to Year 10 and Year 12 students later in the term.

During exam block all students are required to:

Wear full Academic College uniform at all times;
Have the correct equipment for their exams in a clear, transparent container or bag;
Students are not to bring Smart Watches or mobile phones into the examination room;
Sign in and out upon entry and exit of examination rooms and for study session. Designated quiet study areas will be available for students between examinations;
Be on time for exams.
Remain within the College grounds at all times and may not be signed out by parents between exams without prior arrangement with the Deputy Principal – Academic;
Complete all assessment to the best of their ability, using the entire allocated time to work and check their responses. All students must remain in the exam room for the allotted time.

Year 12 Students

Year 12 students are permitted to go home during the Term 1 Exam Block. Year 12 students must be at school on the days when they have exams, however, if a student has only one exam in the morning or afternoon, they may remain at home for study, at their parent’s discretion and the College office needs to be contacted and advised of this by 9am on the day. Year 12 Boarding students are permitted to return to the Boarding School for quiet study when they do not have exams. Year 12 students must ensure they are following the College Senior Assessment Policy throughout all assessment pieces.

If you have any questions or concerns in relation to the exam block please contact the Deputy Principal – Academic, Amy Byrnes (abyrnes@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au).

Special Provisions (Year 7 to 10)

A reminder that if students are away on an assessment due date or have been away prior to the due date of an exam or assessment they may be entitled to special provisions. It is important that students are meeting all due dates, but at times, there are circumstances that prevent this from occurring and this is when special provisions are put in place. Students must make an appointment to see the Deputy Principal – Academic if they have an application for special provisions. Further information relating to Special Provisions can be found in the College diary on page 114 and in the College Junior Assessment Policy.

NAPLAN

Parents/Guardians of Year 7 and 9 students were emailed a letter regarding the 2020 National Assessment Program – Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) Tests. The 2020 tests will be held from 12 to 14 May.

Any parent that wishes to enquire about special provisions or exemption from NAPLAN for your daughter, please contact Tracy Nioa (Head of Department – Learning Support & Enrichment) before 2 April 2020 via tnioa@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au. Should you have any further queries regarding NAPLAN, please contact Mr Grant McGregor (Head of Faculty – Mathematics and Technology), Ms Amy Plumridge (Head of Faculty – English and Languages) or myself for clarification.

Director of Mission

Athena Costopoulos

Mercy Girls in Action

“A little bit of mercy makes the world less cold and more just.” – Pope Francis

Lent is a significant season in the year for Catholics. It is a time of fasting and self-reflection. It lasts for just over six weeks leading up to Easter. This term MGIA turns its focus to CARITAS and its Project Compassion. CARITAS supports long-term development programs in impoverished communities in Africa, Asia, Indigenous Australia and the Pacific — helping oppressed people to rediscover their dignity by taking greater control over their lives and overcoming poverty. During Lent, Mercy Girls invites the College to help raise awareness and stand in solidarity with the millions of people in need across the world. We are promoting some healthy competition between PC groups to raise money for this worthy cause. The winning PC Group will be awarded a pizza party.

MGIA students sold pancakes on Shrove Tuesday to raise money for Project Compassion.

MGIA girls joined with the Reef Guardians for Clean Up Australia Day.

Care For Our Common Home is a whole school focus in 2020 and beyond.

McAuley Ministry

“We should be shining lamps giving light to all around us.” – Catherine McAuley

This year St Patrick’s College has launched a new extracurricular group. McAuley Ministry, named for our foundress, Catherine McAuley, a trailblazer who responded to the great challenges of her time and championed new ways of being Church. This extracurricular group will be led by the Faith and Identity Prefect, and aims to organise and support the prayer and liturgical life of the College.

I would like to acknowledge the young women of St Patrick’s College who support McAuley Ministry:

The Liturgy Choir

The Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion

The Altar Servers

The Student Lenten Group

The Bishop’s Youth Ambassadors

Director of Mission, Ms Athena Costopoulos with Student Leaders, Youth Ambassadors Bishop Tim and College Principal, Ms Amber Hauff

Ash Wednesday Liturgies

The College celebrated the beginning of Lent during the Ash Wednesday House Liturgies. Our girls were reminded to implore justice through prayer, stand in solidarity through our fasting and reach out through giving.

Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion

Last week twelve students completed their training with Ms Seana Mokrzecki from Mary Help of Christians Parish to become Extraordinary Ministers of Holy Communion. This training is offered each year to students from Years 10, 11 and 12. The girls must have received all their sacraments in order to be eligible. They will now take on the very important liturgical role of assisting the priest to distribute the bread and wine during our College masses. During assembly they were presented with a Eucharistic Minister prayer card and medallion.

Ali Thomas

Elisabeth Shaju

Anastacia Barton

Roslyn Ballard

Ella Barra

Haylie Emanuel

Jamie Mohr

Norma Owens

Olive-Rose Pearson

Sophie Rupp

Sierra Sibley

Maleta Warrior

Sacramental Program

As part of the Parish program, St Patrick’s College offers students the opportunity to prepare for their Sacraments of Baptism, Reconciliation, Confirmation and Eucharist. This program aims to deepen students’ learning about their faith and their connection to God. Please email the Director of Mission if your daughter would like to take part in the Sacramental Program in May – acostopoulos@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au

TOGETHER WE PRAY

God of all wholeness,

heal our hearts

of all that prevents us from responding

to our sisters and brothers

excluded by poverty

and prevented from living a full and healthy life.

This lent, may we:

implore justice through our prayer,

stand in solidarity through our fasting,

and reach out through our giving.

Send your life-giving power

to revive the weary,

restore the broken

and renew the face of the earth.

We ask this through Christ our Lord.

Amen

Director of Boarding

Megan Christie

The term seems to be moving at an extraordinary pace and it is hard to believe we have passed the Term One hump. For our boarders, this is an exciting point in time when they realise they are only 4 weeks away from travelling home and seeing their families again. Hopefully, this knowledge can give them strength to continue to work hard to successfully complete their exams and assessments that always accompany the end of term.

The rhythm of boarding life is very much in place. Monday to Thursday afternoons consists of a study regime that will assist your daughters to engage fully in their academic pursuits. Your daughters are ably supported by our boarding supervisors, while our academic teachers also offer workshops and tutoring as required. Our expectations regarding boarder study is that it is quiet and productive. To ensure students are making effective use of this time, all students must be at their desks in their own rooms and mobile phones must be off and away. I have been very pleased with the girls’ dedicated approach to study time.

Our Recreation Program has amplified in the last few weeks with the start of Block Sport and Club Sport. Girls involved in club netball, touch and league teams have started their fixtures and have been attending training session during the week. It is wonderful to see so many girls focusing on their health and fitness by regularly attending our Castle Hill and Strand walks and runs.

As a reward for their excellent leadership in boarding the Year 12’s went to the Stadium Open Day. The Week 5 “Gotcha” winners also received this special reward for being respectful, responsible and safe. This year, each of our Year Levels will plan and coordinate an in-house activity. To lead the way, our amazing Year 12 students ran a Trivia Night on Friday 28 February. The night was a great success with the team – Flora, Shaniqua, Jermia, Nitaray and Willimina – being crown our trivia champions.

Well done to our Boarders of the Week:

Week 4 – Kenya Mari, La’Shauna Nathaniel and Danielle Gesa

Week 5 – Eva Pascoe, Sierra Sibley and Whitney Nai

Last weekend our Year 7 Boarders welcomed their families to the College as part of our first ever Mid Term Carers Weekend. So far the girls and their families have enjoyed some quality family time, and a Welcome to Country Dinner on Friday night. A special thank you Aunty Jenny for delivering the Welcome to Country and to Aunty Gladys for giving the blessings.

I would like to congratulate Alex O’Neil on her appointment of Senior Boarding Supervisor. To achieve a more targeted approach to our students overall wellbeing, the Senior Boarding Supervisors have added responsibilities in either the Juniors Years (Years 7 and 8), Middle Years (Years 9 and 10) or Senior Years (Years 11 and 12). Please familiarise yourself of Year Levels appointed to each of our amazing Senior Boarding Supervisors.

Sarah Amos – Senior Years (Years 11 and 12) samos@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au

Alex O’Neil – Middle Years (Years 9 and 10) aoneil@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au

Amanda Sinclair – Junior Years (Year 7 and 8) asinclair@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au

Miss Sarah, Miss Alex and Miss Amanda are there to support you with any boarding issue or concern you may have.

For administration issues including leave please email boarding@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au or ring Boarding Reception on 07 4753 0307 and you will reach Hayley Mazzoni our Boarding Assistant, and she will direct your call. Could I please remind parents and guardians that weekend leave requests must be submitted by Thursday 8:30am. I ask you to support us in this large task of ensuring that all girls’ weekend leave is logged in REACH and that consent is obtained by the parent and host early to ensure a smooth sign-out process. Please note that weekend leave commences after school on Friday afternoon. Boarders are required to return to the Boarding House not later than 6:00pm.

Director of Students

Maria Franettovich

Year 12 Prefect Retreat

On Saturday, 15 February our Year 12 Prefects enjoyed a Retreat Day which gave them the opportunity to meet and work together to establish a solid foundation as they take on their new Prefect roles. The girls enjoyed a day of team building and goal setting as they embark on their leadership journey this year.

Year 12 Big Sister Program

On Friday, Thrones House Year 12 students hosted the first ‘Big Sister’ social activity of the year. Our Year 7 and 12 students teamed together in House groups and had lots of fun playing ‘Dodge Ball’ in the Sports Complex.

At St Patrick’s College the Big Sister program aims to connect our all our students with their Year 12 ‘Big Sister’, who can help to guide and mentor them through their high school years. It is a great chance for our seniors to share their wisdom and create a connectedness that enables both older and younger students to strengthen their special sisterhood bond.

Flu Season Update

Effective hand hygiene is vital

As the coronavirus (COVID-19) continues to evolve, it is important to remember that effective hand and sneeze/cough hygiene is the best defence against viruses and can help prevent the spread of illness.

Lead by example and encourage your children to:

wash their hands regularly with soap and water, before and after eating, and after going to the toilet
use alcohol-based hand sanitiser if soap is not available
cover coughs and sneezes with a tissue or the inside of their elbow
dispose of tissues in the bin immediately
if they’re unwell, stay at home and avoid contact with others such as touching, kissing or hugging.

Check out the 20 second routine video for effective handwashing.

Careers & VET News

Head of Faculty – Careers & VET

Catherine Rentoule

Work Experience Program

Students in Years 10, 11 and 12 may participate in the Work Experience Program which is optional. This is a valuable educational activity which enables the students to observe and participate in an area of employment that interests them. Students work in an industry of their choice for a period of time during their school holidays.
The defence offer an amazing work experience program: https://defencecareers.nga.net.au/cp/index.cfm?event=jobs.listJobs&audiencetypecode=defenceworkexp
The Townsville Hospital and Health Service provide a work experience that is in high demand. If your daughter is interested they need to email the HOF Careers/VET early in the year.

All work experience must be approved by the College and work experience contract is signed covering the student for insurance purposes.

Our CAREERS service provides the following:

Career Planning
Advertising positions available
Assistance with Career research
University experiences
Job applications
Resume writing
Scholarships
Coming Events
Work Experience Program
QTAC Applications
One on one careers counseling
One on one coaching for interview skills

Our VOCATIONAL EDUCATION AND TRAINING program includes:

School Based Traineeships/Apprenticeships
TAFE – VET in Schools Programme/ TCTC Programme and other providers
Delivery of qualifications at St Patrick’s College 2020

School Based Apprenticeships and Traineeships

School Based Apprenticeships and School Based Traineeships allow students to train and do paid work in their chosen area while still studying for their QCE. Students should be capable of the additional work load and should be motivated.

Students sign a training agreement which commits you and your employer to the apprenticeship or traineeship.

Benefits for the student are:

Contributes points towards Queensland Certificate of Education
A head start in the job market
Completion or progress toward the completion of a vocational qualification eg. Certificate III in Hospitality
Paid employment for the time spent at work
Training with a registered training organisation
An easier move from school to work
Gaining first-hand experience in the industry

TAFE – in Schools Program

Students interested in vocational careers are offered the opportunity to attend TAFE on a one-day a week basis to complete a Certificate II outcome by combining school and TAFE studies over a one period. Students must be in Year 11 or 12 to participate in this program. Completion of these certificates gains points towards the QCE.

Students must attend the TAFE College for one day per week for the school year and attend school on the remaining four days. It is the responsibility of the student to ensure that they are up-to-date with any school work they miss while they are at TAFE.

TCTC – Townsville Creative Technologies College offers students the opportunity to study Print and Media, Information technology, Music Production, Game production.

STUDENTS MAY ONLY COMPLETE ONE FEE FREE COURSE UNDER THE VETIS PROGAM IN YEAR 11 OR 12.

Qualifications Delivered at St Patrick’s College Townsville

St Patrick’s College has formed partnerships with Binnacle Training and Connect N Grow and are able to deliver a variety of Australian standard qualifications to our Year 11 and 12 students. The qualifications include:

Certificate III Business
Certificate II and III Health Services Assistance
Certificate III Fitness

A Certificate III level qualification is a great stand-alone achievement and ensures that students are job ready on the completion of Year 12. For more information on these courses, download our Curriculum Handbooks for 2020.

For the latest news and information about Careers and VET Services please visit the St Patrick’s College Townsville Careers Website.

For More information, contact our Head of Faculty Careers and Vocational Education – Catherine Rentoule (crentoule@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au)

HPE & Sport

Head of Faculty – Health & Physical Education & Sport

Ben Williams

Interhouse Swimming Carnival

The 2020 Interhouse Swimming carnival was full of bright costumes, outstanding participation and an overwhelming amount of cheering and support. On top of that there were some fantastic achievements by many students in the pool.

Our age champions for this year made things look easy in the pool as they experienced a lot of success across the day and put in some outstanding performances.

Our winners of the Age Champions for the 2020 swim carnival are:

12 years – Emilie Spandler

13 years – Maddison Andrejic

14 years – Hayley Andrejic

15 years – Clara Deer

16 years – Erica Mills

17 years – Claudia Krause

Opens – Barbara Sigere

We also had multiple school records broken this year which is a fantastic individual achievement for the following students;

For 13 Years – Maddison Andrejic – in 50m Backstroke with a time of 38.66

Maddison also beat the record for 50m Butterfly with a time of 36.04

For 14 Years – Hayley Andrejic in 50m Backstroke with a time of 35.35 AND Hayley also beat the 50m butterfly record with a new time set of 32.94. The previous 50m Breaststroke record has also been broken with a time of 42.94 set by Lily Bragg.

For 16 years – we have a new 50m breaststroke time of 41.13 – set by Brooke Davis-Goodall.

In our new 17 years age group that has been added to all schools this year – Claudia Krause now holds all 4 records in this age group.

Claudia’s times were excellent with achieving a freestyle time of 31.72, backstroke of 36.62, breaststroke of 42.53 and a butterfly time of 38.59. Fantastic effort Claudia.

Congratulations to the overall winning House of the 2020 swimming carnival, Thrones. Despite being challenged in every category all the way to the end by Doms House, Thrones managed to come away with not only the overall swim carnival win but they also secured the House Spirit Award based on their efforts during the day that caught the eye of the judges, so well done to Thrones.

Before closing, I would like to take this opportunity to thank all students that were involved in the day and offered their help and support in some way, whether it have been to other students and or staff. It never goes unnoticed and its always appreciated. And a big thank you to all the staff involved, it is always a big staff effort that’s required to make these types of days possible and help them run as smoothly as they can.

2020 Swim carnival was a great day all round. So this will set the tone for a wonderful year for all the carnivals to come.

Rowing

Fifteen St Patrick’s College students participated in the ‘Learn to Row’ program over the past few weeks. For anyone who missed the Rowing Information Evening at Ignatius Park College on Wednesday 2nd March, please contact Tracy Klaassen, the three College’s Rowing coordinator at rowing@ipc.qld.edu.au for a Rowing Handbook and further information.

Netball

The St Patrick’s Senior Netball Club team started off the season with enthusiasm and determination taking a win for both games played during this grading period. From the very beginning the girls gelled extremely well together on court especially considering they have not played together yet. The attacking end worked together well in the ring, reading off each other and shooting accurately, while the mid-court worked extremely well, working hard when driving for the ball and feeding the ball effectively into the attacking end. Defense worked amazing, going for almost every rebound and with strong defensive pressure we were able to get a few turn arounds. This is an excellent sign for a successful season ahead.

Volleyball

Congratulations to our Year 11/12 Volleyball players who finished the block sport season undefeated!

Religion

Head of Faculty – Religion

Zoey Fellows

Year 12 Religion and Ethics

This term, our Year 12 Religion and Ethics students have been immersed in a unit on Social Justice. As part of this unit, students have learnt the difference between acts of charity and acts of justice. While acts of charity might provide immediate resources towards a problem such as poverty, acts of justice attempt to changes structures that cause the problem in the first place.

Over the last fortnight, our Year 12 Religion and Ethics students have been planning social justice initiatives for their assignment. These initiatives are designed to bring about meaningful, long term change in our community. Working in groups, students were given an initial budget of $50 and had to plan a fundraiser and use the profits to fund their acts of justice. Students held bake sales, spider stalls, lolly stalls and raffles to try to raise more money for their acts of justice. We look forward to seeing how the students use these proceeds to better our community and the world!

Year 7 Study of Religion

Our Year 7 students continue their studies of Religion with a unit titled ‘What are the core Catholic beliefs?’ where students will learn all about the faith that we practice here at St Patrick’s College. This includes an excursion to our local Church, St Joseph’s on The Strand, and explorations of sacraments, sacred texts and liturgy.

Humanities

Head of Faculty – Humanities

Kelli Chapman

It’s all happening in the Humanities department!

Year 7 Humanities:

As a part of our “Investigating the Ancient Past” unit, our Year 7 Humanities students have been learning about archaeology and the excavation process. To extend on their learning students took part in a “mini archaeological dig” to discover “ancient” artefacts and record their finds. The Year 7 students were also very lucky to have our own Miss Jane and Felise Goldfinch from JCU come in to talk all things archaeology and excavation.

Ms Semola’s class also took part in a ‘cookie excavation’ where students worked to remove only chocolate chips from their cookie-coating using archaeological techniques and survey skills. It was a very successful activity and the girls enjoyed the hands-on task.

Year 8 Humanities:

Moats were dug, drawbridges lifted and arrows drawn – Year 8 students have been studying the history of Medieval Europe. As a part of this unit, students have explored the role of castles in this period and how and why they were constructed.

Students from Miss Towers’ Year 8 Humanities class had spent a week designing and constructing miniature medieval castles, using their knowledge and understanding of the key defensive features of castle warfare. They then went head-to-head and defended their castles against fierce opponents from Miss Hudson’s class, who were primed with a wealth of knowledge and understanding of medieval weapons and attack strategies.

To begin the battle, Miss Hudson’s class were invited to analyse the key features of the castles and ask questions about their construction. Their eyes were peeled, on the lookout for weaknesses such as low battlements, inadequate grain stores and limited water sources.

Teams were then encouraged to select and modify their own personalised attacks which ranged from 6-month long sieges designed to starve castle occupants if grain stores were insufficient, battering rams on weakened wooden doors, and wheeling belfry towers up to castles that were built without moats or mounds.

The activity encouraged students to work collaboratively with classmates, harness their creativity and flair, and think strategically about medieval warfare. But, most importantly, it gave students a real insight into the motives and actions of people at this time in history.

Year 10 History:

Dr Sarah Kleinman recently came to speak to our Year 10 History classes. Dr Kleinman comes from a Jewish refugee family and was raised in a large community of Survivors. Dr Kleinman told personal stories about people’s experiences during the Holocaust, and why growing up in that environment has helped her become an empathetic person and politically vocal about human rights abuses. We spoke about how historical events can help shape people’s identity and world views, and the importance of how studying events like the Holocaust can help keep us more informed and aware about what is happening in our society today, see the warning signs, and most importantly, speak out.

Science & Technology

Head of Faculty – Science & Technology

Chris Pacey

Clean Up Australia Day

More than 120 students from St Patrick’s College Townsville took part in the 2020 Clean Up Australia Day activities along The Strand foreshore and nearby park lands last week. The girls collected a wide range of litter including a large amount of recyclable plastics, bottles and cans.

Events like Clean Up Australia Day have direct impacts such as the removal of rubbish which helps to prevent injuries and illness to wildlife. These events also have a massive indirect impact on the awareness of participants to issues facing our planet more broadly, as well as a big impact in encouraging students to have a growth mindset and that they can make a difference. This not only changes their behaviour, but they also become agents for change in their communities, whether that’s here in Townsville or back home in the Torres Strait, Cape York or Papua New Guinea.

The Reef Guardian Club, which was established at the College in 2016, is responsible for organising events such as Clean Up Australia Day to help increase awareness of issues affecting the Great Barrier Reef and the environment generally. The membership of this Club has skyrocketed in the past couple of years with more than 200 members in 2020 who will participate in a range of activities such as attending JCU Turtle Hospital, taking part in Reef Restoration activities where students snorkel and remove algae from coral reefs, and a range of other events which increase awareness.

Students see the difference they are making not only to the environment, but also the positive impacts it has on their mind set.

Clean Up Australia inspires and empowers communities to clean up, fix up and conserve our environment, to keep Australia beautiful.

Year 10 Marine Science Reef HQ Visit

Year 10 Marine Science students have visited Reef HQ this week as part of their unit on the effects of climate change on ocean chemistry.

The Arts

Head of Department – Dramatic Arts & Performance

Alyssa Kelly

Mulkadee

Mulkadee applications opened on 28 February and already students are signing up for their favourite disciplines. This year, Mulkadee will take place on Friday 24 July at 7:30pm. In the lead up to this extravaganza there will be a week of rehearsals at The Entertainment Centre. This year, there are again limited spaces available for both Dance and Drama disciplines, and applications must reflect any past experience for students to be considered. There will be weekend workshops held throughout the year to rehearse any music items, and Townsville students are expected to be available for all of these. If you are interested in registering, please see the notice on the HUB and click on the link to their website. Please note that no late entries will be accepted this year. Registration closes on 27 March and Video Auditions are to be in by 3 April. All students, successful or unsuccessful, will be notified on 20 April, 2020 by email from the Mulkadee Committee. Then the St Patrick’s Finance team will send you a payment form. Only the successfully accepted students will be sent a payment form. Ticket sales will also open on 20 April and all parents will be encouraged to buy tickets ASAP to avoid disappointment as they have sold out for the last two years.

Drama Club & Capture@Pats

For those students who love the idea of performing and creating, but don’t want to miss schoolwork, Drama Club meets every Thursday at Lunchtime in the Drama Room. This is a wonderful alternative to Mulkadee for students who are unsuccessful at getting into the Drama Discipline for Mulkadee. This term, Drama Club along with Capture@Pats has been working on understanding angles for photography and film. We have already received some very interesting images in our weekly challenges, and our long term goal is to create a portfolio of works or a short film that can be showcased in our new building later this year. If your student would like to join Drama Club or Capture@Pats, please email Ms Kelly, Mr Marano, or Ms Perkins. Students are interested in working on a stage play, we will be putting together an epic piece for the Eisteddfod. We will begin rehearsing next term, so please keep an ear out or check the HUB later this term for when auditions are being held. Lastly, Friday March 27 is World Theatre Day. Students will notice some of their favourite playwrights and characters walking around the school.

Photographers Left to right: Ella-Paige Rizos, Essie Kantha, Tara Marlborough

Dance Troupe

Dance Troupe have been working hard on their choreography for an upbeat dance fusion that will be showcased later this year. While some of our students are dancing queens, we have a number of students who are beginning to understand the fundamentals of dance through their regular attendance of our Monday skills class. Miss Hudson, along with seasoned dancers, Lara Stewart and Sarah Mosch, have been teaching our new students the basics, including how to turn, kick and generally move. These students will be showcasing some of their newly-learnt skills at our Twilight Open Evening (Tuesday 17 March). Any student who has signed up to be a part of this performance are reminded to get their permission forms into Student Reception ASAP.

Head of Department – Visual Arts & Exhibitions

Harriett Geater-Johnson

Year 11 Visual Art Visit to the Townsville Museum

As part of the new Senior Visual Art curriculum, students are required to examine things through different lenses. As part of Unit 1 Art as Lens, we went to the Townsville Museum and investigated historical objects. Students were interested to learn about Townsville history and examine and draw interesting objects and artefacts. The class have since used their drawings to create solar prints that have been turned into wearable art. Thank you very much to the Museum for being so hospitable and allowing us to have a good look around!

Year 11 VAP – Shibori Printmaking

Students in Year 11 Visual Art in Practice have been working hard to create a beautiful range of wearable and functional objects for a future market opportunity. Girls have been applying textile techniques such as tie dyeing, shibori dying, printmaking on fabric and batik. Pictured is work in progress on some shibori printed silk scarves. Keep an eye open for updates about our market stall later in the year.

Year 10 Fauvism Painting

Year 10 students have been learning about the wonderful art movement of Fauvism. Gaining an understanding about how colour can be used to convey emotions and how the artists got their name ‘Wild Beasts,’ pictured are some works in progress with glorious pink underpaintings, ready for complementary colours to be applied in layers.

Year 12 VAP

Students from Year 12VAP are currently undertaking a module all about Wearable Art Pieces, to get some ideas and inspiration we went to see the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Art project: People, Culture & Country for 2019. This also gave the girls a chance to check out the new Cowboy’s Stadium. The show was an excellent way for girls to get a variety of ideas about wearable techniques and recycling things into wearable art. Thank you to organiser Christina Papadimitriou for enabling us to see the show.

Head of Department – Music & Performance

Johnathon Goulter

Performing around Town

St Patrick’s Students continue to be in high demand for public performances. This month we had the amazing Emma Watts on Guitar performing at the Ignatius Parks International Women Day Breakfast and Elizabeth Carroll on trumpet attending and performing at the Advanced Musicians Workshop in Cairns.

Ensemble groups are rapidly preparing for the upcoming open evening. I am pleased to say the every single group will have a piece of music to present thanks to the hard work of their ensemble tutors and themselves.

We are looking forward to seeing you at Opening Evening to see what our girls have been putting together.

In The Classroom – Junior Years

Our Year 7 and 8 students have hit the ground running by learning to play new repertoire in variety of ways. Year 7 students have completed their ‘Who’s That Yonder Performance’ and Year 8 students have just completed the hit song Perfect by Ed Sheeran.

Middle Years

Our new split in the Year 9 program has been successful so far with our Year 9 Methods class delving into chord theory and our Year 9 Practice class have been rearranging Beethoven’s 9th Symphony.

Year 10 Music students have continued to develop their performance skills by choosing their own songs to arrange and perform.

Senior Music

Year 11 music students have been deepening their understanding of music theory and how it relates to musical moods and emotions. The Year 12 music class have just finished their first performance and are now composing with musical innovations. Music Extension are busy preparing their next performance item with the theme: A Tale of Two Cities: New York and Paris.

Student News

2020 UN Youth Conference

Our 2020 UN Youth Conference participants explored the theme ‘Commerce and Cooperation’ engaging with international affairs, working to develop innovative solutions to global problems. Sincere thanks must be extended to Ms Hyne for providing Kalani, Harper, Eliza, Emily, Anna, Ali, Maddy & Sarah with this invaluable educational and leadership experience.

Congratulations to Sarah Bradley who was awarded the ‘Best Negotiator’ at the UN Youth Regional Conference over the weekend. Anna Baxter and Maddy Winks were the overall winning team and will progress to the Grand Final in Brisbane later this year. A special thank you to Ms Hyne for her support of this event.

Debating

Congratulations to our Year 11 Senior Debaters who last night won their first debate for the year. Well done ladies.

National Schools Constitutional Convention

Year 12 Student Layleeta Neil will be heading to the 25th National Schools Constitutional Convention next week as a national delegate. We would like to wish her the best of luck and we look forward to updating you in our next newsletter on her experience at such an amazing opportunity.

Library News

Library Assistant

Marie Jerome

2020 CBCA notables announced!

With great anticipation the 2020 CBCA notable books of the year have been announced. Each category has a list of 20 books all vying for a position in the shortlist which will be announced Tuesday 31 March. Established in 1946, the CBCA Book of the Year Awards are considered to be Australia’s most prestigious prize for children’s literature. Interested in reading one or all of the notables? Pop up into the library and you can view them on our newest display, read one or read them all before the shortlist is announced, make your own shortlist. I look forward to hearing your reviews!

A new month and our latest book orders have not disappointed, in our March Stack you will find wonderful titles including Red Day. Author Sandy Fussel explores Australia’s involvement in the Second World War, with the 1944 Cowra prisoner of war camp breakout as the focus. The story is set in modern-day Australia, Charlie is a young girl with synaesthesia. When Kenichi, a Japanese exchange student comes to stay with Charlie and her family, her senses intensify and she finds herself pulled back into Cowra’s violent past.

Did you know, ‘Reading is no longer mainly about extracting information; it is about constructing knowledge, thinking critically and making well-founded judgements.’ (Pisa 2018: Insights and Interpretations)
In all learning areas, effective readers need higher-order reading skills to read, infer meaning from, think critically to evaluate, and respond to complex questions about print, multimodal and online texts.

In our stack is the latest copy of Teen Breathe beautiful graphics, inspirational articles and plenty of ideas on how to be creative and how to get back to nature to recharge and re-centre. Ditch the digital and kick back with a copy today. We also have back copies if you are looking for further inspiration.

The library as a digital detox zone is proving to be a great success. We now have an ongoing battle of Bananagrams at every break. If you feel like you can take on the Year 11 team that are the current victors feel free to take a place at the battle table! UNO is still the most popular card game in town and it is great to see students connecting with each other.

I look forward to sharing the CBCA shortlist with you next month along with our latest great reads!

P&F News

P&F Parents’ Welcome Evening

You’re Invited! Our College P&F Warmly invites our Parents and Families to our Parents’ Welcome Evening tonight from 5.30 pm to 6.30 pm. Join us for refreshments in the Cafe by the Sea and meet our new College Principal and our expert teaching team. Please RSVP to rsvp@stpatscollege.qld.edu.au

Twilight Open Evening – Tuesday 17 March 2020

Our P&F will be holding a Sausage Sizzle at our Twilight Open Evening on St Patrick’s Day, Tuesday 17 March from 5.30 pm – 7.30pm. Come along and meet our dedicated P&F staff. We look forward to seeing you there.

College Notices

Student Absences

A reminder to all families in the event that your daughter is absent from school, please phone the Student Absences line on 4753 0377.