Acting Principal’s Message

By Acting Principal, Mr Stephen Hill

Congratulations on making it to the end of week 2 of remote learning!

The word ‘unique’ is, at times, used far too freely to describe a situation or event. However, the period of time since the declaration of COVID-19 as a pandemic can indeed be described as ‘unique’. Clearly, every student, his family, the entire College staff and all areas of the school’s operations have been affected by this virus.

The recent weeks have only served to highlight what I tell everyone I meet about why I work at St Patrick’s – this is a great school to lead because it is filled with boys who love their school, parents who support their son’s learning and an incredibly capable and talented staff.  The efforts of staff, students and parents over the past few weeks stand as clear evidence of the truth of this statement.

Many of you may have heard me speak at assemblies and information nights in the past about the strong partnership that exists between parents and teachers of St Patrick’s College. Never before has this partnership been more important than in the current environment. The worldwide COVID-19 pandemic has created a period of disturbance the likes of which none of us has endured before.

Our daily routines and rituals have been put on hold indefinitely. Many of us are housebound, fearful that a loved one may fall ill to this easily communicable disease which has already killed so many around the world.

At St Patrick’s College, we remain steadfastly committed to doing our bit to help stop the spread of this disease while also maintaining our commitment to working with parents to provide the best possible educational outcomes for your boys.

I am incredibly proud of the way our staff have worked tirelessly over the past few weeks to prepare our community for the move to remote learning. This has been a massive challenge – one which normally would only be enacted over a period of years, not mere weeks. Parent feedback over the past week tells me that, for most of you, this has been a great success.

As you all know, information relating to COVID-19 and remote learning is being updated almost daily. To ensure that you have the most up-to-date information, the College has developed a one-stop area on the College’s website – https://www.stpats.vic.edu.au/students-parents-staff/covid-19-coronavirus/. Please bookmark this page and visit it regularly to ensure you are fully up to date with all that is happening with our remote learning program at this unique time.

EREBB Global Education Taskforce

Following is the link to Edmund Rice Education Australia’s EREBB Global Education Taskforce which has been setup to explore ways to support and connect schools globally during the pandemic – EREBB COVID-19 Website.  The website provides a forum for ideas, story-telling, resourcing and sharing connections across the globe.

Once again, I thank you for your understanding and patience as we work together to provide the best we possibly can for our fine young boys who will emerge from their time at St Patrick’s College with the best preparation to enable them to become great men.