St Patrick’s College has three distinct cohorts: Junior (Years 7 and 8), Middle (Years 9 and 10) and Senior (Years 11 and 12) schools.

This distinction is made upon strong educational grounds and provides students with teaching and learning experiences and opportunities that are consistent with their level of development.

The structure challenges each boy to pursue and achieve excellence in a range of exciting curricular and co-curricular areas.

Religious Education is the most important element of the curriculum. This reflects the distinctively Catholic nature of the school and its mission. Therefore, it is compulsory at all year levels and underpins the way all subjects are delivered.

The Junior School – Years 7 and 8

A broad and comprehensive curriculum is emphasised in Years 7 and 8.

The Junior School structure is designed to enable boys to make an effective and enjoyable transition into secondary school.

Science, Humanities, Music, Visual and Performing Arts, Technology, Computing, Language (Japanese) along with Physical Education and Health combine with a focus on key literacy and numeracy skills to form the comprehensive core which underpins the Junior School.

The Enhanced Learning Department assists in developing an understanding of the individual’s strengths and weaknesses. Programs can be adapted to cater for individual needs.

The Middle School – Years 9 and 10

Research indicates that in Year 9 boys are faced with a range of challenges that could impact upon their performance at school.

The aim of the Middle School program is to engage students in a range of educational experiences that will ensure they remain focused upon their schooling.

Research highlights that at this stage of the learning journey, boys need practically focused activities that provide them with challenges and effectively link up different parts of the curriculum. Students in the Middle School continue to build numeracy and literacy skills whilst being involved in a range of experiential learning experiences.

Year 10 is characterised by a significant increase in program and subject offerings. While the typical Year 10 boy will continue studies based on the Victorian Curriculum, others will commence VCE studies.

Senior School – Years 11 and 12

The senior years are marked by a broad range of subject choices that equip students with many of the skills and much of the knowledge required to confront the challenges of an ever-changing world.

Year 11 and 12 boys have access to a wide variety of subjects and pathways with maximum flexibility to meet their learning needs and to attain the certification most relevant to his future education and employment goals.

Senior students can undertake:

• VCE or a SPC Senior Years Certificate
• Vocational Education and Training (VET) certificates (internal or external)
• Structured Workplace Learning (SWL)
• Higher Education studies
• School-based Apprenticeships and Traineships (SBAT) are also being explored