Established 1928 Headmaster Craig Wattam Staff ~140 Founder Edmund Ignatius Rice Phone +61 2 9763 1000 | Chairman Peter Tilbrook Chaplain Jack Evans Motto Luceat Lux Vestra (Latin) Founded 1928 Colors Black, Blue, Gold | |
Denomination Roman Catholic, Christian Brothers Address Francis St, Strathfield NSW 2135, Australia School types Private school, Single-sex education, Day school Similar Santa Sabina College, Trinity Grammar School, Christian Brothers’ High Sch, St Joseph's College, Meriden School Profiles | ||
St Patrick's College, also referred to informally as "SPC", is an Australian independent Roman Catholic day school for boys located in Strathfield in the inner west of Sydney.
Contents
- Facilities
- Co curriculum
- College crest
- Alumni
- St Patricks Rugby Club
- Science and medicine
- Bureaucracy politics and the law
- Business
- Education
- Entertainment media and the arts
- Sport
- References
Founded as a Christian Brothers school in the tradition of Edmund Rice in 1928, the college currently caters for approximately 1430 students from Years 5 to 12.
St Patrick's College is a member of the Independent Schools Association (ISA), the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), and the Junior School Heads Association of Australia (JSHAA).
Facilities
The facilities at St Patrick's include:
Co-curriculum
The school competes in such activities as rugby union, cricket, baseball, soccer, swimming, basketball, softball, golf, athletics and tennis in the Independent Schools Association competition and against CAS and GPS member schools. The junior school also competes in an AFL tournament in a local comp that plays on Friday nights.
The college performs an annual musical and drama production starring students from the school itself and Santa Sabina College, SPC's sister school. Recent productions include Miss Saigon (2013), Little Shop of Horrors (2012), The Wiz (2011), Guys and Dolls (2010), High School Musical (2009), Les Misérables (2007), Grease (2006), Disco Inferno (2005), Footloose (2004) and Jesus Christ Superstar (2003). Recent dramatic productions include "The Comedy of Errors" (2014), "Boy Overboard" (2013), The Chocolate War (2012), Much Ado About Nothing (2011), One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest (2010), A Few Good Men (2009), The Wasps (2008), The Taming of the Shrew (2007) and A Midsummer Night's Dream (2006).
The college competes annually with the nearby Trinity Grammar School for the Black and Green Shield which was conceived in 2005. It is based on the cumulative results of all winter sports games (rugby and football) between the schools on a designated weekend. The college has taken the shield each year since its inception.
Other annual sporting events include the junior school's rugby tour to Armidale where two rugby teams compete against those from other schools and colleges from New South Wales and Queensland, the Christian Brothers Schools' Cricket Carnival held during the Christmas holidays at St. Joseph's Nudgee College at Brisbane, which the college has won three times, in 1995, 2009 and 2014. The 2014 Championship win was inspired by a sensational 75 from promoted bowler Damian Rapisarda. It was also the third time the College had achieved the CBCW-ISA double, a truly remarkable feat. Ben Manenti also had a star season as one of the team's heavyweights with both bat and bowl which subsequently led to his selection in the NSW Schoolboys XI, the pinnacle of Schoolboy cricket. The achievement saw Manenti develop the status of the 'next Mark Cosgrove of Australian cricket', but has greater aspirations than the former Australian representative, striving to become SPC's 2nd NSW player.
The school is a founding member of the Catholic Schools Debating Association (CSDA) and has experienced success in recent years. One of the shields for premiers is named after a long-serving deputy headmaster, Michael Robson, for his decades of service to the association.
The college also has an extensive social justice program, annually raising funds for a Lenten focus charity as well as aiding many causes with practical assistance from the boys. Focus areas include the Saint Vincent de Paul Society "night patrol" and the financial assistance of Christian Brother's schools serving disabled or economically and socially disadvantaged communities.
College crest
The college's crest was designed in 1938 and is made up of three components:
Alumni
St Patrick's alumni are traditionally known as "Old Boys", the St Patrick's alumni association being called the Old Boys' Union.
St Patricks Rugby Club
St Patrick's Rugby Club was established in 1964 as a rugby league club as that was the code of football played at the college at the time. In 1965 the college changed to rugby union, the club followed suit the following year and entered the Western Suburbs Under 20 competition. The club originally played in a white jersey with black collar and now play in a black jumper with a gold collar, as does the college First XV. The club plays in the New South Wales Suburban Rugby Union and has won four club championships and two first grade premierships. Since its promotion to Kentwell Cup First Division in 1974 is one of only two clubs to never have been relegated. The club plays its home games at Hudson Park, Strathfield.