Dear Parents and Friends of St Patrick’s College
This week we celebrated St Patrick's Day. We had a beautiful mass at St Paul's Church in Camden followed by a sausage sandwich, cooked by our loyal parents and friends and then were entertained by Irish dancing and later Chris Glynn. It was a great day, prepared and orchestrated by many generous people and enjoyed by all. Thank you for sharing parts of it with us if you were able to join us.
Last Saturday we hosted our Gala Ball. I would like to thank the committee Julie O’Keefe (chair), Peta Borg, Marion Windle, Katherine Power, ably assisted by Deborah Renshaw and Nina Henderson. It was a great night which raised much needed funds to go into the scholarship fund that can be accessed by families. To all the parents and staff who attended I would like to express my sincere appreciation and thanks. Once we have finalised the expenses we will be able to share with you the total amount raised.
Over the holidays, glass operable doors were installed between four rooms, 35 to 38. These have made a great difference to the learning spaces and the activities that can be held in these rooms. I would like to thank our parents as this was constructed with the funds donated by the P&F last year. Some photos have been included in this edition for you to view.
Sadly Sr. Marilyn Kelleher passed away earlier this week. Sr, Marilyn taught at St Patrick’s for a period of time and was also a member of the company. She developed cancer around 10 years ago and has spent the decade in a constant fight against this. Last year Sr. Marilyn visited the College with other sisters who had been on staff. It was a blessing that several girls had the opportunity to chat with her and see this dynamic and intelligent woman recall facts and details with such precision and accuracy. Sr. Marilyn will be sadly missed by all in the Good Samaritan network. Please keep her and her family in your prayers.
We are currently in an enrolment period and for many parents with year 5 or 6 children they will be tossing up the benefits of a single sex girl’s school as opposed to a co- educational school environment. Some of the statements parents have heard from advocates of co-ed schools are: "an all-girls environment is an unrealistic environment", that “girls will struggle to adjust to working with men when they get into the real world", "that girls don't know how to communicate with boys". Marise McConaghy , Principal of Strathcona Girls Grammar recently wrote an article on the benefits of single sex girls schools in The Australian.
She made the observation that these comments overlook the fact that most girls, whether in a co-educational or single sex school, have healthy relationships with male relatives, family friends and boys they meet through co-curricular activities, as well as other connections beyond the school gates. They fail to recognise that social media has changed the way young people interact so that to be physically present is no longer required to have a conversation and be connected. There is no evidence to support the fact that graduates from single sex schools have difficulty working with men.
In fact many woman who attended single sex schools excel in traditionally male dominated fields. They leave their school feeling confident and competent to pursue any areas of interest without any gender bias because they have been free of this discrimination for the last 6 years. This 'unrealistic environment' has emboldened them to recognise the strengths and interests they have, based on their ability, not gender and then pursue them inspite of potentially working in a male dominated field. Research has shown that girls studying STEM subjects (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) at single sex schools have outperformed their counterparts at co-educational schools.
Ms McConaghy also went on to note one further thing that a girls' school offers that a co-educational one cannot, that is the presence of a girl in every student leadership role. From College captains, to sport captains to leaders of bands all are held by girls. That inevitably colours a girls' perception of her place in her world and you can't be what you can't see.
At St Patrick's the girls can be themselves and focus on their studies. They learn to hold their place in society as an equal because during their formative years their contributions and offerings to the community were deeply valued and respected. We don't believe the choice between single sex or co-ed is a difficult one as we see the benefits of a single sex education every day in the development of the girls. I wish the parents well as they come to a decision for their daughter and hope she will be happy in her future high school.
I will leave you with the prayer “St Patrick's Breastplate".
Sue Lennox - Principal
Christ be with me, Christ within me,Christ behind me, Christ before me,
Christ beside me, Christ to win me,
Christ to comfort and restore me,
Christ beneath me, Christ above me,
Christ in quiet, Christ in danger,
Christ in hearts of all that love me,
Christ in mouth of friend and stranger.
(St Patrick’s Breastplat
