Issue 5 | 4 April 2025 - St Patrick's College

By Mrs Liz Illingworth, Principal

Recently, I attended the National Catholic Education Conference with over 1400 delegates from across Catholic Schools, Colleges and Dioceses from around Australia. Dr Steve Constantino spoke of the importance of family engagement as a crucial part of school improvement. This is an area that we as a College value and hope to work to improve.

Earlier in the year we asked our families to complete a survey on School Effectiveness. This is one way that we can gain an insight into what our families feel about the College. Approximately 15% of our families participated in this survey - thank you to each of you who were able to do this, because the information you provided helps us plan for the future.

Results from the families who completed the survey clearly indicated that you, our community, value the significance placed upon learning at the College and you value the extensive Co-Curricular Programs that we offer. Survey data also showed that families who completed the survey have some concerns around student safety at our College, particularly in relation to bullying and students being treated meanly by other students.

This indicates for us as a College that we have some work to do. As families, I also urge you to encourage your student/s to speak to staff - their Tutor, a Teacher, House Head or member of the School or College Leadership Team - if they have worries around their interactions with others. If students are worried about doing this face to face, they can use the Antibullying and Harassment Form, accessible through the Anti-bullying and Harassment Portal tile on their Schoolbox page. Again, I urge you to talk to your students about this.

The School Effectiveness Survey is something that our system has committed to for the next five years. As a College we will use this data to develop our Annual Plans and Strategic Plans in the future. I hope that in 2026 we can have a response level of over 50% of our families and I hope that you can see us responding to the data that we receive.

It has been a busy past few weeks of practicing for our talented musicians at St Patrick’s College.

The Senior Drumline went to Sydney to compete in the Australian National Drumline Championships to represent, not only St Patrick’s College, but also Tasmania.

To their credit our amazing drumline students came 2nd in the Test section and 3rd in the Own Choice. Meaning they came 3rd overall in their division in Australia. Huge congratulations must go to these students who spent hours preparing for this competition.

On 5 August we held the Winter Concert at Scotch Oakburn College, which showcased the amazing talent of our orchestral musicians. This is an annual highlight event for our musicians, involved staff and families where everyone gets an opportunity to perform and show off their abilities, across all ages and skill levels.

On Sunday 17 August, the St Patrick’s College Music Program, in collaboration with our Friends of Music, proudly presented the second annual Big Band Bash. The event was hosted in the historic St Albies Hall, which provided an amazing setting for the vibrant afternoon of jazz and big band music. The concert featured outstanding performances from our own St Patrick’s College Big Band and Junior Jazz Ensemble, alongside the Scotch Oakburn College, Launceston Church Grammar School, St Joes, Deloraine, and the Chromosomes Big Bands. Throughout the day, each group delivered energetic and dynamic performances, with students and musicians alike showcasing their passion, skill, and commitment to the art of live music. The atmosphere was one of celebration, as every performer brought a sense of joy and enthusiasm to the stage, ensuring the audience was fully engaged from beginning to end.

Just recently, on 20 August, we also held the annual Future Sounds Showcase for our contemporary rock bands and acoustic acts. This gave everyone a chance to perform, and for some, the opportunity to represent St Patrick's College at the 2025 Battle of the Bands, which will be held on 10 September at the Launceston Conference Centre. It has been wonderful to see the number of people that are involved with music here and to see the level of passion that is expressed and shared with many other people. We look forward to seeing more engagement as the year progresses and hope to attract more people into music at St Patrick’s College for future years to come.

This past week has also seen the students from SPC participating in the St Cecilia Performance Challenge. Our choirs, string ensembles and individual students all participated with confidence and we came away with lots of great placings and performances.

Jack Adams & Baxter Adams - Music Captains

By Ms Jodie White, Future Pathways Coordinator

To apply to mainland universities, you need to apply in the state where you want to go to university.

For mainland university applications, you need to go through a Tertiary Admissions Centre for each state and make an account before you apply. There are one off application fees for each Tertiary Admissions Centre which vary from each state.

Applying in more states can INCREASE your chances of getting a place, because you can nominate the maximum number of preferences in each state. This is particularly important if you are considering a competitive course, like medicine or law.

TERTIARY ADMISSIONS CENTRE	APPLICATIONS OPEN MAIN ENTRY*	APPLICATIONS CLOSE MAIN ENTRY	APPLICATION FEE	COURSE PREFERENCES
VTAC (Vic)	5 August	29 September	$80	8
QTAC (Qld)	5 August	30 September	$70	6
UAC (NSW & ACT)	2 April	30 September	$82	5
SATAC (SA)	4 August	30 September	$60	6
TISC (WA)	3 June	20 December	$92	6

*MAIN ENTRY dates - standard admission reliant on ATAR

EARLY ENTRY dates - check with individual universities regarding available Early Entry Programs

You will need the following information to create an account:

USI - Government requirement that all students planning to study at university or VET programs need a USI: https://www.usi.gov.au
TASC ID – required for all university applications
Personal email account – do not use your SPC email for applications as it expires at the end of the year

ADDITIONAL INFORMATION

Early Entry or School Recommendation Programs

Check with individual universities regarding available Early Entry and School Recommendation Programs
Check prerequisites and entry requirements - they all differ from each university; some offer direct applications, while others require Tertiary Admissions Centre registration

Apply for SEAS (Special Entry Access Scheme) - eligible for Tasmanian Students

SEAS adjusts your ATAR in recognition of circumstances that may have affected your education. This gives you a better chance of getting an offer for the course you want.

NOTE: All schools in Tasmania are located in regional or remote areas (SEAS Category 1) based on the Australian Statistical Geography Standard - Remoteness Areas.

You may be eligible if you satisfy the criteria for one or more of the SEAS categories: