By Mrs Liz Illingworth, Principal

WELCOME TO THE FINAL NEWSLETTER FOR TERM 3.

As I write this newsletter my mind moves forward to Term 4 and the end of the year. How quickly each term seems to pass us by. This time of year comes with feelings of great joy as we celebrate in particular our Year 12s and at the same time some sadness as we farewell our Year 12s.

YEAR 11 and 12 FINAL WEEKS OF ACADEMICS

When we return to the College for Term 4 our Year 11 and 12 students have only 2 weeks remaining of the Academic Year. These 2 weeks are extremely busy for our students as they finalise their marks and begin preparing for exams and as we prepare to farewell our Year 12’s. These final weeks are a really important milestone and as staff we look forward to celebrating our students' achievements over the time at the College through the many exciting events that make up the final weeks.

STUDENT EXECUTIVE 2027

Working with the Student Executive each year is exciting. Watching our Student Leaders grow in confidence as they work through the year is a celebration. Our 2026 Student Executive have been excellent. One of their big successes has been the work they have done in planning and organising Lap It Up.

At the same time we celebrate our 2026 Leaders, we are excited to announce our 2027 Student Executive.

Congratulations to our College Captains - Harrison Millwood & Frankie Page, and our College Vice Captains - Ashton Mahar & Hazel Doyle.

Congratulations also to our 2027 House Captains and Community Captains:

House Captains
MacKillop Barry - Ella Daykin & Alexandra Pietsch
MacKillop More - Makayla Booth & Poppy Hunt
Nagle Rochester - Harry Mowat & Ava Bucknell
Nagle Young - Tahj Jones & Savannah McKenzie
Rice Bourke - Miles Gale & Grace Turner
Rice Chisolm - Matthew Hernyk & Mia Hibberd
Tenison Cotham - Hayley Rheinberger & Poppy Gourlay
Tenison Delany - Jonty Glover & Amelia Lowe

Media Captains - Denyze Lagman & Will Brewer
Catholic Identity & Mission Captains - Heidi Slater & Annabelle Cook
Spirit & Events Captains - Lotty Taylor & Harriet Eade
Wellbeing & Diversity Captains - Isabelle Vidler, Italia Ciampa & Aliza McIntosh-Lucas

END OF YEAR MASS

The culmination of our Academic Year is when we come together as a whole community for the Year 12 Graduation and our College End of Year Mass. We expect all students to attend this event as a member of their Tutor Group and House, and invite families to attend with their students. The Year 12 Graduation and End of Year Mass is an opportunity to celebrate together as a community all that has been accomplished during the year and to acknowledge those who have completed their time as community members.

The Year 12 Graduation and End of year Mass will be celebrated at the Silverdome on Thursday 10 December 2026, commencing at 6:30pm.

SOCIAL MEDIA

Please read the correspondence**, dated 25 September 2026, from Dr Terry McCarthy - Interim CET Executive Director, which will impact how you see our social media posts in the future.

**This letter can be read at the bottom of this article.

TERM 4 DATES

We hope all students enjoy the break and we look forward to seeing all when we return to school on Monday 19 October 2026 (all Year Levels).

To: Parents/Guardians

eSafety Update

Dear Parents /Guardians,

You may have seen recent media coverage about educational organisations reviewing how they publish and share photos of their students and staff. This is in response to the increasing use of AI to alter images.

Catholic Education Tasmania has established a working group to consider the use of identifiable images of our students and staff. This group will look at the use of images in showcasing school and system activities, and how images are used within school operations. Members of the working group come from different specialist backgrounds including school leadership, child safety, privacy, education regulation, governance, communications, and information technology.

The working group will also work closely with schools to understand their needs and ensure decisions support the ongoing safety of staff and students.

If you would like to learn more about online safety, you can access information via the eSafety Commission website: https://www.esafety.gov.au/parents

Kind regards,

Dr Terry McCarthy

Interim Executive Director: Catholic Education Tasmania

Click here to read the latest Parish Bulletin:

Congratulations to the following students for placing in the JATNET statewide Japanese speech competition: 

Chi Yin Cheuk - 2nd place in JATNET statewide Japanese speech competition
Arkie Ivory - 1st place in JATNET statewide Japanese speech competition for background speakers
Kaneeda Connelly - 2nd place in JATNET statewide Japanese speech competition for background speakers

Congratulations to Jasper Cassidy who is competing in the U14s State Outdoor Soccer Team with Football Tasmania in Victoria this week.

Congratulations to Henry Stevenson who is currently in Western Australia representing Tasmania in the Basketball Club Championship Tournament.

Congratulations to Flynn Triffitt who will attend the National History Challenge Awards ceremony in November, as a recipient of the Australian History Competition, where he will be awarded as a state winner for his year level.

Congratulations to Maggie Hodgman, who performed at the Rock Challenge 2026 state finals and to Matilda Tabuyo, who won the Acoustic College Section finals.

Congratulations to Ellie Broadhurst, Matilda Hogarth, Elsa Richardson and Erin Wilson, who are representing Tasmania this week at the National Youth Championships for Touch Football in Coffs Harbour. 

By Miss Amy Soule - House Head - MacKillop More

Last week, was MacKillop House Spirit Day! The MacKillop Year 12s took to the runway in outfits they purchased from Vinnies a couple of weeks ago, showing off their creativity while giving pre-loved fashion a second life.

To double the impact, the pieces will be donated back to Vinnies to be sold again, raising vital funds for those in our community experiencing hardship.

In the words of Mary MacKillop herself, "Never see a need without doing something about it".

Gemma O’Halloran - Head of Learning - Languages Yr 9-12

Congratulations to Isla Mayes (Year 11) who has won the Young Tasmanian Writers' Prize for 2026 in the Senior Section.

Isla travelled to Hobart on Thursday 24 September to be presented with her award at the Hobart Town Hall with Cr Anna Reynolds and judges of the prize. She was unaware of her win before the event and received incredible praise about her writing from published author, Kyle Perry.
Below is an excerpt from her winning short story, "What Girls Get Up To".
Well done, Isla!

What Girls Get up To

Prologue

Delilah Chapman never went anywhere without her roller skates, whether they were slung over her shoulder by the laces or on her feet while she zipped past on the hot asphalt. They even included a photo of them on her missing persons poster. Her bright smile and red skates were hard to miss on the frail pieces of paper, decaying against brick walls and telephone poles.

Maybe she had fallen. She used to always skate at night, you could barely see the main roads even with the street lamps. She always preferred the bends in the backroads though. Her body had slid against the rough road, grating away her perfect tanned skin and replacing it with raw, bloody exposed flesh, leaving a trail of shredded skin and blood on the road like a line of chalk on the pavement. She fell, her arms not going out in front of her in time, and her head hit the ground with a sharp crack.

Or maybe she was out skating where you can't tell when the road ends and the bush starts. A car coming faster than her wheels would come round the corner with his bright lights on, hitting her and sending her over the windshield and bonnet, rolling over or maybe under the car like a deer.

By Mrs Elizabeth Buckler - PIC Swimming

On Friday, 18 September, St Patrick’s College was represented at our annual SATIS swimming event in Hobart. This was our second outing of the year, and despite illnesses sweeping through the team, a strong contingent took to the pool. All reserve swimmers swam at least one event, and some of our younger swimmers challenged themselves by swimming in older age groups.

Our sole individual SATIS record breaker was swimming co-captain Olivia Hinds, who swam a record-breaking time in the Girls Open 50m Breaststroke of 34.59, edging ahead of former SPC swimmer Morgan Hawkins, who set the record time of 34.95 in 2015. (Note: College records for this year will be published in the 2026 Yearbook… and a few old records are tumbling in 2026!!!)

Pennant winners were the U13 boys, a win that led to St Patrick’s bringing home the Junior Boys’ Shield. Stand-out medley relay performances included a third by the U14 boys (Travis Liddell, Toby Fair, Jack Gray, and Stuart Innes); second place by the U16 boys (Lucas Gray, Oliver Green, Cooper Reeve, and Tim Innes); and third by the Open boys (Jack McLean, Lucas Jarman, Oliver Hodgetts, and Beau Furlonge). The girls also performed well in the medley relay, with the Open girls (Ella Frerk, Olivia Hinds, Erin Ackerly and Dan Nguyen) placing second in their grouping.

Individual freestyle successes included Travis Liddell, first in U13 Boys Freestyle with a time of 28.03, and co-captain Ella Frerk, coming second in Open Girls Freestyle in 29.56. Strong 50m breaststroke swimming was seen by Travis Liddell, who placed second in the U13 boys with 39.27; Ivy Cartledge, who also placed second in her U14 event with a time of 39.51; Jack McLean, who placed second in the Open Boys Breaststroke in a time of 35.31; and record breaker and co-captain Olivia Hinds, who placed first in the Open girls 50-metre event with a time of 34.59. Jack McLean continued his freestyle success by swimming into second place in the 100m event with a time of 57.43.

Butterfly event placings included Travis Liddell coming third in the U14 50m Boys Butterfly event with a time of 30.75; Cooper Reeve placing third in U16 Boys Butterfly with 28.25; and Ella Frerk swam her way into second with 31.39 in the Open girls event.

Final individual races saw backstroke success by Travis Liddell, who achieved first place in the U13 Boys with 32.26; Jack McLean placed second in the Open boys event with 30.68; and Olivia Hinds swam into third place in the Open girls with 35.43.

Rounding off the day with freestyle relays is always exciting, and this year, first place was achieved by the U13 boys (Travis Liddell, Toby Fair, Angus O'Toole, and Huon Locket); second place was achieved by the U15 boys (Oliver Green, Henry O'Toole, Campbell Spencer, and Santino Ramirez); and the U16 boys (Lucas Gray, Cooper Reeve, Tim Innes, and Will Cackett) achieved second place. Finishing the day off nicely, the U16 girls (Emme Lowry, Erin Ackerly, Zoe Limbrick, and Milla Johnston) placed third in their event.

Thanks must go to those stalwart swimmers who travelled to Hobart on an early bus and, in doing so, supported co-curricular activities at St Patrick’s College. Your team spirit was outstanding on the day, and Mr McLaughlin and I enjoyed celebrating your successes with you this morning at our special Awards Breakfast.

By Mrs Fleur Broadhurst - Coach

What a season for a team playing together for the very first time. The girls went undefeated throughout the season, which certainly brought some pressure heading into the grand final. Their teamwork, dedication, sportsmanship and high standard of netball saw them rise to the occasion and take home the premiership. Throughout the season, the girls faced their share of injuries but nothing stopped them from supporting one another and continuing to give their best. We have an incredibly talented group of players and it has been such an honour and privilege to coach them. I am so proud of not only their achievement on the court, but also the way they encouraged and supported each other along the way. I look forward to watching their netball journeys continue in the years to come. What a wonderful season filled with hard work, friendship, plenty of fun and ultimately a grand final win. Congratulations J1SPC Green!

By Mr Andrew Agardy - PIC

Our Senior Boys Firsts, coached this season by Mr Sam Moore, took on Launceston Christian School in their final. The match was very physical, fast and intense, with some amazing football on display from both sides. SPC put up a good fight to overcome a 1-0 LCS lead for almost all of the match, with multiple goal opportunities. Captain Charlie Reynolds broke the LCS defence with ~30 seconds to go, breaking through the 'mixer' in the goal square to level us 1-1. The match went to penalties, and SPC won 5-4 - the last shot beautifully saved by Tyler Scolyer.

By Mr Christian Cook

St Patrick’s College Yr 9/10 boys football team capped off an outstanding season with two dominant premiership victories.

On September 16, St Patrick’s defeated Grammar 10.11 (71) to 2.2 (14) in the NSATIS Final at St Patrick’s College. The team controlled the match from the outset, with Tyler Young leading the goal kickers with three majors. Charlie Baker added two goals. Outstanding performances came from Henry O’Toole, Ethan Chapple and Zack Matthews.

The success continued on September 23 in the Northern High Schools Final, where St Patrick’s produced a commanding 20.10 (130) to 1.4 (10) victory over Kings Meadows High School. Tyler Young and Floyd Luttrell each kicked four goals, while Charlie Baker added three. Henry O’Toole, Rhys Penney, Ethan Philpott, Will Cackett and Daniel Singline were among the team’s best players.

By Miss Amy Prokopiec

The Year 9/10 Girls Football team took on Deloraine in the Northern Final at Rocherlea in what proved to be a tightly contested game.

SPC started strongly, dominating through the middle with the majority of the ruck taps and centre clearances. Deloraine responded with their quick and zippy players, using plenty of run and carry to move the ball forward. Our backline stood strong under pressure, repeatedly halting Deloraine’s attacks and keeping the contest close.

With scores tight heading into the final quarter, the Deloraine boys on the sidelines decided it was time to introduce “Wharfie Time”, firing up AC/DC’s Hells Bells in an attempt to give their team some extra energy. Unfortunately for Deloraine, the plan worked a little too well — SPC were equally happy to embrace Wharfie Time. Taking some inspiration from the Brisbane Lions, the girls lifted when it mattered most, finishing strongly and coming away with the Northern Final victory.

A particular highlight of the day was Sara Adams being awarded the Best on Ground medal, recognising her outstanding performance and contribution to the win.

Congratulations to all the girls on a fantastic team performance and a great result!