St Patrick's College, Strathfield


St Patrick's College ''', is an independent Roman Catholic single-sex primary and secondary day school for boys, located in Strathfield, an inner western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia. Founded in 1928 as a Christian Brothers school in the tradition of Edmund Rice, as of 2007 the College catered for approximately 1,430 students from Year 5 to Year 12.
St Patrick's College is a member of the Independent Schools Association, the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia, and the Junior School Heads Association of Australia. In 2015 Business Insider Australia listed the college as an exclusive school for boys in Sydney, just short of the top 10 in the city.

History

In 1926 Christian Brothers’ Provincial, Br P I Hickey had the vision of building a new Catholic boys school on the outskirts of Strathfield. More specifically he proposed that this school be built within the perimeter of the Christian Brothers’ Training College, ‘Mount St Mary’ and would thereby serve as an ideal practising school for student Brothers training there.
The idea was met with some criticism, mainly due to the remoteness of the area which was largely surrounded by bush and cattle tracks, had little road access, and was situated a fair distance away from local railway stations. Br Hickey remained undeterred however and pushed ahead with his building plans.
St Patrick's College was founded on 20 January 1928 and was officially blessed and opened by Dr M Kelly, Archbishop of Sydney. Thirty nine students were enrolled and split into three grades to be taught by Brothers L S Carroll, P K Kent and J R Crichton. The acting Principal in this first year was Provincial Consulter and Master of Method, Br M B Hanrahan. The school itself consisted of six large classrooms, and four other rooms designed for Physics, Chemistry, Art and technical training such as Woodwork. At the end of the first year over 100 students were enrolled at St Patrick's College. Today enrolment at the College exceeds 1,400 students.
Towards the end of the 1980s, there was a steady decline in the number of Christian Brothers teaching within Edmund Rice Schools such as St Patrick's. After the departure of Br J Giacon as principal in 1992 the time had come to appoint a lay principal, the first in any Christian Brothers’ school in NSW. And so in 1993, after an extensive process, Mr Grahame Smollett was given the responsibility of leading the college into a new era. He was to remain in office for the next 15 years, making him the longest serving principal in the college's history.

Principals

The following individuals have served as Principal of St Patrick's College, Strathfield:
OrdinalOfficeholderTerm startTerm endTime in officeNotes
1Br M. B. Hanrahan192819281 year
2Br E. S. Crowle192919323 years
3Br M. R. Breen193319352 years
4Br J. V. Coghlan193619415 years
5Br B. Quirke194219432 years
6Br M. M. O'Connor194419441 year
Br J. V. Coghlan194519505 years
7Br R. B. Garvey195119522 years
8Br J. A. McGlade195319552 years
9Br J. G. Hodda195619615 years
10Br J. P. Hannigan196219632 years
11Br H. C. Gygar196419663 years
12Br T. I. Casey196719747 years
13Br W. R. Greening197519805 years
14Br J. P. O'Shea198119876 years
15Br J. Giacon198819924 years
16G. K. Smollett1993200714 years
17B. T. Roberts200820157 years
18J. Murphy201620161 year
19Dr Craig Wattam2017incumbent3 years
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College Houses

History

Ultimately when encouraged by their peers, students gain confidence and feel empowered to give their best. The system dates back to the 1930s when boys were placed into four coloured houses for the annual swimming and athletic carnivals; red, gold, green and blue.
During the 1970s the College expanded the four houses to six and named each after a significant person whose presence at the college had been pivotal to its evolvement; Br Berg, Br Coghlan, Br Crichton, Br Hanrahan, Br Hickey, and Fr Power. A further development was made in 1996 when on the beatification of Edmund Rice, Founder of the Christian Brothers, Power house was changed to Rice house.
In 2012 the College Cup was launched and redefined the way in which the house system is used at St Patrick's College. To foster healthy competition amongst the boys, house points are awarded throughout the school year based on an individual's efforts in areas of academic achievement, co-curricular involvement and school spirit. These are then tallied with the results from the swimming and athletic carnivals and a house is declared the overall winner.

College Cup Winners

Berg House appropriately pays tribute to the values and contribution made to the college by Br Brian Berg, the first Old Boy Brother to teach at St Patrick's. Brian Berg completed his Leaving Certificate at SPC in 1948 and entered into the Christian Brothers in 1950.

Coghlan House (Gold)

Coghlan House honours the memory of Br Coghlan, Principal of St Patrick's College for two terms, 1936–1941 and 1945–1950. He played a leading role in developing the college's identity and whilst he may not have laid the first stone, he introduced the strong foundations upon which the college has flourished.

Crichton House (Black)

Crichton House is named after Br John Rewi Crichton, who, for many years, was a devoted and much loved teacher at St Patrick's College.

Hanrahan House (Red)

Hanrahan House recognises the efforts of an outstanding educationist by the name of Br Michael Benignus Hanrahan. As the first Principal of St Patrick's College he led the school from 1928 to 1929.

Hickey House (Green)

Hickey House honours a man who holds a significant place in the college's history. In fact without the vision of Br Patrick Ignatius Hickey; St Patrick's College would not exist today.

Rice House (Blue)

Rice house pays tribute to our Founder, Blessed Edmund Rice, an exceptional human being who dedicated his life to God and the education of the poor and marginalised boys in Ireland.

Facilities

The facilities at St Patrick's include:
The school competes in such activities as rugby union, cricket, baseball, soccer, swimming, basketball, softball, golf, athletics and tennis in the Independent Sporting 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 featuring its students and others from Santa Sabina College. Recent productions include Peter Pan, Joseph and the Amazing Technicolor Dreamcoat, Oliver!, Little Shop of Horrors, The Wiz, Guys and Dolls, High School Musical, Les Misérables, Grease, Disco Inferno, Footloose and Jesus Christ Superstar. Recent dramatic productions include Stories in the Dark, Lord of the Flies, The Crucible, The Comedy of Errors, Boy Overboard, The Chocolate War, Much Ado About Nothing, One Flew Over the Cuckoo's Nest, A Few Good Men, The Wasps, The Taming of the Shrew and A Midsummer Night's Dream.
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 between the schools on a designated weekend. The college has taken the shield each year since its inception, bar one.
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 in Brisbane, which the college has won three times, in 1995, 2009 and 2014.
The school is a founding member of the Catholic Schools Debating Association. 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 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 anthem

The College anthem was composed in 1958, with words by Br Robert Charles Hill and music by Br Colin Declan Smith – both members of the SPC community. A choir of over 600 voices first performed it at Speech Night in the Sydney Town Hall in 1958.

College crest

The college's crest was designed in 1938 and is made up of three components:
St Patrick's alumni are traditionally known as "Old Boys", the St Patrick's alumni association being called the Old Boys' Union.
The reinvigoration of the St Patrick's College Old Boys’ Association in 2016, has further improved the relationship between past and present. It provides a contact point for several different Old Boy sporting clubs like Cricket, Rugby and Football and other special interest groups such as returned servicemen, careers and the Vestra Bursary Fund.

St Patricks 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.

Notable alumni