St Patrick's College is a coeducational

Catholic The Catholic Church (), also known as the Roman Catholic Church, is the List of Christian denominations by number of members, largest Christian church, with 1.27 to 1.41 billion baptized Catholics Catholic Church by country, worldwid ...

systemic

secondary school A secondary school, high school, or senior school, is an institution that provides secondary education. Some secondary schools provide both ''lower secondary education'' (ages 11 to 14) and ''upper secondary education'' (ages 14 to 18), i.e., b ...

, located in ,

Queensland Queensland ( , commonly abbreviated as Qld) is a States and territories of Australia, state in northeastern Australia, and is the second-largest and third-most populous state in Australia. It is bordered by the Northern Territory, South Austr ...

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a country comprising mainland Australia, the mainland of the Australia (continent), Australian continent, the island of Tasmania and list of islands of Australia, numerous smaller isl ...

. The college's motto is "Seek and Serve

Christ Jesus ( AD 30 or 33), also referred to as Jesus Christ, Jesus of Nazareth, and many other names and titles, was a 1st-century Jewish preacher and religious leader. He is the Jesus in Christianity, central figure of Christianity, the M ...

". The current principal is Janelle Agius.

History

St Patrick's College was founded in 1929 as St Patrick's Christian Brothers College, an all-boys school run by the

Congregation of Christian Brothers The Congregation of Christian Brothers (; abbreviated CFC) is a worldwide religious community within the Catholic Church, founded by Edmund Ignatius Rice, Edmund Rice. Their first school opened in Waterford, Ireland in 1802. At the time of its ...

. The school was situated on the Gregory Street site which is the main site of the current senior campus. From the 1870s, the River Street site of today's St Patrick's College was occupied by St Joseph's Convent School (later St Patrick's Convent School). On the closure of the convent primary school, the Christian Brothers' College obtained the use of the River Street land. On the River Street side was CBC's primary school and on the Gregory Street side was CBC's secondary school. In 1987 Our Lady of Mercy College (an all-girls school) became Mercy College, a co-educational school for junior high school (Years 7–10) and St Patrick's became a co-educational school for Years 11 and 12. In 2023, Mercy College and St Patrick's College combined to become St Patrick's College; a Years 7-12 College operating across two campuses. The site of the former Mercy College became the Mercy Campus, for students in Years 7-10, whilst the St Patrick's College site was named the Senior Campus, for students in Years 11 and 12.

Cultural life

There is a wide selection of cultural activities available within the college. Many students exhibit talent in public speaking,

drama Drama is the specific Mode (literature), mode of fiction Mimesis, represented in performance: a Play (theatre), play, opera, mime, ballet, etc., performed in a theatre, or on Radio drama, radio or television.Elam (1980, 98). Considered as a g ...

music Music is the arrangement of sound to create some combination of Musical form, form, harmony, melody, rhythm, or otherwise Musical expression, expressive content. Music is generally agreed to be a cultural universal that is present in all hum ...

and the

visual arts The visual arts are art forms such as painting, drawing, printmaking, sculpture, ceramics (art), ceramics, photography, video, image, filmmaking, design, crafts, and architecture. Many artistic disciplines such as performing arts, conceptual a ...

. St Patrick's College provides students with opportunities to further their creative skills, and encourages participation in cultural activities both in the college and the wider Mackay community. The college participates in interschool

debating Debate is a process that involves formal discourse, discussion, and oral addresses on a particular topic or collection of topics, often with a moderator and an audience. In a debate, arguments are put forward for opposing viewpoints. Historica ...

and encourages students to enter competitions such as Lion's Youth of the Year, Youth Speaks for Australia, Rostrum Public Speaking and so on. The college has established an enviable record in the areas of dramatic performance, debating and public speaking, with St Patrick's being State Champions of Queensland in the Apex Debating Competition in 2005 and 2006, and National Champions in 2004. Debating is arguably the school's most successful

extracurricular An extracurricular activity (ECA) or extra academic activity (EAA) or cultural activity is an activity, performed by students, that falls outside the realm of the normal curriculum of school, college or university education. Although approved a ...

, non-sporting activity. St Patrick's College provides opportunities for students to develop their musical talents and provides opportunities for performance. Musical tuition is available through the college in brass, woodwind and percussion, and Music is available as a subject to study. Students have the opportunity to play in the stage band and concert bands which are combined bands with Mercy College Mackay. The St Patrick's

choir A choir ( ), also known as a chorale or chorus (from Latin ''chorus'', meaning 'a dance in a circle') is a musical ensemble of singers. Choral music, in turn, is the music written specifically for such an ensemble to perform or in other words ...

has attained a high reputation in the community and the handbell ensemble (being one of the largest in the southern-hemisphere) is a unique and challenging musical experience for students. In 2006, the handbell ensemble attended the World Handbell Symposium in

Brisbane Brisbane ( ; ) is the List of Australian capital cities, capital and largest city of the States and territories of Australia, state of Queensland and the list of cities in Australia by population, third-most populous city in Australia, with a ...

and were delighted to receive the top mark in Youth strand for their performance. In 2009 co-curricular arts students travelled to

New Zealand New Zealand () is an island country in the southwestern Pacific Ocean. It consists of two main landmasses—the North Island () and the South Island ()—and List of islands of New Zealand, over 600 smaller islands. It is the List of isla ...

for the Rhapsody Rotorua music festival and the 25th Australasian Handbell Symposium. St Patrick's is well-renowned in the community for its high-quality bi-annual theatre productions, which have included adaptations of

The Wizard of Oz ''The Wizard of Oz'' is a 1939 American Musical film, musical fantasy film produced by Metro-Goldwyn-Mayer (MGM). Based on the 1900 novel ''The Wonderful Wizard of Oz'' by L. Frank Baum, it was primarily directed by Victor Fleming, who left pro ...

, How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying,

West Side Story ''West Side Story'' is a Musical theatre, musical conceived by Jerome Robbins with music by Leonard Bernstein, lyrics by Stephen Sondheim, and a Book (musical theatre), book by Arthur Laurents. Inspired by William Shakespeare's play ''Romeo an ...

(2006),

Godspell ''Godspell'' is a musical in two acts with music and lyrics by Stephen Schwartz and a book by John-Michael Tebelak. The show is structured as a series of parables, primarily based on the Gospel of Matthew, interspersed with music mostly set t ...

(2008) and

All Shook Up "All Shook Up" is a song recorded by Elvis Presley, published by Elvis Presley Music, and composed by Otis Blackwell. The single topped the U.S. ''Billboard'' Top 100 on April 13, 1957, staying there for nine weeks. It also topped the ''Billboa ...

(2010) as well as award-winning original productions such as Bars (2007). In 2012 the college presented an adaptation of Andrew Lloyd Webbers'

Cats The cat (''Felis catus''), also referred to as the domestic cat or house cat, is a small domesticated carnivorous mammal. It is the only domesticated species of the family Felidae. Advances in archaeology and genetics have shown that the ...

, becoming one of the first schools in Australia to perform the production. The college also hosts a cultural dinner and cultural soiree to showcase and acknowledge students’ talents and achievements. The lunchtime comedy theatre is one of the year's attractions. St Pats regularly produces musicals or theatre restaurants, and participates in the Mackay Festival of the Arts.

Spiritual life

At St Patrick's College, all students ''must'' study a religion subject, and the college views those subjects as having the same status and importance as all other subjects in the college. Students have a choice to study either: *Religion & Ethics or *Study of Religion or *Cert III in Christian Ministry and Theology Both subjects are approved by the Queensland Studies Authority (QSA) and results from both subjects will appear on students’ senior certificates. Results from Study of Religion can contribute towards students’ O.Ps. Results from Religion & Ethics, however, do not contribute towards a student's O.P score. As St Patrick's College is a

Catholic school Catholic schools are Parochial school, parochial pre-primary, primary and secondary educational institutions administered in association with the Catholic Church. , the Catholic Church operates the world's largest parochial schools, religious, no ...

, the college participates in various

liturgies Liturgy is the customary public ritual of worship performed by a religious group. As a religious phenomenon, liturgy represents a community, communal response to and participation in the sacred through activities reflecting praise, thanksgiving, ...

, masses and other Catholic events. While it is not a requirement to be Catholic to be enrolled at the college, all students are expected to be respectful and reverent during times of prayer within the college.

Sporting life

St Patrick's students are encouraged to participate in the many sports offered within the college. They can choose to study the subjects

Physical Education Physical education is an academic subject taught in schools worldwide, encompassing Primary education, primary, Secondary education, secondary, and sometimes tertiary education. It is often referred to as Phys. Ed. or PE, and in the United Stat ...

or Recreation Pursuits in Years 11 and 12, which cover the theoretical and practical sides of sport. Physical Education contributes towards a students O.P score, but Recreation Pursuits does not. An aquatics carnival, athletics carnival, triathlon, and a cross-country involve students in inter-house competition. The college sees these carnivals as an important part of school life and attendance is compulsory. In addition, there are inter-school carnivals and trials days in the following sports:

athletics Athletics may refer to: Sports * Sport of athletics, a collection of sporting events that involve competitive running, jumping, throwing, and walking ** Track and field, a sub-category of the above sport * Athletics (physical culture), competitio ...

Australian rules football Australian football, also called Australian rules football or Aussie rules, or more simply football or footy, is a contact sport played between two teams of 18 players on an Australian rules football playing field, oval field, often a modified ...

basketball Basketball is a team sport in which two teams, most commonly of five players each, opposing one another on a rectangular Basketball court, court, compete with the primary objective of #Shooting, shooting a basketball (ball), basketball (appro ...

cricket Cricket is a Bat-and-ball games, bat-and-ball game played between two Sports team, teams of eleven players on a cricket field, field, at the centre of which is a cricket pitch, pitch with a wicket at each end, each comprising two Bail (cr ...

indoor cricket Indoor cricket is a variant of and shares many basic concepts with cricket. The game is most often played between two teams each consisting of six or eight players.

cross country running Cross country running is a sport in which teams and individuals run a race on open-air courses over natural terrain such as dirt or grass. The course, typically long, may include surfaces of grass and soil, earth, pass through woodlands and ope ...

football Football is a family of team sports that involve, to varying degrees, kick (football), kicking a football (ball), ball to score a goal (sports), goal. Unqualified, football (word), the word ''football'' generally means the form of football t ...

Futsal Futsal is a variant of association football played between two teams of five players each on a court smaller than a football pitch. Its rules are based on the Laws of the Game (association football), Laws of the Game of association football, and i ...

hockey ''Hockey'' is a family of List of stick sports, stick sports where two opposing teams use hockey sticks to propel a ball or disk into a goal. There are many types of hockey, and the individual sports vary in rules, numbers of players, apparel, ...

netball Netball is a ball sport played on a rectangular court by two teams of seven players. The primary objective is to shoot a ball through the defender's goal ring while preventing the opposing team from shooting through their own. It is one of a ...

rowing Rowing is the act of propelling a human-powered watercraft using the sweeping motions of oars to displace water and generate reactional propulsion. Rowing is functionally similar to paddling, but rowing requires oars to be mechanically a ...

rugby league Rugby league football, commonly known as rugby league in English-speaking countries and rugby 13/XIII in non-Anglophone Europe, is a contact sport, full-contact sport played by two teams of thirteen players on a rectangular Rugby league playin ...

rugby union Rugby union football, commonly known simply as rugby union in English-speaking countries and rugby 15/XV in non-English-speaking world, Anglophone Europe, or often just rugby, is a Contact sport#Terminology, close-contact team sport that orig ...

swimming Swimming is the self-propulsion of a person through water, such as saltwater or freshwater environments, usually for recreation, sport, exercise, or survival. Swimmers achieve locomotion by coordinating limb and body movements to achieve hydrody ...

tennis Tennis is a List of racket sports, racket sport that is played either individually against a single opponent (singles (tennis), singles) or between two teams of two players each (doubles (tennis), doubles). Each player uses a tennis racket st ...

, touch football,

waterpolo Water polo is a competitive team sport played in water between two teams of seven players each. The game consists of four quarters in which the teams attempt to score goals by throwing the ball into the opposing team's goal. The team with more ...

, and

volleyball Volleyball is a team sport in which two teams of six players are separated by a net. Each team tries to score points by grounding a ball on the other team's court under organized rules. It has been a part of the official program of the Summ ...

. Additionally, the school participates in

chess tournaments A chess tournament is a series of chess games played competitively to determine a winning individual or team. Since the first international chess tournament in London, 1851, chess tournaments have become the standard form of chess competition amo ...

run by Gardiner Chess once per term.

Australian Rules Football Honours

Junior Female (Years 7-9)

* North Queensland Schools Cup : Champions: (2) 2017, 2018

Houses

The

houses A house is a single-unit residential building. It may range in complexity from a rudimentary hut to a complex structure of wood, masonry, concrete or other material, outfitted with plumbing, electrical, and heating, ventilation, and air condi ...

at St Patrick's College are all named after significant members of the Catholic Church. Rice is named after the founder of the Christian Brothers, McAuley is named after the founder of the Sisters of Mercy, Colin is named after the founder of the Marists (Society of Mary), and Chisholm is named after an Australian pioneer who helped numerous poor women on the wharves of Sydney. As of 2004, the houses have been separated along gender and year level lines, for example, in 2004 Rice house was year 12 boys. The houses are:

Notable alumni

* Mitchell Dunn – rugby league player *

Ben Barba Benjamin Barba (born 13 June 1989) is an Australian former professional dual code rugby league & rugby union footballer who last played for St Helens in the Super League. He primarily played as a or . Barba won the Dally M Medal award for ...

– rugby league player and 2012 Dally M Medalist *

Martin Bella Martin Bella (born 26 March 1964), nicknamed Munster, is an Australian former rugby league footballer who played in the 1980s and 1990s. A , he represented Queensland and Australia, and played his club football for a number of clubs in Austral ...

– rugby league player *

Daly Cherry-Evans Daly Cherry-Evans (born 20 February 1989) is an Australian professional rugby league footballer who captains and plays as a for the Manly Warringah Sea Eagles in the National Rugby League. Regarded as one of the best halfbacks of the modern ga ...

– rugby league player and 2011 Dally M Rookie of the Year *

Cobi Crispin Cobi Crispin (born 22 December 1988) is a 4 point player, 4 point wheelchair basketball forward (basketball), forward from Western Australia. She began playing wheelchair basketball in 2003 when she was 17 years old. The Victorian Institute o ...

– bronze medal paralympian *

Graeme Connors Graeme Connors (born 29 April 1956) is an Australian country music singer, songwriter, and performer. Connors has released seventeen studio albums and has received fourteen Golden Guitar awards among other prestige Australian country music awa ...

– country music singer, songwriter, and performer * Brett Dallas – rugby league player * Nic Ffrost – swimmer – Olympic bronze medalist – 2012 Summer Olympics *

Tia Gostelow Tia Gostelow is an Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter from Mackay, Queensland. Gostelow released her debut studio album, ''Thick Skin'', in 2018 on Lovely Records. Further albums, ''Chrysalis'' and ''Head Noise'' followed. Early life and ...

– Indigenous Australian singer-songwriter *

Shannon Hegarty Shannon Hegarty (born 14 June 1979) is an Australian former professional rugby league footballer who played in the 2000s. An Australia international and Queensland State of Origin representative three-quarter back, he played club football in t ...

– rugby league player * Stephen Lambert – hockey player; Olympic games bronze medalist; two time Commonwealth Games gold medalist; Champions Trophy gold medalist * Tim Mulherin – politician; MP for Mackay, and Deputy Leader of the ALP in Queensland *

Wendell Sailor Wendell Jermaine Sailor (born 16 July 1974) is an Australian former professional rugby footballer who represented his country in both rugby league and rugby union – a dual code international. In rugby league Sailor was a member of the succes ...

– dual-code international rugby league and rugby union player and TV personality * Matthew Swann – hockey player

References

External links

Mackay District War Memorials
- Website naming the former CBC students who served in

World War II World War II or the Second World War (1 September 1939 – 2 September 1945) was a World war, global conflict between two coalitions: the Allies of World War II, Allies and the Axis powers. World War II by country, Nearly all of the wo ...

{{DEFAULTSORT:Saint Patrick's College, Mackay 1929 establishments in Australia Educational institutions established in 1929 Catholic secondary schools in Queensland Schools in Mackay, Queensland Roman Catholic Diocese of Rockhampton Former Congregation of Christian Brothers schools in Australia