Spirituality

The College aims to provide opportunities for our boys to enhance their personal spirituality while fostering the belief that they can contribute significantly both to society and to the Church. We are a prayerful community, which is supportive of our members' successes and we rally to their aid in times of difficulty.

Our College has a significant tradition in supporting and enhancing the spiritual and faith dimensions of the students. Opportunities are regularly made available for both public and private responses and worship. Whole school liturgies, Year masses, reconciliation and the senior retreat encourage the students in both public and private reflections.

Spirituality in Action is actively supported. Community service through St Vincent de Paul Youth Group, Missions and Social Justice programs are encouraged as areas where students can offer service to the wider community.

Literacy

Boys have specific literacy needs. By years 7 and 8 many boys have become disenchanted with reading as an enjoyable activity. Some stop reading and commence a cycle, which sees their comprehension of reading material rapidly decline. The English Department at Patrician Brothers' Blacktown has acquired extensive sets of class novels which interest, amuse and challenge teenage boys. We have involved and trained parents in effective support at home and we have established the use of text types across all subjects across all years.

Pastoral Care

We have built up a tradition as a school which offers a high standard of Pastoral Care for each student. Students and staff enjoy coming to school each day and there is a community spirit of friendliness and co-operation. We have a finely tuned Pastoral Care system which includes homeroom teachers, year coordinators and a school counsellor. Our revised Anti-Bullying Policy was launched in 2000 after extensive consultation with students and parents.

Community Celebration

Our timetable is structured so that we have an assembly every second Tuesday which allows us to pray together in a special way and then acclaim the good things that have happened in our College. Academic and cultural achievements, community service and sport are acknowledged and presentations made. We ask our students to 'get involved' in the activities of the College. There is far more to school than an academic education only.

Educating Boys

Boys need to be challenged, encouraged and enthused by their learning environment. At Patrician Brothers' Blacktown we have become adept at designing and modifying programs which capture the interest of adolescent males.

Adolescent boys become very sensitive to criticism. Quite often they feel that they don't wish their work to be put up for public comment and often disguise this fear with bravado - "It's not cool". We are very much aware of their sensitivity and so we encourage our students to be confident that their creations have merit and real worth. By the time they reach senior studies they have become confident in their own ability to create both academically and creatively. In particular, we encourage them to respond sensitively to issues, which affect them and their own world. Our students learn to be reflective.

Curriculum

Schools the size of ours devoted to educating boys have the advantage of being able to offer the full range of subjects which have attracted the interest of boys in the past and research suggest they will continue to excite future students.

In our first three years of HSC classes our senior students have challenged themselves and have been challenged by their teachers to strive for excellence. The personal results achieved by the students and their UAIs have enabled them to enter such courses as medicine, law, optometry, forensic science and computer science to name some of the top university courses. We are heartened by the number of students, who have chosen to enter the workforce after completing Year 10 or Year 12, and have then opted to continue their education through part time study. They see education as empowering and a life long venture. We believe that this positive attitude equips them well to face the many changes in working conditions and opportunities, which will face them throughout their careers.

Information Technology

Our modern computers and software are available before and after school so that students have opportunities for supervised research on the Internet and CD ROM. Our information technology infrastructure consists of four computer labs, science labs, music rooms and clusters of IBM compatible computers in the library. Every computer in the school is connected to the network that enables each computer to access the internet and school servers.
All students have access to their own personal area on the school's server where they can save their class work and assignments. We are keen to provide quality computer time to those who don't have modern information technology hardware or software at home. This also allows for the highest quality of assignment presentation to be at the fingertips of all students. We place particular emphasis upon the students being able to make sense of the material obtained by Internet Research. This means that students are able to comprehend the information, synthesise it with other data and then apply it to new situations. All students are taught how to formally acknowledge information gained from research sources. The integration of technology across the curriculum by all subject areas is a priority.

Cocurricular

Boys need exposure to a wide range of activities, which demand active involvement. At Patrician Brothers' Blacktown, we offer cocurricular opportunities for boys in which they can develop their particular talents and interests including:

Music

Learning a musical instrument and being part of an orchestra, rock band or choir. Drums, electric guitar, violin, flute, clarinet, keyboard, brass instruments all can be hired at minimal rates and affordable tuition is available. Others may wish to master the technical aspects of performance by training as a light/sound technician or create props for theatrical events. A number of our present senior students are already experienced in many aspects of event management.

 

Outdoor Education

Boys love the great Australian outdoors and we run an Outdoor Education Program in Years 7 & 8 which prepares students for the particular challenges of the Australian bush. Students 'rough it' on a three day camp in both Years 7 & 8 learning how to cook and survive in the bush. They take part in activities such as bushwalking, orienteering, camouflage, high ropes course and other activities.

We also offer the prestigious 'Duke of Edinburgh' scheme which is an internationally recognised award challenging students to fully develop their leadership and personal skills. Expeditions to the Snowy Mountains, Blue Mountains, Fraser Island and to the south west wilderness of Tasmania have recently been undertaken.

Lifesaving

All students in Year 9 complete a Royal Lifesaving Association course. This week long program empowers students in critical incidents involving water and all students complete the Resuscitation Award. During this week many students choose to train for the higher award of the Bronze Medallion.

Debating and Public Speaking

We understand the need for young men to have a forum. We have a long history of successful involvement in debating and public speaking competitions with recent success in State Champions in the Catholic Schools' Debating Association in the senior division. Our first attempt in 1997 saw the team become State Champions and we repeated the feat in 1998. In 2001 our Year 8 champion Public Speaker Matthew Endycott was placed second in the state finals, a marvellous result.

Social Justice Groups

Boys love to 'roll up their sleeves' and be actively involved. We have various groups in the College such as Amnesty International, Social Justice and our St Vincent de Paul chapter which is run by the students who organise collections and provide practical help for the disadvantaged in our area. They encourage students to be mindful of the needs of others, promoting practical charity. This group is run by students and also provides an avenue for leadership and organisational skills to be developed.

School Sport

A wide choice of organised sports is offered to all boys on Thursday afternoons during school time. Our boys appreciate the variety which includes: ten pin bowling, ice skating, indoor soccer, indoor cricket, swimming & "learning to swim", weights, indoor rock climbing, tennis, table tennis, basketball, gardening and school maintenance.

Metropolitan Catholic Schools' Representative Sport

Students who have special skills may represent the College in the highly competitive MCS competition in a range of sports. We have a long and distinguished record of success in many sports and have recently won championships in Rugby League in four divisions: u/12, u/13, u/14 and u/15. Our senior cricket team recently won the statewide Downie Trophy. Our Year 10 Basketball squad recently won the MCS Basketball Championship. Our teams are well known and respected for their discipline and fair play. As well as team sports, students are able to enter sports which demand individual excellence such as athletics, swimming, golf, cross-country running and tennis. We have enjoyed success in all of these sports in recent times. Some elite athletes have been chosen for Combined Catholic Colleges and then proceeded on to State and even National representative teams.

Socials

Students are taught a variety of old-time dances in their regular PDHPE programme. On these nights there is a mixture of the more traditional dances as well as some sets of rock and new dance music. It is a thrill for parents who arrive at the end of the evening to see their sons expertly dancing with their partner to the Jazz Waltz, the Pride of Erin, the Canadian Three Step and the like.
Once a term we also conduct a disco evening alternating between juniors (Years 7-9) and seniors (Years 10-12). These are well supervised and extremely popular with the students