Monthly Archives: March 2020

The feast day of St Patrick, the patron saint of Ireland, is observed across the world on the 17^th day of March each year. This year the occasion has been particularly special for St Patrick’s Technical College with their patron saint honoured with the unveiling of a St Patrick’s wall.

Father Pat Woods, from Elizabeth Catholic Parish, led a small liturgy at the Edinburgh North college and closed the ceremony with a blessing of the wall.

St Patrick’s story is surrounded by many myths and legends, but a common message is that St Patrick was a person of great compassion and amazing courage. His strength and courage for others are characteristics that can be called upon by students and staff to recognise in themselves.

With the preceding imagery around the College of St Patrick largely portrayed in traditional style, teacher and college Chaplain Mr John Neate recognised the importance of having St Patrick characterised in various styles and contemporary depictions to engage students.

“With almost thirty different images of St Patrick on our new wall, the hope is that as students pass the central corridor each day, they will be drawn to a particular image which may then help them better connect to St Patrick,” John said.

The idea for the wall materialised from College staff who began exploring ways to make St Patrick more accessible and relatable to students. An extensive internet search led to the discovery of a whole range of artistic impressions of the saint. From this came the idea to gather all the images in one place and St Patrick’s wall was born.

“The images are diverse in size and nature and some much more contemporary representations,” John said.

“Some show Patrick towards the end of his life, while others show him as the young teenager who first travelled to Ireland.

“One image has Patrick as a young person complete with a hairstyle that could belong to anyone of the College’s current students.

“Another striking image portrays Patrick with no face and invites the onlooker to finish the picture.”

Each image with a unique artistic impression and a diverse representation in both size and nature brings with it pertinency, deliberation and inherent meaning for all at St Patrick’s Technical College.

St Patrick’s Technical College has reached a milestone of 1000 apprenticeship and traineeship sign-ups in South Australia and has celebrated this remarkable milestone in style.

With a special event held at the College on Thursday 12 March, it was an honour to have The Hon. David Pisoni MP, Minister for Innovation and Skills, as guest speaker and acknowledge the College’s valued trade training and support of young people for skilled careers.

Principal of St Patrick’s Technical College, Mr Danny Deptula, was presented with a certificate of acknowledgement for achieving 1000 apprenticeship sign-ups.

“The success of the College has been achieved thanks to the big dreams and the great amount of ideas contributed by passionate and committed people,’ Mr Deptula said.

“In being who we are, our thanks also extend way beyond the walls of our College. Thanks to the Catholic Education Office, other educators, all levels of government, our industry partners and industry networks, other educational providers, businesses, employers – all visionaries in supporting our College and all crucial to its success.

“We thank them all, including families, staff and students, in celebrating with us.”

Many dignitaries, including various members of the South Australian Parliament, as well as special guests were in attendance who have been very important to the story of the College’s journey.

Mr Deptula acknowledged the success of the College came down to the courageous families and their children.

“Those families and young adults who have made the bold decision to enrol their child into the College and have ultimately helped to try and break the stereotype of what successful learning should look like,” he said.

“The success of our College has also been achieved thanks to the big dreams and the great amount of ideas contributed by passionate and committed people.”

Three Year 12 Metals & Engineering students, Charlotte Simmons, Jordan Ranasinghe and Christopher Skelton, share the title of 1000^th Apprentice and commenced their trade in welding with employer Century Engineering.

The sign-up is a unique undertaking for St Patrick’s Technical College and Century Engineering, an Australian owned business providing a range of end-to-end engineering solutions and services in Edinburgh North, with three students signed at once with the same employer.

As part of their school-based apprenticeships, the students will study Year 12 with the College, working towards gaining their South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE), at the same time studying a Certificate III in Engineering – Fabrication.

Mr Deptula says the 1000^th sign-up for the College demonstrates the importance of vocational education in secondary schooling.

“To be able to jointly develop the skills and capabilities required for current and future workplaces has been crucial to the successful outcomes for apprentices and trainees from St Patrick’s Technical College,” Mr Deptula said.

“Hands-on learning and flexible study options provide our students with training and work-ready skills while preparing them for jobs now and of the future.”

St Patrick’s Technical College has been built on the foundation to train and skill young people in the north of Adelaide with the objective of providing a quality education and training framework, ultimately leading to skilled jobs and meaningful careers. Since its inception in 2007, the College has skilled and trained Year 11 & 12 students with work-ready skills and provided a young work force eager to start their careers.

Click here to view a gallery of images.

The Information Technology (IT) students at St Patrick’s Technical College already have their feet wet in the Subs in Schools Technology Challenge™.

As part of their Cross-Disciplinary Studies subject, the Year 11 & 12 students have been enthusiastic in designing their builds of a Remotely Operated Underwater Vehicle (ROV). These vehicles will ultimately be operated by students in order to complete a variety of underwater tasks.

Students build an ROV using a variety of materials they have recommended in their designs. Teams are also responsible for creating relevant accompanying portfolios documenting sponsorship details, designs, journals, marketing, and overall project management.

The IT students are fortunate to be mentored by Saab Australia engineers, Daniel Pace and Jared Bouchier. These two remarkable challenge representatives have stepped into the classroom to assist the students each fortnight in understanding the complexities of underwater design, electronics and mathematics. The world’s first in-class submarine design competition provides students with the opportunity to collaborate with industry and to foster their STEM learning.

Competition isn’t until August, but there is plenty of work to be done in the lead-up. Our students are being championed with incredible industry support and engagement.