Autumn/Winter 2020

Newsletter Articles

THINGS FRANCISCAN

Dear Paduans,

It would be an understatement to say that 2020 looks like being challenging times for us all. With the continuing debate about whether children should be at school or not, Padua has met the issue head on. Students of essential workers can be at school, and the others are being schooled online. The staff have been working steadfastly to see that all is in order for the boys' education - at school or at home.

This year there were some changes at the Friary. Fr Harry Chan, who is chaplain at ACU, replaced Fr Mario Debattista (OB 1976) as Guardian, and we had a new addition to the Friary. Fr Joe McKay came up from Melbourne, and will be doing some work at Padua, especially in promoting social justice education and outreach - assisting Mr Michael O'Brien. Fr Mario remains as parish priest of Kedron, and chaplain at UQ and in recent times has been busy organising online Masses. At Padua I have been doing an online scripture reading and reflection, and that goes out to the boys at the time we usually have a Friday Mass.

We are not sure if Fr Paul Rout (OB 1966) will join us this year - he was to fly out from London in August - depending on the state of travel restrictions.

The College is working towards a permanent display of the history of Padua. This will be where the friars' dining room refectory was in the old Friary. I am reluctant to call it a Museum – in my mind it conjures up extinct dinosaurs. Your assistance will be vital to its success, as we gather items of historical interest in the history of Padua.

Let us remember in our prayers all those Paduan families who are negatively affected by this pandemic - those who have lost jobs, those finding social distancing a mental health issue, the boys, especially our Seniors whose final year at school raises for them so many difficulties.

To you all, God's blessing of peace and joy,

Fr John

THE RECTOR

The school year to date, like most places in society, has certainly been one that has been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. In the midst of the challenges and the obvious need to respond to the ever-changing guidelines, we have been focussed on the continuation of learning and the pastoral care of students and staff as we all adjusted to delivering learning at home. This has not been easy as fear and uncertainty have gripped our nation, fed by the constant media stories of the pandemic. Panic buying in supermarkets, the price of hand sanitizer rising to the same litre price as single malt whiskey, and face masks being standard issue as boys walked into sick bay, were all stark reminders that our world had changed. More confronting was the anguish we all felt, as many in our community lost employment or were stood down as our economy ground to a halt.

All workplaces and homes were forced to make changes but arguably, none more than schools, as teachers within the space of a week, had to convert their teaching pedagogy and resources to an online platform. We began Term 2 with what we called Padua@Home, a five-week journey into the world of online learning. This included, Team meetings for morning Pastoral Care classes and some lessons; teacher videos to explain key concepts; blogs; weekly quizzes and projects; and five periods each day, all delivered to homes of the boys of Padua. The school yard was eerily quiet except for a small number of boys who were the sons of essential workers. The noise and the energy of school was gone, and teachers worked away in front of their computer screen using an array of newly acquired technology skills to keep boys engaged in their learning. In the midst of this, we also had almost daily revisions of the College calendar with events being cancelled, postponed or moved to an online platform. While the term ‘community’ is categorised as a noun in every dictionary, we actually know that in places like Padua it is a verb. People interacting make up community and although this was happening online, we certainly missed the human interaction. Masses, ceremonies, assemblies, sport, music and the host of co-curricular events make up the life of Padua. These were all but gone.

The time away from the College has also impacted on building the narrative around the new College House names. As communicated broadly, in 2019 we made the decision to rename our College houses following outcomes from the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Sexual Abuse. While we know that this was a decision that would cause some debate, we also saw the important symbolic link in this change by aligning our House names with the early followers of St Francis. This decision, to review how we name and honour things at Padua, is in keeping with the responses from many schools and institutions following the findings of the Royal Commission. Like these other institutions we are now in the process of connecting, and in our case, to the stories of the founders of our charism. Late in 2019 we distributed new House shirts to the students and the names of Angelo, Cattani, Leo, Masseo, Rufino and Quintavalle were quickly embraced as students proudly wore their new House shirts. The transition to new House names has gone well and we are grateful for the work of staff particularly our House Guardians and Fr John for their work in supporting the transition.

Monday May 25 was the day of return for all students to school and it was certainly a stark contrast between the start of this week and the previous five weeks. It was certainly a joyous occasion, and given the significance of the return to school, I am sure that there will be some photographs used to illustrate the retelling of the history of the pandemic. It was great to welcome all students back to their rightful place of learning. The photos below show the welcome by our leaders as students entered the grounds and the many smiling faces and warm greetings with friends they hadn’t seen for weeks.

However, it was a return to what the media have now labelled the ‘new normal’. The ‘new normal’ includes hand sanitizer in all classrooms and common areas, more cleaning with handrails and common areas wiped down regularly throughout the day and an additional sick bay room to manage those boys who present with ‘flu like symptoms’. While some parts of the school day are exempt from the requirements of social distance, there is still a requirement for staff to practice social distancing when they come together for meetings and when they are in staffrooms. At the time of writing, while classrooms are exempt, students must adhere to social distancing at the canteen, the bus stop and in the playground. For the time being, we cannot have large gatherings like assemblies as well as no music rehearsals, sport or excursions.

Over the last five weeks there has been a lot of media speculation around the impact of home learning, and particularly the number of weeks that students have supposedly ‘lost’ as a result of their time away from schools. The ‘lost’ learning time or ‘COVID-19 slump’ as one commentator called it, is generally headlined against the number of weeks students have fallen behind in relation to maths or English measures. While academics, the media and politicians may play the political game around such comparisons (and there is also a counter argument that some students have not been at all impacted by the time at home), such debates miss the mark on what has truly been lost in the learn at home model.

While schools have done great work in delivering curriculum and learning tasks to the homes of their students, we know that this only one part of a holistic education. Education in schools goes beyond the classroom curriculums and includes the nurturing of the spiritual, social, physical and emotional experiences that develop young men of good character. I was reminded of these aspects of a good education that cannot be taught online by an email that I received last week. It was about one of our Year 12 boys written by a parent of a student in Year 6 at Padua. A chance encounter on the bus on the way home between the two boys says a lot about the education that goes beyond the classroom curriculum.

I am writing to you to thank you and your staff. My husband and I are both teachers and so both of our children have been attending school over the past four weeks. This has been a great blessing to us and one that we are very thankful for. My son XXXXX has been finding it challenging without his friends (as would most of the boys I imagine) and is usually a bit flat at the end of the day. Last Friday he jumped into the car with a huge smile on his face and proceeded to tell me all about XXXXX. XXXXX is a year 12 student that catches the same bus as XXXXX. He sat with XXXX and spent the whole bus trip chatting with him about computer games, Tasmania, and all sorts of things. It was such a simple display of kindness that meant the world to XXXX. I’m not sure what the young man’s last name is, but I would love for him to know how impactful such an act was for my son and how grateful we are.

There are many messages in this simple story that we can all take on board as we move out of a time of isolation and begin interacting more fully with others. The focus on what has been ‘lost’ in the at home model is diminished when we only talk about classroom subjects. In fact, most research points to there being very little, if any, impact on learning by the at home model. What is lost is the education that comes from social interaction, from real conversations with teachers and from being part of a community. The time at home has provided some learnings for us all. Not least, a recognition that our journey out of the lockdown should be one where we recognise that the value of an education goes beyond individual subjects and includes moments like this chance meeting on the bus.

Fr John’s 50th Anniversary of Ordination

The more recent “Old Boys” out there would know Fr John Boyd-Boland very well. In fact, “Old Boys” of the last forty years would know Fr John very well. There would even be “Old Boys” from the early 70s who would remember a quite young Fr John wandering the hallowed halls of a much smaller Padua teaching Religion, History and Geography. He has been a wonderful servant to Padua in many roles for four decades.

So, when Fr John celebrated 50 years of Ordination to the Priesthood on May 9, 2020, he was also celebrating his dedicated service to many students of Padua over 40 years. Even his time as parish priest of Kedron was filled with interest and service to the students at Padua.

Congratulations to Fr John on reaching the milestone of 50 years of ordination as a priest. It is a tribute to his faith in and his dedication to the Catholic Church and to the Franciscan Order. No doubt there are many “Old Boys” who have fond memories of Fr John as a teacher, a leader, a mentor and a priest. There are certainly many staff and parents who have enjoyed his Franciscan leadership and friendship.

Thank you, Fr John, for your 50 years as a priest and your dedicated service to Padua College.

Robert Out (OB 1974)

ANZAC Day

ANZAC Day online

A virtual assembly was held to commemorate ANZAC Day on the Thursday prior.

Students joined online from home to watch the Assembly.

Joe (OB 1982), Mitchell (OB 2014) and Angus Fall (OB 2018) also joined youngest of the family and current student Toby.

ANZAC Day @Dawn

Padua was approached to have a student play the last post at Dawn. This was done in a simple, moving ceremony at the Vietnam Veteran’s Plaque at the College.

ANZAC Day@Home

Due to all public services being cancelled this year, everyone was encouraged to ‘Light up the Dawn’ by staging their own ANZAC Service at 6.00 am in their driveways. A link to an ANZAC Service lasting for about 6 minutes was published on our College app and the Daily Notices, encouraging its download to a mobile device and taken along to the top of the driveway with candles. Paduans were asked to wear their winter uniform and encouraged to take a family photo of this very historic Anzac Day ceremony, and to tag #padualestweforget2020 with an upload to Instagram.

ANZAC Day - Padua Vietnam Veteran’s Association

Brian Cunningham (OB 1965) proudly showed his respect to Dennis McCormack and Peter Kowalski from his home on Anzac Day 2020.

Museum

Do you have anything you could donate or loan to the Padua Museum? We are in the very beginning stages of this project. Your assistance would be greatly appreciated.

This Shield was found recently in the College archives.

We can’t wait to find out what else we can find.

Sportsman’s Dinner 2020

Although the Back to Basics Sportsman’s Dinner was cancelled because of COVID-19.

We are really looking forward to its return as a great event in 2021 with this new/old format.

Back to Banyo 2020

Unfortunately, sport has been put on hold because of COVID-19 this term.

Reunions

1968 reunion

Here are the photos that were taken at the 1968 Seniors of Padua and Mt Alvernia as the Grade 11 boys and girls of 1967 combined to do subjects at each school. The girls did Physics, Chemistry and Maths B and the boys did Biology and Ancient History I think at Mt A. The get together was held at Kedron Wavell RSL and only 2 boys had passed away from the 1968 senior class. (Note from editor: similar arrangements are again in place between Mt A and Padua).

Michael McMahon

1950-60s Old Boys

Mike Willett (OB 1958) organises regular Coffee mornings for this growing group. Twenty-two attendees at the January 2020 event including the following:

• Mike Bourne
• Rod Brewer
• Ross Brockel
• Mick Brosnan
• Dave Cox
• Peter Cross
• Grant Daly
• Dare Jones
• Rob Lynam
• John O’Keeffe
• Peter Metcalfe
• Peter Murdoch
• Sam Sammartino
• Neil Short
• George Smith
• Peter Thistleton
• Terry Thistleton
• Mike Willett
• Making their début –
  - Zane Devlin OB from 1957
  - Peter Hottes OB from1956
  - Peter Murdock OB from 1957

The “Attendance Certificates” were apparently given out to those students who had no absent days from school for that year.

Photos are by courtesy and permission of Peter Metcalfe.

1979 Reunion

The class of ’79 held their 40th Anniversary of graduation in October 2019 - St Francis Feast day weekend. They were joined by Mt A alumni. It was organised by Michael Brown and a small team of others. The reunion was held at that Bowls Club in New Farm, near the river. Ms Trish Dwyer, Learning Area Leader - Senior Studies, was a special guest.

Where are they now?

Robert Cole (OB 1964)

I appear in the photo second from the right. I suspect this is the whole school in 1956. I am able to recognise some of the other faces if you are interested. This was the year the school began. No uniform and no ties, with Mr Fox and Mrs Cameron. The school began with 4, 5 and 6 only.

Best wishes,
Robert Cole
(Foundation member - Grade 4 1956 and in first class to go from Grade 4 to Year 12)

Mick Hughes (OB 1985)

Michael Hughes is an old boy from 1985 and is the owner of Aitkenvale Medical Practice in Townsville. Michael studied medicine at UQ and worked in Brisbane for a number of years before relocating to Townsville with his partner, Suzie Sheriff (Mt A 1985). The photo comes from the Padua Race Day last year where the Padua College Race Day Committee recognised Michael for his outstanding support of Padua. Michael and Aitkenvale Medicine have sponsored the Padua Race Day ever since the very first event in 2006, 15 years of support and sponsorship.

Chris Chamberlin (OB 2007)

Since graduating, I’ve completed a Bachelor of Music in Performance and Pedagogy at the Queensland Conservatorium Griffith University, and got to do some fun things with it like perform in the chorus as part of Andrea Bocelli’s Australian tour, do a Victorian Opera workshop with the late Richard Gill, co-created an opera with Opera Queensland (Dirty Apple, which premiered in 2009), and perform a number of stage roles including Marco in Gianni Schicchi (an opera by Puccini), Le Roi / The King in Cendrillon (an opera by Massenet), Theseus in A Midsummer Night’s Dream and Jackie Elliot in excerpts from Billy Elliot, and also performed as a soloist in some of the year-end carol events including the Brisbane Lord Mayor’s Carols in the City and Carols in the Piazza, among other things.

It's safe to say I was obsessed with music at Padua (I did senior music with Miss White – now Mrs Coe), was the first Paduan to do music extension at Mt A with Mr Crump, played bassoon in SCB (Years 9-11 if I recall, which included a tour to New Zealand in 2005), clarinet in ICB, and was a member of the various College choirs (liturgy and concert), being co-choir captain in Year 12 (2007).

However, that was all the better part of a decade ago, and as I quickly found, it’s exceptionally tough to get a reliable and year-round performing job in music. So, I’ve since pursued one of the other passions I developed while at uni – travel. I began by doing some freelance writing for Australian Business Traveller (AusBT), and was soon after hired as a permanent journalist, and later promoted to senior journalist. The publication has recently been rebranded as Executive Traveller (ET), where I’m now the Associate Editor, and I’ve recently completed a course certificate in Tourism and Travel Management via UQ Business School to help support that role. While that earlier FCIP New Zealand tour was my first-ever overseas trip (I was 15 at the time), I’ve now flown over 1,000,000 miles and counting (there’ll be an article about that in the November/December edition of Brisbane Airport’s magazine, so I’m told!). Outside of AusBT/ET, I’ve also been published by Bloomberg, The Australian Financial Review, The Australian, The Sydney Morning Herald, The Age, The Weekend Australian, Brisbane Times, The Canberra Times, WA Today, The Journey (a print magazine in Hong Kong), INTHEBLACK (the CPA Australia magazine), and have appeared on various TV programs in stories relating to travel including ABC (News Breakfast), Sky News (Business Class), Channel News Asia, Channel 9 (A Current Affair), Channel 10 (10 News First), Channel 7 (7NEWS Brisbane), and done plenty of radio too. I also spoke at a global travel conference last year; was nominated for the Online Achievement Award at the Queensland Young Achiever of the Year Awards (2018); and the email newsletter I co-produced at Australian Business Traveller was nominated for Newsletter of the Year at the recent Mumbrella Publish Awards (although that one’s very much a team effort, not just me!).

It's been a crazy ride, and although music was my focus while at Padua, I’m certainly glad I paid attention in the other subjects too, as many have helped in one way or another. English (with Mrs Jed) most obviously, as knowing where the ‘dots’ go on the page is necessary when you’re being paid to write… business & accounting with Mr Taylor, as doing freelance writing means you need to know how to issue invoices and complete business paperwork like profit & loss, balance sheets, ATO lodgements etc… IT (with Mr Blair), as I’m one of the admins on the company website and do lots of software testing and HTML editing as part of the role… maths (I had a few teachers), as being a frequent traveller means you need to be able to think in multiple currencies, manage budgets and expenses – and, decide good ways to use your frequent flyer points, haha… and so on.

Chris

Will Martyn (OB 2018)

Congratulations to Will on his pick in the AFL draw by Richmond Tigers!

Martyn leaving no stone unturned

By Grace Kalac, richmondfc.com.au on Dec 11, 2019,

Will Martyn is the ultimate professional.

In fact, Richmond’s National Recruiting Manager Matthew Clarke says he’s “one of the more professional kids you’ll ever come across”.

Martyn, taken by the Tigers with pick 44 in the 2019 national draft, leaves no stone unturned in his rehab, recovery and diet.

“It is something I really pride myself on, it’s more a mental state,” Martyn said.

“It’s things that I have to tick off and I think most footballers should tick them off … so, I do see it as very important.”

As this year’s captain of the Brisbane Lions Academy, Martyn hopes his leadership skills will continue to flourish at Tigerland.

“They’re definitely something I want to bring and obviously develop… not only am I going to bring them, but I’m hopefully going to grow them as well,” he said.

With that ethos, it comes as no surprise that Martyn has always looked up to Richmond skipper, Trent Cotchin.

“If I get the chance, I’d love to play alongside Trent. He’s someone that I’ve always idolised,” Martyn said.

“My dad and I used to watch heaps of his football and we just love the way he plays.”

Another Tiger that Martyn shares some similarities with is superstar midfielder, Dustin Martin.

Alongside his fierce competitiveness, hard-running Martyn boasts clean hands and neat foot skills.

In his five games for the Lions in the NAB League, he averaged 29 possessions, nine contested possessions, four clearances, five tackles and five inside-50s per game.

Martyn can’t wait to continue his football journey with fellow draftee and Lions Academy teammate, Noah Cumberland.

“We’ve played together since we were 12, and this year at the Lions Academy, so we’ve had a bit of time to bond together,” he said.

“I know him quite well….we enjoy each other’s company.”

The duo both played in the Lions’ premiership-winning NEAFL side, something Martyn believes will pay dividends as they settle into AFL level.

“I think it helps a lot playing alongside experienced footballers. Most 18-year-olds play against 18-year-olds, and Noah and I had the opportunity to play against grown men, grown footballers, so I think it’s going to help us quite a bit,” he said.

Tim Corkeron (OB 1986) & Zach Brankovich (OB 2010)

Padua students were delighted to meet up with 2 Old Boys when visiting the Queensland Symphony Orchestra. Tim Corkeron is the Principal Timpani and Zach Brankovich plays Percussion.

Dan Ritchie (OB 2005), Hudson Creighton (OB 2017) Harry Fox (OB 2018)

The National U19 Rugby URC Championships in Canberra which was won by Brisbane City for the second year in a row. Pictured here are Padua Old Boys Daniel Ritchie, Hudson Creighton and Harry Fox.

Congratulations!

Jamie Young (OB 2000)

Jamie Young fronted the media ahead of the Sky Blues game in December 2019.

Great work Jamie!

Michael Kennedy (OB 1967), Greg Williams (OB 1985)

Two Padua boys sang in the Medical Choir and Orchestra Christmas Concert 8/12/19. The Queensland Medical Orchestra and Choir have been going twenty years next year. Largely musicians and singers are from the caring professions. They have usually three concerts a year. The Christmas Concert was at St Laurence’s auditorium with over 800 people present. Greg is a GP on the Northside of Brisbane. He is one of the base singers. Great to see two Paduans - Michael Kennedy and Greg Williams!

Fr Mario Debattista

Before Christmas, Peter Elmore, Fr Mario Debattista and members of the Kedron St Vincent de Paul, distributed hampers donated by our Good Men and their families. Pictured are David Cox (OB 1969), Steve Cox (OB 2011), Michael Condon, Pat McGarry (father of Matthew McGarry OB 2013), Fr Mario Debattista (OB 1976), Michael Curtin (OB 1970), Joe De Pasquale, Peter Elmore. What an inspiring group!

Following the government directives, the Archdiocese suspended all public celebrations of Mass. Fr Mario now live streams regular Masses from the Padua College chapel until further notice.

Ken Dobson (OB)

Ken is the Assistant Coach at Shimizu Blue Sharks in Japan. Ken was also Team interpreter for Australian Rugby Team during Rugby World Cup Japan 2019.

Anthony Hodge (OB 2002)

Dr Anthony Hodge completed Year 12 at Padua College in the class of 2002. On finishing school he went on to study medical science at QUT Gardens Point, finishing his degree in 2005. From 2006-2009 he worked for the Northern Territory Government Pathology Service as a medical laboratory scientist providing pathology services to remote towns throughout the territory including Katherine, Alice Springs, Gove and Tennant Creek. In 2009 he was awarded a scholarship to study medicine at Griffith University on the Gold Coast.

Dr Hodge graduated from medical school with an award for Academic Excellence in 2012. He completed his internship and residency with the Sunshine Coast Hospital and Health Services, including being seconded to Bundaberg and Gympie Hospitals. After working in various medical specialties and intensive care medicine at the Nambour General Hospital, he commenced anaesthetics training at Ipswich Hospital in 2016. During his anaesthetics training he has published a number of critical care and analgesia articles in international peer reviewed journals including the British Journal of Anaesthesia.

Following his completion of specialty examinations in 2019, he was appointed in 2020 to the position of Airway Provisional Fellow at the Royal Brisbane and Women’s Hospital managing patients with complex Ear, Nose and Throat as well as Head and Neck cancers. While at the RBWH, he continues to be involved in departmental research and medical student teaching. He will be awarded his Fellowship of the Australian and New Zealand College of Anaesthetists in early 2021. Dr Hodge has found anaesthesia to be an extremely rewarding career and enjoys the challenges that come with working at a tertiary centre dealing with burns, trauma and critical care patients.

Whilst at medical school, Dr Hodge met his now wife, Sarah Morris, the daughter of his Year 12 mathematics teacher, Mr Peter Morris. Dr Sarah Hodge works as a General Practitioner on Brisbane’s Northside. Sarah and Anthony were married in 2014 and have two children together.

James Taylor (OB 2016) Anders Sikora (OB 2016)

Graduated together from QUT in December: International Business and Marketing! Thank you to all staff and teachers at Padua College for laying the good groundwork over all those years. Anders made it with a distinction and entry to the Golden Key Club! Thank you to Mr Nicholson for your confidence he'd come good in the end...

Trisha and Gene Sikora

Garrath Ryan (OB 2012)

Garrath was nominated for Brothers Tight Head Prop in the team of the decade recently.

Joe Vecchio (OB 2004)

Joe co-owns the Prova Pizzeria in Wilgarning Street, Stafford.

Friends Carlo Giliberti and Joseph Vecchio had long dreamed of paying homage to their heritage with an authentic Italian restaurant, and in August 2016 the dream became reality when Prova Pizzeria opened in Stafford Heights. The pair shipped in an authentic Stefano Ferrara wood-fired oven from Naples and brought on Youssef Ben Touati – a world class pizzaiolo – to man the kitchen.

Bernard Porter

His Honour Judge Bernard Porter QC is a graduate of The University of Queensland—Bachelor of Arts (1986), Queensland University of Technology—Bachelor of Laws (Honours) (1992), and University of Oxford—Bachelor of Civil Law (First Class Honours) (1996).

Judge Porter was associate to the Honourable Justice Jeffery Spender, Federal Court of Australia (1993–94). In 1999 his Honour was admitted as a barrister of the Supreme Court of Queensland and later appointed Queen's Counsel in 2016. As a barrister his Honour's areas of practice were insolvency, construction, succession, general commercial, banking and professional negligence.

Judge Porter was appointed a Judge of the District Court of Queensland in 2017.

Tom O’Toole (OB 2015)

Tom O’Toole was selected in Ireland Squad for the Six Nations Tournament

Sam Price (OB 2010)

Sam Price graduated as Able Seaman Marine Technician Submariner, Submarine Support Group. Congratulations Sam!

Charles Syvret

My time at the Australian Defence Force Academy was filled with not only study, but some difficult military training and leadership opportunities - most notably as president of the Academy rugby club, in which we won the premiership in that year. After completing the Academy and receiving a Bachelor of Business, I attended the Royal Military College - Duntroon (RMC).

My time at the college last year was abundant with various physical and academic hardships and challenges, much greater than I had experienced. These included offensive, defensive, combined arms and stability-based assessments, planning and missions in month-long field exercises. Many of the original class members didn’t make it the whole way through however, with a starting class of 209 - we graduated with only 130. Yet throughout these hard times I maintained a close connection with rugby and the Saint Paul chapel on base to help me through. Of note - there is a photo with our Padre on base, who blessed our swords (an officer tradition to hold) with holy water and a blessing of safety and victory in war - one once read to the Crusaders prior to war in ancient times - after our graduation ceremony.

In mid-September I was successfully allocated to the Royal Australian Infantry Corps, to the 1st Battalion, the Royal Australian Regiment. The December graduation was a great celebration of this achievement (my first preference of posting) and the commissioning to the rank of Lieutenant. I will now lead over 30 soldiers and other ranked members in a platoon for various field exercises and training activities, with the company looking at operational deployments late this year which I may also attend.

Extract from email from Charles Syvret to Fr John

Lindsay Collins (OB

Congratulations to Old Boy Lindsay Collins who played for the Sydney Roosters defeating St Helens in the Rugby League World Challenge in England.

Lindsay is in great form at the moment!

Harris Andrews (OB 2014)

Congratulations to Harris Andrews who played for the All Stars in the State of Origin Bushfire Relief Match, and also won an award for most professional player.

Nathan Kettlehohn(OB 2010)

A Padua First - an Isolation wedding

Paramedic Nathan Kettlehohn married Ashleigh in Mackay 3 April

Jordan Gentile (OB 2014)

Jordan is a highly focused and determined individual who has a passion for the property industry. Having recently completed further studies obtaining a Bachelor Degree of Property Economics at the Queensland University of Technology, Jordan's professionalism is second to none. Jordan’s interest in the property industry began as a teenager as he developed an interest in the architectural aspects of commercial buildings in the CBD. Jordan was also selected by the University as an ambassador on two international study tours to Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia.

Jordan currently works closely with Managing Director Rod Brown and North City Fringe specialist Joshua Peake focusing on investment sales and corporate leasing. With a competitive and serious approach to sport, including state school athletic champion, first division rugby union and ALF representative, Jordan fits well into the focused Chase team culture.

Looking Back

Always remembered.

This plaque is on the building at the Banyo Playing Fields.

1970

1980

Please pray for the departed

May they rest in peace.

REMINISCENCES – 50th ANNIVERSARY PADUA COLLEGE’S LAST SCHOLARSHIP CLASS OF 1962

This year marks the 50th anniversary of the abolition of the Grade 8 Queensland Scholarship examination. At Padua College the class teacher of the last Scholarship class of 1962 was Father Alban Mitchell ofm. Fr Alban was undoubtedly the best teacher at Padua at the time. It was considered essential to have a teacher for the Scholarship class who would bring out the best in the students as the very reputation of the school was at stake as the results of the examination were published in The Courier-Mail! Considering the calibre of the students in the class, bringing them to their fullest potential was a challenge. The Scholarship examination was always conducted at a State School as the administration and marking of the examination was conducted by the Education Department. I can recall that on 30 November 1962 walking with the rest of the class of some 50 fellow Paduans to the Wooloowin State School and presenting ourselves for the examination. Like most of the class, I attended Mass that morning to pray for success in the exams. As we walked to the Wooloowin State School we had ringing in our ears the admonishment of Father Alban that we should refrain from putting the initials 'JMJF', which we always placed at the head of all our school work, on the exam papers. (The initials stood, of course, for 'Jesus, Mary, Joseph and Francis'). I recall Fr Alban remarking that we should refrain from putting the usual initials on our papers to avoid any possible biases by the examiners as they could be prejudiced against Catholic school students! Father Alban prepared us extremely well for the exams. The Scholarship class was known historically as the 'salt mines' because of the intensity of the work required. We even had classes on Saturday mornings in the lead up to the exams. The class room was located at the bottom of the old original wooden school building. I recall that it was extremely drafty and cramped. On reflection, how it accommodated 50 students is still a mystery. There were three papers for the Scholarship examinations covering the disciplines of Mathematics, English and Social Studies. In the Social Studies paper, Fr Alban placed emphasis on the need to study the geography and history of Canada. He surmised that considering the areas covered in previous exams, Canada would be strong likelihood for the Social Studies exam. It turned out that he was 'spot on' and Canada was the subject of the 'British Commonwealth' section of the exam. I recall that everyone in our class passed the Scholarship examination. I surprised myself by gaining 75% overall in the examination. In this we had Fr Alban to thank for his extremely hard work, dedication, commitment and the occasional personal coaching of individual students in that class! The Scholarship exam had a long and distinguished history. It was originally introduced for State School students in 1873. Students who passed the Scholarship exams were granted funding by the State to go on to secondary school. The Scholarship funding was extended to Catholic schools in 1899. However, originally few Catholic students were put forward by their schools to sit for the Scholarship exam. This was at a time when many students left school at the completion of primary school. My research has shown that in 1907, of the 377 students who sat for the Scholarship exam, only 20 were from Catholic schools. Of these only 4 passed the examination. By way of contrast in 1962 at the final exam, 27,983 students sat for the exam and 87.5% passed. The Scholarship exam was held in very high regard by the general community as a common determinate on the abilities and scholastic skill of students throughout the State irrespective as to their schools. The 'Lilly Memorial Medal' was awarded to the best State School student sitting for the exam. (Established by trust by Sir Charles Lilly in 1897.) The 'McDonnell Memorial Prize' was established for the best student attending a Catholic school. (Named after a politician, Mr Frank McDonnell, who in 1899 was successful in securing the extension of the Scholarship to Catholic school students.) There was also the 'Jack French VC Prize' for the student with the best English results in the exam. Students who won any of these Prizes were much sought after by potential employers. These students were also lauded by their individual families and schools. Perhaps the time is approaching when the community may seek the reintroduction of uniform state examinations to obviate any suggestion of biases in the assessment of students by individual schools.

Jeffery Ahern (Hernie)
Paduan Old Boy 1957 - 1964

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Around the school

Padua Legends program

Recently, the College launched the Padua Legends Program. This program is a mentoring program for new and transitioning students in Years 5 and 7. The program involves past students returning to the College to model behavioural expectations, deepen learning experiences and share an enthusiasm for the College values.

Below is an extract written by Nick Kostellar, one of our inaugural legends, discussing the introduction of the program. We look forward to seeing the success of this program grow and develop over Term 1.

“It is a great honour to be inducted as an inaugural mentor in the Padua Legends program for 2020. As a graduate of Padua in 2019, I am also very excited to be chosen to be a role model to the younger students. Whether it be in the classroom, the playground or sharing the values of Peace, Joy, Courtesy, Humility or Simplicity, it is very exciting to be a part of the new Paduan’s journey. A highlight so far has been the Year 7 camp. As part of our role, we get to play an active part in the classroom. We support numeracy and literacy programs and hope to have a positive influence on the students and ultimately feel a part of the Paduan community.”

Purchase of the Quarry

Helping our healthcare workers

Padua has a 3D printer and was requested to assist with the mass production of face shields for Metro North Hospital. Neil Davissen (OB 1983) and other staff did a fantastic job, and our whole community was very proud of them.

Training camp

Rugby League legend David Shillington (OB 2000) was kind enough to help out at some training sessions with our Year 7 students.

Waterpolo success

Padua Care Army

The Student Leaders are preparing a plan to engage all Paduans. Along the lines of the Queensland Government’s Care Army, the Leaders want to make one of their own where Paduans show their generous side to the world. More details to come but it was St Anthony of Padua who told us that ‘Actions speak louder than words!’

AFL State Champions

Junior Space Design Competition

It is with great pleasure and pride that I am able to share the wonderful news that our Yr7 JSDC Team 18, consisting of Tyler Cortes, Alex Johns, Noah Webster and Sam Sofronoff have been declared 2019 JSDC National Champions at the JSDC Presentation Event at UQ.

My congratulation goes to my fantastic team of fellow coaches Che Gaddes, Tom Lunn and James Tancred for their dedication, hard work and support of our Australian record 23 teams who entered this year’s Junior Space Design Competition.

Attached are a few photos to capture the moments just after our Padua team was declared the winners. Also attached is the official Judges’ Feedback our boys received. The boys received a 2019 JSDC Qualifying Finalist Trophy in recognition of their project being shortlisted in the top 5 entries across Australia. They also received the 2019 JSDC National Champions Trophy for being judged as the best project in Australia for 2019.

My heartiest congratulations to our boys who delivered a first-class presentation to match their first-class winning project!

Our Padua boys certainly know how to do Space Design, as this is now our 4th National Champions Trophy win in the past 7 years… ASDC National Champions in 2013, JSDC National Champions in 2015, ASDC National Champions in 2018, and now JSDC National Champions in 2019!

Peter Morris

Theatresports

Excellent result for our Year 9 Junior Theatresports team - they WON the grand final of the Youth Theatresports competition! It was a very entertaining afternoon at La Boite Theatre.

Well done super coach Caitlin!

Thanks for all the staff and student support.

Australian Space Design Competition

Great news that our 2019 ASDC Project has been judged in the top 10 entries across Australia for the 11th consecutive year!

Congratulations to all 27 students in our 2019 ASDC Team for their great efforts to get us to another ASDC National Finals Weekend!

After losing a significant number of experienced and talented Year 12 students upon graduating in 2018, this year’s team was the most inexperienced we have “fielded” in our 11 years in the Australian Space Design Competition. I thought that 2019 might be the year in which our “success bubble” would burst, but to their credit, our Padua boys kept tenaciously working on draft after draft of aspects of their project, determined to uphold our reputation in the Space Design Community.

Academic Results Year 12 2019

We start the year with the good news of our academic results from 2019. The results show the academic endeavours of staff and students, and in particular, the great relationship that developed between teachers and the 2019 Year 12 cohort. Our OP results are all above State average with the College’s results in OP 1-10 and the number of OP 1s, being our best results ever.

Alongside our OP results, it is also most pleasing to see the number of VET Qualifications achieved by our boys. Last year we had a total of – 14 Certificate I, 29 Certificate II, 62 Certificate III and 39 Diplomas. We also had 12 boys undertake a school-based traineeship or apprenticeship.

These fine results, OP and Vocational Education, reflect the multiple pathways that are available to our boys in the senior curriculum.

I am also pleased to report that our 2019 College Dux and School Captain, William Barker, received an OP 1 that converted to an ATAR score of 99.95. This score placed William among the highest achieving students in the State.

We congratulate our class of 2019 and wish them every blessing and success as they begin their new journey in 2020.

We recognised our highest performing boys in both our OP and Vocational Education pathways at our Academic Assembly on Thursday 13 February.

Peter Elmore
The Bulletin

Congratulations to our latest Old Boys on their academic success. These men were recognised at an Academy Assembly at the College where 2018 College Dux, Flynn Pearman, delivered a speech to current students.