About St Patrick's College
About Our College
St Patrick’s College Mackay is a Catholic College within the Diocese of Rockhampton and is a Secondary College catering to Year 7 and 12 students across two campuses. Year 7, 8, 9 and 10 students are based at the Mercy Campus on Penn Street, Mackay and the Year 11 and 12 students are based at the Senior Campus on River Street, Mackay. Established in 1929, St Patrick’s College has a long history of offering Excellence in Schooling.
St Patrick’s College holds as its central character the motto ‘Seek and Serve Christ’. This aspect informs and shapes every element of our spiritual, academic, cultural, sporting and vocational life. We are a Catholic community of educators working in partnership with a variety of stakeholders to offer a uniquely rewarding educational experience.
St Patrick’s College is a partnership between students, staff and parents providing an environment of learning, personal growth and faith development while recognising students as young adults.
A Safe & Caring Environment
St Patrick's College endeavours to create an environment where students always feel safe, secure and valued.
One of the keys to creating this environment is the homeroom. At St Patrick's College it is our policy for a student to continue in the same homeroom from Year 7 to 12. This provides students with a sense of stability and comfort and allows them to develop a strong rapport with a staff member who is a significant and trusted adult within the school community. Many activities and functions are organised around this group and students develop long-term relationships through this homeroom connection.
Access to an educational advisor and counsellor also supports students in achieving their goals during their time at St Patrick's College.
Approach to Learning
St Patrick's College maintains a Catholic Christian Learning Community where appropriately qualified staff engage with students to foster self-directed life-long learning, and the acquisition of knowledge, attitudes and skills that will assist them to contribute positively to society. Staff work to equip students with Christian values to face the challenges of an ever changing world.
The provision of a varied curriculum that is both relevant and appropriate to a middle school philosophy provides all students with the opportunity to experience successful learning within a safe and supportive environment.
Our curriculum seeks a balance between innovation and tradition. It is responsive to all National, State and Diocesan directives and guidelines while maintaining elements which enhance learning for middle school students. These elements include the curriculum’s semi-vertical nature, unitised, term and semester based curriculum and flexible choice of subjects catering for the needs, interests and abilities of our students.
We believe learning is an individual journey for every student and, while all students have a right to be taught content which is age appropriate, some students will benefit from consolidation and others with extension. Our curriculum recognises this distinctiveness in each student and has created a flexible structure in which this can occur.
It is important that the curriculum facilitates the development of the whole student. As such, cultural, sporting, spiritual and social learning is considered important along with academic knowledge. Numerous units are offered which represent this philosophy.
Quality accredited teachers who engage in on-going learning are seen as crucial in the learning journey of students. Teaching excellence is deliberately encouraged, cultivated and supported so all students may benefit from quality teaching and learning.
Curriculum at St Patrick's College is embedded within community. It involves students, teachers, non-classroom staff, parents, parish, community and leadership working together as a learning community. As members of this community we strive to reflect upon our learning by continuously reassessing and seeking to improve upon our practices.
Our curriculum is also built upon social justice principles, with the promotion of the dignity of every human person, are at the heart of our Christian beliefs. Implicit in this is the need for every person to have access to the possibility of full growth regardless of gender, race, ethnicity, material poverty, social disadvantage, or physical or mental difficulty. Enrolment into the College, human and physical resourcing and unit offerings are reflective of this core belief.
Annual Reports