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Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield

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Template:Infobox Aust school private

Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield is a systemic Roman Catholic, secondary, day school for boys, located in Fairfield, a western suburb of Sydney, New South Wales, Australia.

Founded by the Patrician Brothers in 1953, the college formerly catered for students in Years 5 to 12, however the primary section was merged into the local parish primary school and closed in 2006. Today the school enrolls approximately 1,089 high school aged students from the parishes of Villawood, Fairfield, Cabramatta and Smithfield. 85% of the student population are from non-English speaking backgrounds.

The school is currently ranked in the top 150 schools in New South Wales and one of the best in South West Sydney and the Fairfield District.

History

In August 1951, the Brothers received a letter from Archbishop O'Brien on behalf of His Eminence Cardinal Gilroy, requesting staff for a new boys' school planned for Fairfield. At this time, Fairfield was an outer and rapidly expanding suburb of Sydney with a large concentration of post war migrants from Europe. While there was a primary convent school at nearby Cabramatta, Smithfield and Villawood, there was no opportunities for senior primary and secondary Catholic Education for boys in Fairfield.

Provincial, Brother Norbert and his Council agreed to the Cardinal's request and Brother Kevin Samuel, Brother Eugene Kelly and Brother Peter Johnson (Superior and Principal) formed the first Patrician Community at Fairfield. The Brothers took up residence in an old weatherboard cottage which was on the 10 hectare property, which had recently been acquired by the Archdiocese as a site for the school.

When Cardinal Gilroy blessed the Monastery and officially opened the school on 13 March 1953, there were 170 pupils enrolled in Years 4, 5 and 6, in a year, this number almost doubled.

The original classrooms were in brick, and separated by concrete quadrangles with trees everywhere. That pattern of building was retained and was repeated regularly to cope with the expanding enrollment which ten years later had reached almost one thousand.

The grounds in which the school was situated were a disused orchard and vineyard - uneven and ungrassed and abounding in powdery surface soil. In the early sixties, the Brothers, supported by parents and students, embarked on a levelling, grass-planting and tree-planting campaign which was the foundation of the magnificent environment in which today's large complex is situated.

From six classrooms in 1953, the pupil accommodation has grown to over forty classrooms in 1982, as well as a library and assembly hall, science laboratories, a modern manual arts block and various other specialist facilities.

Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield, became the largest single campus enrollment of any Boys' Catholic School in New South Wales. College Early Developments

In the early days, the students were mainly of established Australian background with a strong representation of children of East European parents as well as Maltese and Italians of fairly significant but there is a very large second generation Italian and Maltese group of students now, as well as many students of East European, Middle East, South American and Indo-Chinese background. The great multi-cultural composition of the student population at Fairfield over the years has been an enriching experience for the school, and has helped the student to fit easily into the cosmopolitan character of the Western Suburbs of Sydney.

1956 was the year in which the students sat for the first public examination - the Intermediate - for candidates of present Year 9 age. The Intermediate level was the terminating year in the school until 1961, when the first group of students sat for the Leaving Certificate. This development marked a significant event in the life of the school as the first Leaving Certificate class contained students from Patrician Brothers' Schools at Blacktown, Granville and Liverpool. This intake of students from other Patrician Schools for their final years of secondary schooling continued until these areas gained their own senior secondary school.

In 1993 the Primary section of the College moved across the creek to take up residence. A Brother remained Principal there until 2003.

On 25 June 2000, several years of construction on the campus came to an end with the official opening and blessing of the new College facilities and classrooms. The old Year 8, 9, 10, and Primary blocks made way for an entirely new complex of buildings including a new library, Science wing, College hall and gymnasium, and Music and Creative Arts centre. The old senior block was completely renovated, what was once the College hall and library became the administration and staff areas. The new millennium brought about yet another most significant development with the leadership of the College being handed over to a new Principal, Mr Michael Krawec, a person with many years of association with the Brothers.

This has since been replaced by "Blue and Blue", a more relatable and inspirational hymn.

Finally, at the end of 2006, Patrician Brothers' Primary, consisting of Years 5 and 6 was closed down and the grounds handed over to the local parish primary - Our Lady of The Rosary, Fairfield to use. Patrician Brothers' Primary was the last primary school to close which was affiliated with the Patrician Brothers.

Lay leadership

In 2001, the last Patrician Principal of the school, Br. Bernard Bulfin, retired, and was replaced by the college's first lay principal, Mr. Michael Krawec, ending 48 years of leadership by the Brothers of St. Patrick. However, Br. Nicholas Harsas remained as Primary Principal until 2003 when he was replaced by Mr. Warren Loy. During 2007, Mr. Michael Krawec, was appointed to the Catholic Education Office, leaving Mr. Wayne Marshall and Mr. Daniel McInerny to take over - until Mr. John Killeen was appointed as principal for 2008.0

Facilities

The College consists of :

  • Patrician Jubilee Centre
  • Information Technology Centre (Library)
  • Year 8 Block
  • Science Centre
  • Visual Arts Centre
  • Music Centre
  • College Ovals
  • Year 7 Block
  • Years 9&10 Block
  • Year 11&12 Block
  • Silver Jubilee Centre
  • Gym/training facilities
  • Tennis courts
  • Canteen facilities
  • Technology and Applied Studies Centre
  • College Chapel
  • Administration Centre
  • Staff Common Rooms/Study
  • Senior Quad (Year 12 only)
  • Construction Centre
  • Pools (Leisure Centre)

Brother Richard Doheny stand

To celebrate the 50th anniversary of Brother Richards service to the College, the students walk-a-thon donations have been committed to the construction of the Brother Richard Doheny Grand Stand which will be located on the ovals. Construction for the stand begins in October 2007 and is due for completion by February 2008.

Technology

The College is currently undertaking a five year technology roll over period. The College recently purchased and installed new computers in the Information and Technology Centre, new laptops and light probe projectors, 5 portable projection systems which are used for student presentations in the ITC, TAS and science blocks, a new computer lab in the science block, and several touch sensitive SmartBoards. Technology is being incorporated in all lessons and is utilised as a teaching aid in the senior school.

Co-curriculum

Sport

The college places an emphasis on participation in sport. It is involved in the Metropolitan Catholic Schools (MCS) Competitions and it competes against other Catholic Schools in Sydney. Patrician Brothers' is also involved in the Combined Catholic Colleges, State Competitions and other competitions including the Parramatta Knockout and the Arrive Alive Cup.

In 2007, the Under 14's MCS Cricket team were declared Joint-Premiers with St. Dominic's College after the Final was washed out.

Mock trial

The 2007 Mock trial team was the most successful in the Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield history. The team won the Sydney regional competition, against schools such as The King's School and Penrith High School. The team managed to reach the final four only to be controversially beaten by Sacred Heart Cootamundra by a one point deficit.

House system

In 2004 Patrician Brothers Fairfield implemented its new house system. The new houses are:

  • Freeman - Black House
  • Mackillop - White House
  • Therry - Blue House
  • Dixon - Red House
  • Polding - Green House
  • Gilroy - Gold House

Students are each assigned to a house upon their commencement at the College. Students are divided into house groups for morning and afternoon homeroom and participate in carnivals in their house group. Students of all grades are offered chances to win points for their respective Houses through participation in various sporting and extracurricular activities. As of 2007 the College sports uniform now includes House colour polo shirts which are to be worn during sporting lessons and at swimming carnivals.



Notable alumni

Alumnus of Patrician Brothers' College are known as 'Old Boys' and may elect to join the schools alumni association, the Old Boys' Union. The goal of the Old Boys' Union is to foster and maintain friendships made at the College, and contribute to tradition by donating resources and prizes for special events. Some notable Patrician Brothers' College Old Boys include:

This list is incomplete; you can help by adding missing items.
Business
Entertainment, media and the arts
Politics, public service and the law
Sport

References

  1. Cite error: The named reference OLRCathParish was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  2. Cite error: The named reference AnnualReport06 was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
  3. "Old Boys' Union". Wider Community Links. Patrician Brothers' College, Fairfield. 2005. Retrieved 2008-02-04.

See also

External links

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