St Patrick's College Strathfield

2020…The Year That Was

17/12/2020

This year we celebrated Speech Night a little differently moving our traditional time slot to the daytime and live streaming the event to students and parents from the College gymnasium. Our theme, ‘2020….The year that was’ set the tone and provided us with an opportunity to celebrate all the good that has happened this year. This message was brought home by the opening video, ‘Better Than Ever’, masterfully produced by Mr Porra and his crew of helpers.

As well as recognising the accomplishments of so many, be they academic, cultural or sporting achievements, we were also treated to some high-quality entertainment. Our Drama students’ rendition of ‘You Will Be Found’ was inspiring and our Vocal Group’s performance of ‘Let’s Love’ further reiterated the sense of belonging we share even in the face of adversity. It was wonderful to hear our Speech Night Ensemble play together ably directed by Mr Rose, their rendition of ‘Soaring’ almost brought the gymnasium’s roof down!

During proceedings, Dr Wattam proposed this year’s Luceat Award recipient, Old Boy and current Director of Co-curricular Mr Steven Fochesato (’84). Mr Fochesato received the award for his outstanding contribution to the educational and co-curricular pursuits of St Patrick’s College, his selfless dedication benefitting generations of young men who attend here.

This year’s Speech Day once again showcased the wonderful talents of students and staff in various musical, dramatic, choral and audio-visual presentations. Although we had to celebrate a little differently, our mantra of; ‘if we can, we will’ shone through. If there is one thing we can take away from 2020, it is that at the heart of everything is community, the people we love and the interactions we have. And what a wonderful community we have!