St Patrick's Technical College, (also referred to as St Pat's Tech, St Patrick's), is a

technical college An institute of technology (also referred to as: technological university, technical university, university of technology, technological educational institute, technical college, polytechnic university or just polytechnic) is an institution of te ...

in the northern suburbs of

South Australia South Australia (commonly abbreviated as SA) is a state in the southern central part of Australia. It covers some of the most arid parts of the country. With a total land area of , it is the fourth-largest of Australia's states and territories ...

's capital,

Adelaide Adelaide ( ) is the list of Australian capital cities, capital city of South Australia, the state's largest city and the list of cities in Australia by population, fifth-most populous city in Australia. "Adelaide" may refer to either Greater A ...

. Opened in 2007 by the

Australian Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

as part of the Australian Technical Colleges program, it now operates as part of Catholic Education SA. St Patrick's offers a technical focused senior

secondary education Secondary education or post-primary education covers two phases on the International Standard Classification of Education scale. Level 2 or lower secondary education (less commonly junior secondary education) is considered the second and final ph ...

(Years 10, 11 and 12) and specialises in

vocational education Vocational education is education that prepares people to work as a technician or to take up employment in a skilled craft or trade as a tradesperson or artisan. Vocational Education can also be seen as that type of education given to an in ...

programs for students who wish to include a School-based

Apprenticeship Apprenticeship is a system for training a new generation of practitioners of a trade or profession with on-the-job training and often some accompanying study (classroom work and reading). Apprenticeships can also enable practitioners to gain a ...

(SbA) as part of their

South Australian Certificate of Education The South Australian Certificate of Education (SACE) is awarded to students who have successfully completed their senior secondary schooling in the state of South Australia. The SACE Board of South Australia (formerly known as the Senior Secondar ...

(SACE).

History

Australian Technical College – Northern Adelaide (2007-2009)

The Australian Technical Colleges (ATCs) Program was established by the

Australian Federal Government The Australian Government, also known as the Commonwealth Government, is the national government of Australia, a federal parliamentary constitutional monarchy. Like other Westminster-style systems of government, the Australian Government ...

in 2005. The Government established 24 ATCs across Australia to provide both

academic An academy (Attic Greek: Ἀκαδήμεια; Koine Greek Ἀκαδημία) is an institution of secondary or tertiary higher learning (and generally also research or honorary membership). The name traces back to Plato's school of philosophy, f ...

and vocational technical education. The Government's announcement stated that "each of the 24 chosen regions had a strong industry base with an identified skills need as well as a high youth population". The program ceased on 31 December 2009. In 2005, the Australian Government selected a partnership between the

Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide The Roman Catholic Archdiocese of Adelaide is a Latin Church metropolitan archdiocese of the Catholic Church in Australia located in Adelaide, South Australia. Cathedral St Francis Xavier's Cathedral, Adelaide is the seat of the Catholi ...

and the Northern Adelaide Industry Group to establish and operate the Australian Technical College – Northern Adelaide. Australian Technical College – Northern Adelaide commenced operations with 100 students in temporary facilities at Bishopstone Road, Davoren Park, in January 2007. In May 2008, operations moved to a $12 million purpose-built specialist facility, catering for up to 350 students, at Hooke Road, Edinburgh North.

St Patrick's Technical College (2009- )

In July 2009, the College governance and ownership passed to the South Australian Commission for Catholic Schools on behalf of the Archdiocese of Adelaide and was subsequently renamed St Patrick's Technical College. In commenting on the transfer, Director of Catholic Education SA, Jane Swift commented, "We highly value the partnerships formed with industry and the local community and are committed to continuing the educational opportunities technical colleges provide for young people." In August 2013, St Patrick's Technical College and

TAFE SA TAFE South Australia (TAFE SA) provides vocational education and training in South Australia. The acronym TAFE stands for Technical and Further Education and is used and recognised nationally throughout Australia. TAFE SA is a Registered trai ...

signed a strategic partnership to deliver training as part of the

South Australian Government The Government of South Australia, also referred to as the South Australian Government, SA Government or more formally, His Majesty’s Government, is the Australian state democratic administrative authority of South Australia. It is modelled o ...

''Skills for All'' initiative. 2020 is a breaking year for the college with the celebration of 1000 apprenticeship commencements since the college opened in 2007. By the year's end, the college's triumphs crushed the existing sign-up record of 90 apprenticeships, securing school-based and full-time apprenticeships for students across various trade industries. In 2021, the college expanded to offer Year 10. Opening its doors for the first time to Year 10 students eager to start their trade-focused secondary education and training options. In August 2021, St Patrick’s Technical College signed VET Agreements with new training providers to deliver quality training and assessment of the college’s VET programs for 2022. Registered Training Organisations (RTOs) PEER, Motor Trade Association (MTA), Adelaide Institute of Hospitality, and Adelaide Training & Employment Centre (ATEC) joined TAFE SA to provide exciting opportunities for students.

Programs

St Patrick’s Technical College is South Australia's only stand-alone Year 10 to 12 vocational education college. The college offers eight pre-apprenticeship trade programs, including Automotive, Construction, Electrotechnology, Food and Hospitality, Hair and Beauty, Information Technology, Metals and Engineering, and Plumbing.

Curriculum

The St Patrick's Technical College

SACE SACE may refer to: * South African Council for Educators (SACE) * South Australian Certificate of Education * Servizi Assicurativi del Commercio Estero (SACE SpA), Italian Export Credit Agency * Southern Alliance for Clean Energy See also *Supr ...

curriculum has been developed specifically to support the trades in which pre-vocational training is delivered. Core subjects (e.g. Mathematics, English, Science) are contextualised for each specific trade program with content input from industry in association with

. In addition, a minimum of six weeks of structured

Work Experience Work may refer to: * Work (human activity), intentional activity people perform to support themselves, others, or the community ** Manual labour, physical work done by humans ** House work, housework, or homemaking ** Working animal, an anima ...

is incorporated into the formal subject of ''Workplace Practices''.

Advanced Technology Project

St Patrick’s Technical College is the Curriculum Focus School for the ''Advanced Technology Project'', an initiative funded from the Australian Government by the

Department of Defence Department of Defence or Department of Defense may refer to: Current departments of defence * Department of Defence (Australia) * Department of National Defence (Canada) * Department of Defence (Ireland) * Department of National Defense (Philippin ...

and managed by the Department for Education and Child Development (DECD). The Advanced Technology Project combines secondary school studies that have a specific focus on high level maths and science with highly technical Vocational Education and Training (VET). This combination provides a training pathway towards achieving a nationally recognised vocational accreditation and the

at the same time.

Facilities

Automotive-Workshop-A.jpg, Automotive Workshop Automotive-Workshop-B.jpg, Automotive Workshop StPatsTech-Kitchen.jpg, Commercial Kitchen Construction-Workshop.jpg, Construction Workshop Electrical-Lab.jpg, Electrical Workshop Engineering-Workshop-A.jpg, Engineering Workshop Engineering-Workshop-B.jpg, Engineering Workshop Plumbing-Workshop.jpg, Plumbing Workshop

Awards

Institutional Awards

2019

* South Australian Training Awards - Finalist, VET Innovation for Schools Award

2018

* South Australian Training Awards - Finalist (with PMB Defence, Saab Australia, Century Engineering, TAFE SA and Defence Teaming Centre), Industry Collaboration Award - Northern Adelaide P-TECH Australia

2014

* National Growth Areas Alliance (NGAA) – Commendation, Skills Development - Developing Apprenticeship Skills in Northern Adelaide

2013

* South Australian Training Awards – Finalist (with DECD), Industry Collaboration Award – Applied Engineering program (Advanced Technologies Industry Pathways Program)

2011

* Schools First Local Impact Award –

Habitat for Humanity Habitat for Humanity International (HFHI), generally referred to as Habitat for Humanity or Habitat, is a US non-governmental, and nonprofit organization which was founded in 1976 by couple Millard and Linda Fuller. Habitat for Humanity is a C ...

program (Building & Construction)http://www.schoolsfirst.edu.au/2011-schools/st-patricks-technical-college

2010

* South Australian Training Awards – Finalist, VET in Schools Excellence Award –

program (Building & Construction) * South Australian Training Awards – Finalist (with

Rostrevor College , motto_translation = , coordinates = , established = , type = Independent primary and secondary day and boarding , gender = Boys , religious_affiliation = Catho ...

), VET in Schools Excellence Award, Indigenous program

References

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External links

St Patrick's Technical College website
Catholic schools in Adelaide High schools in South Australia