PRINCIPAL'S PEN

We have had many worthwhile and significant events at the College in the past weeks. Our Year 12s have enjoyed a wonderful reflective retreat, and our Year 7s have made many new friends at Quinola Lakes. CISSA sport has kicked off, we have had a most successful parent forum and a relaxed and welcoming new parent cocktail evening. Many of these events are outlined in the following pages.

Most significantly though on our calendar is the Commencement Mass and Commissioning Ceremony for our student leaders.

Commencement Mass

We were privileged to have Father Peter Miller preside over our Commencement Mass on Thursday 16  February. Fr Peter has moved to the warmer climate of Cairns to ease into retirement. Originally from country NSW, he spent the last 22 years as Parish Priest in Jindabyne. His homily struck a chord with me for many reasons, but one aspect that stood out was his reference to the beatitude, blessed are the poor in spirit. 

Blessed are the poor in spirit, for theirs is the kingdom of heaven.

Father Peter explained this beatitude as “an attitude of humbleness, to not get carried away with ourselves even if we are successful. Strive for success, but do not let it go to our heads and to keep our success in our hearts”.

My own question, following Father Peter’s reflection is this: how do we foster humbleness in our students when everything we do seems to be broadcast over social media? We put ourselves and our achievements out for all to see. It seems to be a challenge to be humble in today’s social media landscape.

Commissioning Ceremony

A special part of the Commissioning Ceremony is the presentation of captains ties to the prefects from their mothers. Mothers have a special place in our Marian tradition and as a Marist school we pride ourselves on the role mothers play in the lives of our young men. 

The tie itself has a special meaning in the St Augustine’s story. We saw this tangibly two weeks ago when Mr Richard Robins received an old boys tie as a gift from the College and how much this meant to him. 

There is also a significant ritual that the captains created themselves and have passed down from prefect to prefect.  Each captain since 2015, has written his name on a designated captains tie and handed it to his successor. A gesture of respect that they pass on something with meaning – their tie - demonstrates that they know that they are the custodians of these leadership positions and symbolically, pass those responsibilities to the next generation.

Custodian - “A person who has the responsibility of taking care of or protecting something”.

Those who have been commissioned this year have the honour of being custodians. We have been given these positions to be protectors and carers, of the traditions, the people, and the culture of St Augustine’s. 

CHATGPT and Academic Integrity

With the introduction of artificial intelligence (AI) applications such as ChatGPT, it is now more important than ever for students to prove that the assignment work they are submitting for assessment is actually their work. 

As per guidance we have received from QCAA, it is now the student’s responsibility to prove the work he is submitting is his, which can be done easily. Our teachers will be giving students numerous opportunities to provide evidence that they are working on their assessments. Teachers may use a variety of strategies, such as checkpoints, outlines, drafts, conversations, emails, etc., to authenticate students’ work.  Should your son avoid these strategies that teachers are using to authenticate his work, our teachers will be in contact with you.  

Authentication of student work must be established before the final due date.  If a student submits a final paper without having used the authentication strategies used by the teacher, the student may receive a Not Rated for the assessment.  Should that happen to students in Years 11 and 12, there could be significant ramifications to QCE and ATAR outcomes.  As long as our students are doing the right thing, there will be nothing to worry about. We will be updating our Academic Integrity Policy later this year to reflect this change. 

As new territory in education, we want to balance an openness to consider the possibilities that AI may provide for the sector whilst also taking a considered approach that acknowledges its potential risks or benefits.

Syria and Turkey – The Blue Marists

Last week, a 10-day-old baby was freed after spending almost five days trapped under rubble of the earthquake that struck Turkey and Syria. Yagiz Ulas was wrapped in a shiny thermal blanket and carried to a medical centre, his mother carried alongside him. The death toll from the catastrophic earthquake is expected to exceed 50,000.

The Marists have a presence in Syria in Aleppo. The Blue Marists are a group of young Marist Muslim and Catholic people who do a lot of volunteer ministry with young people in Aleppo. Unfortunately, Aleppo, where the Marist Blues are, is very badly affected: search and rescue teams have very limited supplies and people are literally digging with bare hands. There are thousands of casualties and still thousands more of people missing or homeless. The temperature at night drops to minus-four degrees Celsius. 

If you would like to donate, please go to this site: https://fmsi.ngo/en/earthquake-in-syria/                           

As a Marist family, let us pray with hearts combined for the people of Turkey and Syria.