Primary News

Dear Primary Families,

As members of a Marist community, we are so fortunate to have the story of St Marcellin Champagnat to guide us as we navigate the uncharted waters that lie ahead of us this year. Marist spirituality is underpinned by our five core characteristics that are common to all Marist Ministries, they are:

• Presence – building caring relationships based on trust, respect and valuing each person.
• Simplicity – open and honest communication which accommodates individual needs.
• Family Spirit – emphasis on communal wellbeing where mutual support and shared responsibility flourish.
• Love of Work – pursuit of excellence through hard work and commitment. Recognition that the dignity of work is achievable by setting high expectations and standards, applying genuine effort and celebrating success.
• In the way of Mary – with Mary as a model, students are invited to share Marist spiritual life through prayer, liturgies and service to the local and wider communities.

These characteristics are very purposefully displayed on the entry to the Primary School, as a visual reminder to the boys of the pillars that unite us as a Marist family. Now it is one thing for these words to be displayed and another for them to be witnessed. It gives me great pleasure to say that, just over two weeks into our return to school, I have seen each of these characteristics lived out authentically by our staff and students. The challenge now is to ensure that this continue for the year ahead.

Academic Awards

At last week’s College Assembly, we celebrated academic achievement across the College for Semester 2, 2021. In particular, it was great to welcome back our 2021 graduates who had attained the top 10 highest ATAR results at the College. 

It is my hope that celebrating the success of our oldest students provides motivation for our Primary boys to follow in their footsteps and implement good study habits in their important foundational years at the College.

As part of the assembly, the following Year 6 boys were acknowledged for their success on their Semester 2, 2022 reports:

Academic Achievement Awards 

(4A’s or better and nothing lower than a B in the five core subjects) 

Ted Armstrong, Will Broughton, Cormac Deady, Eoin Doyle, Michael Jones, Reilly Keane, Kayden Kyoung, Connor O’Rourke, Harry Player, Royden Power, Andrew Vetter, Henry Walker, Will Webster

Head of College Awards

(all A’s in the behavioural and application criteria in Semester 2, 2021)

Berrick Barlow, Isaac Bell, Oliver Blakemore, James Burt, Hunter Chan-Riotto, Lachlan Cook, Willem Ferguson, Darcy Frazier, Charlie Kelly, Isaac Long, William Marshall, Aidan Marshall, Cooper Norlander, Eamon Reeves, Remi Sakzewski, Jesse Walter, Sam Warren

Academic Achievement and Head of College Awards

Jack Davis, Christian Manning, Thomas Ryan, Thomas Shaxson, Tim Watts

Absences

Thank you to all our families who have quickly transitioned to using the Parent Lounge to notify of your son’s absence from school. This information is essential in assisting us to keep track of students who are absent and how long they are absent for. Even if parents have notified their class teacher via e-mail, this process is still to be completed.

Students who are required to isolate as close contacts can contact their teachers for work. Please note, if your son is unwell for any reason, their focus should be on getting better.

Reminders

• Next Monday 28 February is a Student Free Day. During this day our staff will be engaging in professional development. 
• Any students who are displaying flu-like symptoms at school will be sent to Primary Reception where their parents will be contacted immediately to collect them. These students will be provided with a Rapid Antigen Test. With this in mind, it is important to check that your contact details are up-to-date on the ParentLounge.

From the Primary Learning Leader – Ms Jen Little

Student Extension Programs in Primary

We are currently in the process of identifying students who are potential candidates for external extension in the areas of Mathematics and writing. Parents have been notified of their child’s inclusion in Maths extension. Extension program offers for writing will be emailed over the next week. Selection in these programs is based on specific criteria and continuation in the program is conditional on consistent application in class and continued academic excellence. Whilst these withdrawal programs are a fantastic opportunity for selected students, it is important to note that if your son is not selected, it does not mean they are not extended within the classroom. Our teachers do a fantastic job of differentiating the curriculum so that we are meeting the needs of all students. This way, students are feeling both challenged and supported. 

Assessment Calendars

Information about how to create assessment calendars has been sent out on the College App. You can also find this information below. 

Each individual (parent and student) is able to generate their own assessment calendar based on their own subject enrolments. To access, log in to Parent Lounge and select ‘Curricular Activities’ on the ‘Student Details’ Menu. Once there, if you have multiple boys at the College, you can choose a different student by using the drop-down box next to their name. To access this, go to the Calendar Tab and select e-diary. Again, you can select which son you are looking at and in the Calendar feed on the right-hand side of the screen, tick ‘Curricular Activities’. This shows the date the task is distributed, when the draft is due and what the final submission date is. By clicking on these entries you will access more details. 

Primary Sport - Mr John Lambourne

Achievements

• Congratulations Nick Osborn who recently won 2 gold medals at the Queensland State Sprints Swimming Titles;
  1st 11 Years 50m Freestyle – 28.50
  1st 11 Years 50m Butterfly – 30.71
  5th 11 Years 50m Breaststroke – 38.80
• Congratulations Cooper Chapman who recently qualified for the State Championships while competing for Alexandra Heads at the Sunshine Coast Branch Championships.
  Cooper finished with 6 medals;
  1st (Branch Champion) U11 Beach Flags
  1st U11 Boys Sprint relay
  1st U11 Boys Board relay
  2nd U11 Mixed sprint relay
  2nd U11 Boys swim relay
  3rd 2 x 500m sprint
  5th Sprint Final

• As a College, we want to recognise the achievements of our students in the sporting world. We will be notified and aware of student achievements in official College sporting endeavours and we will celebrate these, but for external and club sport achievements of a significant nature, we would like to recognise these as well. If your son achieves a selection or success at state or national level, please contact primarysports@marash.qld.edu.au with as much information as you can and provide and a photo if possible.

Cricket

AFL

Term 1 Swimming

MCA Primary Swim Squad training sessions continue Monday and Wednesday afternoons throughout Term 1. These sessions are open to all boys, boys wishing to qualify for the AIC Swimming Team, and boys attending for fitness training; there is no obligation to attend AIC meets in Term 1 2022. 

Boys attending these sessions will need to bring the following equipment.

• Goggles
• Kickboard
• Pull Buoy
• Short Flippers 
• Mesh Bag

Year 5 and 6 MCA Swim Squad Training Timetable Term 1

Sports Photographs

We are always on the lookout for photos and action shots to be used for the Blue & Gold, other College publications, season or end-of-year wrap-ups etc. Please follow this link and add your photos - Marist College Ashgrove Primary Sports Photos.

Pick-up Arrangements - “Plan B”  

It is important that you are aware of the pick-up procedures if you are running late. Sport training sessions finish by 4:45pm. We ask that boys are picked up at this time, or soon after. Any boy who is still at their training venue at 5:00pm will be directed to the Boarding Reception area so that he may be collected from there. In the case of bus arrivals, boys will be sent to Boarding Reception 15 minutes after the arrival time of the bus. 

College App

Please ensure that you download the College App to your smartphone. This app will be used weekly to inform you of sporting fixtures, cancellations and bus arrival information.

For further information please do not hesitate to contact me;

John Lambourne - primarysports@marash.qld.edu.au