Boarding News

As a large boarding school for boys, one of our main aims is to provide a broad range of activities for the boarders to enjoy. This keeps our boys from having lots of idle time, helps them to mix with other students and staff and allows them to experience all that our campus has to offer, as well as lots of other external opportunities and events. I’d like to publicly acknowledge the great work of our Recreation Officer, Mr Blair Whitlock who plans and implements a fantastic range of activities for our boarders. 

Within the boarding program we have a number of clubs to appeal to the varied interests of the boys. The boarders in our younger year levels are required to participate in one club per term which occupies them an afternoon a week doing something of their choice. This term we have the following clubs for the boarders: Art Club, Jam Club, Golf Club, Cooking Club, Mountain Biking Club and the Go Karting Club. In addition to this, we have the Music Practice Rooms open and supervised for boarders two nights a week to allow boys to further their interest in music after hours.

We also have a diverse range of recreation activities for boarders on weekends. Just last weekend we had an internal volleyball competition, games in the gym, the pool was open on two occasions, an excursion to the Reds vs Rebels game at Suncorp Stadium and there was a day trip to the Gold Coast on Sunday. This is an example of an average weekend offering and this is on top of AIC sport that most of our boarders play. 

The boys are asked regularly to provide feedback on the activities being provided so that we can try our best to offer things which the boys really enjoy. The boarders are very fortunate to have so many things to enjoy which help to enhance the overall experience for them at Marist Ashgrove. 

This coming weekend is scheduled as a Boarders Free Weekend to allow many of our boys to head home or to take leave with friends or family. This Free Weekend goes from the afternoon of Friday 25 February – Monday 28 February. Parents, please ensure you log leave requests on the Reach platform to ensure plans are communicated to all parties. It is important that all boarders planning weekend leave complete their commitment to their sporting team before departing on leave. Boarders need to be back in Residences no later than 8:00pm on Monday night. Of course, boarding will remain open for all boarders who are not planning to take leave this coming weekend.

As we reach the mid-point in the term, I have urged all the boarders to look at their upcoming assessment and prepare well. Many are making good use of the tutors in the evenings which is pleasing to see, as well as our Teacher Librarians (Mrs Stirling and Mrs Crowley) who provide fantastic support with the Study Skills lessons and the resource guides produced for each piece of assessment. There is plenty of support for the boarders here at school and we challenge all the boys to put in their best effort with all school work.

As always, please contact your son’s Boarding Coordinator or me directly if we can be of assistance with your son.

Around the Grounds

La Valla Residence

Being away from family is often very difficult, but the pain is eased through new experiences and opportunities that are different and exciting. This week the incredible recreation program gave the boys a taste of things to come, our boys from remote locations were wide-eyed as they approached Suncorp Stadium to watch the Reds play on Saturday night, for some of them the scale of the stadium was beyond their expectations. For some of our inland boys the opportunity to swim on the Gold Coast was very new and Miss Gracey was grateful for the opportunity to see the smiles and laughs as they played in the surf together. With these opportunities comes some responsibility and although they are young, the La Valla 2022 boys have been exceptional in their compliance to Mr Sedgwick’s strict check-in rules and organisation for recreation activities. Many parents and guardians would not only be so proud of their boys but also very surprised with what they are capable of!

As the La Valla family, we always try to celebrate important milestones and achievements, we celebrated our first dorm birthday with Sean Manning sharing a cake with his La Valla brothers. All boys will have a cake to share with each other during their time in La Valla. We celebrated Cedric being named our first ‘Boarder of the Week’ and we celebrated many wins in sport over the weekend. This coming week will see a shift in intensity as assessment starts rolling in. Boys will be well supported by our tutors and have opportunities to receive help from the CLE but this first assessment period will be difficult as we learn to manage our academics.

Montagne Residence - written by Tim Tully

It was an interesting turnout with sport this week. Some games were cancelled due to rain. Congratulations to the A’s Volleyball and both Internal Boarders Volleyball teams on winning their games on Friday and Saturday.

Academically, we congratulate Toby Forbes and Isaac McDonnell (Year 8) on getting Outstanding Achievement Awards and Head Master Awards. We also congratulate Ignatius Hallman (Year 9) on receiving an Outstanding Achievement Award. These guys put in a huge effort with study so it is good to see it pay off for them.

On Sunday the boys went to Broadbeach and had a swell time catching waves and getting boxes of Oreo’s for a dollar each. Some of the boys went to the Reds game on Saturday night to see the Reds destroy the Rebels. Despite being rained on, the boys enjoyed themselves. Sunday Mass this week was unusual as we had it down at the John Eales Grandstand and had a barbecue dinner and soft drink afterwards.

A happy birthday to Noah Beck. Noah received a Battlebots game for his birthday and it has become a competition in the dorm to see who is the best. We also had Ms Wasson celebrate her birthday this week too.

Hermitage Residence

With the revised start to the school year it is hard to believe we are entering Week 5. Application and effort continue to grow throughout the residence and there is a wonderful tone of determination during evening study. This tone is important as we hit the midpoint of the Term with assessment starting to roll in. Our library study skills program commenced last week with our Year 10 boys maximising the opportunity to review, Reflection, SWOT analysis and their Assessment Calendar. Our Year 9 boys head along this week to review their Assessment Calendar and tips on prioritising work. Congratulations to the following boys who have been working hard on maintaining good habits around ensuring their personal areas are well organised; Luca Martinuzzi, Monte Andrews, Riley Gillece, Marcus Paulsen, Paddy Bassani and EJ Bowen. We welcomed the following tutors to Hermitage last week;

• Roxanne Rosenberg: Head of Middle School Teaching and Learning - Area Middle/Senior Curriculum
• Corey Lucas: Studying Education - Area HPE/Maths
• Tom Molley: Studying Medicine - Area English, Maths, Science
• Georgia O’Donnel: Studying Education - Middle Years General
• Will Burkett: Studying Education - Area English, HPE, Humanities
• Will Curr: Studying Engineering - Area English, Maths, Science, Religion
• Michelle Carey: Teacher - Area English, Humanities

An amazing array of knowledge for our boys to tap into. These staff work at various times during our Study 1 session (6:30pm-8:00pm) Monday to Thursday. With the upcoming boarder’s free weekend many boys are looking forward to spending time with family and friends.

Fourviere Residence

The Fourvière lads managed to remain resilient throughout what has been a challenging week for the residence. Several of the crew spent some time at home isolating while others were required to relocate to the isolation wards on campus. I commend those boys who have all had the difficulty of spending time out of the residence and we eagerly welcomed their return as they began to filter back in this week. For those who did manage to remain healthy, there was the opportunity for the ‘hive’ to find voice mid-week as they threw their full support behind the 1st XVIII Australian Rules team who played on Tuesday evening against St. Laurence’s and then again on Friday against Villanova. 

Following a wash-out match last week, the mighty 6ths Cricket team were keen to get on the park and did so in style with a convincing win over the Padua 4ths. Congratulations to Alex Masel for his resolute 38 not out which set up the win. Finally, we capped off the weekend with another wonderful outdoor Mass which was followed by an ‘al fresco’ BBQ dinner for the whole boarding community, many thanks to Fourvière supervisors, Mr Winchester, Mr Hardy, Mr Toomey and Mr Lynch for their efforts in assisting with the cooking and serving of the meal.

Br Terence Residence

Another busy week in the residence saw our senior boarders continue to adjust to the routines of boarding life and also to familiarise themselves with our new Boarding Supervisors who have joined us in the residence. This year we have welcomed Mr Josh Dennis, Mr Willem Baines and Mr William Burkett as members of our residence staff. These supervisors along with our academic tutors have already played an important role in supporting all of our Year 12 boarders to make a positive start to their final year.

During the week, Fletcher McMillan celebrated his birthday and the surprise birthday cake that arrived proved popular with some of the boys who were fortunate enough to celebrate with Fletcher.

Last Friday afternoon, all of our Year 12 boarders travelled out to support our senior AFL team in their fixture against Villanova College. Despite enduring the thunderstorm that ended the game, the vocal support was well received by our Br Terence representatives on the AFL team: James O’Connor, Gilbert Donaldson, Patrick Mahony, Archie Forbes, Isaac Gay and Sam Chetham.

Saturday saw many of the boys actively involved in cricket and volleyball fixtures with Angus Blomley top-scoring for the Year 12 boarders’ cricket team with 57 not out. The week ended with the boys enjoying the Sunday evening BBQ following an earlier than usual Mass, which provided an excellent way to conclude a busy week in the dorm.

Recreation Report

Last week saw the beginning of the club’s program which had boys taking part in extra activities such as basket weaving, additional music practices, mountain biking, a trip to the golf driving range and cooking club amongst other things. The internal volleyball competition also started with around 50 boarders from Year 7 - 9 playing their first set of games on Friday afternoon. There are several budding rivalries throughout the dorms and we look forward to Round 2 next week.

The Year 10-12 lads assembled the Hive on Friday afternoon and headed over to Grange to support the AFL 1st’s against Villanova. After a difficult first half, the heavens opened and the game was unfortunately cancelled by AFL QLD. The boys had their usual Friday evening pizzas that night before heading up to the gym for some basketball and volleyball before bed.

As usual, the dorms were quiet on Saturday morning as boys headed out for their various sporting fixtures. The rain was lingering again but fortunately, most games were completed with a mixture of reports coming back from the AFL and Cricket lads. After an afternoon swim in the pool, we had a feed and headed down to Suncorp Stadium for the Reds first game of the season. The weather gods turned on us as we endured an absolute soaking in the second half. The Reds handled the conditions better than the Rebels and ran out 23-5 winners in the end. We were lucky to have Mr Grealy along and his brother Mac came over to chat with the boys after the game. Dom Forbes was also lucky enough to snag one of the forwards headgear! It was well worth the visit despite the rain and several boys first time inside a stadium of this size.

On Sunday morning we jumped on a 70-seater and headed down to the Gold Coast for our first beach trip of the year. Broadbeach was the destination and there was plenty going on with the Kurrawa Markets in full swing. The boys enjoyed digging holes, building sandcastles and some even went for a swim! It was a beautiful day and there were plenty of tired bodies on the bus ride home. The week finished off with another mass at the grandstand before a Sunday BBQ.