Boarding News

The main driver for families who choose to send their child to boarding school is to provide greater educational opportunities. The academic pathway of each boarder is the focus of most weeks spent residing on campus whether this be classes during the day or study time at night. This driver of opportunity has certainly been echoed through recent enrolment interviews with prospective boarding families. Opportunities can take shape in many different forms for each individual.

However, as we know, there are also many other benefits to boarding that can significantly enhance the overall experience and have a life-long impact on a boy’s educational journey.

We are very aware of this in the boarding school and recognise that boarding itself, at some point, presents its struggles for all boys let alone the ups and downs of their own individual lives. On the flip side, the nature of boarding affords an inordinate amount of opportunities for every boy to develop holistically and pursue their own interests and dreams.

The Year 12 boarders are quickly coming to the end of this journey. The next few weeks will no doubt provide moments of reflection as they perhaps contemplate the manner in which they have grabbed the opportunities that have laid before them. No doubt many will finish quite satisfied, others perhaps will ponder did I make the most of the opportunities on offer. Regardless, all are one step closer to taking the next opportunity.

This is a good reminder for all our boarders. The end of the school year is rapidly approaching and it is never too late to try something new, ask for help or even make some extra sacrifices. The challenge in the coming weeks will be about maximising time, effort and organisation to ensure personal best.

Reflection

Denzel Washington - Fall Forward

Around the Grounds

La Valla Residence

The La Valla men may have just mastered boarding life, it has taken 3 terms for many of them! This week saw some of the boys attending CLE sessions without prompting, some would assist with jobs or clean up without being asked, many had rooms in immaculate condition. Mr and Mrs Sedgwick reviewed the Term 3 grades compared with Semester 1 and there was some improvement for every single La Valla student across subject areas. It may be possible that the boys have learned the core skills required to thrive at Marist College Ashgrove and most specifically as a boarder! We welcomed another three boys to Transition Sleepovers this weekend, we are very excited about the commitment these boys have shown to learning the rules and understanding the ethos of La Valla. There was yet another fabulous weekend of recreation including a beach trip to Alexandra Headland. An absolute highlight of the day was watching the La Valla boys link arms and take on the waves as a group. No matter how much they were smashed by the surf they kept getting back up! A big shout out to Ms Earley who managed to return every single boy to the dorm without the slightest hint of sunburn. With a group of 12-year-old boys, this is a level of vigilance that is to be admired!

Montagne Residence

The rainy week limited the number of touch sessions after school and after dinner this week. It wasn’t too bad overall, but patchy enough to annoyingly stop games most afternoons. The big focus in study sessions over the past week has been HPE, Geography and Design. The HPE topic of Nutrition has started some good conversations about healthy foods and what to avoid. It seems that most of the dorm know which foods are good for them and which are unhealthy, however, choose the latter because of taste anyway. Overall study was much improved in Week 4 and the tutors from A Team were mostly positive in the summary of the sessions.

It was lovely to have our second sleepover boy for the year come for a couple of nights. Finn Brennan (brother Xavier, Year 10) will be calling the dorm home for 2022. He becomes the third Finn in the residence which shouldn’t add any more confusion! He was treated to indoor cricket, Gym and the beach for his weekend. It was lovely once again to see the Montagne gents make him feel welcome – he is almost a part of the furniture already. Fortnite (no that’s not a misprint) also got a run this weekend with a group laptop game being played over the weekend. What’s old is new again it seems. The boys have been spoken to about their addictive behaviours recently, in particular, phone usage and specifically further into this, their time on the app TikTok. They all laugh about it when spoken, however trying to get them off the app is proving tough at times.

Hermitage Residence

Written by Ryan ‘Johno’ Johnson

At the start of the week, the boys had a nice Sunday mass followed by the dorm meeting. A new ritual for the meeting involved the boys getting hyped for when Morgo (The alpha of the dorm:) connects his laptop to the big screen and uses a random name selector wheel and allocates 7 lucky boys who get the privilege of doing a job for the week ahead.

During the week, some of the boys have committed to training by getting up in the mornings and going to the gym or running. Some of the boys have started to have AFL, Volleyball, Touch, and Cricket training as well, where boys have been showing their dedication to their sport by training hard and being the best they can be. They will soon have trials to try and make AIC teams and share their talents.

On Saturday, some boys went out to St Laurie’s College and showed off their touch skills (Lachy Manning, Ryan Johnson) in a Touch Football tournament. Some people would say Ryan was the bread to Lachy’s butter. But even with the skill of these two, they had a loss in the semi-final going down 5-6 to Iona. The boys played hard with their phenomenal ankle-breaking Gooseys (Step).

On Sunday, some boys made the trip up to Alexandra Heads where we got to spend part of the day at the beach. Unfortunately, it was a mixed day with Kyran Bryant coming off second best against the Sun and Marcus Paulsen unsuccessfully trying to make friends (female) on the beach. We had two boys (Lachlan McKellar and Lachlan Williams) joining the dorm for the weekend and we enjoyed getting to know the boys.

Fourviere Residence

A spate of humid and stormy weather has not dampened the spirits for the Fourvière lads. There was plenty on this week including work experience, driving lessons through the local streets, Day for Daniel celebrations and the steady loom of assessment deadlines, as we race towards the end of the year. A good number of the crew took advantage of a hot and humid Sunday with a trip to the beach. The boys are looking forward to a shortened week this week with the public holiday on Friday, many will take the opportunity for a brief mid-term break.

Special mention to those who have represented the College at the final sports competitions of the year, in the Touch we had Chastyn Creek, George Wood, Zeke Esler, Hunter James, Jack Haddad, Cody O’May, Hamish Wilson, Atticus Armstrong and Keli Law-Palm all lacing up the boots, while birthday boy Harry Condon was in the pool for the water polo team.

It was great to have Ryan Kucsak back, released from a locked-down Lightning Ridge and we were thrilled to welcome new Year 10 weekly boarder Josh Glen to the cohort.

Br Terence Residence

The past week saw our Year 12 boarders begin to experience many aspects of College life for the final time. They attended their Pastoral Group and House gatherings for the final time, they have concluded their Masterclasses, attended their final College Assembly and have taken the opportunity to thank the staff who have helped them along the way at the Year 12 Boarders and Staff dinner. There is much excitement in the residence as the end of their school journey is fast approaching but the reality of the exams ahead has also prompted many into action. It has been pleasing to see so many Year 12s applying themselves to their studies on a consistent basis over the past week. On behalf of the boarding staff, we certainly wish them well for their external exams. A special congratulations also need to go to Ishy Bond for securing his apprenticeship with Isuzu. Well done, Ishy!

Our Year 11 boarders have shown great enthusiasm this week to engage wholeheartedly in College life as they begin their leadership of the College. Ethen Tsiamalili delivered a stirring speech outlining his vision for the year ahead and the announcement of Connor Lyons as College Vice-Captain – Sport was a popular decision amongst the boys in the residence. In and around the dorm, a number of the boys offered their assistance at the Year 12 Boarders & Staff dinner which was greatly appreciated by all involved. With pre-season trials and training commencing for the 2022 AIC sporting season, it has been great to see a large number of our Year 11 boarders being active and participating in all that the College has to offer. This high level of involvement is a strong characteristic of the Year 11 cohort that will see them set a fine example for other year groups in the boarding school next year.

Boarding Recreation - Mr Blair Whitlock

The weekend started off with a huge boarder’s afternoon tea provided by the Parent Support group. The food doesn’t last long and it’s always a great way to start the weekend! Thanks very much to Dany, Kylie and the whole support group for their generosity! Later that night we took a group out to Hendra for a couple of hours at Urban Extreme. It’s based in a huge warehouse out near the airport and was a great alternative to our usual Bounce trips. The boys had access to laser tag, ninja warrior, parkour, rock climbing, trampoline parks and a dodgeball arena which kept them busy!! It was nice to have a group from Somerville join us on the night too. 

Saturday morning saw many of our boarder’s head out early for the AIC Touch Football Tournament. Lauries were hosting the day at their Runcorn fields and the boys had a great time by all accounts. It was another scorcher and we had a fairly relaxed afternoon given that a beach trip was coming up on Sunday. Some boys chose to get some extra study in while we made the most of the facilities at school. An indoor cricket game was followed by an afternoon swim before some evening games in the gym.

With 35 degrees on the forecast, it was a great day for a beach trip on Sunday. We decided to head up to Alex Heads for something a little different which the boys certainly enjoyed. Most of the boys spent the majority of the day boogie boarding, bodysurfing and soaking up some sun. Meanwhile, a small group managed to get three balls, two cricket bats and a jandal stuck in a tree while trying to retrieve a volleyball. All of which was eventually dislodged! All in all, another busy weekend in the books as we head into week four already!