From the Head of College

“Where is He Going?”

This Sunday, we celebrate the most important day in the calendar year – Easter. This follows the events of Holy Week: Palm Sunday where Jesus is acclaimed as King, to the Last Supper on Thursday evening when Jesus eats for the last time with his friends and forms a loving covenant with them, to Good Friday when Jesus is nailed to the cross and finally to the joy and hope of the resurrection on Easter Sunday. This week is an undulating journey of triumphalism, remembrance, love, fear, pain, suffering, joy, and hope. I encourage all members of the Marist family to enter fully into these stories and listen with your heart.

A year ago, I buried my own father. It was a difficult time that I am sure many of you have endured. One of my clearest memories of the day was at the gravesite. My 3-year-old son walked over to the burial site and looked down the hole to where his granddad was being lowered. It was touching to watch as he waved to him, but I was anxious that he was going to fall in and join Dad down there. Then suddenly, he turned to the congregation and yelled out – “where is he going?” These words are so prophetic, out of the mouth of a babe. Yes, exactly, where is he going? My dad’s death was certainly a test of my own faith, as I endured the death of someone so close. On these devastating and difficult occasions, it is up to each of us to reach deep inside ourselves and conjure a faith from deep within – a faith in the clear message and example of our God. This faith is the belief in Jesus’ saving act of his death and resurrection. Now in return, we believe in the promise that at one’s death, we too, will now join our loving God with arms embracing, into an everlasting life forever.

To conclude, I share with you a profound poem that Fr Alatini Kolofo’ou (College Chaplain) shared with boarding boys at Sunday Mass recently. The poem is written by Caryll Houselander and is entitled the Kiss of Christ. As Fr Alatini Kolofo’ou instructed the boys, I invite you to read this poem while reminiscing on the image of the cross.

Loving God, may we, as united members of the Marist Family, be strengthened by this Easter celebration in the faith of your loving goodness and everlasting promise of eternal reward. Amen.

Covid Update

Advice 

• The Queensland Premier and Chief Health Officer advised this morning that Greater Brisbane has recorded 8 new cases of COVID-19. As a result, Greater Brisbane (including the Brisbane, Logan, Moreton Bay, Ipswich and Redlands LGA areas) continue to be locked down for three days.

Marist College Ashgrove Response 

• Our school will therefore be closed for a three-day period from Tuesday 30 March 2021.
• During this three-day period, the school will however remain open for vulnerable children and children of essential workers.
• Marist College Ashgrove will continue to provide teaching and learning through “Microsoft Teams” or student email for these three days. Students are to wear their uniform during Teams lessons.
• The completion of exams and assessments will occur during these days.
• All school facilities will not be available during the lockdown period.
• During this time, all on-site sports and extracurricular activities will also be postponed.
• Students on-site during this period will not be required to wear face masks.
• Some staff will attend on-site to support those children still attending school.
• The College Counsellors are available during these three days counsellors@marash.qld.edu.au.

Year 12 Reports

• Due to this lockdown, the Year 12 reports will now be distributed in Week 3, Term 2, 2021. The reason for the delay is that due to some teachers now working from home, moderation of tasks between classes has not been able to occur. Moderation will now occur at the commencement of Term 2 when we expect all staff to return to the College. If you require a progress report of your son's grades prior to the holidays, please contact his teacher via email (surnamefirstinitial@marash.qld.edu.au) before 2:00pm this Thursday 1 April.

Health Response into the Future 

• Marist College Ashgrove will continue its cleaning regime, including an extra clean daily of all doorknobs.
• As a reminder, while the school is closed, it is important that we all continue to follow state-wide recommended hygiene and physical distancing measures throughout this period and to stay within our homes as much as possible.
• If you are unwell or develop any COVID-19 symptoms at all, please get tested immediately.
• If you have been to any of the listed affected locations you should refer to the online self-assessment, get tested, isolate immediately and contact 13 HEALTH (13 43 25 84) if you have any questions.
• I would also encourage you to continue to refer to general information as provided on the Queensland Health website. It is important that we all continue to focus on our own wellbeing and mental health and there are some great resources and information tools available on this website.

Masks

• Masks are not required to be worn by students and staff at school. In Greater Brisbane, masks must be worn on public transport or in some situations e.g. staffrooms where social distancing is not possible.

Intrastate and Interstate Travel

• Greater Brisbane is a declared hotspot by Queensland authorities. Parents and staff should also be reminded of the risk interstate travel may have on them re-entering Queensland at the end of the holidays.

I will continue to provide any further updates as appropriate. I thank all parents/guardians for your support as we embark on this temporary closure. I look forward to resuming our normal school operations for students, after the Easter holidays, on Tuesday 20 April.

Easter Liturgy

On Monday afternoon, the College assembled for an Easter Liturgy. This liturgy reflected on the passion and resurrection of Jesus. This liturgy provided a reflective time for the boys and an opportunity to ponder on that which is central to our faith. The liturgy concluded by encouraging the boys to spend time this holiday period in prayer and encouraging the boys to visit their local celebrations of the Easter story. I thank Mr Luke McMahon, Head of Mission, for organising and facilitating this liturgy for the boys.

Progress Grades and Parent-Teacher Interviews

All parents can access the progress of their son by viewing their results and associated comments on the Parent Portal. Access to these can be found on the Student Café and the Parent Lounge once released. If you are having trouble logging in to access or if you are having trouble connecting to this site simply contact the IT helpdesk on computerservice@marash.qld.edu.au.

This progress reporting will be followed by parent-teacher-student interviews to be held in both the face to face and Microsoft Teams formats. Face to face interviews will occur on Monday, 19 April from 12:00pm- 6:00pm. Virtual Interviews using Microsoft Teams, will be held on Wednesday 28 April from 3:30pm-8:00pm.

I sincerely encourage all parents to fully engage with all these forms of communication with the College. We truly value partnership with all parents to enable the best possible academic outcomes for your sons.

Staff Professional Development

On Monday 19 April, the staff will be undertaking professional development in the area of NAPLAN Administration training for the on-line NAPLAN testing that will be occurring for the first time at Marist College Ashgrove, in May. Staff need to be well prepared to administer these tests on-line and students comfortable to undertake them. I thank Ms Roxanne Rosenberg (Head of Data and Pedagogical Practices) and Mrs Angela Simpson (Head of Teaching and Learning) who are preparing these presentations for the staff.

Planned Holiday Activities 

Best wishes to our generous Marist College staff and students who will be involved in the following activities over the holiday period -

• Invitational Chess Tournament, held on Thursday 15 April for the boys who nominated to compete.
• 1st XI Football camp – 16 boys who are part of the 1st XI Football squad will gather at the College from 8:30am – 3:00pm from Thursday, April 15 – Friday, April 16. A game competing against Gregory Terrace at Tennyson will be held on Saturday, April 17. All aggregate football teams (A & B’s) will also play trial matches against Gregory Terrace on Saturday 17 April. Details will be posted on the Marist app for these trial matches.
• 1st and 2nd XV Rugby – 40+ boys as part of the 1st and 2nd XV Rugby Squad will gather from 9:00am – 5:00pm Friday 16 April – Sunday 18 April. A game will be held against Barker College, Sydney planned to be played at MCA on Saturday 17 April.
• Cross-Country – an invited 27 students will compete in the Gold Coast Running Festival on Sunday 18 April.

All boys involved are asked to keep abreast of the latest COVID-19 updates, via the Marist app, to see if any changes occur. Please stay tuned.

Holidays and Term 2

I wish all Marist families an enjoyable, safe, and reflective Easter holidays with your son and children.  I hope all boys have a refreshing holiday and are ready to resume school for Term 2 full of energy and excitement for a full term ahead. We are hoping and praying this will be COVID free. I look forward to seeing you all in Term 2.

Coming Events

Monday 19 April

• Staff Professional Development - 8:30am - 11:30am
• Parent-Teacher-Student Interviews (face-to-face) - 12:00pm - 6:00pm

Tuesday 20 April

• School resumes for students

Wednesday 28 April

• Parent-Teacher-Student Interviews (virtual) - 3:30pm - 8:00pm