Boarding News

Mr Ty Casey

On Sunday night at boarders’ Mass Fr. Tini spoke to the boys about the importance of faith. He challenged the boys on the notion of what if someone asked them what faith is, what would they say? How would they define faith? A lot of people would say that faith is having a set of beliefs. 

 

This journey of faith ebbs and flows, it can be a mixture of glamour and gloom and is ultimately driven by a desire, regardless of faith tradition or position, to search for meaning in life. The important thing is to continue forward along the path despite what setbacks, imbalances or disappointments are experienced along the way. 

 

In essence, Fr Tini was not just speaking about faith, but more importantly the journey and encounters along the way that shapes us. When considering the life of a boarder, his words are well placed. Boys come to board at Marist College Ashgrove with numerous hopes and dreams and a world of opportunities available to them. The task for the boys is to embrace these opportunities as they navigate their way through the inevitable challenges of adolescents.

 

As Term 3 draws to an end, the academic efforts of all boarders will be reflected in their reports. In one sense, these reports will provide an insight into the type of journey each boy is on, but what they won’t highlight are the specific ups and downs of day-to-day life they have encountered.

 

Whilst reports are a measure of progress, the real value of these documents lies in the opportunity to reflect and in turn put in place concrete strategies that will allow for continued development. Therefore, the boys are encouraged to never see their reports as the total sum of their capacity, no matter how pleasing or concerning they may be. The key is to keep on the journey of progress and not to view one’s full potential as a state that has been reached.

Darcy Knight - People's Choice – Student Award at the Tower Art Show
Joe Macqueen, Jove Smith, Bill Macqueen, Clancy Clemson
Sport Photographer - Hugo Tully
Saturday Sport
Saturday Sport
Saturday Sport
Saturday Sport
Saturday Sport
Sunday Night Mass
Sunday Night Mass
Sunday Night Mass
Sunday Night Mass
Darcy Knight - People's Choice – Student Award at the Tower Art Show
Joe Macqueen, Jove Smith, Bill Macqueen, Clancy Clemson
Sport Photographer - Hugo Tully
Saturday Sport
Saturday Sport
Saturday Sport
Saturday Sport
Saturday Sport
Sunday Night Mass
Sunday Night Mass
Sunday Night Mass
Sunday Night Mass

Reflection – Courage

The College motto Viriliter Age (Act Courageously) is a phrase that Marist boys are constantly challenged to incorporate into their daily lives. So, what does it mean to ‘Act Courageously’? Is it doing the right thing, helping out someone in need, standing up for someone or simply just maintaining a disciplined mindset towards one’s goals whilst others are giving up or allowing themselves to be easily influenced? It is probably all of these things to some extent.

 

It could be argued, though, that the essence of being able to truly reflect the College motto, ‘Act Courageously’ is freedom – the freedom to be oneself and to respond truthfully to each moment in life. And, what a challenge this is for adults, let alone groups of boys who live together in a boarding environment.

 

As we draw a close on yet another busy term in boarding, one that threw many COVID-19 challenges our way, I challenge the boys for the term ahead, how will they rise to the challenge of displaying courage.

Around the Grounds

La Valla Residence

As the term comes to a close, we begin to reflect on how far we have come this year. It is difficult to believe that there is only one term left in Year 7. Possibly one of our greatest developments is the ability to manage our academic workload. We have seen a significant improvement in our ability to cope with assessment time, organise our work and communicate with our teachers. These are important skills that, regardless of our natural academic abilities, will be useful throughout our time at Marist College Ashgrove.

 

The vegetable garden has become a very important place for some students, not just for the purpose of the competition but it has become a gathering space for some students to talk or for some to have a quiet place to go. The space is also being utilised by students from other dorms and it is great to see the boys coming together. It must be noted that the student garden beds are far superior to Mrs Sedgwick's in terms of growth, but there is some question as to whether all beds have the same sunshine advantage. All will be revealed come judgement time!

 

The rest of the week involved another beach trip with Mr Temperly, the opportunity to watch the rugby (Mr Sedgwick got his timings confused and would never have normally allowed such a late bedtime!) and the chance to write some thank you cards. So often in our busy world we forget to thank the people who have made a difference to our lives. So this week the boys were asked to choose one person from the school community that has made an impact on them this term. Some boys chose teachers, coaches, supervisors or support staff to thank. This is another life skill that we hope boys will always keep with them, the ability to express gratitude.

 

Montagne Residence

The week started off really well in Montagne with the residence celebrating Sean Green's birthday with cake and song. Unfortunately, Sean had a bit too much to eat and felt quite sick by the end of the night – A+ for effort though! With Week 9 being the major assessment time of the term, focus was on study. It was a huge study effort by the boys this week. They had their final sessions with A Team and were treated to study in the dorm on Wednesday and Thursday due to the 'Tower Art Show' which was held over the weekend. Hopefully, their study efforts are reflected in end-of-term reports.

 

Max, Sean, Kalan and Fin M have taken some time out of their busy week to practice for the upcoming Night on the Green. We are looking forward to seeing the finished product. There have been a few boys with a high temperature this week. A big thank you to the Health Centre staff who go above and beyond for our lads. They are genuine in their concern for all students but their efforts for our boarding boys this week were awesome!

One of the duty reports this week read that the boys put on an impromptu Papua New Guinea version of Harry Potter on Thursday morning. Not sure how this went, so possibly ask your sons. The boys have been constantly reminded this week to clean their rooms, yet 30 minutes later, they are messy and need to be cleaned again, can anyone relate?

 

Hermitage Residence - written by Nathan Lam

At the start of the week, we had a Science and English exam, and everyone was stressed about it. The dorm spent our evening study working together and revising for the exam. The exam was hard; however, we had tried our best to get a good grade. We hope that we did enough to demonstrate all that we had learnt this term and to make our parents proud.

The rest of the week we spent our time studying for our Math exam. Like the other exams, the boys made the most of our study session to make sure we were best prepared for our final exam for the term. It is a big relief to get through all our assessments and move another week closer to the holidays.

 

At the weekend we went to the beach, which was a good opportunity to get out and have some fun to celebrate the end of exams. It was great to be able to get to the shops and get some treats as well, including the dorm favourite - Slurpees! We met Landon and Braith at the beach as well. The beach was really fun and the weather was perfect for a swim. We had a great weekend and are all looking forward to the holiday break.

 

In sports news, the Year 9 Rugby League team finished off the season as AIC premiers. Well done to all of the boys for their efforts in representing the College this term.

 

Fourviere Residence - written by Alex Masel

A huge thank you to Alex Masel who has taken a look back at Term 3 for this week Around the Grounds! 

 

As we head into the final days of schooling, it comes time to recount and reflect on what has been Term 3 for 2021. 

 

It began well, with the most/all of Fourviere arriving back refreshed and hopeful for the term ahead. Happy to be all but free of the COVID-19 restrictions, the boys began to acclimatise themselves to boarding life. The early term brought many opportunities with sporting trials and Year 10 SET plan meetings happening in the initial few weeks. Not to mention the NAIDOC week commemorations and celebratory Year 11 visit to South Bank for the 2032 Brisbane Olympics.

 

Suffice it to say, the term started out lively as ever; however, soon enough the threat of COVID-19 worsened and by Saturday of Week 4 the boarding school was placed into a 'snap lockdown' that would last until the end of Week 5. Cocurricular activities and the coveted Ekka break were put on hold as boys instead continued their socially-distanced-schooling in the gym. But as the saying goes, "Out of adversity comes opportunity", and this was no different. Eager for a reprieve from the heavy restrictions and long days in front of a screen touch footy became a twice-daily occurrence. While many boys pursued an enthusiastic observance of the Olympic games bringing the dorm closer together in the process. 

 

Finally, after a week of lockdown, the boarding school emerged grateful for the return to routine. However, with assessment looming, there was no time to waste. Over the next three weeks the boys put their heads down in preparation for the Week 9 exam block, receiving drafts and studying hard. Soon it arrived and tension in the dorm rose as one by one boys knocked off their exams. As always this was a stressful time but rather than grow distant, Fourvière came together with boys studying the same subjects banding together to get the dorm over the line. This brings us to where we stand today.

 

This term has certainly been unusual but what has it been for the men of Fourvière? Well, efforts in sport have been valiant despite interruptions and efforts in learning haven't faltered. However, perhaps most importantly, rather than cause a rift the adversities faced have brought the boys closer together, creating a connected and resilient community ready to tackle Term 4. 

 

Enjoy the break and see you next term!

 

Br Terence Residence

This week saw our Year 12 boys return to the classroom after completing their mock exam block. Following a busy couple of weeks of study, the boys made the most of some additional downtime. James Thompson and Joe Macqueen worked with Senior Supervisor – Peter McIntosh to reconfigure the foyer of the residence with some new bookcases. On Tuesday evening, St Leo's Residential College from UQ spoke to all of our Year 12 boarders about College options for next year. While later in the week, a busload of our boys – both Year 12 and Year 11 – made the trek out to watch our resident bull rider in action at the Doomben rodeo on Friday evening. There was plenty of support on hand to cheer on Joe Macqueen throughout the night.

 

Over the weekend, the boys completed their Term 3 sporting commitments on Saturday, while some opted for the beach trip on Sunday. We also received some positive news on Sunday that Darcy Knight was awarded the People's Choice – Student Award at the Tower Art Show that took place over the weekend. Well done Darcy! A special thanks to Sam Schmidhauser, Patrick Mahony and Ethen Tsiamalili who volunteered their time to assist with the raffle draws at the Art show over the weekend.

 

The Year 11 boys spent the week busily preparing for and completing their exams. It was pleasing to see the effort that was displayed throughout the week and I hope that these efforts will be rewarded with their results. At the end of a hectic term, the boys are definitely ready for a well-earned break!

Boarding Recreation Report - Mr Blair Whitlock

It was certainly a busy final weekend of rec for the term. For something a little different, we headed out to Doomben on Friday night to watch our very own Joe MacQueen and Dwayne Ludwick ride in several events at the Country Rodeo. Most of the boys got their rodeo kit on with boots, belts and cowboy hats aplenty. This did spark some debate with several lads claiming that true country boys don’t dress up and that you don’t need a pair of RM’s to look the part! Joe and Dwayne had a good crack but were the unfortunate recipients of some particularly angry bulls! We managed to get up close to the pens, and the boys certainly made themselves heard as Joe and Dwayne rode out. The rides were also a hit, with Hugh Ford managing to squeeze in seven runs before leaving.

 

Saturday was the final round of the AIC with boys heading all over for their Basketball, Rugby League and Tennis matches. We loaded up the supporter’s bus and headed out to Sandgate for the Rugby League 1st XIII match against St Pats. After a back and forth game we had to settle for a 14-14 draw to finish the season. We got back to Marist around 2:00pm and headed out to the Blue Nurses for our usual weekend bike ride. We’ve formed a group of regulars over the term that love their weekend rides and are slowly getting more confident on the jumps and bowls! A pickleball tournament in the gym made for some interesting watching on Saturday before most boys retreated to the dorms for pizza and footy after a big day out. A small group headed out to Boondall for our traditional end of term ice skating trip. It was good to catch up with the other boarding schools there and get a good chunk of Term 4 rec pencilled in!

 

We finished the weekend with a trip to Mooloolaba alongside the other boarding schools. The Ironman had been on during the morning and we managed to catch the back end of it with the finish line nearby. The boys enjoyed a good day out in the sun and the opportunity to catch up with friends, sisters and cousins that some hadn’t seen all term! About half the bus was asleep on the way home before finishing the weekend up with Sunday Mass. It’s been a very stop-start term on the rec front but it was great to finish up with a busy weekend and a day at the beach! Fingers crossed we can avoid any lockdowns and hit the ground running in Term 4.