Boarding News

One of the main ways that boarding schools have changed over the years is that boarders are now allowed to take leave more frequently than was the case in the past. At Marist College Ashgrove we have leave procedures in place to allow boys to spend time away from school with family or friends. This ensures that boarding is flexible and compliments important time spent with others outside of school. Boarders are expected to fulfil their College academic and sporting obligations first, but once this is in order, boys are able to organise and request leave. 

Despite this opportunity to go out with a host, the majority of our boarders take very little leave and this indicates they enjoy the company of their friends at school and the activities on offer to them. Weekends are always busy with school sport and there is also a wide array of organised recreation activities for the boarders. Last weekend alone, the boarders could make woodfire pizzas, go to the Broncos game, go out to Eat Street for dinner with other boarding schools and spend Sunday at Movieworld. It’s no wonder they want to stay in!

I’d like to take this opportunity to remind boarding parents of some key points regarding leave:

• All requests for a boarder to go out on leave must be communicated at least 24 hours beforehand. For weekend leave, all leave requests need to be submitted on our Reach portal by Thursday night.
• As mentioned above, a boarder is only able to go out on leave once he has completed all College academic and sporting commitments.
• Hosts (other than parents) need to submit a Boarding Host Form to Boarding Reception before leave can be arranged for the first time. The parents of the boarder will be asked to approve this arrangement.
• Boarders must sign out with the staff member on duty before departing and sign back in with the staff member on duty as soon as they return.
• All boarders are expected to be back from weekend leave before Sunday evening Mass which commences at 6:00pm each week.
• any queries/concerns related to leave should be directed to your son’s Boarding Coordinator in the first instance

The academic calendar rolls on with our Year 11s just finished Unit One, our younger boys approaching the end of term exams and the Year 12s completing their final unit before they start preparations for the external exams. On Tuesday night (31 May), there was a Subject Information Night held at the College for Year 9 boys going into Year 10 (2023) and Year 10 boys going into Year 11 (2023). Knowing that many boarding parents would be unable to attend this important session with their son, the school is recording the presentation and this will be made available to boarding parents via the Parent Portal. This will be communicated once it is uploaded. Please reach out to your son’s Head of House or his Boarding Coordinator if you have any questions regarding subject choices.

Around the Grounds

La Valla Residence

Always Was, Always Will Be recognises that First Nations people have occupied and cared for this continent for over 65,000 years. We are spiritually and culturally connected to this country, this week we celebrated Reconciliation week within the College. 

Despite the weather, Term 2 continues to be the busiest period for co-curricular activities, with the majority of the dorm participating in rugby or football. This week also saw Jack Curtain represent Met North in Rugby Union, Congratulations Jack!! In addition to sport and music, it has also been great to see boys sign up for some of the Recreation activities that are on offer including tennis, fishing and cooking club. 

The boys continue to work hard in study with the majority appreciating the extra help from the amazing set of tutors La Valla has on offer. The boys are continually challenged to apply themselves in the study sessions to stay on top of homework but to also develop study skills that will no doubt aid in reducing the boy's stress levels as we head into the next couple of weeks. The boys are encouraged to seek help when required but also stay on task despite the various distractions that can shift their focus. 

Two and a half weeks to go. 

Montagne Residence written by Ewan Wood

Week Six was full of rain, fun and assignments for the boys in Montagne. With the ovals being closed for the majority of the week, the gents had to find other ways to let out energy. The main way this week involved basketball in the Gym and for some teams, rugby training in the Gym. As we headed into Round 5 of AIC sport, there were many disappointed boys as only the A’s and B’s for Year 8 got to play. With both the 8A, 8B, 9A, and 9C rugby teams being defeated, it was good to see the 9E’s and 9B’s (7-0) win over the strong Iona side. Special shout out to Jayden ‘JC’ Cole for scoring 2 tries in the 9E rugby match. Sunday saw most of the dorm head out to Movie World. The favourite ride was the Superman Escape and many boys pigging out on food – fairy floss was a big hit. With Term Three approaching, boys are beginning to sign up for the corresponding sports, as well as preparing for upcoming exams and assignments being due soon. Congratulations to Oliver Condon for being Boarder of the Week.

Hermitage Residence

Another week has flown by and it was certainly extremely pleasing to see the sun make an appearance and welcome return across Brisbane towards the back end of the week. This enabled the vast majority of our lads involved in rugby and football to enjoy a much-excited return to the playing fields both here and at Iona over the weekend. The conclusion of our Year 10 dancing program was without doubt a highlight of the week. With boys thoroughly enjoying the opportunity to step outside of their comfort zone. Personal areas and working hard on fundamentals continue to be an important focus within the dorm. Some of our boys need to continue to work hard in this space, with many others thriving. We were fortunate to welcome Lachie Doran to Hermitage over the weekend. Lachie joined us from Toowoomba for a boarding experience weekend with the hope of commencing in Semester 2. When talking with the family their feedback was, “highlights included, meeting new friends, heading to the footy and enjoying Movieworld, so you could say he enjoyed the entire weekend”. We certainly enjoy showcasing boarding to prospectus families. Basketball has gained popularity within the dorm with several boys making their way up to the outdoor basketball courts after school to shoot some hoops. This could be attributed to the upcoming AIC basketball season. This evening our Year 9 and Year 10 lads will attend 2023 subject selection evening to gain a greater insight into their chosen academic pathway for next year and beyond. 

Fourviere Residence

It was with great joy that we enjoyed the sight of and the warming rays of the sun for the first time in a few weeks. Finally, some drying out of the fields allowed for a return to training and a weekend of AIC football matches, resulting in some good wins across the board for all Open Rugby teams. A win in the AFL to the Fremantle Dockers over the Melbourne Demons has George Wood bouncing around the residence and chirping to anyone within earshot! A trip to Movie World along with the other boarding schools provided some great entertainment for the boys on Sunday.

For the Year 11s, their Unit 1 exam block has concluded, and normal classes have resumed and the Year 10s begin to knuckle down as their assessment demands begin to heighten. The real highlight of the week was the wonderful Year 10 dancing finalé held at the beautiful City Hall. An enormous thank you goes to Mrs Majella Stevens and all her wonderful support staff whose exceptional commitment to the program provides the young men and ladies with such a fantastic experience.

Br Terence Residence

The long-awaited sunshine finally made an appearance this week, which pleased most of the boys and staff with some much-needed ‘outdoor time’ for the boarders after a few quiet weeks in the residence. Last Saturday saw the entire boarding school make its way over to Iona College to support the College’s sporting teams with a good number of games going ahead this week. Boarding Captain Connor Lyons was a standout in the 1st XV match scoring 17 points in a dominant first-half display while many members of the residence were back on the fields representing College teams in Saturday’s sporting fixtures. Back on campus, we saw the return of the singing leaders at Sunday Mass with James O’Connor and Reggie McMillan stepping up to the microphone to lead the boarding community through the hymns. The efforts of our regular helpers at Mass: Patrick Mahony, Tom Doyle, Paddy Manning, Frank Baker, Sam Schmidhauser, Sam Miller, Daniel Witt, Ethen Tsiamalili and Harry Masel also deserve acknowledgement for the wonderful contributions that they continue to make each week to our weekly celebration.

Academically, our Year 12 students have been receiving updated ATAR predictions and setting some goals for their remaining time at the College. Their workload has certainly increased over the past few weeks and if there is any positive to be taken from the boys not being able to run around outside, it has been that there has been plenty of time to make progress on their assessment tasks. It will be a busy finish to the term but it is reassuring to see the majority of our senior boarders applying themselves diligently to their schoolwork at this time of the term.

Recreation Report - Mr Blair Whitlock

The week got off to a flying start as the Fishing Club boys headed out to Hamilton. A nasty cross-current and a rocky bottom had the boys fighting snags for the first 30 minutes or so. It seemed like the day was lost and we were getting ready to pack up when Christian Gehle declared himself snagged. However, this was no ordinary snag. This was the type that bites and pulls as if to mimic an actual fish! As the line surfaced from the depths of the brown snake... an absolute moocher emerged with it. The dock erupted as the boys instantly became experts on how to land a fish. Christian did his best to lose it as it whacked into the rails on the way up. At long last, the giant fish arrived on land and was greeted with a VIP photoshoot and debate around its origin. After studying the fish’s anatomy, it was successfully released back into the Brisbane River and we set off back to school. A great day at the office.

Friday kicked off with the boarder’s afternoon feast before the Year 10’s headed up to the Trade Centre for a special Woodfire Pizza night. Thanks to Andy Devoy for sticking around and showing us the ropes. We are very lucky to have such a wide range of facilities at school and we look forward to getting the other dorms up in coming weeks. The rest of the boys played some basketball in the gym while a group of 20 jumped in the bus and headed to Suncorp for the Broncos vs Titans derby. The 32,000 strong crowd fell silent in the 1st half with the Titans racing out to a 24-4 lead which resident Titans fan, Ollie Condon, took great joy in pointing out. Dom Forbes urged the boys to ‘keep the faith’ as the Broncs went into the sheds. We were treated to a comeback for the ages in the 2nd half as the home side put on 31 straight points to run out 35-24 victors. A quiet Ollie slowly sunk into his seat as the stadium went absolutely bonkers. 

Thankfully there was some sport on Saturday with the Premier, A, B and C teams getting a run out with limited playing fields being available. It was a great day for the 1st XV out at Iona running out convincing winners 31-5. Later that evening we loaded the buses and headed out to Eat Street. It is always a good time and the boys have all sorts of interesting food out there. Sunday was an early start for the Movieworld crew as 35 boys headed down to Oxenford. We got there right as the gates opened and the boys flew through to get first spots in the Scooby Do and Superman lines! We had a great day roaming around the park and some of the boy’s reactions are straight-up hilarious. For me, the Superman ride is by far the best, you hit 100kmph in 2 seconds and finish the ride not really knowing what just happened. After a full day of laughs, we jumped back on the bus and got home around 4:00pm before a Sunday Mass and dinner. It’s amazing that we are already in week seven and no doubt the end of term will be busy with the end of AIC sport and assessment on the horizon.