From the Head of College

Mr Michael Newman

Come to know and be inspired by those distinctive qualities

The famous bumble bee is the Marist College Ashgrove mascot. Like all mascots, it symbolises the character and spirit of the sporting teams that represent Marist Ashgrove. Bees are the epitome of service. Bees are busy, industrious, and hard working. Bees swarm to support each other and work for the benefit of their hive. Despite their small size, they can make a difference by working fast collectively. Bees are courageous and have a sting to defend themselves bravely. The College’s bumble bee is a pertinent mascot and its associated attributes inspire and remind the boys of the Marist qualities required whenever they represent the blue and the gold in sport.

Similarly, in this Sunday’s readings, Jesus uses the relevant image of a shepherd and his sheep to remind us of his unconditional love and never-ending presence. The sheep, are of course, all of us. Like sheep, we too, exist in flocks or groups as we seek to belong and are dependent on the love and support of those around us. Sometimes, we too, are slow moving in our learnings and realisations about life. Yes, we all like to consider ourselves as confident and successful, but there are many events and experiences in our lives and in the world that we are unable to control. So, Jesus is our shepherd who looks over us. Jesus guides and cares for each one of us. He values and loves all of us, as shown by his death on the cross. In the challenging times of our lives, Jesus, the shepherd, will be there, walking by our side, in love and encouragement, and ready to bring us back to the fold. The image of the shepherd, with the attributes of unwavering commitment to his flock and without the expectation of anything in return, is certainly one of the greatest images of Jesus.

Br Doug Dawick (fms) reflects in the latest edition of Sharing: The Lay Marist Vocation, (April 29 2022) on his relationship with Jesus. He says that prayer is the key to understanding and having a positive connection with Jesus. Prayer is what sustains him - “I have on my bed a piece of paper that has the word ‘Jesus’ on it and that reminds me each day to think of Jesus and to try and be with him in what I’m doing.” Br Doug believes that the simple tasks and service he undertakes each day is more meaningful when it is mixed with prayer. The two go hand-in-hand. Br Doug believes that keeping Jesus with him during his daily service gives him inspiration and a deeper understanding of Jesus’ innate qualities – his intimate love, where he calls each one of us by name, like a shepherd calling his individual sheep, regardless of what our circumstances may be or however far we have wandered.

Good Shephard God, may we try to be with you each day and come to know and be inspired by your distinctive loving qualities. Amen.

150 Years Sesquicentenary Dinner

On Saturday evening, Mr Mark Elliot (Regional Director of Marist Schools Australia) and I represented Marist College Ashgrove at the 150-year celebration dinner at St Joseph’s College Hunter’s Hill. The Provincial of the Marist Brothers - Br Peter Carrol (fms) - hosted this dinner, with special guests including all the Archbishops and Bishops of Australia and Principals from Marist owned colleges throughout Australia. Marist College Ashgrove makes up one of the 13 Marist Schools Australia-wide governed by Marist Schools Australia. Along with Marist College Ashgrove, these Marist colleges are as follows: Assumption College Kilmore, Catholic College Sale, Lavalla Catholic College Traralgon, Marcellin College Bulleen, Marist College Bendigo, Marist College Canberra, Newman College Perth, Red Bend Catholic College Forbes, Sacred Heart College Adelaide, St Gregory’s College Campbelltown, St Joseph’s College Hunters Hill, and The John Berne School Lewisham. Marist Schools Australia is also affiliated with another 40 Schools in the Marist charism. This dinner was a wonderful celebration for Marist education which has provided Catholic education throughout Australia for 150 years. Marist College Ashgrove is proud to be part of the rich history of Catholic Education here in Queensland.

NAPLAN

NAPLAN testing has begun in earnest today where the boys demonstrated excellent commitment, effort, and concentration. These literacy and numeracy exams will continue until the end of the week, and I thank all parents for your efforts in making sure the boys are well rested and have had a nourishing breakfast prior to these exams. The remaining timetable for the week is as follows:

Wednesday – Reading (Year 5) and Writing (Years 7 and 9)
Thursday – Grammar, Punctuation and Spelling (Years 5, 7 and 9)
Friday – Numeracy (Years 5, 7 and 9)

It is hoped that NAPLAN will enable us to gauge a boy’s levels of improvement in literacy and numeracy and for the each of them to develop the skills still required to improve their academic performance going forward. Best wishes to all boys and to their dedicated teachers who have prepared and will be facilitating these exams for the boys.

Year 7 Parent Function

This Friday evening from 6:30pm, the Marist College Ashgrove Parents and Friends Association are hosting a social evening for the Year 7 parents of the College. This evening is a delightful opportunity to meet and speak to parents in your son’s cohort and to be informed of other relevant information regarding your son’s undertakings and upcoming parent events. You will have the opportunity to hear an address from the P&F President Mr Jim Gordon, Mr Ryan Apps (Year 7 Co-ordinator) and I. My thanks are extended to the very generous P&F Committee, Mrs Ellen Kassulke (Events & Venue Co-ordinator) and Mrs Bethany Halpin (Community Engagement Officer) for their organisation of this event. To book tickets, please go to: https://events.humanitix.com/year-7-parent-function.

Free Dress Day Fundraiser

This Friday, 13th May is a free dress day. Each free dress day has a theme and a particular area to which the College has organised to fundraise. On this occasion, monies raised go to the MATES Program. The MATES program aims to build a spirituality of service within the College, be a reflective process and provide the opportunity to journey with those at the margins. It uses a solidarity model that encourages questioning of the social conditions which cause and perpetuate poverty, injustice, and inequality. MATES ministry teaches compassion, empathy, service, solidarity, justice, and peace. Open to students, staff and families MATES ministry is an outreach program that enables our Christian faith to be put into action. At its heart MATES Ministry is about faith, relationship, and solidarity. This program enables our boys to complete outreach caring activities for those who are disadvantaged in our community. Such activities include: local agency visitations, immersion opportunities in the Marist Asia Pacific region, MATES BBQ with the homeless, Sony Foundation Children’s Holiday Camp, service groups, Game-changers, Boarders’ service group, St Vincent de Paul conferences, Caritas group, Oaktree group, junior school MATES, Green Ash Creek Care, local agency visitations and Mini Vinnies group. My thanks are extended to all boys for supporting this important formation and practical support program to assist those most in need. My thanks are also extended to our Mission team for organising this free dress day, led by Mr Luke McMahon (Head of Mission) and Mrs Mena McClean (College Chaplain).

Father and Son Day

The annual Father and Son Day will be held this Sunday, 15th May. This day is organised and facilitated by Mr Benjamin Webb. The aim of the day is to provide quality time and conversation opportunities between the boys and their dads. This year’s Father and Son Day will be undertaken at Walkabout Creek. I highly recommend this day to all fathers and their sons. We thank Mr Webb for his organisation and facilitation of this day and the Parents and Friends Association who sponsor this event. For any queries, please contact Benjamin Webb at: webbb@marash.qld.edu.au

Year 11 Examination Block

The Year 11 examination block has been set for next week 16-23rd May. This examination block allows the boys to study at home and attend all exams at the college. There is also the opportunity for the boys to study on campus and receive assistance from their teachers upon email request. All boys are expected to adhere to the examination block expectations that were distributed to parents in a recent email. I wish all our Year 11 boys the best of luck with these upcoming exams. The Year 11 exam block timetable has been emailed to all families and can be found in the Learning and Teaching News section of this newsletter. My thanks are extended to Ms Jennifer Smeed (Deputy Head, Learning and Teaching) for organising these examinations for the boys.

Theatre Sports

There are a number of competitions held for the boys throughout the year which go towards House points - these include: Swimming carnival and Athletics carnival, Rush tug-o-war, Slattery Theatre Sports, Gilroy Ash Dash, Ridley Masterminds, Ephrem Rock Climb, Harold like a version (music), Ignatius Chess and Foley Sevens Touch Football. These are all fun events which build House spirit and comradery.

Round 1 of the Marist House Theatre Sports competitions commenced today. Each House has representatives who compete against other Houses to perform their best theatre sport routines. This competition is held over three weeks and culminates with a grand-final on Champagnat Day, Monday 6 June. My thanks are extended to Rebecca Taylor, Bonita Gerry, Scott Minogue, Tiffany Boyd, Steve Littleton, Bruce McPhee, and the various staff who will judge on the day.

Music Concerts

Best wishes to Wind and percussion ensembles who will be performing at the Draney Theatre, this Thursday, 12th May. We really look forward to the concert and thank our professional and very generous music teachers, namely: Andrew Butt, Janelle Lee Long, Megan Harmston, Enrico Le Mura, Vanessa Mitchell, and Caleb Colledge.

The evening will be preceded by music photos from 5:00pm.

Good luck also to the MCA Big Band 1 and Year 12 Student Quartet “The Blue Suits” who will be performing at the Brisbane Jazz Festival on Friday, 13th May at the Brisbane Multicultural Arts Centre.

Bookings: https://brisbanejazzclub.sales.ticketsearch.com/sales/salesevent/53313

Year 9 Talk – SMASHED

Today, the Year 9 boys participated in a presentation from SMASHED on alcohol awareness. Alcohol awareness is a topic that is currently being covered in their ASH Lessons. The presentation allowed students to observe, explore and reflect on vital underage drinking themes, including the social and emotional causes, the impact on young lives, social influence and decision making, and where and how to help yourself and others. Thank you to Peter Serone (Head of Students) for arranging this important educational experience for the boys.

We look forward in July to student presentations on alcohol, drug and vaping education by Mr Paul Dillon from DARTA – Drug and Alcohol Research and Training Australia.

Primary Interschool Public Speaking

Congratulations to Callum Nowers (Year 5) who was announced as the Marist College Ashgrove Speaker of the Night at the recent Primary Interschool Public Speaking Competition. Callum gave a wonderful address about his personal story and life with Autism and the resulting challenges he faces on a daily basis. Well done Callum and thankyou to Mr Michael Connolly who facilitated this public speaking opportunity for the boys.

May our loving God with Mary our good mother and St Marcellin Champagnat walk with all members of the Marist College Ashgrove Family.