Boarding News

Last week we had three regional trips where staff from Marist College Ashgrove visited FarmFest in Toowoomba, the ICPA Conference in Blackall and the Cloncurry Show. It was great to connect with many past and present MCA families and to support key events in these regional towns. The majority of our boarders come from regional and remote parts of Australia and the College is always keen to assist those communities in any way we can. Please let us know if there is an opportunity for us to help in your town and we can look at this with our future planning.

Last Sunday night, Stuartholme School invited the Marist boarders to join their boarding community for Mass. It was really lovely to share this special occasion with Stuartholme and the boarding students from both schools took the lead with reading and serving. Of particular note was the reflection provided jointly by the Boarding Captains from both the schools who conveyed some key messages for the congregation around trust and honesty in relationships. Dinner was also provided so that the boarders from both schools could mix and enjoy each other’s company after Mass. It was a really successful night and we look forward to inviting the Stuartholme boarders to a Sunday night Mass in Term 3.

As we close in on the end of the term, can you please take note of the following key messages:

• Marist boarding is once again offering to help transport boys to the airport and the Roma Street Transit Bus and Train Station if they are catching a service home for the holidays. If you would like to book transport for your son, please contact Boarding Reception.
• We have also been advertising the End of Term Boarders’ Bus which is in place to save many families a round trip to pick up their son at the end of the term. This service will operate next Tuesday to a number of centres including Plainlands, Toowoomba, Dalby and Goondiwindi. Siblings are welcome. To book a seat, please follow this link: https://events.humanitix.com/marist-college-ashgrove-end-of-term-boarders-bus-term-2-2022
• Next Tuesday 21 June is the Boarders’ Travel Day, as per the School Calendar and the expectation of the College is that boarders remain at school until this time. Please help us by supporting this expectation and having your son finish next Tuesday. Of course, there may be a good reason why you may wish for your son to finish earlier. If this is the case, please communicate this request to your son’s Boarding Coordinator.

I’d like to extend my congratulations to all the boarders on their efforts this term. Many boys have applied themselves fully to their studies and also accessing the talented tutors we have who work with the boys during evening study time. This will hopefully help them to do as well as they possibly can in the exams which are going on for most boys at this time. All we ever expect is for the boarders to do their best with school work and that continues to be our guiding principle in working with them. It has also been wonderful to see the vast majority of boys participating in an AIC Sport this term. So much is learnt from playing team sport and there’s no doubt it is good for teenage boys to be active.

I look forward to catching up with many parents as the end of term approaches.

Around the Grounds

La Valla Residence

There is a mix of emotions as we head into our final full week of school for Semester One. The emotions are varied and range from excitement about going home, sadness to leave friends, stress over assessments and reports, joy about the start of the Rugby League and Basketball season, frustration at spending so much time together and most of all pride in all that they have achieved. The boys know each other and their supervisors so well after 20 weeks! Cedric commented that he thought Mr Sedgwick looked balder than he did at the start of the year. To which the dorm inspected his head and agreed... they could not think of any reason why this may be the case!

Our Senior Supervisor, Shane Ward and his beautiful family, are taking Long Service Leave and travelling to Ireland to spend some time with relatives after an extended absence. This is a well-deserved break for a fine man who has provided stability, guidance and care to the boys as they embarked on their life away from home. Until he returns in August, we are lucky enough to have Bradley Winchester join us in La Valla. Brad is a teacher of Religion and Physical Education and he is really looking forward to spending time working with the young men of La Valla.

The La Valla boys were the perfect representatives of Marist Ashgrove at Stuartholme during mass on Sunday night, although on one of the coldest nights in 100 years, the boys from FNQ had to jump inside the bus a little early as it was a level of cold that they were not familiar with!

Montagne Residence

It was a positive that Montagne Residence escaped Rugby season without too many injuries. The gents seemed to really enjoy the rugby season overall and now turn their attention to trials this week for Basketball and Rugby League. In addition to that, Athletics training is also starting alongside Tennis. Term 3 will not get any quieter for extra-curricular activities.

It was positive to see in duty reports this week that study sessions seemed to go really well. Boys are using their time with tutors wisely and we hope this translates into positive results for all. Talis was fortunate enough to go to a drama production for an excursion last Tuesday night which he seemed to enjoy. A disappointing result for those south of the border on Wednesday night just past; however, we can’t help if the referee missed a hold in the scrum towards the end of the game. How good was the game to watch though? Well done to Qld on a good win. Hopefully, Game 2 and 3 will be a better result for my NSW comrades.

In addition to the above this week, we have had lots of small sicknesses and coughs in the dorm. Hopefully, something that can get fixed up before we all depart for the break. Please ensure that all leave is in Reach ASAP. Not long and your boys will all be home!

Hermitage Residence

With assessment in full swing, and many boys busy with study, it has also been pleasing to see many boys make the most of downtime around the dorm. Most pleasing of all as been a steady shift of reliance on technology use to other activities such as Pool, Chess and Table Tennis. Many boys are also recognising the importance of study outside of our set times. Assessment and organisation remain paramount as we head into the final week and will be vital when reviewing Semester 1 reports over the break and next term.

Over the weekend, the boys headed to Stuartholme for a shared mass and dinner. A wonderful occasion and opportunity to celebrate together. A highlight during the term is always State of Origin night. With a heavy Qld contingent, the NSW supporters certainly made their voice heard throughout the dorm!

An important pillar of MCA is community. I was certainly grateful for this sense of community as Mr Josh Mulligan and I enjoyed time in Cloncurry last week. Meeting current families and engaging with potential future families certainly made for a great experience. A huge thank you to the McMillan’s (Chelsea and Mark who have Reggie in Year 12) for hosting Josh and I for the afternoon. The opportunity to experience the family property (by air) is certainly one that won’t be forgotten for quite some time.

We recently also welcomed our latest Hermitage resident, Francis ‘Frank’ the Pot Plant courtesy of our College’s environmental group. We look forward to seeing Franck flourish in the terms to come.

As we approach the holiday break I wish all families and their sons a wonderful, restful and safe break. On a personal note I extend my sincere thanks and gratitude to the staff of Hermitage who have been instrumental in supporting the lads of Hermitage throughout Semester 1.

Fourviere Residence

The week was bookended by two wonderful ceremonial opportunities. The Champagnat Mass kicked off a day of celebration and festivities on Monday and the Stuartholme Community Mass rounded out the week where the lads and ladies took part in a lovely service and were able to share a meal together.

It was a successful weekend of rugby with all open sides registering a win in their final match of the season except for the hapless 5ths who went down to the Mighty 6ths for the second time this season! This handed the 6ths an undefeated premiership to savour. Fourvière lads led the way in 1st XV match against St. Pats with new dorm recruit, Bailey Caplick crossing the line twice along with playmaker Harry Condon who also bagged a double in the dying stages to clinch the victory for the Blue and Gold.

On Sunday it became evident that the outstanding talents amongst the footballers of Fourvière have, in actual fact, been handed down to them by the staff of the residence, whose exploits on the touch-field were more than enough to earn the victory and bragging rights for the Staff team in the Staff v Boarders touch game on Sunday morning. Well done Ms Orcher, Mr Winchester, Mr Hardy, Mr Lyons and Mr Lynch (honorary Fourvière staff member) for your integral involvement in the staff side.

Br Terence Residence

Following the College Walkathon, the week began with a number of festivities to celebrate Champagnat Day. A number of our Year 12 boarders played an important role throughout the Mass as Eucharistic Ministers while Tom Doyle and Paddy Manning assisted Archbishop Mark Coleridge throughout the Mass. The announcement of our beloved laundry staff, Les and Heather, as recipients of Champagnat Day Awards was enthusiastically acknowledged by our senior boarders. The events of the day concluded with the Theatre Sports Grand Final which saw Ethen Tsiamalili take to the stage for Gilroy followed the Rush Tug-of-War competition on the main oval.

Throughout the week we were also pleased to acknowledge Frank Baker, Archie Forbes and Sam Schmidhauser for their achievement of Gold Optimus Awards (unfortunately Archie wasn’t available for the ceremony). These awards were presented by the Governor of Queensland, Jeanette Young, at a breakfast on Thursday morning and all three are most deserving recipients of these awards.

As the weekend approached, the final round of AIC Rugby, Football and Chess fixtures were eagerly anticipated. Along with this anticipation also came the realisation that for some of our Year 12 students, this would be the final time that they would represent the College. The majority of our Year 12 boarders provided vocal support out at Shorncliffe on Saturday before turning their attention to the annual Supervisors vs Students Touch Footy match on Sunday. A strong performance from Br Terence supervisors Mr Nick Lynch, Mr Willem Baines and Mr Peter McIntosh led to the staff team to victory on the day. To round out the weekend, we celebrated Mass at Stuartholme on Sunday evening where Connor Lyons and James O’Connor assisted throughout the service.

Recreation Report - Mr Blair Whitlock

Week 8 was another busy weekend on the rec front with the final round of sport taking place. Friday kicked off with the biggest boarder’s arvo feast of the year which was an absolute treat! Soon after, Christian Larsen and Julia Wilken from the Art Department joined a group of 20 boys as we drove into town to visit the Birrunga Art Gallery (https://birrunga.com.au/). We were lucky to have one of Mr Noble’s former students from Toowoomba Grammar, Kane Brunjes, show us around the gallery. Kane is one of the gallery's artists and the boys enjoyed hearing his boarding story and learning about the concepts and stories behind many of the pieces. Please refer to the Visual Arts section of the College Newsletter for some more detail by Christine. Friday finished up with a bus load of boys heading down to Southbank to watch the new Top Gun movie – 10/10’s all around!

The final round of AIC sport saw us play away at St Patricks College in Shorncliffe. It was an early start for many boys and a good day of results for the most part. The 1st XI Footballers ground out a 2-2 draw after an early red card and the 1st XV came away 29-20 winners courtesy of two late Harry Condon tries. Saturday night saw the traditional end-of-term Ice Skating trip along with other SEQ boarding schools. It’s always a good opportunity to catch up with some old pals and get plenty of Term 3 activities locked in!

Sunday kicked off with a group of keen fishermen heading out to Shorncliffe Pier. It was a beautiful morning for it and while we didn’t catch much the boys certainly enjoyed the outing. The most exotic catches of the day were a 10cm baitfish and an old yoghurt cup – there’s always next week…! Back at school, the Year 12 lads assembled for the annual Staff vs Students Touch Footy match on McMahon Oval. The boys came flying out of the gates and took an early 4-1 lead – resulting in several tactical alterations from the staff side. They worked a treat as we went into halftime at 4-4. Ultimately, the experience and game management on the staff side lead to a dominant second half with Br Terence supervisor, Willem Baines, ripping the students soft centre to pieces in the latter stages. The match finished 10-8 with the staff reclaiming the hallowed trophy. We look forward to Basketball in Term 3. 

The weekend finished off with a shared mass up at Stuartholme. The boys always enjoy visiting the Stuartholme boarders and it certainly brings a different feel to our traditional masses! Another busy weekend in the books! Good luck to all the boys this week as they continue with their assessment and exam blocks.