Deputy Head of College News

Marist Family

How's your calendar looking? No doubt home, work, life 'admin' tasks are filling your books. Filling our shared 'book' is the array of gatherings - information nights, social nights, AGMs. These opportunities to connect and contribute continue to be an integral feature of the continual forming and strengthening of our Marist Family.

Whilst our ongoing informal and everyday interactions are the fundamental 'gold' of our shared experience, so too are our key forums and groups of our Marist Family. A snapshot of these key groups is below:

Our College Advisory Council

The Marist College Ashgrove Advisory Council is composed of highly qualified community members whose expertise and professionalism significantly support Marist’s mission, ultimately ensuring the best possible outcomes for all students under its care. With a broad mandate, the Council’s primary role is advisory. The Council convenes six times annually to advise and provide oversight to key College functions of the College.

Our College Foundation

The Foundation is the means through which our College can provide for the future needs of our students. Ongoing support by parents is crucial to the development of infrastructure at the College, ensuring that students are offered the best learning opportunities in first class facilities.

The Foundation provides Champagnat Trust Bursaries for students who wouldn’t ordinarily have access to a Marist education. This proud tradition is as strong as ever, with our annual Champagnat Trust Sports Lunch, The Tower Art Show and Marist Mum's Christmas Lunch are key fundraisers.

The Foundation assists with providing state-of-the-art facilities to better the learning experiences of all students. Contributions to the College Foundation have assisted the building of the:

• Molly and Len Draney Theatre
• Music and Drama Centre
• Brother Alexis Turton Science Centre
• Hospitality Kitchen
• Centre for Learning Enrichment and Careers Information Centre
• Swimming Pool and Water Sports Complex

OLD Boys Association

A young man’s relationship with the College does not end when he leaves the College. Indeed, the strong and supportive Marist Ashgrove Family is one of the College’s most resounding features.

The MCA Old Boys’ Association (OBA) provides an opportunity for Old Boys of Marist College Ashgrove to remain in contact with one another, enjoy numerous organised events, keep up-to-date with the latest College news and developments and to support the College and its current students.

When a student graduates from the College he automatically become a life member of the OBA. The official OBA publication, The Ashgrovian, is published twice per year.

Some of the major functions and activities organised or supported by the OBA in recent years include:

• The Vintage Blue and Gold Lunch
• The Old Boys’ Sports Day
• The Old Boys’ Reunion Day and Super Saturday
• The Old Boys’ Golf Day

Parent and Friends

Families are warmly welcomed into the Marist community and invited to contribute their time and support through the Parents & Friends (P&F) Association.

The P&F aims to:

• foster the welfare and progress of the College community and in so doing, seek to create a close and harmonious relationship between all members of our school community
• promote Catholic Education and, to that end, to enter public discussion on matters affecting it and to affiliate with any organisation formed to promote it
• assist the College staff whenever, wherever and however possible in the interests of the College and its students, and, as a secondary aim, to raise funds and apply them for the purpose of furthering these objectives.

Parents are actively involved as convenors and volunteers in various P&F groups. Convenors are appointed at the Annual General Meeting each February and all activities are confined to term-time, for your convenience. The groups are:

• Boarder Support, Card Days, Family Support, Grandparents’ Day are supported by the Amity group
• Parents’ Dinner Hosted by the Amity group
• Boarder Parent Network
• Parents of Neurodiverse Learners
• Solo Parents Group
• Sport Canteen
• Walkathon.

Parent Orbit App Updates

The College continues to be committed to the full and most effective implementation of our new Parent Orbit App to optimise the sharing of information. The College would like to thank all those who have shared feedback regarding the app - the 'pluses', the 'minuses' and the 'interesting'.

The College established an Orbit Working Group late last year, with this group reconvening this year on a regular basis. A key priority of this group is availing the communication of cocurricular information. The following refinements have been made in recent weeks:

For parents with students signed up to an activity:

• Fixture details will be shared on Tuesdays via an app notification to parents and an direct email to students
• Team lists will be published on Fridays via an app notification to parents and an direct email to students

For parents interested in fixture information beyond their son's activity:

• All fixture information will be available via Orbit Links_Sport

For staff:

• Fixture details will be shared on the Staff Portal via College Documents

For interested community members:

• Information will be shared via a link made available via College social media platforms

Parent Orbit App - Get Connected

1. Download the App: Download the parent Orbit app via your app store or visit https://parentorbit.page.link/marash. Click on the install button.

After the app is installed select Marist College Ashgrove and enter our school code.

Our School Code is: marash

2. Login: Use your existing Parent Lounge login credentials to log in and start using the app.

3. How to use Parent Orbit: How to guide on parent orbit can be viewed via https://youtu.be/1Py1kJUCgs0.

Should you require any assistance to access or login to the Parent Orbit app OR Parent Lounge please contact computerservice@marash.qld.edu.au.

Be sure to access this brief video which provides a succinct overview of the Orbit app.

How Can I Help or Get Involved?

Many of our parents are keen to help in some way to contribute to the Marist community that we are so well known for. Two ways to do this are through volunteering in the College Tuckshop during the day, or through the Sports Canteens on the weekend.

If you would like to volunteer in the Tuckshop during the day, please click on the relevant link below. Our Tuckshop convenor Josie Loucas will take your details and be only too happy to welcome you into the Tuckshop volunteer family. If you are too nervous to volunteer on your own, there is always the possibility of signing up with a friend. Just let Josie know if you want to be there at the same time as a buddy and I know she will help you out. We have parents who leave at the end of their son’s schooling journey commenting on how much they loved their regular (weekly, fortnightly or even term-by-term) Tuckshop catch-up with friends over the years.

Term 1: https://signup.com/go/RSCBVBE

Term 2: https://signup.com/go/hizeWrf

Term 3: https://signup.com/go/EXhCjFL

Term 4: https://signup.com/go/thMtWyL

For Sports Canteen volunteers, please keep an eye out on the App for calls to sign up. Remember – if you feel more comfortable with a friend, please rope them in and take them along. The more the merrier!