Primary School News

Dear Primary Parents,

As our boys continue their journey of growth and development here in the Primary School, the influence of positive role models in their lives is undeniable. The boys in our care are constantly reminded to be 100% Marist, 100% of the time. This is expected of them whilst they are here at school and during the time they are away from the College. At school, they are surrounded by adults who demonstrate by their words and actions, what it means to be Marist to one another. I am immensely proud of our staff for the way they model the Marist charism for the boys in the Primary School. There are countless opportunities for the boys to witness this charism in action on a daily basis. One of the most profound impacts of these positive role models is in shaping boys’ attitudes towards themselves and others.

Society bombards our young boys with stereotypes of what it means to be masculine. These messages can be limiting, often emphasizing toughness and dominance as desirable traits. On the contrary, when our boys see adults exhibiting kindness, empathy, and respect, they learn that these qualities are not signs of weakness but rather strengths that they too should endeavour to show towards others.

Importantly, positive role models for our boys come in many forms. They can be parents, siblings, teachers, coaches, older students, friends, and even fictional characters in books and movies. By surrounding our boys with diverse and positive influences, we empower them to become well-rounded individuals who contribute positively to our school community, their own families, and society as a whole. As adults, we have the responsibility to ensure that the boys in our care are seeing that we too are being 100% Marist, 100% of the time both in our actions and our words. The power of providing a positive role model to our young, should never be underestimated.

Primary Learning Leader – Jen Little

Literacy and Numeracy Trophies

Literacy and Numeracy continue to be our priorities in Primary. It has been great to see a significant improvement in the weekly literacy and numeracy assessments across the school. Congratulations to our following winners:

Literacy

5 Maroon – 87.4%

6 Red – 93.3%

Numeracy

5 Gold – 82.2%

6 Red – 80.38%

Some important observations from this week’s data were as follows:

• 7 of our Year 5 classes scored more than 78% for literacy with 5 classes scoring more than 80%. There was also a much higher completion rate of Literacy homework in Year 5.
• 5 Red saw a 19% increase in their numeracy score, whilst 5 Maroon saw a 23% increase in their literacy score from the previous week.
• 4 of our Year 6 classes scored more than 87% for literacy with 2 classes scoring 90% or over.

Well done, everyone.

Primary Sport

Mr John Lambourne – Head of Sport (Primary)

AIC Sport Code of Conduct

Students selected to represent Marist College are expected to follow the College Student Code of Conduct and maintain the highest of standards while representing the College. Parents and Spectators must also abide by the AIC’s Code of Conduct.The following is taken from the AIC Sport Code of Conduct and all Marist Parent’s and Spectators are reminded to follow these guidelines.

Code of Behaviour - Parents and Spectators

Fundamental to the AIC, is our belief in inclusion and fellowship. This means that as a parent, or a spectator you are welcoming to everyone and treat them with the greatest levels of respect, protecting the rights, dignity and worth of every person regardless of their gender, ability/disability, sexual orientation, cultural background, or religion.

As a parent/guardian of a student who will be representing their college and playing under the auspices of AIC, you play an important role in upholding the values of the AIC and the College that your son attends.

Parents and spectators need to demonstrate the following behaviours regarding their conduct during any AIC sporting activity:

- Be welcoming of other competitors and spectators and always model respectful interactions.

- Respect referees and officials' decisions and teach your son to do likewise.

- Remember that your son participates in sport for their own enjoyment.

- Remember that this is a schoolboy game, and all coaches and match officials are volunteers.

- Show appreciation for the coaches and teachers - including the opposing team. Without them, your son could not participate.

- Encourage your son to participate, do not force them. Focus on your son's efforts rather than his performance or the result of the game.

- Remember that all correspondence around sport should be respectful and appropriate, and directly through your son's College.

- Never ridicule or yell at your son and other boys for making a mistake.

- Be a positive role model. Remember that boys learn best by example. Appreciate good performance and skilful play by all participants.

- AIC events are not an appropriate space/venue for matters involving family disputes. This includes ensuring all parties follow appropriate court orders around visitation and attendance at activities.

The AIC supports all efforts to remove poor behaviour from sporting events. In the event that a parent feels the need to notify the AIC of inappropriate behaviour, they should firstly notify the venue official/College representative at the venue. Following this, any complaint should be then directed to their son's College's Head of Sport or the appropriate member of the College Leadership Team.

Achievements

Congratulations to Owen Ambrose (6G), Finn Beaver (6G), Fred Little (6B) and Daniel Sadimenko (5M) who have been selected to represent North West District Cross Country at the upcoming Met North trials.

Congratulations to Jake Byrne (6B), Finley Elphinston (6W), Angus Graham (5B), Theo Katter (6G), Mason Loli (5R), Thomas Macdonald (6G), Sam Mellifont (6R) and Nathan Wright (6B) who have been selected to represent North West District Rugby Union 10-12 Years at the upcoming Met North trials.

Term 2 AIC Sport

Rugby Union

Football

Cross Country

Training – Monday, Wednesday & Friday

Venue: McMahon Oval

Time: Training starts at 7:00am sharp. Students are to arrive at 6:45am and sign into the session with their student ID card.

AIC Cross Country Meet #2

Venue: St Patrick’s College, Curlew Park, Shorncliffe

Time:  Year 5 @ 4:15pm            Year 6 @ 4:25pm

A bus will take the runners to the meet, departing at 2:55pm, the bus will return at 6:00pm (approx.). Parents are asked to inform Mr Lambourne if they are collecting their sons from the meet.

Boys are to dress in their MCA training shirt, MCA sports shorts and MCA sport socks, boys are to wear an MCA athletics singlet while competing.

Boys will need to bring:

• Water bottle
• College hat
• Sunscreen
• Afternoon tea

Chess

Chess Coaching – All boys are welcome

Monday – Primary Library – 7:15 – 8:20am

Tuesday – Room 103 – 3:20 – 4:45pm

Marist Primary AIC Chess team is divided into three separate teams, Junior A, Junior B and Junior C, along with reserves. The competition for the places in the Primary Chess teams is quite tough, with almost double the number of boys at chess compared to the number of spots available in the team.

To give as boys as possible the opportunity to compete, the Junior C team will be rotated each week, allowing for all boys that want to compete in AIC Chess an opportunity to represent Marist. The Junior A and Junior B team will remain for the top 8 players. It is important to note, however, that reserves are always needed as it is highly likely that there will be at least one player which may have unavailability each week and as a result reserves are encouraged to always show up in case they are needed.

Marist Primary AIC Chess

Round 3 vs St Peter’s Lutheran College @ Marist College

Venue: Draney Theatre Foyer

Time: 4:00 – 5:30pm

Round 3 vs Iona College

Seb Kaminski 6R

The primary chess cohort caught a bus to Iona college to play two games against them. As the opposing players were cheered into the building, by one of the school’s sporting teams, we readied ourselves for the challenge that was to come. Once we had shaken hands, our eyes went straight to the chess board in front of us, as we planned how to react to their first move. Once everybody’s first matches had come to a close, we congratulated our opponent, and headed out of the building to have some well-deserved tucker. We had a little chat with our mates, and then we had to go back in, to begin our second game. As a primary team, we played well against our skilled opponents, as well as having a pretty good variety of results at the end of the day.

Sports Photographs

We are always on the look-out for photos and action shots to be used for the Blue & Gold, other College publications, season or end-of-year wrap-ups etc. Please follow this link and add your photos. 

Marist College Ashgrove Primary Sports Photos

College App

Please ensure that you download the College App to your smart phone. This app will be used weekly to inform you of sporting fixtures, cancellations and bus arrival information.

Late Pick Up After Sports Training

“PLAN B”

It is important that both parent and student are aware of the pick-up procedure if afternoon sports training is cancelled or if parents are running late for pick-up. As soon as a decision is made to cancel a sporting fixture or training, a message is placed on the College app. If training is cancelled, boys can remain in the primary school or walk to an arranged pick-up point when the time arrives.

Afternoon sports training sessions are scheduled to finish by 4:45pm. We ask that boys are picked up at this time. Any boy who is still at their training venue at 5pm will be directed to the After Hours Boarding Reception area / College Health Centre so that he may be collected from there. After Hours Boarding Reception can be contacted on 07 3858 4619.

In the case of bus arrivals from external sporting venues, boys will be sent to After Hours Boarding Reception 15 minutes after the bus arrives back at the College. Parents are asked to collect their sons from this location.