Primary School News

Dear Parents,

Every Tuesday and Thursday morning, our Primary boys and staff gather at 8:30am for a twenty-minute assembly. During these assemblies, important pastoral, academic and sporting messages are passed on to the boys. It is expected that the boys do their very best to listen to these announcements and share these with you from time to time. Having two boys myself, I am fully aware that the sharing of school days events and highlights by boys when they arrive home can be quite limited to say the least!

I do hope though, that they listened carefully this morning to the prayer that I read with them, in place of my message of the week that I would usually share on a Tuesday morning. The prayer speaks of courage and how we all have the ability to show everyday courage here in our community and when we leave the college grounds. It serves as a powerful reminder of the things we can do as individuals to make our world a better place. I have included the words of the prayer below for your reflection. 

It requires Courage to be a Good Person

It is easy to be selfish, to think only of ourselves.

It takes courage to put the needs of others first.

It is easy to knock others, to put people down because of race or background.

It takes courage to stand up for the weak, the outcast, those that are different.

It is easy to be part of the mob, to take our guidance from the crowd.

It takes courage to stand on your principles and do what you know is right.

It is easy to be a cynic, to be critical and negative.

It takes courage to be positive, to look for the good in our experiences.

It is easy to be an onlooker, to sit back and let others do the work.

It takes courage to become involved, to take a lead, risking failure and criticism.

It is easy to never apologise or acknowledge you are wrong.

It takes courage to admit you are human and have much to learn.

It is easy to criticise others behind their backs.

It takes courage to stand up for others, to excuse their failings.

It is easy to follow the baying crowd of media or popular culture.

It takes courage to live by standards counter to what the world promotes.

It is easy to dismiss ethical values as irrelevant in our time.

It takes courage to live what it means to be a Christian, a Catholic, to follow Jesus.

It is easy to dismiss belief in a higher power who loves us.

It takes courage to keep the faith and share it with others.

Viriliter Age – Act Courageously

Year 6 Graduation Ceremony 

A reminder that we will be celebrating our Year 6 Graduation on Thursday 23 November starting at 12:00pm in the Draney Theatre. There will be an opportunity for our Year 6 parents to reserve a seat in the Theatre, when an invitation is sent out later this week. 

Anthony Graham – Primary Pastoral Leader 

Last Tuesday, I shared a story at the Primary Awards Assembly about self-worth and belonging. I used the analogy of a $50 and even though the note can be squashed, stamped, folded, or even cut – it still holds its value. Therefore, a person’s self-worth should not be determined by external factors or circumstances. In other words, your -self-worth should remain intact regardless of whether you’ve been scrunched (faced a challenge or setback); folded (experienced difficulties or made mistakes) or stamped (someone making fun of you or put you down). True self-worth comes from within and is not defined by how good you are at something or what other people think of you. 

I challenged that boys as they enter the last stages of 2023, to remember that each one of them are invaluable and will never lose value. Just like the $50, sometimes they may be folded, scrunched, trotted on, but they need to unfold themselves and embrace the wonderful person they are. THEY are worth every bit of love, respect, and happiness that life has to offer. I continued to refer the boys to our main gathering space in the quad with the words Everyone Belongs and the drawing of – Ubuntu; I am because you are – are drawn. This is done to remind us that here at Marist, we are an inclusive college where everyone’s God given talents are recognized and are encouraged to shine. 

So, I encourage all our boys in the last 4 weeks of the school year to promise to believe in themselves and be proud of who they are. Support each other to be the best versions of themselves because belonging and the sense of self-worth are your ultimate sidekicks, guiding towards happiness and awesomeness! 

Wear it Loud – Gun Cooter 

Please see below a snippet from Joanne Cooter, Gun Cooter in 5W and his journey with his loss of hearing. Below is a fundraising link for those of you who may wish to donate.

Gun’s Story

After waiting nearly 6 years, we adopted Gun in March 2015 from Thailand when Gun was 2 years old. Gun was undiagnosed with hearing loss when we were matched, and it was not until we arrived back in Australia that he was diagnosed with permanent Bilateral (both ears) Sensorineural (Gun’s cochlea never formed properly) Moderate to Severe Hearing Loss. This was all a big shock to us, along with the whole adoption process and we swiftly got Gun fitted with hearing aids and then started on the long but rewarding journey of weekly Speech Therapy, Audiology appointments and intense Auditory Verbal Therapy. We are still working at it and attend Hear and Say for weekly Speech Therapy. Gun wears hearing aids from when he wakes until he goes to bed and without them he can only start hearing sounds at 65 decibels which is similar to a vacuum cleaner, all sound below this he cannot hear without his hearing aids. Hearing aids do not replicate normal hearing and are really only good for a few metres. Nothing stops Gun and he loves playing cricket, soccer and will give anything a go. Day to day life can be really tough as Gun often misses information but works really hard to keep up and has an amazing support network at home, school and at Hear and Say.

Each year I take my volunteer day and Gun joins me at my workplace, in our Loud Shirts and we raise awareness and funds for Hear and Say.

Dates and Reminders

• Primary College Community Mass - Wednesday 8 November at 8:00am (arrival at 7:45am.) It is an expectation that all boys attend. This once a Term Mass holds priority over sporting or musical commitments. 
• Thursday 9 November – Year 5 Concert 
• Wednesday 22 November – Year 5 and 6 Primary Fun Day – Held on campus
• Thursday 23 November – Year 6 Primary Graduation Mass, Assembly and Celebration

Jen Little – Primary Learning Leader

Congratulations to our following classes for taking out the Literacy and Numeracy Awards this week:

Literacy Cup Winners

5 Gold 7.82/10                                  6 Gold 7.5/10

Numeracy Cup Winners

5 Gold 8.25/10                                   6 Gold 7.5/10

Australian Mathematics Competition

This morning, all boys in Year 6 were presented with their Certificates of Achievement from the Australian Maths Trust. On Thursday of this week, Year 5 students will also receive their certificates. I would like to take this opportunity to acknowledge our top performers for this year. Congratulations to the following students who received a distinction for this competition, placing them in the Top 20% of competitors: Cooper Williams, Harry McConnell, Lucas Crowley, Maxwell King, Roman Krutil, Cooper Chaseling, Hamish Pope, Will Hutchinson, Xavier Hill, Nicolas Cienfuegos and Percy Hede.

Further commendation is extended to Ethan Yi (5 Blue) for his outstanding results. Ethan received a high distinction for his work, placing him in the Top 3% of students. We are so proud of you Ethan!