Boarding News

We began this school year with the reality that a number of our boarders would catch COVID-19 and many would not be able to head home to isolate and recover due to distance or other challenges. So, we had to plan for our own isolation facility at Marist Ashgrove where boarders could be cared for under the Queensland Health protocols. We have a management plan for the isolation of boarders who catch COVID-19 which is working well and we continue to evaluate its effectiveness as we get more positive cases.

One of the challenges of setting up an isolation facility on site was that we needed to reallocate a significant number of boys to a different dorm than they were expecting late last year. This provided us the space we needed to care for boarders with COVID-19 (and close contacts) in Br Terence Residence. Everyone has become used to adjusting plans over the last couple of years with the uncertainty that the COVID-19 pandemic has presented and I am grateful to all the boys, parents and staff who have been so understanding with this change.

The Boarding Staff are very conscious that we have boys from more than one year group in each dorm and we have changed a number of processes to ensure the boys still get the opportunity to spend time with mates in their year group who are not in their dorm.

• We’ve adjusted meal times for the dorms to ensure boys in the same year group can eat in the Dining Hall together. This also allows them to go out on the ovals together after the evening meal to play.
• We’ve adjusted the structure of study time to factor in the opportunity for boys from different dorms, but in the same year group to do some school work together.
• We are also planning some recreation activities for boarders in the various year groups to bring them together.

Last Sunday evening, all the boarders and our wider boarding community celebrated Mass in the John Eales Grandstand overlooking the main oval. This COVID-inspired change of venue worked really well and I am grateful to Fr Alatini who led us in prayer in this naturally beautiful setting. This was our first Boarders’ Mass for the year and our Year 12 boarders provided great leadership by assisting with the various roles to make our Mass possible. We look forward to coming together for Mass in the outdoors again this Sunday evening.

One of the main focuses in boarding this year is for every boy to give his best with school work and I have been pleased with the effort I am seeing from the boys so far in the evening study sessions. We have our tutoring program commencing this week which provides each dorm with two or three academic tutors each night to assist them in study time. This is such a wonderful resource and all boys have the opportunity to get better with their schoolwork by asking for assistance from the tutors. I hope that the boys make good use of this.

I encourage all boarding families to be aware of the Boarder Parent Network (BPN) which was formed in recent years to work with the school to provide the best opportunities and care for the boarders. Each year group has a Parent Representative who you can contact to raise an issue or to put forward an idea. The BPN meets each term and the meetings are attended by the Head of College, the Head of Boarding and the Assistant Head of Boarding. The BPN meets this Wednesday 16 February via Teams and all parents are welcome to join. I look forward to meeting with many of you (virtually) on Wednesday. Click here to join the meeting

I hope that your son has settled well and he is making the most of the many opportunities available at the School. Please don’t hesitate to reach out to his Boarding Coordinator or me directly if we can be of assistance.

Around the Grounds

La Valla Residence

We have a fine group of young men in La Valla 2022 and they are to be commended for their resilience and their kindness towards one another over the last 10 days. Whilst many have struggled with bouts of homesickness or organisation for their academics or co-curricular we have witnessed many acts of kindness where the boys have helped each other out. This was particularly evident on Monday night with the later arrival of Anthony and Sania, those living around them were happy to give advice and show them what needed to be done to settle into the routine. Some boys have demonstrated excellent leadership at a very young age. Two of our boys, Max Fleischfresser (Year 7) and Lucas James (Year 6) have a place on the SRC for Term 1 to speak with leadership about the concerns and ideas within the dorm. Congratulations to both boys, we are sure that you will be great representatives for La Valla.

We have also been very impressed with the boys’ willingness to be involved in every opportunity that is presented to them. The biggest challenge is scheduling everything in for them!!! The boys are learning to use their diaries and calendars to support this organisation. This is an important skill as they learn to manage their own commitments.  We are starting to see meaningful friendships form and the dorm is often filled with laughter, it is a lovely place to be and we are so incredibly proud of each young Marist Man.

Montagne Residence by Ignatius Hallman

It was a great way to start the year, and a weight has lifted with Year 8 and Year 9 boys mixing well in the same dorm. We congratulate Max Cobb and Liam Rice for being voted this year’s student representatives. This will be a great opportunity for our dorm to put our own impact on things in the boarding community like the food we eat and the recreation we do on the weekends.

This year we welcome many new faces, including those in Year 8: Jack Mahuru, Angus Vogt, and Jock Baker. In Year 9 Liam Rice, Wylie Gordon, Oliver Condon, and Jayden Cole. These boys have brought a great dynamic to the dorm. 

Congratulations to all boys in Montagne who are playing sport this term. Special congratulations to Liam Rice and Toby Forbes who made the top AFL team for their year levels. Sean Green made the top team for volleyball and both George Philp and Oliver Condon made the top team for cricket. The Year 8s are entering two teams into the internal volleyball competition for fun. Good luck to all the boys. We are all ready for a positive, fun year in the Montagne Dorm.

Hermitage Residence

Week 3 saw Hermitage full of life. Many boys involving themselves across the co-curricular program, as well the recreation program (albeit the abbreviated COVID-19 version) and engaging themselves productively in study. With a focus on good habits, and getting the little things right, the lads of Hermitage have certainly made a positive start to the term. We are looking forward to welcoming our tutors as we begin to increase the output during our evening study throughout the week ahead. Commendable performances for the week included Finn Kennedy scoring 46 runs against St Edmunds, Hugo Tully taking up the mantle of resident peer tutor and Lachy ‘Macca’ McMillan continuing his strong form of maintaining a tidy personal area. Congratulations are also extended to Luca Martinuzzi who competed at the recent State Swimming Short Course Champs. The moment of the week would certainly be our Mass celebration. Gathering as one and overlooking McMahon Oval certainly made it a Mass to remember.

Fourviere Residence

It has been quite an eventful week for the residents of Fourvière, as the routine of life in boarding kicked into full swing. Boys have approached their study with diligence and commenced their involvement in the co-curricular program with plenty of training and preparation for an action-packed sporting schedule, Sadly the rain intervened and not a ball was bowled in the highly anticipated clash between the mighty 6ths (boarders cricket team) and the Iona 4ths. Hopefully, the crew will be able to don the whites this weekend and get on for a game. Our tutoring program has also commenced throughout study sessions this week and has been well received by the boys already and we celebrated our first Sunday Mass of the year in the picturesque setting of an early evening overlooking the McMahon Oval.

Br Terence Residence

This week saw the boys return to face-to-face learning after spending their first weekend back at the College assisting our youngest boarders to settle into boarding life here at Ashgrove. There has been much enthusiasm and positive energy on display in and around the residence with our Year 12 boarders looking to make the most of the year ahead. Our academic tutors have commenced in the residence and it was encouraging to see a number of boys taking advantage of this valuable support during their evening study time.

Lots of time has also been spent catching up with their mates and settling back into the daily routines of boarding school and adjusting to the challenges of COVID-19 restrictions, guidelines and isolation requirements. Pleasingly, we have already seen a very high participation rate from our Year 12 boarders across the Term 1 sports and some keen boys are also taking advantage of additional sessions in the gym. While a few cricket games weren’t completed due to the weather, a number of our Br Terence boarders were able to represent the College in AFL and Volleyball over the weekend. As usual, the senior boarders did a great job of organising supporters for the first Friday night AFL fixture of the year and also gathered a large group of supporters for the volleyball on Saturday.

During the week, the boys experienced the first evacuation drill for the year and also had the opportunity to lead their first Sunday Evening Boarders’ Mass as seniors. It was pleasing to see a number of our Year 12 boarders assist with the running of this important part of College life. A special thanks goes to Ethen Tsiamalili, Connor Lyons, Sam Miller, Paddy Manning, Sam Schmidhauser, Frank Baker, Chastyn Creek, Reggie McMillan and Patrick Mahony who all assisted Fr Tini on Sunday evening. This group of Year 12 boarders has set a high standard for the whole of the boarding community to follow for the year ahead.

Recreation Report - Mr Blair Whitlock

Friday saw the first boarder’s afternoon feast of the year which the boys always look forward too. A special mention must go to Dany and Kylie for running these events over the last few years and thanks very much to Tanya Robertson for taking over the role this year! After grabbing some tucker we loaded up the bus as the Hive assembled to support the AFL prems in their season opener. The senior boys had led several war cry practices during the week to get the new boarders up to speed. While it wasn’t our day on the field the boys brought a big atmosphere and kept the chants going throughout. Best of luck to the AFL boys taking on SLC this Tuesday.

AIC sport continued on Saturday with boys heading all over Brisbane for their cricket and volleyball matches. There were mixed reports with several cricket games being washed out but it made for a quiet set of dorms regardless. The Hive reassembled at midday to support the 1st VI Volleyball team in their first game against St Edmunds College. We brought the noise once again as the boys ran out convincing straight-set winners. Later that evening we transformed the gym into a battle zone for a couple of hours of laser tag. With sniper towers, pop up barriers, bunkers and barricades the boys had a great time and there were plenty of tired bodies afterwards!

Sunday started with a ride up to the Blue Nurses for a small group of keen bikers. We are lucky to have several new Mountain Bikes in the fleet and the boys enjoyed giving them a good thrashing. The next stop was the pool to cool off before a few games of Slip ‘n’ Slide Baseball on Cameron Oval. It’s a hybrid game of cricket and baseball where the batter comes sliding into each base. It keep the younger lads busy for a couple of hours while the Year 10 and 11s played touch footy and had a hit in the nets. The final stop for the weekend was Mass down on the grandstand which has made a nice change of scenery with the cockatoos squawking and the sun setting over McMahon Oval.

We look forward to the start of the club programs this week and the first Reds game of the season at Suncorp!

Boys can sign up for recreation activities at Boarding Reception. We operate a cashless system, all paid trips are paid through the boarders Monitor accounts, which are accessible through their ID cards. You can load money onto these accounts from home and discuss this spending with your son.