Clontarf Academy

After a solid start to term for our Year 8 and 9 boys, we packed the swags in the van and headed to Anglesea to enjoy some fine weather beachside. All of the boys attending had reached attendance and behaviour benchmarks and the two days away was reward for effort. 

What’s a trip to the Surf Coast without a visit to Vic's most famous surf beach – Bells Beach. The surf wasn’t as big as the photos online suggest; however, the boys loved their little session of beach touch rugby and a quick chat to ex Blue Ed Curnow was also a highlight. The boys channelled Mark Occhilupo the next morning by hitting the waves themselves and having some lessons at Anglesea Main beach. While not everyone got up, the laughter and smiles told the story, the boys had a ball. As well as the surfing, we did a tour of the Great Ocean Road Chocolaterie and Ice Creamery.

Apart from camps, we have also had the pleasure of hosting local member Julianna Addison who brought in a fishing rod for each of the boys. We hit the Vic Park lakes after school to break them in with no luck.

We also had the pleasure of hosting the Minister for Road Safety Mellissa Horne, who launched the ‘Road to 120’ program. The program between Clontarf and TAC is aimed at supporting our boys through the process of gaining their driver's license. The importance of having a license post school cannot be understated and the program aims to have all of our boys well on the road to obtaining theirs by the time they complete Year 12.

Our new boarders were invited to attend the Respect Cup held at Mars Stadium last week. This was a real eye opener for our boys. It was important for them to get exposure to the standard of not just the footy but the professionalism prior to and post-game required to succeed at the level. The boys did a great job in running water and controlling the siren. The airconditioned timers box proved to be a popular vantage point on a warm day. A big shout out to Daniel Rivas who managed the box with aplomb all day.

Wednesday afternoon we held our Year 12 Leadership afternoon. Clontarf Employment Officer Dusty Allen joined us to unpack some of the ways Clontarf can support the boys not just in getting through this year, but in life after school. It was impressive listening the boys talk about the challenges they feel are in front of them and how they are putting strategies into place to get through. After our little session we hit the track at the Ballarat Indoor Go-Karts. There was a lot of big talk going into the race but the boys could not get past the experience of the staff on the day. The afternoon concluded with a dinner with families.