Primary News

Dear Primary Parents and Carers

I wanted to take this opportunity to thank you all for your efforts and flexibility in working with the College as we negotiate the challenges of the recent lockdown, and begin to undertake this period of online learning. A huge thank you to our teaching staff who responded rapidly and professionally over the weekend to ensure that our boys were able to continue their learning experiences this week across an online platform.

As the situation develops, I encourage you to continue to read the communication from the College. In addition to my letter to families on Saturday evening, I have provided some points below which I hope will assist in understanding the expectations of the Primary boys during this period of online learning.

• Boys will follow their usual class timetable for the rest of the week. Classroom teachers will send boys an outline for the day each morning and will be facilitating video meetings/lessons for their classes at 8:35am, 12:10pm and 2:20pm each day. It is the expectation that all boys are in attendance for each meeting.
• It is the College’s expectation that all students be in school uniform and that their behaviour is appropriate. The boys are asked to change their backgrounds, if not, they are asked to be in an area of the house that is not their bedroom.
• Boys are reminded to check their e-mails throughout the day as they may receive e- updates, resources and invitations from their teachers.
• If your son is unable to participate in online learning on any day, please e-mail their class teacher and primaryabsentees@marash.qld.edu.au.
• Where possible, we are trying to restrict the access of families to school during this lockdown. Please do not come to school to collect resources unless they are absolutely necessary (aka Chromebook). This will occur from Primary Reception. If the lockdown extends, we will formulate a plan for families to collect additional resources.

Should you have any questions or concerns, please do not hesitate to contact your son’s teacher or myself via email (beattyl@marash.qld.edu.au) and through Primary Reception on 07 3858 4551.

Semester 1 Awards

At tomorrow’s (Virtual) Assembly, we will acknowledge students in Year 5 and 6 who have met the criteria for the Head of College Award (Students who receive all A’s in the behavioural and application criteria) and the Outstanding Achievement Award (4 x A’s or better and nothing lower than a B in the five core subjects). Congratulations boys.

Book Week

Our book week celebrations last week concluded with the traditional Book Week Parade. It was so great to see so many of our Primary staff and students buzzing with excitement as they got into the spirit of the day by dressing up for this wonderful event. Thanks again to our Primary Library staff, Meaghan Round and Robyn Brown, for all their efforts in putting this together.

Book Week Celebrations - Primary Library Staff

Last week, The Primary Library celebrated Book Week. The week provided ample opportunities for us to share our love of literature with the boys. Our theme for this year was “Old Worlds, New Worlds, Other Worlds.”  We used “Other Worlds” as our inspiration, so our library was transformed into a wild and wacky space for the boys to enjoy.

It was an exciting week with an author visit, a writing workshop, a book chat, countless activities, our dress-up parade and of course our book fair.

Adam France was our visiting author this year. He is a primary school teacher, he writes music and plays in a band, he is an artist and also an author! He is inspired by his love of Paul Jennings books and his book has the same edge-of-your-seat wacky humour. He gave the boys lots of tips and strategies for improving their writing, and creating interesting stories. A fortunate group of boys were selected to attend a writing workshop with Adam after his presentation. Here the boys had the opportunity to hone their skills and really gain some insight into improving their writing from a professional. 

We displayed a wonderful collection of the latest best sellers and stimulating non-fiction, along with some entertaining merchandise from Where The Wild Things Are, West End.  The boys enjoyed purchasing and perusing. A generous percentage of the sales will be converted into new reads for the boys to enjoy. A big thank you to all who supported the success of the book fair. 

Our book week parade was an enormous success with the boys dressing as their favourite book characters. We had some incredibly creative costumes and it was evident the boys had dedicated time and thought in developing their ideas. Thank you for supporting your son with this fabulous event. 

In the library, we had many theme-based activities for the boys to participate in and enjoy.  They had the opportunity to bravely explore alien brains and various other organs, there were word searches and quizzes, a time machine photo booth and various other activities. There was a great deal of fun to be had. 

Our celebration of Book Week 2021 was triumphant, and we feel gratified that we have stimulated and excited the boys in the marvellous world of books.

Primary Sport Update – Mr John Lambourne

North-West District Track and Field Overall Champions

Congratulations to all of the MCA Track and Field athletes on an outstanding achievement, winning the Overall Champion trophy - the first time since 2016. To put this achievement into perspective, it is important to note that MCA can only enter half of the events.

North-West District Track and Field Report – Connor Campbell (6 Violet)

The excitement was up last Thursday/Friday as a promising Primary Track and Field Team travelled out to Arana to represent Marist in the North-West District Carnival. All the boys were hyped and had one goal in mind; go big or go home! The first day started out with the nail-biting 800m, which left everybody out of their seats! Marist excelled with the support and cheers of their teammates; starting the day out well. It was a spectacular effort. Then it was on to our first field rotations for the day, and it was a banger! Whether you were Tex Higginbotham, flying through the sky to land a nice 3.8m in Long Jump, or you were Phelix Meehan, throwing that big metal ball further than you could imagine, it was all a great success; something that the athletes should be proud of. The final event of the day was the 200m sprint. Our team was strong, and we had some spectacular sprinters on our side! Congratulations to Zander Bird, who knocked off the competition to win the 10 Years 200m (29.81 seconds). There were many other amazing races, and every boy should have gone home proud of their achievements and ready to go again on Friday. 

Day 2 started off on a high, literally. Harry Vickery, Phelix Meehan and Connor Campbell were all pumped about their first event of the day, High Jump! All the boys were nervous but achieved soaring heights up to 1.37m! Shout out to PH for coming out on top! After a few more rounds of master class field events, we hit the first of our 100m, and everybody was ready! After some speedy heats, the majority of the MCA runners had qualified for the semi-finals. Even though everyone had given their all, many of the boys were starting to show signs of fatigue, falling short of the final by the barest of margins. Spirits remained high as those who missed out cheered on those still competing. The relays were the highlight of the carnival, and the Marist boys didn’t disappoint; 1st 10 Years, 3rd 11 Years and 2nd 12 Years.

Marist were named Overall Champion, an amazing achievement!!

Congratulations to all the boys who qualified for Met North.

The top Four Place Getters gain selection in the North-West district Track and Field team to compete at the Met North Championships, on 25 and 26 August.

10 Years

Zander Bird

• 2nd 100m
• 1st 200m

Shea Caminiti

• 2nd Long jump
• 4th Shot put
• 2nd Combined (100m, 800m, long jump and shot put)

Zaiden Cook

• 1st 800m
• 2nd 1500m

Hugo Burg

• 2nd Shot put

Zander Bird, Shea Caminiti, Zaiden Cook, Alex Warner

• 1st 4 x 100m Relay

11 Years

Ben Flanagan

• 3rd 800m
• 2nd 1500m
• 1st Combined (100m, 800m, long jump and shot put)

Tex Higginbotham

• 4th Long jump
• 1st Shot put

Aidan Marshall

• 3rd Long jump
• 3rd Discus

Tommy Bedggood

• 3rd 1500m

Eli Miles

• 1st Discus

12 Years

Connor Campbell

• 1st 100m
• 1st 200m
• 4th 800m
• 3rd Long jump
• 3rd High jump
• 1st Shot put
• 1st Discus
• 1st Combined (100m, 800m, long jump and shot put)

Riley Hansel

• 3rd 100m
• 2nd 200m

Quinn Lovering

• 4th 100m

Phelix Meehan

• 2nd Long jump
• 1st High jump
• 2nd Shot put

Term 3 AIC Sport

With the current hiatus in AIC Sport, it is important that all MCA students make an effort to look after their physical and mental wellbeing. The College strength and conditioning coach, Simon Price, has developed a Quarantine Workout Challenge aimed at the Primary boys. For those who are up to the challenge, prizes will be on offer, use the link below to submit your time and photos or video.

Quarantine Workout Challenge

Basketball

Rugby League

Tennis

Track and Field

Movement Development Program

The program will focus on the key fundamental movement patterns (Squat, Hinge, Jump, Land, Push, Pull, Brace and Rotate), these movements are the foundation to all athlete development. The students will be challenged to solve movement puzzles while improving physical fitness and movement coordination.

If you have any further questions, please contact Simon Price prices@marash.qld.edu.au

Boys do not need to nominate to attend these sessions, boys are to meet at the MCA Pool gym.

Wednesday and Friday, 7:00am – 7:30am / 7:30am – 8:00am

*Please note that this program is currently on pause due to lockdown.

Sports Photographs

We are always on the lookout for photos and action shots to be used for the Blue and 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 smartphone. This app will be used weekly to inform you of sporting fixtures, cancellations and bus arrival information.