From the Head of College

Mr Michael Newman

Anzac Day

Marist College Ashgrove remembers those fallen men and women who lost their lives at war so that we can enjoy the peace and freedom that exists in Australia today. We also pray for those who have returned from conflict and those presently serving our country and remember them in solidarity and support. We too remember those fallen Marist Old Boys whose names appear in the College Chapel of Our Lady and St Marcellin and on the memorial gates at the Des Connor Ovals. May God’s blessing be upon them.

To mark this important occasion, Marist College Ashgrove will be holding a special Anzac Day service during Lesson 5 on Wednesday in the Champagnat Centre. All families are welcome to join us for this service. Following this on Thursday, all boys are invited to march in their local Anzac Day services in full college uniform and lay a wreath. At Ashgrove, the boys are asked to gather at 7:15am behind St Finbarr’s Catholic School for a 7:30am march, followed by a 7:45am - 8.30am service. Ten boarding students and members of staff will be participating in the dawn and main Anzac Day services in Cherbourg, leading the acknowledgement of country, prayers and main address. Full formal uniform is required with blazers (except Years 8 and 9) and formal hats. My thanks are extended to Mrs Anna Nasr (Head of Mission), Mr Peter Serone (Head of Students), Mr Jim Noble (Head of Boarding) and all assisting staff who have organised these services and participation for the boys.

New Primary Building Name

We are seeking your feedback. There has been early discussion from our Leadership Team, the Marist Brothers, Primary staff, and the Advisory Council regarding a possible name for our new Primary building to be officially opened on Champagnat Day June 6th. This year marks the 25th anniversary of the canonisation of St Marcellin Champagnat, the founder of the Marist Brothers. The Marist Brothers established, grew and own this college. St Marcellin is a wonderful role model for our young men to emulate, displaying the qualities of dedication, compassion, service, faith and spirituality, commitment, inclusivity and tradition.

We seek your thoughts on this possible name for the new primary building - St Marcellin Centre. Also, it is suggested that we name each of the three levels of this building with titles relating to St Marcellin’s life. To provide us with your much appreciated ideas and feedback, simply click this link. In anticipation, thank you.

Online Parent Teacher Interviews

Following our successful face-to-face parent teacher interviews last Monday, the Marist College Ashgrove online parent teacher interviews are scheduled for this Wednesday (tomorrow) 24 April from 3:40pm-8:00pm. I trust that you find these 8 minute interviews worthwhile. My thanks are extended to our hard-working and professional teachers who have prepared and will be undertaking these interviews. These interviews along with feedback on your son’s assessments in the Parent Portal and his upcoming semester one or end of senior unit reports will provide all parents with a thorough picture of your son’s progress to date. If you wish to contact a teacher outside these opportunities, they can be contacted on the following personal email address surnamefirstinitial@marash.qld.edu.au. I ask you to be patient with a response to your email sent, as teachers have many students over many classes; however, a 48-hour response would be usual.

Jersey Boys Musical

Tickets are now on sale for the Marist College Ashgrove musical ‘Jersey Boys’ – a thrilling story of how four young men from the wrong side of the tracks became the biggest doo-wop sensation of all time: The Four Seasons. To purchase your tickets, the link is below -

https://events.humanitix.com/jersey-boys-the-musical

Show times are set down for: Thursday 9 May 6:00pm, Friday 10 May 6:00pm and Saturday 11 May 2:00pm in the Draney Theatre. The boys are rehearsing diligently with the girls from Stuartholme and Mt St Michael’s, as we speak. Do get your tickets before they run out – just over 2 weeks to go!!!

Year 5 Camp

Best wishes to the first group of our Year 5 boys who will go on camp from Monday 29 April – Wednesday 1 May. The camp will be held at Camp Tallebudgera Leisure Centre. On camp, the boys will be undertaking a variety of outdoor educational activities. This is wonderful opportunity for the boys to learn new skills, make new friends, learn more about the rich Marist culture and settle into this great college. My thanks are extended to the following teachers who have organised and will be accompanying the boys on this camp, namely: Mr Anthony Graham, Ms Jen Little, Mrs Rebecca Somerville, Mrs Prue McLean, Mr James Trebbin, Mr John Lambourne, Mr Jorge Ruiz and Mr Michael Connolly. Enjoy, Year 5 boys.

Formal Hats

We thank Noone uniform supplies of Marist College Ashgrove who have most generously made and tested a better quality new formal hat product for the college. This new and improved formal hat has been and will continue to be exchanged for the old discoloured and misshapen formal hat for the first few weeks of term. If your son still has not changed over to a new hat, hat checks will continue to be a feature of the Pastoral Team whereby your son will be directed to exchange his hat at the Uniform Shop if its discoloured or deteriorated.

Into the future, the boys are expected to care for this new formal hat or they will be expected to replace this item of the uniform for a new one if it is damaged, as with any other uniform item.

Tips for caring for the formal hat include:

Leave at school /home if it is raining and wear the sport’s hat. (a signed note for a change to standard uniform from a parent/boarding staff is acceptable for 1 day)
Wear the formal hat to and from school and at formal occasions – using the sports hat in the playground during the day.
If the formal hat does get wet, place on a flat surface and do not squash it – otherwise it will dry to the squashed shape.
Boys are not to deliberately misshape or discolour the new formal hat.

I thank Noone for this most generous exchange agreement which is a one-off. I trust that the above tips on how to care for the formal hat are useful. I extend my thanks to all parents on the excellent manner in which your sons come attired to school each day.

Weekly Voluntary Mass

All boys, staff and families are welcome to join us in the Chapel of Our Lady and St Marcellin Champagnat for weekly Mass. Each Wednesday at 8:00am – 8:25am and Friday at 11:30am – 11:55am (2nd half of first break) Mass will be celebrated by our college chaplain – Fr Alatini Kolofo’ou. All parents and friends of the college are always welcome to join the boys throughout the year.

Year 10 Traditional Dancing

Marist College Ashgrove will again be joined by girls from Loreto College and Mt St Michael’s Colleges for the annual traditional dancing rehearsals and finale. This program has been a wonderful success at Marist College Ashgrove over some 38 years. Each Tuesday night, starting on Tuesday 30 April over the next 3 weeks, the boys and girls will be learning the steps of traditional dances like Rhythm Foxtrot, Disco Rock, Cha Cha and Rumba. These are great skills to know and develop. You never know when you will need these dancing skills again! This traditional dance program will also enable the boys to make many new acquaintances with the girls. The finale will occur at the Brisbane Town Hall on Tuesday 21 May. My thanks are extended to Mrs Lucy Naughton for her organisation and supervision of this event, to Caroline Smith, Anntoinette Restell, Lorna Egan, Christine Larsen, Sharon Davidson, Leisa Williams and Julie Ward for their supervision and to Paula Sanders-Agius who will be expertly teaching the boys. Enjoy, gentlemen.

Flu Vaccinations

The boarders will be having their flu vaccinations on Wednesday 24 April from 7:00am. This will be followed by the staff vaccinations from 7:00am on Monday 27 May. With the threat of another serious flu strand in 2024, I encourage all families to speak to their GPs regarding the need for a flu vaccination in 2024. I attach the following statement from Queensland Health for your information and consideration - Queensland Health 2024 Influenza vaccination advice | Queensland Health.

Chess, Rugby Union, Soccer and Cross Country – Season commences this weekend

Round 1 of the AIC 2024 Term 2 sports season commences this Friday night with Chess and Saturday with Rugby Union and Soccer. Our first competition game is versus Villanova College. This is a home game meaning that all teams from Year 9 upwards usually play at Marist and Years 5, 6, 7 and 8 boys play at Villanova College. The exception to this rule is St Laurence's College and Padua College, where all games for all year levels are at home. The Cross-Country training season is underway with the AIC Cross Country Championships set down for Wednesday 29 May. We wish all the boys, their coaches and supporters the best of luck for the season. I attach the expectations from AIC for all spectators, coaches and officials including those from Marist -

https://aicsport.com.au/wp-content/uploads/2024/02/AIC-Code-of-Conduct.pdf

May our loving God with Mary our good mother and St Marcellin Champagnat walk with all members of the Marist College Ashgrove Family.