Head of Students News

Year 12 Class of 2026 Photo - Thursday 30 April 2026

The Year 12 Class of 2026 photo will be taken this Thursday 30 April 2026.  All students must arrive at the Champagnat Centre at 7:35 am. This is a compulsory event and all Year 12 students are required to attend.

Students must ensure they are wearing full winter uniform including a blazer and that haircuts and personal grooming standards meet the College expectations. 

Instructions on how to order the photos will be forthcoming.

Change of Bus Route – Bus 22 and 50

This notice applies to students who travel on School Bus 22 or School Bus 50 along Old Northern Road. We have been advised by QLD Transport that the inbound and outbound bus stops at Bunyaville State Forest have been decommissioned.

As a result, from Monday 20 April 2026 (the start of Term 2), these services will no longer pick up or set down students at these locations.

All other bus stops along the route will continue to operate as normal.

Supporting Positive Student Behaviour

At Marist College, we believe that high expectations play a vital role in helping young people grow into confident, respectful and well‑presented young men. These expectations apply not only to student conduct but also to personal presentation, and they reflect our commitment to working in partnership with families to support the formation of our graduates. 

We recognise that teenagers will naturally test boundaries as part of their development. This is a normal and expected aspect of adolescence. As educators and parents, our shared responsibility is to clearly define these boundaries and to hold them consistently. Put simply, it is a young person’s role to look for the boundary; it is the role of the adults in their lives to hold that line calmly and firmly. 

The College works proactively to support students by being clear about behavioural and presentation expectations, and by outlining what will occur if those expectations are not met. A number of largely informal sanctions are in place to address concerns when they arise. While it is never the College’s intention to be punitive, it is our intention to help students learn from moments when expectations are inadvertently, or deliberately, not met. These experiences form an important part of learning and preparation for life beyond school. With a community of approximately 1,850+ teenage boys, it is essential that we have clear and consistent structures in place. We also hold the expectation that when a student is issued a sanction, they follow through with it, with the support of their parents. 

As an example, Monday afternoon detentions are used as a response to certain breaches of College expectations. Recently, some students chose not to attend these detentions over multiple weeks. In these particular cases, where these students missed several scheduled detentions despite repeated reminders, a Saturday morning detention was issued, requiring attendance for two hours. This escalation occurred not only due to the initial breach of expectations, but also as a result of ongoing non‑compliance with the consequences that had been set. 

We share this information to highlight the importance of parent support in ensuring students meet College expectations. We understand that mistakes will happen, and we expect this. What matters most is that students learn from these experiences and take responsibility for their actions. When consequences are issued, they form part of this learning process, even when they are challenging. 

If parents or carers have questions or concerns, we strongly encourage them to contact their son’s Head of House, who will be happy to discuss the matter further and provide clarification. Together, through clear expectations and consistent support, we can help our students develop the habits and responsibility that will serve them well into the future.

Student Attendance 

The College requires all absentees to be communicated via Parent Orbit. This includes all day absences, early departures and late arrivals. Instructions for adding an attendance record are set out below:  

Student Absentees - Late Arrivals

Students are required to be at school before the first bell rings at 8:30am each morning.  

Parents are required to advise the College if their son will be arriving late for school via Parent Orbit.  

Students who arrive late are required to sign in at Student Admin before going to class. Parents will receive an SMS message if the student presents without an acceptable reason for being late.  

Note: all morning training sessions finish before 8:00am, giving students ample time to change, eat and arrive at their pastoral group on time. 

 Students arriving late throughout the day are required to sign in at Student Admin before going to class. 

Student Absentees - Early Departures 

Parents are required to advise the College if their son will be leaving school early via Parent Orbit.  

For students in Years 7 to 12 who are departing the College throughout the day, students must sign out at Student Admin before departing. If you would like to collect your son, please meet him at Tower Reception.   

For students in Years 5 to 6, parents are required to come to Primary Reception to collect their son.