Primary School News

Head of Primary – Paul Blinkhoff

My best wishes to the boys as we head towards the business end of the term. Plenty on in these last few weeks of term with the last rounds of cricket and AFL, trials for our Term 2 sports of football and rugby, the College Lenten appeal in full swing, instrumental and theatre performance preparations with our Year 5s and of course the very important end of term assessments. There's a lot, and our collective thanks for all you do to support your boys. Expectations from a school point of view remain high with behaviour, uniforms and commitment to study and we appreciate the wonderful support on the home front with this.  

We look forward to our Year 6 students attending community mass this Wednesday morning beginning at 8:00am. Students are to meet their teachers at the podium area by 7:50am to be walked down to the chapel. Boys arriving later than this can meet us directly at the chapel. Parents are very welcome to attend. 

Hopefully Primary parents have seen the notification for parent teacher interviews that came out recently through the Parent Orbit app. These occur early in Term 2 and are an important part of the reporting and assessment process. 

Thanks to those Year 6 parents who were able to make it to the Parent Function on Friday night at the Cyprian Pavilion. We had a great turnout and it was an enjoyable evening. With such a busy start to the school year, we look forward to hosting the Year 5 Parent Function a little later in the year. 

On Tuesday 24 March, our Primary community will come together for the Primary Awards Assembly. This special occasion recognises boys who have been selected to receive a Men of Courage or Love of Work award - students who consistently live out our Marist values through kindness, perseverance, a strong work ethic and the courage to do what is right.

This assembly provides a valuable opportunity to pause and acknowledge effort while highlighting the resilience, leadership and character we seek to nurture in our boys each day. We look forward to celebrating these achievements together as a school community.

Thanks everyone, all the best for the week ahead.

Primary Pastoral Leader – Anthony Graham

Year 12 and Primary Connection Afternoon

On Thursday this week, we are excited to host our first Year 12 and Primary Connection Afternoon. This initiative provides a valuable opportunity for our younger students to build relationships with senior students, strengthening our sense of community and fostering positive role modelling across the College.

Primary Awards Assembly

Next Tuesday morning, 24th March, we will celebrate our Primary Awards Assembly. Invitations will be sent later this week to families of students receiving an award. The assembly will take place on the ground floor of the St Marcellin Centre (Primary Building).

Playbreak Activities

This week, we are trialling something a little different during first break, with a range of organised activities designed to further engage boys in their playtime. So far, we have had Music Monday and Dodgeball Tuesday, with Sporting Highlights (Wednesday), Mountain Biking Highlights (Thursday) and our ever-popular Handball Free Friday, featuring spikeball, pickleball and other activities still to come.

We are very fortunate at Marist to offer a wide range of play opportunities, including a large oval for running games, 10 cricket nets, three basketball hoops, over 50 handball squares, as well as quieter spaces such as the library and garden club.

Playground Expectations

Despite these excellent facilities, we have noticed some boys engaging in unsafe or antisocial behaviours during play breaks. Over the next three weeks, we will be placing a strong focus on positive play, including keeping hands to ourselves during games, playing in the correct areas and using our facilities as intended.

The message to the boys is clear - play should be active, inclusive and enjoyable for all. By reinforcing these expectations now, we aim to ensure that playtime remains a positive experience, rather than one where consequences are required.

Primary Learning Leader – Jen Little

Year 5 Gold Rush Excursion

We are currently preparing for our Year 5 Gold Rush Excursions next week. Our Year 5 students will be travelling back in time to the Gold Rush era through organised activities conducted by Eureka Excursions.  This will complement what they will be learning in Term 2 HASS.  The dates are as follows:

All other important details have been emailed to parents. Excursion dates are as follows:

• 25th of March – 5 Silver, Violet and White
• 26th of March – 5 Blue, Gold, Maroon and Red

An email and consent letter was sent out via Parent Orbit a few weeks ago. At the time of writing, there are currently 32 students who have not had permission granted for this excursion. We kindly request your attendance to this matter as soon as possible. Students without permission cannot attend the excursion. 

This week, your child will be bringing home a participant ‘Disclaimer Form.’ Could we also kindly ask that you sign this and return it to your child’s class teacher as soon as possible. Completion of this form is also a condition of the excursion. 

Assessment Feedback and Results

A reminder to parents that the Parent Orbit App is your primary platform for accessing your child’s grades and feedback from recent assessments.

At present, results and feedback for the following assessments are available via both the Student Café and the Parent Orbit App:

• Year 5 Narrative Writing
• Year 6 Religion

We encourage you to take some time to sit down with your child and discuss their results together.

NAPLAN

Thanks to our Year 5 teachers, students and parents for their support of NAPLAN. Having students arrive early to set up devices allowed us to streamline the process and set the tone for testing. This week, we begin the process of catch-up testing. Those students involved have already been emailed regarding testing times. Any student who is not present at the catch-up sessions will be marked as ‘absent’ for the testing period. 

Extra-curricular offerings in Academics

Public Speaking and Debating - This week, we will commence the process of organising teams for our Debating Round Robin Competition for Year 6 and our Individual Public Speaking Competition for Year 5 students. Please look for emails about this. 

Science Club – Science Club is also available to our students, including Primary boys on Tuesday afternoons in the Physics 1 Lab from 3:20pm – 4:00pm.

Literacy and Numeracy Trophy Winners

Literacy and Numeracy continue to be a focus in the Primary. Congratulations to the following classes for their success last week.

Primary Sport

Mr John Lambourne – Head of Sport (Primary)

Achievements

AIC Swimming Championships

Top Three Placegetters

Year 5

Year 6

Results

Term 1 AIC Sport

Cricket

AFL

Swimming

Marist Primary Swim Squad

Training sessions continue for the remainder of Term 1. These sessions are open to all boys.

Boys attending these sessions will need to bring the following equipment.

• Goggles
• Kickboard
• Short Flippers
• Mesh Bag

Year 5 and 6 MCA Swim Squad Training Timetable Term 1

For further details please contact: swim@marash.qld.edu.au

Term 2 AIC Sport

Rugby

Rugby Ready Program | Year 5-12

Marist College is delivering a 4-week Rugby Ready Program across all age groups leading into the rugby union trials. The Rugby Ready Program involves a host of measures such as physical preparation, skill development, correct and safe techniques preparing the players for contact, enforcement of game laws, and management of safety issues such as the Scrum Passport and the “MAYDAY” call.

NOTE – you are not required to sign on for the Rugby Ready Program. Whilst there are a number of reasons for providing such a program, a key driver is wanting to deliver to all students a safe, challenging and enjoyable rugby union program. In order to develop the Marist College rugby players, we must give them the skills to approach the game with confidence and minimise the chance of injury. Please see documents on the Marist app for all information including the program content, schedule and dress code. 

NOTE – if you have a commitment to a Term 1 sport, that is your priority.

Football

Sports Photographs

We are always on the look-out for photos and action shots to be used for the Blue & 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 smart phone. This app will be used weekly to inform you of sporting fixtures, cancellations and bus arrival information.

Late Pick Up After Sports Training

“PLAN B”

It is important that both parent and student are aware of the pick-up procedure if afternoon sports training is cancelled or if parents are running late for pick-up. As soon as a decision is made to cancel a sporting fixture or training, a message is placed on the College app. If training is cancelled, boys can remain in the primary school or walk to an arranged pick-up point when the time arrives.

Afternoon sports training sessions are scheduled to finish by 4:45pm. We ask that boys are picked up at this time. Any boy who is still at their training venue at 5:00pm will be directed to the After Hours Boarding Reception area / College Health Centre so that he may be collected from there. After Hours Boarding Reception can be contacted on 07 3858 4619.

In the case of bus arrivals from external sporting venues, boys will be sent to After Hours Boarding Reception 15 minutes after the bus arrives back at the College. Parents are asked to collect their sons from this location.