Boarding News

Dear Boarding Parents,

One of our long-serving and highly regarded Boarding Leaders, Mr Anthony Mathison has accepted the Head of Boarding position at St Brendan’s College in Yeppoon to start next year. Whilst many boys and staff will be disappointed that Mr Mathison will be moving on, this is a great opportunity and we congratulate him on his promotion to this role.

Mr Mathison is an Old Boy of Marist College Ashgrove and has also worked at the College in two separate stints. From 2006 – 2010 he came back to work as a Boarding Supervisor and then more recently he has been a teacher of English and History, as well as coordinating a boarding house from 2017 – 2023. Mr Mathison has also been involved in many other areas of school life, including being an excellent rugby union coach and playing a leading role in the Year 12 Retreat program.

Below is an extract from my speech at the Boarders and Staff Dinner last year where I thanked Mr Mathison for his work in coordinating Brother Terence Residence.

In my first year, I have stood back and watched Mr Mathison calmly and consistently work with all the Year 12 boarders to bring out the best in each individual. He doesn’t play favourites, he listens well, and he is the same reliable, genuine person whenever you see him. His work ethic is immense, and the boys would attest to how he is so often with them in the dorm. He does an outstanding job.

We will have the opportunity to farewell Mr Mathison appropriately as we get closer to the end of the year. He has been a wonderful servant to Marist College Ashgrove over a long period of time and we congratulate him on his appointment.

This coming Friday is a student-free day, presenting a three-day weekend for those wanting to arrange leave for their son. Please ensure you submit leave requests early to assist our planning and a reminder that boarders must fulfil their AIC sporting commitments on Saturday before going on leave. Over the weekend there will be a wide array of activities organised for the boarders who remain at school and we will also be welcoming a number of boys coming in for a boarding sleepover this weekend.

I hope your son is managing this busy period well. Please make contact with me or with your son’s Boarding Leader if you have any concerns.

Sunday Night Mass

Boarding Recreation

Week 7 was another busy one on the rec front. The weekend kicked off with a boarders’ arvo feast before a bus load of boarders headed over to the QLD State Hockey Centre in Morningside for the Marist Hockey team grand final against St Edmunds College. We have several boarders playing in the team and it was a great opportunity to watch a sport that many boys had never seen played before. Later that evening a group headed down to Suncorp to watch the Dolphins vs Cowboys in a QLD derby that saw a strong Cowboys performance keep their top 8 hopes alive!

Saturday morning started off with an hour of touch footy at the internal school comp before heading out to Ipswich to support our 1st XIII League boys in their convincing win over St Pats. Big congratulations to our very own Keli Law-Palm on a well-deserved debut for the premier side! On Saturday night a group of 40 boarders headed over to Indooroopilly for a disco at St Peter's Lutheran College. It’s great to see the boys catching up with many mates, siblings and cousins from various boarding schools across the SEQ area and a good time was had by all. We made the most of the good weather on Sunday and headed up the coast for a beach day at Mooloolaba. A few hours in the ocean and a whip around the shops chewed up the day and it was 4:00pm by the time we got back to Ashgrove on the bus.