Mission or purpose? Or both? What resonates with you?

Having spent some holiday time catching up with friends, I found myself in several conversations regarding life outside of education circles and life in their work orbits. The usual topics were covered – where to from here? How’s your business post-COVID? Are we post-COVID? How’s your staff recruitment and retainment going? And so it went, until I encountered a confronting idea. How about we drop the concept of a mission statement and replace it with a statement of purpose?

The idea of removing the notion of ‘mission’ from our Catholic education setting frightened the socks off me! For me, mission connects our focus, intent and purpose to that which goes beyond an individual and well beyond a bottom line. Our Marist Ashgrove Mission is to develop young people to ‘Love, Learn, Lead and Serve’. Right at the core of this is the Mission of our Church - to provide young people with ‘having life and having it to the full.’

This morning, our staff spent time together considering many aspects of our work. A key priority shared was that of our Mission and our roles and responsibilities with animating this for our Marist Family. Although ‘purpose’ may have been mentioned at some point, it certainly wasn’t a key feature – no socks were frightened off this time!

As we commence another school term together as a Marist Family, may we cherish our Mission above all else. May it continue to provide us purpose with wholly forming young men who’ll love, learn, lead and serve in their worlds of today and tomorrow.

Reminders and Important Information

Fees and Notice Required for Withdrawal from the College

I would like to remind parents of the College's Fee Policy and the requirement to set up a payment schedule in Parent Lounge if the account is not paid in full by the noted due date. Please ensure that you organise and set up your payment schedule before 28 February. If payment is not made or set up by this date, please note you are in breach of the College’s fee policy.

I would also like to take the opportunity to remind parents of the College's student withdrawal procedure to ensure the continued planned financial commitments of the College are managed:

When a student is to be withdrawn from the College, or if an enrolment is to be cancelled by the parents, they are required to give the Head of College one term's notice, in writing, before the withdrawal or cancellation date. A term's notice is defined as a full 10-week term plus any holiday periods. However, if withdrawal is to be effective at the end of the College year, written notice must be given by the end of Term 3. Parents/guardians who do not give such a period of notice will be liable to pay the College an amount equal to one term's fees in lieu of such notice.

Marist College Ashgrove Bullying Policy

Marist College Ashgrove says no to bullying.

Bullying can take many forms including:

Physical bullying which involves physical actions such as hitting, pushing, obstructing or being used to hurt or intimidate someone. Damaging, stealing or hiding personal belongings is also a form of physical bullying.
Psychological bullying is when words or actions are used to cause psychological harm. Examples of psychological bullying include name-calling, teasing or making fun of someone because of their actions, appearance, physical characteristics or cultural background.
Indirect bullying is when deliberate acts of exclusion or the spreading of untrue stories are used to hurt or intimidate someone.
Cyberbullying is the ongoing abuse of power to threaten or harm another person using technology. Cyberbullying can occur in chat rooms, on social networking sites, through emails or on mobile phones.

The College Bullying Policy clearly states that if a student is being bullied, they need to report the bullying to a teacher or leadership team member. On reporting, the member of staff will then follow a rigorous procedure to ensure that the bullying ceases. Some students are concerned about reporting bullying due to being called names such as a “snitch”. The bullying policy clearly states that any student who retaliates against another boy for reporting bullying is acting as a bully and consequences will follow. In other words, boys are protected once they report bullying.

Information on Bullying Flyer

Statement of Commitment to Child Safety and Wellbeing

All children and young people who come to Marist College Ashgrove have a right to feel and be safe. We are committed to the safety and wellbeing of all children and young people. We are committed to providing a child-safe and child-friendly environment, where children and young people are safe and feel safe, and are able to actively participate in decisions that affect their lives.

We have a zero tolerance for child abuse and other harm and are committed to acting in students’ best interests and keeping them safe from harm.

The College regards its child-safeguarding responsibilities with the utmost importance and is committed to providing the necessary resources to ensure compliance with all relevant child protection laws and regulations and maintaining a child-safe culture.

College Child Safeguarding Officers

As part of our faith basis, duty of care obligations and legislative requirements, Marist College Ashgrove is committed to providing a safe environment to all students and to uphold their best interests and wellbeing.

With this in mind, the College has nine College Child Safeguarding Officers to whom staff, parents and students can report any instances of considered inappropriate behaviour by staff, parents or other students. Should you or your son want to report any kind of inappropriate behaviour, you may do so either in person or via one of the email addresses below.

Charles Brauer - Deputy Head of College - brauerc@marash.qld.edu.au
Peter Serone – Assistant Head of College - Students - seronep@marash.qld.edu.au
Michael Connolly – Assistant Head of College - Primary School - connollym@marash.qld.edu.au
Jim Noble - Assistant Head of College – Boarding - noblej@marash.qld.edu.au
Phil Holding – Pastoral Leader Senior Years - holdingp@marash.qld.edu.au
Josh Kersevani – Pastoral Leader Middle Years - kersevanij@marash.qld.edu.au
Anthony Graham - Pastoral LeaderPrimary Years - grahama@marash.qld.edu.au
Genevieve Long - CollegePsychologist - longg@marash.qld.edu.au
Brodie Sheehan - CollegePsychologist - sheehanb@marash.qld.edu.au

If you or your son would like to speak to a counsellor about any kind of concerning behaviour or general personal safety or mental health matters, we also have the Reach Out Portal tile on both the Parent and Student Portals. This will take you to a form you may complete that is received by the College Counsellors who will follow up accordingly.

Supervision of Students Before School

The College’s formal yard supervision of students commences at 8:15am every school day.

Those boys who are attending sports training or other planned activities will be supervised by the adult(s) in charge. From 7:30am, boys are welcome at either of the libraries or the Centre for Learning Enrichment for tutoring and other assistance.

While there are always adults around the school from 7:00am in a coaching or tutoring capacity, Marist College Ashgrove does not provide formal supervision of students not attending sport training, music rehearsal or tutoring prior to 8:15am. Parents are responsible for their sons prior to this time.

Day Long Absences

If your son is going to be absent for a day due to illness or any other unexpected reason, please notify the College in writing via the Parent Lounge accessed via the Parent Portal. The College no longer supports the absentee phone line.

Under Queensland Health guidelines, we are now required to provide increased data on student absences. The use of the parent lounge will allow you to provide more detail of your son’s absence. Many families whose children attended BCE primary schools will already be familiar with a similar system.

As students return to the College and with the increased prevalence of COVID-19 in the general community, the College has the responsibility to keep families regularly updated on COVID-19 being managed within the school community. This communication will occur through the College newsletter.

Parent Lounge - Add Attendance Notification

An SMS alert will be sent to parents/guardians of students recorded as an unexplained absence.

Please ensure you contact your son’s Head of House regarding any daily absences or longer that you are aware of ahead of time.

Early Departures

Year 5-6: If a student needs to leave the school during the day, they must sign out at the Primary School Reception - a parent/guardian is required to accompany them.

Year 7-12: If a student needs to leave the school during the day, he must have a note in his diary from a parent/guardian requesting permission to leave at a certain time. This note is to be signed by their Head of House before school or during morning administration (and presented to Tower Reception before signing out to leave the College grounds.)

Day students are not permitted to go home for lunch.

Students Arriving Late - Years 7-12

Students must sign in at the Tower Reception BEFORE going to their scheduled classroom.

An automated text message will be sent throughout the day to parents/guardians advising of their son’s late arrival to school.

Students Arriving Late - Years 5-6

Students must sign in at the Primary Reception with their parent/guardian BEFORE going to their classroom.

An automated text message will be sent throughout the day to parents/guardians advising of their son’s late arrival at school.

Have Your Family Circumstances Changed?

To ensure you are receiving communications from the College, please log into Parent Lounge to check and update your Address Details. These details can be found under the Parent Address menu.

As part of this process, we ask that you please check, update or add an Alternate Emergency Contact for your family. This person will be contacted should you be unavailable in case of an emergency.

Where there has been a family separation and parents now reside at different addresses, please be aware we can effectively manage separate contact details on our system without compromising communication regarding your son. In the case of separated families, it would be ideal to have an Emergency Contact listed for each parent.

Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with us if you need help navigating any changes (including new family court orders or conditional communication) through the Parent Portal. Our Data Management Office, Linda Pettit is available to support you in this area. Email: pettitl@marash.qld.edu.au or Phone: 07 3858 4508.

Media and Communications Agreement

Please note that as per your signed enrolment agreement, unless communicated in writing to the College, you consent to the use of your son’s image, in photographic and video format, and his name in the publications of College related material. If we do not hear from you, we will assume that your preferences remain unchanged.

External Tutoring on College Grounds

If you are interested in arranging for an External Private Tutor (e.g. an Old Boy) to tutor your son on College Grounds, such as in the Library or within the Boarding precinct, you will need to seek permission from the Head of College, Mr Michael Newman by emailing him the details to marist@marash.qld.edu.au. Please include the name of your son, his homeroom and the name/contact details of the Tutor you are enlisting to tutor your son.

As you may appreciate, we require all persons engaging in private tutoring on campus to hold a Blue Card as well as to abide by the College’s Private Tutoring Guidelines. You will then be emailed a form that needs to be signed and returned and the HR department will make contact with the Tutor regarding their Blue Card.

Please note that until the Tutor provides proof of their Blue Card to the College, and is linked to the College, they are unable to tutor on the College grounds. If you have any further enquiries please contact hr@marash.qld.edu.au.

Lost Property

Any items of lost property that are found are handed in at the Student Administration Office or Primary Reception. Please make sure any items brought to school are clearly labelled.

How Can I Help or Get Involved?

Many of our parents are keen to help in some way to contribute to the Marist community that we are so well known for. Two ways to do this are through volunteering in the College Tuckshop during the day, or through the Sports Canteens on the weekend.

If you would like to volunteer in the Tuckshop during the day, please click on the relevant link below. Our Tuckshop convenor Josie Loucas will take your details and be only too happy to welcome you into the Tuckshop volunteer family. If you are too nervous to volunteer on your own, there is always the possibility of signing up with a friend. Just let Josie know if you want to be there at the same time as a buddy and I know she will help you out. We have parents who leave at the end of their son’s schooling journey commenting on how much they loved their regular (weekly, fortnightly or even term-by-term) Tuckshop catch-up with friends over the years.

Term 4: https://signup.com/go/gTXaxUA

For Sports Canteen volunteers, please keep an eye out on the App for calls to sign up. Remember – if you feel more comfortable with a friend, please rope them in and take them along. The more the merrier!

MCA Takeaway Meals