Rush House News

As we come to the end of another term, I thought that I would take the opportunity to highlight a few of the events that took place during a ‘busy’ Term 2. 

Lenten Fundraiser

In the first week of the term, we held the Lenten Fundraiser, which had been postponed from Term 1 (due to the cyclone). In an unpredicted throwback to Alfred, the Lenten Fundraiser and Free Dress day also saw torrential rain, but that didn’t stop students from still getting involved in the activities that were scheduled. Rush House was responsible for running the sausage sizzle and one of the games that took place inside the Gym. Thanks to everyone who donated through participating in ‘free dress’, playing the games or purchasing from the food stalls. 

Rush House Theatre Sports

The Rush House Cup event is Theatre Sports, and I would like to thank all students who put their hands up to be involved and represent their House. It isn’t easy. Theatre Sports is based on the skill of improvisation, and involves various games with specific rules - and no script. While the teams attended training to become familiar with the games, they were not aware of the topic until the moment they started each game. 

The following students made up the Rush Theatre Sports team: George Philp, Theo Knight, Toariki Netzler, Max James and Joachim Horgan. They did a great job, especially considering that none of them had been involved in Theatre Sports previously. The Grand Final saw Ridley verse Harold- in front of the whole school. Congratulations to Harold House for taking the win. 

Foley House Volleyball

Foley House hosted a new House Cup event this year – Volleyball. It was well-received with many wanting to be involved, and large numbers coming to support the games. Each game went to 25 and consisted of two halves – six Year 7-9 players took to the court for the first half, and then swapped with six Year 10-12 who finished off the game. Rush House made it to the semi-finals, before being knocked out by Foley (who ended up winning the competition). 

Thanks to the following boys who competed for Rush House:

• Year 7-9: Harry McConnell, Beau Ballinger, Joe Kuruku, George Pink, Toby Saunders, Aarav Patel
• Year 10-12: Coen Netzler, Heath Monk, Charlie Wilcox, Aidan Kock, Micah Netzler, George Philp

Top 10% for Academics – Middle School

The Rush students listed below are in the top 10% of their cohort for academic results. Congratulations for all the hard work, organisation and work ethic that it takes to achieve these results – well done! 

• Year 7 – Danny Carey
• Year 8 – Harvey Pye, Jimmy Corbett, Hunter Kayra, Isaac Gervais
• Year 9 – Caleb Fuller, Aarav Patel, Lucas Weigl, George Henderson, Roma Park, Oliver Ve

I do appreciate that there are many others who have worked just as hard to achieve their personal best - this is what we should be striving for, and these students should also be congratulated.

House Meeting Presentation – Isaac Roach 

Isaac Roach was the 2024 Rush House Sports Captain and the College Spirit Leader. In his time at the College, he also captained many sporting teams to victory and produced strong academic results, while juggling his many commitments. At the College Awards Night last year, Isaac received the Character Cup and Sportsman of the Year, two of the major awards of the night. He is well-known and respected in the Marist community, and has just recently commenced a boarding supervisor position. 

I was thankful when Isaac agreed to come and speak with the Rush boys about his journey at Marist – he was very raw and honest. Not many were aware that it wasn’t easy for him at times, and he wasn’t always proud of his choices. Isaac shared his personal experiences and how he overcame many obstacles to have, what ended up being, a very successful Senior schooling experience. He left us with the message that it is never too late to ‘hit the reset button’, realign goals and use your support systems to work towards building a better and stronger version of yourself. He reiterated the importance of making one small change at a time, and these will all eventually add up. I reflected with different students after his speech, and they all seemed to take something different away from Isaac’s presentation.

Year 11 Leadership Day

UPP (Unleashing Personal Potential) is a group that came to work with our Year 11 students around the topic of leadership. This was a good chance to work together as a House group and provide an opportunity for some to step up as leaders of various activities. The Year 11s are currently going through the official leadership application process at the moment, and they can draw upon some of the key discussions that we had on this day - including the ASPIRE principle. 

A - Take ACTION – have a go.

S - SERVE – be kind and give others a go.

P - PERSIST through struggles and setbacks.

I  - INFLUENCE others and set an example.

R - RESPECT for people, the group and ideas.

E - ENCOURAGE others.

Push Up Challenge

Champagnat Day was celebrated on Friday 6 June. After the Mass and the shared lunch, the College participated in the Push Up Challenge – an initiative that was led by the College Wellbeing captains to raise awareness for mental health in Australia. Together, staff and students completed 3,249 pushups, which represents the number of people who lost their lives to suicide in Australia in 2022. Thank you to all who got involved on the day.

Rush House Mass

We had our second (and final for the year) invitation to attend Community Mass. Thank you to those who attended – I do always enjoy celebrating Mass with members of the Rush family. Just a reminder that Community Mass is on each Wednesday morning from 8.00am and boys can attend at any time, regardless of whom the special invitation is given. 

Primary/Senior Activity Afternoon

With the aim of building stronger connections between the Seniors and the Primary School, an ‘Activity Afternoon’ was organised. Different Primary classes were matched with the Year 12s of a particular House, and the intention is to build on these relationships by organising another ‘meet up’ at some point next term. All embraced the opportunity to meet new people within the Marist community, and had an enjoyable afternoon.

Rush House BBQ

Just prior to Exam Block, we had a Rush House BBQ, which provided an opportunity to gather together as a House and reflect on the term so far. It was also an opportunity to celebrate the hard work shown from the boys this term, and wish the Rush gents well for their upcoming assessments. Thanks to the Year 11 helpers for cooking and serving the BBQ – it was much appreciated. 

Athletics Day

On Friday last week, the College held Athletics Day. It was great to see so many Rush students (and our unofficial Elmo mascot) excel on the day – it was very impressive. Unfortunately, there were quite a few injuries and illnesses from some of the ‘key players’ (particularly in the Senior school), but those in attendance worked their best, and participated where they could, to get Rush as many points as possible – thank you. Also, thank you to those who nominated for age-specific events, and to Lachlan Davidson, Ethan Schulz and Lachlan Grant for your organisation prior to the day. We went into Athletics Day at the top of the House Cup ladder, and even though our 6th place result will see us slip just a little, we are still in with a chance to regain our top spot as we move into next term.

Just a reminder that Kate Moore is Acting Head of Rush until Week 8 of next term. She has done an amazing job already over the last three weeks, and as always, please feel free to reach out at any time. I hope that the Rush Rampage can slow down a little over the next couple of weeks and enjoy a relaxing break with family and friends. I look forward to working with everyone again shortly. 

God bless

Scott