Primary School News

On Friday last week, we hosted approximately 190 Year 4 boys who will become our Year 5 class of 2025. Having these special visitors here with us provided me with a timely reminder of just how quickly the year is going by! The boys who visited us for the day were certainly an enthusiastic group, and after some initial trepidation, the excitement of being at Marist College rose to the surface quickly, and they all put their best foot forward to demonstrate their best effort in the various activities we had planned for them. Our current boys in Years 5 and 6 were reminded this morning to demonstrate their best effort, particularly as we head towards the end of Term 3. There are still many opportunities left for our boys to do their best so that they achieve their best results that they can be rightly proud of. Last week, I had the pleasure of visiting each class to recognise many boys who have consistently performed well in their Literacy and Numeracy Cup work. I look forward to visiting once again this week to acknowledge boys who have shown significant improvement in their results over the term. This, of course, is only one opportunity of many that our boys have to see real growth.

Looking ahead, I will be taking some leave during the first five weeks of Term 4. I look forward to seeing everyone upon my return and hearing all the Primary School news from the weeks I was away. I hope everyone has a safe and happy Week 9 in the Primary School.

Primary Pastoral Leader – Anthony Graham

Uniform Reminders - Week 9 Focus

As we approach Week 9, we are placing a special emphasis on upholding our College's uniform standards. It is essential that all boys wear their full academic uniform, including the formal hat and blazer, to and from school each day. If a student forgets an item of their uniform, such as their hat, HPE sport socks or blazer, they must obtain a uniform slip from their teacher or at reception. In the Primary School, boys are permitted three uniform slips per term. If a student continues to forget uniform items after receiving three slips, they will be required to spend lunchtime in Room 205. This approach is designed to reflect our College's commitment to maintaining high standards while also understanding that everyone occasionally forgets. We are here to support the boys and these three chances allow them to correct their mistakes before further action is taken. 

2025 Year 6 Leadership Opportunities

As we look ahead to 2025, our Year 5 students will soon have the chance to learn about the leadership opportunities available in Year 6. Early in Term 4, the students will come together for a morning session dedicated to exploring what Marist leadership entails and understanding the selection process. This session, scheduled for Tuesday 8 October, will provide an invaluable introduction to the qualities and responsibilities expected of our student leaders. More information about this important event will be shared shortly. We are excited to begin this journey with our future leaders.

Primary Learning Leader – Jen Little

Progressive Reporting

Over the course of the term, teachers have released grades and feedback for students and parents regarding assessments completed to date. This is released approximately 10 school days after assessments have been completed to provide time for teachers to mark, grade and moderate. It is important that students are actively invested in checking their grades and feedback to inform future progress. Next term, I will work with students on calculating their GPA. This is their way of tracking their progress regarding their own learning. Please see the instructions below for accessing these results:

Literacy and Numeracy Trophies

Congratulations to the classes below who won the Literacy and Numeracy Competition for Week 8. 

This term, we are celebrating the individual achievements of our boys with the following awards:

• Gold Awards – awarded to boys who achieve at least a 90% average in a term for literacy and numeracy.
• Consistency Awards – awarded to boys who achieve at least 70% each week on their literacy and numeracy tasks.
• Progress Awards – awarded to boys who have grown their percentage by 20 points since their Term 1 average. 

Congratulations to those boys who received a Gold Achievement Award last week from Mr Connolly.

Primary Numeracy ‘Gold’ Awardees

Primary Literacy ‘Gold’ Awardees

Over the remainder of the term, Mr Connolly will be coming around to classrooms to present our Consistency and Progress Awards. Well done to all boys who have achieved in the literacy and numeracy area this semester. 

Debating

Congratulations to our 3 Year 5 teams who were successful in their debates last week against Brisbane Grammar School and Fig Tree Pocket School. Between our three teams, we argued the affirmative and negative sides to the topic, ‘That we should ban advertising aimed at children.’ Adjudicators were particularly impressed by the quality of debating from our boys. The students involved were as follows: Sawyer Snyder, Levi Doyle, Ben Jefferies, Charlie Mackay, Noah Newman, George Thomas, Matthew Hendrick, Jovi Zanre, Ruben Vos, Will Carr, Harry Kirkman and Cooper Brandis. Preparations have commenced on our Round 3 debate around the topic, ‘That playing outside is better than playing inside.’ Well done boys and congratulations on your outstanding efforts.

Year 6 QDU Debating – Ms Robyn Brown

The boys did exceptionally well in their second round of debates at St Peter’s Lutheran College last week.

Two out of our three teams were successful in beating their opponents. The topic for the debate was “That we should ban advertising aimed at children”.

The teams showcased outstanding research abilities in crafting their arguments, which was complemented by their keen listening and sharp rebuttals.

Well done to all three teams! 

6.1 debated the negative against Fig Tree Pocket S.S and were successful against their opponents. Max King, Harry McConnell, Joe Campion, Cormac Gannon

6.2 debated the affirmative against Good New’s Lutheran College and were successful against their opponents. Lincoln Bartlett, Andre Bennett, Roman Krutil, Will Minahan 

6.3 debated the negative against Brisbane Grammar School. Barney Armstrong, Sebastian Kaminski, Ben Mulholland, Harris Ritchie 

Tournament of Minds – Ms Robyn Brown

On Saturday some of our primary boys participated in the Tournament of Minds Regional Challenge at St Laurence’s College. There were three primary teams this year participating in the challenge from the Social Science, Language and Literature and The Arts disciplines. The boys worked diligently and collaboratively for 6 weeks towards solving their challenges. They negotiated the strict set of boundaries which include time restrictions and limits on materials used for the making of props and costumes. 

The teams were:

Congratulations to The Arts team who were awarded Honours and Social Science who were awarded The Spirit of TOM award. The competition was very high, and all teams performed marvellously and did a magnificent job creating solutions to the challenges they were presented with. Well done boys!

Head of Sport (Primary) - Mr John Lambourne

What’s On This Week

Wednesday 4 September

• AIC Track and Field - Sprints / Middle distance / Shot put training

Thursday 5 September

• AIC Track and Field – Meet #3

Friday 6 September

• AIC Basketball Round 7 vs Ambrose Treacy College
• Year 5 @ ATC – 5D have a bye
• Year 6 @ Marist – 6C have a bye

Saturday 7 September

• AIC Tennis Round 7 vs Ambrose Treacy College @ ATC
• AIC Rugby League Round 7 vs St Edmund’s College @ SLC – 5A and 5B have a bye

Monday 9 September

• AIC Track and Field - Sprints / Middle distance / Shot put training

*Please see the College app for further details

Achievements

Congratulations to Finn Beaver (6G) who competed in the Athletics Australia - Australian Cross Country Championships, held in Launceston, Tasmania over the weekend. Finn finished a very credible 40th place in the 12 years division.

Track and Field

AIC T&F meets:

• Thursday, 5 September
• Wednesday, 11 September 17

AIC T&F holiday meets:

• Thursday 19 September
• Thursday 26 September

AIC Championships – Thursday, 3 and Friday, 4 October – QSAC

Track and Field Training

Sprints and Middle Distance

Monday and Wednesday – McMahon Oval – 3:30pm – 4:45pm

Long Jump and Hurdles

Tuesday – Athletics Precinct – 6:45am – 8:00am

Shot Put

Boys wishing to train for shot put are please asked to see Mr Lambourne

Boys wishing to be considered for AIC selection should also be aware that there will be training and meets conducted over the Term 3 holidays.

Sports Training and Clashes

With the myriad of opportunities on offer for the students’ clashes are unavoidable but never a problem if communicated.

Families are reminded that cocurricular activities should not impact on students’ academic performance.

If sports training clashes with music or morning tutoring it is asked that boys alternate from week to week.

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.