From the Head of College

Mr Michael Newman

Mary as a Role Model

Recently, my mother explained to me why she chose a Marist school for her children. She has always had a deep connection to her faith, and it has been her compass throughout life. My mother’s choice of a Marist education was simply, “because of Mary as the mother of God will look after you and Jesus will listen to her.” Just last week, I asked the same question, but this time to a group of present mothers of the college. Their response as representatives of a younger generation was different, yet similar. They talked about the importance of their son’s learning and living the Marist or Marial qualities of compassion, humility and modesty, strength but also gentleness. They spoke about the college’s emphasis on having Mary, the mother of God as a central figure and role model for their sons so they, in turn, will learn and live the qualities she embodies.

Sunday’s reading (Mark 7:31-37) recalls the miracle of Jesus curing a deaf man with a speech impediment. Jesus brings the man close to him, touches him gently and breathes (‘ruah’) on him. At this, people witnessed the “man’s ears opened, his tongue loosened, and he began to speak plainly”. Unseen, however, in this act of gentle closeness and intimacy, was that life flowed through both Jesus and the man as if they were one unit. Jesus mirrored upon this man his mother’s personal qualities of presence, compassion, gentleness and care. Jesus gave new life and purpose to the man; he became one with him. He concluded by simply asking the man not to tell anyone of this great miracle, in the Marial Spirit of humility.

God of the journey, may all the young men and all members of the Marist College Ashgrove family follow Mary’s example living the Marist qualities of compassion and gentleness, with strength while remaining faithful and humble. Amen.

Year 12 Reports and Student Feedback

Year 12 boys will receive their formal progress reports on Friday 13 September. All parents from Years 5 -10 can find feedback on their son's progress in the learning management system (LMS) parent portal by the end of Term 3. If any parent is having difficulty accessing the parent portal they can gain assistance by emailing computerservice@marash.qld.edu.au. We trust this formative update on your son's progress will be most beneficial as you discuss his progress and set goals moving into Term 4. My thanks are extended to all the professional teaching staff who have prepared and undertaken these assessments, marking and feedback.

Sony Camp

The Sony Foundation Children's Holiday Camp is back on at Marist College Ashgrove. Following a few years where COVID has affected our ability to undertake this camp, I am pleased to say that after much preparation and generosity, the Sony Camp is back. The Sony Camp will be held from Saturday 14 to Monday 16 September. The Children’s Holiday Camp Program is a unique respite program where a selection of Marist and Mt Alvernia students take on the responsibility to care for children with a disability. This camp allows their families to have a valuable weekend off! The Sony Camp Program began in 1998 with one camp held at a Sydney school. Since then, it has expanded to 30 camps in 50 schools and universities throughout Australia. In 2019, more than 670 children with a disability had the opportunity to attend a Sony Foundation Children’s Holiday Camp. My sincere gratitude is extended to the following staff who have generously organised and will facilitate this camp, namely: Mrs Anna Nasr, Mrs Jenna Harding, Mr Mikael Pitot, Mrs Clare Lock, Sr Ellie Hotston and Health Centre staff, along with many other generous and capable volunteers. Congratulations Marist College Ashgrove for organising such a worthwhile event for our community and people.

Immersion Experience

Marist College Ashgrove will undertake an immersion to Santa Teresa or Ltyentye Apurte from Friday 13 to Saturday 21 September. Ltyentye Apurte is an Eastern Arrernte community 85km southeast of Alice Springs on Arrernte country. Established by a Catholic mission in the 1950s, Santa Teresa citizens identify as Indigenous Catholics. The population of Ltyentye Apurte is 479 people and its language is Arrernte. The Marist Brothers have taught in the Catholic school there since the 1970s. At present, there is a small community of brothers who continue to teach in the school and serve the community.

This immersion provides a wonderful opportunity for our boys to be guests to the Indigenous people of Ltyentye Apurte. I am sure there will be many friendships formed and significant experiences gained during the boy's visit. My thanks are extended to Ms Jen Smeed and Mr Charles Brauer who will be accompanying the boys on this trip. Enjoy and do well, staff and gentlemen.

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Parent-teacher interviews are an essential element of the important partnership between teachers and parents to enable the best possible educational outcomes for each boy. The Term 4 parent-teacher interviews will be held on Monday 30 September in the Champagnat Centre. Interviews are 10 minutes in duration. The Term 4 parent-teacher interviews are available for parents who were unable to make the online interviews in Term 3. Booking interviews will be possible via the parent portal up until 7:00pm tomorrow, Wednesday 11 September.

Track and Field Camp 2024

The annual Track and Field Camp will be held from Thursday 12 to Saturday 14 September 2024. This camp is an important preparation leading into the AIC Track and Field Championships at QEII, to be held in Week 1, Term 4 - 3 and 4 October. This camp is the culmination of much training and a number of lead-up athletic carnivals throughout Term 3. My thanks are extended to our expert athletics coaches, namely: Richard Graham, Paul Knight, Laurie Boustead, Mark Conroy, Robin Martin, Des Davis, Eric Brown, Tim Castley, Lee Martin, Dan Drew, Tom Prole, James Prole, Bill Prole, Brendan Saunders, Zac Newsham and Tom Dempsey. Best wishes for the final preparation.

Grandparents Day and Soiree

This Thursday, 12 September, Marist College Ashgrove is pleased to welcome our grandparents to the College for a concert, followed by a tour and morning tea. Tickets are still available free of charge, via this link. My thanks are extended to the P&F Association, the Music Department, Nathan Ayre and our Catering and Services teams for their organisation and facilitation of this event.

Following on from Grandparents Day is the 2024 Soiree starting at 6:30pm in the Champagnat Centre. We proudly present approximately 20 of the College’s large and small ensembles who will perform some of their best work. Tickets are still available via the following links:

General Admission Ticket Link: https://events.humanitix.com/soiree-2024

Year 12 Families Ticket Link: https://events.humanitix.com/soiree-2024-year-12-booking-link

My thanks are extended to Dr Andrew Butt – Program Leader Co-Curricular Arts and his fabulous and generous music staff for their organisation and facilitation of this enjoyable evening.

Primary Events

On Wednesday 11 September during Lessons 1-3, St Rita’s College will be visiting our Year 5 primary students for a Robotics workshop. At the same time, our Year 6 students will participate in a Science Fair where the boys will display their learnings from the term. We trust these two activities are most enjoyable for the boys. My thanks are extended to all our Year 6 teachers and Mr Anthony Graham for the organisation and facilitation of this event.

In other Primary news, Mr Michael Connolly will be taking leave for the first 5 weeks of Term 4 to be replaced by Anthony Graham as Acting Assistant Head of College – Primary for this time. Enjoy your much-deserved break, Mr Connolly.

College Awards Night Invitation to All

The 2024 Marist College Ashgrove Awards Night will be held on Monday 14 October. An invitation is open to all parents to attend the annual awards night. The night will include entertainment, the opportunity to hear the vision and direction of the college moving forward and the presentation of awards. The College Awards Night will be held at the Queensland Performing Arts Centre (QPAC). Save the date – you are all most welcome.

Old Boys Cyprian Fundraising Success

The refurbishment of the Cyprian Pavilion, which overlooks McMahon Oval, is almost complete! This refurbishment and extension will provide a more modern building with a larger space and the latest technology and facilities. The Cyprian Pavilion will again be available for hire for wedding receptions (along with the college grounds and Chapel), birthdays, dinners, reunions, presentations, lunches and much more. My sincere thanks are extended to our Old Boys’ Association for the success of their recent fundraising campaign for the Cyprian Pavilion. Their support promoting the campaign and their generous donations have seen $251,086 raised towards the completion of this wonderful extension and upgrade. The Marist Family says a sincere thank you for your continued generosity and support! My thanks are also extended to Ms Cathy Stacey, our Director of Development.

Year 9 Camp

My sincere thanks are extended to the following staff for their professional and generous interactions on the Year 9 camp. Thank you - Phill Holding, Scott Minogue, Andrew Gibbs, Jorge Ruiz, Brendan Kiernan, Pat Denkes, Kathryn Badini, Gareth Kolkenbeck-Ruh, Chris Daykin, Lucy Naughton, Stewart Moore, Ellie Kenny, Steven Edwards, Mandy Kelly, Matt Millward, Marcus Schrader, AJ Gray and Ben Lee. By all reports, the camp was much enjoyed and has led to new and renewed friendships and camaraderie amongst the boys.

Parent Orbit App

The Parent Orbit app, which I explained in last week’s newsletter, will be launched to all parents in the September holidays. This app is designed to enhance communication and streamline various school-related tasks including attendance and absences, updating student details, contacting class teachers, access to the school calendar, payments and school fees accounts and updating your parent profile. Best wishes with this new and improved app.

Right to Disconnect

‘New Right to Disconnect’ legislation provides an important framework for ensuring that all members of our community can disconnect from work-related communications outside of designated working hours. As part of our commitment to promoting the wellbeing of our Marist family, the college has undertaken a review of communication practices. In doing so, the college understands the importance of maintaining a healthy balance between work and personal life for all members of our Marist family, especially in today's digitally connected world. Additionally, the Right to Disconnect Protocols have been developed by the college to emphasise the importance of respecting individuals' rights to disconnect and encouraging asynchronous communication whenever possible.

The college has a reasonable expectation that staff reply to all forms of communication from the employer, students, parents, colleagues, or others within the hours of:

Teaching staff: 7:30am to 4:00pm (school days)
Other staff/non-teaching duties: During normal contracted/agreed working hours/days.

Where contact is made outside the span of hours outlined above, staff will aim to respond no later than two designated working days for the relevant employee.

Marist College Ashgrove is committed to working with all members of our Marist family on this important wellbeing undertaking.

Phishing Scam Alert

A concerned parent has alerted us to a suspicious email they received in their personal inbox. The email claims to be from Alinta Apparel. This email is not from Alinta and is a phishing scam. Phishing scams involve hackers sending fraudulent emails requesting information from victims trying to gain access to your personal data – often passwords and credit card numbers. If you received the email below, please do not click on any links or respond to their requests.

Subject: Alinta Apparel Invoice (Ref EWAY/2020/16277)

Dear

A recent purchase EWAY/2020/16277 has been made using your stored payment method that exceeds the limit you have set in your online account. This is a notification message only.

If you are aware of this purchase, please ignore this message.

Regards

Further information regarding phishing scams can be found by clicking this link. Parents are asked to always be vigilant.

Melbourne Creative Arts Tour 2024

During the break (Thursday 19 – Sunday 22 September), our Year 9 - 12 Visual Art students will be heading to Melbourne for a Creative Arts Tour. Highlights of this tour include: the Queen Victoria Markets, Old Melbourne Gaol, Melbourne Skydeck, ArtVO, Guided Tour of Melbourne Street Art, Melbourne Museum, Carlton Gardens, National Gallery of Victoria and St Kilda Beach and Markets. This is a wonderful opportunity for our students to be immersed in the Art Culture of Melbourne. My thanks are extended to Mrs Christine Larsen – Curriculum Leader, The Arts, Mr Scott Minogue, and Mrs Roxanne Rosenberg who have organised and will accompany the boys on this trip.

Leadership Day

On the first day of school for Term 4, Monday 30 September, the Year 11 chosen leadership group will be partaking in a retreat and formation day. This leadership day will enable the boys to develop their leadership skills, set goals moving forward and to progress their teamwork ahead of the 2025 school year. My thanks are extended to Mr Peter Serone – Assistant Head of College, Students and Mr Phill Holding – Pastoral Leader, Senior Years who have organised and will facilitate this day, along with members of the College Leadership Team. My best wishes to all boys in their leadership journey.

End of Term 3, 2024

Term 3 concludes on Thursday 12 September at 3:00pm. This day is also a travel day for boarding students. It is expected that day-students complete classes up to the end of Thursday 12 September and for boarders Wednesday 11 September at 3:00pm. The day-students will complete the term with an end of term liturgy on Thursday at 2:45pm (McMahon Oval). We trust that all students will have a restful and rejuvenating holiday with their families.

Term 4, 2024

Term 4 re-commences on Tuesday 1 October. Boarding students are due to return to the College on Monday 30 September with travel expected on this day. Normal classes for all students resume on Tuesday 1 October. Year 12 students return to commence their master classes, school-based apprenticeships and completion of VET qualifications, prior to their ATAR exams and graduation.

May our loving God with Mary our good mother and St Marcellin Champagnat walk with all members of the Marist College Ashgrove Family.