From the Head of College

Mr Michael Newman

With Power and Gentleness

This weekend Marist hosted prospective boarding and day students at our Head of College Tour. I was struck by a student address to prospective parents where he spoke of the importance of caring for the younger students. “This is our role and responsibility” he said. “When I was young, seniors spoke to and looked after us, I must do the same in return.” One of Fr Marcellin Champagnat’s favourite hopes for a Marist education was to make the students “good Christians and virtuous citizens.” Such an act of caring for the younger students with compassion, guidance and empathy by our senior boys, is just that.

On Sunday, we celebrated the last day of the Easter season or 50th day since the resurrection of Jesus. We recognised the Holy Spirit (Pentecost) entering the hearts and minds of the disciples as they went forth to proclaim the good news. This is referred to as the birthday of the Church – the start of the proclamation and sharing of the Jesus story with its values, promises and faith. In his Sunday homily at the Vatican for the Solemnity of Pentecost, Pope Francis reflected on how the Holy Spirit, operating in the Church with power and gentleness, never leaves us alone. Pope Francis explained that if we let the Holy Spirit enter our lives, His presence and gifts - to accomplish that for which us, alone, would have otherwise been impossible - will be given to us. It is this same spirit that, we hope, lives within each of our Marist students, enabling them to go beyond themselves and their egos to act with compassion and care for the other, like our younger students.

May the spirit live within all the boys and all members of the Marist College family filling us with the power and gentleness to be good Christians and virtuous citizens. Amen.

Champagnat Mass and Opening of the New Primary – St Marcellin Centre

On Thursday 6th June, we celebrate Champagnat Day with a Mass celebrated by Old Boy Bishop Brian Heenan, in the Champagnat Centre. Mass commences at 11:00am and is followed by the blessing and opening of the new primary facilities, named the St Marcellin Centre, acknowledging 25 years since the canonisation of St Marcellin Champagnat. All parents and caregivers are warmly welcomed to attend the Champagnat Mass and blessing of the new primary building. This is a significant occasion for the College and worth celebrating the advancement of our Masterplan for the future.

To attend, it is vital that you register via this link before Thursday 30th May at 10:00am. We look forward to you celebrating this special occasion with all the student body.

Subject Selection Evening

The annual Year 10 (for current Year 9 students) and Year 11 (for current Year 10 students) 2025 Subject Selection evening will occur next Tuesday 28th May between 5.30-7.30pm. All parents of current year 9 and 10 students received a letter via email last week with all the details.

Tuesday 28th May 5:30pm

Subject Selection Information Night for Year 10 2025 will be held in the Champagnat Centre. This is compulsory for a parent/carer and their Year 9 son to attend. For boarding parents, the presentation will be recorded and placed on the Parent Portal to view. Subject displays will be set up for students and parents to visit after the presentation and ask questions.

Tuesday 28th May 6:30pm

Subject Information Night for Year 11 2025 held in the Champagnat Centre. It is compulsory for a parent/carer and their Year 10 son to attend. For boarding parents, the presentation will be recorded and placed on the parent portal. Subject displays will be set up for students and parents to visit after the presentation and ask questions.

We look forward to informing you all of the subject possibilities and pathways for your sons, next Tuesday night. Thank you to our Academic Care Team led by Ms Jen Smeed and all our Curriculum Leaders for their organisation and facilitation of this subject selection evening.

Beyond Marist Futures Expo

This Wednesday 22nd May, Marist College Ashgrove will host its annual Futures Expo for all our boys and selected students from our neighbouring girls’ schools. This expo will be held between the hours of 3.10pm and 5.30pm in the main playground area outside the equity and carers centres. The expo will have educational stalls and presentations from over 45 industry and tertiary exhibitors. We trust that all boys can join us for this important annual careers expo. My thanks are extended to Tara Franklin and Beth Muller for their organisation and facilitation of this event. This is an informative event for our boys to reflect and consider their future possible pathways in life.

Daniel Principe

We welcome Daniel Principe to Marist who will give a presentation titled – “Championing Young People in a Digital World.” Daniel will speak to all Year 9 students during lessons 1-3 and all parents are invited to hear Daniel’s presentation in the Draney Theatre from 6pm. Daniel’s aim is to provide a voice to help guide and encourage all young men through the challenges of adolescence. “Young people today want our support more than ever, and we especially need to champion a generation of young men,” Daniel says. “Boys want to be decent and courageous. Our role is to create spaces for them to be their best. We have the opportunity to help boys find their purpose, clarify their values, and build healthy relationships.” We are invited to join Daniel on this journey of forming good men. “Let’s champion boys and challenge culture together,” Daniel states. This talk will incorporate the topics of disrespectful behaviour towards women, consent, rightful relationships and online pornography. The evening session for parents will provide much information on these important topics. We trust that all parents can join us tomorrow, Wednesday the 22nd May at 6:00pm for what promises to be a helpful and informative presentation. To sign up to attend, please follow this link.

National Reconciliation Week

National Reconciliation Week will be held from Monday 27th- Friday 31st May. The theme of the week is Now More Than Ever. The College will hold an educational assembly and prayer to mark this occasion. Uncle Eric Law from Cherbourg will be giving the occasional address at this assembly via video. Following this, our Chamber Choir will perform at the ‘Sorry Day’ Ceremony at Teralba Park on Sunday 26th May.

My thanks are extended to Kierran Mosely, Alison Braidwood, Melanie Stewart and Anna Nasr (Assistant Head of College – Mission) who are organising and facilitating these events.

Year 5 Camp – Part 2

Our second half of the Year 5 cohort will get to enjoy their camp from Monday 27th - Wednesday 29th May. This camp will also be held at Camp Tallebudgera Leisure Centre. On camp the boys will be undertaking a variety of outdoor educational activities. The boys will learn new skills, make new friends and learn more about the rich Marist culture. The camp will further enable the boys to settle into this great college. My thanks are extended to the following teachers who have organised and will be accompanying the boys on this camp, namely: Mr Anthony Graham, Mrs Cath Geraghty, Mr Daniel Prince, Mr Michael Jones, Mr Matthew Wilson, Mr Jorge Ruiz and Ms Ella Graham. Enjoy gentlemen.

Creative Industries Week

Next week – Monday 27th to Friday 31st May, we will be celebrating Creative Industries Week which involves the Music, Drama, Visual Art and FTV departments joining forces to celebrate the Arts at Marist. All students can participate in the many experiences, activities and workshops on offer and enjoy a range of entertainment at first break each day. The boys can look out for the posters around the college and updates in the morning notices outlining what is on each day.

Activities for the week include: “The Uplift Project”, photographs in the darkroom, “live paint” in the yard, street artist – Jordache, DJ Boys, ASHCAM announcement of winners followed by Inning Works displayed in the library, Draney Forecourt Music - “The Waiting List”, “Thank God You’re Here”, a ukulele workshop, First Light Project, Studio Concerts, FTV Student Project Viewing, Theatre Sport ‘Open Training’ finalists, Photograms Workshop and the Semester 1 Concert Celebration.

An exciting and eventful week of activities for all to enjoy.

Year 10 Traditional Dancing

The Year 10 traditional dancing program culminates tonight, Tuesday 21st May at the Brisbane City Hall with the Grand Finale Dance. The students will get dressed up, socialise and enjoy a night of traditional dance doing the Cha Cha, Rhythm Foxtrot, Disco Rock, and Rumba. These are great dance skills to develop, no doubt coming in handy throughout future events in the boys’ lives. This four-week program has been much enjoyed by all the Year 10 Marist boys and the girls from Loreto, Stuartholme and Mt St Michael’s Colleges. My thanks are extended to Lucy Naughton (Acting Head of House - Foley) for her organisation and facilitation, and Caroline Smith, Anntoinette Restell, Lorna Egan, Christine Larsen, Sharon Davidson, Leisa Williams and Julie Ward for their supervision and to Paula Sanders-Agius who has expertly taught the boys the dances. Your efforts each week have been greatly appreciated. Enjoy, gentlemen.

1st XV Wednesday Match

The 1st XV will play a one-off match versus St Patrick’s College Shorncliffe this Wednesday 22nd May at 3:15pm. Fresh from an 85-0 win against St Peter’s Lutheran College, the boys are looking forward to continuing their improvement and success. The change in time is due to representative matches to be undertaken this Saturday by the St Patrick’s team members. Parents, boys and supporters are invited to attend. All other Rugby and Football fixtures are set down for this Saturday.

Da Vinci Decathlon

The Da Vinci Decathlon Competition will be held on Tuesday 21st May for Years 5 & 6, Wednesday 22nd May for Years 7 and 8 and Thursday 23rd May for Years 9, 10 & 11, at St Joseph’s Nudgee College. The Da Vinci Decathlon is an academic competition designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of all in attendance. Students compete in teams of eight across 10 disciplines, namely: engineering, mathematics, code breaking, art and poetry, science, literacy, ideation, creative producers, cartography and legacy. My thanks are extended to Ms Melissa Deacon (Program Leader, Academic Equity), Mrs Kylie Tippins, Mrs Anntoinette Restell, Ms Jess Turschwell (Curriculum Leader - Middle School Academic Care) and Ms Sharon Davidson (Curriculum Leader – Mathematics) for their organisation and preparation of the boys for this competition.

Primary Assembly

This morning at 8:35am, we held our Primary Awards Assembly in the Draney Theatre. We recognised our exceptional students for their love of work and Marist values in the Men of Courage Awards and Love of Work Awards. Ms Little and Mr Connolly also spoke about the importance of effort in all you do and making the most of the privilege of an outstanding college like Marist. Names of all award winners can be found in the primary section of this newsletter. My thanks are extended to Mr Michael Connolly (Assistant Head of College – Primary), Mr Anthony Graham (Pastoral Leader – Primary School) and Ms Jen Little (Primary Learning Leader).

Congratulations to our primary award recipients. Keep up the good work!

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