From the Head of College

Mr Michael Newman

Empowerment, Sustenance and Strength

When you travel to many parts of the world, you see Christian symbols, churches and people practicing their Christian beliefs. It is heartening and reassuring to see such a comprehensive practice of the story of Jesus. In fact, the Greek meaning of the word Catholic is ‘universal’ or ‘worldwide’ and so it is that the Catholic Church has an estimated 1.35 billion people worldwide and approximately 2.4 billion Christians out of an estimated 8 billion people in the world. It all started with Jesus calling his few disciples and spreading this absorbing and compelling story and message to the people of his time and from here, it spread throughout the world. In this Sunday’s reading, John 15:1-8, Jesus uses a metaphor or a symbol to explain how the spread of his message works.

Jesus refers to himself as the vine and we as the branches. The vine is the centre and the strength from where the branches protrude. The vine provides all the nutrients the branches require to grow and live. The vine holds up the branches and the branch must be part of the vine or it can’t produce fruit. Without the vine, the branches cannot survive. With the vine, the harvest of the branches can multiply and be more fruitful. Each branch that is fruitless is cut away and when a branch bears fruit it is pruned to make it bear even more fruit. It is so vital as a branch to stay attached to the vine. The vine is a contemplative space, a mystical place where we are energised by God, where we experience the fullness of God’s unconditional love as revealed through his death and resurrection for each one of us.

God of the journey, may all members of the Marist family be forever attached to you for empowerment, sustenance and strength. Amen.

Assembly of Birthing Kits

To recognise International Women’s Day, our Year 12 boys will be assembling birthing kits, which they and their families have purchased, during Ash lessons this Thursday, 2nd May. This is a wonderful undertaking by the boys to advance the status and dignity of women in third-world countries. These birthing kits consist of: plastic sheets, soap, gloves, ties, sterile scalpel, press-sealed plastic bags and gauze squares. In completing this practical hands-on activity, we hope to raise in our young Marist men an understanding and awareness of the conditions women face in third-world countries. We hope their generosity will bring hope to many women and families enabling the gift of new life into our world.

Gathering in Prayer for Gaza: Brisbane Inter-Faith Vigil #2

On Saturday night, five Year 12 Marist young men joined with Mrs Anna Nasr (Assistant Head of College - Mission) to attend the Brisbane interfaith vigil in prayer for Gaza. The Catholic Justice and Peace Commission and other faith groups joined in prayer at Brisbane Square hosted by the Anglican Church.

The vigil opened and closed with a Torres Strait Islander elder blowing a conch shell symbolising purity and positivity. Between 3:00pm and 6:20pm, the names of thousands of children killed in Israel and Gaza since October were read out on a roster. Anna Nasr - Assistant Head of College Mission took part in the reading of these children’s names. There were no speeches or homilies – only prayers and holy text readings at the vigil which were read by over 45 Inter-faith religious leaders. One of these prayers was read by one of our Year 12 students, Remy Versace. We continue to remember in our prayers the conflict in Gaza and pray for the deceased. We thank our Year 12 boys and Mrs Nasr who represented the college with distinction and heart.

Mother’s Day Breakfast and Mass

A reminder to all mothers of two important annual events at the College. The Mother’s Day Mass in the Chapel of Our Lady and St Marcellin on Wednesday evening 8th May and the Mother’s Day breakfasts on Thursday and Friday 9th and 10th May.

Bookings can be made by clicking the links below –

Mass: https://events.humanitix.com/mother-s-day-evening-mass-2024

Breakfast Thursday - https://events.humanitix.com/2024-mother-s-day-breakfast-thursday

Breakfast Friday - https://events.humanitix.com/2024-mother-s-day-breakfast-friday

We look forward to recognising our wonderful mothers at Marist.

Jersey Boys

A reminder that there is only just over 1 week until our college musical “Jersey Boys” takes stage at the Draney Theatre. Tickets are selling fast, so please purchase them immediately so as not to miss out. Show times are:

Thursday 9 May 2024, 6:00pm

Friday 10 May 2024, 6:00pm

Saturday 11 May 2024, 2:00pm

To purchase tickets, go to the link below.

MCA Musical - Jersey Boys | Humanitix

Year 8 Formation Day

Today, our Year 8 students participated in a Stronger Connections Workshop facilitated by Unleashing Personal Potential (UPP). This workshop is designed to help our students make and grow connections, covering topics such as building empathy, the science of kindness, working together, leadership and relationships. All UPP workshops have been designed by respected educator Luke McKenna and are engaging, positive, interactive and age appropriate.

I extend my thanks to Mr Josh Kersevani (Pastoral Leader, Middle School) for his organisation of this workshop.

Primary Debating and Public Speaking

Our Year 5 public speakers and Year 6 debaters will travel to St Laurence’s College for a 6.30pm start on the following dates – 30th April, 14th May and 28th May. The Year 6 students will debate the following topics: homework must be abolished,all families should own a pet and summer holidays should be shorter. Year 5 students will speak on a topic of their choice.

Parents and families are warmly welcome to attend these debates.

Following this, the Queensland Debaters Union (QDU) Competition will be held in Terms 3 and 4.

Boarding Social Initiatives

I congratulate the boys in boarding for their wonderful work in a number of social justice initiatives each week. ‘Boarders Blitz’ continues each Monday and Wednesday afternoon where the boys cut lawns, weed and prune gardens and assist local residents in the area who require help. Also, our boys in boarding visit St Vincent De Paul Aged Care on Wednesday and Thursday afternoons. I congratulate the boarding boys for their work demonstrating generosity of heart and care for the less fortunate and elderly. My thanks are extended to Mr Jim Noble (Assistant Head of College – Boarding) and Mr Blair Whitlock (Boarding Recreation Officer) who facilitate this wonderful program for the boys.

Boarding Regional Visits

Marist looks forward to visiting Goondiwindi and Rockhampton over the next two weeks. We will be in Goondiwindi for the Aspects Art Show and the Goondiwindi Show (Thursday 2nd - Sat 5th May) and in Rockhampton for Beef Week (from Sunday 5th May – Saturday 11th May). We look forward to catching up with many of our present families and any future families who would like to know more about the wonderful Marist College Ashgrove. I thank the following staff who will be visiting these two regions – Mr Jim Noble (Assistant Head of College – Boarding), Mr Ty Casey (Assistant Head of Boarding), Ms Meagan Loane (Director of Enrolments – Boarding and International), and Ms Antonia Svenson (Marketing Co-ordinator – Boarding, Publications and Editorials).

See you there!

Boarding Parent Network Meeting

The Boarding Parent Network meetings continue this week online from 5:00pm, Wednesday 1st May. These meetings are a chance for all our boarding parents to get together in comradery, to share their thoughts and questions and to plan for the future. I thank our Chair of this meeting, Mrs Susan Shay and team. Many thanks also to Mr Jim Noble (Assistant Head of College - Boarding) and Mr Ty Casey (Assistant Head of Boarding) who attend and provide feedback to parents at these meetings. We look forward to seeing you all online this Wednesday.

ASHCAM Photography Competition

ASHCAM is Marist’s annual photography competition, which is open to the whole Marist community. Entries open on Monday 29th April. To enter, simply compose your best photo of a chosen subject. You can submit up to 10 entries within the following categories:

Junior – Years 5 and 6, Middle - Years 7, 8, 9 and 10, Senior – Years 11 and 12 and Open – Marist community and staff. Each category will award a prize for both winner and runner up.

Entries close on the 27th May and winners announced on 31st May.

My thanks are extended to Mrs Christine Larsen (Curriculum Leader – Arts) and Stacey Finch for their facilitation of this competition. We look forward to viewing many terrific photos.

Interhouse Cross Country Carnival

Best wishes to all boys and all Houses as they compete for the champion Cross Country House title this Wednesday 1st May. This all-day event includes each year level competing during allotted times at Des Connor Park (‘The Flats’).

My thanks are extended to Matthew Millwood, Corey Robinson and our Pastoral Leaders for their facilitation of this event.

The Interhouse Cross Country Carnival will assist with the selection of team members for the upcoming AIC Cross Country Championships to be held on 29th May. Good luck to each of the Houses and all the students.

Autumn Concert

This Thursday 2 May our Autumn Concert will be held in the Draney Theatre. We celebrate the advent of Autumn through our intermediate ensembles featuring Wind Orchestra, Guitar Orchestra, Performance Choir, Percussion Ensembles 1 and 2, Senior Strings, Big Band 2 and a special guest artist.

My thanks are extended to Ms Janelle Lee Long (Wind Orchestra 2), Ms Megan Harmston (Big Band 2), Mr Steven Williamson (Guitar Orchestra 2), Ms Catherine Wasserman (Senior Strings), Ms Samantha Blakeney (Performance Choir), Ms Melanie Stewart (Performance Choir - Accompanist), Mr Zac Moynihan (Percussion Ensemble 1 and 2), Mr Andrew Butt (Program Leader – The Arts), Ms Tayla Ferguson and Mr Alex Hides.

Tickets can be purchased by clicking this link.

Fareshare Charity Kitchen

Next Tuesday 7 May, our Years 11 and 12 students will be venturing to the Fareshare Kitchen from 5:00pm - 9:30pm to assist with the cooking of meals. Powered by volunteers and supplied with surplus food by Foodbank Queensland, this kitchen aims to cook one million meals each year to help feed people in need with nutritious meals.

Thank you to Mikael Pitot and Kathryn Badini who have organised and will accompany the boys.

I congratulate all boys and staff involved in this important initiative for those most in need.

Term 2 Sports Commence

Well done Marist on a great start to Term 2 sport in the AIC Competition. The season started well for all our teams in both rugby and football and I am most grateful to our many supporters and coaches. Our first round was against Villanova College saw 82% of rugby union and 74% of football teams successful on the day. Well done to our 1st XV Rugby (48-10) and 1st XI Football (3-0) who were victorious on the day. We trust that all boys will continue to learn, improve and enjoy their games throughout the season. We look forward to hosting Padua College at the College for Week 2.

Schools Creative Generation Excellence Awards in Visual Art

The college is delighted to share the artwork of 2023 Marist Year 12 student, Gabriel Dinneen currently on show at the Gallery of Modern Art. Gabriel was one of only 37 excellence award recipients from 459 individual submissions from 177 schools from around the state. His sculptural installation, “Resistance” is part of the central exhibition at GOMA which officially opened on Saturday 27 April and runs until Sunday 25 August. Congratulations Gabriel.

Waterpolo Award Nomination

Angus Cope in Year 11 was nominated by Waterpolo Australia for their Young Achiever of the Year award. The award is for giving back to the community through his refereeing and coaching whilst achieving academic excellence and performing in water polo. Angus is one of only 6 nominees and he travelled to Sydney over the weekend with his parents to attend the event. While Angus was not the overall winner of this award, he was deeply honoured to be nominated and thoroughly enjoyed his trip and the event. Congratulations to Angus for his hard work and nomination.

Whooping Cough

We have been notified of 2 cases of Whooping Cough within the day-school student body since the beginning of 2024. Families with students within affected year levels have been notified. Queensland Health have advised clinicians to remain aware of an increase in cases of Whooping Cough in the state. Please follow this link to the Queensland Health website for more information and the prevention of Whooping Cough.

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