Boarding News

As we find ourselves in Week 7 we are heading into the final rounds of Term 2 AIC sport. I commend all boys across the boarding community who have involved themselves and committed their time and efforts to the College. Being part of a team certainly highlights the character traits we expect of a boarder here at MCA.

Below are a few qualities that a successful team possesses. These traits are innate in a supportive boarding environment. It is the work that the boys do together on a daily basis, striving, supporting and having a good time together that is the making of a successful team. It is also the making of a Marist Man. Strong Mind, Gentle Heart.

1. They communicate well with each other
2. They focus on goals and results
3. Everyone contributes their fair share
4. They offer each other support
5. Team members are diverse
6. Good leadership
7. They're organised
8. They have fun

Congratulations to our Year 9 lads from Hermitage who faced great adversity last week as they ventured and took on the challenges of Year 9 camp. A tough four-day adventure style camp. In talking with staff that attended they were certainly impressed with the grit and resilience the boys demonstrated throughout the week.

City Hall was also ablaze as we saw the culmination of weeks of hard from our Year 10 boys as they completed their final night of dancing. We thank the staff involved in particular Majella Stevens, and the girls from Mt St Michaels and Loreto Colleges. The boys looked outstanding on the night with three boys being awarded prizes for their efforts. Congratulations to Zeke Esler, Keli Law-Palm and Zane Seeto.

As a College, we celebrate Marcellin Champagnat this week. Saint Marcellin Champagnat is very important to us here at Marist College Ashgrove and the boys are continually reminded of him and his work.

Marcellin was born in France in 1789. Towards the end of 1816, a young man himself, Marcellin visited a boy (Jean Baptiste Montage) who was gravely ill. It distressed Marcellin that this desperate teenager was not only poor and uneducated, but also lacked any knowledge of religion and God. From this experience arose a plan for the order of the Marist Brothers, an order of teaching Brothers who could work to better the lives of disadvantaged children. Marcellin dedicated his life to this order and establishing a way of life for his followers.

His educational philosophy was a simple one: to teach children one must love them. So from the start, Marist schools became happy places, with a friendly teaching atmosphere in which relationships among teachers and students were easy and open, and inclusiveness was the benchmark – everyone was welcomed and loved. This is what Marcellin referred to as “the family spirit” which, to this day, touches all who come under the influence of the Marist charism.

Around the Grounds

La Valla Residence

A dorm full of Year 6 and Year 7 students is an interesting place to be during the week of a full moon and this week it seemed to be intensified by the presence of a blood moon with a full lunar eclipse! The days leading up to the event were filled with higher levels of disorganisation, more squabbles and greater frustration for the supervisors. The boys were keen to see the eclipse, so Mrs Sedgwick made a last-minute decision that they could stay up 15 minutes later to see it. They were fascinated and every one of them was some kind of expert on planets all of a sudden! As Mr Newman was finishing his school day at about 9:00pm he was lucky enough to be stopped by the La Valla dorm so he too could have a lesson on a lunar eclipse! The boys chatted to him for ages until we finally let him go home for the day! Thankfully, as the planets shuffled back into their normal places, so did the dorm and the remainder of the week has been busy but calm!

As assessment ramps up, the need for organisation is paramount. Ms Earley arranged for each of the boys to have their own whiteboard in their areas so that they can plan the weeks ahead. Those with many co-curricular commitments have found this very useful in making sure they are in the right place at the right time. A big thank you to Sr Meredith for setting up a temporary hairdressing salon so that some of the boys could have a bit of a tidy up before the start of the school week.

Montagne Residence

It was much quieter this week with the Hermitage Residence away from upstairs. The Wii console is getting a great workout with Wii Golf and Bowling getting the most playtime. Guitar Hero is still waiting in the wings for another controller so boys can play against each other! The A-Team taught the residence about how to bounce back from bad grades this week and it seemed to sink in, this week has been the best study week that the boys have had this year. It was also positive to see the boys support each other through lockdowns and homesickness this week. The way they have succoured each other this week has been wonderful to see.

Trevor Philp surprised a few of the boys with some McDonald’s this week which was appreciated! The residence enjoyed their Southbank and optional movies trip Friday night in the city centre. We then visited the lovely St Margaret’s girls on Saturday night where the group played dodgeball and made their own version of Cold Rock ice cream. By all reports, the boys were gentlemen and were in great spirits. A trip to the shops on Sunday rounded off the Recreation this weekend – lots to do and boys were given a great combination of downtime and recreation. Assessment submissions have officially begun – please reinforce to your boys the positives of planning! Our prayers and thoughts are with the Jackson family who have lost a loved one in the last week.

Hermitage Residence

A massive week for the Year 9 dorm with all members heading off to camp. The boys travelled to either Kenilworth (Foley, Gilroy, Ignatius, Slattery) or Woodford (Ridley, Ephrem, Rush, Harold) for three nights where they spent the majority of the time hiking. In addition to hiking, the boys also took part in team-building activities and swimming in waterholes. The boys also enjoyed learning key life skills such as cooking their own meals and setting up camp along the way. The boys had a fantastic trip and enjoyed spending time with their house groups who were made up of both boarders and day students. Another highlight of the camp was having a great view of the lunar eclipse (super blood moon) which allowed the boys to view the major celestial event while the moon was at its biggest and brightest. I am happy to report that everyone remained safe and returned back to the dorm with the only injury taking place to Marcus Paulsen who was bitten by an insect (reported redback spider!) and had a quick trip to Caboolture Hospital before returning back to the camp. A big thanks to Hermitage Supervisor Callum Robertson for attending with the boys who had a rest day on Friday following their camp experience. The boys then backed up for Saturday Sport with the 9E rugby team showing their community spirit by helping out the 9E football team and taking part in a match against Padua. The match ended in a draw and has led to two boys (Cyrus Kwok and Harry Laing) committing to being involved for the rest of the football season. Well done boys!

Fourviere Residence

The Year 10 dancing program concluded in style with the boys enjoying a wonderful finale at City Hall. It was great to see the lads put in the effort to dress up in style for the occasion. I would like to commend all of the boys for getting out of their comfort zone to try something new and judging by the smiles and laughter throughout the evening, I can confidently say that everyone enjoyed the whole experience immensely. Well done to Archie Ryan who was tasked with making a speech to thank all of those involved in making this wonderful social event happen and a special mention goes to Zeke Esler, Keli Law-Palm and Zane Seeto who took out three of the four awards on offer for the best male dancers of the night!

In other events, the Year 10 boys who study Outdoor Recreation went on an excursion to Urban Climb at West End for an indoor rock climbing and bouldering experience. The facility has recently been expanded so the boys really enjoyed a range of the new features there. MCA Old Boys' day was celebrated on the sports fields over the weekend with several good wins and a few of the Year 11 boys have taken to learning German under the guidance of supervisor Mr Tim Toomey. The boys are looking forward to another busy week ahead with Champagnat Day Mass and the walkathon rounding out the week.

Br Terence Residence

This week saw our Year 11 boys return to the regular routine of the school day following their block exams in Week 5. For some boys, this has seen a change of subjects and classes, as well as some reflection upon the completion of their first Unit of Senior School study. Our Year 12 boarders have continued to display their initiative and support throughout the College.

This week also saw the return of some of our boarding captains’ initiatives with Clancy Clemson hosting a boarders’ trivia competition that saw our Year 11 and 12 boarders form teams with the younger boys.

On Saturday, our Year 12 boarders were at their vocal best leading the cheering at the sporting fixtures vs Iona on Old Boys’ day. In what is always a big day on the sporting calendar, it was pleasing to see our boarders setting an excellent example. One particular standout for the day was the effort of Clancy Clemson who once again took to the microphone, this time as the ground announcer for the day. He managed to keep all the spectators entertained with his insights into the game to ensure that “rugby was the winner on the day”. To close out the week, we welcomed Brent Humphreys (Year 11) into the residence to commence his boarding journey with us.

Boarding Recreation - Mr Blair Whitlock

It’s hard to believe we are already into week seven as this term seems to have flown by! We’ve had another busy weekend which started off with a trip down to Southbank on Friday evening. Around 15 boys headed into the cinemas while the rest decided to spend their time looking around the markets. It’s always interesting to see what they find on these trips – besides the usual sweets and twirly potatoes, there were also watermelon stress balls and fluro fidget spinners this week!

Saturday was another big day of sport as we took on Iona College for Round 5 of the AIC. It’s always a tough game against Iona and there was a mixture of results throughout the dorms. Several of the Year 9 rugby lads had a bye and decided to give football a crack as the mighty 9E’s were down a few players! While they were missing a little guile, the boys were satisfied with a gritty 0-0 draw. Saturday was Old Boys’ day and it was great to see so many Old Boys from as far back 1960 in attendance for the 1st XV game. The boys rose to the occasion and put on a real attacking show with several brilliant backline tries in front of a big crowd. Four wins on the trot put the team right on St Laurence’s heels at the top of the ladder.

Later that evening, we loaded up the College vehicles and took the Year 7-9’s over to St Margaret’s for some Dodgeball and Cold Rock dessert! Dodgeball was hotly contested with the boys getting fired up around some interesting rule interpretations. Home court advantage was in full swing! Competition aside, it was the first time we’d spent proper time with the St Margaret’s girls and it was great for the boys to meet more of their boarding peers. The cold rock dessert was a real treat with a wide range of toppings for everyone’s ice creams. In what’s becoming a surprising theme, the boys blasted Taylor Swift and Katy Perry over the speakers on the drive home after a really enjoyable evening out. We look forward to seeing the St Margaret’s girls at ice skating in a couple of weeks’ time.

Unfortunately, we had to postpone our Movieworld trip on Sunday due to low sign-up numbers. We’ll look to get this off the ground early in Term 3 before the boys burn through their cash reserves! It was still a busy day as we took several boys out for an early bike ride along the Enoggera Creek to kick the day off. Later in the morning, we set up a full field touch footy game on McMahon to get the boys legs going again. The weekends are all about keeping the boys active and burning energy and touch footy is always a winner. It was a tight game which went down to ‘last try wins’ and Mr Whitlock iced the game with a 50-metre runaway try. Chin up boys. The last activity of the weekend was a quick run-up to Chermside Shopping Centre to get haircuts, school supplies and 2-minute noodles amongst other things. Another one in the books with another busy week around the corner.