From the Headmaster
Dear Members of the St Gregory’s Family,
Recently the Church celebrated the feast of St Clare. Clare means “Bright clear light”. Christ asked us to be the light of the world. What does that mean? He has asked us in our own way to demonstrate in our lives the gospels values. In some ways, that is very hard to do especially if we are going to consistently apply them in our lives. There will be times when we will fall short as we are all human and all make mistakes, sometimes regrettable. “If I only had my time over again”. I am sure that we have all said that line at one time or another but it is all about the recovery, asking for forgiveness and then moving forward in a positive manner.
I reflected on one young man recently who is definitely living his life according to the Gospel values. He is always pleasant towards everyone that he meets. He will make an effort if I am bringing people around the College to make them feel welcome. I have never seen him lose his temper but I have seen him stepping in to calm someone down who was upset. He always wears his uniform well and appears to work to the best of his ability and take every opportunity that the College has to offer.
I am sure that there are times when he does not feel as positive about life as he could but he is human. We could argue that to be this sort of person comes naturally to this young man but I am sure that he has to work at it just like anyone else. I am sure that this young man continues to work on his attitude, commitment and effort in everything that he does. That is why I believe he spreads his own light across our community.
Buy a Bale
“Buy a Bale”, was about collecting money to assist our drought stricken farmers. Two of our country students spoke at last Monday’s Assembly and encouraged the student body to get behind the collection the next day. Knowing how many families struggle to finance their sons' education here at the College, I marvelled at the total of the collection on Tuesday evening - $10,000. I have seen this once before about ten years ago when we were asked to donate to the Victorian Bushfire victims. This appeal was most probably closer to home with many of our farming families working hard to survive with lack of water and feed. An amazing effort by all!
An offshoot of the “Buy a Bale” collection was that some boys had not heard of a bale of hay before and did not know what it was used for. Obviously, some of our city boys had an education about life on the farm.
Year 11 Dinner Dance
Congratulations to the young men of Year 11 on their presentation and presence at the recent Dinner Dance. There were over 190 young people present for the evening and all seated for dinner, which was followed by a Dance. I can assure you it was a very impressive scene.
Academic Assembly
Congratulations to all the young men who crossed the stage last Friday in order to receive an academic award. It was pleasing to see so many young men being recognised for their academic efforts. In some cases, it was the first time some students had been presented for academic achievement, which was pleasing to see. Congratulations to Carl Rushworth, Sam Gould and Jacob Agoo on their musical performances, which were outstanding. We have some very talented musicians in our midst, as the audience would have appreciated at the recent Winter Serenade.
Mr MacMaster
Mr MacMaster visited the College earlier this week in order to get a feel for the College and meet with staff, students and parents. He told me that he was very impressed with the young men that he met as he found them to be very natural and engaging and is looking forward to working with them in 2019. He did ask me to thank everyone for the warm welcome that he received.
The College has advertised for a new Deputy Headmaster in order to replace Mr Brennan due to his intention to travel north and take up the position as Principal of St Augustine’s College in Cairns. The interviews will be held in the next couple of weeks and Mr MacMaster will attend these.
Best wishes,
Damien Millar
Headmaster