Boarding News

Mr Ty Casey

The last few weeks have been like none other! In a meeting with the QCEC recently, they described the current landscape as a ‘very fluid environment’. This certainly is an apt description. Close contacts, casual contacts and low-risk contacts have been a large part of our ongoing conversations. What has stood above all during this time is the ongoing ability for our Marist boarders to stand tall, remain resilient and get on with the business at hand. I commend all boarders who have adapted and pivoted during the recent weeks.

 

Boys on campus have remained focused, and worked extremely well with many restrictions in place, maintaining good learning habits and keeping active. To our boarders who are currently off-campus, we extend our warm wishes and look forward to seeing you return in due course. I thank our fantastic boarding, health centre and kitchen staff who have done a formidable job ensuring all boys on campus have been well cared for. The lifting of the lockdown on Sunday came with great relief as many of our boarders returned from 4:00pm.

 

In the coming weeks, we look forward to the softening of some restrictions which we allow a greater sense of normality to return. Even with the disruptions at hand, it is vital that all boys remain focused on their academic pursuits. We find ourselves at the midpoint of the term and boys should most certainly be reviewing and developing study plans for upcoming assessments and exams. For now, we will continue to band together and work hard.

Good Habits 

Habits and routines are essential to be successful, these are even more important in the life of a Marist boarder. Habits are behaviours and patterns that you showcase by default. Many good habits to have will enable you to carry out crucial activities like taking a shower, brushing your teeth, and getting ready for work. 

 

What are good habits? Well, good habits are those that get you closer to living your best life and are fundamental to becoming successful and happy. 

  • Seek Inspiration
  • Set Daily Goals with Intentions
  • Manage Your Time
  • Exercise Daily
  • Eat a Healthy Breakfast
  • Smile
  • Be Grateful for What You Have
  • Begin Your Day With Meditation

The above are good examples of the types of habits that will have an impact now and into the future.

Around the Grounds

La Valla Residence

The strength and resilience of the youngest members of the boarding school were so apparent during the last 7 days. They have learnt many life skills and we are so incredibly proud of what they have achieved during this difficult time. Whether students returned home or remained in residence, they had to overcome challenges and show levels of independence well above their years. For those that remained at Marist, we worked closely with Public Health Queensland to ensure that there were opportunities for exercise and connection within the boundaries of the restrictions. This included a lot of soccer, handball, touch football and picnics outside. A few treats arrived from boarding families and that did a lot to lift the mood (sugar levels) as well! Fortunately, just prior to lockdown we were able to secure a very large selection of magazines from the library so the boys have also had an abundance of Wheels magazine, SLAM and Power Farming to keep them occupied.

 

The gardening competition hit a small speed bump with many of the boys directly involved returning home to their properties. Mrs Sedgwick promised to water their plants for them but had to speak with Liam to get further instructions relating to the application of his special organic fertiliser mix!

 

A particular highlight of the week was the Teams catch up with the entire dorm. The boys were so excited to see each other - it was so noisy that Mr Sedgwick had to mute the mics several times! Jim's pigeon, Percy, was the star of the conference call!

 

Montagne Residence

We celebrated ‘lockdown week’ in Montagne residence by welcoming 8 new resident members down from Hermitage. It is really great to have them down in the residence and the socialising between the two has been really positive. It was really nice to see some old faces back in the residence after farewelling them last year. There was much activity throughout the week, trying to keep everyone busy. The boys walked Ranger (the unofficial dorm dog) throughout the week, shot basketballs up at the courts and played countless games of touch football on the oval – all in dorm groups of course!

 

The boys were spoilt over the week with treats for supper, breakfast and after school on some days. Doughnuts, lollies, pizza and oak milks were on the agenda to name a few. A big thanks to Mr Casey for organising the majority of these, along with Chef Nathan from the Kitchen. We had a quiz on Saturday night run by Mr Tim ‘Larry Emdur’ Sedgwick. Unfortunately, the Hermitage lads took out first place in the Br Geoffrey houses. I cannot believe no one knew who Ian Thorpe was – I am getting old! The boys had a crack at Karaoke as well, however were a little overzealous for their first try. Three songs it lasted, but hopefully longer next time.

 

Hermitage Residence

This week would be considered as one of the most challenging to date for our residence. After the Brisbane lockdown was announced, the majority of the Hermitage residence departed with only 8 boys remaining – Ryan Johnson, Tyrell Wolmby, Dom Forbes, Dom Winkels, Harry Doyle, Kyran Bryant, Marley Chan, and Braith Crossingham. These boys were exceptional in this challenging time and demonstrated great resilience and fortitude in dealing with all that was thrown at them this week. They even managed to raid the weights room for equipment and set up a ‘Hermitage Gym’ to ensure they kept up with their training! Pleasingly, the boys had the opportunity to spend time as a small group and it was wonderful to see boys they would not always spend the most time with, get to know each other. The boys have continued to demonstrate great camaraderie as they were asked to shift into Montagne's residence. I would like to commend these boys and those who were off-campus for their attitudes to online study and the restrictions currently in place. Once lockdown was lifted, we welcomed back another six students to the boarding school – Zek Anderson, Alex McNamara, Hugo Tully, Nathan Lam, Cyrus Kwok, and Matt Peng. These boys will temporarily spend time in Br Terence for the week ahead. In the craziness of the last week, we celebrated three birthdays from our dorm – Happy Birthday to Nathan Lam, Alex McNamara, and Kyran Bryant.

 

Fourviere Residence

Week 4 in Fourviere has certainly been a test of the boys resolve and resilience. Despite being reduced to approximately half the numbers over the week, the response of those who are still within the residence has been admirable, with all of the lads accepting and following the restrictions expected of them. The Fourviere crew converted the gym into an ‘online-learning hub’ and made every attempt to continue life in boarding as normally as possible. Mandatory outside time at lunch, after a full day in front of screens, has become a very welcome practice with almost the entire dorm getting involved in touch each afternoon. By Thursday, our COVID-19 situation had intensified, ultimately leading to isolation of a number of the boys and swab testing of the entire boarding school students and staff, with many of us breaking our duck and being tested for the first time ever! Boys were isolated even further and online learning was conducted within residences for Thursday and Friday. Take away meals, watching the Olympics, small grabs of outside play and another outdoor liturgy conducted by the boys were all highlights. Pizza and Trivia night was wonderfully received by all, with the Fourviere team of Hunter James, Archie Ryan and Cody O’May taking out the top honours as the winning team in the senior trivia.

 

Br Terence Residence

With the whole of Brisbane in lockdown, our Br Terence boarders found many ways to pass the time and to make sure that they got a bit of fresh air each day. There was a mad rush for some boys who were able to travel home or to relatives and/or family friends nearby, leaving around 30 boys in the residence for the week. Games of touch footy, basketball and golf took place on the ovals while inside the residence the boys displayed their musical expertise and had the time to watch plenty of movies. Patrick Mahony, Paddy Manning and Sam Schmidhauser impressed Mr Loth with their guitar playing throughout the week and the residence coffee and tea ‘house’ was in full swing most mornings. Clancy Clemson and Connor Lyons were regulars around the coffee table offering their thoughts on all things boarding. In amidst all of the uncertainty, it was pleasing to see our Year 12s continue their preparation for their exams and also for our Year 11s to balance their studies with the extra downtime that lockdown provides. As the week progressed and the restrictions tightened, it was most impressive to see how our boys adapted to the circumstances that were out of their control, and made the most of the situation. On behalf of all the Br Terence staff, I want to acknowledge the outstanding response and exemplary behaviour from our Br Terence boarders throughout the lockdown. Well done lads!

Recreation Report - Mr Blair Witlock

It’s been another turbulent week on the recreation front with the goalposts moving several times throughout the week! Thank you to the boys for their flexibility and all the boarding staff for the extra help since I’ve been in home isolation!

 

With each dorm essentially being classed as a bubble, we set up a schedule of activity blocks within the Marist facilities, being used by one dorm at a time. Br Terence had exclusive use of Cameron Oval, Fourviere had McMahon Oval while the Geoffrey dorms rotated in hour blocks on Hayden Oval. Each dorm also had rotating blocks in the top gym which gave the boys plenty of opportunities to stay busy. Another focus throughout the dorms was having a tech-free block and keeping personal areas tidy.

 

We shouted the boys pizza again on Saturday night and put on a quiz night in each dorm which was enjoyed by all. There was a wide range of questions across sport, music and general knowledge categories, and it's always interesting to see random pieces of knowledge that different boys have stored away! As a quiz writer, my planetary knowledge was under the spotlight in La Valla with the boys strongly debating Pluto’s status as a dwarf planet.

 

Sunday finished up with individual Liturgies in each dorm run by the boarding staff. Touch wood – it feels like we are making some real progress with the lockdowns and it's great news that internal sport training and several boarders clubs will be able to resume this week.