From the Headmaster

Dear Members of the Marist College Ashgrove Family,

 

November 5-8 we participated in our last boarding visit. The journey saw us travel to Emerald, Alpha, Barcaldine, Ilfracombe and Longreach. James Couper, Paula and I are particularly grateful to the following boarding families who hosted us for meals in their family homes:

  • Patsy and Legh Thomasson in Emerald
  • Donna and Andrew Donaldson in Alpha
  • Raelene and Mary Smith in Longreach

A big thank you to Donna and Andrew who also accommodated us at their property “Surbiton South”.  The sunset on Friday was spectacular!!

 

To all who came to see us go, our sincere thanks.  We have loved our boarding visits and I feel truly blessed to have seen so many amazing sites over the past twelve years …

 

JUST AWESOME!!

 

In her book ‘How to Get To Awesome’, Rhonda Sciortino writes how generous people are poised and gracious. 

They treat everyone with respect regardless of how other treat them.  They are generous with care and concern for others. To be more poised, gracious and caring of others, focus on others more than you do on yourself and your own needs. Often times, considering the needs of others rather than focussing on our own problems can make us feel better.

That’s been our experience!  The generosity of so many members of our Marist family here at Ashgrove has been and continues to be a hallmark of The Ashgrove Experience.  The words of the philosopher Aesop are very poignant:

No act of kindness, no matter how small, is ever wasted.

And a reflection from Milan Kundera on being generous and open-hearted:

When the heart speaks, the mind finds it indecent to object.

St Marcellin was very focussed on the Little Brothers of Mary being generous with their time.  Hi ‘Golden Rule’ was:

If you want to teach children properly we must first love them
and love them all equally.

This means showing care for one another as individuals. It's about establishing relationships based on mutual respect and generosity of spirit.

 

Let’s all practise generosity and treating other people how we would like to be treated.

 

Yours in Jesus, Mary and St Marcellin.

Peter McLoughlin

Headmaster