Clontarf

Clontarf memo

What has happened recently:

• Most of our Year 7 boys went on the year 7 camp to the Summit. They really enjoyed it, and would love to go again sometime soon. 
• On the 10th of August, our Year 10 to 12 boys went on a Snow Trip that saw them make snowmen, go skiing and snowboarding. 
• On the 15th of August, we went to the Lucknow Football Oval to see a former AFL player, Eddie Betts. He had a book reading with the children and our boys helped him out by running an Auskick clinic for the kids afterwards.  

What is happening this week or next: 

• A movie night for the boys who are ticking all the boxes, in and out of the school.
• Only two more after school cooking sessions for our Clontarf chefs so please pop in and see what masterpiece they’ll dish up. 

Highlights from the past two weeks: 

• The Snow Trip was a great way for the boys to let their hair down and bond with each other on a closer level. 
• The boys showed great leadership and brought a positive vibe to the Auskick clinic.
• Most of our boys have set goals to achieve by the end of the term, so let’s help them achieve those goals. 

Who are our heroes:

• Bodey has started work placement at Dala Yaroo Kindergarten.
• Joshua doing an amazing job working at East Gippsland Waters.
• Paul is our very first Clontarf boy at the Bairnsdale Academy to start a traineeship at the Police Station.

Tip of the Iceberg

The Bairnsdale Academy senior boys group had a cracking day at the snow while visiting Dinner Plain. The snow trip included tobogganing, snowmen, snowball fights, lunch and games/activities.

The trip was based around our senior boys and those who consistently display the school values and the Clontarf Pillars. Seven out of the nine lads had a school attendance average of above 90%. The boys would like to pencil this trip in as an annual event! 

It was the first time three of the lads had seen or touched the snow before which was very special. The snowballs started early with the Clontarf staff members the main targets. Apart from Pete  slipping over half dozen times the other boys were starting to find their feet on the tobogganing. To the point where a jump was created, this jump got slightly bigger and bigger. Unfortunately for Turk the cowboy, he hit this jump with some serious speed and landed on some not so soft snow. The boys did not learn from Turk's mistakes - Jarrod, Peter, Bodey, Noah, Josh, Latrell, Jordan and Archer all had sore bodies the next day. All the boys' confidence grew throughout the day on the tobogganing and plenty of fun was had by all.  As we made our way back to the bus a snowball fight broke out, Wiggs took this opportunity to line a couple kids up for some revenge.

Destination for lunch was the Dinner Plain Hotel and it is highly recommended by the Clontarf boys that the Chicken Parmas are the go! The debrief on the way home was super powerful. The method of EVA was used which came from Alister Clarkson, the boys really embraced it and shared some personal and deep stories to the group. It was a very safe place and made some great discussion points for the whole group to learn from and reflect on.

Eddie Betts still kicking goals!

On Monday the 15th of August, Eddie Betts came to Bairnsdale. The town was buzzing and it was the boys from the Bairnsdale Clontarf Academy that ran an Auskick clinic for the afternoon. Betts drew a large crowd of kids plus several adults to his afternoon session.

Betts was flown down from Melbourne to Bairnsdale for an action packed day. Betts did a luncheon with the GEGAC crew, followed by a session with local primary school kids. Everyone in the community was invited down to the Lucknow football ground to meet Betts after school. 

Betts was giving away his two new picture books to all the kids before sitting down and reading them out aloud with plenty of crowd engagement. He had plenty of time for all kids and Clontarf boys. 

Betts' two books were very powerful and meaningful. The first was about Indigenous culture and learning about other cultures that exist in Australia. Betts' second book was about making friends and accepting everyone for who they were. The two books have been so successful that Netflix would now like to make a cartoon series staring the AFL great. 

After the reading session the Clontarf boys conducted a very successful Auskick clinic with over 100 primary school kids participating. The Clontarf lads were very professional and organised and were praised for how well they did. Numbers were so high a second little clinic was ran just to capture all the kids. 

Eddie finished off his day with an open mic dinner night where he again was able to engage with the community. Betts' story is very inspiring for everyone to hear, listen and change.