Primary School News

Dear Primary Families

There was certainly a buzz around the school as we welcomed the boys back on Wednesday. They are to be commended for settling back into the school routine so well and for wearing their uniform with pride. 

In the first two weeks of term, we are focusing on the Marist Pillar of Love of Work. Boys have been reminded to use the feedback from their Parent Teacher Interviews and Term 3 Reports to set learning goals so that they can finish the year at their very best.

Thank You

A big thank you to everyone for their kind words and e-mails following the news of my appointment as the next Principal at St Thomas’, Camp Hill. I hope to provide an update of the interim arrangements for the Acting Head of Primary position in next week’s newsletter. 

Awards Night

Yesterday evening our 2022 Marist College Ashgrove Awards Night provided us with a fantastic opportunity to celebrate the achievement of our boys in all areas of College life. Congratulations again to all our award recipients. 

Track and Field

Congratulations to our Primary Track and Field Team who have secured the Primary AIC Championship for the second year in a row. Many thanks to Mr John Lambourne and the coaching staff for all their tireless commitment in preparing the boys for this event. More details can be found in the Sports section below.

Tournament of Minds – International Final

We wish our Year 5 and 6 Tournament of Minds students all the best as they travel to Canberra this week to represent Queensland in the International Tournament of Minds Final: JD Cootes, Kayden Kyoung, Henry Walker, Lucas Weigl, Olivier Canning and Callum Nowers. This is a fantastic achievement for the boys and no doubt an experience they will remember for years to come. A big thank you to Mrs Majella Stevens and Mrs Rhonda Carson who will travel with the team. 

Save the Date – Year 6 Graduation and Final Assembly

Friday 25 November 12:00pm followed by refreshments and afternoon tea. A formal invitation will be sent to all Year 6 families in the coming weeks.

Primary Learning Leader - Ms Jen Little

Welcome back to Term 4. I hope everyone found some time to rest and reboot over the holiday period. 

At the end of last term, I spoke to the students about making sure they pay attention to the ‘warning signs’ in their learning. One way for students to do this is to take careful note of their Grade Point Average as a way of tracking their own progress. Hopefully, by now, you would have had the opportunity to review your child’s assessments and interim reports from last term. No doubt, many of the students will have already calculated their own Grade Point Average as a way of monitoring progress. This, along with the feedback provided by teachers last term, will assist in informing student goals for the remainder of the year. If you would like further information on how Grade Point Averages are calculated, please don’t hesitate to contact me. 

Academic Awards 

Last night we celebrated excellence displayed throughout the year in the various sporting, cultural and academic pursuits undertaken at the College throughout 2022. I take this opportunity to congratulate all winners of these awards. These results are the product of hard work and effort. In particular, I would like to acknowledge our Academic Awardees in this article. 

Year 5 NAPLAN Awardees

• Xavier Hill – NAPLAN Overall, Writing, Spelling and Numeracy 
• Tristan Krueger - Grammar and Punctuation and Reading

Year 5 Subject Awardees

• Matthew Davies – Religion, HASS and English 
• Tristan Krueger - Mathematics
• Harrison Leigh – Science
• Oliver Milner - Science
• Frankie Hain - Technology
• Ethan Wu - Music (strings) 
• Xavier Hunter – Music (Band)
• French – Noah Watherston
• Hamish Pope – Health and PE
• George Holland – Health and PE

Year 6 Subject Awardees

• Kayden Kyoung - Religion, English, Mathematics, Science, Japanese
• Edwin Thompson - HASS
• Christian Manning - Visual Art
• Henry Walker - Music
• Jack Davis – Health and PE
• Aidan Marshall – Health and PE

Whilst receiving a subject award is an incredible achievement, special congratulations must go to our top two students in each year level who have achieved excellence in their overall Grade Point Averages. To this end, we congratulate the following students:

Writing Tutoring

Please note, Marist Primary will now be running weekly writing tutorials on a Thursday morning from 8 am in the 5 Gold Classroom. These writing tutorials will be prepared and delivered by either myself or Mrs Kylie Tippins and are aimed at students who would like to grow in confidence with their writing. In these sessions, we will look to develop the following areas:

• use of sentence structure
• vocabulary
• varied punctuation. 

Students are not required to sign up and can attend any Thursday morning. Regular attendance will provide the most benefit for the boys. In order to maximise this time, punctuality is required. 

Primary Sport - Mr John Lambourne

AIC Track and Field Championships

Marist College Primary went back-to-back in the AIC Track and Field Championships. In what was an outstanding team performance the boys all gave their absolute best. The result highlighted that to win a track and field championship you do not need a superstar but rather a team willing to give their all. Both Year 5 and Year 6 finished in second place but consistency and depth meant we were champions again. Well done to all the boys for their efforts and their commitment.

Placegetters

Term 4 Swimming

MCA Swim Squad training sessions continue Monday and Wednesday afternoons throughout Term 4. These sessions are open to all boys, boys wishing to qualify for the AIC Swimming Team, and boys attending for fitness training; there is no obligation to attend AIC meets in Term 1 2022. 

Boys attending these sessions will need to bring the following equipment.

• Goggles
• Kickboard
• Pull Buoy
• Short Flippers 
• Mesh Bag

Year 5 and 6 (2023) MCA Swim Squad Training Timetable Term 4 

Sports Photographs

We are always on the lookout for photos and action shots to be used for the Blue & Gold, other College publications, season or end-of-year wrap-ups etc. Please follow this link and add your photos - Marist College Ashgrove Primary Sports Photos.

College App

Please ensure that you download the College App to your smartphone. This app will be used weekly to inform you of sporting fixtures, cancellations and bus arrival information.