From the College Principal 

Dear Parents, Carers, Students and Friends of the St Gregory’s College Community,

The end of Week 8 of Term 1 already – the term is literally flying by with only the final two weeks of term remaining before our Easter holiday break commencing at the conclusion of lessons on Thursday 1 April.

We have still much to achieve this term, and the clear message to our staff and students is that we always ‘finish strong’ at St Gregory’s, working right up until our final lessons on the final day of the term.

Parents and carers, please show your support for the College by not allowing your son or daughter to have the last days of term off school. Please don’t fall for the trap of thinking that the College ‘winds down’ in the final days of term and we resort to trivial activities. This is certainly not the case at St Gregory’s – we work hard until the final bell goes on Thursday 1 April!

My ongoing message to staff and students has been rather simple – it is imperative that quality teaching and learning is taking place in every classroom with substantial contributions being given by both students and staff. This is not a one-way process! Learning takes place because students enter openly and respectfully into the process – they are keen to learn, happy to experience success and even failure at times because this is part of learning. Students who take part in the learning journey stand to gain so much more than those who resist and refrain. I have been thrilled over the last seven weeks to witness high-quality teaching and learning taking place at St Gregory’s – together staff and students are making great academic progress.

FAREWELL TO BROTHER LUKE SMYTH – Monday 8 March was a very special day in the life of the College. As a St Gregory’s College community, we farewelled Brother Luke in a beautiful Mass of Thanksgiving and with an outstanding Guard of Honour and Procession. Brother Luke would have been mighty proud of his beloved College on the day.

I was overwhelmed by the positive comments I have received from the Brothers, from members of Brother Luke’s family, friends and Old Boys giving praise to the College for the beautiful send off for Brother Luke. They all expressed their immense pride in the College. 

Brother Michael Haynes provided a beautiful eulogy for Brother Luke, stating, 

“Luke lived out the Marist characteristic of presence, simplicity, family spirit and love of work - all done in the way of Mary. He was a gentle man and a true gentleman. He put people at ease and made them feel welcome - be they visitors, old boys, staff or students. He was always gracious in his dealings with others and people felt comfortable in his presence. 

Luke was a simple man in the best meaning of the word. He was never one for the accumulation of possessions and preferred to wear things out rather than throw them out. Like most farmers, he would make do with what was available, often recycling things before it became a fashionable practice. 

He displayed an enormous capacity for and a great love of work. Luke took God’s call for stewardship of the land seriously. He showed himself to be a knowledgeable and thinking farmer who read and consulted others on best farming practice. Always trying to improve so that the farm would be the best training ground he could make it for the students at the College.”

The procession in front of the hearse carrying Brother Luke to his final resting place by our student acolytes, our student leaders, our First XIII footballers and our Show Team members was a fitting tribute to the esteem the College will always hold Brother Luke in. My heartfelt thanks to every single student involved in the procession – you made us all very, very proud. 

The Guard of Honour from the Brother Luke Hall down to the circular rose garden and all the way to Badgally Road traffic lights was an amazing sight and certainly one of the best Guard of Honours many guests had ever witnessed! As the College Principal, I felt an amazing pride, and this was the feeling of so many others present. 

As we laid Brother Luke to rest in his final resting place at the cemetery at Mittagong alongside many of his other ‘brothers’, I had an overwhelming sense of the influence Brother Luke had left on the St Gregory’s College community over his 75 years of dedicated service. May Brother Luke always rest in God’s love and peace and may we all be strengthened by his love for us.

LENTEN PERIOD – As we move into the final two weeks of the Lenten season and the lead up to Easter, our focus as Christians should continue to be directed to an examination of the life we are living and our desire to be a dynamic and beating heart for others in our community. Our models, Jesus Christ and St Marcellin Champagnat showed us the way to live our life – to be present for others. The Lenten season offers us once again an opportunity to reflect upon the very heart of Christian life: charity. This is a favourable time to renew our journey of faith, both as individuals and as a community, with the help of the word of God and the sacraments. This journey is one marked by prayer and sharing, silence and fasting, in anticipation of the joy of Easter.

HOMEWORK CLUB & MATHS HELP – It has been wonderful to witness the growth in student participation in these two-afternoon ‘Help’ sessions in the Senior School. On a Monday afternoon after school in the Marian Centre up until 4.30pm, the Homework Club is a great way for our students to seek assistance and work with their peers or individually to achieve their homework and assessments. Similarly, the Maths Help sessions on a Wednesday afternoon, held in the Senior Study, provide students access to the Maths Faculty staff for assistance with their Maths. I sincerely thank the staff for their generous support in assisting our students in this way, and well done to the students utilising these sessions to assist them. 

THANKS & CONGRATULATIONS TO ……… 

• Our 12 boys from Year 7 – 12 competed in the CSDA Public Speaking recently. Five of our 12 have made it through to the Zone Final, with one of our students, Kieran Foran in Year 9 progressing to the Grand Final of the competition on Friday 19 March. Good luck Kieran. Thanks to Mrs Maria Santos for her outstanding and passionate leadership of public speaking and debating at the College, and well done to our students for their talents in public speaking!
• Our Junior School swimming squad for their victory at the recent Carnival and for claiming the Western Region Title! Overall Champion School and a number of Age Champions! Well done to all our swimmers and to Mr Darryl Howe and Mr Simon Edwards for their leadership of our Junior School swimmers.
• Our Show Team for their successes this season at Canberra, Rydal, Goulburn and Moss Vale. It is outstanding that we have over 45 students participating in the Show Team program and at the recent Moss Vale Show, our first four students from the Junior School joined the team and competed with honour on the day. Congratulations to Ms Hayley Mahoney and our Agriculture / Show Team staff who give generously of their time to assist our students in these wonderful competitions.
• Our MCS Cricket coaches and managers and our MCS Basketball coaches and managers on recently completed, very successful MCS seasons. Two premierships in the MCS Cricket season, and one MCS Basketball championship this year. Many thanks go to our Leader of Sport and Co-Curricular, Mr Jamie Cook for his outstanding leadership and encouragement of our teams.
• Mrs Sandra Hackett and our students who trialled for the CCC Volleyball - a number of our students have been selected for the State team and our volleyball goes from strength to strength under Mrs Hackett’s leadership.
• Our ISA and MCS Swim Teams on their performances at both Carnivals. We were the Champion School at the ISA Carnival held at Homebush recently, and the Runners Up at the MCS Carnival, again held at Homebush on Wednesday 17 March. Well done to our swimmers and our staff, Mr O’Brien, Ms Keir and Ms Doherty.
• Mr Laurence Malaesilia, Mr Tevita Halaifonua and the ISA Rugby Union coaches participated in last weekend’s Rugby Clinic. We are fortunate to have passionate coaches willing to give their time and expertise to the students. We look forward to our Rugby season, kicking off on Saturday against Marist College Canberra at home.
• Our St Gregory’s College teams in the ISA (Independent Sports Association) competitions in Basketball and Cricket - one Grand Final appearance this year in the Opens Basketball. Our Opens Basketball team travelled to the Penrith Basketball Stadium to face St Andrew’s College in their Grand Final. The Opens were up against a St Andrew’s team they had not beaten in their only clash during the season. The Grand Final was a similar story with St Andrew’s prevailing with a solid win on the day. Congratulations to our departing Year 12 players for their leadership of the team, the tremendous skill level and support offered by all players in the squad, and the coaching provided by Mr Sam Hackett and Mr Paul Fox.

Many thanks to Mr Luke Morrissey, our ISA Sports Coordinator, for enabling St Gregory’s to participate in this great Saturday competition. 

COLLEGE ANNUAL PLAN – 2021 – Recently I 

emailed all College families with a copy of the College Annual Plan for 2021 which provides a synopsis of our Goals and actions for 2021. I hope you have had the opportunity to read through this document and become familiar with where the College will be progressing over the year ahead. Certainly some exciting times ahead for the College. If you did not receive a copy and would like a copy, please email me at the College – lee.macmaster@stgregs.nsw.edu.au

REMINDER - A reminder that Term 1 classes conclude on Thursday 1 April at the conclusion of lessons for that day. All students are expected to attend classes until the end of the term. Term 2 classes commence for all students on Monday 19 April. Our ANZAC Day Assembly will be held on Friday 23 April. Further information about the ANZAC Day Marches in our local community will be sent to students and parents before the end of the term. 

Finally, thank you again for your ongoing support, encouragement, friendship and wise counsel. The support you provide assists me greatly. 

I wish you God’s blessings always. May Mary, our Good Mother, Saint Marcellin Champagnat and Saint Gregory continue to guide us each day and inspire us on our journey together.

Quae Seminaveris Metes – “You will reap what you sow."

Mr Lee MacMaster 

College Principal (K-12)