Boarding News

Dear Boarding Parents,

Last week our boarding community joined almost 200 other boarding schools around Australia in celebrating National Boarding Week. It is something our school should be proud of, that we have boarding students who come to Marist to live and study from all parts of Australia and also overseas. It is something special that sets our school apart from many others and a great opportunity for all students at the College to make connections and friendships with boys who come from different places and backgrounds to their own.

Last week we had a number of activities as part of National Boarding Week. These included a special breakfast where the boarders cooked food and hosted staff who have helped them as part of our boarding program. There was also a first with an outdoor movie night using the new electronic scoreboard on McMahon Oval. Our boys enjoyed this with the Somerville House and Stuartholme boarders. We also participated in a Boarding Leaders Dinner at Nudgee College and the week culminated with us hosting all the Stuartholme boarders for dinner and Mass in the Marist College Ashgrove Chapel. To capture the spirit of National Boarding Week we also produced a video involving all the boarders celebrating where our boys are from and highlighting the great diversity they bring to Marist College Ashgrove. It was a great week.

Just a reminder to all boarding families that we have the Boarding Family Day on Saturday 10th June where you are invited to join us for a relaxed function where you will be able to meet many others connected to boarding at Marist. This gathering is on the same day as the last home game of AIC sport and will be held in a large marquee above McMahon Oval. There will be catering and entertainment for the whole family and I hope you will be able to attend this great event. Attendance is free, but it would be great if you could register for our catering purposes: https://events.humanitix.com/2023-boarding-family-day.

There are also school regional trips coming up soon to Julia Creek for the QLD ICPA Conference, AgGrow in Emerald and the Cloncurry Show. In addition to this, I am planning a western trip where my wife and I hope to visit and catch up with many of our families over the June/July holidays. We will be visiting a number of towns including Quilpie, Charleville, Augathella, Bollon, Dirranbandi and Miles.

As we work our way through Week 6, the academic workload is increasing for the boys. Please check in with your son to see how he is going and contact his Boarding Leader or me directly if we can be of assistance.

Boarding Recreation - Mr Blair Whitlock

Rec Report – Term 2, Week 6

The weekend started off with an absolute monster of a boarders arvo feast! There are over 100 parents involved in a support group that bring afternoon tea to our boys every second Friday. We are very fortunate to have their support and the boys are certainly grateful. It causes plenty of excitement with many boys sprinting from period six to get a spot near the front of the line! Well done Max Fleischfresser on an impressive dash from the gym to boarding this week – setting a new PB in the process. On Friday night we were able to test out the new McMahon Oval scoreboards streaming abilities with an outdoor movie night. We had some of the Somerville and Stuartholme boarders along to watch Grown Ups 2 and it was a great way to round out National Boarding Week. The quality of the screen was fantastic and it’s another great facility we’ll look to use moving forward. I had several enquiries about an Origin night on the oval although I’m not too sure the neighbours would like that!

Saturday saw Round 4of AIC take place with away games against St Peters Lutheran College. Results were favourable across the board, and it was great to see a strong second half performance help the 1st XV claim a convincing win with several boarders leading the charge. It was a chilly evening and a small bus load of boys headed down to Suncorp for the Dolphins vs Storm match. While the game didn’t go the Dolphins way, there was quality footy on display and it was a good night had by all.

Sunday was another busy day with the annual Walkathon fundraiser, Battle of the Bands and a shared mass with Stuartholme taking place in the College chapel. Bring on Week 6.