Boarding News

At the beginning of this year I met with all staff who work in boarding to convey key messages and part of this was to set a theme for Marist College Ashgrove boarding in 2022. The theme of ‘community’ was chosen for boarding and this helps guide our important work with the boys. To ensure we have a positive community which benefits all boys, staff and boarding families, we challenged ourselves to:

• provide a boarding environment where everyone feels welcome and safe
• help everyone in our boarding community to feel valued
• be forgiving when others in our community make mistakes or do wrong by us
• provide the support needed for everyone in our community to develop and improve

I am proud of the positive community we have in boarding at Marist College Ashgrove and I am committed to working with everyone to keep improving in this regard. A number of activities over the last week have struck me as being great examples of the way community is fostered at Marist College Ashgrove, and particularly in boarding.

1. The School’s support of local community events in Goondiwindi, including the Aspects Art Show and the Goondiwindi Show. Ty Casey and I were fortunate to be able to attend these events and also to host a function for a number of current and past families from the area. We have many other regional visits happening this year and these are a great opportunity for Marist to give back to our boarding families and to support the communities they come from. 
2. The sporting fixtures on Saturday against St Laurence’s College at home were also an example of the wonderful community we have at the School. Our boys, staff and families provided a welcoming atmosphere for our visitors and there was great competition on show throughout the day in both rugby and football. There is close to 100% voluntary participation in a Term 2 sport by the boarders and to me this shows how they are proud of their school and how they want to be part of a team to achieve a common goal. Our boarders are also the nucleus of the support provided to our premier teams and this was wonderful to witness. In another show of great community spirit, there was a special presentation and tribute to the Old Boys from both competing schools who played 1st XV many decades ago.
3. Our Boarders’ Recreation Program provides the boys with a wide variety of activities and experiences which helps strengthen our community in boarding. On Sunday, all boarders participated in a mud run challenge at the Gold Coast. Some of the boys were apprehensive about the 9km course where they would be running and crawling through mud, as well as climbing over obstacles. But this activity led to many great examples of boys supporting each other, persisting through difficulty and ultimately achieving a challenging goal. Well done to Blair Whitlock and all the staff and boys involved. It is wonderful to have so many opportunities for the boys so that they can be kept busy and it also helps them to bond and ultimately strengthens our community.

Next weekend is a Boarders’ Free Weekend at Marist College Ashgrove and this may prove to be an opportunity for some of our boarders to go on leave and celebrate Mother’s Day. The boys were busy last week writing Mother’s Day cards and we wish all Mums a fantastic day this coming Sunday.

Around the Grounds

La Valla Residence

There is no way to describe the last week in La Valla, other than EPIC!!!

We have welcomed another student to the dorm, Robbie joined us from FNQ and has had an incredible introduction to life as a boarder at Marist College Ashgrove.  It is never easy to leave family but Robbie was instantly taken in by his boarding family. It was wonderful to see the boys telling him all the things that are great about boarding life and giving him tips and tricks to make life easier. Those boys who are still experiencing some homesickness were the most supportive and had the best advice!

Our incredible recreation program saw many of the boys heading to watch the Reds on Friday night, they experienced ‘Old Boys’ day at Marist and not only played for their College but contributed to some very lively warcries against St Lawrence’s. There was a marked improvement in the organisation of their sporting kit this week with only about half the dorm missing their sports socks!!!

The absolute highlight of the week was the Raw Challenge mud run.  Whilst many of the boys were a little unsure leading into the event they completed the 9km course with so many smiles, laughs and stumbles. It must be noted that fastest on the track was Sania Elisala who came in well before the older boys and didn’t even seem to be out of breath! He even gave Mr Temperly a decent challenge.  Even those boys who found the physical nature of the event challenging, never gave up!  There were no complaints at all from the La Valla men. Congratulations to all boys for demonstrating true grit!

Montagne Residence - written by Theo Knight

Congratulations to Joe Murphy, Makenzie Bowen and Ewan Wood who have all been selected to be in the 8A’s Rugby Union team by putting in lots of effort. Unfortunately, on the weekend these boys had a loss. They did, however, give it all they could with only being beaten by 7 points. Makenzie Bowen scored his 2nd try for the A’s. Even though the 8A’s lost their game, the 9A’s came out on top with an outstanding result of 32-10 against SLC. 

The highlight for the weekend recreational activities was the Mud Run. It was one of the exciting parts of the weekend, but sadly it wasn’t for Joe Murphy. Unfortunately, Joe cut the webbing in his hand while having the time of his life going down a slide. Six stitches later, he was left devastated because he was not allowed to play in the A’s Rugby for three weeks. He still has a smile on his face while walking around in the dorm which is a great attribute to have. 

From Mr Mulligan: Congratulations to the boarder of the week, Theo Knight, because of his outstanding start to the term.

Hermitage Residence

As we enter another short week and reflect on the week that has been, it is evident, as always, what a busy community we live amongst. On the back of the most recent Anzac march, our Year 10 boys commenced their week with dancing lessons. A wonderful opportunity provided by Ms Majella Stevenson where boys learn important life lessons, whilst also smiling and having fun. This is well attended by our Year 10 boarders and they have certainly made a great first impression during their first session. This week we return to library study skills overseen by our College library with our first session focussed around ‘Organisation for Term Assessment Goal setting’. This will be important for both our Year 9 and 10 lads from Hermitage as we map out the term ahead. Football and Rugby season is always a highlight, and I congratulate all those who represented the College last weekend throughout Round 1. A small group of Year 10 lads also enjoyed the opportunity to attend Year 10 Rec Camp during the week.  On a personal note, it was great to be in Goondiwindi for their show weekend and I certainly enjoyed catching up with current Hermitage families, The Gillece’s and The Andrew’s, along with the many other MCA families.  The highlight of the week was, without doubt, the recreation arranged, Mud Run. All reports from those that attended highlighted what a great day it was. Esmond Bowen summed it up perfectly, ‘the best rec that he has ever done’! A special shout to our fantastic Boarding Recreation Officer, Mr Blair Whitlock, for a wonderful event. On behalf of Hermitage staff and boys, I extend our best wishes to all mothers and significant female role models as we celebrate Mother’s Day this coming Sunday.

Fourviere Residence

Another short week has passed, packed full of activity for the Fourvière crew. Tuesday night saw the first instalment of the Year 10 dancing lessons, which are something of an institution here at Marist. The lads really enjoy this experience and the opportunity to socialise with new people in such a fun way is always greatly appreciated. There was plenty of excitement as the boys returned to the residence full of anticipation for next week’s’ session! Following the fun of Tuesday night, several Year 10 lads loaded up their camping gear and set off for Noosa where they took part in their Outdoor Recreation Camp experience, the weather was mostly kind to us as we enjoyed plenty of surfing, stand up paddling, mountain biking and bushwalking. Saturday saw the Rugby and Football season officially get underway with a large number of the boys in the residence getting involved in their respective teams. Congratulations to Fourvière members Atticus Armstrong, Harry Condon and Munroe Wood who were all presented with their jerseys to represent the 1st XV – Munroe managed to cross the line to score the first try of the season for Ashgrove as well. Also to Lucius Jeynes who is the first choice Goal Keeper in the 1st XI football. Both teams had a tough time of it against highly fancied St. Laurence’s outfits. 

Finally, a major highlight of the week was the Mud Run that the entire boarding school took part in on Sunday. Braving cold and wet conditions the boys took great delight in tackling and supporting one another to surge through the obstacle course. A fantastic time was had by boys and supervisors alike.

Br Terence Residence

Round 1 of the Term 2 AIC sporting season caused much excitement in the residence this week. Year 12 boarders Gilbert Donaldson, Jack Billing, Reggie McMillan and Connor Lyons were presented with their 1st XV rugby jerseys at Wednesday’s College assembly and then again by the Old Boys on Saturday. The Old Boys presentation also saw Daniel Witt, Thomas Young and James O’Connor acknowledged for their achievements in being selected in the matchday squad for Rd 1. As always, there was much interest in the other Opens teams on Saturday where the mighty 6th XV and Br Terence supervisor Mr Loth’s 4th XV also received plenty of support from the Year 12 boarders. Of course, rugby wasn’t the only event happening in the dorm or the only sport that Year 12 boarders represented the College in over the weekend. Special mentions go to Tomas Ruiz, Zen Sakai and Elliot Gubby who represented the College in football over the weekend while earlier in the week, Charlie Thompson, Spencer Sharman and Carter Bidgood travelled to the Goondiwindi show along with Mr Noble.

Following a busy day of support on Saturday, the boys who remained on campus for the long weekend headed down to the Gold Coast hinterland to compete in the aptly named Mud Run. Much fun was had and there were plenty of exhausted teenage boys on Sunday evening complete with piles of dirty clothes that needed to be washed! At the end of the long weekend, we also had Hugh Faggotter celebrate his birthday on Monday - happy birthday, Hugh!

Recreation Report - Mr Blair Whitlock

Week 2 saw the start of the club programmes which keeps the boys busy after school until dinner. This term, a new club that has been very popular is Boxing Club with Mr Hardy. The boys have been learning the fundamentals of boxing and working on their general fitness, which no doubt will help them in their other sports (the fitness part, I mean!). 

Friday afternoon saw the first boarders arvo tea of the term which always goes down a treat. Thanks to Cedric Kiwat and Robert Poi Poi for helping Tanya Roberts get all the food ready for 3:00pm. They also took great pride in ensuring all boys greeted Mrs Tanya and thanked her for the hospitality! On Thursday, some of the seniors got word that recent Old Boy and Boarder (2020), Floyd Aubrey, had received his first call up to the Reds squad for the Friday night game against the Chiefs at Suncorp. The boys got right behind Floyd as we loaded a bus with 50 boys for the game. While the Reds went down 27-25 it was great to see a recent boarder doing so well and staying connected with the younger boys.

Saturday was all about sport as Round 1of the AIC competition took place against St Laurence's College. It was a day of mixed results with boys heading all over Brisbane for various matches. Well done to Ms Livingstone for coordinating the sport transport, which is a huge task in Term 2! While not all results went our way, it was great to have sport back and there were plenty of tired bodies in the dorms later that night. We had a 6:00pm Saturday Mass before retiring to the dorms for pizza and footy.

Sunday was undoubtedly the highlight of the weekend as we headed down to the Gold Coast hinterland to take on the Raw Challenge! It was a fun and challenging day for all as we took on the 9km mud course that included over 60 obstacles. The day was a success and it was great to see so many boys rallying behind each other and giving their absolute best shot at everything. We were fortunate to have the College videographer, Dylan Gower, around who has over 500GB of footage from the day! He’s going to put together a video in the coming weeks, which will illustrate the day far better than my report can!

We gave the boys a sleep-in on Monday after their big effort at the Mud Run. It was a very relaxed morning before heading off to the Southbank movies in the afternoon. Another huge weekend in the books and we look forward to the next one!