St Gregory's College Newsletter

Boarding News

Dear Parents and Carers,

 

It is with much excitement that I write to you for the first time as the Director of Boarding (Acting in Term 4). I feel very privileged to have been appointed to this significant position permanently from Term 1, 2021 and I am eager for the opportunity to lead this wonderful community and to work closely with our amazing and dedicated staff, our talented students and our wonderful families this term and into the future. 

 

My family and I have thoroughly enjoyed our last five years as part of the St Gregory’s Boarding community and together we look forward to the challenges and tremendous satisfaction that this role will provide to us.

 

I would like to wish Max Spencer and his family all the best on their next adventure, including their current campervan tour of Australia, and thank Max for his guidance and support over the last five years. The passion and commitment Max has shown for this community and the sacrifices he has made in relation to his own personal life are a reflection of the man that he is. His strong sense of faith, irreproachable morals and calm leadership have set a high standard for me to follow in this role. He had a wonderful ability to care for the wellbeing of our boarding students, and the College will forever be in his and his family’s debt for the ten years of selfless service he has provided. His humour, in particular his impersonations, and his operatic singing will be particularly missed around the community.

 

Term 4 will be a short but busy term for the boys at the College. All boys will be involved in ongoing classwork and assessment, including an end of year exam period for our Years 7 to 10 students. If COVID-19 allows, we have a number of activities planned for the boys, including the launch of our vertical teams initiative, various year level and whole school activities, as well as our end of year celebrations. With the approaching end of term in mind, can I please draw your attention to the following events:

  • Friday November 20 – Year 12 2020 Graduation celebrations. I encourage all parents and Year 12 students to attend our Mass and Graduation Dinner to be held at the College.
  • End of Semester 2 Exam Block – Exams will be undertaken from Friday 27 November to Friday 4 December.
  • Friday 4 December – last day for Year 7 to 10. Parents will be able to pick up students on Friday afternoon or on Saturday morning the 5th of December. Parents are reminded that travel is not provided at the end of year as all rooms are expected to be empty to allow end of year cleaning to occur.
  • Wednesday 9th December – last day for Year 11. Parents will be able to pick up students on Wednesday afternoon (after school) or on Thursday morning 10 December.

I also remind parents of a number of items at this time:

  • Study for all students occurs every evening from 5pm. During this time students will be completing homework, preparing assessment tasks or under taking preparation for the end of year exams. Can I please ask parents to ensure that they make phone calls to their son’s outside of these hours, unless absolutely necessary, to allow staff to manage our study program more effectively. The boys are aware of this expectation. The current study times are as follows:
    • Years 7 to 9 – 5pm to 6pm and 6.30pm to 7.15pm
    • Years 10 and 11 – 5pm to 6.30pm and 7.00pm to 8.00pm (7.30pm for Year 10)
  • Please follow our St Gregory’s Boarding Facebook page and follow us on Instagram for notices on what is happening in Boarding and for photos of Boarding life.

In preparation for 2021, we will be undertaking a review of Boarding to ensure we are putting appropriate plans in place to take our wonderful community forward under my leadership. I will communicate more information to you in relation to this in the coming weeks. 

 

I look forward to working with all the members of our community in my new role and I am available at any time should you wish to discuss any matters.

 

Kind regards,

Luke Morrissey

Acting Director of Boarding

Senior Boarding (Years 11 & 12)

Welcome back to the last term of 2020. The boys have hit the ground running this week getting straight back into our routines for school and study. Our Year 11 students are excited about the commencement of their HSC and their final four terms of school. Lachlan McGufficke and our new Boarding Leaders have spent part of this week planning for what they would like their leadership to look like in 2021 and I look forward to working with them in relation to this.

 

It has been fantastic to see the boys back using the pool, gym and playing basketball and touch football. Both Seniors and Juniors get such a buzz out of seeing each other after breaks and it has been fantastic for the supervisors to witness their interactions. If COVID-19 restrictions allow we have lots planned for Term 4 and hope to make it as enjoyable as possible.

 

HSC Exams

It has been wonderful to see the arrival of our graduates of 2020 back into the Boarding community. They have spent their time in the last week preparing for their exams and, at the time of writing, the majority have completed their English examinations, as well as Primary Industries. We have 12 boys in the House at present with others to arrive as their exams fall due. 

 

During the week we made the decision to move Year 12 to Alfred House to ensure they are effectively in their own 'bubble'. Like their maturity throughout the year, they have agreed to do this move positively in an effort to get through these next few weeks without interaction from the other Boarding students. 

 

Thanks must go to Mr Singh for moving Houses and agreeing to supervise them for the duration of the exams, ensuring that our cross-contamination of staff is kept to a minimum. We are praying for all the boys and their success during these exams. 

 

ISA Sport

It was fantastic to see competitive sport up and running again on the weekend. The boys travelled to Blue Mountains Grammar for the first time in over 10 years competing in cricket, touch football and Basketball. It was a successful day for the Senior boys winning across all senior events.

 

1st Grade Basketball won 65-60 with Sam Corkhill and Jack Rule playing starring roles in the victory. While the 17’s won a hard-fought match with a 35-28 victory.

 

In Cricket, SGC defeated BMGS by 40 runs with Tom Carroll making the most significant contribution from the Seniors with 23 with the bat.

 

Touch Football was a bit like a training run with a dominate display that resulted in a 20-4 victory. James Sykes was best on the ground for the day.

 

Everyone is looking forward to hosting our next two fixtures against BMGS and Chevalier College.

 

Footy Tipping

Congratulations to Lindsay Munro and Ben Elworthy who tied for first in this year’s footy tipping competition, splitting the kitty evenly.

 

Luke Morrissey

Years 11 & 12 Boarding Coordinator

Junior Boarding (Years 9 & 10)

The boys came back to start Term 4 with smiles on their faces, as each boy arrived more and more conversation and laughter was happening throughout the Houses as the boys caught up with each other. We hope all families and carers had a wonderful holiday with the boys being home for the two weeks.

 

As we let the boys settle into routine again for the rest of the term, Mr Luke Morrissey the current Acting Director of Boarding established some rules and expectations for this term. These were mainly around setting the standard for each other, and ensuring our study time is quality, getting ready for the yearly exams.

 

We were lucky enough to get the boys off the hill and travel to Blue Mountains Grammar, where we were very successful across our touch, basketball and cricket teams. We had a couple of stars with Jake Wright showing his quality basketball skills leading the 15’s team to victory. Jamie Nicholson also scored 6 tries in Senior Touch, using his speed and ball skills to tear the opposition up. Harrison Quinn also has an outstanding day on the cricket field getting 6 wickets.

 

We will be hosting Blue Mountains Grammar this week at the College. The weather has been great over the past weekend which allowed us to open the pool for the boys on Saturday and Sunday afternoon.

 

Our first Mass of the term was a special one where we welcomed the 2021 College Leaders into the Chapel to experience our Community Mass. We wish all the leaders in the College the best of luck in planning for hopefully an eventful 2021.

 

We are, unfortunately, still under COVID-19 restrictions which our boys are well aware of and adhering to very well. We ask that all students and families please keep working with us through this tough time, as the NSW Public Health Unit enforce particular rules and guidelines around our residential living.

Michael Bullock 

Years 9 & 10 Boarding Coordinator

 

Junior Boarding (Years 7 & 8)

The boys are back and ready to make the most of their final quarter of the academic year. The Years 7 and 8 Boarders also welcome back their brothers from the Northern Territory, Lindon Monck and Lamontae Banderson. It's great to see the boys refreshed from the holidays and their summer uniform in good order. This term I have challenged the boys to work on certain areas for improvement, which include: 

  • ensuring that their uniform is immaculate every day
  • maintaining a clean and tidy room
  • study preparation and organisation

This will be a constant reminder for Year 7 and 8 Boarders, as we aim to finish the year strong. The following students are to be commended for their application this week in terms of the areas highlighted above: Marcus McGuinness, Daniel Canellis, Victor Simon, Jack McDonald, Archie Nott, Benjamin Taylor, Ryan Weston, Leon Kelly, Deklin Jarrett and Tyler Salis.

 

We competed against Blue Mountains Grammar this past week, and it was great to see the boys participating with their mates. The Year 7 and 8 Boarders celebrated victories in Basketball, Cricket and Touch Football. Victor Simon and Lamontae Banderson made a huge impact in their games and were best on the court. Furthermore, Daniel Canellis managed to bag himself 5 tries and Benjamin Taylor 4 tries in their Touch Football game. It was the perfect start to the ISA competition and I know the boys are eagerly anticipating this weekend’s fixtures.

 

On a spiritual note, we were able to celebrate Mass and the Eucharist together with our 2021 Student Leadership Team and some staff from the College. It was great for the boys to experience a sense of community and to identify their leaders for next year. But more importantly, the words of encouragement shared in the Homily still resonates, that is, 

‘give God what belongs to Him (Mark 12:13-17)’. 

We are made in Gods image. What we owe to God, then, is nothing less than ourselves, our worship, adoration, obedience and time. In boarding, we are constantly reminding our boys that we have a shared purpose and responsibility to help and serve each other - to live together in mutual support and this includes nature (God’s creation).

 

Mr Tevita Halaifonua 

Years 7 & 8 Boarding Coordinator