From the Head of College

Mr Michael Newman

Challenging Times

There is some challenging commentary regarding the Catholic Church and Catholic schools which we are confronted with at present. Unfortunately, commentary which confirms the hidden reality that our Australian culture is becoming increasingly more secular today.

The National Catholic Education Commission is encouraging us to become involved in the Australian Law Reform Commission’s (ALRC) consultation on faith-based schooling and changes to the anti-discrimination laws. The proposed changes could affect who Catholic schools are able to employ. This in turn, will affect the ability of Catholic schools to adequately teach the Catholic doctrine. Maintaining the Catholic faith in schools is essentially why schools like Marist were formed in the first place and to enable each young person to reach their potential holistically, with spirituality as a focus. Catholic schools aim to enable the dignity of each individual child who is formed in God’s image and likeness, to be realised. Catholic schools are not places of exclusion or division.

Similarly, the Archbishop of Sydney, Anthony Fischer OP, has taken the unusual step of defending the Catholic Church against an inappropriate joke about the crucifixion of Jesus and the appalling reaction of the panelists on Channel 10’s - The Project, just last week. The archbishop expressed his deep disappointment regarding the inappropriate ridiculing of the Christian faith, the disingenuous and forced apology that followed and the fact that the clip remained on their website. It is not typical for Catholic religious to speak out against the mocking or ridicule of the Catholic faith. In recent years, Catholics have seemingly become accepting of such ridicule, opting to ignore, overlook, accept, forgive or turn a blind eye. Perhaps this time the archbishop felt it was just too much of a blight on our faith that has certainly had its misgivings and made mistakes, but also offers many gifts and benefits. He went on to invite Channel 10 and the panelists to attend St Mary’s Cathedral during Easter to fully understand the reverence Christians have for Jesus Christ.

Fr Richard Leonard SJ, in his in-service to all Marist staff last week, taught some of the relevant teachings of St Ignatius of Loyola (1491-1556), the founder of the Jesuits. He reminded us of these three particular important teachings of St Ignatius. Firstly, St Ignatius reminds us to own our own context, for example, at present, the Catholic Church is an easy target for ridicule, mockery and questioning as society moves away from religion and becomes more secular. Secondly, St Ignatius spoke about the importance of living without pride. This means to live with a sense of humility where we remain grounded and willing to back down and say sorry for our failings of the past. Thirdly, St Ignatius implores us to always tell the truth, confront where required, but always with love and understanding. The Catholic Church has been, rightfully, asking for forgiveness for its past wrongs throughout history and particularly in recent years. But today, we are asked to speak up for faith-based schooling, like Archbishop Anthony Fischer who bravely spoke out against mockery and ridicule. In the challenging commentary around Catholic education and the Catholic Church today, it is amazing how such traditional writings from St Ignatius of Loyola are just as relevant today as in past times.

God of the journey, we pray for all Catholic schools and the Catholic Church at this challenging time in history. May all the young people of Marist be inspired by and true to your word. Amen.

NAPLAN 2023

At Marist, we certainly value the important work our teachers undertake to enable the best possible progress of each boy in his literacy and numeracy development. Ensuring literacy and numeracy development is an equity issue and a great educational gift we can offer to each of our boys.

We wish all our Year 5, 7 and 9 boys the best of luck as they undertake their Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) examinations from Wednesday 15 March – Friday 24 March next week. These nationwide examinations are made up of four tests – reading, writing, conventions of language (spelling, grammar and punctuation) and numeracy. The boys have been preparing for these tests and we expect their very best effort. These assessments provide us with a snapshot in time progress report of each boy’s literacy and numeracy progress and in turn, enables us to plan their studies and address their ongoing learning needs into the future.

As part of the National School Reform Agreement, Education Ministers agreed to the introduction of proficiency standards into the future for individual student reports to parents - the four levels of achievement being: Exceeding, Strong, Developing and Needs additional Support. The report will continue to show the range of achievement for the middle 60% of students in Australia and a dot placement for your son’s outcomes in his assessments.

I particularly wish to thank our curriculum leaders who have been preparing the boys, namely – Jen Little (Year 5) and Roxanne Rosenberg and Jessica Turschwell (Years 7 and 9).

Best wishes students in these assessments. Thank you to all parents in anticipation of you having your sons well rested and having had a good breakfast, prior to these assessments.

AIC Swimming Runners Up 2023

Congratulations to both the Marist College Ashgrove Secondary and Primary School Swimming teams who today were named as the runners-up at the AIC Swimming Championships at the Brisbane Aquatic Centre. Well done to St Peter's Lutheran College who narrowly won this year's AIC Championship. This result was a great credit to the hard work, dedication, and never-give-up attitude of the boys. The under 14 and 15 boys won their respective age groups. Well done to our Year 12 supporters who were inspiring in their positive support for the boys throughout. My thanks are extended to the supportive and encouraging family and supporters’ group. Congratulations to our outstanding team of teachers led by Director of Swimming and Queensland Coach Mr James Boyce and Damian Bromley, Ziggi Jacks, Lachlan Gough, Roxanne Rosenberg, Pierce Hardy, David Meehan, Lucy Hislop, Cath Geraghty, Jack Goyen, Antoinette Restell and Christine Ballie (Swimming Convenor).

Head of College Tours

Each term, Marist College Ashgrove provides the opportunity for prospective families and new students to view the College and to listen to all that Marist has to offer. Our first Head of College Tour for 2023 will be held this Friday 10 March. Please invite interested families to attend – bookings can be made through the following link: www.marash.qld.edu.au/enrolments/book-a-tour/ .

The tour will include: an address by myself in the Draney Theatre, a question and answer opportunity with students and teachers, a tour of facilities and a morning tea together. This is always a lovely morning and very important and informative to prospective families. Please invite your friends and acquaintances to attend.

Cricket and AFL

The Term 1 summer sporting season has only two games remaining. Well done to both our 1st XI Cricket and the 1st XVIII AFL teams who are both in 1st place at this stage of the competition with just two games remaining. The 1st VI Volleyball team is in 3rd Place. I trust that all boys in all teams will continue to train hard and finish the season well. My thanks are extended to all coaches and managers for the season to date. We look forward to games against St Laurence’s College next Saturday.

Year 8 Parent Function

The Parents and Friends Association have their planned Year 8 Parent Function this Friday, 10th March to be held in the Tower Courtyard and Function Room. I thank the Amity Group who have generously organised this social occasion for all parents. During the evening, parents can enjoy the company of their peers over some refreshments and a light meal and listen to presentations from the Year 8 Co-ordinator – Mr Craig Milligan, the P&F President – Mrs Donna Lynn and Foundation Head – Mr Langton Clarke. I look forward to seeing our many Year 8 parents on Friday evening.

Year 8 Kokoda Challenge

Best wishes to our Year 8 students who will be undertaking the Kokoda Challenge this

Wednesday and Thursday. This program has been designed by Character Builders – a company highly respected for its work with young adolescents. The Kokoda Challenge program provides Year 8 students with pastoral experiences suited to their general phase of development, such as working in teams, showing respect for others, resilience, tolerance, and leadership. It will also act as a prelude to the 2024, Year 9 camp.

We thank all staff members involved in ensuring that the boys have a safe and enjoyable time: William Burkett, Laurie Boustead, Carl Palmer, Mike McLaughlin, Ellie Kenny, Brad Winchester, Marcus Schrader, Stewart Moore, Brett Gillett, Jess Turschwell, Patrick Denkes, Brendan Kiernan, Paul Knight, Gareth Ruh, Jake Platen, Hannah Scott, Tony Byrne, Tom Dangerfield, Therese Eddy, Michael Abbott, James Walton and Gary Stickley. Enjoy, gentlemen.

Extension Writing: Primary

Over the course of the term, Year 6 students were selected to be a part of weekly writing extension. With our Primary Learning Leader, the students have been finding out how to develop author ‘voice’ to enrich their writing and give it a distinct flavour. Students have been highly engaged in the weekly lessons where they are demonstrating an ability to move beyond their comfort zone in the writing space. Some quotes from the students about their weekly lessons are:

“English is one of my favourite subjects and English Extension really pushes me to challenge myself.” (Oliver Crowley)

“By far the most challenging subject I have ever attempted.” (Jackson Lacy)

“I find class English easy but writing extension pushes me to my limits.” (Fletcher Maddox)

“It makes me try harder and focus on making the small things better.” (Noah Watherston)

“It makes me feel happier and that my writing is getting better.” (Louis Fornazaric)

“It is challenging which is the best part about it, and it helps me be more creative with my writing.” (Xavier Hill)

“Writing extension pushes me to my next level, causing me to improve my thinking skills.” (Charlie Bradford)

“It challenges me which is the most fun part about it!” (Jimmy Corbett)

The Primary School at Marist is thrilled to be offering this opportunity to extend these boys and ensure that they are thoroughly engaged. Next term, we are pleased to advise that these students will be adding the study of philosophy to their writing extension time. Philosophy has been proven to provide opportunities for students to: develop and support their own positions, interpret and analyse information, assist with the formulation of clear and strong arguments from multiple perspectives, improve critical thinking, develop oral language and vocabulary.

Next term, we will also offer weekly lessons in writing extension to selected Year 5 students who will commence their program with an introduction to varied and more complex sentence patterning. Marist is pleased to see the boys thriving in these extension writing activities. My thanks are extended to our Primary Learning Leader - Ms Jen Little for providing this writing extension opportunity for the boys.

May our loving God with Mary our good mother and St Marcellin Champagnat walk with all members of the Marist College Ashgrove Family.