From the Head of College

Mr Michael Newman

To Love with a Fierce Generosity

Being a teacher is a blessing and a privilege as we are entrusted with the responsibility to care, educate, and form young people. When I do enrolment interviews, this realisation hits home, as I witness the great love parents have for their sons who are on a quest to find the right school and setting for him, to move his education positively forward and to find a place where he will feel safe and happy and will thrive and develop. Parents entrust their sons to our teachers. Then, together in partnership, we have the great honour to develop a young person in all aspects of their education. An important part of this education at Marist Ashgrove is to share and impart to the boys the Marist charism and ethos, and the values of the Gospels.

The privilege of being in education was, again, reiterated to me as I read an email from a parent at another participating AIC College recently. She wrote about her son turning up to play rugby at Marist Ashgrove only to become lost and late for his game. In desperation, the mother asked a young Marist man to help. She told me that this Marist student gave them clear instructions on how to get to the field quickly and then stayed behind to walk her aging mother to the playing field, which, as it happened, was a far distance. He calmly and very patiently walked and talked with her mother the whole way, ensuring that she made it to the field safely and without being flustered which was difficult in the rushed circumstances. This parent commended the Marist student as an “excellent role model and servant leader of the school who certainly made a great impression of the sort of young men that are being educated at Marist.”

Recently, I was attending a Religious Education in-service with my teacher colleagues, where we discussed the purpose of human creation. As a Christian response, we agreed that we are created to love and be loved. We are created to love with a fierce generosity like God loves us, as clearly demonstrated in the Easter season. In Sunday’s Gospel (John 13: 31-35), this message could not be any clearer as Jesus explained to his disciples the number one rule, commandment or direction that he wished to leave them - “Love one another as I have loved you. By this love you have for one another, everyone will know that you are my disciples.” The young Marist man whom the parent told me about is certainly an authentic example of living this ideal.

God of the Journey, may all young Marist men, feel loved and return this love to their fellow sisters and brothers, with fierce generosity. Amen.

Champagnat Day – Celebrating Sesquicentenary of Marist Education in Australia

All members of the Marist College family are welcome to join us for Mass as we celebrate 150 years of Marist Education in Australia. This celebratory mass, to be held on the feast of St Marcellin Champagnat, will be held on 6th June at 11:00am, in the Champagnat Centre. Parents, past staff, friends, relatives and old boys are all welcome to attend this important milestone celebration. To attend simply register on - https://events.humanitix.com/champagnat-mass.

This mass will be celebrated by the Archbishop of Brisbane Mark Coleridge BA DSS. We hope you can join us to celebrate the Marist Sesquicentenary together.

Year 12 Academic Interviews

The Year 12 Academic Interviews commence on Wednesday, 24th May. This is an opportunity for parents and their son to meet with the Curriculum Team to discuss his progress and tracking at this important juncture of his Year 12 studies. Parents are highly encouraged to join their sons for these very important progress meetings and opportunity to plan his studies for the remainder of the year. I thank our professional Curriculum Team who will be undertaking these precise tracking interviews, namely: Jennifer Smeed (Deputy Head Learning and Teaching), Roxanne Rosenberg (Head of Middle School Curriculum), Adam Knight (Secondary Learning Leader) and Tara Franklin (Careers Counsellor).

Year 7 Celebration and Leadership Days

Due to COVID-19 concerns earlier in the year, the Year 7 orientation days were cancelled. The Year 7 Celebration and Leadership Days will now be held on Wednesday, Thursday, and Friday, 18-20th May. These days are now individualised with the aim of providing the boys the opportunity to get to know more of their peers, build relationships, develop leadership skills and to further orientate them on all that is Marist. We believe that these days will be most beneficial and a suitable replacement for our earlier plans in February. The boys will venture to the Sunshine Coast and Mt Tamborine - Treetop challenge and Kangaroo Point - River Life, and will undertake other activities at the College. I thank all our House Leaders and the Year 7 Co-ordinator, Mr Ryan Apps for organising, facilitating, and supervising these days for the boys. Enjoy, gentlemen.

National Boarding Week

National Boarding Week will be held this week from the 15-21st May 2022. This is an opportunity to highlight the wonderful work of boarding schools in the Queensland Boarding School environment. Marist College Ashgrove has always been a very respected and successful Catholic boarding school in South East Queensland. We continue to offer high quality care for each individual boy, where each boy has the opportunity to be involved in many and various activities. Our boarding staff live on campus and our teaching staff are heavily involved in boarding and the educational progress of each boy. The location of, and beautiful expansive campus is a wonderful feature of Marist, for each boy to enjoy. To celebrate and recognise our outstanding boarding College, we have planned a number of activities which are contained in the Head of Boarding, Mr Jim Noble’s, section of the Boarding Bugle. These activities culminate with the boarding family day on Saturday where all our families are invited to the boarding tent to celebrate the great community we have in boarding and to enjoy lunch together. My thanks are extended to Mr Jim Noble (Head of Boarding), Heads of Residence and all staff involved in the special and committed care of your sons.

COVID-19 Update

Marist College Ashgrove continues to remain vigilant in this COVID-19 space. As a College Leadership Team, we have a standing item on the agenda to monitor the latest cases, trends and responses by Queensland Health. Numbers of staff and students affected by the virus at this stage are down compared to Term 1; however, we remain aware that the numbers of positive cases could change with the colder climate developing. We are also aware of the spread of a flu virus which has picked up intensity throughout Queensland in recent weeks. As a result, we have offered the teaching staff and boarders a flu shot, and we encourage all parents of day students to do likewise. All Positive COVID-19 cases must stay at home and isolate for 7 days and return wearing a mask for 7 days. All close contacts without symptoms may return to school but must wear a mask for 7 days and test every 2 days. I attach a poster distributed by Queensland Health which highlights safeguards while at school and symptoms for COVID-19 and flu which we regularly remind the boys. For any whole College gathering, we have instructed those present to wear a mask.

Day Students with COVID-19 – 22

Boarding students with COVID-19 – 0

Staff with COVID-19 – 7

Immersion

On Wednesday evening, Year 10 parents and their sons have the opportunity to meet online to discuss further the possible involvement in an immersion experience. This immersion involves being a guest of an Indigenous community in the Northern Territory. The dates are from 21 September – 1 October. This immersion will be undertaken by Red Earth. I thank Mr Luke McMahon (Head of Mission) who has organised this opportunity for the boys. The link to the meeting is attached: https://us06web.zoom.us/j/83276623844 If you are interested in this immersion experience, please attend. I look forward to this presentation on-line.

Champagnat Trust Sports Lunch

This Friday is the annual Champagnat Trust Lunch to be held at the Brisbane Convention Centre. This lunch is a major fundraising opportunity for the College Foundation. The College Foundation provides means-tested application-based assistance to families who would not have otherwise been afforded the opportunity to attend a College like Marist Ashgrove. I thank the following committee members who have been hard at work making sure this luncheon is another wonderful success namely: Kath Brassington, Tony Byrne, Brett Gillett, Ellen Kassulke, Bethany Halpin, Dominique Hall, Sophie Tuffley, Jack Johnson and Dylan Gower.

Guest speakers for this year’s event include: Michael Ware, David Campese, Kevin Sheedy, Brad Hogg and Pat Howard.

We thank our many generous sponsors, namely:

Major Sponsors

Oatley Fine Wine Merchants and Stone & Wood

Platinum Table Sponsors

Kate Anderson Design, QUBE, Amalgamated Group, Gower Production, BDO, Hogarth Law and Lead Institute.

Courier Sponsor

Pack Sent Milton

Auction Sponsors

W Brisbane, The Boundary, Wil Valor, Helping Hand Group Auction Services, Oatley Fine Wine Merchants and Event Memorabilia

Raffle Sponsors

Coca-Cola Europacific Partners Australia, The Boundary, Pinot & Picasso, Royal on the Park Brisbane, Oatley Fine Wine Merchants, Brisbane Convention and Exhibition Centre, Bunnings, Cinebar Rosalie Village, Elpax, Five Star Cinemas, Home Café Ashgrove, Meat at Billys, Pinot & Picasso Ashgrove, Rosalie Gourmet Market, Channel Seven Wheel of Brisbane, Ambrose, Savvy Hair Artistry and Victoria Park.

Minor Sponsors

MCK, All Fleet Service and Repairs, Cornerstone Press, Pack Send Milton and Axellerate

My sincere thanks to our patrons and most generous Old Boys - Mr John Eales and Mr Matthew Hayden who give up their time and energy each year to make this event a success. My thanks also to Mr Pat Howard for his contribution. I trust the luncheon is a wonderful occasion, ensuring that many other worthy young boys are able to experience an outstanding Marist education.

Cross Country

Best wishes to our Cross-Country Team who have their final AIC lead-up this Wednesday, 18th May at Shorncliffe. This lead-up will be one of the final trials prior to the AIC Championship to be held on 1st June. We wish all boys the best of luck as they continue to train hard in preparation. My thanks are extended to their dedicated coaches and convenors - Mitch Reid, Corey Lucas, Shane Ward, Harry Hunter, Liam Bacon, Brendon Saudners, Jordy Chugg, James Clarke, Harry Lyons, Tyler Newell, William Burkett and Fergal Apps.

RAAP Presentation

This Tuesday, 17th May during period 6, the Year 12 boys will be enjoying an important Road Attitudes and Action Planning (RAAP) Presentation. RAPP is a road safety awareness and education program delivered by Queensland Fire and Emergency Service firefighters who have had extensive experience responding to road crashes. The objective is to educate our students on the increased level of risks of driving including the ‘Fatal 5’ and consequences as a result of a driver’s choices and actions. A similar presentation for our Year 11 cohort will be held on 2nd June. Thank you to Peter Serone (Head of Students) for organising this important educational opportunity for our Year 12s.

National Volunteer Week

This week, Monday 16th May – Friday 22nd May is National Volunteer Week. During this week, we acknowledge and thank the volunteers at Marist College Ashgrove who donate their time to assist in many areas across the College. Your generosity and sense of giving make Marist College Ashgrove the wonderful place it is today. I include below, a message from the Archbishop of Brisbane, Mark Coleridge BA DSS.