Boarding News

Recently, I was talking to a parent of a Marist day student who was quite interested in what the boarders do outside of going to classes and what might be perceived as the benefits of being a boarder whilst going through school. There is no doubt that it is a big deal for a child to leave the comfort of their family home. They are leaving the familiarity of their local school, their friends and all the things they’ve come to expect in their daily lives. So, what does a boarding program like the one offered at Marist College Ashgrove aim to provide to the boys as they go through their schooling years? 

Most, if not all boys and parents would say that being a boarder helps a young boy to gradually develop independence which is so essential for success in later life. Learning how to roll with the ups and downs without the immediate help or intervention of family is one of the gifts of a boarding experience. Gradually becoming better organised (with the support of key staff) is another way that boarders learn to ‘row their own boat’. Teenage boys feel a great sense of accomplishment when they successfully navigate the academic, social and other challenges of life with minimal help from others. The confidence gained from a boarding experience definitely helps our boys to step into the next stage of life beyond school.

Another benefit of boarding at Marist is the opportunity to form strong and enduring friendships with other boys. Those who have had a boarding experience I’m sure would attest that living together in a community with a group of others your own age certainly provides the chance to make life-long friends. As one of the boys said to me recently, “it’s just great to wake up every day and have all your mates around you. There’s always someone to muck around with.” 

Also, being a boarder at Marist provides a sense of identity for the boys who call our wonderful campus their home away from home for 40 weeks of the year. Being a boarder brings with it a sense of belonging to a smaller community within a large school and one where you have much in common with the other boarder boys. Feeling part of something bigger than yourself is so important and I know our boys are immensely proud of being a Marist boarder.

One of the other things boys learn as a boarder is how to be tolerant of others and learn to accept people who are different to you. This lesson is sometimes difficult for teenagers who lack maturity, but it is one of the key attributes in becoming a person of good character. Learning to live with and accept others who can sometimes seem annoying is a great skill for life because we all know that we strike these people as we get older. Equally, living with others from different cultures, backgrounds or beliefs is a wonderful opportunity to grow as a person and it teaches our boys so much about being inclusive.

Boarding life has always been based around providing set routines that help young people to develop positive habits. Being a boarder at a school like Marist provides our boys with a daily schedule they must follow which ensures them enough time for sleep, study, social, sporting and other activities to fill their days. In an increasingly distracted world, our boarders don’t have excess amounts of spare time where they will become bored or get caught sitting behind screens for hours on end. They have so many productive activities to capture their interest and to ensure healthy habits are formed.

Another key benefit of our boarding experience is the academic rigour that is provided through our study program. Boys in all year levels have supervised study time five nights of the week. This is conducted in school classrooms under the direction of the boarding staff, but the boarders also have two or three academic tutors per dorm working each night who are there to assist them with their homework, assignments and preparations for exams. It is in this environment that boarders learn the importance of discipline and consistency with their school work. They also have a place where they can develop a capacity to learn and increase their knowledge. Boarders’ study time is also an environment where the boys are encouraged to collaborate and help each other through their work. Boarders certainly have every opportunity to do well with their school work with the study programs in place.

Boarding has changed an incredible amount over the years, but the benefits mentioned above remain the same as they were when I was a boarder at Marist College Ashgrove in the 1980s. We hope our young men in boarding take advantage of all the opportunities available to them and we are confident it will set them up for success as they step up to lead the next generation.

Around the Grounds

La Valla Residence

This week was a strange week in Brisbane with lots of changes and interruptions to normal school life. One thing that really showed was how settled into boarding life many of these young men are. Despite the uncertainty of floods, COVID-19, cancelled school, storm threats, worries about the state of properties back home it was apparent that the boys are developing their support structures. Many have a range of people that they can discuss issues with when they are concerned or just need to have a laugh. With the lifting of restrictions, the boys enjoyed a full weekend of recreation including Urban Extreme, mountain bike riding and a shopping trip. Hopefully, with the return of sport next week we will be able to keep the boys nice and busy - just as we like it! Another highlight of the week was seeing the young men dressed in smart casual clothing for Sunday evening mass, they looked so incredibly smart and they were so proud of themselves. Many kind boarding families donate clothing and uniforms back to La Valla and that allows us to make sure that all boys have everything they need for the different events that they will attend as part of the program.

Montagne Residence by Sean Green

This week was solitary, yet joyful within the boarding fraternity. The agenda was still jam-packed with several internal events. Regardless of the fact that sports were cancelled due to potentially severe storms and flooding, the boys had a great time during the weekend. On Saturday afternoon, a group of lads headed to Urban Extreme, which is a fun trampoline park. There was also a welcomed trip to Brookside Shopping Centre on Sunday. Internal volleyball was a great way to get away from the poor weather. Due to the exceptional skills displayed by our Year 9 Student Representative Liam Rice; our Year 9 team (which was short on players) won the first game, defeating the Year 7-8 team.

Our Montagne gents have demonstrated their dedication to study this week by working through several of the assessments that have sprung up. It's evident that the lads have gradually transitioned from holiday mode to boarding and academic mode over the last few weeks. We've been able to keep on task more, thanks to our new tutors. On behalf of the entire dorm, I'd like to assure you that they've significantly assisted us with our assessment work, study, and will be helping us with upcoming exam preparation. Despite the fact that this week has been packed with disasters, the boys have had a great time with the support of our supervisors and Mr Whitlock.

Hermitage Residence

Week 6 certainly saw plenty of action take place around campus. Boys have been kept extremely busy with their increasing workloads as assessment, drafts and revision continue to increase. Our Year 10 lads were fortunate to attend library skills on Wednesday with a focus on their upcoming RE assignment. This very much provided them with an opportunity to refine their scaffolds and seek additional support in ‘unpacking’ the task. It has been extremely pleasing reading tutor feedback that has highlighted the willingness of more boys to seek guidance. With ovals closed throughout the week, we continued to take the basketball courts prior to study. George Bell, Paddy Bassani, Ben McAuliffe, Matt Peng, Blake Kightley and many others have been providing their best Steph Curry impersonations. The wild weather from last weekend continued into the back end of the week and the boys that found themselves in online lessons on Friday did an outstanding job. We are hoping for a dryer week to see AIC fixtures return. We extend our best wishes to Luca Martinuzzi who represents the College this week at the AIC Swimming Championships.  We also send our best wishes to Zek Anderson who has commenced his plumbing apprenticeship this week. Zek is certainly excited to be provided with this opportunity.

Fourviere Residence

A huge thank you goes to our Boarder of the week this week, Henry McAullife, who has also kindly contributed to the Fourvière Around the Grounds as well. Here is a little of Henry’s story as he looks back on his first month as a Marist Boarder:

'Hi, my name is Henry McAuliffe, I’m sixteen and I come from a cattle property west of Mt Isa, Queensland. I am originally from America, born in Ocala, Florida. Before moving to Australia in 2009, I also lived in Kenilworth, England. When we were in the States and England my parents were working with an organisation called Parelli which mainly focused on helping people with ‘natural horsemanship’, which is based on a method of understanding behaviour to best communicate with horses for training. 

During my time in Australia, I have moved between Queensland and New South Wales with my parents and my brother. For most of our time in Australia my family and I have lived on cattle and sheep properties, with my father managing these properties for different agriculture companies. Before coming to Marist, I went to school at Moranbah State High School for three years. I arrived here at Marist with my younger brother Ben, who is in Year 7 and my first few weeks have been fantastic. The boys that I have met through boarding are a good group of fellas that have welcomed me and encouraged me to get involved in the boarding community. The boarding supervisors and staff have all been so helpful in making living in boarding a great experience. Thanks to everyone for welcoming me and my brother into the Marist community, making it such a great start to our boarding adventure.

Henry McAuliffe, Year 11 Fourvière Residence and Ignatius House

Br Terence Residence

Even with the uncertainty around the flood situation, COVID-19 and school closures, the Formal still remained front and centre in all of the boys’ minds this week. During the week, the boys were only too happy to try on their Formal suits to showcase their fashion choices to the boarding supervisors. Connor Lyons was busy making sure that the corsage orders were completed in time for the event and a number of the boys required a mid-week dash to the shops to finalise their outfits for the big night. Saturday night was a wonderful event at City Hall and it was pleasing that so many of our Year 12 boarding families were able to make it to Brisbane to be part of this special occasion.

While the boys were still excited after the Formal, they have now turned their focus to their busy assessment schedules. This is an important part of the academic year for our Year 12 students and their commitment so far has been excellent. A number of boys have consistently gone above and beyond their regular study sessions to ensure that they are as well prepared as possible. Special mentions must go to Archie Forbes, Frank Baker and Harry Masel who have received several compliments from supervising staff for their level of focus and application towards their study. This week also saw some outstanding initiative from a group of Year 12 boarders who organised and purchased some KFC meals for three of our younger boarders who were in isolation. This generous and selfless act is a reflection of the great care and concern that our Year 12 boarders have for the entire boarding community. Well done, boys, this is just another example of your excellent leadership capacity as a cohort. Finally, Zen Sakai celebrated his 18th birthday on the eve of the Formal – happy birthday, Zen.

Recreation Report - Mr Blair Whitlock

On Thursday afternoon we tried something new with a group of Year 7 boys helping the kitchen team with some basic food prep. There are dozens of staff around boarding that the boys rarely get to interact with and building these relationships is going to be a priority throughout the year. Thanks to Nathan, Sammy, Gopal and the whole kitchen team for having us! The boys peeled 50kg of potatoes and onions and you can see them fighting back the onion tears below! Well done Jack, Jonah, Cedric and Sania.

Luckily this weekend the rain changed course and we were able to get the boys out and about. With the cancellation of Saturday sport there was a little more free time than usual which the boys enjoyed. Friday afternoon kicked off with boarders volleyball games in the gym until dinner. We kept the gym open and the boys worked up a sweat before heading down to the pool for a night swim.

On Saturday afternoon we got the bikes out and headed along to the Blue Nurses. The heat was intense but the boys had a great time nonetheless. Hopefully, the trails out at Mt Coot Tha are dry enough for Mountain Biking Club this coming Thursday. We cooled off in the pool before heading over to Urban Extreme in the evening. It was our first chance to catch up with the Somerville and St Margaret’s boarders which the boys were looking forward too! It’s always a good time at Urban Extreme with dodgeball, trampoline park, parkour, ninja warrior and lasertag on offer. Meanwhile, the Year 12s were out preparing for their formal which sounded like a great evening by all accounts.

Sunday started with a mystery activity for the Year 7-8 boys. There were many incorrect guesses throughout the week with boys assuming it would be some sort of work after last years carwash. They were pleasantly surprised when we pulled up in Ferny Grove at Rebound Beach Volleyball for an hour. It took the boys a while to get the dynamics of the game with all five nets in play. They worked up a sweat regardless and we headed back to school for a late morning swim before lunch. The weekend finished off with a quick trip up to Brookside to stock up on supplies. 

We have a big week of recreation coming up with the first Broncos game against the Bunnies and a Wet ‘n’ Wild trip on Sunday.