From the Head of College

Mr Michael Newman

An Exciting Pathway Forward

Marist College Ashgrove has as a clear mandate to educate the young men in its care in the ways of the Gospel through the eyes and heart of Mary. Our representation and leadership to achieve this mandate is through the Catholic Church. The Catholic Church as we know it has been challenged in recent decades with a clear decline in church attendance and its seemingly irrelevance in this more secular society.

In response and through the wisdom of a clearly open Pope Francis, a synod has been supported for the Church in Australia. Archbishop Coleridge the Archbishop of Brisbane says, “there is an urgent need to find fresh ways of ministry and service for both men and women.” He recognises that the process moving forward requires “attentive listening, giving dignity to others and honouring their experience.”

The Second Assembly of the Catholic Plenary Council gathered in Sydney last month, bringing together Bishops, clergy and laity from a generous, diverse and complex Catholic community. Its final dialogue and robust conversations, led by the Holy Spirit, answered one clear question: “What do you think God is asking of us in Australia?”

Outlined below are the 8 clear areas that arose as our way forward for our church:

Travelling with and supporting our First Nations peoples.
Protecting young people, and healing hurt and harm.
Strengthening missionary outreach and discipleship.
Enhancing the role of women in the Church.
Deepening the Church’s sacramental life.
Improving and widening the availability of formation for leadership.
Developing more contemporary approaches to church governance.
Hearing the cry of the poor and the Earth, and promoting Integral Ecology.

The formulation of these directions were not all clear sailing for this Council. Pope Francis, knowing that there is division and polarisation within Australian society and the Church, has always encouraged us “not to disengage from polarisation but to engage with conflict and disagreement. This means resolving division by allowing for new thinking that can transcend that division.”

From the Plenary Council discussions, Archbishop Mark Coleridge reflected, after the passing of a range of motions across key Church issues: “One message it sends is that the Holy Spirit is at work in the Church.” This included the experience of calming the tensions and allowing the Council to continue with its agenda after some heated discussion and indecision arose, especially around the role of women in the Church.

Notwithstanding the robust dialogue, disagreements, stalemates and indecision, the Plenary Council has now agreed on an exciting way forward for the Church, for which Marist College Ashgrove is an active member. There is much hope in these motions. There is much to be done; however, the listening, dialogue and respectful relationships have begun and will hopefully, see a new Church and a freshness to the Gospels, emerging into the future.

God of the journey, we pray that the Catholic Church will be relevant and a purposefully united representation of all the young men and family members at Marist College Ashgrove. Amen.

Invitation to Wear Purple

The theme of Marist education in this the 150th Year Anniversary is that everyone is “known and loved” by God. As a species, we humans are only gradually and only recently coming to understand and accept that there are many ways of being human and many aspects that contribute to our identity as humans. We have physical identity, a thinking and intellectual identity, an emotional identity, a spiritual identity, a gender identity and a sexual identity. As a Catholic School, we believe that each and every person is made in the image and likeness of our creator and we therefore value the uniqueness of all. There is no place for bullying or harassment based on difference. To stand in solidarity with all people, the boys and staff are welcome to wear purple this Friday 26th August as a way of supporting difference and inclusivity at Marist College Ashgrove. This is not a free dress day.

Examinations

My best wishes are extended to all Year 12 boys and their teachers who are undertaking their important Trial (Mock) Examinations from tomorrow, Wednesday 24th – Thursday 1st September. These are important preparation exams for their external ATAR examinations to be held from the 24th October – 15th November. We also wish well our Year 9 boys who will also be undertaking their exam block between Monday 29th - Thursday 1st September. This will be followed by exams for all boys from Years 7, 8, 10 and 11 from the 5th - 9th September.

Academic Awards Assembly

During the virtual College Assembly today, we recognised the efforts of our Academic Award recipients at the College Assembly. Years 5-10 students were recognised for their outstanding academic achievements over semester one. This included the Head of College Recognition Awards for application and effort towards their class studies. The Year 11 students were acknowledged for their academic achievement in their first Internal Assessment. Congratulations are extended to all award recipients on their academic achievements.

2023 House Leaders

The leadership process is continuing for the Year 11 boys with initial positions named for 2023. Congratulations to the following boys:

Following this announcement, these boys are now applying for the position of College Captain and College Vice Captains. We wish all boys the best of luck with upcoming speeches to the student body and formal interviews with a staff panel.

Solidarity Activities

Marist College Ashgrove offers a variety of opportunities for students in the areas of solidarity and faith formation. All these activities are community-based, supporting the holistic education of young men. These opportunities are slowly building momentum after being put on hold during COVID-19 times. Some activities the boys are involved with include:

Green Thumbs (Primary based) Green Ash and the Environment Group
St Vincent de Paul (incorporating the weekly community BBQ)
Game Changers - The Marist Youth Ministry Faith Based Formation Program
Stationery Aid Support - a new activity for Year 9 students
Marist Youth Ministry Activities
ROSIES – the boys being guest to the homeless
Sports Canteen assistance
MATES - Marists are taking everyone seriously - is an umbrella term that the College uses to incorporate all activities that our students do in solidarity and justice. It encompasses faith formation and is based off the Catholic Social Justice Teachings. Students can accumulate limited and discretionary MATES hours through a variety of sources external to those listed above - external, (unpaid) work in community-based services like Meals on Wheels, Surf Life Saving, parish-based support and involvement (like server or reading at parish Masses), going the extra mile in Boarding, Heads of House activities, Liturgy Choir, and unpaid continual sporting assistance.

Marist Youth Forum

Marist Youth Forums provide an opportunity for the boys to gather with students from other Marist schools to discuss issues of life and faith. These days allow students, in a shared space of encounter and engagement, to dialogue with and consider the viewpoints of peers, facilitators, and guest presenters as well as reflect on their commitment to being Marist in the way of Jesus, Mary and St Marcellin Champagnat.

On Friday 26th August, 10:00am–1:30pm (students must attend morning and afternoon classes), the Year 10 boys are invited to participate in a Marist Youth Forum. The Venue for this forum is the Marist Centre (building adjacent to the Uniform Shop and Cyprian Pavilion). The boys can wear free dress and lunch is provided. Enjoy the day, gentlemen.

Academic Tournament News

Both of our State Semi-final teams have progressed to the State Final of the EVATT Trophy this Saturday, 27th August. The teams are Joseph Lewis (11F) and Isaac Lynn (11G), and Harrison Dyer (10D) and Remy Versace (10E). Best wishes, gentlemen.

On Friday 19th and Saturday 20th, we had five students represent the College in the 2022 Australasian Association of Philosophers’ Philosothon. The students involved were Archie Bathe (11H), Joseph Lewis (11F), Harrison Dyer (10D), Angus Shay (8E) and Fletcher Wessling (8E).

Two Marist College Ashgrove teams participated in Round 1 of CyberTAIPAN. This is a cyber security competition which we have participated in since the Pilot Program in 2018. Our teams finished 6th and 28th at the end of this round. There were 139 teams participating. Team members were: Team 1 – Zac Apelt (12D), Will Johnson (12E), Luke Nisbett (12G), Michael Nolan (12H), Ben Hartfiel (9G); Team 2 – Kieran Eades (12E), Alex Apelt (10D), Max Bathersby (10R), Harrison Dyer (10D), Remy Versace (10E).

Well done, gentlemen and thanks to all our generous teachers led by our Gifted and Talented Coordinator, Majella Stevens.

Athletics

The Marist Athletics season is well underway with our track and field team working earnestly this term each week to improve their fitness and technique in readiness for the AIC Championships. Last week was the first AIC trial meeting and the coaches reported that our boys have started with some excellent all-around performances and improved personal bests across the squad.

This week, a number of our athletes will be involved with Met North selection trials at the UQ track. This is an excellent meeting for our squad who will compete against the best athletes in the Metropolitan North school region. Those athletes who are successful at this meeting will have an opportunity to move on to the QLD All Schools state titles in October this year. We wish all athletes the best of luck.

Thanks to the dedicated coaches who work each week with the boys including: Mr Laurie Boustead, Ms Maddie Spann, Ms Megan Cook, Mr Josh Mulligan, Mr David Meehan, Mr Will Burkett, Mr Eric Brown, Mr Des Davis, Mr Corey Anderson, Mr Carl Martin, Mr Dan Drew, Mr Bill Prole, Mr Harry Hunter, Mr Brendan Saunders, Mr Cam Pfeffer, Mr Jeremy Davis, Mr Paul Kearney, Mr Derek Lennon and Mr Rob Martin - with able support from Mr Mitch Reid and Mr Corey Lucas in the Sports office as well as Mr John Lambourne with the Primary squad.

The coaches have requested that athletes, who are part of the squad, continue to now give priority to the remaining meets and attend weekly training as they attempt to continue our recent Track and Field success where Marist have won 7 titles in a row! Success in Track and Field requires dedication to both physical and technical improvement and Mr Derek Lennon and Mr Rob Martin are very happy to work with athletes to manage the load where there are several sporting priorities. We wish the entire squad the very best with their training for the remainder of the term and into the holiday period. We look forward to the AIC Athletics Championships on Thursday and Friday, 6-7th October.

Our Proud Rugby History

Our Head of Sport, Derek Lennon proudly showed me the list of Wallabies who had graduated in Year 12 from Australian Schools. Marist College Ashgrove is in the top 10 Australian schools who have produced old boys who have gone on to play rugby for Australia. The list of Rugby nurseries is below, where you will notice, that considering our foundation date of 1940, this top 10 listing is very impressive. We take this opportunity to acknowledge and thank the many outstanding and dedicated Marist Brothers and lay coaches and assistants who offered their coaching expertise, advice and time over these years. Marist College Ashgrove looks forward to teaching our boys the skills required to become our next generation of Wallabies.

Uniform Shop

Noone will commence operations at the uniform shop from this Friday 26th August. The uniform shop will be closed for a stocktake from Monday to Thursday this week. Noone hours of operation will be Monday, Wednesday and Friday 7:30am – 4:00pm. We look forward to working together with Noone into the future.

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