Boarding News

I spoke with all the boarders recently about the need to be organised with their weekend leave requests. There have been a number of occasions in the last few weeks when boys have spoken with their Boarding Coordinator about last-minute weekend plans. Whilst we accept that there may be the odd occasion where family plans change unexpectedly, it is not acceptable for boarders to ask to go on leave at the last minute just because it is something they would like to do. The boys were reminded that weekend leave requests need to be submitted on Reach by Thursday night. This ensures that all key staff (eg: the catering and nursing teams) are aware of who will be in boarding and who will be out on a weekend. The boys were reminded to sort their plans out early enough so that leave can be submitted by Thursday night.

As well as supporting us with the above, I would ask all boarding parents to ensure your boarder son is returned from weekend leave in time to attend the Sunday night Boarders’ Mass which starts at 6:00pm each week. This is a most significant time for our boarding community and it is an expectation that all boarders are back for Mass. Thanks for your support of this.

This Friday evening is the annual boarding event, Night on the Green which is a celebration of the musical talent of our boarders and the boarder girls from Stuartholme. Boarding students from both schools have been practising for quite a while now to be ready for what promises to be a very special occasion. I am really looking forward to seeing this event for the first time and acknowledging the talents of our boarders. Thanks to the staff in our Music Department for their encouragement and guidance of the students in the lead up to Night on the Green and to Blair Whitlock for his organisation behind the scenes to ensure this event is a success.

Our Year 11 boys have been invited to apply for both school and boarding leadership roles (2023) over the last few weeks. I’ve been impressed by the willingness of this group of boys to put themselves forward and how they have put a great deal of thought and effort into their applications. We wish them well in their leadership aspirations.

In closing, I’d like to wish our Year 12 boarders well as they commence their Mock Exams this week. These practice papers are a great guide on what the boys can expect in the external exams next term and they are also a way for the boys to work out what they need to focus on in the remaining weeks leading up the external exams. Good luck to our Year 12 men.

Boarding Recreation - Mr Blair Whitlock

Friday afternoon kicked off with a boarder’s arvo feast which lead into our community BBQ down at the grandstand. These have been a real hit with the boys and it was the Year 9s turn to run the canteen and BBQs. Later in the evening, we had 35 boys head down to Suncorp for the Broncos vs Storm match. It’s always a huge match when the Storm come to town and the boys were pumped up for a big Broncos performance after seeing Kevin Walters and Allan Langer at school the week before. The game however didn’t pan out as hoped with the Storm putting on an attacking clinic with a 60-12 win.

Saturday saw round five of AIC Basketball, Tennis and Rugby League taking place. It’s always a big day against Padua College and the Hive was out in force to support the 1st V and 1st XIII sides. Sam Miller and the senior boys did an outstanding job leading war cries throughout the day as we greatly outnumbered Padua’s home support at both matches. Sadly, it wasn’t our day with both sides going down narrowly in the final minutes of each game. With many seniors playing their final couple of games at Marist it’s a great time to support each other and enjoy the last few weeks of school sport. On Saturday night we had 60 boys from years 7 to 10 head over to St Margaret’s for a social with St Hilda’s and TSS also in attendance. It was organised chaos with a couple of hundred boarders running around playing all sorts of games before the ice cream bar opened up. The boys had a great time and enjoyed meeting many of the Gold Coast boarders for the first time. Thanks to St Margaret’s for having us and we look forward to catching up with them in a couple of weeks.

Sunday kicked off with a bike ride up to the Blue Nurses jump park in The Gap. The boys enjoy this Sunday tradition and many of them have come on leaps and bounds with their riding ability. A big game of Touch Footy on the oval took us through to lunchtime before driving up to Chermside for a couple of hours in the afternoon. It’s hard to believe we are in week seven already! Many of the boys have camps and assessment around the corner so it will be another busy finish to term.