Boarding News

I had the good fortune of attending The Brown Collective’s Leading with Integrity conference hosted by Lourdes Hill last week with other members of our College Leadership Team. The Brown Collective’s unique and complementary skill sets are focused on enhancing the performance of individuals, teams and whole organisations. Their foundational experience lies in educational leadership development and developing high-quality executive leadership programs for sectors and systems, both nationally and internationally. Not only did this provide a unique opportunity to reflect, share and challenge our current practices, it also enabled me to think about the way in which we provide leadership opportunities for the boys here at the College. Dr Brown opened the conference by discussing the important role stewardship plays within a school context. In turn, I have applied this importance with a focus on our boys within boarding. Dr Brown highlighted four key areas; ownership, responsibility, accountability and opportunities. For me what resonated was the concept of ‘leaving things in a better place than what you found it’. For our boys here that message carries across to all parts of our pastoral, academic and spiritual outcomes.

• How are we goal setting?
• How are we setting the tone and example for others?
• What impact are we having within our College community?
• What legacy are we leaving for those who follow?
• What does it mean for me as a man of Marist faith?

These questions (particularly) are a great starting point for our boys to think about what story they will leave behind and this is a conversation we will be having with our boys as the year progresses.

National Boarding Week

Last week was a wonderful chance to showcase all of the opportunities that make MCA boarding great. From within the College, we were able to highlight throughout the week a wide variety of what happens within the boarding school. I extend my thanks to the many staff that gave their time to join the boarding community throughout the week. Highlights included ‘open homes’ for all the boarding residences, a community BBQ, community singing and war cry practice along with community Mass. I also thank the many day school families who took up the challenge to encourage their sons to follow the evening routines of our boarders. A small exercise, but an opportunity for Marist College Ashgrove day students to gain insight into the day to day life of a boarder. Our boys fit a lot into their days here in boarding and the structure, guidance and study opportunities available to them is what makes this possible!

For any questions regarding weekly or full-time boarding options for your son, please contact Ty Casey Head of Boarding at caseyt@marash.qld.edu.au.

Around the Grounds

La Valla Residence

The boys in La Valla are lucky to have access to such an extensive recreation program as they have lots of opportunities to broaden their social circles and develop their interests. Through their interactions with other boarding schools and the older boarders at Marist College Ashgrove, they can learn from each other and speak with other boarders about their own experiences. The La Valla boys commented that they are really starting to form friendships with students from Stuartholme as they see each other regularly at recreation activities. This week, the students of Br Terence Residence invited La Valla over for a BBQ to celebrate the end of the week. The boys sat around the campfires and talked or kicked a footy on the oval whilst the older boys cooked dinner. It was a great chance to relax and get to know each other a little better, although way too much soft drink was consumed at this event!!

Montagne Residence

The term is certainly ramping up in Montagne with the boys first assessment for the term being due Monday. Without naming names, there were a handful of boys rushing to complete this task on Sunday night. This followed on from a successful Saturday for most of our Rugby players. Unfortunately, the 8As went down in a close game to Padua, however, we were redeemed by the 8Bs, 8Cs and 8Es who all had resounding wins. Matty Lyons crossing the try line for the 8Bs was a highlight.

The unofficial dorm dog, Ranger, came through the residence on Wednesday night. Although the rumours of a drug-sniffing dog were doing the rounds were rife, Rangers specialty is food – any food! It was good to see the boys interact with Ranger and take care of him. There was no shortage of pats on offer for the young pup. Ranger also got to assist with room inspections. The Montagne gents are trying to get 15 consecutive school days straight of tidy rooms and respect for supervisors to achieve an extended device use. We hit three days in a row until a few boys didn’t get the memo. The count currently sits at two as this is being written.

Hermitage Residence

A massive week in the dorm saw a number of birthdays take place - Jimmy Davies (Tuesday, 18 May), EJ Bowen and Zek Anderson (Thursday, 20 May) and Harry Laing (Saturday, 22 May). The boys celebrated their birthday in various fashions however the dorm had a number of sugary treats that they enjoyed throughout the week. We wish these boys a happy birthday and a prosperous year ahead!

In addition to these birthdays, the boys celebrated National Boarding Week which saw a number of happenings take place with 'open home' visits to the residence from staff as well as a celebratory BBQ on Thursday evening. The week was rounded off with AIC sport Vs Padua which saw the boys in football and rugby matches at Banyo. 

The week ahead will see the boys head off on camp to Kenilworth (Foley, Gilroy, Ignatius, Slattery) and Woodford (Ridley, Ephrem, Rush, Harold) for four days which will allow students to get back to nature and enjoy time out of the classroom with peers. This experience will be a great opportunity for boys to forge closer relationships with their House groups and spend time hiking through various locations. We wish the boys the best of luck for the adventure ahead!

Fourviere Residence

Another busy week has passed and we find ourselves having arrived at the halfway mark of the term. There was plenty of cramming and last-minute exam preparation as the Year 11 boys diligently applied themselves to the exam block period and later rewarded themselves with a little downtime once their final exams were completed. The boys also cheerfully celebrated National Boarding Week, sharing in a range of activities including; leading tours of the residence, socialising at dinner, singing and war cry practices with a number of the day school staff on Wednesday and Thursday. It was great to see the Year 11 lads once again leading from the front with their passionate singing. A number of the boys also took great pride in welcoming the day school staff into the Fourviere residence, showing off tidy areas, accepting challenges on the table tennis table and even taking orders for a Campaspe Belt or two!

The weekend was once again full of sporting fixtures, the highlight of which was arguably the Friday afternoon clash between the 10D’s & 10E’s which had the entire residence either playing or in attendance cheering the lads on. Saturday’s matches were followed by an entertaining staff v student touch football match on Sunday morning and the week was rounded out with a trip to Indooroopilly for some of the Year 10 lads, keen for a fresh haircut and some stylish threads set to impress at the Dancing Finale at City Hall this Tuesday evening.

Br Terence Residence

The residence has been a busy place this past week with our Year 11 boys completing their first Senior School exam block. Hopefully, all of the extra late-night study requests and early mornings will prove beneficial when the results are released. The Year 11 exam block also coincided with National Boarding Week that saw some members of staff from the day school visiting the residence and joining the boys for dinner and signing practice on Thursday evening to gain further insight into boarding life here at the College. The Friday evening BBQ continued this week with the boys hosting our youngest boarders from La Valla Residence for dinner and some downtime at the end of a busy week. A special mention to James Thompson, Dino Lopes, Elliot Gubby, Cadell Hendrikse and Jacob Doyle who offered to clean up after the BBQ – it is never an easy task cleaning up after 60 teenagers have just enjoyed their dinner. This week also saw Year 12 boarders Joe Macqueen and Leon Simonetti celebrate their 17th birthdays – all of the boys send their birthday wishes to Leon who celebrated his birthday in Singapore.

Boarding Rec - Mr Blair Whitlock

It was great to have many of the wider Marist staff through the dorms as we celebrated National Boarding Week. With the spotlight on the boys, there was certainly no slow down in rec with clubs in full flow throughout the week. After three weeks of rain, the Mountain Biking boys finally got out to the Gap Creek Reserve for a run out while the Art club boys put the finishing touches on the boarder’s mural that will be going outside the dining hall. 

On Friday night, the La Valla boys joined the Year 12 boys for their traditional Friday Night BBQ and Footy in the Terence Courtyard. Getting the younger lads involved with the Year 12’s will be a focus moving forward as they love spending time with their Marist role models. We’ll get the Montagne and Hermitage boys over for a Friday night BBQ before the end of Term 2 as well. We also hosted the Stuartholme girls for our second trivia night of the year. There were 80 students up in the Draney Theatre that split into 10 teams. The trivia was made up of three rounds (General Knowledge, Music and Sport) with several mini-games in-between for extra points and Mars Bars! It was a neck and neck affair with the lead changing hands several times. In the end, Fairy Queens + Harry had too much in their arsenal and took out the win. We look forward to another trivia night over at Stuartholme in Term 3.

Rugby season rolled on with the boys heading all over Brisbane for games against Padua College. Another huge day of sport with the boys finishing out at Banyo for the 1st XV clash. It looked like Marist would run out comfortable winners after a dominant first half with three quality tries. However, Padua dug in and scored three tries of their own in the second half to make it a contest. The Marist boys ultimately had too much in the tank and scored two late tries to make it three wins in a row. A small group of boys headed over to Suncorp later that evening to watch the Reds take on the Crusaders. Unfortunately, they were on the receiving end of a Richie Mo’unga masterclass as the Crusaders put on 60+ points. Despite a disappointing result it was great to see arguably the best club side in the world put on an attacking show. Meanwhile, we had another group head over to Clayfield College for some Basketball and Volleyball in their gym.

It was a bright and early start for the Year 9’s on Sunday morning as they headed over to Anaconda to grab final supplies ahead of camp next week. Beanie stocks took a hammering as many boys have been feeling the cold recently! Later that morning we all headed over to McMahon Oval for the first staff vs students match of the year. Touch footy was the game and Clancy Clemson rounded up a group of keen Year 12’s that consisted of several 1st XV players and QueenslandTouch reps. It looked like it may be a long day for the staff playing in front of a hostile boarding crowd! Reggie McMillan and Connor Lyons provided expert analysis from the commentary box as Sam Miller roved the sidelines for pitchside comments. Surprisingly, the staff got off to a bright start with an early try before the boys clawed their way back into the contest with a 4-3 lead at halftime. A small subs bench and some dodgy officiating proved a bridge too far for the staff as the students eventually ran out 7-4 winners. Good fun for all involved and we look forward to having another crack in Term 3 with Staff vs Students Basketball. The last activity of the weekend was Bounce with the Stuartholme girls. We had around 15 boys head out to Tingalpa for two hours of trampolining to round the weekend off. Another very busy week in the books as we are already halfway through Term 2!