Enews - 2 March 2022

The day that we have been hoping would never come arrived last week as we watched the unfolding violence on the people of Ukraine on our screens. It seems impossible to believe that in 21st century Europe, there are people afraid and hiding in bomb shelters as missile attacks and tank warfare unleash a path of death and destruction. In the grip of the fighting, civilians are trying to escape and whatever the outcome of this terrible conflict, Ukraine is heading for a humanitarian catastrophe. As we often witness, it is the poor, weak, old, and young that pay the highest price in times of conflict.

This tragedy may seem distant from us and we are reminded how fortunate we are to live in a nation of such relative peace and security. At this stage, all we can do is pray for peace and pray for the people of Ukraine, the people of Russia and their respective leaders. Peace is so much more than simply the absence of war. It is a gift, and it is also a decision. It is a choice that shapes the way people live well alongside each other.

Pope Francis has invited everyone, "believers and non-believers alike", to make Ash Wednesday, a Day of Fasting for Peace. He recalled a quote from his encyclical Fratelli tutti: “Every war leaves our world worse than it was before. War is a failure of politics and of humanity, a shameful capitulation, a stinging defeat before the forces of evil.”

Game Changers are running for each year group, where boys gather, explore their faith, and have fun. Reach out to the relevant mentor or come along to a meeting. All groups are held in the Oratory except for Year 12 Marist Youth Ministry (MYM):

• Year 7 Game Changers: Day 5 (Mr Weir)
• Year 8 Game Changers: Day 7 (Ms Callaughan)
• Year 9 Game Changers: Day 9 (Mr Hawes)
• Year 10 Game Changers: Day 8 (Mr Leech)
• Year 11 MYM: Day 1 and 6 (Mr Pereira and Miss Baillie)
• Year 12 MYM: Day 1 and 6 (Mr Weir and Mr Jeffery)

We are gearing up for Year 11 Retreats and information will be sent home in the near future. The retreats are a wonderful part of the College journey.

College Leaders worked together on Shrove Monday to raise money for Australian Marist Solidarity with a pancake BBQ! While this usually takes place on Shrove Tuesday, just before the beginning of Lent, the boys were keen to run it on Monday because of Moderation Day. We sold out of pancakes and had a lot of fun doing it, raising money for Chetana Boys’ Hostel and Timor-Leste.

Nick Weir
Student Faith Formation Coordinator

The Marist community is invited to attend an exhibition of works by Michael Galovic. Michael has created a number of works on Marist themes, including the icon of St Marcellin which is located in the College’s Marcellin Hall.

The exhibition, entitled: Splendour from Above: Angels in icons, is being held from Wednesday 9 March - Saturday 19 March in the Chapel at the Centre for Christianity and Culture in Barton. 

We are sure they will all do a fine job in leading their classroom this term and assisting their teachers. Harry Bozic, our 2022 Junior School Captain, led each assembly in prayer and Theo Campton, our 2022 Junior School Vice-Captain, spoke articulately to each assembly about his own beliefs of what being a leader means.

Thank you to Mr McMahon for hosting the assemblies and our Headmaster, Mr Hutchison, for presenting the Term 1 Class Captains with their badges.

Junior School students are not permitted to wait around at school after 3.30pm unsupervised.

Boys in Years 4-6 who are needing to stay at school late for any reason, including sports training that begins late, are required to either:

1. be collected by a parent/guardian and dropped back to their co-curricular/sport activity/training at the set time, or 
2. be booked into the Marist After School Program (SASP) for after-hours supervision. 
   

For sports training that begins directly after school, Junior School boys make their way promptly to their dedicated training area where they will be supervised during training by their team coach.

The College Library is not available for Junior School students to attend after school for supervision. The College Library is only open after school for Senior School students, Years 7 – 12.

Years 4 and 6 will focus on their sacramental preparation programs for Eucharist and Confirmation, whilst Year 5 will be engaging with this year’s Marist Schools theme – ‘Dignity for All’ and exploring the sesquicentenary of the Marist Brothers arriving in Australia. Each Reflection Day is inclusive of all students and forms part of the Religion curriculum and assessment program for their respective year level.

Families are reminded they must register their son directly with their Parish Office for him to receive his Sacrament, Eucharist or Confirmation this year.

• Year 6: Friday 4 March – Reflection Day focusing on the Sacrament of Confirmation
• Year 5: Friday 11 March – Reflection Day focusing on the theme ‘Dignity for all’
• Year 4: Friday 18 March – Reflection day focusing on the Sacrament of Eucharist. 

Servo Fidem

Kirsty Bell

Every student at the College receives a rigorous and sequential music education because it is a critical component in our mission to foster Strong Minds and Gentle Hearts.

The last fortnight saw Marist’s unique music immersion activities in full swing.

Year 4 Music Immersion

Our wonderful new Performing Arts teacher, Jaki Fraser, led our Year 4 classes in their first of many singing sessions. It gave our newest Marist students a chance to become better acquainted with our College hymns.

Year 4 will continue with weekly singing sessions with the frequency to increase over the coming months until it eventually becomes singing every day.

Junior Premiers and Junior All Stars band classes

Our Junior Premiers and Junior All Stars band classes resumed with Mrs Osland in Week 4 for students in Year 4 and Year 6 respectively. Students are reminded to ensure they bring their pencil, eraser and music to all lessons.

Junior Premiers: Wednesday Day 3, Period 5, and Wednesday Day 8, Period 5

Junior All Stars: Tuesday Day 2, Period 2, and Wednesday Day 8, Period 2. 

Year 5 Music Immersion

A total of 30 lucky students were chosen from Year 5 to be a part of our introductory phase of the Music Immersion Program. These students have spent Weeks 1-3 trialling different instruments.

In Week 4, the students were finally issued with their very own instruments. They took part in specialist introductory lessons led by our phenomenal instrumental teachers, rehearsed as an ensemble with Mr Schindler and Mr Stenning, and performed their debut concert for parents over Zoom – all in one day!

In Semester Two, the program will expand so that every student in Year 5 will undergo the same process of learning an instrument and being a part of a music team.

Jarrod Schindler
Head of Performing Arts

The enthusiasm with which they explore the shelves will hopefully extend to reading at home. I encourage you to ask your son about their Library lesson and what they have chosen to read.

Borrowing from the Library

All Junior School students are able to borrow four books at a time from our collection. Books may be kept for up to two weeks, and students can then return or re-borrow them. The teacher-librarians will be working with your son(s) to engage and extend their reading choices during their borrowing lessons.  If you have any questions about their reading choices or would like to discuss how we can extend them, please contact the Library staff via email.

Scholastic Book Club

Issue 1 orders are now closed. Thank you to everyone who ordered. The Library receives reward points which we use to purchase books for the Junior collection. We appreciate your support.

Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge

All students will have now received their Chief Minister’s Reading Challenge record sheet. During Library lessons we will have displays and lists of books that will fulfil the categories on the “Challenge Yourself” option. I’d like to encourage you to talk with your son about what he is reading for the challenge and remind him to write down each book he read, or that you read to him.

Karen Collins
Head of Library and Information Services

All Year 7 – 12 students should have received their textbooks for this semester/year. An email was recently sent out to students and parents containing the list of textbooks loaned.

If you did not receive the email or have questions about the textbook loan process, please contact Karen Collins (Head of Library and Information Services).

Have you asked your son what he is currently reading? The Marist Library has an extensive collection of books chosen to appeal to readers of all ages and abilities. Students also have access to ePlatform, a digital library that offers an engaging selection of eBooks and audiobooks to complement our physical collection. There are some great benefits to the platform, including the dyslexia friendly font and options to bookmark, highlight text and define words.

Students can access ePlatform via the website, through the Marist Library Portal page, or the ePlatform App using their student login. Using the App, students can download and read eBooks on a multiple array of devices with iOS, Android and Windows platforms.

Karen Collins
Head of Information and Library Services

College Open Evening

The College’s Open Evening will be held on Friday 1 April from 4.30pm to 7.00pm. This is a great opportunity for families to meet our teaching staff, speak with our Co-curricular club coordinators, learn about the importance of service within our community, and meet current students to hear about their personal Marist journey.

Due to COVID restrictions, families are required to register their attendance.

Enrolments now open

Applications are now being accepted from current families who may be considering enrolling any sons not already at the College into Years 4 – 12.

A reminder that applications for Years 4, 5, 6 and 7 need to be received no later than Friday 27 May 2022  to be considered for enrolment starting in 2023.

We would also encourage current families to let any friends who may be interested in enrolment know that they can now apply online. 

Important reminder for Year 6 and Year 10 families

A reminder that families with sons currently in Years 6 and 10 at the College do not need to re-enrol their son into Year 7 or Year 11.

Our expectation is that once a student is enrolled at the College, their enrolment will continue until the completion of their studies in Year 12.

For families wishing to sell pre-loved items, please note the following. 

Prior to dropping off second-hand uniforms for sale or donation, you will need to ensure that:

• Items are current uniform and in as new or very good used condition with no marks on the garment.
• Blazers have been dry cleaned and dry-cleaning tag attached and/or receipt submitted.
• All other garments have been freshly laundered and no body odour evident.
• Garments are not in need of any repairs, for example: buttons missing, zips or fasteners damaged.
• Artwork / embroidery is not cracked, damaged, unthreaded, or obsolete in appearance.

Faded, frayed, worn or threadbare items, or items with stains (eg ink/paint) will not be accepted.

Once items are sold, families will be sent an SMS to advise of an in-store credit to redeem upon your next Shop purchase.

For families wishing to donate second-hand items, the proceeds of sales will be donated to the Br Mark May Bursary Fund which provides financial support to Marist students.

More information, including a copy of the second-hand price list and Blazer return form, can be found on the College website.

Kai Callaway (Year 11) who won Bronze in the under 81kg Cadets at the NSW International Judo Open in Sydney and Gold in the Under 81 kg Cadets at the ACT Judo Championships. 

Thomas Cramp (Year 10) who won Gold in the under 73kg Cadets at the ACT Judo Championships.

Thomas also competed at the NSW International Judo Open where he won Gold in the Under 73kg Cadets, Gold in the Under 73kg Junior Men, and won a division in the Junior Men (18-21).