Welcome
Over the coming weeks we will welcome some new members to our boarding community. Congratulations to Cade Anderson (Rankins Springs, Year 10), Jimmy Harper (Temora, Year 9), and Hendy Philip (Bronte, Year 8) on becoming a St Gregory’s Boarder, and we look forward to all of your contributions to our community over the coming years. We also welcome their parents to our community Tammy and Brett (Cade), Kathryn and Peter (Jimmy), and Alexandra and Paul (Hendy). When we enrol a boy, we enrol the whole family, and we look forward to you enjoying your St Gregory’s experience with your son.
Champagnat Awards
Last week we celebrated the Feast of Marcellin Champagnat with our annual Mass and Carnival. As always it was a wonderful celebration, but what was particularly joyous was the number of boarders recognised with Awards of the Day. Each Year 5 boys from each Grade are nominated to be recognised as Champagnat Award winners. There are our young men in the community who through their actions and words support the values of Marcellin and our Marist Community. The following boarding students were recognised on the day:
- Year 7 – Billy Corkhill (Boorowa)
- Year 8 – Saxson Taratu (Bradbury), Jimmy Smith (Nyngan)
- Year 10 – Angus Pursehouse (Mirrool), Elliot Sykes (Mungindi)
- Year 11 – Patrick Bonnington (Dubbo), Julian Puntoriero (Canberra)
- Year 12 – Angus Ryan (Dubbo)
A boy from each Year Group is selected to be the Champagnat Medallion Recipient, who best reflects St Marcellin’s characteristics. A huge congratulations to Billy Corkhill, Elliot Sykes, and Julian Puntoriero who were all selected as winners for these awards for 2023.
It was also fantastic to see Mr Prateek Kripal recognised for 10 years of teaching in a Marist school, a wonderful achievement. And Mr Gerard Fetterplace as our Champagnat community Award Recipient, the biggest award on the day! Gerard does an amazing job as head of our Maintenance and Facilities Department, which is an extremely important job in the day-to-day running of our boarding facilities. Well-deserved Gerard.
Congratulations!
There are a number of boys we would like to acknowledge for their success in personal pursuits that have occurred throughout this term.
- Lachlan Vella (Caringbah, Year 11)) competed in the School Sport Australia U18 Baseball Championship representing NSW in Lismore this term. The NSW team won the championship and after a successful tournament, Lachlan was also selected in the All Australian Baseball U18’s team of 2023.
- Archie Nott (Bourke, Year 11) competed in the Australian Junior Athletic Championships in Brisbane this term where he finished 3rd in the 800m and 7th in the 1500m. archie also recently won the U/16 ISA cross country championship beating all comers from private schools around NSW.
- Charlie Fuller (Nowra, Year 11) competed in the State Lawn Bowls Championships in the pairs competition. This was the first time Charlie had competed in this tournament finishing third in his group.
- We have had a number of boys debut in 1st XIII rugby League this term: Preston Smallwood (Bilambil Heights, Year 10), Jed Reardon (Temora, Year 12), Luke Cannon (Griffith, Year 11), James Croker (Crookwell, Year 11), Harvey Gay (Boorowa, Year 11), Cooper Black (Nyngan, Year 11), Sebastian Sykes (Mungindi, Year 11), and Archie Duncombe (Crookwell, Year 11). Congratulations to all.
- We have also had a number of boys debut in 1st XV rugby union this term: Daniel Canellis (Boorowa, Year 11), Sebastian Sykes (Mungindi, Year 11), Jed Reardon (Temora, Year 12), Preston Smallwood (Bilambil Heights, Year 10), Archie Gay (Boorowa, Year 10), Harvey Gay (Boorowa, Year 11) Mason Rope (Nyngan, Year 11), Oliver Minehan (Harden, Year 11), Fred Graham (Tumorrama). Congratulations to all.
And finally congratulations to Mase Hillcoat (Shellharbour, Year 10), Cade Chapman (Kiama, Year 10), and Preston Smallwood (Bilambil Heights, Year 10) who were selected in the representative ISA U/16 team to play in the Rugby Championships NSW Trials against GPS, CAS, CHS, CCC and alike, which be held at St Gregory’s College on 24 and 25 June. The NSW Schools teams will be chosen at these selections to then play in the State Championships and then possibly Australian Championships. Congratulations also to one of our boarding staff, Mr Sam Hackett who was selected as a coach of one of these representative teams.
Game Changers
Game Changers is the new and exciting program in Marist Youth Ministry. Our Year 8 boarding students have been the first group at St Gregory’s College to undertake this program, led by Mr Halaifonua. The program aims to promote a strong sense of community, through regular meetings, creative faith formation, and service opportunities, this dynamic program forms your sons to become faith-filled leaders and agents of change in our school community.
Our boys are in the first phase of this program called Le Rosey (Years 7 and 8) which aims at forming their identity and sense of community. The group explores the foundational stories of Marcellin growing up in Le Rosey and Jesus growing up in Nazareth.
This Friday, 160 students from Marist Schools all around NSW will convene at St Gregory’s for a Game Changers Retreat. Our Year 8 boarders will also lead a school service initiative as part of the program. It has been fantastic for the Year 8 boys to be involved in this program and to be the first group to experience it at St Gregory’s.
Important Dates
Term 2 concludes on Friday 23 June. The Friday is the travel day for our remote and regional boarding students. School will still be operating as normal for our weekly students who are expected to be in attendance on this day.
Term 3:
- Boarders' Travel Day Monday 17 July
- Term 3 Commences for K-12 (all students) Tuesday 18 July
2023 Year 12 Graduation
I will write to our Year 12 families at the beginning of next term but please be aware of the impending graduation of our 2023 Year 12 students. The following dates are of relevance:
- Thursday 21 September – Final Boarders Mass (6:15pm) followed by Year 12 Student and Parent Cocktail Party and Farewell. All Year 12 families are expected to attend this event.
- Friday 22 September – Graduation Ceremony, Graduation Mass, and Year 12 Formal and Awards Ceremony.
- Saturday 23 September – travel day for boarding students. Please note: Regional students can return home after the graduation mass if parents are providing transport. This needs to be at the conclusion of the mass at approximately 1:00pm.
On the Road - Orange, NSW
Our first event for Term 3, our ‘Western Families Dinner’ will be held on Saturday 22 July to coincide with our Rugby Fixtures against Kinross Wolaroi School in Orange. We will be holding a function at the "Greenhouse of Orange" on the Saturday evening at the conclusion of the 1st XV fixture. Invitations will be sent to our families in the coming weeks asking you to RSVP to this event. If you would like to get a head start, please send an email to Danielle Sherd at boarding@stgregs.nsw.edu.au with your attending numbers. This is an adults only function. If you have any families that are interested in joining our boarding community please bring them along to meet us on the night.
As we always say, our families are our biggest marketing tool. If you would like us to visit your region, as you have some families you would like us to meet, please contact me directly and we will work something out in the calendar.
Sunday Boarders' Mass
Our Sunday Boarders' Mass is held every Sunday at 6:15 pm in the College Chapel. All community members are invited to join our boarding community for our weekly celebration.
Communication and Social Media
The Australian Boarding Schools Association produce a quarterly magazine called ‘Lights Out’. It is a wonderful resource that has lots of interesting stories relative to Boarding. The e-version of this resource can be accessed on the ABSA website - https://www.boarding.org.au/our-community/lights-out-journal. You can also sign up to the website to receive notifications. It is a wonderful resource, and I would encourage all of our boarding families to make use of it.
A reminder about our Facebook and Instagram accounts. These sites are live so please make sure you get onto them if you have accounts. If it is your first foray into social media, (I do not blame you) perhaps your sons can assist you!
The wonderful boarding coordinators have also set up blogs you can follow showcasing what your son is up to while in boarding. These blogs can be accessed here:
Years 10 to 12 – https://pkripal.wixsite.com/sgc10-12boarding
Years 7 to 9 - https://thalaifonua.wixsite.com/juniorboarding2022
Ad Jesus Per Mariam
Mr Luke Morrissey