Principal

What a difference 1,700 boys and young men make.

Energy; hustle and bustle; laughter and happy faces; hand balls and flying footballs have all returned across the campus. In short, it is good to be back. I sense that among many parents there is a strong feeling that it is also good to have their sons back at school and out of the house.

Last week’s learning online has meant that all the classes have started with some momentum this week and there is a sense that we have not lost too much learning and teaching time.

One of the highlights of the week was Tuesday’s Academic assembly (online) in which we presented the College Dux from 2021 along with the other Top Achievers from last year’s Year 12 cohort. Well done to all those young men and it was pleasing to be able to acknowledge all these young men for their success. They were listed with short bio’s in last week’s newsletter. The range of their future studies and endeavours is exciting to read. In many ways it is regrettable that they could not be acclaimed in the usual manner at a full assembly. We congratulate Caine Day for his outstanding achievement as College Dux. He has also been awarded a Vice-Chancellor’s Scholarship from the University of Queensland for his achievement.

A feature of the assembly was the high quality of the speeches from Caine, himself, as well as from 2022 College Captain, Harry Roati, and Mr Jason Sepetauc (Dean of Learning and Teaching). In particular, Caine’s speech resonated with many boys as he shared his journey as a student at the College, as well as some very practical tips for boys to apply to their own learning. It is worth noting that Caine, who started in Year 6, did not win an academic prize until Year 10 and he was never Dux of his year level until last year. I share Cain's speech with you here. It is well worth reading.

Also on an academic theme, today we awarded the Gold, Silver and Bronze academic awards from Semester 2, 2021. Ordinarily this is also a feature of a full school assembly but the present COVID-19 restrictions means that we cannot gather in such large numbers. It is pleasing to be able to award 315 students with these awards - 129 Gold, 93 Silver and 93 Bronze.

It is hoped that these awards along with the strong messages from Tuesday’s assembly serve to encourage all boys to do their best in the coming term. Further details on these achievers is contained in the Learning and Teaching report in this newsletter.

It has been our custom over many years to host Parent Information Nights at the start of the school year. They have been good opportunities to gather together socially as well as to hear important information about the year ahead. These nights were offered online this year and we had over 950 attendees over the four nights. Such numbers are a strong indicator of parental engagement in their son’s schooling. Research tells us that parental engagement such as this is integral to student success at school. The feedback has been positive about the content provided by class teachers, House Deans and the various leaders from the Student Office, the Junior School and Learning and Teaching.

Finally, there are two important activities in the coming week to highlight for you. On Saturday the College Advisory Council will gather for their annual planning day that helps to shape their strategic governance, advice and support in the year ahead. We thank Br Damien Price for the manner in which he so wisely leads in the role of Chair. Also, next Thursday evening we will host outdoors in the Edmund Rice Mall the Year 12 Investiture and Blessing Liturgy. The Year 12s have started their leadership roles with energy and commitment over recent weeks even with the disruptions.

So the ‘start’ of school is over and for 1,714 Nudgee College men, their teachers and their parents the journey of 2022 is well and truly underway.

May God Bless us all in that journey.

Mr Peter Fullagar

Principal

Deputy Principal

Is your son getting enough sleep?

Last year, a group of academics from 15 countries found that the stress and anxiety caused by COVID-19 could have long-term impact on children’s sleep, physical activity and screen time. Indeed, young people in Australia were struggling to get a full night’s sleep even before the pandemic reached our shores.

Studies have shown that Australian teens are the third most sleep deprived in the world and that more than 70% of Australian high school students suffer from regular sleep deprivation. Teenagers face a three-hour sleep deficit per night on average, but those who spend five hours a day online are 50% more likely to fail meeting their minimum sleep requirements than peers who only spend an hour online each day.

Not getting enough sleep is associated with a range of physical and mental health problems that can interfere with current health and functioning, and have consequences for health and wellbeing later in life, according to Growing Up in Australia: The Longitudinal Study of Australian Children (LSAC). Insufficient sleep has also been linked to poorer mental health and emotional regulation, and greater risk-taking and social problems, all of which may affect relationships with family, peers and others.

Children not meeting minimum sleep guidelines were more likely to:

Show symptoms of poor mental health (anxiety, depression, unhappiness)
Be late for or absent from school
Spend more time on homework
Have internet access in the bedroom or spend more time on the internet.

Getting enough good-quality sleep is essential for healthy growth. When you sleep, you’re giving your muscles a chance to recover so you can improve your exercise performance.

Some tips to help establish and maintain healthy sleep patterns:

Having a consistent bedtime and wake-up time
Avoiding screen time one hour before sleep
Keeping screens out of the bedroom

Another way to ensure a good night’s sleep is to ensure our children are being active. Being active is important for young people to grow healthy, and set good habits for life. Being active has other positive social, emotional, intellectual and health benefits, including:

A chance to have fun with friends and family
Reduced anti-social behaviour
Stronger cooperation and teamwork skills
Better self-esteem and confidence
Lower anxiety and stress
Better concentration
Healthy growth and development
Strong muscles and bones
Improved fitness, including coordination and movement skills
Lower risk of disease
Lower risk of unhealthy weight gain

We encourage all our boys to get involved in any of the wide range of activities on offer at the College. I firmly believe that one of our strengths is our diverse and inclusive co-curricular offerings across a wide range of sports, the arts, various clubs and social justice activities. There is no excuse not to get involved. Being active is important and then, completing the circle, helps ensure our sons get a good night's sleep.

Mr David Johnston

Deputy Principal

Student Formation

Welcome back!!!

NUDGEE COLLEGE HEALTH MANAGEMENT

Parents will have received a document outlining the Nudgee College Health Management processes for 2022. Without delving into too much detail; there are three key messages

If your son is unwell, keep him at home, have him tested
If your son develops symptoms at school, he is to report directly to the Health Centre
Should you son be deemed positive for Covid or absent due to being a close contact, please communicate with the College

Over the first week back on campus, we have already handed out a significant number of masks to students. Whilst there is an understanding that students ‘may’ forget at times, could I please engage parental support to ensure that students come to school with a mask (even having access to a spare in their bag). Whilst we will continue to support, our staff is also trying to educate students on being ‘accountable’. Thank you for your assistance.

Year 7 Incursion

The Year 7 camp is an essential part of the transition into high school, as well as the building of community that comes with the House system at Nudgee College.

Unfortunately, with recent Government mandates, we have had to postpone this camp till later in the year (13 to 15 July). In the meantime, we have decided that it is vital we provide a meaningful day for the Year 7s to come together and start building those important connections.

The focus of this ‘incursion’ will be on developing positive relationships, with their House Dean, Core Teachers and housemates. By the structure of the program we aim to:

Provide an environment that enables the students to physically and emotionally support each other.
Work through appropriate behaviours and attitudes that are vital for success at Nudgee College
Bring together the old and the new in the first year of their secondary school experience.
- Barrett / Duggan / Fogarty - Wednesday 16 February
- Magee / McKenna / Riley - Thursday 17 February
- Ross / Shaw / Tierney - Friday 18 February

Additional correspondence will come to year 7 students and parents.

Nudgee College App

We're excited to have launched the Nudgee College App. Thank you to those parents and staff who have already downloaded it. We encourage anyone who hasn't downloaded it to do so before the start of school so you do not miss any important information. Please make sure you’re subscribed to the Parent tag, your son’s year level and House.

Here is the link to download the app for APPLE.

Here is the link to download the app for ANDROID.

Captain’s Corner

One of the many joys in my job is to watch the development of some of our Senior students. Watching them grow from little Nudgee College boys into outstanding Nudgee College men is a privilege. Periodically, I will share some words of wisdom from our Senior leaders, as they often articulate the real essence of what young Nudgee College men should aspire to. For this week, please enjoy some segments of Harry Roati’s speech on assembly.

I would like to start off by welcoming all students and staff back from online learning. I’m sure I speak for everyone when I say that it feels great to be back on campus and having the ability to move more than from just your bedroom to the pantry and back.

Term 1 is also the time of the year where Nudgee men can showcase our spirit. Head of River, GPS swimming, cricket, volleyball and debating are examples of activities where we can reignite the Nudgee Spirit that was disrupted during the most recent COVID-19 wave. Something that will become very clear to you men of Nudgee that haven't experienced the wonders of Nudgee Spirit, is that school life at Nudgee does not finish at 3pm on a Friday, in fact it ramps up on Friday afternoon and peaks on Saturday. Where the spirit within us is vocalised, unleashed, set free. What makes this place so unique is that Nudgee succeeds in being a school that doesn’t purely educate us boys but rather it becomes a part of our lives.

During the last two years, the Nudgee community utilised the limitations imposed by COVID-19 in order to create opportunity. In 2022, we must keep this mindset so that we, as an entire Nudgee community, can continue to flourish.

“Try the new in ‘22”. Not only is this statement catchy but it highlights one of the core values at Nudgee of being the best version of yourself by overcoming challenges and taking advantage of opportunities presented.

As Mr. Fullagar said to the year 12 parents last week, “achievers will be those who adapt to life’s new constraints and opportunities."

So, ask yourself this: How will you become a Sign of Faith and Nudgee man? What path do you want to pave to define your journey at Nudgee?

So, with your endgame in mind, your journey to success throughout ‘22 starts here. Today.

Term 1 is vital because it is where we take the first small steps that will eventually define our journey this year and for those of you in younger grades, your journey into next year too. So if I am going to leave you Nudgee men with one message today, make your first steps count; and to do this ask yourself, “what can I do this week to bring me one step closer to my goal for 2022?”

Thank you Harry!

Mr Sean Toovey

Acting Dean of Students

Performing Arts

Try the New in ‘22

How wonderful it has been to have bodies back on site this week!

With many activities happening all around the College, we’ve sent our spies out to get some pics, and with our music teams commencing next week, we look forward to hearing some great sounds early each morning.

It’s not too late to sign up to something new, and there really is something for everyone!

Also make sure you are subscribed to the 'Performing Arts' tag on the Nudgee College App for updates during the week!

What We’ve Been Doing:

Monday saw the beginning of Music Lessons, and Jaxon in year 8 was the very first for 2022!

Tuesday was when Theatresports first got together. They played a range of games with both one and two minute time limits, making sure that their audience was aware of ‘where we are, who we are, what we’re doing’. Can you guess the settings below?

That’s right - they started in a Barber Shop, and then headed to a Haunted House!

Chess also started training on Tuesday afternoon - the Juniors were fuelled by jellybeans, the older boys with hot chips, and the enjoyment was palpable!

Wednesday got creatively messy with Arts Club kicking off - their first project for the year is pottery, making tiles with 3D insects on them to be placed in the Art Garden.

What’s Coming Up in Week 4

Music Teams start training on Monday morning - check your time and location below, and please note that there is now a 7:15 arrival time for full hour rehearsals.

Debating will again head away in Week 4, this time to BBC. Please check TeamApp for the draw and to sign up for buses.

Check the student notices for more information about each of these activities, or feel to contact me directly!

Congratulations to:

Tyler Goodall and Robert Fitzgerald (Year 10) who auditioned for QLD Theatre’s Youth Ensemble program at the end of 2021 and successfully gained a position in the Intermediate Youth Ensemble group. The boys had to prepare a monologue to perform to a panel and participate in group workshops. Over 250 students from around Brisbane auditioned for this popular acting program. This is an annual program that QLD Theatre offers to young budding actors where they attend weekly workshops to develop their skills in acting. We wish the boys all the best for their participation in the 2022 program.

Ms Alexandra Khafagi

Director of Performing Arts

Week 3 Term 1 2022

In This Newsletter

Principal

Deputy Principal

Identity

Learning and Teaching

Student Formation

Performing Arts

Sports

Community