On Monday we were deeply saddened to receive the news of the passing of Archbishop John Bathersby. John was a very proud Nudgee Old Boy and he attended the College as a boarder from Stanthorpe from 1951 - 1954. Our flags have been at half-mast and we remembered Archbishop John with a most respectful prayer on Tuesday’s assembly.

His life was one dedicated to the service of the Church and he is fondly remembered by many as the Archbishop of Brisbane from 1992 until 2011. John was ordained a priest for the Toowoomba Diocese in 1961 and he started his priestly ministry in Goondiwindi, where he spent seven years, before beginning the first of two periods studying in Rome. This study culminated in the successful completion of a Doctorate in Theology. Through his study, combined with his deep faith, he became a highly skilled spiritual director.

It was this skill that marked his ministry as bishop, first as Bishop of Cairns from 1986 to 1992, and then as Archbishop of Brisbane.  A spiritual director is someone who accompanies others on their faith journey, helping build a relationship in prayer with Christ, discerning where the Holy Spirit is active in their lives and challenging them to more and better.

In doing so, Archbishop John certainly lived our College motto - Signum Fidei - a Sign of Faith. The College honoured John in 2015 in naming the refurbished boarding facility the Bathersby Boarding Village in his honour. The College’s strong connection with Archbishop John has been recognised by the invitation from current Archbishop Mark Coleridge for Nudgee College school leaders to be involved in the funeral Mass service at St Stephen’s Cathedral on Monday. A very large crowd is expected to honour him and members of the College community are encouraged to attend. Vale Archbishop John Bathersby. The Archdiocese of Brisbane has developed a video tribute Remembering Archbishop John Bathersby which can be viewed here. 

It is a significant week for Term 1 GPS sport with the Swimming Championships last Friday and the annual Head of the River GPS Rowing Championships at Wyaralong Dam this Saturday. Most readers will be aware of the success of our Senior Swim Team who defended their hard-won championship of 2019. We congratulate everyone involved in the win as well as the Junior team for their fine result in coming second in their competition. The swim program has made major improvements in key areas since 2016 when the College appointed Mr David Proud as Head Coach. David’s inspiring leadership and high quality coaching have been impressive. He is assisted by a talented team of coaches that he has brought together in recent years. This is aided by the growth in numbers of swimmers in the Nudgee College Swimming Club as well as the involvement of many parents. The cumulative effect is that all our swimmers benefit from being part of a supportive and nurturing community.

We wish our rowers well for Saturday’s competition and in particular the 1st VIII and Captain of Boats, Ben McMillan. Our positive thoughts also extend to Mr John Bowes who has coached our leading crew for ten years and this will be his last race for us as he is taking up a position with Rowing Australia. Given the nature of rowing, it requires the extensive support of parents to enable training, camps, breakfast catering and weekend regattas to occur. The early morning starts also require a particular level of dedication from parents and their sons. The College is very grateful for the support of a large number of parents and the Rowing Support Group, in particular. Final thanks and best wishes to Mr James Burton, Rowing Director, for his dedicated and astute leadership of the shed.

In conclusion, a further COVID-19 update will be circulated to the College community before the end of the week.

Mr Peter Fullagar
Principal

Academic Success and Sporting Success

As a high school student, I was lucky enough to spend my last year of school in the USA.  Back in the 80’s the students were always given a label. The jocks were known as the 'cool kids', while the smart ones were known as the 'nerds'. It seemed so black and white; you were either one or you were the other; however, this really does not have to be the case. The straight-A student can also be the one who excels at rugby or rowing or a sport of their choice. It is possible to juggle sports and academics and excel in both. It comes down to desire, time management, and a whole lot of work, but it is possible. What’s more; it’s worth it.

I had the pleasure last year to ride in one of the 'tinnies' and watch our boys train for Head of the River. The coach in the tinnie with me started her morning conversation with the boys: "How much homework was done last night?"  She went on to quiz them about an assignment that was due and if one of the boys had got back results from a certain test he was worried about.  As the former Dean of Learning and Teaching, I’m not ashamed to say I felt my chest pump out as the boys responded with enthusiastic answers that reflected a love of learning.

We know research says playing a sport in school helps to get students away from their desk. It sparks them into action.  It offers a break.  And there are major benefits. Staring at a textbook or device can get awfully exhausting, and being part of a sports team can offer our boys a much-needed break to work out, wake up, and then get back to it. On the other hand, doing well academically can help our boys be more focused as part of a team. Academics also helps teach the boys logic and problem solving which can be put to good use on the field (or court, or river or whatever the case may be).

Sport and exercise benefit overall health; mentally, physically and emotionally. By playing a sport, the boys are providing themselves with a healthy outlet that gives them some stress relief while doing something that they love. Whatever their sport may be, it can allow each boy an avenue to take their mind off of their next assessment task or exam.  While it can be demanding, being involved in a sport may be the break some of our boys need to help themselves not feel so bogged down.

When managed properly, sports and academics don’t clash with each other at all; they actually complement each other and help our boys put all of their hard-earned skills to use.

Good luck to the rowing team as they prepare to take on the Head of the River this weekend. And I encourage all boys to finish the term focused on submitting assignments and revising for any upcoming exams.

Mr David Johnston
Deputy Principal

The following is the speech delivered by Ms Sian Kennedy during our College Assembly on Tuesday:

4 weeks ago I stood here and challenged you all to join together to support our Social Justice program to help spread some smiles. Well, I now have a problem, a big problem.

Let me share some statistics with you:

• 9 members of the BBQ committee have run 3 BBQs so far this term and raised $1522.70 – not quite sure where the 70c came from! – which will go to Bushfire ravaged communities and Project Compassion
• 17 students have stood outside the tuckshop collecting your loose change for Project Compassion for the last 2 weeks and raised $267
• 28 students have signed up for scrabble and chat, giving us a full roster for the rest of this term
• 22 Year 7 students packed over 70 toiletry care packages which went out on the Big brekkie van last week and were distributed to some of those 10,000 homeless people of Brisbane
• Over 100 students have taken part in the Big Brekkie and Big BBQ program so far this term. That includes students from the 1st XI Cricket and the Senior Swimming Squads. The 1st VIII boat and the 1st Volleyball team will be ‘coming on board’ over the next couple of weeks.

And here comes my BIG PROBLEM. This week alone I had to turn down the very generous offer of help from 28 students for Big Brekkie and Big barbie. And that is happening every week. And I am so very sorry to have to do that to so many of you kind people.

Therefore by my reckoning – and I’m far from being either a mathematician or a statistician, we have had approx. 230 - 250 students either take part in or want to take part in our social justice program this term.

I am rarely rendered speechless, but what can I say other than thank you and many, many congratulations for taking on the challenge and doing such a truly amazing job.

As a result of this fantastic support, we are trying very hard to find other programs to run so that more of you can take part. Mr Mitchell’s fabulous Year 10 R&E class have taken up the mantle of leading the 'Zillmere After School Club' starting next week. Over weeks 8 and 9 we will be taking the van over to Zillmere on Wednesday afternoon to rekindle our relationship with them by cooking up a storm and taking some sports equipment along to play some games with the Primary kids. This will continue next term with some of Ms Kilgour’s Senior Drama students coming along to run some workshops. We will open this program up to years 8 and 9 in Term 2 – so watch the app and sign up soon!

Year 8s - I will very soon be asking for volunteers to make some more sandwiches for the homeless on 31 March. Again, watch the app and sign up very soon.

I had a meeting yesterday with the Residents Committee at Viridian who are very excited at the prospect of welcoming some students into their community. We will run an IT help desk and a snooker club with the residents on a Tuesday afternoon. These will be open to students in year 8 and 9. However, they’re unable to start these at present but are certainly looking forward to a time when we can make this happen, hopefully next term. Watch the app!

So, I think we deserve to celebrate these fabulous achievements. The BBQ committee will be cooking again on Thursday lunchtime and, as Morgan said, the Project Compassion students will be selling lolly bags to see how far we can make our $100 go. As an added bonus, Mr Stewart has organised for us to have a DJ to entertain us with some fabulous music.

So, thank you so very, very much. I quite like problem solving so please keep signing up so I don’t get bored. Remember, Big Brekkie and BBQ will be running throughout the Easter holiday so please sign up for those weeks as well. Come along and join us on Thursday and, most importantly, continue to volunteer and help us spread those smiles.

Ms Sian Kennedy
Director of Identity

2020 Assessment Activities in Religion and Humanities

As a part of your son’s core curriculum, Religious Education and Humanities equally share the four lessons allocated to one of your son’s subject lines. In 2020, we’re continuing to work collaboratively across the two faculties. We aim to maximise learning opportunities for students, ensuring they build skills consistent with the Australian Curriculum, which ultimately prepares them for Senior Schooling.

At the core of curriculum design is the continual desire to improve student outcomes. Boys will complete a variety of assessment activities for both Religious Education and Humanities during the semester. Parents will receive feedback on their son’s progress and a semester achievement standard summary. Some tasks will be small, in-class activities, others will require home time dedication and some tasks will be combined between the two subjects in an effort to reduce the assessment load.

Feedback will be provided and the standard of achievement will inform semester reports. Students and parents will have access to a learning progression and a variety of feedback from their child’s teacher.  Feedback will be reflective of students' success, areas needing improvement and recommendations on how to achieve these improvements.

These class activities will provide boys and teachers with useful information on progress and enable boys to reflect on their learning and progress their skills toward the achievement of subsequent tasks. Parents and teachers can use the feedback and work samples from tasks when discussing how to improve.

Adopting this approach to ongoing assessment provides a better range of information regarding student learning and achievement. This will increase opportunities for ongoing feedback, rather than a single episode at the end of term which can be a stressful time for the boys. We rely on your support as we all strive to continuously improve the learning outcomes for your son. Please contact Mr Simon Lilley (Head of Faculty: Religious Education) or Ms Lesley Gardner (Head of Faculty: Humanities) for further information.

Mr Simon Lilley
Head of Faculty (Religious Education)

Day for Aidan

On Tuesday's Assembly, College Senior, Christian Mills spoke passionately (and produced a video) in support of Year 11 NC Man Aidan Roost and his family. Christian has worked tirelessly for many months on his “Day for Aidan” initiative. This newsletter column publishes Christian's speech from Tuesday. Please note, the Free Dress Day in the Calendar for this Friday is postponed one week until Week 8 (Friday 20th March) to coincide with “Day for Aidan”. Well done to Christian. The Roost family are very much in our thoughts.   

Christian’s “Day for Aidan” Speech -

Good Morning Mr Fullagar, Parents, Staff and men of Nudgee College. One of our 10,000 brothers is struggling. As Mr Fullagar mentioned a few weeks ago Aidan Roost is going through one of the toughest fights imaginable. For those of you who don’t know Aidan, he is a Year 11 boy who has been battling with Leukaemia since April last year. Throughout this time he has gone permanently blind in one eye, endured numerous infections and withstood seizures.

I am speaking with you all today, to promote a fundraiser that I and the school have designed that will support Aidan and his family. On March 20th (Friday next week), Nudgee will be hosting the "Day for Aidan". The day will be a free dress day with a minimum $2 donation, you are encouraged to wear some form of purple as this is Aidan’s favourite colour. Additionally, it will mark the beginning of a 48hr online sporting auction and the closing of a sporting raffle that begins today.

Some details: The raffle will be $2 a ticket and the prizes are Lachlan Maranta’s match-worn Brisbane Broncos Jersey, a Swansea Ospreys Rugby Jersey, a 2017 British and Irish Lions jersey, a bat with the entire QLD Bulls signatures and a Tottenham Hotspurs fan kit. There will be people from each house travelling to PC’s in the coming week to sell tickets so make sure you have money. The big items, however, will go up for Auction online on the 20th. These prizes include but are not limited to:

A maroons jersey signed by Wally Lewis and Will Chambers, James O’Connor’s entire wallabies training and media kit, Jimmy Maher’s Australian ODI sweater, Men’s and Women’s Aussie 7s jersey signed by the entire squad, Suzie O’Neill’s signed swimming cap, Reds Captain Liam Wright’s training kit and a wallabies jersey with the entire 2019 Rugby Championship squads signatures. The full list will be posted in the coming days.

All money raised will be going to the Roost family to support the ongoing costs of hospital parking, additional fuel and tolls, professional cleaning services, medications, hospital meals for the family, loss of income, tutoring, and counselling.

I ask that you all share this around to parents and anyone you think would be interested. None of this would be possible without the tireless work of Ms Tara Shipperley and the generosity of the athletes who donated their kit in support. Boys, I implore you to get behind the "Day for Aidan" and support a much loved Nudgee brother.

Mr Peter Todd
Dean of Students

Assessment Preparation

Over the next three weeks, the boys will complete a variety of assessment pieces across all subjects. For some students, this can be an anxious and overwhelming experience. This article will look at strategies that students and parents can use to help navigate the end of term assessment period successfully.

Year level Assessment Calendars were emailed out to all parents on February 12th. If not already done so, I would recommend printing out a copy of it to display prominently somewhere in the house, and/or at the workspace where your son normally does his homework. This will provide an easy way for parents to check in with their son on how he is going in completing different assignments and for students to keep track of what they have coming up.

Encourage your son to speak to or email their teacher directly, if they are unsure about anything. Don’t let them make assumptions about what they ‘think’ they have to do. By getting your son to contact the teacher themselves, instead of you doing it for them, you are fostering independence in your son’s education, an essential skill for when they enter high school. Even assist them in writing the email to their teacher, if they are lacking confidence in this area.

Check your son’s Google Calendar with them for homework listings. Often, homework over the remaining weeks will include various forms of revision activities to help students study and prepare for exams. For some students, it can be helpful to print out homework from the Google Calendar, so that they can physically tick off tasks as they complete them.

Please ensure that your son is bringing his device to school every day fully charged, and preferably with a charger, so that he can recharge his device during the day if the battery becomes flat. The device is an essential tool at this time in working on assignments, and students can become stressed about completing tasks on time, if their device is going flat regularly during the day. Alternatively, if your son’s device is broken, students can borrow a device for the day from our IT department, every morning from 8am in the Library.

Finally, it is important for your son to be well-rested and going to bed early over these next few weeks. The academic commitments combined with their extra-curricular activities can prove to be overwhelming for boys towards the end of a term. Getting a good night’s sleep every night is one important step in helping them keep on top of it all.

Upcoming Junior School Events

Thursday 19 March

• St Joseph’s Day Mass
• Inter-House Cross Country

Friday 20 March

• Free Dress Day - "Day for Aidan"

Mr Paul Cazzulino
Academic Staff - Junior School 

At week seven of term, we typically find that Boarders and day boys alike begin to lose some patience with each other. Our Boarding heads find there’s a spike in negative behaviour as the boys begin to count down the days until the holidays. So this week in boarding we have focused strongly on some key themes that are essential for boys to live effectively ‘in community’ with others. Respect is essential to forming positive relationships especially those that are grounded in living with one another. It is very easy for groups to form around shared interests, backgrounds and cultures but the strength of Nudgee boarding has always been our ability to see past those boundaries. This week all houses have focused on ensuring we do look past our differences and focus on our similarities as a way to more effectively bind us on a common journey. It is through this interconnectedness that we are going to more fully enrich our experience as a Nudgee Boarder. It is when our connections are frayed and respect is lost that we see symptoms emerge: like relationship breakdowns through intolerance. Nudgee College in no way condones or will accept negative behaviour from any of our boys on the grounds of racial, sexual, religious or any type of discrimination. We aim to provide our Nudgee men with positive examples of masculinity which solves issues without raising a hand. We want all of our boys to feel safe and accepted while they call Nudgee their home.

‘In line with this, on Thursday the 5th of March, Hodda house came together to celebrate what it means to be a Nudgee boarder, and a man in today’s society. They donned their Hawaiian shirts and enjoyed some insightful speeches from guest speakers, House Dean of Magee - Mrs Julianne Daunt and Head of Faculty (Mathematics) - Ms Louise Nardi. Both of them shared their wisdom into what it really means to be a man. It became clear that true strength doesn't necessarily mean being able to deal with life's obstacles on your own, but rather it is about being honest with your feelings and showing compassion to those around you. It was a real privilege to be able to gain a woman's perspective on this particular subject. It's safe to say that they had our full attention. As dinner was served the room was left divided on whether Hawaiian Pizza or the more traditional Meat Lovers was the better choice. After dinner - much to the disappointment of Will Jones - Jamie knight was awarded best dressed. Special thanks to all who helped with the night, especially Mr & Mrs Mclean, Ken Mitchell and the Kitchen Staff for organising and catering in order to make this night run smoothly.’ - Bill Ingham Myers, Year 12 Hodda

Nudgee Spirit

This term, as per usual, the boarders have been the driving force behind Nudgee's school spirit. It has been impressive to see the number of boys who have volunteered to support our various Nudgee teams, often declining opportunities to go on leave. From the stands of Chandler to the Ross Grandstand, or even the seats in the Terrace auditorium, the boarders have been there in full voice. They have attended Volleyball, Cricket, Swimming, Debating and will be at the Rowing this weekend. Our boarding community truly is the heartbeat of Nudgee College and I am sure they will do us proud at Wyaralong this weekend.

Many Houses have sent through requests for end of term travel details and any transport requirements to the airport (or train/bus stations).  I hope all families have been able to communicate this through to their Heads of House. A final reminder that the school finishes at 2:55pm on Friday the 3 April and the Boarding Houses will be closed from this date. A gentle reminder to parents that all leave requests need to be submitted through our REACH Boarding system. We remind you of page 26 & 27 our Boarder’s handbook  in regards to requesting leave. Please see the following link to access a copy of the Handbook 2020 NC Boarders Handbook

Volleyball - Round 5 v BBC

Round 5 had us matched-up against Brisbane Boys College at home in what would prove to be a tough yet fruitful day for the Nudgee Volleyball Program. Having come up against BBC in our first full program trial, we knew we would be in for a big day. As we play BBC so often there is an unspoken rivalry beginning to form which is driving our boys to succeed. On the day, Nudgee walked away with 9 wins out of the 19 games played against BBC. Yet another significant improvement on last year’s 4 wins against the opposition.

Team of Week: 

• 11C – displaying a dominant performance from a team that is constantly improving. It’s great to see the team having so much fun and winning games of Volleyball.
• Charlie Gibbons 8C – Went on a 12-point serving streak to get his team back into the game. Great to see Charlie improving every week!
• Jack McBride 9A – Really dug deep for his team with clean passes and great communication from the Libero position.
• Caine Day 11A – Really showed off his skills this week with some terrific kills and keeping his team focused on the job at hand.
• Hugo Timbs 7C – Was really impressive at the net with his blocking. Hugo is also a great motivator and communicator in his team.
• Ben Fraser 2nd VI – Really stepped up this week and was able to get a lot of kills at the net. He filled the gap that the 2nds had this week losing players to the 1st VI.
• Lachlan Cox 9C – Is really stepping up on the court. He has a strong presence and is able to move around the court quickly and get himself into great positions. Well done!

The 1st VI had a tough match against BBC. Following such a close game in the trials, both teams were extremely hungry for the win. Our boys showed glimpses of brilliance but often fell into holes which we couldn’t get ourselves out of. Ben Gunter got quality points during this game and really stepped up to the mark, I look forward to seeing him develop in the future. William Roostan stepped up into the setting position after an injury during the week to Bayley. Roostan was impressive and led the team well around the court. Although results aren’t going the 1st VI way, they are a very young side and we look forward to seeing them build over the coming years.

This week we travel away to our final away game of the season to BSHS. This should be a great weekend of Volleyball and being the lead up to a home Gregory Terrace round, is a perfect time for our boys to get back in the winner’s circle and finish the season off on a positive note.

As always, I hope to see you out there supporting the boys this weekend!

Jorden Smith
Volleyball Director

Sports Injury Team

The Sports Injury team is a group of registered nurses, physiotherapists and qualified sports trainers who provide first aid and injury management for Nudgee College students and visiting teams for most sporting events.

We are assisted by physiotherapy, paramedic, and exercise and sports science students.

Doctors also support us during the Rugby season, in addition to having paramedics on site from the Queensland Ambulance Service.

We are currently recruiting more staff in preparation for the upcoming Football and Rugby seasons, so if you are suitably qualified and interested in joining the team, please feel free to apply.

Recent sports injury or emergency department experience would be a definite advantage.

Joint strapping experience is preferred but not essential.

We would also like to hear from any parents who are doctors who would like to volunteer their time and expertise to support the team on home game days. Please contact Director of Activities Mr Anthony Connellan if you are able to assist (aco@nudgee.qld.edu.au).

All other applicants please contact email catchison@nudgee.qld.edu.au or phone 0411 273 685 if you have any queries regarding this role.

Ms Christine Atchison
Sports Injury Coordinator

World's Greatest Shave

Nudgee College’s ‘World’s Greatest Shave’ team is assembling on Tuesday 17 March to support the Leukaemia foundation. Parents can join the cause by volunteering on the day (1.00pm - 2.00pm), to shave students’ hair (BYO clippers). Thanks to Toombul Barber for supporting the event by sending hairdressers to oversee our ‘parent shavers’. Students can join the team at: https://worldsgreatestshave.com/signup/117033.

For more details, email kad@nudgee.qld.edu.au.

Mr Ken Adams
Fogarty House Dean