Week 8 Term 2 2019

Principal

Exams, later this week and next, await our Year 12s and most of our other secondary students except for those in Year 11. In the new Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) system, which the Year 11 cohort has commenced this year, exams no longer fit neatly into end of term blocks. The structure of the four unit system with a period of external exams to conclude two years of Senior study means that assessment periods can fall during the course of the regular school term.

This was the case for Year 11s a fortnight ago when tests occurred while classes continued to be held as normal. This change is one that our staff and Year 11s have adapted to well. There are of course numerous other changes to procedures and policies that have also been applied this year. Dean of Learning and Teaching Mr Jason Sepetauc and the entire Learning and Teaching Office have worked hard and strategically to not only develop these policies, but also to communicate them with the community.

Academic endeavour featured prominently at Assembly on Tuesday when we acknowledged numerous students from Years 5 to 10 with the Habits of Mind Awards. These awards are named in honour of several high achieving Old Boys as well as recognising the dispositions that underpin the Habits of Mind framework. Congratulations to all the award winners (listed in last week’s Learning and Teaching and Junior School articles). As always it was significant to have many parents in attendance at Assembly.

Ian Brusasco Award Winners

During that assembly I shared a Youtube video with our boys. In it Neale Daniher addresses a group of AFL footballers. Neale was once an AFL star from a very well-known AFL family in Victoria. Sadly, he is now suffering the debilitating effects of Motor Neurone Disease (MND). I shared the video with our students as it conveyed such a powerful message about character, attitude and resilience. In lieu of more words, I commend it to you as five minutes very well spent.

Mr Peter Fullagar
Principal

Deputy Principal

Long before I arrived at Nudgee College I was aware of the College’s reputation for excellence across a wide variety of activities, ranging from academic results to sporting and cultural pursuits. As someone heavily involved in curriculum development in Physical Education I was particularly familiar with the College’s domination on the sporting field.

Success in sport does not happen by accident. Having taught at other schools and trained athletes from a variety of backgrounds, I have seen many students from other schools who possessed all of the prerequisites for sporting success. So the question of how we maintain our standing as one of the pre-eminent sporting colleges in the Commonwealth cannot be answered by merely pointing at the talent of our leading athletes.

I would suggest that the answer is remarkably simple. From day one, the students are immersed in a winning culture, one that demands that each individual gives his best, both for himself and the community. It takes dedication, persistence and requires accuracy in the type and style of training an athlete undertakes. It is no coincidence that these qualities, or habits, are identified as essential building blocks for this success.

We need to train and develop the boys’ Habits of Mind to provide a foundation for academic success. With final assignments and end of semester exams looming, the Habits the boys need to focus on are:

Striving for accuracy: Boys need to check their work, set themselves high standards and look for ways to improve
Be persistent: They need to stick with the problems presented in the various tasks, remain focused, and not give up
In striving for accuracy and persistence you have to be self-disciplined. You have to be prepared to do things over and over. You have to be prepared to do things which aren’t always fun. Many of our boys employ these Habits throughout the season for their chosen sport or cultural pursuit. Now is the time, if they haven’t already, to apply them to their academic endeavours.

I hope all the boys take heed of this advice and finish the Semester strongly.

Mr David Johnston
Deputy Principal

Learning and Teaching

Year 9 STEAM Excursion

As part of the Year 9 STEAM unit on ‘Artificial Intelligence’ (AI), students recently spent a day working with people from the industry at a place called The Precinct, which is known as the innovation hub of Brisbane. For the first half of the day students worked with Microsoft Australia's Head of Data and AI Mr Dean Corcoran, gaining exposure to real world scenarios dealing with data, machine learning and problem solving. The second half of the day was spend with a company called Aginic, where the boys completed a design thinking challenge of how AI could be used to solve a specific problem. Thank you to Director of Aginic and Old Boy Mr Rob Mackay (NC 1998-2002) for helping make this day possible.

Mr Jack Dahms
Teacher

Drama Update

The Scene Project

On Thursday 6 June the Director of Queensland Theatre ran a two hour workshop with our boys who are participating in ‘The Scene Project’.

In this workshop, a play called ‘The Shot’, written by Angela Betzien, was explored, along with ideas for their performance piece. This is an extension program we offer to the Drama students from Years 9 to 12, with 14 students opting to participate this year. It is a wonderful opportunity for the boys to embrace the roles of script writer, director, actor and producer. They will participate in workshops over a number of weeks developing their performance ready to showcase at Billie Brown Theatre, South Brisbane in Term 3.

Senior Drama Theatre Visit

The Year 11 and 12 Drama students attended the performance of ‘Romeo and Juliet’ at La Boite Theatre on Thursday 6 June.

This was a modern interpretation of Shakespeare’s classic, which was performed by Bachelor of Fine Arts students from QUT, Kelvin Grove. The performance was contemporary and allowed our students to tap into the challenge that Shakespeare can sometimes be for young people. After the performance the boys could not stop talking about how much they loved the interpretation and could understand what was happening on stage. The opportunity to see young people performing challenging text was such a great inspiration for our students. The Year 12s will be writing a critique on the performance for assessment and the Year 11s will use the theatre experience as part of the new unit of work, ‘Reflect’. They commence in Week 8, focusing on directing.

Ms Alison Kilgour
Head of Arts Faculty

Student Formation

Mid Year Prefects

It is with great joy that we congratulate the following Senior students who have been awarded a Mid Year Prefect role.

Congratulations to:

Hamish Smith
Yideg Nethery
Dean Kenny
Sam Mills
Henry Kennedy
Ezyaiah Ulia

These boys have been awarded this honour after great service to the College and others. These young men have done a combination of things, such as ‘modelling the way’ in the classroom and playground; been a presence to support Nudgee College at GPS events; made social justice leadership a focus (eg House Charities, Big Brekky and BBQ, Zillmere Kids and other charity work); done Spirit Committee work; showed leadership in the Boarding Village; been outstanding as a Big Brother; trained to be, and been a Eucharistic Minister; and had extensive Activities participation.

We have a terrific system of selecting Prefects. Year 11s will be introduced to that in the coming weeks and I will outline that process for the College community in a future edition of this newsletter. What is familiar to note for the young men listed above is that they missed out on being awarded a Prefect badge at the end of Year 11. I am sure they would have been disappointed. However, as we discuss with the students often, who we are is largely dictated by how we respond to disappointment. Things are easy when they are going well. I am sure these young men were very disappointed at the end of last year, but they knuckled down and served others.

These students will be presented with their Prefect badge at Assembly next term. Whilst I will not be present at this time to witness their presentation I extend them my sincere best wishes and congratulations.

School PC Photos (Years 7 to 12)

In Term 3 school PC photos will be held in Week 2 on Wednesday 24 July. Parents will be emailed details regarding ordering these photos before the end of term.

A reminder that during the holidays it is a good time to launder your son’s blazer and uniform ready for this day. As always, can I ask parents to be mindful of their son’s haircut and personal grooming upon return to school. It is always more pleasant to start on a positive note, especially with photos being a memento of their year at Nudgee College.

Mr Peter Todd
Dean of Students

Junior School

Year 5 Camp

This term our Year 5 students embarked on their first camp experience at Nudgee College. It was a wonderful experience at our campsite on the Sunshine Coast – Camp Apex, Mudjimba. I was impressed on the day I visited with how engaged the boys were, and how well the first group had represented our College so admirably. By visiting on the Wednesday I was able to see all six classes participate in this important part of our Student Formation Program. I would like to thank all our Year 5 core teachers, Ms Sue Minor, Ms Gail Du Mont and Ms Larissa Flancbaum for making this camp possible. Without their commitment to the program our camps could not proceed. Our Year 6 students are enjoying their camps this week – what wonderful weather they are having!

Below are the reflections of a number of students:

The camp was an amazing trip away from home with epic activities that pushed us to our limit. The camp was awesome because we got to do things we thought we couldn't do such as archery and other awesome outdoor experiences. As a person who stays inside a lot I got to experience the great outdoors and I never knew what was the next great adventure. The awesome activities included archery, mid ropes courses with a flying fox, canoeing (which was one of the best in my opinion), fishing, mountain biking (which had an adventure filled course) and raft building. It even went for two and a half days, which sounds like not much but it felt like we were there for a week and the staff were so nice – just as nice as the food, which was great. I strongly believe that camp should continue for the years to come. By Guilly Allen

The camp was a great experience for me in my first year at Nudgee College. I really enjoyed the camp because of the activities such as rock climbing, canoeing, archery, mountain biking, orienteering, raft building, and fishing. I am an outdoors person who loves the sunshine and being occupied but these were things that I had not done before. In the rock climbing, I was challenged but determined so I still got to the top. The food was great, maybe as good as my mum’s but there was definitely enough food. The games night was really hyped up with the music and cheering with my mates. Being with my mates was the best part because everything was in a group. Overall I loved camp and I would do it again if I could. By Billy Grace

My Year 5 camp experience was great! The zipline taught me to be courageous because jumping off that huge pole was so scary. I enjoyed hanging out with my friends and getting to know them better. I liked the food as well, breakfast was delicious. By Eddie Power

Walk for Edmund

On Friday 21 June, students in Years 5 to 11 will participate in the Walk for Edmund (previously known as the Walk to the Philippines). The Junior School boys are usually very enthusiastic fundraisers for this event, which aims to support the Edmund Rice Foundation Australia in its work across a variety of developing countries worldwide. We are aiming to continue this great tradition we have in the Junior School of being the biggest supporters in the College of this event, by encouraging each student to seek a minimum $50 sponsorship for the event.

Students have each received a fundraising booklet, which they can use to collect donations. It is required that all booklets must be returned to the College, whether students have raised any money or not, by Friday 21 June. Boys are also able to receive a second fundraising booklet from the Junior School Office if they require it.

Term 3 PC Photo Day on Wednesday 24 July and Core Class Photo Day on Thursday 25 July

The College photographer will be taking PC, core class and individual photos of students on these days. All students must wear their formal winter uniform to school on these days. If they have a PE lesson later in the day, they will need to bring their PE clothes and shoes to change into later. Ordering information will be emailed to all families in due course.

Let’s Chat

As part of our Student Formation Program, the students will explore the topic ‘Sexual Self’ in Term 3. To assist in the delivery of this topic, the College acquires the services of Let’s Chat Education, which will deliver the majority of the content. We shall be holding a parent information evening (parents only) on Monday 29 July from 6.30pm to 7.30pm in the Mary MacKillop Building Auditorium. Further details shall be forwarded next term.

Term 2 Wrap

As this is my final newsletter contribution for the term, I want to wish all families a very happy and restful break. I know the boys get three weeks to rest and recuperate; I hope as a family you have time to stop and have some ‘you time’. Semester 1 has certainly been busy and the boys have embraced all the opportunities that are on offer. I would also like to thank the numerous coaches who have given so selflessly of their time to ensure that your son has the ability to participate in such a wide and varied co-curricular program. Enjoy the break.

Mr Chris Cawley
Director of Junior School

Boarding

Evening on the Green

Last Friday we hosted more than 65 Boarding families (170 people) at our annual Evening on the Green. It was a wonderful evening. The rainy weather didn’t put a dampener on our event, but it made for some slippery games of touch as part of our Inter-dorm Touch Competition. Murphy House was victorious, taking home the Boarders’ Support Group Inter-dorm Touch Trophy with great pride! Murphy was also victorious in the Basketball and Hodda took home Division 2 of the Touch Competition. Congratulations to all of you!

Thank you to Ms Jocelyn Bundock from our Boarders’ Support Group for presenting the trophy to the winning team and to all the members who spent many hours organising the event and touching base with their fellow Boarding parents before and during the night. A special thanks to Ms Louise Best for her creative touches in theming for the night and to Event Coordinator Ms Larissa Patti for her organisation in bringing the event together.

Thanks to Boarding Recreation Coordinator Mr Stacey Peterson for organising the touch competition and thanks to our many Boarding Supervisors who also joined in the fun.

Year 12 Senior Formal

The Year 12 Senior Formal will take place on Sunday 14 July. This is a memorable event for our Boarding Students and I encourage each young man to take pride in hosting their partner on this special night.

This week parents have been shared the correspondence sent to their sons as a reminder to pay for their tickets and book their seating. Payment closes on Friday 14 June and I encourage our Senior men to purchase their tickets as soon as possible. I look forward to seeing you all on this evening.

Photo Competition

This year the Boarding Support Group will once again be running a Boarding photo competition to encourage boys to showcase the pride they have for their hometown or region. The Art department staff will judge the entrants, with a single winner chosen from each dormitory and at least two runners-up. The winners of this competition will receive a $50 voucher.

During the upcoming holiday break, I want to encourage all students to use their phones or cameras and capture images that represent their community.

The photos MUST be in high resolution (minimum 300dpi, but preferably 600dpi) so that we can print the winners and runners-up onto canvas for the Dimensions Arts Festival. The higher resolution you use, the better the quality of image. You have until the end of Week 4 of Term 3 to get these photos in (Friday 9 August). Email photos to boarding@nudgee.qld.edu.au (in the subject of the email write your name and Boarding House).

End of Term Leave Arrangements

The last day of school for Term 2 is Friday 21 June, finishing at 1.00pm. Please speak to your sons about details of end of term vacation leave so they can be entered into the Reach Program and have it approved by parents and his Head of Boarding House.

All Year 11s (including boys who are doing Work Pathways) MUST stay until the final day of school each term. This is essential as every subject will be continuing new work over that week in preparation for exams in Term 3. This is a significant change, but a vital one to ensure that boys are fully prepared for the assessment under this new system.

As always, any leave prior to the end of school must be approved by the Principal. This is particularly important if boys won’t be here for exams. If you are unsure of how your travel arrangements may affects your son’s exams or assignments, please contact our Dean of Learning and Teaching Mr Jason Sepetauc directly on 07 3865 0547 or jse@nudgee.qld.edu.au.

Goondiwindi Bus Transfer

Bookings are now open for the Nudgee College Term 2 Brisbane to Goondiwindi bus transfer.

Next Run: Friday 21 June at 12.30pm
Ticket price: $40
To book: www.trybooking.com/bbxxn
Departure: Nudgee College

Itinerary:

12.30pm: Depart Nudgee College
3.15pm: Stop Warwick – BP Service Station, 26 Albion Street
4.15pm: Depart Wawick
7.00pm: Arrive Goondiwindi – BP Service Station, Lot 11 Cunningham Highway

Weekend Activities

Friday: Trampoline park
Saturday: Ice skating
Sunday: Traditional Maori lunch

Mr Christian Oneto
Dean of Boarding

Activities

Gymnastics

Gymnastics is not usually an activity you would associate with Nudgee College. However, on Saturday 8 June James Hinneberg from Year 5 represented the College at the GPS Gymnastics Championships in the Level 3/4 division. James did an outstanding job, earning a combined score of 48.1, which ranked him in 19th place overall. In James’s strongest apparatus, the vault and high bar, he placed 13th in both with scores of 9.25 and 9.3. Congratulations James, we look forward to watching your progression over your time at Nudgee College.

Mr Anthony Connellan
Director of Activities

Football

This past weekend saw one of the biggest days of the season as two of the largest and strongest GPS Football programs went head to head at an overcast Nudgee College. Brisbane Grammar School (BGS) have long been the powerhouse of GPS Football, but Nudgee College is clearly closing the gap, recording 14 wins to BGS’s 18, as well as 9 draws.

Mr Jamie Pybus
Football Director

Tennis

Round 7 saw the men of Nudgee College take on BGS at home. BGS have set the benchmark for GPS Tennis and we knew it was going to be a difficult weekend ahead. Senior boys had the pleasure of hosting while the Junior teams played at BGS.

As expected, the round was filled with many tough encounters across the board. BGS have had a formidable tennis program for some time now and this showed on the day. Many lessons can be taken away from this round, including resilience and how to overcome adversity.

Next week we take on Brisbane Boys’ College (BBC). Another tough opponent, but I am sure the boys will be ready to give it their all.

Throughout the week, the final rounds of the Nudgee College Age Championships were played. Congratulations to the following players:

Year 5: Spencer Green
Year 6: Finlay Hansen
Year 7: Leo Fraser
Year 8: Padraic Townsend
Year 9: Desmond Cowley
Year 10: Declan Townsend
Year 11: James Hong
Open: Declan Townsend

Mr Brendan McGuinness
Tennis Director

Track and Field

Twenty young guns of Nudgee College Track and Field braved extremely chilly conditions last Tuesday to Thursday as they took on the finest athletes North Brisbane has to offer at the 2019 Metropolitan North 10 to 12 Years Track and Field Championships.

Four Nudgee College athletes qualified for the Met North team to contest the Queensland Primary School Championships in Brisbane this August. Ed Kasprowicz kicked things off Tuesday morning with a massive 5.03m personal best in the 12 Years long jump. This was good enough for second place and a spot on the Met North team. He would add another silver on Wednesday and a share of the regional record with a jump of 1.65m in the high jump, narrowly losing on countback. Nicholas Conway will join Ed in the 12 Years team, with a clutch second place in the 100m Final. Slicing three-tenths of a second off his personal best, Nicholas kept calm in an extremely tight finish and was rewarded by knocking off a national medallist. Kai Anderson cut seventh tenths off his personal best to finish fifth by a hundredth of a second and narrowly missed selection.

Thomas Kewley led the charge in the 11 Years boys. Competing in the tetrathlon, Thomas achieved personal bests in all four events to finish second and earn Met North selection for the first time. Xavier Hicks was the unlucky man in what might be the fastest region in the country. Five athletes in the region have all either won medals at Queensland titles or represented Queensland already. Xavier took a pair of highly competitive fifth places in the 100m and 200m. His 200m run from lane seven was particularly brave. Leaving it all on the track, Xavier led off the bend but just could not quite hold his form over the last 20 metres.

Roman Jones also qualified for his first Met North team with a pair of third places in the 10 Years discus and shot put. William Campbell was extremely unlucky not to join Roman in both of these events. Sitting third after the first three throws in both events, he was passed by a fourth place both times. Meanwhile, in the long jump, William was fifth after three jumps before launching the last attempt, only to finish fourth by 2cm – a brilliant effort for a young man in his first Track and Field meet. Rhys Griffiths was equally as unlucky as William. Competing in the unseeded section of the 800m, Rhys sliced a casual 16 seconds off his personal best to win his heat with daylight second. Watching the seeded section it became apparent this was going to come down to the wire. Unfortunately for Rhys, second and third place in this section would battle it out down the straight, edging ahead of his time by less than a second. Rhys joins William as a first reserve for the Met North team.

Congratulations to all boys who competed with great spirit and determination in tough conditions and in spite of the fact they had had no competition this year. It certainly promises to be an exciting GPS season in Semester 2.

Mr Nick Toohey
Junior Track and Field Director

Rugby

2019 All Age Rugby Camp and Season Launch

The Nudgee College All Ages Rugby Camp is an important element of the Rugby pre-season program at Nudgee College, as it gives all players an opportunity to take part in an extensive block of quality training, and it gives coaches a final chance to look at players before the first round of the GPS competition the following week. It’s crucial we get as many boys to camp as possible to ensure we are organised and well prepared heading into Round 1.

The Season Launch will once again occur on the Friday afternoon (from 4.00pm to 7.00pm) of the camp and will have a carnival atmosphere with rides, a barbecue, drinks, live music, plus a meet and greet with Reds players and the introduction of the 1st XV squad. This will all occur on campus out the front of Tierney Auditorium. Families will have an opportunity to meet the coaches and coordinators of their son’s age group and other parents in their team.

To accommodate our Boarding students, we will be asking some day boy families to take in a Boarding student for the duration of the camp. This billeting request application is to be completed through the College Payment Gateway.

Dates:

Thursday 11 July, 12.30pm to 4.00pm (registration from 12.00pm)
Friday 12 July, 12.30pm to 4.00pm (Rugby Launch from 4.00pm to 7.00pm)
Saturday 13 July, trial games versus St Joseph’s College Gregory Terrace at Tennyson

Venue: Nudgee College

Who: All Nudgee College Rugby players from Years 5 to 12

Cost: $120 per person (includes coaching, game day, camp shirt, afternoon tea on Thursday, sausage sizzle on Friday, and Season Launch - four hours of rides, games and giveaways)

Equipment to bring: Sunscreen, NC Hat, training shirt, shorts, joggers, boots, mouth guard (mandatory) and headgear (optional)

Camp bookings: Go to the College Payment Gateway to make payment and record all details

Contact Details: Please direct any queries to Ms Deb Daly in the Activities Office on 07 3865 0430 or ddaly@nudgee.qld.edu.au

Mr Sean Graham
Rugby Director

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