Charging Towards the End of Term

I spent most of last week in Adelaide with my 54 colleague Principals of Catholic Schools in the Edmund Rice tradition reviewing and renewing our foundation governance document: The Charter for our schools which articulates our shared mission, vision, culture, and identity. It is a privilege to play a small part in animating this review which was last facilitated in 2017. Our EREA Touchstones of Liberating Education, Gospel Spirituality, Inclusive Community and Justice and Solidarity were both affirmed and confirmed, and we had rigorous and creative reflective and critical conversations about global, national and local challenges and opportunities in Catholic education and the potential priorities for our next decade as we work together as a family of schools who are diverse and supportive of one another. As a Principal, I am grateful for the friendship and collegiality of our fellow Queensland Colleges, St James, St Patrick’s, St Edmund’s, St Laurence’s, Ignatius Park, St Brendan’s and St Joseph’s Terrace and Nudgee. I look forward to the launch of the renewed and recommitted Charter for Catholic Schools in the Edmund Rice tradition in Australia later this year and to sharing it with the ATC community.

Student Achievements

It was a delight to have Ethan Postle and Ethan Nguyen recognised and celebrated on assembly recently for their tremendous achievements in music with Ethan Postle representing at a national honours level for his singing and Ethan Nguyen at state level for his saxophone playing. Well done and congratulations to these two great examples of our Music Program.

One of our 2024 College Vice Captains, Michael Neumann, is notoriously humble and it was terrific to learn that he was the top scoring batsman at the recent state schoolboys championships and selected for Queensland for the National Titles in August. Congratulations and well done to Michael.

At the Australian Kayak Championships Tom Messenger was named the U16 fastest 200 metre sprint paddler in Australia. This achievement has earned him a spot in the Australian Team for the Asia Pacific Championships in May and we congratulate Tom and wish him well for his future competitions.

Leadership Assemblies

I congratulate all the students who were nominated by their peers and endorsed by their Formation Leader to be a part of their respective Student Council. Two Leadership Assemblies have been held to acknowledge and celebrate these students. A wonderful aspect of ATC is that there are so many young people who daily do the little things very well. Leadership obviously is one of our three pillars, and we believe every person has the capacity to be a leader. The message last week to the whole student body is that leadership is about doing the little things right, particularly when people are not watching. Let’s all continue to promote leadership as a part of the development of our young people, in the classroom, in the playground, during co-curricular and across the community.

Term One Sport

Saturday saw our Term One Sport Program conclude for our swimmers, volleyballers, AFL players and cricketers. Congratulations and thank you to all players, supporters, coaches, and leaders who have worn the blue, white and green this term. We are proud of our continued growth in participation and competitiveness across our sports whether at the top levels of our representation or players who are learning about their new chosen sport. Thank you to our Year 12 students who have led the way on and off the field and proudly represented their school, some for nine years in a particular sport.

Our Volleyball Program is equal to any in the state and I thank and congratulate Mr Tim Walker, coaching staff, parents and players for another stellar season of what is a showpiece of our programs at ATC.

The First XI cricket team set themselves the task of competing in the Second XI AIC competition and going through undefeated which they did. I told them the story of Bill Brown, the test batsman of the 1930’s and 1940’s coming in to the sheds and shaking Martin Love’s hand when Queensland won the Sheffield Shield for the first time after 68 years in 1995 and that I hope members of this team are not as old as Bill when they shake the hand of the ATC players who win a First XI AIC Premiership in the future. Well done to a fine cricket team.

Congratulations to AFL Firsts who fought hard week in and week out and stood tall against all comers and served our jersey proudly. Congratulations to our swimmers who work hard in a tough sport and earned their points through discipline and sacrifice. Well done to all!

Final Two Weeks of Term

The final weeks of term are always busy with assessment, and I encourage all students to be focussed on their revision and completion of tasks. For our Year 5, Year 7 and Year 9 students this is on top of four days of NAPLAN. Please support your son to stick to routines and to focus on his schoolwork until the end of term. Do you a have a visible list of assessment tasks for your child on the fridge? Helping your son prepare for their assessment includes awareness of tasks and dates, time being allocated for assignments and study, and a positive attitude. It is a time when some begin to feel very tired, particularly with the humidity we have been experiencing, and can be a period where mistakes are made. It is important that we work together to finish the term positively and enjoy a break.

ATC Care & Concern

The ATC P&F are actively involved in many ways across our community. The ATC Care & Concern Group is one of the ways that this school shows that we are a community, as well as an educational establishment.  The volunteer members of the Care & Concern group demonstrate the practical, personal kindness that Jesus, Edmund Rice and Ambrose Treacy showed, in their teachings and lifetimes, by helping out other families in our ATC community, when it is needed.  The ATC Care & Concern Group can help by cooking meals to help a family going through a hard time (such as illness, bereavement etc) The service is all provided with complete discretion and privacy.  If you wish to volunteer for Care & Concern, please email College Administration at admin@atc.qld.edu.au We are very blessed to have so many volunteers who make a real and tangible difference in our ATC community.

Community Prayers

Lord, we pray for those in our community who are suffering. Be with them in this time of hardship and uncertainty. Give comfort and peace to those who have lost loved ones. May their sorrow be turned into strength, and their distress turned into peace. May our hearts remain loving and pure as we seek to always be compassionate to those around us.

God Bless.

Chris Ryan, College Principal