Coming up Week 8

International Women’s Day (IWD)

Today our community celebrates International Women’s Day (IWD). Our special assembly connected this year’s theme ‘Inspire Inclusion’ to our Forming Men of Courage values.

Like the IWD organisers, we challenged our students to create a world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. Listening to inspiring women in our community helps students to understand how they can be compassionate, respectful, and empowering for women.

We followed the assembly with a lovely morning tea for staff at Warril Place by the river. The amazing contribution women make to ATC is something for which we are truly grateful. You can find out more about IWD here.

Associated Independent Schools (AIC) Swimming

Ambrose Treacy completed in the AIC swimming championships at Sleeman Pool on Tuesday March 5th. The team performed strongly and finished a credible 6th of the nine schools competing, an improvement from 7th in 2023. Congratulations to Mr Paul Jones (Head of Aquatics) and his coaching team and all the boys who proudly represented ATC in the pool. Our vocal seniors in the stands cheered them home. This is a great way to start the year with our focus on improving our performance in the AIC carnivals and competitions.

Next week our swim team will compete in the GBC Swimming Carnival on Tuesday, March 12 at the Centenary Pool in Spring Hill. Details for this event will be available on the ATC App or on the GBC Sport website.

Senior Study Seminars

Last night Dean of Learning Ms Liana Baillie hosted 90 Senior families in Nudgee Junior Hall. Darren from Success Integrated presented Parent Strategies for Teenage Success to better connect parents to their son’s academic journey. Comparable sessions were delivered to our Year 11 and 12 cohorts today during class time to complete the loop.

NAPLAN

From Wednesday 13 March Year Five, Year Seven and Year Nine students will complete NAPLAN testing. We encourage students to do their best so that parents and caregivers can obtain a set of literacy and numeracy data to gauge their son’s progress against national standards. The College uses the data, along with school-based assessment to reflect on the effectiveness of our teaching and learning strategies. NAPLAN results are not used for end of semester reporting purposes. Information has been forwarded through the ATC App, and you can also check out the NAPLAN site for further information: NAP - For parents and carers

IMPORTANT DATES

Tuesday 12 March | GBC Swimming Championships

Wednesday 13 March | NAPLAN

Thursday 14 March | NAPLAN

Friday 15 March | NAPLAN

PRINCIPAL'S MESSAGE WEEK 7

Supporting peers to face challenges and demonstrating respect for others are part of our Camp Week ethos, and that philosophy is reflected across all areas of ATC life. As we celebrate International Women’s Day and the theme of Inspire Inclusion Chris calls on us to inspire others to understand and value women’s inclusion. CLICK HERE TO READ HIS WEEK 7 MESSAGE TO THE COMMUNITY.

FORMATION NEWS

Student Representative Council

Today we welcomed parents and caregivers to our special leadership assembly, where we presented and acknowledged our Semester 1 Student Representative Council students for Years 7, 8 and 9. Photos will be shared next Wednesday on our Facebook page.

LEARNING NEWS

Chemistry

Year 9 scientists have been learning about acids and bases this term in Chemistry. What a fantastic topic to be studying allowing for staff and students to play with dry ice (frozen carbon dioxide). The boys learnt that carbon dioxide has no liquid phase, it goes straight from solid to gas in a process called sublimation. As the dry ice sublimes the carbon dioxide gas is an opaque mist and allowed for some cool effects when trapped in soap as bubbles. Ms Gane told us that students also observed that carbon dioxide dissolved in water creates carbonic acid which was visible with the addition of universal indicator into the solution.

SERVICE

Community Garden

We're thrilled to share the success of our recent environmental event at Vera Street Community Garden on Clean Up Australia Day. Year 5 families led the charge in environmental stewardship, working together to make a lasting impact. Armed with tools, our boys transformed the garden, pulling weeds, laying mulch, and uncovering a forgotten path. They also enjoyed picking produce, discovering treasures, and learning new skills outdoors. After a rewarding day, everyone gathered for refreshments, celebrating their efforts. Thanks to all who participated, and we look forward to more events fostering community and environmental responsibility.

MUSIC

Autumn Music Concert – Wednesday 27 March 5.30pm

Join us from 5.15pm at the first Co-curricular Music concert of the year – the Autumn Music Concert. Be entertained by our Jazz bands at the Riverside Stage while you enjoy a sausage sizzle, chips, lollies and drinks. Then move inside to hear Choirs, Concert and Winds Bands and, for the first time, our 2024 Junior Band and Junior Choir.

Junior Band Day

The iconic ATC Junior Band Day celebrated the commencement of our 2024 Junior Band Program with a full day of music making. Students learned to assemble and care for their instruments, make their first tooting and honking sounds and read music for the first time! The concert was full of fun (and maybe not so authentic) soloist performances but their rendition of Hot Cross Buns with an encore performance won the hearts of the audience! We wish our newest ATC musos all the very best for their exciting journey ahead. If your son is interested in joining this talented bunch, please email music@atc.qld.edu.au for more details.

SPORT

AIC Swimming Championships

This week in Week 7 we were lucky enough to participate at the AIC Swimming Championships, congratulations to the swim team and staff for finishing 6th, a truly excellent result. Week 8 brings us another Swimming Championship, this time the GBC Championship, good luck to all swimmers competing!

Term 2 Sport Trials

Week 8 also brings the start of the Term 2 sports trials for Football (soccer) & Rugby Union for Yr. 5-12 students. Please make sure to check the Pre-Season calendar on the ATC App for times and dates of the trials. It's also not too late to register your son for trials, please log on to Parent Lounge to register. We look forward to another big weekend of sport for our AFL, Volleyball & Cricket teams and wish them well as the season begins to close out.

Cricket

Over the last two weekends, our Irish Warriors have clashed with Villanova College & St Laurence’s College, two of the AIC heavyweights. After a tough weekend against Villanova, the men from Indooroopilly stepped up brilliantly after a long camp week to take the fight to Lauries. ATC had a fantastic day across the board, highlighted by two centuries to Hamish T (9/10A) & Joseph R (Second XI). All ATC Cricketers have been back on the training paddock this week, ahead of a showdown with St Patrick’s College. C'mon the Blue, Green, White!

Volleyball

Saturday 2 March saw our first and final home game of the season vs The Springfield Anglican College (TSAC). Fresh home from camps and retreats, it was great to see the boys turning up for each other and their school competing well across the day. The community will notice our First VI wearing navy. Navy is also the colour our staff wear and is a symbol of leadership within our sport program. Our First VI Volleyballers have always epitomised this and were seen refereeing, scoring and doing lines on the younger team’s games. They also helped set up, pack down and were teaching younger students how to officiate across the course of the day – a Signum Fidei. Aside from their acts of service, our First VI is one of the most competitive school teams in the country. This was reflected in our results at the Australian Schools Cup where they finished 1st in Division 1. To date they have won 3 out of 4 games this term and continue their fine form beating TSAC 3-0 in front of a ‘packed cage’ of their peers. It was a great opportunity for the team to showcase their skills in front of their peers and families. They truly are a special group who consistently show up and represent with no excuses, consistent with the senior’s theme of Be the Change.

CLUB

Please remember to communicate your absence if you are unable to attend your session. A reminder to subscribe to your relevant club on the app under the Cocurricular, Clubs and Activities tag for any updates that may be posted. Information for Term 2 Clubs will be posted on the app under the relevant tags from early next week for the following clubs – Year 4 and 7 Cooking Club; Chess Club – Emerging Players; Canoe Polo – Year 6; Art Club – Year 4 and 5; Gardening Club – Year 5; eSports; Golf – Term 2; Homework Club – Junior School. Registrations will open Monday 18 March at 6 pm, closing Friday 22 March 3 pm. Please note that capped numbers are in place for some clubs due to staffing and facilities. We apologise for any disappointment this may cause.

Robotics

The Boys are Back. Another exciting time at robotics club. Students are working in small groups to compete in RoboRave Australia at the University of the Sunshine Coast in July. Students are competing in several events and must build and program robots to participate in the challenges. Students range from Years 7 – 9 and are working with Lego EV3 Lego Spkie Prime, Micromelons and Arduinos.

We will see you all in Week 8.

Jason Sepetauc, Deputy Principal