Leading the Way

2025 Student Leaders

I am pleased to share with you the following full contingent of students who have been appointed as Student Leaders for 2025. We congratulate them and wish them well for this responsibility.

Connacht

Captain: Cooper Oghanna

Vice-Captain: Lukah Vallance

Vice-Captain: Hayden Wessling

Leinster

Captain: Connor Stafford-Petrie

Vice-Captain: Jarvis Czarkowski

Vice-Captain: Oscar Lonergan

Munster

Captain: Mitchell Cross

Vice-Captain: Jordan Craft

Vice-Captain: Phoenix Timoney

Ulster

Captain: Joe Romer

Vice-Captain: Arian Gates

Vice-Captain: Dylan Goh

Music Captains

Manahali Long, Jonathan Heydon and Sebastian Ames

Student Representative Council

On College assembly last week, we were pleased to announce the following students who have been chosen to join the Student Representative Council this Semester. We wish them well for this responsibility.

SRC Leadership

Year 6
Scott Duncan
Campbell Fogg
William Cornish
Will Hewlett
Year 7
Isaac Blatch
Reginald Rowell
Kingsley Phillips
Eamon Stokes
Kaiden McPhail
Dara Hand
Gabriel Yeo
Rafael Crowley
Will Baggott
Year 8
Darby Reid
Jack Tarabay
Jebediah Scott
Hunter Johnston
Lachlan Bright
Year 9
Kyron Robinson
Lachlan Cantwell
Max James
Harrison Allen
Nelson Ross
Charlie Abercrombie
Jesse Ferguson

Social Media

The older I get, the more grateful I am that as a teenager, I didn’t need to navigate the complexities of online interactions, smart phones and social media platforms. The internet has brought about so many great developments and also so many challenges. The online universe for our young people is an extraordinarily complex environment filled with constant developments in trends and temptations where young decision makers are faced with a huge array of choices. 

One of the greatest challenges of this is the normalisation of some of these trends that play out online and how they call on young decision makers to interpret what is ethically or morally appropriate. The stakes for some young people and their online decisions can be very high and the related social anxiety and pressure is very real for many. It is just a scientific fact that as fantastic as they can be, the developing mind is just not ready for the nature of many of the decisions it is called upon to make online-it is fodder for the tempted!

At the College, we engage regularly with students about safe and appropriate behaviour online. I know that our parents and caregivers dutifully share in this responsibility as well and like our Formation Leaders and teachers, do their best in advising and forming our young people to make positive choices in this space. Thank you for continuing to actively dialogue, establish protocols and practices and do the hard yards with your son about his online engagement, choices and behaviour as we work together to form people of COURAGE. It is challenging and vital for all. 

Please do not hesitate to contact your son’s Formation Leader or our Counselling staff at the College to work together in supporting your son to make positive choices regarding online behaviour.

College Tour Thursday 8 August

We have over 600 guests joining us this Thursday for a tour of the College and these afternoons are always times of energy, hopes and optimism for our future. This is a huge number of guests who are interested in their son possibly joining our community. As always, I thank current members of our community who continue to be our greatest strength in marketing. Thank you also to 25 staff and 50 student leaders who are assisting in hosting our guests.

A reminder that August sees planning for 2025 well underway and I would ask that if you have a sibling of a current student at home and your plan is for him to attend ATC in the future, please be in touch with our Head of Enrolments, Robyn Donaldson to ensure we have this in our records. Also, if your family is having a change for 2025 and your son will not be continuing, please be in contact with Ms Donaldson this term before the September break to give a full term’s notice.

Back to ATC Day

This is a new tradition on which we wish to build, and we had a positive start on Saturday with some hard fought games of Rugby League capped off with a historical moment for our first victory for the First XIII in AIC competition.

Football and Basketball Firsts vs Past Students were enjoyable and then we welcomed our very first reunion hosted by the ATC Past Students Association with our inaugural Seniors of 2019 gathering with staff later in the afternoon.

It was great to also welcome Foundation Principal, Mr Michael Senior for this special occasion and to hear the stories of this pioneer group in their first five post school years. They are eager to become more formally involved in the life of the College as mentors in various ways and we look forward to developing these opportunities and to Back to ATC Day next year.

Senior A Debating

I was pleased to join our Senior A Debating Team for their match up against Brisbane State High in the Queensland Debating Union Knockout Finals last week.

Warm congratulations to Patrick Muller, Tom Eccleston and Adam Keymer on a magnificent achievement in making these finals.

Unfortunately, Adam was unwell and couldn’t compete and so we had Patrick Horan from Year 10 on debut who did a splendid job which augurs well for our future.

The team went down to a strong and experienced Brisbane State High group but represented our College proudly. Well done.

Staff News

Mr David Mapleston, our Middle School Counsellor, is taking a year of leave to live with his family with family in Europe. We wish him well for this time and experience. Ms Kate Nankivell had joined us a in a part time role for this time on Mondays, Wednesdays and Fridays. I welcome Ms Nankivell back to the College as she previously worked with us and has extensive experience in counselling in numerous schools throughout Brisbane including several Catholic all boys’ schools.

ATC Long Lunch - 8 September 2024

Tables for the Long Lunch to be held on Sunday 8 September are still available. Please come along to this community event. All funds raised are for the ATC Foundation to provide an opportunity for a future student to attend who may not otherwise be able to. End the term and begin the Spring with some friends on Brothers Oval.

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.

Chris Ryan