Standing on their Shoulders

Last week, we were delighted to announce the full complement of Student Leaders for 2024. In doing so, I wish to acknowledge and thank the Student Leaders from 2019 to 2023, our first five years of having Year 12 students at the College. They have embraced the opportunities and challenges presented in partnership with staff, parents and caregivers and their peers. We are grateful for their contributions and our Student Leaders and Seniors of 2024 stand on their shoulders.

In a special way, I wish to acknowledge David Childs and the class of 2023 as the first “full generation” of Ambrose Treacy College students from Year 4 in 2015 to Year 12 in 2023 and wish them every success as they continue to pave the way for the remainder of this term and towards their final assessments, competencies, and external exams.

The Seniors of 2024 mark our “second generation” of ATC students and I am pleased to announce the Student Leaders for our 10th year as a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition:

STAFF NEWS

Appointment of the College Deputy Principal

It was a joyful occasion to share the announcement of Mr Jason Sepetauc as the College’s second Deputy Principal last week. Jason’s experience across three EREA College Leadership Teams as an Acting Deputy Principal and Dean of Learning, provides ATC with a person of significant experience and perspective across different settings and contexts. Jason’s faith and mission lens that informs his leadership and relational approach will be a valuable asset for our students, parents and staff as we prepare to commence our second decade as a young school. We look forward to welcoming Jason.

Head of Sport

I am pleased to share the news that Mr Lyndon Brieffies has been appointed to the role of Head of Sport. Lyndon will commence at ATC in Week 9 of this Term in order to support some handover time with Mr Jarrod Turner who finishes with us at the conclusion of Week 9. 

Lyndon has a rich history in sport as a player, coach, administrator, and leader. He attended the Australian Institute of Sport as a basketball player and played professionally with the Brisbane Bullets and has coached in the National Basketball League. Lyndon is a former staff member of St Peter’s College, Indooroopilly where he was a HPE teacher, coach and held a Head of Year position for a period of time. For the past decade, Lyndon has been the Head of Sport at Wesley College in Perth.  We look forward to welcoming Lyndon to the College.

Lisa Mortlock

I wish to share the news that after 25 years of dedicated service to the Nudgee Junior and ATC communities, Lisa Mortlock has decided to transition to a new phase of life at the end of this year. Lisa has played many roles during her time at the school. Her most recent role included a very hands on presence in our sport and clubs activities where Lisa’s skills, generosity and kindness have been invaluable. Her knowledge of the people and history of our community is enormous and she has seen extraordinary change over this time with the Christian Brothers, lay staff and students along with changes and developments in buildings, infrastructure and systems. Only a special person could traverse such change with such grace. Lisa will be missed. We will have the opportunity to farewell Lisa as the year progresses but please join me today in congratulating and affirming her.

New Strategic Plan

On Friday and Saturday just passed, the College Leadership Team and College Advisory Council participated in a two-day strategic planning workshop where we continued to distil the information generated from our various stakeholders, reviews, reports and surveys. It was a rewarding program and strong progress was made as we reflected on the past nine years of achievements, discussed our current context, opportunities and challenges and projected into the next phase of our growth and development across a five-to-ten-year horizon. I wish to thank our College Advisory Council chaired by Peter Kelly and joined by Kaylene Perissinotto, Sondra Roberts, Amanda Ross, Michael Casey, Matt Horan, Darrin Neumann and Brett Solomon for their ongoing generosity, commitment, and insight into the past, present, and future of our wonderful community. I look forward to sharing the fruit of this labor in the latter parts of this year and to formally launching the plan in 2024.

Year 11 SociABLE

Best wishes to our Year 11 students and their guests on the occasion of their semi formal this Tuesday night at The Greek Club. Thank you to Mr Conor Finn and Ms Suzanne Colette for their organisation and to all staff who are coming in support of this signpost event for our Year 11 students.

Inter-House Lip Sync Challenge

This fun event is a delight each year and a great way for our students to collaborate creatively, take some risks and provide some highlight surprises! Well done and congratulations to Ulster House who backed up from the 2022 win with another victory. This leaves our Inter House Shield with a very tight table coming into the home stretch. Who will be the 2023 Champion House announced at the farewell assembly for our Seniors in November?

Queensland Catholic Music Festival

This week sees this amazing festival return to a full program of musicians and singers for the first time since 2019. Hundreds of ATC students will participate across the Junior, Middle and Senior schools. We are blessed with a brilliant music program and culture led so effectively by Jonathon Bolt and his team. Thank you to our parents and caregivers for the great support of musicians in early morning and afternoon rehearsals and we wish everyone a great experience at QCMF which is always a joy filled occasion but especially this year and things get back into full swing.

Parent & Caregiver Satisfaction Survey

A friendly reminder that this year, as we did in 2021, we are on engaging with the whole school student population and with parents and caregivers.  We use this feedback to reflect and discern, develop reports for governance and regulatory authorities and, importantly, feedback helps us to plan better for the future.  An external consultant, Mr Michael Elphick, assists us with the process and today at 5.00pm parents, carers, and guardians will receive an invitation to participate in a Parent Satisfaction Survey. The survey will arrive via email from Michael via a platform known as ‘survey monkey.’  Participants are not identified to the school and there is an opportunity for parents to comment if they wish. The College would encourage all parents, carers, and guardians to participate and thank you for your engagement. 

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