Year 12 Sportsmen Proudly Lead the Way On and Off the Field This Term - Stronger Together!

Waterford Senior School Precinct

This Thursday afternoon, the final phase of our Waterford Senior School Precinct will be formally blessed and opened by our College Chaplain, Father John Gillen.

This project commenced in the quite hectic period of COVID in 2021 with initial planning and consultation taking place amongst the ever-evolving rules, lockdowns and updates! Building commenced the following year in late October 2022 and it was wonderful to commence using the facilities to some degree last year and to implement full use this year. I don’t mind admitting, it is with some significant relief that I see this resource delivered not only within the context in which the project was carried out but for the very real need we had to deliver more classrooms to provide our students with choice and flexibility in their programs. As a young school, things were very, very tight at 95% of room capacity use and the delivery of 16 more classrooms as improved this challenge markedly!

The facilities have been a game changer for the College teaching and learning program and culture, exams processes, Year Level and House gatherings, community events such as the 2020 Past Students reunion last year, staff meetings and professional development.

I take this opportunity to thank M3 Architecture, Stokes Wheeler Builders and Steele Wrobel Project Management for their partnership with the College in designing, managing and completing this significant signpost project for our school.

Thank you to the College Leadership Team, especially former Deputy Principal, Mr David Gardiner and former Business Manager, Mr Peter Nugent and Mr Jason Sepetauc and Ms Deb Carcary for their leadership and co-ordination in concluding and implementing the project. Thank you to Facilities and Services Manager, Mr Dan Dalton and his team and Director of IT, Mr Seb Tabulo and his team.

Thank you to our students, staff and families for your patience, co-operation and contributions in making this facility a reality. Thank you to the IMCH community for their co-operation and support as we managed the site over an extended period of almost two years of building.

Blessed Edmund Rice learned his trade in the port city of Waterford in Ireland. It was a place of growth and development for him as a businessman, advocate for social justice and ultimately, as a husband, father and widower. Waterford is where Edmund truly knew the depths of joy and despair. And it was at Waterford, where he drew on the deep well of faith and invited the boys and young men of the area around Ballybricken where he resided, into a Catholic educational community of service, learning and leadership. It was from Waterford that Edmund sent his students out into the world and it is from Waterford that the students of ATC are sent as Signum Fidei: Signs of Faith for our world.

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. A Leadership Assembly was held last week to present Year 6, 8 and 9, and another tomorrow, to acknowledge and celebrate these students from Years 5 and 7 who were engaged in NAPLAN last week. 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. A key message at these assemblies is for us all to promote leadership as a part of the development of all our young people, in the classroom, in the playground, during co-curricular and across the community.

QDU Debating

Debating had long held a strong profile at ATC and some great characters and intellects of our College have represented us in the high standard Queensland Debating Union competition over the years.

Congratulations to our Firsts team, coached by past student and experienced debater, Matthew Perissinotto (ATC23) on their victory against BBC last week. This win sees them progress into the finals segment of the competition. We wish this squad, which is made up of Year 11 students and augurs well for next year as well, the very best of good fortune.

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.

It was a dreadful shame that our First XI Cricket match against Iona College was washed out. I extend my sympathies to this great team and especially to our Year 12 players. Their record of 5 wins from 5 matches, with two final over victories, is outstanding. Congratulations to the ATC First XI of 2025.

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

Congratulations to AFL Firsts who fought hard week in and week out and stood tall against all comers and served our jersey proudly. The AIC First XVIIII competition is a most rigorous challenge and our team stood tall in all matches and left nothing in the tank.

AIC Swimming took place on Friday, congratulations to our swimmers who work hard in a tough sport and earned their points through discipline and sacrifice. At the commencement of the season, the squad understood they faced steep challenge to match our past performances and the entire squad worked extremely hard to walk away with a very pleasing 6th place out of the 9 schools. Congratulations to all swimmers, coaching staff and parents.

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. 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 Admin 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