Today, is the Friday after the Second Sunday in Time After Pentecost. This is the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This devotion is one of the most widely practiced and well-known Roman Catholic devotions, taking Jesus Christ′s physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity. The heart is considered the "center" or essence of a person and the core of our emotional lives and love. In an everyday sense, as Catholics we see the Sacred Heart of Jesus as our devotion or aspiration to love all humanity. This requires us to look...
Today, is the Friday after the Second Sunday in Time After Pentecost. This is the Feast of the Most Sacred Heart of Jesus. This devotion is one of the most widely practiced and well-known Roman Catholic devotions, taking Jesus Christ′s physical heart as the representation of his divine love for humanity. The heart is considered the "center" or essence of a person and the core of our emotional lives and love. In an everyday sense, as Catholics we see the Sacred Heart of Jesus as our devotion or aspiration to love all humanity. This requires us to look to others with love rather than indifference, fear or dislike. Within our own College community, we constantly remind our young men to bring out the love in others by using words and actions that make them feel valued and a part of the community. Love goes beyond tolerance, it demands us to look beyond the superficial and try to really know and understand the other. I think that we would all agree, if we each member of this community could do that, it would indeed be a safe, respectful and loving place for all.
This weekend is our final round of AIC sport for the term. We are playing against Padua College in Chess, Football and Rugby. It is a home game for Padua and the day is their equivalent to our Back to Shorncliffe Day. Last year they were our guests for Back to Shorncliffe Day, so it will be nice to be their guests this year. I know that they have put a lot of effort into the planning for the day. The focus on the day will be Men’s Mental Health. Their community was rocked this week by the sudden and unexpected death of one of their long-serving staff members and he will be commemorated with a minute’s silence before the final First XV game. I have passed our community’s thoughts and prayers to Mr Peter Elmore (The Rector - Padua) after such a tragic event. We have asked each of our young men to turn up to the game as any good guest should: respectful through our dress, words and actions on the day. Our First XV and First XI teams are also playing for a chance to win their respective premierships and it would be great to have as many young men attend their games as possible, particularly given it is their last for the College in these sports.
Last Monday evening, was the first time that we held a Parent Information Evening for multiple year levels. The purpose was to show parents what we are doing in our Formation Program in each of these year levels and give families some expert knowledge in these areas. I hope that everyone who attended found the sessions to be worthwhile.
Our young men in Years 11 and 12 start their block exams next Friday. It is most important that they have been preparing for these assessments and put together a study plan for the six days that they have been given to stay at home and study for their exams.
Our end of semester reports will be different from past years. As our reporting is now continuous and assessment results and feedback is available to staff and students through REALM, these reports will be a “point in time” summary of the student’s overall achievement to date and include student attendance records and Tutor Group comments only. There is not a need for a subject comment as these have been given relevant to each assessment item. We are also working with our reporting program managers to have, by the end of this year, further graphs and analytics available to students and parents as well as the overall grade summaries.
During the morning tea break this morning, many of our young men and staff gathered in the Plaza area to be involved in a short ritual showing our support and solidarity for the many asylum seekers and refugees who are currently in Australia. The voluntary event was called Detention for Detention and organised by the ERA for Change justice group. The participants placed themselves on detention for morning tea and listened to facts and information about the plight of many of these people who are in Australia or held in detention waiting to be processed. The advocacy is particularly aimed at any young children who may be held in detention at this point in time. This evening a group of staff and students will also join the Lantern Parade along Southbank as a gesture to welcome asylum seekers and refugees into our country. Next week is Refugee Week.
I would remind all families with young men in Year 10 or younger that there is a presentation regarding updated information about the new Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE) 2020 in the Christian Brothers Building next Monday evening commencing at 6:00pm. We expect that the meeting will take an hour and will give valuable new information about the new requirements and expectations for our young men who will graduate from Year 12 from 2020 onwards. This is a significantly different pathway than past years. Communication about this has been forwarded by Mrs Upton and I would urge all interested parents to register through the link provided in the communication. We have also updated the parent and student page relating to this topic. The presentation will be done by Mr Troy Schultz and Ms Elizabeth Gaber.
In the past weeks, I have had many parents contact me to advise that their son will be absent from school before the end of the term. Our preferred practice is that all students remain at school for the entirety of each term so that we can maximise teaching and learning times. I do appreciate that family circumstances do not always allow this to happen. I would ask all families to consider the time taken from school during this time. It is often in the last weeks of a term when much of our assessment takes place. Please be aware that we do not allow students to do exams before the date set out for the exam. This may have implications on end of semester reporting and there will also be an expectation that students complete the exams upon their return to school. Thank you for your consideration in this matter. Also, a reminder that the students will finish last day of this term (Friday 22 June) at the normal time of 3:00pm.
60 Park Parade Shorncliffe QLD 4017