Tolle Lege

The Last Supper is a story about friendship and gratitude and at this very first Eucharist, Jesus thanks his disciples for this experience of friendship. Easter, as much as it is about the resurrection story, it is also about enduring, lifelong and life transforming friendships. The most treasured gift a teacher receives is the gift of friendship that is often given unconditionally from his/her students. At the core of an Augustinian education is to lead our students into a life transforming relationship with Christ. In Saint Augustine’s life, he was well over 30 before this happened. This gives us comfort if we are yet to experience such transformative moments. As we celebrate the resurrection may we share with each other the joy the risen Christ has brought us.

Terry Walsh
Head of Primary School

‘Therefore, as God’s chosen people, holy and clearly loved, clothe yourself with compassion, kindness, humility, gentleness, and patience. Bear with each other and forgive whatever arguments you may have against one another. And over all these virtues put on love, which binds them all together in perfect unity. Let the peace of Christ rule in your hearts, since as members of one body you were called to peace’.

Considering the violent action of many protestors at certain events recently, they would do well to understand the need for communities of different cultures and beliefs to come together in true harmony, through mutual respect and acceptance. In our school community, the constant messaging is always one of respect for all people, regardless of gender, race, religion, or beliefs.

The purpose of Open Day is to allow prospective parents the opportunity to observe what makes St Augustine’s College such a sensible choice for their sons’ education. With over 1600 visitors, there was a real sense of community on show as our tour guides, many coming from Year 7, passionately talked about their experiences at the College to very impressed parents. The Primary School had a constant flow of parents and their sons, who had the opportunity to experience firsthand what is on offer. From seed dispersal paper spinners, Sphero 10 pin bowling, micro bot moisture detecting units and step counters, to green screening, educational Minecraft and 3D printers, the boys got a taste of what they can experience when they enrol at Saints.

The measure of success of Open Day was not only the number of visitors, but the fact that many parents decided to change their enrolments from Year 7 to Year 5. Being a Primary School with access to High School resources, including specialist teachers, means the boys do not have to wait until High School to access specialised learning programs. In so doing, their sons have two years in an educational setting in Year 5 and Year 6 that challenges their imaginations, ignites passion, and inspires creativity before they commence their secondary schooling in Year 7.

The Primary School teachers look forward to welcoming and educating a generation of boys in an environment that understands and celebrates their unique gifts and talents.

Due to the end of a long-standing relationship with the Diocese of Broken Bay, St Augustine's College has sought a co-curricular context that will challenge our athletes at the highest schoolboy level. Having approached Independent Primary Schools Heads of Australia (IPSHA), we have been invited to participate in their pathway competitions from 2024 for our Primary School students.

IPSHA provides opportunities for our students to compete against other Independent Schools, such as St Ignatius’ College, Scots College, Newington, and Shore in a variety of sports, including basketball, football, and rugby union. We also anticipate participating in carnivals for swimming, athletics and cross country, as well as providing pathways for selection in IPSHA representative teams. Our involvement in a strong schoolboy competition will assist students develop their skills, build self-confidence, and foster a sense of camaraderie with their peers against like-minded schools.

In addition to sporting competitions, IPSHA offers a range of professional development opportunities for teachers, including conferences, workshops, and networking events not available in the Diocese of Broken Bay. These opportunities enable teachers to stay up-to-date with the latest research and best practices in education, and to connect with colleagues from other high performing boys’ schools.

Our participation in IPSHA is part of the St Augustine's College strategy to align closely with other high- performance independent schools across Australia. This will lead to increased collaboration and cooperation with other schools on joint initiatives and projects. Being part of this exceptional group of schools will broaden our network of shared resources and expertise, leading to improved outcomes for our students.

This is a welcome change that will challenge our students, coaches, and teachers to continue to provide outstanding opportunities for personal growth in a sporting landscape with the best Independent Schools in NSW.

The College is delighted to announce the appointment of Patrick Vidot, who will replace Karen Gunasekara as Assistant Head of Primary, commencing Term 2, 2023.

Patrick has been teaching at St Aloysius College for the past eight years, five of those in a leadership role as Religious Education Coordinator. Prior to this, he spent two years as a class teacher and Sports Coordinator at Christ the King, North Rocks.

Patrick has a Master of Religious Education and a Bachelor of Primary Education, has completed coaching courses with Growth Coaching International and Teachers Guild NSW, which have all enhanced his ability to lead both staff and students towards impactful learning.

He commented that he was drawn to the St Augustine’s College innovative curriculum, structured specifically for boys, the Augustinian Wellbeing in Education Program, and the opportunity to work collaboratively with a team in delivering contemporary excellence in learning.

The College wishes Patrick all the best in his new role and we congratulate him on his appointment as Assistant Head of Primary School.

I would also like to take this opportunity to farewell Karen Gunasekara and congratulate her on her upcoming appointment as Head of Primary at Masada College. She has been an amazing Assistant Head of Primary, a trustworthy confidante, friend, and someone who has worked tirelessly to promote high expectations, accountability, and standards of pedagogical excellence. We will miss her and know that Masada is very fortunate to be gaining someone of Karen’s calibre and professionalism.

On Monday, we held a special ceremony to acknowledge our Primary SRC Team for 2023. Congratulations to the following Student Leaders:

Thank you to Fr Senan Ward OSA, Jonathan Byrne, Max Martin (College Captain), and Charlie Darrow (College Vice Captain) for taking part in the ceremony and sharing their insights into what a position of leadership means to them.

Thank you to the parents of our newly appointed SRC members for attending the ceremony in support of their sons, and to all Primary students and teachers for their ongoing encouragement.

Merit Awards

Congratulations to our recent Merit Award recipients.

Attollo Awards

Congratulations to our recent Primary Attollo Award recipients.

Redlands Student Leadership Afternoon Tea

Our Student Leadership Team continues to build authentic collegial relationships throughout the education community by attending many events conducted by other independent schools. It is a time for student leaders to exchange ideas, talk about topics relating to local youths and compare how they are raising their Student Voice within their own schools.

Quinn Campbell provided the following:

“As the SRC Prefect I recently attended the Redlands Student Leadership afternoon tea where activities included trivia and ice breaker games, followed by a brainstorming session, where we discussed what the top issues that our schools, students, and community face today. We decided that the most important issues are homophobia, bullying, sexism, racism, mental health and sustainability. In discussing sustainability, I mentioned how our SRC is working towards a cleaner school and received ideas from other students. Similarly, I listened to students discuss their experiences as LGBTQIA+ students at largely private and Catholic schools, and I also shared my own experience and struggles with these issues. We spoke about how our schools can work towards effectively removing negative culture and prejudice existing in their communities. These issues are highly relevant to our own at St Augustine’s College as we face a growing climate crisis and have an increase in boys feeling free to express themselves. It was a very nice day and I thoroughly enjoyed the experience and opportunity to hear from others.”

This is great feedback from Quinn, and I thank him for representing our College at the event and sharing this information with us.

Our Student Leaders would like to host their own afternoon tea and we are currently looking at dates in May. Stay tuned.

Kate Earle
Deputy Principal - Students

As this year’s first term comes to an end, and the Easter break is swiftly approaching, a lot of us young men are met with a mixture of excitement for the holidays and stress for our exams. For some, this term has been about exploring themselves as a part of a wider community, and embracing the culture that thrives in our College, and for others it has been about navigating another academic term that sets us that little bit closer to finishing. Regardless of the experience of any boy, it is safe to assume that this term has presented several opportunities to unite in pursuit of expressing our core College values of Truth, Love, and Community.

I would like to briefly discuss some of the methods that have served as a tremendous help for myself and others to successfully manoeuvre our way through the ups and downs that we face during these years.

I think it is important to understand what success means to you as an individual. It should not be all about never making mistakes and being the best out of everyone in any given circumstance, rather success should arise in the form of consistently learning from, and actioning, our mistakes to endeavour to become better versions of ourselves. In this chaotic journey that we all experience, you should always be looking for ways to improve during triumph and defeat; however, it is just as important to maintain perspective which ultimately allows us to determine what genuinely facilitates our personal growth, and what does not. The key point is that we should adopt habits that enable us to pursue success every day, so that over time it culminates into something extraordinary.

As grand as success sounds, it certainly does not come easy and is frequently inhibited by obstacles. During such times we must remain grounded and accept and learn from failure. Above all however, your own personal health, and your family should come first. As Augustine said, “Take care of your body as if you were going to live forever; and take care of your soul as if you were going to die tomorrow”. In my eyes, what this looks like is ensuring that we are always looking after ourselves, and our mental and physical health, whilst also having the skill to distinguish between what should and should not have a big impact on your life. For example, a lesser mark in a test may be demotivating and upsetting, especially if it fails to reflect the effort you put in, however, having perspective to understand that the gravity of the situation lies not with the numerical value assigned to you, rather it lies with the learning that one can derive from it.

As someone who loves to worry, I always find it comforting to remember that if something is not going to matter in 5 years then we should not spend more than 5 minutes worrying about it now. In essence, our lives at this stage are full of mistakes and difficulties and it is certainly expected to occasionally lose sight of this idea of ‘success’, but we should always strive to prioritise matters which have a greater impact than those that do not. This year, whether you are in Year 5, 7, 12 or anywhere in between, remind yourself every now and then that this is not the be all and end all, and nor is what comes after school. With this in mind, I encourage you to be present, be in the moment and continue to try your best to be the best version of yourself.

This week, boys took a character strengths test to discover what areas in our life prove to be more prevalent than others. Unsurprisingly, my top 3 were love, curiosity, and love of learning, and although I accept this as rather accurate, I sought to engage with such values the last few days to see if I could find out how much they actually apply. In doing so, I discovered that I find comfort in learning and understanding not only academic concepts, but just how the world around me works. Along with this, I was also able to address an issue that underpinned and possibly restricted my capacity to learn, and that was that I had no perspective on what the purpose of all this learning actually was. Often times I would find myself questioning the topics that we encounter at school and sometimes even challenging the subject matter that was presented. Only recently I was able to understand that sometimes this abstract concept of ‘the bigger picture’ can deprive us from enjoying the moment and the challenges along the way. From this, I would strongly recommend that the boys take time to interpret and apply their own character strengths to realise in life, as incredible an experience as it can be, it is just as important to appreciate and relish in the small achievements we make along the way.

I hope I have incited some self-reflection in providing you with my own view on success and the significance of perspective, and even more so, I hope you can take away something that makes a positive contribution to your personal, social, and schooling life.

All the best,

Jackson Gourlay

Recently, Dr Prue Salter from Enhanced Learning Educational Services (www.enhanced-learning.net) ran a study skills session with Year 11 students. The session focused on helping students identify changes and improvements they could make to their approach to their studies to maximise their results in their final years of school. The main areas covered with the students were working effectively in the evenings and dealing with distractions, managing time efficiently, planning for assessments, making brain-friendly study notes regularly and using a wide variety of active study techniques to suit individual learning preferences. Parents are encouraged to review the handout from the session with students and discuss the main areas identified where changes need to be made.

Parents can also find additional study skills tips on the following website: http://studyskillstoptipsparents.com/. All secondary students and parents at our school also have access to an excellent study skills website to help students develop their skills. Go to www.studyskillshandbook.com.au and enter the username: staugustines and the password: 146results. There are lots of valuable handouts on the THINGS TO PRINT page on this site, and students can work through the units where they need additional help.

Kyle Dooley
Head of Academic Programs

These ‘car cards’ (designed by the Institute of Positive Education) could be a great place to start. The questions are designed to encourage meaningful connections with caregivers as children reflect on their day at school. This resource could be used during the car ride home, while enjoying an afternoon snack after school, during dinner together or even at bedtime. Your child could be given all the cards and asked to choose some, or a caregiver could select a card and ask the question.

However, keep in mind that the aim is not the number of questions answered, but the warmth, support and quality of connection experienced during these conversations. Providing autonomy through the self-selection of questions can empower children to drive the conversation. However, the following options may help young ones who are reluctant to share.

You could also set a ‘limit’ regarding the number of times different options can be selected.

• Skip: no need to answer that question.

• Pause: come back to that question later.

• Reverse: the caregiver must answer the question first. Engaging in active dialogue regarding children’s responses is an important factor when using this resource. Using open-ended questions is key – starting your questions with ‘who’, ‘what’, ‘when’, ‘where’, ‘why’ and ‘how’ can encourage continued conversation.

The following prompts may be of help to facilitate productive and positive dialogue:

• “What makes you say that?”
• “Why do you think that happened?”
• “What could happen next?”
• “How do you know?”
• “What are you planning to do?”
• “What else can you tell me?”

Ilona Welch
Head of Student Wellbeing

Wishing all our families a blessed Easter period. For your reference please note services at your local Catholic Parishes.

Community Mass Schedule
Students from these Tutor Groups are asked to attend. 8.10am

Week 11 Wednesday 5 April Year 10-12 Murray 4, 5 and 6

TERM 2
Week 1 Wednesday 26 April Year 10-12 Murray 1, 2 and 3
Week 2 Wednesday 3 May Year 10-12 Murray 4, 5 and 6

Important Upcoming Events

• Easter Liturgy Holy Thursday 6 April
• Year 8 Reflection Days 27 & 28 April (Week 1 Term 2)

Liturgy and Retreats - Northern Beaches Easter Timetable 2023

The Easter Triduum

The Paschal feast is upon us! Even if you are not a regular attendee of Sunday Mass, please know that you will be welcomed at any Easter Liturgy you might decide to attend.

The Easter Triduum (Holy Thursday, Good Friday, Easter Vigil) are the most dramatic, spectacular celebrations of our faith in the calendar. These are tangible experiences of the physical joining with the spiritual as we enter into the Lord’s Passion using ancient ritual, prayer and music.

For your son, this will be an experience they simply cannot gain access to via Tik Tok or Instagram. Living out one’s spirituality matters, and there is no better time to live out your faith than celebrating Christ’s life, death and resurrection on the Easter weekend.

My prayers for the whole Augustinian community this Easter Triduum.

Michael Paton
Head of Liturgy and Retreats

"The excursion was a fun experience that let the students create clay pots with the wheels. The teachers at the art school showed us how to form the pots, making bowls and cups. I really enjoyed the day even through all my clothes got smothered in clay."

Eamon, Year 10 Visual Arts student

"Our Year 10 Visual Art class visited the National Art School, where we were greeted by two teachers who helped us all day learning how to use the pottery wheels. We first started with instructions and demonstrations on how to make a pot on the wheel. We then spent around 3 hours practicing. The skills we learned will help us in the future and the experience was amazing!!"

Liam, Year 10 Visual Arts student

"Recently Year 11 Visual Arts students went on an excursion to the Art Gallery NSW. Many students were looking for inspiration for our ‘Australian Identity’ artwork which is due at the start of next term. Viewing the artworks also allowed us to gain more ideas about art that we could incorporate into any future artworks we make."
Abe, Year 11 Visual Arts student

"The Art Gallery was an interesting and inspiring excursion that provided us with a wider vision and understanding of different types of Australian Art and the vision behind it. It helped us discover what we should aim for as Art Express was a great inspiration for our future art in the HSC. I would encourage all students to go and experience what the new and old gallery has to offer."
Jess, Year 11 Visual Arts student

Congratulations

Well done to the following boys who have been selected in the CIS Water Polo team to compete at The Interstate Water Polo Exchange in July. This is a result of hard work and training in both club and school water polo over a sustained period and strong performances at the CIS Water Polo Tournament.

Ashton Brown
Ryan Hunter

Combined Schools Water Polo

Saturday 18 March saw the final round of Combined Schools Water Polo for the 2022-23 season. Overall, it was another quite successful season with the combined results of all teams being 60 wins, 52 losses, 10 draws and 10 byes.

The previous week saw the final game for the 15B team who achieved a very rare undefeated season with their win over St Aloysius’ College last Saturday. Going through any competition undefeated is quite rare and the boys’ achievement is made even more notable by the fact that they had to play Newington three times during the season for two wins and a draw. Their season results were 11 wins, 1 draw and 2 byes.

Well done to the 15B team of; Bruno Alston, Jai Crichton-Browne, Luke Garlick, Prem Hegerman, Reuben Morrison, Thomas Pearce, Liam Tracey and Toby Williams and coach Lachlan Hull on their achievement.

Well done to all boys from all teams on their commitment and effort during the season. I would also like to acknowledge our great team of coaches, Ben Osbon, James Lyons, Connor Wicks, Paul Hull, Lachlan Hull, James Akhurst, Brandon Wicks and Carolyn Northcote for their constant efforts on behalf of the boys. Thank you to our ever-reliable staff managers who form an integral part of the water polo program at all games and training sessions.

Good luck to all the boys with their winter sporting commitments and I hope to see them back for summer sport 2023-24.

Keep up the swimming.

Paul Hull
Teacher in Charge

Through hard work and commitment to his swimming, Sam N from Year 6 is to be congratulated for winning the Northern Beaches Catholic Primary Schools Male Swimmer of the Meet trophy. Well done Sam!

Congratulations to Toby C from Year 5, who participated in the Little Athletics State Championships at Homebush.

He competed in 3 events, U11 80m Hurdles, 100m, and Junior Boys Relay. Toby came 2nd in the 80m Hurdles, and broke the state record, running a 12.83s (in fact the first four athletes across the line all broke or equalled the state record) time while the Junior Boys Relay won Gold in 53.99s, missing the record by 0.15. Well done Toby!

The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award runs year-round as boys log the activities they are doing in their everyday lives in many various fields. One of the more satisfying aspects of The Duke of Edinburgh’s Award is the Community Service. Boys are challenged to commit to, and regularly work with, various groups who provide support to our local community, whether it is via environmental clean-ups, assisting the elderly, providing food or financial assistance to those less fortunate, or a whole range of other activities.

Recently a couple of our Duke of Ed boys were mentioned on the Acts of Kindness – Community Outreach Facebook page. Well done to Cooper and Liam and all of our boys who are participating in Service activities in their communities. If you would like to help, you may find the AOK Facebook page here https://www.facebook.com/acts.of.kindness.20/

Cooper D and Liam T helping out those in need at Woolloomooloo street friends

UNIVERSITIES
Pathways for the 2024 University student are yet to be open. As soon as I receive information about Early Entry programmes and Open Days it will post it in this newsletter and Direct messages the boys.

AIT Info Night
April 4 2023, 5:30 pm -8:00 pm
Melbourne, Sydney
Join us at our Sydney or Melbourne campus for an information night. These nights are a great opportunity to tour our facilities and check out our award-winning campuses, including our brand-new post-production studios, green screen rooms and student games rooms. You’ll also meet some of our academic and admissions team, catch live demos from our current students plus book a campus tour and see first-hand what it’s like to be a student at AIT. Learn about our courses in film, 2D and 3D animation, game design, and IT and what you can expect after you graduate.

ADF Defence Careers Information Session, Sydney
April 4, 2023, 6:30 pm -7:30pm
Location: Sydney Defence Force Recruiting Centre
Wondering whether a job in the Australian Defence Force (ADF) is the right fit for you?
Come along to an upcoming info session where you’ll have the opportunity to ask questions and learn everything you want to know regarding job roles in the Navy, Army and Air Force. You’ll have the chance to speak with current serving members to see if an ADF career is the one for you.

UOW Melbourne 101
April 5, 6-7:30pm
This webinar is designed for Year 11 & 12 students who are interested in studying at University Melbourne. The webinar will provide students a general overview of the University including our courses, scholarships, student life and types of accommodation. This will be a live webinar which means students can ask us questions on the night.
Registration: https://study.unimelb.edu.au/student-life/events/unimelb-101-a-webinar-for-nsw-students

USYD life as a Marine Scientist
April 5, 4-4:40pm
Join this session to find out what an average day of work might be like in the field of marine and climate science and learn about how you can work in this field. Explore this fascinating field and hear how our leading academics and researchers are working to solve big issues in the field, including reversing the damage to our coral reefs, how we address the impact of meteorological events and climate change, the importance of our mangroves and aquatic environments, and much more.

Bond Virtual Open Day
April 29, 2023
Can’t make it to campus? No problem – our Virtual Open Day experience makes it possible to get to know us at the click of a button. Tune into Virtual Open Day at any time and watch as we dive deeper into our faculties, go behind the scenes of student life, and chat with some amazing Bondies in this unmissable snapshot of the Bond University experience.

SCHOLARSHIPS AND INTERNSHIPS
University of Melbourne – 2024 Hansen Scholarship programme
We are currently welcoming applications from high-achieving Year 12 students for the 2024 Hansen Scholarship Program, valued at $108,000.
Hansen Scholars receive free accommodation, generous financial support, tailored academic mentoring and more throughout their undergraduate degree (and optional honours year) at the University of Melbourne

TAFE
• TVET students beginning their courses are reminded that TAFE is an adult learning environment and some expectations may be different to school.

APPRENTICESHIPS
Lindsay Architectural Builders
This company has employed St Augustine’s boys in past years and is looking to employ another student.
Please contact Ian on 0407 772 347.

Certificate III Landscape Construction Apprenticeship, Forestville
An apprenticeship in Landscape Construction Certificate III is available in Forestville, northern beaches, north shore region.
A medium size company constructing and renovating new residential properties. A medium size company constructing and renovating new residential properties.
Duties: garden renovation, new landscaping, planting, retaining walls, paving, pergolas, fencing, pool areas, stonemasonry, water features and many other duties related to building new gardens.
Prerequisites: Drivers License, own transport and white card required.
Hours: Monday – Friday 7am – 3.30pm. Some overtime may be required.
Contact: Send your resume and cover letter to Kerry kduck@austrg.com.au or phone 0438 984 214.

Proven Plumbing
An Apprenticeship in Plumbing Certificate III is available on the Northern Beaches. Proven Plumbing was established 12 years ago and offers quality solutions to all Plumbing needs. If you are interested in an Apprenticeship please contact Jeff on 0405 737 212.

For further information on any of the above contact dgale@saintaug.nsw.edu.au.

David Gale
Career Advisor

In 2023 we are looking forward to planning, organising, and delivering exciting events which will bring our parent community together.

This year the Foundation will host two major fundraising events. Please mark these events and dates in your diary!

P&F and Foundation Gala Dinner
Saturday 19 August 2023 – Saints Gala Dinner at the newly renovated Manly Pacific – Pacific Ballroom
In partnership with the P&F we are planning a great night with live and silent auctions and a live band.
Please note the venue capacity at the Pacific Ballroom is 350 people.

Saints Community Golf Day and Lunch
Tuesday 24 October 2023 – Saints Community Golf Day and Lunch at the superb Cromer Golf Club

It will be another great day at Cromer Golf Club later this year. Players of all levels welcome!

We look forward to bringing you these exciting events and other programs and opportunities in 2023.

For all St Augustine’s College Foundation enquiries, please do not hesitate to contact:

Rod Loneragan
Community Coordinator
rloneragan@saintaug.nsw.edu.au
Tel: 9938 8292