Oremus let us pray - St Aloysius

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It’s a hectic start of the year for the boys. As if meeting their new teachers, getting to know their classmates, learning about the merit system, getting used to the school diary, new routines, and be introduced to the concept of regular homework (... very slowly, I’d like to assure you) wasn’t enough, there have been two major sporting events that will have occupied your boys’ time, and your attention and patience, within the first five days of school this year prior to receiving this newsletter. The first of these was the Junior School inter-house twilight swimming carnival at SOPAC (Sydney Olympic Park Aquatic Centre), Homebush. This is generally a most exciting day for the boys, and for families to be able to see their boys swim in the same pool where so many of their heroes and world champions have swum. I hope the boys, as well as those parents who were able to join in, enjoyed this carnival and the spirit in which everyone participated in this event. You can expect to hear more about this event in this column as well as in the Sportsmaster’s column in the next issue of The Gonzagan. Thank you in advance to the many parents who were able to assist us in so many ways. The second sporting event, namely Summer sports trials for Cricket and Basketball and gradings for the Tennis teams, are being held on Friday and continue this Saturday at various times and venues between 8.00am and 1.00pm. Because of the late finish due to the carnival on Thursday, you have the option of sending your boys to school at later commencement time of 9.35am on Friday. If you choose to send them in at the regular time, supervision will be available from 8.00am in the school grounds. Boys are asked to come to school on Friday in their sports uniform (Colour house-shirt, shorts and hat) with plenty of sunscreen, water, morning tea and lunch. Sunscreen lotion is also available at school, but please encourage your boys to bring their own, and some spare, and remind them to apply it liberally whenever they are out and about in the hot sun. On Friday, boys will be transported to and from school to different venues and dismissed from school at the usual time of 3.00pm. Since not everyone that trials on Friday will be guaranteed a place in the team and/or sport of their preferred choice, at the conclusion of Friday trials, they will be notified if and where they should be turning up for the Saturday trials. Please impress upon them to bring home that information to you on Friday afternoon. At the start of Week 2, team lists will be displayed on the sport notice boards outside the glass doors just off reception, and after school training will also commence during the week. Information regarding training days and times and venues, as well specific sport uniform requirements, will be sent home on 6 February once the team lists are published. On 9 February we will celebrate the opening of the New Year with the Junior School Commencement Mass at 9.00am, followed by morning tea to welcome new parents into the Aloysian community. Please come along to pray for God’s blessings on the New Year and all our endeavours on behalf of our boys and your sons. The Mass will be held in the Boys’ Chapel (in the Senior School) and morning tea will be held in the foyer outside the Great Hall. Week 3 promises to be an exciting one, especially for boys in Years 3, 4 and 5, with the camp and get away programme. If any parents have not returned the permission and medical forms required for the Year 5 camp, we would like them to be returned urgently by Monday next week. We congratulate the following Junior School boys who have just celebrated their birthdays in this month of January: 1 January James Dettre, Alec Elhindi 4 January Edward Happ, Andrew McClintock 7 January Flynn Sloan, Angus Allen 13 January Daniel Geokjian 14 January Rafael Colinares 15 January Joshua McGillicuddy 16 January Kieran Dean, Daniel Tandany 18 January Nicholas Sywak 19 January Miles Branagan 22 January Brendan Kell, Gus Morton 24 January Ewan Cooper-Frater, Tomas Esteban, Harry Lidbetter 26 January Xavier Tafft 27 January Ted Conlon 28 January Joe Byrne, Joseph Mayer 29 January Kieran Gorman, Jasper Hudson 30 January Samuel Kember, William Senior Martin Lobo (martin.lobo@staloysius.nsw.edu.au) THE DEVELOPMENT OFFICE On behalf of the College Development Office and the College Foundation I would like to extend a warm welcome to the Aloysian Family to all the new boys and families who commence their Aloysian education this year and a hearty welcome back to all our existing families. I trust that the Christmas Holidays were relaxing and that you have all started the year refreshed. January has certainly been a busy start to the year. The New Year was warmly welcomed by over 1,300 members of the Aloysian Family at the annual SAC New Years’ Eve Family Picnic on the roofs of the school. The events raised $49,350 which has been directed to the College Bursary Fund. Tickets for the 2012 event will go on sale in Week 1 of Term 4. 3 January marked the 60th anniversary of the ordination of Rev Fr Tom O’Donovan SJ. Father O’Donovan was the seventeenth Rector of the College serving from 1968-1973 and remains a great stalwart and supporter of the College. After leaving the College, Father O’Donovan served as Rector of our brother school, Saint Ignatius’ College Riverview, but it was his many years as Director of the Jesuit Mission that Father O’Donovan is perhaps best known. Father now lives in retirement at Canisius College Pymble. 3 January also marked the 50th anniversary of the ordination of Father Bob Walsh SJ. Father Walsh has been a member of the College Jesuit Community for a number of years and is a former Chaplain to the Mater Misericordiae Hospital and Parish Priest of St Joseph’s Neutral Bay and St Francis Xavier Lavender Bay. In February Father Emmet Costello SJ (SAC Staff 1956-1970 and 1980- 1987) celebrates 70 years in the Jesuits and Father Joe O’Mara SJ (SAC Staff 1983-1989) celebrates 50 years as a Jesuit. The College warmly congratulates these men on their anniversaries and thanks them for their support of the College and their ongoing prayers. On 28 January the College celebrated the 133 anniversary of its founding in 1879. On the day the College opened 45 boys were admitted, the number growing to 115 by the end of the first year. Now on our third site (Woolloomooloo 1879-1882, Darlinghurst 1883 and Milsons Point 1903-present), the College now educates 1,200 boys from Years 3-12 and is one of the leading boys’ schools in the country. The College is the oldest Jesuit School in NSW and the oldest Independent Catholic boys’ day school in the State. We as a family have much to be proud of and much to look forward to in the months and years ahead! Over the Christmas break a number of new signs have been erected throughout the College. New signs adorn the entrance to the Junior School and main building in the Senior School, whilst a new College crest has been placed on the front of Dalton Hall and the House Crests have been mounted on the verandah of Dalton Hall facing the grass area of Wyalla. All the new signage has been designed and handmade by Danthonia Designs and certainly adds colour and vibrancy to the exterior of the College. New signage will be progressively rolled out over the coming years across the entire College. Mr Terry Gabbedy, the Deputy Director of Development, retired on 13 January and has returned to live in Brisbane with his wife Moira. Terry served the College for nearly four years and his valued support, sage advice and energy for all things Aloysian will be missed. The College wishes Terry and Moira a happy, healthy and long retirement in sunny Brissy! Terry’s retirement has enabled the College to re-structure the Development Office. I am delighted to announce that Melinda Meyer has been promoted to the newly created position of Fundraising Manager at the College. Melinda has been on staff for the past three years serving as Development Officer and has proved to be a great asset to the Aloysian Family. In her new role, Melinda will take on 4
the strategic and day-to-day management of the New Parents Appeal, the Aloysius Annual Fund and the College Bequest Programme. Mrs Sandra Favaloro will continue in her part-time role (two days per week in Term time) as Accountant to the College Foundation and the Co-curricular Committee. In coming weeks the College will be advertising for two new staff to join the ranks of our expanding Development Office. A full-time Development Officer (Old Boys and Special Events) and a part time Administration Officer (three days per week) will be appointed bringing the staff of the office to five (four full-time equivalent positions). Of course later this year the College celebrates the 100th birthday of the Chaplain to the Junior School, Father Geoff Schneider SJ. Father Schneider has been on the staff of the College since 1965 (apart from three years with the Catholic Education Office and one year at Xavier College Melbourne) and is a much loved character of the College. We look forward to celebrating this great milestone in due course. In an interesting side note, we believe that Father Schneider is certainly Australia’s oldest full-time teacher, if not the world’s! So it has been a busy start to what promises to be a very busy year. So please strap yourself in for what will be an exciting and fun filled journey! 2012 The Year Ahead: The Development Office is working on a number of exciting major fundraising events for 2012. These activities include, but are not limited to: • A major launch of the College Foundation Bursary Endowment Fund – planned for the first half of the year, we have already secured one of our two major guest speakers (a former Prime Minister) and await confirmation of our second guest speaker – more details to come • A Gala Cocktail Party in the second half of the year – along the lines of the highly successful Gala Cocktail Parties held in 2009 and 2010 – this popular event will be back, bigger than ever. • We are also looking at holding a Rugby Lunch mid-year as well as the usual Class Reunions and Aloysian Reunions being held at the College, interstate and overseas. The final phase of the three-phase College Masterplan may commence at the end of 2012 depending on the availability of funds. This work will see the construction of a new Canteen and casual dining space in the Senior School, the renovation of the Level 4 & 5 Music Department including the creation of a two story Recital Hall and the construction of a Design and Technology Centre. This final Phase of the Masterplan follows on from Phase I of the Masterplan which saw the extension and renovation of the Junior School in 2010 at a cost of $3.5 million and the construction of Dalton Hall in 2011 at a cost of $12 million and is expected to cost about $4 million. With the active ongoing generous support of the Aloysian Family to the College fundraising programme we hope that construction will commence in December. With best wishes and every hope that the Chinese Year of the Dragon is a great year for the College and the entire Aloysian Family. Murray Happ (SAC 1985) Director of Development (9936 5561 / Murray.Happ@staloysius.nsw.edu.au) CURRICULUM NEWS MATHEMATICS DEPARTMENT Early morning Mathematics tutoring will recommence on 3 February, in a new location (Room 243) and will continue every Tuesday and Friday morning during term, until further notice. For further notice, please contact Ms Stella Robinson, on Ext 608. Stella Robinson Head of Maths PASTORAL NEWS THE DIRECTOR OF PASTORAL SERVICES I am certain that, as you gracefully grow older, time seems to gather speed and the holidays appear to go even faster. I am also sure that the time goes quicker if you participate in activities that keep you busy. My family and I experienced a number of memorable events during the holidays. We were very fortunate to spend a week of the holidays with my wife’s parents, her siblings and their families at the Central Coast, and a week with my siblings and mum in Albury. This was the first Christmas without my dad. I also spent a considerable amount of time at home gardening and all the family were delighted with the completion of our new swimming pool. I read three books which, coincidentally, were all biographies. My favourite being Ahn Doh’s book, The Happiest Refugee. However, perhaps the most fulfilling activity was spent at a gathering last Wednesday with Father Adolfo Nicolas SJ, Superior General of the Society of Jesus. Fr Nicolas addressed a packed Ramsay Hall at Riverview. This presentation involved Fr Adolph Nicolas speaking and then six people posing questions to which Fr Nicolas responded. Fr Nicolas is a very humble man. His speech and responses were inspiring and I was touched by a number of key points. I loved how he reinforced the importance of the role of Christians in educating our young about matters to do with the heart. It is only through our good modelling and educating the hearts of our young ones that a positive message can be sent to those who may be struggling with their own faith. My two oldest daughters, Claire and Rachel, participated in a threeweek Philippines Immersion, very similar to the ones that our students were part of in December and January. I was delighted when they returned safely and, especially on the first day back, were so animated in sharing with all the different stories. This year is a unique one for our family. My youngest child, Luke, started Kindergarten meaning that all my six children will now be at either primary or secondary school – the oldest, Claire, in Year 12. I hope that the 2012 journey will be a time for all members of the Aloysian community, especially those new to the school, to experience many happy and rewarding moments. Borrowing from Fr Nicolas’ address, even if some of the events of this year end up being a crisis we hope that we will end up being stronger for the experience. Most importantly, I hope that all may be drawn to be more like Jesus: full of endless love, kindness and patience. The following extract was taken from the Rite of Commitment that was read at the afternoon with Fr Nicolas: We believe in God Whose love is the source of all life and the desire of our lives, Whose love took flesh in Jesus of Nazareth, Whose love was crucified by the evil that wants to enslave us all, and whose love, defeating even death, is our glorious promise of freedom. Therefore, though we are sometimes fearful and full of doubt, In God we place our trust and in the name of Jesus Christ, we recommit ourselves to Ignatian communities that form women and men for others, that seek justice and live in peace, that care for the earth and share the commonwealth of God’s goodness, that live in the freedom of forgiveness and the power of the Spirit of love, and in the company of the faithful for the greater glory of God. Amen 5
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Oremus let us pray - St Aloysius

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