Friday, 5 August Issue 11/21 THE RECTOR - St Aloysius

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THE PRINCIPAL On 6 August, the world marks the anniversary of the dropping of the atomic bomb on Hiroshima. Three days later, a second bomb was dropped on Nagasaki. More than two hundred thousand deaths would result from those two bombs. Tragically, neither of the two attacks rate as the most horrendous events of the war in terms of civilian casualties – the siege of Leningrad, the capture of Nanking, not to mention the Holocaust itself, immediately come to mind. Yet in our imagination, the dropping of the A-bombs marked a new stage in warfare. We are confronted with the juxtaposition of the amazing extent to which we human beings are able to achieve technologically with our corresponding capability to inflict horror on our fellow human beings. This remains an enduring challenge for humankind. Peace Park memorial at Hiroshima Albert Einstein wrote in 1946 of his fear about the way science and reason could be used to increase our capacity to destroy: “the unleashed power of the atom has changed everything except our modes of thinking and we thus drift toward unparalleled catastrophe”. It is good to pause this week to remember all those who suffer in war, to recommit ourselves to be peace-makers and to work for a more just world in which violence is overcome. The dropping of the A-bomb is also a reminder that the progress in knowledge is not a panacea for the human condition and that the moral and spiritual dimension of the human needs constant nourishment. Coincidently, 6 August also marks the feast of the Transfiguration, where Jesus allowed His disciples a glimpse of himself as their transfigured Lord, as one whose humanity is united intimately and fully to His divinity. The most fundamental question in Christian faith is ‘who is this person?’. Ultimately most Christian theology, spirituality and worship comes back to the response that we give to this question. More personally, our faith responses to the question determines the claim that Jesus has on us and the nature of the relationship we are invited to have with Him. In this ancient feast, we also celebrate something of the transfiguring power of God, a God at work in our human story, both respecting our integrity and freedom as human beings, while bringing new possibilities to us, even to overcoming death itself. This ‘good news’ stands in stark contrast to the temptation to despair, which events such as Hiroshima can place before us. We are caught up in the mystery of God. Though not an orthodox believer in God, Albert Einstein himself, wrote of the sense of mystery in life: “The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science. He to whom the emotion is a stranger, who can no longer pause to wonder and stand rapt in awe, is as good as dead: his eyes are closed. This insight into the mystery of life, coupled though it be with fear, has given rise to religion. To know that what is impenetrable to us really exists, manifesting itself as the highest wisdom and the most radiant beauty which our dull faculties can comprehend only in their most primitive forms – this knowledge, this feeling, is the centre of all religiousness. In this sense, and in this sense only, I belong in the ranks of a devoutly religious man”. Our great religious feasts are not only ritual and memorials of past events, but have an on-going role in revealing something of the fundamentals of the human story and of God’s relationship to that story. One of those fundamentals is Christian hope. We are believers in redeeming love, namely, that no person and no situation are beyond the power of God’s love. We are realists in acknowledging the propensity within the human to inflict pain and sorrow, and thus the reality of evil, but we also assert that humankind is in the image and likeness of God, and that our capacity to love and to be loved underpins human existence. We welcome to the College two staff (Mr Masahiko Hamasaki and Mr Takaharu Iwasaki.) and fourteen students from Kaisei High School in Nagasaki, Japan. The school has had a real cosmopolitan feel over these last weeks with groups of exchange students from Poland, Italy and Japan with us, as well as individual exchange students from France and Italy. As always we have relied on the generosity of many families to host these visitors. A highlight of the school social calendar is the Year 9 Ballroom Dancing with Loreto. The boys, and girls, were in high spirits and some considerable talent was shown. At the end of the night, the top four pairs were chosen by popular acclamation: Nick Lonergan, John-Paul Field, Charlie Hill and Tom Wells, and their partners. Congratulations to our Year 10 Drama students who competed at the State Shakespeare Festival. In the solo section, Felix Lush came second, as also did our Mash Up group of Hugh Logan, Tom Lawson, James Mullan and Ryan Greves. Congratulations to our Year 10 CSDA Debaters who were runnersup to Santa Sabina in the grand final of that competition. In the School Sport Australia Swimming championships in Melbourne, the Junior School’s Lucas Anderson (Year 6) had the honour of being the Junior Boys’ captain in the NSW team. Lucas took silver in the 100m backstroke and bronze in the 200m individual medley and 50m Backstroke. Matthew Jepson (Year 11) was also competing at the championships and won gold in the 200m Freestyle and the 400m freestyle. In Saturday sport, our First XV recorded an excellent win (28-8) over Cranbrook, while the First XI went down (1-2) in a very tight contest. The Firsts Tennis side had a clean sweep to stay well in the hunt for the CAS title as did our Firsts’ Debaters. The Firsts Volleyballers went down to Grammar. Many of the younger teams also had excellent results. The 7Ds had a great 2-1 win in front of their enthusiastic supporters, while the supporters were perhaps even more enthusiastic as the 13As overturned the first round with a magnificent victory. The comeback story, worthy of the Rabbitohs, was the 10As – down 0-3 at half time, a different team emerged in the second half to draw level at 3-3. In Cross country, William Austin-Cray (Year 12) was fifth in the CAS in the Seniors, and the U16s’ team was second. Congratulations to our Junior Secondary Chess team which has reached the Metropolitan North Regional finals of NSW Secondary Schools competition. Our Intermediate and Senior teams were both runners-up in their qualifying groups. Finally, please keep in your thoughts and prayers our Year 12 students who commence their HSC Trial Examinations on Monday. Our Drama and Music students have already completed their HSC Trial Performances. Chris Middleton SJ 2
For those who have died: Oremus let us pray Mrs Josie Edmonds (past parent), widow of Peter Edmonds (SAC 1943) and mother of Tony Edmonds (SAC 1969) Ask and you shall receive … knock and the door will be opened unto you.” (Matt 7:7) If you would like someone to be prayed for by the College community (even anonymously), please pass the details to the Rector THE HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL Results of some of this year’s ICAS competitions have come through, while some tests are yet to be completed. In the Computer Skills Competition, open only to the Year 6 students, 19 of our boys achieved Distinctions. In the Science Competition, in which all Junior School boys took part, our results are quite outstanding with nine boys achieving a High Distinction and another 64 boys, a certificate of Distinction. Congratulations to them all, but “well done” in particular to the following nine High Distinction achievers in Computer Skills: Ethan Gyoery Fergus Abbott Patrick Chambers Andrew Gorga Finnegan Waugh Mark Eckert Ricky Zhang Peter Munns Jason Djafar In the Sydney Archdiocesan Year 6 Religious Education Test, we were delighted with our results to learn that, of the 116 boys who sat the test, 50 achieved a Credit, 40 Distinctions and another eight High Distinctions. Well done to the following High Distinction achievers: Charlie Blomfield Mitchell Antico Michael Cooke Kieran Craven Joseph Dusevic Domenic Ferragina Alexander Murphy Lewis Wallace We especially congratulate Charlie Bloomfield on his perfect score of 50 out of 50. That’s equivalent to a Gold Medal in any other competition! On the sporting front, the College congratulates Lucas Anderson, the Junior School Swim Team Captain, who has been honoured with the Captaincy of the NSW PSSA Swim team for 2011. Lucas is a fine sportsman and a great ambassador for this school. Good on you, Lucas. Readathon 2011 is in full swing and in its second week. May I ask parents where possible to check their sons’ Blue Reading Cards to discuss and share ideas, stories and spend quality time together? The Readathon has a double purpose, ie to promote a love of reading, especially amongst the reluctant reader group and to indirectly support the great work of the Jesuit Mission by signing up sponsors who will support our boys by donating generously. Can I once again draw your attention to a number of school events to which you are invited? Firstly, we look forward to seeing many parents at the Athletics Carnival on 5 August, from 8.45am-2.30pm. 14 August is a family day for Year 5 families when they come together for Mass in the Boys’ Chapel, followed by morning tea. 15 August is “grandparents’ and special peoples’ day”. The day will begin with a 9.00am Mass followed by morning tea, a mini concert in the Junior School and class visits/activities up to 12.00noon. The other reminder is that on 11 August, there is a Performing Arts Concert at the Town Hall involving around 70 of musicians who will join performing children from five other Independent Schools. If you haven’t secured your tickets, please ring Debby Edwards at Junior School Reception. Our congratulations go to the following boys, who are celebrating their birthdays this week: 1 August Anthony Sleiman 2 August Tobi Thomes 3 August Luca Marchione, Matthew Rannard & Nicky White 6 August Harry Livingstone & Patrick Wachnik 7 August Thomas Latimer Martin Lobo WHAT’S COMING UP 7 August 2010 Year 12 BBQ POPS Mass 8-22 August Trial HSC Examinations 9 August World Youth Day Pilgrimage commences 9&10 August Jesuit Schools’ Commission Review 10 August Senior School Winter Sport Photos (except Opens) 10&11 August Board of Studies Registration Inspection 11 August Junior School Photos Years 7 Chickenpox & Year 10 DTP Vaccinations 13 August Cadet Recruit Uniform Issue Day Year 7 Parent Function 14 August Year 5 Family Mass & Morning Tea THE DEPUTY HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL Year 6 RE Test: The Year 6 Religious Education Test was conducted in Term 2 in schools in the Archdiocese of Sydney and in the dioceses of Armidale, Lismore and Wilcannia-Forbes. In total, 5173 students sat for the test. The test was processed for marking by Educational Assessment Australia (EAA). Out of 119 boys who sat the test, eight scored a High Distinction and 41 secured a Distinction, 52 a Credit and the rest a Participation. Your son will bring home the RE Test and an analysis of the results. Please take the time to discuss these results with him. Congratulations to Mitchell Antico, Charlie Blomfield, Michael Cooke, Kieran Craven, Joseph Dusevic, Domenic Ferragina, Alexander Murphy and Lewis Wallace on achieving a High Distinction. Seasons Program: This term we will be offering ‘Seasons’ – a program designed to assist the boys and their families in coping with the grief experienced through death or family breakdown. Seasons is a key component of our approach to Pastoral Care and Student Welfare. It is a process that aims to give the boys: the opportunity to express and acknowledge the grief experience and a place to tell their story, be heard and supported in an environment that nurtures selfesteem, affirmation, trust, confidentiality, acceptance, peace and hope the freedom to express and acknowledge the range of grief and loss reactions that they may experience. The program runs over eight sessions of approximately 45 minutes each. Trained Seasons Companions from within the school community run the sessions. Seasons’ groups may have various structures, but generally have a ratio of five to six boys to one companion. Group sessions with those enrolled will commence this week. If you would like to discuss the matter further, please don’t hesitate to contact me or Mrs Sara Johnson. Sacrament of Reconciliation: On behalf of the Aloysian community, we would like to congratulate and pray for the following boys in Year 3 who recently received the Sacrament of Reconciliation: Year 3.1 Dominic Adams Aaron Anquetil Marcus Aprile Thomas Bruce Henry Cox William Doughty Tom Forsyth Thomas Latimer Joshua Manconi Liam McSweeney Patrick Murray Finn O’Loan Luke Rupolo Rhys Smith Tobi Thomes Lachlan Welch 3
Page 1: Friday, 5 August Education of youth
Page 5 and 6: UPCOMING EVENTS 5 August First Frid
Page 8: SENIOR SCHOOL SPORTS FIXTURES & RES
Page 12 and 13: Queenstown Resort College runs cour

Friday, 5 August Issue 11/21 THE RECTOR - St Aloysius

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