Aloysiad 15-12 2006.indd - St Aloysius

from the senior school
remarkable achievement. Jacques McElhone (Year 12) and
James Johnston (Year 12) were selected for the Seconds
with Tom Haremza (Year 12) and Harrison Grace (Year 12)
occupying places in the Firsts. Harrison went on to Captain
the NSW School’s Debating Team which came second at
the Nationals in Darwin. Special praise and thanks must
go to Harrison for his splendid Captaincy of the Debating
Squad and NSW – quite an achievement!
The boys, of course, thoroughly deserve the above
successes however mention must be made of their excellent
coaching. With ten coaches looking after the Squad, a
rigorous training schedule is now well and truly up and
running. Nik Kirby (SAC 2001) and Aaron Rathmell (SAC
2001) are our head coaches and their work with the
Senior boys has been truly outstanding. The combined
experience of all our coaches means that our boys are
equipping themselves quite soundly with the skills necessary
for an articulate and well reasoned style, they are indeed
privileged to be in such a position.
Sincere thanks also to the many parents who regularly
get out the road maps for some of our more remote
Friday night excursions and of course, for the suppers
that invariably fill and impress, at night’s end! Without
this tireless support, we would not have the outstanding
reputation for hospitality that the College enjoys in the
broader debating community.
A final thank you to the College staff, Messrs. Gould,
Irwin, Turnock and Tzantzaris who without fail put in long
hours every Friday evening, plus the regular mid-week
events with skill, sensitivity and humour. Both the boys and
I are particularly grateful.
Our year has ended well. Yes we have had great
successes, but above all, we have helped to develop a
collection of boys capable of presenting well informed
arguments and realistic appraisals of many of the disturbing
issues that are too often presented in the broader community
with anything but a balanced perspective. Congratulations
boys and many thanks.
Mr Mark Norton
Debating Master
Nambucca Heads Cultural
Immersion and Exchange 2006
Working with the Gumbaynggirr People
During our time in the Nambucca Valley we were
fortunate enough to visit the Muurrbay Language
Centre. This centre is run by a group of Aboriginal
elders from the area. The Muurrbay Language Centre was
set up too teach young people out Aboriginal heritage,
language and art and we visited the centre twice during
the two weeks.
During our first visit to the centre, we greeted Aunty
Shirley, who is the aboriginal elder responsible for organising
our visits to the centre, among other things. The elders had
St Aloysius’ College
A Jesuit School for Boys _ Founded 1879
Left to right: Nick Plummer, Luke Fussell, Brendan Lim, David Prosser
and Will Hart
prepared a medley of sings for us. Some songs were sung
were purely aboriginal but some were of European or white
Australian origin, that had been translated into the Goori
language. These were songs like; Twinkle, twinkle little star,
Mary had a little lamb and Give me a home among the
Gum trees, an Australian classic.
The Choir consisted of singers, guitarist, the clapping
sticks and a DJ. After the initial performance we had a
chance to talk with the elders and have some lunch. From
speaking to the elders we heard many stories from the
Nambucca area, including the story of how that tribe came
into existence. Many of the elders were interested in us and
a lot of out time was spent describing the reason that we
were here; “an exchange and immersion”, were we came
from and what AFL team we supported; a groan echoed
around the room as a voiced that I was a Sydney Swans
supporter.
The second time we visited the centre we were lucky
enough participate in some Aboriginal art lessons, from one
of the elders. The first painting we did involved a process
of drawing charcoal lines and painting within them. This
method was described to us as, “a form of meditation” and
the experience was very relaxing. The process of letting
the charcoal lines go were your hand put them and then
following the line with a paint, dragging the charcoal away
from the line you made, was is a sense, calming, it seemed
to focus and relax you.
At lunchtime one of the elders taught us how to cook an
aboriginal style of bread. The way of making this bread
reflects aboriginality by being so natural. After the dough
was made; a mixture of flour, self raising flour, powdered
milk and water, it was left to settle for a short while, then
cut up and fried. We ate it hot, with butter and jam. But we
could only manage about four pieces as it was so filling.
Later that day we painted a huge canvas, about one
meter high, we divided it into ten sections, that we could
paint ourselves. There was a section for the four of us, our
two teachers and four elders. Each section told a little story,
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