Term 2, Week 5

As Saturday approaches, we look forward to sharing these wonderful attributes that our boys most often display to all prospective members of the Nudgee community. We already have hundreds of students who have volunteered their valuable time to take tour groups around the College and provide a snippet of what a true Nudgee man can be. Open Day also provides a chance for current and past members of our community to come along and witness and experience what is offered to our students. As Br Ambrose Treacy envisaged for our students, the provision of faith, formation and opportunity is key. I thank all who are involved this Saturday, in advance, for their generosity and commitment. 

Concurrently on that day, we will also be hosting a Teacher Open Day. As I wrote at the start of the term, Nudgee College is not immune to the labour shortage that is hampering so many industries in Australia currently. In an attempt to ‘get ahead of the curve’, we are running our second such day for teachers and prospective teachers. This will provide all professionals in the education sector the chance to gain an insight into how a school such as Nudgee operates and what it has to offer professionally. 

As a way of promoting our school and supporting our Cattle Club students, myself and a number of other staff members, including our Deputy Principal Mr Stephen Meara and Dean of Boarding, Mr Casey Brealy, attended the tri-annual Rockhampton Beef Week. This was a great opportunity for all staff to engage with future, current and past families and members of the Nudgee College community. I loved being able to see our Cattle Club students showing their acquired skills and passion on such a big stage in the presence of our Prime Minister and Premier. A very big thank you to all who made this week possible. 

Kind regards
Scott Thomson

A primary goal of Kairos is to spend quality time with friends, reflect on the past, and dream about the future. During my own Kairos, I witnessed boys growing in their friendships, and I have no doubt this was replicated across all retreats. Additionally, there was plenty of good food to keep everyone energised and happy, ensuring they ended the retreat with both full bellies and full hearts.

Special thanks must go to all the Year 12 men and their families for their thorough preparation and active participation in Kairos. I'd also like to extend a heartfelt thanks to the leaders of Kairos— Ms Tahnee Leegood, Mr Simon Lilley, Mr Stephen Meara, Mr Jamaal Sugars, and Mr Phil O’Connor. Alongside these leaders, teams of staff provided invaluable support to our young men.

While I can’t tell you all the details of what happened at the retreat, I can confidently say that our students seized the opportunity to connect and engage with one another. I encourage future Year 12s to look forward to their Kairos with excitement. The retreat offers a unique chance to forge lasting friendships and grow as individuals before finishing school. It’s a meaningful experience that has a profound impact on everyone involved.

Mr Brent Mitchell
Head of Ministry

Mother and Son Luncheon

On Sunday 5 May, our Year 12 mothers and their sons attended Mass at the Cathedral of St Stephen's and shared lunch at City Hall as part of our annual Year 12 Mother and Son Luncheon. 

As always, it was a wonderful Nudgee College event and I would like to personally thank Mr Simon Lilley and Ms Di James for organising the Mass and to Fr David Pascoe who welcomed us to their parish Mass. Thanks also to Ms Larissa Patti, Ms Karin Van Wirdum, Ms Courtenay Lea and Mr Raoul Carmody for their organisation of the lunch. Finally to the fine young men who hosted their Mums so beautifully.

Year 7 Mother and Son Evening

Our Year 7 mothers joined their sons on Monday 22 April in the Christian Brother's Conference Centre and breakout rooms in the Junior School for a valuable opportunity to have genuine connection with each other in a way that can't easily be facilitated at home. This program is the beginning of a number of son and parent occasions. It compliments our retreat program for boys of this age, with a parent connected approach, which we know is critical in the middle years. Thank you to Lisa and Rachael from Time and Space and Ms Karin Van Wirdum for their work in this program.

Junior School Mothers Day Breakfast

Mr Paul Cazzulino, with our Junior School boys, hosted their Mums for a beautiful breakfast last Friday. It was wonderful to see our youngest lads swap the handball courts of O’Neill for a breakfast table the envy of any Mothers Day celebration. Mothers and women play such a special part in our Nudgee community, our boys value their relationships with their Mums and we hope all of our mothers had a magnificent Mothers Day last Sunday. 

Mr Anthony Connellan
Dean of Students 

We had a full house in the Christian Brothers Conference Centre and the atmosphere was electric. I’d like to congratulate Shaw House for winning this highly contested Inter-house competition with a stirring and thought-provoking performance based on the theme of 'Courage'. It was a great performance and a well deserved win. Well done to everyone in Shaw House!

Congratulations to all the House Deans, PC Tutors and Prefects for the brilliant use of the themes that were selected. Each House was able to celebrate a narrative we hold close to us through song and dance (examples included brotherhood, inclusivity, courage, persistence and community).  So many powerful statements about what is good in our community.

I would like to thank the following teams for their contribution to this years Showcase event - 

House Deans, PC tutors, teachers, Ms Lynsey Hale and Student office team, House Mums (judges), Performing Arts and music staff, Mr Raoul Carmody and the AV team, Dev Comm, Ms Annette Cross and property and services, finance, Mr Steve Lutter and Mr Alfonso Navarro and catering.

I’d like to thank our College Captains for a very entertaining performance, I’ve seen how hard you’ve been working on your performance and it came together really well on the night. 

Mr Anthony Connellan
Dean of Students

In Paraders on Monday we saw Oliver Cresswell and Brody Pink make it to the final ten. Our schools team judging saw Michael Beirne, Oliver Cresswell, Luke Hall and Brodie Ramsay take third and with over 400 competitors this was no mean feat. 

Tuesday saw our Angus cattle come away first and fourth, while our Shorthorn also took out a first. Wednesday saw NCOB Alex Gibbons Droughtmaster heifer take out first, a heifer we've been working with for some time and were proud to present for him. His bull also came sixth with us. Our Brafords stood up well, taking third while the Grand Champion bull was prepared by us for over 18 months and shown on the day by 78 year old owner, Mr Don McNamara. Mr Leo Ward, our Shorthorn owner was thoroughly impressed by our preparation of his cattle, presence at stand and presentation on show day. He donated a new set of cattle scales which we collected at Beef. 

Thanks go to Mr Lachlan Woodcroft, Mr Lewis Cammack and Mr Shaun McKeown for making this show such a success. Many thanks also go to Mr Brad and Ms Julie Cammack for running the Show Team kitchen trailer effortlessly and keeping us all energised for nine days. The combined effort that made this national event a success for Nudgee College couldn't have been achieved without the Show Team students' dedication and CLT's support. 

Mr Troy Reynolds
Cattle Club Manager

Football
Round 4 against Brisbane Grammar School is always a highlight in the football calendar, with two schools with a large number of football teams playing each other. This year was no exception, with 46 Nudgee teams playing on Saturday, with 42 games against Brisbane Grammar and four games against Anglican Church Grammar School. Our Year 6s won all of their games, however at this early stage the focus is on how they play and the very pleasing thing about the performances of the 6As and 6Bs in particular is that the football they exhibited was of a very high standard. 

Our 1st XI and 2nd XI both won on Saturday. The 2nd XI won 2-0 thanks to two goals from Patrick Cook, while our 1st XI won 3-0 with goals from Rylan Brownlie and Jamie Waddington. 

Cross Country 
For our final lead-up meet, 68 runners headed over to the BSHS playing fields at Carina to have one final competitive race against some of the GPS schools before our big day on Thursday! Some impressive 1st place runs included Oliver D (13), Arlen N (15) and Harry W (Open). As we all know though, it is the top six runners in each age group that are the point scorers. Our 13s and 16s managed to be our top point-scoring age groups on Friday, winning their events. Overall, we scored second for the 2024 GPS Cross Country Shield for the season. The big culmination of all of the training and lead-up meets will be held at the Championship event this afternoon.

Tennis
Our Year 7As and Year 9As had strong wins on Saturday and remain undefeated for the season. Congratulations also to many of our players who won individual sets but the depth of BGS tennis program with multiple state level players per age group were very tough opponents.

Our 1st IV competed for over six hours in a very hostile environment but unfortunately came up short with four matches and nine sets each and lost on a count back on games. 

Coming up in sport 

Round 5: 

• GPS Football Round 5 vs GT - Home
• GPS Tennis Round 5 vs GT - Home
• GPS Cross Country Championships

Round 6: 

• GPS Football Round 6 vs ATC- Bye Round Supplementary Matches
• GPS Tennis Round 6 - Bye Round Supplementary Matches

All photos are by Brody Grogan Photography. 

Cinderella at St Rita's College

We were delighted to see Hunter I, Lachlan J, Junwen Z, and Hugh T perform as the male leads in St Rita’s production of Cinderella last week. The boys were a true highlight and made the College proud. Hunter even included a Nudgee reference in one of his lines, which was well received by the audience. St Rita’s and Nudgee Music departments have a long-running collaboration for our college musicals. Last year, St Rita’s girls participated in our production of Footloose, and they will be invited back for our 2025 Nudgee Musical.

Queensland Youth Music Awards (QYMA)

This week and next, five of our music ensembles are competing at the Queensland Youth Music Awards (QYMA). So far, our Junior Concert Band has taken the stage and was awarded a Silver Award for their performance on Monday evening. The adjudicator's feedback was very positive, highlighting the excellent work of their conductor, Ms Janelle Harding. Next to compete is Symphonic Winds tomorrow evening, followed by Chamber Strings on Monday and our Year 5 and 6 Choir and NC Brotherhood next Wednesday evening. We wish the boys all the best as they prepare to represent the College.

Theatresports

Our Theatresports teams have been excelling over the past week. Both our Senior B team (the Beach Boyz: Paddy Williams, Cooper Barnard-Stower, Charlie Lyons, Will Condon, Oliver Soberon, Cooper Ramsay) and our Senior A team (Scooby-Did: Samuel Browne, Tyler Goodall, Robert Fitzgerald, Hunter Ireland, and Daniel Cross) have progressed to the semifinals in their respective divisions. It was fantastic to see the boys supporting our Senior A team at home with a round of the College warcry to celebrate their success. We look forward to our Junior team competing on Tuesday, June 4, in Tierney Auditorium. None of this success would be possible without the expertise and leadership of our Theatresports Coordinator, Ms. Alison Kilgour.

Senior Chess

Finally, a shout-out to our senior boys (Grades 10, 11, and 12) who play chess. We need you! Next term is GPS Chess, and we are looking for boys to join our senior teams. Training is from 3-4pm on Friday afternoons in Purton. Come along or email our Chess Coordinator, Mr Martin Harmon, at mharmon@nudgee.qld.edu.au for more information.

Mr Sam Smith
Director of Performing Arts

See the full Nudgee College Careers website here.

Parents and students can use this site to locate University, TAFE and any other type of course across Australia, get information about the QCE, search for job vacancies and much more. Students can also drop into the Careers Office if they have any questions.

17 May

• Evening on the Green

18 May

• OPEN DAY 

20 May 

• Year 5 Camp 

21 May

• Year 5 Camp 

23 May

• Shaw and Tierney House Mass

27 May

• National Reconciliation Week (27 - 31 May)