Author Archives: Danny

Time Flies!

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Well, the first term has certainly passed us by very quickly, especially considering that it is the longest term of the year. It feels like only days ago that the boys were startign the year as senior students at the College. 11 weeks on … time has flown! On Friday morning we waved goodbye to the last group of boys who headed home either by taxi to the airport or on Country Link buses. Our large diversity of boys returned home to cities and towns overseas, interstate, in rural NSW or as close as Mary Street!

With the final exam out of the way, the boys cleaned up the dorms incredibly well and their efforts to leave things tidy is greatly appreciated. By 5:00pm on Thursday, well-over half the boys had taken off. We had around 40 boys sleeping here on the final night before their buses home, with Dubbo being the popular destination for many of them.

I really hope that the holidays are a wonderful opportunity for the boys to spend some time with their family and friends as well as a time to rest and re-energise for the start of Semester 2 in only a couple of weeks. Likewise, I hope that parents and families enjoy having the boys around home a little more!

Happy Holidays!

Photo: Matte Ager-McConnell (Mudgee) and Patrick Carrigan-Grant (Mudgee) getting ready to board their bus home.

Heads Down in a Great Environment

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For the final two weeks of the term, the boys were in exam mode with their mid-course examinations. Kerry Pacey has provided some feedback on how the exams have gone for the boys in her newsletter as she was at each of the examinations.

Over this period, there have been almost 20 exam slots – yet most boys only study six or seven subjects. As a result, the boys have been spending a great deal of time in study preparing for their upcoming exams. When the boys are spending so much time doing this, the environment that they are in is very important.

This year, we have had the boys study in the dorms rather than in classrooms. All boys, including the day students have been allocated a desk and the boys are spread out across 8 different floors. This means that the boys have plenty of room, are not distracted by others around them who may need to move and have the added bonus of air-conditioning. There is no doubt that studying in the dorms has provided the boys with a study environment that allows them to make the most out of their time.

In addition to the environment, the study is supervised each day by Year 11 teachers. This is excellent for the boys who have easy access to teachers who can assist them with any questions. As all teachers are allocated supervisions, this means that all subjects are represented and on hand to assist at different times during the examination block.

In each session I asked the supervising teachers to write down any feedback about the boys – positive or negative. When you consider that 206 boys were studying for 20 different two hour time slots, obviously there was the occassion that a boy was distracted by his comnputer and there were a couple of comments about boys using their computer incorrectly. Having said that, the feedback was overwhelmingly skewed towards positive comments. Just a few for you:

“Much better than the classrooms – no issues”.

“All working well and concentrating on their studies. Areas were neat and tidy”.

“The boys were excellent – well done”.

“All boys worked well individually and were very respectful. If they needed or wanted help they asked the supervisor first which was excellent”.

“The boys were great. A couple took a few minutes to start work but otherwise they were great. I thought the routine was spot on and the boys worked silently and on their own. Having come from schools where students are sent home or left to their own devices – this was excellent”

“All good – boys were quiet and focussed on their work”.

Congratulations to the boys on remaining focussed during study over the last couple of weeks. At times, boys had 12 hours of study before their final examination and therefore to get through this period without any issues is a great credit to them.

Photo 1: Max Benjamin (Birchgrove) making the most of his study time in his own space.

Photo 2: Patrick Carrigan-Grant (Mudgee) preparing for his exams in a clear, spacious and tidy area.

The Risks of Drugs and Alcohol

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Drugs and alcohol continue to be a major issue for young Australians with one teenager dying each weekend in Australia in drug or alcohol related incidents.

We are very conscious of this and are working to equip the boys with as much education in this area as possible in the hope that they will make wise decisions during this critical period of time in their lives. In fact it was a conversation about this that led Mr Jeremy Ticehurst and Associate Professor Michael Neil to start to organise a night for the boys to learn about the risks involved in drug and alcohol use.

On Monday 4th March we were privileged to have three very experienced men talk to the boys. Professor Gordian Fulde is the Director of Emergency at St Vincents Hospital, Associate Professor Michael Neil is a leading Australian Surgeon at St Vincent’s Hospital while Detective Senior Sargent Mark Christie has experience all over Sydney and is currently based at Surrey Hills. These men presented three very different perspectives to the boys in order to give them some insight and knowledge about the risks that young men their age face.

I couldn’t possibly pass on all the detail of the three speakers, however, as a very brief summary:

Proffessor Fulde spoke about the effects of mixing drugs, the effects of party drugs on the body and mind, prescription drugs, the drug industry and what is actually in many of the easily accessible drugs. He also spoke about the risks involved with body building drugs as well as the social effects of binge drinking – particularly what he has seen come into the emergency department at Kings Cross.

Detective Senior Sargent Christie spoke to the boys about the risks he sees, in particular the number of fights that result from alcohol and drug consumption as well as many innocent people becoming the victims of crime. Throughout his talk, Mr Christie spoke about how each of our decisions affects many other people – not just ourselves.

He went on to talk about the consequences of drug use and possession, including lifetime employment restrictions, travel restrictions, inability to be the director of a company and the difficulties in getting insurance cover. He also spoke about the many “dirty meth labs” that he has seen as well as before and after shots of those who have used particular drugs commonly consumed by young Australians.

Mr Christie also spoke about the police use of Facebook and the on-the-spot fines for the use of fake ID or another person’s ID ($600 plus extra time on your P-Plates). Finally, he reiterated what Paul Dillon had told the boys with regards to never being afraid of calling an ambulance – the police will not become involved unless there is a threat of violence or safety concerns.

Professor Neil hit the boys straight away with the case study of a very talented school boy who overdosed on LSD. He compared today to many years ago and pointed out the higher risk factors (alco-pops, all day concerts, all night venues, pre-loading due to the increased price of alcohol and the resulting binge drinking. He also addressed the grooming of young people by certain areas of the alcohol industry.

Particularly pertinent to the boys was the information that Prof Neil presented on energy drinks on their own – as well as in combination with alcohol and the major health risks involved with this.

Prof Neil’s final comments were relevant to what all the speakers said. He finished by reminding the boys that they have a unique opportunity in life, particularly at Joeys … don’t blow it!

This was a night that was full of information for the boys. It provided insight from three experts across different fields and each of the boys left the session being more equiped with knowledge about the risks that they will face.

A huge thank you to the three guests who spoke to the boys and passed on many of their first hand experiences. In particular to Prof Michael Neil and Mr Jeremy Ticehurst who put the evening together. Also to Mr Tarlinton who has shown great support to all of the personal development opportunities we have and will continue to put on for the boys.

Photo 1: Detective Senior Sargent Mark Christie, Professor Gordian Fulde and Associate Professor Michael Neil.

Photo 2: Our three guest speakers after the talk.

Photo 3: Gordian Fulde answers some questions from Robert Gazal (Maroubra) and Patrick Distapan (Drummoyne).

GPS Tennis Champions

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It has been 13 years since Joeys last won the GPS Seconds Tennis Competition and with Kings, Shore and Newington having very strong Firsts and Seconds squads, our boys certainly entered the season as the underdogs. The problem with this theory was that someone forgot to let the boys know this. From the first competition game late last year, this team had a genuine belief that they could give their more fancied rivals a “shake”. Indeed this is what they did.

They couldn’t have started the competition any better than defeating their Sydney Boys’ High School opponents 12-0 and hence going into the Christmas holidays with great confidence. The much anticipated match against Newington was disturbed by rain, however, on the back of strong doubles results, the boys won in a wet and nail-biting 7-5 scoreline. Shore and Scots were also close victories for us before we were totally washed out against Kings. The important victory of the season was definitely against Riverview which our boys won 9-3 while the rest of the GPS sat around courts unable to play due to rain. This victory put our boys in a strong position leading into their final match. The scenario was that if they were to win (by any margin) against Grammar in the final round then even if their closest rivals Newington won 12-0 we would still finish ahead.

It was certainly a nervous day for the boys and with Jarrad McAuliffe (Cherrybrook) being injured, it was always going to be a tough day. Newington did all that they could and defeated Scots 12-0. This really put the pressure on our boys. They handled this pressure exceptionally well, defeating Grammar 10-2.

As it turns out, the Joeys Seconds team led the GPS competition for the whole season. At times this was by the thinnest of margins and in the end, Joeys finished on 60 points with Newington on 58 points. Considering the maximum number of points to be scored is 72 … you can appreciate how close the season was.

Congratulations to Jack Larkin (Geurie) and Jarrad McAuliffe (Cherrybrook) as well as their team-mates and coach Mr Gavin Pitt-Ware for bringing the GPS shield back to Joeys!

Photo: Liam Dougherty, Jarrad McAuliffe, Tom Fahey, Mr Gavin Pitt-Ware, Ben Spencer, Nick Keighley, Jack Larkin and Joe Flannery.

Basketball Success

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Congratulations to our 6ths Basketball who completed the season as undefeated premiers for 2013. This team which comprises only of Year 11 boys have shown amazing fight and persistence and to win each of their games after winning none of them in the trial season is a fantastic effort.

They didn’t have it all their way each game, having to come back from behind on a number of occasions.

In one particular match late in the season, the boys were down 8 points to 16 points. For many teams this would be enough to discourage them – not this team. Our boys fought back gallantly on the back of some Braidon Burns brilliance win the second half 19-6 and finish up winners of the game by 27 points to 22 points.

It was this “never-give-up” approach though that got them through each week and has them walking away with a pennant.

Photo: Mr Peter Tucker, Michael Ziade (Eastwood), Koim Wingti (Noosaville), Braidon Burns (Coonamble), Kuyan Pitt (Oatley), Ben Wilkinson (Cowra), Scott Atkin (Pymble), Jonathan Chow (Randwick), Harrison McMullan (Mosman), Tom Warwick (Abu Dhabi), Reece Leavers (Carringbah) and Hayden Leung (Hong Kong).

Outstanding Day for our Rowers

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From the outset, my lack of knowledge about rowing is well-known and I won’t try for one minute to comment on the technicalities of anything to do with the sport. Furthermore, if the truth be known, I have also been renowned for my banter with rowers, especially when I was convening tennis … with that all said, I can’t help but give this sport and in particular the boys, the recognition that they certainly deserve.

Rowing. It is a sport that requires patience, resilience, hard work and most of all, team work. It is a sport that by nature is not wonderful as a spectator sport and as a result, for crews it can be a lonely experience in the lead up to the Head of the River. When you consider Tennis, Cricket, Basketball, Swimming, Water polo, Football and Rugby – these are all sports that take place on main campuses and at the very least get the passers-by stopping to watch for short periods. Rowing on the other hand is hard to watch unless you are equipped with a boat or bike and even parents and coaches often only get to see a minute or two of a race.

When we talk about team sports, for many, rowing may not be the first sport that comes to mind, however, if you think for a moment about seeing a crew in action, their synchronisation is quite incredible and paramount to their success … if one person falls out of time then the whole crew suffers. Crews develop great trust in and reliance upon each other – rowing certainly epitomises team work.As a result of this, the boys who compete in rowing do form very strong bonds with each other as a simple result of being around each other for long periods and also being conscious of the ups and downs that each other face throughout their quest for success.

Our crews have every reason to get excited about the Head of the River day – not only is it the climax to their season, it is also the only opportunity they have to perform in front of friends and family and they deserve to enjoy the day and no matter the results, celebrate their efforts, their development and indeed celebrate each other as part of their team.

This year at the Head of the River our rowers did us incredibly proud. In all, we had Year 11 boys represent us in seven crews who competed at the regatta.

Our Third VIII was well represented by Year 11 boys with Joffy Rhodes (Drummoyne), Max Behan (Oatlands), Tim McGrath (Longueville), Will Canning (Maroubra) and Charlie Waldren (Red Hill) all a part of this crew. They finished second to Kings by less than five seconds and received a wonderful commendation from Convenor of Rowing and GPS Rowing stalwart  Mr Bob Shirlaw who described the crew as the most enjoyable crew that he worked with all season.

The Fourth IV was an all Year 11 crew represented by Nathan Illy (McMahons Point), Kobi Bates (Haberfield), Ryan Voulgaris (Hunters Hill), Charlie Hanigan (Coonamble) and Harry McEvoy (Killara). These boys finished in sixth place in an incredibly close race where there was only six seconds separating 2nd and 6th place. Well done to these boys who were up against Year 12 boys from other schools who have been rowing for an extra year – they certainly did us proud!

In the Third IV, Alex Guilfoyle (Cronulla) joined forces with four Year 12 boys and came a creditable fifth place and only two seconds behind their Newington opponents.

Our Second IV had an absolute ripper of a race being coxswained by Harry Bateman (Cremorne Point). This is a crew that has had many fine successes during the season fighting close battles each week with Shore and victories going each way. Today, the final result went in favour of Shore by an incredibly close 2 seconds. This has been a fine crew all season and deserve every recognition on this wonderful result.

The First IV was a special race for the day. It is the only race that contained all nine GPS schools. It has been great over the last few years to see The Armidale School (TAS) join us at the Head of the River and this year they raced in the First and Second IV – since Sydney High did not race in the Second IV, this was the only race where all nine schools entered a crew. In this crew we were represented by Nick Leaver (St Ives), John Ell (Cottage Point) and Roman Hoferek (Hunters Hill). The boys finished right in the middle of the pack and can be very pleased with their efforts throughout the season and in particular on the Head of the River day.

Our Second VIII had a great day and you can check out about more about them in a separate article.

And then there is the First VIII – the final race of the day. In this crew, we were represented by Hugh Courts (Bourke) and Jono Mumby (Northbridge). This crew followed suit with the rest of the crews on the day and did the College incredibly proud, finishing in a super close second place (only 2.04 seconds behind Shore). They fought all the way to the end ensuring that Shore were not able to relax until their boat crossed the bubbles at the end of the course.

I have been privileged this year to see first hand the hard work of the boys who participate in rowing. In the same way as the boys who compete in all our other sports at Joeys, the rowers put in a huge effort day in-day out throughout the season and have every reason to look back on their season with great pride and certainly look forward to their final season at Joeys with great promise and opportunity.  Well done to all the boys involved!

Photo 1: The Third VIII race in front of a booming cheer squad!

Photo 2: The Third and Fourth IV on stage at the Rally.

Photo 3: The First and Second IV on stage at the Rally.

Second VIII takes the Honours

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The Head of the River is a huge day not only for the boys who row but indeed the whole school. Each crew pours hours upon hours of time and effort into their sport for this one race of the season. Keeping this in mind, to come out on top at the end of the day is an incredible effort.

This year, our Second VIII rowed an awesome race finishing in first place and almost five seconds ahead of second placed Shore and eleven seconds ahead of third placed Scots. From the banks of the river, it is very difficult to know how the crews are going in the early parts of the races with the live commentary impossible to hear over the cheering of over 10 000 students from all GPS schools. Having said this, early in the race word got back to the boys on the bank that our crew had made a strong start and were leading early in the race. They were able to keep this strong lead to win the race by a convincing margin and there is no doubt that it was a victory enjoyed by not only the crew but all the Joeys supporters on the bank and in the stand.

For Year 11, this is a wonderful achievement with five of the nine boys in the crew being in Year 11. They have been a crew that has gone about their preparation in a quiet and unassuming manner and maintained superb modesty despite their achievements.

Congratulations to George Davis (Sutton), James Hookham (Kings Langley), Ben Quinn (Hunters Hill), Jake Finnane (Blaxlands Ridge) and Nick Rainnie (Tewinga) on their win of the LC Robson Memorial Trophy – the first time that Joeys has won this trophy since 2002.

Photo 1: The Second VIII steam ahead during the race.

Photo 2: George Davis (Sutton), James Hookham (Kings Langley), Ben Quinn (Hunters Hill), Jono Hardy, Daniel Lewis, Jake Finnane (Blaxlands Ridge), Nick Rainnie (Tewinga), Joe Bokeyar and Lachlan Mount celebrate being on top of the podium.

First Class Public Speaking

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Debating and Public Speaking have long traditions at the College with the well known Australians such as Sir William Deane and Chief Justice Murray Gleeson showing their strengths in this area for Joeys and more recently the likes of Chris Mangan and many others who have represented Australia at the highest level.

Tonight, Jarrad McAuliffe (Cherrybrook) continued this tradition by winning the Catholic Schools Debating Association (CSDA) Public Speaking Competition.

To help put this wonderful achievement in perspective, it is worth knowing that there are over 92 schools participating in this competition with one representative from each Sydney Catholic high school in each age group.

The competition starts at the “local” level before winners then move to the “zone” stage. Having won both of these, Jarrad then went onto the finals which were held at St Ignatius College, where he competed against the winners from the 11 other zones.

The boys chose their speech topic from a pool of six options. Jarrad chose “The Price of Freedom”. In explaining what he spoke about Jarrad said “My speech was firstly about school from a child’s perspective before I then burrowed into issues such as gun laws. I then finished with a story about a soldier and a member of the Taliban and comparing their lives”.

It goes without saying that Jarrad’s victory is an incredible achievement and after his success was announced he was presented with the Catenians’ Shield.

Congratulations to Jarrad on his success and for continuing the impressive tradition that the College has in both Public Speaking and Debating. In many respects, by nature of the timing and often wide variety of venues, combined with the modest nature of our boys, the efforts of our public speakers are sometimes not noticed by all. Indeed though, the commitment and positive contribution of the boys is greatly appreciated and this is a very deserved victory for Jarrad and all our boys who represent us in this pursuit.

Photo: Jarrad McAuliffe (Cherrybrook) is presented with the Catenians’ shield after winning the CSDA Public Speaking Competition.

A Night with the Waratahs

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It is not all that often that we get the opportunity to take a large number of boys out to a Super Rugby match. For this to coincide with the rare occasion that the Waratahs win a game made the evening all the more worthwhile!

So Year 11 and Year 10 joined forces and took three bus loads of boys out to the game hoping to see a great display of rugby.

The weather during the day had not been all that wondeful and this appeared to scare off many spectators, meaning that the boys had the opportunity to sit in some excellent seats. Some boys still chose to sit behind the posts – either way, as always at the Football Stadium, we were close to the action and got a good view of the match and fantastic sense of atmosphere, especially when the Waratah’s took the lead.

Joeys is well-renowned for the large numbers of ex-students to go on and represent their state and country. The player line-ups for this game was no exception with Peter Betham, Damien Fitzpatrick, Pat McCutcheon, Paddy Ryan, Jeremy Tilse, Kurtley Beale, Jarrod Saffy and Laurie Weeks all young old boys who were in the squads for the match. Eight players is not a representation of players who used to wear the “Cerise and Blue”.

It was great seeing the boys enjoying the atmosphere both during the match as well as at the half-time entertainment. Even though it is quite different to NFL, it was wonderful witnessing Jordan Kennedy (Seattle) getting excited as the game became close during the second half.

After the Waratahs victory we decided that we would wait a short while before trying to get 150 boys out of the stadium. Our wait was rewarded when many of the players came over to where the boys were waiting and our guys were able to get some autographs and have some photos with a few of the players.

It has become tradition at Waratahs matches for the players to throw mini-footies into the crowed and the enthusiasm I saw from some boys to catch one of these somewhat cheap novelty gifts was a little concerning concerning and you didn’t want to get in their way! Although, unlike other members of the public, our boys walked away from the “scab-grab” unscathed with no blood drawn.

Taking a large number of boys out like this is always a little stressful, however, their behaviour and cooperation was second-to-none and certainly allows for us to try similar outings in the future.

Photo 1: Jordan Kennedy (Seattle) enjoys seeing the Waratahs head towards victory alongside Jordan Goren (Balmain), Benn Spillane (Hunters Hill) and Andy Cameron (Longueville).

Photo 2: Willo McDonnell (Narrabri) and Hugh Spencer (Barraba) catch up with Tatfu Polota-Nau.

Buddying Up With Year 7

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For well over 20 years, Joeys has run a buddy program with Year 7 and Year 11 boys. This is one of the senior boys’ first opportunities to show some genuine leadership and despite being given the opportunity to not participate, it was fantastic to see each of the boys enthusiastic about taking part in this program.

Today was the boys’ first opportunity to meet their buddy and this was done in the Resources Centre. With 206 Year 11 boys and 161 Year 7 boys I don’t know if the library staff knew what hit them! Having said that, once we had introduced each of the boys to their buddy things were amazingly settled as the boys sat with each other and had a chat about how things were going early in the year.

The main task today was for the Year 11 boys to help their buddy write a letter home to their parents. This is a great way for the boys to get to know each other as the Year 7 boys wrote about themselves and their buddy. Of course for them to do this, they had to chat about each other’s interests and commitments at Joeys. It was wonderful watching boys, with up to five years difference in age, having a casual chat with each other. Sitting back and observing them, it was great to see both the young boys and the older ones laughing with each other as they wrote the letter. Different pairs of buddies interacted with each other and there is no doubt that this was a very positive experience for all the boys involved.

Due to so many boys in Year 11 being keen to take part, we obviously had plenty of buddies and this allowed over 40 Year 7 boys to have two buddies rather than just one.

Throughout the year we will be organising some more opportunities for the boys to catch up with their buddy. The next being the Head of River where the Year 11 boys will travel to Penrith with their buddy. This will be another opportunity for the boys to get to know their buddy a little better as well as help them during their initial stages of their first whole school trip out to Penrith. Even though it seems like something simple, travelling this distance as a Year 7 boy and not really knowing where to go or what to do when you get there can be a bit daunting. Having their Year 11 buddy with them to help out will assist greatly in the boys feeling more relaxed.

With all that is organised though, it is the off-the-cuff meetings of the boys with their buddies that will prove the best experiences for both the Year 7 boys as well as the Year 11 boys. It will be catching up one afternoon, dropping by their sport one Saturday or even taking the opportunity to invite their buddy to lunch leave once or twice throughout the year that will be most memorable for all boys and we certainly encourage all boys to make the most of this important leadership and personal growth opportunity.

Photo 1: Rowan Farrell (Cabarita) with his buddy Aaron Han (Eastwood).

Photo 2: Matt Scolari (Dubbo) with his buddy Angus Carrigan (Gurley).

Photo 3: Callum Kilgariff (Narrabundah) and Sebastian Klarica (North Batemans Bay) with their buddies Antonio De Beradino (East Ryde) and Hugo Kovacs (West Pymble).