From the Head of Conlon House, Cathy O’Sullivan
Term 2 has been another very busy, but, again a very rewarding and productive term for the young men of Conlon. The boys continue to embrace our House motto – Aut Viam Inveniam Aut Faciam – I’ll either find a way or make one and take advantage of the many opportunities the College offers to them; be it in their academic, co-curricular, community or spiritual pursuits. They continue to distinguish themselves by their positivity, have-a-go attitude, and by their willingness to support and encourage each other.
One of the highlights of the term was definitely the College Musical – Guys and Dolls. This was an amazing joint production with St Clare’s. I was totally blown away by the incredibly high standard of performance by the entire cast and crew. Special mention, however, should be given to our very own talented and versatile Conlon performers – Andrew Badger (Yr 12) Toby Rabinowitz (Yr 10), Zach Straker (Yr 9), Saem Goffe (Yr 9), Evander Hudson, Tom Hughes and Alistair Isaac (Yr 8). Oliver Ruse (Yr 12) played in the orchestra and Mitchell Eyles (Yr 11) and Finbar Warren (Yr 12) were members of the back-stage crew. Every boy should feel extremely proud of their performance and contribution to making the musical such a great success.
During Week 5 we celebrated Reconciliation Week. The theme this year was – Grounded in Truth, Walk together with Courage. Various activities were held during the week which engaged students in activities which helped develop a deeper understanding of the need for reconciliation. During our house assembly, we were able to contribute our hand-prints to the ‘banner for healing’ and write messages for the cut-out hands in the ‘hands for healing’ garden. During the College assembly Fran Grant (mother of Lachlan Yr 8 and Charlie Yr 6) spoke honestly and from the heart about growing up in a family who were directly affected by the Stolen Generation. Fran spoke passionately about loss, love and forgiveness. First Nations students from Christian Brothers College Lewisham and St Ignatius’ College Riverview also came and performed traditional dance. Thank you to Fran, Ms Suzanne Walsh and Mr Richard Bryant for making this assembly so moving, relevant and unforgettable.
During the term the boys have continued to focus on their studies. Years 7 – 10 completed their half-yearly examinations. Early in the term, our students in Years 5, 7 and 9 also completed the nationwide NAPLAN testing. Next term the Year 8 and Year 10 students will be making important decisions about the subjects they will choose to study in 2019 and Yr 11 will be completing their final examinations in their preliminary course for the HSC. Our Year 12 boys are continuing to work towards their final assessments and will spend a large part of these holidays studying and preparing for their trials, which they will complete early next term. We wish them well with their preparations.
Congratulations to Joshua Cornelius, Patrick Hoggett, Hayden Wild and James Medland who were members of teams who competed in the da Vinci decathlon. This is an academic challenge designed to challenge and stimulate the minds of students across a variety of disciplines including engineering, mathematics, code-breaking, art/poetry and cartography.
At our final assembly for the term James Hoggett, James Privett, Hayden Wild and Patrick Hoggett all received Head of College certificates in recognition of consistent application and motivation towards their studies. The award is the culmination of a boy receiving at least three Gold awards.
Year 7 Dance 2019
Many of our Year 7 boys attended their first senior school dance with the young ladies from St Clare’s, St Catherine’s and Brigidine. The boys looked extremely smart and displayed surprisingly great skill on the dance floor.
Our Year 10 students completed their Career Profile testing and interviews, and, together with their Semester 1 results they will now be making important decisions about their pathway and subject choices for their senior years. Year 10 ‘big brothers’ also spent an afternoon with their ‘little brothers’ from Years 5 and 6. It was a great opportunity for the boys to meet up with their ‘little brothers’ again and have a fun afternoon playing games – dodgeball was a particularly popular game with the Conlon boys.
The Waverley College cadet unit once again led the College in a very moving ANZAC day commemoration service. Hugh Marshall (Yr 12) and James Privett (Yr 10) had the honour of being members of the V.C Guard. James and Year 9 student Zachary Straker also represented the College later in the term competing at the CAS cadet drill competition.
Many Conlon students continue to give their time, voice and skills to some important Community initiatives:
- Jay Palm from Year 9 was Captain of the College SurfAid team. Despite difficult weather conditions our team competed against 14 other surfing teams and made it to the semi-finals. The team contributed to making a difference to the Wellbeing of those living in remote Indonesian communities by raising $6100 on behalf of SurfAid.
- Patrick Hoggett, Jesse Sonego (Yr 10) and Oliver Ruse (Yr 12) were members of the College team who ran for Running for Premature Babies in the SMH Half Marathon. The boys were inspired after hearing from parent Ms Sophie Smith who started the charity after losing three premature triplets in 2006 and then her husband to brain cancer. The team raised over $6900.
- In the last week of the holidays James Garrop, Riley Moore and Tom Martin will be going on the Red Earth immersion to either Arnhem Land or Cape York.
- Sam Connolly, Joshua Cornelius and Joshua Conacher-Smith will be travelling for immersion to Timor-Leste.
- Many boys are once again supporting by purchasing a beanie for Beanies for Brain cancer run by Aungier House.
Conlon men continue to demonstrate their strong school spirit by participating whole-heartedly in their chosen winter co-curricular activity. Congratulations to the following boys for their selection in First or representative teams;
- 1st AFL – Andre Christian-Collet, Ashley Backlund
- 1st Rugby – Miles Amastero, Max D’Agostino, Emmanuel Di Bartolo, Max Johnson (Captain of Rugby)
- 1st Tennis – Oliver Ruse (C), Nikita Nikitenko
- Music – Oliver Ruse
- Chess- Sam Evstigneev
- U16’s CAS rugby – Emmanuel Di Bartolo, Reeve Smith
- Opens CAS rugby – Miles Amasotero, Max D’Agostino
- Opens CAS AFL – Ash Backlund
- CAS Touch Football – Tom Martin
- U18 NSW Rugby league – Byron Parnell
- State Body-Board competition – Noah Mather
In the Inter-House indoor soccer competition, our Junior team comprising Christian Dos Santos, Luke and Liam Kraljevic, Thomas Holroyde, Hardy Mears, Harrison Lee and Oscar Medler had a great win in the final against Quinn. Our senior team; Max Johnson, Lachlan Manastirovski, Angelo Di Bartolo, Hugh Johnson, Reeve Smith and Darcy Sullivan were very unlucky to be defeated by O’Connor in their semi-final.
Junior School Athletics Carnival
Conlon boys performed extremely well at the House athletics carnival. It was great to see the enthusiasm, encouragement and ‘have a go’ attitude demonstrated throughout the day. Our Year 5 and 6 boys certainly brought a lot of energy and depth to our team. Conlon came a very honourable second place. I would like to especially thank our Prefects; Ryan Smith, Lachlan Manastirovski, Oliver Ruse, Sam Johnson and Hugh Marshall who organised competitors and teams throughout the day. One of the memorable highlights from the day was watching the teacher verse Yr 12 relay race and seeing Max Johnson overtake Mr Roff on the final lap – this certainly brought the crowd to their feet.
Nikita Nikitenko (Conlon 10) will be taking leave from the College for 12 months to attend a tennis academy in Florida, USA. We all wish Nikita well and hope that he has a wonderful and enriching experience whilst he is away.
Mr Nick Brophy (Conlon 02) will be taking some well deserved Long Service Leave during Term 3. Nick will be heading overseas with his family and we wish them safe and happy travels.
I would like to take this opportunity to thank the wonderful Conlon mentors who never fail to support myself or your sons.
Finally, I wish all Conlon families a safe and happy mid-year break and I very much look forward to the second half of 2019.
