Earlier in the year, I achieved a time that allowed me to qualify for the Open Water Swimming National Championships.

This month I was lucky enough to travel to the Sunshine Coast to compete in my age group for the 5km event. We arrived there on Friday and met up with two other boys, one from Aquinas, Jonah Whitby in Year 10, and another from my club.

Saturday we visited the course we were going to swim on for a training session and to watch other WA athlete competing in the 10km open events. These were for Olympic selection. Sunday was an early start at 5 am for race day.

We arrived at the course, checked in got numbered up. We then warmed up and we were ready for the race. Our race had approximately 50 boys in our age group. I finished up 3rd in my age group after a tough 5 km event in 29° water with a time of 1 hour and 8 minutes for Bronze. Jonah also swam a great race in tough conditions. We were so lucky to be able to travel and experience it together.

On Tuesday 2 March, the Year 11 cohort were visited by Chadwick Models for an afternoon of social etiquette.

Designed to make people comfortable and at ease, we learned that etiquette shows that we value and respect others and gives us the confidence to deal with different situations in life. We were instructed about the customs and rules governing behaviour that is regarded as correct or acceptable in social or official life.

That evening we were given the opportunity to put what we had learned into practice by accompanying our mothers to dinner at the South of Perth Yacht Club. The weather gave us an opportunity to not only open the car door but shelter our mothers with an umbrella as we entered the venue. There we gallantly took her arm and escorted her to the table. We demonstrated our newly acquired table etiquette with everyone duly tearing their bread roll and filling glasses for our companions. We enjoyed a three-course meal - using the correct cutlery of course - and had the opportunity to catch up with our friends outside of school.

It’s not often that we are in a formal social situation with our mums where we actually spend time directly with them. A wedding is probably the closest we come. Looking around the room you could see all the mums were delighted with our attempts at gentlemanly behaviour. Admittedly, it does not take much to make your own mum proud, but it is a good feeling. On the whole, we learned that courtesy, small acts of kindness and confidence can make all the difference in social situations.

From my mum: At a time where private schoolboys are often portrayed in the news for the wrong reasons it was a pleasure to see a room full of young men eager to display their manners and caring side. I think every mother in that room was proud.

Service is a great way to connect with the community and get to know people.

The rush of endorphins after completing an hour or more of service is unrivalled, plus you are contributing to a good cause, whether it be through planting trees and digging up invasive species on the Mt. Henry Peninsula, raising awareness for MND at Marathons, collecting money for Cancer Research in the city or ridding our beautiful beaches of rubbish.

My name is Charlie Backhouse and over the past 2 years at Aquinas, I have completed over 60 hours of service and am aiming to reach 100 hours by the end of Year 9. Through all the service I’ve completed at this College, my favourite service activity is the Beach Clean-Up. I love getting up early in the morning on a Saturday, driving down to Leighton or Port Beach and feeling the sea breeze, hearing the seagulls squawking, knowing that I’m positively contributing to the longevity of some of Western Australia’s most beautiful beaches. Not only this but some of the things we find are just a bit strange. Last weekend, some of the boys stumbled across a keg of cider about 1/3 full, others found a bikini top and Mr Rich claims he stumbled across the best find of the day – a rubber banana. Some of the normal finds included beer bottles, plastic bags and utensils and the occasional cigarette bud and lighter. This is a photo of the boys once we had completed our service hours:

A few students in the Middle School failed to complete a minimum of 10 hours last year. Boys, If you don’t know where to sign up for service, go to level 1 of Mt. Sion and I’m sure there will be plenty of open spots for you.

Hi, my name is Owen and I am in class 5R. You might have seen me selling toffees last week to raise money for the bushfire appeal. I decided to fundraise after seeing what happened to the families whose houses burnt down to the ground in the Wooroloo and Hills bushfires and I felt so devasted for them. I originally thought of the idea to wash cars, but Mum suggested I sell toffees because of how easy it is to make them. The toffees were made out of sugar, water and cream of tartar. We boiled it to the right thickness and poured it into patty pans and put them in the fridge overnight. The next day, I sold them at the bus stop and my little brother Lewis helped me. We put 8-10 toffees on the portable table we brought and put the rest in an esky. We sold the toffees at the bus stop on Tuesday and Wednesday afternoon and sold the rest of them at the tunnel on Friday afternoon. I sold them for 50c each or people could make whatever donation they liked. I was hoping to raise $60, but we almost tripled that amount with a grand total of $172.70. The $172.70 has been donated to the Lord Mayors Distress Relief Fund for the Wooroloo and Hills bushfires. I feel so happy to have raised so much for these communities that have lost an incredible amount. I would like to thank everyone that bought a toffee and a huge thumbs up to the people that gave a $5, $10 and even $20 note for one toffee. I wouldn't have been able to do this without their support. It has been great fun selling the toffee but probably less fun for the parents dealing with the sugar rush in the car! Thanks again to everybody that donated and made my toffee stall successful.

On the 20th of February, I was given the chance to sing a solo in the Perth Concert Hall for the Requiem Love and Loss performance with the West Coast Philharmonic Orchestra and Chorus.

These music ensembles were founded by conductor Samuel Parry and are both extremely talented and made up of volunteers. Samuel Parry talked about loss and grief and how music can help us heal and love again.

When we arrived at the Concert Hall, we had our own reserved parking and backstage I had my own dressing room with my own bathroom and a mirror with lights around it. My family and I relaxed and ate dinner there before the show. It was really cool.

During the concert, I sang in one of the 4 pieces that were performed. The piece I sang in is called the Materna Requiem. It was written for an orchestra, a choir and four soloists. I sang the solo part for a treble (a young boy soprano). There were 3 other soloists in the Materna Requiem: the tenor Perry Joyce, the soprano Katja Webb and the young soprano Phoebe Tait.

I walked on stage first out of all the soloists and I was super nervous. The soloists stood at the front of the stage next to the conductor. I sang in movements 1, 5 and 8. In movement 1, I was so nervous and when I had to stand up I was doubting myself, but when my part arrived I suddenly calmed down and I was really happy with how I sang. I was so relieved when I finished my part in movement 1, especially because I had to sing some of it completely by myself without any orchestra or choir accompaniment. I had about 15 minutes until the next time I had to sing so I calmed down and listened to the beautiful music that was coming from behind me. Then it was time for movement 5. I was a lot less nervous but I was still a little anxious. I sang a lot during this movement and it was by far the hardest part that night for me. The reason this movement was so hard was because I had to sing very low at the start and also extremely high (high C). As the movement moved along I sang better and better. Soon it was time for the choir’s, orchestra’s and my favourite movement, movement 8. This movement is a combination of every movement and it is super fast and exciting. I sang the best I had sung all night and I was very satisfied when I sat down and was finished.

Overall, the experience I had during the rehearsals and the performance was fantastic and if I could do this again I definitely would. I met lots of really nice people that were so kind and happy and I can’t even describe the feeling I felt when I walked back on stage for the final applause. This was definitely one of the best things I have ever done and I am happy I said yes.

I’ve spent some time pondering two things since our family started boarding in 2017, will I ever get used to them being away from home and will my name tag sewing skills ever improve? While I am still not used to my children being away from me, I can say I am better at it, the sewing skills remain dubious.

We have two boys boarding at Aquinas and one eager future Aquinian at home, which for us lies an hour’s drive north of Geraldton in Ogilvie. We’re broadacre farmers, have a handful of cows and a few ‘pet’ sheep. We are a close-knit family, farming with my Brother and Sister-in-law, who have three girls and started their boarding journey with Santa Maria this year.

Many people ask what it is like to have your children away at school, the best way I can explain it is, uncomfortable. It is uncomfortable, but what makes this subside is hearing your child on the end of the phone when they’re loving life with their friends, the opportunities they’re experiencing and the connections they make with their boarding family. And it’s not just the kids who get to broaden their horizons. We've met amazing people through the College and ticked off a bucket list item, travelling the Gibb River Road, with two of our boarding families last year. This is the comfort.

When my children started primary school, a departing parent encouraged us to linger - we focus on settling our children but forget to settle ourselves. This is what I have found helps at drop-offs, the boys shoot off to their friends and stories of EXEAT and holidays, but I’m not quite ready to go. So, I linger, that’s when I see the happiness on their faces and their interactions with their house ‘Dad’ or house ‘Mum’ and it makes it that bit easier to get in the car and drive home without them.

I’ve always loved and believed in the African proverb, “it takes a village to raise a child”. We are so lucky to have our boarding and school community as part of our village. The most endearing thing we find in our Aquinian village is the culture. Simple things that build the boys into the men they will be. I love the way the boys spend much of their school life bemoaning Sunday night chapel but then return as Old Boys, sneaking in the back on the odd occasion to find some solace and re-grounding. Aquinas is a forever place.

There have been the best of times and the worst of times and navigating them from a distance was, at first, very overwhelming, but we have complete faith in the people who share in raising our children. We appreciate the times they tell them something they don’t want to hear, encourage them to have faith in their potential, pat them on the back when they deserve it and remind us, as parents, to go a little easier at times.

On our first drive down to Aquinas, I sat and read aloud the boarding handbook. The kids sat in the back laughing as I cried intermittently and tried to read through it. Three years on I still cry, much to the amusement of my boys. I was once told boarding isn’t about you, it’s about your child, I’m not sure I agree, it’s about us. So, I cry, and they laugh but know they secretly love knowing they are missed.

During the recent school holidays, I did some volunteer cricket umpiring for the WACA (Western Australia Cricket Association), for their JCL competition (Junior Cricket League).

The JCL was a bunch of teams around Perth, with kids aged 9-12, who come to play games of cricket organised by the WACA. There were 2 JCL’s, one before and after Christmas, each of them was played over 2 days.

This volunteer work allowed me to umpire 11 games on the WACA Ground and a further 4 on Mann Oval at Trinity College. I volunteered to umpire because of the experience, and to help younger kids playing in the competition to enjoy their cricket, as well as to give back to the game I enjoy. I got a lot out of the experience, helping the young players enjoy their cricket was the biggest thing I took out of the experience. Because it makes you, as an umpire, step back to appreciate what you do has an effect on others in a positive way. I also got to improve my skills over the 4 days, this includes on-field skills as well as off-field (communicating with coaches and scorers), that I can take forward into my umpiring career as well as my everyday life as a young Aquinian.

On the 14^th of January 2020, a group of 10 students (including myself), 2 staff members and an Antipodeans travel leader set off on what is undeniably the trip of a lifetime to Tanzania, immersing ourselves in Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders.

Having never travelled overseas before in my life, I soon learnt that Tanzania is such an amazing place, and definitely set the standard high for future travels. The 17-day trip began by climbing the amazing Mount Meru - a physical yet rewarding challenge that presented us with views that you simply don’t get to experience here in Australia. We then arrived at the Christian Brothers community in Shams where we met two Christian Brothers who would be our hosts for a large part of our stay, as we made connections with Edmund Rice Sinon Secondary School. The Brothers made it feel like our home away from home; not only was it an oasis for the body and soul, but also a vibrant experience of Brotherhood and Community. The hospitality and the kind welcoming nature of the brothers will never be forgotten!

Inspired by the vision of EREBB, this first connection between Edmund Rice Sinon and Aquinas College was designed to spark an interest in exploring how our two Edmund Rice Communities could connect 'beyond borders'. Throughout our week as guests on campus, our delegation was invited to participate in several rituals, processes and discussions to acknowledge and nurture these aspirations. I would have loved to have discussed everything we did, but this article will become far too long, so here are a few of the things we did.We were lucky enough to be invited to attend mass at a local parish, which is in the process of building a new Church. The current Church was filled to the absolute brim and the Edmund Rice Sinon students sang and danced. As a group, we all had a community cook up night at the school, where we attempted to cook both Australian and Tanzanian cuisine together. Whilst the food was delicious, it was probably one of the most memorable nights because we all truly came together and started to form a special bond, sharing stories and creating friendships. Whilst at the school, we were also part of a whole school assembly where we all sang the national anthem in front of over 1300 students.

This was followed by a presentation of twin boomerangs, symbolising the unity of our two schools. There was also a unifying ceremony conducted, in which earth from Aquinas’ campus was mixed with soil from the grounds of ERSSS which was later used in planting a Christmas tree - to signify the growing connection between our two schools. Other events included a visit to a Maasai community where we all sung and danced; an Edmund Rice camp day with kids from a nearby school; a tour of the campus; becoming an ERSSS student for a day; a soccer match and future planning for our connection. The last two days of our trip was spent on a Safari and was a remarkable way to finish what had already been such a magnificent trip. There was an abundance of animals and I am sure that we would have seen every animal possible, except for a leopard (which is pretty rare to see anyway

s).

The EREBB Immersion to Tanzania is a trip that I will never forget and hope to make again someday in the future, hopefully visiting the many friends that we all made and are still in contact with to this very day. I hope that once the Coronavirus situation settles down and international borders are re-opened, this trip can become a regular immersion for future students to enjoy and to continue building the connection between Aquinas College and Edmund Rice Sinon Secondary School in Tanzania.

Our New River Centre hosted an evening of thanks last Saturday for all those who have contributed to the project in some way over the last twenty-plus

years. The weather, the Canning River and the River Centre itself combined to provide a magnificent evening for the 80 plus guests who gathered together to swap rowing stories and to see the fruits of their labour: an amazing facility for our thriving rowing community.

As the sun set on a very warm evening, guests gathered on the hardstand for the naming of three quads and one eight, all dedicated to Aquinians who have given much to rowing and the College over the years. Congratulations to John Perry (65), Mike Scott (57), Stuart Reside (95) and Nick Guidera (00).

The names of four boat bays were also revealed on the night, representing four great men of Aquinas rowing: BR N Wilson (46), Brian Tonkin (67), Peter Hutchinson (76) and Stuart Reside (95).

The River Centre is now open for business and we look forward to much success on the water!