This year’s Senior School Swimming Carnival went spectacularly, with the Cullity Lions roaring their team-mates on, the Durack Dragons firing through the water, the Prendiville Panthers Clawing their way through into 2^nd place. But in the end, it was the mighty Wolf Pack of Chaney that howled with success, taking home the House Swimming Trophy and dowsing the Head of Chaney and alpha wolf, Mr Montgomery, in a shower of ice-cold water. Overall, the support and effort from all boys and staff present was palpable and made for a great morning and start to the Inter-House competitions for the year.

The Year 11 & 12 art students had the opportunity to visit Curtin University for a Fine Art Conference on campus last week. They first had a lecture from Dr Keiran Broadhurst on analysing artworks and some tips for art exam prep. They then had a life drawing workshop with Di Cubbit, and still life painting workshop with Tori Benz in the University studios. It was a great opportunity for the boys to learn some new skills and experience University life.

Some of the brightest minds in the Year 11 cohort have been enjoying the challenge of the Research Skills and Methods unit at the University of Notre Dame in preparation for both LOGOS and the Cambridge IPQ on Friday’s as part of the myFUTURE program. They have definitely risen to the challenge of a move from Year 10 to university standard academic research and writing! We are already looking forward to their presentations on the UN Sustainability Goals in the coming weeks.

"For the last two weeks, this Notre Dame research course has taught me very valuable research skills. This is very useful for me as I am completing the Cambridge IPQ research project after this. All of the research skills such as the CRAAP Validation Method and the ability to identify key parts of a research question will be very useful in my own literature review." – David Stopforth

"The Notre Dame Research Skills and Methods course has been a new and informative experience. My peers and I have thoroughly enjoyed experiencing a taste of Uni life and have loved our time on such a lovely campus. In the first 2 weeks, we have been able to gain skills to help us conduct high-level academic research and I look forward to what’s to come." - Nishok Nimalan

Congratulations to Year 12 students Samuel Yeow and Matthew Gardner for achieving A* (the highest grade possible) for their Cambridge Independent Project Qualification (IPQ) as part of their uniPATH undertaking last year.

As an enrichment opportunity designed through a skills-based research qualification, the Cambridge IPQ partners Aquinas College with the University of Western Australia to provide an enrichment opportunity that extends well beyond the limits of a traditional curriculum for Aquinas College uniPATH students. The IPQ framework develop skills by carrying out research into a student’s chosen topic, with an aim to foster the acquisition of higher-order thinking skills that universities and employers look for, including analysis, evaluation and synthesis of scholarly information, whilst fine tuning critical reflection and communication skills.

Matthew Gardiner leveraged upon his interest in the medical professional to investigate “How the COVID-19 mRNA vaccine adversely affects the myocardium of adolescent males?" Such a topical research question when considering the ethical implications of the COVID-19 vaccinations and how this research was developing in real time in a rapidly evolving pandemic.

Whilst Samuel Yeow built upon his passion of mathematics and higher order thinking skills in balance with the philosophical considerations of whether Formal Logic can act as a viable substitute for natural, informal reasoning to algorithmically construct the logical determination of societal policy.

Aside from a personal accomplishment and experience in research with a University of Western Australia (UWA) mentor, they will get a 20 point TEA bonus on their ATAR should they choose to study at UWA. Congratulations Samuel and Matthew and a sincere thank you to Mr Brendan Chapman, Head of Academic Studies, for his guidance during the year.

Leadership isn’t about being the best. It’s about making others better.

This year the Student Leadership Program has seen exponential growth in the participation of students from both the Middle and Senior Schools.

Feedback from staff, students and families suggests the increase in participation of the Student Leadership Program is because of the impact it has on a boy’s personal growth and development, plus the ability to add value to a boy’s character is becoming more evident throughout the school and wider community. So, what makes the Student Leadership Program at Aquinas so good?

The Leadership Program provides an authentic way to educate and develop leadership ability in boys by working around two key aspects. The first aspect is encouraging boys to become more self-aware as research into leadership has this as a common trait amongst great leaders. People who are self-aware have higher emotional intelligence, are more adaptive, resilient, and readily take on feedback, they are also more capable of effective communication.

Starting in Year 8, all students are involved in a workshop to launch the Middle School Leadership Program. This workshop focusses on teaching students to become more self-aware through activities examining their past, and goal setting for the future. Looking back at the past builds a stronger sense of gratitude and with this enhances a boy’s ability to be empathetic and show kindness. Building self-awareness continues in the Senior School with boys completing activities in the Skills of Leadership workbook by examining the importance of leaders showing initiative, being collaborative, having strong self-awareness and being resilient.

The second aspect of our Leadership Program recognises ‘great leaders are servants first’ as role modelled by Edmund Rice and Jesus. Our Leadership Program is centred around active participation of boys in the Service-Learning program at Aquinas. Service is so highly valued in our Student Leaders, that boys who fail to complete any aspect of the Middle or Senior School Service-Learning Program cannot become a Year 9 Leader or College Prefect. This philosophy is also behind the structure of the 16 Student Councils, whereby the Council shares the power amongst its members, helping students to grow under the mentorship of older boys whilst also having the primary focus of improving/serving the community of Aquinas or broader society. Promoting the importance of service throughout the Student Leadership Program reinforces the idea that great leaders put the wellbeing of others and needs of their community first.

Support Year 11 Aquinas boys Benjamin Clarke and Travis Shearer as they challenge themselves to walk or run as far as they can on January 4th 2023 in order to raise money for breast cancer.

1 in 2 Australians will be diagnosed with cancer in their lifetime which includes Travis' aunty and Ben's mum, which is why they are putting their bodies to the test to raise funds and show their support.

Visit https://bit.ly/3g8CEsF to donate and support the boys!

Recently, Finn Chadd (Class of ’21) and Kurtis Tanna (Class of ’22) attended a ceremony at Government House to be awarded their Duke of Edinburgh Gold Awards by His Excellency, the Honourable Chris Dawson APM Governor of Western Australia. Hard-earned and highly prized, the Gold Award is the pinnacle of the Duke of Edinburgh program. To achieve this Award, Finn and Kurtis had to participate in 54 hours of voluntary community service; improve in an area of physical activity over 54 hours; undertake 54 hours in developing a skill of personal interest; planning, training for and completion of a 4 days/3 nights camp; and participate in a residential project staying and working away from home doing a shared activity over 5 days/4 nights.

Congratulations boys!

Aquinas Art, Media, Design & Technology Exhibition 2022

Thank you to everyone who participated in and visited this year's exhibition. We saw a wide range of work from Year 7 - 12 students in Visual arts, Media, Design, Woodwork and Metalwork. The graduating Year 12 students were able to see their work exhibited alongside their peers. Congratulations to all the students who won awards and to all the students who put in the time and effort to create some amazing and engaging work. We have some truly talented students!

The winner of the people choice award this year goes to Ben King in Year 11.5 for his Semester One work. Congratulations Ben!

A huge thank you to all staff and students who helped make this year's exhibition possible. It is a huge undertaking and we appreciate all the support in making such a fun night possible.

At the end of Week 5 Term 4, the Visual Arts ATAR students had the opportunity to attend an artist workshop incursion with well known WA artist Andy Quilty. Andy has been highly engaged and active in the art community in WA for a number of years now and is a regular lecturer at the University of Western Australia, where he teaches several units in the Fine Arts Major.

The Year 11 and 12 Art students participated in a three hour workshop where they built up their drawing and observation skills. They had to loosen up in order to discover new and creative ways of drawing and mark making. This was a great experience for the students leading into their projects for next year.

To check out Andy's current exhibitions take a look at his website for more info.