AC TV has been striving in leaps and bounds in 2021, producing more shows and at a higher quality than previously. Being a part of AC TV is amazing with everyone working as a group towards an end goal of producing an episode. Sometimes that is very challenging with an intense conversation on the Microsoft Teams Page leading to throwing all plans for the current episode in the bin. These setbacks, however, make the episodes better as we strive to produce a higher quality show every time.

Through the help of Mr Lachlan Bowyer, Mrs Virginia Eastman and Ms Ashayla Ramsey we have been able to learn new things about videography including framing and video editing. Using their wealth of experience, it has enabled us to think outside the box and to be more creative in how we produce our stories. I have been able to learn lots about videography and I am doing it while enjoying myself, doing something that I am passionate about.

Being a part of AC TV is very fun, producing a story on something at the college with friends is very enjoyable and rewarding!

Good morning parents, staff, Mr Van Dyk, Mr Henderson, and of course, the class of 2021. Lads, we’ve made it. It’s been 6 years in the making for most of us, and we have survived high school.

We’ve all learnt a lot in this time, The Veritas Program taught us how to tie a tie back in year 9, Mr Morrison taught me that dollar signs don’t have two lines through them, and of course, we can’t forget Mr West allegedly showing us how to make explosives in chemistry. But in all seriousness, if we remember our tiny selves from Year 7, where we knew nothing about this big world—and giant campus—in just six years, the knowledge and wisdom we’ve gained from the tireless effort and care from our teachers is irreplaceable.

Every cohort likes to think they’re the best, but reflecting on the past year we’ve definitely made an impact at Aquinas. In sports alone, we’ve won Basketball, Water Polo, Cross Country and also Soccer for the first time in years. Scotch was the only other team to win 4 sports, and that was only by 3 points at the Athletics Carnival. We were also so close to winning the rowing this year, which Aquinas hasn’t achieved in recent years, not to mention how well we did in sports like Volleyball, Cricket and Footy.

We have so many elite individual sportsmen in our cohort. The dedication to what they’re pursuing is just incredible. And with that for me comes pride in being an Aquinian. We have football players who may be drafted, people like Ethan Wyatt-Smith running more than 75 km a week, and back-to-back Blackwood winner Marshal, hoping to make his basketball dreams come true. I’ve seen our skip of Aths, Baxter, be able to compete in almost every event. He’s also a national wakeboarding champion.

Beyond sports, our cohort has also been thoroughly involved in other aspects of the college, like the arts, drama and music—kids doing their thing. We had a debating team make the top 8 which is the best in years; we had two Year 12 teams make the Model United Nations comp, and I gotta give a shout out to the Chess boys for managing to win the state qualifier.

To the other 50 or so Year 12s that turned up to council meetings, thank you. Our leadership team is one of the most proactive in the state, and probably in Aquinas history as of now.

Jack O’Keefe, from his speech on presentation night, talked about the importance of community and finding your own community and when looking at our cohort I’d like to reflect on what I think is this sense of belonging that grounds our class of 2021. Whether we’re gambling with cryptocurrency with the boys from the Internationals or waking up at 4 am with the rowers, I think we’ve all found a home in our cohort community.

And I call upon that sense of belonging to extend for us as a cohort as we venture out into the unknowns of beyond high school. We’ve all been through this chaotic journey of high school together, we’ve all experienced the awkward Year 7 Sports social, we’ve all had to trek through the miserable weather during OLE in year 9, and we’ve all become true men after the Year 11 Encounter Retreat.

As we’ve taken our journey through high school, we’ve also learned to appreciate and admire our peers. I have a huge respect for the boarders, I couldn’t imagine being away from my family for that long, and I wouldn’t know the first thing about working on a farm which many of you guys do. I mean all I’ve seen is that video of Clay getting attacked by an emu.

Thanks to all the tutor teachers for being with us, through all the fun times and also the emotional times too during the Encounter retreat which we’ve all agreed to keep locked away in the back of our minds. I would also like to thank our Heads of Houses and Mr Van Dyk for making our high school experience the most fulfilling it could be.

We sometimes forget that the only reason we’re here in this hall right now is due to the sacrifice, the decision and the support of our parents to help us be here today. So, this is a special thank you to our parents, our guardians, our loved ones for helping us be here right now.

We’ve reflected on the past, thanked those who’ve helped be here in the present, and now, we need to look to the future. We have had our packs and our people at Aquinas, and as we move to different paths of life, whether that be uni, in the workforce, or in the sporting big leagues, I wish you all luck in finding your next group of people and your community.

Still, as we head into the unknowns of the future, it is important for us to reflect on the lifelong community that we have built here. Remember to never be a stranger to your fellow Aquinians of 2021.

Thank you.

The Derby Immersion is an experience that I will treasure for the rest of my days. The trip started with a detour to Port Hedland and this diversion was to foreshadow the schedule of the trip. Covid-19, the heat and several bus breakdowns wreaked havoc on our itinerary, however, the flexible and variable nature of our schedule actually layered the adventure.

The opportunity to experience the colours and landscapes of Broome and Derby and the vastness of the region really is an opportunity of a lifetime. Windjana Gorge is a sight that will be etched in my mind forever. The grandeur of the natural scenery was breathtaking, yet the experience would not be the same if I didn’t have a great group of mates to share the journey with. The sense of community shared with the local people was a particular highlight of this trip for me. Talking and interacting with some of the local kids, swimming in gorges, sliding down mud banks and hiking mountains with the kids on our backs or in our shadows are certainly memorable moments.

Adversity often reveals interesting and unforgettable moments. The bus broke down, it was 35+ degrees and the realisation that we might be there for a while finally began to set in. The hour passed slowly, however, we were elated to hear the rumbling sound of rescue. The looming anticipation of air-conditioning approaching our rescue bus caused us to break out in song. These incidental moments can’t be scripted into an itinerary, yet they are some of the moments I will remember forever.

The trip's success can certainly be attributed to the teachers who navigated the journey with us. Their efforts were very much appreciated by all the boys on the trip. I know I speak on behalf of the group when I offer all the teachers a sincere and heartfelt 'Thank you'.

On Friday, September 3^rd, a select number of students took up the invitation and were welcomed by Curtin University for a tour and immersion into an area of study that they might like to pursue post Year 12.

The three areas that the students explored were Business, Health Science and Science and Engineering.

The student completed activities that a student studying in that faculty would study. The group leaders were also able to share their experiences about university life and give advice and tips about, firstly how to get into the faculty of interest at Curtin and secondly how to get the most out of being Curtin University student.

The flexibility of the myFUTURE program allows excursions such as this to operate as it causes minimum disruption to the students learning as their lessons are online on Fridays.

On Friday 1 October, three Year 12 students (Hayden Mendoza, Ben Mumme and Luca Webb) went on a Red Cross Soup Patrol. What made this night so special is that they had pre-planned to do this together in the period between their Exams and their graduation. All boys had already completed their Service-Learning requirement a long time ago. Their driver was Chris Guinness (Class 2013). I could not think of a more fitting way to honour this outgoing class of 2021 than with this highlight among many other highlights in the Service-Learning Program this year.

Together, the Sustainability Council and other interested students willing to dive into rubbish accomplished a College Waste Audit on Friday the 17th of September. This not so glamorous research provided an opportunity for the Council to collect data on the type, volume and location of waste across the college. You are probably wondering how this was done, and no students were not just pulling rubbish out of the bins and randomly sorting it — quite the opposite thanks to Rosie from Waste Wise Schools. The Waste Wise schools van pulled up with all the equipment we could ever need: tarps, many many tubs and buckets, tongs, gloves, soap and of course cleaning equipment for the end clean up!

Whilst some were setting up the scene other students were going around selecting a diverse range of bins from across the College. We settled on 7 wheelie bins emptying them onto the tarp for the many hands/tongs to sort through. Emptying the bins onto the tarp was not a pretty sight at all! Waste was sorted into 3 main categories — undegradable, recyclable and organic waste, which within them had separate sections such as snack wrappers, food scraps, paper and cardboard, aluminium, and plastic.

Sorting the waste took roughly a period and went fairly free of too much mess apart from the occasional stray projectile burger inbound for the food scraps bucket. During the sorting process, the boys found it very easy to fill the snack wrapper, plastic and general rubbish buckets already giving some insight before the data had even been collected. Once the mountain of waste was sorted into the various categories the true purpose of the waste audit came about, because after all, nobody wants to just sort rubbish for fun, we began collecting data.

From the data collected, food waste is the largest by weight and then general and plastic waste following closely behind with many little bundles of glad wrap. Surprisingly and even more so shockingly, whole unopened chip packets were discovered, whole packets of Oreos, many whole sandwiches and fruit, as well as drinks and, aside from food, Tupperware containers were also discovered – sorry parents these were not all the disposable kind! This data is hopefully going to be used by the council to pitch to the college systems to put in place to reduce waste, but this responsibility also lies with the students – they are the ones who need to take action on reducing the waste in our College.

So what can you do? It is fairly simple — be responsible consumers, not wasteful, only buy what you will eat and if you don’t eat it - take it home and let your parents know you don’t like certain things rather than throw them out. In short, think before you throw something out – offer it to mates or leave it for another day!

This term, 12 Aquinas students (Years 9 and 10) took part in the PSA Model United Nations. It is the second time the PSA has held this competition, this year the UN Youth have become involved which has only improved the event! Model United Nations or MUN is a competition that simulates the United Nations Security Council, where teams of three are assigned a specific country and hope to pass new resolutions into international law. Each PSA school was assigned a different country as can be seen below:

• Aquinas- UK/Niger/Malaysia/Estonia
• CCGS - Ireland/Vietnam/Tunisia
• GGS - United States of America
• Hale- India, St Vincent & Grenadines, Spain, Bolivia
• Scotch - Russia/ New Zealand
• Trinity - France, Mexico, South Korea, Australia
• Wesley - China, Norway

This competition was so enjoyable as we were able to take on the persona and policies of the country we were representing. MUN incorporates skills such as negotiating, public speaking and teamwork. In the PSA MUN we had to pass two resolutions about; Artificial Intelligent Weapons and Privacy of Data in Sport. Although the Council failed to pass both of these due countries such as Russia and China exercising veto power, we still had an amazing experience.

In addition to this the Year 10 team of Matteo Conte, Ethan Dixon and Matthew Vinci won the competition as they were awarded the number one team on the evening! I was also awarded ‘best helper’ for my role on the evening assisting my teammates throughout the course of the events in various ways. This competition allowed all the PSA schools to compete in something that wasn’t a sport which led to a different dynamic and arguably more competitive side for all of the Aquinas students. We all had a great time and we hope more teams can get involved next year!

Congratulations to Durack House! Back-to-Back Senior School Athletics Champions. And Congratulations to Glowery House, the Middle School House Athletics Champions for 2021

Durack and Glowery Houses took out the 2021 House Athletics Carnivals on a perfect day at Memorial Oval. Coming off the back of an inspirational Australian Olympic campaign in Tokyo where former Aquinas students, such as Zac Incerti and Aran Zalewski, showed the Australian Olympic spirit, our Senior and Middle school students turned up in large numbers, proudly wearing their House colours in a terrific display of Aquinas College House spirit.

The competition was hard fought all day with excellent participation rates from all Years in all Houses. There were many standout performers on the day which gave Acting Head of Sport Kristian Leeson some optimism going into the PSA Athletics season.

What makes this day so great for me is seeing the enormous number of boys across the Year groups all out on Memorial Oval enjoying being a part of a spirit and culture that is centred around participation and giving it your best effort. So many boys step up into events to have a go and to compete in a friendly manner against mates, all while being supported and encouraged by peers and staff. It’s more than a day of activities for me, it’s a day where boys get to showcase their talent, skill, determination, and commitment.

These events don’t just happen, they take great work in the lead-up and during the carnival, I would firstly like to thank the students for getting involved in the day and behaving in a way that is respectful and highly competitive. I’d also like to thank all the staff for their determined help during the day, each event has at least 8 staff helping so thanks to those who raked sandpits, measured throws or timed races, your support is invaluable. Lastly thank you to the Heads of House and tutors for organising the students into their races and for fostering a House Spirit that encourages boys to participate and engage in the day.

Our sincere thanks are also extended to Trin Suckling for coordinating Farmers’ Food Festival along with the extended boarding communities support, this event was held on the same day as the House Athletics Carnival. In total $9,000 was raised on the day with some great food options for the students available along with some great raffles and prizes to be won. It proved to be an extremely successful occasion, it’s great to have the extra engagement of the Aquinas community to enhance the spectacle of the day.