Dear Parents of St Leo’s Residents

As your sons have been busy wrapping up Semester 1 - many for the first time - I’ve been reflecting on the incredible journey they have embarked upon since setting foot at St Leo’s.

As each Semester draws to a close, there is a clear shift in resident focus. The halls become almost completely silent, and the sound of the lunchtime rush changes from a loud stampede to a subtle pitter patter.

From what I have seen, Semester 1 has been filled with growth, achievements, and countless memorable experiences. UQ exams finish tomorrow and QUT exams conclude on 22 June. We wish all residents well for when their results come out in the next couple of weeks.

The Inter-College Council (ICC) Sport and Cultural competitions play a big role in the boys’ extracurricular activities, both through participation and support. I’m very pleased to share that the Leo’s touch football team emerged victorious, winning their first ICC premiership since 2018. There is a great team photo I’ve included at the end of this newsletter that was taken after their final winning match. The pride in the team’s faces is undeniable and that same energy was felt throughout the College for days following.
Year-to-date, St Leo’s finds itself in third place in ICC.

Semester one results are as follows…
Hockey - 1st Place
Touch Football - 1st Place
Chess - 2nd Place
Rowing - 3rd Place
AFL - 3rd Place
Cricket - 3rd Place
Table Tennis - 3rd Place
Volleyball - 4th Place
Bandfest - 4th Place
Swimming - 5th Place
Debating - 9th Place
Choralfest - 10th Place

In other sporting news, Second Year resident, Reilly Williams, was able to celebrate some incredible success at the 2024 Australian Rowing Championships held in Sydney. Reilly's outstanding achievements included:

1st - Open Lightweight Double
2nd - Open Lightweight Quad
2nd - Open Lightweight Eight

Special shout out to Liam McCoy, Reilly’s Doubles Partner and Ex-Leonian, who shared in the National Title win.

I’d also like to wish First Year resident and Australian trampolining (U22) rep, Sam Durkin all the best as he flies off to Portugal next month to compete in the world trampoline titles. Just last year, Sam and his teammate Harry Lee secured silver in the Men's 17-21 Synchronised Trampoline event at the Trampoline World Age Group Championships.

Our Mothers’ Day Lunch was held on Saturday, 11 May. Thankfully Brisbane turned on the weather as we welcomed Mums, Dads, grandmothers, and siblings onto College grounds. It was a special day and I extend my sincerest thanks to the 34 families who travelled from various parts of Queensland to share the day with us. I was incredibly happy with how the day played out and we hope to make it go for a little longer next year. We created a fun video to screen for our visiting mums which can be viewed here. This video was a lot of fun to make. To the mothers in attendance on the day whose sons did not participate in the filming, please know I tried. 😅

Another meaningful College event I was honoured to be a part of was our ANZAC Commemoration, held on Thursday, 24 April. Every year St Leo’s holds an ANZAC ceremony at which each of the ANZAC era colleges are represented by their respective Heads of Colleges and Students’ Clubs’ presidents. There was a strong turnout by our residents for the ceremony and lunch. This year, Second Year Resident, Oscar Hill was the St Leo’s wreath bearer. Oscar’s great-grandfather is a World War II Veteran.

Our guest speaker Mr Brendan Cox, CEO of Legacy Brisbane reflected on what ANZAC Day means to him and what he believes it should be for Australians throughout the world.

… My reflections are based on 26 years of service to our country including multiple tours to places that have included Bosnia, East Timor and Afghanistan. Additionally, my reflections are informed by the past eight years of service within Legacy where we support the families of our fallen and the families of our incapacitated veterans. Simply, for me, ANZAC Day is a day to reflect on our personal and national journey as Australians. Quite often we don’t realise what we are learning when you are doing it or experiencing it in the moment. This is why reflection both as a person and as a nation is critical to our understanding of who we are today and how we wish to identify as Australians in the modern world… (Brendan Cox, St Leo’s College 24/4/2024)

Special thanks to Harry Packwood for arranging Fr Gregory Jacobs SJ to say mass in the College chapel, prior to our ANZAC commemorative service. In 2023, Harry reached out to the UQ Catholic chaplain and in 2024, he made contact with the newly arrived Jesuit community at Toowong. It’s a fitting legacy to Harry’s four years at St Leo’s that he has established the ANZAC Day mass tradition.

Preparations for next semester’s College events are already underway. UQ Open Day is on Sunday 4 August when we open the College to hopeful Leonians and their families. If you know of any friends with school-leaving aged sons, we would really appreciate any recommendations. St Leo’s will be offering free limited parking on the day and UQ will run a campus bus around the precinct bringing visitors right to our front door. If you are interested in learning more, please email Jocelyn Forsyth via enquiries@stleos.uq.edu.au.

Our next College family day will be our annual Fathers’ Day Barbecue, on Saturday, 31 August. Please lock this into your calendar now as we would love to see you there. And for the parents of Third Year Residents, our Valete Luncheon will be held on Saturday 26th, October.

If you would like more frequent updates on College life, make sure you are following our social channels. You can find our Instagram account here and our Facebook account here.

I can imagine how thrilled many of you must be feeling as you prepare to welcome your sons home for mid-semester break.

Before I sign off, I encourage you to reach out anytime and share your thoughts with us. What can we do better? Do you know something we don’t that is impacting your son’s experience here? The St Leo’s Staff are keen to hear your thoughts. Good or bad, we are here for it all.

With best wishes
Peter Arena
Marketing, Communications & Advancement Manager
St Leo’s College within The University of Queensland

Leo’s ICC Touch Football Team - Back Row: Finbar Rasmussen, Jaden Carpenter, Joe Doljanin, Jeremy Green, Tom Molloy, Isaac McAuliffe, Jaidan De Roia-Grant, Wilson Flegler, Zac Bennet, Kobey Pimms and Sam Durkin
Front Row: Sam Young, Todd Williams, Isaac Green, Joel Prescott, Jackson Waldon, Ben Heinemann, Jack Heinemann and Mitchel Waldon

Fours on the river: Ryan Davey, Reilly Willams, Mac Rogers, Oliver Lynch and Reagan Leighton

Mothers’ Day Luncheon: Liz Roberts with son Lindsay Roberts

Mothers’ Day Luncheon: Jack Pini, Leighann Pini, Sue Holland, Michelle Sullivan and Zac Sullivan

ANZAC Luncheon: Guest Speaker Mr Brendan Cox

Leo’s band for Bandfest: Darcy Bouwman, Oliver Lynch, Ian Pinto, William Jamieson (crouching), Noah Fahey and Stirling Harris

Trivia Night with Duchesne College