Term 1

Term 1 Week 5

Week 5 and we continue to see a lot of excitement around the academy room. Boys eager to challenge each other to games of pool or ping pong. For those who prefer to relax we have a custom-made Narrabri Clontarf 'guess who' game. Which has been getting a lot of laughs lately. 'Uno No Mercy' has been another popular game of late and as the name suggests it can put friendships to the test.

For Tuesday’s afternoon activity our boys cooked a barbecue and gave room tours as a part of the Year 7 family barbecue meet and greet. The young men jumped at the opportunity to help out. All eager to impress the community members who showed up. Even despite the heat it was a good turn out from the families.

Wednesday, we had our first morning training for the year. With so much going on each week we haven't been in the academy room as much as usual. Already we have had 2 camps and attended the school's swimming carnival. Great to see such a large number of boys getting up early and running around. Our morning trainings will focus on skills, drills and mini games that relate to upcoming Clontarf carnivals and camps. We have started with rugby league as it coincides with the NRL season launch and Years 7 & 8 have a carnival coming up in Term 2 and Years 9 & 10 a carnival in Term 3.

Thursday and Friday we took 14 out of our 15 Year 7 boys away for their first Clontarf camp. It was unfortunate timing for the one fella who couldn't make it and we'll work closely with him to ensure he gets on the next one. After a full day at school, we packed up the box trailer, provided by our partners over at Coates, and set off to Kaputar National Park.

First stop was Deriah Aboriginal Area were the boys walked up to the lookout whilst dinner was being prepared. Everyone appreciated the great views and great burgers for dinner. Enjoying ourselves a little too much we left our ascent to Dawsons Springs a little too late. Setting up our swags in the dark. All the boys were legends getting in and getting the job done and then helping their mates if they needed it. The night's sleep was disturbed with Kangaroos sniffing around constantly. Licking and attempting to eat towels, bags or whatever they could get their paws on.

Even with the bothersome kangaroos and some silly giggling children we all got a pretty good sleep. Up before dawn we headed along the Summit Walk to watch the sunrise. The morning walk wasn't everyone's cup of tea, but it was great to see the young men put in the work to get to the peak of the mountain and watch the day's first light. We were joined enjoying the sunrise by some wild goats. Interesting scenes.

After breakfast on the mountain and pack up we headed to Woolworths, another of Clontarf's partners, for a worksite visit. The boys were met by store manager Jake who led the tour. Our final stop and certainly not the least we headed out to the Narrabri Fish Farm. Here the boys got to go fishing, Yabby racing, swimming, a tour of the property and were cooked fish and chips for lunch. Jayden caught the first fish of the day closely followed by Codie, Jaxon, Tyler, Bronson and Callum. The last of which took home a prize for the biggest catch of the day. Big thank you to Rick and Scotty for looking after us out at the fish farm. Can't wait to head out there again.

Term 1 Week 4

Welcome back, another year ahead and we have so much to look forward to. Each year isn't without its challenges, but we pride ourselves on the academies and the members ability to preserver and nearly always finish the year stronger than we started. Hoping everyone enjoyed the long break and got a chance to relax and spend time with loved ones.

Enrolment notes have been going home, and we hope to have 74 boys enrolled for 2025 once they are all returned. We welcome 13 new faces to the academy and the school in Year 7. Next week we'll have our two vehicles out doing morning pick-ups, Tuesday and Thursday our afterschool activities, Wednesday our morning training and our Year 7 cohort will have their first camp. Heading up the top of Mt Kaputar for the night and visiting Narrabri Fish Farm on Friday.

This week 3 of the academy members helped rearrange our room, we donated some old goods to St Vincents and recycled bottles and cans found around the school at the return and earn. Every student who helps out, participates in our afterschool activities and morning trainings earn a ticket in our term raffles.

Monday we had a welcome back lunch, barbecuing some pork ribs served on a bed of rice. Possibly our most popular lunch to date. Was good to see so many boys buzzing around the academy room.

Wednesday ten of our Year 9 and 10 students went to Inverell for a touch football carnival. The boys had a good time playing against Gunnedah, Inverell, Hunter River High and Irrawang.

Thursday afternoon we saw a lot of our young men enter the pool during the school's swimming carnival. It was inspiring to see so much participation from the boys. It was a good time, and I believe those who chose not to come really missed out. Shout out to CJ Lamb and Declan Rooney who were both runners up in their age divisions.