Term 2

Term 2 Week 7

Last week we celebrated the attendance and achievements of our Years 8, 9 and 10 Clontarf students. The boys were rewarded with a 4-day camp on the sunny Gold Coast. Although the sun was out it still got very cold of a night. The boys spent time at the beach, playing in the arcade, the jungle gym/playground, pool with water slide, jersey presentation dinner, touch football carnival and attended both the Clontarf State of Origin match and the Manly v Gold Coast NRL. It was a packed camp, and I think we were all pretty busted by the end of it.

Before we set off for our camp some of the boys showed off their cooking from Food Technology that day, great to see the boys learning some necessary life skills and so proud of their work. Later that afternoon our boys started practicing some Aboriginal dancing in preparation for upcoming NAIDOC celebrations at Narrabri schools.

Wednesday was a long travel day, two vehicles travelling over to Hastings Point in northern NSW from our homeland Narrabri. We had a few stops along the way so the boys could stretch their legs, have something to eat and throw the football around. We also had to give a few of the boy’s travel sickness medication, as the windy roads had a nauseating effect.

Thursday morning, we started the day with a beach morning training session. Playing soccer and touch football on the waterfront. We saw two large sea eagles land on the sand and pick away at some foliage, I thought it a good omen for the upcoming NRL game, unfortunately the Titans had other plans. The beach was beautiful, and it was a great way to start the day, the water was icy cold for any who were brave enough to get in. We spent the rest of the day on site at our accommodation. Here the boys could play in the arcade, the playground or utilise the (heated) water park. For dinner we joined approximately 300 other Clontarf students, staff and families for dinner. Where the State of Origin captains where announced and jerseys presented. We were all very proud to see Declan onstage representing Narrabri for NSW.

Friday, we played in the far north coast touch football carnival, held at Casuarina Beach Rugby Club. The boys played 3 games coming out on top on two occasions. Fantastic team effort and Clontarf spirit displayed at all times, even from the students who didn't want to or couldn't play, also our team managers, water boys and assistant coaches contributed to each game. The boys also engaged in a health session with Ready. Quit. Solid. being reminded of the dangers of smoking or vaping. That evening we headed to CBUS Super Stadium to watch the football, again it was colder that many of us expected. A lot of shaky legs on the night, not dancing, but cause of the cold breeze. We were lucky enough to bump into Preston Campbell on the way to the stadium gates, once in we watched NSW dominate QLD. Declan was in excellent form and helped the team to victory even scoring a try. The boys enjoyed the NRL and Clontarf football, but the pre-game entertainment of a wrestling exhibition and cheerleaders dancing caught their attention the most.

Term 2 Week 6

This has been a very disrupted week, with all Narrabri staff away for the first three days, only one staff member present on Thursday and two on Friday. Nonetheless, we adapt and we strive to provide a quality program for the young men no matter the circumstances.

Sunday to Wednesday Corey, Ashley and Clayton travelled to Southeast Queensland for the Clontarf Foundations Annual Professional Development Conference. During our time away we learnt a lot from leaders in our industry, internally and keynote speakers. On the last day all the regions get together and challenge one another in a range of different sports. This year the Northwest region took to the sand to play in the beach volleyball competition.

Thursday, we had 'kickbacks with Clayto' for our after school activity. The boys were given the freedom to choose what they did during this time as long as they kept to the confines of the academy room. The boys ran their own pool comp, built Legos, watched NRL highlights, listened to music and we even had one student start on his geography assessment whilst another helped him.

Friday morning saw many of our boys hit snooze on their alarms. With only a small number braving the cold and making the effort to come down for morning training, they were rewarded for their efforts. Again, we kept to the academy room and the warmth it provides. Playing a range of minute games and attempting some partner challenges we have seen online. Big laughs to start the day, before eating bacon and egg rolls, teas or juice and choc chip muffins. Thanks again to the legends that keep getting up every morning.

Term 2 Week 5

Week 5 has been a very busy week, but that just means we have so much more to share.

Each week we hold a health session in the Clontarf room. Most of these sessions are run by the lovely ladies from Centacare. They work with small groups of our boys using engaging hands on activates to discuss and teach the boys about the many factors of health and wellbeing. Focusing on such key topics as respectful relationships, emotional health, substance awareness, sexual health, physical health, gambling awareness and healthy eating.

We were very proud to see four of our academy members in a meeting with some very important people from the Australian cadets. The boys showed great confidence and leadership in the meeting. Thanks to their shining example there is talks of holding cadets training in Narrabri moving forward. Well done men.

With the wet weather lingering around we held a few of our activities indoors or on the school's basketball courts undercover protected from the rain. The boys got around our special edition Clontarf guess who. If you look in the background of one of the photos you can see Rydell giving Michael some hints. That's not in good Clontarf spirit ;). The boys also had a doubles pool competition which was taken out by the brothers French, they work extremely well together. Four square tennis had us all running around. A very agile and dynamic game, it’s hard to stay in long.

The mornings were very frosty, but we are impressed with the efforts of our young men, getting up and having a crack. We threw the footy around on Wednesday morning in preparation for our up coming camps. In Week 7 we have the Gold Coast camp with touch carnival and Term 3 we'll have our annual Ross Kelly Cup carnival. On the Friday morning our boys came in early to assist the school teachers with setting up for the Athletics carnival, which many of our boys competed in. Callum Quinn dominating on the day, winning several events.

As a part of Reconciliation week, the school was invited out to CSIRO, where some of our boys stood proudly and shared with all in attendance what Clontarf was about and how it may have benefited them. They in turn learnt about CSIRO and their operations before sharing in some bush tucker and johnny cakes.

Term 2 Week 4

Week 4 of the school term we were able to run all our before and after school activities. When planning our activities we like to layer them so that not only are the boys having fun, but they are also learning valuable life skills, practicing healthy eating and exercise, giving back to the school and or wider community, working together as a team, and generally making positive contributions to society.

This week we had the boys help us clean both Clontarf vehicles inside and out. The boys really enjoyed using the high pressure water gun, they did an okay job. Still need a bit more practise though. We celebrated the boy’s attendance, by cooking up a chicken curry in our paella dish. We make a "top bunch lunch" every Monday for the boys who attended school at least 80% of the week prior and stayed out of trouble. The boys displayed their skills and determination across a variety of ball sports. Playing touch football, handball, basketball, ultimate frisbee and netball. Our Clontarf garden outside the room has been dominated by our chili bush. Hopefully we'll have some flowers sprouting soon. We'll look to work with the school's kitchen in the coming weeks to make a chili relish. We had our fourth visit to the return and earn, where the boys are cashing in bottles for the end of year sleep over. We have accumulated $49.20 currently. All money raised will be spent by the boys on food, drinks and entertainment.

Term 2 Week3

Straight after school on Tuesday afternoon nine of our junior Clontarf academy members took to the school oval to play a round of bucket golf. Same rules as golf only with larger balls and a soft nylon bucket. The boys quickly discovered that golf is harder than it looks. Some great drives, chips and puts were made. A good time was had by all.

The following day was the first day of our 3 day Year 7 and 8 Northwest Rugby League Carnival. We turned our morning training session into an opposed captains runs with some of the older boys helping out. Narrabri Clontarf are very proud to have hosted the Northwest regional carnival for the second year running. This year we saw all 6 academies in the region visit our hometown, including the latest addition to our region Tamworth High. We had a massive 110 students attend the camp. Which is more than double how many we had last year. The camp would not have been the success it was without the help of local supporters and partners of our academy. Thank you to Woolworths, Santos, Bunnings, Essential Energy, Narrabri Rotary Club, Narrabri Shire Council, Narrabri Showgrounds and NSW Police.

The carnival was a lot of fun. All teams played with Clontarf spirit. Some stand out performances from Narrabri Emus included Rydell, Jessie-James, Sonny and CJ. We are proud of all the boys for getting in and having a go. It was fitting to see Moree win the newly named Ed John Saunders trophy. The trophy is named after Ed who was an operations officer at Moree that sadly passed last year. Narrabri were unfortunate to lose in the grand final, for the second year in a row. Fingers crossed for 2026. Further thank you to Cody and Levi French and Lucas Summers-Lawler for being the referees on the day. Our Clontarf spirit award went to Sonny French for his actions on and off the field. Thursday night following the carnival we had a presentation and dinner at the Narrabri RSL. After which we returned to the school hall to watch the NSW women's state of origin team dominate QLD. The camp was capped off with a super morning training session involving all academies plus some local partners and supporters.

Whilst we were busy with the camp and carnival several senior Clontarf students attended the school's worksite visit to Essential Energy. They were taken for a tour around the depot and shown the equipment used by line-workers, storemen and other workers. A highlight of the day was harnessing students to give them a low altitude taste of what is involved in accessing problems on power poles and the logistics of hoisting equipment to where it is needed. Our thanks go to Craig, James and Damien at Essential Energy who gave up their time for us and provided a valuable insight into the electrical work involved in their industry.

Term 2 Week 2

For our first after school activity of the week the boys spent some time on the river trying their luck at fishing. Although not a single fish was caught, it was good fun relaxing outside with your mates. The mornings are getting fresher. Bit nippy on both Wednesday and Friday, however, we still continued our Years 7 and 8 rugby league training sessions in preparation for the up coming Northwest Rugby League Carnival. It's held here in Narrabri next Thursday(15th) at Cooma oval. We invite all parents, carers and supporters to get along and watch. Friendly reminder that the games are played with Clontarf spirit (fairly, kindly and without an emphasis on winning) we ask all supporters to also practice these behaviours. The Narrabri team is showing great progress and we hope to see all our boys competing.

Thursday after school 13 boys headed into the cooking room to prepare a delicious assortment of cakes and slices with Ms Bailey & Mrs Tomlinson for our Mother’s Day Morning Tea. They did a fantastic job, and the boys were looking forward to sharing their assortments with their family and teachers. Friday morning we had a great turn out from parents, partners and teaching staff. We are all raised and influenced by different people in our lives, but there is something special about the mothers and mother figures. Here's to all the mums, nans, aunties and women who help raise their boys. Hope you enjoyed Mother’s Day on Sunday and a big thank you from all of us at Narrabri Clontarf for coming out on Friday.

Term 2 Week 1

Welcome back to another busy term. Three of our boys represented Narrabri High & Clontarf in the ANZAC Day March in the holidays; the boys were spoken highly of their commitments as Army Cadets.

Started off with morning training on the first day back with 15 boys attending. The boys played a few little basketball skill and drills to warm up before playing a mass group game.

Friday, we started training for the Year 7 & 8 Rugby League carnival that Narrabri Clontarf will host on 15th May.

Afternoon activity was short & sweet, cleaned our garden out to plant flowers for Mother’s Day (I think we are a little slow). The boys enjoyed doing this to showcase what they have planted. So, for now, watch this space for some beautiful flowers to blossom.