St Edward’s College won ‘Best School Garden’ in Gosford City Council’s annual competition in 1999, 2000 and again in 2009. All College grounds and facilities are maintained by our own maintenance and cleaning staff using College owned machinery and equipment.
The College’s outdoor facilities include:
- 1 rugby league/union oval
- 1 football/soccer combination oval
- 1 cricket oval with synthetic turf wicket
- 2 cricket training nets with synthetic turf wickets
- 2 outdoor asphalt basketball courts
- 2 long jump pits
- 2 concrete discus/shot-put circles
- Undercover tiered grandstand
- Shade structure for sport spectators
- Undercover bus shelter area
- Central quadrangle with 6 handball courts and shade structures for shelter
Having our College on the shore of Brisbane Water also means we have the benefit of offering many water sports. To improve the access to the Brisbane Water we have a floating pontoon/wharf which enables our students to enter the water past the mangroves.
College ovals are used by local sporting groups in both summer and winter. They are used for both training and season fixtures. The Edmund Rice Centre is also hired for special functions.
The College has water tanks to the capacity of 270,000 litres, which are used to irrigate our ovals as well as the bathroom area in the Dean building. We also have water tanks attached to the Brothers’ residence and the maintenance shed which are used to water gardens and clean equipment including College boats, canoes and windsurfers.
The College electricity is supplemented by 52 photovoltaic panels which will produce an average of 14 MW of power each year. The panel system has a monitoring program linked to the College computer network, this allows data to be collected from the grid which can be tracked by our teachers and students. By installing the panels the cost of electricity for the College is reduced, as well as reducing the College’s carbon footprint. An additional benefit is that our students will become more aware of the significance of renewable energy.
