Edmund Rice Education Australia Touchstones

Liberating Education

A Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition we challenge all to prophetic leadership within the school community and beyond

The College has introduced an opportunity for students in Years 8-11 to participate in a leadership role within the school with the introduction of a Leadership program titled “Be the Voice”. This program is an initiative of the Pastoral Team and is led by our Deputy Principal Mr Jay Sutton and Director of Pastoral Care Mr Paul English. The program is designed to provide an opportunity for students to establish a range of initiatives working alongside the Prefect Portfolio Leaders to raise community awareness about local and global issues facing society today.

Eight students from each year group were elected to participate in this program and their names are listed below. On Thursday February 18, the boys participated in a leadership day, which provided them an opportunity to explore the nature of leadership within the school context. Members of Central Coast Area Health were invited to facilitate aspects of this program to highlight some of the concerns faced by young people today.

These young men are to be congratulated on taking up the challenge of leadership in this role. In doing so, they are exemplifying a personal commitment to being the best they can be. We look forward to witnessing the range of initiatives that they are planning to present to the community throughout the year.

Season of Lent

On Wednesday February 17, we celebrated the beginning of the season of Lent with an Ash Wednesday Liturgy which, due to COVID restrictions, was presented in Homeroom. Ash Wednesday is one of the most important Holy days in the liturgical calendar. Ash Wednesday takes place forty-six days before Easter Sunday, and opens Lent, a season of fasting and prayer.

The concept of fasting promotes the notion of giving up something throughout the Lenten period. A focus of Lent at St Edward’s each year is to challenge members of our community to give up some of their time to help others. Students are encouraged to make a concerted effort to complete some of their Waterford hours, to give up some of their time and reconnect with their parish, to devote some time to pray for those that are disadvantaged, in need and at the margins of our society.  We will conclude the season of Lent with our Easter Liturgy on Thursday April 4.

Learning Hub

St Edward’s College maintains a strong commitment to offering a holistic and liberating education which caters for the diverse learning needs of students. We aim to do this by providing teaching and learning experiences that are authentic, relevant, rigorous and creative, serving the individual learning needs of each student. In keeping with this commitment, work has commenced on the next stage of the College Building Master Plan with the development of the College Learning Hub. The Learning Hub has been designed as a contemporary, flexible learning space to support quality teaching and learning in a variety of contexts. It is increasingly evident that we need to continue to explore a range of teaching strategies that best cater for the specific learning needs of students, in a safe and supportive environment. These strategies will be evidence based and implemented into practice in a manner which is tailored to the St Edward’s context. An environment in which students are guided and encouraged to take responsibility for their learning. The Learning Hub provides a facility, which allows the Diverse Learning Team to support teachers with the provision of a differentiated approach to teaching, learning and assessment in whole class settings, small groups and on an individual basis.

Year 6 Day in the Life at St Edward’s and College Open Day

The College will hold an Orientation Day – “A Day in the Life of St Eddies”, on Thursday March 4^th for prospective Year 7 2022 enrolments. A number of students from non-Catholic feeder schools will join the Year 6 boys from Catholic feeder schools and we are anticipating over two hundred and fifty boys on the day. The Orientation Experience will allow the boys to observe and participate in TAS, Visual Arts, Drama, Information Technology, Physical Education, Music and many other KLA’s the College has to offer. The College Open Day will be held on Saturday March 6^th from 10am to 2 pm. Due to the current restrictions placed on schools due to the COVID pandemic, places available for a tour are limited and any families wishing to attend must register via the following link: 2021 College Open Day Information and Registration

Farewell John Kershaw

On Friday February 26 we farewelled Mr John Kershaw from the St Edward’s College Teaching Staff. John has been a member of the College Technology and Applied Science Faculty for twenty-one years and has decided to leave teaching in a full-time capacity to focus on other areas of employment. We wish John and his family all the very best for the future.

Attendance

It is important that parents are aware of the legal responsibility related to their child’s attendance at school. The following information appears on the College website and outlines the legislation required for attendance. Further information is available at   Attendance Legislation

What to do When Your Child is Absent from School

• On the first day of the absence, contact the College office early in the day either by telephone, email (info@stedwards.nsw.edu.au) or SMS and state the reason for the absence and the likely date of your child’s return to school. Please do not delegate this responsibility unless circumstances prevent you from taking care of it personally.
• If you are unable to telephone, email or SMS the College on the first day of absence, a written note must be supplied upon your son’s return to school.
• If an extended absence or frequent absences are due to illness, the Principal may request a doctor’s certificate.
• The Principal is responsible for accepting or not accepting a parent/carer’s explanation for their child’s absence. If an explanation is not forthcoming or is not acceptable, the absence will be recorded as Unexplained or Unjustified. If after seven school days an explanation has not been provided, the absence will be recorded as Unexplained or Unjustified regardless of whether a subsequent explanation would have been acceptable to the Principal.
• If an unavoidable part-day absence is needed (eg a urgent medical, specialist or orthodontic appointment) the student’s Homeroom Teacher and Pastoral Leader must be informed in advance, preferably by a hand written note or email (info@stedwards.nsw.edu.au), from the parent/carer. Students granted permission to leave the College throughout the day must sign out at the front office with their signed note and they will be issued with a leave pass indicating the time they left the College. However, we ask that parents avoid making appointments for students during school hours as it is disruptive to their classes.