Edmund Rice Education Australia Touchstones

Gospel Spirituality

As an Edmund Rice Community, we continue the work of the Christian Brothers by calling its school community to play a prophetic role in the mission of the Catholic Church.

Mass for the Bicentenary of Catholic Education in Australia

The year 2021 marks the bicentenary of Catholic Education in Australia. On Monday May 24, Father Paul from East Gosford Parish celebrated Mass in the Edmund Rice Centre with staff and students from St Patrick’s Primary School, St Joseph’s Catholic College and St Edward’s College to commemorate the long and proud tradition of Catholic Schools in delivering a high-quality, faith-based, holistic education to the young people in our care.

The bicentenary is an opportunity to celebrate those who have served in Catholic education since its earliest days, the contribution of religious institutes, clergy and lay people in the foundation of schools throughout our nation but particularly within our own region in Broken Bay.

As we celebrate this significant milestone, we must take great pride in all that has been achieved and look ahead to identify how we can continue to grow and deliver an excellent standard of Catholic schooling for generations of young people to come. We must continue to challenge ourselves to serve our students in the provision of a faith-based education, which challenges, nurtures and inspires them to be the best they can be, developing the necessary knowledge skills and understandings that will empower them to create a better world for all.

We must look deep into the eyes of the young people in our schools and have great faith in their capacity to develop empathy, compassion and sense of moral purpose to reach out to their brothers and sisters who are in need. These Gospel messages which are clearly articulated in the story of Jesus, must continue to be at the heart of our mission and all we do in our schools.

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Justice and Solidarity

As an Edmund Rice Community, we are committed to working with and walking alongside the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples of Australia, advocating justice and promoting reconciliation.

National Reconciliation Week

As a member of the Edmund Rice Education Australia schools’ network, St Edward’s offers a liberating education based upon a Gospel spirituality, within an inclusive community committed to justice and solidarity. The values that underpin the Touchstones of Edmund Rice schools provide a blueprint that establishes our direction and defines our goals, ensuring that we follow the vision of Blessed Edmund Rice as we seek to make the Gospel a living reality within our community.

In line with this vision, St Edward’s has made a commitment to live out the message of love and inclusion, particularly regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, refugees, people of other faiths, sexual orientation and gender.

St Edward’s has made a commitment to reconciliation through the establishment of our first Reconciliation Action Plan which is a formal acknowledgement of this commitment.  The plan is aspirational and designed to challenge our community, providing guidance as we walk alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in our nation’s journey towards reconciliation. The plan was developed through a process of consultation between the St Edward’s Reconciliation Action Plan committee and members of the local Aboriginal Community. In establishing this plan, we acknowledge the harm that has been done to Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples throughout our history and all that has resulted, including the Stolen Generation. For this, we are truly sorry.

Importantly St Edward’s acknowledges the strengths and resilience shown by Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, cultures and communities in the face of discrimination, and we aim to celebrate the continued significance of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander contributions in shaping a shared sense of national unity and identity.

We acknowledge Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples as the Traditional Owners of the land on which our school is situated and we respect and honour Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Elders past, present and emerging. We acknowledge the stories, traditions and living cultures of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples on this land and commit to building a brighter future together.

Thursday May 27 marks the commencement of Reconciliation Week which was acknowledged at St Edward’s with a special assembly for the whole community. A range of activities have been planned throughout the week to raise awareness of staff and students throughout our community of the important role that we all play in our nations journey towards reconciliation.

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Zachary Knight Performs at the Reconciliation Assembly

Click the image to view the College Reconciliation Action Plan:

Staff Development Day Friday June 11

A Staff Development Day has been scheduled for Friday June 11 to provide St Edward’s staff with the opportunity to participate in professional learning opportunities in two key areas associated with the College’s Strategic Improvement Plan. The major focus of the day are the topics of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander Reconciliation and Student Learning Growth.

At this staff day, teachers will be devoting time to their own professional learning about reconciliation with a view to developing rich and engaging learning opportunities for our boys to raise their awareness about the important role that we all play in walking alongside Aboriginal and Torres Strait islander people in our country’s journey towards reconciliation.

The St Edward’s teaching staff maintain a strong commitment to ensuring that we provide our boys with innovative, technologically rich learning opportunities they are based on best practice.  One of our key focus areas of the College’s Aspiration Statement is aligned with learning growth for each student. Part of this day will be devoted to analysing and developing new strategies that are designed to extend boys learning specific to their own learning needs.