Liberating Education

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

Student Leadership Opportunities

Developing leadership skills is an integral component of the educational experience offered at St Edward’s.  A variety of leadership opportunities are available to students in all year levels. Students are regularly encouraged to access these opportunities as a way of developing key skills such as public speaking, collaboration, critical thinking and problem solving. The various opportunities available include:

Leadership Portfolios

Included in the role of Prefect is the involvement in one of the College’s Leadership portfolios. These portfolios see teachers working with students in the organisation of a variety of activities that occur throughout the year. Students from all year groups are encouraged to become members of these portfolios. In doing so, they are able to develop excellent leadership qualities in organisation, public speaking and promotion. Students who aspire to a Prefect role at St Edward’s are required to have been a member of one of the portfolios throughout Years 10 and 11. The portfolios are: Spirituality, Liturgy and Social Justice; Culture Publicity and Social Events; Environment, Sport and Healthy Lifestyle; Literacy and Academia.

Year Group Leaders

Students in Years 8 to 11 can apply to be representative leaders for their Year group. Students can apply to their Pastoral Leaders to be considered for this role. These leadership roles are designed to foster the leadership capacity of younger members of the College community, providing them an opportunity to work with senior student leaders in implementing many of the portfolio initiatives.

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 that they can be. We look forward to witnessing the range of initiatives that they are planning to present to the community throughout the year.

Year 11 Max Potential Program

The Max Potential program is an initiative of Clubs NSW, which offers twenty-two weeks of personal leadership development, including coaching, to young leaders from schools, TAFE, University and the community to help them maximise their potential during the final years at school and beyond. Max Potential also encourages students to focus on the local community and ways that they can develop a program to serve the community.  Participants in this program are allocated a mentor, who guides them in the development, promotion and implementation of an initiative designed to assist members of the local community. This year we have two Year 11 students, William Lynch and Max Otewei participating in the program and I am sure that these boys will find the program to be challenging and rewarding, we wish them well.

William Lynch

Max Otewei

Completion of Waterford

One of the major aims of the College’s Waterford Project is to provide students in Years 8-11 the opportunity to develop leadership skills. Completion of these hours fosters in students an understanding of the servant leadership example of Jesus.

Application, Effort and Leadership

Students are encouraged to demonstrate leadership throughout their everyday school life. Students can lead by example in class, on retreats and camps, on the sporting field and excursions. This approach to leadership promotes the notion that “true leaders demonstrate leadership all the time”.

College Prefect

Students in Year 11 who aspire for leadership are encouraged to apply for a position of College Prefect. Year 11 students are elected to this role by staff and students and continue in the position until Term 3 of the HSC year. Students elected as Prefects provide wonderful service to the College community through: leading weekly assemblies, representing the College at important Religious and cultural community events, volunteering at Open Day and assisting in the organisation of College carnivals and discos. The role of College Prefect allows students to develop public speaking, leadership, organisation and promotional skills. Year 11 students must have demonstrated leadership potential through participation in a College Portfolio.

Year 12 Retreat

Year 12 students participated in their annual Retreat throughout Week 3. This thought-provoking experience is the culmination of the formation opportunities offered to the young men of St Edward’s. Students spent three days at the Edmund Rice Retreat Centre at Mulgoa and are provided with time to reflect on their values in relation to themselves, their relationships with others and on their sense of spirituality and relationship with God. The timing of the Retreat at this point of the year is intentional. Students are at the stage of their schooling when they are beginning to think and plan the remainder of the HSC year and their life beyond school. The workshops presented challenge the boys to think deeply about their time at St Edward’s and the type of young men that they hope to be when they leave St Edward’s. The experience also provides students with time to relax and recharge their batteries as they enter the final stages of the school life and the pressures of the HSC. A highlight of the retreat is the healing ceremony on the last night, in which students are asked to reflect on the theme ‘forgiveness is the virtue of the brave,” which is followed by a wonderful liturgy which is prepared by students. These meaningful celebrations bring together the themes of the retreat. The engagement of students in all the activities and their level of discussion regarding what they value to be important in their lives, reaffirms in me that they are becoming exactly the type of young men that we are proud to say are Eddies’ men. The depth of their discussions on topics such as relationships, gender equality, the values and qualities that are important to them, clearly affirms the great faith that I have in young people to deal with the challenges that we face in society today to create a better world for all.

I would like to Mr Paul Sullivan, Mr Tony Beacroft, Mrs Fran Palmer-Brown, Mr Eamonn McCauley, Ms Kaitlyn Abbott-Atchison, Ms Sarah Evans, Mr Pat Dell, Mr Alex Rozario, Ms Jodie Connor, Mr Nevin Odden and Ms Jessica Beagin for taking time away from their families to lead this retreat.

Year 12 Mid-Course Reports

The HSC Mid-Course reports were made available on the Parent Portal earlier in the week. The information provided on this report included a moderated accumulative assessment mark and rank to date in each course. Further feedback provided included student level of achievement of outcomes and importantly a comment by each teacher on progress made at this stage of the HSC year. This report provided the most accurate indication of how each student is performing in relation to the requirements of each course to date.

It was pleasing to read each student’s report to identify the many students who have performed at a very high standard either in an individual course or across the full breadth of subjects. It is important that all students take the time to read this report carefully and reflect on their effort so far. They are encouraged to seek further feedback from their teachers on how best to prepare for examinations and improve their understanding of the content and skills developed. Students wishing to continue to improve must make a true commitment to the establishment of a sustained program of revision.

Importantly all students must realise that in most of their courses the majority of their assessment marks are still to be determined. Their performance in the remaining assessment tasks and the Trial HSC Examinations will influence greatly on their result.

I wish all students the best of luck for the remainder of the year.