Enrolments are now open for Year 7, 2020 Our enrolment form is now available online, to enrol please use the link below: Enrol Now  

College Open Day - Saturday 9 March 2019 between 10 am and 2 pm. Families are invited to join student led tours of the College facilities and meet staff.

Be the best you can be. The College Commencement Mass was once again a special day for St Edward's. The students were reverent, respectful and prayerful throughout the ceremony presided over by Father Raphael the Parish Priest of Wyoming. Congratulations must go to all our brilliant musicians who performed at Mass. Our musicians were thoroughly prepared by Mr Toole, Mrs Emmett and Mr Droz. Their performances added so much to the prayerful atmosphere of the mass. Father Raphael spoke eloquently on this year’s theme “Be the best you can be.” Our College Principal, Mr Bonnici also spoke about this topic. All who heard these speakers would understand that the men of St Edward's College are expected to put their best effort into all they do. The students were also encouraged to use their gifts and talents to involve themselves in as many activities as possible. Thanks to all the parents and friends of the College who were able to attend on the day. Mr Beacroft Director of Mission and Identity   [smallgallery fooid="16674"]   [embed]https://youtu.be/9jt5JNTn3nU?rel=0&modestbranding=1[/embed]  

Year 11 Art has expanded to double the size of previous classes – testimony to the creative approach to learning that the boys have developed while at St Edward's. The current Year 11 class has been exploring the theme of 'Up Close and Personal' through the medium of the Portrait and have proven we have some very talented young artists in our midst. Students have been examining the work of portrait artists Ben Quilty and Joy Hester and their expressive style when painting faces. They chose a portrait to imitate, recreated it using the projector, then used charcoal to create deep shadows. White Conte chalk was then applied to create contrast, with pops of colour thrown in to make the eyes 'pop'. The final touch was coloured ink splatters applied so that they ran down the face, creating a strong visual impact. The results are exceptional! [smallgallery fooid="16835"]

National Art School HSC Intensive Studio Practice Scholarship Opportunity Each year, the National Art School invited all Year 11 students across Australia to participate in the HSC Intensive Studio Practice Course. This is a 9 day University developed NESA Board Endorsed Course that accepts only the best Visual Arts students in Australia to develop their HSC ideas, Portfolio and Body of Work using a variety of traditional workshops and tutorials. It is a “once in a lifetime” opportunity for Year 11 students to work within a prestigious centre for the Arts. The National Art School HSC Intensive Studio Practice Course will appear on the student’s HSC certificate as a one unit course but will not contribute to the student’s ATAR count. Should a Year 11 student be successful in their application, St Edward’s Visual Arts department will fund the course fees, making this a scholarship opportunity. St Edward’s has had several students chosen for this course in the past and it has helped enormously in the creation and completion of their HSC Body of Work. Please visit www.nas.edu.au for more information on the application process and please see Ms Evans with your intention to apply.

Friday 8 February saw the running of the 66th St Edward’s College Swimming Carnival at the Peninsula Leisure Centre Woy Woy. A bright, sunny day greeted our eager swimmers for what turned out to be a fantastic event. The senior boys embraced the colour and fanfare of the carnival, while the younger boys were enthusiastically involved in supporting their house colour. While the highlight of the day was watching the many talented swimmers we have at the College, it was also an opportunity to see the Year 12 boys embrace their last swimming carnival with colour, costumes and a variety of floatation devices crammed into their one heat approach to each event. Another year, another record for both Daniel McLoughlin (Doolan) and Jacob Curcio (Shanahan). Daniel set a new record in the Intermediate 200 m Freestyle of 2:04:53, funnily enough breaking Jacob’s previous mark from 2018. In the next race, it was Jacob’s turn to set a new record in the Senior 200 m Freestyle of 2:04:40. Later in the day Daniel also set a record in the Under 15’s, 50 m Backstroke of 30:25 seconds. The day also saw us crown our 2019 Age Champions: Age Group Age Champion House Under 12 Nate Vaughan Shanahan (Blue) Under 13 Kale Pauta Doolan (White) Under 14 Jayden Redfern Doolan (White) Under 15 Daniel McLoughlin Doolan (White) Under 16 Riley Marotta Knights (Green) Opens Jacob Curcio Shanahan (Blue)   Overall Doolan (White) House won the day on 1034 points, improving on their second placing last year. Shanahan (Blue) came in second on 972, followed by Spillane (Red) on 851 and Knights (Green) on 626. Many thanks to our fantastic staff for their tireless efforts on the day and their support in ensuring the carnival ran smoothly, thank you also to the many helpers who assisted with the set-up and pack-up of the carnival. Finally, I must congratulate all the students in attendance on their wonderful behaviour at the carnival. It was fantastic to speak to both the pool and café staff at the end of the day and have each of them comment on the pleasant and respectful behaviour of our boys. Well done to everyone on a great start to the sporting year.   [smallgallery fooid="16720"]     BBSSSA Swimming Event List 2019  

Upcoming in sport: Week Event Venue Date Week 4, Term 1 BBSSSA Opens Touch Football Doyalson Tuesday 19 February Week 5, Term 1 NSWCCC Triathlon Penrith International Regatta Centre Thursday 28 February (Individual Events) Friday 1 March (Team Events) NSWCCC Dates Term 1 Sport Closing Date Selection Date Under 19 Cricket 18/19 February (Week 4) Softball 26 February (Week 5) Triathlon (Individual) 20 February (Week 4) 28 February (Week 5) Triathlon (Team) 20 February (Week 4) Team entries completed by Mr Gentle Tennis (Individual) 25 February (Week 5) 4 March (Week 6) Baseball 5 March (Week 6) 12 March (Week 7) Volleyball 8 March (Week 6) 13 March (Week 7) Waterpolo 14 March (Week 7) 18 March (Week 8) Hockey 20 March (Week 8) 25 March (Week 9) Swimming (Long Distance) 22 March (Week 8) 5 April (Week 10) Diving 3 April (Week 10) 6 April (Week 10) Sailing (All Schools) Not Given 16-20 April (Holidays) Term 2 Sport Closing Date Selection Date Golf 29 April (Week 1) 6 May (Week 2) AFL North 3 May (Week 1) 8 May (Week 2) Rugby Union 3 May (Week 1) 6-7 May (Week 2)

For students who have completed a Metals and Engineering Certificate I or II PROK Conveyor Components Pty ltd (part of the Nepean Mining Group) is looking for students who have done a Pre-Apprenticeships/Pre-Training for the following: 1 x  Machining Apprentice 1 x Fabrication Apprentice 2 x Fitting Apprentices Contact:  Nick Jennings Operations Manager PROK Conveyor Components Pty Ltd 3 Gibbens Rd, West Gosford NSW 2250 Nick.jennings@prokcc.com P.  +61 2 4325 4433 www.prokcc.com Newcastle Apprenticeship Vacancy List 12 Feb 2019   Sydney Apprenticeship Vacancy List 12 Feb 2019   Central West Vacancy List 12 Feb 2019   Illawarra Vacancy List 12 Feb 2019   ACT Apprenticeship Vacancy List  12 Feb 2019   Australian Post Retail Opportunities   Jobs for Youth - Campbelltown and Bankstown 18 Feb and 11 Mar  

For those of you going into Year 11 or 12, that means setting up healthy habits and routines to make sure you can give your Preliminary or HSC Year your absolute best! To help prepare you for success, some resources and guides are below so that you can start this year off in the right headspace. Also available is a Kickstart Seminar at Newcastle University on Sunday 3 March 2019.   Click here for more information. The seminar is run by senior HSC markers and teachers, to give an insight into success in Year 11 and 12 subjects. Five Rules of Effective HSC Preparation   How to Prepare for HSC Assessments   HSC4ME    

Macquarie University has an exciting calendar of upcoming events and opportunities in 2019 to keep you inspired and informed. See the calendar below. Macquarie University Events  

PDF Copy of Letter  

The St Edward’s College mobile app is available for download from the Apple App Store and via Google Play for Android devices. St Edward’s College has a mobile app for both iPhone and Android devices.  The app is free and available for download from the Apple App Store or via Google Play for Android devices. Features: Notifications – this system allows instant communication and will feature messages including excursion return times, reminders and general information, users may select class tags to ensure they only get information relevant to their son/s or they may choose to receive all notifications. News – will show all news items featured on our Website Calendar – the calendar features our ‘new look’ calendar on the Website (please note that additional information is available eg permission notes and further details on dates with an arrow feature) Publications – featuring St Edward’s College Newsletters Galleries – featuring the photo galleries from the Website Contact – will enable contact via phone or email to the College Website – a direct link to the College Website Social – a direct link to the College social media applications Setting – will enable personal settings to be made including Notification settings Please click the links below to download the St Edward's College 'app'          

Families always develop shared language around the values that have strong meaning for them. If independence and self-sufficiency are important then it will be reflected in your family’s proprietary language. In fact, it’s through shared language that culture exists. If you are looking to building a culture of independence in your family (or in your classroom) then creating your proprietary language around independence is a great way to start. The following twelve examples of independence-building language and principles behind them that will help you create your own family’s language. “Never regularly do for a child the things a child can do for him or herself” Goal: Independence - This is perhaps the original parenting-for-independence manifesto, and it’s a philosophy that guides many teachers and parents today. In effect, this sentence means that wherever possible we give children the skills and competencies to look after themselves physically and emotionally. It requires a great deal of patience, time and courage from parents and teachers as the sentence is easier to say than put to put into practice. But it’s a worthy guiding principle that leads to self-sufficiency in children, and ultimately redundancy as parents. “Is this something you can do?” Goal: Self-help - Independence takes many forms but perhaps the most common is the development of self-help skills. The confidence, pride and, for most, sheer pleasure that kids doing the simple things for themselves such a toddler tying his shoelaces or a child making his own lunch is immeasurable. Yet it is so easily denied by well-meaning parents and adults who see it as their job to do everything for children. Independence begins at home with the development of self-help skills. “Have you checked the help roster today?” Goal: Contribution -  A great way to develop a sense of independence is to give kids opportunities to help out at home. There is no need to overburden children with jobs, but a sensible allocation of chores according to their age and study requirements is not only a great help to you, but fantastic training for them. It also builds accountability and a work ethic, both highly valued characteristics for continuing success at school and later in life. “Which of these two would you prefer?” Goal: Decision-making -  Parents as wise leaders need to call the shots on how the family life is conducted and health and welfare issues such as appropriate bed and bath times. Some things are not up for negotiation. But there are areas where parents can rightfully hand autonomy to children and say, ‘It’s your call!’ Choice of clothes, how they keep their bedroom, what they eat and who they play with are the types of decisions they can make. Naturally, this is age-related and you do need to have some influence on their choices. “How can you make this happen?” Goal: Problem-solving - Kids get used to bringing their problems to parents to solve. If you keeping solving them, they’ll keep bringing them. A problem-solving approach relies on asking good questions, which can be challenging if you are used to solving your child’s problems. The first question when a child brings you a problem should be: ‘Can you handle this on your own?’ Next should be, ‘What do you want me to do to help you solve the problem?’ These questions are not meant to deter children from coming to you; rather, to encourage and teach them to start working through their own concerns themselves. “We rely on you to do this?” Goal: Reliability - Reliability is closely connected to responsibility and other aspects of independence. Every child over the age of five, at the eldest, should do something that someone else relies on whether it’s looking after a pet, clearing the meal table or emptying the garbage on a regular basis. Having others rely on you has its challenges is a learning curve. They’ll inevitably forget to put the rubbish bins out on garbage night, meaning your bin will be overflowing for the next week. They’ll need to be reminded about feeding the pet or clearing the table. Kids inevitably won’t get things right, but that doesn’t mean we should stop giving them responsibilities. “What can you learn for next time?” Goal: Self-sufficiency - Learning from mistakes is part of the independence-building process for children. Often adult impatience or unwillingness to put up with errors prevents us from giving kids the chance to do things for themselves or take real responsibilities. If independence is to be a major part of your family’s culture then it’s imperative that we help kids learn from their mistakes whether social, behavioural or just messing up while helping out at home. “How do you feel about this?” Goal: Emotional intelligence - An often over-looked aspect of independence is the ability to self-manage your emotional state. Emotional self-management starts with the recognition of how you feel about a particular event or action and then labelling that feeling. If possible prompt to identify their emotions before they act on them. You can also revisit events and ask children about the feelings that may have lead to a certain behaviour such as hurting or yelling at a sibling. “When you muck up, you make up?” Goal: Accountability - Kids of all ages will make mistakes. In fact, mucking up is part of the learning process. But kids will just repeat their mistakes unless they experience the consequences of their decisions. The use of behavioural consequences is a way of teaching children to take greater responsibility for their lives and to learn to make smarter choices. “How will you fix this?” Goal: Restoring relationships - Independent kids are usually socially-smart kids who don’t operate in a bubble. They know that their behaviour impacts on others they are mindful of the thoughts, feelings and behaviours of others. They also make amends or restore relationships when their behaviour impacts negatively on others. Relationship restoration is a lifelong skill and involves the following: swallowing your pride, making up, giving something back, not holding a grudge and moving on. “You need to do what’s right, not what’s easy.” Goal: Integrity - A sense of integrity is important for a child’s independence because it’s the basis of reasoned and socially focused self-control and self-management. The job of parents is to move their children from ‘Me’ to ‘We’. Integrity is the great socialising agent for a child. They may get by without courage, endurance and grit but they won’t get far socially without integrity. “Let’s find a way to make this happen.” Goal: positive risk-taking - One of the ways to develop independence is to work with them to build their skills and abilities to safely navigate an ever-broadening environment outside of the relative safe confines of their home. Ideas include adults and kids doing things together such as catching public transport until they are ready to go it alone or with friends; and giving kids smaller freedoms that lead to bigger liberties such as allowing a young child to walk part of the way to school on their own and then extending the distance as they get more experience and feel more confident. Independence-building is vitally important for parents. It’s the pathway to children’s competency, confidence and creativity and the short cut to resilience and real learning. We’ve gradually retreated from this approach over recent generations much to our children’s detriment. It’s time to help kids reclaim their independence. Getting our language right is a good place to start as family change always begins with shared language.  

Personality strengths – our character – play a big role in helping us build our our talents. Think about anyone who has built a talent and imagine if it could have been done without character. Imagine Einstein without curiosity, The Beatles without creativity, Mother Teresa without compassion or Neil Armstrong without bravery. Yet for decades, scientists were blind to character strength. We focused on talent, often on physical strength and skills. In fact, when I first ask young children what they think a strength is, they almost always point to their biceps or talk about being able to lift something heavy. Once you get familiar with the language of strengths and a framework for seeing them, you’ll see character strengths easily in your child. In fact, you may find your child calls on their character strengths more often than on talent to meet life’s challenges. Three key elements of a strength You’ve probably seen a child joylessly perform at a piano recital. They may hit all the right keys, but there’s no energy or enthusiasm. It’s as if they don’t want to be there. On the flip side, we’ve seen the child onstage who’s clearly motivated and energised and who fearlessly flails through every mistake – of which there are many. It turns out that three elements come together to form a strength. For purposes of strength-based parenting, we need to keep our eye on all three: Performance (being good at something) - Watch for when your child shows above-age levels of achievement, rapid learning, and a repeated pattern of success. Energy (feeling good doing it)  - Strengths are self-reinforcing. The more we use them, the more we get from them. They fill us with vigour. You’ll notice your child has abundant energy when using a strength. High use (choosing to do it) -  Finally, look for what your child chooses to do in their spare time, how often they engage in a particular activity, and how they speak about that activity. For true strengths, these three elements form a beautiful feedback loop: great performance provides the child with a shot of high energy, so the child naturally chooses to do more. In turn, high use – also known as effort or practice – improves performance levels. So, for example, if you notice that your child is energised when they play the piano, and you provide enjoyable opportunities for them to play, if they’re mining a true strength they will likely practise more, which improves their performance, which then energises them … and so the loop continues. Keeping this triad in mind will help you avoid pushing your child into an area that seems like a strength just because your child is good at it. It will also help you differentiate between whether your child is bingeing on an activity in an escapist way or expressing a true strength. For example, when a parent asks me, ‘My son is great at computer games and wants to play all the time. Is that a sign of a strength?’ I reply, ‘Observe his energy levels at the end. Is he drained and cranky? Or energised and full of life? Are you seeing the full triad?’ Computer games can tap into a child’s strategic and problem-solving skills or stimulate creativity (in some games, you invent whole new worlds). Or they might just be about filling time. So look for all three signs. When you see your child do something well, with energy, and repeatedly, you’ll know you’ve unearthed a strength. Free Webinar Voucher - Switching on your Child's Strengths Click here to access Webinar Information To use voucher: Access above link Click 'Add to Cart' Click 'View Cart' Enter voucher code 'STRENGTHS' and click 'Apply' (Your discount of $37 will be applied to the order.  Voucher valid until 6 April 2019) Click 'Proceed to Checkout' Fill in your details (These are the details you will use to login to your account and access parenting material) Click 'Place Order'

There are several French students from Lycée Théas in Montauban (Years 10 – 11) who would love to come to St Edward’s for 6 - 8 weeks in June to August this year. This is a wonderful opportunity to host a French student and then go to France to experience life and school in France. It would only cost you your airfare, insurance and spending money. You do not need to be studying elective French. You also earn Waterford hours. Available for all students from Year 9 to Year 12. Please contact Mrs Papeix as soon as possible for more information. Merci! Email:   ppapeix@stedwards.nsw.edu.au