On Friday March 15, schools across the nation participated in events to promote the National Day of Action against Bullying and Violence. Senior students from the College delivered a moving presentation at our Friday assembly, highlighting the impact that bullying can have on young people.

As a Catholic community, we are experiencing a time of great distress due to the recent events involving the conviction of Cardinal George Pell our country’s most senior Catholic cleric. The verdict of guilt by the courts would no doubt raise great questions within our community, the wider community and across the nation.

We gathered as a community on Tuesday February 12 to celebrate the Commencement Mass to begin the school year. This important event provides the opportunity for us to unite in prayer for the year ahead, asking the Lord for guidance, courage and resilience in the pursuit of our own goals as individuals and as a community. Our theme for this celebration was ‘Be the best that you can be’. We have all been blessed by God with certain talents and gifts, and students were challenged throughout this celebration to use their talents to be the best of their ability.

would like to wish a warm welcome to all members of the St Edward’s community to the start of what will be an exciting 2019 school year. In particular, I would like to welcome all new families to our community. One hundred and ninety-two Year 7 students began their journey at St Edward’s last Thursday, and they were warmly welcomed by the whole school at an assembly on Friday.

St Edward’s College is in a unique position to make a clear statement advocating for changes in behaviours and attitudes in relation to domestic violence. With over eleven hundred boys and men attending the College each day, we have a great opportunity to educate, to listen, to learn about, to challenge sexist and abusive behaviour and to empower young men with knowledge on how to take action if they see violence happening.

Providing teaching and learning experiences that are authentic, relevant and engage students in their learning has provided the basis of much of our deliberations. Our work has been guided by the research of Professor John Hattie.