I take great pleasure in visiting classrooms on a regular basis to experience the wonderful opportunities provided to students to assist them in their learning. Recently I spent a morning visiting a range of classes to get a sense of a day in the life of students at St Edward’s. These visits provided me with a great sense of joy and pride that we are working hard to live up to the Touchstone, Liberating Education.

One of the key missions of the College is to foster the spiritual growth of all members of the community. Each year students who have not yet received the sacraments of Baptism, Confirmation or The Eucharist are invited to participate in a preparation process to receive these sacraments. It is always pleasing to see young men at St Edward’s make the conscious decision themselves to join the Catholic family by taking steps to receive these sacraments.

National Reconciliation Week (NRW) is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures and achievements, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. As an Edmund Rice School, we are committed to the achievement of authentic reconciliation, justice and equity through acknowledgement and practice of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander knowing.

Year 12 students participated in their annual Retreat throughout week 3. This thought-provoking experience, in some ways, is the culmination of the formation opportunities offered to the young men of St Edward’s. Students spend 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.

It is with great sadness that I share with the St Edward’s community the passing of Br Anthony Denis Cusack aged 91, on Tuesday April 23. Br Denis joined St Edward’s in 1993 and has served the Gosford community tirelessly in an administration support role until December 2018. Br Denis joined the Christian Brothers as a Juniorate in 1942, at the age of fourteen and became a Novitiate in 1945 at just seventeen years of age.

As a catholic school conducted in the traditions of Edmund Rice, it is important that we take time as a community to reflect on the important sacred stories that underpin our faith and our values. Easter and the sacred story of Jesus’ death and resurrection is the most important Christian festival that is celebrated with great passion.