Last Friday Jack Spedding, Harry Mitchell, Kaelan Markey, Finn Leary and Eli Lear completed the Sacramental program by receiving their sacraments at St Patrick’s Church. In a beautiful ceremony presided over by Father Greg, they were joined by their families and classmates to make a firm commitment to the Catholic Faith. They had been attending special classes in preparation for the sacramental Mass and the culmination of these classes was to receive the sacraments. During Mass certificates were presented to the students in acknowledgement of this significant achievement. Thanks to the host of teachers and students who help make this event such a special occasion. [smallgallery fooid="19986"]

A bright, warm sunny day greeted competitors for the College Athletics Carnival on Tuesday 11 June at Adcock Park. The warm weather had continued on from the long weekend and it certainly delivered for the carnival. Smiling faces from both staff and students graced the morning. Mr Herringe and the Year 12’s had the BBQ cranking, while ‘Snow Cone Gary’ was busy making coffee’s for staff and snow cones for the boys. The day began with the 1500 m races, into the 200 m races as we waited for all the staff and students to arrive at Adcock Park. On arrival, the carnival proper began with students moving from event to event in their age groups. Participation and having fun, was the order of the day and this was definitely adopted by the boys. The younger age groups participated with much enthusiasm and the senior boys backed this up with colour, costumes and a lot of fun. Along the way we collected some fantastic individual achievements. With the following records being broken: Record Holder Event House Time/Distance Jay Clarke Under 12, 100 m Red 13.30 sec Jay Clarke Under 12, 200 m Red 28.19 sec Callum Sutton Opens Discus Red 48.34 m Ethan Short Opens Javelin Blue 48.30 m At Friday’s assembly we also crowned the following Age Groups Champions: Under 12 Place Student House Points 1st Jay Clarke Red 55 2nd Keanu Wells Green 43 3rd Cameron Day Flynn McHale Blue White 15 15 Under 13 Place Student House Points 1st Lincoln Markulin Chris Rae Green Green 30 30 2nd Riley Scott Green 18 3rd Jimmy Stuart Blue 16 Under 14 Place Student House Points 1st Tyrone Dorrell Green 36 2nd Noah Nakagawa Red 29 3rd Cooper Notley White 23 Under 15 Place Student House Points 1st Jai Adrichem Toby Armstrong Hayden Maher Red Blue Green 20 20 20 2nd Parker Robinson Blue 15 3rd Tommo Peters Green 13 Under 16 Place Student House Points 1st Cameron Steer White 30 2nd Daniel Peters Green 21 3rd Tymana Henry Sam Norris Blue Blue 15 15 Opens Place Student House Points 1st Ethan Short Blue 46 2nd Luke Jacobs Blue 38 3rd James Rigas Blue 28 At the end of the day, as everyone returned to the velodrome to watch the 100 m finals and the house relays – the race for the Champion House was still close. Eventually the results were: Knights (Green)  with 1381 points Shanahan (Blue) with 1329 points Doolan (White) with 1027 points Spillane (Red) with 998 points A big thank you to the staff for their effort and enthusiasm in making the carnival run smoothly and also, the boys who are to be commended on their fantastic behaviour and overall involvement in the day. [smallgallery fooid="19741"]

The College Founder's Day Mass was once again a special day for St Edward's. The students were reverent, respectful and prayerful throughout the ceremony. Mass was presided over by Father Greg the Parish Priest of East Gosford. Congratulations must go to all our brilliant musicians who performed at Mass.  Students in the band were thoroughly prepared by Mr Toole, Mrs Emmett and Mr Drozdzewski. Their performances added so much to the prayerful atmosphere of the mass. The tradition of recognising long serving staff continued at the conclusion of Mass, with fifteen staff receiving awards for their long years of service to the College. Mr Bonnici made special mention of Mr Drozdzewski for his wonderful 40 years of service at the College. Thanks to all the parents and friends of the College who were able to attend on the day. A big thank you to all that contributed to this wonderful community celebration. Mr Beacroft Director of Mission and Identity   [smallgallery fooid="18957"]   [embed]https://youtu.be/Qg_zZLCjlfU[/embed]  

The tradition of sharing our Holy Week celebration with St Joseph’s to remember the significance of Easter continued this year. Once again the ERC was packed with students, staff and parents from both Colleges. This was a solemn ceremony of prayer, song, and drama. The Passion of Christ is followed by witnessing the Stations of the Cross. Our Year 10 students were outstanding in presenting the final days of Jesus. The students from St Joseph’s performed a liturgical dance which was reverent and performed to the highest standard. The musicians on the day, under the guidance of the music staffs from both Colleges produced brilliant performances and created a great atmosphere in the ERC. Congratulations to all the students who prepared so thoroughly for this wonderful community event. For the first time a student delivered a personal testimony of their faith. Ashley Palupe’s spoken word piece was outstanding and had a profound impact on the gathered audience. A final thank you to all who contributed to the most important liturgical event on the Christian calendar especially Mrs Green who did such a wonderful job coordinating the liturgy. Mr Beacroft Director of Mission and Identity   [smallgallery fooid="18875"]   Musical Performances from St Edward's Students [embed]https://youtu.be/7WbaEgg9NOM[/embed]   Ashleigh Palupe - His Name is Jesus [embed]https://youtu.be/LLNISCna6Rs[/embed]

On Wednesday we left around 9.00 to travel to a new camp:  Nepean Adventure Centre at Douglas Park. The boys were extremely excited and praying for fine weather which came to fruition and all activities went ahead.  Some of activities included the giant swing, kayaking down the Nepean River, zorb balls and challenge nights in the evenings. The students were exceptional in their behaviour and attitude and it was a pleasure to spend the three days watching them respond so well to the challenges they faced both individually and as a team.  I would like to thank the teachers who assisted me on camp giving up time with their families to participate in helping these boys have such a positive experience. Wendy Taylor Year 9 Pastoral Leader   [smallgallery fooid="18521"]

The Year 7 Camp was filled with lots of high-flying fun and adventure. The focus of the camp was for everyone to belong and encourage each other, and this was on display throughout our time away. Boys revelled in the challenges of abseiling, flying fox, raft building, archery, bushwalking and even got the chance to try fencing. Fears were conquered and friendships were formed, so all-in-all it was a successful camp. Thank you to the students for their behaviour and to the teachers for their time and service. [smallgallery fooid="18622"]

Great Aussie Bush Camp, Tea Gardens A wet but a defining experience for the Year 8 boys, it was evident within this group that a number of students missed the comforts of home, however, credit to them for seeing the three days through and I believe growing in the process. Food was abundant and activities varied, there were high ropes, orienteering, the crate climb, canoeing, abseiling, kayaking, Lost Island and raft building for the boys to hone their skills on. A great three days where Year 8 had the opportunity to step outside their comfort zone.   [smallgallery fooid="18355"]

Parent/Teacher Interviews for Term 2 will be held on two afternoons/evenings, Wednesday 1 May  (Week 1) and Thursday 9 May (Week 2). These two afternoons/evenings will be for all year groups and will be a good opportunity for parents and staff to meet and discuss the progress of students.  It will be a good opportunity for parents of Year 12 students to discuss the mid-course assessment results, and for parents of students in Years 7-11 to discuss the interim reports that will be made available on the College portal before the end of Term 1. Parents will be able to book on either of the afternoons/evenings that suit. Please note that interviews will commence at 2.30 pm and conclude at 7.30 pm with a staggered dinner break for staff during the evening. Interviews will be of 5 minutes duration. The Parent/Teacher interview bookings are managed with an internet-based booking system called Parent Teacher On-Line (PTO). It will save time for parents, staff and students. Using this system you will be able to book the interview times that suit you best. Access to the system will be available from Wednesday 10 April at 7.00 pm and will be closed off for bookings the day before interviews.   Please follow these steps to access the system: Click here go to the PTO website Click on “Obtain PIN/Password” (you will need to supply your email address) Enter your email address and click on "Send Email" Check your email in-box for your login details or click on the link in the email Go back to the PTO website, login with the details supplied via email Follow the online instructions to complete the bookings. Please note that in Step 1 of the booking process you will need to select the start date and time by scrolling through the drop-down menu until you reach your desired start time. For additional information please click on the link below Additional Information | pdf   If you encounter any problems using PTO please contact the school office on 4321 6400.