Edmund Rice Education Australia Touchstone

 GOSPEL SPIRITUALITY

As an Edmund Rice Community, we are committed to providing formation experiences that nurture and encourage the spiritual growth of each person, through critical reflection, prayer, symbols, sacred stories, rituals and sacraments.

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. 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 man that they hope to be when they leave St Edward’s. The retreat also provide 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”, 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. I would like to thank Mrs Toomey, Mrs Pearson, Mrs Thomas, Mr Beacroft, Mr Gill, Mr McCauley, Mr Dell, Mr Beattie, Mr English and Mr Stockwell for giving up their time away from their families to lead this retreat.

Mother’s Day Liturgy

On Friday May 10, the Inaugural Mother’s Day Liturgy was held for Year 7 families. This marvellous celebration provided an opportunity for Year 7 students to show great gratitude to their mothers, grandmothers and carers. A key component of this liturgy were the presentations prepared by each of our Year 7 core classes, highlighting their love and affection for their mothers through prayers, poems, audio-visual presentations and song. The liturgy was followed by a morning tea for boys and their families. It was wonderful to see so many mothers, grandmothers and carers in attendance. The Liturgy was a great success and will be celebrated each year into the future. A special thanks to the Year 7 core teachers, Mrs Englund, Mrs McDonald, Mrs Robinson, Mrs Pearson, Mr English, Mr Steele and Mr Sullivan and the College’s Director of Mission and Identity Mr Beacroft for their work with the boys in organising this event.

NAPLAN

The National Assessment Program in Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) was conducted in Years 7 and 9 throughout weeks 3 and 4. For the first time this assessment was conducted completely on-line and despite the stories reported in the media regarding technical glitches, it is pleasing to say that students at St Edward’s experienced very few minor time-outs, which were seamlessly rectified. The smooth implementation of NAPLAN online, can largely be accredited to the extensive trialling process conducted by the College’s Director of Teaching and Learning, Mrs Murdoch, supported by our very professional Information Services Team. Information obtained from these assessments provide feedback on how students are performing in the areas of literacy and numeracy and are used by teachers at St Edward’s to inform teaching and support student learning. The results of student performance support internal assessment conducted by teachers and are used to inform our whole school plan to bring about improvement in these learning domains.

Year 12 Mid-Course Reports

The HSC Mid-Course reports were made available on the Parent Portal last week. The information provided on this report includes an accumulative assessment mark and rank to date in each course. Further feedback provided includes 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 provides 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 and 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.