PHONE: (02) 4321 6400 Enrolments
Principal’s Message
15.07.20

Edmund Rice Education Australia Touchstone

As a Catholic School in the Edmund Rice tradition we are committed to serving the individual needs of each person, providing teaching and learning experiences that are authentic, relevant, rigorous and creative.

What wonderful learnings we have had from responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

We are continuing to respond to the constantly changing landscape as a result of the COVID-19 pandemic. The adversity that we have faced within our community throughout this year have not been experienced in our lifetime. Although it has been very challenging, we are continually working hard to ensure we are learning from the experience from a teaching, learning and operational perspective. I am extremely proud of the way our community, staff and students have worked together in these difficult circumstances. We are back face-to-face teaching and it is so pleasing to see how the boys have responded. I thank parents for your ongoing support and patience throughout the first semester.  The restrictions in place are forcing us to rethink the important ceremonies that we would traditionally hold in the remainder of the year. We are not permitted to invite parents on site at this stage, so events such as information nights, awards ceremonies, Year 12 Graduation Masses and Formal are all being planned according to the restrictions currently in place, with additional plans in the event that the restrictions continue to tighten. We will continue to keep parents informed of our plans as they unfold.

Our focus continues to be on ensuring that we are providing the best possible learning experiences for our boys. We have learnt a great deal from the Home-Based Learning experience on how to best use technology in our teaching practice. Teachers are continuing to provide rich and engaging learning experiences using a combination of contemporary teaching practice and our CANVAS platform and I encourage parents to engage in conversations with their son about how their learning is progressing.

 

Year 7 using new whiteboard desks

Mr English’s Year 7 class

 

Parents of boys in Years 7-10 will be provided with their Semester One reports throughout next week, and this will provide important feedback to parents on their son’s level of achievement in terms of a grade, an indication of application and effort in relation to the Code for Learning and a teacher comment. We will be following this up in the coming weeks by inviting parents to participate in an online learning conference with your son and his teachers. Detail regarding the organisation of these sessions will be provided in the coming weeks.

Staff Development Day

Our recent staff development day provided an opportunity for staff to engage in a process of reflection on the learnings from the Home-Based Learning experience, individually, in faculties and then as a whole staff. We are excited about the potential that this experience has created in redefining some of our practices in the classroom and the way in which we work together as a community. Our discussions have provided impetus for further research into best practice around our timetable, our lesson structure, effective use of our meeting time, and how we can continue to promote independence in our boys in relation to their learning. We will continue to discern on the feedback received and look forward to sharing with our community some of the key learnings of the day.

Staff Development Day

Staff artwork

 

Year 12 HSC Trial Examinations

Year 12 students will be sitting their Trial HSC Examinations from Monday August 17th until Monday August 31st. These examinations contribute significantly to the final Higher School Certificate Assessment mark that is submitted to the NSW Education Standards Authority (NESA). All Year 12 students are encouraged to establish a structured revision program in consultation with their teachers to best prepare themselves for these examinations. The examination timetable is available on the Student Portal and below. I would like to wish all of Year 12 the very best of luck in these examinations.