Students have been learning about and sharing ideas regarding the best ways to achieve Peace.  This is in response to current and ongoing despair, hatred, violence and racism that many people around our world experience. Students at St Edward's have been able to share their own story and journey of some of these elements and many boys have displayed great heart, spirit, compassion and empathy for people who suffer. Well done boys. Poster Competition Boys in Years 7 to 11 who enter the competition will earn 2 Waterford hours. Posters may be completed during Religion classes or at home. Instructions: Design a placard or poster for peace, your aim is to create a unique message of hope and optimism for our world. Your poster must: be submitted as an A4 hard copy by Friday Week 9 be hand drawn or created on computer be submitted to Mr Dell include your name, year group and your Religion teacher’s name on the back Prizes Include: Canteen Vouchers Signed Mariners shirts

Annual Homeless Sleepout for Waterford Hours Due to the current restrictions, this year's Homeless Sleepout will be a little different. See details below: When:  Sunday 28 June 2020 Donation:  $10 minimum to Coast Shelter Waterford Hours:  10 Time:  8.00 pm on Sunday 28 June to 6.00 am on Monday 29 June Purpose:  To raise much needed funds to assist Coast Shelter How to Participate: Sleep in a room other than your usual bedroom eg a corridor Sleep in a sleeping bag on a roll mat (no mattress) No food to be consumed between 8.00 pm and 6.00 am No technology, including music between 8.00 pm and 6.00 am Parents to sign Waterford Summary sheet and state donated amount For more information please contact Mr Dell on 43216439.  

To say that 2020 has been a challenging year thus far would be somewhat of an understatement. Towards the end of Term 1, we were unfortunately hit with a burst hot water system from the canteen area which filled our entire music and drama departments with about 6 inches of water. Everything from our classrooms, the practice rooms, and the theatre, was affected. Miraculously due to the efforts of our maintenance team (and some instrument saving guitar stands), we came out of the flood with only a couple of power boards being damaged.   To their credit, our boys rolled with the punches and adjusted quite well to being relocated in the ERC foyer for a few weeks. Lessons were still able to take place (minus a few instruments), through our online theory and composition lessons. Little did we know that less than a couple of weeks later we would be again asked to go into online lessons due to the global pandemic. Six weeks and a holiday break certainly tested our ability to communicate and continue our music courses for all year groups. Once again, our students stood up and were able to embrace the technology and even demonstrated newfound skills in recording and arranging their own individual performances. Our HSC class has also barely skipped a beat in their journey toward another successful year for our faculty. This is a very stressful year at the best of times, so to come out the latter end of it with continued focus and rigour is a testimony to their strength of character as a group. We wish them the very best of luck for their upcoming trials and exams.   [smallgallery fooid="25553"]   The efforts and resilience of our music faculty cannot be overemphasised, the creativity and commitment to learning was displayed in an extraordinary manner. Prior to these obstacles we were well into the rehearsal of a combined musical with St Joseph’s College, ‘Clash at Titan High’. This musical has obviously had to be re-imagined and will now take place in Week 5 of Term 1 2021, either as a filmed event or a live performance dependent on the restrictions we face at this future time. I would like to applaud the continued dedication of our show director, Jo Emmett, who together with our Drama Coordinator, Jodie Connor and Sue Lockwood from St Joseph’s, have been providing Zoom rehearsals for the actors involved. Our musicians are also commencing small group rehearsals to attempt to keep moving forward to what should be a wonderful show. Finally, I would like to thank our parent body for their patience and assistance with the challenges which have come our way. The messages of support and offers of assistance have been truly heartening. Let’s hope the rest of this year is a little smoother so we can gradually move back to some form of routine and familiarity in our learning. The following video is a snapshot of some of the amazing efforts and resourcefulness of our talented music students. [embed]https://youtu.be/4NLuh8R45ec[/embed]

One of the good things to come out of Covid-19 has been the development of St Edward’s College Television (SECTV). Due to the restriction of not being able to gather as a College community, an innovative solution was needed for our whole school assemblies. Enter SECTV. Students from Year 11 Screen and Media produced the first edition on Friday 5 June, together with the College prefects led by Captain Jackson Robb who presented. This new format allowed our roving prefect reporters to interview long serving staff members to celebrate their service to the College. A huge thanks to our ICT department for making SECTV happen, with special thanks to Bret Clayton for sharing his knowledge of OBS with the Screen and Media students. Stay tuned for future productions.   [embed]https://youtu.be/6W8RyM3alRE[/embed]

School Sport Australia (SSA) The Board of School Sport Australia (SSA) has decided that due to the COVID-19 outbreak and subsequent restriction on school sport programs, all SSA Championships for the rest of the year are cancelled. This includes: 14 Years and Under Boys and Girls Australian Football - Darwin, NT - 8 to 15 August Combined (12 Years & Under and 18 Years & Under) Boys and Girls Basketball - Bendigo, Vic - 15 to 21 August 10 to 19 Years Boys and Girls Cross Country - Adelaide, SA - 21 to 24 August 10 to 19 Boys and Girls Years Diving - Brisbane, Qld - 21 to 27 November 16 Years & Under Boys Football - Sydney, NSW - 13 to 18 September 18 Years & Under Boys and Girls Golf - Bellarine Peninsula, Vic - 23 to 28 August 12 Years & Under Boys and Girls Hockey - Canberra, ACT - 16 to 21 August 16 Years & Under Boys and Girls Hockey - Hobart, Tas - 1 to 8 August 13 to 19 Years Boys and Girls Swimming - Brisbane, Qld - 5 to 9 August 15 Years & Under) Boys and Girls Touch Football - Wagga Wagga, NSW - 1 to 6 November 15 Years & Under Boys and Girls Volleyball - Brisbane, Qld - 15 to 21 August CSNSW (CCC) Sport: Please continue to monitor the CSNSW sport website for updates and the most current information regarding suspended events. Refunds will be processed as soon as possible from the Catholic Schools Office for all NSWCCC Sports that have been paid. A few parents have emailed, but if you could update the parents whose children have been selected in our events (Touch and Rugby League) I would appreciate it. NSWCCC have suspended events up until 12 June 2020, including the NSWCCC Football Championships at Valentine Park. We are also currently suspending: NSWCCC Junior Basketball Championships NSWCCC Open Basketball Championships NSWCCC Knockout Football CSNSW Sport Website   Broken Bay (BBSSSA) Sport: All Broken Bay Secondary Sport events in Term 2 are suspended, with the hope that we can reschedule some for later in the year. Broken Bay will not make any decisions regarding Term 3 sport until there is a more accurate understanding of the COVID-19 situation. Term 2 BBSSSA Events  

Watch Diocese of Broken Bay Study and Careers Pathways – Online Virtual Talks with higher education providers and employers. Study and Careers Pathways DBB   Interested in Pathology as a career?  See the video below for more information.   [embed]https://youtu.be/l6fFLG8OHYs[/embed]     Australian Signals Directorate opportunities, work experience and support programs ASD Outreach Newsletter - Issue 01   TAFE NSW Information and Links   Click Here to Register for the Expo TVET Brochure   Scholarships - TAFE NSW     https://www.stedwards.nsw.edu.au/curriculum-learning/careers-and-vocational-education/careers-news/

To support your son in developing a greater sense of responsibility for his learning, the structure of parent-teacher meetings at St Edward’s has changed. These meetings are now called Learning Conferences and it will be compulsory for students to attend all scheduled meetings with their parents. Please note that Learning Conferences will not go ahead without parent/s being present. Students will be expected to take an active role in leading their parents and teachers through a reflection on their learning in that subject. This reflection must be completed for each subject prior to the meeting. The student, parents and teachers will then discuss some learning goals as they approach the Trial HSC Examination and strategies to address areas of challenge and achieve learning growth. It will also be a good opportunity to discuss the Mid-Course Report that was published to the Parent/Student portal last week. With the current COVID-19 restrictions, parents are currently not allowed to be onsite for Student/Parent/Teacher conferences. Therefore, these Conferences for Term 2 will be held online as a Microsoft Teams meeting. These Conferences will be held on Tuesday 16th June (Week 8) and Wednesday 24th June (Week 9). They will be for Year 12 only and they will be a good opportunity for students, parents and staff to meet to discuss the progress of students. Parents will be able to book appointments for either of the evenings that suit.  Please note that conferences will commence at 3:30 pm and conclude at 7:00 pm.  All interviews will be of ten (10) minutes duration. The Student/Parent/Teacher conference 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 conference times that suit you best. Access to the system will be available from Wednesday 10th June at 7.00 pm and will be closed off for bookings the day before interviews. If you encounter any problems using PTO, please contact the school office on 4321 6400. 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  

The last few months has certainly been a test of young person’s emotional smarts. The ups and downs of the COVID-19 experience continues to play on the emotions of all us, but for adolescence who are going through a period of brain development, this can be a particularly tricky time. Fortunately, parents are in a wonderful position to assist and in doing so develop emotional smarts in their young people. The following strategies will help: Talk Openly About Feelings Your young person will benefit from being around adults who talk about their own emotions and feelings rather than ignoring or bottling things up. A focus on emotions builds their vocabulary and also gives them permission to do the same. Talk about the emotional impact that daily events such have on you Ask them how they feel or react emotionally to things that happen to them Use specific terms for feelings such as ‘irritated’, ‘nervous’, ‘tense’, ‘annoyed’ Build Awareness of the Triggers Your young person may experience mood swings due to the changes occurring in both their body and brain as well as the changes COVID-19 brings. They may feel confused and even fearful of their reactions. Help your young person recognise the situations and events that trigger different emotions. Your young person may be aware that returning to school, for example, may make them nervous but they may not realise that they become annoyed when they’re told to do something rather than when they are asked. Discuss trigger events and moments with your young person Make a list of trigger moments to help him prepare for them Develop plans to better manage emotions before they spiral out of control Encourage Journaling Young people often have difficulty internally processing many of the events that happen during the course of day, leading to confusion and worry. Encourage them to keep a daily diary or journal so they can make better sense of events and situations that impact on them emotionally. Getting their thoughts and emotions down on paper helps them gain clarity, gain control of their emotions and build better mental health. Writing thoughts and worries down prevents constant rumination, which often leads to catastrophising. Give your young person the privacy needed for journaling Remind them that posting on social media is different to journaling Share with your young person how you process your thoughts and emotions in healthy ways Differentiate Between Feelings and Mood Adolescence can be a confusing time, particularly when they’re changing from primary school to secondary school. Feelings of confusion and self-doubt can seem like constant companions. Help your young person understand the difference between mood and feelings. A mood can stay for a long time – days and weeks – and is impacted by the lifestyle factors such as sleep, diet and exercise. Feelings are fleeting. They come and they go. They are easily shifted with simple tools such as breathing, visualisation and distraction. Accepting Discomfort We naturally want to feel happy and content, however life is never that simple. Your young person is more than likely learning to come to terms with that. Help them feel comfortable with unpleasant feelings such as sadness, disappointment, jealousy and frustration. Let them know that there are behaviours that can’t be tolerated such as aggression and hurting others, but there is nothing so bad that they can’t talk about it. Introduce them to healthy coping skills they can use to make uncomfortable situations more tolerable. These include: Humour: having a laugh or finding a funny side is a great coping strategy Normalisation: understanding that you are not the only person experiencing something helps to rationalise thinking Distraction: taking a break from a situation if only for a short time is very therapeutic Compartmentalisation: stopping an event infecting all areas of life is a wonderful coping skill Goal-setting: finding solutions to problems and taking the first steps needed to reach them creates a sense of hope and momentum Emotional intelligence is a skill that grows over time. It’s like working out at the gym – those muscles will take time to build. Similarly, those emotional muscles will take some time to grow stronger. They may need time to talk about and explore their feelings, and become more accustomed to experiencing feelings, even those that make them feel uncomfortable.