Thank you to our parents for your ongoing support for Waterford, especially in these challenging times. Please ensure that your son completes or continues to work towards completion of Waterford,  (minimum of 15 hours) which is due at the end of Term 3. The virtual Homeless Sleepout was successful on Sunday evening, with many boys completing the Sleepout and raising funds for Coast Shelter. A further reminder of some possibilities to complete the Waterford program: Virtual Homeless Sleepout:  Can be completed during the holidays, if your son missed the opportunity on Sunday evening. Fill-A-Bag:  See below for more details Kenya Walk, Run, Cycle, Swim, Surf, Skate:  To raise money for the Christian Brothers Mission in Kenya, which focuses on education and pastoral care for young people, their families and communities. Students receive 1 Waterford hour for every $5 they raise, while completing these activities. At Home: Jobs assisting siblings ( eg babysitting, reading, teaching skills in music, sports etc) or assisting neighbours and elderly family members (eg even by regularly communicating with them). Sports/Activities Clubs:  With the recommencement of these facilities, duties include coaching, and assisting younger teams, as well as set-up of venues and canteen duties. Parish/Church Participation: Altar serving, working B’s, music ministry, reading at Mass etc. The Waterford Summary Sheet can be found below and on the College website, if your son has lost his hard copy and requires a new one. Students are encouraged to aim high and achieve 100 hours of service for others, to receive Edmund Rice Honours at the end of the school year. Please contact Pat Dell on 4321 6439 if you have any questions. Fill a bag and earn one Waterford hour: Fill a bag with clothes for Coast Shelter, St Vincent de Paul or Salvation Army Fill a bag with food for Coast Shelter Fill a bag with rubbish you have collected from a beach, park or waterway Parents to sign Waterford summary sheet. Fill Return and Earn Bag and earn two Waterford hours: Obtain an orange bag from Mr Gentle and return to Mrs Beynon who will sign your Waterford summary sheet Fill a bag of soft plastic and earn two Waterford hours: Fill a garbage bag of soft plastic and return to a REDcycle collection point (see link) Parents to sign Waterford summary sheet. [embed]https://www.redcycle.net.au/what-to-redcycle/[/embed]   Waterford-Project-Summary-Sheet  

WOW, what a start to the year! We began with bushfires and storms followed by the flooding of the Performing Arts floor of the Shanahan Learning Centre. Our students proved how resilient and flexible they are as we moved our classes to any spare rooms across the College to continue our learning. When all was dry and clean we moved back to our performing spaces only to then move out to Home Based Learning! Thankfully our students are agile as we continued our lessons via Microsoft Teams and Canvas. As such, our focus shifted to work that could be done outside of school and some fabulous short films have been created. Now that we are back at school we have continued our work developing our creative, critical thinking and collaboration skills. Mrs Emmett and I would like to thank all of our students for their dedication, determination and sense of humour they have shown. As result of the pandemic we have moved our events online. This week the Year 12 Drama Night was live streamed for parents so they could watch performances. Stay tuned for more episodes of SECTV, video links will be on the College website. Keep an eye out for details of our College musical “Clash at Titan High”.  Mrs Connor and Mrs Emmett [smallgallery fooid="25640"]    

See the latest episode of SECTV below: The latest episode was hosted by Joseph Hussein, Johan Fernandes and Daniel Pearce who reflected on the issue of racism.   [embed]https://youtu.be/bBM0cJLtG24[/embed]

In Week 9, two of our Year 10 students, Cameron Shaw and Ikey Allen, represented St Edward’s in the Evatt competition. Evatt is a Model United Nations Security Council diplomacy competition for students in Years 9-12. It aims to educate young people about Australia’s place in the world and empower them as active citizens by developing public speaking, negotiation, teamwork, research, and diplomatic skills. As delegates for the country Niger, Cameron and Ikey participated in a mock session of the UN where they debated, amended, and voted on resolutions which included The Question of Retroactive Law Reform and The Question of Airline Monopolies. This required a lot of research and teamwork in the weeks leading up to the event which they both took on without hesitation. Both Cameron and Ikey were skilful in their ability to persuade other countries to see their point of view on the resolution and clauses. It was a pleasure to watch their skills in diplomacy and debating, in addition they did an amazing job on lobbying and negotiating with other teams to achieve a result that could benefit their assigned country. It was an exciting morning and it is great that we can still connect with other schools on a virtual platform due to the current circumstances.

Frequently asked questions and answers regarding returning to sport from CSNSW Sport.   Community sport returns 1 July, so why have the pathway sports been cancelled? Unfortunately, since March 2020, the majority of Australian events (via School Sport Australia) have been cancelled for the year. School Sport Australia has said that the safety and welfare of students and teachers is paramount. Pathway sport has been cancelled and not suspended because member bodies have indicated to SSA they will not be in a position to select and prepare teams in 2020 The NSW Government has also recently provided advice that the majority of pathways events will also be cancelled for 2020 at the state level. We do recognise the importance of sport and look to work with schools / local areas at facilitating local sport where possible. Why do we need to have trials at the various levels, can’t teams be selected on paper or by nomination? Our preferred position is that there be selections based on performance at events, which ensures every student is given the opportunity to show their skills on an even playing field. The government announced that inter school sports and gala days can recommence in Term 3. Why have school based NSWPSSA, NSWCHS, NSWCIS, NSWCCC and NSWCPS events been cancelled? In the interests of the safety, including ongoing Government restrictions and to also increase the flexibility to provide sporting events, it has been encouraged that sport be held at a smaller school / local level which will assist keeping travel limited. Where possible we will look to assist local authorities to conduct participation events. My child has been denied the opportunity to represent at the highest level. They will be disadvantaged in seeking acknowledgment/scholarship/institution entry. All Australian students have been denied the opportunity to reach the highest level of school sport. Unfortunately, since March 2020, School Sport Australia events have been cancelled. As there is no national pathway, students cannot represent at National level. Our understanding is that your child will not be specifically disadvantaged by COVID 19 as this pandemic affects both higher education institutions both Australia and internationally have had to adjust their entry requirements. My child misses their sport and loves gala days. We all love sport and we know how much children love their gala days. We have worked with and listened to local education authorities and schools to provide these gala days but at a local level. This allows more flexibility and reflects individual situations and school needs.

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  

Macquarie University - Early Entry Scheme If you’re thinking about studying at Macquarie, have already been performing well at school in Year 11 and can demonstrate initiative and commitment through leadership, community, sport, or casual work activities, you can apply directly to Macquarie through the Leaders and Achievers Early Entry Scheme.   For more information see the link below. Macquarie University - Early Entry Scheme Direct Application to Universities See the link below regarding Direct Applications Direct Application to University   Commonwealth Scholarships [embed]https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Okuy-qmFPX4&fbclid=IwAR3GB0GMq65Uk03i6kUOREYKTXrSTco-i-paUyT0qzaJGZkpJ4U830P3KgY[/embed]  

Cowan and Lewis Uniform Shop Holiday Opening Times During the upcoming school holidays, the hours of operation for the uniform shop at the West Gosford warehouse (3/6 Bowen Crescent, West Gosford) are: Monday 13 July to Friday 17 July - Between 8.00 am and 5.00 pm Contact information for Cowan and Lewis is as follows: Telephone:  9449 9777 Email:  sales@cowanlewis.com.au Website:  https://cowanlewis.com.au

Boys can be a mystery to many parents, particularly those who were raised in all-girl households or who have had minimum exposure to males in their formative years. Research supports the notion that the more you know about boys the better placed you are to meet their needs as a parent, carer or teacher. Here are nine facts to help you better understand what makes boys tick: 1. Boys are more likely to be heuristic learners than girls. Boys, more than girls, are likely to learn many of their lessons from experience rather than being told. This can be make parenting them challenging, particularly if you don’t have an appetite for risk yourself. Perhaps the biggest challenge is keeping them safe so some risks need to be out-of bounds. It can also be difficult as a parent being the support person when the lessons that boys learn bring hardship and tears. 2. Boys brains are designed by a different architect In the first five years of life a girl’s brain is busy developing fine motor skills, verbal skills and social skills, which are all highly valued by parents and teachers. Meanwhile, a boy’s brain is busy developing gross motor skills, spatial skills and visual skills. These are all handy hunting skills. So boys often start school with a distinct disadvantage when it comes to learning and fitting in. 3. Boys mature differently to girls. The maturity gap between boys and girls of anywhere between 12 months and two years, seems to be consistent all the way to adulthood. Parents should take this into account when deciding the school starting age of their sons. This maturity gap is also evident when kids finish school and move into tertiary studies or the workplace. Girls are often better placed to succeed, and many boys get lost once they leave school. 4. Loyalty is high driver for boys. Understand that a boy’s loyalty to his friends and family is a key driver and you’ll begin to understanding the male psyche. They are incredibly influenced by their peers, which can hold many of them back. It takes a brave boy to get too far ahead of the pack, so they often hold each other back when it comes to achieving. Loyalty to others can get boys into trouble. Call a boy’s sister an insulting name and you are in for fight. Insult his friends and you are asking for trouble. 5. Boys are more likely to be visual learners Boys generally need a reason to learn. If you are having difficulty motivating your son then try linking learning to their interests. They may play a musical instrument when they know they can play in a band or practise their kicking if they can see it will help kick more goals. If they love skateboarding the chances are they want to know more about it, so use this as a lever to motivate them if reading is a problem. 6. Boys fight more than girls (you probably knew this). Leonard Sax author of Why Gender Matters reports on the year long study of elementary (primary school) students in the playground where boys fight 20 times more than girls. The fighting wasn’t always destructive, as they researchers found that boys usually ended up being better friends following the dispute. Sax, notes that male primates have the same proclivity toward fighting and theorises that aggression is a part of the socialisation process for males. He asserts that male primates that don’t fight with other males when young, grow up more violent as adults, not less. I’d hasten that even though some boys may fight, an important part of the socialisation process is to teach how to resolve conflict with words, rather than using physical means. 7. Boys benefit greatly from silence. Boys don’t have the same innate tendency for reflection that girls are born with. Don’t get me wrong, males of all ages have the ability reflect on their behaviours, values and their lives (when older) but they need the environment to be right for them to do so. Quiet time and down time give boys the chance to let their thoughts wander around inside their heads. It also helps them get to know and even like themselves. Boys will often do their best thinking on their own, so they tend to retreat to their caves (bedroom) when things go wrong at school or in their relationships. They need to go within to find their own answer. 8. Boys just want to blend in Boys are group-oriented by nature. They want to fit in. They tend to play group games and form themselves into structured friendship groups. Boys generally don’t want to stand out from the crowd. Don’t put them down in front of their friends and understand that they may make poor friendship choices rather than be in a group of one – by themselves. They prefer the ‘wrong friends’ rather than no friends at all. 9. Approval is at the heart of working with boys Approval is at the heart of working successfully with boys. They will walk over broken glass or hot coals if they feel you like them. In a sense this notion holds many of them back, as most boys will only work for a teacher if they like them and close down on learning if they sense the teacher doesn’t like them. Take the time to nurture a relationship with your sons or the boys that you interact with. Some boys like to talk; others like to share an activity; some like you as an adult to do something for them; others are very kinaesthetic and love to be touched, cuddled and hugged; while some just love gifts and mementoes. Work out the relational preferences of the males in your life and make sure you match these.

Please find below, correspondence from the Principal regarding regarding end of Term 2 Information.   Parent Information - End of Term 2