Life in the Canberra region and specifically at St Edmund’s College has been subject to drastic change in 2020. Our region was brutalised by bushfires, continued drought, and violent hailstorms during Term 1. This was closely followed by the COVID-19 pandemic and its associated lockdown and ongoing changes to what we all assumed was “normal”. As a consequence, our staff provided support to us all with the delivery of an outstanding off campus online teaching and learning platform. Our pastoral care and personal wellbeing were closely monitored and addressed. The College roof and internal featuring is being fixed, our College grounds have been developed to the envy of the entire city, a new Elevated Learning Program and Personal Formation program was also evolved and delivered. Our school COVID safe protocols have been monitored and our co-curricular programs are reigniting. All of this has contributed to life at Eddies slowly starting to get back to what is a perception of normal.
For the remainder of 2020, we have much to look forward to. The previously mentioned Formation Program has recently looked at engaging in meaningful conversations and also at expressing gratitude to others. This has been coupled with modern day research theory and is, yet another SEC driven vehicle aimed at connecting and reconnecting with people and thus making relationships more significant. Our exciting “virtual tour” of the College is now on our website and showcases what our subject departments are all about. Our campus continues to be reinvigorated physically. Our military family students along with the senior student leadership team recently hosted a virtual conference with the current Governor General, David Hurley and his wife. During this conference, our students were able to learn about his excellencies journey through his highly distinguished military career and about the importance of leadership and kindness. Planning for Year 12 graduation rites of passage are in their infancy and the College is continuing to look at strategies to enhance the inclusiveness of our school and its myriad of cultures. We are quickly developing our flexible learning program to celebrate individual differences throughout our student population. With the addition of Menslink, Secret Men’s Business, Silence is Deadly and Be YOU seminars later in the year, our students will have unparalleled knowledge of what it means to be a man in our modern society and to assist us in developing a more balanced view of what this means. This term will see the launch of our definition of what “Eddies Pride” encompasses as well as the launching of our House based “Spirit Guides” which celebrate our commitment as a College to the beauty of indigenous spirituality. This is just the tip of the iceberg in terms of activities happening at the College. The day to day experience of being an “Eddies boy’ is hard to capture in print but we look forward to Semester 2 in so many ways.
Pat Langtry
Assistant Principal – Student Wellbeing