College Captain’s Address to Year 11 and Year 12 students
Good afternoon Mr Zavone, staff and students and welcome back to the beginning of what is sure to be an exciting and prosperous school year. I am pleased to see so many familiar faces around the halls. I am equally pleased to see so many new faces and I would like to extend a warm welcome to you all on your new St Edmund’s journey.
Firstly, I would like to start by extending a challenge to everybody in the College community. John F. Kennedy once said, “Ask not what your country can do for you – ask what you can do for your country.” I challenge you to ask yourself what you can do for our great College, and I can attest from 9 years’ experience at this school the more effort you put into the school the more you will get out of your school life. Effort is an aspect of College life that we as a community have control over and the effort that we each contribute is a characteristic that has given St Edmund’s College the outstanding legacy that it continues to hold to this day.
Now I know we are all sick of hearing about COVID by this stage and it’s safe to say that throughout the year it will bring its challenges. However, with this obstacle I encourage you all to enjoy your school lives with the mantra ‘control the controllables’. This essentially means to control what you can regarding COVID by wearing your masks, sanitising your hands and keeping a tidy workspace. These are all controllables. Likewise, in school life, try new things or enjoying our various co-curricular activities that we offer whether it be STEAM, in the Performing Arts or in any of the great sports we offer here at the College. Co-curricular activities are fantastic ways to forge new, strong relationships and teach us crucial lessons that hold us in good stead for not only school life but for everyday life. These are most certainly controllable. It’s for this reason I strongly encourage you to pursue your passions and to try a co-curricular activity. An important aspect of our College life will always be our academia. So, within these first few weeks, ensure you take the time to set goals for your academic life and work closely with your teachers to set the groundwork for a successful upcoming year.
Boys, as senior students, this year will bring you extra freedoms but with that will come the extra responsibility of being the role models of the school. It’s important that we, as seniors, set a high standard for the other boys in the school to follow our example. This can be as simple as ensuring your school uniform is tidy, or even helping another student who can’t find their way to class. If one thing is for sure it’s that the small things around the College are equally important as the grand gestures and I encourage you to pursue these small gestures as a means of upholding our College name.
I’d like to extend a final warm welcome to all the new boys and members of staff and welcome back to all the returning members. This year, I implore you to embrace the pride and all the great aspects within the school to make the most out of your year at school. To make the most out of your beginning of a new year and to make the most out of every moment where you’re fortunate enough to be called an ‘Eddies boy’. To all my fellow year 12 students, a lot of us are still coming to terms with the fact that today is our last first day and the start of our last year. So, I encourage you all to make the most of the remaining time of your Eddies journey because, trust me, the time will fly by.
Thankyou.
Andrew McFarlane
College Captain