“Everyone who asks, receives. Everyone who seeks, finds. Everyone who knocks, the door will be opened.” Luke 11:9-10
Dear families and friends of St Edmund’s College,
Last week saw a large number of our students experience the first of our camp and retreat events. Year 12 students had a retreat experience in Jindabyne; Year 7 students from many different primary schools were united in their camp program at Tathra, hopefully coming back feeling more like one strong Eddies group; Year 6 had their camp at Tuross and Year 11 students had a Leadership Day at school. Year 10 students will experience their camp program later this term.
Our camp and retreat program offers a number of great benefits. Our students have an opportunity to meet and socialise with peers from diverse backgrounds, encouraging them to step out of their comfort zones and develop new friendships. This helps students build communication and teamwork skills, as well as self-confidence. Students can explore their interests, beliefs, and values in a safe and supportive space. Students grow in areas such as independence, decision-making, self-awareness, leadership and their sense of spirituality.
Camps and retreats often offer hands-on learning opportunities, such as outdoor activities or workshops, allowing students to learn new skills or explore topics in depth. Students apply what they have learned in a practical way, fostering a sense of curiosity. Camps and retreats also provide opportunities for students to take on leadership roles, which may be through leading a group activity or supporting other students. This develops skills such as communication, problem-solving, and decision-making.
Year 11 and 12 can be a stressful time for many students, with academic pressures and social dynamics adding to the mix. The Year 12 retreat offers a chance to step away from the everyday routine and relax in a different environment, reducing stress and promoting mental health.
Our year-based, age-appropriate camp and retreat programs target key developmental stages. It is very important for a boys’ school to offer a staged camp and retreat program, as research tells us that these experiences are integral to the positive development of young males. This becomes more relevant as we move further along our contemporary age and we tend to lose more of our experiences of rites of passage. Our young men are increasingly engaging in dangerous risk-taking behaviours, often feel unseen and lost and are increasing relying on the internet to make their transition during adolescence. A strong camp and retreat program allows our boys the opportunities to see themselves as belonging to part of a tangible community, allowing them to share experiences that they would otherwise not experience in their lives and allows them to discern their relationships with each other. The Year 12 retreat broadens this further by asking our young men to discern their place in the world, with their families and with their sense of spirituality. The camp and retreat programs mark a journey of personal and communal growth and allows our students to experience a sense of rites of passage. When we add to this the range of other wellbeing and co-curricular experiences offered by the College throughout the year, we end up with a rich program of rituals and experiences which should work to having our young men transition from one stage of awareness to a more enlightened state of self-consciousness and spiritual consciousness so as to achieve their full potential. I thank our students for engaging in their various programs in the way they did. I also thank the staff for giving of their time for the benefit of our young men and for the experience of working to provide them with appropriate rites of passage.
New Families Welcome Function
We held our annual New Families Welcome Function on Thursday evening 9 February. It was a great sign that because of larger numbers we had to move this event from the Edmund Rice Centre to the College Hall. Many thanks to all new parents who attended this event and to all staff who attended to make our new parents feel very welcome. Many thanks also to Carlie Gibson who spoke to our new parents on behalf of the Old Boys and Friends Association, informing them of the many benefits of being a part of the Association. We had a wonderful evening of good food, drink and good company. We trust our new families have had a positive start to the year. We look forward to our partnership in education with them.
Experience Eddies Day and Open Evening
Our first Experience Eddies Day has been scheduled for Monday 27 March 2023. This is for students in Years 4, 5, 6 and 7 who may be interested in joining our community in 2024. The details for Experience Eddies Day can be found at this Facebook link.
In the same week, we are holding our Open Evening and 2024 Information Session for prospective students on Wednesday 29 March from 4.30 to 7.15 with two information sessions at 4.30 and 6.30.
Please pass on this information to any families you know of who are considering St Edmund’s for their sons.
Ash Wednesday
This week we participated in our Ash Wednesday liturgy, marking the beginning of Lent. Ashes were distributed during this liturgy. For Catholics, ashes are a symbol of penance made sacramental by the blessing of the Church, and they help us develop a spirit of humility and sacrifice, a spirit that allows us to enter the Lenten season with an appropriate state of mind and state of heart. Often we talk about giving something up for Lent – but this can be quite a superficial thing to do, as it often does not accompany a change in our behaviour and thinking. Many of us use Lent as a kick-starter for a diet or new exercise regimen, almost like a new year’s resolution. Lent is much more than this. Lent is a preparation for Easter and leads up to the Passion of Christ, so a simple focus on giving up coffee or chocolate or whatever it may be does not prepare us appropriately for this. This kind of sacrifice is misguided. The following is adapted from a beautiful Lenten commentary by the writer Alex Basile.
Lent should be about living the Gospel every day. The Gospels are defined as the life, teachings, Passion, Death and Resurrection of Jesus Christ. To get to the heart of its message, we must examine how Jesus lived. We may be surprised that the actions of Jesus were consistently simple. He spent every moment pulling the lost and forgotten back into the fold. In other words, Lent should initiate our awareness of those who need the most attention. There are many people who live in our shadow that require our immediate care. The lonely need to hear the voice of compassion. The sick demand our companionship. The alienated call out for friendship. Our broken relationships need the assistance that only the love of Christ can repair. We need the sacrifice our pride and out time to live this out.
Lent requires a redefinition of the word “sacrifice.” We assume that the word “sacrifice” means giving something away or denying ourselves of something. Lent should raise our awareness of the things we take for granted. Our Lenten sacrifice highlights our free will. Since creation, God has left us to our own devices to choose our own path. During this season, we must reflect on what we have and what we need to change. We hear of how Christians are persecuted in other countries for their faith. In a country where we say and do as we please, are we giving Jesus and those around us all that we truly can?
Lent is time for spiritual “spring cleaning.” What are the unwanted habits that you want to eliminate from your life? What are the certain behavioural patterns that make you less than the perfect Christian does? The way to answer these questions is through reflection and prayer. Older Catholics speak of a type of Lent where music and television were put on hold for the season. Although this practice has faded, we must discover our own peace and quiet during Lent. The only way to reveal the interior life is through silence. Separate from the chaos and surrender to prayer. Put yourself in the presence of God and just talk to Him.
Conversion requires a complete turn in a different direction. Leave the old you behind. We need to make Lent our new beginning. Follow the advice from Saint Teresa of Calcutta:
“As Lent is the time for greater love, listen to Jesus’ thirst… ‘Repent and believe’ Jesus tells us. What are we to repent? Our indifference, our hardness of heart. What are we to believe? Jesus thirsts even now, in your heart and in the poor – He knows your weakness. He wants only your love, wants only the chance to love you.”
Communication
We encourage all parents and carers to follow us on our social media pages, Facebook and Instagram. These pages will provide you with a whole range of interesting information, initiatives, updates and images.
Second Hand Uniforms
It is so encouraging to see that our second-hand uniform collection has grown from literally nothing to a very well stocked collection within the last few years. I would encourage you to please consider donating pre-loved uniform items to our collection so we can continue to assist those families in need. I am aware that there are other alternatives to explore with second-hand uniforms, some of which provide you with a small financial gain, so I am very appreciative to those parents who donate their uniform items to the College to help those families and students who are struggling at this time. Pre-loved uniform items can be left at Reception, and we would ask that uniform items are cleaned and pressed prior to being donated.
Vortex distribution
A reminder that a full edition of the Vortex will be published once every fortnight from now on. The alternate week will have a very basic edition of the Vortex outlining important dates and events.
Email to parents and carers re College leadership changes
An important email was sent to parents and carers a few days ago detailing some changes to the College leadership for the next few months. I would urge you to please read this email if you have not yet done so.
Prayer for Ash Wednesday
(acknowledgement: jesuits.org/stories/spirit-verse-ash-wednesday/)
We forget sometimes that ashes come from fire,
that this soft black powder was once a firm green frond,
bright and vibrant before it became dry and brittle,
stiff and fibrous before a flame transformed it into dust.
Every living thing submits to change.
Let’s not fear it.
From seed to plant, palm to ash,
this bit of the earth smudged on our foreheads
was carried lovingly in the hands of the Creator.
What fires will we step into this Lent?
What new forms will our souls take
when we encounter the holy blaze of the Living God?
We are – it is true – ash to ash and dust to dust,
but whether in youth or in old age, in life or in death,
let us be assured,
we are held, and we are God’s.
Amen.
Blessed Edmund Rice, pray for us.
Live Jesus in our hearts, forever.
Joe Zavone
Principal
Christus Lux Mea