“If we walk in the light, as he is the light, we have fellowship with one another.” 1 John 1:7
To the family and friends of St Edmund’s College,
You would be well aware by now that the ACT is in lockdown until Thursday 2 September and regional NSW until Sunday 22 August, although these dates do not really mean much at the moment given the increasing number of COVID cases in both areas. Either way, we are fairly confident that we will be in lockdown for longer than anticipated. Please be assured that we will continue to be in regular communication with our parents and students regarding our remote learning program and other organisational changes we might need to consider. Our priorities at the moment are to continue a quality remote learning program balanced with a focus on student wellbeing, especially now with the extension of lockdown.
I realised a couple of nights ago how easy it is to be overwhelmed by what is happening around the world and within our own local community at the moment. I was watching the evening news and found myself in a state of dread, starting to catastrophise the events around me. This surprised me as I am usually quite a resilient person who just gets on with things. However earlier this week I was overcome by the events of the news – the increasing COVID numbers in NSW and the ACT; the extension of the lockdown period; the death of the 15 year old boy in Sydney who attended the same high school as I did when I was young; being in the ninth week of not being able to see my 90 year old mother in Sydney; the ridiculous and dangerous conspiracy theories and anti-vaccination movements; the dreadful events in Afghanistan at the moment; our own school moving to remote learning and the many implications this has on our students, families and staff. I thought at the time that if I am having this reaction and I consider myself quite a resilient person, then there must be a large number of people in our society who are having the same reaction and who are not as resilient. This must be a very difficult time for many in our community who are feeling overwhelmed by the events of the day.
I also felt quite angry at the news services for their continued stress on the negative and their endless focus on wanting to blame someone for what is happening at the moment. I find most of the media sources at the moment acting in a very irresponsible manner, significantly adding to the situation and making matters much worse. An example of this is a headline in a local Canberra news service this morning, with its online headline stating “After initially preying on older and vulnerable people, there is increasing fear that Covid is morphing into a disease which hunts the young”. Again, as a person who is normally quite resilient, I was so angry and infuriated at the language used in the headline and the intentional fear mongering – phrases like “preying” and “hunts the young” have absolutely no place in responsible, service-based journalism, especially at a time like this. I would hate to think how a young person would react to reading this headline.
It is incumbent upon all of us to ensure that those around us, and of course we ourselves, are feeling safe and secure. This is especially so with our young people and the students of St Edmund’s College. This can be done so easily by being aware of the language we use and the subject of our discussions around young people – not to deny what is happening in the community, but to present an optimistic and balanced view of the events of the time; something that the media sources at the moment are very sorely lacking. I came across a lovely post on my Twitter feed yesterday that sums up how we should want our young people to feel at the moment, whether they are physically at school or in remote learning at home. I have adapted this from the Association for Supervision and Curriculum Development (ASCD) – this is applicable not just to students, but to our lives as adults as well.
Each person should believe the following:
- I’m going to be safe here
- We are going to be serious about learning, treating one another well, and getting along. Everyone here matters equally.
- Learning is going to be active and creative. We are going to be working together as well as on our own.
- I can be successful here.
- We are going to be heard. My ideas, interests and experiences matter.
- I’m going to belong here.
- I want to come back.
Last Sunday the Catholic Church celebrated the Feast Day of the Assumption of Our Lady when according to our faith, the Holy Mother, “having completed her course of her earthly life, was assumed body and soul into heavenly glory” (Pope Pius). The Assumption signals the end of Mary’s earthly life and marks her return to heaven to be reunited with Jesus. There is little described of Mary in the Scriptures. What we do know, however, is that she was a woman of deep faith, trust and service. In the Gospel of Luke, we see Mary chosen by God to bring Christ into the world. She is with Jesus at his birth, nurtures him in childhood, is present during his ministry, witnesses his death, and stands with the early Church as it grows and proclaims the Good News. In the Gospel of Luke, Mary gives these words, which we call the Magnificat (Luke 1:46-55):
My soul proclaims the greatness of the Lord,
my spirit rejoices in God my Saviour
for he has looked with favour on his lowly servant.
From this day all generations will call me blessed:
the Almighty has done great things for me,
and holy is his Name.
He has mercy on those who fear him
in every generation.
He has shown the strength of his arm,
he has scattered the proud in their conceit.
He has cast down the mighty from their thrones,
and has lifted up the lowly.
He has filled the hungry with good things,
and the rich he has sent away empty.
He has come to the help of his servant Israel
for he remembered his promise of mercy,
the promise he made to our fathers,
to Abraham and his children forever.
Amen.
Mary, Mother of God, pray for us
Blessed Edmund Rice, pray for us
Live Jesus in our hearts, forever
Joe Zavone
Principal
Christus Lux Mea