To the families and friends of the St Edmund’s community,
Student Spotlight
Last Friday I had the privilege of having the students in Mr Saunderson’s Year 12 Design and Emerging Technologies class present their design proposals to me. To say that I was impressed by the ingenuity of these students is an understatement. Their design proposals demonstrated a great deal of initiative, intuition and of course skill and talent. Adam Murray presented his design for a new type of magnetic floor sweeper (for pieces of metal); Charles Pescador presented his design for a new type of mask in this COVID environment and Luke Wilson presented his design for a new form of shark detection. Whilst there are already products and designs for all of these purposes, the three students were able to research the strengths and weaknesses of the current products and come up with a design that improves on these. I congratulate Adam, Charles and Luke for their wonderful work and ideas.
AST
By the time this Vortex article is distributed, our Year 12 students would have completed two days of sitting the ACT Scaling Test (AST). The AST is a test attempted by all ACT Year 12 students wishing to gain an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR). The test is designed to measure a range of general skills considered to be relevant to success in a variety of courses and to studies at university. The AST scores of those students who complete a Tertiary package provide the basis for scaling course scores awarded to students by the colleges they attend. A student’s scaled course scores are used in the calculation of that student’s ATAR. We wish our Year 12 students well in their AST scores and hope that they have all achieved to the very best of their ability. My thanks to Mr Norman Foskett, Mr Jack Dowling and Mr Dale Argall who have worked so well this year in preparing our students for the AST. I also thank Mr Adam Buck, Mr Nathan Metcalfe, Ms Kylie Rose, Mrs Frances Sergeant and Ms Carmela Wilson for working with our boys on AST Preparation Day and throughout the year.
Thursday Morning Mass
On a Thursday morning at 8.20am the College celebrates Mass in the Chapel and I wanted to personally invite parents/ carers to come with your son. Our College Chaplain Father Dan Benedetti leads Mass and always preaches a sound learning to take away and reflect. Mass starts at 8.20am and concludes just before 8.50am. This is a wonderful offering that we provide our community and it is important that you know that this is available to you.
Father’s Day and EdMums
Unfortunately we will not be able to hold our annual Father’s Day Mass and our EdMums events this year due to the current COVID-19 restrictions. We will acknowledge Father’s Day with a special digital presentation which will be played to our boys during tutor group and posted on Facebook late this week. A very happy Father’s Day to all of our fathers, grandfathers and father figures.
Scoreboard
We have had some enquiries as to why our electronic scoreboard is not in use at the moment. Not using the scoreboard is part of our COVID Safety Plan in relation to community sport, amongst a myriad of other precautions. The scoreboard controls are high-touch surfaces with an increased risk of infection as they would be used by a number of people over the course of a day of games. It would be impossible to control the sanitising or disinfecting of the scoreboard controls unless this was being done by the same person over the course of a day between each and every game. The scoreboard is also an ancillary activity related to community sport and governmental advice is to reduce or minimise ancillary activities to do with community sport. We will get back to making use of our great scoreboard once COVID restrictions commence to ease further.
Principal’s Reading Challenge
A reminder that we have launched the Principal’s Reading Challenge. In an effort to increase literacy and an interest in literature at the College, students from Year 4 to Year 12 are being challenged to read and review books that are new to them, for which they will be awarded House Points, go in the running for prizes, and be recognised at an College Assembly at the end of Semester 2. There is also scope for their reviews to be published in the Library catalogue, on the shelves (think ‘Staff Reviews’ at book shops), and in Vortex. I would ask our parents to watch the launch video, put together by Mr Oliver Burke from our Library and English staff, and encourage your sons to participate in the Reading Challenge. The video can be found here: https://www.facebook.com/seccanberra/videos/1339923869731654
Reading Logs for the Challenge are available at the Library and on the Library Canvas page.
Social Justice Statement
The Australian Catholic Bishops Conference have released their Social Justice Statement for 2020. This year’s Statement takes on the theme of: To Live Life To The Full: Mental Health In Australia Today. The Social Justice Statement can be found here: https://socialjustice.catholic.org.au/wp-content/uploads/2020/07/Social-Justice-Statement-2020-WEB.pdf I would encourage you to read the Social Justice Statement to see how the extremely important issue of mental health falls well and truly in our work as members of the Catholic Church. This also sits very firmly in our EREA Touchstones of Inclusive Community and Justice & Solidarity.
“The COVID-19 pandemic is impacting the mental health of many members of our parishes, schools and communities. In fact, most of us will experience a mental health problem at some point over the course of our lives. Understanding mental health will help us to be aware of those who need our support. Our parishes, organisations and communities can be places of acceptance care and healing, not places of rejection, judgment or stigma.
In the Social Justice Statement To Live Life to the Full: Mental health in Australia today, the Bishops welcome the deinstitutionalisation of mental health care in Australia. However, without adequately funded community mental health services, there is a gap in the system through which people continue to fall. Social determinants including poverty, living conditions, and personal security are significant contributors to mental ill-health. The Statement highlights the experience of First Nations people and communities, asylum seekers and refugees, people who are homeless and those who are in prison.
The Bishops observe that “our society tends to draw away from, or to push away, those who confront us with our frailties and limitations” which is “completely at odds with the story of Jesus” who “takes on the frailty of the human condition” and “draws near to those who are sick or who have disabilities, those who are marginalized or despised”. People living with mental ill-health are part of the Body of Christ – ‘us’ and not ‘them’ – and share equally in Jesus’ promise of the fullness of life (Jn 10:10).
The Bishops invite us all to reject stigmatisation, to work for the transformation of social determinants of mental ill-health, and to call for policies and service provision that meets the needs of the poorest and most marginalised members of our community”.
Source: https://socialjustice.catholic.org.au/2020/07/03/social-justice-statement-2020-21/
Prayer (from the Social Justice Statement website)
Jesus, you invite us all into the fullness of life.
May we support one another to flourish in body, mind and spirit.
Strengthen our commitment to ensure that nobody falls through gaps in our systems of care.
People called you mad.
Help us to recognise you in those who suffer mental ill-health today.
Show us how to eliminate stigmatisation of mental ill-health
from our parishes, schools, communities and organisations.
You drew near to those who were suffering in body or mind.
May we too feel your nearness when we struggle with mental health challenges.
May we be one as members of Your Body.
You invite us to share in your ministry of love and true compassion.
May we be empowered by your Spirit to reach out to all people in need.
May we build communities of welcome and inclusion.
Amen
Blessed Edmund Rice, pray for us
Live Jesus in Our Hearts, forever
Mr Joe Zavone
Principal
Christus Lux Mea