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Principal’s Message: Term 4, Week 7, 2021

“If we walk in the light, as he is the light, we have fellowship with one another.” 1 John 1:7

To the families and friends of St Edmund’s College,

The last few days have been a sad and difficult time for the College community. I won’t repeat the circumstances of late last week as all members of the College community have been notified of this. I must thank the many members of our community who have taken the time to send messages of support and encouragement in the last few days. I have received a great number of supportive emails from current parents, including Year 12 parents who had sons involved in the incident; new parents to the school commencing in 2022 and from a number of old boys. This has been a great comfort during this time. Unfortunately it has become a common practice in our society to automatically tar everyone with the same brush, having the actions of a few characterise a whole community. We must remember that only a small number of students were involved in the event in question in low-level activities. The majority of Year 12 students chose not to involve themselves in the event and we must acknowledge their wise and sound decision. Now that we have identified those involved, we have commenced our discernment as to appropriate actions to take from this point.

The behaviour of a small group of boys has certainly been distressing and disappointing. What is also disappointing is the way in which the publication which published the article handled the matter. I have been recently informed that scavenger hunts have been a common end of year practice for a number of schools in Canberra. I have had at least two colleague principals inform me that they knew of similar activities in their schools this year, and scavenger hunt lists from other schools are circulating around the community. None of this was covered in the article. Of course this does not lessen the impact of the activities of our students last week. Nor does it excuse or justify their actions. We will continue to deeply examine our programs here at school to ensure that this behaviour does not happen again and we still have work to do to ensure that the message we are trying to instil in our students is fully internalised. But the fact that this was not reported does mean that highly significant context and perspective is missing from the article, and that a misleading impression was made of the College. The old saying is that the pen is mightier than the sword. The article, in solely focusing on the actions of a few students at St Edmund’s College, is good example of this.

The College does not condone the actions of last week. We still have much work to do in this space – in the process of working with students to make wise decisions and discern the underlying meaning and consequences of their actions.

College Leaders 2022
We now have finalised all of our College leaders for 2022. The list is below. We congratulate all of our students in leadership positions and we look forward to working closely with them in continuing to move forward with the College community. We are having a Leaders Formation Day on Tuesday 23 November to explore aspects of school leadership, servant leadership and developing skills in communication and working with others. The Junior School leaders will be announced by Mr David Kelly (Assistant Principal, Junior School) in his section of Vortex.

College Captain (stewardship for Inclusive Community): Andrew McFarlane

College Vice-Captain, Academic (stewardship for Liberating Education): Matthew McGrath

College Vice-Captain, Mission (stewardship for Gospel Spirituality): Joshua Hobbs

College Vice-Captain, Service (stewardship for Justice and Solidarity): Henry Alsworth

Clancy House Captain: Josh Wink; Vice-Captain: Archer Cooney

Haydon House Captain: Luca Morella; Vice-Captain: Will Grame

Mulrooney House Captain: Liam Guthrie; Vice-Captain: Himesh Rajapakse

O’Brien House Captain: Thomas Percy; Vice-Captain: Tahj Guglielmin

Rice House Captain: Liam Spence; Vice-Captain: Justin Thomas

Treacy House Captain: Andre Jugovac; Vice-Captain: Hunter Harlor

Congratulations
Congratulations to Year 10 student, Connor Mynott-Smith (Treacy House) who has been signed by the O’Connor Knights Soccer Club. The Knights announcement on their Facebook page notes that “Connor is undoubtedly one of the most exciting young and promising talents in Canberra who possesses amazing qualities. An attacking playmaker who is unpredictable and calm despite his young tender age of just 16 years. Connor is technically and tactically gifted and has attacking flair in abundance and will slot into the first team squad easily.” We are very proud of Connor and his great achievement for Connor. Well done Connor!

Uniform optional items (next winter)
We have received the sample of the College puffer jacket. All students, parents and staff on the consulting group have been unanimous in their approval of the sample, so it looks like we will go ahead with the puffer jacket for next winter. The puffer jacket is an optional item of uniform (not compulsory) and is intended to be worn over the College blazer and jumper during winter.

The sample of the new beanie was not met with the same enthusiasm (I must say I was disappointed when it arrived), so we are still working on a better design for this. The beanie is also an optional item of winter uniform.

Important dates
I would ask all parents to please keep in mind the following important dates as we draw closer to the end of the year:
• Year 11 & Year 12 Examinations Monday 15 to Friday 19 November
• Year 10 Examinations Tuesday 23 & Wednesday 24 November
• 2022 Student Leaders Formation Day
(Junior School & High School) Tuesday 23 November
• Year 12 Graduation Mass, Assembly & Dinner Friday 26 November
• Last day for Year 10 students Friday 26 November
• Last day for Year 4 – Year 9 students Tuesday 7 December
• Junior School & High School Presentation Ceremonies Tuesday 7 December
• Reception closed Thursday 23 December to Friday 10 January

PRAYER
God of Love,
When we feel lost and abandoned, your Word says that you will always guide us.
You do not leave us wandering through life
but you are with us during every moment of every day.
Help us to follow your ways when we feel weary, disappointed and frustrated,
and help us to experience joy in life.
May we be like the well-watered garden which thrives
because the roots are firmly planted in your love.
Amen.

Blessed Edmund Rice, pray for us.
Live Jesus in our Hearts, forever.

Joe Zavone
Principal
Christus Lux Mea