To the community of St Edmund’s College,
There are a number of passages in the New Testament that are absolutely perfect in their succinct and clear message. One of these is the letter that Paul wrote to the Ephesians. After his conversion, Paul travelled greatly in his mission of laying the foundations of what we now call Christianity. He would visit remote locations and preach the message of the risen Christ to people who were not followers of Jesus. Paul would stay in these communities for a while, become embedded in the daily routines of the people and preach to them the good news of Jesus Christ. He would then leave the community before heading off to another remote city. Paul was fully aware that these communities would either soon forget his messages or perhaps misinterpret them in some way over time, so he would write letters to these communities to remind them of the focus of his messages and to keep them on track. In his letter, Paul reminds the Ephesians to avoid the vices of bitterness, indignation, anger, clamour, slander and all sorts of malice. He reminds them to model themselves on God’s love and demonstrate generosity, sympathy and forgiveness.
“Do not grieve the Holy Spirit of God who has marked you with his seal, ready for the day when we shall be set free. Any bitterness or bad temper or anger or shouting or abuse must be far removed from you – as must every kind of malice. Be generous to one another, sympathetic, forgiving each other as readily as God forgave you in Christ. As God’s dear children, then, take him as your pattern, and follow Christ by loving as he loved you, giving himself up for us as an offering and a sweet-smelling sacrifice to God.” (Ephesians 4:30-5:2)
This is such a simple but powerful message. It is a message about developing right relationships and developing the right sense of community. It is a message that speaks loudly of our responsibility to others and, in living out that responsibility, becoming stronger people ourselves. The community of St Edmund’s is a Gospel community – a community founded in the tradition of the Catholic Church, in the legacy of Blessed Edmund Rice and the heritage of the Christian Brothers. Being a Gospel community is more than just sending a message – it defines who we are and what we do and say. It defines our pastoral care and our academic care. It characterises the way we celebrate victory and the way we accept defeat. It forms our justice and peace initiatives and our mission work. It gives us a path towards active participation and contribution to the various communities to which we belong. We are a Gospel community where every member of our community should be modelling and living out Gospel values in our everyday actions and interactions. At times this is not an easy task given the size and diverse nature of our community, but every day we try our best and every day we learn what we can do better the following day.
I have recently purchased a Book of the Gospels and placed it in our waiting area in the College foyer. As the most visible book to the St Edmund’s community, the Book of the Gospels conveys the power of the word of God to our community. You will always find the book open on the most recent Sunday Gospel reading. If ever you do find yourself in our waiting area, I encourage you to venture towards the Book of the Gospels for a moment of quiet, individual reflection.
Embracing God,
You grace each of us with equal measure in your love.
Let us learn to love our neighbours more deeply,
so that we can create peaceful and just communities.
Inspire us to use our creative energies
to build the structures we need
to overcome the obstacles of intolerance and indifference.
May Jesus provide us the example needed
and send the Spirit to warm our hearts for the journey.
Amen.
Blessed Edmund Rice, pray for us.
Live Jesus in our Hearts, forever.
Special Congratulations
I would like to take the opportunity in this week’s Vortex to acknowledge and congratulate the following members of our student body who are contributing significantly to the wider community.
Hudson Fogarty-Apps (Year 8, Haydon House)
Hudson is working hard to raise awareness of the issues surrounding students with autism, especially in the benefit they gain from participation in sport. Through great initiatives such as “Huddy Day” (where sporting clubs and teams wear specially designed Huddy Day green socks), Hudson has not only raised the awareness of autism in sport, but has raised a significant amount of money for the Ricky Stuart Foundation which supports Hudson in his endeavours. To date Hudson’s initiatives have raised $35,000 for the Ricky Stuart Foundation. We congratulate Hudson on this incredible achievement.
William Grame (Year 8, Haydon House).
I have just recently come to learn of William’s work. About this time last year William was invited to speak at DigiCon in Melbourne as one of its four keynote speakers. Digicon is an annual conference where teachers come together to learn and share about STEM, digital technologies curriculum and emerging technologies. William has invented a diabetes test strip removal device, and this invention has launched him into a pathway which has seen him win Origin’s littleBIGidea contest, visit NASA, start the company Diabetes Domination, undertake intern work with Muffin Break and attract national and international media. We wish William well in his future endeavours.
James Tually (Year 11, Clancy House)
James has participated in the 2018 ACT Schools Constitutional Convention, held on 26 and 27 July. This year’s Convention investigated whether the Commonwealth Parliament of Australia should have specific powers to legislate on the environment. As a result of his successful participation in this event, James has been invited to attend the 2019 National Schools Constitutional Convention as one of five students to represent the ACT. One hundred and twenty students from around Australia will be at this national event. James was particularly acknowledged for his effective communication and critical listening skills. We congratulate James in this great achievement and look forward to further reports of his success in this area.
Angus Jones (Year 10, O’Brien House)
Congratulations to Angus who has achieved a bronze medal in the Australian Karate Federation National Championships. Angus achieved his award in the Cadet Male Team Kumite.
“Eddies Boys”
Five of our senior students were arriving to school on Tuesday morning when they came across an elderly man whose small dog was being attacked by a large aggressive dog. The large dog was attacking the elderly man as well as his dog. Our boys immediately ran to the aid of the elderly gentleman and pulled the large dog away. They then called the owner of the large dog and returned it to its home and waited with the elderly gentleman until his wife arrived. His dog had run away and they also went and found his dog for him – the dog not in a good way and, as described by the boys, probably needed veterinary care.
Congratulations to the following senior students on their deep community spirit, compassion and quick thinking – truly “Eddies boys”: Harry Buckley (Year 11, Clancy House), Brendan Jimenez (Year 12, Rice House), Duncan Kilmister (Year 11, Clancy House), Jed Stuart (Year 11, Treacy House), Angus Maxwell (Year 12, Rice House).
Senior Study Days
The structure of the timetable here at St Edmund’s College affords our senior students one Study Day per fortnight. I would hope that this Study Day is being used wisely by our students in Years 11 and 12 and not being wasted. The Study Day is far too valuable an opportunity to waste or utilise in ways other than school work. Senior students should be using this day to catch up on work, organise and revise their work, structure their notes and digital folders, work through any areas that may have been missed on Canvas, practice skills and responses in each of their subjects and collaborate with other students to further enhance skills and understanding. Of course students are also free to come into the College and work in the Library where they are able to consult with teachers to refine their work. Students on an Accredited pathway might also make good use of the day in scheduling their apprenticeship or CIT obligations.
This is the first school in which I have worked where students have the flexibility of a Study Day, and as such I would expect every senior student to make full use of this day on their fortnightly timetable.
Gifted Learning Information Evening: The Students’ Perspective
On Thursday 23 August, we will be holding a night of discussion where students share their experiences of the gifted learning opportunities at St Edmund’s College. This will commence at 5:30pm in the Br RJ Wallace Hall.
Whilst members of our own community might be aware of this event, I would encourage you to please inform others outside of our community who may have an interest in an event like this and invite them to join us for the evening. At St Edmund’s College, we offer very flexible timetable arrangements for gifted students – arrangements which most other schools in Canberra do not take into consideration at all.
During this informal evening, our students, parents and teachers will discuss what it is like to be gifted, the importance of individualised education and the nuances of raising a gifted child. This will be done through a student panel discussion with a Q&A session. Areas of focus will include subject, year and radical acceleration including the impact of mentoring, enrichment and extension within an age-appropriate classroom. Hear also from parents of gifted students, and their teachers who are supporting them on this unique learning journey.
Years 7 – 12 Father’s Day Mass
Please note that our regular scheduled morning Mass on Thursday 30 August will be our Father’s Day Mass for the fathers, grandfathers and students in our high school (Years 7 to 12). I encourage as many high school students, fathers and grandfathers as possible to attend the Years 7 – 12 Father’s Day Mass at 8.20 am on Thursday 30 August.
The Junior School will have its own Father’s Day Mass the following day (Friday 31 August) – details for this event have already been distributed by the Junior School.
Requests for Student Leave
Requests for student leave from the College for reasons other than illness need to be directed to the following email address: principal@stedmunds.act.edu.au. These requests should be made well in advance of the intended leave.
Christus Lux Mea
Joe Zavone (Principal)