Dear Families and Friends of St Edmund’s College

Congratulations to Ms Frances O’Sullivan who was among a prestigious list of nominees from across Australia for the 2019 EREA Charter Leadership Award. I refer you to a letter from Mr Wayne Tinsey, EREA Executive Director, acknowledging Ms O’Sullivan’s nomination.

Dear Frances

It is with much pleasure that I write to inform you that members of the St Edmund’s College community have nominated you for an Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) Charter Leadership Award for 2019. I offer you my warmest congratulations on this nomination.

Through the annual presentation of these awards, EREA seeks to recognise the outstanding contribution of men and women in the service of their school communities in support of the vision and mission of EREA. By directly linking these awards to the Charter, we celebrate the many diverse ways that the four Touchstones are brought to life as a powerful expression of the charism of Edmund Rice alive today. In addition, the awards recognise the significant leadership role of men and women in our schools and the impact that their leadership has on the lives of others.

St Edmund’s College has nominated you in the category of Liberating Education in recognition of your many years of dedicated service and commitment to the education of young people in your school community.

In the coming weeks, the recipients of this year’s awards will be determined and the winners notified. Regardless of whether you are the person chosen for the award, you can feel justifiably proud of your achievements and this nomination.

On behalf of all the members of the EREA community, congratulations and thank you for all that you do in the name of Edmund Rice education.

With my best wishes

Wayne Tinsey, Executive Director

Staff Middle Leadership Appointments 2020

Please join me in congratulating the following staff who have been appointed to Middle Leadership positions in 2020:

Ms Carmel Seng - Director of Inclusive Education
Ms Natalie Henness - Acting Director of Senior School
Ms Vanessa Bell - Director of Students
Ms Nicole Parslow - Acting Head of Department: Mathematics
Ms Tara Newlands - Acting Head of Department: English
Mr Nathan Manttan - Acting Pastoral Dean: Rice House

Skool2Skoolies Raises Over $32,000.00

Congratulations to the 2019 Skool2Skoolies team for raising over $32,000.00 this year to support three worthy charitable causes. The funds raised will go toward St Mary’s Parish St Vincent de Paul ($14,000.00), Ipswich Hospice ($14,000.00) and Edmund Rice Education Australia Beyond Borders ($4000).

Through the Skool2Skoolies initiative St Edmund’s College has been able to provide much needed financial support to two local community organisations as well as contribute to the great work that EREA does to help poor communities overseas.

Thank you to Mr Michael Podolak for his overall coordination and to the Year 12 students and staff who completed the gruelling 115km ride from Ipswich to the Gold Coast in 42-degree heat last Friday. A champion effort by all.

PHOTO OF THE WEEK

Eddies supporting the Stanthorpe Christmas Water Warriors’ Appeal

With the Australian Catholic Bishops asking that we dedicate the month of November to pray for rain to ease the hardship of our drought stricken farmers and outback communities, Eddies has decided to get behind an initiative by River 94.9. Over the next few weeks you may hear the voices of two of our four elected Captains of 2020, Max Banditt and Tom Parker, on the radio giving their support to the River 94.9 Christmas Water Warrior initiative. This project will help the community of Stanthorpe who are facing the real prospect of their water supply running out. Eddies has pledged to provide funding assistance for 2000 litres of water to be trucked to Stanthorpe to support the Water Warrior appeal. Please get behind this worthy initiative.

Prayers

We continue to pray for rain for our farmers and communities impacted by the crippling drought.

Dear God, we ask that you bring much needed rain to these communities at this time of great need.

Live Jesus in our hearts - Forever

Diarmuid O’Riordan, Principal

This week the Christmas Hampers were collected from all parts of the College. Our Foundation Room in the Edmund Rice Building is filled with generous donations and the Christmas Tree has been surrounded by beautiful gifts waiting for collection by St Vincent de Paul, who will give them to the families we are supporting.

Many of the Homerooms have beautifully decorated their hamper boxes, building giant Christmas presents and replica Gingerbread Houses. Three Homerooms will receive a sweet treat to celebrate their efforts, not only beautifully decorating their hamper, but also filling them to the brim with generous donations of grocery items. Well done Homerooms Rice 3 and Rice 6, along with Treacy 3!

Christmas spirit was also shared with the wider community on Thursday afternoon when a group of Year 8 students attended the final session of the Brassall Blue Care Outreach for the year. Along with Ms Adrianna Rimland, the students assisted the residents in decorating their Christmas tree and handing out handmade decorations. Each of the residents received a beautifully folded Christmas Star that was made by students in Year 8 during the Eddies’ Men Can program last week.

Both St Vincent de Paul and Brassall Blue Care have expressed their gratitude for the warmth and generosity our students and staff have demonstrated. We are grateful to the parents and caregivers who encourage and support our young men to truly be a brother to others in our community. Thank you to all who have supported and given to our Christmas Appeal.

Prayer ‘Give the Present of Presence’

Dear Lord,
This Christmas change my heart
Turn it inside out, toward the larger world.
Remind me daily of those who struggle with their basic existence.
Lead me to help change social systems.
Expand my awareness.
Increase my generosity.
This Christmas guide me to give the gift of presence.
Let us share the present of our presence with those around us every day.
We ask this prayer through Christ our Lord.
Amen

Live Jesus in Our Hearts - Forever

Marysia Rice, Assistant Principal Identity

This week I spoke at the College Assembly and visited each Year 11 Student Development class to discuss the progress of the students in the new Queensland Certificate of Education (QCE). Tracking has been completed and letters sent to Year 11 parents and caregivers about their son’s progress.

Over the last two weeks in Student Development the students have had time to work on their Certificate in Christian Ministry and to prepare for those subjects which have Internal Assessment 1 next week.

A letter has been sent to all Year 11 parents this week summarising the year and providing further information in support of the students. We wish all of those students well who are completing Internal Assessment 1.

Years 10 and 11

Years 10 and 11 students commenced exams Friday November 22. Year 10 students are in normal classes for the duration of the exam period and as such must attend each day.

Year 11 students have an Exam Block on Tuesday November 26, Wednesday 27 and Thursday 28. The remainder of the time Year 11 are in normal classes.

Years 7, 8 and 9

Years 7, 8 and 9 will have their exams in class time and must attend school at all times. Any student who is absent must have a parent/caregiver contact the College as soon as possible on 3810 4400.

Reports – All Year Levels

During assembly this week I spoke to all students about their reports for Semester 2, 2019. Years 7 to 9 will receive the usual report with Academic and Affective (study habits) results.

Year 10 students will receive this as well but the report format will match the format for Year 11 as Year 10 are in Transition Subjects.

Year 11 students will receive results for Affective (study habits) only, as not all subjects have completed assessment in Unit 3 (which is like Semester 1 for Year 12) for the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) at this stage.

Posting to the Web - Years 7 to 11

Marking and reporting will be finalised after the students finish and reports will be posted to the SEC web on Friday December 6.

Best wishes.

Carmel James, Assistant Principal Learning and Teaching

Reading is like just about everything else in life: the more you do it, the better you get. When students stop reading for extended periods of time they often take a few steps backwards in their reading improvement. Therefore, it is important to encourage boys to keep reading during the holidays.

The St Edmund’s College Library has e-books and audio-books available for download so students can continue to borrow and read over the holidays.

To login to the ePlatform, students use their student ID (eg. S12345) and the password is: Library1
If you do not wish to download the app just go to: https://sec.wheelers.co/

If you have any queries please speak with St Edmund’s Library staff.

Children's Book Council of Australia Buy A Book Bushfire Campaign

Please refer to the attachment for details of the Children's Book Council of Australia Buy a Book campaign. This initiative is directed towards children or young adults affected by the recent bushfires. 100% of funds received through their campaign will be used by the Children's Book Council of Australia to purchase books from local independent retailers to support those impacted by the current fires.

Ms Karen Callaghan, Head of Department Information Services and Learning Resources

All Stationery Lists for 2020 are located on the College website using the following links:

Year 7 students:

https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amaz...

Years 8 to 12 students:

https://s3-ap-southeast-2.amaz...

Last Friday, following their final roll call and a hearty rendition of the College Song on the front lawn, a group of dedicated young men rode out of the gates of St Edmund’s for the final time as students. They began one final act of service to conclude their high school journey.It was the culmination of a year-long effort from this group of Year 12 students, who have spent a significant amount of time this year training and raising money for our annual Skool2Skoolies Charity Bike Ride.

This year’s Skool2Skoolies initiative has been the most successful to date, far exceeding records set in previous years, with $32,000 raised. This money will be distributed among the Ipswich Hospice, St Vincent de Paul Society and the EREA Beyond Borders Project. All the young men involved in this incredible fundraising effort should be extremely proud of their efforts.

A huge thank you to all our sponsors, who generously gave their support. The record-breaking amount of funds raised would simply not be possible without your continued support.

Special thanks to our Champion Sponsors: your ongoing support is invaluable towards the survival of the largest service activity at the College.

Champion Sponsors 2019

- Apprenticeships QLD
- Blackchrome Cycling
- Choices Flooring by Mallets
- DV Electrical Services
- Gibson Architects
- Greena Business Solutions
- Limestone Dental Group
- Potter Landscapes
- St Edmund’s College Old Boys’ Association
- Strybos & Sons Electrical
- Trek Ipswich

Thank you to the parents for all your early morning drop-offs and late pick-ups after training rides; the funding for purchasing bikes and all the necessary riding equipment, and of course, your continued support of the Skool2Skoolies initiative.

Another thank you must go to the Queensland Police Service who provided the riders with a Police Escort for most of the ride. The presence of the QPS ensured a safe journey to the Gold Coast and provided a welcoming sense of security for all riders.

Skool2Skoolies is about working as a group and giving back to the community. In keeping with tradition, we present a group of individual awards to recognise some outstanding achievements over the course of the year and indeed on the final day.

The award winners this year are
Most Funds Raised - Dylan Palmer
Mr Skool2Skoolies - Deakin Jennings
Most Kilometres in Training - Jeremy Suthers
King of the Mountain - Nicholas Just
Most Improved - Zachary Butcher

Lastly, thank you to the gentlemen involved in Skool2Skoolies this year. You have continued the legacy which began in 2003 and ensured this legacy will continue for many years. Thank you!

Yours in Cycling, Nathan Manttan

On Sunday 10 November, seventy-six players took part in the seventh edition of the Skool2Skoolies Golf Day, raising almost $2,700 for the Skool2Skoolies initiative. The event was the culmination of the Skool2Skoolies fundraising, which has raised over $32,000 for the Ipswich Hospice, St Vincent de Paul and EREA Beyond Borders projects.

The support from the community was overwhelming. In such a short space of time and from extremely humble beginnings, the Skool2Skoolies event has grown at an incredible rate to become a permanent fixture on the College calendar.

Sincere thanks must go to all of the players and sponsors who have made the 2019 Skool2Skoolies Golf Day such a success. A particular thanks to Sandy Gallop Golf Club for their generosity and support of the event for the past seven years.

Mr Lucas Wilson, Treacy House Dean

Mon 25 Nov: R Osborne, M Nugent, C Hendry

Tue 26 Nov: S Eaton

Wed 27 Nov: B MacDonald, S Leonard

Thu 28 Nov: H Rahn, H Turner, K Newman

Fri 29 Nov: C Cuskelly, S Verrenkamp, T Diamond

All new students requiring uniforms must make an appointment. Uniforms may be purchased at the time of fitting. Dates and times are shown on the SEC website and listed below.

CURRENT YEAR 11 STUDENTS

Blazer Pockets must be embroidered before students commence Year 12 on Wednesday 29 January 2020. Your NAME and HOME ROOM should be pinned to the pocket before handing to the Uniform Shop or Student Office no later than Thursday 28 November. It will be the student’s responsibility to have his blazer pocket embroidered if handed in after 28 November. Please contact the Uniform Shop if further information is required.

2020 Uniform Shop Times

The Uniform Shop will trade as normal commencing Monday 13 January 2020 and will be open on Saturday 18 January 2020 from 8.00am to 1.00pm.

UNIFORM SHOP HOLIDAY OPENING TIMES

2019
The Uniform Shop will trade as normal until Thursday 28 November 2019
Open Saturday 30 November 2019 - 8.00am to 12 noon

2020
The Uniform Shop will commence normal trading on Monday 13 January 2020
Open Saturday 18 January 2020 - 8.00am to 1.00pm

UNIFORM SHOP PRICE LIST

There has been a small increase in prices on some Uniform Shop items. Please see the new Price List and updates on the College Website and App for information regarding Uniform Shop updates.

NORMAL OPENING HOURS

MONDAY – 8:00am to 12:30pm
TUESDAY – 8:00am to 3:30pm (Closed 12:30pm to 1:30pm)
WEDNESDAY – 8:00am to 3:30pm (Closed 12:30pm to 1:30pm)
THURSDAY – 8:00am to 12:30pm

P: 3810 4489
E: uniformshop@sec.qld.edu.au
Visit the SEC Website- www.sec.qld.edu.au

CHRISTMAS EVE — Tuesday 24 December - Vigil Mass

4.30pm—Immaculate Heart, Leichhardt

6.00pm—St Brigid’s, Rosewood

6.00pm—St Mary’s, Ipswich

6.00pm—St Joseph’s, North Ipswich

8.30pm—Our Lady of Miraculous Medal, Eastern Heights

MIDNIGHT MASS - St Mary’s, Ipswich

CHRISTMAS DAY – Wednesday 25 December

7.30am—St Joseph’s, North Ipswich

8.00am—St Brigid’s, Rosewood

8.30am—St Mary’s, Ipswich

* There will be no evening Mass in the Ipswich Catholic Community on Christmas Day

NEW YEARS DAY - Wednesday 1 January 2020

St Mary’s, Ipswich 9.00am

St Brigid’s, Rosewood 9.30am