Some time ago, while perusing the internet, indulging in some active procrastination and avoiding the need to write a newsletter article, I came across the following headline. Emblazoned on the British Broadcasting Corporation’s news website the headline read, “Four-day week ‘an overwhelming success' in Iceland”.
Yes! Iceland, the land of ice, snow and a disproportionately large number of volcanoes (some 200 in total) apparently trialled a four-day week and — how good is that? — it was an unmitigated success. Fantastic!
But let’s look at it more carefully, did this really happen? Online magazine, Wired, says “Iceland didn’t trial a four-day work week. Instead, the two trials reduced hours from 40 each week to 35 or 36. Some could choose to manage their remaining hours over four days, but this project was about understanding the impact of fewer hours, not specifically the idea of a four-day week.” Really though, how good is that!?
The results of the trial were positive to say the least, with the Icelandic workforce benefiting. Improved wellbeing, decreased stress and less burnout were all framed by stable or improved productivity. This said, on the understanding that not all jobs can be done satisfactorily in shorter shifts and fewer working hours, there was a cost. More of some types of workers needed to be employed, for example in healthcare, costing $42 480 000 (in today’s dollars) annually, and rightly so. Still: how good is that!?
To again quote Wired, “Regardless of the type of work – and the trials included schools, city maintenance, police stations, care homes and even the Reykjavík mayor’s office, among others – productivity doesn’t slip if we cut hours.” Stakeholder interviews indicated benefits to work-life balance, people had more time to spend with family and friends and men even took on more domestic responsibilities. How good is that!?...wait…more domestic responsibilities!
The first four weeks of Term 2 always seem — depending on whether you’re a glass half full or glass half empty type of person — to be either intensely stressful or remarkably relaxing. It might seem for some, that wheels are spinning and not much is done, others see this busy time as productive in subtle but extremely important ways.
Like a relay race we started with Easter Monday and a four-day Week 1 that included a Year 12 Retreat and ended with an ANZAC Day service plus an interhouse fun run. This tagged into week 2 and included ANZAC Day proper and a couple of Student /Parent/Teacher evenings (when some academic chickens may have come home to roost). The baton next week will be swiftly passed to Week 3 where Labour Day awaits and Edmund Rice Day Celebrations. Finally, on the last leg and with a style all its own, not in the least because the public holiday is on the Friday rather than Monday, Week 4 rounds off the race with a Year 12 Formal and the Ipswich Show holiday. All this interspersed with regular school days, normal lessons and much teaching and learning.
While these first four weeks have been shortened, productivity abounds. There is no question that teaching and learning always remains a core priority. Importantly, though, what we are teaching, and the manner of delivery is paramount. Recent weeks, shortened though they may have been, have been packed full of any number of community building events. These are our ‘point of difference’. They are what differentiates St Edmund’s from a run-of-the-mill school.
Productivity, for those who take the opportunity, is high. Retreats and celebrations, formals and fun runs enrich our young men in ways that are not immediately obvious. Skills and knowledge learned in classrooms are crucial but what will round off an Eddies man, what will make him different and truly able to make a difference will be the formation provided by education in a caring community inclusive of all the messiness and chaos that goes with it. An education supported by faith and right relationships, liturgies and House events and knowledge, the sure knowledge that we are all part of a team, one team, the Eddies Team and how good is that?
ANZAC Day
Attending the Woodend service on ANZAC Day, I was extremely happy to see the large number of Eddies families standing on the dewy grass as the morning sun gradually lit the cenotaph on Roseberry Parade.
St Edmund’s College and the St Edmund’s Old Boys Association have for many years supported the Woodend service providing equipment, facilities and administrative support. I thank our many staff who give so freely of their time to ensure this fitting memorial to our fallen.
Later in the day some 96 Eddies Men, 5 Eddies parents and 6 staff assembled for the ANZAC Day March. Thank you to all who marched.
I am heartened to note that so many of our young men took time to look beyond themselves and recognise the contributions of our Defence personnel.
Edmund Rice Education Australia Changes
In 2007 the Christian Brothers moved their focus from education to ministries encompassing social justice for indigenous people and refugees and to the struggles in Africa, East Timor and the Philippines. The Brothers entrusted their mission in education and the governance of their schools to a new organisation, Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA).
Today EREA has responsibility for 40 000 students in 55 schools over 16 dioceses and employs 4 500 staff. There are mainstream schools like St Edmund’s, St Laurence’s and St Patrick’s but also Flexi-schools, like the Ipswich Flexi, catering to students for whom a conventional educational program isn’t appropriate.
Over the past year EREA has conducted a review to address how best to approach the future of governance in the organisation to ensure student safeguarding, transparency and accountability.
Please find below link to letter by Philomena Billington, President of the Council of Trustees of Edmund Rice Education Australia explaining the new structures.
Ltr To Parents Carers Erea School Communities 27042022
