Principal Report
Dear Parents, Guardians, Friends and Students,
It was wonderful to see all of our students returning from their holidays. We have a number of new students joining us this term and they have all been welcomed warmly by our community. It is wonderful to see new parents and guardians who come with them when they first arrive. It is a great way for them to get to know how we do things here and assist with settling their young people here.
Today is our NAIDOC celebration. It is an opportunity for us to focus on the message of NAIDOC which is a time for all of us to learn more about our First Nations people through our Liturgy and activities that we love sharing with the students and staff from Bindoon Primary School each year. This year’s theme For Our Elders is a time to recognise the important place that Elders play in all of our lives, particularly in those of our young people. Look out for a full report in the next edition of the Chronicle.
God Bless,
Marie Barton
Principal
Prayer
Father of all, You gave our Aboriginal People the Dreaming
You have spoken to them through their beliefs,
You then made your love clear to them in the person of Jesus.
We thank you for your care of these people.
You own them. You are their hope.
Make them strong as they face the problems of change
We ask you to help us, the people of Australia,
To listen to them and respect their culture.
Make the knowledge of you grow strong in all people.
So that you can be at home in all of us,
And so that we can make a home for everyone in our land.
Amen.
(Adapted from the Prayer prepared by the Aboriginal People for Pope John Paul II’s visit to Alice Springs 1986 http://www.natsicc.org.au/assets/resource_booklet_a4_v7_web.pdf)
Deputy Principal Report
Nurturing Excellence at Edmund Rice College: Upholding the values of Honesty, Respect, Tolerance and Trying Our Best
I hope this newsletter finds you well and that you are enjoying some of the fabulous winter days we have recently been experiencing. The final term of our academic year is racing as we are now at the end of week three! I would like to share some important updates and upcoming events with you.
Year 10 Christian Service Learning (CSL) Program
Christian Service-Learning forms part of a Catholic school’s curriculum. It is an educational activity that provides opportunities for students to integrate the principles of Catholic social teaching into practical experiences of service to others in society. Christian service learning is designed to enable students to grow, from a Christian faith perspective, as people of service. The ‘learning’ aspect is enhanced through adequate preparation, prayer and reflection, awareness activities, guidance, discernment, and small group sharing.
Year 10 students will commence their Christian Service-Learning opportunity next week, Monday August 7 to Friday August 11. Students have been briefed on the requirements of this component and will be working assisting with a revegetation and salinity control initiative at the College to improve soil and water quality. Students will complete Christian Service-Learning on Monday, Tuesday, Wednesday, and Friday so that they can continue with their VET hours during their regular VET Day, Thursday. Students will be required to wear the appropriate clothing, VET clothing options or appropriate work wear with closed in shoes and hats. The College will be providing students with gloves and gumboots.
Year 9 and 11-12 Retreat Programs
Last week, students in the year nine and upper school classes were involved in their Retreat programs with YMT, and it was amazing. The young people who run and support our students from YMT are just fabulous and engaging and great role-models for our students. It was a privilege to be a part of the senior school retreat and you can read more about these programs from the articles written by Miss Gillian and Mr Robert in this edition of The Chronicle.
Religious Education Assessment
Recently, students in Year 9 completed the online assessment in Religious Education. Data collected will assist staff in planning for future religious learning programs for our students.
OLNA Testing
Window A for OLNA testing has concluded. Some students who were absent will complete their tests this coming Monday; it was great to see students putting in their best effort and trying hard with these tests. The next OLNA testing window is shown below for your reference:
WINDOW B Testing Schedule:
- Writing: 4th – 5th September
- Numeracy and Reading: 24th July – 15th September
Tracey Crisp
Deputy Principal
Matthew 13:31-32 “The kingdom of heaven is like a mustard seed, which a man took and planted in his field. Though it is the smallest of all seeds, yet when it grows, it is the largest of all garden plants and becomes a tree, so that birds come and perch in its branches.”
Year 11/12 Retreat
On Friday 28 of July the Year 11 and 12 students participated in their Retreat Program at the College hosted by the fabulous team from Youth Mission Team Australia (YMT). The overall theme of the retreat program was overcoming challenges. YMT engaged our students in a series of sessions which explored their relationship with self, others, religion and God. The thoughtful and respectful way YMT presented each session allowed our students to feel comfortable with a new group of young adults which supported student engagement in all games, drama-based activities, and discussions.
It was a privilege to see our students rise to the challenges of the day and interact and participate in all planned sessions with enthusiasm. It was particularly fabulous to see the respect shown and our students’ willingness to be open, present and participate in activities and discussions that were new and challenging. Our young people have a beautifully bright future ahead of them. We thank the wonderful young adults from YMT for their openness, kindness, respect and helping our young people to see how bright they are.
Robert Cooper
Teacher
Kimberley Immersion
Thomas, School Social Worker and Tashia, Boarding House Parent, recently visited the East Kimberley region in Western Australia on an Immersion Trip organised by Catholic Education WA. The East Kimberley Immersion Trip provided them both the opportunity to visit numerous communities in the region, such as Kununurra, Halls Creek, Wyndham, Ringer Soak, and Warmun. Thomas and Tashia found the opportunity a privilege and learnt a great deal about Country, culture, and language. Thomas and Tashia are extremely grateful for all the time, effort and kindness provided and shown to them by all the Elders, students, families and community members they spent time with on the trip. They are also thankful to Vanessa, Troy, Donna, and Stephanie from the Catholic Education WA Transition Service Unit who organised and facilitated the trip.
At right: Some of the many sites visited by Thomas and Tashia while in the Kimberley Region.
Interschool Volleyball Tournament
26 and 27 July, saw Edmund Rice College venture out to HBF Arena Joondalup, to attend our very first inter-school volleyball tournament. We were invited by the organisers, the Australian Islamic College.
On Wednesday, the boys tournament was held. The boys were placed in Division 2, pitted against other schools, most of which were specialist volleyball schools. We were scheduled to play three pool games and a quarter final. The boys started off rusty but started to give our more fancied opposition some decent competition. The boys tried hard all day, and actually won two sets over the day.
On Thursday, a hastily put together girls team made the journey to HBF Arena. Once again, the girls were in Division B, against experienced, specialist volleyball schools. Our girls gave a very good account of ourselves, and actually won one of their pool games! We lost our quarter final match against the team that would go on to win the Div. B final. The girls then had another match, a scratch match with proper officiating, which we won! Two wins out of five matches was an incredible effort by our girls, half of which had not trained for volleyball at all! Well done girls!
Both boys’ and girls’ teams showed excellent teamwork, sportsmanship and behaviour throughout both days of the tournament. They represented the school with distinction and pride!
Pat Guretti
Teacher
Year 7/8 Carnaby Cockatoo Environmental Science Project
Dean from Carnaby Crusaders is going to be working alongside the Year 7/8 students to assist with setting up a project to help the endangered Carnaby cockatoos. This project will be getting students to survey the land around the College to identify prime breeding locations to locate artificial nesting tubes that they will be making with Dean here at the College.
This will be an on-going project, that students will then be set up to learn the skills needed to record and monitor the progress of breeding and also to look at expanding the amount of nesting tubes at the College.
Natalie Talbot
Teacher
Boarding Report
As we are in Week 3 of Term, we are quickly approaching Year 12 Graduation and the end of academic year Presentation and Awards ceremony. The Year 12’s have many exciting activities coming up, like their last High School Sports Carnival, Work Experience, Year 12 Boarder’s activity and dinner, TSU Boarder’s dinner, Football team finals and Graduation. This year graduation is Friday 15th September and Open Day and the Presentation and Awards ceremony are being held Saturday 16th September. We invite parents and family members to these events, with details coming out shortly. I will also contact parents and carers regarding flights to come to Perth to attend these events.
This week Miss Candice and I took Tyra, Year 12, to WAFC headquarters in Tuart Hill for the NAIDOC jumper photoshoot. This event was to showcase the amazing artwork produced by teams for the NAIDOC week games. We are very lucky to have Tyra with us to wear the Chittering Bronco’s football jumper, as she designed the artwork last year for the team. Tyra is now playing for the year 11&12 team at Forrestfield and is a talented footballer. Photos from the photoshoot are available through the WAFC facebook page.
Vaping is a big discussion point in schools all over Australia at the moment and it has been here at ERC as well. The students recently participated in an information session about drugs, alcohol, cigarettes and vaping and the staff at ERC attended a seminar with SDERA worker, Rosemary, on the first day of term.
Everyone knows items like e-cigarettes, e-cigs or vapes which are battery powered devices which heat liquid are not allowed in school. Unfortunately, staff are either walking into an area that smells of vape or finding these items almost daily. This means students are purposely breaking the College rules and choosing to bring them into the school and Boarding, even after they have been reminded not to. The consequence for Boarding students is a 3 week ban from excursions and 500 points.
According to SDERA:
- Research from 2017, revealed 14 per cent of secondary students aged 12 to 17 years in Australia had used e-cigarettes.
- Of these students, 48 per cent had never smoked a tobacco cigarette before their first vape.
- Around 25 per cent of these students who had vaped before ever smoking, reported later trying tobacco cigarettes.
I am wondering what research from 2023 will look like when it comes out.
Please check out the link below as Dr Karl clears up some myths.
https://www.vapetruths.initiatives.qld.gov.au/dr-karls-vape-truths
Sam Jenner
Head of Boarding
