JOE ZAVONE

Principal’s Reflection

Welcome to the first edition for this year of The Pelican, the Eddies alumni magazine. I am thrilled that in this edition we have contributions from two original students of the College, Tony Liston and John Rogers. We are very fortunate to have both Tony and John share their memories and thoughts from the very first days of the College back in the mid-1950’s, and I thank them for their time and efforts in allowing us to share these memories. Both Tony and John have continued their association with the College in different ways, with Tony’s grandson graduating last year and John’s grandson graduating this year (both boys have been House Captains as well). I am sure you will enjoy reading Tony and John’s recollections.

I also thank our other contributors for sharing their memories of the College throughout the last few years - many thanks to Class of 1987 Chris Coleman, Class of 1991 Paul Munslow, Class of 2001 and former staff member James Keeley, current member of staff and Class of 2005 Brendan Ferguson.

The contributions in The Pelican involve the sharing of memories of College life as well as life after school. If you would like to contribute to The Pelican or know of someone who would like to contribute, please feel free to contact me to arrange this. We have two editions of The Pelican each year - one in each semester, and would welcome any past student’s contribution.

It was absolutely wonderful to commence the school year without restrictions and masks, and be able to get into school life with our normal sense of enthusiasm and energy. We commence 2023 with a larger student population (as we have for the past few years). Our growing community is a great sign that we are genuine in offering our students an education and sense of school life which is relevant to them, with vibrant spirit, strong character and tailored learning. It is also encouraging to see every year that a number of students who leave us at the end of the year (other than Year 12) for one reason or another are keen to come back to us the following year as they do not see the individual care and concern we have for our students in their new environment.

Our College Advisory Council has lost two key members in the last few months, with Lara Kirk and Br Brian Berg reaching the end of their tenures. I cannot thank Lara and Brian enough for their contribution to the Council, and for the unending support of the College. We will definitely miss Lara and Brian (and I especially thank Brian for sticking with us as he is 90 years old this year!). The Advisory Council has been instrumental in working with the College Leadership Team and other members of staff in developing the next stage of our Strategic Directions. The current Advisory Council members are: John Owens (Chair), Wendy Brookman, Deborah Clayton-Baker, Chris Collett, Julie Fitzgerald, Jamie Haynes, Sarah Kelly, Gerard Tiffen and Craig Wagstaff. You will find a report from John Owens in this edition of The Pelican.

Late last year the College Foundation launched a “One for One” Appeal amongst the old boys community. The intention of this appeal was to raise enough funds to assist at least one student with school fees for one year, hence “one for one”. I thank those old boys who contributed to the appeal, especially Paul Scholtens and Matthew Scholtens, who made a very generous and significant contribution. Whilst we achieved the aim of the appeal, I must admit I was disappointed to learn that we only had three contributors from our entire old boys community. Throughout this edition of The Pelican, you will come across ways in which you can contribute to the College and assist us in expanding the opportunities we provide our students. This can be done with contributions to the College Foundation, the Building Fund or by considering our bequests program.

Our Eddies Education Partnership Program continues to grow from strength to strength. This was launched only at the beginning of last year and we were able to develop three partnerships quite quickly, the University of Canberra (through our newly created Sports Academy), the Hyatt Hotel and the Canberra Raiders. Late last year we developed a partnership with Accelerate Physiotherapy in conjunction with old boy Will Maher. I thank Will and his team for coming on board and working with our staff and students. We have also started a wonderful collaboration with St Clare’s College in a number of areas - we continue with collaborations in the areas of performing arts, sport and social life, but we also add to this collaborations in the curriculum area with shared classes in Fitness, Music and languages. I thank the leadership team at St Clare’s, and especially Principal Ann Cleary, for their co-operation and initiatives in this important partnership. All of these partnerships work to enhance the educational experience of our students and to provide them with special opportunities and skills. If you are in a position of developing a possible partnership with the College, please do not hesitate to contact me and we can progress this idea for the benefit of our young men.

In this edition we also feature the members of staff who have committed their time to working with our students at St Edmund’s. I congratulate these staff members and thank them for their dedicated service and care of our young men. Please also take the time to read the two student addresses we have published in this edition - we have the Graduation Address from the 2022 College Captain Andrew McFarlane as well as the Opening Address from the first assembly by our 2023 College Captain Deveraux Tapelu. We include these student addresses as they capture beautifully the true Eddies spirit and energy.

Joe Zavone Principal