Pastoral Care Report

Pastoral Care

Paul English

The 2021 year started well with a new Year 7 group starting high school at the College, community sports and inter school sports reigniting in Term 1 and early Term 2. In Pastoral Care the Pastoral Leaders and Counsellors were working daily with students and parents in negotiating pathways that assisted students in life around the College. We were conscious at the College that cases of positive COVID cases were increasing again around Australia as the winter months approached and we prepared staff and students for a return to Home Based Learning (HBL).

The current COVID situation in 2021 has affected not only workplaces and work opportunities in societies, but for students in schools around the world. The learning process has changed and individual learning processes have been adopted such as HBL offered by St Edward’s in 2021.

The media shared all the doom and gloom on daily news reports and on occasion they mention positive achievements that individuals have achieved. A word constantly thrown in our faces has been resilience and all members of society around Australia were encouraged to be positively resilient.

What does that mean? The Macquarie dictionary defines being resilient as returning to the original form or position after being bent, compressed and stretched. Being buoyant and cheerful while readily recovering is also perceived as resilient.

However, resilience does not come automatically to every human being and every human being is different from others. So where does resilience come from? The NSW Fire Brigade believes that resilience is achieved through a plan of Innovation, Activation and Operation.

Innovation encompasses thinking outside the box. This can be done by individuals or in small groups that can instigate change in the process used in the past and adopting a new process that improves our efficiency.

Activation involves the whole community in adopting the process and operation involves ensuring all members of the community are following the plan in place.

Teachers open the door, but you must enter by yourself. Chinese proverb ”

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I believe that the St Edward’s community 2021, led by the College executive and middle leaders, have shone in adopting innovation in managing the College community and that every activation offered has been accepted by staff, students, and parents. Coupled with positivity, this has enabled our learning community to shine in operation and St Edward’s has much to be grateful for as a leading learning community on the Central Coast.

I thank the Pastoral Leaders, Mr McCauley, Mr Powell, Mr Beattie, Mr Sullivan, Mr Speziale and Mrs Englund, for their work this year in safeguarding our students. The work of Mrs Pearson in driving the wellbeing folio through the College is to be applauded, however COVID restrictions affected minimal interaction with speakers and most events were cancelled.

Our College Counsellors, Ms Killin and Mr Missio-Spiteri must be thanked for their work with our students this year as the continued restrictions caused much unrest and increase in anxiety with some of our students.

I also thank Mrs Beynon and Mrs Atkinson for their support in administrative duties with the Pastoral Care team this year. Their organisational skills and general knowledge is much appreciated by the Pastoral Care team.

Farewell to Mr Sutton, College Deputy Principal. He has played a big part in changes made in Pastoral Care in the last five years and I thank him personally for all that he has done for our students and staff.

St Edward’s College has adopted the word ‘resilience’ in 2021 to overcome all obstacles that have been put in front of the learning community of Years 7-12 boys. Through the leadership of staff at the school, the students have, unknowingly, shown grit and determination to be the best they can be, under the stresses that accompanied HBL. Congratulations to all our 2021 students.