Principal’s MESSAGE
It is with great pleasure that I present the St Edward’s College Strategic Improvement Plan for 2025-2029. This plan is the culmination of extensive consultation with our dedicated staff, parents, students, the College Advisory Council, the Senior Leadership Team, and the EREA School Renewal team. It stands as an aspirational document, framing our strategic priorities through the Edmund Rice Education Touchstones: Liberating Education, Gospel Spirituality, Inclusive Community, and Justice and Solidarity.
These Touchstones remain at the heart of our Strategic Improvement Plan, reflecting the values embedded in our College Aspiration Statement. Our aim is to foster an authentic Catholic learning community, deeply inspired by the charism of Edmund Rice.
Acknowledging our past achievements, present realities, and future aspirations, this plan is designed to guide our learning community and provide clear direction for the years ahead. It will be
Context
St Edward’s Christian Brothers’ College was established in 1953 and has provided quality Catholic secondary education for boys over the last 66 years. It is located in an idyllic setting on the foreshores of Caroline Bay and comprises a campus of 7 hectares.
St Edward’s is a comprehensive high school where the average enrolment is 1000 boys and the entire staff, including support staff, is 140. St Edward’s is an Edmund Rice College which is governed by Edmund Rice Education Australia and an Advisory Board and is part of the network of over 50 Edmund Rice educational settings across the nation, all
brought to life through the development of Annual Improvement Plans over the next five years, which will be continuously evaluated and adapted as we realise outcomes and identify emerging priorities. Our progress will be measured and reported to the College community through our Annual Report.
Central to this Strategic Improvement Plan is our commitment to delivering a values-based liberating education. We strive to engage students with a dynamic and responsive curriculum within a nurturing environment that is authentic, innovative, and inspiring. Our goal is to develop the knowledge, capabilities, and skills that will best prepare our students for the future.
I extend my sincere gratitude to all who contributed to the creation of this plan. This document embodies the values and aspirations of our community and sets a vision for our future with optimism and purpose.
Mark Bonnici College Principal
guided in the pursuit of excellence by the Charter for Edmund Rice Schools. This Charter advocates the four touchstones of Liberating Education, Gospel Spirituality, Justice and Solidarity and Inclusive Community. These touchstones provide the framework for the strategic directions of St Edward’s College into the future. The Strategic Directions of the College are supported by a Building Master Plan which aims to develop facilities of exceptional quality to assist in the educational and spiritual formation through a values-based education, where every student is challenged, nurtured and inspired to learn and grow.
St Edward’s College aspires to provide students with a liberating education that empowers them to build a better world for all.
St Edward’s College is a faith-filled, community. We are committed to growth and strive for equity and excellence.
St Edward’s College promotes a safe and inclusive learning community, committed to fostering right- relationships and the well-being of students and staff.
St Edward’s College inspires students to be compassionate, curious, respectful and autonomous learners.
St Edward’s College students demonstrate resilience, discipline and perseverance on their learning journey.
Aspiration STATEMENT
Liberating EDUCATION
We open hearts and minds, through quality, teaching and learning experiences, so that through critical reflection and engagement, each person is hope-filled and free to build a better world for all.
As a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition throughout 2025-2029, we will:
1. Empower student growth by aligning our Aspiration Statement, Learner Profile, and College Values, in creating an environment that promotes continuous learning and personal excellence.
2. Enhance our school-wide strategy for diverse learning by allocating resources to foster individual outcomes, promoting curiosity and autonomous learning, and celebrating all forms of success, including support for High-Potential Learners.
3. Through community consultation and collaboration, continue to embed cultural knowledge and understandings of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples in all Key Learning Areas and expand extra-curricular cultural learning opportunities.
4. Actively support growth in literacy, numeracy, and contemporary skills of creativity and critical thinking by fostering perseverance aiming to create lifelong learners.
5. Cultivate a progressive educational environment that empowers student learning through the use of innovative teaching strategies, the integration of emerging technologies, and data-driven insights to increase excellence in teaching practice.
6. Implement holistic wellbeing programs that elevate teacher expertise, supporting a vibrant educational environment that nourishes student growth and celebrates professional excellence.
7. Strengthen student engagement by amplifying their voices, encouraging participation in decision-making, and creating a school culture where student perspectives contribute meaningfully to the school community.
Gospel SPIRITUALITY
We invite people into the story of Jesus and strive to make his message of compassion, justice and peace a living reality within our community.
As a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition throughout 2025-2029, we will:
1. Cultivate positive relationships where everyone feels respected, empowered and valued by living out Gospel values of forgiveness, reconciliation, compassion through respectful daily interactions to create a safe, inclusive and supportive environment.
2. Nurture the spiritual growth of all students through Religious Education programs, following EREA and Diocesan guidelines that’s provide authentic, relevant, rigorous, creative, and engaging learning experiences that encourage a deeper connection with our faith-filled community, including our local church.
3. Create a welcoming environment through interfaith dialogue, where we reflect on the life of Jesus and respect and learn from the traditions of others, to create harmony within our diverse community.
4. Promote personal, local and global faith formation opportunities for our community to explore the impact of Christian Brothers and Edmund Rice’s charism.
5. Embody the values of the Edmund Rice Touchstones by integrating compassion, justice, and solidarity into the daily life of our community.
6. Strengthen faith formation within our school community by utilising our dedicated worship space to enhance communal reflection and celebration.
7. Build upon our vibrant, faith-centred college community, promoting spiritual growth through Jesus Christ and a commitment to serving those in need.
Inclusive COMMUNITY
Our community is accepting and welcoming, fostering right relationships and committed to the common good.
As a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition throughout 2025-2029, we will:
1. Commit to policies and initiatives that underpin the wellbeing of students, staff and the wider community through celebrating the diversity of our talents, gifts and successes.
2. Collaborate and celebrate the positive values of our past and present college community— including parents, carers, and alumni to strengthen and shape the values of our future.
3. Champion the explicit teaching of social and emotional skills, College values and expectations for positive behaviour to reinforce respectful relationships with all members of the College community, thereby living out the charism of Edmund Rice and the EREA Touchstones.
4. Deepen our commitment to evidenced based pastoral care practices which enhance and align with the College Values and elements of the learner profile, supporting and nurturing our present and future students.
5. Create a culture of inclusivity in which all members of our society are welcome, respected and belong to our College community through acknowledging diversity within all religions, culture, disability and sexual orientation or gender diversity.
6. Foster student and staff voice to build awareness and empower members of the St Edward’s College Community to become contributors towards local, national and international immersive projects.
7. Strengthen existing relationships with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities and develop new connections to foster a deeper understanding and appreciation of First Nations histories, languages and cultures.
Justice & SOLIDARITY
We are committed to justice and peace for all, grounded in a spirituality of action and reflection that calls us to stand in solidarity with those who are marginalised and the Earth itself.
As a Catholic school in the Edmund Rice tradition throughout 2025-2029, we will:
1. Strengthen our commitment to create a culture of justice, peace, and solidarity based upon the Catholic Social teachings that are embedded into our curriculum and reinforced through our actions.
2. Champion diversity and co-existence by welcoming and valuing all individuals regardless of religion, race, disability, sexual orientation or economic situation through inclusive practices that foster positive and respectful relationships amongst our community.
3. Extending the implementation of our Stretch Reconciliation Action Plan continuing to learn and engage with Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures, histories, perspectives and beliefs within all facets of College life and curriculums; sharing in a process of Diddarri and Truth-Telling guided by First Nations communities.
4. Promote environmental stewardship among staff, students, and parents, inspired by Laudato si’ and the EREA Climate Crisis Response, to actively demonstrate respect for the environment and Country.
5. Actively promote service and solidarity learning programs among staff, students and parents, partnering with organisations and ministries at a local and national level that allow us to further support marginalised members within our community.
6. Deepen our commitment to becoming an educational community that promotes global solidarity with those at the margins through ongoing participation in Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders (EREBB) initiatives.
7. Build the concept of advocacy within our school community, empowering students and staff to become compassionate, informed, and active citizens who call for change and amplify the voices of those on the margins.
