ERC Newsletter - Week 4 Term 4 2024

“For I know the plans I have for you,” declares the Lord, “plans to prosper you …

plans to give you hope and a future.” (Jeremiah 29:11)

Dear Parents and Carers,

I am pleased to report that, for the third consecutive year, 100 percent of our Year 12 students who chose to apply for early entry into university have received an offer. This consistent success reflects the hard work of our students and teachers and their dedication to academic excellence. While these ‘early entry’ opportunities are a vote of confidence in the ERC graduate, I would like to commend the large majority of our students who have not allowed this to detract from their sustained commitment and performance in their final exams.

Alongside these achievements, 17 students have gained apprenticeships over the course of this school year. These diverse pathways highlight the comprehensive education that the College strives to provide, valuing both academic and vocational success so that each student can pursue a pathway suited to their strengths and aspirations.

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Last week, we proudly celebrated our Year 11 students, who have now completed their Preliminary HSC courses. At the awards ceremony, we recognised students who placed first in a course, demonstrated academic excellence, or showed consistent dedication in particular subjects, as well as those who made meaningful contributions through our CSL program.

During this time, we also held the “pinning of the badges” ceremony, where parents presented our newly elected senior student leaders with their badges. This ceremony is a symbol of the essential partnership between parents and the College in highlighting the shared learning journey that parents and teachers walk together with our young people.

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It was wonderful to reconnect with the parents and carers of Year 7 2025 during last week’s information evening. Interest in joining ERC remains strong as we officially welcomed these new families into our community. During this gathering we shared key information to assist families in preparing for next year and outlined the exciting learning opportunities and new facilities that we are planning. Mr Bourke, our current Year 12 Pastoral Coordinator, has now gone full-circle as he addressed the audience in his new capacity as the Year 7 Pastoral Coordinator for 2025.

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Planning for the 2025 Budget is now well underway. I would like to thank the College Advisory Council, the Finance sub-committee, and the EREA NSW College’s Board for their support in ensuring responsible stewardship as we work to meet the needs of our community. We will share our annual School Fee statement with all families in early December after the budget is finalised for the 2025 school year.

Government recurrent funding for Independent schools is now split between the Commonwealth (80%) and State (20%) governments. From 2022 each schools’ funding has been gradually adjusted annually to ensure they transition to the correct funding ratio. Unfortunately, the College will continue to receive reduced government funding from both the Commonwealth and State governments for the duration of this transition period.

Further to this, under the new Capacity to Contribute (CTC) funding model, each Independent school’s government funding is adjusted according to its parents’ assessed capacity to contribute towards fees. The higher the CTC score the less government recurrent funding a school will receive. Our Direct Measure of Income (DMI) score increased this year. Therefore we anticipate an annual school fee increase for next year to be similar to last year as the College adjusts to this continued decrease in recurrent government funding.

Thank you for your continued support of our students and our College community.

Warm regards,
Dr Gough

Identity

Student Learning

Year 11 Preliminary HSC Academic Awards

We would like to extend our congratulations to the Year 11 students who received awards at the recent Year 11 Academic Assembly. A special thank you to the parents, guardians and families who joined us to witness their sons receive these well-deserved awards.

Year 12 2025 HSC Assessment Handbook

The Year 12 2025 Higher School Certificate Assessment Handbook was issued to Year 12, 2025 Parents/Carers and Students earlier this week. This document contains important requirements for HSC Assessment Tasks, including the Process for Illness/Misadventure Applications which must be followed if your son is absent on the day before or on the day of an assessment task.

It is important to thoroughly read the contents of the HSC Assessment Handbook so that you and your son know his rights and responsibilities, as Year 12 students will be sitting their first HSC Assessment Tasks in many courses during Term 4, 2024.

Please feel free to contact me at the College should you have any questions regarding HSC assessment task requirements.

Years 7-10 Semester 2 Examinations

As Year 10 students continue to complete their Semester 2 Examinations, Year 9 Examinations are now also under way with Years 7 & 8 to follow in Weeks 5, 6 and 7 as per the 2024 Semester 2 Years 7-10 Examination Timetable shared in the previous College Newsletter and emailed to students.

During this exam block, we ask parents and carers to please encourage your son to maintain a balance between his academic study, exercise, rest and sleep to enable him to work efficiently and perform well to achieve his goals for this semester.

Save the Date

This years, Year 7-10 Awards Assembly, will be held in Week 9 from 10:35am- 12:35pm on Wednesday, 11 December in the Edmund Rice Centre.

Overcoming Roadblocks

Please follow this link to the benefits of students knowing ways to overcome roadblocks or challenges they may experience. Please also note that you and your son have access to this and other study tips and techniques via the Study Skills Handbook username and password also provided in the above link.

Mrs Bell
Director of Studies

Pastoral Care

We are at the halfway point of Term 4 and the business can impact students, staff and parents wellbeing very quickly. We become overwhelmed, panic, think of ourselves, stress and forget to breathe and reflect before making decisions or saying something we may regret later.

What are the signals and how do we respond to these?

Once again we have reached that time of year where we find ourselves scratching our heads wondering where the months have all gone and how it’s almost time for summer holidays and end of year celebrations. As we near the end of another busy year, many parents might notice their children having a mixture of feelings. Some children may be excited and ready to close out another school year, while others may be more exhausted, counting down the days until holidays begin. For some they may present as having more worries or appearing more anxious. The end of the school year can be a stressful time for children, school staff and parents as class work and reports are finalised, there is also the impending threat of big changes approaching. This is typical for many children, being afraid of the unknown, change and conversations turning to preparation for next year all of which can contribute to increasing anxiety or worries.

Anxiety is a response to a perceived threat or can result from overwhelm. Often when we are faced with something we see as threatening, we will respond with a fight, flight, or freeze response. Anxiety can be helpful at times and is a normal part of development. Many children are more likely to demonstrate psycho-somatic symptoms of anxiety, rather than express their fear with words. This may look like school avoidance, complaints of sore tummies, increased heart rate, headaches, increased clinginess or becoming more dysregulated than what is usual for them. While this time of year can cause increased feelings of stress and anxiety it is important that children feel supported with these big feelings by their parents and caretakers and that with your help, they can learn to regulate their feelings.

During this end of year period there are some things families can do to minimise stress:

Reflect on your child’s needs. Maslow’s Hierarchy of Needs tells us that our needs lower down the hierarchy need to be fulfilled in order for us to attend to our needs higher up the pyramid. This may be a good time to consider if your child’s lower level needs are all being met including:
Sleep- are they still getting enough sleep each night? Government recommendations are for 10-13 hours for 3-5 year old’s, 9-11 hours for 6- to 12-year-olds and 8-10 hours for 13- to 18-year-olds
Food and Nutrition– has there been any changes to their usual diet?
Stability- Stick to schedule. End of year may mean that some schedules fade away, however sticking to routine can help create a sense of calm and familiarity and can help your child to relax and feel confident about what’s happening.

Higher up on the pyramid are loving and belonging needs. It may be timely to consider:

Relationships– how are they tracking with friends and family? Have there been any changes to important relationships? It may be helpful to make time to talk to your child about their feelings. By starting a conversation about worries and stress this can help normalise your child’s feelings and let them know they aren’t “bad” emotions and that everyone experiences them.

Another way to support mental wellbeing is staying active. With the weather heating up it is time to make the most of it. Keeping our minds and body busy can help with worries.
Planning ahead for school holidays. Not knowing what is coming up can be a major cause for stress. Providing your child with a plan for what they will be doing in the holidays can let them know what to expect and alleviate some stress. Involving your child in creating this summer holidays plan can help them to feel comfortable and have a sense of control over their routine. Having a summer holiday plan is also a great way of helping your child stay motivated over the last few weeks of term when fatigue begins to set in.

So a quick simple plan as we approach the end of the year:

Step 1: Plan Ahead
Step 2: Identify which stressors you can or can’t control
Step 3: Don’t forget to have fun!
Step 4: Look after your wellbeing
Step 5: Reach out for support

There are a number of ways we can prepare and put in place strategies to reduce anxiety and look after everyone’s wellbeing as a school community. Remember to make time, listen, report and use the support structures available at school to address any issues, concerns or questions you have that are relevant to the wellbeing.

Mr Bates
Acting Director of Pastoral Care & Wellbeing

Last week, our Year 8 students embarked on an unforgettable camp experience as part of ERC’s Outdoor Education Program. Situated on the banks of the Shoalhaven River, within the Morton National Park, Coolendel provides a great opportunity for the Year 8 boys to disconnect from their devices and reconnect with each other, nature and the vast amounts of wildlife that call Coolendel home. The camp provides a unique blend of adventure and personal growth, encouraging students to step out and expand their comfort zones.

Each day was packed with activities that challenged both physical and mental limits; from rock climbing to bush discovery walks, archery and testing the boys communication skills and navigation skills through a rogaine activity and having fun on the water canoeing to challenging the boys fears on various high wires activity. Through these experiences, the boys developed resilience, teamwork, and self-confidence – qualities that go beyond the classroom.

The Outdoor Education Program at ERC is a core part of student life, designed to help our boys build a sense of self and develop essential skills they can use throughout their lives. Watching the students face their fears and support one another was a reminder of the power of community, mateship and personal growth. The Year 8 Camp is sure to leave lasting memories and lessons that will inspire the boys in the years to come.

A huge thank you to the team at Optimum Experience for facilitating our Year 8 Camp. The teachers who supported in the lead up to, and also attended the camp with the boys; Dr Gough, Mrs Hughes, Mr Bates, Mr Crapis, Mr Sunarya, Mr Pierro, Mr Volk, Mr Bramble, Mr Scott, Mr Tognetti, Mr Thomas, Mrs Dutton, Mrs Frappell, Mr Mitchell and Mr Polidoro. Thank you for your tireless support and effort with our Year 8 Gentlemen.

Please enjoy a few photos from our Year 8 Camp, and some thoughts and reflections from some of the Year 8 students about their experiences.

Jeng C / Stefen A: During camp, we encountered many different challenges that we had to overcome. These included many of the activities we participated in which were rock climbing, canoeing and more. Rock climbing was a main challenge for all, trying to scale up the natural wall with not many hand holds or foot holds to use, in the end though, we all triumphed and climbed to the top. There were several enjoyable moments during this camp, some including canoeing, rogaining, and participating in activities we created at the campsite. Another enjoyable moment is being together with our peers and extending our comfort zone together, and also having visitors from Gadhungal Marring share their sacred culture with us and celebrate their dances and stories at our Corroboree we all participated in. Overall, the highlights of the Coolendel camp were we got to complete many different activities boosting our self-confidence, teamwork and communication with others in our group. Every night was fun with all of us trying to cook our meals as well as all the activities that we got to participate in.
John C / Matthew D: Our camp at Coolendel was an exciting experience that came with many challenges involving teamwork, resilience and communication. Some of the challenging activities were rock climbing, high wires and canoeing. These activities were challenging because they were new experiences for a lot of us. Rock climbing was difficult because it challenged our physical capabilities. It was difficult to climb up the rock walls because it was hard to find good spots to place your feet and hands. High wires were also both fun and challenging. The four activities were log ladder climb, flying fox, sock battles and slack line battle. Log ladder climb was an activity where you had to climb up a ladder made out of logs with the gaps in between the logs slowly increasing. The flying fox was a zipline suspended in between two trees about 3 metres above the ground. In the sock battle you and your friend are suspended a metre above the ground with tags in your shoes. When the game starts you are spun around and your goal is to collect the other person’s tags before they get your own. The final high wires activity was slackline battle. In this activity you and your friend were on a slackline about 4 metres above the ground. The goal of this activity was to push your friend off the slackline while keeping yourself standing. Both the rock climbing and high wires challenged our fear of heights. Even though some of us were scared of some activities we all encouraged each other and tried our best in all of the activities. In canoeing, we went to a river to learn how to paddle a canoe. Two people shared a canoe, and we learned different ways of steering a canoe, such as turning, moving forward and moving to the side. It required communication with your other canoe paddler and teamwork when racing. Sleeping in our tents was also a fun and memorable experience, being away from your comfortable bed and instead sleeping inside a sleeping bag sharing your tent with one or two other people. All the year 8 students gathered for a corroboree and listened to the stories as well as watched the dances performed by the visitors from Gadhungal Marring. We made our own dinners as a tribe, having ravioli on the first night, and curry on the second. Overall it was a fun, challenging but enjoyable experience!
Edoardo I / James M: Camp was a very fun and enjoyable experience, it started off with arriving at Coolendel and setting up camp. We also met our instructors/camp leaders, they were all very nice and very exciting, making camp a fantastic experience. The highlights of the camp can include cooking next to the fire with our friends. It was also very interesting how we had to cook with the trangia stoves and clean up properly for each dinner meal. It was also very relaxing and calming when we were near the fire cooking damper and talking with each other. An activity we did was, Rock climbing. Rock climbing was very hard for a few people, but we were encouraged to help those people to finish their rock climbing course. Everyone managed to make it to the top and then we abseiled down. Another activity that most people enjoyed was the Corroboree. All groups stood up on the sand and learnt to dance to an Aboriginal Dreaming story, it was a very great and exciting experience to learn those dances. Another activity was canoeing, we all went out on the water and learnt many different techniques of how to turn the canoe and how to paddle fast. Overall, Year 8 camp was a very fun and enjoyable experience.

Mr Panozzo // Mr Crapis
Acting Year 8 Pastoral Care Coordinator // Assistant Pastoral Care Coordinator.

Sport

Rice Cup Summary

On Tuesday, October 22nd, the inaugural Rice Cup Soccer event took place at Valentines Sports Park in Sydney, featuring Year 7 teams from schools within the Edmund Rice Education Australia (EREA) network. The competition brought together seven New South Wales schools: Edmund Rice College (Wollongong), St. Patrick’s College (Strathfield), Waverley College (Sydney), St. Dominic’s College (Penrith), St. Pius X College (Chatswood), Christian Brothers’ High School (Lewisham), and St. Edward’s College (Gosford).

Edmund Rice College entered two teams, ERC Red and ERC Black, both of which displayed impressive skill and teamwork throughout the tournament. ERC Black fought hard in their group stage matches, narrowly missing out on a spot in the semi-finals. ERC Red made a strong run through the tournament beating St Patrick’s College in the first game, reaching the semi-finals, without conceding a goal. In the semi-final, ERC red came up against a strong Waverley side but despite their best efforts for a comeback, ERC Red were defeated 3-0, with Waverley advancing to the final. The final match between Waverley College and St. Patrick’s College was a tense and competitive encounter. After a hard-fought game, the match ended in a 0-0 draw, leading to a dramatic penalty shootout. St. Patrick’s College kept their composure under pressure, ultimately winning the shootout and claiming the inaugural Year 7 Rice Cup.

The event was played under ideal conditions, and the state-of-the-art facilities at Valentines Sports Park provided the perfect setting for a day of intense football and great sportsmanship. Congratulations to St. Patrick’s College on their thrilling win. The day was a fantastic success, and the excitement is already building for this tradition to continue in future years.

This tournament beautifully showcased the community spirit and values of EREA schools, promoting not only competition but also unity, respect, and sportsmanship among the students.

ERC Red Tournament MVP: Rocco Scaglia

ERC Black Tournament MVP: Braxton Ewen-Chappell

Mr Crapis

Community Announcements

PROCEDURES FOR PARENTS / CARERS

Parent Appointments

As a College we respectfully request that any parent wishing to discuss a matter of concern with a member of staff contacts the relevant staff member via email or via telephone through the College Office and requests an appointment. Staff members will get back to you at their earliest convenience. Parents presenting at the College Office may be asked to make an appointment and return at a mutually convenient time. For specific information about who to contact please refer to your son’s diary on pages 20 and 21.

Collecting your son from school

A reminder to all families that should a circumstance arise where you need to collect your son from school before the end of the school day we require you to come to the College Office. Students will not be permitted to walk to the carpark or the street to be collected. If they leave to attend a pre-arranged appointment we request that this is communicated to the College Office in writing via note or email. If you wish to have someone collect your son that is not currently listed on TASS then you will be required to communicate this clearly in writing, you will also receive a call to verify that you did in fact authorise this arrangement. All students arriving late or departing early are required to sign in and out through the Student Office.

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Change in Student/Family Circumstances/Contact Information/Medical Conditions

If any change has occurred/occurs in your family – separation, divorce, serious illness, the College should be notified as soon as possible. The College seeks to be supportive of families in such circumstances and such events always have a bearing on a child’s education. Likewise, a change of address, email or phone number (work, home or mobile) or emergency contact should be advised immediately.

If your son suffers from a medical condition it is vital that you inform the office of his condition and what treatment is required in an emergency. An emergency management plan must be developed for any students with serious conditions.

Please verify all information via the TASS Parent Lounge.

Contents

Principal's Message

Identity

ERC Vinnie's Christmas Appeal

Year 12 Mass

ECO ERC - Day trip to Waverley College Ecology Symposium

Student Learning

From the Director of Studies

Year 9/10 PASS Excursion

Strumming Their Way to Success: Year 7 Guitarists

Musical Instrument Tuition at Edmund Rice

Pastoral Care

From the Acting Director of Pastoral Care & Wellbeing

A Big Congratulations to our Year 9 Achievers!

Symbio Wildlife Park and Minnamurra Rainforest

Year 8 Camp

Sport

Inaugural Rice Cup

NSWCCC 2024 Aquathlon

NSW All Schools Triathlon 2025

TERM ONE 2025 NSWCCC INDIVIDUAL SPORTS

Community Announcements

Careers Newsletter

2025 Term Dates

From the Uniform Shop

CSL Opportunity

Notices