ERC Newsletter - Week 8 Term 2 2026

Dear Parents and Carers,

As we continue to move through the year at a great pace, I thank parents for their continued support for all we do together for the benefit and development of our young people. The work of our committed staff is made more effective by the work done in the home. I say this knowing all too well that parenting is, at times, a difficult yet very rewarding mission.

As students in Years 7-10 navigate the Semester 2 assessment period and Year 12 set sail for their Trial HSC exams early next Term, Mary MacKillop’s well-known call that “we must teach more by example than by word” is a timely reminder to us all. During what can be for some a stressful time of formal exams and assignments, our focus as a College is to ensure our Touchstone of providing a Liberating Education is at the forefront. An authentic Catholic education isn’t just about memorising a formula or words for a test page; it is about building the resilience, critical thinking, and inner drive that allows our students to reach their full potential.

The best teaching doesn’t come from lectures, but from the example we set together. We liberate our young people when we show them how to handle pressure by modelling calm focus, committed preparation, and a healthy balance between hard work and self-care.

Over the coming weeks, as students begin to receive results and feedback, let us support our students by our actions: creating quiet spaces at home, offering steady encouragement, and reminding them that their worth is defined by their effort and character, not just a grade. By our example, we empower them to step into their next lot of formal assessments with added confidence and independence.

Best wishes,
Dr Stephen Gough

Identity

On Friday, 29 May, our Year 11 cohort participated in their annual Leadership Reflection Day at The Tops Conference Centre at Stanwell Tops. This invaluable experience was facilitated by external presenter Michael Fitzpatrick, who expertly guided the boys through deep group discernment regarding their collective identity and future responsibilities as the upcoming student leaders of 2027. The day provided an essential platform for honest peer to peer dialogue, challenging the boys to reflect on how they can better support one another and live out their faith in action.

Below is a beautiful reflection from Year 11 student Harrison Placek, capturing the heart of the cohort’s experience:

“The Year 11 Reflection Day facilitated a powerful insight into the holistic development of our cohort as we continue as senior students of the College. On May 29, we journeyed to The Tops Conference Centre and began with a quiet determination of whether our cohort wanted change and where that could be adopted. Expression of a willingness to embrace positive transformation asserted the importance of treating others with greater respect and understanding, embodying the Year 11 pastoral theme, ‘Honour One Another’, by focusing on personal growth and strengthening our cohort identity as men for others.

From there, we were intermixed beyond our usual friendship groups to foster mutual reverence by appreciating the unique experiences and perspectives that shape us as a diverse brotherhood. Fuelled by a catered lunch, we were also challenged to stand out the front, singing to the crowd to step beyond comfort zones and embrace authenticity without fear of judgement. The day concluded with an opportunity to highlight leadership qualities we see in each other and to apologise to people we have wronged, conveying a genuine commitment to recognition of innate human dignity. Overall, Reflection Day was a memorable and formative experience that inspired growth as leaders while strengthening the relationships that underpin our identity as a united cohort.”

Here are some other comments from students and staff that reflect the impact of the day:

I feel as if the day pushed the year group closer together and put us all on an equal level, no matter what friend group or hobbies we enjoy. (Y11 Student, Logan Paloff)
“… the day was highly important, it provided us with opportunities for our year group to bond closer together, and prepared us for challenges as we head into the final years of schooling.” (Y11 Student, Daniel Morozov)
“The day was very inspiring and a day about compassion and acceptance of others..” (Y11 Student, Xavier Pouzet)
“I really liked reflecting on the idea that leading from the back is actually meaningful. Before this, I only thought leadership meant being out the front—which can sometimes feel a bit egotistical. But I realised that true leadership means leading from the back: carrying the group through to the end, lifting others up, and supporting one another in unison.” (Y11 Student, Jasper Jacobs)
“It was great to see many students stepping up and willing to share their honest thoughts with the group. This created a sense of community and authenticity with their words and actions.” (Y11 Pastoral Care Teacher, Karina Tomasi)
“The Year 11 Reflection Day was a challenging and unifying experience for the cohort. Boys were challenged to step outside of their comfort zones, consider the importance of genuine relationships and peacefully address conflict and division. It was a great day for the group and some wonderful life lessons were learned.” (Supervising Teacher, Michael Toohey)

Mr Pullella
Acting Director of identity

Student Learning

Pastoral Care

At Edmund Rice College, we remain dedicated to providing a liberating education that empowers every student to reach his full potential. This week has been an exceptional example of this mission in action, packed with milestone experiences across multiple year groups that challenge our young men to build positive habits, discover their strengths, and cultivate a supportive community.

Year 10: From Camp Resilience to Future Pathways

We welcome back our Year 10 cohort following their highly anticipated Year 10 Camp. Immersed in the great outdoors, the boys stepped away from everyday comforts to navigate physical and collaborative challenges. In doing so, they practiced real-world resilience and cast powerful daily votes for their identity as connected, capable young men.

The momentum built at camp has carried directly into a crucial academic milestone back on campus. This week, our Year 10 students participated in their Subject Selection Information session in the ERC Foyer. This session challenged the boys to take ownership of their senior schooling trajectory, matching their future academic systems with their personal strengths and passions.

This process is closely complemented by our Parent Information Evening on Thursday night. This event provided an invaluable opportunity for parents to partner with their sons, actively guiding them as they make the deliberate choices that will define their senior schooling journey.

Celebrating Growth in Stage 4

This week also featured our Stage 4 Pastoral Care Assembly, held in the ERC Centre. This assembly was a fantastic opportunity to gather and celebrate the diverse academic and co-curricular achievements of our Year 7 and Year 8 students. Grounded in positive psychology, recognizing these milestones reinforces to our younger students that excellence is not a one-off destination, but a reflection of the small, positive choices they make every single day. This event also featured presentations from various members of both cohorts. It’s often said that the way a community celebrates together is symbolic of the culture of any group. The positive way these students came together to celebrate and recognise each other speaks volumes for the culture that exists in the respective year groups.

Year 12: The Happiness Advantage

Our senior students have also been equipping themselves with powerful mental systems. Our Year 12 cohort attended a specialized presentation in the Br Pelin Hall titled ‘The Happiness Advantage’. Centered on strategies for HSC success and effective stress management, this session flipped the traditional formula for success on its head.

Grounded in psychological research, the presentation demonstrated that happiness and a positive mindset are the fuel for high performance, rather than merely the byproduct of it. Our seniors left with actionable micro-habits to keep them flourishing, focused, and calm as they navigate the rigorous demands of Stage 6.

We look forward to finishing the term with this same positive momentum, locked into a strong partnership between school and home.

Atomic Habit of the Fortnight: “The Success Audit”

The Habit: At the conclusion of a busy week or an assessment block, write down exactly three things that went well and the specific action you took to make them happen.
The Why: In Atomic Habits, James Clear discusses the importance of making habits satisfying. By actively reflecting on your micro-wins, you train your brain to recognize that your deliberate systems—not luck—are what drive your success.

Mr Ferguson
Director of Pastoral Care & Wellbeing

Sport

On the 28th of May, our basketball squads had a sensational day of competition at the recent NSW CCC Qualifying tournament. Across all age groups, the boys played with incredible intensity, teamwork, and pride, resulting in two of our teams progressing to the State Finals.

Year 7/8 (Team A) – Winners & State Qualifiers

The Year 7/8 Team A enjoyed a fantastic season opener, showing immense dominance on both ends of the floor. In Game 1 against St Joseph’s, the boys’ defensive pressure led to countless steals and deflections, completely disrupting their opponent’s offensive rhythm. They displayed exceptional teamwork, moving the ball well to create great shot opportunities. Explosive in transition, ERC paired smart decision-making with excellent ball movement to secure a comprehensive 77–31 victory.

The Grand Final against Corpus Christi was a much tighter contest in the first half, with Corpus displaying some exceptional outside shooting. True to their character, the ERC boys remained calm, stuck to the game plan, and dug deep to steadily pull away on the offensive end. Every squad member contributed positively, showcasing outstanding basketball concepts and unselfish play. The boys came away with a brilliant 66–51 win and will now progress to the NSW CCC State Finals in Term 4.

Congratulations to the following team members: Lachlan Barlow, Max Biela, Hendrix Candy, Liam Clark, Sebastian Edwards, Lucas Mahfouz, Mitchell Taylor, Samuel Tubridy, Tane Tupuhi, Kobe Weir.

Year 7/8 (Team B)

The 7/8 B’s faced a tough Corpus Christi in their opening fixture. The majority of this squad are Year 7 students who played with exceptional discipline and heart. The first half was a neck-and-neck battle with both teams exchanging baskets. While Corpus Christi ultimately proved too strong in the second half due to some red-hot outside shooting, our boys are to be commended for a fantastic team effort. Game result: Lost vs. Corpus Christi (40–60)

Team B: William Bray, Flynn Clifton, Jacob Dowler, Beau Earea, Liam Hockey, Oscar Perez MacDonald, Xavier Sanvitale, Edward Stibners, Ted Thelan.

Thank you to Mr Stutchbury for coaching the ERC B Team, we appreciate all your time and effort with weekly training sessions.

Mrs Sparks

The ERC Open Basketball team has officially been crowned the Illawarra Region Champions at the BNSW 2026 Opens Schools Tournament!

Here’s how our boys took home the gold:

Game 1 vs. Kiama High (W): A comfortable win to set the tone! Riley Bennett completely owned the paint, while Finn Faulkner was an absolute game-changer with his aggressive defense and sharp shooting!
Game 2 vs. Kingsgrove High (W): Cruised to another victory! Harry Jackson stepped into the starting lineup for an injured Rory Milross-Rose and delivered big time. Huge shoutout to Jack Jackson for bringing the electric energy the team needed!
Semi-Final vs. Illawarra Sports High (W): WHAT. A. COMEBACK. Down 15 points early, Jai Anderson put the team on his back to claw back the lead! A massive defensive wall led by Austin Browne, Patric Laudato, and Archie O’Hara shut down their best players to seal the deal.
Grand Final vs. Albion Park High (W): Taking down the previously undefeated Albion Park in a nail-biter! Jack Sanders saved his best performance for last, coming up huge on offense to secure the final lead and the championship!

Team 2 – Report:

In Game 1, we played TIGS. We were competitive against a team with some strong talent that shot particularly well, despite our good defense. Initially, we were down by a few points. We led at stages of in both halves, but lost in a close match.
In Game 2, we played the Ulladulla team, which was largely their local representative team. All players made strong contributions; however, the chemistry that comes from playing together regularly was the difference. Down by only 2 at half-time, they continued to shoot well resulting in a 16 point loss.
Game 3 was against Corrimal High School. We had good contributions from all players. We were again, leading at times in the second half, with opportunities to regain the lead in the last few minutes, our shots did not drop and we were unsuccessful.

Congratulations boys on playing with skill and great teamwork.

Mr Stutchbury & Mr Richardson

Bill Turner Cup – Round 1

Last year our Bill Turner team made the last 8 of the Australia wide competition tasting defeat against the eventual champions Maribyrnong College of Melbourne.

After trials a virtually new team was assembled with only a handful of last years squad eligible for under 15’s. The 2026 competition started with a round 1 game against a local high school.

Coach, Mr Crapis, after delivering his dressing shed address to the team revealed the following team sheet: Jonty Musker-Ivaneza, Edward Page, Alexander Popovski, Rocco Scaglia, Aiden Cruickshank, Ethan Dzeparoski, Orlando Beer, Travis Potter, Callum Cajar, Levi Kinnas, Hugo Spaseski. Reserves: Hunter Johnston, Archer Vian, Jonny Antoniou, Ethan Mathie

From the opening whistle it one way traffic. Such was the superiority that ‘keeper Jonty touched the ball twice in the first half. The half time score was 8:0. No difference in the second half. The final score saw an 18:0 win and a second round match up against Moss Vale! Coach Crapis cleared the bench which did not weaken team at all. A great all-round effort. Goals to: 5 Callum Cajar, 4 Levy Kinnas, 3 Ethan Mathie, 2 Travis Potter, 2 Orlando Beer, 1 Hugo Spaseski, 1 Rocco Scaglia

Bill Turner Cup – Round 2

Round two against Moss Vale High was going to be a tough contest as they won their first game by 14:0. Even worse was to come as our 4 emerging Socceroo Year 10 boys were at camp and Hugo and Jonty suffered injuries. Coach Crapis called up the reserves and assembled a skeleton squad of 14 players: Jake Nielson, Edward Page, Ethan Mathie, Rocco Scaglia, Aiden Cruickshank, Hunter Johnston, Callum Cajar, Travis Potter, Johnny Antoniou, Levi Kinnas, Archer Vian. Reserves: Harrison Brown, Nixon Blake, Dante Rosete

Nervous times before kick-off. Could this be the end of the road? But as the game started it was all one-way traffic.

A deft pass from Travis to Edward charging through the defence and his first time shot bounced the boys into the lead. Then Jonny got chopped down and Travis’ free kick floated into the box finding Callums head. 2:0. Worse was to come for Mossy. Callum found Levi lurking around the goalmouth, 3:0. Short corner, Travis again the instigator, to Callum who beat 4, 4:0. Callum to Levi, 5:0. Rocco danced around four found Levi, 5:0. Rocco to Jonny, 6:0. Callum to Travis whose 20m thunderbolt rocketed into the top corner, 7:0. 3 more goals before half time: Callum to Levi, Callum to Nixon and Ethan to Callum and a 10:0 scoreline.

The second half was no different. Archer beat 3 only to get axed from behind. He took the freekick himself, 11:0. Then Callum to Travis, 12:0. A good save from Jake denied MV a consolation goal. Nixon added the next two and then MV decided to get on the scoresheet, through their own goal! Firstly, a Nixon cross was turned in and then the craziest incident as Jonny floated in a harmless cross and a defender launched into the ball hitting his goalkeeper in the head; 16:0! Three more goals, one each to Callum, Levi and Dante made it 19:0 when the referee called stumps.

The round 3 game against Holy Spirit and the starting lineup could be interesting. Coach Crapis will have some sleepless nights selecting the run on side with 4 Year 10 emerging Socceroos returning plus the two injured players fit again.

Mr Cajar

Community Announcements

PROCEDURES FOR PARENTS / CARERS

Student Absences

Whilst the preferred method of communication regarding absences is via the TASS Parent Portal we understand that sometimes access to the portal can be limited. We therefore ask parents/carers to provide daily absence information (Whole day absences/late arrivals/early departure/absence notes etc.) via the following email address: absences@erc.nsw.edu.au

Reminders:

Leave required for 4-9 days needs to be requested by emailing the College: office@erc.nsw.edu.au
Leave requests for 10 or more days requires completing an Application for Extended Leave Form (which can be found on the College website under Quicklinks).

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.

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 6, 7, 28 and 29.

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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.

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2026 TERM DATES

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2026 Calendar of Events

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CANTEEN MENU

Contents

Principal's Message

Identity

Magnifica Humanitas - Safekeeping Our Humanity

Year 11 Leadership Reflection Day – Friday 29th May

Student Learning

YEAR 8: Try Elective CAPA for a Day !

Stage 4 Assembly ROCKED by Year 7 Performance

The Rice Bowl Episode 20 - Generations in the Yard: The Ernst Family

Pastoral Care

Building Strength Through Community and Challenge

Sport

Diocesan Cross Country

Festival of Football: ERC Retains the Trophy for Another Year!

NSW Steelers Shield - U14 RL

Under 18’s Futsal

Under 14’s Futsal

NSW CCC Qualifiers

NSW Basketball Schools Cup

NSW CCC Basketball Selection

Emerging Socceroo Championships. The Road to the Joeys Starts Here

NSW All Schools Hockey U15 - Malachy Hurley

Bill Turner Cup

Community Announcements

Careers Newsletter

Notices

Uniform Shop

Community Messages