St Edward's College, East Gosford

St Edward's College
St Edward's College
Location
	East Gosford, New South Wales; Australia
Coordinates	33°26′20″S 151°20′52″E / 33.43889°S 151.34778°E
Information
Type	Independent secondary day school
Motto	Latin: Fide ac Scientia; (Through Faith and Knowledge)
Religious affiliation(s)	Roman Catholic
Denomination	Congregation of Christian Brothers
Established	1953; 71 years ago
Founder	Congregation of Christian Brothers
Trust	Edmund Rice Education Australia
Principal	Mark Bonnici
Staff	c. 100
Gender	Boys
Enrolment	1000 (2024)
Houses	Doolan Knights Shanahan Spillane
Colour(s)	Black and red
Slogan	Where Young Men Achieve
Nickname	Eddies
Website	www.stedwards.nsw.edu.au

St Edward's College is an independent Catholic secondary day school for boys, located in East Gosford, in the Central Coast region of New South Wales, Australia. The school was founded by the Congregation of Christian Brothers in 1953, who continue to run the school. Colloquially referred to as Eddies, the College caters for boys from Year 7 to Year 12. St. Edward's is the only Catholic independent all-boys' secondary school located on the NSW Central Coast. It has approximately 1,000 students and 100 staff.

History

The school was opened in 1953 by the Congregation of Christian Brothers.

The Regal Theatre, in the city, was demolished in 1978 and the remains of the building were used as land fill for the College ovals.^[1]

In 2003, St Edward's College celebrated its 50th anniversary and on the day of its creation Founders Day used to be celebrated at the school with markets and games.

In 2013, St Edward's College celebrated its 60th anniversary.

In 2023, St Edward's College celebrated its 70th anniversary.

Facilities

St Edward’s covers a nine hectare site on the shores of Caroline Bay. The College has three multi-purpose ovals, other sporting facilities, a multipurpose hall/gymnasium known as the Edmund Rice Centre (or ERC), specialised technology and art facilities, computer laboratories, a library housing more than 7000 books, three music rooms in addition to 6 practical rooms and a purpose built food technology room.

Academic arrangements

The College operate a year 7 Core programme where the students are placed in 'Core classes'. Here the students have one teacher in the same room, for their core subjects of English, Religion and HSIE. They then go to their other subjects. This approach helps ease the transition from primary to high school.

Co-curricular program

Outdoor education

St Edward's College runs an Outdoor Education programme through camps, which are held in Years 7 to 10. The programme provides a sequential course for the four years, developing skills of a higher order each year. Some of the activities conducted on these camps include archery, canoeing, "deep and meaningful" conversation sessions, sailing, windsurfing, abseiling, rock climbing, mountain biking, initiative challenges and fencing.

Social justice

The college has a significant emphasis on the concept of social justice and 'giving back' to the community; and is described as a 'Central part of school life at St. Edwards'.^{[citation needed]} In 2002, teacher, Patrick [Pack-a-day-Pat] Dell introduced a programme called The Waterford Project, where boys from years 8-11 perform compulsory community service and offers a wide variety of activities to help students complete their hours. The Waterford Project is named for the city in Ireland where Edmund Ignatius Rice, the founder of the Christian Brothers', began his work.^[2]

Sport

2005 – The school won its third state basketball title in four years.^[3]
2008 – U/14 NSW Country Rugby Union Champions. Vincent Fester Shield Winners
2008 – Final 16 of the Arrive Alive Cup Rugby league competition
2012 – U/16 NSW All Schools Rugby League Champions
2014 – U/16 NSW rugby union sevens champions. Edu Connex Central Coast sevens $1000 tournament winners.

Notable alumni

Upon leaving school, students are known as Old Boys and are able to join into the Old Boys Union, an organisation of ex-students that seeks to maintain the friendships created while at the College.^[4]