CHAPLAIN'S WELCOME
Alleluia Alleluia Alleluia! The Lord is Risen!
Greetings
The best way of celebrating Easter 2023 is to look back at the journey we have travelled from the beginning of the year 2023 with the theme Faith, Hope and Love. Much effort and resources were put into bringing the whole CBC MT Edmund fraternity to own and live this theme. The period of Lent came as an icing on top of this theme.
The whole college embraced the Lenten message of prayer, fasting and almsgiving in a profound way. The masses, liturgies and other religious instructions went a great deal in helping the college to live fully the message and intention of Lent. It was a great moment of conversion and revival.
There was a great desire to have a spiritual encounter with God during the period of Lent. The penitential services were positivity embraced by the college. I had to solicit the help of priests from the Eastern Deanery to help in administering the sacrament of reconciliation to the learners. It is encouraging to see that even non-Catholics expressed the desire to receive the grace from this sacrament by speaking to a priest. This phenomenal desire by our children to encounter a loving and merciful God through confession is something that I don’t take for granted and would like to dedicate more time to. From Proverbs 22:6, we are encouraged, “Train up a child in the way he should go: Even when he is old, he will not depart from it”. Looking back at the Lenten experience with the children in the college, I see pure grace at work. Only the Spirit of God imbues kids with such a desire for the divine! This is where our college scores based on the ethos and gospel values. This is in tandem with what we read in Deuteronomy 6:5-9, “Love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your strength. These commandments that I give you today are to be on your hearts. Impress them on your children. Talk about them when you sit at home and when you walk along the road, when you lie down and when you get up. Tie them as symbols on your hands and bind them on your foreheads. Write them on the doorframes of your houses and on your gates.”
The Lenten period is over and soon we are celebrating Easter. We have all the reasons to celebrate convinced that our steadfastness and Lenten observances were not to nought. Indeed, the Lord is risen to the people that we continually offered our prayers for; the victims of the war between Russia and Ukraine, the victims of the earthquake in Syria and Türkiye, the victims of the floods in Malawi, KZN, and Mozambique, victims of GBV and human trafficking, among others. The Lord is indeed risen to the many needy people who will benefit from the tinned foods that our children donate each Lenten season. The Lord is risen to kids who come from troubled families but find the college a family of joy, hope and love. The Lord is risen in all the staff who work tirelessly to keep the dream of Bl Edmund Rice alive, 100 years down the line. The Lord is risen and his presence punctuates and animates all that we are and do as fraternity of CBC Mount Edmund.
Fr. R. Kinena
College Chaplain
S. Myburgh
Head of Religious Education
CATHOLIC EDUCATION
CBC Mt Edmund is a caring community inspired by Catholic traditions and values where all may feel valued, confident and secure. We believe that any person in our community is gifted, unique and loved by God with an immense capacity to achieve great things with Christ as inspiration.
This College seeks to educate the whole person; respecting and nurturing individual talents and gifts while challenging each to aspire to personal excellence. The College endeavors to develop in each person a sense of their own dignity and worth and a respect for others. Staff and students are challenged to contribute to the creation of a just society.”
Originally most Catholic schools were established to respond to the needs of the socially and economically disadvantaged, and seen as agents of transformation. Faced with the pressures of our consumerist, competitive and materialistic society, and bombarded by messages about what counts as success, we affect and inspire learners to go through life empowered by Gospel values of sharing, simplicity, service and solidarity with a sense of purpose, to open the way for the Kingdom of God. We strive to be an outward-looking community permeated by the Gospel spirit of love and freedom.
CBC acknowledges parents as the primary educators for the faith formation of their children and seeks to support them in this role. Special attention will be devoted to the development of personal qualities, values and attitudes in accordance with the school mission statement:
CBC aims to give your child an excellent all-round education which promotes knowledge, understanding, skills and values in the context of spiritual, moral, intellectual, physical and social development. The message of Christ inspires the curriculum and all aspects of school life. CBC seeks to develop a working partnership with parents, learners, and the local community we serve. It is through these partnerships that students use their gifts and talents and develop as capable and well-adjusted people of faith and values who come closer to knowing their God.
While all learning within the College contributes to the religious development of our students, central to the religious life of the College is the Religious Education program. Religious Education is at the heart of the College curriculum, and seeks to lead students to a sense of self-worth, a spirit of care for others (especially the poor and marginalised), and to an awareness of God in their lives. Daily prayers, and weekly assemblies and liturgy helps to nurture their spiritual growth and well-being.
The curriculum taught during RE lessons is based on guidelines given to schools by the CIE (Catholic Institute of Education) and supported by the CSO (Catholic Schools Office). Instruction for the Sacraments of First Holy Communion, Reconciliation and Confirmation are offered as part of the Religious Education programme for those learners practicing the Catholic faith. Learners must be affiliated to a Parish and the priest has to give written permission.
PASTORAL CARE
The education which we offer at CBC Mount Edmund is person-centered. It promotes the dignity, self-esteem and full development of each person who is made in God’s image and uniquely loved by God. We support our learners in leading fulfilling and purposeful lives where they can contribute to the common good. The ethos of the college promotes the spiritual, moral, intellectual, social and personal development of all and is rooted in the uniqueness of learners and of their need for individual support and guidance. The pastoral care dimension is the ethos of the college in tangible register. What determines the effectiveness of pastoral care at CBC Mount Edmund is the quality of relationships at all levels in the college.
The college has a long-standing tradition of excellent behavior and outstanding pastoral care. We firmly believe that high standards of behavior lead to increased levels of achievement, enjoyment and participation, from which we all benefit. We look to cultivate a community which promotes tolerance, respect and sensitivity to the needs of others so that learners realize their duties and responsibilities to their neighbor as well as their personal rights and freedoms.
At CBC Mount Edmund, every child matters to us. We adopt a multi-agency approach in supporting all of our learners to enable them to achieve and be a success. The college sets very high standards for all learners. We expect them to respect the needs of others, to anticipate consequences and to justify their actions. We encourage learners to develop self-discipline with regard both to learning and behavior, within and outside the college community.
At CBC Mount Edmund we see pastoral care as being central to the success of all learners in the college. The pastoral care policy of the college aims to:
It cannot be over-stressed that the pastoral care of our learners is the responsibility of the whole community. The way we treat, talk to, interact with and indeed teach learners will all contribute to the quality of our pastoral care. The college is firmly committed to developing and maintaining strong home-college partnerships and we welcome and encourage parents to be closely involved in all aspects of their child’s life at the college. We also recognize parents as the primary educators of their children and, with their support, we endeavor to educate the “whole person” and in so doing, help that person realize her/his innate potential and grow to become a caring and good citizen who will play a worthwhile and rewarding role in society.
EDMUND RICE EDUCATION BEYOND BORDERS
Since 1802, when the first school began in Waterford, Ireland, Edmund Rice education has grown in over 20 countries. Across the world, over 170,000 students are educated in Edmund Rice schools. Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders (EREBB) is an International network of Catholic schools educating young people from many different faiths and cultures. In over 20 countries they endeavor to promote global solidarity and offer a transformational education for justice and liberation.
EREBB was inaugurated in May 2014 when leaders representing Edmund Rice Education gathered in Nairobi Kenya to establish an inclusive international network of Edmund Rice educational communities.
EREBB espouses a Shared Commitment, expressed as follows: In this spirit of global solidarity, they are committed to:
EREBB is a great opportunity for CBC Mount Edmund students and staff to look beyond the school gates and realise that they are part of a huge global network of Edmund Rice schools. More information about Edmund Rice Education Beyond Borders and current initiatives being undertaken can be found on the EREBB website www.erebb.org.
EDMUND RICE SOCIETY
Many learners belong to the Edmund Rice Society. Justice and advocacy issues are raised and discussed. Awareness campaigns are run to create awareness of human rights injustices. Working together with the Justice Desk, based in Cape Town we support various campaigns and provide opportunities for learners to be ‘doers for justice’, and agents of change. Participation raises awareness of systemic injustice and provides opportunities for practical involvement, immersion, and active citizenship. This charism promotes the principles of justice, democracy, peace, community engagement, non-violence and empowerment.
The need to serve a cause greater than oneself and the importance of caring for others finds tangible expression within the Edmund Rice Society (ERS). We acknowledge that God has given us many talents and resources for our own benefit as well as the benefit of others. In seeking to bring social justice to the world, we must learn to recognize our own giftedness and generously share those gifts for the service of others. There are many opportunities to do this at Mt Edmund. The College is developing a program of experiences and opportunities to support students to engage with the wider community in order to develop a more just world for all.
We seek to support the Edmund Rice ethos of ‘presence, compassion and liberation’ to contribute to the Catholic aims of justice, peace and stewardship for the integrity of creation. Each person in our school community is challenged to ‘make a difference’ to the circles of community to which they belong.
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