Newsletter Edition 3 / 2024, March 4

Principal's Message

Dear Emmanuel College Families,

Opening College Mass
The College community came together in the Emmanuel Centre last week to celebrate the commencement of the school year with mass and a prayerful blessing of new staff and students. When the college community gathers to recall and practice its Catholic heritage we make a statement, one that says being quiet and still and open to God’s message of fullness of life for all through scripture readings, music, sermon, and prayer is important. There are very few moments in our lives, whether we a student or staff member, when we are quiet, still, in the moment and invited beyond the immediate. Creating this space in our school and workday is a gift; one with potential to enrich us all. Thank you to Director of Faith and Mission, Jacinta Skilbeck, for her organisation of the mass, and to Fr. Bill Lowry, College Chaplain, for leading the liturgy and his continuing support of the College. One of the guests who attended the mass sent me the following message:

“Such a large gathering of teenagers, effectively in a gym, is fraught with challenges. But it was carried out with class and reverence. I was so impressed. The subtle changes to communion, Fr. Bill's homily and the recognition and blessings of all stakeholders was a lovely touch.”

The message above refers to the blessing of stake holders that occurs towards the end of mass, in which all those present are invited in turn to stand, are acknowledged, and blessed. The students were welcomed and blessed using the following words:

Principal: This year, 1325 students are enrolled in Emmanuel College. They come from the city of Warrnambool, and from an area of thousands of square kilometres stretching from Port Campbell on the Great Ocean Road to Timboon and Mortlake, and throughout the Moyne Shire including Allansford, Port Fairy, Hawkesdale and west towards Portland. They have chosen Emmanuel College because it offers them an abundance of opportunities and a commitment to academic excellence. Fr. Bill I ask you to bless our students whom I invite to stand.

Fr. Bill:  Students at Emmanuel College, you come from far and wide to attend this school where learning has continued uninterrupted since 1872. Be blessed this morning with God’s love and mercy and the knowledge this school believes in you and wishes to see you grow into happy and successful young adults who become the leaders of the future.

The families of Emmanuel students are welcome to attend college masses. I encourage you to join us for at least one of these special occasions whilst your child attends the College.

House Swimming Carnival
Since the last newsletter the annual swimming sports were held on a clear warm day and won by Egan House. Congratulations to the House Captains and all the participants on the day and thank you to Alastair Templeton, Sport Coordinator, for his organisation, and all staff for their involvement and supervision. 

Rice Rally
In the same week the Rice Rally was probably the largest event Emmanuel has seen for some time and what an event it was. The Rice Rally launched the $1.5million fundraising appeal for the Edmund Rice Centre that’s currently under construction and due for completion at the end of this year. When completed, the Year nines will know the Edmund Rice Centre as their new home, and the College will depart the Canterbury Road Campus that has been in operation since 1912. The Rice Rally received huge support from alumni, current staff and students and the local community. The day commenced with a live broadcast from the Emmanuel Centre by Coast FM. Alumni and media identities Gorgi Coghlan and Johnathan Brown hit the airways with local host Rookie throughout the morning with interviews of students, who also presented the weather reports. As you can imagine there was lots of friendly banter amidst all the information about the Edmund Rice Centre, plus the top 10 songs from 1991, the year when Emmanuel College was formed from St. Ann’s and CBC. The day kept getting better with the arrival of food trucks and displays showcasing the 9@RICE program, student’s Passion Projects, along with plans and renders of the Edmund Rice Centre with the builder and the architects available to provide in an depth insight into the development. But the highlight of the day was the “friendly” basketball match between the All Stars team and Emmanuel students who claimed victory. Our sincere thanks to the following team members who gave their all for the game and the Rice rally:

My thanks to the Development Team who worked so hard to make the day a success.  Thank you to Alison Byrne, Montanna Macdonald, and Ruby Absalom. The College is extremely grateful to the major sponsors of the Rice Rally, ACE Radio, Callaghan Motors, Canterbury Creative House, Star Printing and Watson Media.

Correction: You may have read about the success of the day in the local newspaper on Saturday 24 February. Unfortunately, the Standard did not report the information provided to them, meaning their report was factually incorrect. The Standard stated the College raised $1million from the Rice Rally rather than reporting that the Rice Rally was the launch of an appeal to raise $1.5 million. Prior to the Rice Rally, the capital raising appeal that it launched had been running quietly in the background raising just over $300,000. So, there is a long way to go, but the support to date provides confidence to pursue the public phase of the Edmund Rice Centre Appeal. Anyone who can help the College reach its target is invited to make a tax-deductible donation to the project through the Emmanuel College Foundation. Anyone who may like to explore a larger donation and an opportunity to name a space within the new facility is most welcome to discuss their ideas with me.
https://www.emmanuel.vic.edu.au/foundation/donate-now 

Open Evening
The annual Emmanuel College Open Night is very close. On Wednesday 13 March the doors will be open to the public between 4-8pm to tour the school and see first-hand the opportunities we provide young people to learn and grow. Guided tours led by Emmanuel students or self-guided tours are available, but registrations are essential via the link - http://tinyurl.com/th493bsx 

Finally, I extend my condolences and the condolences of the Emmanuel Family to staff members Marinita Andreou and Andrew McKenzie who experienced recent family bereavements. Marinita’s sister-in-law Judy, and Andrew’s mother Joan were buried in the last week, and we share our love and support with Marinita and Andrew as they adjust to their loss.

Best wishes to the Year nine students undertaking the first of their three immersions this week, and a huge vote of thanks to the staff members travelling with them and making these exciting and challenging experiences possible.

Kind regards

Mr Peter Morgan
Principal

A Message from Mrs Claire Wrigley

Uniform - summer dress length
There are a number of students who have very short summer dresses that are not an appropriate length for school. As per our uniform guidelines the length of the dress is to the knee. We appreciate that students grow and dress shorten in length however, we do ask that hems be adjusted so that the dress sits just above the knee. A dress that is mid-thigh is not appropriate and if your child’s length of dress is too short please either make the appropriate alterations or purchase a new dress.

Year 7 Time and Space Evening
The lights in the Emmanuel Centre dimmed and all around the room mothers and sons and daughters embraced each other warmly as Year 7 student Amelie and her mother Melody read a blessing for mothers and students by candle light.  This moving moment concluded our Year 7 Time and Space event attended by over eighty students and their mothers/ mother figures. 

It’s a big leap from primary to secondary school coinciding with the journey of adolescence.  Emmanuel College gave the opportunity for our Mum’s and Year 7’s to talk openly and honestly about this experience – the gift of time and space. Also provided was some wisdom and insight from Year 8 students Max and Gemma and Year 8 parent Mel all who have recent experience of school transition.

A highlight of the evening is when the participants share a treasured item with each other; beautiful baby cards, special picture books, tiny baby clothing, toys, cupcakes and beanies adorned the stage. 

Time and Space is presented by our Fit4Life Wellbeing Team, and is a favourite event on the Emmanuel calendar. 

“I loved this activity, because I observed that all the mother figures in my group were concerned about the same things for their child. I learnt a bit more about some other girls in my group (maybe some new friends!) and I learnt that the mums love their children and were taking the transition to high school harder than their children were” -  Year 7 student

“Thank you for this amazing opportunity to connect with parents and children in year 7 who are journeying together. Well organised, great modelling and the opportunity to have these conversations with my own child and to hear other students and parents experiences was highly valuable” -Parent/female mentor

Mrs Claire Wrigley
Assistant Principal - Students 

NAPLAN

Reminder that students in Years 7 and 9 are completing the NAPLAN tests between 9 and 11 am: 

• Wednesday March 13 - Writing
• Thursday March 14 - Reading
• Friday March 15 - Conventions of Language - students need headphones for this assessment
• Monday March 18 - Numeracy (calculator not required)
  

Students must have a charged laptop each day. 

Ms Simone Rolfe
Director of Learning

Journal Club is back!

Sports Update

House Swimming Sports
On Tuesday the 20th of February the College held it’s House Swimming competition. The day was kicked of as is tradition with the Year 12’s leading their houses in to Aqua Zone to chants and songs. Moving into the races the school's talented swimmers were evident throughout, with many close races separating the houses. Congratulations to all who competed on the day for their House earning valuable points, a list of age group champions can be found below:

• 12-13 Boys - Hugh White
• 12-13 Girls - Daisy Greening
• 14 Boys - Christian Wyse
• 14 Girls - Zoe Davis
• 15 Boys - Zavier Aberline
• 15 Girls - Niamh Ginley
• 16 Boys - Jude de Silva-Smith
• 16 Girls - Layla McCarthy
• 17 Boys - Dylan Denaro
• 17 Girls - Jade King
• 18-20 Boys - Eamon McCarthy
• 18-20 Girls - Mia Cook

Overall House Scores:
1st- Egan 787
2nd- McAuley 681
3rd- Maguire 676
4th- Rice 525

WD Division Swimming
On Monday the 26th of March, Emmanuel was represented by 55 students at the WD Swimming Championships. It was a successful day all round with 10 of the 12 Age Group Champions representing the College. Final results for the day are below, best of luck to all competitors who now progress to the Region Finals in Horsham on Friday the 22nd of March.

1st- Emmanuel 1254
2nd- Warrnambool College 545
3rd- Brauer 276
4th- King's College 261

WD Senior and Intermediate Cricket
On Wednesday the 21st of February, the Intermediate Boys took part in the WD cricket against Brauer and Warrnambool College. With many of the bottom age Year 9 boys showing their skills, it was a tough day for the side, narrowly losing both matches meaning they will not progress to the Region Finals. Congratulations to those who represented the College on the day.

Our Senior boys have progressed and will play on Wednesday the 6th of March while our Intermediate girls will progress and play in Term 4.

Mr Alastair Templeton
Sports & Lunchtime Activities Coordinator

Sustainability Update

Clean Up Australia Day
On Friday 1st March, we participated in the school's clean up Australia Day. The Green Group @Emmanuel organised the session and brought along many friends to help out. Here are some pictures of our amazing students, who gave up there lunchtime to do there bit for the environment. Thankyou to those students who came along! 

As well as Clean up Australia Day, we have started our 'Clean up' programs for 2024 with Year 8 students rostered on weekly to do their community service. Thank you to the Year 8 students for this and we remind everyone how important it is to place your own rubbish in the correct bins. 

The next meeting for the Green Group @Emmanuel will be Friday 8th at Recess in the Library. All welcome, we meet every Week B Friday at recess. We are working towards our next event on Friday 22nd March at Lunchtime in the Library. Where we are celebrating  EARTH HOUR by turning the lights and all technology off. Then providing Live Music, a rubix cube workshop, and a Drawing Competition. There will be be prizes and we hope to see you there! 

Ms Brooke Jones
Environment & Sustainability Coordinator

Library News

New Books and Magazines To Borrow
Many new resources for the Library have been purchased this Term. Our aim is to provide a wide range of reading material on many subjects and topics of interest for teenage readers. Students are able to suggest books or magazines for the Library to consider for purchase.

There have been new magazines such as Teen Breathe, Graziher, Outback, Horse Deals, Model Railroader, Australian Football Record and Carve purchased for students to read in their class reading time or to borrow for leisure reading.

New books and series that have been purchased so far this Term include:

• Smarty Pup series by Anh Do: Friends fur-ever, J J and The Giant Panther, To The Rescue
• Mac Slater series by Tristan Bancks: Coolhunter and Imaginator
• Running Full Tilt by Michael Currinder – a book about two brothers running and the brotherly bond that they have
• Song of the Lioness series by Tamora Pierce: The First Adventure, In The Hand of the Goddess, The Woman Who Rides Like A Man, Rampant – knights, sorcery, magic and fantasy.

Students are able to search the Library catalogue, found on SIMON. Searches can be done for a particular title, an author, series or genre that might be of interest. Many classes this Term have been visiting the Library for reading time and borrowing of books.

Students who are finding it difficult to source a good book to read can always ask the Library staff for a suggestion, browse the shelves or have a look at the Library catalogue.

Popular requests for reading materials for this Term so far have been books about fantasy, farming, adventure, sport, basketball in particular and Australian Rules Football.

Mrs Margaret Sinnott
Library Coordinator

Words for Wellbeing

Get to know your friendly wellbeing team!
Want to know more about who we are and what we do?  Watch this little video: 
https://drive.google.com/file/d/14xQeqF5FGxmsRUhkYP5FPo6hSXoZy7jN/view?usp=sharing 

Justin Coulson Webinar
A big thanks to the 365 families that signed up for Justin Coulson’s powerful Webinar “Breaking Point” about the Youth Mental Health crisis. We are delighted to purchase and present these opportunities to parents especially when they prove so popular. If you registered but are yet to watch the webinar, please note that the recording is only available for 14 days from last Thursday. 

How can we help you?
The Wellbeing Team seeks your opinion on what information, training or presentations interest you.  Please complete our survey sent via Operoo last week and we will aim to provide future parenting series tailored to our school community. Or survey linked HERE.

International Women’s Day
Emmanuel College is celebrating International Women’s Day a little early on Wednesday 6^th March with “Girls Got Talent”, a celebration of student talent including a presentation by guest speaker Maree Lane.  All of the free tickets to this popular event have already been collected however it will be live streamed into the McAuley Library at lunchtime for students to watch.  

Harmony Day
Harmony Day celebrates diversity and aims to foster inclusiveness, respect and the idea that people of all different cultures make a valuable contribution to society. The theme for 2024 is Everyone belongs. To celebrate Harmony Day and to tie in with the Year 8 Humanities curriculum unit titled “Urbanisation and People” our entire Year 8 cohort will have a presentation by a panel of speakers from the Warrnambool Multi-Cultural Society.  This will occur in Period 1 on Thursday 14^th March.  

Friendships / Respectful Relationships
As students settle into the school year, friendships and making friends becomes extremely important.  Here’s some information about helping teens to make friendships from Reach Out.
Here’s some top tips from the Wellbeing Team on how to make a friend:

• Smile
• Ask someone what their favourite thing is?  (Common interests make for good friendships)
• Look up -  Take your eyes off your phone
• You don’t need to be popular
• Sit in horseshoes, not circles, then there is always room for one more person to join you. 

Career News

Items in this weeks Career News include:

• Deakin Campus Tours in April
• News from the Australian National University
• Applications for 2025 Entry
• ANU Open Day 2024 

• Studying in the USA - Upcoming Virtual Q & A Sessions
• MYSci Program at Monash University
• Monash Engineering Girls (MEG) Program
• Victoria Police School Leavers Careers Expo
• Collarts Creative Course and Careers Expo
• Veterinary Science Degrees in Australia in 2024
• Snapshot of Box Hill Institute (BHI) in 2024 

Click the link below to read the Careers Newsletter!

Mr David Gladman
Student Pathways & Careers Leader

Class of 1984 - Save the Date!

It’s been 45 years since it all began for the cohort of 1979-1984. Let’s gets everyone back together and celebrate!

Mark your calendar for Saturday 4th May. More details to come.

Help organisers Veronica Hughson & Brendan Anderson spread the word, by forwarding this on to your classmates that you are still in touch with.  Contact details can be updated at:
https://www.emmanuel.vic.edu.au/stay-in-touch

To get the latest updates join the crew via the Facebook Group. Simply request to join if you are not already a member. https://www.facebook.com/groups/271977136314435

Close the Gap day

Careers Expo

Merrivale Football Netball Club

Upcoming Events

Monday March 4
Year 9 Immersion Week (all week)
Maths Pathways Parent Information Session - 7PM

Tuesday March 5 
Careers Expo - Year 10, Year 11 & 12 VCE VM & VPC

Wednesday March 6 
Senior Boys Regional Cricket

Monday March 11 
Labour Day Public Holiday

Wednesday March 13
Year 7 & 9 NAPLAN - Writing
Open Evening - 4-8PM

Thursday March 14
Year 7 & 9 NAPLAN - Reading
Year 8 Migration Morning 

Friday March 15
Victorian Careers & Employment Expo - VCE VM & VPC
Art Making and Exhibiting - Unit 1 & 3 Creative Art Practice
Year 7 & 9 NAPLAN - Conventions of Language

Monday March 18
Year 7 & 9 NAPLAN - Numeracy
Social Innovators - Year 8 Leaders

Tuesday March 19
Social Innovators - Year 8 Leaders
Tertiary Information Service - Year 12
PST Conference Bookings Open - 4PM

Wednesday March 20
House Athletics Carnival

Child Safe