Emmanuel College Warrnambool eNewsletter

Principal's Message

Dear Emmanuel College Families,

A few short weeks ago I acknowledged the final school days for the Year 12 students, while last week we celebrated their Graduation from Emmanuel College.

Last Thursday’s graduation was not only a wonderfully successful occasion but an opportunity for graduands and their families to gather in one place, recognise the conclusion of six years of secondary education and celebrate the achievements of each young person, all looking so grown up. The contrast between their year seven and year twelve photos displayed as each student graduates, juxtaposed with their dress and presentation on the night all speak of their growth over the last six years.

The College community appreciates the organisers, in particular Director of Senior School, Shane Smith, and members of our Development Team led by Jo-Anne Nelson, as well as the ICT Team and those who set up/packed up the venue, directed traffic and more, to make the graduation a memorable occasion. During the Graduation I spoke these words to the graduating students:

Staff, family members, special guests and the graduating class of 2024, good afternoon. I add my welcome to all of you to this special occasion.

Year 12s, today you completed a journey like thousands of young people in the State of Victoria. And you have graduated from Emmanuel College like generations of young people before you. You have now earned the title Alumni; each of you is now an Alumnus of this College joining all those who have attended this school for 152 years since 1872. On behalf of Emmanuel College, congratulations.

Speaking to you today feels different being my last graduation speech as Principal of Emmanuel College. I feel like I’m graduating too. The difference of course is that my career is closer to its conclusion whereas yours are just beginning.

During your six years attending Emmanuel, you’ve heard me make many speeches. To be honest, you’ve heard the same speech made many times. What I mean by that is that there’s been a consistent message in all the speeches I’ve made since I became the principal of EC. Whilst I haven’t used these exact words in a speech before, my consistent message to everyone who attends and graduates from this College is simply this: “to whom much is given - much is expected.” St. Luke was the first to document these words of Jesus some 2000 years ago. This quote has sat on my desk for the last 12 years and it’s been a reminder each day of the opportunity I have to make a difference.

Likewise, your Emmanuel education has prepared you to be a person who makes a difference, and more than anything right now, our world needs young people with courage and compassion to shape the society in which we live and to challenge the injustices that exist despite the commonly held belief that we are all born equal.

The world needs people like you to make a difference by:

Addressing the urgent need to adapt our consumption and the practices that contribute to climate change.
Confronting the gender inequities and the gender-based violence that damages and destroys lives.
Practicing inclusion of all people regardless of their ethnicity, their religious beliefs, their sexuality or any other point of difference.
Acknowledging there is an increase in selfishness and disfunction in society that is allowing the rich to become richer causing the poor to become desperate.

To whom much is given – much is expected. You have received a first world education, and thanks to your Emmanuel education you are ready and able to make a difference in our world.

Catherine McAuley, the foundress of the Sisters of Mercy who established this school 152 years ago, said to the young women who joined her mission, her best advice was to be good today and better tomorrow. Her philosophy was a simple but helpful one as you wait for the arrival of ATAR scores or for your employment to commence. No matter what your results are, no matter what your job may be, your ATAR score will be but one reflection of who you are, as each of you has an abundant capacity for future growth. Having graduated today, your education is only just beginning.

Graduates, you are about to take a more active role in the world. As you make your way in life shine the light of your Emmanuel education into dark corners, help to expose the things that are unfair, work together to find solutions, and speak for those who don’t have a voice. We can proudly say Emmanuel alumni are doing this in every corner of the globe. Now it is your turn! Our society is far from being a place that nurtures and provides for all people equally. But as the recipients of a Mercy education, it is now your opportunity to make a difference.

To whom much is given – much is expected.

I encourage you through whatever careers and roles you undertake, not to stop at being good at what you do, but to strive to be your best. And for those of you with leadership capabilities, as you strive for your best, may you be an inspiration to others to be good today, and better tomorrow.

May you all be shining lights in your communities. May God’s mercy shine upon you always, and may the virtues of Faith, Hope and Love be a permanent reminder of your connection to the Emmanuel family. Farewell, and God bless.

This week the College will receive the keys of the Edmund Rice Centre, the new home of learning for Emmanuel College year nine students. The dedicated efforts by Nicholson Constructions, Baldaso Cortese Architects, Project Manager Emma Banner and College Business Manager Stephen Kerr, have delivered the project on time and slightly under budget which is an extraordinary achievement in the current economic climate. The College staff will enjoy their first view of the new facility this week with our November staff meeting to include a tour of the Centre, followed by an event acknowledging our many generous donors who helped the College raise just over $1.1 million. Without this support the College would have had to borrow a larger proportion of the funds required to complete the project extending the loan repayments by several years.

The College Advisory Council meets for its final 2024 meeting this week. Two members, Joanne McCormack and Brendan Howard, will conclude the positions they’ve held on the Council since 2018. I appreciate their support and wisdom shared generously over this time and wish them well in the future. Thank you to all members of the Advisory Council who volunteer their time and share their expertise in the interest of the College planning and making considered decisions that shape the future of the College.

Wishing you a rewarding week this week. This week’s prayer is from last week’s year 12 graduation which concluded with the following blessing:

Go forth from this place with joy; go forth with hope
Go forth from this place with remembering hearts,
Grateful for all that we have shared.
Go forth with arms held wide,
Open to what God sends to us for merciful embrace.
Go forth from this place with steps that continue to dance and to walk the roads of mercy.
Go forth from this place with enthusiastic faith in God and in one another.
Until we meet again.
May the Trinity of Faith, Hope and Love bless each of you on your way.
(Adapted from a blessing by Mary Wickham RSM)
St Joseph Pray for us, May the spirit of Catherine McAuley and Edmund Rice guide us in all we do. Amen.

Kind regards,

Mr Peter Morgan
Principal

Graduation 2024

Edmund Rice Centre

A Message from Mrs Claire Wrigley

Year 8 - Extension of laptop curfew
Extending the hours of the laptop curfew was raised at student voice by a number of year 8 students. We therefore decided to send out a google survey to get feedback from our community.
After surveying students, parents and teachers and taking into account that the majority were in favour of extending the curfew an extra 30 minutes, this will be implemented from Monday Nov 25 permanently for year 8 students. Year 8 students will be able to access their computer from 7.00am – 9.30pm, allowing more time for homework and study as they prepare for exams. In 2025 the laptop curfew will be the same hours at year 8 and year 9.
Summary or survey results –

In favour of extending hours?
96.5% of year 8 students
65.8% of parents
85.7% of teachers
Preferred time - 7.00am – 9.30pm
91.5% of year 8 students
68.3% of parents
57.1% of teachers

Uniform
Tracksuit Pants - In 2025 all students in Year 7 - 9 will be expected to wear school logo ONLY tracksuit pants for PE. Tracksuit pants are optional however, if your child chooses to wear tracksuit pants they must be Emmanuel College tracksuit pants. In 2025 there will be the addition of a new option of fleece straight legged pants. This went to the student voice and consultation occurred with students.

New bucket hat -Also available will be a bucket hat as a second option for a hat. This also was consulted with students. Unfortunately, there are a number of senior students who do not wear a hat and staff have a constant battle with them about the importance of wearing a hat to avoid sun damage. Again we encourage students to purchase a hat from one of the two options.

Finally, we ask that parents check your child’s uniform before they return next year and pay particular attention to ensuring your child’s dress length is appropriate. Please note that Year 12’s need to wear a blazer to and from school in their final year so please do not sell this item.

Mrs Claire Wrigley
Assistant Principal - Students

VCE Exam Issues VCAA Response

Dear Families,

You may have heard recently in the media about the errors involving VCE Unit 3/4 exams, including leaked exam questions before the exams. Please find attached a letter from the VCAA addressing this issue and outlining the steps they will take moving forward.

Mr Justin Houlihan
Assistant Principal Teaching & Learning

22_November_2024_Letter_to_students.EXAM.error.pdf

Sports Update

School Sport Victoria State Basketball Championships
On Monday 18 November, both our Year 7 & 8 Boys Basketball teams gave valiant efforts at this year’s state finals, showcasing determination and teamwork throughout the competition as part of the top 8 schools in the state.

The Year 7’s
Emmanuel - 29 v Viewbank College - 26
Our Year 7 group jumped out of the blocks early showing some speed and some excellent teamwork to gain an advantage early. Viewbank continued to put lots of scoreboard pressure on the group with the lead swinging throughout the match. Some excellent defensive pressure at the end of the game enabled the team to finish the game with a very close win.

Emmanuel - 16 v Berwick Secondary College - 43
Game 2 we were matched against a very classy and athletic Berwick College. From the start of the game Berwick put the team under significant defensive pressure which allowed them to get a significant lead early. The boys were able to settle and show some poise during the game, however, the lead was too significant to impact the game. Berwick won the game.

Emmanuel – 28 v Victory Christian College Bendigo -32
Going into the final game the boys were still up and about and ready to take on their final challenge against Victory College. Victory was able to come out early and take an early lead, but with some excellent team work the boys were level at half time. In a very close encounter where the lead changed throughout the second half, Victory managed to hold the team out in the last minute with some crucial baskets in the final seconds.

The Year 8’s
Emmanuel – 13 v Preston High School - 33
In game 1, Emmanuel was a bit slow out of the blocks and Preston applied some early defensive pressure which led to some easy offensive baskets to take an early lead in the match. Despite several great patches in the game where we were able to apply some scoreboard pressure, Preston High was too good and won the game.

Emmanuel - 16 v Berwick Secondary College - 51
Like in the Year 7 game, Berwick were a slick athletic team that applied great pressure early in the game. Their ball movement and speed of play was difficult to match, and with an early lead they were too good on the day. The boys despite a couple of injuries in the game put up an excellent effort to play some great basketball to finish the game with a positive mindset.

Emmanuel – 31 v St Joseph’s College Echuca - 27
The boys went into their final pool game looking to play their best basketball for the day. This game was a great contest. Both teams showed some excellent ball movement and teamwork both defensively and offensively, however, the free flowing style suited Emmanuel which enabled us to sneak out to a small lead at half time. Isaiah Dawson was brilliant at dominating the rebounding. Despite a last minute comeback by Echuca, we managed to hold on with a 2 point win.

The boys demonstrated incredible sportsmanship and resilience over the three games.
Thanks to Jaffa for driving the bus and Trainee Kate Noseda for helping with the organisation of uniforms, equipment and team sheets. Thanks to those parents that helped with scoring & time keeping on the day.

Mr James Byrne & Mr Shane Smith
PE & Health Teachers

Emmanuel Equestrian Team

As we near the end of the 2024 school year I would like to thank all our team for their great work representing Emmanuel College. We had quite a few riders at the recent Warrnambool Show Interschool event across teh disciplines of show jumping and dressage. Congratulations to the following students on their results -

- Matilda Graesser and Sparrow, Champion Senior Novice Dressage, and also 3rd on Let's Rule in the Senior Preliminary Dressage.
- Bethany Dyson and Sir Arthur, Champion 75-85cm show jumping.
- Niamh McGoldrick and Mal, 2nd in the 2 phase and Champion in the Grand Prix and also third in the Secondary Dressage.
- Eadie Walther on Seth, show jumped in the 60, 70 and 80cm class placing 7th in the 60cm and 5th in the 70cm.
- Zara Harrington and Prince Harrington placed 3rd and 4th in the Secondary Preliminary Dressage.

Congratulations to everyone and their support crews on what was a very successful day.
Good luck to those who have registered for the Rowville Horse Trailers Interschool Eventing Leader board for 2024-2025 eventing season, an update with standings to come!

Morven Reilly
Emmanuel Equestrian Team Leader

Zara Harrington - Year 7, on Prince Harrington

Library News

Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge (VPRC)
Students participated in the Victorian Premiers’ Reading Challenge during 2024.
Nine students from Years 7, 8 and 9 successfully completed the Challenge by reading 15 or more books.
The students are:
Year 9:
Nuthara Hendahewa
Sienna Plozza
Grace Stephens
Year 8:
Nikolas Keramaris

Year 7:
Oliver Stephens
Lucinda Bishop
Isabelle Witcombe
Darcy Wicking
James Turner

These students will receive an official VPRC certificate and a badge at a gathering being held before the end of the year. Congratulations to all on the reading undertaken during the year. Percy Jackson and Harry Potter books featured in the favourite books to read.

Sustainable School Shop
Emmanuel College has paid a school subscription to the Sustainable School Shop to give all Emmanuel families an opportunity to purchase second hand items at a reasonable price.
All of the Emmanuel College Book Lists for Years 7-12 have been added to the Sustainable School site now. When purchasing books, please check that you are purchasing (or selling) the current edition of the book. It will have a number and then letter E eg 7E. This is showing that it is the 7th edition of the book. Older editions will not be compatible with current study designs.
Second hand uniforms can also be bought and sold on the site. There is a pdf showing the images of each of the uniform components on top right hand corner.
https://www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au

Peregrine Falcons On The Library Televisions
The Peregrine falcon chicks have flown the nest.
For the last couple of months, students, staff and visitors have been watching the Peregrine falcons that were nesting on a ledge on the 35th floor of 367 Collins Street, Melbourne.
We saw the chicks all fluffy and unable to fly, being fed by their parents to eventually standing and flapping their wings furiously in flying exercises.
Chicks 1 and 2 first flew off the ledge on November 14, with Chick 3 flying (fledging) on November 17. Chicks 1 and 2 were born on October 3, with Chick 3 being born on October 4.
Through watching the live stream of the birds we have learnt:
- Peregrine falcons are the fastest animals on earth, reaching over 300km per hour.
- They don't build nests. They lay their eggs in recesses of cliff edges, tree hollows or in the abandoned nests of other birds.
- Once bonded to a nest site, they tend to return to it for life. They have been using the 367 ledge for a nest since the early 1990s.
- Pairs mate for life and will lay a clutch of up to four eggs each season.
- During Covid lockdowns, thousands of house-bound people tuned in to a 24 hour webcam stream of the nest.
The webcam has been turned off for another year. Watch out next August for the next instalment.

New Signage In The Series CollectionThe Library has purchased new signage for the Series collection, enabling students to more easily find a good book to read. There are signs to show where the Anh Do books, the sport books are and where the funny books are. Students are asked to have a look at the signage when they next come to the Library to borrow.

Mrs Margaret Sinnott
Library Coordinator

Words for Wellbeing, Including Student Voice

Living with Chronic Pain
Emmanuel College teacher Chris Allsop lives with chronic pain due to functional neurological disorder (FND) Chris shares his experience of living with FND on platforms Instagram and TikTok to raise awareness of this rarely heard of condition but also to document his experiences of living with a disability. His clever and often humorous reels are such an insight and we would love to share them with our school community.

Chris was recently featured in the Warrnambool Standard which you can read here:
https://www.standard.net.au/story/8788286/warrnambool-man-shares-story-of-life-with-fnd-diganosis/?msg=login

TikTok and Instagram users can search for @chrisgotchronic or use these links to view Chris’ content :

https://www.tiktok.com/@chris.got.chronic

https://www.instagram.com/chrisgotchronic/

As the year comes to the end, this concludes our excellent array of universal Wellbeing education programs run by the team here at Emmanuel College. Here is an overview...

Fit4Connection Exhibition
Earlier this term we held an inspiring evening at the Emmanuel Library, where students and families gathered for the opening of the Fit4Connection Photography and Wellbeing Program Exhibition. The display highlighted the creative efforts of students from Years 8 to 11, who participated in a unique 6-week program exploring photography and wellbeing. The program delivered in small groups during terms 2 and 3, provided students a creative outlet to express themselves as well as foster connections.

Fit4FiveSenses
Fit4FiveSenses has been an engaging and interactive wellbeing program for a small group of Year 7 and 8 students this year. Through fun activities, students explored each of the five senses, discovering their preferences and unique sensory experiences. The program provided a fully immersive environment, encouraging person growth and self-awareness

Fit4FiveSenses.pdf

Fit4Friendships
Megan Collins from the Fit4Life wellbeing team ran a small group program called Fit4Friendships where a small group of year 7 and 8 girls got together on a weekly basis in a relaxed and informal setting to focus on social skills, build friendships, gaining confidence, enhance communication skills and importantly make new friendship connections. Feedback from the students reflected the aims of the program with many girls saying that they got to meet and know peers they may never have had the chance to and will continue to be friends outside of the program. A enjoyable part of the group was engaging in creative activities focusing on wellbeing and inclusion and everyone enjoyed the last session celebration with snacks.

Student Voice - Hannah Asenjo - Year 8
Hello, I'm Hannah Asenjo and throughout this term I have been participating in a little group with Megan Collins and a few other girls, and I have truly loved it! We meet once a week period 5 Thursday's in a Wellbeing room. We get together and talk, laugh and most importantly, work on our wellbeing and friendships. I will just say I have loved every moment of it and has made me look at one person I would never see myself being friends with and saying - "Hi, it's so good seeing you, have a lovely day". I love being able do that, so thank you.

Opportunity to Host a Japanese Student

Japanese Exchange Student
There is an opportunity for an Emmanuel family to host a Japanese exchange student for 10 weeks next year. Emmanuel have been welcoming students from the AIIU exchange organisation for a number of years now and they are in need of one more family for the group arriving next Term. Please see the message below from Oksana, the coordinator and please contact her directly if you are interested.

A host family is urgently needed for a female Japanese exchange student arriving in January 2025 to attend year 10 at Emmanuel College in term 1.
The student loves music, anime, singing and playing guitar. She also enjoys travelling, playing volleyball and dodge ball and going shopping with her friends. She describes herself as kind, funny and curious and hopes to make lots of friends during her 10-week exchange. Due to an allergy, she can only stay with a family that doesn't have any cats or dogs indoors. For more information, please contact Oksana on 0400 992 941, oksana@aiiu.com.au

Ms Julia Smith
Languages Coordinator

Confidence & Motivation

Building confidence and motivation in young people is essential for their development and overall wellbeing. Supporting these traits means encouraging your child to set realistic goals, celebrate their achievements, and learn from setbacks. Confidence allows young people to believe in their abilities, face challenges with resilience, and feel empowered in their decisions. Meanwhile, motivation drives them to pursue interests, strive for personal growth, and stay engaged in school and other activities. By fostering a supportive environment at home, parents can help nurture these qualities, providing their children with the tools they need to navigate life's ups and downs and maintain a positive, proactive mindset.

Full SchoolTV Article