Newsletter Edition 17 / 2023, November 6

Principal's Message

Dear Emmanuel College Families,

All Souls Day
Emmanuel College marked the start of November, a time of remembrance in both the Catholic Church and secular society, with a memorial service on All Souls Day. Each year, members of the Emmanuel community who have experienced the death of loved ones in their own families, are welcome to join us on All Souls Day for a prayer service around our memorial garden. Last Thursday we experienced a crisp but clear morning as we gathered to remember and pray for Paul Ross, Amy Collins, Paul Jellie, Ellen Nixon, Sr. Agnes Gleeson, Laurie Foley, David Shanley, Jenny Belfrage, Christine Hayes and Greg Sheehan, and their families. The short service commenced with an Acknowledgement of Country followed by the opening prayer:

On this day we prayerfully remember all our loved ones who have died.
People we have studied with, worked with, laughed with, cried with, and walked with.
Their stories are alive in our community and in us.
Give them comfort and hope and may they be at peace, knowing they rest in God's arms eternally. 
Today, we lift our hearts and prayers to those who have gone before us.

This year, a small memorial plaque remembering Michelle Joseph, an Emmanuel teacher who died in 2022 was unveiled by her family. As the plaque was being unveiled, I spoke briefly about Michelle in these words:
Michelle Joseph was a colleague and friend to all who worked at this college. She was a beautiful human being, an exemplary teacher, a loving mother, and devoted wife. As a place of learning, Emmanuel College is indebted to Michelle for the impact she had on the learning programs, especially the languages, at this school, and on student’s lives. Michelle saw great potential in each young person she taught. She believed in them and in their capacity to grow. Most impressive was the way in which she was a shining light and a role model to all Emmanuel students.
Today, as a learning community, we acknowledge our loss, and we dedicate this plaque to the memory of Michelle, so her spirit lives on with us, and in us, for a very long time.  This humble plaque says:

Michelle Joseph, born 23/08/1980 died 30/05/2022.
A teacher and colleague whose passion for teaching and
zest for life left an indelible mark upon all she met.

May Michelle, and all those whom we remember this day, All Souls Day, rest in peace, and may God’s infinite light and love shine upon them and each of us gathered here today to remember our loved ones.

Reflection by Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Bauman
The following reflection was shared with Catholic Principals this week by our National Association. It’s a beautiful reflection on time and silence and God’s presence in both, written by Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Bauman, Aboriginal Principal, Artist and 2021 Senior Australian of the Year. At first, I thought I would share a passage from Miriam’s reflection, but it warrants reproducing in full at this time post the recent referendum and the ongoing need for reconciliation between the first Australians and those who came later.

My people are not threatened by silence. They are completely at home in it. They have lived for thousands of years with Nature’s quietness. My people today recognise and experience in this quietness the great Life-Giving Spirit, the Father of us all. It is easy for me to experience God’s presence. When I am out hunting, when I am in the bush, among the trees, on a hill or by a billabong; these are the times when I can simply be in God’s presence. My people have been so aware of Nature. It is natural that we will feel close to the Creator. Our Aboriginal culture has taught us to be still and to wait. We do not try to hurry things up. We let them follow their natural course – like the seasons. We watch the moon in each of its phases. We wait for the rain to fill our rivers and water the thirsty earth…

When twilight comes, we prepare for the night. At dawn we rise with the sun.

We watch the bush foods and wait for them to ripen before we gather them. We wait for our young people as they grow, stage by stage, through their initiation ceremonies. When a relation dies, we wait a long time with the sorrow. We own our grief and allow it to heal slowly.

We wait for the right time for our ceremonies and our meetings. The right people must be present. Everything must be done in the proper way. Careful preparations must be made. We don’t mind waiting because we want things to be done with care.

We don’t like to hurry. There is nothing more important than what we are attending to. There is nothing more urgent that we must hurry away for.

We wait on God, too. His time is the right time. We wait for him to make his word clear to us. We don’t worry. We know that in time and in the spirit of dadirri (that deep listening and quiet stillness) his way will be clear.

We are river people. We cannot hurry the river. We have to move with its current and understand its ways.

We hope that the people of Australia will wait. Not so much waiting for us – to catch up – but waiting with us, as we find our pace in this world.

If you stay closely united, you are like a tree, standing in the middle of a bushfire sweeping through the timber. The leaves are scorched, and the tough bark is scarred and burnt; but inside the tree the sap is still flowing, and under the ground the roots are still strong. Like that tree, you have endured the flames, and you still have the power to be reborn.

Our culture is different. We are asking our fellow Australians to take time to know us; to be still and to listen to us.  Miriam-Rose Ungunmerr-Baumann.

Seeking Support of the Emmanuel Community
I seek the support of the Emmanuel community with the following two operational matters. First, families collecting students from the college are reminded to comply with the local road laws. Last week we received complaints from residents in nearby Barbers Lane about parents blocking driveways while waiting for children at the end of the school day. 

Second, I invite your support for our annual school fee raffle with the prize being a school fee credit for one young person attending the college in 2024. Proceeds from the raffle will be used to provide equipment and facilities that benefit students. Thank you to those who already have purchased tickets. Last year we saw involvement from several college supporters who do not have children attending school, but purchased tickets with the intention of donating the prize to a family in need if they were the lucky winner. We would love to see this happen again in 2023. Tickets can be purchased at this link: https://rafflelink.com.au/emmanuel-fee-raffle 

The prize winner will be publicly announced on Wednesday 13 December at the annual Awards Evening. 

In closing we pray for peace in our world amid the ongoing turmoil in Gaza and the continuing war in Ukraine. We pray too for staff member Rachel Hoffman whose brother died suddenly and whose funeral will be held in Ballarat this week. We extend our heartfelt support to Rachel and her family, asking the God of Mercy to hear our prayers.

Prayer for Peace
God of compassion, we turn to you with heavy hearts as we consider the needs of your family.
Israelis and Palestinians, we are all people, each of us loved by you and called
to live in peace and justice.
We lament the dreadful loss of life, destruction of property, and loss of human dignity.
We are pained by so much suffering. We beg you to bring healing to this ancient place.
Help your people find a way forward.
Enable everyone to look each other in the eye, and embrace each other
as sisters and brothers, as they find your image in every face.
We ask that courage and grace will help create a wiser and more gentle future,
where everyone has a home.
(Michael McGirr, Caritas Australia).
St. Joseph: Pray for us.  May the spirit of Catherine McAuley and
Edmund Rice guide us in all we do.  Amen

Mr Peter Morgan
Principal

A Message from Mrs Claire Wrigley

Year 11 fit4life Day 
On Tuesday October 31 our Year 11 students came together for a day that included various workshops and a guest speaker in the afternoon. In the morning students moved around in house groups through workshops on healthy relationships, intimacy & consent, mental health, nutrition and wellbeing and a house amazing race challenge. These workshops provided students with relevant information and strategies that they can use in a practical sense when facing various situations that present for young people throughout their lives.

In the afternoon guest speaker Paul Watkins held the students captivated by his story of failure and success, sharing his experiences in training and competing at an international  adventure challenge in the Arctic circle. 

Student Voice
We continue to empower our young people at Emmanuel College to participate in decision making. One such way we do this is through student voice. Our students' voice committee this year has made decisions around uniform, yard seating and discussed wonderful suggestions from our student body.

We congratulate the following students who will form the student voice committee in 2024.

We look forward to this group of students providing a platform for discussing student matters and ideas within our college.

Mrs Claire Wrigley
Assistant Principal - Students 

Student Voice - Year 11 Japanese Excursion

Matthew Gome
On Friday the Year 11 Japanese class, made the trip to Melbourne in the morning. We had a quick stop at a sushi shop before heading to RMIT University. We were met by Ms Ohashi who is the director of Japanese at RMIT. It was really helpful to get an insight into how languages work in post-secondary school environments.

Afterward, we walked to a nearby traditional Japanese restaurant called Shoya. At Shoya we ate sashimi, tempura, green tea, udon noodles, egg custard, grilled fish, and green tea ice cream. It was an awesome experience to be able to sit down in a traditional restaurant, it felt as though we were in Japan. In between Shoya and our next stop, we had a brief shop at Daiso a Japanese dollar store where some students bought some snacks and drinks. We then jumped into a karaoke box at K-Box and belted out some classic English and Japanese songs for an hour. After a little free time, we headed to get our dinner and then met back at Southern Cross Station to take the train back home.

International Chemistry Quiz Results

On 3^rd August 95,000 students worldwide competed in the International Chemistry Quiz (ICQ). Once again, Year 11 chemistry students from Emmanuel College participated in this competition. The results for the ICQ 2023 have been announced. Congratulations to:

• Xavier Gercovich and Thomas Walker for achieving High Distinction
• Satwika Sivasankar for achieving Distinction
• Joe Morrison for achieving Credit

Ms Simone Rolfe
Director of Learning

Food for Fuel

Last week Food Studies students at 9@RICE had fun in and out of the kitchen. Food for Fuel students designed and prepared their own healthy evening meals.

The Hospitality Studies students went ‘out and about’ to practise their food critic skills at a local café (Phoenix was students’ café of choice). Students enjoyed a long lunch together and will write up their ‘Good Food Guide’ reviews next week. The best part about this has been watching the students enjoy socialising and sharing stories over a meal. Well done Year 9s.

Ms Ruth Walker
Food Studies Teacher

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Sports Update

GWR Junior Cricket
On Tuesday the 24th of October our Junior GWR Representative Cricket teams headed to Ballarat to battle it out for State Quarter Final Qualification. With our Year 7 and Year 8 Boys teams and our combined Year 7-8 Girls team all taking part. Unfortunately our Year 8 Boys could not qualify through after they were beaten in one of their Pool Games. The Year 7 Boys were also very unlucky losing to a boundary on the final ball in the final through a top edge over the wicket keeper! Our Girls team had more luck, comprehensively winning the final after a terrific bowling performance. They will now play in the State Quater Final on November 17th. Well done to all players who represented the College on the day.

GWR Junior Tennis
Our Year 7 Boys and Year 8 Girls Tennis teams headed to Ballarat for the GWR Finals on Friday October 20th, to attempt to gain qualification into the State Finals. The Year 7 team made up of Hudson Greene, Kodi Ryan, Monty Darcy and Roy Savage were able to get through undefeated progressing to the State Finals. The Year 8 Girls Team was also successful in progressing. They were represented by Adele McNamara, Elyssa Mutton, Jasmine Phillips and Lucy Kavanagh. Well done and good luck to both teams as they taek on the best in the State on November 16th and 17th.

GWR Junior Basketball
On Tuesday the 31st of October, we had the Year 7 Boys and Girls as well as the Year 8 Boys and Girls play off in the GWR Finals in Ballarat. Unfortunately our Year 7 Girls lost a close pool game, however, in another successful day the Year 7 Boys, Year 8 Boys and Year 8 Girls have now won through to the State Finals held at MSAC. Goodluck to these teams as they progress and play on November 13th and 14th.

Intermediate Cricket State Quarter Final
Our Year 9-10 Intermediate Boys Cricket team played in the State Quater Final in Geelong on Wednesday November 1st. Playing Springvale West Secondary College our boys started well batting first and making 210 from their 20 Overs. Standout with the bat were Sam Allen with 56, Harry McCormack with 37 and and Charlie James with 40. In reply the teams bowling was first class, knocking the opposition over for 60. Charlie james was the standout with the ball, taking 2 wickets, along with Tommy Illingworth, Sam Short and Rory Baulch.  The side has now booked their spot in the State Semi Final on Friday November 10th in Melbourne. If they win this game they will play in the afternoon final. Best of luck to the team as they move on!

Mr Alastair Templeton
Sports & Lunchtime Activities Coordinator

Music Department Updates

Warrnambool Show - Combined School Band
On a typical windy Warrnambool day (these were actually gale force winds!), the Emmanuel College Concert Band students joined forces with students from Warrnambool College and Kings College, and played a 2 hour set to a large audience. We played well known tunes such as Blinding Lights by the Weeknd, the Pokemon Theme and a medley of tunes from Guardians of the Galaxy to name a few.

The Emmanuel College Jazz Band also did our own set of 4 pieces, and this was our very first public performance to an audience. Despite the trialing conditions, I was tremendously proud of every student’s positive attitude and stamina on the day! Well done to everyone who played, and a special thankyou to the parents and friends who came to listen. It was a lot of fun, and something that will definitely become an annual event!

Ms Erin Toulmin
Music Teacher

Warrnambool City Band ‘Spring Concert’
On Saturday 4 November at the Anderson Theatre, Brauer College, Emmanuel students, staff & alumni performed in a ‘Spring Concert’ presented by the Warrnambool City Band.

Emmanuel students who performed: Sky Trussler, Matilda Woodward, Sienna Plozza, EJ Gass, Francisco Aedo Sato, Belle Plozza
Emmanuel teachers who performed: Barry Galbraith, Dean Mulholland, Hannah Smart, Maria Carras-Kerr, Jessica Finnigan, as well as Molly Kellermeier and Martin Wohlers who are also alumni.
Emmanuel Alumni who performed: Fern Gass and Quaid Hinkley.

The ‘Spring Concert’ was an excellent opportunity for Emmanuel students to experience playing in large groups with experienced musicians as well as allow them to see their teachers performing and even perform with them. They were exposed to a wide range of instruments and music genres from the dramatic standard of Concert Band repertoire, ‘Lord of the Rings’ based on Tolkien’s books (composed before the LOTR movies) and ‘Slavonic Dances’ by Czech composer Anton Dvorak to Jazz classics such as ‘September’. Ensembles included a very large Concert Band, a full Jazz Band and a full Brass Band. The Brass Band performed their program of pieces that they will be taking to the Mount Gambier Brass Band Competition on 18 November.

The Concert Band will also be performing Christmas Carols on the Civic Green on Wednesday 13 December.

Ms Maria Carras-Kerr
Music Teacher

Library News

UNO Winners
The Term 4 UNO champions are:
1^st : Christian Wyse – Year 7
2^nd : Will Bellman – Year 10

Thank you to all of the students who participated in the Term 4 competition.

Sustainable School Shop Website
We have partnered with Sustainable School Shop to provide families access to second-hand textbooks, uniforms, calculators, musical instruments, sports gear and much more!

Sustainable School Shop will preload items specific to our school onto their site. This makes it super easy to list your items for sale and to buy items.

So jump onto the site, register and list your items for sale, you will be:

• reusing items rather than adding to landfill
• making money on items you sell
• saving money on items you buy
• providing another family in our school with cheaper items
• helping to create a culture of contact amongst our school community families!

See all the second-hand uniform items for sale here.
See all the second-hand textbooks for sale here.

Login or Register here: https://www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au

International School Library Month
Emmanuel College has been paired with a school in India to exchange bookmarks. Students have begun to make the bookmarks which will be sent to India when complete. Any students interested in making bookmarks please see Mrs Sinnott. Each year schools across the world take part in the Bookmark Exchange program, where each school makes bookmarks but also learns about the country that they are paired with.

Mrs Margaret Sinnott
Library Coordinator

Pope Francis on the Climate Crisis

On the feast of St. Francis of Assisi (October 4), Pope Francis has released his apostolic exhortation Laudate Deum, addressed “to all people of good will on the climate crisis.” “Praise God” is the title of this letter, for when human beings claim to take God’s place, they become their own worst enemies. 

In the encyclical Pope Francis says, “I have realised that our responses have not been adequate, while the world in which we live is collapsing and may be nearing the breaking point.” He repeatedly emphasises how the poor and the most vulnerable suffer most from the consequences of climate change, even though they are less responsible for it. "How can we forget that Africa, home to more than half of the world's poorest people, is responsible for a minimal portion of historic emissions?" he says.

Pope Francis has inspired me to continue our work on sustainability at Emmanuel College. Also, to continue to further develop the way we educate our students on how to show their love for God and each other by caring for the environment. 

Therefore, in addition to the Protect our Planet Pledge program in November, the Green Group @Emmanuel will be learning about the Laudate Deum and COP28. We will also be writing to express our wishes to see decisive action to our Local, State and Federal governments in the lead up to COP28. We will also be placing quotes from the Laudate Deum on the daily messages in the lead up to COP28, to encourage all students to focus on this important event. As Pope Francis says, “our care for one another and our care for the earth are intimately bound together. Climate change is one of the principal challenges facing society and the global community.”

Below is link to a summary of the 6 chapters in the Laudate Deum. I hope it provides you with some inspiration. I encourage you to discuss these important messages at home with your families. This is particularly important, with our latest youth research from Mission Australia finding that, “half of respondents (51%) identified ‘the environment’ as one of the most important issues in Australia today.” 

Ms Brooke Jones
Environment & Sustainability Coordinator

Career News

The latest Career Newsletter can be read here - 
https://www.emmanuelcollegecareers.com/
and includes information on the following:

All Students

• Exciting programs – Young Endeavour, UK & US academic tours, RISE Global Leaders.
• Focus on employment for summer jobs 
• Built environments careers – be a future city builder
• Cool jobs – early childhood education and aviation protection officer. 
• Summer schools – career programs during the Christmas break
• Upcoming career events
• Focus on TAFE courses

Year 11 Students

• Cyber security scholarship

Year 12 Students

• Employment opportunities in finance and agriculture
• Key tertiary dates
• Scholarships
• Early entry programs

Employment Vacancies
We are continually being contacted by a number of employers regarding employment opportunities, these range from casual, part time and full time positions, if you are looking to enter into the workforce in these areas, all vacancies have been posted on “Daily Messages under Career Information” for students to apply.

Mr David Gladman
Student Pathways & Careers Leader

Upcoming Events

Wednesday November 8
VCAA Unit 3/4 Exams continued

Thursday November 9
Intermediate Boys State Cricket Semi Final

Friday November 10
Year 7 Band Showcase - Rehearsal

Monday November 13
VCAA Unit 3/4 Exams continued
Interschool Chess
Year 7 Band Showcase
Year 7 & 8 Boys State Basketball Finals
Yr 11 VCE VM - Werribee Zoo Excursion

Tuesday November 14
Year 8 & Intermediate Girls State Basketball
Leadership Investiture Ceremony - 9am-10.15am
Year 11 Final Assembly - 2.30pm-3.30pm
Booklist Letters Sent Out

Wednesday November 15
Year 8 Footy Academy Excursion
Unit 1/2 Exams begin

Thursday November 16
Year 8 & 10 Cricket Academy Trip
Year 8 Assembly - extended homeroom
Year 12 Graduation - 4.30pm-6.30pm

Monday November 20
Unit 1/2 Exams continued (all week)