At the beginning of Term 1 this year, we warmly welcomed the arrival of 234 Year 7 Students and 20 new students across years 8 to 12; our campus was quickly abuzz with the energy and activity of 1271 young people.
This year’s College theme is ‘Courage to Climb,’ which our 2023 College Captains Paige Armistead, Segdae Lucardie, Emily Mahony and George Stevens announced at our Opening Assembly. Our College Captains worked closely with the 80 students in our college’s student leadership team to develop the theme. Focusing on the Mercy Education Values for their inspiration, they have adopted the value of Courage and are seeking to explore how it speaks to and inspires us.
The captains' explanation of this year’s theme can be found here.
I wish the Year 12 cohort well as they climb their own mountain this year whilst also providing encouragement and leadership to the student body.
Jace was one of only 37 students among 50,000 Victorian Year 12’s to receive a perfect ATAR score, and he is, we believe, the first Emmanuel student to achieve this recognition.Peter Morgan | Principal
Our students’ academic results in 2022 were extraordinary, and I am proud of the graduating class for their hard work and dedication to their studies and extracurriculars. In summary of just some of the fantastic results,
I spoke with several students from the 2022 graduating class to congratulate them for their efforts. In particular, I spoke with our VCE Dux Jace Nepean, praising him for not only his extraordinary achievement but for a result that very few people achieve. Jace was one of only 37 students among 50,000 Victorian Year 12’s to receive a perfect ATAR score, and he is, we believe, the first Emmanuel student to achieve this recognition.
We acknowledge that extraordinary results like Jace’s don’t come easily; they take commitment and hard work, and in Jace, we saw a young man who epitomised both qualities.
Jace’s achievements and our awards assembly confirm Emmanuel College is a school where young people can achieve academic and other outcomes equivalent to the best in Victoria. Jace has now relocated to Canberra, where he will commence a Bachelor of Philosophy (Honours) - Science at the Australian National University. He will be in good company with Jacob Gome, our class of 2020 Dux studying in the same field. We wish him every success.
In an exciting update, construction of the new Year 9 Learning Centre - The Edmund Rice Centre, will proceed this year following the recent announcement of a $2 million Federal Government grant to assist the college in self-funding the project.
The Edmund Rice Centre will be built adjacent to the Mercy Aged Care facility at the rear corner of the property and is expected to be operational for the start of the 2025 school year.
The centre will have the capacity for 250 students plus staff and house the innovative 9@RICE program, which commenced last year. The project will be the most expansive and expensive project undertaken by the college. Its development will enable the remaining consolidation of staff and students to one campus from 2025 and provide an exciting, contemporary learning environment reflecting the diverse approaches to learning the 9@RICE program enables.
The college is working through the final design and documentation with architect Baldasso Cortesse. We plan to put the project to tender in April and anticipate seeing the successful tenderer setting up onsite in June.
The new facility has been named the Edmund Rice Centre to preserve the school’s link with the current Rice Campus, to be vacated in 2025, and to maintain a connection with Edmund Rice, the founder of the Christian Brothers who operated CBC from 1902 – 1991.
At the end of 2022, our college held a school fee raffle, and with the support and help of this project from many families who purchased tickets, a new Challenger Course has been installed and is receiving a good workout each day by our Junior School students. The Challenger Course is a new addition to recess and lunchtime activities for Year 7 and 8 students, and several PE and sport classes, as warm-up activities. I thank those who supported this project, with approx $20,000 raised to enable this project to be completed.
For the last year, each Tuesday evening, our school canteen area has been transformed into a dining room, and our doors open to anyone needing a meal.
Described initially as a soup kitchen modelled on a similar project run by Warrnambool’s St. Joseph’s Parish, which provides a weekly dinner to individuals and families in need, our project has become known as a community meal.
After starting the first week with a single attendee and then three the following week, the community meal now regularly attracts between 30-40 individuals and a couple of families with young children. All of these families and individuals are doing it tough, and while some have jobs, others are extremely marginalised due to unemployment, homelessness, mental illness, poverty, or a combination of these factors. All are welcome, and no one is turned away.
The project is currently supported by school staff volunteering their time to serve the meals, clear up, wash dishes and pack up at the end, so the space is again ready for students to use the following day. For the first year, we were in an establishment phase, taking the initial steps slowly to ensure we had enough time to thoroughly understand what we were doing and ensure we can manage any challenges that may arise.
Our plan for this year and beyond is to involve Senior School students as part of their commitment to community service. We hope to include parents and alumni as volunteers in the longer term.
The project has received extraordinary support from our canteen operator, McMahons Family Catering, who provides the meals (two courses) weekly. Since March 1 last year, over 850 meals have been served. I believe another wonderful aspect of our community meal is getting to know people in our community by building a sense of trust and demonstrating compassion and hospitality to all we meet. Emmanuel College greatly appreciates the financial support from CaSPA (Catholic Secondary Principals Australia), enabling our social action project to get underway and gain momentum.
In our last College Connection edition, I spoke about the release of our unique history book Common Threads, celebrating 150 years of stories from St Anns, CBC and Emmanuel College. Since then, our college has sold many copies and has received excellent feedback from our community, especially from our alumni. It was also wonderful to see others purchase the book as Christmas gifts for their loved ones and friends who hold cherished memories of their time at our amalgamated schools. If you wish to purchase a copy of Common Threads, link here.
2023 has already been plentiful for our college community, and I pray this year will be good to each and every one of our students, staff, their families and our alumni community.
Warmest regards,
Peter Morgan | Principal of Emmanuel College
