The decision announced in late 2020 to consolidate college operations upon a single site by 2025 is moving inexorably closer. The College appointed Nicolson Constructions during Term 3 last year to build the Edmund Rice Centre on land at the rear of the school’s Botanic Road property. We are pleased with the progress and watching the building come out of the ground causes excitement for all those who work and learn at Emmanuel. The project is on schedule to conclude in late 2024 giving rise to a new purpose-designed learning environment for Year 9, and a home for the 9@RICE program now in its third year. The consolidation of the school at the McAuley Campus is the culmination of years of capital improvements that are creating an optimal learning environment for the young people of Warrnambool and surrounding districts. Demand for enrolment increased in 2023 and again in 2024 with a current enrolment of 1325.
Supporting the success of the building project is the Edmund Rice Centre Appeal launched in February with a bang. The Rice Rally, as we called it, was a celebration of the development of the Edmund Rice Centre, the ongoing growth of the college, and the launch of an appeal to raise $1.5 million for the $16millon project. To date we have raised just over $300,000, so 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. Learn more about the excitement of the Rice Rally and how to donate by linking here.
To date we have raised just over $300,000, so 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.Peter Morgan | Principal
2023 saw another successful year for the Year 12 cohort who achieved excellent results. Congratulations to dux of VCE Emily Mahony and dux of VCE VM Annameike Cozens. Emily received an ATAR score of 99 placing her in the top 1% of students in the State and continued the strong academic results of recent years. Emily also received a perfect study score of 50 in Physical Education. Annameike is to be congratulated for gaining the Demo Dairy scholarship that will support her study of veterinary nursing in 2024. Hannah van der Aa with an ATAR of 98.1 and Scarlett O’Brien with an ATAR score of 96.2 are both congratulated as second and third dux of VCE respectively. In all, 12 Emmanuel students gained ATARs above 90 representing almost 10% of the cohort of 123 students completing a scored VCE, while more than a quarter scored 80 or above. We further congratulate the 34 students who received study scores of 40 or higher.
It is so pleasing to see the continued trajectory of academic achievements at Emmanuel College proving it is a learning community with a diverse range of students and a place in which young people can achieve their academic goals to the very highest level.
The Emmanuel College community also proudly congratulates 2023’s College Captain, George Stevens, and Maguire House Leader, Luamon Lual, who were selected in the 2023 AFL Draft. Luamon was selected by Essendon with pick 39 and George was selected by Geelong with pick 58. There were only 64 young men across the country who were drafted to AFL clubs, so having two from the one school is an incredible achievement. During their time as students at the college both Luamon and George participated in the Year 9 Football Academy elective and proudly represented the College First XVIII football team since Year 10. Over the past two years the boys have displayed enormous dedication and commitment to commute each week to Ballarat to train and play for the GWV Rebels side, along with higher honours at State level. Both Luamon and George have maintained a dedicated approach to their studies and have been excellent leaders and positive role models for younger students. We wish Luamon and George all the best as they embark on their AFL journey and look forward to watching them ‘don the sash’ at the Bombers and ‘pull on the hoops’ at the Cats in the future!
On the topic of sport, the Emmanuel House Captains continue to do great work building an atmosphere of camaraderie and competition, best seen in Term 1 at our annual Swimming Sports Meet. The swimming sports is always a fun day with its activities and experiences for all students. This year all of them are hungry to defeat Egan House who has won the House Cup the last two years. However, Egan remain on track for another potential win, taking out the aggregate for the swimming – Go Blue!!
With our House Captains, our new 2024 College Captains, Mia Cook, Eamon Dempsey, Emma Hannagan, and Matthew Gome are fulfilling their roles wonderfully. Their first key task was the launch of the year’s College theme - Together we SOAR in 2024. At the College Opening Assembly, Eamon and Matthew explained that SOAR stood for Service, Optimism, Authenticity, and Respect. The Emmanuel College Captains were genuinely inspiring, (further details about the theme have been included here) and I wish them well as they endeavour to SOAR during their own Year 12 year whilst providing encouragement and leadership to the student body.
Warmest regards,
Peter Morgan | Principal of Emmanuel College