Welcome to the first edition of the Emmanuel College Connection for 2017.
2016 finished on a very high note with the College achieving its highest VCE results overall since 2004. We congratulate our Dux, Stella Cain and all students who worked hard to achieve their personal best.
Another exciting highlight of 2016 was the opening of the Emmanuel Centre. Many of you will now have read about the Emmanuel Centre or visited it in person. This facility was much needed and was achieved only with the help of a generous and supportive Alumni community.
The opening of this facility - a key phase of the Emmanuel College Building Masterplan - does not mean that we have reached our destination. With the Emmanuel Centre now complete and in use, the College has begun an exciting new project - the re-purposing and revitalization of the McAuley Campus Hall in Ardlie Street into a dedicated space for the performing arts. Staff members and architects have been working together to finalise a design that will transform this space into a specialist facility and the project will soon be sent to tender.
The Emmanuel Centre for the Performing Arts, (which is not yet named) will provide a home for our concert band, facilities for Drama and Music and will allow the College the ability to introduce VCE Dance to the curriculum. This facility will complement a learning program that is rapidly seeing Emmanuel College become the school of choice for those who are passionate about the performing arts. This is the result of a journey of continual improvement in the performing arts.
Emmanuel College recognises the performing arts adds much to the life of the College and to the enjoyment of life.
In recent years the College has:
Emmanuel College recognises the performing arts adds much to the life of the College and to the enjoyment of life.
The 2017 Year 7 cohort was the first to experience the new instrumental music program in which every Emmanuel student is learning an instrument of the orchestra with instruments provided by the College with no additional fees for tuition.
The development of the music program was based on the 2013 enquiry by the Education and Training Committee of the Victorian Parliament into the extent, benefits and potential of Music education in Victorian Schools. The findings highlighted the fact that in addition to the intrinsic value of learning music, music education can have many other benefits for students, including:
The program is quickly achieving results with over 200 Year 7 students competing in the City of Warrnambool Eisteddfod music section in June. Just 14 weeks of instruction produced nine bands and an amazing variety of tunes and performances, generating incredible excitement. Music Convenor of the Eisteddfod Mrs Paddy McGennisken congratulated the students and their teachers on what they have achieved in just 14 weeks. She highlighted the benefits of learning music including lifelong skills gained through the discipline and cooperation of working individually and together. Let’s hope the experience encourages the students to practice even more and contribute to a lifelong love of music.
Emmanuel College has a long history of education in the performing arts. Warrnambool’s Holiday Actors was born from creative efforts of the students and staff of our predecessor schools, St Ann’s and CBC. A look through the College archives reveals hundreds of photos from drama productions, school concerts, eisteddfod successes and individual instrumental and singing performances.
Creating a dedicated centre for the performing arts will make a strong statement about our commitment to the performing arts and our commitment to catering for a diverse range of students and our future direction. When completed, this centre will be an enduring symbol of our confidence in the future of the performing arts at Emmanuel College.
The aim is to create a very clear identity for the new centre so the name becomes synonymous with Emmanuel College throughout Warrnambool and the district. Our challenge is to identify a name with suitable gravitas, meaning and longevity – one that positively reflects upon: who we are, our origins and how we wish to be seen today and in the future within the broader Warrnambool community.
