After a 40-year career educating literally thousands of students, Mrs Jan Bray has retired from teaching at Emmanuel College.
Beginning her teaching career at Lake Bolac High School as it was then known, Jan loved travelling to Warrnambool at weekends to play tennis and see Clive, her husband-to-be. Tennis has always been one of Jan’s great loves and, along with Clive and her boys, she was heavily involved in the Lawn Tennis Club for many years.
After moving to Warrnambool Mrs Bray taught at a local secondary College until she joined the staff at St Ann’s in February 1976. Mrs Bray was recruited by Principal Sr Philomene to create a Home Economics program for the school. Jan was responsible for fitting out the classroom and establishing the curriculum.
Jan certainly had a way of inspiring her students and they responded with enthusiasm
Since those early days, Jan has witnessed the evolution of the Food Technology program through the decades. As the focus of the program developed and changed, so too did its name. Starting out as Home Economics, the subject focused on building basic cookery skills. “There was a bit of nutrition in there too, but Health was largely taught with PE,” says Jan.
A significant event in 1983 still not forgotten, was the day the Year 11 Wing, (which housed the Home Economics facility), was destroyed by a fire. “Classes were cancelled for a little while, then we did a few classes in the canteen and some in the Convent.” By September of the same year, the area had been rebuilt comprising four classrooms and a Home Economics Wing.
“The biggest changes have seen the subject become more relevant to students.” Over the years the program has had to adapt learning tasks to reflect lifestyle trends and changes. “As the next superfood came along, which was previously unheard of, we would have to adapt to change that. It has had massive changes over the years, but basically it remains as ‘hands-on cooking. You learn a lot about nutrition, and where our food comes from.”
In the early days Home Economics was offered only as a compulsory subject in Years 7 and 8 then gradually electives were created for Years 8 to10 and eventually right through to Year 12. Jan remained one of the key teachers of Food Technology over the years since.
Jan’s expertise and experience was recognized a number of years ago when she was invited by the Victorian Curriculum and Assessment Authority (VCAA) to be a Reviewer for the Food Technology Productions (food produced for a particular theme). This involved working in a small team to standardise the work produced by Year 12 students around the metropolitan area, a role she really enjoyed.
Jan’s other teaching area was Health and Human Development. Initially the subjects were separate, and Human Development was only offered to senior students. She developed many resources for the revised Study Designs as they came along and was an important part of the teaching teams who taught Health & Human Development with Jan over the years. Jan led these teams as the Coordinator at various times.
A major change that Jan experienced was the amalgamation of St Ann’s College with CBC Warrnambool. However, as Mrs Bray admits, this change happened a lot more slowly for her as her classes remained full of St Ann’s girls following the merge. New subjects were introduced with the particular name and focus designed to attract the new co-ed students. “The boys probably found it quite different. Some took it on as an elective.” adds Mrs Bray.
Jan had a reputation for being strict, and this reputation would initially intimidate students, but attitudes would quickly change after attending only a few of her classes. Students valued her knowledge, empathy and advice. She spent many out of school hours helping students who found developing a theme for their production and executing the skills necessary to present their work challenging. The resulting work produced by the students was always amazingly diverse and professional. Ann-Marie Moloney comments, “Jan certainly had a way of inspiring her students and they responded with enthusiasm.”
Jan’s consistent message to students has always been, “Unless you are well, you can’t do anything. Look after your health - physical, mental and social.”
We thank Jan for all that she has contributed as a very professional and caring teacher and as a collaborative and collegial colleague. We wish Jan all the very best in her retirement and hope that she begins to enjoy some good health and time spent with Clive, her boys and her four grand-daughters.
