The current Principal of Emmanuel College in Warrnambool, Peter Morgan, was the guest speaker at the Rotary Club's Dinner meeting on 30th May.  
 
Peter, who has been Principal at the College since 2013, gave a very forthright insight into the status of education in Australia and how it measures up to education programs in other countries.  It is his belief that Australians are somewhat blase about about children's education and that there is not quite the same pressure to succeed as, say, Singapore and China - countries that place great emphasis and passion on teaching and learning.
 
 
Peter explained that education is an ever changing environment and school principals are under constant pressure to adapt to these changes which are often imposed by various political overlays, particularly when government priorities change. Furthermore, he said it wasn't just the constant aura of change itself but the "pace of change" that is strongly impacting on our education programs.  He emphasised that there is no good in just "treading water", as standing still is a formula for going backwards.
 
Notwithstanding his view that Australia's education is not as competitive as some other countries he was quick to point out that ALL schools strive for the very best outcomes for their students but, as they are not all equally resourced, this leads to varying outcomes.
 
He focused on well publicised statistics that indicate the main issue facing secondary schools in the south-west region of Victoria, is the relatively poor retention (attainment) rate of students, meaning that many students do not complete their secondary studies to the point where they can go directly into employment, a trade or on to higher education.  The average attainment rate for Warrnambool schools is only about 74% but Peter was proud that Emmanuel College's attainment rate was a reasonably healthy 89% but could always be better.  Governments tend to strive for a 90% attainment rate.  The college had a focus on delivering STEM-based course (Science, Technology, Engineering and Maths) with an added emphasis at Emmanuel on STEAM which also promotes learning in Arts-based subjects with a special focus on getting all students to adopt a musical instrument as part of their curriculum.
 
Sadly, Peter explained that the attainment rate is important and poor retention has a flow-on impact in life after school for many students who left school prematurely as they generally did not form good career paths and, importantly, were doubly disadvantaged in that such "drop-out" students tended to have a shorter life span.
 
In the second part of his presentation, Peter spoke about the College's Master Plan that was first floated in 2012 as a blue-print for future expansion.  A central pillar of the plan is to develop a large auditorium / resource centre on the campus with the capacity to enable the projected school population of 1500 students to be brought together under the one roof. The new resource building in Botanic Road is now well under way at a total budget of $9.5M which is being completely self-funded by the College.  As well as being a large venue that will eventually be suitable for staging conferences, seminars etc. it will also incorporate an "industrial skills centre" and, through the installation of removable seating, be capable of converting to a multi-purpose sports complex.
 
Funding for the new development is based on a loan of $6.5M which was deemed necessary due to the College not securing any government grants for the building.  Borrowing was the preferred option as any delay (to try and get a grant in subsequent years) would only see the build cost escalate by ~5% per annum.  
 
Peter advised that the local parish had contributed $500K and, after their own injection of funds, left a shortfall of some $1.5M  - which he is confident of raising by way of a capital appeal, alumni support, community support and a public  "seat appeal" whereby donors can have "naming rights" on an auditorium seat.
 
Following his talk, and after an interesting Q&A session, Peter was thanked by President, Michael Crowe for his attendance and wished the school every success in its attempts to finalise funding for what will be a magnificent school and community facility.