Principal’s Report “One of the most exciting new projects has been the provision of money to build a community centre in a poor village in Uganda. This has been possible through work undertaken by former student Br Russell Peters who resides in Nairobi but is a frequent visitor to Uganda.” - Paul Tobias
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The College enrolment for 2013 was 1540 students. The demand for places has continued to strengthen to such an extent that the decision has been taken to increase our Year 7 enrolment in 2014 in order to accommodate the large number of Catholic boys in our feeder primary schools. Our VCE results for the year were as follows: in 2013 10.4% of VCE students achieved an Australian Tertiary Admission Rank in excess of 90 and the Dux of the College was Ignatius Rudd, with an ATAR of 99.45. In addition to VCE, the College has continued to promote alternative pathways so that all senior students have appropriate courses of study. To our Year 12 students your secondary education has come to an end and you are about to commence a journey beyond St Joseph’s. I suggested on the occasion of the Year 12 Graduation Eucharist that two things are going to help determine the success of the journey ahead.The first was optimism.The capacity to see the goodness and potential in yourself and others. The second critical quality was resilience. The capacity to recover from a serious setback when things don’t go according to plan. If we are looking for an outstanding example of resilience we don’t need to look very far. Brennan Houghton was diagnosed with a tumour in Year 7 and as we have all witnessed, he has consistently and courageously faced many setbacks and against all adversity, managed to attend our College Graduation Mass. Brennan and his family are an inspiration to all of us. The Joseph Innovation Trade Training Centre was completed during the year on time and on budget. This federally funded facility will host Furnishings, Building & Construction, Carbon Management, Allied Health and Electro Technology courses during the 2014 academic year. The centre was formally opened on 22 November by Senator the Hon Michael Ronaldson and blessed by Reverend Father Kevin Dillon. I acknowledge the cooperation evident amongst our cluster partners Clonard College, Sacred Heart College and MacKillop School. The cluster students are fortunate to have the use of such and excellent facility. As mentioned in last year’s report, the purchase of the
former Minerva Road campus of Western Heights College will provide us with the opportunity to relieve some of the pressure on the Newtown campus. The site was purchased in 2012 and much work has been undertaken this year in preparation for the commencement of next year. The campus was formally named ‘Westcourt’ in honour of the birth place of Edmund Rice. After extensive refurbishment, the campus will offer extensive and shaded external synthetic playing areas, five double classrooms as well as specialist spaces catering for physical education, food technology, art, media, woodwork and science. We hope to formally open the campus on St Joseph’s Day 2014. Throughout the year staff have been planning an engaging and innovative curriculum and both parents and students have been enthusiastic about the possibilities at Westcourt. Community service and outreach programs have continued to be important elements of life at St Joseph’s for parents, staff and students. The College has strived to provide strong support for the Edmund Rice Foundation which in turn assists education and health programs in nine countries (Australia, Papua New Guinea, the Philippines, East Timor, South Africa, Kenya, Tanzania, Ghana and South Sudan). Special projects have been undertaken in East Timor with the assistance of former College Principal, Mr Peter Cannon. Some 100 laptops were re-imaged and distributed throughout various ministries in Timor. One of the most exciting new projects has been the provision of money to build a community centre in a poor village in Uganda. This has been possible through work undertaken by former student Br Russell Peters who resides in Nairobi but is a frequent visitor to Uganda. Our initial involvement in Uganda was directed at the town of Mannya but after supporting several projects, we set about to find another village we could help. Br Russell nominated the village of Kiziba, which is about 25k east of Mannya, as in need of significant assistance. $10,000 of the $45,000 raised during Edmund Rice Day was devoted to this cause. Our Year 12 students will further assess progress when they travel to Uganda during December. Our students, staff and parents have been involved in many community projects throughout the year. This has included partnerships with a variety of other organisations. One significant new venture has been an ongoing involvement with the Geelong Deanery in assisting at Samaritan House for homeless
