Vol. 19 No. 42
FREE PUBLICATION
Australian Editorial Award 2016
Wednesday, May 3, 2017
THERE SHE BLOWS! Gary Saunders, Josie Joynson and Helga Saunders from Stawell City Brass Band warm up for Wimmera Band Group’s annual Band Sunday at the weekend. Brass bands from across the Wimmera and beyond will gather in Stawell for the annual event. Bands from centres such as Ararat, Ballarat, Beaufort, Horsham, Warracknabeal, Nhill, Dimboola, Werribee and St Arnaud will take part. The event starts at 11am in front of Stawell Town Hall where individual bands will at first parade their marching skills before taking part in a massed band march. At the end of this march the combined band will play in front of the town hall. Stawell Performing Arts Company will provide a community lunch before the bands perform in an afternoon concert in the town hall from 1pm. Sunday’s gathering represents the first time in about 10 years that the event, in Horsham last year and St Arnaud in 2015, has been in Stawell. The event attracts hundreds of band enthusiasts from across western Victoria. Picture: PAUL CARRACHER
Longy student boost L
BY DEAN LAWSON
ongerenong College’s evolution into one of Australia’s leading agricultural education centres will enter new ground next year when it welcomes its first international students.
The college has won Commonwealth approval to provide education services to overseas applicants keen to study agriculture. The news represents a major breakthrough for college leaders who have been fielding a rapidly growing number of international student inquiries. It also means the college has a new level of security and a greater foundation to expand educational services. Delighted campus head John Goldsmith, in confirming the college had won a place on the Commonwealth
IN THIS ISSUE
Register of Institutions and Courses for Overseas Students, said the news was ‘very’ exciting. “There is no doubt that with this decision comes a greater security as an educational institution,” he said. “It adds considerable weight to the institution’s reputation and hopefully gives further confidence for governments to invest in infrastructure. “It’s great for the college and great for the region. “Now we have a long list of jobs to get through to get everything in place. “The actual teaching program will be the easy part. What is crucial is having student welfare, which includes everything from accommodation and support networks, in place for the people who come from overseas.” Mr Goldsmith stressed the international program would have no nega-
tive impact on what the institution already offered Australian students. “It basically means the college will look to move from the roughly 100 full-time students we have now to 140 in 2019,” he said. “The main difference will be that Australian and international students will be rubbing shoulders in the same place. If you look back 10 years ago we had only 50 full-time students.”
Student cap
Longerenong College, operated by Skillinvest, provides vocational training through Advanced Diploma of Agriculture and Certificate IV in Agriculture as well as many other agricultural-based courses. This year it has its biggest cohort of students in more than 15 years. Mr Goldsmith said the college had
requested to place a cap on international student intake numbers at 20 for 2018. He said it would have another intake of 20 the following year before again assessing circumstances. “We want to make sure we focus on the quality of education and make sure we get this right by keeping our initial intakes relatively low,” he said. Mr Goldsmith said the college would seek external advice on what countries would be the most suitable to source students. “We have four or five countries shortlisted at the moment but we need to try to narrow that down to two if possible,” he said. “This is so we can get a cohort of students who are familiar with each other to help with transition and opportunities to get the most out of the courses and the experience of living in Australia.
“We’ll engage agents or brokers and go into contractual arrangements where they work on your behalf in nominated countries. We already have all the advertising material ready to go.” Mr Goldsmith said the college would also need to assess all options to help with suitable accommodation services. “We will be working on the best fit during the next few weeks. At the moment accommodation at the college is close to full so we’re going to have to come up with alternative arrangements,” he said. Member for Lowan Emma Kealy said Longerenong College was the jewel in the crown of agricultural education and its reputation would now grow internationally. She stressed the State Government needed to invest in the institution.
• New public holiday • Budget report • Free fuel up for grabs • Football-netball updates
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