the best place to live - City of Greater Geelong

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the best place to live. www.geelongaustralia.com.au www.geelongaustralia.com.au OCTOBER 2008 the best place to live 9 A Fairfax Media Custom Publication In a class of its own The vibrancy of renewal, the lifestyle and the opportunities in the Geelong region are proving powerful lures to teachers to relocate A Geelong posting has given Melbourne-based academic Christopher Heathcote the chance to create a new visual arts degree program with a groundbreaking environmental focus. Dr Heathcote was lecturing in art history at Melbourne University’s Victorian College of the Arts when the Gordon Institute of TAFE recruited him four years ago to run its newly accredited degree program. He is developing a specialisation in environmental arts as part of a program that he says is an Australian first. While it was the professional challenge of building something from scratch and the Gordon Institute’s reputation for good staff that attracted Dr Heathcote to the position in Geelong, he says working in the region has delivered other benefits that are somewhat harder to define. “There are all these intangible things – it’s the culture of the area and the people that you are dealing with,” he says. “It may sound crazy but it’s not as tense. Being in Geelong is like having the benefits of a city community and a rural community at once.” learn: Dr Heathcote, who commutes to Geelong from western Melbourne, says he had never anticipated his career leading him to the region – where his grandparents once farmed on what is now a Deakin University site. He says the Gordon Institute’s recent progression, offering new credentials and moving further into higher education, comes against a backdrop of change and expansion in the Geelong region generally. Renewal and opportunity are themes that crop up often when Department of Education and Early Childhood Development executive Mark Donehue starts discussing the advantages of teaching in the greater Geelong ‘Being in Geelong is like having the benefits of a city community and a rural community at once’ area. Mr Donehue – the department’s Barwon South Western assistant regional director – says the vibrant feeling of development evident at Geelong’s waterfront, with cranes at work on construction projects, is also present in the school system. “Teachers would feel the same thing happening – schools being rebuilt or receiving upgrades that support innovative teaching practice and many opportunities for teacher advancement,” he says. He points to the Corio-Norlane Education Regeneration Project in Geelong as an example of innovation in the region. “It’s about rebuilding schools and tying that in with a broader sense of community and neighbourhood renewal,” Mr Donehue says. Geelong offer good support networks, both formal and informal, for teachers, he says. There is also a culture of sharing and combined professional development between teachers, schools and school networks, as well as strong partnerships with other education providers, including the Gordon Institute of TAFE and Deakin University. Mr Donehue says there are With 17,000 students and 24,000 enrolments annually, the Gordon Institute of TAFE is Victoria’s largest regional TAFE. Gordon Institute of TAFE degree program coordinator Dr Christopher Heathcote. about 60 primary, 14 secondary and three specialist schools in the state system alone within the area covered by the Borough of Queenscliffe, the City of Greater Geelong, Colac Otway Shire, Golden Plains Shire and Surf Coast Shire. They offer teachers a range of lifestyle options – from city sites to beachside towns, semi-rural to rural areas. Geelong itself is just a 50-minute drive from Melbourne CBD and also boasts proximity to the attractions of the Bellarine Peninsula and Surf Coast, Mr Donehue says. Damian McKew moved to Colac, a town of about 11,000 residents south-west of Geelong, in mid-2005 to become principal of Trinity College Colac, at the relatively young age of 33. The Catholic college’s recent growth echoes the buoyancy of the greater Geelong region, with enrolments rising from 350 students five years ago to 700 in 2009. Mr McKew says teachers should be aware of the opportunities for career advancement that regional schools offered. “If you’re someone who sees yourself in a more senior role, you might be able to access that quicker than in the city area, and certainly you have better opportunity to take on different sorts of leadership roles in a country school when you are a lot younger,” he says. Mr McKew was previously deputy principal of Catholic Regional College, Sydenham, and has also held leadership and teaching roles at Presentation College, Windsor, and St Bernard’s College, Essendon. He began his career at Nagel College in Bairnsdale. “I grew up on a wheat farm at St Arnaud and having experienced a country school as a graduate teacher, there was probably a lure back to the rural lifestyle,” he says. The appeal of ditching metropolitan Melbourne for the country increased with the arrival of Mr McKew’s first child, Samuel, in 2003. He and wife Annalee now also have a daughter, Grace, aged three. Mr McKew says one of the greatest benefits of working in a town such as Colac is getting to know your community and enjoying its support. “One of the things you notice being principal of the school (is) you lose your anonymity very quickly, but it has the advantages of a community feel, the friendships that develop and the general support of people in the country,” he says. The relaxed pace of country life and the chance to say goodbye to frustrating commutes were further advantages, Mr McKew says. Musician Wendy Galloway, who received a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in 2007 for her services to music and orchestral organisations, describes a recent renaissance that should enhance the Geelong region’s appeal to music teachers in particular. “We have had a strong music scene for a long time,” she says. “George Logie-Smith – a legend in music circles – was at Geelong College and inspired a lot of people in the 1950s and ’60s. “The Melbourne Symphony Orchestra has always done concerts in Geelong and the Geelong Association of Music and Art has been going for a long time. But since we have had Costa Hall and the development of new halls associated with some of the schools and churches, there are now good performance spaces available for the many fine music groups to present their programs.” A number of prestigious organisations have decided to present concert series in Geelong – in addition to the five annual Melbourne Symphony Orchestra concerts in the city, Mrs Galloway says. The region boasts strong choral, instrumental and music theatre groups as well as opportunities for young people to compete, such as the Geelong Advertiser Music Competition (offering a $3000 prize for regional youth in addition to a $10,000 national prize). a www.gordontafe.edu.au www.education.vic.gov.au www.tcc.vic.edu.au
10 the best place to live www.geelongaustralia.com.au OCTOBER 2008 A Fairfax Media Custom Publication A healthy crop of students Lachlan and Caitlin with classmates in their vegetable garden at Surfside Primary School, Ocean Grove. Schools in the Geelong region do things differently, from a closer focus on the environment to a new psychology program Students don’t listen for bells at Geelong’s Kardinia International College. Instead, they simply head into class according to their individual timetables. And fast-tracked 13-year-olds may be in the same class as 17-year-olds. It is a unique vertical curriculum, admits principal John Goodfellow. And obviously a popular one: 1700 students are at the kindergarten to year 12 college and there’s a waiting list. “We provide a caring environment for both day and homestay students,” Mr Goodfellow says. “We’re preparing them to be leaders and productive participants in the 21st century.” The college, which opened in 1996 and offers academic and music scholarships, is just one of the many schools available in the Geelong region. The family services development officer at the City of Greater Geelong, Mr Frank Giggins, says more than 100 schools service the city, suburbs, country and coastal towns and fast-growing corridors. The schools range from the prestigious Geelong Grammar to small but innovative state primary schools. But they all share a common factor: proximity to home for those live: who choose to live in Geelong and surrounding municipalities. Nearly all schools also take advantage of being close to the beach and bush by incorporating the environment into their activities and curriculum. Mr Giggins says the City’s Creating Communities for Children Plan aims to provide children with the best possible start through participation in community activities and access to opportunities, resources and services. As more people move to the area for work or lifestyle, the growing population and increasing local birth rates have led to more children needing childcare, kindergarten and schools. “And that has implications for the provision of early childhood services as well as primary and secondary schools,” Mr Giggins says. Some of the primary schools are large – as many as 600 students – while smaller ones are found in country towns. “Finding the right school is a critical factor for any parent of a young child or teenager and it influences where families choose to live.” One school that many families believe is the right one is also the best-known, Geelong Grammar School, with 1500 students. While alumni include Rupert Murdoch Part of Geelong Grammar School’s $15 million Wellbeing Centre. and Kerry Packer, runner Craig Mottram and singer Missy Higgins, it was the worldwide photographs of a young Prince Charles at Timbertop campus, near Mansfield, that first brought the school to the attention of the principal, Stephen Meek. He joined the school four years ago, drawn by its tradition, its innovative co-educational programs and “the fact that it’s different to every other school in Australia”. “Co-educational schools help boys and girls develop mutual respect,” Mr Meek says. “And we’re a school that looks outward to the rest of the world; we’re an Australian school with an international flavour, which is very important today as so many young people will work overseas.” There has been strong population growth in the Greater Geelong region – up 10.5 per cent from 1999 (188,600) to 2008 (208,395). He says an important new development at the school is the Positive Psychology program, a relatively new branch of psychology founded by Professor Martin Seligman of the University of Pennsylvania. Professor Seligman and his team have established a specific program for Geelong Grammar in the past year. Mr Meek says the school’s $15 million Wellbeing Centre and the Positive Psychology program mean Geelong Grammar will be the first school in the world taking structured steps to enable students to build self-reliance for better emotional and physical health. On a smaller but equally committed scale, the principal of Surfside Primary School in Ocean Grove, Lyn Weeks, believes her school’s strong environmental focus makes it a healthy and attractive option for many families. With 280 students in 13 classes, the school opened in 1992 and is one of only 24 in Victoria to be a Stephanie Alexander Kitchen Garden School. The program aims to develop healthier and happier eating habits in a new generation of Australians. “Years three to six students grow, harvest, prepare and share their own food and parents have given very positive feedback about the program and the skills the children are learning,” Mrs Weeks says. Surfside children are also involved in dune revegetation at the local beach and creating artwork at the school. Another state primary school, Corio West, with 370 students, is also teaching children ways to a healthy and positive life. Principal Jan Rollinson says the school of 370 students is the first primary school in Victoria to gain a ‘Kid’s – Go For Your Life’ award. The program encourages children to eat “brain food” from home or the healthy-choice canteen menu and to “ride and stride” daily. Ms Rollinson says there is a philosophy of ‘Team Corio West’ to enthuse the children about the school environment: “We aim to make our school a great place to be and we build on the strengths of our terrific students.” a www.kardinia.vic.edu.au www.ggs.vic.edu.au www.surfsideps.vic.edu.au www.coriowp.vic.edu.au
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