Welcome to 2019

Dear Families and Friends

I would like to extend to you a warm welcome to the beginning of the 2019 year at Emmaus.

As I type my ‘weather ap’ has just updated to report the current Adelaide temperature being 45.5 degrees (and it is still only early afternoon!) so this certainly gives new meaning to a ‘warm welcome’! Not only does today’s temperature potentially break records, but Emmaus will be starting 2019 with a record high 743 students! I especially would like to welcome all families new to Emmaus in 2019. It is my prayer that your commencement at Emmaus will see you quickly become embraced as a part of this amazing Christian community.

On Wednesday 23 January the entire Emmaus staff participated in a team building day starting with a time of worship, devotion, and prayer. Our Chaplain Adam Wood led staff through a reflection on the above scripture from Colossians focusing on commencing the year clothed with compassion, kindness, gentleness, and patience for each other and our students. Above all however is the need to ‘bind’ these together in perfect unity with LOVE. The photos below illustrate staff creatively engaging with this scripture as they put their artistic skills to the test! The photos of the Giant Panda and baby Meerkats are not the work of a particularly creatively gifted member of staff, but from the Zoo where our relationship and team-building day subsequently migrated!

The 2018 school year concluded with some very exciting news in relation to our Year 12 results. Below is a ‘snap-shot’ of the Emmaus Year 12 results:

• 100% of all Year 12 subjects were awarded a C- grade or higher
• Seven ‘Merits’ (perfect subject scores) were awarded to Emmaus students
• 44% of all Emmaus grades were in the A band - compared to 26% across the State
• 55% achieved an ATAR over 80 (in the top 20% of the State)
• 31% achieved an ATAR over 90 (in the top 10% of the State)
• 15% achieved an ATAR over 95 (in the top 5% of the State)

These results at Year 12 level are consistent with our 2018 NAPLAN results at Years 3, 5, 7 and 9 for Numeracy and Literacy which saw our Emmaus students perform 8.5% above State averages. This represents an average advancement of 16 months ahead compared to their same age average State counterparts. Ultimately we give glory to God for the successes of our students and a special thank you to our teachers and families for supporting all our students across the College to achieve such impressive results. As a College we now turn our attention towards the 2019 academic year ahead with faithfulness and optimism.

Andrew Linke
Principal