A balanced school education is essential in helping your son to develop as a well-rounded individual with a wide range of interests and knowledge.
Parade offers a rich range of cultural, sporting, outdoor and community activities that provide opportunities for creative expression and physical and social achievements.
The annual musical production is a highlight of the year and we also have a long tradition of young sportsmen proudly wearing the purple, green and blue. Boys also directly experience the world outside school with community projects, retreats and overseas trip opportunities to Japan and Italy.
Students spend one morning each week for a term visiting nursing homes and special developmental schools. where they play games, plant out vegetable gardens, run art and craft projects and even entertain with their myriad musical abilities! Some students volunteer at community groups such as the Boots For All sports program where they are taught to renew second hand sports equipment that then goes to disadvantaged communities. Prior to their initial visit, the students take part in a half day commissioning ceremony, which includes guest speakers to help them prepare for the challenges they may experience as volunteers.
Teaching staff regularly visit the students at their placements and are in constant contact with staff at the facilities to ensure the boys are performing and receiving any support they require.
In year 10 students participate in a service learning program which requires them to work a minimum of 10 hours in a voluntary capacity within the school environment or externally, e.g. fundraising or working with a charitable organisation. Within the school environment, students can choose to participate in the Eddie’s Brekkie Van, tutor refugee primary school students at the St Alban’s Tutoring program, help serve lunch at the monthly Community meal in Greensborough or volunteer for one of the College’s many other community action projects.
Eddie’s Backpack Project is another innovative community action program which has been running at the College for 9 years. With funding provided by external agencies, students prepare items to go in a small backpack to give to young children who are taken into foster care at short notice. These items include a toy, toothbrush and paste and books, as well as other useful donated goods.
Parade’s extensive and celebrated Community Action Program started with the Year 11 program. This is a compulsory activity for all year 10 students, who spend one morning a week for one term of the year visiting groups in the local community. Students spend one morning each week for a term visiting nursing homes and special developmental schools. where they play games, plant out vegetable gardens, run art and craft projects and even entertain with their myriad musical abilities! Some students volunteer at community groups such as the Boots for All sports program where they are taught to renew second hand sports equipment that then goes to disadvantaged communities. Prior to their initial visit, the students take part in a half day commissioning ceremony, which includes guest speakers to help them prepare for the challenges they may experience as volunteers. Teaching staff regularly visit the students at their placements and are in constant contact with staff at the facilities to ensure the boys are performing and receiving any support they require.
Our much celebrated and popular Brekkie Van program is now in its 13th year of operation. The Brekkie Van team rolls up its sleeves every Tuesday morning during term time to cook breakfast for members of the local West Heidelberg/Olympic Village community who may otherwise go without.
An ambitious idea borne out of an acute sense of social justice, the Brekkie Van is one of Parade’s most popular Community Action initiatives. Early every Tuesday morning during school term, a small team of volunteer students and staff leave Parade in a mini-van laden with donated breakfast goodies – bacon, eggs, sausages, bread, tea, coffee and Milo. The Olympic Village Park, next to the local primary school in West Heidelberg, was chosen as an appropriate location for the van to operate from, and before long children on the way to school, parents and even some nearby residents were warmly welcomed to a breakfast of bacon and eggs cooking on the BBQ from 7.15am onwards.
Parade gratefully acknowledges the support from the Parents of Parade (POP) and a number of local businesses whose contributions each week make the Brekkie Van possible.
Each term a small group of volunteers from our senior students attend the Northern Unit Blood Bank at the La Trobe Medical Centre to make a valuable blood donation. Accompanied by a staff member who also makes a donation, these visits are co-ordinated by our designated Year 12 "Blood For Life Ambassadors".
For each donation, the boys are aware that they help save the lives of at least three people. With an estimated 80% of Australians requiring a blood transfusion at some point in their lives, it’s not hard for the boys to see the community benefit of regularly donating blood.
Students from middle and senior levels volunteer on a weekly basis to spend a couple of hours after school tutoring refugee students from the western suburbs and helping them with their English.
Parade was the first school to offer assistance to school aged refugees and asylum seekers at the Edmund Rice Centre in St Albans in 2002. Students from Year 9 up visit each Monday after school on a voluntary basis, offering one-on-one homework help and vital English practice.
As word of the program grew, the number of St Albans students arriving at the centre for this vital tuition swelled. The refugee students are recent arrivals in Australia. Parade students see it as practical way of living out the values of the Edmund Rice philosophy by providing this service to the needy in our community.
The culmination of a full year's work by volunteer students from all year levels, over 200 elderly guests and their care givers are treated to a celebratory party like no other!
This annual event is perhaps the most eagerly anticipated of Parade’s Community Action initiatives. Student planning begins in February each year and continues through to the big day in late November. The party caters for over 200 elderly guests and their carers from the local aged care facilities that our boys visit as part of their Year 10 community service program.
The planning is precise and involves students designing and making invitations, creating a “special needs” form, floor planning and layout, catering, decorating, entertaining, assigning student hosts for each table, lighting and traffic management. Tables are set up and decorated and gifts bought for all the elderly guests. Santa and our House mascots also make a special appearance!
The set up for the party takes two whole school days on a roster system. Logistically, it is by far the most demanding project undertaken within the Community Action Program, but it is also one of the most popular, with boys lining up to volunteer their services.
The implementation of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program at Parade College is a natural fit. Not only has Parade College a wide range of programs and associations that correlate with the Duke of Ed, we also have large numbers of students whose own talents and achievements, both in participating in the College’s co-curricular programs as well as individual endeavours give them accreditation for achieving outcomes under the Award structure.
Another enabling feature Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program is the stimulus that this program gives to our students to achieve further self-development goals than they perhaps may not have done.
The award framework is structured around three levels: Bronze, Silver and Gold. Each of these levels has a mandated time commitment, with the Bronze being a lesser time commitment than Silver, with Gold having the most. The requirements for achieving each of these awards requires a commitment to four main categories. These being:-
Service – to develop and encourage a sense of community spirit and responsibility to others.
Physical Recreation - to encourage participation in physical recreation and improvement in physical fitness and performance.
Skill - To encourage the development of personal interests and practical skills.
Adventurous Journey - To encourage a spirit of adventure and discovery.
Residential Project (for Gold Award only) – A shared purposeful activity away from the participant’s place of residence in the company of others who are not their usual companions.
Parade College students have the opportunity to prepare for and participate in several forums throughout the year with many individual and team victories experienced at all levels.
These include:
Other competitions in which our students participate successfully are; the Ainger Public Speaking Award, the DAV Junior Public Speaking Competition, the La Trobe Schools Forum and the DAV Junior Speakers Program.
Our boys develop their confidence by being able to convey their thoughts with clarity and purpose, while displaying their power of communication in a structured and competitive environment. The skills that they acquire stand them in good stead for later life in general.
The Parade College Music Department has a longstanding history of providing students with a large variety of musical experiences, and our music programme is renowned for the wide range of opportunities it offers students, both in private tuition and in various ensembles.
We openly encourage all students to achieve excellence through their participation in the Instrumental Music Program and in a wide range of extra-curricular musical activities. A compulsory semester of Music in Year 7 leads to carefully structured Music elective subjects from Year 8 onwards. Options at VCE level include Music Performance (Solo) and Music (Sound Production). Strongly supported by our experienced educators and musician classroom and instrumental music staff, our boys develop self-confidence, self-esteem, teamwork skills, and above all, an enjoyment of lifelong musical appreciation.
Beyond the pride students feel from learning an instrument, the Parade Music Programme fosters engagement, creativity, perseverance and the unique experience of playing alongside fellow students in and out of the school setting, and promotes the College within the wider community through its involvement in local and wider community events throughout the year. The Music Department is committed to student excellence, and many College ensembles have performed at interstate and international levels, whilst also fostering relationships with many local community organisations to provide support to our neighbours. Highlights in the Parade Music calendar include the Generations in Jazz festival, held annually in Mt. Gambier, the ACC Accent on Music Concert performed at Hamer Hall, and Parade’s own annual Battle of the Bands and Christmas Carols ‘Under the Cross’ concerts.
We continue to source new opportunities and competitions for students and ensembles and actively encourage our instrumental students to partake in external music examinations to gain an internationally recognised qualification for their musical development.
For more information on the Music program offered at Parade click here
Parade has a proud history in supporting the arts and musical theatre, and the annual College musical and drama productions are two integral parts of the College calendar each year. Hosted in Parade’s own state of the art Rivergum Theatre, the productions foster a positive and collaborative environment for students of all year levels. Primarily student-driven, we encourage students to be as involved in the production process as possible from performing on-stage as part of the cast to working behind-the-scenes in numerous backstage roles such as stage managing, stagehands, lighting, projection, audio, costume, hair and make-up, props and ushering.
Both the annual musical and drama production are performed in conjunction with a local Catholic girls school and are a core component of Parade’s co-educational offerings. Parade’s productions are held in high esteem and many of our past productions and performers have been nominated for Music Theatre Guild Awards.
Parade’s most recent productions include:
| Musical production | Drama Production | |
|---|---|---|
| 2019 | The Addams Family | A Midsummer Night’s Dream |
| 2018 | Hello, Dolly! | The 39 Steps |
| 2017 | Catch Me If You Can | The Servant of Two Masters |
| 2016 | How to Succeed in Business Without Really Trying | The Importance of Being Earnest |
| 2015 | All Shook Up | Peter Pan |
| 2014 | Hairspray | The Crucible |
Outdoor Education promotes the development of student relationships with themselves, with others and with the natural world which surrounds them. Australia is famed for its outdoor lifestyle, and we make full use of unique local, nationally iconic and international environments. Students partake in a range of outdoor experiences which are designed to foster independence, interdependence and resilience. Outdoor Education concepts are initially introduced during camps at Years 7 and 8, which are then more thoroughly explored during an extended Year 9 program within the Otway Ranges. A range of curricular and co-curricular opportunities are provided to further enhance student connection with the outdoors, including Outdoor Education electives at Years 9, 10 & 11, the World Challenge program, and the college snowsports team. Locally, our programs utilise; Plenty Gorge, Gresswell Nature Reserve, Darebin Parklands, the Yarra River and Bundoora Park. We also conduct programs beyond Melbourne at; the Grampians, Lake Mountain, Bogong High Plains, Mt Baw Baw, Mt Buffalo, Mt Buller, Wilsons Promontory and Port Phillip Bay. Trekking trails of international significance is a key element of the World Challenge program which in recent years has visited; Nepal, Vietnam, Laos and Mongolia. Outdoor Education programs value passive and active experiences including; bushwalking, mountain bike riding, snow skiing, surfing, rock climbing, paddling and snorkelling. Along with skill development, students are asked to reflect upon their experiences in order to make positive impacts on their lives once back home.
The chance to experience the rich and vibrant culture of Japan is open to boys during an annual exchange visit with our sister school in Japan. In the first part of the year, boys and their families play host to a Japanese student and in the third term a number of Parade students and staff make the journey to Japan to see for themselves what life is like for their Japanese counterparts.
An opportunity to experience Italy, its culture and history is open to students from years 9 to 12. The trip is conducted every two years, for approximately 3 weeks in January. It offers an opportunity for students to take part in Italian language lessons, school visits, experience the culture and enjoy the unique lifestyle of Italians. Students visit fascinating capital cities, indulge in the foods of each region and spend some time shopping and meeting the locals.
The College works in conjunction with the school expedition company World Challenge in offering students in year 10 and 11 a month-long multifaceted program in a developing part of the world. This challenging program enables groups of students to travel to amazing destinations where they partake in a range of experiences vastly different to their lives at home. The program challenges our boys to adapt in a foreign environment over a four week expedition which includes; extended trekking for roughly two weeks, community engagement projects, and time for a few days of rest and recreational activities. The daily organisation and operation of each team is largely managed by the students as they maintain budgets, book accommodation, plan transport and research key sites to visit.
This program is conducted biennially with the destination regularly changing. Past destinations include; Nepal, Mongolia, Laos, Vietnam, China, Thailand, India and Borneo.
Boys who have completed the World Challenge experience have learnt many life skills and enjoyed life changing experiences.
Parade in Japan
Parade in Italy
World Challenge
Connecting with the lives of others and finding out more about themselves is the focus of a retreat taken in Year 11 or 12. It’s an engaging and rewarding experience where boys can develop a sense of balance in a busy life.
Students spend time with the disadvantaged in our community and experience the service of the soup kitchen, the homely environment of the House of Welcome, the community at Greenvale for alcoholics, and the care for disabled children at St. Paul's in Kew.
For information on the Sport program offered at Parade College click here
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