New education campus opened at Eungai Creek

NEWINGTON College’s new Eungai Creek Campus was officially opened on Saturday, 22 November.

The facility offers social service immersion and outdoor education programs for students of Newington College, a Uniting Church private school in Sydney.

Nambucca Valley Mayor Gary Lee said the connections the school had made with the Nambucca and Kempsey communities over years was extensive and he welcomed its significant investment in the region.

“Together Newington College and Macleay Vocational College have demonstrated a genuine partnership,” he said.

“By acting in the spirit of cooperation and creating connections which benefit both their students and the community they have delivered exceptional programs and have provided positive benefits to the wider community.

“The social service immersion campus here at Eungai Creek will give Year 9 students an extraordinary opportunity to experience life beyond their Sydney environment.

“Through meaningful community engagement and the students volunteering in premises such as Dalaigur Preschool and Macleay Valley House, they have gained insights into regional life and have grown their own self confidence in the process.”

The opening ceremony on Saturday included a Welcome to Country and yarns from local elders of the Dunghutti, Gumbaynggirr and Ngambaa people and a tour of the grounds, cabins and the new dining hall.

Director of Eungai Creek Campus, Mark Morrison OAM, has been an educational leader in the Macleay Valley for decades.

He said the campus was special due to its nature-based experiences and its ability to involve the community.

“Here at Newington’s Eungai campus we have the ability to pivot… to find what the boys have connection with and then to move in those connections,” he said.

“When our boys volunteer with a community organisation or deliver meals to Eungai State School, they all come back with a friendship and a bond with a member of our community.

“This interconnection will live in their brains, because they want to tell that story.

“Then, as they tell those stories, they share them with other people and their mates, and then it grows into a bigger thing.”