"....only through the creation of a critical present is the future going to be more important than the past."

Poignantly significant, it was almost exactly ten years ago that today's College President Daryl Jackson spoke these intriguing words to a "Senior Staff Residential Weekend Conference", later dubbed the 'Lancemore Hill Conference', held near Kilmore.   The Conference carried the sub-title "Plotting a Course to the Year 2000".

Significant, because Daryl's 1987 words inspired recent Middle School dreamers as they conceived a more invigorating Middle School curriculum.

Poignant, because one such of his important futures will be born of those dreamers ten years and ten days later when the first Year 9 Homeroom attends Wesley College in its innovative city classroom at 30 Collins Street.

During the first six months of 1996, another forward thinker, Dr Peter Ellyard, tossed numerous educational challenges to Glen Waverley's senior leaders.  This resulted in the formation of the Glen Waverley Middle Years Project Team, which, amongst other suggestions, proposed the establishment of what is now known as the Year 9 City Curriculum Pilot Project (CCP).

Monash University, which is supporting the Project generously, recently described the Project thus:

"...a key aim of the trial is to create a paperless classroom in which the students rely on only a notepad and computers to undertake their studies in the Internet-linked facility .... At the same time ... the students (will) be encouraged to use the resources outside their city classroom to enhance their learning:  30 Collins Street will be the students' Homeroom and the CBD their campus."

The CCP exists on the Internet.  A team of teachers, led by Judith Patterson, Andrew McAree and me, has constructed the CCP's curriculum and procedures on its own website.

9 Warrell, with Homeroom Teacher Glenn Alger and some of its other teachers rostered to attend also, will launch the CCP on Monday, 28th July.

Little did I know, as I sat revelling in architect Daryl Jackon's word pictures on a Friday night in July, 1987, that I would be teaching in one of David Loader's 'classrooms without walls' in July, 1997!!