Damian Farley is the Coordinator of Warrnambool College’s WAVE Campus.  WAVE is a Senior Re-engagement Program offering Victorian Certificate of Applied Learning and Victorian Pathways Certificate to students aged 15-19 who have not been able to succeed in mainstream settings.  Many WAVE students are at-risk, disengaged and can present with complex needs and challenging behaviours.  WAVE offers a more flexible and individualised learning environment, with staff that are experienced in supporting vulnerable learners.

Damian grew up in Warrnambool, left at 18 for study at Melbourne University where he completed a Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of Secondary Teaching, and returned in 2011.

Damian is in his 21st year of teaching.  He began his career at Caulfield Park Community School which gave him an understanding of, and a desire to teach, vulnerable and marginalised young people.  Damian then spent 2 years in the UK teaching across a range of settings including primary and secondary schools, elite private schools where teachers wore full academic robes, as well as struggling schools in deprived areas which were often very unsafe.  Damian then taught for 4 years at Buckley Park College in Essendon, holding leadership roles in teaching and year level coordination.

Damian returned to Warrnambool with his wife Olivia (also a Warrnambool local, working in health care) in 2011, and taught for 2 years at the Warrnambool College main campus, before taking on the WAVE Coordination role in late 2012.  Damian is in his 11th year of WAVE coordination and remains committed to the learning needs of at-risk young people, and is proud to be an advocate for them.

Outside of school and work Damian is a proud father of 2 happy children, a partner of an amazing health care professional, and is also an avid reader, gardener, martial-artist and home-brewer.