Light Blue April 2011

Issue 83 April 2011

lightblue

CONTENTS

An exceptional Community Director of Community Relations School Council From our Principal Academic Results Class of 2010 Scholarships Positive Education Bostock House Toorak Middle School Timbertop Senior School House Music Sport Pastoral Care Foundation Old Geelong Grammarians OGG Asia 2001 10 Year Reunion 1960 Timbertop Reunion OGG Sport HOGA OGG In Focus From the Curator Event Calendar

2 3 4-5 6-7 8 9 10-11 12 13 14 15 16 17 18-19 20-21 22-23 24-25 26-27 28 29 30-31 32-33 34-35 36-39 40

Recently I attended a reunion for those who were students at Timbertop 50 years ago. Fifty-five men returned to eat, drink, talk, and clamber to the top of Timbertop again. I met PJ Nicholson who spent night after night down wombat burrows, making notes that later propelled him to scientific notoriety. I met a world-famous surgeon, farmers, engineers, business professionals, and scientists. Timbertop is a little different now but much remains unchanged. If you don’t cut the wood and light the fire, the showers are still cold. We look back with memories and forward with dreams and visions. We must do both.

School communities like ours don’t just happen. They stem from inspirational people with a vision – a dream – they create the future with passion, loving dedication and hours of hard work. They say and work for and embody the dream. People around them see it and hear it and become disciples and benefactors, supporting and committing resources to the dream that seems worthy of that investment.

This School remembers people who have come to us in the past and who remain with us in terms of influence. Sir James Ralph Darling is one of them. Headmaster January 1930 – August 1961.

As I understand it he provided the vision for Timbertop. A vision that he worked for and that others have worked for and funded since. Each student who goes there becomes a unique embodiment of his vision – and of the efforts and funding of many others who have kept the dream alive, the showers cold unless the wood is cut.

Our overall vision is Exceptional Education and we seek to provide it to each student.

It is built on pillars of strong influence: Anglican Christian faith, high academic standards, Timbertop, integrity, boarding, sporting endeavour, high quality pastoral care, co-education, diversity, Positive Education – and philanthropy. It seems to me that this vision is filled with hope and promise; as students come and memories are made and with great character they move on to make their mark in Australia and beyond.

We look back and remember the past, and we look forward with dreams and visions.

In our School community, some lead. Some teach. Some care. Some listen. Some provide the additional resources we need to bring our vision to life. We all play our part.

Tony Bretherton Director of Community Relations

Editor Brendan McAloon Design Claire Robson Printing Adams Print Photography Iga Bajer, Tony Bretherton, Mark Elshout, Ross Featherston, Linda Hartskeerl, Rita Jenkins, Richard Kumnick, Peter Lemon, David Oman, Allison Pasznyk, Katie Rafferty, Drew Ryan, Steve Solomonson Website www.ggs.vic.edu.au Email lightblue@ggs.vic.edu.au

SCHOOL COUNCIL Top left: Jeremy Kirkwood (FB’79), Chairman of Council, flanked by parents Nick and Liz Palmer at the Timbertop Parents’ Cocktail Party at Toorak in March. Foundation Board member Penny McBain (middle) was joined at the Cocktail Party by parents Jane Russell and Bettina Schwartz. Above: Jeremy Kirkwood and Tom Buchanan watching the School’s First XI cricketers play Carey in February–with Tom’s son Meyrick (Yr12 FB) scoring an unbeaten 151.

An intangible strength One of the important ways in which Geelong Grammar differs from other schools is the breadth of our community.

In particular, our students come from such a variety of locations throughout Australia and overseas. Although this is particularly true at Corio and Timbertop, Bostock and Toorak campuses also draw their students from a wide catchment of Geelong and Melbourne respectively. In respect of Corio and Timbertop I believe the combination of 226 students from states other than Victoria (including about 80 from metropolitan Sydney), 188 from 15 countries other than Australia, together with the 730 students from Victoria (340 from Melbourne, 263 Geelong and 127 from rural areas) makes for a far more interesting place and ultimately better environment for children to learn about the world beyond their own home. A non-homogenous cohort provides a strong basis for learning the fundamentals of what constitutes a good community: tolerance, understanding, sharing, caring and group development.

At GGS we want our students to leave with a strong understanding of what makes a good community, how they can contribute to bettering a community, and knowing how they benefit from being part of the GGS community.

We were recently visited at Corio by Mr Bill Scales representing the Gonski Committee charged with reviewing school funding by the Federal Government. The Principal, Commercial Director and I met with him and discussed the various issues surrounding

school funding as well as the idiosyncrasies of GGS. He toured parts of the Corio campus and viewed a range of buildings in both function and quality. He assured us that the Committee was determined to complete an objective and full report to the Government. I understand that several thousand submissions have been made to the Committee indicating the high level of community interest in this issue. I encourage you to read the Independent Schools Victoria submission which can be located on their website (www.independentschools.vic. edu.au). It provides a clear and concise summary of current arrangements and puts forward two models for consideration by the Committee structured around studentcentered funding. It also includes a good executive summary for those who want a short cut!

I recently had the opportunity to look at the nearly completed work on the refurbishment of Francis Brown House. The finished result will be outstanding and complement EM house in setting the standard for boarding schools in Australia, if not the world. It creates appropriate privacy for residents as well as providing communal spaces which are inviting and functional for 60+ teenage boys in a modern, light and attractive space.

The programme of refurbishing the boarding houses will continue this next summer and I look forward to updating you with further details as they evolve.

Earlier this year I also had the opportunity to look over the completed Flexible Learning Centre at Timbertop which doubles, and has its primary purpose, as a state-of-theart fire refuge. It is a wonderful facility for the School in being able to accommodate over 300 people for several hours through a firestorm if required, but, from a practical perspective, provides three additional large learning spaces which can be used for teaching, activities or simply showing movies (a rare treat at Timbertop!).

Whenever I attend a School function, whether it is a parent-teacher evening, a year-group cocktail party, Family Day, a Council meeting, the Head of the River or just watching a sporting event I am struck by the good nature of and positive support provided by our community. We are fortunate to have such a strong and good-willed group of people who support and promote GGS. On behalf of the Council I wish to thank you all for being part of our community. Such an intangible strength as a strong community is delicate and valuable and should never be taken for granted.

Jeremy Kirkwood (FB’79) Chairman of Council

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FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

From our Principal Geelong Grammar School is a remarkable community and it is therefore little surprise to me that “community� is the theme for this edition of Light Blue. Community tells us so much about the School, for it reflects the ideas of people looking out for, and supporting one another, of students and staff working together and moving in the same direction and, in the widest sense, of parents and OGGs supporting the School based upon common values and common beliefs, doing their part to ensure that the School continues to go on from strength to strength. We are fortunate to be such a strong community.

The House at Corio and the unit at Timbertop are the community building blocks which make up the overall sense of community. House spirit remains incredibly strong and Term 1 provided two of the greatest demonstrations of that Senior School House spirit, through House Swimming and House Music. The common link is that all members of the House are involved. In House Swimming, all students are either participants or vocal spectators, 4

dressed in House colours and generating an atmosphere which is a cross between a festival and a party – and all House staff are there supporting the students in the races.

In House Music, all students participate in their House choir and that collective involvement is important in bringing all year groups together. This year, it has been good to see the latest House community being completed, as Elisabeth Murdoch House now has girls in all year groups, in Years 10, 11 and 12. It may be the most recent House, but its sense of identity and community is very strong. The House (and unit) system at all our campuses plays an incredibly strong role in developing feelings of loyalty and community.

This Term we have had our School Photograph at Corio. Every three years, all students in the Middle and Senior School and all members of the teaching staff come together for a photographic record of the community at Corio. With the Senior School students in their House groups and their House uniform, there is a strong visual representation of separate House and yet

common identity. It takes time to erect the scaffolding and to arrange all the students and staff in their proper places, but the sense of community through this mass participation is very strong. Thanks to modern technology, it would have been possible to take pictures of groups of students and staff and then to put them together to give the impression that the whole of the Corio campus had been gathered together. It would have looked the same, but it would not have been the same and the experience of the group photograph is as important as having the photographic memory. Working together and coming together as a community matters.

As I have said on many previous occasions, the relationship between the staff and the students at Geelong Grammar School is of a quality which I have not experienced elsewhere. The fact that the staff (with their families) and the students are resident at Corio and Timbertop, goes a long way to explaining that quality of relationship and to the sense of community which it generates.

But there is a similar sense of quality

SENIOR FROM SCHOOL OUR PRINCIPAL Four brave members of our community participated in the World’s Greatest Shave, raising more than $12,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation. Top left: Josh Sumura (Yr12 P). Main picture: Our Principal, Stephen Meek, shearing the locks of Emily Miller (Yr12 Ga). House Swimming was a festival of colour.

Bottom left: Clyde Pride on display. Above: Open boys’ champion Alex Campbell (Yr12 FB) in flight. Stephen Meek presents an award to under-16 girls’ runner-up, Charlotte St Baker (Yr10 Ga). Top right: Stephen Meek, Principal, at the Year 10 Parents’ Dinner with (L to R) Tod Truscott, Geoff and Jan Hamilton.

Middle: Mark and Sue Hodgson at the Year 10 Parents’ Dinner with Martin Beaver, Head of Francis Brown, and Maureen Hanlon, House Assistant.

Bottom Right: OGGAsia was an opportunity to reconnect with OGGS throughout South East Asia. Our Principal is pictured with (L to R) Tony Bretherton, Director of Community Relations, Michael Collins Persse, Beau Kuok (P’71), and Rob de Fégely (FB’74), President, Old Geelong Grammarians.

relationships and of community at Bostock House and Toorak Campus, generated by staff who are willing to go the extra mile for their students, because there is a genuine sense of caring for those who are in their charge.

We are fortunate that the parents also want to be a strong part of the School community and give of their time and support in many ways. This takes two forms, supporting their children at matches, plays and concerts and, in many cases, travelling great distances on a weekly basis to do this and secondly in coming together for social occasions. The recent Head of the River at Lake Nagambie was a wonderful combination of both of these aspects of parental involvement.

The support for the crews was loud and enthusiastic, but the sense of the community coming together to celebrate the efforts of the students was matched by the feeling of friends coming together to support one another in a joyous and happy way. That cannot be manufactured on the day, but arises from countless previous meetings, of friendship and trust built up over the years and the pleasure of being valued members

of a wider community. Events such as the Year 10 Parents’ Dinner, Family Day at Corio, the Parents’ Association Cocktail parties at Bostock House, Toorak Campus and Middle School, and the Timbertop Parents’ Cocktail Party (all of which took place in Term 1) all play their part in building up that sense of relationship with each other and with the School. I am very grateful to the Parents’ Associations, the Foundation and the Support Groups, such as the Pincott Club and the Tunbridge Club (for summer sports) and the Newman Club (for winter sports) and the Arts Support Club, for their work in helping to bring us all together. It is a powerful contribution to the School community.

That sense of community is also very prevalent amongst the Old Geelong Grammarians. Every year there are numerous reunions for those who left, five, 10, 15 years ago etc., right up to those who left Timbertop 50 years ago and, in the Tower Lunch, those who left the School 50 and more years ago. Katie Rafferty, the Alumni Manager, does wonderful work in arranging the reunions and in helping connect OGGs together, but that is only possible because

the OGGs want to reunite, to see one another again and to share their life’s experiences.

That, too, cannot be manufactured on the day, but arises from the depth of relationship developed over many years at the campuses.

I am very pleased that this does not only operate within Australia, but in other parts of the world, as well. Thus there are OGG Dinners in London every year and, through OGGAsia, a reunion in South East Asia every two years. The Business Lunch and the Dinner for OGGAsia were held in Hong Kong this year, with Michael Collins Persse the Guest Speaker at the Dinner. It was very good to see OGGs from different countries and different generations coming together to share their lives and experiences and to be willing to help those who are starting up in these parts of the world. From community, important connections can grow.

This edition of Light Blue is all about community – and enables us to give thanks for the blessings which we enjoy as being members of this very special community.

Stephen Meek Principal 5

2010 RESULTS

2010 Academic Achievement The academic results of our 2010 Year 12 students were excellent. Almost 20% of our students were placed in the top 5% of the State and the School’s median Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) score was 83.15, which means that the top 50% of our students were in the top 16.85% of the State. We acknowledge that as a non-selective school, we have students who have strengths in varied areas and this enriches the lives of all at the School. Given the fact that Geelong Grammar School does not require students to sit an entrance examination, these wonderful academic results demonstrate the successful combination of effort and commitment from students and teachers, with encouragement and support from parents and guardians. This article focuses on some of our highest achievers but it is important to acknowledge the hard work of the entire Year 12 cohort. In 2010 there were 141 Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE) candidates and 52 International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma candidates who worked side-by side in a positive and productive manner.

top 1% of State top 5% of State top 10% of State top 25% of State top 50% of State

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All 141 VCE candidates were successful in gaining their certificate (100% pass rate).

13 VCE candidates achieved an ATAR score of 95 or better and more than 18% of candidates were placed in the top 10% of the State. There were two VCE study scores of 50 recorded by Rebecca Fary (Allen) in English and Rose Randall (Fraser) in Studio Arts. Of the 52 IB candidates, 12 students achieved an IB score of 40 or above (ATAR 98.40 or above), placing them in the top 1.6% of the State. 24 IB candidates achieved an ATAR score of 95 or better and more than 69% were placed in the top 10% of the State.

31 IB candidates achieved at least one maximum study score of 7. These students achieved a total of 66 scores of 7 between them.

When combined, the School’s median ATAR was 83.15, which means that the top 50% of our students were in the top 16.85% of the State.

OUR TOP IB STUDENTS The School’s top International Baccalaureate (IB) student and Dux of the School was David Tran, who scored 44 out of a possible 45 points. This converts to an ATAR score of 99.80. David achieved a maximum study score of 7 in Biology, Chemistry, English, Economics and Mathematics. He was a House Prefect in Manifold House, was Captain of both Chapel and Cross Country, and was a member of the School Choir. David’s Extended Essay in Chemistry scored an A due to the diligence and perseverance demonstrated as he undertook primary research on a difficult series of chemical reactions. In addition, David was heavily involved in a number of service activities and contributed much to the lives of others. David is studying Medicine/Surgery at Monash University in 2011.

The Proxime Accessit of the School was Sami Sloss, who scored 43 out of a The graph below highlights the possible 45 points, which converts to percentage of Geelong Grammar School a notional ATAR score of 99.60. Sami students who achieved ATAR scores that achieved a maximum study score of 7 placed them in the top 1%, 5%, 25% and in Chemistry, Economics, French and 50% of students in Victoria.

Mathematics. Sami was House Captain of Allen House and she fulfilled the role Australian Tertiary Admissions Rank (ATAR) with energy and integrity. She was an enthusiastic member of the School State average 2.6% Geelong Grammar Prefects Committee and was proactive on School students a number of initiatives. Sami was also the 19.3% School’s first female cox of the boys’ First VIII rowing crew and was a member of the 32.8% girls’ First netball team. Sami is studying 66.7% Biomedicine at Melbourne University in 2011.

95.3%

SENIOR 2010 RESULTS SCHOOL Left: The School’s outstanding 2010 International Baccalaureate (IB) achievers were recognised at an awards ceremony at BMW Edge at Federation Square on Thursday 24 February. Among our IB students who achieved a score of 40 and above, were (L to R) Pete Mulpruek (M’10), David Tran (M’10, Dux), Annetta Zheng (Fr’10), Georgie Farrell (Cl’10) and Sami Sloss (A’10). Middle: Jordan Prainito (P’10) was selected to participate in an Australian Institute of Film and Theatre course in Los Angeles. He is pictured (left) in the School’s 2010 production of This Glorious Son alongside Johnny Hussen (A’10).

Above: Bec Fary (A’10) was the School’s top VCE student with an ATAR score of 99.00.

OUR TOP VCE STUDENT The School’s top VCE student was Bec Fary (Allen), who achieved an ATAR score of 99.00. Bec achieved a maximum study score of 50 in English and excellent study scores in Design Technology –Textiles (45), Literature (45) and Classical Studies (44).

She was a member of the McKie Strings (violin) and the School Orchestra. In addition, she enjoyed a range of activities and quietly contributed to many areas of the School. “What I value most about the School is the atmosphere and the support,” she said. “The tutorials and the House system really strengthen your relationships with other students.” Bec is studying Journalism at RMIT in 2011.

OTHER OUTSTANDING RESULTS Academically, a total of 16 Geelong Grammar School students achieved an ATAR score of 98 or better, with more than 32% of students in the top 10% of the State.

In the VCE, Josh Sandor (Perry) achieved an ATAR score of 98.85. Josh achieved a study score of 49 in History Revolutions and excellent study scores in Physical Education (47), English (44) and Biology (42).

Seven VCE students achieved at least four study scores over 40. These students included James Rogers (Allen), Rupert Mitchell (Perry), Taylor Rettke (Allen), Darcie Blair-Thompson (Allen), Fergus Dye (FB) of Moulamein, Charlie Vickers-Willis (Francis Brown) and Rose Randall (Fraser).

Congratulations also go to a number of Year 11 VCE students taking Year 12 Subjects in 2010 who achieved high study scores.

Tim Vickers-Willis (Francis Brown) achieved 47 in Geography and 46 in Further Mathematics. Jack Douglas (Francis Brown) achieved 48 in Further Mathematics, and Rebecca Breadmore (Garnett) achieved 47 in Design Technology – Textiles.

In the IB, Haydon Knights (Cuthbertson) and Marnie Hall (Allen) both scored 42 of a possible 45 points, which converts to a notional ATAR score of 99.35. Haydon achieved a maximum study score of 7 in English, Economics and History. He was Vice-Captain of Cuthbertson House, Captain of Rugby and a member of the Senior School Band (clarinet). Haydon also received a Merit Award from the Australian National University’s College of Business and Economics. Marnie achieved a maximum study score of 7 in Chemistry, Economics, French and Mathematics. She was Captain of Charity and a founding member of the Karen Refugee Homework Club. Marnie is studying Arts/Law at the Australian National University in 2011.

Excellent ATAR scores of 98 or better were attained by eight IB students, including Hugh Dixson (Cuthbertson), Annetta Zheng (Fraser), Georgie Farrell (Clyde), Lachy Hamilton (Cuthbertson), Liv Blair-Holt (Allen), Pete Mulpruek (Manifold), Liv Calver (The Hermitage) and Alexander Yeo (Cuthbertson).

OTHER ACHIEVEMENTS Dan Watts (Francis Brown) had works selected for the Top Arts: VCE 2010 exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria, which is on display until June 19.

Dan created three short films, all two to three minutes in length, on the topic of night lights. The films were surreal and spooky with little structured narrative.

“I hope people come away with their own perception of the films,” he said.

Anetta Zheng (Fraser) and Justin Choo (Cuthbertson) also had works selected for the annual Victorian and Tasmanian International Baccalaureate (IB) World Schools Visual Arts Exhibition.

One of four Theatre Studies students invited to audition for the VCE Season of Excellence – Top Class Theatre Studies, Jordan Prainito (Perry) was selected to perform at the Melbourne Recital Hall on April 2. Jordan was also selected to participate in an Australian Institute of Film and Theatre drama course in Los Angeles. He was selected as one of 24 participants from Australia, United Kingdom, New Zealand, South Africa and Canada, and left for a month of workshops in L.A. on April 6. Jordan will be studying Musical Theatre at La Salle College of the Arts in Singapore from August.

Taylor Rettke (Allen) was also selected to perform as part of the VCE Season of Excellence, participating in the Top Class Sound Composers concert at the Melbourne Recital Hall on March 1. Taylor performed his original composition ‘She Isn’t You’ with his VCE jazz group, including Emily Gibney (Clyde, flute), Alex Wallace (Fraser, guitar), Charlie Vickers-Willis (Francis Brown, drums), Paul Rettke (Staff, bass) and Taylor on piano/vocals.

Debbie Clingeleffer-Woodford Director of Learning

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2010 RESULTS

Overseas 1.7%

The Class of 2010… Where are they now?

Interstate 23.3%

Victoria 75%

Tertiary

Overseas Destinations 1.7% Interstate 23.3% Victoria 75%

Tertiary Destinations

Other 20%

Swinburne University 9%

Other 20%

Deakin University 14%

The University of Melbourne 27%

Tertiary Destinations (Victoria) The University of Melbourne 27%Monash University 16%

Tertiary RMIT Destinations 14% (Victoria)

Swinburne University 9%

Monash University 16%

Deakin University 14% Other 17.5%

Bond University 7.5%

University of Adelaide 7.5%

Other 17.5%

Bond University University of 7.5% New England 15% University of Adelaide 7.5%

University of New England 15%

RMIT 14%

Tertiary Destinations (Interstate)

After weeks of surveys, follow up phone calls, SMS messages and analysis of Victorian Tertiary Admissions Centre (VTAC) destination data, we have at last a clearer picture of the cohort of 2010 and where they are. 89% of students have committed to further study, including students who have deferred their University placements. Some 4% of students were employed full-time, leaving 7 % of students whose whereabouts or intentions were unknown.

Of the students electing to go on to further study, the vast majority (75%) went to Victorian institutions, 23% enrolled interstate and 2% of students went to overseas Universities. At the time of writing, most University offers in the USA and UK had yet to be finalised and students were anxiously awaiting confirmation.

Of the students progressing to further education, 96% elected higher education courses at Universities and private institutions, and 4% continued their studies at TAFE Colleges.

30% of students opted to defer tertiary study, which was down from previous years. GAP years extended well beyond traditional public schools in the United Kingdom to include working in family Australian businesses, law internships, teaching National University 32.5% English in Vietnam and South Africa, the Australian Defence Force (ADF) GAP Year programme and National Service.

We are very proud of all students in the class of 2010 and wish them well in their future successes!

Peter Craig Head of Careers

Australian National University 32.5%

Tertiary Destinations (Interstate)

University of Sydney 20%

University of Sydney 20%

From Manifold to Medicine The 2010 Dux of the School, David Tran, is studying Medicine/Surgery at Monash University in 2011. The course is widely regarded as one of Australia’s most prestigious undergraduate Medicine courses, and David said his exceptional Geelong Grammar School education had prepared him for the challenging selection process. “Geelong Grammar School educated me in much more than academics,” he explained.

“Boarding at Timbertop and Corio gave me confidence and camaraderie which I had never experienced before.

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Of course many are also travelling locally and overseas. Other students elected to pursue immediate work and commenced apprenticeships as well two traineeships with the Australian Football League (AFL).

Of the students choosing to undertake further study in Victoria, 27% of students enrolled at the University of Melbourne, 14% will study courses at Monash and RMIT University, while Deakin University received 12% of enrolments. The two most popular interstate institutions were the Australian National University (ANU) and Sydney University. Interestingly, the majority of offers were again in two main fields: Society and Culture, and Management and Commerce. Natural and Physical Sciences and Creative Arts being the third highest interest area with just over 9%. Despite the concentration in these areas, the range of courses continues to be very broad. Students will undertake further study in a variety of areas which include Medicine, Law, Music, Fashion, Engineering, Biomedicine, Science, Media, Physiotherapy, Communication Design, Arts, Commerce... and so it goes on. Students received scholarships to continue their studies at ANU, University of Melbourne, Monash and Bond Universities.

“I was very privileged to be in the care of capable tutors and insightful Heads of House.

Their guidance and the skills that I learned by living with my peers will prove invaluable in the years to come. Geelong Grammar fostered my self-esteem, enabled me to relate more to others and allowed me to form lasting friendships. The people I met are much more important than the academic achievements that I have been fortunate to attain. In four years, Geelong Grammar gave me skills it would take a lifetime to gain.”

SCHOLARSHIPS

Just like you helped me People often need help if they are to access the best educational opportunities. Fellowships, Scholarships, Bursaries and Prizes all play a part in rewarding excellence and opening doors to new opportunities. While a Rhodes Scholarship or Harkness Fellowship can open up the world to a young university graduate, the Sir James Darling Memorial Fund Scholarships make a Geelong Grammar School education available to many who would otherwise never set foot on the Corio or Timbertop campus.

I WOULD LIKE TO THANK YOU At the end of last year a student wrote to our Principal, Stephen Meek, and Deputy Principal, Charlie Scudamore: “I would like to thank you for giving me this wonderful opportunity to be a part of the community at Geelong Grammar.

It really has been such a great experience and I really do appreciate it, very much so... it wasn’t just the scholarship you gave me, it was the amazing friends I have made, the great and caring teachers, this eye opening experience of life and the world around me. I am being honest when I say I really do not know where I would be today if it wasn’t for this community I have been accepted into. Although one thing is for sure – I wouldn’t be who I am now, as Geelong Grammar has been such an immense part of my life. I hope that one day I will be able to help a young girl or boy with their school fees at Geelong Grammar, just like you helped me.”

SIR JAMES DARLING

HARTLEY MITCHELL

These Scholarships commemorate the life and work of Sir James Darling (1899-1995), Headmaster of Geelong Grammar School for 32 years from 1930 to 1961, and inspired educational leader.

In accordance with Sir James Darling’s wishes to enrol students from a wide range of backgrounds, these Scholarships provide places for new students who would not be able to attend Geelong Grammar School without financial assistance.

There are other named Scholarships, all with their own criteria and awarded when appropriate. Geelong Grammar School staff recently established an Indigenous Scholarship Fund, the Hartley Mitchell Scholarship has also been established and this year’s Annual Giving Programme seeks funds to endow an Annual Giving Scholarship in perpetuity. But all this is just the beginning of a longer journey.

FRANK COVILL Other Scholarships presently available include The Frank Covill Scholarship, awarded to students with parents from non-English speaking backgrounds, who would not be able to attend Geelong Grammar School without financial assistance, and the Old Geelong Grammarians’ Association Scholarships, which are awarded to new students whose parents or grandparents are OGGs (Geelong Grammar, The Hermitage or Clyde Schools) and wish to attend Geelong Grammar School but who could not do so without financial assistance.

NEW COMMITMENT TO SCHOLARSHIPS In February 2011 the Board of the Geelong Grammar Foundation committed itself to a new emphasis on Scholarship fundraising, and the School Council has endorsed and encouraged this priority.

Scholarship fundraising will be in addition to the other work undertaken by the Foundation. Draft Scholarship regulations are being reviewed and systems to ensure the proper award and recognition of Scholarships are being upgraded to ensure the Foundation undertakes this work to the highest standards. Care will also be taken in deciding whom to approach in search of new Scholarships.

There will be opportunities to support scholarships focused on States (available to assist someone from New South Wales for instance), families associated with the School for several generations may want to put in place a named Scholarship, and several members of the Biddlecombe Society have already indicated that their bequest is to establish a Scholarship – or to enhance one that already exists.

Most of the work envisaged to establish new Scholarships will be undertaken in 2012 and beyond, but do be in touch with Tony Bretherton, Executive Director of the Geelong Grammar Foundation, if you would like more information.

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POSITIVE EDUCATION

A Positive Community

by Justin Robinson HEAD OF POSITIVE EDUCATION

“There is a deep-seated longing in human nature to belong to a place where we can call home – a safe and supportive place where we are free to be ourselves and where we are accepted as a significant member...This is where we learn how to care for each other, grant each other grace; this is where we learn how to live and work together by placing group interests above egotistic desires…

It takes empathy, kindness, tolerance and self-sacrifice to build a positive community.” – Dr Paul Wong The science of Positive Psychology has studied the idea of community from a variety of different perspectives. In looking at work with communities in distress, Dennis Saleeby makes the distinction between providing a service, through which community members are turned into clients, and care, which he describes as the manifestation of community and involves a consent and commitment on the part of all parties involved. The concept of ‘open-source’ communities has its foundation in the development of computer software. In a community context, an open-source community is one that is open to anyone who wishes to contribute to the development of a product that is generally available to anyone. This type of community has heterogeneous membership, community ownership of the products, a blurring of boundaries between the traditional roles of consumers and producers, a lack of formal authority or control and large-scale peer review. Dr Paul Wong proposes a number of benefits that flow from this approach, including cost, innovation, flexibility, speed and meritocracy.

Psychologists Ann Masten and Janette Herbers looked at the role of communities as protective factors — predictors of positive outcomes among people at risk for developing problems as a result or adverse life events of experiences.

They found that effective schools and resources such as health care, recreational centres, religious institutions and emergency services were all important community-based protective factors.

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These findings echo the words of Martin Seligman when he spoke at Geelong Grammar School in 2006 of the way in which the modern world has unravelled the support fabric of society through the reduced significance of communities such as the church, scouts and guides. He made a causal link between this and the epidemic of depression affecting America and other developed countries such as Australia. Existential Positive Psychology emphasizes the courage and responsibility of confronting existential anxieties and living an authentic life through six questions about human existence:

Who am I?, How can I be happy?, What should I do with my life?, How do I make the right choices?, Where do I belong? and What is the point of striving when life is so short?.

The ‘Where do I belong?’ question in these speaks directly to the idea of community and explores ideas around feelings of loneliness and alienation, developing deep and meaningful relationships and finding acceptance.

A more traditional approach to the concept of community taken in schools is through the desire to develop a sense of civic responsibility in students. This has led to the development of service learning, which combines classroom instruction with community service with the goal of increasing citizenship participation as well as personal and civic responsibility.

Community service has been an important aspect of student life at GGS since its very beginnings and there are many pathways through which students can contribute to the School, local, national and global community.

Research indicates that students reap a number of benefits from being involved in community service including higher grades, fewer behavioural problems, greater political knowledge and a greater belief in individual efficacy.

It also develops in students a sense and understanding of community, increases empathy, and heightens pro-social attitudes and concern for social issues.

In addition to the effect of community on the individual, there has also been research looking at the impact that an individual has within a community.

In their study of happiness in social networks involving 4,739 individuals from 1983 to 2003, James Fowler and Christopher Christakis found that the happiness of an individual is associated with the happiness of people up to three degrees removed in the social network.

What this means in practical terms is that our positive and negative emotions and behaviour have an impact on people that we do not directly come into contact with and may not even know! Indeed, changes in individual happiness can ripple through social networks and generate clusters of happy and unhappy individuals. It is this individual responsibility to the community that we also emphasise with our students; every community comprises a number of individuals and it is the attitude and behaviour of each person that will influence whether it is a positive community.

“Other people matter” was the way in which Christopher Peterson, co-author of Values in Action Character Strengths and Virtues, summed up a key aspect of Positive Psychology. It is also an underpinning principle in the educational philosophy of GGS and our Positive Education programme as we explore with our students what it means to be part of a community, the importance of kindness and forgiveness in community living, and the many benefits that come from being an active and engaged member of a positive community.

STUDENT 2 STUDENT

STAFF TRAINING

A group of Year 7 and 8 students recently attended an information and training session regarding The Smith Family’s Student 2 Student programme. This programme involves GGS students helping younger students from local primary schools in the Geelong area with their reading. The programme works by matching students who have high literacy skills with younger reading buddies. It is all done via the phone, and our Middle School students call their reading buddies two to three times per week to listen to them read for 15 minutes. Our students have been trained on how to pause, prompt and praise young students who are learning to read. The programme is run throughout Australia and results show that students can significantly improve their reading ability over the course of the six-month programme. The responsibility given to our Middle School students is considerable and it promises to be a rewarding and challenging experience for those involved.

More than 100 participants engaged in a three-day Introduction to Positive Psychology conference at our Corio Campus from January 10-12 led by Dr Karen Reivich and Judy Saltzberg from the University of Pennsylvania. The goal of the three-day course was to provide an opportunity to learn some of the science behind the field of Positive Psychology, to apply core concepts and skills, and to begin a discussion on how to use these concepts and skills in a school environment.

YEAR 10 CURRICULUM The Year 10 Positive Education curriculum is now in its third year of development and a committed team of 14 experienced teachers are passing on the key concepts of Positive Psychology to our students.

Ongoing programme review, curriculum development, feedback from students and recent developments in the field have all been taken into consideration as we endeavour to provide the most relevant and meaningful curriculum possible. This term the major topics we have covered with our Year 10 students include Positive Communities, Character Strengths, Mindsets, Mental Health and Resilience competencies. An overview of our Year 10 Positive Education curriculum is available from the Positive Education Department.

Participants included 26 non-teaching staff and 16 staff from other schools, including Adelaide’s Scotch College, The Peninsula School and Brisbane’s Mt St Michael’s College. Karen and Judy were supported by 22 members of Geelong Grammar School staff who had completed a five-day Train the Trainer course the week prior which equipped them with the knowledge to deliver Positive Psychology training. The development of this internal training team will provide the School with the independence and flexibility to offer ongoing refresher training to our current staff and to train new staff in a timely and meaningful way.

The three-day conference was an intense and valuable learning experience for the participants and newly trained internal GGS training team and there was a real ‘buzz’ amongst participants at the end of the course, excited that they had been part of a most meaningful experience. We thank Karen and Judy for their warm, professional and inspiring delivery and are looking forward to developing Positive Education further at GGS with our new knowledge and training skills.

SENIOR POSITIVE SCHOOL EDUCATION

Positive Education in action

SYMPOSIUM ON WELLBEING Our Principal, Stephen Meek, travelled to America to speak at the Invitational Symposium on Wellbeing at George Mason University in Virginia, joining a select group of distinguished scholars, industry leaders, journalists and educators from around the world. The symposium was organised by Professor Martin Seligman with the primary goal of exploring ways in which we can achieve global wellbeing by the year 2051 with 51% of the world’s humanity measurably flourishing. Many of the 40 invited delegates were the leading thinkers in the field of Positive Psychology and well-known to us at Geelong Grammar School, including Barbara Fredrickson, Sonia Lyubomirsky, Felicia Huppert, Karen Reivich, Jonathon Haidt and Shane Lopez.

Stephen gave a presentation entitled ‘A whole school approach to wellbeing’ and also attended the Leading to Wellbeing conference.

The School was also well represented at the recent 2nd Australian Positive Psychology in Education Symposium at Sydney University. Our Head of Positive Education, Justin Robinson, and Vice Principal, Charlie Scudamore, joined Australia’s leading researchers and practitioners in the field of Positive Psychology discussing Positive Education and wellbeing initiatives.

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BOSTOCK HOUSE

A model home “School should be a model home, a complete community actively developing future compassionate citizens capable of creating, leading and contributing to the kind of democratic communities in which we all long to live.”

John Dewey Our Bostock House school community is built around the Three Rs. Relationships, relationships and relationships. Positive relationships between teachers and children, children and children, teachers and parents, and among staff, form the basis of our Bostock House culture.

The culture of a school is the primary characteristic that supports student development and academic learning.

At Bostock House we endeavour to create a community in which each individual feels happy, safe, valued and a sense of belonging.

We do this by encouraging the values of learning, trust and respect, inclusiveness and a sense of fun.

We believe that the Bostock community is an open, friendly and non-judgemental one. Our physical environment makes for a very warm and homely feel; the Heritage-listed house at the heart of the campus provides a base for all students and the planning of the play areas means that the children are never far away from the security of their classrooms and teachers. Bostock House is a relatively small campus and this helps us create a close community.

In fact people often liken Bostock House to a rural school in town. All of our paths cross each and every day at Bostock House and the constant interaction means that we really do know one another.

We want our children to work and live in an environment in which they know that people care about them and respect them.

We want them to feel confident that they will be supported, encouraged and prepared to take risks with their learning.

We want them to feel a genuine sense of belonging and to develop a positive mindset in all areas of their lives. Positive Education teaches us that all of these things are important for one’s overall physical and mental health and development. Children who feel that they belong and are valued are happier and more relaxed. They are also more socially aware, have greater emotional intelligence and are more successful learners. Mental health research has shown that children who have a sense of belonging are less likely to suffer mental health problems and are better learners.

Parents are partners in their child’s education and we are fortunate to enjoy exceptional support from our parent body.

The interaction between parents, staff and children before and after school is a delight to behold. The same is true of any functions whether organised by the school or our fantastic parent support group, the Friends of Bostock, who are an integral part of our community. The Bostock Fair was organised by the Friends of Bostock and held on Biddlecombe Oval at our Corio Campus on March 20. The fair was a wonderful opportunity for our entire community to get together and have a fun-filled day. The event was very well attended and it was delightful to witness extended families from ELC to Year 4 enjoying the day and each other’s company in a very relaxed and friendly atmosphere.

Daryl Moorfoot Head of Bostock House

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TOORAK

A community means all the people The community of the Toorak Campus embraces many people and many ideas on a daily basis. It supports the notion that everyone is valued, that everyone is worth listening to and that everyone can make a difference. We have welcomed new families and staff to our community this year. They add their individual talents to the day-to-day life of the campus and we are richer for the addition. The campus undertakes great initiatives to bond us together; person to person, class to class and year level to year level. During Term 1 our community activities have included the Parents’ Association Cocktail Party, Book Fair, Parent Workshops and Information Mornings, House Swimming, Family Camp, Music Carnival and House Buddies Sessions. Each provides an opportunity for our community to interact with each other, support each other and forge deep and meaningful relationships.

In ELC 4 the children have been exploring the Unit of Inquiry ‘Me and the Community’, discovering that we all belong to a community and that we are all individuals within that community.

“Everywhere is a community,” Will Meinert (ELC 4) explained. “There are lots of different ones. They can be big and small.”

When connecting with a new classroom community the children have created an Essential Agreement — their rules about how they will work and live within their learning space. “We all need to remember the rules so we can all do the right thing,” Scarlet Westaway (ELC 4) said. Within these new classroom communities the children have explored new friendships and continued to build on established relationships with their friends. “A friend is someone you play with,” Julian Ojumu (ELC 4) said.

The Years 1 and 2 children travelled to the Harold Holt Swimming Pool in Glen Iris in March as part of the House Swimming competition. The children had an opportunity to showcase their progress after participating in the Klim Swim programme at the Richmond Football Club.

The swimmers were supported by Year 6 leaders, parents and teachers. It was a wonderful morning in which the children all supported each other and developed relationships with different communities within the school. “I thought the swimming was good,” Edward Raynor (Yr2F) said. “I thought everyone in Year 2 did well. Year 1 did really well too. Our parents were good at cheering for everyone. My Mum was really good. She kept saying, ‘You can do it, Edward’. There were lots of teachers, lots of parents and lots of Year 6 students.”

The outcome of our community activities is a wonderful sense of belonging.

Garry Pierson Head of Toorak Campus

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MIDDLE SCHOOL

Building Community Spirit The overall wellbeing of an individual depends in large part on the community to which he or she belongs. According to Professor Martin Seligman, “health, emotion and behavior can be profoundly influenced by the society someone belongs to”. Therefore it is crucial to promote communities that imbue individuals with a sense of identity, a sense of belonging and the accompanying feeling of love and support. Students who feel connected to the School community will have more resilience, a stronger sense of wellbeing and higher self-esteem. They are, therefore, better able to launch themselves into all areas of school life, and thus get more out of their school experience.

In Term 1 the major focus at Middle School is to build and strengthen this vital sense of community. Several carefully placed activities help this process to happen. We have House outings in the second week of the school year, which involve each House heading to a location of their choice for an afternoon designed to forge stronger connections within the House group.

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We also place our Middle School camp week early in the year. Each year level heads to a different location for a range of challenges and experiences. While each camp is unique in nature, the common goal of each is to build a sense of community within the year level.

Being part of a community is incredibly rewarding and brings with it the responsibility to treat others in the community with respect. Every single act of kindness helps to bring the community closer together. Seligman quotes economist Richard Layard as saying: “A society cannot flourish without some sense of shared purpose. The current pursuit of self-realization will not work.

If your sole duty is to achieve the best for yourself, life becomes too stressful, too lonely – you are set up to fail. Instead, you need to feel you exist for something larger, and that very thought takes off some of the pressure.”

Rob French Acting Head of Middle School

SENIOR TIMBERTOP SCHOOL

The Fourth Element This will result in their growth in maturity and increase their resilience to lay a solid foundation for life.

Timbertop has these three basic requirements necessary to be a vibrant and successful institution; however, I think there is a fourth element that is equally as important or maybe the most important.

Whilst dedicated staff, a brilliant programme and top-quality facilities are crucial they are not enough to make an institution of the highest possible quality.

What is also needed is a strong and rich sense of community.

At Timbertop we have a community that is multi-layered, characterized by its diversity, acceptance, range of experiences and caring nature.

“The interconnectedness of our staff and students on a number of very different levels is at the core of what makes Timbertop a special place.”

There are many opportunities for our There are three basic requirements necessary to make a vibrant place which enables young people to thrive. First, a school needs to have amazing staff and assistants who are prepared to give beyond the normal requirements of a teacher. They need to live the life of a dedicated and enthusiastic teacher.

Timbertop is very lucky because the Timbertop staff regularly work very long hours, without complaint, with little scope for down time. They live on campus and give endlessly to the students under their care. Secondly, a school programme needs to be of very high quality. This includes the Academic and Co-curricular Programmes.

At Timbertop the programme is brilliant.

It has been crafted by hundreds of staff over the last 50 years to the point now where it has been refined to such a high degree that it is interlinked and layered, providing an unprecedented richness and breadth. Thirdly, it is important for any school to have appropriate high-quality facilities in the correct location to allow the programme to prosper. Timbertop could not be Timbertop if it was not located away from the distractions of city life and the immediate influences they present. These days there is the ever-increasing pressure to maintain our isolation due to the rampant development of technology over the last decade. It is important that students can have time to focus on themselves; we want them to make decisions and errors of judgment in a caring and challenging environment.

students to interact with a whole range of people at different times. Our nurses in the Health Centre are a great example.

Cait Codyre spent time working in Zaire (Democratic Republic of the Congo) running an eight-doctor clinic as well as working in London and North Wales before settling in Mansfield and accepting work at Timbertop. Jenny Bell, another nurse, worked in England at one of the major children’s hospitals for 12 months. Cat Lamb who is an academic staff member working in the Timbertop Outdoor Education Department has lived and taught in Korea, USA and Belgium teaching English and organizing travel programmes.

One of the Timbertop librarians, David Dunlop, an ex-teacher, works part-time in the library as well as using his master craftsman’s skills making pioneer bush furniture with a number of students during the TEAM programme on Tuesdays. This furniture is auctioned at the Corio House Athletics Sports Day to raise money to support one of his other interests, Timor Leste. David has travelled to Timor Leste with the local group, Friends of Venilale, to work on projects with local primary schools to provide toilets and running water. The Timbertop maintenance manager, Douglas Galbraith, has spent two summers in the Antarctic region; one at Macquarie Island and the other at the Mawson Base, servicing the facilities and managing the crew in this isolated and challenging environment.

For these staff, a high level of dedication and social intelligence is required to function successfully in tight-knit communities which have many similarities to Timbertop. The richness of our community is quite evident when we look at our kitchen staff. Melinda Grant is very active in the local community and is president of the local Arts Council. She and Ian Mallyon have toured around Victoria performing a play to increase awareness of autism in communities. Ian is also the stage manager for the local production of Grease. Jeff Riddell and Helen Bernasconi are accomplished artists and their talents are usually on display during the Timbertop Art Show in Term 2. Liam Bradley, the resident radiographer at our local Mansfield hospital, also teaches music to a number of Timbertop students. His well-known soundtrack for the television series A River Somewhere is a testament to his extraordinary musical abilities. Rolf Koren, one of our multi-talented and charismatic music teachers, seems to convert every second student into becoming brilliant drummers all aspiring to be like Harry Nilsson. John Friday, one of our maintenance team, has amazingly read his way through large parts of the library collection as well as having at some stage worked with his whole family at Timbertop.

At work he repairs, builds and constructs all sorts of items to keep Timbertop functioning. His ability to improvise is legendary. All these people along with many others add to the richness of this community and often offer sound advice and tell interesting stories of their worldly experiences to the Timbertop students.

They are wonderfully diverse role models who bring into our community their passions, their talents and wealth of extraordinary experiences.

Of course, the interactions within our community work both ways and staff too have valuable and insightful interactions with the students themselves. Within our student body we have a great deal of cultural diversity and whether our students are from Australia or overseas I am continually amazed at their ability to contribute, empathize and accommodate others. They are developing into wonderful role models and willing participants in this rich and vibrant community that is called Timbertop. The skills and modeling that they see here will, I hope, be taken with them when they leave and no doubt they will replicate their own passions, interests and commitment to other communities somewhere, somehow in their lives beyond school. I cannot think of a better community in which to live and work.

Roger Herbert Head of Timbertop

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SENIOR SCHOOL

Welcome to Country On Wednesday 9 February 2011 the entire Corio community gathered in the Perry Quad to greet two elders of the local Indigenous Wathaurong community. They had been invited to perform a Welcome to Country ceremony. It was a beautiful day. The Indigenous flag flew next to the Chapel and one sensed a deep respect for the significance of the occasion and the ancient words that were spoken.

Rory Vocale, Vice-Captain of Manifold House and one of 18 Indigenous students currently enrolled at the School, thanked the Wathaurong elders.

Many present saw this occasion as a reflection of the significant steps taken by the School in recent years to help support Indigenous initiatives.

The School’s journey began six years ago with Jon Apted, Director of Planning, who developed strong relationships with various Indigenous individuals and organisations, especially Yalari, a not-for-profit organisation which provides scholarships for Indigenous children from regional, rural and remote communities to access a first-class secondary education at some of Australia’s leading boarding schools. Established in 2005 by Indigenous educator Waverley Stanley, inspired by his own experience of attending Toowoomba Grammar School over 20 years ago, Yalari now supports 180 children enrolled in 34 partnership schools around Australia. Waverley visited both Corio and Timbertop campuses on several occasions and worked closely with Jon to ensure that the right structures were established for the School’s engagement with Indigenous scholarship students. Along with wife and co-founder, Llew Mullins, he inspired our School community with his vision for young Indigenous children – “a first-class education in a supportive school environment”.

From just one Indigenous student in 2006, we currently have 17 Yalari students enrolled at our School. There are two students in each of Years 7, 10, 11 and 12, five students in Year 8 and four in Year 9. There are 12 girls and five boys. All are boarders. We also have a Year 10 day-boarder from the local Wathaurong community, making a total of 18 Indigenous students. All have successfully integrated into their Houses and wider school community and are not only making a difference to their own lives but also enriching the lives of others. Along the way 16

our School has demonstrated a commitment to Waverley’s vision of bringing about long-term generational change by allowing Indigenous children to “experience new areas of personal, social and cultural growth and the chance to shape the lives for themselves and for the betterment of their communities and the Indigenous people of Australia”.

During that period the School has also established initiatives to support our work with Indigenous students well into the future. These include: - Creating an Indigenous Education Co-ordinator position, currently held

by Lucy Haigh –Establishing the Geelong Grammar School Staff Indigenous Scholarship fund, which was founded in 2009 and is financially supporting its first student in 2011 –Including Indigenous elders in the Richard and Janet Southby Visiting Fellows Programme – the first of whom will be Bob Randall, a tjilpi elder of the Yankunytjatjara people of Central Australia and a traditional owner of Uluru, who visited the School in 2010 –Establishing a Year 10 excursion to the Walking with Spirits cultural celebration near Katherine and the Garma Festival in Arnhem Land. Last year 16 students and two staff members spent 10 days immersed in the lives of Indigenous Australia, supported by current parent Mark Carnegie (P’79), whose knowledge, generous support and commitment ensured the success of the trip –Establishing links with Sandra Brogden, National Co-ordinator of the What Works – The Work Program, which helps schools improve educational outcomes for Indigenous students

In the future our School hopes to continue to work with Yalari to support and mentor our students beyond Geelong Grammar School.

Our first two Yalari students, Elijah Weston (Yr12 Cu) and Rory Vocale (Yr12 M), will complete their secondary schooling in 2011. We are discussing mentoring programmes with our Old Geelong Grammarians’ Association to assist our Indigenous students find future work experience and employment opportunities.

We also hope to develop further our relationship with the local Wathaurong community and that Waverley’s initiative is just one of many that will close the enormous socio/economic gap that currently exists between our Indigenous and non-Indigenous communities. Geelong Grammar School’s commitment to supporting Yalari is genuine and profound.

We are conscious of the need to contribute to the national endeavour to provide real opportunity for Indigenous youth – developing a greater understanding of the issues and needs is of fundamental importance. The decision to contribute positively reflects the philosophy of the School to contribute, to add meaning and to ensure that our social conscience is forever active in a real sense.

At the end of last year the School received an e-mail from Bob Randall’s wife accepting an invitation to return to Geelong Grammar School in 2011.

She wrote: “Bob’s heart is in education and I know he would be delighted to support your programme and work with you in whatever ways would be helpful.”

The connections are being made. The relationships are forming. The future offers hope for all.

Charlie Scudamore Vice-Principal/Head of Corio

HOUSE MUSIC

Perry wins House Music House Music has been a feature of the GGS calendar since 1944. Held at the beginning of the year to assist with the development of relationships amongst students and nurture House spirit, the competition has enduring appeal – over a period of almost 70 years House Music has essentially remained the same. From 1944-1971 Houses competed individually.

From 1971-2003 Houses were combined (usually boy/girl with one stand alone boys’ House). From 2004 all Houses have once again competed individually. There have only been two years during this time when the competition was not held – 1957 and 2005.

The 2011 competition saw three changes that enhanced the event. The event was held in a new venue at the GPAC Playhouse Theatre, which has a large stage to accommodate the myriad of instruments students choose to use, not to mention very comfortable seats. Elisabeth Murdoch had a full contingent (Year 10-12) competing for the first time. Last

but not least, we used two adjudicators. In 1996 two adjudicators were used to mark different sections, with each a specialist in their area. This year we used two adjudicators to mark all sections of the event. This led to some very heated conversation on their parts, but I believe that overall they were able to discern fairly the winners of the different divisions and the community as a whole also appeared happy with the decisions.

Our students displayed great musical talent with Houses choosing varied and musically challenging repertoires. The student leaders involved in making this event a success, led by Music Captains Ollie Tribe and Miranda Orford, showed great maturity in their dealings with their peers – their enthusiasm and energy was infectious. The prizes for all sections were distributed evenly amongst the Houses and final marks meant it was a close decision on many of these, as well as the overall winner. Elisabeth Murdoch won the House Choir section for the second

Top left: James Hiscock (Yr12 P) leads the Perry Ensemble. Top right: Christopher Nowell (Yr12 M) on the bagpipes. Bottom (L to R): Ed Yang (Yr11 P) on violin, the Elisabeth Murdoch House Choir, and the Allen House Ensemble, with Kate Leggo (Yr12 A) on vocals and Angie You (Yr12 A) on piano.

consecutive year, with Natasha Remeljej (Yr12 EM) and Sarah Howse (Yr12 EM) also winning the Best Conductor award.

David Homewood (Yr12 Fr) won Best Original Composition. Perry won the Ensemble section and guitar duo Luke Davies (Yr12 P) and Sean Song (Yr12 P) won the Solo/Duet section, providing Perry with enough points to be crowned Overall Winners – its first House Music title in 40 years. Last year’s winners, Fraser, finished in second place ahead of Clyde and Hermitage, who tied for third.

Congratulations to all Houses on what was presented on another wonderful day of House Music.

Jodie Townsend Director of Music/Head of Arts

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SPORT

Summer Sport CRICKET Geelong Grammar School cricketers Meyrick Buchanan (Yr12 FB) and Corey Ogle (Yr12 Cu) capped a stellar summer with selection in the Australian under-19 cricket squad for a series against the West Indies in Dubai. After representing Victoria at the National U17 championships in Hobart in January, both Meyrick and Corey have been in rare form for the School in APS cricket this year. Captain of the School’s first XI, Meyrick scored a remarkable 151 not out against Carey Grammar. Corey, who opened the bowling, snared 4/11 against Scotch, 5/30 against Carey and 6/32 against Haileybury. The talented 17-year-olds have also played for Geelong’s first XI in Victoria’s Premier Cricket competition, participated in a six-day talent camp at Cricket Australia’s Centre of Excellence in Canberra in January and represented Victoria in the under-23 Futures League Tournament. “It’s an amazing opportunity for both lads,” Geelong Grammar School cricket coach Damian Shanahan said.

“They’ve both had massive summers as far as what they’ve been able to achieve and we’re extremely proud of what they’ve been able to do.” The School’s First XI finished in third place behind Geelong College and Xavier after losing to Melbourne Grammar in the final game of the season. Meyrick, Corey and Jarryd Garner (Yr12 M) were all selected in the APS representative team.

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In other APS results, the boys’ badminton team finished the season in fourth place with six wins, and Vinern Leow (Yr12 P) was selected to represent the APS. The girls’ badminton team also notched six wins to finish in fifth place with Tania Cheng (Yr12 Cl) selected in the APS team.

Other APS representatives were Elliot Parker (Yr12 A) in table tennis and Liv O’Hare (Yr12 Fr) in softball.

four finished in third place behind Haileybury and Brighton Grammar.

ROWING

SAILING

Geelong Grammar School won four of the seven senior divisions at the 2011 APS Head of the River Regatta at Nagambie on April 2. “GGS was the only school to be represented in every senior event on the day, which is an achievement in itself, and for the boys it was the first time a GGS crew had won a senior division at Head of the River for 10 years,” Head of Rowing, Richard Bartlett, said. The girls’ First VIII finished in second place, less than 3 seconds behind Geelong College, ending a four-year winning streak. The boys’ First VIII finished in third place behind Scotch College and Melbourne Grammar School in a tightly contested final. However, the girls’ 2nd and 3rd VIII crews easily won their division finals by a margin of 26 seconds and 49 seconds respectively. The boys’ 3rd and 4th VIII crews also won their division finals, finishing ahead of Scotch College in both finals. The girls’ Year 10 Division E crew won its division final – an impressive result given their limited preparation – while the boys’ open coxed

A number of GGS rowers were selected in the Victorian under-18 squads that toured New Zealand during the school holidays.

Yasmin Howes (Yr11 Ga) was selected in the girls’ VIII, Ian Cameron (Yr11 Cu) and Will Beasley (Yr11 Cu) were selected in the boys’ VIII, while Charlie Coburn (Yr11 Cu) was selected in the boys’ Quad Scull.

Geelong Grammar School’s sailing team finished runner-up to Haileybury College at the Victorian School Team Sailing Championships at Albert Park on March 31-April 1. The School’s B crew also performed strongly, winning Division 6 ahead of Toorak College, and GGS was duly recognised with Yachting Victoria’s Most Improved award. “Looking back on the team’s progress this year it can be seen that the success wasn’t really a surprise but a reflection of our hard work and improvement we, as a team, have made this season,” Bec Stork (Yr12 EM) said.

TRIATHLON Meg Gubbins (Yr12 He) won race six of the Gatorade Triathlon Series in St Kilda on March 20 to claim the Victorian under-19 Sprint Triathlon Championship. Meg has been training with former Belgium international Stephane Vander Bruggen and is aiming to qualify for the 2012 World Triathlon Championships in New Zealand.

SENIOR SPORTSCHOOL

Below: The girls’ First VIII finished second at the APS Head of the River regatta, while Meg Gubbins (Yr12 He) won the Victorian under-19 Sprint Triathlon Championship at St Kilda. Middle right: Geelong Grammar School won the team dressage division of the opening round of the Victorian Interschool Equestrian Series. Bella Cameron (Yr12 EM) riding her horse Fred in the showjumping.

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PASTORAL CARE

Empathy and Forgiveness

by John Hendry Director of Student Welfare Recent discoveries in brain science and child development are forcing us to rethink the long-held belief that human beings are, by nature, aggressive, materialistic, utilitarian and self-interested. The dawning realization that we are a fundamentally empathetic species has profound and far-reaching consequences for society. At the very core humanity is defined by kindness and forgiveness and the understanding of others.

On the evening of December 24, 1914, at Flanders when the First World War was entering into its fifth month, millions of soldiers were bedded down in makeshift trenches latticed across the European countryside. In many places the opposing armies were dug in within thirty to fifty yards of each other and within shouting distance. The conditions were hellish. The bitter-cold winter air chilled to the bone.

The trenches were waterlogged. Soldiers shared their quarters with rats and vermin.

Lacking adequate latrines, the stench of human excrement was everywhere. The men slept upright to avoid the muck and sludge. Dead soldiers littered the no-man’s land between opposing forces, the bodies left to rot and decompose within yards of their still-living comrades who were unable to collect them for burial.

As dusk fell over the battlefields, something extraordinary happened. The Germans began lighting candles on the thousands of small Christmas trees that had been sent to the front to lend some comfort to the men.

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The German soldiers began to sing Christmas carols – first Silent Night then a stream of other songs followed. The English soldiers were stunned. One soldier, gazing in disbelief at the enemy lines, said the blazed trenches looked “like the footlights of a theatre”. The English soldiers responded with applause, at first tentatively, then with exuberance.

They began to sing Christmas carols back and forth to their German foes to equally robust applause.

Eventually these men came together in a sense of brotherhood and thousands of soldiers shared the joy of one another’s company at Christmas time, sharing life stories, cigarettes, cakes and photos of family. They joked about the absurdity of war. By sunrise on Christmas morning tens of thousands of men – some estimates put the number as high as 100,000 soldiers – talked quietly with one another. Enemies just 24 hours earlier, they found themselves helping each other bury their dead comrades. More than a few pick-up soccer matches were reported. Even officers at the front participated, although when news filtered back to the high command in the rear, the generals took a less than enthusiastic view of the affair.

Worried that the truce might undermine military morale (and resolve), the generals quickly took measure to rein in their troops.

These men reached out to each other’s plight. The strength to comfort each other flowed from a deep unspoken sense of their individual vulnerability and their unrequited desire for the companionship of their fellows. It was, without reserve, a very human moment. Fundamentally this represents what it really means to be human. Humans are, at the core, kind. Research confirms that humans are hard-wired for kindness and this implies forgiveness. These soldiers chose to be human. The central human quality they expressed was empathy for one another.

Human beings have a genetic predisposition – an innate hankering – to seek empathic affiliation and companionship. Empathetic attunement is what is promoted in “emotional intelligence” and this is a critical marker by which we judge the psychological and social development of children.

New teaching models designed to transform education from a competitive contest to a more collaborative learning experience are emerging as schools attempt to catch up to a generation that has grown up on the internet and is used to interacting and learning in open social networks where they share information rather than horde it. The initiatives in Positive Education, in meditation and in pastoral care at Geelong Grammar School are nurturing empathetic sensibility and

SENIOR PASTORAL SCHOOL CARE

nurturing individuals as they grow to adulthood. The traditional assumption that “knowledge is power” and is used for personal gain is being subsumed by the notion that knowledge is an expression of the shared responsibilities for the collective well-being of humanity, the “we” rather than the “I”.

Empathy provides the path from “I” to “we”; empathy leads to less ”I” self-destruction to more sharing and caring, from independence to interdependence, from the “iPod” to the “wePod”. Early evaluation and observation of student performance has shown marked improvements in mindfulness, communication skills, and critical thinking as students become more reflective, emotionally attuned, and cognitively adept at comprehending and responding intelligently and compassionately to others. This again has promoted a sense of shared meaning and endeavour, the “we” approach. A kinder approach to living is appearing. A kinder approach to mistake management being implemented through “relationship reparation” at Geelong Grammar School is advancing a more positive outcome from the inevitable mistakes the young make. This complements the nurturing and empathetic approach which is essential for all in life.

Forgiveness presents as the essential ingredient to life relationships, especially in the young, where mistakes are in a way licensed through lack of life experience and developing judgement ability.

This empathetic approach to living is now underpinning the more advanced thinking in relation to leadership in life and in business. The neuroscience of “fair play” and the recently discovered mirror neurons endorse the need for empathy to rule. This is a “bottom line” aspect of life and living. Studies of children raised in foundling hospitals early in the 20th century indicated that children deprived of empathy in a nurturing sense were deprived of an essential life skill. Harry Harlow’s famous laboratory study of infant monkeys and their affectional responses (University of Wisconsin, 1958) shocked the world of biology and spread into the social sciences and other fields. The baby monkeys wanted care, nurture and kind body contact. Empathy was sought.

Human nature is not to seek autonomy – to become an island to oneself – but, rather, to seek companionship, affection and intimacy. The conventional belief that equates self-development and selfconsciousness with increasing autonomy has begun to lose its intellectual cachet. A number of child development psychologists now argue the contrary – that a sense of selfhood and self-

awareness depends on and feeds off deepening relationships to other people. Empathy is the means by which companionate bonds are forged. Were seeking companionship not so basic to our nature, we wouldn’t so fear isolation or ostracization. Facebook would not be such a flourishing enterprise. To be shunned and exiled is to become a nonperson, to cease to exist as far as others are concerned. Empathy is the psychological means by which we become part of other people’s lives and share meaningful experiences. It promotes meaning in living and life.

The very notion of transcendence means to reach beyond oneself, to participate with and belong to larger communities, to be embedded in more complex webs of meaning.

Positive Education initiatives are promoting a greater exploration in the education of the young at Geelong Grammar School. The wellbeing of students is essential to learning and life management. Empathy promotes the understanding of others and the development of more positive relationships.

Pastoral care at Geelong Grammar School is constructed upon love and the establishment of positive and enabling relationships. Love of course is built upon empathy, the capacity to value another beyond the level one values oneself.

Relationships are constructed on the contribution one can make to the other, not on what advantage one can gain from the relationship. Empathic relationships are natural and define humanity. Mirror neurons ensure this empathy in an innate way and one has to override this consciously to harm another. The intention to act without empathy, science is clearly showing us, must be a deliberate and learned, therefore practised response. Geelong Grammar School, through Positive Education is promoting empathy, promoting what is it to be human and is developing in all students the intuitive strength responses of kindness, forgiveness and the allied strengths of awe, gratitude, leadership and the capacity to love and be loved.

The empathic strength of forgiveness deserves special attention. As Desmond Tutu states: “Forgiveness gives us the capacity to make a new start…

And forgiveness is the grace by which you enable the other person to get up, and get up with dignity, to begin anew... In the act of forgiveness we are declaring our faith in the future of a relationship and in the capacity of the wrongdoer to change”. Forgiveness renews life by finishing unfinished business – even an unsuccessful attempt at forgiveness has the considerable power of intention. We cannot force forgiveness because it closes the heart, but we can explore its possibilities, its capacity to heal the forgiver, and sometimes the forgiven. To forgive one has to purge oneself of revenge and the want to harm. One’s emotional response is driven by the actions of the other person. One must forgive oneself for the emotional response in order to have the capacity to forgive the other. This is simple once one practises forgiveness but it is tough going at first as we are emotional beings.

We are, however, hard-wired to be kind: forgiveness is showing mercy. It is an act of self-compassion. Forgiveness is not transactional — it is transformational. It does not remove what has happened, but it does remove the destructiveness of the impact of what has happened for all parties as best it can. It is enabling. It allows all to “move on”. It is found in every faith as the underpinning enabling ethic of behaviour. It is an act of the heart as opposed to the mind. It is about love in every sense.

Forgiveness prompts the employment of the Golden Rule (“Do unto others as you would have them do unto you”) and life is again made enabling for all. It releases us from the overbearing burden of lasting suffering and self-destruction. The Lord’s Prayer does get it right (and in the right order): “Forgive us our trespasses as We forgive those who trespass against us”. We are, as humans, obliged to forgive if we are to conserve humanity. Without forgiveness there cannot be peace. Without peace there is destruction. As the wonderful book on the Golden Rule states: “It all begins with me”.

We are obliged to take the initiative. The soldiers at Flanders on Christmas day 1914 did just that. The heart must rule for the mind to forgive. Forgiveness permits life to thrive and relationships to be positive. It is based on the belief that all are kind and can be kind. It is fundamental to the health of individuals, families, communities and societies and importantly, to evolution.

Without forgiveness, contentment is not truly possible. Without forgiveness good decisions cannot be made. Empathy for another is defined by the innate capacity to forgive.

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FOUNDATION

Geelong Grammar Foundation We have begun the year with an important long-term commitment to enhance fundraising for Scholarships, and the School Council has endorsed our approach. This is important because, in good times and bad, we want to be able to help those who could not otherwise attend the School, and we also want to attract students from diverse backgrounds. You can read more about this on page 9.

Scholarships change the very nature of our community because they directly influence who can come to participate in our common life. Not only do they bring students to the school but families join our wider family, and so the community grows and evolves. I would like to thank Foundation Board member John Simson (Cu’73) for his inspirational leadership of our Scholarship Advisory Committee. We have also committed to the further development of the Biddlecombe Society, launched our 2011 Annual Giving Campaign and further supported fundraising for the Equestrian Centre and Indoor Cricket Centre. Meanwhile, our new Executive Director continues his review of the Foundation and the drawing up of plans for the future. There are exciting days ahead!

THE LESS VISIBLE WORK Much of our energy in 2011 will go into the projects mentioned above, but I would like to highlight the less visible work being done by Foundation Board members Neil Robertson (FB’72), Ros Adams (Cl’76) and Fiona Ratcliffe (Je’77). With Neil as Chairman and Michael Collins Persse as President, the Biddlecombe Society is reaching out to increasing numbers of people with the suggestion that they leave a bequest to the School. There is no doubt that, for many of us, this will be the way whereby we can make a significant gift; perhaps for a Scholarship to help students coming to GGS. This year the Biddlecombe Society will hold lunch-time events in Sydney, Melbourne and Tasmania. I hope I may see you at one of these important occasions, or at one of the other events that the Foundation will host or co-host for parents or parents of OGGs in the coming months. The Foundation and its 743 members and many other supporters and volunteers are pleased to be part of the Geelong Grammar School community, and to be supporting and helping to resource our School. My warm and personal thanks to all who are supporting our efforts.

Bill Ranken (M ’72) Chairman, Geelong Grammar Foundation

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YOUR PARTICIPATION MAKES A REAL DIFFERENCE Our Annual Giving Programme for 2011 is the most inclusive fundraising programme we have, and we are inviting you to support one or more of three excellent projects. This year we are establishing the Annual Giving Scholarship. This Scholarship will be awarded after the fund total reaches $250,000. This is an excellent investment for those who would like to help others to attend Geelong Grammar School.

The War Memorial Cloisters need to be repaired and the overall cost will be around $1 million. We are hoping our overall contribution will be at least $200,000 (so far we have raised $68,270 in 2010, so we are some way towards our goal, for which we thank you).

Each gift helps keep alive the memory of all former students and staff commemorated in this sacred place.

To inspire the inquiring minds of students on each campus we must provide libraries equipped with the most relevant and up-to-date resources from print publications to electronic databases, visual aids and websites. Your Annual Giving gift can enable the continued enhancement of the campus library of your choice. As we build on the success of our previous Annual Giving Programmes we trust that with your participation, and the participation of many others, this year’s goals will be achieved. You should have received an Annual Giving letter by post. If you have not received your letter and brochure, please contact Jennifer Wraight on tel: +61 3 5227 6297 or email: jwraight@ggs.vic.edu.au.

OLYMPIC SUCCESS STARTS HERE Geelong Grammar School strives to support the interests and ambitions of all its students and celebrates their diversity and ambition. Olympic sports available at our school include rowing, sailing, hockey and equestrian. Participation in sport has many benefits and often students have modest goals, including general fitness, fun and to win more often than not. Staff provide hours of coaching and the School provides first-class facilities so that all our students can thrive and strive towards the goals that they have set themselves.

Meanwhile, some students have long-term dreams and aspirations as they seek to push their skills and abilities to the limit – and beyond. As in the past, students from Geelong Grammar Schools can and will emerge to become future Olympians.

TO RIDE WITH PASSION The proposed Equestrian Centre, for which a sub-committee of the Geelong Grammar Foundation is working to raise funds, is designed for everyday use by our students as well as interschool competitions and official FEI-level competitions. Some of our students choose our School precisely because they can bring their horses and live out their dreams. To ride with passion yet with increasing accuracy. To jump higher and further. To build the understanding with their horse until there is no barrier to what they can achieve together.

THE THIRD TARGET In February the School Council committed $200,000 towards the proposed Equestrian Centre, bringing fundraising efforts closer to the first target of $800,000. The second target will be to reach $1 million and then there will only be $800,000 more to find – the third target. The committee is chaired by Foundation Board member Penny McBain.

If you would like to get involved with this adventure, please contact Jennifer Wraight on tel: +61 3 5227 6297 or email: jwraight@ggs.vic.edu.au.

FOUNDATION

COULD THE NEXT DON BRADMAN COME FROM HERE? Planning and fundraising for an Indoor Cricket Centre has been on the School agenda for some time. A design has been drawn by the School’s architects and the fundraising committee has recently considered a number of options in conjunction with members of the Tunbridge Club. The proposed centre is to be built near the Handbury Centre for Wellbeing – where the original gymnasium now stands. The centre will be an important building, and while there was consideration of a shorter version that would be cheaper (leaving out space designed to allow for a wicket-keeper to stand well back to fast bowling), the committee are at this stage keen to fundraise for the full-length building.

THE PROCLAMATION The likely cost is in the region of $2.4 million, and while that sounded like a lot of money to those meeting to consider the project, an architect from the Tunbridge Club was present and after an hour with his calculator running hot, he made the awaited proclamation. “If you want that building – that’s what it will cost.”

The building will have three wickets side-by-side and space for coaches and observers, a meeting room, storage facilities, change rooms and associated facilities. Yes, this building could help the development of other sports as well – golf, softball and table tennis are all possible – and there is the potential to hold functions in the building. But the building is first and foremost about cricket.

TO IMPROVE THE ODDS Geelong Grammar School has yet to see an old boy pull on the baggy green, although OGGs have included a New Zealand Test cricketer and at least 16 who have played at first-class level. Two fine young cricketers (Meyrick Buchanan and Corey Ogle) were selected for the Australian under-19 team and many fingers are crossed for them, but the question remains: “Could the next Don Bradman come from here?” This new facility for which funds are now being sought, should improve the odds. Our sub-committee Chairman Ted Mann is keen to raise the funds this year, and in February the School Council committed $200,000 towards the facility. There is a substantial journey ahead but as people understand the benefits and opportunities, further progress will be made. If you would like to become involved with this exciting endeavour please contact Jennifer Wraight, Fundraising Manager, on tel: +61 3 5227 6297 or email: jwraight@ggs.vic.edu.au.

Above (L to R): Tony Bretherton, Director of Community Relations, parents Winnie Jones and Faye Woodland, and Bill Ranken (M ’72), Chairman, Geelong Grammar Foundation, at the Timbertop Parents’ Cocktail Party on March 3. The Foundation hosts regular parent gatherings to strengthen relationships within our community. Top (L to R): Parents Karen Ng, Cliff Yeo, Sayuri SakamotoThomson and James Colquhoun (FB’78) at the Timbertop Parents’ Cocktail Party.

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OGG PRESIDENT

Above: At the OGGAsia reunion dinner Siew Kee Lee (M’88), Michael Collins Persse, Paul Ng (FB’88) and Paul Tan (Cu’88) were pleased to reunite.

Top left: At the OGGAsia Business Lunch in Hong Kong were (L to R) front: Tony Bretherton, GGS Director of Community Relations, Tim Ingram (P’64) and Terry Spinolo. Back: guest speaker Christopher Jackson, Rob de Fegely (FB’74), President of the Old Geelong Grammarians and guest speaker Phil Ingram.

OGG President This is my last Light Blue article as President of the Old Geelong Grammarians as I will stand down at the Annual General Meeting which will be held at Corio on Tuesday 24 May. The last two years seem to have passed remarkably quickly and I have been honoured to attend many events and functions and met some extraordinary Old Geelong Grammarians.

While we have many great OGGs, the guest speakers at our two most recent Tower Luncheons, John Fairfax (M’60) and Mechai Viravaidya (P’59), and our guests speakers at the President’s Dinner last October, Keith Dunstan (FB‘42) and Tony Holmes (Cu’63), are all equally great ambassadors for the School.

More recently we celebrated our third biennial reunion of OGGs in South-East Asia. OGGAsia 2011 was held in Hong Kong in early March. A Business Lunch was held on the Friday 11 March with guest speakers Phil Ingram, Senior Trade Commissioner of Austrade, and Chris Jackson from the Hong Kong Trade and Development Association. Both spoke of the importance of Australia, Hong Kong and China in the future of Asia. A Reunion Dinner was held on Saturday 12 March and addressed by Michael Collins Persse (OGG Fellow), who provided a great historical context of the early life of the School, its subsequent connection with overseas students and the prominence of Asian and international students over the past 50 years.

The OGGs social calendar has been very active. The recent OGG versus Old Geelong College golf day at Barwon Heads was fully subscribed with a waiting list. As reigning titleholders, we started the day with confidence but unfortunately we narrowly lost to OGC, so more practice is needed for next year! I would like to thank Simon Reed (P’76) for his continuing and tireless efforts in organising this day. The 24

WH Pincott Club held its Annual Dinner on the Thursday evening before the Head of the River on April 2 with a full house and a good representation from the decade crews. Congratulations to Club President Mandy Catanach (Je’80) for a wonderful evening and also organising the marquee and lunch for those that attended the Head of the River.

We have been thinking of the OGGs who have been affected by the traumatic events of Cyclone Yasi and the floods in Queensland, New South Wales and Victoria, and the massive earthquakes in New Zealand and Japan.

I am very pleased to see the start of the renovations of the boarding houses with Francis Brown due for completion in the middle of the year. A reunion for former FB students will be held at the School on August 6.

Finally I would like to thank some people.

First Katie Rafferty (Ga’84), our very hardworking secretary, who does a fantastic job organising reunions and all the OGG functions. I would also like to thank my committee for their great help, enthusiasm and counsel over the last two years, who have been Margie Gillett (Cl’71), Deidre Griffiths (He’68), Nina Anderson (Cl’93), Penny Dawson (A’83), Andrew Ramsay (Cu’69), David Henry (FB’70), Peter McIntosh (M’69), Peter Chomley (Ge’63) and Lachie Stevens (M’96). It has been an honour and pleasure to be the President of the Old Geelong Grammarians for the last two years and I wish the incoming President all the very best in his or her deliberations and I hope that I can see a number of you at the Annual General Meeting at Corio next month.

Rob de Fégely (FB’74) President, Old Geelong Grammarians

Top: The OGG v OGC Golf Day provides some very friendly rivalry. Pictured are Dougal Ramsay (P’66) Iain Carmichael (OGC), Peter Amezdroz (OGC) and Rod Chirnside (M’63).

Above: All members of the 2001 girls’ first VIII crew attended the Pincott Annual Dinner with the exception of Eliza Heathcote who is currently living in the UK. Pictured at the dinner are (L to R) Kate Ganley (Farrell, Ga’01), Sophie Klopper (A’01), Andy Burke (Ga’01), Anna (Betty) Landy (Ga’01), Chloe Delany (He’01), Tori Batters (Cl’01), Sarah Luckock (Cl’02) and Ariella Webb (Cl’01).

OGG NEWS

Diary Dates WEDNESDAY 4 MAY 2011

SYDNEY OGG BRANCH GATHERING TUESDAY 24 MAY 2011

OGG AGM

THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2011

LONDON OGG DINNER SATURDAY 30 JULY 2011

1991 20 YEAR REUNION

OGG News FRANCIS BROWN HOUSE REUNION On the eve of the 75th Anniversary of Francis Brown House (in 2012), and after extensive renovations to the House, a reunion and re-opening will be held on Saturday 6 August 2011. All past members of Francis Brown House are invited to attend the school for the official re-opening which begins mid-afternoon and concludes with a Reunion Dinner in the Dining Hall at 6pm.

OGG DENILIQUIN BRANCH LUNCHEON

House table captains are required for the Reunion Dinner. If you are able to gather a table together from your year-group or from years either side please contact Katie Rafferty (Spry, Ga’84) in the OGG Office on tel +61 3 5273 9338 or email: katier@ggs.vic.edu.au. Katie will also be able to provide you with contact lists. We look forward to seeing many of our 1,687 FB Old Boys and 17 FB Old Girls in August!

SUNDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2011

Can you help?

SUNDAY 31 JULY 2011

OGG/GGS CAREERS DAY SATURDAY 6 AUGUST 2011

FRANCIS BROWN HOUSE REUNION AND RE-OPENING SATURDAY 10 SEPTEMBER 2011

RIVERINA AND NE VICTORIA OGG BRANCH LUNCHEON, HOLBROOK NSW SATURDAY 8 AND SUNDAY 9 OCTOBER 2011,

1971 TIMBERTOP 40 YEAR REUNION OCTOBER 2011, BARWON HEADS GOLF COURSE

OGG GOLF DAY

THURSDAY 27 OCTOBER 2011

PERTH OGG FUNCTION

SATURDAY 5 NOVEMBER 2011

1981 30 YEAR REUNION

FRIDAY 11 NOVEMBER 2011, MELBOURNE

1958 TIMBERTOP YEAR – 50 YEAR REUNION SATURDAY 12 NOVEMBER 2011, CORIO

TOWER LUNCHEON

Martin Beaver, Head of Francis Brown House, would like to complete the rows of House photos in FB that go right back to inception. Some of these photos are missing and we hope to locate the following missing year group photos (with names included): 1952, 1958, 1963 and 1973. If you are willing to donate these photos or loan them to the School to be scanned and returned it would be much appreciated. If you are able to assist, could you please contact the GGS Archivist, Melissa Campbell, on tel: +61 3 5227 6269 or email: mcampbell@ggs.vic.edu.au before Friday 3 June 2011.

There is also a shortage of archival material relating to FB. Our archivist has requested any photographs or albums relating to FB, in particular the original opening of the House or “life in FB”. Any written memories or anecdotes would also be welcomed. Photos can either

be donated or lent to the Archives to be scanned and returned. Please contact Melissa directly before 3 June should you have anything to contribute as we wish to have an archival display at the re-opening.

OGG ANNUAL GENERAL MEETING OGG Association members are notified that the 2011 AGM will be held on Tuesday 24 May 2011 at 6pm in the Hawker Library, Corio. The AGM will be followed by finger food and refreshments. The Agenda, the Financial Summary for the year ending 31 December 2011 and the minutes of the last AGM will soon be available on line via the GGS website.

SNAFU THEATRE AT EDINBURGH FRINGE Melbourne-based independent theatre company SNAFU Theatre will be taking its production of Murder at Warrabah House to the Edinburgh Fringe Festival in August.

Producer May Jasper (He’00) and director Sam Wilson (He’00) said the show will be the most exciting and challenging project the pair have tackled since forming the theatre company upon leaving GGS a decade ago. Both May and Sam have been OGG mentors at the past two OGG Careers Days at Corio (pictured in 2010, top left, with Daniel Eum Yr12 Cu).

If you left the School between 1997 and 2003 and are interested in participating in this year’s OGG Careers Day on July 31, please contact Katie Rafferty in the OGG Office on tel +61 3 5273 9338 or email: katier@ggs.vic.edu.au

APOLOGY A photo published in the December issue of Light Blue was incorrectly captioned.

It should have read Penelope D’Alton (Cl’93). Sincere apologies to Penelope for this error.

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OGG REUNIONS At the OGGAsia Business Lunch were, Front row: Stephen Meek, Principal and Kevin Kang (M’90). Back row: Ella Wong, with Hong Kong OGG Committee members Roland Wu (P’93), Desmond Ting (FB’87) and Paul Ng (FB’88).

Paul Ng (FB’88), Charles Henry (FB’67) and Siew Kee Lee (M’88).

Front row: Past parent Chien Lee with Stephen Meek, Principal. Back row: Current parents Tony Chu, Clair Chu, Guy Nowell, Suzy Rayment, Agnes Lahirle, Alison Su and Freddie Chan.

Chien Lee with his son Zachary Lee (P’10) and Jacky Shi (FB’97).

OGGAsia OGGAsia 2011 was held in Hong Kong from March 11-12 and OGGs travelled from various countries throughout South East Asia to attend our biennial regional reunion, including Taiwan, Indonesia, Thailand, Malaysia, mainland China, Singapore and Vietnam as well as many from Hong Kong itself.

The reunion began with a Business Lunch on Friday 11 March. This unique business and networking opportunity focused on the growing interdependence of China and Australia as regional trade and investment partners and featured guest speakers Phil Ingram and Christopher Jackson from Austrade and the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC) respectively. Mr Ingram is the Senior Trade Commissioner at Austrade, which is the Australian Government’s trade and investment development agency, assisting Australian businesses with international trade and investment. With more than 30-years’ experience working in South East Asia in both the public and private sectors, he spoke of both the challenges and the rewards of doing business in the region. Mr Jackson is Director of Corporate 26

Development at the Hong Kong Trade Development Council (HKTDC), which represents Hong Kong-based traders and manufacturers. Having headed up trade offices in Washington and Brussels, he spoke about Hong Kong as a platform for doing business with China and throughout Asia. Around 25 Old Geelong Grammarians attended the Business Lunch and enjoyed not only hearing the two prominent speakers but the opportunity to meet other business-minded OGGs and, in many cases, to meet with old friends.

The following day a Reunion Dinner was held at the Hong Kong Club featuring guest speaker Michael Collins Persse.

Around 40 OGGs and members of the GGS community attended the dinner and Michael spoke of some of the history of Hong Kong and some interesting ties back to Australia. Michael also spoke of the history and ethos of the School and of OGGs from South East Asia. He was able to meet with many of his past students.

It was an honour to have Michael in Hong Kong, particularly being a milestone for Michael in his 80th year — he will celebrate his 80th birthday on November 10.

Top: Tim Ingram (P’64), Danay Lea (Cu’96) and Keith Thomas. Above: Front row: Alison Lindsay (Je’84), Alice Ting and Chuvy Chueathong. Back row: Kevin Kang (M’90), Roland Wu (P’93), his wife Ella Wong and Desmond Ting (FB’87).

OGG REUNIONS

Front row: Laurence Eu (Cu’76), Michelle Paisley, Roger Paisley (P’82), Tristan Dwyer (Fr’01).

Back row: Andrew Beacham (M’91), David Harden, Sarah Harden (Vickers-Willis, A’89), Zach Lee (P’10), Jey Jeyaratnam (Cu’74), Michael Collins Persse and Rob Noble (Cu’65).

At the business lunch were: front row, Laurence Eu (Cu’76), Michael Collins Persse and Charles Henry (FB’67). Back row: Jeffry Ho (M’97) and Jacky Wong (M’99).

Paul Tan (Cu’88) and Laurence Eu (Cu’76).

The Reunion Dinner was held at the Hong Kong Club. Rob de Fégely (FB‘74), President of the OGGs is pictured welcoming the guests.

Top: Front: Indah Soewandy, Adri Martowardojo (FB’04), Azzidyn Aman (Cu’04). Back: Edward Chang (Cu’04), Jonathan Lee (Cu’03) and Tony Lui (P’03). Above: Alice Ting with current parents Freddie Chan and Alison Su at the Reunion Dinner.

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OGG REUNIONS OGG Michael Wong generously hosted the reunion and is pictured here, second from left, with some of those who assisted with the organising: Kate Cox, James Atkins, Alex Vollebregt and Elisa Hansen.

Top: Georgia Knight, Zoe Gannon (Wong), Caroline Rook, Tarryn Yates and Courtney Russell.

Above: Justin Prawiradiraja, Will Hanigan, Finbar Murphy and Dennis Sumarno.

Kelly Baynes and Anna (Betty) Landy.

Top: Charles Atkins, Bridget Healey, Angie Taggart, Aimée Wilde and Rob Parrish. Above: Jarrad Cacuik, James Peck, Clare Hendry, Andy Hunt and Huw Montgomery.

Maggie McKeand and Jess Young.

2001 10-Year Reunion Almost 100 people attended the ten-year reunion of the 2001 year group which was generously hosted by Michael Wong (M’01) at his home in Melbourne. Those who attended were very pleased to see each other and to hear about what everyone else had been up to since leaving GGS. People attended from every state in Australia and several flew in from overseas, including Michael Whytcross (FB’01), Dennis Sumarno (Cu’01), Justin Prawiradiraja (Cu’01) and James Atkins (M’01).

It was very interesting to hear what careers people had gone on to since leaving school and these ranged from jewellery design to finance, teaching, gardening, law, outdoor recreation, marketing , abalone diving, farming, business and health care... just to name a few. It was great to see that the diversity of students who attend Geelong Grammar School results in a great diversity of people who join the wider community. Many thanks again to Michael Wong for a fantastic reunion.

More photos from this reunion can be viewed on the OGG Page of the GGS Portal. Log on via www.ggs.vic.edu.au

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Top: Anita Kotagiri, Phoebe Malseed (Dennis), Caroline Bate and Katrina McKenzie (Austen).

Above: John Cleary and James Hawker.

OGG REUNIONS

The fifty-five members of the 1960 Timbertop group who revisited Timbertop as part of their reunion in April. Photo courtesy of Gary Boseley, Boss Photography, Mansfield.

The D Unit boys revisit their unit: Nick Gatehouse, PJ Nicholson, Peter Cunningham, Barney Hutton and Thomas Goode.

Top: Andrew Dobbyn (M’63) and Stephanie Dobbyn, John Corbet (P’63), Sue Corbet and Swegn Smith (M’63). Above: While some of the group climbed Mt Timbertop, others walked to the Darling Huts.

1960 Timbertop Reunion From the Timbertop year of 1960, fifty-five members of the year group returned to Timbertop, many with partners, on Saturday 9 April as part of their Timbertop Reunion. The group had morning tea in the current Dining Hall and were welcomed by the Head of Timbertop, Roger Herbert.

From there, many of those who attended made their way up the hill for a Chapel Service conducted by the Reverend David Jones. The group were able to tour the campus looking at their old units, the Archive Museum, the Music School, the building site of the new, eco-version D Unit and the new fire bunker before returning to the Dining Hall for a group photograph by local photographer Gary Boseley (see above). Gary had quite a task to get 55

men to stop talking for long enough get a photograph with them facing front and centre! A barbecue lunch followed; then some of the group headed up Mt Timbertop. Others walked to the Darling Huts while others drove to the Howqua.

The group returned to Mansfield that night for dinner. Thanks and congratulations go to David Elder (M’62) and his fellow organisers, Peter Chomley (Ge’63) and Swegn Smith (M’63), who managed to gather the 87-strong group for what was a very memorable weekend.

More photos from this reunion can be viewed on the OGG Page of the GGS Community Portal.

Log on via www.ggs.vic.edu.au

Top: Marguerite Ranicar, Jeremy Ranicar (M’63), Tim Squire-Wilson (M’63), Sam Brown (M’63), Wiz Brown and Leal Squire-Wilson. Above: Derek Skues (M’63), Mike Sabey (M’63) and David Elder (M’62).

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OGG SPORT OGG

OGG Sport

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OLD GEELONG NETBALL

OLD GEELONG FOOTBALL

The Old Geelong Netball Club had a successful 2010 with five teams competing across the VAFA and Prahran competitions (two of which made it to the grand final). Socially, more than 150 women attended a Ladies’ Lunch at Club Como organised by Annie Legoe (Cl’03) and Emma Veall (Cl’03), which featured Essendon captain Jobe Watson and Collingwood premiership player Luke Ball as guest speakers. The upcoming 2011 netball season sees seven teams entered in the Prahran Netball Association – three are currently playing in the autumn season, captained by Annie Legoe (Cl’03), Abby Wall (Fr‘00) and Catherine Ross (OGC ‘04), and an additional four teams will be entered in the winter season commencing June 1. If you are interested in joining the Old Geelong Netball Club for the 2011 winter season, please contact club president Ginnie Hope-Johnstone on tel: 0422 188 808 or email: ghopejohnstone@ elitesports.com.au before April 20.

With Round 1 of the VAFA competition starting on April 9 the excitement has reached fever pitch at the Old Geelong Football Club. Some great additions both on and off the field combined with a solid pre-season have the Oggery set for a massive assault on the competition in 2011. Ed Bayles (FB’01) has been appointed captain, replacing Steve Lansdell (Fr’98), whose five-year captaincy is the longest in the club’s history. The committee has also had a shake-up, bolstered by the addition of Frank Herd, Peter Clarke, Nick Roper and Neil Kearney, and the club has formulated a mission statement for the future, which can be found on the home page of our website (www.oldgeelong.com.au) along with our 2011 fixture and information about our Pivot Club lunch at the Junction Oval on May 7. We are pleased to report that many of our long-standing supporters are back in 2011, including major sponsor Bennison Mackinnon. We welcome new sponsors, the Betts Family, and thank our

existing sponsors, including MC Herd, Angus the Bull, Ingram’s, Rex Gorell, Boag’s Draught, Wilson’s Real Estate and Windsor Community Bank. Please come down and support the club during the season as there is no better place to be on a Saturday afternoon in South Yarra than Lady Como.

Jimmy O’Hare (Fr’02)

OLD GEELONG CRICKET In its second season in the MCC Club XI competition, the Old Geelong Cricket Club has enjoyed another strong year, recording a great win against Old Melbourne Grammar in the elimination final before losing to Old Wesley in the semi-finals.

Despite our disappointment it was another good season, much of it spent undefeated, highlighted by the batting of Rob Hunter (M’03). Rob started the season with a century (and new club record score of 115) against Old Scotch (he also took 4/39) and finished the season with 412 runs at an average of 51.5. Cal Wood (OGC) was our leading wicket-taker

OGG SPORT

Left to right: OGS reserves team during its 2010 semi-final (L to R): Max Gubbins (M’08), Justin Lewis (Cu’09), Jack O’Shea (A’09) and Dan Tacconelli.

Photo courtesy of Peter Lemon (FB’64). OGGs Ben Stewart (A’91) and Tyson Blackney (A’98) with Old Geelong Collegians Ben and Solomon Collins in the OGG v OGC Golf Day, Rob Hunter (M’03) had an outstanding season for the Old Geelong Cricket Club, averaging 51.5 runs with the bat.

Photo courtesy of Peter Lemon (FB’64). David Baulch (FB’67) and Bim Affleck (Cu’67) in the OGG v OGC Golf Day at Barwon Heads on March 18.

Coach Julia Bayliss in the cox seat with her learn-to-row charges. The OGS’ Navy netball team (L to R): Sammy Wilson (He ’03), Annie Legoe (Cl ’03), Jessie Bridge, Phoebe Connell (Cl ’03), Georgie Cavanagh (Cl’03), Ginnie Hope-Johnstone, Emma Veall (Cl ’03) and Maggie Lenartowski.

with 18 wickets at an average of 15, including a hat-trick in round 9 and 6/17 against Old Melbourne Grammar.

Roly Imhoff (Cu’95)

OGG V OGC GOLF DAY The 26th annual Old Geelong Grammarians versus Old Geelong Collegians Golf Day was held on Friday 18 March at Barwon Heads Golf Club and 13th Beach Golf Club. A record field of 139 players made up of 72 Old Geelong Collegians and 67 Old Geelong Grammarians played in near perfect conditions. The best individual score for the Old Geelong Grammarians was Andrew Ramsay (Cu’68) with 5 up, followed by Jack Wall (M’03) with a very solid 4 up. While the Old Geelong Collegians won the competition, the day was a great success and we look forward to doing it all again next year on Friday 2 March 2012 at The Barwon Heads Golf Club. If you are interested in playing in the OGG v OGC Golf Day next year and hold a golfing handicap (maximum of 27) please register your interest with Katie Rafferty in

the OGGs Office tel: +61 3 5273 9338 email: katier@ggs.vic.edu.au.

Simon Reed (P’76)

FRANK COVILL ROWING CLUB The Frank Covill Club had a good turnout at its learn-to-row morning on the last Sunday in March. It was pleasing to see several mums and dads of current GGS rowers take up the offer and experience a rower’s-eye-view of their son and/or daughter’s chosen sport. Our thanks goes to club member Julia Bayliss for being their coach for the session and getting them on the water and moving so well in next to no time. Our attention now turns to the upcoming Masters’ Regatta Season over April and May. If you’d like to be a part of a crew for one of these regattas, be it male, female or mixed, please contact club member Michael Cahill on tel: 0419 309 980 or email: michael.cahill@vicbar.com.au.

Peter Thompson (M’77)

OGG ROWING SUCCESSES Charlotte Sutherland (Cl’09) and Sophie Sutherland (Cl’09) were recently selected to row in the Victorian under-21 VIII. Henry Meek (A’10) competed in the Australian National Rowing Championships in Adelaide in March, in the winning crews for the Under 23 Men’s coxed IV, Men’s VIII and Interstate Men’s VIII. Henry is currently rowing for the Melbourne University Boat Club as well as the Victorian under-21 VIII.

OGG SKI CLUB Membership of the OGG Ski Club is open to all OGGs. The club’s recently renovated lodge is centrally located on Stirling Road in the Mt Buller village. It sleeps 18 and is open all year round to both members and non-members. For more information about the OGG Ski Club, including membership, accommodation availability and rates, please contact President Andrew Morphett (FB’73) on tel: 0412 541 151 or email: amorph@bigpond.net.au

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HOGA

The Hermitage Old Girls’ Association CHRISTMAS MORNING TEA The Christmas Morning Tea was held in the All Saints’ Hall in early December. It was lovely to see so many different generations of Old Girls in attendance and by the amount of noise there was plenty of news for everyone to catch up with. It was so nice that Katie Rafferty from the OGGs office was able to join with us. Christmas decorations adorned the tables and a lovely morning tea of homemade cakes and shortbreads was very much enjoyed by everyone. We invited the parents of the Bostock House Choir and The Stringlets to join us for morning tea and to hear the children perform. Quite a number came along, with many grandparents taking the opportunity to hear the performance as well.

The Choir sang quite a varied selection of carols under the guidance of Gavin Dowling who truly inspired the children. We had a small group from The Stringlets (children in Years 3 and 4) who played beautifully on their violins. At the conclusion of the performance we were delighted to present a cheque to Bostock House for its music programme.

ANNUAL REPORT Recently there has been a move of the Archive material from our room in Hermitage House to the “vault” – a building attached to the Fisher Library at Corio which has been purpose-built for the safe storage of memorabilia in a controlled environment with good security. For some time now Kristeen Hunter (He’65), Jan Koch (He’68) and Lesley Robinson (He’52) have been placing photographs, newspaper cuttings, 32

boxes of ledgers and many books into special archival boxes for their preservation and protection. Archivist Melissa Campbell continues to be of immense help with her professional knowledge of the best way to preserve our collection and we extend our thanks to her. Although our collection may seem considerable we are always looking for additions, especially as the school’s history is soon to be written. Please contact Lesley Robinson on 03 5221 1207 or Katie Rafferty in the OGGs office on 03 5273 9338 if you have any memorabilia you would like to donate.

HISTORY OF THE HERMITAGE The OGG Committee has very generously started the contributions towards enabling the history of our school to be written. We are very thankful for that generous offer. We also have our first sponsorship, which will cover the cost of publishing the book. This has been made by committee member Kristeen Hunter (He’65) who has arranged this through the Hunter family business Hunterfive, which publishes the JUST magazine titles and is managed by her son Ashley (A’93). This wonderful sponsorship has been a huge step forward in the project.

Any Old Girls who would similarly like to offer sponsorship should contact Kristeen on 03 5221 1001 or email: kristeenhunter@ hunterfive.com. The opportunity for Old Girls to pre-pay for the book will also be offered later in the year. All sponsorships of this kind will be acknowledged in the book. This is an exciting project that we hope all Old Girls will support.

Above: Three generations at the HOGA Christmas Morning Tea; Susie Officer (Potter, Je’82), her mother Wendy Potter (He’52), and son Thomas Officer (Year 3).

Top: Also at the Morning Tea were Reita Fowler (Richardson, He’47), Jill Daniel (Walter, He’48) and Wynn Holdenson (Walter, He’45). Top left: Elizabeth Thomas (Robinson, He’51) and Mary Gathercole (Stott, He’49). Left: Paddy White (Cain, He’60) and Lorraine Gready (Reynolds, He’60). Far left: Irma Macauley (Skelton, He’46) and Nancy Cole (He’47)

HOGA

Diary Dates WEDNESDAY 18 MAY

AUTUMN LUNCH

To be held at Dromoland House, 258 Pakington Street, Geelong West.

Time: 12 for 12.30pm. Tickets available from Jenny Jordan on 03 5244 0145 SATURDAY 28 MAY

50-YEAR REUNION, 1961 YEAR GROUP

To be held in Melbourne, More details to follow closer to the event. Enquires: Jenny Hensell (Price) on 03 9853 5754 and Sue Warburton (Gooch) on 03 9853 6679 SATURDAY 3 SEPTEMBER

OLD GIRLS’ DAY

At Darling Hall, Geelong Grammar School MONDAY 24 OCTOBER

GOLF DAY AT BARWON HEADS

Enquires to Lib Nicholson (Calvert, He’68) on 0419 398 067 General HOGA event enquires to Ann Tyers via email: agtyers@vic.chariot. net.au or Jenny Jordan on 03 5244 0145

COGA Top: Clyde and St Catherine’s girls dine after the 2010 Fun Cup. Far left: Pictured at the Fun Cup Golf 2010 were Flo Grimwade (Cl’43) and Sybil Baillieu (Barr Smith, Cl’68) Left: The winners of the Fun Cup Golf at Peninsula Golf Course in October 2010 were Victoria d’ Antoine (Hughes, Cl’69) Julie Cole (Baird, Cl’68), Sybil Baillieu (Barr Smith, Cl’68) and Angela (Gadge) Alcock (Gardner, Cl’65)

Clyde Old Girls’ Association ANNUAL JUMBLE SALE On Thursday 23 June the annual Clyde Jumble Sale will take place at St John’s Church Hall in Toorak, behind the Church on the corner of Toorak and Orrong Roads.

Helpers are encouraged to arrive by 9am to help unpack, sort and display the goods and clothing. The sale commences at 10.30am and there is a general frenzy for an hour or so until it concludes at 12 noon. A charity truck from the Uniting Care Prahran Mission will then collect all unsold goods for distribution to its opportunity shops. This brief and crazy sale generates considerable funds each year which are donated to the Isabel Henderson Kindergarten in North Fitzroy. Donating the unsold goods to charity-run shops means that several different community groups can benefit from this annual effort. Clyde Old Girls have been holding the Jumble Sale for nearly 60 years. It’s a wonderful day to reconnect with old friends and rummage through some amazing paraphernalia, including books, clothing, ornaments, artwork, gadgets, and all manner of household items. Please encourage your young friends and family to come and help, and bring a bag of things to sell. You’ll be glad you did! See contact details in Diary Dates.

COGA AGM & OLD GIRLS’ DAY On Sunday 16 October the COGA AGM & Old Girls’ Day will be held. There will be a brief AGM, as usual, followed by a guest speaker, lunch and refreshments. The venue and speaker will be confirmed in the next issue of Light Blue and in the Cluthan to be posted out in September. After the excitement of our

COGA

Diary Dates big Centenary Lunch in 2010, it seems a quiet year for COGA but it’s always good to have a chance to gather with old friends. In the words of a school song from the 1960s and 70s: “Hold fast to what is good, to all that keeps its worth forever. To faith and brotherhood (or sisterhood!), to steadfastness and high endeavour. Scorn not the little things – the golden evanescent minute; the passing linnet; the month of May...” (from ‘Endeavour’, sung by the School on Speech Day). Words worth remembering.

CLYDE SCHOOL ARCHIVES The Clyde School Archives are housed in the Fisher Library at GGS, Corio. All memorabilia, photos and articles are welcome. Sue Schudmak and Jackie Mackinnon are working in the library almost every week on Wednesdays to catalogue all material for posterity. If you would like to help, please contact Jackie at email: jackmack@bigpond. net.au or tel: 0417 371 496.

VALE CAROLINE WALFORD With great sadness we note the passing of Caroline Walford (Cl’71) on 27 December 2010. Caroline was a long-serving COGA Committee member, and editor of The Cluthan 1993-2003. She taught French at Highton during the late 1970s, and also at Timbertop while living in Mansfield in the 1980s. In recent years she was a keen member of the Lyceum Club in Melbourne, serving as President with distinction in 2003-2004. Her intellect, energy, initiative and witty sense of humour will be missed by her family and wide circle of friends.

THURSDAY 23 JUNE

ANNUAL COGA JUMBLE SALE St John’s Church Hall, cnr Toorak & Orrong Rds, Toorak. Enquiries to co-ordinator, Jane Loughnan (Weatherly, Cl’70) on 03 5264 1628.

SUNDAY 16 OCTOBER

COGA AGM & OLD GIRLS DAY Time: 11am-2pm. Venue and guest speaker to be confirmed. Enquiries to COGA President, Margie Gillett (Cordner, Cl’71) on 03 9525 3698, or email: gillett22@bigpond.com.

MONDAY 17 OCTOBER

FUN CUP GOLF, BARWON HEADS GOLF CLUB Time: 8am for shotgun start at 8.30am.

Enquiries to Coordinator, Anna Tucker (Kimpton, Cl’71) on 03 9592 0952 or email: annatucker@owendavies.com.au

THE CLUTHAN 2011 The Cluthan editor Cathie Mahar is collecting material for this year’s issue. Please write and send news and articles by early June to Cathie Mahar, PO Box 93, Leopold, Vic 3224, or email: cathie.mahar@gmail.com

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Ali McGregor (Je’90) performs with GGS music teacher, Paul Rettke, at The Famous Spiegeltent in February.

Ali’s Choice Ali McGregor (Je’90) has been busy. In the past few months the award-winning Opera Australia soprano has starred in the title role of Melbourne Opera’s production of The Merry Widow, presented a Diva’s Choice concert at The Famous Spiegeltent and performed her Late-Nite Variety-Nite Night at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival while also preparing for a national tour of her Jazz Cigarette show, which she will perform at Geelong Grammar School on May 12. Meanwhile, her comedian husband Adam Hills has debuted his own weekly talk show (Adam Hills In Gordon Street Tonight) on the ABC and their daughter Bebe (Beatrice) celebrates her first birthday next month. “It is very hectic but very rewarding,” Ali said. “At the moment we are enormously busy but I feel like I’ve found my niche in the world and I’m not going to take a back seat.”

Ali could hardly be accused of ever taking a back seat. After leaving GGS in 1990, she studied music at the Australian National University and completed her Bachelor of Music at the Royal Northern College of Music in Manchester as a Sir Peter Moores Scholar. Her first lead role was playing Polly Peachum in Jonathan Miller’s production of The Beggar’s Opera at Wilton’s Music Hall in London, and she went on to present La Traviata – Live from Paris for Channel 4 with British composer Howard Goodall. Ali was eventually lured back to Australia by Simone Young, the then chief conductor of Opera Australia, where she became principal soprano and 34

won a Green Room Award for her performance of Clorinda in La Cenerentola in 2003.

In 2005 she ventured beyond opera and created her own cabaret/vaudeville show, Opera Burlesque, which she has performed at festivals around the world, including the Edinburgh Fringe, Glastonbury and Waterford Festival in Ireland. She continued to bend genres by creating a solo cabaret show, Midnight Lullabies, and has become a popular performer at the Melbourne International Comedy Festival, where her Late-Nite Variety-Nite Night has featured guests as diverse as Tim Minchin and Hamish & Andy. While she still performs opera, Ali has built a reputation as a unique interpreter of modern pop and rock songs, combining old and new school to entertain all-comers. “My strength has always been as an entertainer and they are all just different styles,” she explains.

“I don’t feel like I’ve got a split personality – I feel like I’m being true to myself.”

In February, Ali was invited to curate a Diva’s Choice concert for The Famous Spiegeltent, selecting three “inspiring” musicians to perform with: the creative force behind Keating! The Musical, Casey Bennetto, award-winning composer and cellist Iain Grandage, and Geelong Grammar School music teacher Paul Rettke. “I picked three people who had influenced me at different times in my life,” Ali explained. “Paul was a very big influence early on.

I’ve recently gone back to jazz, which was my first love, and he introduced me to all of that music.” She said it was “very cool” to join Paul on stage at The Famous Spiegeltent, noting that 20 years had changed the nature of the relationship.

“It was surprising how easily he felt like a colleague,” she said. “Speaking to people like Missy Higgins, we all think of Paul as a musician, not a teacher.”

Ali will revisit her roots in more ways than one when she tours her Jazz Cigarette show during May/June. Backed by three of Australia’s finest jazz musicians, the show sees Ali perform the songs that made her want to sing, including classic jazz and blues numbers made famous

by Billie Holiday, Ella Fitzgerald and Hoagy Carmichael, as well as Ali’s unique interpretations of more contemporary songs like ‘Sweet Dreams’ by the Eurythmics. She will bring the show to Geelong Grammar School’s Chapel of All Saints on May 12. “I’m really looking forward to it, especially since we’re playing in the Chapel because that was where I got my first taste of performing, singing solos with the School Choir.”

Ali McGregor will perform her Jazz Cigarette show as part of the Geelong Grammar School Concert Series on Thursday 12 May at 7.30pm. For further information contact Helen Grozdanovski at the Music School on tel: +61 3 5273 9275 or email: heleng@ggs.vic.edu.au.

General Sir John Hackett

GCB, CBE, DSO and Bar, MC, DL, BLitt(Oxon), MA(Oxon), FRSL, HonLL.D

Shan Hackett’s obituary in The Times in 1997 began: “Generally, if somewhat grudgingly, acknowledged as the cleverest soldier of his generation, John Hackett combined intellectual attainments of a very high order with a fine record of leadership and gallantry in action stretching back to campaigns conducted before World War II.” The centenary of his birth on 5 November 1910 occasioned memorial lectures in Australia, Britain, and America on training for leadership in a complex world – commemorating one who had combined with distinction the roles of soldier and scholar. On the one hand, he had been four times decorated, Deputy Chief of the Imperial General Staff, Commander-in-Chief of the British Army of the Rhine, and a NATO general. On the other, he had kept nine languages (including Greek, Latin, and Arabic) active to the end of his life, and been Principal and then Visiting Professor of Classics at King’s College, London, and President of both the Classical and the English Associations. He was an author, and two of his books, together entitled The Third World War (1978 and 1982) – intended to help avert one – sold more than three million copies. During a very active retirement, he was President of the United Kingdom branch of the Old Geelong Grammarians, having been a boy at GGS from 1921 to 1928. “If I were asked,” he wrote, “what have been the most abiding and important influences in my life, I would without any hesitation answer: my regiment; New College, Oxford; and Geelong Grammar School – all in equal top order of priority.”

book of legends of the Dordenup tribe that she had known when young. Shan revered his parents but told me how glad he was that he had not inherited his father’s riches: “If I had, I would have been bone idle.”

The only son, with four sisters, of remarkable parents, he was born in Perth where his father, Sir Winthrop Hackett (1848-1916), an immigrant from Ireland (descended from William de Haket who had accompanied King John there and acquired large property in Tipperary), was editor and eventually sole proprietor of the West Australian newspaper, a member of the Western Australian parliament, a delegate to the 1890s Conventions that framed the Commonwealth Constitution, and first Chancellor of the University of Western Australia, which he substantially endowed as he did other institutions in that State. His mother, Deborah (1887-1965), was a daughter of Frederick Drake-Brockman, Surveyor-General of Western Australia, and Grace Bussell, heroine of an 1878 shipwreck. Thrice widowed, she was successively Lady Hackett, Lady Moulden, and Dr Buller Murphy – a leading hostess, welfare worker, philanthropist, pioneer in the development for industrial purposes of wolfram and tantalite, and author of a

Already twice wounded, he formed and took into battle in Italy the 4th Parachute Brigade and at Arnhem saw its destruction (“Of my own brigade, about a thousand strong in parachute infantry when we dropped in, not many more than a hundred came out, and I was not among them”).

Four years in Junior House and four in Cuthbertson (he decided to stay at GGS rather than go on to Winchester) saw him finish as dux, with honours in ten Leaving subjects and a reputation for amusing mischief (he once introduced a sheep into the Head Master’s study for an overnight stay). Though short of stature, he played in the first eighteen and was fives champion.

In 1929 he made at the laying of the foundation-stone of the Hackett Hall at the University of Western Australia a speech which in its wisdom and felicity of expression foreshadowed his later writings.

At Oxford he read successively the Honour Schools of Literae Humaniores (or “Greats”) and Modern History – and later was one of four OGGs (the others were Sir Alexander Downer and Sir Vincent Fairfax, who had been his friends at GGS, and Sir John Young) to be Vice-Presidents of the Oxford Society (typically, he remarked that only Eton and Winchester had more!). He wrote a BLitt thesis on Saladin.

“I wanted to see the world” was how he explained his decision to be a soldier, and he saw the military as a civilised profession, a promoter of good order.

Commissioned in 1931 into a cavalry regiment, the 8th King’s Royal Irish Hussars, he remained a regular soldier until 1968 – serving for the first decade in the Middle East.

Captured and taken to be dying from stomach wounds, he was saved by a British surgeon – in what has been called a surgical miracle – and spirited by the Dutch underground into hiding in the loft of a house where he was supplied with classic works and had four months of uninterrupted reading that he counted one of his richest experiences.

He wrote of it in I Was a Stranger (1977) – my favourite among his books. He escaped, and a succession of high posts followed, as did a flow of lectures, articles, and reviews. His 1962 Lees Knowles lectures at Cambridge (The Profession of Arms, republished in an expanded edition in 1983) were influential, and television made him a familiar figure. At King’s he surprised many, in an era of student revolt, by his sympathetic understanding of the young. In 1980 he returned, memorably, to GGS as an Endowment Trust Visitor. He edited Warfare in the Ancient World (1989). He listed in Who’s Who as his recreations “fishing, wine, music” and “the pursuit of exactitude, called by some pedantry”. Active to the last, he died on 9 September 1997.

In 1942 he married Margaret Grossman, an Austrian citizen (technically an “enemy alien”) whom as a widow he had met by the Sea of Galilee. A daughter, Susan, was born to them, and he adopted his stepdaughters, Bridget and Elizabeth. He and Lady Hackett (who died in 2007) lived latterly in Gloucestershire, and – a lover of his ancestral Ireland – he had a fishing lodge in Donegal. When, in 1967, he was most highly honoured as Knight Grand Cross of the Order of the Bath, he chose Peregrine and Owl as Supporters of his Arms, symbolic respectively of the soldier and the scholar. His Banner was hung in the beautiful Henry VII Chapel of Westminster Abbey.

Australia remained his homeland. In 1969 the Prime Minister, John Gorton (a younger contemporary at GGS), nearly invited him to be Governor-General (in the event the post went to another Western Australian, Sir Paul Hasluck). Shan’s ashes, and Margaret’s, now rest with the remains of his parents in Perth, in the Karrakatta Cemetery near the University that was his father’s chief legacy to the nation.

Michael Collins Persse Curator 35

FROM THE CURATOR

Michael Collins Persse

From the Curator Peter Bassett-Smith (P’27) celebrated his 100th birthday on 25 January 2011 – so far as we know, only the second Old Boy of GGS to achieve centenarian status, the first having been Arthur Havard OBE (Cu’19), who died four days after his 100th birthday in 2001. Peter, whom we salute, and his wife, Diana, had many visitors on the day including Thorry Gunnersen AM (FB’58; Council 1973-83) and Peter Williams (FB’61).

Elizabeth Marshall née Agar (Cl’32), who died in September 2010, aged 96, was the subject of an obituary in The Age on 18 November by her daughter Hanna Sky. National vice-president of the Australian Red Cross Society from 198188, she played a leading role in producing Grassroots, a book used by emergency organizations in the training of volunteers.

With Dorothy Eaton she established Sefton Lodge, a residential cottage for elderly women with Alzheimer’s disease, and wrote Forgetting but not Forgotten. She was a member of the board that established Wintringham Hostels for Homeless People, and for 20 years was a welfare member of the Social Security Appeals Tribunal. A child of Professor Wilfred Agar, she studied at Munich University in the 1930s and observed at close quarters the growth of Nazism, recorded in her book (compiled from letters and diaries), An Accidental Brush with History (Griffin Press, 2006). After further study at Oxford, she served during World War Two in the Women’s Royal Naval Service as a radio operator intercepting messages between German minelayers and torpedo boats as they prepared to attack Allied convoys along the English coast. She married Leslie (Freddie) Marshall, a lieutenant in charge of coastal listening stations, and after the war, with a growing family (eventually of four), they settled at Panton Hill where she ran a children’s holiday home while he, now deputy director of naval intelligence, commuted to Melbourne. From 1960, for 14 years, she was a social worker with the Repatriation Department. After 60 years of Red Cross service she was made an honorary life member “as a person who contributed passionately to the power of humanity, to the care of vulnerable people, and to the development of the Red Cross”.

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John McMillan (Cu’33), who died in October 2010, served – mostly as a manager – with the Bank of New South Wales (later Westpac) for 44 years. In six years of war service with the RAAF and the RAF, he rose to the rank of SquadronLeader. A grandson of Alexander McMillan JP (Old School 1880), who was a bank manager, Geelong West councillor, and original commissioner of the Geelong Harbour Trust, and son of Stanley McMillan (OS’08), a grazier and merino breeder at Englewood Park near Inverleigh, he was a countryman at heart and in his successive postings – at Geelong, Bairnsdale, Altona, Carnegie, Warrnambool, Shepparton, and Ballarat – a pillar of support to his regional customers. Early in 1941, before leaving for advanced training in Canada under the Empire Air Training Scheme, he married Joy Bell (He’36), from a prominent Geelong family, who survived him (nearly 70 years later) with their children, Angela and Michael (Ge’67), and four grandchildren.

His Air Force service included two years in the Burma campaign with 60 Squadron of the RAF, which had lost all its Blenheims during the retreat from Burma, and which went on to help turn the tide towards victory, sometimes with as many as three sorties in a single day. John flew 50 missions against the Japanese, on one occasion flying back to base in East Bengal (now Bangladesh) on one engine, and on another belly-landing with the hydraulics of his Blenheim shot away. Later he led 2 Squadron of the RAAF, mainly on reconnaissance and low-level strikes on islands in the Timor Sea, and was in charge of an advance party of 150 men establishing a forward base for Mitchell bombers at Balikpapan in Borneo.

Legacy remained a great interest, as did golf. Michael has summed up his father as “a contributor to the community who volunteered his services without hesitation, happier to give than to receive” – and a dedicated family man.

Dr Frank Champion de Crespigny (P’35), who died in September 2010, was a revered General Practitioner for 41 years at Ararat, where his father was one for 44. The older brother of Jim (P/ FB’38), Humphrey (P/FB’38; Chairman of Clyde School Council 1969-71), and Peter (FB’43), he went on from four years at GGS to the University of Melbourne, graduating in Medicine in 1941. On completing a residency at the Alfred Hospital in 1943, he married one of its nurses, Jean Buckwell, with whom he had two daughters, Diana (Hone) and Wendy (Crombie), and three sons, David (Cu’64), Andrew (Cu’68), and Richard (Cu’70). Early in 1945 Frank went with his unit to Bougainville where for seven months, until the war ended, he treated sick and wounded servicemen.

Having contracted tuberculosis, he spent

the next year in the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital, after which, despite offers of specialist training, he returned to Ararat to set up practice. Knowing his patients thoroughly and practising true “medical friendship”, he became a skilled surgeon, anaesthetist, and obstetrician, trusted for his kindness and clinical acumen – and with extraordinary commitment keeping up with rapid developments in medicine. He served for 14 years on the city council – from 195557 as mayor – and achieved a better water supply for the district from Lake Fyans.

Other civic service included the presidency of the local branch of the RSL and of the Ararat Hospital board, and membership of the committee of the Ararat Art Gallery committee and of the vestry of the Anglican Church. Rotary Australia honoured him with a Paul Harris fellowship for his contribution to the community. Jean died soon after their 50th wedding anniversary. Frank was warm, friendly, hospitable, and a wide reader. He is survived by sixteen grandchildren, nine great-grandchildren, his brother Peter, and his sister, Rosemary Baylis.

Peter Kemp (FB’41), who died in March 2011, was a son of Reginald Kemp and his wife, Ann (known as Nancy), née Peck (Clyde ‘17). At GGS – where he was followed by his brother, Ian (FB’43) – he excelled at boxing, swimming, and tennis, and became a School Sub-Prefect.

Having enlisted in the RAAF immediately on leaving school, he was posted in 1944 to 93 (Beaufighter) Squadron on fighter attack work in the Pacific as a Flight Lieutenant (for a time Acting Squadron Leader at only 21), followed by 22 Repair and Salvage Unit as a Test Pilot and then 77 (Kittyhawk) Squadron, latterly in the Occupation Force in Japan. Discharged with the rank of Squadron Leader in 1947, he flew freighters with Tradair and both freighters and passenger planes with Ansett until 1956. In 1948 he married Jean Dalrymple (Cl’31), and they had four children: Wanda (Cl’67), Andrew (P’68), Simon (Cu’70), and Caroline (Cl’74), who married Greg Thomson (GGS Staff 1982). Having farmed for a time near Gisborne, they moved to Albury in 1963 and Peter worked for Pivot Superphosphate. After their marriage and a later one had ended, Peter lived mostly in North Queensland. He started flying again – mustering cattle from 1980 to 1985 – and then settled at El Arish until he bought land at Mission Beach where Wanda assisted him in building his final home. From 1984 he was the companion of Janet Langley (Matron, FB, 1980-87), mother of Jock Langley (P’82). Peter had a great love of history, a keen intellect, and a fine capacity for friendship. As well as his sons and Janet, several of his nine grandchildren paid tribute to him at his funeral at Mission Beach, including Rupert Kemp (M’10) and Joe Kemp (Yr10 M), sons of Simon and Cathie.

Peter Wright (FB’43), who died in January 2011, enlisted in the AIF in May 1944 and, after training, was selected for the Australian Water Transport section of the Royal Australian Engineers, with which he was involved in the invasion of Labuan, later helping to evacuate former Prisoners of War from the Sandakan camp. An accident left him with a fractured spine that necessitated nine months in the Heidelberg Repatriation Hospital. Training in Mechanical Engineering followed, and in 1951 he married Margaret Donaldson, with whom he had three children: Belinda, Richard (FB’72), and Deborah Dumais (Cl’72). After farming at Ecklin South, then Darlington, and later near Ararat, he moved into Ararat with his family and worked as an estate agent with Dalgety’s. An obituary in the Ararat Advertiser of 25 March paid tribute to his “legacy of great works”: he was an Ararat Councillor for nine years, including a term as mayor, and the champion of various causes including the saving of the Ararat library. Margaret, their children, and six grandchildren survive him.

Gavin Casey (Cu’48), who died in October 2010, was born on 21 January 1929.

He went on from ten years at GGS to the Royal Agricultural College at Cirencester, jackarooed in Queensland, and returned to the family farm at Coldstream. A keen polo player and champion skier, he was the father of five with his first wife, Judith Hunter. They established a sheep property near Bombala, built a homestead, and made an airstrip (in the words of his son Tim, “Dad learned to fly, designed the round sheep yards, and farmed the harsh Bombala landscape”); then moved to Sydney where Gavin began a new career in the sheep export industry (he designed the live-sheep ships still in use). In 1977 he married Virginia Statham, with whom he had 33 happy years. Tim said that his father “saw the good in everybody” and was “gentle with people and animals”, shy, extremely loyal, humble, frugal, a listener, non-judgemental, “a true gentleman”, and “a great teacher of all things practical”. He was proud of his 18 grandchildren, and Family Day in 2010 saw him and Virginia happily at Corio with his daughter Georgina and her husband, Antony Lynch (Cu’79), to share the day with their daughter Chloe (Yr11 Cl) who had just begun her first term at Corio.

Dr Donald L Gibbon (M’52), who died at Pittsburgh, Pennsylvania, in October 2010, was a senior research fellow in industrial chemistry, advanced microscopy, and material science with Calgon, a subsidiary of Merck & Co Inc, and with English China Clays.

He became a PhD of Rice University in 1964 and was a 1st Lieutenant in the US Army’s Corps of Engineers. His sister Harriet Gibbon Langfeldt (Cl’52) kindly informed us of his death.

Charles Campbell AM, GCStJ (M’54), who died in January 2011, was made Bailiff Grand Cross (only the fourth Australian thus honoured) in the Most Venerable Order of the Hospital of St John of Jerusalem, having for 22 years been CEO of its Australian Priory and made it the hub of St John Ambulance services in Australia. In the same year he was promoted within the Order of Australia from Medal to Membership “for service to the community through conservation and heritage organizations in the Australian Capital Territory and the development of extended care services through St John Ambulance”. He inherited Woden, the 92 hectares remaining from 19th-century properties held by descendants of the pioneer merchant Robert Campbell (Charles’s great-great-grandfather) including Yarralumla, now the seat of the Governor-General, and Duntroon (of which Woden was once the outstation), now the site of the Royal Military College. In 1970 Charles married a cousin, Martha Rutledge (author of 165 articles in the 18 published volumes of the Australian Dictionary of Biography, on whose staff she served), and they had two sons, Patrick and Daniel. The National Trust, whose Canberra branch he helped found, and also the Australiana Fund, benefited from his strong, kindly, and subtle diplomacy, knowledge of Australian history and Australiana, and appreciation of others’ sensitivities, as did the historic homestead, Lanyon, of whose restoration and acquisitions committee he was the founding chairman, adept at reconciling the interests of government and National Trust, and capable of making even the dullest business enjoyable. The garden at Woden was made beautiful by him and Martha, and Charles, in a highly individual way, has passed on a tradition both of stewardship of the land and of service to the community.

John Macknight (Cu’54) was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the 2011 Australia Day Honours “for service to the aviation industry, and to the community”.

Emeritus Professor David Cockayne FRS (Ge’60), who died in December 2010, was director of the Electron Microscope Unit at the University of Sydney from 1974-99, and from 2000-09 Professor in the Physical Examination of Materials at Oxford, where at Magdalen College he had earlier obtained a doctorate and at Christ Church been a research fellow. Described in an obituary by Guy Cox in The Sydney Morning Herald on 1 February as “a worldleading expert on the electron microscopy of semiconductors, a field of huge importance in the digital age”, he was Editor-in-Chief of Micron from 1991-2009 – and one of four OGGs at school between 1944 and 1960 (when he was a School Prefect and Dux) to have been elected Fellows of the Royal

Society. One of three children born in England to John Cockayne and his wife, Ivy, he came with them to Australia in 1951 and attended GGS as a Scholar from 1954. In 1967, in England, he married Jean Kerr, who had followed him over, and he is survived by her, their three children, a baby granddaughter, his brother – the Reverend Michael Cockayne OAM (Ge’62) – and a stepsister.

Sidney Hordern Myer (Gl’66) was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the 2011 Australia Day Honours “for service to the community through a range of philanthropic, rural development, and zoological organisations”.

Caroline Walford (Cl’71; Staff, Highton 1978-79, Timbertop 1983-86), who died in December 2010, taught French and English at Highton and later, as Caroline Cameron, was Secretary and then taught at Timbertop.

A graduate of Monash University, with a Rusden DipEd, she was the much-loved friend of many. Among her roles were those of grazier (breeding Black Angus cattle), guest-house operator, president in the 1990s of both the Mansfield District Hospital Ladies’ Auxiliary and the Mansfield Kindergarten Committee, and president from 2003-05 of the Lyceum Club in Melbourne. She was the mother of Harriet, Eliza, and Hugh Cameron (M’09). A great-grandfather was William Thomas Walford (OS from 1863).

The Honourable Simon Ramsay (M’72) is one of two OGGs (see below for the other) who, after the November 2010 State election in which he stood as a Liberal candidate for Western Province, joined the Honourable Philip Davis (P’70), Liberal Member for Gippsland from 1992, and the Honourable Andrea Coote (GGS Director of Development 1996-98), Liberal Member for Southern Metropolitan from 2006, in the Legislative Council. A son of the late Andrew Ramsay (Cu’46), he is the father of two daughters and Andrew Ramsay (A’07), and was President of the Victorian Farmers’ Federation from 2005-09.

Sarah Wood née Lloyd Jones (P’74) took the photographs in the Victorian Heritage Avenues of Honour Exhibition at the Shrine of Remembrance in Melbourne towards the end of 2010. Among the many such Avenues established in Victoria, mainly after World War One, she limited her show to those listed on the Heritage Register for Victoria: Eurack, Woodend, Ballarat, Macleod, and another near Shepparton. Her interest in garden history helped lead her to the Avenues, as did a tradition of military service in her family.

Agon Guzelian (Co’76), who died in January 2011, was a musician who graduated from the Victorian College of the Arts when he was 20. A master of the violin, flute, and saxophone, he also wrote some compositions. Elizabeth and Max Guzelian (Staff 1970-88) have all our loving sympathy as they mourn their talented son.

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Tim Mercer (M/L’77), who died in September 2010, was the son of Peter Mercer (M/FB’39) and his wife, Angela, daughter of the Honourable James Fairbairn MHR (M’15; Chairman of GGS Council 1937-40), who while Minister for Air was killed with other leading Australians in 1940 in an air crash near Canberra, where Fairbairn Airport commemorates him. Tim inherited a tradition of involvement in the pastoral industry, a high sense of public duty (Fairbairns have been members of Australian parliaments in four generations), a keen sense of humour, and a love of rowing (he was in the School’s second eight and coached its eighth to victory). As a School Prefect he had the affectionate nickname Mum for his kindly care of juniors. Having worked in New Zealand and graduated with a Diploma of Agriculture from Lincoln College, he returned home to Wagra Creek near Euroa and helped Peter with the sheep, cattle, and cropping – eventually running it – while also, with his own truck, carrying hay bales throughout Victoria, working as a wool buyer, and managing a friend’s property at Ruffy. In 1988 he married Erica Sudlow, a pharmacist, with whom he had Emily and Edward (M’10). Work with the local stock agent led to the formation in 1995 of a partnership whose name, OMH, reflected the surnames O’Dea, Mercer, and Harrington. Far beyond the call of duty, Tim helped clients who became an ever-widening circle of friends. He was a volunteer at Creighton’s Creek Country Fire Authority, and when fire threatened Timbertop in 2006 he rallied friends to defend it if necessary. His memorial service at Euroa was attended by hundreds, and he is greatly missed.

The Honourable Georgie Crozier (Je’81), as a result of the State election of November 2010, became a Liberal MLC for Southern Metropolitan Region in the Victorian Parliament. Her father, the Honourable Digby Crozier (M’44), served in the Legislative Council as Liberal Member for Western Province from 1973-85 and in the Legislative Assembly as Member for Portland from 1985-88 (holding successive Ministries: State Development, Decentralisation, and Tourism 1976-79; Local Government 1979-81; and Minerals and Energy 1981-82).

Emily Humphries (Cl’81) received the 2010 Artegiro Artist Residency Award in Italy, the Galleria Artegiro at Montefiascone presenting a solo exhibition of her work entitled “Ecstasies: In and Out of the Sublime” Emma Zipper née Niall (Ga’86) is the General Counsel and Company Secretary of the Bupa Australia Group of companies, which won the title of Australian Corporate Lawyer Association Legal Team of the Year for 2010. She herself was shortlisted as one of three for Australian Corporate Lawyer of the Year.

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Drew Berry (M’87) was awarded one of the 2010 MacArthur Fellowships – the only one outside the United States. Fellows, of whom in the past two decades there have been 828, must be either American citizens by birth or resident there, and awards are made (with “no strings attached”) to “talented individuals who have shown extraordinary originality and dedication in their creative pursuits and a marked capacity for self-direction”. There are normally more than 100 nominators for the Fellowships, each of which carries a stipend of US$500,000. Drew is a Biomedical Animator “enhancing” (as described in the award) ”our understanding of a wide range of biological processes and systems by synthesizing data from a variety of fields into scientifically accurate, aesthetically rich visualisations”.

two at Timbertop, and 30 at Corio. He is gratefully remembered by many pupils and colleagues, particularly for his devoted and typically unobtrusive service over 20 years as head of the Audio-Visual department and for his involvement and leadership in the Yacht Club. But his contribution to life at GGS was a wide one and included tutoring successively in six Houses, coaching no less than five sports (Australian Rules football, rugby, cricket, hockey, and particularly sailing), and teaching Geography, History, Social Studies, and Business Principles. In all his roles Peter was a tower of quiet strength who, by his dedication, cheerfulness, and transparent humility influenced our community for good.

Our loving thoughts are with Jan and their children, Sally (A’84) and Andrew (A’89).

Portia de Rossi (Hi’87 as Amanda Rogers) has written of her life in Unbearable Lightness: A Story of Loss and Gain (Atria, New York, and Hardie Grant, Melbourne, 2010), described by Augusten Burroughs as a “rich, layered book of remarkable courage, power, and significance”.

Emeritus Professor Mollie Holman AO (Council 1981-90), who died in August 2010 aged 80, was Professor of Physiology at Monash University from 1970-96 and internationally known for her pioneering work in neuro-physiology.

Lucy McEachern (Ga’99) has produced limited-edition bronze scupture that, with hand-coloured lino-cuts by Vida Pearson, after exhibition at Yering Station Vineyard in Victoria, is to be shown in Roma, Queensland, from 29 April to 5 June and at the Purple Noon Gallery in the Blue Mountains, New South Wales, from 11 June to 31 July. In the exhibition, entitled “Cut and Formed on the Plains”, are 13 birds ranging from small owls to a life-size pelican.

Norman Maggs (Staff 195966), who died on 22 October 2010, was a Welshman who taught Mathematics, Technical Drawing, and Art, tutored in Connewarre House, and coached rugby enthusiastically at GGS before going on to 20 years’ service at the new Yarra Valley Church of England Boys’ Grammar School where he established an Art and Craft department and became a housemaster, head of Middle School, head of Outdoor Education, Senior Master, and in 1980 Acting Headmaster.

Their Maggs Rugby Field commemorates him, and in retirement he assisted with their Past Students’ Association. In the words of Les Christie (Staff 1964-69), his colleague at both schools, “his cheerful disposition, Welsh accent, and keen interest in all his many friends will be sadly missed.” Our fond thoughts are with Patricia and their son David (T’77; Assistant at Timbertop 1981).

Peter Graham (Staff 196098), who died on 16 January 2011, was a New Zealander born on 13 November 1937.

He taught for seven years at Bostock House (in Newtown before the move to Highton in 1962),

BIRTHS Joanna and Sam Austin (Cu’87), a daughter, Camilla Eleanor, on 10 March 2011 Louise Baker and Jason Patton (FB’90), a son, Armond (Baker-Patton), on 1 May 2009 Sarah and James Boothby (M’93), a daughter, Sophie Elizabeth, on 6 January 2011 Danielle Calder (Staff, Toorak, 2007-) and Jacob Caine, a daughter, Jeannette Ella, on 3 February 2011 Samantha and Christopher Darling (A’93), a daughter, Jemima, in August 2010 Claire and Alex Dobson (Cu’94), a daughter, Georgina Frances Anne, on 24 January 2009 Lucinda and James Earl (M’96), a daughter, Margot Constance, on 11 June 2009 Erica née Stevens (Cl’96) and Scott Easton, a son, William Timothy, on 19 November 2010 Sandra and Nicholas Fairfax (M’89), a daughter, Amber Rose Vaccaro, on 13 June 2010 Kerstin Zander and Stephen Garnett (FB’72), a son, Christopher Merlin, on 19 January 2011 Sarah née Cole (Cl’95) and Andrew Gaussen (M’95), a daughter, Fleur Elisabeth Amherst, on 5 February 2011 Nicole née Copulos (Ga’04) and Matthew Georgiou, a son, Alexander Matthew, on 2 November 2010 Serena nee Bromell (Je’88) and Andrew Gleeson, a daughter, Millie Serena, on 5 December 2004 Fiona née Bayles and Peter Gowers, twin son and daughter, Oscar James Peter and Scarlett Safia Fiona, on 29 January 2011

Amy née Wilson (He’97) and Chris Guest, a son, Harry Christopher George, on 9 March 2011

Nicola née Higgins (Ga’93) and Oliver Taylor, a son, Alfie George Brown, on 20 September 2010

Georgina née McCowan (A’94) and John Guise (Fr’94), a daughter, Olivia Jane, on 15 October 2010

Eda née Hindhaugh (Cl’91) and Craig Williamson, a daughter, Philippa Elizabeth, on 28 August 2007

Jessica and Angus Henderson (M’93), a daughter, Arabella Martha, on 30 July 2010

MARRIAGES

Shelley and James Hindhaugh (Cu’93), three sons, Thomas Christopher on 14 July 2005, Maxwell James on 28 March 2007, and Charlie Stewart on 5 January 2011

Pip Ainsworth (Fr’94) married Warren Jankowski on 4 December 2010 Mark Avery (FB’97) married Amelia Chiarizia (Ga’01) on 19 March 2011

Simina and Russ Kun (Cu’93), a son, Mark Genghis, on 14 February 2011

Sarah Cahill (A’01) married Jolyon George on 19 December 2009

Catherine and David Lawrance (M’93), a daughter, Eliza Jessie, on 29 March 2010

Margaret (Meg) Clancy (Ga’96) married Michael Taylor on 30 May 2009

Georgina and Robert Lawrance (P’87), a son, Finn Charles Russell, on 8 April 2010

Rebecca Cooney (Ga’84) married Kim Fitzgerald on 16 April 2011

Amy and Charlie Levinge (P’91), a son, William Charles Richard, on 14 January 2011

Kimberley Copulos (Ga’06) married Andrew Giankos on 8 May 2010

Rachael and Hamish Little (P’86), a son, Edward Lockhart, on 24 January 2011

Carmen Fraser (Cl’03) married Mitchell John King on 12 February 2011

Indi and Nickle McCulloch (Cu’89), two sons, William John on 13 November 2002 and George Nicholas on 3 May 2004

Lucy Fraser (He’99) married Edward Wilcox on 29 January 2011

Eliza née Holt (Ga’96) and Jim McKenna, a daughter, Arabella Skye, on 3 February 2011 Amanda née Steele (Ga’98) and Heath McLeod, a daughter, Pia Frances, on 10 August 2010

Phoebe Gleeson (He’99) married Nicholas Jefferson on 26 March 2011 Thomas Griffiths (A/L’99) married Jane Swingler on 6 November 2010 Peter Groves (M’59) married Serafina Valieva on 4 February 2011

Julia née Smith (He’96) and Stuart Menzies, a son, Thomas Keith, on 23 December 2010

Nicola Higgins (Ga’93) married Oliver Taylor on 26 February 2010

Hailey and Andrew Noble (Cu’97), a son, Ashton, in August 2009 and a daughter, Gracie Ray, on 15 January 2011

Georgina McCowan (A’94) married John Guise (Fr’94) on 31 October 2009

Chris née Hill (Staff, Toorak, 2008-) and Raphaël Nottebohm, a son, Luca Raphaël, on 5 February 2011 Cathrine McCallig and Robert Oliphant (A/L’81), a son, Harry Joseph McCallig, on 15 September 2008 Holly Gredley and Toby Osborne (FB/L’92), a son, Archie Peter William, on 7 December 2010 Andrea and Hamish Robinson (Cu’87), a son, Frederick Roger Ignatius, on 4 December 2010 Chrissy and Trent Roydhouse (Fr’95), a daughter, Clementine Jade, on 25 January 2011 Sarah née Turner (Ga’92) and Andrew Sampson, a son, Henry Edward, on 25 December 2008 and a daughter, Charlotte Luise, on 18 June 2010 Cara Horner (Staff, Timbertop, 1999-2000) and Steven Sansome, a daughter, Amber Zoe, on 12 August 2010 Susannah Scott-Barber née Scott (Ga’93) and Tim Barber (FB’84), a son, Monte Fox (Scott-Barber), on 23 September 2009 and a daughter, Amity Mae (Scott-Barber), on 28 February 2011 Margaret (Meg) née Clancy (Ga’96) and Michael Taylor, a daughter, Heidi Elizabeth, on 30 August 2010

Carly Jayne Mills (A’01) married Luke Kimberley Blunden on 4 February 2011 Richard Nesseler (Cu’96) married Ashley Kay (Hi’95) on 15 January 2011 Edward Parkinson-Bates (Cu’94) married Anna Vince in June 2009 Cameron Rahles-Rahbula (FB’02) married Emily Jansen on 4 December 2010 Amanda Steele (Ga’98) married Heath McLeod on 29 November 2008 Cameron Systermans (A’04) married Hiroko Inoue on 6 December 2009 Skye Weatherly (Cl’95) married Rob Davies on 31 December 2010 George Wilson (M’98) married Rachel Lundie on 15 January 2011 Thomas Wilson (Cu’00) married Georgina Pitcher on 5 March 2011

DEATHS Geoffrey William Ainsworth (1958-64) on 2 February 2011 Tani Anderson (Clyde 1957-62) on 6 February 2011 Brian Stanley Baulch (1940-48) in March 2011 Edith Jeanette Black née Cuttle (The Hermitage to 1937) John Austin Blomfield (1948-56) on 16 January 2011 Charles Arthur Collis Campbell AM, GCStJ (1949-54) on 18 January 2011

(The Reverend) William John Clayden (1945-50) on 28 November 2010 (Emeritus Professor) David John Hugh Cockayne FRS (1954-60) on 22 December 2010 Mona Conner née Rogerson (Clyde 1928-31) in November 1993 Richard Moule Court (1949-54) on 20 December 2010 (Dr) James Morison Gardiner (1933-39) on 19 February 2011 Donald Leroy Gibbon (1950-52) on 13 October 2010 Peter Alexander Graham (Staff 1960-98) on 16 January 2011 Agon Guzelian (1976) on 11 January 2011 Christopher Stuart Harvey (1974-77) on 13 March 2011 Nessy Ingham née Gill (Clyde 1937-40) on 4 July 2010 Elizabeth (Betty) Jaffray (The Hermitage to 1945) on 22 January 2011 Peter Somerville Kemp (1938-41) on 26 March 2011 Edith McCallum née Thompson (The Hermitage to 1935) Alexander (Sandy) MacLachlan (1986-89) on 13 January 2011 Peter George McCracken (1948-54) on 12 March 2011 Gwendolyn Zeta McIntyre née McCann (The Hermitage to 1936) on 26 August 2010 Frederick Moore (1935-42) on 28 January 2011 Andrew Irvine Morrison (1939-41) on 22 October 2010 Elizabeth Piggott née Rowan (The Hermitage to 1942) Janet Reid née Campbell (Clyde 1947-52) on 24 May 2010 Hamish McIntosh Roddick (2003-07) on 26 March 2011 James Russell (1935-43) on 12 December 2010 Aurel Vernon Smith (1928-34) on 6 February 2011 Alastair Reginald Stephen (1944-52) on 21 March 2011 Violet June Thomas née Hunter (The Hermitage to 1945) on 15 January 2011 Lorraine Thomason (former Library, then Music School, staff) on 12 January 2011 Dorothy Anne Blackwood Tinney née Ranken (The Hermitage to 1968) in January 2011 Heather Mary Vines née MacDonald (The Hermitage to 1949) on 16 September 2010 Caroline Mary Walford (Clyde 1968-71; GGS Staff Highton 1978-79, Timbertop 1983-86) on 27 December 2010 Pamela Wilson-Jones née Tarbat (Clyde 1929-35) Peter Sidney Wright (1939-43) on 23 January 2011 39

Upcoming Events SATURDAY 7 MAY 2011

SOUTH EAST ASIA INFORMATION SESSIONS & COCKTAIL RECEPTIONS

SUNDAY 8 MAY 2011

TUESDAY 31 MAY 2011 HONG KONG

SATURDAY 4 JUNE 2011

SATURDAY 4 JUNE 2011 BANGKOK

OPEN DAY, CORIO CAMPUS MOTHERS’ DAY JAZZ FESTIVAL FRIENDS OF MIDDLE SCHOOL PARENTS’ DINNER THURSDAY 30 JUNE 2011

LONDON OGG DINNER

SATURDAY 30 JULY 2011

1991 20-YEAR REUNION SATURDAY 6 AUGUST 2011

FRANCIS BROWN HOUSE REUNION & RE-OPENING

MONDAY 6 JUNE 2011 KUALA LUMPUR THURSDAY 9 JUNE 2011 SINGAPORE SUNDAY 12 JUNE 2011 JAKARTA For further event information and bookings please visit www.ggs.vic.edu.au