The Chronicle | Issue 4 | December 2017

The

CHRONICLE ISSUE 4

KINROSS WOLAROI SCHOOL

KWS CORE VALUES

Ensuring a happy, safe and motivated School community

THE FUTURE OF WELLBEING

Developing a structured framework for our students

AIME

Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience

DECEMBER 2017

T H E CH R ONI C L E

INTRODUCTION In this edition of The Chronicle we highlight the many achievements of our School community from 2017 in what was yet another busy and rewarding year in the life of Kinross Wolaroi School.

The new TREE program was officially launched in November and has now laid the foundation for a diverse and enriching educational experience for all our students of every level of academic ability.

11 Year 12 Industrial Technology students have been nominated for the 2018 InTech exhibition for outstanding major projects. On the last day of Term 3 the School received the excellent news that three of our Year 12 students had been nominated for the prestigious Encore Nominations – a selection of the best performances and compositions from all HSC Music students in NSW. The School also achieved outstanding results in debating and athletics and has proudly partnered with the Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience (AIME) to provide another level of support for Indigenous students at KWS. In response to important feedback received from the Year 12 Student and Parents survey, a range of new measures to further strengthen the School’s student wellbeing program are being implemented in 2018 including the appointment of Mrs Emma Bylsma as the Head of Student Wellbeing and the expansion of the School Counsellor network.

We hope you enjoy reflecting on the many achievements that came from the hard work and dedication of staff and students at Kinross Wolaroi School in 2017.

From all the editorial team, we wish you all a positive and exciting year ahead.

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THE FUTURE OF WELLBEING AT KWS

Head of Student Wellbeing, Mrs Emma Bylsma

08 KWS VALUES

The Chronicle Sections

Kinross Wolaroi School is a school of the Uniting Church in Australia

From the Principal Chair of Council Features Programs and Innovation Event Coverage Student Achievements Staff Alumni

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Exploring the core values that sustain our School community

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131 ANNUAL SPEECH DAY

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KWS has proudly partnered with AIME

Guest Speaker, Mr Bob Davis, Wolaroi College Class of 1969

HSC Music student, Claudia Norton-Foley

AIME

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STUDENT ACHIEVEMENTS

BATYR

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Smashing the stigma around mental health

Rhonda Campbell (nee Middleton) PLC Orange Class of 1963

EX-STUDENT PROFILES

Front cover: 2018 Senior Leaders (left to right) Donny Freeman, Kate Alderman and Vincent Reilly

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T H E C H R O NI CL E FR O M T H E P R I NCIPAL

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It is not living that matters, but living rightly.”

Socrates

The wisdom of the ancient Greek philosopher Socrates exerted a profound influence on ancient and modern philosophy. He argues that living a virtuous life, one based upon a high moral and ethical code would lead to a happy life of contentment.

A VISION FOR LEARNING

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he values held by a community or individual act as a guiding compass in directing our thoughts and actions. Possessing a clearly articulated and understood set of values is essential in guiding the ethos and relationships within a school.

As educators we must possess a vision for learning that encompasses all aspects of life not just the intellectual, but also the social, cultural, physical and spiritual dimensions where education is deliberately structured to develop the whole person.

As Aristotle reminds us, ‘educating the mind without educating the heart is no education at all’.

Though our world is rapidly everchanging, demanding new skills and presenting a plethora of previously unknown opportunity, the core personal values that one must possess to lead a noble and good life remain steadfast.

These age-tested values are based around respect for our fellow man and being a person of fine character.

The esteemed British author C. S. Lewis has been an enduring influence on modern thought even though he was seen as being conservative and out of touch during much of his life time. Why then has he remained so popular? The answer lies in the enduring nature of the values he espoused; values which remain unchanged regardless of time, place or person.

Lewis asserted that traditional values are evident in all societies and in all times.

He wrote ‘The human mind has no power of inventing a new value than of imagining a new primary colour, indeed creating a new sun and a new sky for it to move in’.

Our role as educators is to inculcate within our students, our future generation, the notion of what it is to live a civilised life, one firmly based upon strong ethical values.

At Kinross Wolaroi School our school motto – Knowledge, Friendship and Integrity is central to all we do.

Underpinning our Christian beliefs as a Uniting Church School, we have identified five core values that will sustain our community and act as touchstones to guide our thoughts, words and deeds.

Our values are Courage, Respect, Inclusiveness, Resilience and Commitment.

These are enduring values, ones that do not change due to shifting notions of political correctness or public dictates of fashion.

Our values must be firmly rooted at our foundation to enable us to have a happy, secure and successful school where all students are able to learn, grow and flourish enabling them to become the very best they can be Dr Andrew Parry Principal — KWS

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T H E CH R ONI C L E C H A I R O F C O UNCIL

REFLECTING ON WHO WE ARE Decisions become much simpler when you understand and live true to your values.

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o it’s not a surprise that research shows that the most successful organisations over the long term are the ones where everyone within the organisation incorporates a common set of values at the core of everything they do.

Having worked for over 30 years in a large global legal firm which has experienced significant structural and cultural change over that period, I have seen how staying true to a solid set of simple shared values not only sustains but empowers.

Kinross Wolaroi School has such a diverse range of stakeholders: The Uniting Church, staff, parents, alumni, benefactors, the regional community and, above all, our broad spectrum of students. So it’s even more important that we all aim to be on the same page.

Meeting this challenge has begun with a “back to basics” approach, reflecting on who we are, what we stand for and where we want to go.

Throughout 2017 Dr Parry has led an extensive collaborative process involving the School Council and staff to articulate our Mission, Vision and Values.

This has been a genuinely thoughtful exercise and I’m very happy with the outcome. That’s primarily because, as you will see in the pages that follow, we now have a clear set of values which focus on the human spirit and how we choose to treat ourselves and each other.

Even though we’ve tried to explain our values in words, we know that this only goes so far. That’s because these things can’t be learnt from the pages of a book or from a lecture; we all learn them through actions and experience.

The KWS academic, pastoral and co-curricular programs (including our TREE initiative) are specifically designed for our students with this in mind.

I commend Dr Parry, our Business Manager, Greg Alderson, and all staff involved in settling this framework.

It will not only form the basis of the new Strategic Plan to be launched in 2018, but will provide a firm foundation for every decision we each make as we work together to contribute to the future of this school Christine McIntosh Chair — KWS School Council 4 — ISSUE 4

Your beliefs become your thoughts, Your thoughts become your words, Your words become your actions, Your actions become your habits, Your habits become your values, Your values become your destiny.”

Mahatma Gandhi

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THE FUTURE OF WELLBEING AT KINROSS WOLAROI SCHOOL New Head of Student Wellbeing, Mrs Emma Bylsma, outlines the future of student wellbeing at KWS.

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The wellbeing of our students is of fundamental importance in providing a safe, happy and supportive environment in which to learn. The challenges and pressures which confront our young people, and their caregivers and teachers, are complex and demand a mix of love, discipline and support.”

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Left: Head of Student Wellbeing, Mrs Emma Bylsma Top: KWS staff members, Penny Chandler and Anthony LeCouteur attend a NESLI wellbeing workshop with facilitator, Belinda Williams

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s an educator I am passionate about fostering and maintaining an environment of genuine pastoral care for all students. Key to my role as Head of Student Wellbeing will be the development and oversight of a structured wellbeing framework from Pre-Prep to Year 12. Our approach to wellbeing will be based around the principles of Positive Education, which will provide the school with a proactive, preventative approach to wellbeing and focus on promoting ‘whole student’ development.

It will be important to ensure that this wellbeing framework is integrated across all of the School’s Programs; academic, pastoral, boarding and co-curricular.

We already have a number of evidencebased programs in the school that will be integrated within this framework – Kids Matter in the Preparatory School, Peer Support in both the Preparatory and Senior Schools, and the Rite Journey Program in the Senior School. In all future endeavours we will use the Federal Government’s National Safe Schools Framework to inform our focus and practice. 2018 will be a year of reviewing what we do, seeking feedback from staff, parents and students, assessing what programs we should keep, stop or start.

Engaging the whole KWS community, staff, students and parents, will be a key strategy in promoting wellbeing at the school. In time, we will look

to develop links and relationships with Universities, allowing us to be a part of cutting edge research and the development and delivery of evidencebased wellbeing programs at the school.

The school’s Wellbeing Team will work with the Director of Staff Development to arrange and implement staff professional development in the area of student development and wellbeing.

A key focus will be the upskilling of all teachers with an emphasis on enabling staff to reflect on their own pastoral care practices. Research also tells us that quality classroom teaching has a profound influence on students’ learning and wellbeing. As such, I am looking forward to working with the new Head of Teaching and Learning to establish an ideal learning environment, optimising wellbeing. Our Student Behaviour Management Policy will be reviewed, as will our Anti-Bullying Policy and these two areas will be a major focus area for Head Tutors in 2018. The future will see Wellbeing, Academic and Co-curricular programs more closely integrated.

I am looking forward to leading the Wellbeing team as we work together to address the developmental needs of our students, to foster and nurture student wellbeing at Kinross Wolaroi School

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T H E C H R O NI CL E F E AT UR E S

KINROSS WOLAROI SCHOOL CORE VALUES The underlying philosophies and principles that guide the internal conduct of Kinross Wolaroi School and its relationship with external organisations and collaborators, are underpinned by the School motto – Knowledge, Friendship and Integrity. The KWS core values, summarised below, emphasise the importance of mutual respect for each other which in turn ensures a happy, safe and motivated School community.

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MISSION As a school of the Uniting Church in Australia, we exist to provide a challenging and holistic education that equips our students to live meaningful lives and make a positive contribution to society.

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VISION Our vision is to pursue educational excellence that is focused on the needs of our regional students in a rapidly changing world. We will achieve this by creating a dynamic community implementing innovative practices to develop independent and adaptable learners.

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VALUES The School’s motto of “Knowledge Friendship Integrity” is central to all that we do. Underpinning our Christian beliefs as a Uniting Church School, five core values sustain our community: Courage, Resilience, Inclusiveness, Respect and Commitment.

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VA LU E S

Courage

Through strength of character and determination, we have the courage to accept new challenges and explore new paths as we actively embrace and initiate change. We have the courage to stand up for what is right and to demonstrate personal leadership when challenged.

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T H E CH R ONI C L E F E AT UR E S

VA LU E S

Resilience

As a learning community, we acknowledge the challenges we will encounter as we strive to make a purposeful contribution to the world. Skills of self-management and responsibility and a breadth of knowledge provide the confidence necessary to overcome adversity.

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T H E CH R ONI C L E F E AT UR E S

VA LU E S

Inclusiveness

We recognise that the world is a rich and diverse place. With a collaborative spirit and a daily commitment to compassionate and considerate behaviour, we celebrate diversity in all its forms and commit to creating a school that is safe and welcoming for all.

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T H E C H R O NI CL E F E AT UR E S

VA LU E S

Respect

We demonstrate respect for others irrespective of difference and show consideration for ourselves and for one another. We strive to understand the needs and expectations of others and by our actions seek to meet them.

We are a community that values and respects effort, achievement and a love of learning.

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VA LU E S

Commitment

We are committed to making a positive contribution to our school and to others.

This requires a spirit of service and a willingness to accept challenges we may not otherwise consider and the persistence to see those challenges through. We take responsibility for our actions, we seek out ways to contribute and we keep our promises —

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AIME: AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS MENTORING EXPERIENCE

KWS has proudly partnered with AIME, providing another level of support for our Indigenous Students. AIME is an educational program that supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students through high school, into university, employment and further education. Last year, the program connected approximately 4,500 mentees with 1,500 mentors in partnership with 16 Australian universities.

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AIME: AUSTRALIAN INDIGENOUS MENTORING EXPERIENCE

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n July, KWS students and staff came together in celebration of National Hoodie Day, proudly displaying the AIME Apparel 2017 hoodie as part of the first AIME School Challenge. AIME Apparel showcases the artistic talents of Indigenous kids across Australia.

The gear is inspired by artwork from Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander high school students who participate in AIME. KWS students and staff participated in the winning photograph (pictured).

As the winners of the inaugural challenge, KWS students later took part in the making of a short film, directed and produced by representatives from AIME including Founder & CEO, Jack Manning Bancroft who travelled from New York especially to be involved.

The second AIME School Challenge required Schools to submit a proposal to set up their own mentoring program, either within the school for Indigenous students in Years 7 and 8, or for a local Primary School.

The winning entry of the most innovative and impressive program would receive one of several school grants which would be used to help establish and run the mentoring program.

An enthusiastic proposal submitted

by KWS Year 8 student Bethany Bell, along with the exceptional work of the Indigenous Student Coordinator Anthony Begg, was later chosen as being one of the three successful schools in obtaining a school mentoring grant.

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Left and bottom: KWS students participate in the making of a short film with representatives from AIME

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KWS Year 8 student, Bethany Bell

All of the successful applicants included detailed plans of structured programs with targeted year groups, timetables, focus topics to be addressed, together with an evaluation process.

Bethany’s proposal was to engage with Orange school, Glenroi Heights Public, in order to give back to the community and young Indigenous students. In order to achieve her vision, Bethany put forward the proposal whereby eight core KWS mentors from Years 8 and 9 would be trained to then meet with students in Years 5 and 6 from Glenroi Heights Public School, facilitated by staff from both schools.

As a result of winning this second School Challenge, the AIME Schools Director, Glenn Isemonger, will visit the School in early 2018 to work with KWS students and staff to help establish the program. AIME will also capture some of the key moments as part of a documentary so that other schools both here and around the world can see and follow our example

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Teacher, Mr John Giuffre, with four students from the 2016 Academic Literacy group

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The philosophy that underpins Academic Literacy and everything that happens in the classroom, is relationships.”

ACADEMIC LITERACY Students who studied Academic Literacy last year have achieved outstanding improvement and growth in this year’s NAPLAN Writing tests, with 33% of students improving their writing results by a band and a further 37% by two or more bands.

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cademic Literacy is a course designed to help students to develop the reading and writing skills they will need as they progress through high school and into further study and work. During the course, students learn to create visual and written persuasive, narrative and informative texts, as well as improving their reading comprehension strategies, and research and note-taking skills. The foundation for this is explicit teaching of grammar, vocabulary, text structure and reading strategies.

The philosophy that underpins Academic Literacy and everything that happens in the classroom, is relationships. Teachers strive to nurture positive relationships with and among students. This creates a supportive learning environment where students are more confident to share their ideas and attempt challenging activities.

Research shows a strong link between oral communication skills and written communication skills. Academic Literacy teachers use questioning strategies to support academic conversations and assist students to elaborate on their ideas orally before putting them into writing. Students also regularly have the opportunity to read their own writing aloud, which builds their reading fluency, and also encourages them to write with their audience in mind

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T H E C H R O NI CL E P R O G R A M S A N D INNOVAT ION

In line with our strategic plan, Kinross Wolaroi School is committed to embedding the educational philosophy of The Harvard School of Education: Project Zero’s Cultures of Thinking.

CRITICAL AND CREATIVE THINKING

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KWS Academic staff attend a study group facilitated by Ryan Gill (Masada College) which implements the philosophy of Cultures of Thinking

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ultures of Thinking relies on the understanding that there are eight cultural forces that we must master to truly transform our schools: Expectations, Opportunities, Time, Modelling, Language, Environment, Interactions and Thinking Routines.

At KWS we have approached the introduction of Cultures of Thinking through the implementation of one of the eight cultural forces: Thinking Routines.

While teachers are encouraged to be conscious of their pedagogical practice in all of the eight areas, the philosophy has been introduced through “thinking routines that make thinking routine.”

Over the past two years, several Professional Development days have been dedicated to learning the routines and how best to implement them in classrooms throughout the school.

Due to their overwhelmingly successful implementation, the project has reached the stage where the entire Cultures of Thinking philosophy is being introduced and clarified to teachers, particularly through the implementation of facilitated study groups.

The study groups consist of a maximum of 14 cross-faculty teachers from the prep and secondary campuses. This dynamic mix allows for a range of educational perspectives to work together in order to reflect on teaching practice. A series of facilitated protocols allows for the analysis of student thinking by examining work samples.

The study groups directly and indirectly address the cultural forces of expectations, opportunities, time, modelling,

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It is essential that teachers develop the capacity for students to be critical and creative thinkers, inspired to learn through curiosity and wonder.”

language, environment, interactions and thinking routines.

It is anticipated that over time the number of study groups will grow and eventually include all staff members.

The implementation of the philosophy of Cultures of Thinking has been an innovative, energising and empowering exercise for KWS staff and students.

In order to address the broad aim of the NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum, and particularly to reach the objectives of building “knowledge, understanding and skills,” it is essential that teachers develop the capacity for students to be critical and creative thinkers, inspired to learn through curiosity and wonder. The eight cultural forces working in harmony would form a process that ensures the improvement of these objectives in individual students, as well as an on-going reflective practice for staff.

All K-10 outcomes in the NSW Syllabus for the Australian Curriculum require the development of thinking skills. For example, it is explicitly stated the curriculum should develop

skills that “foster the intellectual, creative, ethical and social development of students,” in particular relating to “capacity to manage their own learning and to become flexible, independent thinkers, problem-solvers and decision-makers.” The pedagogical support in enhancing this capacity to think is given further resonance by ACARA’s General Capabilities’ focus on Critical and Creative Thinking, to develop students’ academic agility and flexibility in order to flourish in a dynamic, ever changing work place and world. Enabled by and through the curriculum, teachers are supported in integrating the 8 cultural forces that would allow for that development in the classroom, and then given the opportunity to reflect on the process in facilitated study groups.

The facilitators of this program are Claudia McCalman (English, History, RE), Catherine Litchfield (Science), Toni Bilton (Visual Arts), Mark Pritchard (Prep), John Guiffre (Social Sciences) and Jessica Shanahan (English)

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On Friday 17 November, over 200 members of our community, including parents, past and present students, staff and representatives of many partnering organisations, gathered in the Derek Pigot Auditorium to officially launch The Regional Engagement Enterprise (TREE).

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Mr Scott Hansen, Director General of the Department of Primary Industries, officially launches the KWS TREE initiative in November 26 — ISSUE 4

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Our Year 2 students examining the principles relating to buoyancy in the KWS agriculture plot

TREE LAUNCH

This pioneering initiative marks Kinross Wolaroi School as a national leader in the provision of contextual, cross curricular, community based learning experience for all students from Prep to Year 12.

TREE focuses on holistically educating the individual through its Co-curricular, Pastoral and Academic strands. Student-led research is the focus of each project, encouraging our student body to develop their love of learning in a local context.

It was wonderful to see our students proudly display their projects and be on hand to explain their learning experiences and we were honoured to have Mr Scott Hansen the Director General of the Department of Primary Industries to officially launch our initiative.

Year 2’s Push and Pull

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s part of TREE Program at the School, our Year 2 students have been investigating push and pull forces in the school agriculture plot.

The ‘Push and Pull’ science unit with KWS Year 2 teachers, Mrs Houston and Mrs Essex, is running in collaboration with TREE and aims to reinforce the students’ understanding of push and pull forces. This included digging in the newly created market garden beds, zooming around a lap of a wheelbarrow course, lifting the lids of the chook tractors, observing the roller doors of the planting shed and most importantly, watching the webbed feet of our three ducklings as part of examining the principles relating to buoyancy!

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Year 5 staff and students with Preparatory School Principal, Mr Rob McLean and Director of TREE, Mr Tom Riley, at the official opening of the Prep School Sustainable Greenhouse

Year 5’s Sustainable Greenhouse

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ver the past two terms at KWS, Year 5 have been building a sustainable greenhouse from plastic bottles they collected in the community. The design of the greenhouse was decided following a class project to create their own models using craft materials. In total the students collected over 1500 bottles that all needed to be cut to length so they could fit along the dowel that would make up the walls of the greenhouse. The students decided not to have bottles on the roof, as was first thought, as they would like to have a guttering system to collect water for ‘vege central’ next door.

Two teams of builders, one from each class, worked with the maintenance team to coordinate the design and construction of the framework. It was then the responsibility of both classes to paint the structure in neutral tones to match the surrounding trees.

A weather station will shortly be installed so that the students can measure the efficiency of greenhouse in maintaining a thermal mass.

KWS Preparatory Science and TREE collaborated over a 12 week period which provided an immensely varied and engaging opportunity for all students to participate.

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Market Garden

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n Saturday 28 October, the TREE extra-curricular students planted their garden beds.

After discussing initial ideas, we were fortunate enough to have Mr Greg Kocanda come and talk to the students about what we could grow, timeframes, succession planting and advantages and disadvantages of planting various vegetables. It is wonderful to have such a wealth of knowledge within our parent body and we are grateful for the time that Mr Kocanda was able to spend with us.

After considering our new information, the planning and spacing of garden beds began. The students showed a great enthusiasm for their garden; planting, watering and placing mulch on their beds until all 30 were complete. The produce ranges across over 20 types of vegetables, fruit and herbs and are a mixture of seeds and seedlings. Students are looking forward to monitoring the development of the beds and the creation of a farmers’ market presence next year. The students have been busily designing their brand and have begun selling some of their pork products to the KWS community

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Students are looking forward to monitoring the development of the beds and the creation of a farmers’ market presence next year.”

For more information about TREE, please visit: theregionalengagemententerprise.com

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CHARITY FUNDRAISERS

Community Service and Charity Fundraising has always been an integral part of KWS, intended to provide help and assistance to those in need.

Throughout the second half of 2017, staff and students have been actively involved in several new and ongoing charity initiatives.

Kids Cancer Project

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n August, the School was visited by Mr Colin Reynolds OAM, founder of Kids Cancer Project, cancer research Assoc Professor Daniel Catchpool, Scientist from Westmead Children’s Hospital, and Mr Owen Finegan, Chief Executive Officer of the Kids Cancer Project. They attended KWS to thank the students for their fundraising efforts over the past few years, totaling just over $2,500. This comes from selling cupcakes at recent Open Days, organised

by Year 2 teacher, Mrs Sue Houston, and the KWS P&F. They spoke to the children about the effect that their fundraising initiatives have had on finding a cure for cancer and the important role that science plays in cancer research.

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Genius Hour

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his term, our Year 8-10 classes were involved in Genius Hour Projects. This involves setting aside about a lesson a fortnight to work on STEAM (Science, Technology, Engineering, Arts and Mathematics) based interest projects.

Several projects were completed throughout the course of the year with the theme for the final one being “The future”.

Students were encouraged to think about a problem (big or small) and work out a way to address it.

Year 8 students, Freya Neville, Maddie Hook and Fletcher Bolte decided to work to help the homeless in Orange.

They contacted Street Swags (streetswags.org) about donating some swags to Orange, held a bake sale and ice-cream stand which raised enough money to buy five swags which they then donated to St Vincent de Paul for distribution here in town.

Some of the students also produced a water filter for use in third world countries and for use more locally in hydroponic gardens.

Prep School Carnivale

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n Monday 20 November, our Prep School celebrated Carnivale – an annual charity fundraiser run by our Year 5 students. Students from K-6 had fun participating in a range of activities including ninja warrior,

animal dash, ring toss and balloon pop.

This year, all funds raised were in support of Riding for the Disabled. Carnivale is part of the Year 5 Science curriculum and incorporates problem solving, visual arts and presentation skills

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BATYR

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Our Year 11 students met with batyr in July for a session aimed at smashing the stigma around mental health and engage, educate and empower young people to reach out for help when they need it. This followed the batyr ‘One Sock One Goal’ campaign which encouraged teams and individuals to wear the bright socks to start positive conversations around mental health.

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atyr (meaning ‘hero’ and named after batyr, The Talking Elephant From Kazakhstan), exists to give a voice to the elephant in the room that is mental health. Based on statistics, in a class of 30 students, seven will experience a significant mental health issue. Of these, only two will seek help and five will suffer in silence.

During the session, KWS students listened to trained young speakers share their lived experiences with mental ill health, alongside trained facilitators who shared the five steps students can take to help a friend or to help themselves.

Step 1 Look out Look out for signs or symptoms that someone’s not ok.

Step 2 Get asking Ask people how they’re doing.

Step 3 Listen up Be there and show you’re really listening.

Step 4 Reach out To face-to-face or online services.

Lastly, the students were asked to make a personal pledge; something they committed to do as a result of the session with batyr.

KWS has also recently partnered with the Centre for Emotional Health at Macquarie University to participate in research into self-focused thinking in early adolescence and its relationship with wellbeing and academic performance. The research will assist the development of effective prevention and treatment programs for emotional distress in young people

Step 5 Take charge keep checking in with yourself and do the things that help you to feel better.

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PREP SCHOOL PERFORMANCE WEEK Students from our Prep School performed before several most appreciative audiences during September.

Our 2017 Prep Performance week included the K-2 show, ‘Sweet Dreams’ and the 3-4 show, ‘Seasons’, demonstrating creativity, collaboration and teamwork. The children and staff in Years 3 and 4 were involved in developing scripts, practising dance moves (or synchronised swimming!), mime, making props and co-ordinating it all over a four day period.

The 5-6 show’s final performance of Slaves, written

by Mr Hordynsky, was a fantastic spectacular held on Thursday 21 September at the Orange Civic Theatre ¥

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PREP SCHOOL PERFORMING ARTS CONCERT The Prep School Performing Arts concert was held on the 14 August. The students were outstanding across all ensembles and soloists.

Congratulations to Mrs Katie Sinclair, our Co-ordinator of Performing Arts and all the music staff for their work with the students.

A wonderful display of talent

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PREP SCHOOL SPORTS ASSEMBLY Grace Hamilton (KWS Class of 2009), a member of the Wallaroos (the Australian national women's rugby union team), was guest speaker at the Prep School Sports Assembly held in November.

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race spoke of the opportunities that present themselves when you ‘have a go’. She gave numerous examples of where determination and desire to improve enabled her to represent Australia. Having never played rugby until four years ago Grace has made an enormous impact from being left out of the squad to winning the player of the tournament at the recent World Cup. Her speech certainly resonated with the students. We extend our thanks to Grace for her attendance at a very busy time of the year

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VISUAL ARTS AND TEXTILES EXHIBITION A Celebration of the Outstanding Year 12 major works The 2017 HSC Visual Arts and Textiles Exhibition provided an outstanding opportunity for family and friends to celebrate the hard work and dedication of our students.

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HSC Textiles and Design student, Megan Kennett (right), at the 2017 Visual Arts and Textiles Exhibition 38 — ISSUE 4

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Ash by HSC Textiles and Design student, Kiara Taylorwood-Roe

Textiles and Design

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tudents in Year 12 HSC Textiles and Design spend three terms working on their major textiles project: initial design development, experimentation, pattern making and toile in Term 4; embellishment, construction, analysis and documentation in Terms 1 and 2.

Nomination is a great accolade acknowledging many hours of hard work and commitment to excellence.

Megan Kennett’s major textiles project was inspired by the protest against mining the rich agricultural land of the Liverpool Plains. Megan created a protest costume that included a swimsuit and hat constructed from her own digitally printed design and a vinyl raincoat screen printed and stitched with wheat and canola with seams bound in high vis. reflective tape. Megan’s major textile project also included a 12 page A3 folio of supporting design and documentation work.

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VISUAL ARTS AND TEXTILES EXHIBITION

Visual Arts

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tephanie’s artwork is about the impact of, and rejuvenation of the ‘Sir Ivan Fire’ that went through her property “Gundooee” on Sunday 12 February, 2017. These series of works dig deep into the hearts of victims of the fire, bringing out what most would have witnessed. The reason she drew these works was to allow others to experience the grief and suffering and many other emotions that effect those involved in this once in a life time event. “I want to express to audiences my personal experience of loss and the stages of recovering from it.”

Tharni has represented three of family members who are very important to her. The colours used in the work identifies the character in each of them. The earthy reds and yellows of her Grandad shows his energy and happiness and joy of living as well as his determination to get things done. The different shades of blue in my Grandma represents her as an intelligent, confident and faithful woman who is very powerful and strong within herself.

Cousin Jasmine has been painted in the tones of blacks and greys because her personality and character is still yet to be discovered. The laser cutter allowed the measurements in my work to be precise letting the overall aesthetic of the work to be in unison 40 — ISSUE 4

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01 Face Off, Tharni-Jo Parkinson 02 Taino – “We the Good People”, Anna Seymour 03 Once In a Lifetime, Stephanie Lennon 04 Visual Arts and Textiles Exhibition

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WESTSIDE STORY

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As one of the most difficult works of musical theatre created in the 20th century, the production of West Side Story provided an immense challenge for 82 of our young performers. Six months of hard work successfully came to fruition with the School’s performance enthusiastically received by the Orange Community.

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Thank you to family, friends, and community members who helped out, or came to support our students as well as the production team who worked tirelessly to produce such an amazing show! Bravo! —

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INDUSTRIAL TECHNOLOGY EXHIBITION

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Top: Year 12 Industrial Technology student, Sam Eberle’s major project Right: Year 12 Industrial Technology students, with Teacher, Mr Simon Lun

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The amazing quality and grand scale of the 2017 HSC Industrial Technology projects is testament to the cohort who have worked tirelessly over the past 12 months designing and constructing their HSC major projects.

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his year the class focused their efforts upon designing and producing some significant, technically challenging and high quality projects that required them to think critically, undertake research, plan and demonstrate skillful and efficient workmanship. Projects focused on fulfilling the needs of each student and their families in their daily endeavours.

The exhibition of these projects was held in the DPA on Friday 1 September, an occasion that attracted a large turnout of interested viewers and members of the local media.

Projects included a solar powered pneumatic cattle crush, hydraulic log splitters, an array of superb trailers specifically designed for a number of purposes and an outdoor kitchen.

Congratulations to all students on the quality of your work and to the many parents who have provided much support during this undertaking.

To arrive at such quality construction requires an enormous effort, much patience and considerable skill on behalf of their dedicated teacher, Mr Simon Lun. Well done to all —

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GRANDPARENTS DAY

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As always, Grandparents Day is a day which is greatly anticipated by our Prep School students. The 315 grandparents and friends in attendance were treated to a superb concert followed by morning tea and a walk through the classrooms.

The concert was evidence of the development of all our students in the various ensembles and individual items —

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PREP SCHOOL OPEN DAY The Prep School Open Day again featured a range of activities to engage students and parents and included time to wander through the classrooms. One of the most pleasing aspects of this event is the willingness of our students to run activities and be the ‘experts’.

This was apparent in the solar car trials, Kidsmatter tables, Rubik cube demonstration, robotics display, the chalk drawing and the fitness centre – all great examples of student learning and of the students sharing their learning

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The KWS Prep School Community gathered for the 2017 Open Day in November

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ANNIVERSARY OF THE CHARGE OF BEERSHEBA Dr Andrew Parry Principal, Dr Andrew Parry’s love of history came to the fore during a Term 4 assembly when he shared a little of the story of the Australian Light Horse engagement at Beersheba during The Great War.

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uring assembly this week I shared a little of the story of the Australian Light Horse engagement at Beersheba during The Great War. Many of you have probably an inkling by now that I have a love for history. Since I was a very young boy I have always been fascinated by stories and events of the past.

The study of history provides us a window into the events, cultures and people of a bygone era and through examining past we can come to comprehend how and why society has changed over time.

If we do not understand the past it is not possible to truly understand the present – for history to society is like memory to the individual. We gain an awareness of what has gone before and discover the reasons as to why things are as they are.

History helps us appreciate multiple perspectives and interpretations surrounding events and issues, a knowledge of history also enables us to apply information from the past to analyse and solve problems we face in the present.

31 October marked 100 years to the day of the victorious charge of 800 Australian Light Horseman against the Turkish defences at Beersheba, a town in the deserts of the Middle East during World War One. Today Beersheba is geographically situated in Israel.

This audacious and heroic cavalry charge has inspired Australians for generations.

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It was an act of bravery that has echoed through the century since; an against the odds victory that broke the Ottoman’s lines and spurred the Allied forces on to Jerusalem.

This bold and courageous victory changed the course of history in the Middle East.

Many from the Light Horseman involved in this audacious feat were from rural NSW. Some were from Orange, and some who rode that day have relatives in the School today. I am aware that men from the Litchfield and Hickman families were involved in the charge and sadly, Walter Litchfield would be killed in the attack.

The Battle of Beersheba was a crucial victory early in the third Battle of Gaza during the Great War. The British had already launched two unsuccessful attempts to dislodge the Turks from Gaza, in the March and April of 1917.

The charge of the 4th Australian Light Horse at Beersheba late in the afternoon of this fateful day is remembered as one of the last great cavalry charges.

The assault on Beersheba began at dawn with British Infantry divisions attacking the south and south west.

Despite artillery and air support, neither the infantry attack nor the ANZAC Mounted divisions attack from the east had succeeded in capturing Beersheba by mid-afternoon.

It was vital that Beersheba be taken in a single day as the only water in the area was to be found in the town, the troops and crucially their hardy Australian horses known as ‘Walers’ had to be sustained. Those magnificent horses

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KWS Cadets paid their respects at Robertson Park, Orange in celebration of the 100th Anniversary of the Battle of Beersheba

could manage without water for up to 48 hours – but their limit was soon to be reached.

With time running out for the Australians to capture Beersheba and its wells before dark, instructions were given by the Australian Commander of the Desert Mounted Corps, Lieutenant General Harry Chauvel for the 4th ALH to make a mounted attack on the town.

They had ideal terrain for a cavalry charge – a long gentle slope running down to Beersheba, the town was defended by two lines of trenches, but importantly not by barbed wire.

Brigadier General Grant gave the final command to the 800 Australian Light Horseman: ‘Men you’re fighting for water. Use your bayonets as swords. I wish you the best of luck’!

This was the first time that the Australian Light Horse was used as cavalry, usually they would dismount and fight on foot as infantryman.

On the order, the cavalry began with a trot and almost at once quickened to a gallop across 6kms of open country.

The Turks opened fire but the Light Horseman’s pace was too fast for the gunners causing their rifle fire to be wild and high.

Trooper Edward Dengate recorded the desperate charge: ‘We spurred our horses…the bullets got thicker…three of four horses came down, others with no riders kept going, the saddles splashed with blood’.

Ion Idriess gave this eyewitness account of the charge:

‘At a mile distant their thousand hooves were stuttering thunder, coming at a rate that frightened a man – they were an awe-inspiring sight, galloping through the red haze – knee to knee and horse to horse – the dying sun glinting on bayonet points, machine guns and rifle fire roared but the 4th Brigade galloped on’.

The sudden appearance of the Australian cavalry caused panic amongst the Turks.The Turk’s front trench and main trench were jumped by the horseman, some men dismounted and engaged in brutal hand to hand combat with rifle and bayonet, others galloped ahead to seize the town of Beersheba.

The 4th Light Horse were victorious, defeating the Turkish force – five times their number, taking Beersheba and with its vital water supply largely intact.

Just weeks later the Australian’s marched with the Commander of the British forces, General Allenby into Jerusalem. This was a great victory and it had a significant impact on the course of the war in the Middle East. Their courage and audacity saw the Beersheba – Gaza line broken and forged the way for Allied victory. This was a welcome success for the Australians following the defeat at Gallipoli where a number of these Light horseman retreated in 1915

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SENIOR SCHOOL LEADER INDUCTION During the last week of October, the School undertook the important task of inducting the Senior School’s new student leadership team for 2017-2018. This special and gratifying occasion was shared with many parents, grandparents and friends who were all proudly present in support.

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he opportunity to lead is a great privilege and with all privilege comes much responsibility. Our leaders have been selected by their peers and the School’s teaching staff as the students they believe can best represent the school and make a positive impact upon the lives of the student body.

Leadership is not about position or wearing a badge, it is about service and making a contribution.

Appropriately our changing of the guard takes place in Spring, a season of renewal and rebirth, a magical time of colour, life and anticipation where tulips and lilacs bloom. It is a time for new vision and inspiration as we embrace fresh opportunities and creative possibilities.

Our new leadership team have a wonderful opportunity before them, a chance to make this School a better place, an opportunity to build upon the special time-honoured and worthy traditions of this fine School and to demonstrate their initiative and vision by starting new practices and establishing new traditions.

A leader must do more than replicate the past. It is vital they strive to improve the lives of our students by enthusiastically addressing the needs of the present and establish a legacy for the future.

The challenge of leadership is to be strong, but not rude; be kind, but not weak; be bold, but not bully; be thoughtful, but not lazy; be humble, but not timid; be proud, but not arrogant; have humor, but without folly. – (Rohn) Leadership is not an easy task.

It requires: Vision – an ability to see the potential of what could be Service – without expectation of any reward from those being served Integrity – one must be honest, consistent and fair, setting a first class example.

The former US President ~ Dwight D. Eisenhower believed: “The supreme quality for leadership is unquestionably integrity. Without it, no real success is possible, no matter whether it is on a section gang, a football field, in an army, or in an office.”

Albert Schweitzer argued: “Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.”

And Andrew Carnegie said: “The older I get the less I listen to what people say and the more I look at what they do.”

An effective leader must possess the iron discipline to be faithful to their cause and the character to persevere when the going gets tough.

They need Courage to stand for what they believe is right when to do so may be unpopular.

As the great US Civil rights leader Martin Luther King argued: “The ultimate measure of a leader is not where he stands in moments of comfort and convenience, but where he stands at times of challenge and controversy.”

A leader must have Compassion – for younger students, sad students or lonely students – a leader must genuinely care for the needs of others.

They require Initiative – one must be proactive, not only reactive, keeping their eyes open and their ear to the ground.

Leadership requires humility and selflessness where the needs of others are placed before their own.

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SENIOR SCHOOL LEADER INDUCTION —

2018 Senior Leaders (left to right) Charlotte May, Donny Freeman, Kate Alderman and Aidan Kelso

Example is not the main thing in influencing others, it is the only thing.”

Albert Schweitzer

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Leaders need to have composure under stressful and challenging conditions and demonstrate a desire for excellence in all that they pursue.

A leader creates an atmosphere in which others are encouraged and power is used to serve others.

We have been given no finer example of leadership than that of Jesus Christ.

Leadership at Kinross Wolaroi School is firmly based upon the Christian model of servant leadership. As servant leaders we must give of ourselves to make our school and community a finer place.

We all exercise leadership in our daily lives, be it among our peers, our families or community.

Every one of us has impact upon those around us and we all have the opportunity to make our school community, our house community and our year group a finer and happier place.

We can all draw upon St Paul’s valuable wisdom captured in his letter to the church in Philippi: Do nothing out of selfish ambition or vain conceit, but in humility consider others better than yourselves. Each of you should look not only to your own interests, but also to the interest of others (1 Philippians 2:3) It is my hope that in twelve months’ time they will be able to reflect upon their contribution to their School and say with hand on heart ‘I have left my School in a better place’ Dr Andrew Parry

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SENIOR LEADERS Head Prefects Donny Freeman Kate Alderman

Senior Boarder Prefects Vincent Reilly Rhianna Simpson

Deputy Head Prefects Aidan Kelso Charlotte May

SUO Cadets Monique Worsley

Service Prefects Zac Condon Maggie Noonan

Douglas Mitchell Strike Ailish Seedsman

Brown Jock Medway Maggie Rose Smith

McLachlan Thomas Rouse Jessica Amos

Blackman Angus Andrews Saskia Smith

Richards Henry Carter Isabella Johnsen

Gordon Sosaia Faiva Maggie Jean Smith

Dean Harry Jeffrey Porsha Bolte

Williams Luke Houghton Abbey Hamilton

McLachlan Molly Rolfe

Blackman Thomas Geyer Jemima McPhee

Captain of Music Hannah Solari

Charity Prefects William Smith Hunta Wilson Mission Prefects Edward Dodds Myriam Kwa

TUTOR HOUSE CAPTAINS

TUTOR HOUSE VICE CAPTAINS Douglas Charlie Jenkins Maggie Yeomans

Brown Jamie Abiassaf Harriet Haege

Richards Charles Goodsell Bridget Starr

Gordon Thomas Jackson Amelia Hickman

Dean Cooper Reynolds Cody Seton

Williams Patrick Keirle Caitlin Stubberfield

BOARDING HOUSE CAPTAINS Stuart Douglas Bella Harding

Miller Maggie Jean Smith

Loader Aliyah Maloney Anna Ponder

New Dominique Holland

Trathen Sosaia Faiva James Commins Tower Jock Medway

Weymouth Brett Johnson Wolaroi Vincent Reilly

BOARDING HOUSE VICE CAPTAINS Stuart Douglas Hunta Wilson

New Porsha Bolte

Weymouth Patrick Keirle

Miller Imogen Inder

Tower Fraser Robertson

Wolaroi Thomas Jackson

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YEAR 12 GRADUATION ASSEMBLY Attended by students, staff, family and friends, the Year 12 Graduation Assembly was held on Friday 22 September in the DPA.

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pecial guest, Mr Phil Lloyd (KWS Class of 1992) entertained the audience recalling his time at KWS as well as the crossroads he has encountered along the way to becoming a highly-regarded actor and writer. Following his speech, KWS Council member, Mr Dan Blyde, presented the Derek Pigot Medallion and Robe to our 2017 Dux, Trent Russell. The ceremony also included the official induction of our 2018 Head Prefects, Kate Alderman and Donny Freeman with outgoing Head Prefects, Jocelyn Date and Ross Alston addressing the assembly with thoughtful resolve, at once completing their official duties as the 2017 School leaders.

The moving benediction of John Rutter’s wonderful ‘The Lord Bless You And Keep You’ concluded the ceremony with graduands receiving The Light of Christ in the Ceremony of Light

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YEAR 12 DUX GRADUATION SPEECH Trent Russell

We have all come out of this stronger than we went in.”

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adies, gentlemen, distinguished guests, staff, and students. I would like to ask you all a question. Do you remember being read to?

Allowing the words to wash over you in the dulcet tones of the reader? If so, this no doubt brings back fond memories of early childhood – of being tucked into bed, and falling asleep to the loving, caring voice of your parents.

Well, my experiences being read to are somewhat different. Let me explain.

By the age of about two, whenever my mother would read ‘Spot’ books to me (you know, the ones about the dog?)

I would fiercely point at strange dots, and a look of genuine concern would come over my face, as I quizzically stared at the pages and tried to make sense of what was going on. This may seem normal – most children go through a phase of confusion regarding letters.

But no, I was instead focused on something much simpler – the full stops.

You’d think, that with such an early understanding of punctuation marks, that English would be my strong point – but you’d be very, very wrong. Rather, my strength undoubtedly lies in the field of mathematics – about as far away from my origins as you can get. In fact, I was almost certain that, given the English requirements of the HSC, I would not be the one speaking to you today, having been awarded this prestigious prize.

So, please forgive me if this speech is perhaps not as eloquent as the one you would have gotten from the Proxime Accessit.

Today marks the end of an era – the end of 13 memorable years in the lives of each and every one of the wonderful year 12 students seated before me.

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work and study behind us once and for all – but we all know that isn’t the case.

There’s still those small things known as HSC exams to come. But today is not a day to be focusing on those. Rather, it is an opportunity to reflect upon the numerous challenges, hardships, and joys experienced during the years of our schooling, and the ways in which they have shaped who we have become. We have all been granted a gift – the gift of education, and with education comes the chance to uniquely shape the remainder of our lives.

A flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.”

Such a gift is made all the more special by the wrapping paper it comes in – namely, the teachers here at Kinross Wolaroi School. Each and every one of them is a joy to learn from, and to illustrate this I wish to describe some of the memorable moments I have had with each of my senior teachers; Mr Healey, Physics: Mr Healey is a man who likes to use big words, under the assumption that we know what they mean. This assumption means he often needs to explain things several times, until he eventually comes up with one of his famous analogies, which we can all understand. In addition, his knowledge of pop culture is truly second to none; for example, did you know he’s read all of Game Of Thrones, including the prequel?

Because his classes sure do… he’s told them dozens of times.

Mr Chapman, Software Design And Development: Let me preface this by stating that one of the major projects

built by a member of my class this year involved the purchasing of weaponry for an online game. Despite the fact we knew this, the class never failed to laugh upon overhearing conversations about ‘how to buy a grenade’ or ‘what we could do after we had bought it.’

Mrs Hill, Mathematics: She’s a true warrior, having battled even to make it to our last class where she had prepared trivia for us. Like a soldier, she is never afraid to back down in heated discussions about the temperature of the room, and the associated opening and closing of windows. In addition to that, her famous laugh meant that the class always knew when to back off with our inquisitive questions!

Mrs Litchfield, Chemistry: Again, this one required a bit of background knowledge. Recently the school began using a learning management system known as FROG. None have embraced this new system as enthusiastically as Mrs Litchfield, whose hobbies include; FROG, talking about FROG, showing the class FROG, and taking long walks along the beach trying to decide what to put on FROG. Mr Walters, Mathematics: Yes, yes, two maths teachers, I know, I may be a bit biased. Mr Walters’ handwriting on the whiteboard is an inspiration to left handed people like me everywhere, and his numerous euphemisms for complex mathematical terms – ‘shimmy’ and ‘little black duck’, for example, are sure to put a smile on anyone’s face – albeit whilst possibly causing a degree of confusion.

I’ve left English until the end because, just like the subject, it’s not as simple as the others. My English class has had two teachers during their senior years.

The first, Miss Sheahan, had a fear of spiders so great that it was only rivalled by her passion for the poetry of William

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Butler Yeats. I would like to thank her replacement, Mrs Malone, for accepting the challenge of taking over such a dynamic and creative class.

The wondrous and wholesome lifestyle that this school provides extends beyond the school day, and permeates the boarding community which I have long been a part of. Trathen House has become my home over the past four years, and the combined support of my housemaster Mr Smith, and the ever patient, caring housemother Janet have certainly allowed me to be standing here in this position today. Being surrounded by energetic Year 7 students is often the motivation senior students need to keep on trying in spite of the challenges posed by the HSC, and I can truly say that they have all become like brothers to me.

I would like to offer some advice to the current Year 11 students, as clichéd as that is. The year ahead of you will test you in ways you would have never dreamt

imaginable – be prepared to laugh, and to cry – both common outlets, as I’m sure the entirety of my cohort can attest to.

Be sure to strike a balance, and continue doing things you love, be it sport, music, or any other endeavour. Work hard – as they say, ‘genius is 1% inspiration, and 99% perspiration’, after all. Most importantly, ‘always be yourself, and have faith in yourself.’

Whilst we are all unique, there are similarities in every single year who passes through these doors at Kinross, and as part of one of them I can honestly say that there will be some of you who thrive in the studious environment, some who are just here for the ride, but I promise there won’t be one of you in front of me who won’t enjoy your time here, no matter what kind of experience you want to have.

To conclude, I speak directly to my friends, the graduates of Kinross Wolaroi School, 2017. We have all come

out of this year stronger than we went in. There have been funny times, sad times, fun times, and hard times, and they have all combined to create a unique and unforgettable experience. Spiritual author Zen Shin once said ‘a flower does not think of competing with the flower next to it. It just blooms.’ Our experiences here have laid and fertilised the soil for us, and now is our chance to blossom into fine young adults, just as the world desires us to be

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GUEST SPEAKER YEAR 12 GRADUATION Phil Lloyd KWS Class of 1992 It’s a great honour to be here today. Let me be the first to congratulate you, the Class of 2017, on making it this far.

Well done. It’s not over yet, of course. You have one final hurdle ahead. Grad Ball. Oh, and that pesky little pop quiz they call the HSC. You’ll be fine.

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remember this day vividly – my Year 12 final assembly. Sitting there, as you are now, some guy who went to the school 25 years ago, up here droning on.

I remember thinking to myself, “Man, I hope he finishes soon, I’m hungry.” But what I mainly remember is the feeling I had.

Excitement, and fear. Because I knew that up ahead, lay a crossroad.

The end of Year 12 crossroad, where you must make an important decision.

Do I go to the Gold Coast for schoolies, or do I book a cruise? No, I’m joking.

For the record I went to the Gold Coast.

That’d be considered classic these days, I’m sure Fiji’s much nicer. Anyway, forget schoolies … If you do go, always stay safe, and try not to get on the news.

You do those two things, your mum and dad might sleep at night.

No, the decision I’m referring to is the ‘What do I do now?’ decision. Now I’m sure there are plenty of you sitting there going “well, I know what I want to do, I’ve got it all figured out.” I’m sure because I thought I had it all figured out too. I grew up on a farm. My dad was a farmer. So why, in the school magazine, under career choice, I put ‘Stockbroker’ is anyone’s guess. And how I then ended up becoming an actor and a writer living in Los Angeles is a bizarre, often confusing story. And here it is.

I went to the post box to collect my HSC results, eagerly rubbing my hands together as I wondered what university I’d be bounding off to.

And then I opened the envelope.

None, was the answer, based on these marks.

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I was suddenly back at that crossroad, wondering what on earth I was going to do. Maybe I should to take a year off to think about it. So I did.

I decided to enter the workforce, and in a major career coup, I found myself working the night shift at a service station in West Dubbo, ladies and gentlemen. It was a high point that I’m not sure I’ll ever eclipse, and it happened when I was only 18. Where does one go from there? Well, in addition to working, I decided to do some part-time study at TAFE. I enrolled in an accounting course, thinking that the credits might help me down the track. But after a few months, my lecturer came to me and said, “Phil, I don’t think this line of work is really for you.”

“What makes you say that?” I asked.

“Well, you fall asleep in every class.

I have wake you to go home.”

I conceded that he may have had a point. “Rats!” I thought (it was the 90s, we sometimes said rats….no we didn’t).

But I found myself, again, back at that pesky crossroad. What was I going to do?

Even night shift at the servo was starting to get old.

As luck would have it, I ran into my old performance teacher from Kinross, Ms Cecilia Rochellli. I told her my plight.

She said, “forget about what you think you should do – what do you like to do?”

At school I’d always been involved in music, school plays, performing, that sort of thing. I got teased a lot for it but it was always fun, always challenging.

Cecilia smiled and said “You should apply for the course that I did – a theatre degree at Charles Sturt Uni.” So, I auditioned – and lo and behold I got into the course. Mum and Dad were thrilled.

And by thrilled I mean highly alarmed.

Theatre? An arts degree? No, being the amazing human beings they are, they stood by me and supported me every step of the way. They still do, to this very day. I’m not kidding, they’re here in the audience.

So, I was moving to Bathurst. A place I'd always loathed and detested, since it was the home of mortal enemies Stannis, Scots and to a lesser degree, All Saints.

Now I was going to live there? This had better be the best course ever. It was.

But after three years, upon graduation, I once again found myself… Yep, back at them ol’ crossroads. And since I’d just completed an arts degree, I was a jack of all trades, master of none. But there was one thing I really enjoyed doing while I was there – writing. Yep, I was going to take the world by storm with my amazing writing skills. So what did I do?

I got a job as a tour guide at Darling Harbour. As you do. Then, somehow, through a friend I wound up doing graphic design. Soon after that, I went to Europe and worked at a merchant bank in London. Then, after a stint working at a bar in New York, I returned home to Dubbo where I worked for a printing company (my old night shift at the servo had been filled, sadly), and then back in Sydney at the University of NSW for the faculty of Science.

Now… don’t get me wrong – it was all interesting work, but my heart just wasn’t in any of it. And even though I’d been doing some writing on the side, making short films here and there with my friends, I really felt like this ‘writing for a living’ thing was never going to happen. Yup – I seemed to be approaching that crossroad again.

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I was starting to think that maybe I should just go back to the servo in West Dubbo. But then I remembered the job had been filled. Rats.

Then one day I got a call. A friend of mine from who’d become an actual professional writer, told me there was a job going at her work. The pay was awful, as was her boss, the hours were long and thankless – it was the bottom rung of the ladder. But, if I wanted to be a writer one day…

So, I applied. I didn’t get the job, but a year later, the position came up again.

This time I made sure. By taking out the competition—No, I didn’t do that. But I did get the job. It was at Home & Away.

A mere decade after leaving school, I was finally at the bottom of a ladder I wanted to climb.

I worked at Home & Away for the next seven years, progressing through the ranks until I became the head of the script department. Home & Away airs for two and a half hours a week, 46 weeks a year – it’s a lot of material to come up with. I was working all the time, and towards the end, I knew I couldn’t keep it up – I was starting to burn out. I also knew that, while I’d cut my teeth here, serial drama or soap as it’s known, wasn’t really the kind of TV I wanted to make.

I needed a change. So when my contract came up for renewal, I decided not to sign a new one, I decided to head back to those old crossroads. “You again?” They said. Yup. What do I do now?

Well, what I really wanted to do was comedy. A few years earlier I’d written a sketch about a critic who, instead of reviewing film or TV or music, reviewed any life experience, anything and everything, and then rated it out of five Stars. It was called – wait for it – Review, and a friend and I decided to try to pitch it as a short, five minute show to networks, convinced it was utterly brilliant. Weirdly, they weren’t convinced. So, spurred on by the pain of rejection, we decided to make it ourselves.

For the next 18 months, while we were working in actual paid jobs to pay the rent, we spent our nights and weekends shooting our own little TV series that we imagined would perhaps have a life online one day. This thing called YouTube had just come out – maybe we could take it to them. When it was finally done we had a screening, and an executive from the ABC came along.

They liked it. ‘But can you turn it into a half hour series?’ Of course we can!

We said. Then we completely freaked out – how on earth were we going to turn

this 5 minute sketch into a weekly half hour TV show?

I won’t bore you with the details, but somehow we found a way, the show was called Review with Myles Barlow.

It became a cult hit. It’s since been remade in places such as Denmark, Belgium, and Holland. It’s a pretty weird experience seeing the show you created remade in Dutch. It was also remade in the US where it ran for three seasons on Comedy Central.

Off the back of Review I was entrusted to make more shows for the ABC – At Home with Julia about the home-life of former Prime Minister Julia Gillard.

A Moody Christmas, about a dysfunctional family set on Christmas Day where every episode was a year apart – and its sequel series, The Moodys.

But if you work hard, if you don’t give up, if you keep driving towards it, you will get there. And once you do, hopefully you’ll find yourself at another crossroads, asking “what do I do now?”

It was hard work, but I got to work with my friends, having fun doing it and I got paid for it. I was a very lucky individual.

But once again, I found myself wondering, ‘what do I do now?’

Well, this crossroads was a little different. My wife and I had just had our second child. After a botched renovation on our house we had to move out and live with her parents in their apartment. All our stuff was in storage, as we looked for a new place to live. It was a challenging time, to say the least. I’d been over to the US a few months earlier, and had managed to get an agent over there.

So when I said to my wife, half-jokingly, maybe we should just move to Los Angeles, she said “Can we go now?”

So, two months later, with a two year old and a two month old, we were living in LA, the start of another huge adventure.

My agent had shown The Moodys around to a lot of producers and there was huge interest in the format. We went out and pitched an American version to every major network in the US –they all bought it in the room, the pitch barely out of our mouths. I couldn’t believe it.

We were commissioned to write what’s known as a pilot script – the first episode

of a TV show – for the Fox network.

If Rupert Murdoch liked the script – no, he didn’t have a say in it, I don’t think – if they liked it enough, we’d get to make it into a pilot episode, and from there maybe into a whole US series.

It was a huge thrill. So we got writing.

During this time, I was invited to an awards ceremony – the Australian Academy of Cinema and Television Arts, the Australian Oscars I guess you’d call it.

I found myself sitting across a table from none other than Robert De Niro, Russell Crowe, Quentin Tarantino, to name a just few... It was completely mind-blowing and I had to pinch myself. I used to work the night shift at a West Dubbo service station, I probably shouldn’t be here.

Yes, it was hard to not be swept up in the excitement of Hollywood.

So, we wrote this pilot script for Fox. It was well received, and all our agents, managers and producers were saying “This is a slam dunk – this show is going to get made, it’s a no-brainer.” I tried not to let myself get carried away by the hype, but if I’m honest, deep down, if I’d been a betting man, I would have put money on it getting picked up. And then it didn’t.

There’d been a change of regime at the network. Suddenly, our little show, which had been so popular, was no longer a priority. Just like that, it was dead in the water. I couldn’t believe it. I said to my agent “But everyone said it was a given! Everyone loved it!” My agent just shrugged and said “Welcome to Hollywood.”

Yep, I soon discovered it was the Mecca of crossroads. But I’m glad I did it. Sure, it didn’t go to plan, but that failure brought other opportunities. Someone once said you can learn more from failure than you can from success, and I’d have to agree with that. I now have several projects in development over there, and having done two series of Here Come the Habibs! for Channel Nine, I’m looking forward to seeing those crossroads again.

Because there’s no real wrong path.

Or put another way, if you do choose the wrong path, it’s okay. Find something you love to do, not just something you feel you should do. Know that the path to achieving it might be a winding, twisting, convoluted one. But if you work hard, if you don’t give up, if you keep driving towards it, you will get there. And once you do, hopefully you’ll find yourself at another crossroads, asking “what do I do now?” I know I will

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T H E C H R O NI CL E E V E N T C OV E R A G E

131 ST ANNUAL SPEECH DAY The 2017 academic year concluded with two fabulous occasions; the Prep School Celebration Assembly which was followed by Speech Day.

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here have been many wonderful achievements throughout the year and both events afforded the opportunity to reflect upon and celebrate the successes of 2017.

It was fitting for us to have as our guest speaker Mr Bob Davis, a former student of Wolaroi College who has dedicated his career to serving the community, particularly in the area of Aboriginal Health. An important objective of a Kinross Wolaroi School education is for our students to graduate with the character and values that will see them contribute positively to their communities —

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T H E C H R O NI CL E ST UD E N T A C H I EVEM ENT S

STUDENT SUCCESS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL There is a huge amount of pride in seeing students succeed at KWS. These are just a few of the inspiring and extraordinary achievements from the classroom and beyond.

Fletcher Rose

Phoebe Licthfield

Cricket Fletcher Rose (KWS) was selected in the NSWSCA Representative team to play against Queensland (QLDSCA) on the 25–28 September 2017 Fletcher also plays for Orange Opens in the Western Zone Premier League Competition and was recently named in the Western Zone Colts Team to contest the McDonald’s Country Colts Championships in Tamworth on the 18-21 December.

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Year 8 student Phoebe Litchfield was named in the in the Sydney Thunder’s 2017-18 Women’s Big Bash League (WBBL) Academy squad. Phoebe is one of seven up-and-coming females named in the Thunder’s Academy program for this season. Phoebe is also involved in the NSW Cricket Emerging Players Program.

Both Phoebe and Year 12 student, Mckenzie Carr represented Western Zone at the NSW Country Championships in Raymond Terrace in early October. Mckenzie and Phoebe were selected for the NSW Country/ ACT team to play at the National Championships in December.

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Year 6 student, Sophie Martin

Hugh Payne at NSWPSSA in October

Year 11 student, Dominique Holland

NSWPSSA Cross Country Championships

NSWPSSA Athletics

NSW All Schools Athletics championships

Year 6 student, Sophie Martin competed at NSWPSSA Cross Country Championships on Friday 21 July as a member of the CIS team. Sophie ran a strong race against very tough competition finishing in exceptional 12th place in the 12 years girls event.

This is an amazing result, especially as Sophie was racing against the best cross country runners in the state.

Hugh Payne competed in the 10 year boys High Jump event at the NSWPSSA Athletics Championships held at the Sydney Olympic Park Athletic Centre on 19 October. He had a rocky start, missing some of the lower heights early in competition, but after re-measuring his run up, went on to win the event with an amazing height of 1.45m, an 8cm personal best. Hugh qualified for the NSWPSSA team and competed at the National Athletics Championships in Adelaide in December.

Dominique Holland competed at the NSW All Schools Athletics championships during October.

She competed in the 17 Women’s Hammer throw, winning the event with a throw of 50.55 metres, qualifying to compete at the National All schools Championships which took place in Adelaide in December.

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T H E CH R ONI C L E ST UD E N T A C H IEVEM ENT S

STUDENT SUCCESS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL The hard work, dedication and determination of our students has culminated in some most notable achievements. We extend our congratulations to them all.”

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Donny Freeman

KWS Pedal Prix team in Adelaide

Waratahs NSW Player of the Year

KWS Pedal Prix

Year 11 student, Donny Freeman capped off the season by receiving the 2017 NSW Schools Rugby Player of the Year.

The KWS Pedal Prix Team had a great trip to Adelaide, competing at the Australian International Pedal Prix. It is the largest race of its type in the world with 205 teams, 3000 competitors and 25,000 spectators. This year’s event was cut short, with a large storm coming through Murray Bridge just before the start of the race at 12 noon. The wind gusts were extreme, with half of the 10,000 people camping having to reerect flatten tents. Eventually the wind died down and the race began at 4pm.

Both KWS teams worked hard over the reduced 20 hour race. Proudly our younger team members rose to the occasion, with many doing 35-40km stints. An accident in the evening brought the whole race to a halt, with red flags ushering an ambulance onto the track. Unfortunately a competitor involved in an accident required hospitalisation (last mail was that they were OK). This again reduced the race time by 1.5 hours. Over the 18.5 hours our teams did a respectable 442.88km (placing 135th) and 380.6km (placing 173rd). Interestingly, the winning team (Team Relentless Trump Trikes – an adult team in a different category) did 858.02 km.

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The team is to be commended on their terrific efforts and results this year.”

Year 11 student, Maggie Yeomans

Members of the KWS Equestrian team at the ISHE

Equestrian The North West Equestrian Expo (Coonabarabran Expo) The North West Equestrian Expo, fondly known as ‘Coona’ to all, welcomed the sunshine and dusty grounds – the first time the KWS Equestrian team has attended this event without rain. It did not take long for the team to adapt to the unusual conditions, swiftly jumping into gear to begin what would be a very successful week. The team is to be commended on their terrific efforts and results this year including notable top achievements: Maggie Yeomans – Reserve overall age Champion, 1st Am7 Showjumping, 1st A2 Showjumping.

Ollie Hoskin – awarded ‘Most Agile Rider’.

Inter-Schools Horse Extravaganza (ISHE) held in Tamworth in October – 11 riders In October, the KWS Equestrian team packed their floats and started the long journey to Tamworth for the Interschools Horse Extravaganza (ISHE) at the Australian Equine Livestock Exchange Centre. This is the first year our junior riders have competed for the School and it was encouraging to see so many of younger riders enjoying this fabulous event as much as the senior riders. At just six years of age, William Stratton was surely one of the youngest competitors at ISHE. The strengths of the team were spread across many disciplines with riders placing in everything, including notable top achievements: Chelsea White – 1st in Sporting.

Callum Wald – 1st 80cm Show Jumping.

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STUDENT SUCCESS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL

Year 6 student, Bailey Barrett

From left: Hannah Jones, Dan Hunter, Olivia Lee, Gordon Suthers and Charlotte Jones

Thomas McRae (left) and Max Bloomfield

NSWPSSA Hockey State Champions

ICAS

Newcastle Permanent Primary Schools Mathematics Competition

Year 6 student, Bailey Barrett was selected into the CIS Boys Hockey team to compete at the NSWPSSA Hockey Championships that took place in Wyong on the 29-31 August 2017. The CIS team competed against 14 teams from all over the State. This was the first year CIS has entered a team into the championships.

The team only came together for training just prior to the tournament but instantly showed strength and talent.

This was displayed throughout their games with the CIS team going on to win their pool, for a sport in the finals. The team played against tough opposition in the final eventually winning the game in overtime.

Congratulations to our students who completed this year’s ICAS Mathematics Competition. We had a great number of students from our school participate and we would like to acknowledge their hard work.

Congratulations to the students who gained excellent results:

Year 5 student, Thomas McRae Year 6 student, Max Bloomfield, received the top title in their division of the 37th annual Newcastle Permanent Primary Schools Mathematics Competition.

They sat the 35-question exam paper along with almost 19,000 students from 323 primary schools across the Central West, Hunter, Central Coast, Northern Rivers, Mid North Coast and New England regions in August.

Olivia Searle, Year 4 and Jaemin Lee, Year 6, achieved high distinctions in this completion as well.

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English – High Distinction (top 1% of the state) – Hannah Jones, Dan Hunter, Gordon Suthers.

Writing – High Distinction (top 1% of the state) Olivia Lee, Charlotte Jones and Hannah Jones.

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The KWS Virtual Debating team

Year 11 students, Sophie Hoskins-Murphy (left) and Hannah Solari

HSC Music student, Claudia Norton-Foley

Debating

Australian Music Examinations Board

Encore Nominations

The KWS Year 8 Virtual Debating team comprising, (L to R) James Thompson, Max Bylsma, Jacob Hansen and William Rawson, won the Grand final of the Years 7 and 8 Division of the Virtual Debating Competition. Topic of the debate was that ‘We should colonise the Moon’ and the KWS debated in the affirmative.

The boys debated a team from Canberra Grammar School.

Additionally, Jacob Hansen was awarded the Best Debater by the three adjudicators on the panel.

Sophie Hoskins-Murphy and Hannah Solari both passed their Associate of Music Examination (A.Mus.A) on Violin at the Australian Music Examinations Board in Sydney in September and were awarded a Diploma in Musical Performance. This is an extremely high level examination that is difficult to achieve. Mrs Lorraine Moxey, who has been teaching Hannah the violin for over 12 years, said “I am enormously proud of these two girls who have worked diligently to achieve these excellent results.”

Three of our Year 12 Music students were nominated for Encore – a selection of the best performances and compositions from all HSC Music students in NSW. Congratulations to Barbara King, Claudia Norton-Foley and Rebekah Rae. An outstanding achievement.

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T H E CH R ONI C L E ST UD E N T A C H I EVEM ENT S

STUDENT SUCCESS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL 11 Year 12 Industrial Technology students have been nominated for the 2018 InTech exhibition for outstanding major projects.”

Left to right: Alice Litchfield, Charlie Barber, Angus Cumming and Barbara King

Kirithar Vijayakumar and Ailish Seedsman

Drama HSC Drama students, Alice Litchfield, Charlie Barber, Angus Cumming and Barbara King, had their group project nominated for OnSTAGE, a presentation of exemplary group and individual HSC Drama performances.

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Design and Technology Year 11 student Ailish Seedsman and Year 12 student Kirithar Vijayakumar graduated with honours after sitting speech and drama exams with the International Music Examinations Board (IMEB) in July following eight years of study.

Both students will have an edge in their future careers after each was awarded honours in a Diploma of Speech and Drama.

Jack Bilton’s Design and Technology major work was nominated for Shape 2017, the annual exhibition of exemplary major projects, held at the Powerhouse Museum. Jack made an ironbark dining table suitable for a niche business such as a winery as it incorporates e-technology for ordering, LED lighting, and the main feature, a centrepiece which contains elements of flora and fauna from the local region, which is embedded in resin.

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Year 12 Industrial Technology students

Megan Kennett (right) at the KWS 2017 Visual Arts and Textiles Exhibition

Chloe Wilson’s Wool4School design

Industrial Technology

Textiles and Design

Wool4School

Months of hard work paid off for 11 of the 15, Year 12 KWS Industrial Technology students, when their HSC major works were nominated for the 2018 InTech exhibition for outstanding major projects. The exhibition features Timber Products and Furniture, Automotive, Electronics, Graphics, Metal and Engineering and Multimedia.

Congratulations to Jack Bilton, Sam Eberle, Jack Griffiths, Samuel Harbison, Lochie Hazelton, Samuel Jeffrey, Charles Mitton, Samuel Moon, Joshua Rosin, Cosmin Scott and Milton Smith with all their projects being worthy of the recognition they received.

Year 12 student Megan Kennett had her major Textiles and Design project selected for inclusion in Shape 2017, an annual exhibition of outstanding major projects by HSC Textile and Design, Design and Technology and Industrial Technology students.

Megan’s major work was also selected for inclusion in Texstyle, the annual exhibition of outstanding HSC major Textile and Design projects.

Chloe Wilson (Year 12) and Madeleine Triggs (Year 10) were both selected as finalists in this year’s Wool4School competition. This is a huge achievement as Wool4School is a national competition sponsored by The Woolmark Company which receives thousands of entries each year. Chloe was a top three finalist and Maddie was a top 10 finalist. The brief for the competition was to design an outfit for a favourite musician to wear at a concert or performance. The majority of the design was to comprise of merino fabrics and the students were required to demonstrate their knowledge of wool properties through the annotation of their design. The students were also required to submit a mood board, creative statement and, for Year 12, an industry standard production drawing.

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STUDENT SUCCESS AT THE HIGHEST LEVEL

Anna Seymour’s major artwork, Taino – “We the Good People”

The KWS Zero Robotic Team with mentor, Mr Craig O’Toole

Art Express

KWS Zero Robotic Team

HSC students Stephanie Lennon, Tharni-Jo Parkinson and Anna Seymour had their artworks nominated for ArtExpress which showcases Higher School Certificate bodies of work representing best practice in visual arts education and celebrating student achievement. Both Stephanie and Tharni-Jo received notification that their artworks have been selected for inclusion in ArtExpress.

Congratulations to the KWS Zero Robotics Team (Blues Bots) who were named as one of the well performing teams in the Australian Zero Robotics Competition and received an invitation to represent Australia in the International Zero Robotics High School Tournament that began in September.

The Australian competition was this year expanded to allow more high school students the opportunity to compete in Zero Robotics and gain valuable experience in programming a robot.

The preliminary competition involving fifty high schools, was run by The University of Sydney and provided students with invaluable experience in coding as well as learning the maths and physics behind the motion of the SPHERES robot and develop strategies for successful game play within the game premise.

Students were required to work as a team, delegate tasks, communicate effectively and be well organised – all valuable skills that students will be able to apply to their schoolwork and further studies post high school.

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The preliminary competition was held over 6 weeks in July-August with each team provided with a current University of Sydney Engineering/IT student as their mentor. The aim of the mentor was to provide the team with guidance throughout the process of learning the code and the logistics of the competition.

Special mention to the KWS Zero Robotics Team mentor, Mr Craig O’Toole (KWS Parent) who has given up much time and effort to help the team.

The KWS Zero Robotics Team competed against international teams with the competition run by MIT, Boston USA. They did exceptionally well, placing 132 in the world

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STAFF PROFILES One story at a time, meet the staff who make up the KWS community.

Luke Bracks Student Academic Services

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rowing up in Sydney, Luke’s fondest childhood memory is body-boarding at North Curl Curl in the late summer. Having developed a passion for the outdoors and sport from an early age, it’s little wonder that Luke and his family decided to make the tree change to Orange several years ago. Cycling through the Snowy Mountains or walking through the paddocks at sunset surrounded by his cows and calves is where he feels right at home. When he has the time, holidaying at Thredbo or spectating at the Tour Down Under are his favourite places to be.

With a tendency not to do anything half-heartedly, Luke likes to keep busy; his friends describing him as organised and hard-working. His personal philosophy stems from an early age with his Father always reinforcing that “a job worth doing, is worth doing well.”

After commencing tertiary studies in Engineering following school, Luke had an epiphany to pursue a career in education. Discovering a love of working with kids stemmed from a

role he had teaching at his local church youth group and leading camps. This became the catalyst for changing courses immediately and completing further studies in gifted education, special education, computer education and educational leadership.

The further you move from your starting point – the greater the success.”

At the current point in his career at KWS, Luke focuses on reading within the Student Academic Services team.

“When a child learns something, you see the light go on and they get it.

It brings a tear to your eye knowing that these are skills that can change a life.”

Further enhancing his knowledge and understanding of dyslexia as well as gifted education are current projects on which he is working. Whilst not at school, Luke is renovating the family home and currently finishing off a deck.

A hidden talent Luke has been fine tuning for over more than twenty years is playing the guitar. He started in high school and learnt enough to play in a talent quest. He liked it so much, he kept on playing!

He defines success more in terms of self-improvement or helping others improve. “The further you move from your starting point – the greater the success.”

However, closest to his heart are his wife Kate, their three beautiful children and his relationship with Jesus and involvement in his local church.

He feels incredibly blessed.

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STAFF PROFILES Be true to yourself, have integrity and be supportive of others, recognising that everyone is different and that it is from these differences that amazing things happen. We all need to have a go and not be afraid of failure. Perseverance and a positive outlook on life are so important.”

Tricia Finch Mathematics Teacher

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orn in Maitland, NSW, Mrs Tricia Finch (nee Firth) joined the teaching staff at Kinross Wolaroi School in 1981 after graduating from Newcastle University with a specialist degree in Mathematics and DipEd. When she first arrived at KWS, Tricia was a housemistress in Wolaroi House (now Tower House) presiding over the prep students and girl boarders at a time when the girl and boy boarders lived on the Wolaroi site.

During the early eighties, the School was small and struggling and staff needed to be involved in all activities.

In addition to teaching Maths, Tricia was a qualified Aerobics instructor when Aerobics was a “new” sport and played in the Women’s Football team with the girl boarders. She was the female Abseiling instructor at Cadet Camp, made many of the costumes for the musicals and was charged with coaching the Netball and Tennis teams.

In 1982, Tricia took her first major holiday to Sri Lanka and the Maldives, cementing an ongoing love for travel which has since included numerous trips to Europe, with a particular interest in 74 — ISSUE 4

Eastern Europe, especially Croatia and the Czech Republic.

As Head of Douglas House whilst still a young teacher, Tricia was also appointed Acting Head of Maths by then Principal, Mr Allan Anderson, in the mid-80s. These promotions led to a position as Senior Tutor and then Director of Pastoral Care in 2001. Being on the Senior Management Team meant that Tricia was able to be involved in the direction of the school with policy and planning, enabling her to provide a focus on the individual needs of the students through the Tutor system. At this time, Tricia was actively involved on committees that introduced AntiBullying policies amongst many others.

As Director of Pastoral Care, Tricia also facilitated an affiliation with ETO Gitarama – a high school in Rwanda.

Sponsorship monies raised through this initiative enabled a student to complete his HSC at KWS and go on to finish an Engineering degree on full scholarship, in Sydney.

Having always enjoyed the music of James Taylor and Carol King as well as Angus and Julia Stone, John Butler

Trio, Fleetwood Mac and other bands and artists of the seventies, her undisputed favourite band at the moment is WHARVES; a Lennox Head-based indierock quartet in which her son, Scott, plays bass and synth.

Married to husband, Ron for 31 years, Tricia’s favourite place to be is at the beach with her family, which also includes 27 year old daughter Kat who currently works for the McGrath Foundation.

Tricia has a particular passion for baking, enjoys movies including The Imitation Game with Benedict Cumberbatch and is an avid reader, citing A Man Called Ove by Fredrik Backman, as a recent favourite. The book she says, “reminds us that we need to listen to really get to know the person underneath the exterior – not judge by initial impressions”.

Last year, Tricia was honoured to be nominated for a National Excellence in Teaching Award and is currently coordinating the Maths Inside Project at KWS. Ever the maths teacher, she also enjoys solving the occasional puzzle!

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When times are tough, push through.”

Brendan Curran Recreation Centre Manager

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rendan Curran is described by friends and family as loyal and reliable and always happy to help – one of the aspects he enjoys most about his job as Recreation Centre Manager, a position he has held since joining the staff at Kinross Wolaroi School in 1990.

Born in Orange, Brendan grew up listening to Neil Diamond, Roy Orbison and Meatloaf and counts family gettogethers and the associated fun-times as being amongst some of his fondest childhood memories. Following high school, Brendan worked as a clerk and spent some time working at the Orange Tourist Information Centre before taking a job with the Orange Basketball Association. As a keen player and coach, Basketball remains a sporting pursuit that Brendan is still actively involved with today.

An avid camper, Brendan’s favourite place to be is sharing the campfire with friends, setting aside a week each year to relax in the great outdoors. He has travelled extensively throughout North America and regards his greatest

achievement as skydiving with his daughter and seeing her do so well.

He defines success as making it through life ‘relatively unscathed’, and is grateful for his good health and family.

In addition to his involvement with the Canobolas Lions Club, Brendan is a keen reader, enjoying anything by American crime writer, Kathy Reichs and given the opportunity to meet any one person, nominates Robin Williams on account of that fact that ‘he was such a brilliant, funny man’.

Never one to be afraid of giving anything a go, Brendan would one day like to set aside the time to learn the craft of woodworking – one of his favourite subjects at school. For the time being however, he and wife Lesley, also a valued member of the KWS community, are busy enough setting aside time for their volunteer work and spending time with family and friends

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STAFF ACHIEVEMENT

Nathan Zinga Agriculture Teacher

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athan is working towards Lead Teacher using the Australian Professional Standards for Teachers and through the NESA pathway.

Lead teachers are identified as innovative in their practice and lead learning that focuses on improving educational opportunities for all students. They seek to improve their own practice and share their experiences with colleagues and through engagement with the wider educational community.

Deb Orrock

Head of Stuart Douglas House

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ead of Stuart Douglas House, Deb Orrock, played in the National Hockey Tournament during October. Deb’s team played eight games and won gold.

Deb has also been selected in the Australian Masters team to play in the World Championships in Barcelona next July. Congratulations Deb.

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Liam Callaghan

Larissa Terrey

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Geography Teacher

ith a passion for ‘real’ Geography, Liam is the Research Team Leader for the Social Science Geography Fieldwork project. In partnership with Macquarie University, the study will investigate the use of fieldwork in geographical teaching, learning and assessment with Year 11 students. The research focus will look at student perceptions, teacher knowledge of student perceptions and how fieldwork promotes a change in perceptions and attitudes. Using a research cycle methodology and SOLO Taxonomy to promote deep learning and transfer of learning the project will run for 2 years. Liam, together with colleague Jason Smith, will present their interim findings at the 2018 GTA NSW conference in Sydney.

History Teacher

arissa has graduated from her studies at the Gandel Holocaust Studies Program run by Yad Vashem in Jerusalem, Israel. She has presented her insights and reflections on both the study and her experience to the Australian B’nai B’rith Association in July. In September Larissa presented a paper at the History Teachers Association National Conference held in Brisbane titled ‘The Yad Vashen Approach to Holocaust and its uses across History Teaching.’

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In past editions of The Chronicle, we have profiled several members of our Academic staff. The following documents their progress and professional development.

Bill Tink

Pete Whiting

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Art Teacher

passionate artist and teacher Bill believes it is important to share and encourage others in their pursuit of learning and ‘all things creative’. His presentation at the Visual Arts and Design Educators Association of NSW (VADEA) Regional Conference, held in Orange was titled Out of the box: Stop Motion Animation. Bill presented a unit of work based on developing a narrative using found objects, designed backgrounds, Claymation, lightening techniques and other low-tec approaches.

Science Teacher

ete combines his Science and Chemistry teaching with his passion and interest in the Flipped Classroom, Gamification/Mastery and Action Research. As the Research Team Leader of Flipped Learning at KWS, Pete is a strong believer in sharing the learning based on how technology should assist pedagogy not drive it. Presenting his research at FlipCon New Zealand and FlipCon Sydney, Pete aspires to build a collaborative relationships both within the school by implementing a peer teaching system within the flipped classroom and coaching others when it comes to the flipped classroom and the wider community by blogging/podcasting to share what KWS is doing. His published works include ‘Reducing the workload for the flipped classroom’ which was published in Science Education News, 64(3), 67 and ‘Our quest into the depths of gamification’ Education Technology Solutions, Issue 80 Oct/Nov 2017.

Claudia McCalman English Teacher

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fter completing her Master’s degree, Claudia has become Research Team Leader of the KWS Critical and Creative thinking Group. This cross faculty project aims to build a school wide culture of creative and critical thinking at KWS using thinking routines. Claudia is working with a small team of staff representing a cross section of faculties to drive and embed thinking routines from Kindergarten to Year 12

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EX-STUDENT PROFILES The Chronicle follows up with our Alumni.

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Many ideas and images pass through my mind as I paint, but nothing else exists when I do.

I’m totally absorbed in my work.”

Rhonda Campbell (nee Middleton) PLC Orange Class of 1963

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t is no surprise that ex-student, former KWS teacher and artist Rhonda Campbell’s favourite place to be is in her studio.

Born in Casino, Rhonda grew up in Parkes, NSW, and came to PLC Orange as a boarder during the mid 60’s.

Following school, Rhonda attended the National Art School in East Sydney in pursuit of developing her artistic and creative talents. She graduated with a Diploma of Design before continuing her education at the Alexander Mackie College where she graduated with a Diploma of Art Education. During the early 70’s, Rhonda travelled to London where she taught design at Bishop Douglass Catholic School in East Finchley.

Rhonda, returning to Australia following extensive travel throughout Asia and Europe, met and married husband, Bob and secured a teaching job in Visual Arts at Kinross Wolaroi School.

Her career then took a complete change and in 1975, Rhonda opened La Bottega Boutique on Byng Street,

Orange, where she provided stylish locals with access to the most beautiful brands until 2000. Since that time, Rhonda has taken up the paint brush again and has reignited her artistic light, culminating in a series of both solo and group exhibitions. Earlier this year, Rhonda was a finalist in the Calleen Art Award at the Cowra Regional Gallery.

Described by her friends as being bubbly, kind and creative, making art is her passion. During any spare time that Rhonda is afforded, she enjoys gardening as well as trying to perfect her printmaking and oil and cold wax techniques. “I have been drawn to techniques in printmaking, especially collagraphs, monoprints & embossing.”

She continues to draw significant influence from her travels in Outback Australia, Europe and Asia.

Grateful for a fortunate life, Rhonda defines success as being happy with oneself and would impart the following words of wisdom to her childhood self – simply, to “make more art”.

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EX-STUDENT PROFILES

Kellie Pearce KWS Class of 2006

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ou could be forgiven for thinking that Kellie Pearce is much older than her years, given her outlook on life and her accomplishments since completing her schooling at KWS in 2006.

Kellie was born in Orange and started kindergarten at KWS in 1994. She recounts family BBQ’s by the creek at Carcoar, swinging from the willow trees and catching yabbies with her numerous cousins as being “huge, chaotic, but entertaining events.”

Possessing a natural aptitude for Science, Kellie favoured Physics during her later years at school.

Immediately after completing her HSC, she joined the army and went to ADFA for a year, following which she left to complete honours in Science at the University NSW (UNSW). She also started Taido, a Japanese martial art involving a lot of movement, strategy, and creativity.

It was during her time living on campus in the International House at UNSW, that Kellie met a diverse number of students who were living and studying in Australia from overseas. “I’d always liked the idea of learning about a country and language by living there, so I went to Europe to do a PhD. I studied and worked at the Max Planck Institute for Quantum Optics and the LMU Munich.”

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Having lived in Munich for five years, Kellie was able to travel extensively throughout Europe and the United States. Her favourite place however, was Japan. “I’ve been there several times for Taido seminars and competitions. Travelling with a group of teammates and friends has bolstered strong connections with the Taido community there – the company was amazing.”

Taking five weeks to return home to Australia earlier this year on a cargo ship, Kellie passed through some fascinating locations, including the Suez Canal and La Reunion, en route. She has since found herself getting ‘ship nostalgia’ quite often. “I’d do it again if I get the time!”

Since moving to Melbourne for a job in R&D at a company that makes spectrophotometers for biopharma, Kellie lives with her partner and is currently finishing her PhD thesis on Nano-optics. Despite her academic accomplishments however, Kellie’s greatest challenge she says, has been to cope with mental illness which first manifested when she was young.

“I felt so weak and it seemed so incomprehensible. It didn’t go away of course – because that’s not how these things work. I now realise that having an illness doesn’t make me weak.

Being able to deal with it is in fact a sign of strength.”

I think ‘succeeding’ in anything is having something you can be proud of. That might be accomplishing something you’ve worked really hard for, or just trying something you never thought you’d be brave enough to do.”

Possessing a love for her work and all that it entails, Kellie’s ultimate focus is to keep solving scientific problems and develop products that people use for real-world issues and further research, making the world around her a better place.

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Don’t be afraid of making mistakes. No one is judging you as hard as yourself.”

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T H E C H R O NI CL E A LUM N I

EX-STUDENT PROFILES 01

Q& A

02

Q: What three words would your friends use to describe you?

A: Uncompromising, Fearless, Magical.

Q: Where were you born?

A: Coonamble, NSW.

Phil Lloyd

Q: What is your personal philosophy A: Just keep going. (Obviously doesn’t apply if you’re driving towards a cliff or something – use your judgment.)

Children Three

Q: What’s the one thing you couldn’t live without?

A: Oxygen. And by oxygen I mean coffee.

Lives Sydney

Q: Where have you travelled? What was your favourite place and why?

A: I’m fortunate to have travelled to many parts of the world – USA, UK, Europe, Asia, NZ, Blayney… Hard to name a favourite but the breathtaking views of the Himalayas in Nepal are hard to beat. That, or Old Dubbo Gaol.

KWS Class of 1992

Q: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A: Going out to see a band, live music.

Q: What is the greatest challenge you have had to overcome in your life thus far?

A: This questionnaire. Before that, moving overseas with a young family.

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Q: Where is your favourite place to be?

A: The South Coast of NSW. Secluded beaches, national parks, a beautiful part of the world.

Q: Do you have any hidden talents?

A: I can crack a stockwhip. On horseback.

Q: What were your favourite subjects at school?

A: English and French.

Q: What was your first job?

A: Night shift at the Mobil Service Station in West Dubbo.

Q: What words of advice would you pass onto your childhood self ?

A: Buy Apple shares NOW! And don’t worry about what other people think.

Q: What did you do following your schooling at KWS? A: I took a year off and worked, saving up enough money to go to university.

Q: Are you working on any projects or innovations?

A: Always working on new television projects. Currently developing several for Australia and a couple for the US. Q: What are you grateful for?

A: Too much to name. Family, friends, and freedom is a good start.

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Nothing can prepare you for how it makes you feel, nor can anything compare.”

03

01 02 03 04

Yacht Club The Moodys The Moodys This Christmas

04

Q: What is your fondest childhood memory and why?

A: Cracker night! We’d have a giant bonfire and fireworks, and then in the morning I‘d scour the paddocks for the little parachute men from the fireworks.

The fact cracker night was later banned makes me glad I got to experience it.

Q: Name your three favourite bands or singers.

A: Radiohead, Jeff Buckley, Paul Kelly.

Q: What is your occupation and the reason behind your decision to pursue your current career?

A: I’m a writer and an actor. I started writing and acting at uni and it was so much fun that I decided I wanted to do it all the time. (Basically, I found a profession where you can get paid to be an idiot all the time).

Q: What do you enjoy most about your career?

A: It’s fun and creative, and seeing it through from inception to fruition is extremely satisfying.

Q: If you could learn to do something new, what would it be?

A: Own my own vineyard and become a winemaker.

Q: Something no one would know about me is…

A: I once stowed away on a train in India, and spent the entire trip worried I’d be caught and arrested. A man spotted me and stood staring at me for a while. He went away, but then came back – with his young son. The man asked me if I would mind if his son looked at me because he’d never seen a white person before. I said ‘OK’. The kid looked at me. Then they thanked me and went back to their seat.

And I never got caught.

Q: What’s your superpower?

A: I have a photographic memory.

Q: How do you define success?

A: Feeling proud of something you have worked hard to achieve.

Q: What is your favourite movie and why?

A: Tough one but I’m going to go with The Jerk (1979). Steve Martin.

Q: What teacher inspired you the most?

A: Bev West. I was all set to give up French, but Mrs West encouraged me not to. I’m glad she did – it was a challenge and challenging yourself is a good thing. Plus, a little French comes in handy when travelling through France.

Q: What is your greatest achievement and how has it shaped you?

A: Sounds cliché but becoming a dad.

Nothing can prepare you for how it makes you feel, nor can anything compare.

Q: If you could have dinner with any one person, alive or dead, who would they be and why?

A: Probably Steve Martin. I’m such a huge fan, I’d just love to ask him all about his life and career and hopefully have a few laughs along the way.

Q: What is your favourite book and why?

A: Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad.

Read it at school, and it’s always stayed with me. Dark, poetic, timeless. That, or Spreadsheets for Dummies, which is just as compelling.

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EX-STUDENT PROFILES Q& A

Brian Easterbrook

Wolaroi College Class of 1960 Children Three sons Michael, Stephen and Sean Lives Perth, Western Australia

Q: Where were you born?

A: Sydney.

Q: What is your personal philosophy?

A: Being firm with what I believe to be correct and fair.

Q: Where have you travelled? What was your favourite place and why?

A: We have travelled throughout the UK and Ireland, Europe, Canada and Alaska.

We have cruised on European canals and rivers and from Helsinki to Moscow.

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When away, we always try to include Paris as we love the visiting the Louvre and the antique galleries.

Next week we are leaving for Italy and then over to Zurich.

Q: What do you enjoy doing in your spare time?

A: A few years ago I joined the local Yacht Club as we have a 27ft yacht and now thoroughly look forward to sailing and racing at least once a week in the summer and about every two weeks in the winter with my young and enthusiastic crew of five.

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Another interest is the Morgan Car Club.

We have a 1973 Morgan 4/4 which we take out regularly on Club runs. It is a great group to be associated with and fine friendships have been formed.

WA coast. Over the next 12 years, with lots of satisfaction and many heart breaks, we cleared and developed the land, growing cereal crops and farming up to 4000 sheep.

We have been involved with a group of friends and together we are working on a project in Cambodia to provide sanitation and water for a school of 1200 students where there are no toilets or water! This is a great project where we feel we can help to make a difference.

I am looking forward to heading over there by the end of the year for a follow up when the project is completed. I also enjoy gardening and growing orchids.

With the property developed and the three boys growing up, we decided to sell and move to Perth so we could provide a better education for them.

Q: What is the greatest challenge you have had to overcome in your life thus far?

A: The biggest challenge would be coming to grips with the news, five years ago, that my wife Mary had been diagnosed with breast cancer. Thankfully the treatment has been successful and things are normal again now.

Q: Where is your favourite place to be?

A: On ‘Lady Claire’ sailing the Swan river at sunset with my wife, Mary, and crew with a nice cold beer.

Q: What were your favourite subjects at school?

A: Wool classing, Agriculture, Woodwork and Economics.

Q: What was your first job?

A: While continuing wool classing at Tech, I worked in the family Newsagency in West Wyalong. When I finished at Tech, I started wool classing with a large contractor in NSW. Q: What words of advice would you pass onto your childhood self ?

A: Set your goals and always keep an open mind to new challenges which will present themselves as you progress through life. Don’t be afraid to have a go at something new.

Q: What did you do following your schooling at KWS? A: From a very early age, I wanted to have a mixed farm with the associated lifestyle. From wool classing, I was fortunate in 1967 to be allocated a Conditional Purchase block of 5000 acres of new land (scrub), midway between Perth and Geraldton on the

After looking around for some months, we purchased a Supermarket and Liquor store in suburban Perth which we worked at for the next 18 years or so before selling so I could retire.

After a couple of weeks of retirement and not being able to find any weeds in the garden, Stephen, our second son, who was up at Tom Price involved in Iron ore mining, came to Perth and his words were “Dad, you are looking bored.”

“Come up north and have a look at what is going on in the Pilbara.”

Off to the Pilbara I went which I thoroughly enjoyed. I successfully achieved my advanced Scaffolding and high risk license at 60 years of age. So much for retirement!

Stephen and I set up and started Pilbara Access Pty Ltd, servicing the mining industry the following year. With the advent of the Mining boom, there was an acute shortage of suitably trained personnel to service our industry. We started our own Training facility with trainers from the UK. Q: Are you working on any projects or innovations?

A: Our business requires lots of different types of equipment which we need to import from China, so a couple of times a year I have been going to China to visit Manufacturers and suppliers to develop these supplies to meet our special needs.

This is a learning experience on its own.

Q: Name your three favourite bands or singers.

A: Neil Diamond, Kenny Rogers and Glen Campbell.

Q: What is your occupation and the reason behind your decision to pursue your current career?

A: I am a Director of the Company.

Setting it up and taking on Multi Nationals in the industry has, and always will be, a challenge upon which we thrive.

Q: What do you enjoy most about your career?

A: Engaging with a wide range of young and enthusiastic staff.

Q: If you could learn to do something new, what would it be?

A: I would love to be able to master the computer skills of our staff. The young people are incredible!

Q: How do you define success?

A: Having achieved personal and business goals which have ensured the happiness of our family.

Q: What is your favourite book and why?

A: A Tale of Two Cities – a novel by Charles Dickens, which I first read as part of our reading list for English at Wolaroi. I picked up the book a few years ago and have read it a number of times since.

Q: What teacher inspired you the most?

A: Clive Hamer who was my English teacher at school. I caught up with him a number of years ago after he retired from Wesley College, in Perth. He will always be fondly remembered for his outlook on life and for always calling a Spade a Spade

Q: What are you grateful for?

A: I am fortunate to have been able to see many countries and cultures. What I am most grateful for, is being able to come back to a happy home and family in a Country which is safe and stable.

Q: What is your fondest childhood memory and why?

A: Sitting around the fire with Mum and Dad and my sisters talking and laughing before TV came into our lives.

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ANNOUNCEMENTS Births ROBYN YOULL AND BILL TINK KWS Academic staff A son, Huxley was born on 23 September 2017

Birthdays DOROTHY ANNETTE SALTER (NEE GROUNDWATER) PLC Orange Class of 1936 On 19 September 2017, Dorothy Annette Salter (nee Groundwater), a foundation student of PLC Orange in 1928, celebrated her 100th birthday.

Her father, Edward Groundwater, owned and operated a jewellery shop opposite the Post Office in Summer Street, Orange until the 1950s. He was also an Optometrist. Dorothy was the third of his three daughters and none of them ever required glasses!

After school Dorothy worked in her father’s shop until she married Wilber Henry Salter in March 1942. At the time of their marriage, Australia was at war and Wilber was employed as a machinist in Newcastle contributing to the war effort. One instance the family often laughs about is that Wilber was on shift when the Japanese shelled Newcastle.

At the end of his shift he rushed home to check that his new wife had not been injured and was indeed safe. To his amazement, he had to wake her up then explain his anxiety as she had slept through the whole ordeal!

After the war they bought a property near Manildra where they remained for five years before selling up and moving to another farm further west at Ootha near Condobolin. There they operated a mixed farming enterprise for the next 15 years. Wilber and Dorothy had four children, Anthony, Betsy, Rosemary and David, who all attended the small bush

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school at Ootha. Dorothy was a full time ‘stay at home Mum’ and always enjoyed her time gardening. Despite a lack of water, she grew many beautiful roses and flowers of all descriptions.

Dorothy completed a course in cake decorating and decorated many cakes, including wedding cakes, beautifully.

Following that success, she then completed a china painting course and was prolific in painting cups, plates and small dishes which are now the proud possession of her many descendants.

Knitting and crocheting were also things that she liked to do.

During the next phase of her life, Dorothy again moved further west, this time to Condobolin, where she once again became a ‘townie’. Wilber was always interested in engineering and took a position offered to him managing a new Company called Condobolin Steel Pty Ltd. When Wilber retired, he and Dorothy spent most of their time in Condobolin with frequent visits to Victoria. After Wilber passed away in August 2011, Dorothy moved to the Aged Care Village in Condobolin.

Dorothy has 17 grandchildren, 38 great grandchildren and three great, great, grandchildren

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Dorothy reading a birthday card from The Queen at her 100th Birthday celebrations in September

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IN MEMORIAM VALE

CHERIE BYRNES KWS Teaching Staff 1989-2014 24 August 2017

HELEN SCHIBROWSKI KWS Teaching Staff 1986-2001 11 October 2017

Our very special friend and former colleague, Cherie Byrnes, passed away on 24 August 2017. We remember a joyous, loving and beautiful soul who inspired her students, cared for the Year 12s in a warm and professional way and who always put others before herself. Her charismatic bright and bubbly nature will be dearly missed by all who were touched by her presence.

The world has lost a shining star.

Much loved wife of Mark, mother to Simon, Andrea, Sam and Amy, grandmother to Thomasina, Rory and Matilda, daughter of May and Jock Forrest.

Helen Schibrowski passed away on 11 October 2017 at Wolper Private Hospital in Woollahra, Sydney surrounded by her four children Anna, Carl, Laura and Emma. She was brave, good humoured and dignified throughout a five month battle with cancer.

Helen joined Kinross Wolaroi School along with the whole Schibrowski family at the start of 1986 having just moved from Girton College in Bendigo. She taught English at KWS from Year 7-12 up until 2001 when she moved to Sydney to take on further study and some work teaching English as a second language to adult migrants in and around Surry Hills, Sydney.

While on the staff at KWS, Helen was appointed Deputy Head of the English Department in the late 1990’s, led the peer support program for a time and participated in school sports, Richards House activities, and was a cast member in the school production of Away.

Helen is survived by her four children and six grandchildren (Jacob, Jasper, Aidan, Maddie, Chloe and Archer) with another due at the end of January 2018.

She will be missed by many, and is remembered as a caring, nurturing, capable and loving person who meant so much to so many.

SID MCGREGOR KWS Transport Services 2 October 2017 Passed away peacefully. Sid provided transport services to KWS for over 25 years. This included our daily mail runs, the pickup and delivery of laundry for the Boarding Houses and, for many years before the construction of the new kitchen facilities at PLC, the delivery of meals to PLC every day.

Sid’s services were an example of one of the many “behind the scenes” efforts that go in to supporting the teaching and learning activities on campus without which it would be much harder to function. He was a tireless worker and would do anything to assist the School. He will be missed.

PROF. PANLOP ZEEPHONGSEKUL (JACOB ZEE) Wolaroi College Class of 1968 18 November 2017

JOAN WEARING PLC Orange Class of 1952 8 September 2017 BERT SINCLAIR MORRIS Wolaroi College Class of 1954 12 December 2017

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KWS EX-STUDENTS’ ASSOCIATION

2018 Reunions

2018 Golden Alumni Luncheon

PLC Orange – 90th Anniversary Celebration

The 2018 reunions will be held in Orange at The Hotel Canobolas on Saturday 10 March 2018 along with KWS Day which will be held at the School.

Following the success of the inaugural Golden Alumni Luncheon held at the School in February 2016, the second will be held in the DPA on Friday 16 February 2018.

If you would like to be a reunion co-ordinator for your year, and for all reunion queries, please contact the School on (02) 6392 0300 or email reception@kws.nsw.edu.au

This event is a celebration of our combined PLC Orange and Wolaroi College Alumni who left the School over 50 years ago.

2018 will mark the 90th Anniversary of the founding of PLC Orange in 1928. The School will be organising an appropriate event to mark the occasion later in 2018. PLC Orange Alumni are asked to stay-tuned for updates!

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For further details or to register your interest, please contact the School on (02) 6392 0300 or email reception@kws.nsw.edu.au

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FROM THE ARCHIVES

Social Service Notes From The Gleam, 1938

D

uring this year, the girls have made for Kathleen White, of the Burnside Homes, outfits of clothes, both for Summer and Winter. Parcels of clothes were also sent to Annie Boyd and her sisters at Bourke. To the Aboriginal Mission at Arakun a parcel of medical requirements and gifts that were sent from the school. For the Base Hospital, we held an egg-day at the school.

Contributions in other ways included the selling of Red Cross Calendars; contributions to the Deaf and Dumb, to the Blind, and also to the local Ambulance. On the 11th November we sold poppies for the soldiers. To the “Kirk at Work”, a parcel of dips was sent and we also sent our yearly contribution to the cot at Scarba. On the 9th December, the girls arranged a Christmas Tree Party for the poorer children of Orange. About 150 attended.

Did Someone Say T.V.?

From the Magazine of Wolaroi College, 1963 The Wyvern – N. Black

O

n Sunday 31st March, 1963, four Wolaroi boys proceeded to the studios on CBN-Channel 8 to participate in a programme sponsored by the Protestant Churches.

Our arrival saw the clock tick 4.30, “just in time” for our performance at 5.45.

The operating hall was closely examined and camera techniques studied before the operators entered the room and started things moving (all except Paul, anyway!). People from all Churches in Orange started to come in and soon all the audience seats were filled; of course, none by the polite Wolaroi boys! Wolaroi managed to acquire seating on a lounge to the side of the audience!

PLC (at least five Prefects) then entered the area, closely followed by more people hoping to be able to walk out and say “T.V. saw my face”. However I’m afraid, this was not possible, as all the audience seats were filled and Wolaroi occupied the quite, inconspicuous lounge. We were joined by an ambitious PLC Prefect, and so now five persons occupied the lounge, barely large enough for three.

The whole idea of the 30 minute program was for members of the audience to put forward questions to a panel of three highly equipped Ministers.

When the PLC girl was politely asked the question “what is your question, lady?” by another member of the lounge, she was rather embarrassed, I feel, when she had to reply, “I haven’t one”. However, once again Wolaroi came to the rescue and the question problem (sounds ambiguous, doesn’t it?) was solved.

In all seriousness, the afternoon was really enjoyed and quiet profitable, both from knowledge supplied by the panel, and also by the experience gained. And although many people missed appearing on the screen, Wolaroi managed to have two (or should I say three) questions answered, and we hope they were of at least some benefit to the public as well as ourselves

kws.nsw.edu.au