Community News

Hethersett Parents’ Group

The Hethersett Parents’ Group is the oldest parent body at PLC, founded in the 1950s and named in honour of the original Burwood property. As a Senior School parent volunteer group, the Hethersett Parents’ Group provides parents with the opportunity to work together and support important events in the life of the school, including the Athletics Carnival, the Mother’s Day Breakfast, the Father’s Day Breakfast and the Christmas Luncheon.

In Term 2, the group organised the Senior School Mother’s Day breakfast, held in Betty Caldwell Hall for the first time due to a record number of registrations, with tickets sold out in 3 days! All were treated to a scrumptious buffet breakfast and wise parenting tips from Cheryl Penberthy, our guest speaker. There were door prizes, a raffle and many other gifts for special mums on the day. Our main focus for the rest of this term will be planning for the upcoming Senior School Father’s Day breakfast.

If you are interested in being part of the Hethersett Parents’ Group, we would love to hear from you. Please send us an email at hethersettgroupplc@gmail.com

April Lim President – Hethersett Parents’ Group

PLC Prayer Group

The PLC Prayer Group returned to in-person meetings at Hethersett earlier this year, although the May/June lockdown saw the prayer group connect via Zoom. The group meets every other Wednesday morning in the Junior School, and every Thursday at lunchtime. A broad range of people attend prayer group, including staff members (past and present), Old Collegians and parents. All are welcome!

In May, the PLC Prayer Breakfast was held at Betty Caldwell Hall with over 100 attendees, including staff, students and families. It was an inspiring morning as Reverend Christie Buckingham shared the transformation of the Bali Nine ringleaders, through the power of God’s love and forgiveness. We enjoyed a wonderful morning of food, fellowship and prayer.

We continue to pray for the school and the wider PLC community, particularly during this challenging season. May God’s peace, joy and hope replace anxiety, hopelessness and discouragement.

If you are interested in joining the Prayer Group, please contact April Lim at aprilswlim@gmail.com for further information.

Friends of Music

Although the May/June lockdown was meant to be just a short circuit-breaker, it made us appreciate even more the fact that we were able to host almost 90 guests at the ever-popular Chamber Music High Tea earlier in March. It was certainly a wonderful opportunity for the school community to reconnect for the first time in 2021 after a socially isolated 2020. Surrounded by beautiful cascading blooms in the PAC foyer, guests were treated to vibrant chamber performances by the talented girls whilst enjoying a delectable high tea, not to mention the squeals of delight from the winners of the various raffle prizes that were drawn throughout the afternoon.

Another highlight was the silent auction of two special paintings by late Old Collegian Anne Chisholm (Wells 1946), bequeathed by her family to committee member Lucy Tong (mother of Jessica, Year 10), who kindly donated them to the Friends of Music to add to our fundraising efforts. Coincidentally, one painting was purchased by another Old Collegian, Dimitra Digiaris (1979) and the other by PLC Head of Chinese, Michelle Liu, thus keeping them within the PLC family, so to speak! Overall, the event was a huge success and has enabled us to catch up on our fundraising to support our annual music bursaries. The FMS was also recently granted Deductible Gift Recipient status, so if you wish to make a tax-deductible donation to the FMS, please scan the QR code on the right for details. We are now looking forward to holding Retro Night in October. For more information email fms@plc.vic.edu.au

Li-Leen Tan (1986) President – Friends of Music

Vale – Brian Bayston

It is with great sadness that we learnt of the passing of Mr Brian Bayston OAM, one of the longest-standing members of the College Council, whose contribution spanned 35 years. Brian had a tremendous faith and his commitment to all he undertook was both inspiring and exemplary. He brought his vast experience and intellect as a lawyer and consultant to the Council and was a driving member of the Property and Planning Committee and Executive and Finance Committee for many years. PLC remains extremely grateful for his enduring years of devoted service and the passionate support he gave to our College community. We send our deepest condolences to Helen, and their children and grandchildren.

Vale – Pam Darian Smith

During her years at PLC in the 1970s and 80s Pam Darian Smith was a dedicated teacher and a much-admired colleague and friend. Pam’s students were inspired by her calm approach to teaching English. Outside the classroom, for years, she guided the Patchwork Committee in the production of the magazine. Her experience as a journalist on Fleet Street ensured its high editorial standards were always maintained.

Pam enriched her classes with her wide interests in reading, the theatre, her beautiful garden and chamber music, to name but a few. Those of us who knew her were endlessly fascinated by her travel tales and descriptions of some of the most notable gardens in the world. She will always be remembered by her colleagues and those in the school community privileged to have known her.

The Lampas Society

2020 was a challenging year for the Lampas Society, as for everyone on planet Earth. We did not even meet by Zoom. We kept in touch mainly by email. Two very generous Old Collegians offered to do shopping for any of our members who needed such help. As far as I know, this offer was not taken up, but it was a heart-warming reminder of the PLC spirit, and of the concern our students have for the welfare of their former teachers.

So it was with some excitement that we anticipated our 2021 AGM and luncheon. At the AGM new and younger former staff agreed to join the committee. A new President has yet to be elected so I am continuing in that role for the time being.

The speaker, Romy Faulkner, School Captain in 2006, proved a huge drawcard. As usual, the luncheon was a great opportunity for former staff, parents and students to catch up. With almost 50 acceptances, the venue was changed from Hethersett to the Senior School staffroom. For staff and students, Romy and her peers, the venue enhanced the experience.

One former staff member said, ‘I loved being back in the old staffroom after a twenty-year gap. They are such beautiful bonds that were forged in those days, it is so heartwarming, and carries forth.’

Romy’s speech was as enlightening and inspiring as we had anticipated. One of her past teachers commented: ‘I enjoyed speaking to Romy after all these years and her speech was both enlightening and so relevant to our times. Both PLC and her family have much to be proud of!’

Romy herself said: ‘It was such a wonderful experience to be back at school with so many teachers I loved. I was really grateful for the opportunity to be there.’

Romy’s talk ranged far and wide. She has a deep concern for the welfare of all human beings, including, for example, the prison inmate with whom she corresponded when working for Julian Burnside AO QC while still an undergraduate law student. Romy’s innate curiosity eventually took her overseas and to work as advisor to the Director of the International Red Cross. Her talk was accompanied by some amazing footage of travel to such places as Timbuktu in Mali, and a mosque built in 1327. She also visited one in Agadez in Niger, but it’s quite recent, built in the 1500s! Again and again Romy’s message came across, wherever people live, whatever their situation, they have a right to all the privileges and provisions which we so easily take for granted. Romy is back in Australia now and working for the Australian Council of Superannuation Investors, focusing on the impacts of large-scale companies on local communities, from a human rights perspective.

Romy had seen the PLC billboard advertisement with the one word, ‘Curious’, in big, bold letters. She applauded this, ending her speech as follows:

It’s wonderful that PLC continues to foster curiosity. I hope that PLC teaches women to question what is ‘normal’, to question the system around them. And I trust that PLC is teaching women to be social entrepreneurs, to build innovative solutions that contribute to a healthier and more sustainable world.

Thank you, Romy.

Considering the May/June lockdown, we are very grateful that our function was scheduled for 22 May, not 29 May. We have plans for our 11 September luncheon, our Heritage tour of PLC on 7 October and, finally, to join with our Old Collegians on a tour of the refurbished Melbourne Town Hall on 13 November, 2021. Please feel free to join us on any, or all, of these occasions.

Christine Bradbeer President – The Lampas Society lampas@plc.vic.edu.au

Behind the staff room door

If you should dare to go inside, Be prepared for an experience that should enhance Your curiosity and mind…

‘‘Curiouser and curiouser!’ cried Alice (she was so much surprised, that for the moment she quite forgot how to speak good English).’*

This seems to me like an appropriate starting point for this Lampas Society event which was held not at Hethersett, as originally planned, but in the PLC staff room. As students we were never allowed behind those mysterious doors, but on a beautiful autumn day as an adult I was permitted to go in. Throughout my working life I have worked in a number of schools, both government and private, so the staff room was where one went for one’s breaks. These staff rooms were quite spacious and airy. Therefore, I was quite surprised to find that this room was, while light, quite small by comparison. Nevertheless, it did not deter 50 excited people from gathering there for a light lunch to listen to former School Captain, Romy Faulkner (2006), who stated that she has always been a curious person.

Romy talked about her school days and her amazing jobs. Romy graduated as a lawyer and until recently was an advisor to the President of the International Committee of the Red Cross in Geneva. This job took her to a number of developing countries, including Mali, where she visited the city of Timbuktu. Romy also spoke of the need to focus on corporate engagement in humanitarian work, the importance of social entrepreneurship, addressing climate change, governance issues and human rights. Romy was praised by her former teachers as a person they always thought would have an amazing career and this young woman is certainly doing this through hard work, study and being in the right places at the right time. We were so fortunate to be able to listen to Romy and attend this event before a week later we were sent into lockdown once again.

*with apologies to Lewis Carroll’s Alice’s Adventures in Wonderland.

Terri Mackenzie (1976) PLC OCA Committee Member

Happy Birthday, Joan!

The whole PLC family congratulates a very special member of our community, Miss Joan Montgomery AM OBE, on her recent 96th birthday. Joan was the 7th Principal of PLC, from 1969 to 1985, and a nationally recognised and highly distinguished and venerated educator. She celebrated this special milestone surrounded by past students and staff at the launch of her biography, The Vetting of Wisdom, by Old Collegian, Professor Kim Rubenstein (Class of 1982).

Archives / Heritage

Donations to the PLC Archive

Heritage is an inheritance which the past has provided. What we value in the present and what we might choose to preserve for future generations is guided by the PLC Archive Policy with the purpose of providing a bank of knowledge, curriculum and historical resources for current and future generations. The PLC community plays an important role in supporting the Archive.

To discover more about the College history and the primary sources in the PLC Archive, contact the PLC Archivist, Jane Dyer, at jdyer@plc.vic.edu.au

Selected donations include:

Susan Errey (Horne 1956) donated her PLC East Melbourne memorabilia including: PLC badges, blazer pocket and tie; a photo album of PLC South Molle Island Trip in 1955; a PLC-crested The New Testament and a New Translation by James Moffat, 1949; The New Testament of Our Lord and Saviour Jesus Christ, presented to her to commemorate the coronation of Her Majesty Queen Elizabeth II, 2 June, 1953; Reading and Thinking Book III and Book IV; Biology: an introduction to medical and other studies by P.D.F. Murray, 1952; PLC student needlework and her extensive collection of PLC publications (1946–2019) including annual reports, school reports, songs, school productions, Patchwork magazines from 1948–1957 and Mother’s Club/Hethersett Group minutes.

Vivian Kelly (Lau 1999) donated PLC hats dating back to her time as a Prep student in 1987, including her summer straw hat with a metal crest badge and winter navy PLC beret, as mementos of her wonderful time in school. Vivian was the PLC Boarding House Captain in 1999. This year her daughter is a Prep student in the PLC Junior School.

Carolyn Scott (Gration 1964) donated a copy of Lyrebird Rising: Louise HansonDyer of L’Oiseau-Lyre, 1884–11962 by Jim Davidson. Louise Hanson-Dyer (1884–1962), patron of the arts and music publisher, attended PLC East Melbourne from 1891 to 1898. She was President of the PLC Old Collegians’ Association in 1920–1921 and 1924–1926.

Margaret Turner (Penington 1951) donated her own and her sister, Vivienne McCutcheon’s (Penington 1950), PLC East Melbourne memorabilia: Patchwork magazines, ‘Fifty years on: PLC 50-year reunion, Saturday 7th November, 1998’ and a photo album of PLC East Melbourne grounds, staff and students. Vivienne was Leven Sports Captain in 1951. The collection, including Royal Coronation and historical souvenirs, was kindly delivered to the Archivist by Claire MacMillan (Macgibbon 1955).

Andrew Nunn donated copies of his articles on PLC Old Collegian Ida Rentoul Outhwaite (Rentoul 1903) including ‘The Work of Ida Rentoul Outhwaite’ in Fine Books and Collections, ‘Wild about Ida’ in the Ephemera Journal of Australia, March 2020, and a State Library of Victoria flier featuring the illustration by Ida Rentoul, ‘A fairy riding on the back of a bat’, advertising the SLV Buried Treasure Concert on Sunday 21 August, 2016.

Hugh Latimer donated a prospectus for PLC East Melbourne 1906–1908 that had belonged to his aunt, Catherine June Figg (Latimer 1939).

Judith Dunkley donated her aunt, Christina Elizabeth Sewell’s (Beth Coates 1935) PLC East Melbourne Autograph Book and family history. Beth had grown up on a grain and sheep farm in North Central Victoria. She graduated from Royal Melbourne Hospital in 1942 and joined the Australian Army Nursing Service in 1943. Posted in hospitals in Victoria, NSW and NT, she reached the rank of Lieutenant. Beth is believed to be the last WW2 Nurse who belonged to the Returned Nurses League of Victoria.

Audrey Cameron (Smith 1943/44) forwarded memorabilia relating to the Cameron Family, her husband artist, Donald, and daughter Deidre (1978). Donald, the Head of Art at Scotch College, donated a painting to PLC, inscribed, ‘Thanking a school for an education which saved a life’, to acknowledge the life-saving skills learnt by Deidre in her final year at PLC and used to save her brother, Bruce Cameron’s, life.

Donald Cameron’s maternal grand aunt, Ethel Gray, was enrolled at PLC East Melbourne by her father Samuel Gray in 1890. Ethel went on to serve with the Australian Army in Britain and France during WW1. She was the first Matron of the Epworth Hospital. Her service and many acknowledgements, including the only Australian woman to have received the Médaille de la Reconnaissance Française (Medal of French Gratitude), are commemorated in a book by Mary Shepherd, Heart of Harefield: The Story of the Hospital, presented to the PLC Library by Deidre Cameron in 1978.

Robyn Byrne (1973) Old Collegian and PLC OCA Committee Member, donated an Ethel Haydon postcard sourced from a UK antiquarian dealer. Old Collegian, Ethel Haydon (enrolled in 1885) was an international Australian actress and singer who made her stage debut in Melbourne in 1893 and her London debut in 1895. Robyn also donated autographed copies of Kerry Greenwood’s Phryne Fisher Mysteries, The Castlemaine Murders (2003), and The Lady with the Gun Asks the Questions (2007). Both books mention PLC.

Jan Kirchner (1963) donated PLC East Melbourne crested book prizes awarded to Lois Pye (1933), The life and adventures of Nicholas Nickleby by Charles Dickens, awarded to Lois in 1929, The Poetical Works of John Greenleaf Whittier, awarded in 1930 and Captain Scott by Stephen Gwynn, awarded in 1933.

Heather McKee (1970) donated PLC Burwood memorabilia including swimming bathers, Junior School beret, 96th Annual Report and Prize list - 1970, a 4W Form Party Invitation from 1968 and a 6th Form Dance Ticket from 1970.

Do you have any special PLC memorabilia that you would like to donate?

If so, please contact the PLC Archivist, Jane Dyer, on 9808 5811.

Archives / Heritage

In the Nick of Time

On the eve of the May/June COVID-19 lockdown, Old Collegian Susan Errey (Horne 1956) donated a significant collection of PLC memorabilia to the PLC Archive. Susan’s donation included textbooks she used as a PLC student, samples of her student craft work and a pristine collection of handwritten – yes, handwritten – PLC school reports from 1946 to 1956, a donation as topical and relevant to current staff, students and their families as they were to staff, students and Mr and Mrs Horne nearly 80 years ago. Susan’s donation will be included with the collection she donated in 2018.

Boarding for Girls since 1875

Come and visit our PLC stand at Rural Field Days where we will be offering information about boarding, boarding scholarships and life at PLC. We look forward to catching up with Old Collegians and their families while we are there as well.

Henty Machinery Field Days 21–23 September Elmore Field Days 5–7 October

Women Out There Fellowship

A PLCOCA initiative for all Old Collegians

Highlighting community engagement

This grant of up to $2000

provides seed funding for a project which adds value to a community.

For further information contact the Secretary at plc.melb.oca@gmail.com Applications close on the last Friday of February

Helen Hailes Memorial Scholarship Donors list

The following Old Collegians and members of the Birthday League are thanked for the contributions to the Helen Hailes Scholarship Fund: Anne Smith, Judith Braithwaite,Helen Haysom, Helen Guilfoyle, Jane Fitzpatrick, Anne Neil, Kate Cherry, Helen Bailey, Rosalind McMillan, Lois McKay, Janet Davies, Robyn Perrin, Natalie Cronin, Bronwyn Tacey, Wendy Fishly, Beverley Hookey, June Noble, Joan Montgomery, Belinda Steel, Mornington Peninsula Group, PLCOCA Golf Day and anonymous donors.