School Captain

I would also like to thank Mr Wain, Mr Hawkins, Mr Bos and Mr Stansbie for working with Condi, Tom and me, making our jobs much easier, and trusting me with the position of School Captain this year.

Thank you to the Prefects and to Tom and Condi for helping me this year. To Tom - you are always right beside me through the thick and thin and you’re someone I can always turn to for help. To Condi, your hard work, dedication and passion for this school is remarkable and has proved to be an inspiration to all. You both have been great role models and have had my back all year and I know we will be lifelong friends. Thank you.

To all our parents, and families. Thank you for giving your sons such a great opportunity to attend this amazing school. The investment you make in your son’s education does not go unnoticed. There may be times when we get caught up in our social lives, but I can promise we are truly grateful for all you do for each of us.

And I want to take the time to thank my own parents. Mum and Dad, for everything you do for me, the time you have taken out of your own lives for my brother, sister and myself, cannot be described and thanked enough for. For moving across the world from South Africa to Australia just so we can have a better life. For being right beside me, all through the years I have moved through the School, through good times and bad. Mum, you are an absolute inspiration to me. Your love and care for me is like no other and I am truly lucky to have you as my Mum. Dad, you are my biggest critic but my biggest motivator. You have formed me into the man I am today. I will never forget your face when I took my shoe off to present a foot that had been burning in acid for three hours. I laugh and cry thinking of it. I love you both so much, and I promise I have done my best to make you both proud.

To the rest of the School, the band of brothers, I thank each and every one of you. You have supported me all year. Enjoy your time at this wonderful place as before you know it, you will be sitting in the seniors' seats; ready to tackle the real world. Seize the opportunities that come your way and take nothing for granted. Your time at this place is so special, so take the opportunities you get, as you don’t know what you can do unless you try. I want to wish the School Captain and the leadership group for 2019, everything of the very best. I know they will do an amazing job.

Finally, to the valedictorians of 2018. There is nowhere I’d rather be than with you all, finishing this journey together. What we have experienced together, our memories and our mateships, is something very precious and special. The big world awaits us in the next chapter of our journey. This cohort is something special. A cohort that I think will leave a lasting memory to the students and teachers for many years to come. I hope that many of our paths will cross over, as once a Southport boy, always a Southport man. This is because at the end of the day, no matter how far the distances that separate us, an unspoken brotherhood brings us together.

It’s been a privilege to be with such a good bunch of blokes. It’s been an absolute honour to be your School Captain this year, and I hope I have done all I can, to make your year a memorable one. I hope I have left a positive impact not just on the students but on the wider TSS community. I wish this school all the best for the future, this school means so much to me and will stay with me for the rest of my life.

So I will leave you with a quote by Rocky Balboa that has resounded with me for my final year. Through my thick and thin. Through the good times and the bad. And it goes like this, “You, me, or nobody is gonna hit as hard as life. But it ain't about how hard you hit. It's about how hard you can get hit and keep moving forward.’’

Palmam qui meruit ferat

MR ROSS CARDIFF chief financial officer

If you took away all of the boys from The Southport School the buildings would just be an empty shell, however our overall facilities play a very important part in the day to day activities of running a school. TSS has impressive facilities unmatched on the Gold Coast and indeed in most of the country. We are blessed that we have everything actually on campus. Many of our GPS competitor schools have sporting facilities, for instance, off site.

For the graduating class of 2018 much has occurred during their time here. While we have a large number of boys who have made the TSS journey all the way from Reception, I would like to reflect on what has happened to our facilities since this group of boys arrived on the Senior Campus in 2013 for Year 7.

We had just completed the first stages of the Academic and Leadership Centre with the construction of the Bennett building in 2011 and the boys moved into the new Transition Centre. Stage two of this project, the Sheil building, was handed over to the School in December of 2012, so brand new when the boys arrived at the Senior Campus.

With the introduction of Preschool, the Prep campus continued to grow and we built the extension to the Cribb building, where our Reception Year is housed. Other work continued at the Prep campus over their senior years with the new carpark and entrance to Brolga Avenue, Drop and Go Shade Pavilion and of course the fantastic Prep Hall, which was handed over late 2017. In boarding, all five of our Boarding Houses have been fully refurbished during their time. The Year 7 House, Rogers, was fully rebuilt in 2012, and opened for 2013 with an increased capacity of 44 beds. It has been full ever since. The other Boarding Houses were all refurbished, with the last House being completed in 2017. Our boarding facilities are first rate.

On the sporting side, we saw the upgrade of our oval occurring in 2014. This, along with other work carried out, had our ovals sitting at the top of the tree in the GPS. Of course, our grounds staff ably led by Mr Frank Paul ensure that they remain in excellent condition. The refurbishment of the four ovals near Ferry Road ensured that they could be flooded one day and were playable the next. The Nathan Sharpe Leadership grandstand had been built with the support of the Parents and Friends on the Village Green, and I am reliably informed that TSS has the reputation for being unmatched in cheering when the boys are centre stage. At the end of 2017 and into Term One of 2018, the first stage of the Centenary Centre refurbishment occurred with the relocation of the weights gym to the external basketball court area. This gym is simply amazing and is definitely a world-class facility. In 2018, stage one of the 50-metre pool upgrade was carried out.

Finally, the Broomhead Lecture Theatre was finished in 2017, along with the rebuilt Harley Stumm Library. These two projects have transformed the way we teach on the Senior Campus and have been a great addition to our overall facilities.

Much has happened while the boys have been here on their journey through TSS. Yes, they have had to put up with a few building sites during the time, however, they have also had the benefit of approximately $35 million of capital projects during their time here.

On behalf of the Corporate Staff here at TSS we congratulate the graduating class of 2018 and wish them success in their future endeavours.

FR JONATHAN WHEREAT chaplain

Every year at TSS we enjoy outstanding activities across both campuses in a huge variety of arenas so to say that there were two high points for me in 2018 is to understate the other significant events which are all part of the high quality experience most boys and staff enjoy. The first one I will mention is my Long Service Leave. The second was totally unexpected and unplanned, the visit of Baroness Cox a formidable woman who in her mid-80’s is still rampaging around the world to campaign against modern slavery and other global justice issues that are often not being reported in the media.

Term 1 included all the usual activity. I did what I had to do knowing I needed a break for a number of reasons. I was feeling physical and mentally depleted and needed a “reboot” so the extended break with the variation due to the Commonwealth games and having Term Two off allowed me time to refocus. Thankfully I returned in Term Three feeling totally revived and having lots more energy for the many activities of the term.

TRAINING A DEACON From Term Three in 2017 to the end of 2018 we have also had Dr Debra Tedman on staff in the Life and Faith department. Debra was ordained a Deacon at the end of 2017 and was able to assist me in the chapel as well as being attached to a parish. Debra did a number of services in Term Two while I was away and it was good to know that I did not have to worry about anything while on long service leave.

BAPTISMS I officiated at 18 baptisms during 2018. Most of these families are already part of the TSS community in one way or another. Of course, most baptisms are babies but this year the baptism with the biggest congregation was held during the McKinley annual service when Hugh Robinson, the House Captain and School Vice-Captain was baptised. Ashley Cronin’s wife Candace was also baptised the same day as their son Jack.

WEDDINGS We continue to offer weddings to Old Boys and staff. This year I have been involved in three weddings, two in the chapel and one off campus.

Yuehao Zeng and Weixin Kevin Zeng were married in St Alban’s on 22 February. Mitchel Hamilton and Lauren Bond were married in St Alban’s on 8 September.

Mr Adam Harrison, the Director of Rowing, married Rebecca Price on 22 September in a garden wedding surrounded by many of his mates from New Zealand. It was a great occasion.

FUNERALS The saddest news was the death of Housemaster Mr Dylan DeVries. Naturally the boys of Radcliffe House were highly affected by his death. His funeral was held on Monday 21 May in the TSS Chapel.

In Term Three there were two funerals in the chapel, both held in August. A memorial service was held on Friday 17 August for Old Boy, Aaron Zalewski who had been living in the USA.

A memorial service was held for Mandy Vaggelas, the mother of Edward Vaggelas in Year 12 Surman House, on Wednesday 29 August. It was very special to see all the Year 12 boys gather around Edward at the end of the service for a war cry and each one greet him individually.

Old Boy Nathan Sharpes Father’s funeral was held on Thursday 25 October, it was officiated by a family friend who was a Uniting Church Minister.

WEEKLY CHAPEL SERVICES Every week in term-time a short service of about 20 minutes is provided for the School in the Senior School. The weekly chapel services are held on Monday prior to lunch for two of the Day Houses; Monday night for the five Boarding Houses; Tuesday before lunch for three of the Day Houses; and concluding on Wednesday with the last three of our Day Houses prior to lunch.