Foundation’s Message

As captains, the things you did, win, lose or draw, have contributed to developing the stories and the memories that are rich in history and rich in spirit.

Captains Back to Barker Day

One of the five pillars of the Foundation’s 20222024 Strategic Plan builds on the goodwill and the relationships that the School has with its community. It is through these strong and enduring relationships, that we look to our community to become our Partners for the Future. Earlier this term, we were delighted to partner with the Barker Rugby Club, one of several parent supporter groups at the School, to welcome back our 1st XV and Rugby 7s captains. These men and women, from as far back as our 1958 1st XV Captain, Geoff Little, to one of our more recent Rugby 7s Captains, Majella Campbell (18), joined with our present-day captains, to share with them a little about the tradition that they have built. In his welcome, Head of Barker, Phillip Heath, shared how we live in a time where everything is immediate and everything is about the now. “Memories fade,” Phillip said. “We want to remember that the stories that today’s generation of players have inherited, were developed by others and passed on. That the stories of the former captains have joined us today, are represented in the symbols that are precious to all of us - our No. 1 Oval, the fact that our first teams are the only teams in the School that wear the crest when they play.” “Each generation contributes to that story and I want to honour the players are now developing that story to hand it on to the next generation of players. So they can say when they run out of the War Memorial Grandstand in the red, that they stand in the place of something that has been built over a long period of time.”

"Barker Rugby now belongs to both the boys and the girls and what matters the most, is that we play for the team; we play for each other; we play for the colour and we play for the School", Phillip said. In his concluding remarks, Phillip said, “each of you here today have helped to create these special traditions. As captains, the things you did, win, lose or draw, have contributed to developing the stories and the memories that are rich in history and rich in spirit”. Our School has many big ideas for the future that we want to share with our community. The work of the Foundation helps to enable these big ideas. Bringing together parent supporter groups such as our Rugby Club and our Alumni at events such as this Captains’ Back to Barker Day, is just one of the many ways, the Barker Foundation is building on its mission to be an agent of dynamism for our Barker community. I invite you to learn more about the work of the Foundation at https://www.barker.college/ community/foundation or by contacting foundation@ barker.nsw.edu.au

John Slack-Smith Foundation Chair

Barker Future Fund

The establishment of the Barker Future Fund encourages the support of the following:

Transformational scholarships for deserving children of all backgrounds

Tomorrow’s inspirational education spaces

Enriching the diversity of the School The impact of your generosity is helping to inspire tomorrow’s Barker for us all. Whether you choose to support a specific area, such as Indigenous Education, make regular donations through termly giving, or give major gifts, your support is vital and the School is so grateful. We are honoured by your shared commitment to ensuring an ever-improving experience for not just your own children, but for others’ children still to come. Your gift to the Barker Future Fund will allow us to continue the work of evolving the School, for the good of all our community past, present, and future.

Indigenous education initiatives

John Slack-Smith Foundation Chair

Funding operating gaps to keep fees as low as possible FutureFund

DONATE Now

www.barker.college/community/foundation/donate-today

Inside this issue 50 OBA President 52 Life Beyond Barker 52 54 OBA Groups 58 Community Events 63 Personal Notes 66 Obituaries

Old Barker Association Contacts email: oba@barker.nsw.edu.au (Please note that the number in brackets after a name is the graduating year) President Angus Abadee (07) 0433 108 525

Honorary Vice-President Emily Tutt (09) 0426 751 165

Honorary Treasurer Andrew Hassall (86) 0412 610 434

Assistant Honorary Treasurer Benjamin Ho (09) Honorary Secretary Josh Grace (90) Assistant Honorary Secretary Anna Sutton (05) General Committee Vanessa Bennett (91) Georgia Breckenridge (18) Gemma Dywer (Davies 09) Declan Flaherty (16) Anthony Hearne (90) Jenny Kalaf (Melville 78) Lachie Lloyd (18) Nominees to School Council Meline Nazloomian (05) Anna Sutton (05) David Trayner (84) OBA Ambassador Chris Russell (70) OBA Annual Patron Sandy Hollway (64) OBA Seniors Contact Ian Pont (63) oba@barker.nsw.edu.au

OBA Support for Life https://landing.mymirror.com.au/old-barkerassociation

Talk to an online psychologist today

Old Barker Association is supporting you with 3 sessions with My Mirror online psychologist. School Contacts Director of Alumni and Community Relations Karina Drummond (02) 8438 7283 kdrummond@barker.nsw.edu.au Archives Rachel Byrne (02) 8438 7290 archives@barker.nsw.edu.au Events Manager Julie Fitzpatrick (02) 8438 7240 events@barker.nsw.edu.au

Interstate and International Barker Contacts Adelaide Lane Hinchcliffe (00) 0412 130 935 (m) lane@lkggroup.com.au Brisbane Andrew Wilkie (01) 0412 779 383 (m) andrew.wilkie@morgans.com.au Canberra Andrew McColl (74) 0422 985 281(m) as.mccoll@icloud.com Melbourne Murray Anderson (65) 0457 000 407 (m) murray@capricorngroup.net.au Newcastle Nicholas Bedggood (88) 0410 565 101 (m) nickbedggood@yahoo.com.au Northern Rivers Jim Poulos (61) 0413 087 412 pamio@bigpond.net.au Perth Gus Elliot (92) 0416 298 774 (m) gus.elliot14@gmail.com

Contributions Welcome Please send contributions to Karina Drummond, Director of Alumni and Community Relations, 91 Pacific Highway, Hornsby NSW 2077 or kdrummond@barker.nsw.edu.au.

For further information please contact Karina Drummond on 8438 7283. Personal notes are published in good faith, as a service to the Barker Community.

Sunshine Coast Phil Benjamin (61) pandj.benjamin@bigpond.com Upper Hunter Charles Cooke (65) (02) 6545 8141 (w) charles_cooke@esat.net.au Canada, Ontario George Darling (70) gdarling@sandstormgold.com Hong Kong Vacant

Japan Carl Bastian (93) carl@rwo.okinawa Middle East David Baker (85) +965 9950 1657 drwbaker2002@yahoo.co.uk New Zealand Vacant Oceania (Fiji) Neil Underhill (75) (679) 336 3968 (w) neilunderhill@connect.com.fj Papua New Guinea Johnson Kalo (83) (675) 305 6703 (w) jhnsnka03@gmail.com Singapore Carly Switzer (94) carlyswitzer@yahoo.com.au UK, London Annette French (Slattery 88) (44) 1732 382 281 (h) annette.e.french@sky.com USA, East Coast New York Alex Skellet (94) (917) 251 3361 (h) alexandraskellet@gmail.com USA, West Coast Phoenix, Arizona Digby Cook (56) (623) 523 4321 (h) digbyhcook@gmail.com