The Barkerness of Barker

The eighth Head of Barker College speaks fondly, of the Barkerness of Barker. And I agree with Dr Kefford. It’s a very fine sentiment about the Barker way, charming, if a little unconventionally put.

As Term 1 ended, the Barker Community had occasion to farewell, and to give thanks to Sue Field and Matt Macoustra, two great servants of the School. In various roles throughout generations of students (in Sue’s case, as far back as 1975), and culminating in their excellent service as Deputy Heads of Barker College, each of them became an exemplar for the Barkerness of Barker. Like Bishop Frederic Barker, the person who inspired the School’s founder, and first Head, Rev Henry Plume, Sue, and Matt, are persons of great character - good, kind, and generous. In my view, Sue and Matt, each shaped and progressed Barker’s story in their very own distinctive ways.

From the ‘get-go’, Sue Field was a trail blazer in the Great Cause of Education at Barker College. One of only a handful of female teachers in the common room in 1975, Sue led the way, in strategy, in resourcing for the future, in culture, in curriculum development, and in the expansion of the cocurricular program. During Sue’s time at Barker, the School transitioned from a ‘boys only’ college, as it was in 1974, to a fully coeducational college as it became on 28 January 2022, with 1,041 girls then enrolled at the Hornsby campus from PreKindergarten to Year 12.

Sue’s work at Barker from 1975 to 2023 has been a mighty contributor for a dynamic epoch in Barker’s story. As Deputy Head from 1996, Sue made many wise calls in her role as the chief recruiter of new teaching staff in the Secondary School.

Personally, I have witnessed, and greatly respected, Sue’s excellent strategic thinking, as well as her well informed advice to the School Council’s Building Committee, and to the School Council during the meetings she attended; in fact, her advice given as recently as 25 March 2023 for the Council’s Strategy Day at the Grange, Mt Victoria, when we, the Governors and the Executive, imagined what programs and resources the School may require in the decades to come.

Similarly, I have so enjoyed partnering Matt Macoustra on the Great Barker Journey. Indeed, I came to know, and truly discern, his fine expression of the Barker way in everything he said and did.

So importantly, he engaged, superbly, with the most important members of the Barker community – the current students. In every respect, he gave meaning, purpose, and direction to his Deputy Head role and devoted himself to enabling the very best in Student Experience for all. We’re certainly going to miss him refereeing those Rugby matches. And I daresay, a School Assembly without Mr Macoustra leading it, won’t be quite the same.

I am excited for Sue and Matt as they embark upon new chapters in their lives, and in Matt’s case, an important chapter in his professional life, as the Head of Newcastle Grammar.

But of course, this school never forgets its own. And Matt, and Sue, are most certainly ours. Once Barker, always Barker.

David Charles (75) Chair of Council