Ad Astra No. 137 Dec 2019

The Geelong College Community Magazine

Issue No 137 December 2019

Ad Astra Be of

COURAGE

From the Editor The end of the year is always tinged with sadness as we say goodbye to our valedictorians and Year 12 parents, parent support group volunteers, Presidents of our Parent Associations and long-serving staff members (pages 33-35). It is also a time of reflection as you will see from our Co-Captains of College (pages 8-9) and boarding (page 30).

Relationships and strong values – the power of connection – are the underlying theme of this issue, led by our Chair of Council in his message to our Year 12s (pages 4-5) and the observations of the Principal (pages 6-7) in keeping in perspective the importance of social interaction.

Beyond the classroom, learning is about immersion and connection to the real world: our TripleR wellbeing program (pages 10-11), encouraging independent thinkers with our Year 7 electives (pages 18-19), our Year 8s working with scientists on the Great Barrier Reef (page 20) and giving the thrill of performing at music competitions and festivals (pages 28-29), are just a few examples of our initiatives.

Our Old Collegian community plays a vital role in empowering students’ career choices through their involvement with City Week (pages 14-15). It’s exciting to also see what some of our younger alumni have been up to overseas (pages 46-49) and performing on the big stage in London (page 45). Closer to home, some Old Collegians have given great service to the community (pages 43-44).

On a final note, the College has an ambitious goal that will provide a legacy for generations of young musicians at our school. We are aiming to become a Steinway Select School, the first in Victoria, and we need your help to purchase a Steinway Model D Concert Grand piano. Community members have the opportunity to buy one or more of the 88 keys. We are almost halfway to reaching our target (page 29).

Wishing all our families a safe and happy festive season.

Mike Howell Director of Advancement and Community Relations

Our Purpose The Geelong College aims to provide an inspiring education where all students can learn how to learn, flourish, be innovative and aspire to futures that harness their many skills and abilities.

We aim for our students to be respectful and to confidently develop their academic, emotional, physical, social and spiritual potential.

The Geelong College seeks to provide learning experiences that shape personal development in ways that prepare students to contribute to society.

College Values Integrity with compassion Community with diversity Aspiration with humility Respect with grace Endeavour with courage

Contributors Mike Howell Jennifer Chiu Sam McIntosh Coral Turner Con Lannan Caroline Stok Chelsea Matheson Peter Moran Sally Sadler

Photography Mike Howell Nicole Roache Jennifer Chiu Pat Clark Coral Turner Debbie Filling Marita Seaton Louise Monotti Peter Lemon

Jessica Henderson Photography Trevor Cooke Photography Richard Kumnick Photo Play Geelong College staff and archives

geelongcollege.vic.edu.au facebook.com/GeelongCollege Twitter @geelongcollege Instagram @geelong_college CRICOS 00142G

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Contents 2 4 6 8 10 12 14 16 17 18 20 21 22 24 25 26 27 28 30 31 32 33 36 38 39 40 41 42 43 44 45 46 50 52 54 57 58 60

From the Editor From the Chair of Council From the Principal From the Co-Captains The TripleR Approach to Wellbeing Fostering a Courageous Learning Culture Making Real-World Connections Around the World in 80 Days A History Revolution All of us Learners, Learning to Learn Immersed in the Great Barrier Reef Seussical the Musical Building Houses at Campbell House Stepping into Schooling The Power of Oral Narratives Chaplain’s Corner Emerson Stars on Snow Faster, Higher, Stronger or Just Better?

Boarding Life School Activities Paul Sheahan Q&A Staff Departures Foundation President’s Report Why Philanthropy Matters Foundation Concert OGCA President’s Report OGC News Albert Bell Club News High Distinction: Tony Strahan OAM No Ceiling on What We Can Achieve Superstar in the Making OGCs Overseas Old Geelong Sport Farewells OGCA Events Parent Events Community Events School and Community Events Calendar

8 17 24 32 38

The Cover The Senior School Production was held in the historic Palais Theatre in Geelong, owned by the Tripolino family. Turn to page 16 for more about the production and to page 45 for our story on OGC Rob Tripolino.

46

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From the Chair of Council Chair of Council Dr Hugh Seward AM (OGC 1966) addressed 2019’s Year 12 cohort at the Valedictory Ceremony on Thursday 24 October. In this edition of Ad Astra, we share an extract of his message to the valedictorians.

If I were to ask you, the 2019 valedictorians, what are the major worries you have for the future of the world, and for our society, how would you respond?

There are a number of surveys exploring the answers to these questions. First on the list is climate change and the environment; second is terrorism and a concern for countries at war; and third, the future of employment and job security.

Whatever your response to the question of what worries or concerns you, don’t let the older generation dismiss you with “you don’t understand” or “just allow change to happen gradually”. We need the passion and idealism of youth to challenge the status quo so that society can improve.

Climate activist Greta Thunberg’s leadership and student protests demonstrate the enormous power of the youthful voice.

When I reflect on the major issues of my youth – Apartheid in South Africa, the war in Vietnam, nuclear testing in the Pacific – our marching in the street did have an impact, we did eventually persuade governments to listen.

Protests encouraged international sanctions against South Africa, which created the pressure leading to Nelson Mandela’s release from prison and the peaceful transition to majority rule.

Protests led the Australian governments to withdraw from Vietnam and the Americans to end the war. Subsequent boatloads of Vietnamese refugees were welcomed to our country and have since made a great contribution to our society.

Protests drove the French to stop testing nuclear bombs in the Pacific.

I doubt that these changes would have happened as rapidly as they did without the passion of youth-led opposition.

Legal protests can be powerful and effective.

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It will not be long before you are leading this world, a rapidly changing world, where technology is altering the way we live and work. When asked about their worries for the future, 35 percent of survey respondents cited concerns that technology would replace their jobs. I have mentioned in previous years the ripple effect of innovation in this age of technology, and, like the 19th century industrial revolution, or the 20th century scientific age, there is no looking back.

My favourite example is the driverless car, which will eventually become commonplace because it will be safer.

Traffic accidents will be fewer, leading to less need for panel beaters and less work for those in car insurance.

Fewer traffic accident injuries will mean the TAC will not need as many employees and there will be less demand for medical providers, such as rehabilitation physiotherapists and psychologists who deal with traffic trauma. So those I mentioned earlier are right to recognise that technology will reduce jobs. But, as we have seen before, new jobs will be created to replace that work in areas we cannot yet imagine.

You have the opportunity to mould the future of work and the way we live. And, you need to consider how you will mould our society. As you build this brave new world, I have one suggestion for you. I have one quality of our society that I do not wish you to lose. In fact, I think it is the most basic foundation of our Australian society and I fear it is threatened. That essential, foundational quality is “tolerance”.

So here is my pitch to you as to why it is important.

I want to take you to Bosnia Herzegovina for a few minutes, and tell you my experience in a recent visit to this small nation wedged between Croatia and Serbia. All part of the old Yugoslavia. Reflecting their neighbours, there are three racial and religious groups: Bosnians who align with Eastern Orthodox Serbia, Bosnians who align with Catholic Croatia but central Bosnia is Muslim, a vestige of the Ottoman Empire which ruled that part of Europe from the 15th century. This is the country where the capital city Sarajevo was besieged for four years by Serbia, where thousands died from daily bombing. There was also an attempted genocide where 8000 Bosnian Muslim men and boys were slaughtered in Srebrenica.

The Geelong College Council, top row from right, Matthew Bridges, Geoff Williams, Dr Les Trudzik, Dr Richard Page, Barry Fagg and Kean Selway, front row, Rev Dr Kevin Yelverton, Kathryn Alexander, Principal Dr Peter Miller, Chairman Dr Hugh Seward AM, Dr Sylvia Walton and Dr Claire Darby.

I visited Mostar, a southern city of the country with Europe’s oldest arched bridge built by the Ottomans in the 15th century. This bridge survived the violent war in 1992, when the Serbians were pushed back by the united forces of the Bosnian Muslims and the Bosnian Croatians. It was destroyed only a year later when those two allies turned on each other, destroying the bridge and the town and killing hundreds.

However, there was eventually a truce. UNICEF has rebuilt the bridge. Now, Bosnian Muslims and Croatians are trying to live side by side again. But it is not easy. Imagine Newtown and Highton fighting and killing each other, then trying to live in peace, rebuilding the Queens Park bridge.

Except in Bosnia, these enmities are 500 years old, hatred built generation on generation. How do they now develop tolerance?

On my return home, it reinforced my view that Australia’s precious commodity isn’t coal or iron ore. It is tolerance, because if you allow tolerance to crumble, hatred follows and hate is a destroyer, as Bosnia demonstrates.

I started this address with an acknowledgement of, and gratitude for, the traditional owners of this land. Many of you had privileged experiences in Aboriginal communities in the Fulfilling Lives program in Year 10. Grant and Goodes’ film demonstrates how intolerant racial taunts can damage people and relationships, but you know that respect and tolerance create rich and enduring friendships.

These stories demonstrate that Australian tolerance is under threat, and when it is allowed to fester, can become a destructive force. Bosnia is the end result.

Tolerance is supported and empowered by our school values. If you embrace Community with Diversity, Integrity with Compassion, Respect with Grace and do so with Courage, you will embrace tolerance.

So I implore you to build a tolerant society into your future Australia.

So how tolerant is our society?

I returned from my trip to Bosnia to be shocked to hear the extraordinary racist views of the former Senator Fraser Anning in his maiden speech to Parliament, where he blamed the murderous attack by a violent, right-wing, extremist terrorist on a mosque in New Zealand on the immigration of Muslims: the actual victims of the shooting!

Anning displayed a xenophobia that has traction in some corners of our society. This is the level of intolerance that creates division and does great harm to a harmonious society.

Recently we saw the launch of documentaries about Adam Goodes, one of which is ironically named “The Australian Dream”, directed by Stan Grant. This film revealed a level of racial intolerance that stunned and embarrassed me.

Aboriginal students have an honoured place in our school.

Council members had a tour of the Junior School Redevelopment in October.

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From the

Principal

By Dr Peter Miller The publication of Ad Astra twice a year provides an invaluable forum for documenting events and developments at The Geelong College and making them available for the College community.

This is one of the ways we communicate with our community in a world of increasing immediacy as well as a higher rate of disposable information. Social media platforms provide immediate and convenient methods of communicating without a great deal of analysis, depth or consideration.

All this means that on the face of it, we seem to have more information available to us than ever before, coming thick and fast from all directions but mainly from our mobile device or computer screen. I hope the time spent looking through this edition of Ad Astra provides you with an opportunity for reflection and a positive emotional engagement with College.

Recently I had the privilege of attending a three-day conference for Australian and New Zealand independent school principals, with the theme “forging the future”.

Presenting at the conference was a rather impressive list of speakers with a range of topics of expertise.

The role of technology at the conference was pervasive.

Mobile devices in the palm of each delegate have revolutionised the way this sort of conference works. There were interactive sessions, opportunities to “tweet” while speakers were talking, as well as smart presentations using multi-media technologies. Despite all this marvellous technology, the most important interactions came down to the interpersonal – between sessions chatting to each other, walking in the morning with colleagues, at the conference dinner or any other opportunity for one-to-one interaction.

It was clear at the conference that technology enables, rather than ensures, meaningful interactions between people. The most important learning and social interaction with colleagues occurred in many incidental moments over the three days. The sense of the “human” remained clear, despite all the technological wizardry available to us all.

Dr Miller presents Year 12 student Ellie Milner with the Principal’s Acquisitive Art Prize.

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Dr Peter Miller teams up with Year 4 students Ashaiya Ryan and Cameron Pearce to conduct a biodiversity survey at Junior School.

We have to be careful not to embrace new technology to the exclusion of existing practices. Rather, we have to blend them as we seek to improve our capacity to learn, engage and progress knowledge. Talking to someone face to face is more powerful than just over the phone or even on a video call such as Facetime. However, new technology may enable us to communicate with someone and in a manner not available previously. This can be of great benefit to us all.

A very sobering observation was made by one presenter, who said “we are seeing change at the fastest rate ever.

We are also seeing it at the slowest rate we will ever see again”. Adapting to new technology and the changes it brings to our capability to communicate, store information and document learning are all challenges for those of us who are not digital natives. The challenge for digital natives is for them to interact in a way that is truly engaging through meaning and emotion. We are going to continue to encounter new and exciting means of communicating with each other, solving problems and viewing the world. The challenge will be to keep up with this.

I think the secret to this is to keep a sense of perspective.

Perhaps this is my own means of self-preservation but we need to recognise the “why” with technology rather than to be carried away with the “what” it can do. If we examine the

reasons for the use of technology, we are less likely to be overcome with the sense of magic it brings to the world. As exciting as it is, we can lose sight of the purpose.

There is still a place for a printed magazine, a paperback novel, a child’s painting on the fridge, a chat with a colleague at a conference where you reflect on how things are going. All of these things evoke an emotional response that is essentially human.

It is my expectation that as you look through this edition of Ad Astra, that you have a sense of The Geelong College as a largely human place. Our teachers are not robots, yet their pedagogy and programs are cutting-edge. They utilise current technology to the benefit of the educational outcomes of our students.

Similarly, the issues covered in the students’ education are contemporary and relevant to the 21st century in which we live.

The Geelong College is a contemporary and influential educational institution. We are striving to continue in proven practices as well as to incorporate the very best of the new technologies. I trust you enjoy reading this edition of Ad Astra and its documentation of the great initiatives under way across our three schools at College.

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From the

Co-Captains

By Iona Bulford, College Co-Captain In my last article for the Ad Astra, I wrote about how Year 12 is often regarded as a year full of endings, and this is a sentiment that has finally eventuated as we have now completed our journey at The Geelong College.

Leaving school is a strange feeling that comes with many mixed emotions, as well as being quite hard to get our heads around. In one sense, it is something we have longed for, as we have crossed days off our calendars and planned for our futures, feeling like it was only coming too slowly. In another sense, it marks the end of the most significant chapter of our lives thus far and the beginning of a far less certain period that involves leaving behind the place and people who have been such a big part of our lives for so long.

Despite all this, one feeling remains clear to me, as well as my peers: that being a part of The Geelong College community is something that will never end, as we will remain connected for life and use the skills we have learnt here forever.

Being school captain has been an amazing honour and privilege. This experience has allowed me to gain new insights into our school. I feel very proud of the journey I have been on this year through this role, and what we have achieved.

The development of our Diversity and Inclusivity portfolio of Prefects has been something I’m particularly proud of, especially in our inaugural Reconciliation Week actions.

The Geelong Student Leadership Conference we held recently was a unique opportunity to connect with other Geelong leaders, something I feel we don’t do often enough, with the invitation extended to all schools in the Geelong region. We discussed pressing issues as well as what it means to be a leader and what we want to pass on to next year’s captains.

The opportunity for Oscar and me to meet with other APS Captains and fundraise for the Skyline Foundation has also been a wonderful one, as we have been able to pass on the gift of education to others by raising a combined total of about $20,000 across the schools, with the help of our school community.

To the Prefects, thank you for your work this year as we strived for our common goal to make our already great school even more great. To our Vice-Captains Kate Dowling and Oliver Soo, thank you for your extra dedication and support of me and Oscar. And to Oscar, thank you for everything you have done for me this year, I feel certain I wouldn’t have been able to get through without you and your kind, calm nature, always there to help me as much as you could.

Looking forward to the future, I am so excited to see what my fellow Class of 2019 graduates will achieve and where we will all end up, and I know we will always remain connected to the College and our time spent here.

College Co-Captains Oscar Illingworth and Iona Bulford lead the Year 12 Class of 2019 through the traditional guard of honour on their final day of school.

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More than 30 student leaders from across the Geelong region came together at the College Chapel in Term 3 for a day of leadership activities and discussions.

By Oscar Illingworth, College Co-Captain While my time at College has quickly come to an end, this year has been a magnificent journey, and one in which I have learnt so much about myself and others. It has been a joy to be a part of all the wonderful events in the calendar over the past months, each of which have consistently highlighted the incredibly strong bonds within our year group. From Head of the River and the Foundation Concert to the Year 12 Formal and final day of school, these traditions possessed an added richness for the knowledge that these will be the last we experience as students of The Geelong College.   Legacy is a term which Iona and I have contemplated and grappled with throughout the year. It is something which can rarely be achieved by actively seeking it, but is the by-product of leading with grace and humility. It is this goal, therefore, which we as a Prefect team have pursued as we navigated the challenges of leadership this year.

It is the understanding that we are representatives of a greater group, a year level for which we have so much respect, that has allowed the team to be able to work so efficiently together as the year has gone by. It has been a pleasure to witness and I thank every member of our Prefect team for their dedication, selflessness and care with which they have performed their duties.

However, the fulfilling aspects of this year extended beyond the College’s own gates. Hosting the 2019 Geelong Student Leadership Summit in August enabled us to connect with more than 30 other student leaders from the Geelong region, which was an invaluable opportunity to collaborate with like-minded leaders and to assess the value and purpose of student leadership.

A particularly striking outcome from these discussions surrounded the importance of mentors, in any facet of life, in order to seek personal support and direction. An understanding of this helped me appreciate the level of guidance available to all at College, from tutors and Heads of Houses to sporting coaches, music teachers and other individuals spanning the entire scope of staff; all of whom have made significant contributions to students’ growth throughout their journeys at this school.

It is a surreal feeling to leave now as an Old Collegian.

Yet for my time at College I will be forever grateful for the opportunities, reminiscent of the wonderful memories and filled with excitement to witness the future prosperity of the school. I wish to thank Dr Miller, Mr Young and Ms Van Cleef for their guidance and support, as well as Iona for not just her hard work and dedication, but for being a wonderful companion throughout the year. While a new journey now awaits us, we can draw strength from knowing that we will forever be connected to this special community.

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Resilience - I can.

Relationships - I care.

Reflection - Now I see.

The TripleR Approach to Wellbeing

By Joan Gill, Director of Student Wellbeing What do we want our TripleR Program to achieve?

There is no single or simple answer to this question. As we farewell another generation of Year 12s and reflect on their years spent at College, we know we want them to exit their school life confident that they can transition to the next stage, as ready as they can be for the unexpected when life will become much more uncertain. We want them to make choices for themselves that honour their own integrity. To do this, I wish for each of them a strong sense of self that can carry them through the joy, pain, disappointment and excitement that the unknown brings.

From a more practical perspective, we hope that they have learnt how to keep themselves safe, as well as how to help others to keep themselves safe. Realistically, they won’t always make good choices for themselves and we know that as hard as it may be at the time, making mistakes – even failing at something – can be very instructive.

Our Head of Health and Physical Education, Jane Utting, offers the following rationale for her leadership of TripleR at Years 9 and 10: “Rather than focusing only on potential

health risks or a deficit-based model of health, the curriculum has a stronger focus on supporting students to develop the knowledge, understanding and skills they require to make healthy, safe and active choices that will enhance their own and others’ health and wellbeing.”

To this end, TripleR in Senior School has focused on topics including peer pressure, drug and alcohol awareness, risky sexual behaviours, the positives and negatives of social media profiles, resilience and mental health awareness.

Each student in Year 10 also completed a Mental Health Youth First Aid Course.

TripleR has also had a very successful year across Junior and Middle schools. In Middle School, Martin Heppell from The Resilience Project helped unpack the importance of gratitude, empathy and mindfulness, thus shifting our thinking around resilience by appreciating the impact of positive emotions when connecting emotionally to others.

The impact of the messages was made more powerful because it was delivered to parents and teachers as well as students.

Year 12s were captivated by double amputee Mike Rolls, who spoke about how his life changed when he contracted Meningococcal Septicemia at 18 years of age.

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Martin Heppell from The Resilience Project spoke about the importance of gratitude, empathy and mindfulness at Middle School.

“I thought Martin’s session was amazing. I took a lot of things from the session but the one that stuck in my brain was that when you practice empathy and kindness, you receive happiness. I walked out having experienced probably one of the best talks I have been to,” one of our students said.

In Junior School, Andrew Schuyler’s Year 2 class has been trialling a curriculum which involves activities designed to help children identify a range of emotions, regulate those emotions and understand the emotions of others. They have also been encouraged to identify their own character strengths and the strengths of those around them.

Additional State Government Funding Also looking forward to 2020, with guaranteed funding from the State Government’s Respectful Relationships initiative, we are now in the process of identifying campus priorities which will allow us to appropriately target age-specific social and emotional needs.

TripleR is an approach, not a program. Its success relies on the dedication of every teacher to place student wellbeing at the nexus of learning. I would like to thank all teachers for their unwavering commitment to the wellbeing of their students, and especially to those who have contributed significantly to the development of our TripleR approach.

Feedback from the students included: “It has helped me be kind even if someone isn’t being kind to me. It has taught me how to be mindful and stay calm” and “TripleR has helped me because I don’t get angry at my mum and my sisters – I go and regulate myself by squishing something and sitting mindfully”.

SchoolTV While there is a great deal of information already available to parents, it can be confusing and overwhelming.

We launched a new online parent resource, SchoolTV, at the beginning of this year and we are very pleased at the number of parents who are accessing the site.

SchoolTV simplifies access to credible, sound information which is always informed by the latest research. Because of its success, we will continue with this platform in 2020.

The College launched an online resource, SchoolTV, to empower parents with credible and sound information on raising happy, well and resilient young people.

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Fostering a

Courageous Learning Culture

By Emily FitzSimons, Director of Teaching and Learning

Learning through the CLRI The Geelong College has a proud history of academic endeavour, innovation and student achievement. Our Centre for Learning, Research and Innovation (CLRI), established just a few years ago, has a vision for enriching the intellectual tenor of the College, while also contributing to the wider educational landscape through public lectures, events and collaborative partnerships. Our range of Semester 2 events showcase the breadth of leading work being done in Geelong and around Australia in areas such as student wellbeing, technology and approaches to learning and leadership.

One program in particular has reaped great benefits for our students, staff and parents in Semester 2 – the Year 9 Cognizance Research Project. Many would argue that a modern education should focus on preparing students for, among other dimensions, innovation and collaboration.

While certainly not disagreeing that the world is changing and so, too, our role in it, we believe that few skills or knowledge bases eclipse knowing how to think and how to learn.

And for this, metacognition is vital. Indeed, it underpins all other knowledge and contemporary approaches to learning and working, including knowing how to innovate and how to collaborate.

The Year 9 students learned so much from the sessions and many of their teachers experimented in the classrooms with different types of tasks and assessments, as well as adopting much of the same language they had been learning about in the workshops. We are proud to be able to continue working with Dr Cooney Horvath throughout 2020 and beyond. His contribution to our community of learners, both staff and students, will be immense.

To complement the work of Dr Cooney Horvath, a team of Senior School teachers is currently undertaking a course through Harvard University’s Graduate School of Education.

Entitled “Creating Cultures of Thinking”, the course has been studied by several other groups across the College during the past five years, all with great effect. This time, the teachers will be working together on strategies to enhance the learning culture of Senior School classrooms.

Learning Culture Over the next three years, the College is focusing on our culture of learning, for both staff and students. The word “culture” captures our belief in the need for a shared understanding around our goals and approaches to learning, as well as the behavioural norms and out-workings of that understanding. In all three schools – Junior, Middle and Senior – our staff will work on a series of projects to address identified goals. For example, some of those goals are around cultivating independent, critical-thinking learners, our staff capacity in interpreting learning data, and how we celebrate academic successes. These, among many others, will see us growing an aspirational, resilient and courageous community of learners.

This semester we presented a series of “Hacking the Brain” workshops on metacognition for all our Year 9 students.

Delivered by renowned educational neuroscientist and Harvard University graduate Dr Jared Cooney Horvath (PhD, MEd), the four 90-minute workshops let the students understand how their brain works and, more importantly, how to leverage this knowledge in their study and life.

The lessons focused on themes such as how our brains change, memory and metacognition.

Senior School teachers Pat Clark, Fabio D’Agostin and Elizabeth Smith have received a Foundation Fellowship to enhance the STEM programs we offer, through a professional learning trip to Finland.

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Renowned educational neuroscientist and Harvard University graduate Dr Jared Cooney Horvath with our Year 9 students after one of their Hacking the Brain workshops.

The Foundation Fellowship With gratitude to the College Foundation, this year’s recipients of the Foundation Fellowship have learnt so much. Our Foundation invites applications from staff to further their own learning and then offers financial support for the undertaking. The 2019 recipients and their learning is summarised below: •

Junior School teachers Emma Watters and Charmaine Saraci travelled to Reggio Emilia in Italy for a six-day study tour. They were able to immerse themselves in the culture and philosophy of the town, exploring the foundations of the Reggio Emilia approach to early childhood education.

• Peter Blanchfield has been undertaking his Masters of Sports Coaching through the University of Queensland. Peter is a Senior School Physical Education teacher and the current Director of Rowing.

•

•

Director of Early Learning Ros Molyneux will be engaging in research into the development of Nature Play. She will participate in two study tours, informed by world’s best practice at the Denmark Forest Schools and in Scotland.

• Our Indigenous Student Coordinator, Jane Leyshon, will be attending the Garma Festival in North East Arnhem Land to further extend our Indigenous connections.

As we move into 2020, I look forward to reporting more of our evolving learning culture and the amazing work of our staff in support of the student learning journey at The Geelong College.

Gerard Donovan, one of our Senior School teachers, has been on exchange for 2019 at Rutland Middle School in British Columbia, Canada. In his place, we have welcomed Daryl Cadman for the year.

We warmly congratulate the 2020 recipients of the Foundation Fellowship: • Senior School Mathematics and Science teachers, Pat Clark, Fabio D’Agostin and Elizabeth Smith. This small group will be travelling to Finland to learn more about approaches to STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) education, with a view to enhance the programs we offer.

Science teacher Gerard Donovan has spent the year at the Rutland Middle School in Canada as part of a teacher exchange.

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Making Real-World Connections

By Kevin Jess, Leader of Learning (9-12) Engagement in education often comes when a student understands the relevance and opportunity and can link this knowledge to their “real world”.

Year 9 is often a challenging year for students. Maybe it is the transition from a young, inquisitive and enthusiastic learner to a more questioning, challenging mindset that requires purpose, focus and relevance to make sense of the world ahead. Many schools create focused programs, whole-year experiences and even customised campuses in search of that perfect mix of learning, growth and wondering to give purpose to student learning.

For the past 15 years, The Geelong College has developed a unique experiential learning opportunity in the heart of Melbourne, where students experience the city through the lens of a chosen subject. A convenient consequence of these programs has been the myriad of connections made with Old Collegians within their real worlds after College.

Over the years, City Week students have visited Old Collegians’ workplaces, conducted interviews with Old Collegians, listened to topic panels made up of Old Collegians, had Old Collegians run activities and workshops, or even had Old Collegians work throughout the week-long program.

Rebecca Filling (OGC 2011) has been one of many Old

Harry Jess (OGC 2011) has worked with City Week students three times since graduating from College, including in 2018 when he organised a panel of colleagues to speak about conservation architecture.

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Collegians able to offer her time, in the final stages of her PhD in history, after completing a degree in history and public relations, and her history honours. Her sister Nicole Filling (OGC 2009) facilitated a panel comprising Nick Pedersen (OGC 2010) and Nelson Wang (OGC 2010) for an information session on science, engineering and medicine at Monash and life at Mannix College.

For many years, College teacher Athol-Mary Mahoney has been involved in the History in the City program and explains that “without exception, these Old Collegians have brought such learning and experience to the City Week students. Not only in their practical help in research, but in the possibilities and realities of the world after school.

They are certainly an integral part of the enrichment of City Week”.

The History group had the honour of meeting Jordy Edwards (OGC 2016) in 2017 in his role then as Koorie Heritage Centre Guide, for a fantastic Indigenous walk. This year, they spent time with conservation architect Harry Jess (OCG 2011), who spoke about his role in protecting and conserving the past in buildings. No stranger to City Week, Harry took a Design group through his workplace in 2018 and facilitated a young architects’ forum. He then sat on a “design pitch” panel as the students presented their design resolutions from the week.

Jordy Edwards (OGC 2016) led Year 9 students on an Indigenous walk through Melbourne in his then-role as a Koorie Heritage Centre Guide. He’s pictured with 2017 History in the City teachers Carolyn Matthews and Di Black.

College parent Dr Carli Roulston opened the doors of the Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health to this year’s Year 9 students during City Week.

Back in 2013 while studying at Deakin, Harry also worked with the Art group and their teacher Phil Taylor for the whole week. An Old Collegian himself, Phil (OGC 1973) was the teacher involved at the very start of City Week. He has a very keen appreciation of the value Old Collegians can bring to such programs. Phil’s students interviewed filmmaker Jarrah Gurrie (OGC 1998) via video link to his Los Angeles studios. Jarrah’s advice to the students at the time was very encouraging in reflection of his own journey from Australia to America and challenging oneself to see what can be achieved on a global scale. Phil also worked with Mel Philip (OGC 2005), who has a long family association with the school, over several years. Mel could relate to the students very well, sharing her passion for photography and later, explaining her career move into visual merchandising.

In fact, City Week has provided great connections to the Arts through its Old Collegians. Rob Tripolino (OGC 2008) once worked with the Performing Arts group to inspire the students and share his insights into that world, and now look at him! Sherry Watson (OGC 2016) spoke with the students last year about studying at the Victorian College of the Arts, while Nicholas Smith (OGC 2008), a practising artist, gave up his time to show students his innovative work involving cardboard. Then up-and-coming fashion design student Grace Forshaw (OGC 2015) spent an entire week guiding and encouraging students to follow their creative passion.

It is only natural that on such a program, our Physical Education students should try to track down a little bit of footy fan fever. Carlton Football Club brothers Ed (OGC 2007) and Charlie Curnow (OGC 2014) have both been closely tagged by our excited Year 9s, generously offering an insight into the world of professional football and the training regimes they must adhere to. Western Bulldogs premiership player Zaine Cordy (OGC 2014) this year gave a video presentation about training and recovery in his lead-up to the 2019 finals campaign. Students have also connected with the Victorian Institute of Sport through alpine skier Mitchell Gourley (OGC 2009) and rowers John Linke (OGC 2006), Phoebe Stanley (OGC 2003) and Addy Dunkley-Smith (OGC 2011).

Our connections also extend to parents and grandparents.

The Science City Week groups have had the privilege of working with Professor John Royle over many years. A past Chairperson of the Royal Australasian College of Surgeons and a top vascular surgeon, John has always organised a wonderful program that would otherwise have been inaccessible to students. John is the grandfather of Olly (Year 9), Hugo (Year 10) and Angus (OGC 2018) Williams.

The Science group this year also met with Dr Carli Roulston, Laboratory Head of Pre-clinical Stroke Research at The Florey Institute of Neuroscience and Mental Health. Carli is the mother of Lachlan (Year 7) and Eamon (Year 4) Mitchell.

Carli gave this year’s group an insight into her research and the field of neuroscience, a tour of the facility and valuable information about their work experience program.

But why do I share such detail? As a teacher, I know that something happens when we introduce a group of tired, restless Year 9 students to an Old Collegian in a field of interest. They begin to imagine... could that be me in years to come? What subjects did they do to get here? Is it possible to do that for a job? Was this person like me when they were in Year 9? Did they have the same teachers as me? What House were they in and did they like beating Grammar as much as I do?

That wonder and imagining of what they could do after school becomes a little more concrete or possible. Maybe a target or a goal. Connecting to a real world where the outcome of school has just become visible, tangible and plausible. Walking a moment in the shoes of an Old Collegian, seeing life after school and what that could be.

What has become clear over this time is how beneficial Old Collegian connections can be to our current students’ educational opportunity. So perhaps as a community, we need to be more deliberate in building our network for this purpose, to ensure such a rich learning resource is always enriched through Old Collegian connections.

Thank you to every Old Collegian who has contributed to this program over time.

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Around the World in 80 Days This year’s Senior School Production of Around the World in 80 Days saw more than 80 students come together to create a whirlwind extravaganza in just eight weeks and perform it in the spectacular Palais Theatre in Geelong.

The Fogg siblings and their four trusty valets gallivanted around the globe using every feasible mode of transport. To add to the chaotic adventure, it was staged with audiences on either side of the action and the pompous English upper-class commentating from a raised drawing room at one end.

This staging must have been very challenging to rehearse but was delightful in the execution as the audience felt very much apart of the action, and the energy and building tension throughout the performance was very cleverly crafted.

Design-wise, it was a smorgasbord of colour, vibrancy, intricate details and wonderful storytelling. A most impressive effort when some scenes were fleeting and yet still so captivating. The stamp of many of our productions have been the detail in the little things, and 80 Days was no exception.

The performers were sensational and embraced the new environment, the fast pace of the text, the rapid scene changes and the ridiculousness of some of the places they travelled through – and this was all done with incredible joy and much aplomb.

A final highlight was the impressive and creative use of puppetry to foreshadow certain scenes and showcase yet another theatre style that the students were able to experiment with. Bravo to all involved, you continue to amaze, delight and entertain our community.

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A History

Revolution

By Greg Naylor, Head of History “Woah!” A group of students are in awe and put out a steadying hand as they suddenly take flight above the historic Italian city of Venice. They take in the empty streets of this normally crowded tourist hub and then soar up for a bird’s eye view, and yet their feet have never left the classroom.

The study of History is as much about the future as it is about the past. The first opportunity to merge History, the queen of the humanities since the time of the Classical Greeks and the Future, through information technology was accomplished recently in the L2 classroom, on the second floor of the Senior School library.

Year 10 Renaissance History students explored Venice through virtual reality headsets in Term 4.

College students of the elective Year 10 Renaissance History class were involved in virtual tours of Florence, the Doge’s Palace and St Mark’s Square in Venice and a very close up look at the Sistine Chapel in the Eternal City as part of a series of lessons.

IT Trainee Jimmy Collins and History Teacher Roma Munro, who has also provided the Year 10 students with the chance to create frescoes, replicating the process of working as the great Michelangelo did in painting the famous chapel ceiling in the Vatican, seamlessly integrated an exciting new concept into the course with use of virtual reality headsets.

The students all undertook the connection of 500-year-old content and sites in a new method of delivery via the bright orange headsets. The technology enhanced higher order analytical and evaluative source-based tasks, allowing individuals to focus on aspects of their interest and to focus their questions.

Students were immersed in the virtual reality experience, which connected to the discussions they had in class.

While not quite the same as “being there”, for students attempting to analyse and explore the details of some of the most incredibly busy spaces on the planet without having to deal with tourists, tour guides or even board a plane is a rich prospect. Even more exciting is the chance to use VR technology further for this subject and for other History content such as the First World War trenches of Northern France and Belgium.

Teachers can pause, rewind and direct students to points of interest using this “flattened” version of the virtual reality view.

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All of us Learners,

Learning to Learn

By Marita Seaton, Leader of Learning (4-8) seasonal changes and learning focuses. The skills and knowledge used in the classroom flow effortlessly into the garden and kitchen, where integrated and projectbased learning flourishes. Through this and other areas of learning, the Middle School has continued to value the importance of play and exploration as a provider of fundamental skills like creativity, innovation, teamwork, focus, resilience, expressiveness, empathy, concentration, and executive function.

The Year 7 program provides learners with the opportunity to choose their own area of exploration. Techno Zoo, Global Village, Breakout, Read All About It, CSI - MS and Born to Rule are on offer in 2020 and are all based on real-world scenarios: “What would little Marita think of this?”

Born to Rule

It’s a question that I ask myself regularly when pondering the best way forward as an educator. Obviously, I have grown considerably since my own middle years of education in the ‘70s and ‘80s, but it helps to change my perspective and put myself back in that position. Our own learning experiences over time, large and small, shape our way of thinking and have a profound impact on the way we live our lives. Therefore, understanding how we learn and not what we learn is key to being effective teachers in our current learning landscape.

In this elective, students play the role of mayor in a district or area of land. It could be rural, urban, coastal or have a combination of some or all of those. As mayor, students are required to make important decisions about various aspects of life in their region.

The Year 7 Learning to Learn program was established with this ethos in mind and has become a space where we, the teachers, have joined our students as learners. As we all know, it is far easier to stick with what we know. Postindustrial education laid its foundation on this premise: I, the teacher, know certain things and you, the student, will learn them from me. It was essentially the passing on of knowledge.

What we now need to do is instil in our students the skills and habits that are interchangeable in all areas of learning and allow them to navigate increasingly complex situations.

You still need foundation knowledge, the nuts and bolts of learning, but parallel to this are the mindset and learning strategies that will foster learner agency, agility and growth.

In areas like the Year 4 Enviro program, this has manifested itself in the form of pop-up gardens that respond to

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Year 7 students Daisy Bain, Keiran Lane, Mason Mahoney work together on creating a boat in this year’s revamped Boats Challenge.

To understand learning, we need to be learners ourselves. The L2L leaders team faced the solar boat challenge and discovered that independent learning was first confusing, frustrating and ultimately rewarding.

The rewards. We are proud of our achievements and grow closer by facing challenges together.

Breakout!

Students are fully immersed into a world of cluedeciphering and problem-solving in this elective, which revolves around the Escape Room phenomena that has taken the world by storm.

CSI – MS (Crime Scene Investigation – Middle School) Students become crime scene investigators while digging deep into a classic “who done it” at Middle School. They explore the various roles involved in solving a case.

Global Village A catastrophic event has suddenly rendered students and their families homeless, and they are relocated to a new location. At this new place, students must design a village from scratch; a new beginning.

Read All About It Middle School reporters, editors and photographers take charge of their own publication to provide informative, engaging and relevant news to their school community.

Techno Zoo Students spend time at the Melbourne Zoo, working with the staff to learn about the animals and design something that could enhance the habitat and enrich their lives.

Critical thinking, problem solving, self-management, collaboration, communication and the design process

underpin each area of study. The learners undertake three electives, based on their own preferences, with each running for a term.

The fourth and final term is then handed over to the whole year level, when the annual Year 7 Boats Challenge is announced. This year’s STEM (science, technology, engineering and mathematics) challenge introduces solar boats and a collaboration with the Geelong Tech School.

Unlike earlier electives, where the processes of discovery were more structured and supported, the Boats Challenge provides resources and processes to ensure scaffolding but takes a step back from guiding. It is up to the learners to work their way towards a solution through group investigation and the design process.

With each leader (teacher) guiding a small collaborative team of 16 learners, the program promises to be a valuable and engaging learning experience for us all. Little Marita would be keen to get started.

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Immersed in the

Great Barrier Reef

By Rhonda Browne, Head of Middle School English (Years 7-8) Year 8 students were given the unique opportunity to immerse themselves in the fragile ecosystems of the Great Barrier Reef under the instruction of world-renowned marine biologists at Lizard Island. Lizard Island is located on the northern tip of Australia, north-east of Cairns.

Students were able to study the habitats and behaviours of a variety of species including sharks, turtles, salmon, clown fish, perch, parrot fish, barramundi, bream, trout, angel fish and damsel fish. They also looked at the damage and regeneration of the coral reefs in a variety of areas on the reef.

Students snorkelled twice a day studying alongside Dr Andy Lewis, who gave lectures and scientific studies to monitor reef and fish stocks on the northern tip of Australia.

Lizard Island facilitates marine biologists from around the world under the guidance of Australian Museum curators and husband-and-wife team Anne and Lyle who have been on the island for 30 years.

Year 8 students got to work alongside these scientists and carried out scientific research on a range of fish stocks, learning how to identify breeds and behaviours. They also learnt about the fragility of the reef and why its survival has been threatened due to global warming and catastrophic weather events including cyclones.

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Our students have loved learning at Lizard Island. Jack Richmond reflected on how much he had learnt and how valuable it was for Year 8 students to understand the threat to the fragile reefs in Australia. Mia Kemp said she really enjoyed the lectures and how they related to the marine studies and practical activities on the reef.

The first group to travel to Lizard Island this year was fortunate enough to have Sam McIntosh, Digital Media teacher from the Senior School, accompany them and film the trip. He created a documentary about the experience – scan the QR code on this page or go to https://youtu.be/Ah4viMRvwbA to see what our Year 8s learn at the Great Barrier Reef.

Seussical the Musical

By Sabrina Horne, Year 8 student Seussical was an eye-opening experience; it helped me to realise my love for musical theatre and how I want to pursue it as a career. As soon as I stepped on to the stage, it was like electricity was burning inside me. The way I felt on stage was more than magic and my passion grew more intense each and every time I was in front of the crowd. I noticed where I wanted to be and what I wanted to do, and that outcome has become very important for me.

As someone who hadn’t been in a big production before, the experience was unforgettable. My role as The Cat in The Hat has been a job that I’ve loved every part of. Being the Cat is thrilling, and I have grown to love my character’s cheek and charisma. From dance lifts to miming and everything in between, this role has given me a chance to challenge myself and my love of performing.

The devotion and passion for the show was endless, creating an electric atmosphere! Everyone from the ensemble to the leads, the directors to the costume designers, had an eagerness to learn and do their best, inspiring a vibe that brought the show to life.

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Building Houses

at Campbell House

By Claire Bartlett, Deputy Head of Junior School and Leader of Learning (Prep-3) 2019 has been a history-making year for Campbell House in many ways. One of those has been the introduction of Houses from Prep through to Year 3. The Geelong College House system is deeply steeped in tradition and until this year had only been embedded at our Middle and Senior schools. Our Junior School community was thrilled when it was announced that we would all belong to either Bellerophon, Pegasus, Minerva or Helicon.

“Pegasus is the best House because it has the flying horse and we make new friends,” Alexis from Prep C said.

Two themes of the College’s Strategic Plan are “broadening experiences for children” and “strengthening our community”. The introduction of the House system is certainly helping us achieve this. The House spirit is alive at Campbell House, with staff, children and their families sharing a real sense of belonging to a team and proudly representing their House.

This year has also seen the introduction of House Connections. Each event provides a variety of meaningful physical, social and cultural learning experiences that align with the Reggio Emilia approach. Zane Ryan from 2C said, “House Connections is good because we get to do different things and be with people we don’t know”.

These opportunities promote responsibility, student voice, teamwork, cooperation, communication and leadership skills.

The first event for the year had children researching the origin of their House. They explored what each House represented and discussed how they would embrace the character strengths of their House. Each child created a House badge which many still wear proudly at each House Connection.

Felix Jansz from 3C is proud to belong to Minerva. When asked which character traits represent his House, Felix responded with “brave, courageous and determined. We strive to be at the top”.

Ngarrweerreeng Day was another highlight of the year as part of Reconciliation Week. Children were involved in activities such as weaving, cooking damper by the campfire and painting. Many of the children collaborated to create “Rexy” the echidna, who now sits proudly in our new reception area.

The House Challenge Quest was a new event for us this year and after it was initially postponed due to inclement weather, we eventually ran the quest with huge success.

Students worked in teams to solve problems, which would then earn them a new clue for the next station.

The Junior School children enjoyed some yoga during their Sporting Colours Day House activities in Term 3.

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Minerva House students work together on their House drawings.

Sporting Colours Day was another great opportunity for the children to get outside and develop their skills. They participated in football, netball, soccer and yoga for the morning and our wonderful Preparatory School Parents’ Association provided a healthy lunch.

Having the children in their Houses for swimming and athletics has added another layer of excitement and spirit to these events. The students do not participate for House points; the focus is on participation, teamwork, collaboration, inclusion and collegiality.

We were excited to attend the Middle School House Music in support of our teams. Our choirs also had the opportunity to perform at the event and they nearly stole the show.

Opportunities to watch the older students provide the children of Campbell House with something to aspire to.

We are always amazed at the talents of other students and know with a growth mindset, we will be able to achieve amazing things too.

Diversity, Aspiration with Humility, Respect with Grace and Endeavour with Courage. The values are brought to life through these experiences and help to embed them as part of our culture.

“Young children need to be active and contributing members of communities.” – John Nimmo, The Hundred Languages of Children These experiences provide opportunities for students to develop their leadership and collaboration skills. The children feel a sense of responsibility to their House and most importantly, their teammates.

We look forward to what House Connections will offer the future students of Campbell House.

Cross-age connections are another added benefit of being a part of the House system. Hamish Anderson from 2C shared that his favourite part of belonging to a House is that “you get to work with different people from different year levels”. The system is inclusive of all learners and includes sporting, academic and artistic endeavours which foster the 100 languages of children.

Our buddies are now chosen from the same House.

Fostering these relationships early on provides a solid foundation of children feeling connected and safe.

The House Connections are underpinned by the College’s values of Integrity with Compassion, Community with

Tom Burnell in Year 1 learns about the logo of his new House, Helicon.

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Stepping into Schooling

By Sondra Wood, Head of Junior School, Campbell House Transitioning through the safe and secure gates from Early Learning to Prep can be both an exciting and daunting experience for children and their parents. By positioning children at the centre of the “stepping into school” experience, we recognise their agency within their own transition experiences.

Over the past month, I have been in the very privileged position of meeting our families as they begin the process of envisaging what the next 13 years of education will look like for their child.

Current educational research in Early Childhood emphasises the importance of collaboration between key stakeholders. Professor Peter Moss, internationally acclaimed early childhood expert and author, reflected in 2013: “Effective collaboration between prior to school and school educators lays the groundwork for the continuity of relationships, learning and support for all involved.”

Ensuring that we have consistent equal partnerships with everyone who is involved with the child supports our culture, where learning is visible to both the children and adults. Aligned to our Reggio Emilia approach to education at Campbell House, “stepping into school” or transition is focused on valuing and respecting the rights of our students as citizens of the present.

During our informal conversations, the children provide insights about what they are expecting from beginning Prep:

“I love doing drawing at school and making books. It might be different in Prep.” – Sebastian “I’m looking forward to finding out what Prep feels like because I’m not in the open space yet. There’s gates around here!” – Harry By respecting and valuing the input of the children, we are also valuing those who surround them. Working collaboratively with the staff and parents of the children, we learn how to support a high-quality transition experience to ensure a strong start for all children.

The 2017 OECD report “Starting Strong” highlights the importance of quality transitions and described it as well prepared and child-centred, managed by trained staff collaborating with one another, and guided by an appropriate and aligned curriculum.

In Term 4, our children had the opportunity to step through the gates of Early Learning and peer into their new world.

They experienced opportunities to be present with new children joining our community, to talk and to be listened to by their new teachers and begin their first steps into our school environment.

All the while, we as educators work collaboratively together to ensure we know, understand and communicate with one another about the special qualities and learning styles of each individual child. Our collective goal is to know and appreciate how we will best support them as citizens both of the present and the future.

“I am looking forward to making stuff. Doing spelling, maths and homework! I want to play out of the playground on the oval.” – Henry

Sondra Wood with the Pearce family as they prepare for schooling at Campbell House.

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The Power of

Oral Narratives

By Jo Panckridge, Junior School Teacher/Librarian The time-honoured art of storytelling came to life at Campbell House this year. As a medium for expressing thinking orally, for developing visual imagination, and stretching and enriching personal vocabularies, storytelling was explored by Years 2 and 3 children with enthusiasm and enjoyment.

The school library became a space for stories to be shared.

Traditional European, Indigenous, Polynesian, Asian and Arabian tales were told, alongside stories shared by the children themselves: retells of favourite tales, imagined and invented narratives, and personal experiences.

With an emphasis on audience participation and the co-creating of stories, the children delighted in this oral language experience, its drama and sense of theatre.

What became obvious was the significant increase in rich narrative vocabulary, a deeper understanding of narrative structure, the language cues denoting movement through the various stages of a story, and an exploration of techniques to create suspense, mood and action.

The children are encouraged to use their imagination and their “hundred languages” when listening to others’ stories.

The children’s reflections of this experience have been insightful. They remind us, as educators, to include storytelling into a child’s rich literary experience:

Freya: You didn’t have to see what the pictures were. You can just imagine the story and that makes it (the story) so much better. You had to use your imagination.

Hamish: With storytelling, my eyes were open but it was like I was having a dream.

Sachi: Storytelling is better because you need to listen really hard and are closer to the story. It’s really exciting.

Daisy: Storytelling is cool. It makes you think you are in the story. It makes them real. You look at us when you’re telling the story.

Finn: It was good how we could tell our own stories too. It was great fun making up stories.

By modelling storytelling, from expansive introductions and colourful characters, to the building of action and the satisfaction of a rounded ending, children’s own tales became richer and more entertaining.

Descriptions were full and sentences allowed the audience to frame visual images of people and places. Action was often delivered with short, sharp sentences, conveying drama, energy and pace. Also noted was the clever use of repetition for dramatic effect.

Our storytelling was also having a positive impact on writing. For some children, it made writing easier. They realised they had something to tell, and something they had rehearsed and refined orally. Their developing toolkit of authorial devices, adapted from all the tales told to them, scaffolded their story writing.

A Storytellers’ Festival was a response to the children’s wish to “keep on telling stories”. It provided them with a platform to showcase their storytelling skills through performance.

With our Storytelling Chair, colourful bunting made in Art, and countless props and costumes to access, this was a wonderful celebration of storytelling. Children lined up to tell stories to big and attentive audiences, while others enjoyed illustrating these stories on large easels to share their own imaginings of others’ tales.

The bright and colourful Storytelling Chair was a platform for the children to tell their stories.

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Chaplain’s Corner

By Leanne Earl, Junior and Middle School Chaplain Term 3 Chapel services in the Junior and Middle Schools have seen us focus on the gifts and talents that are unique to each of us.

Early in the term, the Junior School students gathered at the Senior School Chapel for a service that celebrated Founders’ Day, looking at The Geelong College from its beginnings through to today. We reflected on the contribution of all those who have built the College to make it what it is today and dreamed about what the future might look like. The students were invited to reflect on their unique talents gifted from God and how they will develop and share these in the future to make the College and the world a better place. The young students concluded the service with a joyful song and dance to This Little Light of Mine.

In the Middle School, our Chapel service at the end of the term took a different approach as we gathered together in Robertson Hall for prayer and reflection, led by the Year 6 students. The mood quietened as the Middle School River Gum trio played A Million Dreams from the Greatest Showman on violin, cello and piano. We explored our gifts and talents through the lens of the story of the Master and the Talents parable from chapter 25 in the Gospel of Matthew. Students used their acting skills to present a dramatic telling of the Gospel parable and we took time to reflect on our individual gifts as we listened to the

A ballet performance to the song, The Mystery of your Gift, invited students to reflect on their individual gifts and let their gifts shine in the College and wider communities.

song, The Mystery of Your Gift by Josh Groban, which was accompanied by a beautiful ballet performance.

On each occasion, the students and staff were invited to consider these gifts and to then work out how we could develop and share these within our College community.

Then, looking at the big picture, beyond our immediate community, the invitation was to think bigger and move out into the wider world, to let our gifts shine and make the world a better place for all.

Year 6 students presented the Master and the Talents parable on stage at a Middle School Chapel service.

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Emerson Stars on Snow

Emerson Facer (Year 10) on his silver-medal run in the Division 2 Boys’ Slopestyle Ski.

By Nicole Roache, Snowsports Coordinator Geelong College Snowsports had a wonderful season in 2019. Momentum and numbers have been building, but with 60 students from Early Learning to Year 12 on the slopes and fifth place overall in the Coeducational School category at both the Victorian and Australian Championships, this year was one for the ages.

But the most exciting news came when Year 10 student Emerson Facer was selected as a member of the shadow squad for the Winter Youth Olympic Games in Switzerland, in February 2020. He has to wait until December to find out if he will make the final team and is waiting and hoping for that email to arrive.

“It would be an honour to wear the green and gold. It’s taken a lot of work. Being at school all week and then training hard all weekend. I feel like this is a reward for all the cold, early starts. I’ve been through two rounds and officially have an Olympic profile, but I just have to wait and see,” Emerson said.

“It’s a bit difficult juggling both school and racing obligations. Sometimes races clash, that happened this year, but I chose the College team first. Usually I just race as an individual so to be part of a team is great,” Emerson said.

“One of the best things is that we are from all different year levels, but all get along. Skiing and boarding does that. I enjoy sharing my experiences with the little kids and watching them improve. I also know that lots of people are interested and invested in my success at the school.

“My first goal after the Olympics is to be part of an elite Aussie crew known as the ‘Carving Kooks’ who do the NORAM and Europa Cup circuits. If that goes well, then World Cup. To make a career out of skiing would be a dream.”

Good luck Emerson!

“I’m off to Austria to train at the High Performance Academy in Leogang for nine weeks. The academy has a reputation for producing great skiers. If I make the team, I will go to Switzerland for the two weeks of the Youth Olympics. Worst case, I keep training and getting better in Austria.”

Alongside his personal training and racing, Emerson is an integral part of The Geelong College Snowsports Team.

With teammates Andy Deans, Jasper Atkinson, Alex White and Rory Kearns, he won medals in every event in their division at the Victorian Championships except Ski X, which they saved for the nationals.

Emerson Facer (Year 10), Andy Deans (Year 10) and Alex White (Year 9) won the Division 2 Boys’ Snowboard Teams event at the Victorian Interschool Championships.

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Faster, Higher, Stronger or Just Better?

By Dr Phillip Bohun, Director of Music The Geelong College continues to enjoy and offer the opportunity for students to perform music in competitions both locally, regionally and interstate. As teachers, we often challenge our young musicians to go beyond rehearsals, casual practice, examinations and recitals by participating in competitions and festivals.

Music Festival in Sydney which included a performance in the Sydney Opera House.

Competitions are beneficial to both students’ musical education and their overall development. This year, we have seen that the healthy competitiveness fostered by musical competition goes beyond musicianship. It also teaches valuable life lessons, improves motivation, and promotes a rich and diverse musical culture.

The College’s two concert bands also enjoyed the thrill of competition as they participated in the Victorian Schools Music Festival, hosted by The Geelong College, which also allowed us to share the wonderous resources of the Keith Humble Centre with our community. In Term 2, the Senior School Stage Band and Pegasus Singers travelled to the Australian Jazz Awards in Mount Gambier, more commonly known as Generations in Jazz, hosted by James Morrison, to once again compete against the best jazz students in Australia and beyond.

The Junior School experienced the Geelong Music and Movement Festival at Costa Hall, which proved to be truly valuable to the development of our youngest musicians.

Middle School students were provided with three amazing opportunities: the Years 4,5,6 Primary Choir travelled to Ballarat for the Royal South Street Eisteddfod; the boys’ Morrison Singers wowed Auckland and sang at the St Kentigern’s Festival of Music inaugurated by our first trip; and the girls’ Morongo Singers experienced the once-in-alifetime honour of performing at the Australian International

In addition to the staples of assemblies and Chapel services, the Valedictory Ceremony, Celebrations of Learning across three campuses and the Foundation Concert, these competitions provide our students with more tangible rewards. The chance to take home an award or leave a lasting impression on a judge is certainly encouraging to any aspiring music student. Earning recognition at a competition often leads to heightened engagement and greater satisfaction for our hard-working musicians.

A boys’ choir toured New Zealand and sang at an Anzac Service (pictured) as well as the St Kentigern’s Festival of Music.

The Generations in Jazz competition at Mount Gambier is an annual highlight for our musicians.

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The College girls’ choir, Morongo Singers, travelled to Sydney and performed in the Sydney Opera House during the Australian International Music Festival.

As we look towards 2020, I am excited that planning has commenced to develop and investigate piano competitions with our partners at Steinway and Sons, choral competitions with the Victorian Schools Music Festival, inaugurating a string competition with schools in the Western District and a life-changing tour to the Choral Olympics in Belgium for our senior singers.

Preparing for a competition allows our students to develop greater focus in practice, and in turn provide our students at The Geelong College with the permission to perform, and truly master every aspect of a piece of music and the instrument they have chosen to learn.

Every one of our students who participates in competition undergoes a comprehensive and transformative lesson on superior musicianship and as our College is committed to engaging and improving every individual musician, a competition is an excellent opportunity to learn new skills and hone existing ones. I hope that over the course of the academic year, you are able to join us!

The Barwon Concert Band competes at the Victorian Schools Music Festival hosted in the Keith Humble Centre.

Invest in a Musical Legacy The Steinway Model D Concert Grand Piano is the most revered concert instrument in the world, and will be a beautiful addition to The Geelong College.

The opportunity to buy one or more of the 88 keys on this outstanding piano will provide a legacy for generations of young musicians at our school.

For $3,000 or eight instalments of $375 you could provide a gift that will make this dream a reality.

Every key purchased gives you the opportunity to be part of the audience at musical performances, and to be acknowledged on an honour board in the George Logie-Smith auditorium.

Find out more at www.geelongcollege.vic.edu.au/community/steinwayselectschool

Boarding Life

By Audrey Ng, Captain of Mossgiel Boarding House

Read all about it!

Whether you are a local, interstate or international student, leaving home is never easy. Even as a Year 12 student who has already spent her last three-and-a-half years here, I can say with confidence that it never really gets easier.

But when you return to a community as warm, fun-filled and supporting as Mossgiel, the gnawing feelings of homesickness or loneliness really does disappear.

If someone were to ask me about my proudest moment or achievement, without a doubt I would immediately say initiating Quid Novi, the fortnightly student newspaper, with a group of like-minded, enthusiastic people.

Of course, living with 38 other girls is no easy feat and just like any family, we, too, have the occasional little incident or issue that nudges us off our good-humoured balance.

But again, just like any family, there is nothing that Mossgiel cannot resolve or overcome.

If I had to pick a highlight for Mossgiel this year, it would undoubtedly be performing “Blame it on the Boogie” together with Mackie as a surprise performance during House Music. There were many times this year when, as captain, I felt like a proud older sister. Whether it is when one of the “MOZZY G” (as we so endearingly call ourselves) was awarded for her excellence in academics or sports, or the many acts of kindness I see every day, I cannot recall a time when I was prouder than seeing the two boarding houses singing our hearts out in such great harmony.

Besides having a wonderful group of girls, Mossgiel would not be what it is if our tutors here (Mr Conway, Ms Jackman, Ms Leyshon, Maisie, Penny and Kylie) were not as funny, easy-going and helpful as they are. A special thanks must go to Head of House Ms Knight for being such a supportive and thoughtful “mother”.

Being the captain and a member of Mossgiel for the past four years has been an absolute pleasure. I have made such close friendships with people I otherwise would never have met, especially the girls in the lower year levels.

Graduating from high school is inevitably bittersweet, but leaving Mossgiel as well is almost like leaving two pieces of memory behind all at once!

In Term 3 last year, committed students came together to work on a single project – one that originated from the desire for a student voice among our College community.

The roles played by our writers, artists, photographers and “meme people”, despite coming from different year levels, Houses and social groups, are equally critical in every single issue.

The one central belief we all shared, was to elucidate and advocate the voices and opinions of our students. We managed to publish more than 17 issues in a year and have established a new school colours system where dedicated students are recognised for their contribution to this extracurricular activitiy. I can certainly say that the Quid Novi editorial team never anticipated for our newspaper to reach so widely around the College community.

We would like to thank our audience, the Senior School students, staff and parents of this wider community here for your constant support, for every newspaper needs an audience and ours wouldn’t be what it has become were it not for you.

It’s been an absolute pleasure for the Quid Novi team to leave behind a great legacy that will continue to be a cherished part of our school community for years to come.

Quid Novi The Geelong

Issue XVI

College

ar 12 Farewell Ye ust 2019 Date: 19 Aug th

me to time for and it’s 16 issues It’s been pass it on

continuing it not for your n I wanted successful was ? visio have been as ell Quid Novi began with a ge. I simply Novi wouldn’t begin to farew for, but Quid part of the colle How do I even a cherished one I am thankful many things paper to be such will leave behind. but I know the There are so , ever anticipated for the nt has changed, legacy I utely loved the conte of absol d and rs never I have I am so prou support. I cted of our design, colou nts, by the students”. life. But now t how much stude image has refle to see come to s, I think abou idea of “for the y meme, article, artwork, at our past issuethat we always upheld the Ever ts. back layou look I was When ns and the e, is when I ined constant ng, the desig work, of cours who have thing that rema it, the writing, the editi t of our hard those of seeing the resul e rooms. Thank you to be in because every minute has stood for. or, aside from hous rite houses to as Chief Edit what Quid Novi go around the Calvert, my favou favourite part Monday and you. be honest, my off the press” every other ial shout out to Coles and you. Thank you. Thank If I have to k h (spec “fres than ive rial team, s !”) posit edito issue Novi of to our The Quid so exciting and carry a pile my gratitude n McGucken, don’t hear “Yes! day mornings ever that I show Delaney, Etha made my Mon Monday where I go in and rtant now than thanks to Amy Tso, Nick beginning. It means more a is more impo ial there is never from the very times, but it the very beginning. Spec it countless g faith in me said from havin me I’ve for n with ucke I know what better who have been and Mrs McG a bang. And Josie Horne especially those to go out with 12s?

Carly Perkins, issue, we had Lara Adams, bly say. rial team) last our favourite group of Year al photos, 12s on the edito than I can possi byes to as pages of form rest of the Year vements and saying good 12s, as well my (and the achie from our Year Of course, for emorating the and advices s comm word than it hilarious) way to do very wise (and . some have , we to enjoy In this issue oral for you heart. orks and an bottom of my i issue. memes, artw th Quid Nov k you from the ing ride. Than see the 50 Audrey Ng, e back and It’s been an amaz , I will com f t one day Editor-in-Chie I hope tha

The 2019 Mackie and Mossgiel Prefect team.

30 Ad Astra Issue No 137

The August edition of the student newspaper Quid Novi was a farewell edition for the Year 12s.

School Activities Boarding Life

The Junior School team was recognised at the 2019 Victorian Early Years Awards by receiving the Emeritus Professor Collette Tayler Excellence in Educational Leadership Award.

The inaugural Middle School Book Week Parade was a popular addition to the week’s festivities.

The APS Water Polo season’s highlights included the 2nds Boys defeating Geelong Grammar twice, the 1st Girls participating in the Victorian Schools Water Polo Cup, and the Years 9, 10 and 11 Girls’ teams recording multiple wins.

The Senior School Prefects visited Campbell House to take part in the Junior School’s Sporting Colours Day.

The RoboCup team of Michael Wang, Oliver Perry and Harry McLean, recorded the fastest time of the day and received maximum points in the regional final.

The Steinway Select School campaign launch in September gave students a chance to play on a magnificent Model D Grand.

About 50 Junior School dancers impressed with their performance at the Wakakirri story dance competition, winning the Division 3 Best Inspirational Story award, Best Backstage Crew and Best Public Speaking at the Palais Theatre in St Kilda.

Students competed for House glory in the Middle School House Rowing competition, with Minerva winning both races.

The Year 12 VET bands Smoked and Overdue, Quest and Indigo enjoyed performing at the Worker’s Club to prepare for their final assessments.

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Paul Sheahan Q&A

Our Middle School students had a chance to grill past College Principal Paul Sheahan AM (OGC 1959) at the Founders’ Day Assembly in Term 3. We share some of their conversation with you in this Ad Astra:

We regularly hear about the success of people. Is there anything you are willing to share with us that has not been a success for you? Is it true they are more important than success alone in learning?

You were a student at The Geelong College, School Captain and later the Principal. You have also been involved in a number of schools, including Headmaster at Melbourne Grammar School. What do you think makes The Geelong College special?

Without being too specific, everyone’s life will have successes and failures but my view is that failures are not failures; they are simply not yet successes. Failures are fabrications of your mind. You learn SO much more by things that don’t initially turn out well. I’m NOT advocating that you focus your mind on not succeeding but I AM saying that so-called failure does not lead to immediate death; it leads to an opportunity to try something different.

Most scientists, for instance, would tell you that the great advances in their fields came about either through mistakes or taking the time and trouble to recognise the importance of things they were not looking for!

Everyone will have their own ideas! Indeed, some boys I was at school with didn’t have much fun. But, for me, it was a school that gave endless opportunity and allowed me to explore things I was good at … not necessarily only in the classroom!

Why is it that we recognise “Founders’ Day” in an assembly like this?

I think it does us good to recognise that we are not individually the centre of the universe. What we enjoy today is the legacy left by those who went before. The founders had the best intentions of giving us an experience that would make us better people … and that’s what we should ALL be aspiring to be.

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What advice would you give to yourself if you were sitting here today as a Year 8 student?

That’s a really tricky question because I think the world you students will inherit will be so different from the one I and my generation inherited. Our lives were predicated on certainty, predictability and stability. Your lives are based on uncertainty, unpredictability and instability. That should not frighten you; it ought to encourage you to use your imaginations to create the world you want and, despite your idea that you are a very small cog in a rather big wheel, you CAN make a difference … if you want to!

Staff Departures Deidre Bain

David Curnow

Since joining the College’s Senior School design and creative arts department in 2009, Deidre has taught across many subjects.

Demonstrating her wealth of experience in art education, she has guided many enthusiastic young artists and designers within the disciplines of Visual Communication Design, Studio Arts (Textiles), and Art (Photography and Painting).

David began his teaching career at the College in 1987, originally employed by Paul Sheahan to teach History. Over the ensuing 33 years, if one measured Dave’s involvement and level of commitment to his vocation, the reading would most likely be off the scale. If there was one word to describe Dave’s career at College, that word would be “service”. During his many years of service, Dave’s sense of divine purpose in whatever capacity he was performing never wavered.

Her endearing caring nature provided students with a somewhat quirky, colourful, always friendly teacher, with a dogged determination to instil fundamental art practice skills within a safe, happy environment.

Deidre carried her passion through into many extracurricular programs which included three Fulfilling Lives trips to Bundanon, and four trips to Lilla where staff and students worked with Indigenous elders on collaborative artworks.

These artworks are now displayed in the Canteen, Davey House and Austin Gray Centre.

Deidre was an integral contributor and facilitator of the Year 9 Art in the City program, our annual Senior School Arts Week, then more recently the House Arts exhibition and competition, and the VCE Art Show, as well as Senior School Productions and Musicals. Working with parents, staff and technical crew, Deidre made and coordinated the making of the stage props for Wizard of Oz, Seussical the Musical, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Joseph and the Technicolour Dreamcoat, Legally Blonde and Around the World in 80 Days, just to name a few. Deidre also took her warm, willing and friendly spirit further into our community as a valued tutor in Shannon and Morrison.

Deidre retires to explore her own creative enterprise and journey. Congratulations on your career and thank you for all your contributions to our school community.

Kevin Jess

Dave’s Teacher in Charge duties were many, including rowing, football and athletics. Few will forget Dave’s efforts to secure rowing eights in the Boatshed during the notorious floods of 1995, risking life and limb in the turbulent waters to limit as much damage as possible.

Dave was a tutor in Mackie in the early ‘90s and revelled in the boarding environment. As Head of Wettenhall, Dave led from the front, earning the name of “Mad Dog” with his fervour and House spirit, creating a powerhouse during the 1990s that few other Houses could match in competition.

Arguably Dave’s greatest achievement at the College was the relationship he built with Shalom College in Townsville.

Creating connections with Indigenous communities was Dave’s passion, and this flowed through to each of the students undertaking the program. Dave went to great lengths to make sure the program was reciprocal, and Shalom students were able to experience aspects of community at The Geelong College.

In his role as Spiritual and Outreach Coordinator, Dave was as committed as in any of his previous positions. Whenever tragedy or need arose, it was Dave who was called to offer comfort and support. Equally, Dave revelled in marrying Old Collegians in the College Chapel. But Dave could not have achieved the extraordinary things that he did for the College without the constant love and support of Cassie and his family. They were his rock, along with his unwavering faith in God. David Curnow was a presence, a visible and palpable presence whose humanity will long be remembered by those whom he touched over his 33-year career at the College. Thank you, Dave. It’s been a privilege for many of us to walk beside you on this journey.

Phil Taylor

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Con Lannan Con Lannan has made an incredible contribution to The Geelong College as its Archivist over the past 16 years. Before joining the College in 2003, Con had an impressive career managing libraries as a CEO. His skills in librarianship and public administration were put to good use here at College. Con has been responsible for many projects to keep our history alive. All the displays; cataloguing, scanning, preservation of artworks and portraits; recording; research for stories and obituaries; articles for Ad Astra; honour boards; interpretive panels around the school’s historic sites; and helping Helen Penrose with our College history book, The Way to the Stars – 150 years of The Geelong College, and James Affleck with biographies of Collegians who fought at war.

He started work on the College’s online heritage guide back in 2009 – it was a passion of his and he mostly worked on it in his own time, even when he had been on holiday. It’s an invaluable resource for all; a complete history of the College from foundation to today. Con has worked with many volunteers from our community over the years, who helped to scan documents and photos for the Archives.

Not only did he look after our history, he also took on the Morongo College collection in recent times and worked with volunteers from their community.

We are indebted to Con for his attention to detail, dedication and passion for his work. We wish him a wonderful retirement with ample opportunities to fish and to read and travel with his wife Donna.

Mike Howell

Stephanie Lawrence Stephanie Lawrence brought with her a passion for music education and a joy for imparting her knowledge that has permeated the numerous roles she has undertaken in her 10 years of service in the Music Department. Commencing in 2010, Stephanie became the Music Coordinator of Ensembles and Conductor of the Secondary Girls’ Choir until 2015. She also worked at various times as Director of the Preparatory School Orchestra, Moorabool Orchestra, Otway Orchestra and Celtic Ensemble, and the significant role of Head of Strings in 2019. These leadership roles were also complemented by classroom teaching at many year levels.

Stephanie’s ability to bring her passion to the homeroom has not gone unnoticed and it is delightful to hear “Uke Tuesday” as her students take out a ukulele and make music together to begin the day. Her empathy,

34 Ad Astra Issue No 137

understanding and support for the students in her homeroom group have been outstanding and the relationships forged will be long remembered.

Music has not been the sole focus of Stephanie’s skills. As an elective teacher of Paddock to Platter, she encouraged the interaction with the Year 4 Enviro program and the opportunity to educate and encourage our chefs to appreciate fresh produce.

We will miss the warm smile, passionate musician and generous and supportive colleague. Our very best wishes Stephanie for your creative, collegiate educational journey.

Coral Turner

Margaret McArthur Margaret McArthur resigned as the eLearning Coordinator at the end of 2019. Margaret has been a valuable part of the College staff community since 2009. During this time, she has held several roles including ICT Teacher, Acting Co-Deputy Head of Middle School and Coordinator of eLearning. Margaret has been key in the implementation and support of several key ICT programs such as Digiknow in the Junior School, the laptop program, cyber safety and, most recently, the implementation of our new learning management system SEQTA. Margaret has a great passion for all things ICT which has helped her push the College forward in its use of the many systems that support our staff and students. Margaret has always approached her roles and tasks with great enthusiasm and prided herself on helping staff and students, over and above what was expected. Her bubbly personality and Scottish accent always brought a smile to the staff and classrooms. We wish her well in her future endeavours.

Mark Nurnaitis

Michael O’Donnell The Geelong College has a proud history of educating young men and women in a time-honoured tradition of excellence and Michael has fulfilled these expectations admirably as a committed and passionate educator. His passion for history and geography and deep knowledge of the English language, together with his perceptive understanding of young adolescents, were used to ignite student imagination, debate and genuine interest in learning.

Over the years at the Middle School, Michael has undertaken wide and diverse roles. The move from

Campbell House after two years saw Michael develop and work committedly towards the introduction of IT and he became the coordinator at a time when the computer lab was a hallowed space with assistants to support the program. He was the first IT administrator and employed the initial technical staff members as well as introducing the first web server and laptops.

Coordination roles in English, history and geography, and religious and values education followed, and the role of Year 8 Coordinator was one that Michael valued and managed very successfully. We valued the genuine compassion and emotional intelligence Michael brought to the role. His guidance, wisdom, insight and intelligence will long be remembered by students who shared their learning journey with him. His skills were further tested when he took on the role as acting Deputy Head for a short time.

Michael has served as Head of Bellerophon and would also attest to having valuable knowledge as an experienced Year 8 Auscamp participant – 18 Year 8 camps is a formidable tally. Michael has enjoyed the closeness and support of colleagues, a sense of creativity, the sense of fun and appreciation of young adults and the values we espouse as well as the capacity for change. We wish him well in a long and fulfilling retirement.

Coral Turner

Doug Wade Perhaps we have two former Australian Test cricketers to thank when, in late 1986, a young graduate with a mullet called Doug Wade flew out from Adelaide for Head of Preparatory School Ian McMillan’s final appointment.

A conversation between John Inverarity from Pembroke School and College Principal Paul Sheahan helped seal the deal.

Doug commenced his teaching in Year 5 and taught in all Middle School primary classes; he even ventured into the Year 7 realm for a year of maths teaching. Doug’s easy and friendly manner with the students made him an extremely popular, liked and respected teacher. His awareness of the importance of creating strong and positive relationships with students, staff and parents underly Doug’s approach to life at school.

Doug spent more than 25 years in leadership positions; a statistic in itself which is fair testament to his willingness to take on roles of responsibility that would establish and maintain the highest possible standards for both students and staff. He was a member of the Staff Association, Coordinator of Years 4-6 Mathematics, English, Integrated Studies, Primary Coordinator, and Leader of Learning for the Middle School.

There is no doubt in my mind that the school has benefited enormously from Doug’s years of outstanding teaching, collegiality and leadership. He will be missed. We wish him all the very best for 2020 and beyond.

Michael Panckridge

Kerren Wade Kerren Wade worked in the Uniform Shop for almost 20 years, with just over 11 years employed by The College and prior to that, eight years with Dobson’s, the shop’s original managers. This would have been her 20th “back to school” season. Kerren has seen and been involved in many changes of our school uniform over the years and has been a huge part of where the shop is at today. Kerren has built an amazing team in the Uniform Shop which I have heard is due to her calling them by pet names, such as sugar pie, honey bunch and chickadees! She has been a great support to staff over the years, creating a wonderful work environment and lasting friendships.

Kerren has always taken great pride in her role as the College Uniform Shop Manager, which has included many duties, including visual merchandising, finance, stock ordering and counting, uniform design and choice, and shop fit-outs and design. She finished up her role at the end of Term 3 and we thank her for her contributions to the College, which has been a huge part of her life and I’m sure we will see her around in the not-too-distant future.

Shannyn Leach

The Years 4, 5 and 6 programs have seen significant change during Doug’s time at the Middle School. Doug was a teacher as well as the primary coordinator in the inaugural years of the Year 4 Enviro year, established in 2001, and the communication-themed Year 6 program, some 10 years later. The Enviro year in particular has become a nationally renowned program, and Doug’s involvement in those early days was undoubtedly a significant factor in its success.

3535 Ad AdAstra AstraIssue IssueNo No134 137

Foundation

President’s Report

By J A (Sandy) Hutton (OGC 1973), Foundation President

What a fantastic response we’ve had to our Foundation House Challenge. Although Morrison House is the clear leader at this stage, I think the big winner has been the enormous support we have received from our College community, including many kind grandparents who contributed for their grandchildren.

We look forward to bringing you an update next year on the rejuvenated House Rooms and how the changes have impacted the students who use these spaces every day.

Thank you to all those donors who gave so generously.

From generous donors to fantastic musicians, I would like to thank Director of Music Dr Phillip Bohun, his music staff and all of the students who performed in this year’s Foundation Concert at Costa Hall on 2 August. It was an exciting night showcasing the wonderful musical talent we have at The Geelong College. The drumline to start the night off was a particular highlight.

The Foundation and the College Council are exploring future use of the Fyansford land in light of the growing urbanisation and development surrounding our land holding.

Another successful Morongo Lunch was held on Saturday 12 October in the Dining Hall with more than 110 Morongo Old Collegians and guests in attendance. A surprise visit from the College’s Morongo Singers was welcomed by all, and our guest speaker, former Morongo College Captain Diana Taylor, spoke of the legacy of a Morongo education.

We announced at the lunch that Sophie Blackford was the 2020 recipient of the Morongo Award and Sophie spoke briefly on what receiving the award meant to her and her family.

Our Morrison Society members celebrated the 10th anniversary of the launch of our bequest society with a tour of the VCE Art Show followed by morning tea on Wednesday 24 October; and in conjunction with the OGCA, we supported a Melbourne cocktail event at the Royal Melbourne Hotel on Thursday 14 November. Our last event for the year, the Foundation Community Golf Day, was held on Friday 22 November at the Barwon Heads Golf Club.

Six Year 11 students recently presented to the Foundation Board on their experience attending the YMCA Vic Youth Parliament during the July term break. The Foundation was pleased to support these students on this political adventure and were glad to hear that they successfully debated their Bill, which was passed in the Youth Parliament, 56 votes to 3. The students felt this was an “eye-opening experience which gave them amazing exposure to Parliament and the processes” and would recommend it to other students interested in politics.

The Year 4 students had a successful day of planting at the Foundation’s Fyansford property towards the end of July, with many grasses being planted in tricky conditions. Harry the dog was a big hit with the kids, and I think he will become a regular on these tree-planting days. Unfortunately, we had to cancel the community tree-planting day on the Sunday due to inclement weather.

36 Ad Astra Issue No 137

Year 4 students and staff planted 2,400 poa grasses at the Foundation’s Fyansford property in July for Schools Tree Day.

Annual Giving Project Update Mackie Welcome Project Thank you to those donors who gave so generously to our Mackie Welcome Project as part of our Annual Giving campaign in 2018.

Congratulations to the 2020 Foundation Fellowship recipients. Ros Molyneux will head to Denmark to research the development of Nature Play, Jane Leyshon will attend the Garma Festival in North East Arnhem Land, and Pat Clark, Fabio D’Agostin and Liz Smith will travel to Finland to learn more about different approaches to STEM education.

I would like to acknowledge and thank Suzanne Mockridge (OGC 1977) for her contribution to the Foundation Board over the past seven years. Suzanne resigned from the Board at our last meeting for 2019 in October. Suzanne was an active Board member, serving as Vice-President for four years, and we thank her for this significant contribution.

Finally, a thank you from The Geelong College Foundation to our generous College community for contributing to our Annual Giving campaign this year. We raised over $93,000 for our Pegasus General Excellence Scholarships, the restoration of our Cloisters Classrooms and House Rooms, and The Dr Bill Williams Tjungurrayi Scholarships to support Indigenous students. Thank you again to the College community for your ongoing support of the Foundation during 2019.

Cloisters Classrooms Over the past two years, we have been raising muchneeded funds to upgrade our Cloisters classrooms so that they can remain the thriving learning heart of the College.

With the passage of time, coupled with a few thousand students, the Cloisters classrooms have become tired and needed new lighting, carpet, heating and cooling, painting, and new fixtures and fittings.

Refurbishing heritage buildings can be a challenge, however over the past 18 months, we have successfully upgraded seven of the classrooms while preserving their heritage features. The upgrade of the remaining Cloisters classrooms will continue over the next few years.

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We are pleased to let you know that the refurbishment of the Mackie welcome area (pictured below) has been completed and the difference has been profound for the boys and the staff. Gareth Gilby, Head of Mackie Boarding House, said the changes “have created a very warm and friendly environment for students and parents alike and made the use of this space considerably more flexible”.

Many members of our College community kindly contributed to this refurbishment project and we greatly appreciate your support.

The eight Senior School Houses received great support from the College community in the Foundation House Challenge.

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Upgrades to the kitchen and living areas in Mackie made a huge impact to the boys, however there was still no suitable space for parents to meet with staff or their sons in a private setting. The dream was to completely overhaul the Mackie reception area by updating the layout of the spaces, lighting, floor coverings and furniture.

37 Ad Astra Issue No 137

Why Philanthropy Matters

By Peter Moran, Associate Director for Advancement The Geelong College has a very strong history of helping others through a wide variety of fundraising activities and events. The variety of causes our students and staff assist with is wide ranging in scope and geographic location.

The staff and students at Campbell House, Junior School, have been actively helping the Bushikori Christian Centre in Uganda for many years. The centre, in a rural village near Mbale, cares for orphans, widows and vulnerable children through a child educational sponsorship program to help build a sustainable community. Each year our students help to raise funds for the centre through a variety of fun and innovative fundraising activities. As Head of Junior School Sondra Wood said, “our students really enjoy helping to raise money for the children in Uganda. The activities are fun but have a very serious message to help those who need our help”.

The Geelong College’s Swimathon in June raised more than $30,000 for mental health and suicide prevention programs at Barwon Health.

Throughout 2019, the Prefect team has organised a variety of fundraisers. They have particularly focused on Skyline, a charity that in 2019 supported 94 disadvantaged students and allowed them to continue their education at 25 schools across Victoria.

“The goal of Skyline to end the cycle of poverty through education resonated with us as we were able to use our positions of leadership here at the College to help those less fortunate than ourselves,” College Prefect Ethan McGucken said. The project allowed the team to develop their leadership skills while helping to improve the lives of disadvantaged students.

Other charities the Prefect team supported included the Queensland Farmers’ Flood Appeal; Go Grey in May Day for the Robert Connor Dawes Foundation to support and care for children with brain tumours; the Live Below the Line initiative, helping to tackle global poverty; and Diversitat, aiding refugees to settle in Australia.

Of course, these are just a few examples of how our College community assists others from all walks of life. The culture of giving in The Geelong College is fundamental to our core values of who we are as a community.

Year 11 students Geordie Whittakers, Baxter Kay, Tom Roberts and Alex Bond braved the shave on Senior School House Athletics day, raising more than $4,000 for the Leukaemia Foundation.

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Middle School students donated good-quality secondhand sports shoes to the Boots For All charity, to be rehomed to vulnerable Australian children.

Foundation Concert Friday 2 August

39 Ad Astra Issue No 137

OGCA President’s Report

By Thane Joske (OGC 1990), OGCA President 2019 has been another busy year for the Old Geelong Collegians’ Association, with many events and activities bringing together Old Collegians around Australia, and around the world.

In the second half of the year, we hosted numerous events, including reunions for the 1989 year group in August and the 1999 year group in November.

We held an international reunion event in London, and interstate events in Sydney, Perth and Canberra, with strong attendance from alumni, past parents and friends.

In 2020 we will focus on the OGCA Social Series, connecting Old Collegians through an annual calendar of social events. As Old Collegians, we connect as year groups, as decades and as friends. Now, thanks to the OGCA Social Series, we will also be able to connect via events where we share similar interests.

The OGCA and Old Geelong Sporting Club remain strong mutual supporters. The football, cricket, netball and tennis teams together make up a very important part of Old Collegian life in Melbourne. Turn to page 50 for a wrap of the OGS Football season.

We commend the school’s support to survivors and commitment to ensuring the safety of current and future students. The school’s commitment to a restorative process, under the leadership of Dr Peter Miller and Chairman Dr Hugh Seward, is to be applauded. The school has continued an outreach program to enable past students to contact an independent facilitator. We remain committed to assisting Old Collegians who were victims of past sexual and physical harm. To this end, we fully support the school’s outreach program.

The mentoring and social media site geelongcollegeconnect.com continues to strengthen and deepen relationships with alumni, with almost 2,000 registered users and 70 percent willing to help and/or mentor. Join our growing community on geelongcollegeconnect.com or download our app “Geelong College Connect” on Android or “Graduway Community” on iOS. See page 49 for more information.

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In 2019, the OGCA bid farewell to retiring past presidents Jim Fidge (OGC 1954) and David Waterhouse (OGC 1980), and vice-president Tom Betts (OGC 2000). We thank Jim in particular for his 45 years on the committee and David for his 19 years of service. Thank you to all the committee members for their efforts in making this year successful for us all, and thank you also to the wonderful assistance provided by Mike Howell, Chelsea Matheson, Niki Nurnaitis, Jennifer Chiu and the rest of the team at Community Relations.

On behalf of the OGCA committee, thank you for your support of our association. We offer many ways for our alumni to stay involved, including the OGCA LinkedIn group, Facebook page and Geelong College Connect e-newsletters. We welcome your feedback. Please email communityrelations@geelongcollege.vic.edu.au To our newest Old Collegians: you may have left the school, but your friendships will last a lifetime. We look forward to seeing you at one of our events in 2020.

OGCA Honours Long-Serving Staff At the end of each year, OGCA hosts a celebration to recognise College staff who have served five or 25 years.

Congratulations to Mark Cheatley, Gareth Gilby, Ainsley Harris, Andrew McKie, Margaret Oates, John Simandl and Greg Tomkins, who have completed their 25th year and received OGCA Honorary Life Memberships. The OGCA also awarded Honorary Memberships to the 25 staff who reached the five-year milestone.

OGC News Edward West (OGC 2003) & Penrose West welcomed Lachlan Samuel West on 25 September 2019. A baby brother for Clementine (4) and Arthur (2).

Patrick Crisp (OGC 2014) was selected for the Australian Water Ski Team for the Open Worlds, which were held in Kuala Lumpur in August. Pat (pictured third from right) achieved this while studying for his Masters of Physiotherapy at La Trobe University, Bendigo.

Three College schoolmates from the late 1950s came together at a civic reception hosted by the Mayor of the City of Greater Geelong in August for the 2019 recipients of the Order of Australia Award. The three schoolmates have remained friends for 60 years. Each represented Australia in their sports, winning medals. The photograph shows Peter Doak (OGC 1957) and Ross Synot (OGC 1956) congratulating new inductee Tony Strahan (OGC 1956) on his award. Turn to page 43 for our interview with Tony Strahan.

Greg Smith’s (OGC 1970) book, Career Conversations: How to get the best from your talent pool, won the 2019 Australian Career Book Award at a ceremony in October.

Jackson Wilson (OGC 1993) has started his own real estate business with his partner Sara Taylor, called Kardinia Property, based in Newtown. He worked as a director of Wilsons Real Estate in Geelong for 11 years, and prior to that, worked at Wilson Real Estate in Warrnambool.

Tony Carter (OGC 1970) has opened a small hidden speakeasy bar at St Kilda Junction, called The Store Room.

Thomas Hurst (OGC 1997) has completed his PhD, a research project into the reinstatement of mangroves in Western Port Bay.

Will Ritchie (OGC 1997), an artist with a PhD in biology, has won an award for excellence in this year’s Holmes Prize for Realistic Australian Bird Art competition with his painting of a black swan.

Michele Coventry (nee Macauley, OGC 1973) is teaching physical education, English and health at Toorak College at Mt Eliza. In 2018 she took long service leave and enjoyed travelling through the Kimberley region in WA and then Finland.

Ellie Barr (OGC 2018) received a Gold Duke of Edinburgh Award at a national ceremony at the Sydney Town Hall in September, led by Prince Edward, Earl of Wessex. Ellie is studying Health Sciences at ANU and hopes to progress to the graduate medicine program.

First Officer Ryan Gill (OGC 1993) completed the first non-stop flight from London to Sydney, taking in two sunrises en route! Flight QF7879 was the world’s longest passenger flight by a commercial airline both for distance at 17,800km, and for duration in the air, at 19 hours and 19 minutes.

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Albert Bell Club News

By Peter Lawson (OGC 1990), Albert Bell Club President It is with great sadness that I open with news of the passing of David M Caithness last July. David was a dear friend, consecutive three-time-winning oarsman of the Head of the River, a lifelong and tireless supporter of The Geelong College rowing and loyal Albert Bell Club Secretary. His passion has inspired many and his legacy will live on. He will be sorely missed, and our sincere condolences go to the Caithness family.

The ABC has welcomed Stuart Olsen (OGC 1993), member of the 1993 HOR-winning crew, to the committee. We are in search of a new Secretary and are happy to have new committee members. If you would like to join the committee and give some time back to The Geelong College rowing, you would be warmly welcomed, just let me know!

During the Valedictory Ceremony in October, four 2019 Colin Carstairs Bell Pathway Bursaries for school leavers were awarded. The successful applicants were: Oli Mitton, Zoe Sandner, Xavier Hall-Sullivan and Ed Callan.

Congratulations to all these recipients and we wish them well in their future rowing endeavours!

In rowing news, Angus Widdicombe (OGC 2012) stroked the Men’s Eight at the World Rowing Championships in Austria, placing fourth in a hotly contested race. Tom Page (OGC 2017), Jack Thornton (OGC 2018) and Sophie Walmsley (OGC 2017) competed for Melbourne University Boat Club in Chengdu, China. Tom and Sophie also raced at the National Unisport Games in Queensland in various crew events. Ellie Barr (OGC 2018) has been rowing for ANU in Canberra, competing in the ACT Championships and the Unisport Games, while Charlie Batrouney (OGC 2018) has been rowing with Barwon Rowing Club.

The victorious Ormond College crew that defeated Trinity College was well represented by Old Collegians with no less than five oarsmen – Will Morrison (OGC 2016), Cary Foley (OGC 2017), Oscar Malone (OGC 2017), Scott Wylie

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The late David Caithness (OGC 1952) at The Geelong College Boat Christening in November 2018 with his son Tim and granddaughters Kirsten and Hannah. Photo: Louise Monotti.

(OGC 2017) and Tom Page, and the coach Angus Longden (OGC 2016)! The win secured their place in the curtainraiser to the Australian Boat Race, in which Tom Page competed.

James and Ava Gorell (pictured below with their teams) are both experiencing international rowing in the United States.

James (OGC 2016) has started his third year at George Washington University, having historic team program finishes competing in California and Massachusetts. Ava (OGC 2018) is in her second season rowing at Southern Methodist University in Texas and has had successful team results in the American Athletic Conference Rowing Championships.

Thanks to everyone who has supported the ABC and rowing at TGC this year. Next year’s ABC Dinner will be held on Friday 13 March 2020, coinciding with the Head of the Schoolgirls’ Regatta on the Barwon – it promises to be a fantastic night with several past HOR-winning decade crews, so lock it in your diaries!

As ever, we welcome your feedback. Follow us on Facebook at Albert Bell Club or email lawspa5@gmail.com

High Distinction

By Mike Howell, Director of Advancement and Community Relations

‘Tony’ Strahan OAM (OGC 1956) Tony Strahan was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for services to surf lifesaving in the Queen’s Birthday Honours of 10 June 2019.

Tony studied at The Geelong College from 1955 to 1960. He was both Captain of Swimming and the Open Swimming Champion in 1959 and 1960, as well as a School Prefect and Vice-Captain of Morrison House. He was also a corporal in the Cadet Corps.

Reflecting on his College days, Tony said school was the most memorable time of his life and that teachers such as Don Macmillan and Edward Davies had a big influence on him. He remembered Dr Buntine as being a strict but fair Principal, who taught him the qualities of honesty, humility and integrity. To this day, Tony remains great friends with many of his peers who meet annually for the Cobbers Club lunch.

In 1962, he was a member of the 4x220yds Freestyle Relay Team which won a gold medal at the Commonwealth Games, setting a world record in the process. The following year, he toured Japan, Russia, East and West Germany, Sweden, Denmark, Norway and England with the Australian swimming team.

In 2000, he received an Australian Sports Medal for services to Australian sport. He has been a stalwart of the World Life Saving Association, supporting the 2006 World Championships at Lorne. He has won 14 Australian Masters surf lifesaving titles and a World Masters title, as well as the Lorne Pier to Pub swim 15 times.

Tony has been a dedicated volunteer for nearly 60 years, having held many roles at the Torquay Surf Life Saving Club, Surf Life Saving Victoria and Swimming Victoria. Tony said he was proud of his contribution to surf lifesaving and has enjoyed every moment as a competitor, club treasurer, competition director, and in particular as Superintendent for Victoria, helping develop and monitor the nippers program and keeping people safe on our beaches. Many of the young nippers he taught have grown up and now bring their own children to the Torquay club to learn how to safely enjoy and respect the ocean.

After school in 1961, Tony started working for Flack and Flack Chartered Accountants, which later became Price Waterhouse. Two other Old Collegians also worked for the company, Peter Troy (OGC 1953) and Don McCann (OGC 1954). Tony later joined a smaller accountancy firm, qualifying as a Chartered Accountant and forming a partnership of Rattray, Brown and Strahan.

Tony is married to Chris and has two sons, David and Simon, who have also been active and successful competitors in the world of surf lifesaving.

Tony began his swimming career at Eastern Beach Baths in 1954 and then joined Geelong West Swimming Club, which introduced him to club swimming and competitions.

He went on to win many titles at the Victorian Swimming Championships and became a three-time Australian team representative.

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No Ceiling On What We Can Achieve

By Mike Howell, Director of Advancement and Community Relations You never know who is watching – give everything you have got!

That mantra has served soccer star Steve Horvat (OGC 1988) well over the years. Despite having attended the College at a time when soccer was not played at the school, Horvat became an Australian representative and is now Director of Football of the new A-League team, Western United.

Growing up, soccer was always a part of Steve’s family rituals. His parents, who escaped from Croatia in the mid1950s, loved soccer and his father played for the North Geelong Croatia Football Club.

Steve’s early football career saw him playing for the Victorian Under-13, U14 and U15 teams in national championships. Steve said there was a bit of luck involved when he was spotted by the Head Coach of the Australian Institute of Sport – the U16 side was short of numbers for a training session and he was asked to go up a grade. “You never know who is watching – give everything you have got,” Steve said.

He was then offered a scholarship to complete Years 11 and 12 at the Australian Institute of Sport which was a wonderful opportunity back in 1997. Six months later, he played for Australia and scored a goal in the FIFA U16 World Championships against Saudi Arabia.

Steve started his professional career at 17 years old with Melbourne Croatia (now Melbourne Knights) and then North Geelong Warriors. His next move was to return for the Melbourne Knights for two seasons, winning the Australian title and receiving the Joe Marston Medal for best player in the grand final.

The Horvats celebrate a win for the new Western United A-League team, where Steve is the Director of Football.

He and Tina have four children – Chantel, Neve, Ben and Evan. On returning from living in the UK in 2001, he had no doubt that he wanted to send his children to College. A decision made easier when seeing soccer goals on Mackie Oval, causing him to nearly crash!

Chantel (OGC 2016) followed in her father’s sporting footsteps, earning a basketball scholarship to the AIS and playing for the Australian national team. She is now based in America, playing basketball for the University of California and Los Angeles (UCLA). Neve (OGC 2017) is now studying at Swinburne University, completing a double degree in Media Communications/Design and majoring in Social Media/Photomedia, while Ben (Year 6) and Evan (Year 4) are in Middle School.

After his playing years, Steve worked in the family business, Sava Engineering, and for five years called A-League and Socceroos matches for ABC radio and television.

More recently, Steve is one of the founding fathers and Director of Football of Western United. It has been his passion to establish a club in Melbourne’s western suburbs and to develop its own privately-owned stadium in Truganina in time for the 2021-22 season.

His vision is to tap into the incredible football history of our region through the immigrant population as well as the demographic growth. Over the next 15 years, the population of Wyndham will be bigger than Adelaide.

Western United has had a dream start to the season and is second on the table after round 5, with three wins, one draw and one loss. In Steve’s words, “there is no ceiling on what we can achieve”.

His playing career took him overseas to Croatia for three years before moving to England and signing with West Ham, Crystal Palace and Fulham, but had problems with work permits and visas. When he and wife Tina were expecting their second daughter, he received an offer from the Carlton soccer club and moved back to Australia. He then re-joined the Melbourne Knights.

Steve was a regular member of the Australian national side as a Socceroo, making 32 appearances, which included playing in the 1996 Summer Olympics and the honour of captaining Australia seven times.

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Steve Horvat was inducted into the OGCA Notables Gallery in 2016, a proud moment for him and his family.

Superstar in the Making 1

3

Photo: Johan Persson

Robert Tripolino (OGC 2008) is an actor on the rise.

He has gone from treading the boards of Morrison Hall to taking the leading role in Regent’s Park Theatre’s production of Jesus Christ Superstar in the Barbican Theatre in London. College teacher Therese Foley was lucky enough to see Rob perform as Jesus Christ this year, and here she reflects on the career of the talented Old Collegian: I first saw Rob Tripolino back in 2005 when he was in Year 9 at The Geelong College, where he played the acting character of Adrian in The Secret Diary of Adrian Mole. I then went on to witness Rob act, sing and dance in Bugsy Malone (2006), Treasure Island (2007) and Sweet Charity and Dracula (2008).

It was also in 2008 when Rob led Morrison House to a wonderful win in House Music where he and his young band’s rendition of The Joker and The Thief by Wolfmother brought the entire Morrison Hall student cohort to their feet.

Our young ones on that day knew they were witnessing a star on the horizon.

Rob had amazing talents in dancing, acting, singing and playing music; and we were lucky enough to see this young talented student performing on our doorstep.

Rob with encouragement from his family and teachers, Deb Hynes and Lachy Joyce, moved into studying Musical Theatre at the Victorian College of the Arts, graduating in 2011. After graduating, Rob performed in many roles in musical theatre, on television and has written his own works.

Rob playing Omar in Aladdin was one of my favourite performances post his school days, until I again had the good fortune in July this year to see Rob in Jesus Christ Superstar, playing Jesus at the Barbican in London. He was absolutely amazing!!! I cried with joy as he played his guitar and sang with pure emotion his solo, Gesthsame.

Here was an Old Collegian, being a superstar. There was a standing ovation by all at the end.

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OGCs Overseas The Old Geelong Collegian network extends far and wide across the world. Ad Astra caught up with some of the OGCs who have moved overseas since leaving the College gates.

Charlotte Midgley (OGC 2018), gap year student, UK Eight months have already passed and my life in Europe still seems surreal. Working at St Catherine’s School, Bramley, I am privileged enough to have six other gap students working alongside me and we have formed our own little family.

Sarah Hope Schofield (OGC 2004), fashion designer, France I am living in Paris and working as a fashion designer. I think it’s great to live anywhere in Europe, it’s so easy to travel around on the weekends, with so many different countries so close. I like living in Paris as it’s a large city but feels like a smaller village vibe, everyone is more relaxed, and the romance hasn’t worn off yet!

I did my Bachelor’s Degree at RMIT and then a Masters in Paris, since then I have mainly lived in Paris with periods in Milan and London for work. I’ve been working in womenswear and accessory design, and I also had my own brand.

I plan to stay in Paris as there are so many opportunities for my career and I like the lifestyle here, plus I’m working on gaining French nationality. I want that European passport!

If you can have dual nationality to any country, apply for it! An overseas passport is worth much, much more than its weight in gold and you never know what future opportunities it could open up.

I can definitely recommend for people to move overseas, particularly in other more corporate jobs, you can be really successful.

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When people ask, “what do you do?” it is a rather hard question to answer due to the fact my duties range from being a swim teacher or receptionist, as well as delivering parcels and getting boarders to go to sleep. Although I mainly took the job for all the holidays, I have found much joy in spending my time surrounded by such passionate and dedicated individuals, both colleagues and students.

Whilst our term time can be challenging, it is all worth it for the travelling, experiences and being able to meet so many incredible people. Whether it be a weekend trip to Copenhagen, sailing through Croatia or a festival in Budapest, the memories made and friendships formed are more special than words can describe.

I strongly urge all students to take a gap year as it teaches lessons that no book, test or classroom ever could.

Whether you have ambitions to travel or not, the lifetime friendships and connections made set you up for a world full of possibilities, coupled with an understanding of a fulltime working environment and the expectations.

Having found my niche, I feel as though it will be equally hard to leave here as it is being away from Australia.

However, having discovered much about myself and the world in which we live, I am even more excited to commence my tertiary studies with stronger confidence and a steadfast determination to achieve my goals.

Daniel Muhor (OGC 1992), hotel manager, Bangladesh After graduating from The Geelong College in 1992, I went on to complete a Bachelor of Business in Catering and Hotel Management at Victoria University. In 1999, I started my five-star hotel career, in what is now known as the Intercontinental Melbourne. It was in 2004 that I took my first overseas posting.

Throughout the next seven years, I was a Hotel Manager, moving from post to post that included Le Meridien Khao Lak, Thailand; The Westin Guangzhou, China; and The Westin Gurgaon, New Delhi. My first few roles at the top were from 2013 to 2015 when I was promoted to General Manager of The Westin - Dhaka, Bangladesh.

The following four years, I worked with Greenland Hotel and Tourism Group and returned to Australia as General Manager of The Primus Hotel Sydney, before being transferred as Cluster General Manager in Shanghai, China. It was only this year that I returned to Marriott International, as the Complex General Manager for both The Westin and Sheraton Hotels back in Dhaka, Bangladesh.

Living throughout Asia has been life-changing, experiencing the many different cultures, from the monks in Thailand blessing the resort after it was rebuilt (due to damage caused by the devastating tsunamis), to the majestic Taj Mahal, cosmopolitan Shanghai and the slums of Bangladesh. I have seen and experienced life events across the full spectrum.

You do tend to spend time in the local expat haunts, but I am always searching for a local experience, ensuring that I capture what is real. In all these countries, life is what you make of it. You can watch the AFL week in week out, drinking Aussie beers, where the guy sitting next to you who speaks English all of a sudden becomes your new best mate; and in the same week, attend a local wedding where you are the guest of honour, the only Caucasian, or go for dinner where your only method to order is by using sign language and pointing at pictures.

All that said, my career is a rewarding one that continues to take me to new and exciting places, experiencing cultures which is something that I’ll never grow tired of.

Jessica Neville (OGC 2018), English teacher, China After completing Year 12 at the College, I decided to take a year to travel. While investigating the many options, I came across an opportunity to teach English in China. This resonated with me as I could use my VCE Mandarin and build upon it.

I arrived in Beijing, nervous and excited. I had already spent the past three months studying and passing the initial exam and now was two weeks of hands-on training and meeting my future teaching group, whom I was going to be spending the next six months with.

Upon completion of the final training and exam in Beijing, we began the long train journey to the remote region of Inner Mongolia.

We were given accommodation at the nearest university and assigned a driver to take us to the school each morning. We were provided with draft classroom lessons and developed our own lessons at Friday training sessions.

My first day of teaching was fun, finally being able to put all my newly learnt skills to the test. My classes covered all ages from 3 to 19 years (my age) and I soon developed my own style of teaching and rewards for good and bad behaviour. I now realise how tough it is and have a lot more sympathy for our teachers at College!

The school hours in China are from 7am to 7pm with a long lunch break of three hours. The students spend this time usually eating lunch and then sleeping back in their dorms, as most students boarded at school. The parents of the students often sat in on their children’s classes which added another dimension to teaching, as I now had a class of around 40 students and up to 30 parents as well.

The highlights of my journey included watching my students grasp the English language and grow, making lifelong friends from all over the world and, when I wasn’t teaching, travelling from the northernmost point of China to the border of Hong Kong, experiencing Chinese culture in the different regions.

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Viv Pedemont (OGC 1979), volunteer, Mongolia “We will be living in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, for the next three years!”

Those are not the words I expected to hear! What did I know of Mongolia? Not a lot! Like most people, I had visions of Yurts (known in Mongolia as Gers) and horses and Genghis Khan leading his armies back in the day. I had to look on the map to find out where it actually was…

My husband works in the Gobi Desert at a mine, while I live in the capital and spend my time volunteering and exploring the city and its culture. I am involved with the International Women’s Association Mongolia currently as President and Public Relations. IWAM raises funds to support small NGOs that exist to help women and children in need. This is a country of contrasts. Wealthy and dreadfully poor (those living and working on the dump). Very well educated and poorly educated. Living in apartments and living in the ger district in gers or shacks, often without sanitation, water or electricity.

Through IWAM I have also become involved with the Institute of Education and Training, and assisting children to read at a local Mongolian school. I also have an English conversation class once a week with my husband’s city team. They speak Mongolian all the time as there is no one they regularly speak English with. My husband works at site during the week. So since May we have been meeting once a week for an hour to talk about general topics in English.

Since arriving here on a cold (-42C) January evening, we have settled in to living in the coldest capital city in the world. The weather and the smog were the first things we had to adjust to, having just moved from steamy Brisbane.

The winters are long, but once spring arrives, it is wonderful to see everyone enjoying being outside, soaking up the sunshine.

In Ulaanbaatar there are several museums and temples to visit, many restaurants offering food from all over the world, opera, ballet and traditional cultural shows and markets to explore. We have been able to enjoy traditional celebrations – Naadam, Tsagaan Sar and the Eagle Festival.

Mongolia is a country with a rich history and culture. We are loving our experience.

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Tanapol Phewpun (OGC 2013), molecular biologist, USA From Biology class at College, I found my passion in Science. After my graduation from The Geelong College, I moved over to the UK to pursue my undergraduate degree in Biomedical Sciences. I graduated with an UpperSecond Class Honours Degree from the University of Surrey in 2018. During this time I conducted research with Mycobacterium tuberculosis for my thesis, which inspired me to pursue my further education in biology.

I am now in Boston, Massachusetts, completing my Master’s in Molecular Biotechnology at Northeastern University. Boston is the hub for the biotechnology field.

Many if not most of the biopharmaceutical companies are based here.

The United States though, is a very unique place to live in.

However, I do enjoy living here in Boston since there are so many libraries and learning resources scattered around the city.

This past summer, I was working with the Thailand National Centre for Genetic Engineering. I had an opportunity to create a genetically engineered plasmids DNA which could potentially reduce drug discovery time in Mycobacterium tuberculosis. It was a very good experience.

In the future, I would like to work in the research and development team in one of the biopharmaceutical companies in Boston or San Francisco. I am extremely excited to see what the future holds!!

Aaron Wileman (OGC 1990), marketing consultant, Portugal I moved to Lisbon about 18 months ago after nearly nine years living in France. The choice to move to Lisbon was entirely around finding a place to live in Europe where we had the benefits of raising a young family, while at the same time having the wonderful dynamic of a thriving European city.

Lisbon offers us both those elements, as being close to the sea during summer enables us to benefit from the great beaches close by (not as good as the Aussie beaches), while at the same time it is a thriving city that is attracting a lot of tourists and businesses.

There is a great expat community here that looks after each other and it is easy to make friends. The Portuguese culture is one of the few in Western Europe that still holds onto its traditional cultures with a strong hand and this gives life a very different perspective when you live in Lisbon.

I provide marketing and brand consulting to companies in film, IT and medical products across Europe from my UK-based business and I am now working with some Portuguese-based companies to help expand their reach across Europe.

Since leaving The Geelong College and attending Melbourne University and RMIT, I spent 10 years living in Melbourne working in marketing at Hewlett-Packard and Orange before getting itchy feet and heading off to Europe, firstly Germany in the Black Forest where I started working with a large American agency and eventually moving to London to head up their European Marketing Strategy account team, before taking on a global role and working from Australia and France. Since leaving that company, I have been running my own London-based agency providing marketing consulting primarily to the film industry.

Looking towards the future, I am planning on staying in Lisbon and enjoying the lifestyle (and weather) that reminds me a great deal of living back in Melbourne. Always open to having a drink with any OGCs passing through Lisbon.

Connect Anytime, Anywhere!

The OGCA’s Geelong College Connect is now available as a mobile app.

The app provides you with direct access to our network of alumni in the palm of your hand. You can make a post on the newsfeed; catch up on updates from fellow Old Collegians; find old classmates or a mentor to further your career; offer to help current or past students; discover events near you or for your year group; use our free jobs board and more.

How to download the GC Connect app: Android 1. Go to the Google Play store and search for “GC Connect”, or use the following URL: https://play. google.com/store/apps/details?id=com.graduway. geelongcollege 2. Download the app 3. Sign in/register iOS 1. Go to the App Store and search for the “Graduway Community” app, or use the following URL: https:// apps.apple.com/us/app/graduway-community/ id1457549791 2. Download the app 3. Type in “The Geelong College” as your school when prompted 4. Sign in/register

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Old Geelong Sport

By Nick Betts (OGC 2002) 2019 was another exciting year for the Old Geelong Football Club, where many former students played for one of six teams fielded across the Victorian Amateur Football Association competition in Melbourne. The club now consists of Seniors, Reserves, Thirds and Under-19s men’s teams as well as Seniors and Reserves women’s teams, with numbers continuing to grow. The Geelong College presence at the club also continues to grow and has been a major factor in the club’s continued climb up the grades in recent years.

In another boost for the club, the OGFC is very excited to announce Nathan Brown as its new senior coach. Nathan played 146 AFL games for the Melbourne Football Club between 1998-2007. The OGFC knows it is going to be an exciting future at the club with the former AFL star taking the reins and leading all teams to the next level.

While 2019 was a challenging year for the men’s Senior team, a number of the other teams played finals, including a strong showing by the men’s Reserves who were just pipped in the preliminary final. Highlight of the season however went to the women’s Reserves who won the first female premiership for the OGFC! Libby Graham (OGC 2010) was one of the Old Geelong Collegians who tasted premiership success.

John Simson (OGC 2012) won his second Best and Fairest award and was named in the VAFA B-Grade Team of the Year.

In the men’s teams, a number of Old Geelong Collegians continued to show the way, with George Chisholm (OGC 2011) providing presence in the Seniors’ backline, while John Simson (OGC 2012) won a second Seniors Best and Fairest and was named in the B-Grade VAFA Team of the Year. A separate honour was earned by Callum Wood (OGC 2008) who this year played his 200th game for the Ogs, having arrived at the club straight out of school – a massive achievement for Cal, only the 12th player in the club’s history to achieve this milestone. We look forward to future Old Geelong Collegians trying to match or better this incredible achievement.

The club was also pleased to see the next generation of Matthew Bird (OGC 2015), Jack Sheridan (OGC 2015) and Edward Ratcliffe (OGC 2011) continue to lay foundations at the club. For Edward in particular, it is great to see him following in the footsteps of his older brother James Ratcliffe (OGC 2006), who played 115 games for the club.

The OGFC prides itself on its family connections and providing a base for all Old Collegians to play sport, socialise and have a home away from home in Melbourne.

We look forward to welcoming many of the 2019 Year 12s, male and female, to the club in 2020.

Please visit www.oldgeelong.com.au for training dates and sign-up details. All welcome.

The Old Geelong women’s Reserves team celebrate winning their first premiership. Photos: Peter Lemon

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The perfect place for your big day The first class facilities and magnificent grounds are a wonderful location for your wedding ceremony, reception or wedding portraits.

The Chapel, Cloisters and Dining Hall are exclusively offered to members of the College community.

Find out more at www.geelongcollege.vic.edu.au/community/facility-hire

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Farewells BENALLACK, Stephen Roger (1936-2019), OGC 1949 BROCKWELL, Timothy (1934-2018), OGC 1947 CAITHNESS, David Morris (1938-2019), OGC 1952 CAMERON, John Gordon (1926-2019), OGC 1939 DAVIES, Geoffrey Adrian O’Dell (1930-2018), OGC 1942 FRASER, Donald James (1938-2019), OGC 1953 FRENCH, Gary John (1946-2018), OGC 1959 GREENE, John Hinton (1944-2019), OGC 1958 LAWLER, Anthony Charles (1941-2019), OGC 1954

David was also a current serving member of the Albert Bell Club committee. David’s passion for rowing was cemented at the College this year, having a boat named after him.

He loved nothing better than sitting on the banks of the Barwon River, watching the crews go past.

His brother Rod (OGC 1951), son Tim (OGC 1983) and granddaughters Hannah (OGC 2013) and Kirsten (OGC 2015) all attended College. David died suddenly on 27 July 2019, aged 80 years.

Tim Caithness

LEE, John “Jock” Campbell (1942-2019), OGC 1955 LAWLER, Anthony “Tony” Charles (19412019), OGC 1954. Tony was the fourth of the five Lawler brothers, and a boarder at College from 1954 to 1959. He was a School Prefect (1958 and 1959), Calvert House Captain (1959), member of the 1st Cricket XI (1957, 1958 and 1959) and 1st XVIII Football teams (1957, 1958 and 1959).

LEHMANN, Rev Graham George (1930-2019), OGC 1943 McKEON, Douglas Peter (1945-2019), OGC 1960 MOON, Michael (1934-2019), OGC 1947 MORRISON, Ian David (1938-2019), OGC 1952 NEW, Geoffrey Knowlton (1934-2010), OGC 1948 ROGERS, David “Bill” William (1926-2019), OGC 1939 ROWE, Stuart Havel (1928-2019), OGC 1941 SPALDING, Ian Frank (1928-2019), OGC 1942 STEPHENS, John Francis (1945-2018), OGC 1958 STEVENS, Graeme Adrian (1936-2019), OGC 1950 SUTHERLAND, Irwin Thomas (1935-2019), OGC 1948 THOM, Brian Geoffrey (1936-2019), OGC 1949 TINNEY, Frederick Gordon (1931-2019), OGC 1944 TRICKEY, Mitchell James (1985-2015), OGC 2002 WILLIAMS, Rodney John (1944-2018), OGC 1956

CAITHNESS, David Morris (1938-2019), OGC 1952. David was a boarder at The Geelong College from 1952 to 1957. David was a School Prefect and Captain of Boats.

David rowed in three winning Head of the River crews (1955, 1956 and 1957). He continued to row after school, representing Victoria in the winning King’s Cup VIII in 1961 and going on to row for Australia with three fellow Old Collegians, David Ramage (OGC 1953), David John (OGC 1954) and Derek Norwood (OGC 1951) to win a silver medal at the British Empire and Commonwealth Games in 1962.

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In 1960, Tony commenced medical studies at Melbourne University, residing at Ormond College, and graduated in 1967. He worked at the Preston and Northcote Community Hospital before travelling to London in 1968 to study for the Fellowship in Surgery. In the UK, he worked at both Chichester (1970) and Colchester Hospitals (1972). After attaining the FRCS (Edinburgh) in 1974, Tony returned to Australia to set up a surgical consultancy at Geelong Hospital, where he continued working for 38 years.

For more than 20 years, he headed up a surgical team, was an enthusiastic participant in hospital committees and taught surgical trainees. He continued on as a part-time senior surgical assistant until his retirement in 2017.

Tony passed away at his home in Newtown on 7 May 2019, aged 78. His son Jason (OGC 1988), and brothers Don (OGC 1945), George (OGC 1946), Wally (dec, OGC 1951) and Rob (OGC 1959) also attended College.

Rob Lawler

ROGERS, David “Bill” William AO (1926-2019), OGC 1939. “Bill” Rogers led a full and highly successful life, excelling in legal, resources and educational pursuits over many decades.

Bill boarded at The Geelong College from 1940 to 1943 where he achieved in many fields – 1st XI Cricket in 1942 and 1943, 1st XVIII Football in the same years (Captain in 1943), School Prefect and Captain of Calvert House. He also pursued his great love of stage, performing in numerous Gilbert and Sullivan productions as a member of the Glee Club.

Upon leaving the College, Bill enlisted in 1944 and served as a signalman with Central Bureau Intelligence Corps in New Guinea and the Philippines. After discharge in 1945, Bill went to Ormond College and studied law at Melbourne University. After graduation Bill spent a short time as a lawyer at Maffra before joining the law firm Hedderwicks, Fookes and Alston in Melbourne, and following subsequent mergers, became the Senior Partner of Arthur Robinson and Hedderwicks in 1984, and remained with the firm in a senior capacity until 2015.

Bill was heavily involved in business circles, serving on the boards of BHP, Costain, Amcor and Woodside Petroleum, of which he became Chairman. Bill’s contribution to Woodside’s development of the NW Shelf was recognised by the company when it named one of its new oil tankers after him.

Bill was also heavily committed to education, serving on the council and as Chairman of Ormond College. In 1992, he became the fifth Chancellor of Monash University, a position he held until 1997.

Bill’s involvement with The Geelong College was significant.

He served on the School Council from 1965 to 1978, was a key fundraiser for the Keith Humble Centre, and he officiated at the opening of the renovated Robertson Hall at the Preparatory School.

He was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 1998 for service to tertiary education, to the gas and petroleum industry and to the community. Bill Rogers AO was inducted into the OGCA Notables Gallery at the College in 2011.

TINNEY, Frederick Gordon (1931-2019), OGC 1944, died on 24 July 2019 at the age of 88. After College, Frederick studied at the University of Melbourne and graduated with a Bachelor of Laws. He was a resident at Ormond College during his undergraduate days.

Following graduation, he returned to his hometown of Ballarat and became a partner in the firm Nevett Glenn and Tinney until moving to Melbourne and going to the Victorian Bar in 1962. He had a common law practice at the Bar and was also counsel assisting in a number of Royal Commissions before being appointed a prosecutor for the Queen in the mid-1970s. He worked in that role until 1982, when ill health intervened. He retired with his wife and lived between houses in Queenscliff and Kew. He is survived by his wife of 64 years, Phyllis (nee Gribble), and their four sons, three of whom followed their father into the law. One is a suburban solicitor and two are judges, Judge Michael Tinney of the County Court of Victoria and Justice Andrew Tinney of the Supreme Court of Victoria.

Michael Tinney

To his family and many friends, Bill is fondly remembered for his mischievous wit, impromptu speeches, love of people and his community engagement.

Sandy Hutton

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OGCA Events Cobbers Club Long Lunch

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Monday 6 May 1. Andrew Lawson welcomes his peers to the 2019 Cobbers Club Long Lunch 2. This year’s guest speaker, Alistair McArthur, gave a talk about his life and career 3. About 30 Old Collegians attended this year’s Cobbers Club lunch at Torquay

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Canberra Reunion Saturday 24 August 4

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1. About 20 Old Collegians and partners came together for the Canberra Reunion at Ottoman Cuisine

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2. Georgina Ovin and Claudia Crawley 3. Gus Gilmore and Lisa Gilmore 4. Malcolm Wood, Alan Henderson and William Stephinson 5. Jeremy and Meg Ross 6. William Stephinson, Ben Malone, Leyton Mahon and Liam Brown

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Sic Itur Luncheon

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Saturday 27 July

1. Teacher and Old Collegian Phil Taylor spoke to the Sic Itur guests during a school tour 4. Past boarders visited Mackie House and reminisced about their school days 3. Glen Ward, Maxwell Taylor and Rod “Chirpa� Robson 4. Peter Doak and Ian Parker

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30-Year Reunion Friday 23 August 3 3

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1. Tracy Roth-Rotsas, Debbie Howard and Joanne Coleman 2. Shane Gill, Naomi Vagg and Andrea Bornstein 3. Kate Atkinson, Marcus Greville, Kate Champion and Julia Kent-Hughes 4. Nick Kleiss and Aaron Sarah 5. Nearly 70 students and staff from 1989 caught up at their reunion

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Sydney Reunion

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Thursday 26 September

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1. The OGCA hosted 15 Old Collegians for a reunion at The Grand Hotel 2. Russell McLean, Tony Whiteside and Dr Peter Miller 3. James Dickson and Charles Chirnside 4. David Henderson, Tony Whiteside and Robyn Parker

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Perth Reunion Wednesday 16 October 1. Clare Ashby, Rod Evans, Bruce McGeorge and Sallie Ness

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2. Clare Ashby and Peter Eaton

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3. Each of the 20 Old Collegians at the reunion reflected on their time at school and career pathway. Pictured speaking is Andrew Hewitt

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4. Graham McKenzie, Ian Revie, Andrew Hewitt and Perry Leach

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20-Year Reunion Friday 15 November 1. James Cameron and Andrew Pye 2. Rowena Wolahan, Dianne Bellchambers, Kate Notini, Ryan Hutchinson and Sam Lindquist

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3. Liz Ryan with Rosie and Justin Fitzclarence 4. Toby Campbell, Steven Green and Penny Tuohy

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Parent Events Year 8 Parent Cocktail Party

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Friday 30 August

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1. Monica Cavarsan and Veronica Moran 2. Sophia Walsh and Leesa Cowan 3. Leanne Russell welcomes parents to the cocktail party 4. Year 8 student Alex Lang-Boyd performed for guests

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Senior School Parent Cocktail Party Friday 11 October 1 3

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1. More than 100 parents attended the Senior School cocktail party in the Keith Humble Centre

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2. Peggy Zeng and Robert Padanyi, Mary-Jane Walker and Chris Bulford 3. Cathy Wynhoven, Rochelle Williams, Geraldine Kahwagi and Matthew McGucken 4. Christine Bath and Yasmin Chalmers

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VCE Art Show Opening Tuesday 22 October 1. The Keith Humble Centre was a hive of activity with students’ artwork across all three levels 2. Ellie Milner received the Principal’s Acquisitive Art Prize from Dr Peter Miller 3.

Professor Tuba Kocaturk, Professor of Integral Design and founding Director of MInD (Mediated Intelligence in Design) Research Lab at Deakin University, was the event’s guest speaker

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The inaugural Young Masters exhibition, part of the VCE Art Show, featured the creative works of Old Collegians Kameiko Gray (pictured), Harry Jess, Lucy Watson and Aubrey Comben

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Community Events

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Hamilton Community Function

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Monday 5 August 1. Tony Allen and Jenny Hutton 2. Caroline Kissel, Sue Ramsay and Belinda Hope

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3. Leigh Heard and Graeme Linke 4. Samantha Doery, Peter Hope, Bruce Doery and Joanna Austin 5. More than 40 members of the College community met at the Hamilton Club during Sheepvention

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Morongo Lunch Saturday 12 October 1. The Geelong College’s Morongo Singers choir delighted with a surprise appearance 2. Amanda Jackman and guest speaker Diana Taylor 3. Pamela, Sophie and Kerrie Blackford

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4. The Morongo Old Collegians were in full voice to sing their school song

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5. The College hosted Morongo Old Collegians for a reunion lunch in the Dining Hall

Morrison Society Morning Tea Thursday 24 October Members of the Morrison Society enjoyed a private tour of the VCE Art Show in the Keith Humble Centre, led by Leader of Learning Kevin Jess. The bequest society celebrated its 10th anniversary this year.

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*Artist impression.

Outstanding opportunities for young minds The new state of the art Geelong College Junior School, Campbell House will open its doors in 2020!

Join our Reggio Emilia inspired learning community from Early Learning to Year 3.

Chinese and French language classes are offered from Early Learning, and Art, Music and Physical Education classes with specialist teachers complement Inquiry-based numeracy and literacy. Children also engage in regular Nature Play and wellbeing sessions in a program designed to develop the whole child.

Join us at our Open Day on Wednesday 11 March 2020 to learn more. www.geelongcollege.vic.edu.au or phone (03) 5226 3156 to enquire about enrolment in this unique environment.

Be of

COURAGE 59 Ad Astra Issue No 136

School & Community

Events

March OGC v OGG Annual Golf Day Friday 6 March Open Day Wednesday 11 March Albert Bell Club Dinner Friday 13 March Foundation Lunch Thursday 19 March

January Boarders’ Welcome Evening Wednesday 29 January Senior School Parent Welcome Evening Friday 31 January

APS Head of the River Saturday 21 March Whole School Easter Service Friday 27 March

April OGCA 10-Year Reunion (2010 Year Group) Friday 17 April

February Junior School Welcome BBQ Friday 7 February Middle School Welcome Evening Tuesday 11 February Warrnambool Community Function Thursday 13 February Year 9 Parent Dinner Friday 14 February Boarding Parent and Family Networks Garden Party Saturday 15 February

Senior School Anzac Service Friday 24 April Middle School Anzac Service Monday 27 April

June Albury Community Function Thursday 11 June Boarders’ Mid-Year Formal Wednesday 17 June

May

July

OGCA Sic Itur Lunch Saturday 9 May

Founders’ Day Wednesday 8 July

TGC & GGS Football Eve Dinner Friday 22 May

Senior School Founders’ Day Assembly Wednesday 15 July

Open Day Wednesday 27 May

Boarders’ Family and Friends Day Sunday 16 February OGCA 2019 Leavers’ Function Thursday 20 February Class of 2019 Parent Garden Party Thursday 27 February Year 7 Parent Dinner Friday 28 February

Join the Old Geelong Collegians’ network at geelongcollegeconnect.com

Middle School Founders’ Day Assembly Wednesday 15 July Junior School Founders’ Day Chapel Service Friday 17 July Foundation Concert Friday 31 July

Join the Old Geelong Collegians’ Association on Facebook