Light Blue - November 2015 by Geelong Grammar School

ISSUE 96 NOVEMBER 2015

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C. S. Lewis wrote that “there are far, far better things ahead than any we leave behind”. I think this sense that the best is yet to be is a widely held assumption that we all live with – as individuals, families and organisations. We trust progress. We see the move from the Old Testament to the New. In schools, teachers see students and what they can be, over time, as they become young adults, ready to contribute and serve within society. This edition of Light Blue includes some looking back with sadness as we reflect on some experiences within our community that we cannot be proud of. Some things in the past we leave behind, but sometimes memories linger and lives are changed – not always for the best. However, we also see reflections of the School as it is now and know that things have changed for the better, as they needed to. For many of us, memories are good and warm and special. As we reflect on how the good and bad are often entwined, the best and brightest vision that’s true for most is not always embraced by all. I hope you see the strength, creative joy and achievements of our students shining through and out of many of our pages, as we continue to embrace the vision of an Exceptional Education. It seems to me that the key is to own the past, to live the present and to celebrate what has gone well. I hope you will see something of all three aspects in the pages that follow.

Editor Brendan McAloon

Tony Bretherton Director, Community Relations

Design Chloe Flemming Photography Amelia Anderson (J Unit’03) Kimbal Baker Bob Bickerton Tony Bretherton Getty Images Jan Koch (Campbell, He’68) Peter Lemon (FB’64) Enrica Longo Katie Rafferty (Spry, Ga’84) Drew Ryan Stephen Solomonson Ann Tyers (Fairley, He’68) Nic Walker (FB’95) Website www.ggs.vic.edu.au Email lightblue@ggs.vic.edu.au CRICOS 00143G

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FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL

WHY THE ROYAL COMMISSION MATTERS

CHARLIE SCUDAMORE

Our Vice Principal has reflected on his working life as a teacher

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BOSTOCK HOUSE

TOORAK CAMPUS

BRODIE'S BIG ADVENTURE

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POSITIVE EDUCATION

MANIFOLD RE-OPENING

INDIGENOUS PROGRAMME

Year 10 students in Arnhem Land and the inaugural Indigenous Festival at Corio

DRAMA

FOUNDATION

THE MAIL ROOM

CHANNEL SWIM

Two relay teams successfully swam across the English Channel

TIMBERTOP

CORIOBALD

News, notes and pictures of life beyond school

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FROM OUR PRINCIPAL I know that so many of you have closely followed the proceedings of the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, from watching the proceedings themselves, or from media reports, or from my emails to you. As you will probably know, I attended every day of the hearing and listened to all the testimony which was given. The evidence given by the victims was confronting and I am sure that all of us were distressed to hear of the abuse which they suffered. Moreover, the fact that the School did not in some cases respond appropriately, or did not investigate fully enough, or trusted the answers it was given too readily and/or had no adequate mechanisms with which to respond to these issues, will have disappointed you as it has many others. I have apologised on behalf of the School to the victims and I have hoped that the hearing will have helped them to have been heard and to have had some sense of closure. I also apologise to you as members of the wider school community that the School in which you have invested pride and trust did not get it right in the past. I know that many of you will have had your confidence in the School dented and will have felt that it has tarnished your memories of your time at, or association with, the School. For that I am sorry. The cases were so confronting, partly because the culture which they reflected is so different to that which we have now. I spoke in assemblies to the students at Middle School, Timbertop and Senior School, so that they were informed about these issues, both before and after the hearings. However, in individual conversations with students, they have told me that they do not recognise the School which is being described in the hearings or the media, as it is so far removed from the School which they attend. That, of course, is immensely reassuring. This is partly because our current policies are robust, such that we do listen to the students, we do investigate issues, we do have policies and procedures to follow, there is government legislation designed to give greater protection and we do act. The students also would speak out, rather than suffer in silence which so many did in the past, fearing that they would not be believed. Our policies and procedures have been reviewed and audited this year by the Victorian Registration and Qualifications Authority (VRQA) as, coincidentally, our five-year review took place in Term 3. As the body responsible for the registration of schools within Victoria and for checking the quality control of each school, this endorsement should give confidence to everyone who wants to be sure that our policies are appropriate, robust and meet the highest standards. Our policies are available to be read (as they always have been) on the the School website. On the front page, click on the drop down Menu and then follow, Our School, Policies and Reports, Policies, Pastoral Policies 2015.

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We have been incredibly supported by our current parent body and by so many OGGs and past parents who have wanted to write to me to show their support for the School and to reflect their confidence in the current School. I have very much appreciated this level of support. This is a painful time in the School's history and it says nothing about the wonderful work that so many of our staff and students did in the past and do in the present, but we can look forward with the knowledge that it has been a cleansing time and one on which we can continue to build. Turning to other matters upon which there are articles in this edition of Light Blue, I have been delighted with the quality of the refurbishment of Manifold House and with the additional building which has been added at the back of the House. It complements the rest of the House and the Dining Hall with which it sits in close proximity. The re-opening ceremony was well attended by old boys (and one old girl) of the House, current parents and past parents, and they too were pleased with the sensitive way in which the old and the new had been blended together. The School for Performing Arts and Creative Education (the SPACE) has had a great deal of use over the last few months and all who have attended concerts, plays or other activities in the SPACE have marvelled at the acoustics, comfort and design. Speech Day was the latest event to be held there – in The David Darling Play House – and was a very special occasion with a marvellous address from Sam Strong (P’94) to complete an excellent and memorable day. It has been remarkable to see the way in which the SPACE has been used for so many different events and yet how normal it now feels to be using it. That is an indication of how central it has become to the life of the School. It continues to make a tremendous difference to the opportunities for, and lives of, our students. There are many other articles in this edition which have been written by students reflecting the remarkably diverse series of activities which our students have undertaken in the last few months. Particularly special was the swim across the English Channel by two teams of students in July. Gracie McIvor (Yr11 Ga) has written about their experiences on page 19. I should add that since Gracie wrote her article, her team was awarded the John Bullett Trophy for the youngest relay team to have completed the Channel Swim this year. Undertaking the Channel Swim was the idea of Rod Steer and I am very grateful to him for his initiative and for the way he trained and led the students. Finally, let me finish this article with a remarkable piece of history. During the Tower Lunch, at 1.00pm on Saturday 7th November, I was able to pay tribute to the 60 incredible years of service which Michael Collins Persse has given to the School – and to do it on the 60th anniversary to the minute, as Michael had first arrived at the School at 1.00pm on 7th November 1955. I spoke of a life of service, dedication, love and commitment to the School, which has been combined with a love of scholarship and an astonishing memory. Michael travelled to Sydney the week after the Tower Lunch to be invested as a Member of the Royal Victorian Order by HRH The Prince of Wales. It was a great joy to Michael that this could be done personally by Prince Charles whilst he was visiting Australia. Michael’s contribution to the life of the School has simply been phenomenal. I thank him again for all that he has given to generations of students. Stephen Meek Principal

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CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL There is increasing recognition across Australia and most Western economies that innovation and creativity will be the key drivers of economic prosperity. Experts from economics, demographics, sociology, commerce and public policy seem to agree that the vast majority of this year’s school leavers will be in jobs in 15 to 20 years’ time that don’t exist today. The traditional economic and business models are being challenged with new “interruptive” models that utilize new technology and commercial thinking. For those of us involved in the business of educating primary and secondary students this poses the obvious question of how to best prepare our students for such a changing environment. I do believe that the very nature of our School, with boarding at its core, provides a fabulous base for preparing our students. In a world that is increasingly detached socially (with so much more interaction happening digitally), boarding (and day boarding) brings a personal and social dimension right to the fore. I believe a differentiating characteristic in the future will be people with good communication and interpersonal skills. Our students develop these interpersonal skills and learn to be resilient, adaptable, tolerant and flexible; all skills very much needed to succeed in the complex world they will live in. These skills are explicitly taught through Positive Education but are also grown through the everyday life at the School. But is this enough (in addition to the curriculum for VCE or IB that the School is required to provide) to really give our students the best possible start? At Geelong Grammar School we don’t think so. We believe we need to embrace Creativity and infuse it throughout the curriculum. In some ways it is an extension of Positive Education and our experience of pioneering PosEd puts us in good stead to chart this path. If we could learn from others or adapt what someone else is doing we would, but our research has revealed there is little actually being done at a practical level at primary and secondary levels already. There is lots of talk but little action. Dr Tim Patson has been working with us for almost a year as our Coordinator of Creativity and he, together with our Vice Principal Charlie Scudamore, is leading our efforts to develop real action plans to achieve this. It was wonderful to give the School of Performing Arts and Creative Education (the SPACE) its first full workout at Speech Day this year. After decades being held in a marquee, this year the SPACE hosted the official ceremony and the afternoon tea, with jazz bands on the lawn outside. The quality of the sound, vision, comfort and general amenity was outstanding and it is hard to imagine how we did so well without it for all those years. Looking up to see almost a thousand people watching and listening to the speeches and prize giving and knowing that they could see and hear clearly was most gratifying. Our guest of honour, Sam Strong (P’94), who is the newly installed Artistic Director of Queensland Theatre Company and was a

keen thespian and musician during his time at School, was both jealous and impressed with the SPACE. He gave an inspirational address to the Year 12s and also managed to “jam” with the jazz bands afterwards. The last few months have been bruising and difficult for our School as evidence was heard regarding historical sexual abuse of some of our past students by some of our former staff at the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. Although most of the matters that were examined by the Royal Commission related to incidents that the School was already aware of, it was still extremely harrowing to hear and see the survivors of abuse tell their stories. I attended all but one day of the Commission’s hearing and was deeply upset by what I heard and saw. When I gave evidence on the last day, I expressed my apology on behalf of the School. Council will be giving consideration to a number of matters that arise from the Royal Commission and the School community will be informed of key decisions. I have undertaken that Council will give consideration to how the School may formally recognize the victims and survivors of sexual abuse and we will undertake a process of consultation with survivors and their families and other interested parties to determine an appropriate means of doing so. I do wish to say at the outset, however, that this is a complex matter on which there are already many different views. Council will be mindful of achieving an outcome that has broad support, is meaningful and enduring. Geelong Grammar School requires enormous commitment from our staff and the very nature of our School means that there is a deeper relationship between them and students. I know that our current staff members also feel bruised and upset by what has transpired at the Royal Commission and are appalled by the behavior of some of their predecessors. They are people who genuinely care for the students they are responsible for. I do hope that any regulatory or legal changes introduced as a result of the Royal Commission do not unnecessarily impact on their ability to fulfill their role of caring for students in a meaningful, human way. As we approach the end of the School year I wish all our Year 12s an exciting and successful future. I hope they will look back fondly on their time at GGS and utilize the experiences they have had here to good effect in their new adventures. I also wish our whole community a safe and restful Christmas period as they (mostly) spend time with family and holiday together. Jeremy Kirkwood (FB’79) Chairman of Council

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WHY THE ROYAL COMMISSION MATTERS

The School’s Senior Chaplain, Reverend Eleanor O’Donnell, thinks that every Australian should be grateful for the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse. “We should, and we must, be grateful for the Royal Commission; to be grateful for things coming to light so that they can be attended to in the best way that we can,” Reverend Eleanor said. “That’s not to say that we can miraculously heal the people who have been hurt, but we can go a lot closer to some kind of healing because of the Royal Commission. That’s applying a Positive Psychology principle and it’s applying a Christian principle; the idea of thankfulness and gratitude in all circumstances, to look at the good and to find the positive outcome, because child sexual abuse is terrible but it is far better known and having the light shine on it than pretending it never happened.”

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Central to the Royal Commission’s work is hearing the experiences of people affected by abuse – to bear witness to the trauma of those who were sexually abused as children in institutions to better understand how to protect children in the future. “Psychologically, the main impact from abuse is that the person feels invalidated,” Chris Mackey explained. “Their rights, their wellbeing and their will are completely ignored. The Royal Commission is making a clear statement to people who were abused that this should not have happened to them. That is important for sufferers of abuse to hear – that it was not their fault. Often the nature of the abuse is that the perpetrator does not take responsibility, they disown responsibility, and that leaves a sense of responsibility with the victim because no-one else is acknowledging responsibility for what has occurred. The Royal Commission is sending a message that this should not have happened and that it had a particularly damaging affect because it was perpetrated by persons in authority and/or in positions of trust. Beyond that, when the abuse came to other people’s attention, there was a need for organisations and communities to act on that rather than turn a blind eye.” During the public hearings of the Geelong Grammar School case study, both the Principal, Stephen Meek, and Chairman of Council, Jeremy Kirkwood (FB’79), apologised on behalf of the School for it having failed to act appropriately in the past to reports of abuse and for failing in its duty of care. “From my knowledge and experience of the issue of sexual abuse, what the victims need for healing, to at least start that process and begin to let go of the pain, is an acknowledgement that a terrible wrong took place,” Reverend Eleanor explained. “An apology is like a confession. You don’t apologise for something that hasn’t happened. So it’s an acknowledgment that this happened and that the School regrets it deeply. For that to be articulated is massively important for the survivors. I think a genuine public acknowledgement matters almost more than anything. To have the Chair of Council and Principal of the School, the powerful representatives of a powerful institution, acknowledge what has happened and apologise and express regret is really important. The difficulty for people who are bruised and hurt by what has happened is to hear that apology as it is intended. I know that it is genuine from both Stephen and Jeremy. I hope it has been heard in that spirit.”

behaviour was much more prevalent in Australian society than previously thought and therefore there needs to be more careful safeguards in place,” Chris Mackey said. “What that means is that more emphasis needs to be placed on creating settings and environments where it is much more difficult to occur. The main way we can do that is to take seriously any report of abuse or suspected abuse. We need to empower children and people in positions of vulnerability. They need to have a voice. If they say they feel uncomfortable or mistreated by a person in a position of authority, it’s important that they have confidence that they can be heard.” Stephen told the Royal Commission that Geelong Grammar School does now have robust child protection policies, does always put the child first and always listens to any concerns that students might have. Whilst much has changed, Reverend Eleanor thinks that the Royal Commission is a timely reminder of why institutions and the wider community need to remain vigilant around issues of child sexual abuse. “I think that one of the key learnings is being reminded of why institutions don’t operate like they did 20 years ago, of why governments and schools have developed policies like mandatory reporting. The world has changed and I think the learning is in why that needed to be so. It’s also a recognition that in any institution, in any family, things can go wrong. Sexual abuse has been around forever and it’s not necessarily going to go away because we have got better policies – that element in human nature is not going to disappear altogether – but the learning is how to be more aware and to be more vigilant.” Chris Mackey is confident that the School can set a positive example for other institutions in the way it responds to the Royal Commission’s findings. “I think that Geelong Grammar is very well equipped to deal with this extremely difficult situation,” Chris said. “It has an extra advantage in having a very strong understanding of Positive Psychology principles. I think that that means that within the School culture there is more attunement to issues of student psychological functioning than in most organisations or institutions. I see this as an opportunity to show how even the darker aspects of human experience and even some of the most challenging aspects of wellbeing and psychological functioning can be used to learn something and to make it less likely to occur.” Reverend Eleanor agrees. “If we look at Geelong Grammar School and acknowledge what’s gone wrong and find a way forward as an institution, then perhaps that can model something useful for other places,” she said. “It is painful but we can learn from the mistakes that have been made in the past to find a better way to respond in the future.” The School continues to provide the services of an independent, confidential counsellor for anyone in our community who would like counselling or support about this issue. She can be contacted directly during business hours by calling 1800 799 139.

Stephen and Jeremy also commended the courage of those who came forward to give evidence to the Royal Commission, which will ultimately assist the Commission in its recommendations about any policy, legislative, administrative or structural reforms to better protect children against sexual abuse. “Sexually abusive

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The Royal Commission was established in 2013 to better understand the problem of child sexual abuse in Australia’s institutions and to make practical recommendations that inspire lasting change. Psychologist Chris Mackey believes that through acknowledging the harm and distress caused by child sexual abuse, the Royal Commission will help ensure that such abuse is much less likely to happen in the future. A specialist in posttraumatic stress, Chris thinks that it is particularly important to acknowledge the responsibility of institutions and communities to provide safe environments. “That means not turning a blind eye when there are signs of harm and danger,” he said. “The role of the Royal Commission is not only to highlight that abuse causes a great deal of harm, but also that organisations and local communities are responsible for how reports of abuse are dealt with. That has been a failing in the past, particularly amongst church organisations but also schools.”

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CHANGING A CULTURE

One of the most challenging aspects of the Royal Commission for current staff is reconciling the evidence presented at the public hearings and subsequent media coverage with the School we work in today. The Geelong Grammar School I have come to know over the past five years is a caring community, as it has been for generations before. However, like wider society, it has changed considerably since the 1960s and 1970s. In many ways, the most fundamental change has been the introduction of co-education, reflecting the social progress of the time. More recently, Positive Education has sharpened the School’s focus on wellbeing. One way for me to appreciate just how much the School has been transformed is to cross the red brick quadrangle and spend an afternoon with the outgoing Director of Student Welfare, John Hendry, who is retiring at the end of 2015 after 36 years at Corio. When John joined Geelong Grammar School in 1980, it was a different world. Cold War tensions resulted in a United Statesled boycott of the Moscow Olympics. The late Malcolm Fraser (Gl’37) was re-elected as Australian prime minister. The Pac-Man arcade game was released. Richmond won the VFL premiership. Meanwhile, on the edge of Corio Bay, the School was celebrating its 125th anniversary, yet its culture still carried vestiges of the past. “The School was established essentially as a British boarding school, so it was constructed on a military model and built upon a hierarchical structure where authority ruled behaviour,” John explained. This authoritarian approach reflected the broader education system (it wasn’t until 1983 that Victoria became the first Australian state to ban corporal punishment in schools), but was particularly pervasive in a boarding school environment. “When you have boarders you are responsible not just for behaviour in class, but behaviour generally.” The introduction of co-education through the 1970s changed the face of the School. By 1980, girls represented 33% of the 754 students at Corio, the number of female teaching staff

had increased by more than 50% in the space of five years and the first female, Jocelyn Searby, had joined the School Council. “Co-education wasn’t fully assimilated in 1980 but it had led to more female teaching staff, which changed the environment,” John said. “It led eventually to people starting to question the efficacy of the types of controls and rules that authority had in place. Consequence to mistake began to be looked at from an educative perspective, rather than a punitive one.” This evolving approach fitted with John Hendry’s philosophy of life, one based on kindness and forgiveness, which had been shaped by growing up with a speech impediment. John had yet to conquer a childhood stammer when he started his teaching career at Donald High School in North Central Victoria. “I wrote on the blackboard what my name was and ‘I stammer. Please be kind’. What kindness brings is ultimate responsibility to the individual, whereas cruelty doesn’t. They were all kind.” John sees the good in people and strongly believes in giving individuals the responsibility to contribute to the common good. “Humans live in relationships and these relationships are defined LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

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Another transformative moment in the life of the School was when Professor Martin Seligman and his team from the University of Pennsylvania trained the entire GGS staff in Positive Psychology in 2008. “Positive Psychology provided a language for what we were doing,” John said. “The simplistic approach is to say it was another step in the journey from the Old Testament to the New Testament. The Old Testament brought down the Ten Commandments. Thou shalt not. Positive Psychology reflects the now. Thou shalt. You comply not to avoid punishment, but because it is for the common good. Relationships become transformational not transactional. This adds a sense of meaning to the lives of those in the relationship.” John believes that the School’s culture has always been intrinsically linked to the School’s Anglican faith. “The Chapel is not only a place for absolution and redemption, but is also the driving force for a culture of care beyond the Chapel. That means looking at the moments when mistakes are made and seeing these as opportunities to instruct a positive way forward as directed through forgiveness. For many back in 1980, a failure was the end of the road. Now, a failure is often the beginning of the road. A failure can be an opportunity and a primary learning moment. The School still has rules but the two over-arching rules that apply to today’s culture are The Golden Rule (treat others as you would like to be treated) and The Hippocratic Oath (do no harm). Jesus’ story directs us to love our neighbour as ourselves. It directs individuals and institutions to appreciate the lives of others, to assist and protect and to cooperate with one another to enable both to grow. We are responsible for our neighbour. We should be the Good Samaritan.”

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The Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse has highlighted the under-reporting of child sexual abuse in Australian institutions. John is confident that today’s culture enables the reporting of sexual abuse, harassment and bullying. “Everything has become more transparent. If students make a mistake, or if someone else makes a mistake and they know of it, they understand that the institution is out to help them. Our objective is to educate in a constructive way so that the types of damage that people can do to one another is not perpetuated. I’m asking every student here to be an ‘upstander’ – to be brave enough to stand alone on an issue if they believe it’s right, and that they are identified as doing the right thing in that situation. Previously, there were students who knew things that didn’t come forward because of bullying, the fear of consequence from others, the whole concept of ‘dobbing’. We’ve changed the nature of how people see things now. We’ve come a long way (since 1980) and we are always striving to keep improving what we do because being able to work with young people is something very special and to assist them in some way is even more so.” Brendan McAloon Editor, Light Blue

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by trust, forgiveness, integrity, hope and compassion. Behaviour is directed through how we relate to one another and this is fundamental to the culture of Geelong Grammar School.”

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A MOST HONOURABLE PROFESSION I’m 58 years old. Born in London of Greek heritage. I like to think my formal and informal education was full and broad. I not only succeeded in school, I was street smart. I could tell a con artist from a distance. I walked the streets with confidence. I could stand up for myself and occasionally, as a young kid, I got involved in fights. You had to! It was the survival of the fittest, dog-eat-dog. The world was competitive! If I was told back when I was a teenager that I would, as an adult, be recording moments in my day for which I was thankful with photos and words, that I would be espousing the virtues of kindness and forgiveness, that I would be encouraging educators to explore character strengths, meaning and purpose, or that I would be having discussions with some of the world’s most influential psychologists about adolescent wellbeing, I probably would have laughed. I would have taken my beloved soccer ball, headed off to the common with my mates and played a game until it grew dark. However, this is exactly what has happened to me over the past 10 years of my life. I have been a teacher for all of my working life. I love my job. I often tell people it is “a most honourable profession”. I love my job because of the day-to-day interactions I have with students of all ages. They have inspired, engaged, frustrated, amazed, confused, motivated and enriched my day-to-day existence. However, in recent years, due to the embedding of Positive Education into the fabric of the School, I believe the levels of engagement, inspiration and enrichment have grown and I have even more to be thankful for. One of the principal tenets of Positive Education is to “serve something bigger than yourself”, to look beyond the world of “I” and reach out into the world of “we”. We humans thrive on relationships. Our very existence is due to us co-operating, not competing. The neuro-physiological benefits derived from acts of kindness, gratitude, forgiveness, strength, compassion, empathy are numerous. Our grandparents knew this, but today scientists are giving the world the evidence needed to soften the most hardened of cynics. We teach lessons on gratitude and kindness and forgiveness alongside Mathematics, English and Science. Why? Because we believe such values are being lost in this world satiated with images espousing material wellbeing, instant gratification, self-promotion and narcissism. No wonder so many of our youth struggle with their existence. Thus, I am thankful when I receive a letter of gratitude from a student or when I work with students who have volunteered their time to assist with the Karen refugees’ community garden. I am inspired when I hear the applause given to a brave student who has given a speech to their peers at a school assembly concerning their homosexuality or struggle with depression. I have been enriched by my engagement with educators from all sectors and denominations whose collaboration is aimed at improving the wellbeing of those they care for. I am truly humbled when I am given the opportunity to share a stage with His Holiness the Dalai Lama because of Geelong Grammar School’s willingness to share Positive Education with teachers throughout Australia and overseas. We all, especially the young, need to have a sense of meaning and/or purpose in our lives. Without it we can flounder; wander aimlessly. Positive Education has given us a vehicle to help steer us through life’s ups and downs. “Know thyself in order to help others” is my mantra. Many still believe the world is competitive, dog-eat-dog, survival of the fittest. I don’t any more. I actually believe the opposite. Our futures depend on collaboration. Education can deliver this message. Charlie Scudamore Vice Principal

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“SERVE SOMETHING BIGGER THAN YOURSELF”

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Vice Principal, Charlie Scudamore, participating in the Welcome to Country smoking ceremony during the School’s inaugural Indigenous Festival in Term 3

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MAKING A DIFFERENCE

Sienna: Each team had to design a logo for brochures and business cards, which was really cool. We had a little slogan, homeless not hopeless, so we decided that our logo would have a house. Georgina: Also the house was for Bostock House. Zoe: Our team was MAD House Munchies.

Year 4 students Sienna de Clifford, Luke Goatman, Zoe Naylor and Georgina Radford spoke to Light Blue about Bostock House’s annual MAD Market.

Sienna: Or M&Ms. Zoe: Last year was meant to be the last year of the MAD Market but we managed to persuade Mr Groves to do it again because it’s fun and quite challenging. It pushes you to work hard as part of a team. Sienna: It was challenging getting all the food in for our baking day, getting everything set up and weighing all the food. Zoe: When we had cooked all of the food, we put up posters with prices for what we were selling. Georgina: So we made hedgehog. Luke: Chocolate brownies. Lollies. Jelly cups.

Zoe: The MAD stands for Making A Difference. Each year we raise money for different causes. This year the charities were Alzheimer’s Australia, (disability support service) Scope, Salvation Army, SecondBite (which redistributes surplus food to people in need) and the Geelong Hospital Appeal.

Sienna: Rocky road.

Luke: There were five stalls. Some were selling things, like art and craft, secondhand toys and flowers. Some had challenges and mind games. Ours was food.

Luke: That was actually a big seller. The jelly cups were the best sellers.

Georgina: Our team chose two causes. We chose the Salvation Army and Second Bite. Sienna: Georgie had a connection with SecondBite because her Mum used to volunteer there. Luke: Other teams had supported the Salvation Army in previous years, so we thought we’d do it again.

Georgina: We also had some fairy floss. Zoe: We had a gluten free section because Luke is gluten free and there are a couple of other people too.

Sienna: Even though they were gluten free they actually tasted way better than some of the other things. Zoe: They were so good. Georgina: We sold them all in like 10 minutes. Luke: No, probably five! Zoe: And Tom Hawkins came and did the raffle.

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Luke: We set the market up in the multi-purpose room. It was after school, but some classes came early so it wasn’t too hectic. I think it started at 2.15. Sienna: Then the customers came; some teachers, parents, grandmas and grandpas. Georgina: Some of the teams also invited people from the charity they were supporting. Luke: All the little kids were like: “Can I have your autograph?” But I barrack for Collingwood. Zoe: I go for Cats. Georgina: After we raised the money… Zoe: We raised $650 Sienna: $750 Luke: Something like that. Overall we raised $3,000. LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Sienna: It was over $2,000. Zoe: It was like $2,500, which we were quite happy about. Luke: We were really happy because we knew that we’d raised money for people who really, really needed it and who are less fortunate than us. Georgina: So after we raised the money, we decided to give the food that we didn’t sell to SecondBite. When we went there they were putting together boxes of food for families, so we put a treat in each box. Luke: I think they would’ve been really happy to get a treat because the other sweet food was fruit, like pears. Sienna: Visiting SecondBite gave me a glimpse of how hard it must be for some people and I thought about how lucky I was. I also just felt really proud for helping SecondBite do something incredible.

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AN EXCEPTIONAL JOURNEY From ELC to Year 6, the Toorak Campus journey is ‘bookended’ by the ELC Celebration and PYP Exhibition. In the Early Learning Centre, the ELC Celebration is an opportunity for the students to reflect on meaningful learning and connections. In preparing for this celebration, the students are asked to consider what has been important about their learning during the year and how they want to express this to their families and friends. Nine years later, the development of each student is borne out through the Year 6 PYP Exhibition. It is an exceptional journey of learning that highlights the creativity and curiosity that exists within the rigorous and stimulating curriculum programme. The significance of this experience prepares each individual for meaningful study beyond the primary years, equipped with skills to navigate the challenges of an ever changing world.

“I liked showing my Mum and Dad my video. On the video l was talking about Australia. I made the Anzac biscuits. Mummy and Daddy liked them too.” – Xavier O’Goh

Garry Pierson Head of Toorak Campus

“Mummy took a picture of me and my soldier. She said she loved it very much. I walked on the grass and then l saw my bird. Mummy and Daddy said my birds were beautiful. My favourite thing was eating Anzac Biscuits.” – Chloe Karamaloudis

“I loved eating the Anzac biscuits. I read a book with my Mum. It was the Australia Song book. Mum watched the video and she liked it. She liked my singing. I sang the Australia song.” – Grace Mann

“I liked seeing my bird. Mum said it was brilliant. Mum liked that l made it and all the colours. I felt happy.” – Xavier Warwick

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Comparing myself from the beginning of the year to where I am now, I believe I have really grown, not just as a learner but also as a person. During the course of this year, I have grown my current strengths but have also discovered new traits that I never knew I possessed. This exhibition journey has been a valuable one and I will carry the attitudes that I demonstrated this year throughout my whole life.” – Edward Rayner (Yr6 Tk)

The annual PYP Exhibition is the culmination of many years of learning through the International Baccalaureate’s Primary Years Programme (PYP) and celebrates the detailed inquiries undertaken by our Year 6 students in Term 3. This year’s exhibition focused on technology, particularly creative problem solving with technology. Students were inspired by the stereotype-defying children’s book, Rosie Revere Engineer, and Rosie’s wonderful inventions built with recycled objects. “We decided to take action by creating a central space in the school called a ‘Creation Station’ that would contain a variety of new and recycled materials and resources that students could use to create and build inventions,” Year 6 teacher Catherine Hutton explained. “We also began to discuss what it would be like if the character, Rosie Revere, walked into our classroom.”

“I knew it was successful when my parents viewed the exhibition and said to me: “Well that was extremely impressive”. That was really good to hear. I knew that all the blood, sweat and tears that had gone into our hard work had paid off.” – Max Grodski (Yr6 Tk)

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“We all worked together to make the central Creation Station the best it could be. I contributed my ideas when we had class discussions and I didn’t put other people’s ideas down or talk when I wasn’t supposed to.” – Emil Klempfner (Yr6 Tk)

“I feel that the PYP attitude that influenced the exhibition was creativity. It is basically the need to be curious. I felt that it hugely influenced the course of the eight weeks and impacted what the night turned out to be.” – Spiros Karvela (Yr6 Tk)

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BRODIE'S ACE

The Indigenous Young Leaders’ Camp was the greatest experience I’ve had in my life so far. I travelled to Darwin for a week in July as part of a tennis trip I was awarded by Tennis Australia, along with three other Indigenous tennis players. The entire experience was simply beyond words. We visited sacred landmarks in the bush where traditional Aboriginal elders lived- the Larrakia people. We visited the Litchfield National Park where we got to swim in clear rock pools- the water was so fresh you could drink it! I think I drank at least a few litres of the pure water. I’d have to say that visiting Litchfield National Park would have been the most special time. We all climbed up to the summit of Litchfield and when we got to the top we could see everything. Blue sky, tall palm trees swaying to and from. I got to sit under waterfalls just by myself. Feeling the force of the water; and the sound it makes when it hits the rocks. I felt very connected to the land on that trip. Meeting the Davis Cup team was a personal highlight for me. I can still so clearly remember meeting each and every individual of the Australian team (Lleyton Hewitt, Sam Groth, Nick Kyrgios and Thanasi Kokkinakis.) When you see them on the television, playing slam after slam with thousands of people cheering them on, to talk to them personally was just amazing. When Kyrgios and Kokkinakis were training they would ask Jake and I “was that in?” It was quite funny. It was such a buzz getting to watch all the Davis Cup matches from close up. The atmosphere was electric each day. You could see how strong the Kazakhstan culture was, with their fans chanting, blowing on their trumpets and singing traditional songs. Seeing Australia come back from two ties down to then win 3-2 was amazing. We were all on a high with the win. We were very lucky to have mentoring sessions with Pat Rafter, former world number one. Pat was quietly spoken and interested in us. He was encouraging and open about the small steps along the way to a great career. It was amazing to meet him. It has been a great opportunity for me to come to GGS at the start of this year. It’s turned out to be a really great new start for me. Meeting new people; making new friends; learning new subjects. It’s been hard getting used to the amount of homework, but I feel I am getting more used to it now. I’m really looking forward to Timbertop next year. Brodie Murray (Yr8 Bb)

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CHANNEL CONQUERORS

The appeal for me was the challenge. At Timbertop we ran a marathon. We trained for the whole year and when we finished we got this feeling of complete accomplishment. It changed my perspective of what I was capable of achieving. I realized that I can do things that a lot of people are too afraid to do and that these opportunities are once in a lifetime. The cold water was the hardest thing. Corio Bay was actually colder than the Channel and we swam there twice a week for six-and-a-half months. We had to get our body adjusted to the cold water; swimming for an hour, then an hour-and-a-half, then two hours. Initially it was ‘Oh my God, I’m going to die’. It was hard but you had to keep swimming. The thing I learnt most was co-operation and teamwork. It was a group of people thrown together who didn’t know each other that well, had hardly ever spoken, but all of a sudden were part of a team that had to work together to get across the English Channel. You develop amazing relationships. You build trust. It forces you out of your comfort zone. Mr Steer was honest. He sat us down and explained everything. He said that he was confident that if we persevered we could do it, but he made sure we were ready and would be okay if we had

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to turn around if something went wrong, if some little variable slipped, that it wouldn’t be our fault as long we tried our hardest. Just getting to Dover was the biggest journey and the swim itself was just the last little bit. There were two teams, swimming on separate days within a set waiting period, and it was all about the weather. I was in the second team, so we swam on the second day. There was more pressure because the first team had been successful, but we ended up beating their time. We were very lucky with the tides – the first team swam 58 kilometres and we swam 54 because of the tide. Harriet (Hacon, Yr11 Ga) finished the swim and when she reached the shore we ran up the beach and were hugging each other, almost crying – it was the most amazing feeling. We’d trained so hard and we did it. When you complete a goal like that you are so much more motivated to do other things. I feel like I’ll be able to cope with all of the challenges and pressures of Year 12 a lot better. I’ve also learnt to appreciate every experience, every opportunity that I have been given. It has changed my mindset and I’m a different person because of it. Gracie McIvor (Yr11 Ga)

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IN THE BACK COUNTRY The Timbertop programme is one which presents challenges and offers opportunities. Each term has a focus. Term 1 has the Three-Day Hike. Term 2 has the Unit Hike. Term 4 has the Six-Day Hike and Timbertop Marathon. This leaves everyone (teachers and students alike) aimlessly riding the Mt. Buller chairlifts in Term 3. It is somewhat difficult to find something really challenging in Term 3 as everything above 1,000 metres is covered in snow, vehicle access is limited and the only transport behind the high country’s closed gates is manpower. This environment is not ideal for the ill-prepared human being. In the past, Timbertop students have remained without a real challenge. In a 10-week term even a weekly ski day loses it glamour and everyone begins to lose touch with the Timbertop philosophy. In 2015, a trip was devised that would give Term 3 a focus, provide a challenge, but still maintain a sense of recreation and adventure. This trip was the Back Country Winter Expedition, which took us into new territory beyond our high country and into the Bogong High Plains near Falls Creek. The first challenge was the four-hour bus ride from Timbertop to Falls Creek along an initially straight highway, which turned to a weaving road, where one had to be cautious not to welcome back their lunch. After arriving at Falls Creek, it was a quick snack before we were strapping on boots, clipping into bindings and skiing across the Rocky Valley Dam. Looking down on the dam, we were gifted with a view of ice slowly melting as spring was on the way. This view slowly disappeared as we neared the campsite where we would be staying for the next four days. The campsite was something of a Timbertop luxury. Days earlier, a handful of sessional staff had skied out and set up our snow tents and put up the template for the snow kitchens we would soon build. We spent the majority of our first day setting up

camp and getting comfortable with the environment, which was so beautiful and seemingly innocent in nature. However, we soon found it to be the real challenge of the trip – leaving something as simple as a pair of mitts out overnight would freeze them and make them redundant. This horrible fact applied to every piece of gear carried outside except for a hike pack. Some people learnt this lesson the hard and now very cold way. Days two and three were spent exploring the high plains. My Unit, C Unit, chose to explore the Mt. Nelse region and visited the Johnston and Edmondson huts along the way. Everyone had a chance to practise cross-country skiing, administer some fine blister first-aid and attempt to telemark ski (some more successfully than others). In the end, all of the failed telemark turns were worth it, because we summited Mt. Nelse twice (once on each exploration day) and the view was amazing. We even found a massive frozen cornice almost 15 metres high! After each day, we would return to our camp and have an incredible dinner of pasta with vegetables and pesto. To no one’s surprise, we devoured huge portions as if it was from a five-star Italian restaurant. On day four we crawled out of our tents and packed up our gear with a sense of sorrow. The Bogong High Plains were quite the adventure which no-one wanted to leave. It was a fun time, engaging and challenging, and certainly gave Term 3 a sharp focus. After going through the five stages of grief, we skied our way back over the Rocky Valley Dam and wound up at Falls Creek with buses awaiting. We quickly loaded packs and gear and had a filling vegetable pastie for lunch. We then boarded the buses for Timbertop and made a quick prayer that lunch would stay down. Lachlan Dodds (Yr9 C Unit)

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CORIOBALD EXHIBITION This entry is very unique compared to the rest of my work, especially my previous entries in the Coriobald. Before this year, I mainly practised painting and drawing. Last year’s entry was a painting of Reverend Eleanor. The year before that was a drawing of one of my classmates. Consequently, it was not only the medium that was completely new to me, but also the subject and the concept – an appropriated self-portrait.

It was originally an experiment, which I thought might enhance my knowledge of the processes of appropriation and photography. After a couple of hours of setting up the scene, when I finally saw the end product I was so happy with it that I decided to enter it into the Coriobald. I worked on it further (framing, printing, etc.) in an attempt to adopt the style of Vermeer’s original piece (Girl with a Pearl Earring).

I was inspired by my Studio Arts teacher, Mr Beaver. He has always prompted me to think outside the box and we discussed the notion of appropriation – how artists throughout history have utilised this technique of “borrowing”. I really enjoyed the process of creating this piece and exploring ideas which I would never have otherwise considered.

It was so amazing to win (the Photography Prize for a Senior School student). It has inspired me to work harder in the Visual Arts and even prompted me to want to pursue it in future years. Hopefully, with more time, I will be able to paint. I hope to one day be hung in the Archibald, which might take a couple of years.

Georgia Mactaggart (Yr12 He)

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RESILIENCE RETREAT

One of the key goals of our Positive Education programme is to develop targeted resiliency skills that will equip our students with the ability to successfully navigate the inevitable challenges and stressors of their teenage years. The interim findings from Melbourne University’s four-year Positive Education research project provides an evidence base to assist us as we continue to refine the programme. The research has found that Geelong Grammar School students report higher levels of wellbeing in both Years 9 and 10 compared with students at other similar schools. Moreover, in contrast to students at other schools, the mental wellbeing of GGS students actually rises during Years 9 and 10. Critically however, the research indicated that mental wellbeing and satisfaction with life both decline in Year 11, coinciding with the cessation of explicit Positive Education lessons and the commencement of VCE and IB studies. Similarly, depression and anxiety symptoms begin to rise. Although this pattern is consistent with students in other schools, in order to sustain the high levels of wellbeing reported by our Year 9 and Year 10 students, the research team recommended that we consider running a student retreat in Year 11 focused specifically on managing challenging life events. In partnership with a student committee, we developed a two-day Resilience Retreat designed to provide Year 11 students with an opportunity to learn and practice a specific set of resiliency skills based on researched wellbeing interventions to boost their ability to cope with the inevitable stress of their final school years. The retreat was held immediately following the mid-year exams in Term 2 at Deakin University’s Waterfront Campus, which provided students with a mental break from the normal

school environment and offered an immersive university-style experience. Some of the most exciting resilience research of recent years has emerged from the field of Acceptance and Commitment Therapy (ACT). This approach emphasizes two core messages: to accept what is out of your personal control, while committing to action that will contribute to a full and meaningful life. This values and mindfulness based approach is founded on the principle that trying to avoid or “get rid of” unpleasant emotions often contributes, ultimately, to increased levels of unpleasant emotional experience and ill-being. In consultation with ACT researcher and practitioner, Professor Joseph Ciarrochi from Australian Catholic University, a series of workshops was designed to introduce and practice different elements that contribute to building psychological flexibility. A significant and growing body of research in this area has shown that resilience can be increased and anxiety decreased by learning to accept that negative emotions and thoughts are a normal part of life, holding them lightly, and learning to respond flexibly in line with core values so that negative feelings and thoughts have less influence over behaviour. For example, students explored the “I’m not good enough” story that we so typically tell ourselves. Whereas some approaches to mental health suggest that we should challenge this irrational thought because it is maladaptive and potentially harmful, ACT approaches propose that we should accept that this thought is quite normal – most, if not all of us have this thought from time to time; and anyway, it is only a thought. ACT suggests that it is not the thought that is maladaptive, but whether or not we

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choose to “fuse” with it – to bind to it, believe it, fight it or try to avoid it. The thought has no influence on our behaviour if we are mindful of it, accept it, and then choose to behave in line with our values rather than simply reacting to the thought. The second day of the retreat shifted to a broader wellbeing focus in which students opted into different workshops, led by a range of GGS teachers, based on Dr Maureen Gaffney’s book, Flourishing. A wide variety of workshops were offered, including Managing Mood, Good Stress Bad Stress, Emotions and How They Work and Positive Goal Setting. The Geelong-based Cotton On Foundation gave a presentation on positive organisations and giving back to the community. It is always difficult to measure the impact of specific interventions on wellbeing. However, the feedback from students has been very positive. One particular student email highlighted the impact of the retreat:

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“I would just like to extend my gratitude to you guys for the retreat. Originally thinking it would be another pointless conference, I was pleasantly surprised and immensely grateful for the skills that were shown to me. I struggle personally a lot with anxiety, and it’s awesome to know that other people think that way as well, and that it’s normal. The things I learnt have now instantly helped my stress and has brought a lot of things into perspective. I also know that others share this same view. Just thank you so much and you should definitely do it next year.” We will certainly run the retreat again next year. We will also continue to develop our Positive Education programme through ongoing research and feedback from staff, students and parents. David Bott Head of Positive Education

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A RICH HISTORY RENEWED Manifold House re-opened in Term 2 following a major refurbishment. One of the three original senior boarding houses at Corio, Manifold House is unique in being named after a family – the pioneering Manifold family of Victoria’s Western District. With a history dating back more than 100 years, the refurbishment of Manifold has been transformational, combining modern design with the House’s existing heritage features. The refurbished House has single study/bed rooms for all Year 11 and 12 students. In addition, Year 10 students are housed in six dorms of four students, which are spread throughout the House to build stronger, inter-year-level relationships. “With all the new things that the House has adopted, we are glad for the rich history that the House has retained,” 2015 House Captain, Andrew Zhang (Yr12 M), said. “The magnitude of change that the House has undergone is obvious, but physically you notice all the things that have remained the same, such as the stairs in front of the Dart Room. I would like to believe that the House has also kept many of the old Manifold traits, such as the House chant, the House charity (The Manifold Project) that supports Room to Read and, most importantly, the House spirit of mateship, support and service.” The refurbishment of Manifold House follows the refurbishment of The Hermitage, Francis Brown and Cuthbertson as part of the ongoing renewal of the School’s boarding facilities, which is designed to satisfy the different requirements of privacy, study, play and pastoral care in the 21st century. Principal, Stephen Meek, said the refurbishment programme reaffirmed the School’s commitment to boarding, to the House system and to providing boarding in a boarding school environment, as opposed to boarding in a day school with some boarders.

“We have expanded the number of boarding places through the construction of Elisabeth Murdoch House (which was opened in 2010) and are now modernising our other boarding facilities,” Stephen said. “We have virtually 900 boarders at the School and the mixture in the Senior School is 48% girls and 52% boys. I think as a co-ed school to have all those students boarding, providing that sense of community, is a wonderful thing.” 120 peopled stayed on after the re-opening for a reunion dinner in the Dining Hall. A number of past staff were present, including Boz Parsons (M’36), Hartley Mitchell, David Endean, Pam Stevenson and Glen Bechly. Also present was Alison Dart (Li’77), daughter of former Head of House, Charles Dart, after whom the Dart Room is named. Generations of past Manifold students were also in attendance, including Jacquetta Sloan (Chirnside, M’75), one of the few girls who had been a student in Manifold House during the early years of co-education. Visit the Alumni page of the School website to discover more about the history of Manifold House.

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Bill Parsons (M’66), Boz Parsons (M’36) and Jeremy Kirkwood (FB’79)

Bill Weatherly (M’66), Duncan Campbell (M’66), Peter Campbell (M’66), Richard Molesworth (M’66), Bill Parsons (M’66) and Peter Stanford (M’65)

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Nick Bradley (M’93), Stuart Dow and Robert Bostock (M’94)

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IN ARNHEM LAND We spent the first five days of the trip in the town capital of Arnhem Land, Nhulunbuy. We drove to one of the nearby beaches and went fishing with hand reels, where we met four park rangers who talked to us about their job. We visited the amazing Buku-Larrnggay Mulka Art Centre in the small community of Yirrkala. It was really interesting. We got to meet some of the artists, who talked about what they do, and we helped one artist collect white ochre from rocks at the beach. We went to a Crocodile Park where we saw some ginormous crocodiles. We were also there for the Arnhem Land Athletics Competition. We helped record times and even had a go in some of the races. It was great meeting kids our own age from lots of different schools in the area.

the trees to varnishing them. We also made spear throwers, which are called “galpu” in the native language. We did some fishing and spearfishing. While we only caught a few fish, it was still a very good experience to learn from Marcus and his brothers how it is traditionally done. While in the homelands, the girls weaved baskets and made necklaces from materials that they collected themselves and with the help of some of the ladies, especially Nancy Mutilnga Burrarwanga, who is another traditional Nyinyikay elder. They produced some amazing jewellery and baskets. All in all, it was a very cultural and educational experience. William Henry (Yr10 FB)

After Nhulunbuy, we packed up and hopped on a big 4WD bus for a four-hour trip on an extremely bumpy road to the Nyinyikay homelands, which at times was very fun but at times was very uncomfortable. We were welcomed with a traditional welcome dance, which involved one of the elders, Marcus Lacey, and the other men walking around us barking. We did various activities over the next five days. For the boys, this included didgeridoo making – from cutting down

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FROM LITTLE THINGS To be totally honest, I completely underestimated the Indigenous Festival. In my naivety, I was looking forward to three days of celebration, education and workshops, but I had misjudged just how this occasion would make me feel. For me, the highlight was the final night – a concert with story and song – that built a vibe inside the SPACE like none I’ve ever felt before. To begin, a man that has become such a big part of the GGS community, Uncle Ron Murray, told us a story about the coming of spring, accompanied by his haunting playing of the didgeridoo. Inspiring and interesting at the same time, it was impossible not to be mesmerised by his voice. Then, Katie Clingeleffer-Woodford (Yr12 Fr), Zoe Marshall (Yr11 He) and myself sang Paul Kelly and Kev Carmody’s song, ‘From Little Things, Big Things Grow’, accompanied by Martin Anderson (Yr11 Fr) on guitar. We felt so privileged to be able to perform such a meaningful song in such a special space. It was an experience I know I’ll hold with me long after my time here.

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Next, our multi-talented Vice Principal, Charlie Scudamore, and Bart Thatphithakkul (Yr12 M) shared a stirring rendition of Simon and Garfunkel’s ‘The Boxer’. After explaining the personal significance of each song, Mr Scudamore then went solo and performed his funk version of Bob Marley’s, ‘No Woman, No Cry’. At this moment, I thought the night couldn’t get any better – the whole crowd was singing along, every foot was tapping and smiles were everywhere. It was a phenomenal feeling. But, yet again, I was proven wrong. Archie Roach, Emma Donovan, Shane Howard and their two incredibly skilled guitarists played a range of moving tunes, each with its own backstory and touching feel. It was positively captivating; each voice had such a unique quality to it, and each was so emotionally charged – there were tears shed. It was truly an exceptional experience and one we will take away with us forever. Laura Lewis (Yr12 Ga)

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Senior School Production, Much Ado About Nothing

“CAN I BE BACON?” Let me tell you a story about the imaginative rush of Drama and the boy who wanted to be bacon. Not just any boy and not just any kind of meat product taken from a pig and usually cured. It was a Year 12 boy, as good as a man, and radical ‘fight the fry’ breakfast bacon – angry bacon ready to dive out of the pan. It was the second day of auditions for the Senior School production – William Shakespeare’s Much Ado about Nothing. A large group of students had turned up, to be warmed up, and then to read scenes from the play on their own. Milling about nervously on the floor of the old Bracebridge Wilson Theatre (for this was before our triumphal entry to the brand new SPACE), students had to form groups relative to the number they heard shouted out. Not exactly NIDA. Except soon, they were haring around, screaming with glee and something like fear, shoving each other out of the way as they formed groups of “THREE!”, “SIX!”, “ONE!”, “SEVENTEEN!” as if it was the Last Day. If they were not in a group, they were out. Ah, the magic of suggestion – wriggling sideways from the prosaic to the nutty and haphazard, where angst is gone and belief is total. Which brings me back to breakfast. The next step, with them clinging to each other like limpets, was to place them in small groups, shout out a ‘title’ and give them 60 seconds to form some kind of fancy tableau in which they all had to feature, frozen mid-manoeuvre as the clock ticks to zero. The key is not to be too boring, to be a little bit left of centre. Add some quirk. So, “ROAD KILL” can be a favourite, as can “DISCO TORNADO!”

Now, you may well be thinking. Why. Why do they do this? How can they do this? What does it take to give students the courage to go hooning imaginatively right over the edge, right off the cliff? What makes them crazy, funny, free enough to be creative? Just giving them a chance, basically. Distracting them from worry. Letting them loose. So, when it came to “BACON AND EGG REBELLION!”, this is when the immortal words were called out, so urgently, so passionately to the other members of his group by a cool Year 12 boy with impeccable street-cred ( and whose name just has to remain secret): “Can I be BACON!?!” In the frenzy of the moment as the students struggled to turn themselves into a frying pan, angry sliced-in-half tomatoes, radical rice bran oil, an almost 18-year-old cried out, yes, “Can I be BACON!?!” and a second Year 12 almost fully-grown man added, in a kind of desperate echo: “Can I be EGGS?!” Let me write for you, then, on the power, the wonder, the joy of dramatic play. The way it shoots students like children off a waterslide, for a moment, into the free and lovely air where they are flying, shrieking, falling – without real fear. Where they come together to hop on one leg just because you asked them to, form a group of 4.5, run screaming around the room flapping their arms because that’s what you said, and to stop when you raise a finger. This is the prequel to the kind of creativity that is natural, and true – a prequel to them finding their own way, their own thoughts, their own ideas about a character, their own sense of what they love, what they can do, what they can bring, what and who they can be.

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You don’t need a fancy space to do Drama. The once new, now old Bracebridge Wilson Theatre (opened in 1978) had, alas, long become tired and tatty; however, for many years it had become a grimy home for wonderful productions involving hundreds and hundreds of students. But now, this year, we have the SPACE and, this year, for the first time we are – as a department – all together in the one place. Year 5 students pass Year 12s on their way to class. You might pass a lighting designer in the corridor, or our set builder. One class reads a play, whilst another set of students work on design portfolios. A Year 12 Theatre student wheels her plant-props down the corridor to rehearse for her stagecraft examination in the Multi-purpose space. Three Year 10s yodel meaningfully – but quietly in a corner – as they work on a scene on their own. Creativity? They need freedom; they need time. They have to know that they can leap and fall without breaking anything. Trust. They have to know we are serious. That what they are doing matters. To us. To them. And, so, now, thanks to the vision of Ian Darling (P’79) and many, many others, our students have the chance to understand what being part of a performing arts community really means. They can – if they wish – pretend they are bacon in a state-of-the-art facility. Perhaps not what they were hoping for, these people, probably not what was ever written on a Mission Statement, but it’s the fearlessness – even the crazy joy – of wanting to be, pretending to be bacon that really counts. Michelle Badior Head of Drama

Rehearsals for the Middle School Play, Midnite LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

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CREATING EXCEPTIONAL FUTURES

For nearly 40 years the Geelong Grammar Foundation has been helping to support and resource our School. Its impact on students has been significant. Next year will mark two important milestones in our ongoing journey. Firstly, it will be the final year of our five-year Exceptional Futures comprehensive fundraising campaign. Understandably, we are having a quiet period in the last quarter of 2015 as our community considers matters raised by the Royal Commission into Institutional Responses to Child Sexual Abuse, as new staff join our team and as we plan for a vibrant final year. We are working to complete fundraising for the Toorak Wellbeing Centre, raise funds to build a new Sailing facility, and increase funding to scholarships, including the establishment of the Tommy Garnett Scholarship. We are also raising funds to support to the Institute for Positive Education and the Richard and Janet Southby Visiting Fellows Programme. The development of the Biddlecombe Society is an integral part of the Exceptional Futures campaign and we look towards enhancing the number of bequests in favour of the School during 2016. Of course our efforts won’t end with the campaign and we have exciting plans for the longer term – and more of that anon. Secondly, the Foundation will celebrate 40 years of activity in 2016 and we intend to review the impact of the Foundation on the students of the School during that time. We exist for our students and our School. We work to help staff deliver an enhanced educational experience for our students. We share in the challenge and ongoing effort to provide an Exceptional Education to all who come to our School, so that all our students might enjoy an exceptional future. We look forward to reviewing our efforts and to sharing the progress we have made thus far. During 2016 and beyond, there will be much to celebrate, achieve and plan for. We are creating the future for young men and women. We are creating exceptional futures. Bill Ranken (M’72) Chairman, Geelong Grammar Foundation

THE MECHAI VIRAVAIDYA CENTRE The School Council has decided to rename the refurbished Academic Support Centre at Corio in honour of Mechai Viravaidya (P’59). Mechai was awarded the Geelong Grammar School Medal for Service to Society in 2014. Best known for promoting condoms, family planning and AIDS awareness in Thailand, more recently Mechai has turned his attention to education. His revolutionary Bamboo School was established in 2003 to provide no-cost education to the rural poor of Buriram Province in the country’s north-east. It was expanded in 2009 to cater for secondary students, and in 2012 it opened a remote campus for Year 10 students on Thailand’s east coast, a development inspired by Mechai’s experience at Timbertop. The School’s Academic Support Centre provides learning support for students with learning challenges and also for students who need guidance to maximise their strengths. When plans to refurbish the Centre were drawn up in 2014, the Viravaidya family provided significant support to ensure that the full renovation and reconfiguration of this vital area could be completed by the beginning of 2016. “This will be a state-of-the-art facility for our students,” Head of Academic Support, Janet Taylor, said. “Not only will they be able to come and gain new skills and strengths, but when sitting exams, those needing special provisions will have them as never before. The new facilities will put us at the leading edge of learning support.”

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The moment John Sevior (P’80) was driven through the gates at Corio at age 14 and saw the vast expanse of playing fields and space, he decided that this was where he wanted to be. It proved to be a fantastic decision. Now, through a new scholarship, John and his wife Rebecca are offering that same chance to someone else. John started as a border at Corio in Year 10 in 1977 after the loss of both his parents. “I had no sense of the history of the School and what it represented,” he said. “I came from a middle-of-theroad high school. I still remember clearly that I arrived with a Sunlight bar of soap and Tek toothbrush in a plastic bag and the other kids had shampoo and conditioner. The experience at the School just opened up a whole new world for me.” “It became like a second family – so welcoming. I still feel that strong sense of belonging even now. I had such a great time– the camaraderie, friends on tap 24 hours a day, seven days a week. We had an open rapport with teachers and it didn’t seem hierarchical. I still marvel at the commitment of teachers like John Hendry, Lenny Carlton, David Oman (P’66) and Tom Ashton, who have all inspired and nurtured kids at Corio for more LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

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A HOME FOR PHILANTHROPY

than 30 years, including our son Marcus (P’12). Only the other day I was out running and thought for the umpteenth time about how Tom Ashton had instilled in me such a love of the sport which still gives me such joy.” Marcus, now majoring in History at Melbourne University, graduated from school in 2012 and lived in Perry. His sister Ella hopes to start at Timbertop in 2020. “Poor Lenny Carlton got a double dose of Seviors in Accounting.” Encouraged by Lenny’s tutelage, John studied at Melbourne University. He went on to work in various jobs, including stockbroking, journalism and 17 years as a fund manager with Perpetual Investments. John currently runs Airlie Funds Management based in Sydney. The Sevior Family Scholarship was established in 2013. It is an endowed scholarship from Year 7 or 8 for either a boy or girl. The inaugural recipient is in Year 7. “Our scholarship is open to anyone and is means tested, which is important because we want to foster opportunity,” John explained. “Education is a great home for philanthropy. I have been extremely fortunate. The life education and access that GGS gave me was the most important influence of my early life. I’d just like to pass that on.”

â&#x2020;&#x201C; SECTION 04 â&#x20AC;&#x201D;THE MAIL ROOM

Welcome to The Mail Room, a place for our wider School community to share news, notes and pictures of life beyond school. The Mail Room builds on the strong sense of community that we share and the foundation work of our Curator, Michael Collins Persse, who remains our invaluable oracle of information and the source of much of the content within. As a thriving boarding school, our mail rooms at Corio and Timbertop are central to the life of the School and the flow of information, from parent to student and beyond. Long may this continue.

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↓ Our Chapel of All Saints at Corio, so central to the life and purposes of the School, has celebrated its 100th birthday. Both the first and second services conducted in it were held on the first day of November – All Saints’ Day – in 1915: the Service of Consecration whereby the Chapel was, as it were, launched on the sea of Christian ministry; and the first of what sadly was to become a series of Memorial Services commemorating Old Boys who had fallen in the Great War: a list, already by then of 15 names and later swollen through the conflicts of the 20th century by another 235 of those known to have died on active service, including six masters (all 250 names are now recorded on five plaques attached to the War Memorial Cloisters by the Chapel). Henry Lowther Clarke, Archbishop of Melbourne and President of the School Council (and a visionary who had helped achieve the School’s move to Corio in 1914 after more than 58 years in Geelong), in his sermon after consecrating the Chapel, pointed two ways. He reminded the School of the blessings it had already enjoyed (including many gifts from members of its community, none greater than that of the Chapel itself, given by five Falkiner brothers, all Old Boys of the School). But he also predicted a great future for GGS in the leadership of Australia. His sermon – printed in full in The Corian of December 1915 – is a noble statement of purpose, couched in terms redolent of Victorian-cum-Edwardian confidence only slightly darkened in 1915 by what were to prove long shadows in the succeeding century; more noble, I believe, than naïve, for the truths underlying it are corollaries of the Truth to which he pointed, and in which the School is grounded, and to which our Chapel continually witnesses through all social change – which affects, inevitably, the way it is presented. In summing up, he quoted Shakespeare: “There is a divinity that shapes our ends, rough hew them how we will.” That shaping ground is nothing less than the Incarnation: Christus nobis factus Sapientia, as our motto has it; “Christ was made Wisdom unto us”, as the 1611 translators rendered it. That is a rock, not shifting sand; something absolute, not merely relative. It is a brave statement – some would say bordering on bravado – in the light (and darkness) of the relativism of so much thought and practice in the 20th century which, for all the wonders of scientific, technological, medical, and psychological advance, has also seen some of their appalling aberrations.

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Our Principal, Stephen Meek, in a most notable sermon at this year’s Leavers’ Service, contrasted the harmonious life depicted by Sir Thomas More in his book Utopia, written five centuries ago (some 20 years before his own martyrdom), and the Dystopia predicted by those who see a robotic world looming: one from which an essential component of our humanity, compassion, would be absent. If, as the founders of GGS believed, the life, death and resurrection of Christ express ultimate meaning, there is darkness ahead – but also, beyond it, light. The School has recently suffered, and acknowledged, a penitential season before a Royal Commission. Deep and sincere apology has been expressed for grave lapses from what can be rightly expected of it. Although such lapses are untypical of what I believe to be mostly (and, indeed, in our journey with Positive Education, increasingly) a benign institution, they should never have happened. Nor, on a purely human scale, should Christ’s Crucifixion have happened. Each is a product, in large measure, of free will, one of God’s greatest gifts, concomitant with a Love so total as to let go and trust. If the School – embracing as it does a wide range of human nature – has to suffer something akin to crucifixion, it can yet remain faithful to its true purposes through the grace of resurrection. Stephen alluded to the surprising absence of religious insistence from the work of Sir Thomas More, a Catholic saint (who even more surprisingly, admitted women priests). “Religion” has recently become an emotive word – even, in some places, a dangerous one – and martyrdom continues. What matters is love – at its heart divine, and at its best all-embracing and, when necessary, self-sacrificing. I treasure what one boy (quite a naughty one, certainly not pious) wrote to me after leaving Geelong Grammar School: “If I’ve learnt something really good at school, it is how to love.” Michael Collins Persse

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1944

Rhonda ‘Plum’ Haet (Rutherford, Cl’44) is the subject of a biography, From Bihar to Berkeley: The Extraordinary Life of Plum Rutherford Haet (Wingidgeon Station, 2015), written by past parent Andrea Palmer, mother of Julia (Cl’05), Gordon (FB’07) and Nick Peardon (M’09). Born to Sir Thomas and Lady Audrey Rutherford (Dickenson, Cl’18) in 1927, Plum spent the first few years of her life in East India, where her father was Governor of Bihar in the days of the British Raj. At barely five years old, Plum was sent to a strict boarding school in England and then to Clyde School in 1939 to complete her secondary schooling at her mother’s alma mater. “Her early years away from her family helped Plum develop a stoic strength that flourished throughout her teens and early twenties,” Andrea said. “Her escapades included serving in the Burmese Army, travelling the world during the 1950s and joining the student body at the University of California, Berkeley, where she studied Russian. Never the shrinking violet, after completing her degree, Plum went on to gain a Masters in Sociology and became a controversial lecturer covering courses such as The Sociology of Sex.” Plum married Jewish American doctor Martin ‘Muddy’ Haet in Las Vegas in the early 1960s and the couple had two children before Muddy took up a volunteer posting in American Samoa, where he tragically died whilst successfully saving his daughter from drowning in the ocean (the Cedar-Sinai Medical Centre in California holds an annual memorial lecture in his honour). “This changed the course for the rest of Plum’s life and set her on the path as a trail blazer in the study of the sexual revolution,” Andrea explained. Born in Phoenix, Arizona, Andrea studied at the University of California, San Diego. She met Plum in 1982 but didn’t start working on the biography until 2008, when she was living in rural New South Wales and had raised three children of her own. “Plum could not imagine that anyone could be interested in her life, although she was happy to provide many anecdotes.”

1964

Two aspiring Indonesian filmmakers, Ima Puspita Sari and Kiki Febriyanti, completed an intensive graduate course, Thinking with a Video Camera, at the Australian National University’s School of Archaeology and Anthropology in 2015 courtesy of The John Darling Fellowship. Established in 2013 in memory of the late John Darling (P’64), the Fellowship is designed to offer training opportunities in Australia for emerging Indonesian documentary filmmakers to assist with the development of their filmmaking skills, commercial knowledge and awareness of archival issues. Supported and administered by the Herb Feith Foundation, the Fellowship has now funded four young Indonesian filmmakers to complete courses in Australia and produce short films.

John Darling, who died in November 2011, was once described by American anthropologist Clifford Geertz as Bali’s “most innovative cinematographer”, ranking him alongside other international scholars for his “definitive studies”. John had studied at ANU and Oxford before he began living in Bali in 1969, directing, producing and researching nine documentary films about Indonesia that screened internationally on the BBC, PBS, ABC and France 3. His 1978 documentary (co-directed with Lorne Blair), Lempad of Bali, about 116-year-old master artist I Gusti Nyoman Lempad won the Best Documentary award at the Asian Film Festival. He went on to direct a three-part series about Balinese culture, showing the history, life rites and religious practices of the island. His last documentary (co-produced with wife Sara), The Healing of Bali, focused on the 2002 Kuta nightclub bombing. John wrote books and poetry about Bali. He was also a lecturer in Media Studies at Murdoch University in Perth and a Visiting Fellow in the Anthropology Department at ANU.

1949

Rafe Slaney (P’49) is writing a book about the sinking of HMAS Goorangai in Port Phillip Bay with fellow volunteers from the Fort Queenscliff Museum. A small auxiliary vessel fitted to sweep for mines in Bass Strait, HMAS Goorangai was the first Australian naval vessel lost in World War 2 after an accidental collision with MV Duntroon in the South Channel of Port Phillip Bay on 20 November 1940. It sank within a minute, taking all 24 personnel aboard with her. The wreck was destroyed two months later as it lay inside the shipping lane, resting in less than 15 metres of water. Rafe’s interest in the HMAS Goorangai stems from knowing one of the sailors aboard, Able Seaman Albert McDonnell, who had worked as a farmhand on Rafe’s father’s farm on the Mornington Peninsula.

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Old Geelong Grammarians were among significant contributors to an important addition to the national estate dedicated by Prime Minister Malcolm Turnbull at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra on 23 September. Donors to the War Correspondents’ Memorial included Tim (M’64) and John Fairfax (M’60), Rupert Murdoch (Cu’49) via News Limited, Michael Darling (FB’63), the late Gordon Darling (School Council 1964-69), Robin Hunt (FB’64) and Peter Lemon (FB’64). Other major donors included the Federal Government, Kerry Stokes via the Seven Network, the Australian War Memorial, the National Press Club and the ANZ Bank. The C.E.W. Bean Foundation, co-convened by Tony Walker (FB’64), initiated the project and raised the necessary funds in cooperation with the Australian War Memorial. Gordon Darling provided invaluable assistance and encouragement in the early stages of the fundraising effort. The Foundation was established in 2001 as a Centenary of Federation initiative to commemorate the contributions of war correspondents, photographers, cinematographers and artists to the nation’s history and identity. The organisation particularly honors Charles Bean, who was the official correspondent of the Great War, wrote six of the 12 war histories and edited the remaining six. He was the inspiration for the establishment of the War Memorial itself (and incidentally the son of a GGS Master). The date, 23 September, for the unveiling of the memorial, was chosen to coincide with the 100th anniversary of the ‘Gallipoli Letter’ conveyed by Keith Murdoch, Rupert’s father, to wartime Prime Minister Andrew Fisher alerting him to the follies of the Gallipoli campaign. In his dedication, Prime Minister Turnbull acknowledged Keith Murdoch. “It is wonderfully fitting that we… a great democracy, are dedicating the memorial on the centenary of Keith Murdoch’s letter to Andrew Fisher. He (Murdoch) told the truth in the nation’s interests,” Turnbull said. In his remarks, Kerry Stokes described war correspondents as “very special Australians” and the “sometimes forgotten heroes of war”.

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The memorial itself is a simple ‘oculus’, or ‘eye’, made from polished South Australian granite, and designed to convey a journalist’s role as observer and chronicler. The oculus’s surrounds are made from sandstone and include a low retaining wall that provides seating for visitors who might wish to reflect on the messages conveyed by the memorial. It is located in the Sculpture Garden of the War Memorial and set somewhat apart from other installations to emphasize the separateness of a journalist’s role. The memorial was designed by Johnson Pilton Walker, architects for the new Parliament House. The result is a credit to their creative endeavors.

The memorial is certain to become one of the more visited sites in the War Memorial precinct. In its early days, it has already demonstrated its value by providing the location for the 40thanniversary remembrance of the deaths in East Timor in 1975 of six journalists working for Australian news media. Shirley Shackleton, widow of one of those killed by Indonesian invading forces in Balibo, described the memorial as a “dream come true”. “This memorial is a miracle. It remembers people that a lot of very important and powerful people wanted to forget and continue to forget until now,” she said. Al Jazeera journalist Peter Greste, jailed for more than a year by the Egyptian government, summed up the views of many journalists present when he said at its dedication: “This memorial observes and bears witness to all that takes place without being at the centre of things. It is perfectly appropriate.” Tony Walker (FB’64)

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WAR CORRESPONDENTS’ MEMORIAL

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1964

Dr Richard Chauvel (M’64) was guest speaker at the 16th annual Tower Luncheon at Corio on Saturday 7 November. Richard is one of Australia’s leading experts in Indonesian history and politics, particularly the volatile province of Papua, formerly known as Irian Jaya. He has received two Australia Awards Fellowships for a four-month training programme to combat HIV/AIDS in Papua and for a collaborative research project on elections and democratisation with the University of Indonesia and the Indonesian Election Commission. An honorary fellow at the Asia Institute at The University of Melbourne, Richard supervises PhD students and continues his research and writing on Indonesia.

How did you become interested in the history and politics of Indonesia? I think it started at Corio. I did a number of History subjects with Bill Lester (P’43) and Michael Persse and Tim Murray (P’53). I also did a Matric subject that was entitled Social Studies which explored politics in contemporary South East Asia. I did that in 1964, so that was just on the cusp of Australian involvement in the Vietnam War. There was enormous topicality about South East Asia at the time and I remember that subject being very well taught by Graeme Renney, providing us with a framework to understand the Vietnam War and the debates that ensued. I went to Sydney University and the atmosphere at the campus became highly politicized from 1965 onwards. I started off studying Economics but I became friends with several students studying Indonesian politics and language. There was a failed coup in Indonesia in 1965, which ultimately brought about the demise of President Sukarno’s regime and led to the massacre of more than half a million people – members of the communist party and alleged sympathisers. Indonesia challenged my understanding then and has continued to do so.

In a curious way, the School has produced quite a number of eminent Indonesian specialists. You start off with Jamie Mackie (P’42), who established the Indonesian Studies programme at Melbourne University in the late 1950s, and Charles Coppel (FB’54), who was also a Professor at Melbourne University. From my generation you have Anton Lucas (FB’64), who only recently retired as Director of the Asia Centre at Flinders University, and John Darling (P’64), who produced some remarkable films about Bali and other parts of Indonesia. I think the first time I met John after leaving school was in Holland when he was doing some research in the Royal Institute of the Tropics in Amsterdam at the same time that I was looking for some old colonial documentation. That was around 1980 and he wasn’t the first person I expected to see when dusting off old Dutch documents. Why do you think the study of Indonesia is of importance to Australia? At one level, we only have to look at the map to answer that. Indonesia has a population 10 times ours. It is a huge archipelago where almost all our trade with China, Japan, South Korea and South East Asia goes through. The Australian embassy in Jakarta is the largest Australian embassy in the world, with more diplomatic staff than London, Washington, Tokyo or Beijing. Yet we have more trade with New Zealand than we have with Indonesia. Then there are the recent executions of Andrew Chan and Myuran Sukumaran, the discussions around the Abbott government turning back boats, the ongoing issues with live cattle exports and the Schapelle Corby nonsense. Indonesia features prominently in every Defence white paper going back several decades. Our relationship with Indonesia is absolutely critical in strategic and diplomatic terms. Consequently, our collective ignorance about Indonesia is a matter of great concern. West Papua seems like a fascinating, almost otherworldly place. How did you become interested in it? The interest in West Papua started as a much more general interest in Indonesia. I’d done my PhD research on the neighbouring island of Ambon and the Malukus and there are some quite close historical contacts, particularly in colonial times. When I worked at the University of Indonesia in the late 80s and early 90s, I supervised a number of Indonesian students researching the DutchIndonesian struggle to control West Papua.

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It is an issue of enormous sensitivity, particularly for the Indonesian government. Even since democratic elections were introduced in 1999, Indonesia has used fairly repressive measures to maintain their authority in West Papua. West Papua is the last of Indonesia’s major regional resistance movements. TimorLeste is now independent and there has been a resolution of the conflict in Aceh, so the situation in West Papua has proved most intractable. There has been enormous political change in most parts of Indonesia, particularly in terms of freedom of expression and organisation, whereas that is not true in Papua. Access for foreigners is not very straight forward and there are restrictions imposed in Papua that are not in place anywhere else in Indonesia. It can be challenging visiting some remote place like the highlands and Baliem Valley, which was only “discovered” when American planes flew over the area in the late 1930s. The last time I was in Wamena, which is the main town in the valley, I was working with colleagues from the Centre for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Jakarta on a project about local government. On one level it was about roads, rates and rubbish, but it was also looking at the broader policy of decentralization of government services to local rather than provincial government. I had permission from the Governor of Papua to go to Wamena and conduct this research but just as we were about to open a focus group with about 50 people, including local leaders and officials, in came the Indonesian police intelligence, who dragged me off because, in their view, I didn’t have all the right papers. They eventually allowed the focus group discussion to take place and I was allowed to attend, but I was not allowed to say anything or ask any questions. This caused a very heated debate about police intervention and why Papuans were treated differently from other Indonesians. So the police intervention turned what was a discussion about roads, rates and rubbish into a discussion about Papuan independence. The locals were keen to talk to me, the security forces were not, which tells you quite a bit about contemporary Papua.

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What motivates you to spend so much time and energy trying to understand and explain West Papua to a wider audience? You get on a plane and come home and you realize that you know even less than you thought you did beforehand. It’s the complexity and fluidity that keeps you interested. If you just think about the factors that fuel Papuan resistance, like the economic marginalization and the enormous demographic changes. The last Dutch census in 1961 had the non-Papuan population at about 2.5%. It is now heading to 30-40%, and in the urban areas of Jayapura, Manokwari and Sorong it is well over 60% non-Papuan, and they essentially run the economy – the shops and stalls are run by Chinese Indonesians and Indonesian settlers from elsewhere and the Papuan fruit and vegetable sellers and betel nut sellers are sitting on the side of the road, which provides a clear visual image of the ethnic structure of the local economy and the marginal role that Papuans play. Developing a reasonably united West Papuan resistance movement has been an enormous challenge for the pro-independence leaders. There was a report that I wrote entitled ‘Ending Repression in Irian Jaya’ that was based on two months research in West Papua during 2000, which was an interesting time that has retrospectively been called the Papuan Spring. It was a brief period following the fall of President Soeharto when pro-independence organisations could express their political views, move beyond the localised armed resistance of the OPM (Free Papua Movement) and were successful in mobilizing broad public support. The Presidium Dewan Papua (PDP) and Theys Eluay managed to impose some sense of unity at that time but after their leaders were imprisoned and Theys Eluay assassinated, the resistance movement has fragmented. Since his election in 2014, President Joko Widodo announced that access to the Papuan provinces by foreign journalists would be relaxed and that Papuan political prisoners would be released. But after President Widodo made these announcements, some of his most senior military advisors and indeed ministers in his own cabinet contradicted him. There is considerable resistance within government to some of the symbolic changes that President Widodo is trying to introduce, so it remains very interesting. For example, since the appointment of the leading Papuan academic, Professor Yohana Yembise, as a minister in Widodo's cabinet, it has proved difficult to maintain the momentum for reform in Papua.

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How have you gone about researching and studying the more recent independence movement in West Papua?

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50 YEAR REUNION The 1962 Timbertop group gathered to mark 50 years since nearly all of their year group left Corio at the Tower Luncheon on November 7, just three years since they gathered at Timbertop for their 50 Year Timbertop Reunion.

Left to right: Peter Reid (Ge’65), John Plummer (P’65), John Hutton (P’65) and Michael Hayne (P’65); Cam Aurel-Smith (Ge’65), Bruce Lawrence (Ge’63) and Jonathan Shier (FB’65); At the Tower Luncheon; Stuart McGregor (P’65), Bill Beasley (FB’65) and Adrian Bell (Cu’64);

40 YEAR TIMBERTOP REUNION

The last boys-only group to attend Timbertop before co-education gathered for their 40 Year Timbertop Reunion in September. This was also the last group to attend Timbertop in Year 10 as 1975/76 was a transition period from Year 10 boys to Year 9 boys and girls.

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↓ Dominic (M’77) and Marie Romeo have written about their passion for renovating heritage properties in a new book, The Constant Renovators: Restoring Grandeur (Melbourne University Publishing, 2015). The Romeos have refurbished and brought back to life six historic properties, including Rupertswood in Sunbury, the birthplace of The Ashes and one of the largest private houses ever built in Australia. Dominic and his brothers Giuseppe (M’76) and Claudio (M’87) Romeo grew up in a brick veneer in suburban Melbourne. He said that his interest in historic buildings was sparked when he arrived at Corio in 1973. He began collecting antiques while at university – “the sheer pleasure in discovering the beautiful and the battered” – which ultimately led to the restoration of some of Victoria’s most impressive historic estates, like William Clarke’s 50-room Italianate mansion at Rupertswood and the 34-room Jacobean and Elizabethan style house at Burnewang near Elmore. “When we do our restorations it’s not just saving a house,” Dominic explained. “The gardens, the social history and the infrastructure are just as important. Sometimes our restorations have led to family reunions on a property.” The Constant Renovators showcases the Romeos’ renovation projects, with Dominic employing his project management experience and Marie using her interior design skills to help bring these historic homes back to life.

1980

Comedian Greg Fleet (A’80) has written a hilarious and heartbreaking account of his life. These Things Happen (Pan Macmillan, 2015) charts the highs and lows of Greg’s 53 years, including his 30-year struggle with drug addiction. “This must-read book is full of unbelievable stories which will make you laugh, cry and gasp in horror,” entertainment writer Andrew Bucklow said. Among the most unbelievable is the story of how Greg’s father faked his own death when Greg was 10 years old, assumed a new identity, remarried and had two children, only suddenly to reappear three years later. “His return weirded me out,” Greg confessed. The book also reflects on Greg’s many achievements as an actor, comedian and broadcaster, including starring opposite Nicole Kidman in the telemovie Matthew and Son, appearing on popular Australian TV series’ Prisoner, The Flying Doctors and Neighbours, as well as playing Feste in Shakespeare’s Twelfth Night for the Melbourne Theatre Company. Best-loved for his performances as a stand-up comedian, his shows have always incorporated aspects of his turbulent and often troubled life, including his critically acclaimed Ten Years in a Long-Sleeved Shirt about heroin addiction and I Wish You Were Dɇad about his disappearing dad.

Left Page: Chatting at the Darling Huts; B Unit boys John Adams (P’77), Alastair Cameron (P’77), Garry Thomson (Fr’77) and Michael Butler (P’77) Right Page: David Miles (M’76), David Levy (M’77) and Alastair Cameron (P’77); Peter Voss (FB’77), Tony Zarro (P’77), Andrew Stott (FB’77), Brendan Kelly (M’77) and Ian Ruxton (P’77; Digby Crowther (P’77), Douglas Lithgow (P’77) and Alex Mackinnon (M’77)

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1977

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WESTERN DISTRICT DREAMING Richard Allen (P’80) knew that he would come across a lot of Old Geelong Grammarians when writing his most recent book, Great Properties of Country Victoria: The Western District’s Golden Age (Melbourne University Publishing, 2015), which features twenty of the Western District’s most notable properties. “If you dig deep enough you’ll find a connection with almost every property,” Richard said. Featuring an introduction by historian Geoffrey Blainey and photography by Kimbal Baker, the book explores the Western District’s journey from a wild frontier to a source of enormous wealth, which enabled the building of elaborate mansions and grand gardens. In his history of Geelong Grammar School, Light Blue Down Under, Weston Bate suggested that the School’s foundation in Geelong in 1855 was determined to a large degree by the growing wealth of the Western District. “It was planned, like an English grammar school, to provide an academic education for local boys, but at the same time offer boarding accommodation for the sons of pioneer pastoralists, who hoped for status similar to that conferred by foundations like Winchester and Eton.” By 1880, the wool boom had created a Western District aristocracy and 90 of the School’s 132 pupils were boarders. “What mere numbers do not reveal is the roll-call of scions of the Western District – the Mackinnons, Fairbairns, Armytages, Manifolds, Chirnsides, Austins, etc. – who brought wealth and social privilege to GGS and received what was not available elsewhere, an aura of gentility,” Bate explained. Similarly, Great Properties of Country Victoria is something of a roll-call of well-known GGS names – the Armytages, Baillieus, Chirnsides, Fairbairns, Manns, Youngmans, etc. Richard Allen had no connection to the Western District beyond the country boys and girls he knew from school, but the names were familiar.

“Undoubtedly there is a lot of romance attached to the Western District but it was bloody hard work for those guys, and they were predominantly men, who settled there in the 1830s and 1840s,” he explained. “There was fire, there was drought, and many, many years of hardship before they were able to make the extraordinary amounts of money which enabled them to build these beautiful houses. These are classic Australian stories, where you could go from rags to riches if you worked hard and you were smart.” One of the great strengths of the book is that it blends the rich history of each property with contemporary accounts of life on the land, from Harry Youngman (Cu’84)’s scientific approach to compost to Tim (Cu’86) and Jenny Clarke (Ryan, Je’82)’s ventures in China. “We wanted to tell the stories of the properties but we also wanted to make sure that people didn’t think that they are museums, because they’re not. They’re living, breathing, working properties that are run by people who are passionate about the land and they need to make a profit to be viable. Things have changed. The wool industry is not what it was 40 years ago and it’s interesting to look at how the families that own these properties have adapted. This is the brave new world of agriculture.” Great Properties of Country Victoria is Richard’s sixth book, following on from the success of Shimmering Spokes: One Australian’s 16,000 Kilometre Odyssey (New Holland Books, 1999), The Spirit of Golf and How It Applies to Life (Melbourne University Publishing, 2011) and Australia’s Remarkable Trees (Melbourne University Publishing, 2014). A former journalist who began his career at Business Review Weekly (BRW) magazine, he has written for the Australian Financial Review, The Age and Sunday Telegraph (UK). “I’ve got a PR/communications business, which I’ve been doing for 15 years,” he said. “The writing I do for fun. It’s thrilling to hold a book in your hands that you’ve written.” His current writing project is the fourth volume of the history of the Royal Melbourne Golf Club, which is scheduled for publication in 2016 to mark its 125th anniversary (previous volumes have been published in 1941, 1976 and 1991).

Richard Allen and Kimbal Baker

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Terrinalum at Darlington on a bend of Mount Emu Creek LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

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Top left: Ruins at Larra at Derrinalum Top right: Dining room at Murdeduke

Left: Dalvui at Noorat Above: Sunset at Terrinalum

Ardgartan at Grassdale has been in the Youngman family since 1888, initially run by Charles and Henry Youngman (GGS 18751877), followed by Charles’s son Henry James Youngman (GGS 1911-1915) from 1928, followed by his son, Charles Edward (Ted) Youngman (Cu’55), from 1956. Harry (Cu’84) and Min Youngman currently run the property, with children Charles (Cu’13), Sam (Cu’13) and Millie (Yr10 Cl). Banongil at Skipton was bought by Charles Fairbairn (GGS 1868-1875) in 1897, the first of five generations of Fairbairns to live at the property, including Major Charles Osborne Fairbairn (GGS 1906-1911) and his son, Charles Fairbairn (M’42). Michael Lempriere (Cu’53) and his wife Diana owned Banongil for 30 years, from 1975. Brie Brie at Glenthompson was bought by Ian (P’25) and Audrey Mann in 1936. His youngest son Ted (P’66) and wife Jane currently run the property. Their children Lou Oldfield (Mann, Cl’99), Clem (Cl’01), Charlie (P’02), Rosie (Cl’07) and Harry Mann (P’08) attended the School. Dalvui at Noorat was built by Niel Walter Black (GGS 18781882), the third son of prominent Scottish-born pastoralist and politician Niel Black, who died in 1909 when the SS Waratah disappeared off the coast of South Africa enroute to Glasgow. When Black’s brothers, Archibald (GGS 1871-76) and Steuart (GGS 1878), settled his estate in 1911, they donated the organ from Dalvui to the School for what became the Chapel of All Saints at Corio.

Green Hills at Minhamite is owned by Kitty Boyd (Cave, He’50), having been passed on to her late husband Alex Boyd in 1980 after his uncle Alex Henderson retired. Larra at Derrinalum was bought by Ted (P’66) and Jane Mann in 1984 after their property Narrabool was burned in bushfire (the outbuildings of Larra itself having burned in 1944). Their son Charlie (P’02) and his wife Alexandra (Griffiths, A’00) live there now. Leslie Manor at Camperdown was bought by George Russell in 1867, renaming it after his wife, Euphemia Leslie. The property was part of Russell’s vast empire, which was ultimately inherited by his youngest daughter Janet Biddlecombe, who befriended the School, donating six masters’ houses at Corio and, with the Bell family, the Music School. Minjah at Woolsthorpe was in the Affleck family from 1897 to 2005, bought by Alby Affleck (GGS 1884) in 1897, passed on to his son Jamie (GGS 1910-1916) in 1931, before James ‘Bim’ Affleck (Cu’67) ran the property from 1974. Bim sold Minjah to current GGS parents Tim (Cu’86) and Jenny Clarke (Ryan, Je’82), whose children Will (Yr11 Cu) and Sophie (Yr9) attend the School. Mokanger at Cavendish was settled by the pioneering Chirnside brothers, Thomas and Andrew, and was briefly owned by Antony Baillieu (M’67). Mount Boninyong at Scotsburn was settled by the Scott family in 1839, with Celia Burnham (Scott, He’73) the most recent descendant living there, with husband Graeme (M’68).

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Left: Mount Sturgeon at Dunkeld Below: Mount Boninyong at Scotsburn

Far Left: Murndal at Tahara Left: Shearing shed at Warrambeen

Mount Sturgeon at Dunkeld passed to Charles Henry Armytage in 1863 and he built the grand homestead there. His third son, Harold Augustus Armytage (GGS 1873-1881), managed the property from 1885. It was compulsorily acquired for soldier settlement after World War 2 and broken up. Later, Peter Charles Armytage (M’41), bought the property, then passed it to his son Simon Armytage (M’64), who sold it to Allan Myers. Mount William at Willaura was also established by Thomas and Andrew Chirnside. It was bought by Robert Barr Smith in 1919, passed on to his son Bob (M’36), then divided between Bob’s four daughters in 1985; Rhoda Handyside (Barr Smith, Cl’63), Ann Cochrane (Barr Smith, Cl’65), Sybil Baillieu (Barr Smith, Cl’68) and Joanna Armytage (Barr Smith, Cl’69). The homestead went to second-oldest daughter, Ann, and is now run by her children Robert Abbott (M’92) and Sybil AbbottBurmeister (Cl’90). Murdeduke at Winchelsea has been in the Wilson family since 1937, bought by James Wilson, passed on to his son Bruce Wilson (Cu’66), and farmed today by Bruce and his son Lachlan Wilson (Cu’95). The homestead was built by Arthur Hopkins and the property was managed by his son-in-law William Austin (GGS 1869-1877) from 1882, before being sold to Peter McIntyre (GGS 1863) and passed on to his son Andrew (GGS 1885-1886), who sold it to James Wilson. Murndal at Tahara was established by Samuel Winter in 1837, inherited by his nephew William Winter-Cooke (GGS 19061911) in the 1930s, then his son Sam Winter-Cooke (P’54), and in turn Sam’s son Marcus Winter-Cooke. The School's Gallipoli Oaks came from William via Murndal.

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Nareen at Coleraine was bought by Malcolm Fraser (Gl’37)’s parents in 1946. It was the home of the prime minister and his wife Tammy (Beggs, He’53), whose daughter Phoebe Wynn-Pope (Fraser, Cl’83) attended the School. Terrinalum at Darlington has been owned by numerous Western District pastoralists, including the Bailey, Wynne, McEachern and Barr Smith families, before it was bought by John and Marita McIntosh (Laycock, Cl’66), whose daughter Sarah Freeman (McIntosh, Cl’97) attended the School. Warrambeen at Shelford was bought by Arthur (GGS 18881891) and Henry Bingley (GGS 1892-1895) in 1902. Trish Taylor (Bingley, He’70) is the third-generation Bingley to live there, while fellow descendant Tim Bingley (P’62) managed the Merino stud with Trish’s husband Ian Taylor. Wormbete at Winchelsea was settled by Henry Hopkins in 1839 and was in the Hopkins family for nearly 140 years with ownership passing to Walter Hopkins (P’19) and Henry Hopkins (P’52), then briefly to entrepreneur Alan Bond, father of Jody Fewster (Bond, L Unit’80), before current owner Tony Blakeley (M’77), father of Charlie (Bw’10) and Tom (Bb’15), purchased it in 1996. Yarram Park at Willaura was bought by John Baillieu (Gl’30) in 1948 and is now owned by his elder son, Antony Baillieu (M’67) and wife Sybil (Barr Smith, Cl’68), whose children Sam (M’92), Ruki (M’94) and Missy (Cl’96) attended the School. Great Properties of Country Victoria: The Western District’s Golden Age by Richard Allen (P’80) and Kimbal Baker was published on November 1 by the Miegunyah Press (Melbourne University Publishing).

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1980

The voice of Australian eventing, Sarah Nevile-Lavingdale (Cl’80), made her debut on the international commentary stage at the Blenheim Palace International Horse Trials in the UK in September. Sarah is the first Australian to commentate at Blenheim, which is one of the world’s biggest equestrian events, attracting more than 200,000 spectators each year. “It was incredibly exciting,” Sarah said. “It’s an amazing event and one of the most prestigious events in the UK. It was an extraordinary opportunity.” From her home at Teesdale, near Geelong, Sarah has travelled the country for more than a decade leading the commentary at Australia’s premier horse trials. An elite event rider (she qualified for the World Equestrian Games

1987

Adam Heath (Cu’87) will commence as Headmaster at Ballarat Grammar in January 2016. Currently Middle School Principal at Kristin School in Auckland, New Zealand, Adam initially qualified in Outdoor Education at La Trobe University and has more recently completed a Master’s Degree in School Leadership at The University of Melbourne. After early teaching experiences at Mallacoota and the UK, Adam joined Caulfield Grammar School, where he became Head of Caulfield’s Yarra Junction Campus. In 2005, he was appointed as the founding Head of Middle School at Scotch Oakburn College in Launceston.

in 1990 and 1994), coach and course designer, Sarah brings her comprehensive knowledge to the commentary box, “without being a pompous know-it-all”. “Eventing is a fascinating and complex sport,” she explained. “It’s my job to bring a sense of what it’s like to be a rider to a wider audience so they can understand and appreciate it.” From calling the action at the Melbourne International Horse Trials in 2001, Sarah has become the voice of the sport in Australia, leading the commentary team at the Australian International Three Day Event in Adelaide (one of only six fourstar FEI Eventing competitions in the world), where she met regular Blenheim commentator Spencer Sturmey. “Spencer suggested that I would be ideal over there and I sent across a CV and some audio and happily the organisers agreed,” she said. “It was a thrilling opportunity to be a part of the event. Blenheim Palace provides an extraordinary backdrop and the calibre of competition is extremely high.” Blenheim has also provided Sarah with her first step into an international commentary career – she has been invited back to commentate at the Blenheim event next year and is also planning to attend major Three Day Events in Germany, France and the USA.

1998

Axle Whitehead (Cu’98) is set to make his US feature film debut in 2016 having completed filming of independent American mockumentary Craftique in New Orleans. Axle plays a Texas strip club owner in the Larry Miller and Danny Trejo production, which is based around an arts and craft trade show, where the film’s main characters vie for a DIY television show contract. The former Home and Away actor also appeared in the fifth season of Showtime’s Shameless series, which stars William H. Macy and Joan Cusack. Axle is set to return to Australian television screens next year as 1969 Bathurst winner Colin Bond in the Channel 10 mini-series about racing legend Peter Brock.

1995

Fairfax Media photojournalist Nic Walker (FB’95) won the 2015 Nikon-Walkley Portrait Prize for his photo of high profile criminal lawyer Adam Houda, which appeared in the Good Weekend magazine. The brooding image of Houda in the back seat of a vintage car also won the Best Portrait Photography award in the national/ metropolitan category of the PANPA 2015 Newspaper of the Year Awards. Nic was also a finalist in the Feature/Photographic Essay category of the NikonWalkley Awards for his Bali schoolies feature, Rite of Passage, which appeared in the Sydney Morning Herald and featured in the Nikon-Walkley Press Photography Exhibition. In 2013, Nic won the Daily Life/Feature Photography category of Nikon-Walkley Awards for his photographic essay of Queensland politician Bob Katter, which appeared in The Weekend Financial Review.

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2003

Nature photographer Amelia Anderson (J Unit’03) has become a favourite of Australia’s home renovation TV shows, with her distinctive work featuring on The Block and Reno Rumble. A graduate of the International College of Professional Photography, Amelia brings the outdoors indoors, with bold images of cockatoos, sapphire peacock plumes and nesting owls. She told the Herald Sun that she discovered her love of nature and photography during her year at Timbertop. “It was the best thing that could have happened to me,” Amelia said. “We had old-school film windup cameras and took photos while hiking. It was always super exciting when we got our developed photographs back in the mail.” Visit www.ameliaandersonphotography.com LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

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OGG PRESIDENT A heavy smoke haze from Indonesian forest fires enveloped Kuala Lumpur during the OGG Asia reunion in October, restricting travel for our visitors from Indonesia and Thailand. The myriad skyscrapers looming through the gloom had a spectral quality when viewed from our lofty rooms at the Shangri-La Hotel. Warm, steamy weather and thunderstorms added to the atmosphere. Thank you to OGG Malaysian branch president U-En Ng (Cu’93) and vice-president Fong Thong (Ga’85) who organised a lively dinner at the Royal Lake Club pavilion, which was attended by 50 OGGs, GGS parents and friends from South-East Asia and Australia. Guest speaker, distinguished Malaysian banking executive Tan Sri Datuk Seri Razman Hashim (FB’58), delivered an entertaining account of his schooldays at GGS. Everyone stayed till late and enjoyed catching up over champagne and a smorgasbord dinner. On Sunday morning, the OGG Asian branch presidents’ meeting was held. The OGG Malaysia branch was inaugurated in September 1998 with 100 attending a dinner in Kuala Lumpur. Its first president, David Teh (Cu’67), shared the objectives of the branch: to unite Malaysian OGGs and parents in the pursuit of common interests and ideals, link with other OGGs in the region, maintain ties with the parent OGG Association in Australia, and aspire to create a GGS scholarship for a student from Malaysia. Although numbers were down in 2015, those objectives hold firm for OGG Asia and I was delighted to meet David, U-En, Fong, Tawfik Ismail (FB’71), Laurence Eu (Cu’76), Randall Lee (P’93), KT Lim, Malcom Priestley (P'62) and other past and present regional branch representatives. Always a highlight of the OGG calendar, this year's Tower Luncheon was no exception. Attended by 155 people, including nine Clyde Old Girls and 13 Hermitage Old Girls, there was a rousing reception and cakes for two people celebrating their birthdays on the day – Cam Aurel Smith (Ge’65) was attending his first Tower Luncheon, while Bill Charles (Ge’37) turned a magnificent 95. They gave readings in the Chapel Service, as did Caroline Buchan (Cl’60) and Suzanne Tonkin (He’64), while Bill's deep and resonant voice gave special meaning to the intercessions. Honouring the noble nonagenarians is a Tower Luncheon tradition, with a bottle of wine presented to Bill Armstrong (M’42) 91, Bill Charles 95, Boz Parsons (M’36) 97, and centenarian Margaret Ganly (Burn, He’31) who turned 100 in July. Also honoured at the lunch were new members of the Biddlecombe Society, with its chairman Neil Robertson (FB’73) awarding Society badges to those who were present on the day. Towards 1pm, Stephen Meek counted down the minutes to mark the exact 60th anniversary of OGG Fellow, Michael Collins-Persse, who first arrived at Corio at 1pm on 7 November 1955. It was a remarkable and moving moment for all, with congratulations and resounding applause for Michael. Guest speaker, Dr Richard 'Harry' Chauvel (M’64), gave an excellent talk about Indonesia. Richard is the grandson of General Sir Henry 'Harry' Chauvel GCMG KCB (1865-1945), son of the late Edward Chauvel (Cu’25) and a nephew of Australian author, Elyne Mitchell (Chauvel), who wrote the famous Silver Brumby books.

The OGG Association welcomed almost 220 new members on October 18 as the current Year 12s took their final leave of the School on Speech Day, before preparing for VCE or IB examinations. Firm handshakes, friendly smiles, confident demeanours and warm personalities characterised the cohort of fine young people entering the next phase of their lives. I joined guest speaker Sam Strong (P’94) in welcoming each student to the stage and wishing them well in their future endeavours. Sam encouraged the Year 12s to treat life like a wonderful buffet; if you don't know what you would like to do, try different things until you find something you like, and then live it with all your heart. Sam was a lawyer before he embarked upon his journey to achieving his dream of becoming Artistic Director of a major theatre group, the Queensland Theatre Company (QTC). He advised students to treat setbacks like stepping stones and not to be discouraged by occasional failure. We also congratulated the recipients of the Old Geelong Grammarians’ Prize for Highest Academic Achievement in 2014, Samuel Parsons (P’14) and Zoe Yang (Ga’14). Margie Gillett (Cordner, Cl’71) President, Old Geelong Grammarians

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5 1. Margie Gillett (Cordner, Cl’71), Laurence Eu (Cu’76), Bui Thu Phuong and Charles Gillett at the OGGAsia Dinner 2. Sam Strong (P’94) at Speech Day 3. Randall Lee (P’93), Tracy Teo, U-En Ng (Cu’92) and David Teh (Cu’67) at the OGGAsia Dinner 4. Bill Charles (Ge’37) and Cam AurelSmith (Ge’65) celebrated their birthdays at the Tower Lunch 5. Michael Collins Persse celebrating the 60th anniversary of his arrival at GGS, during the Tower Lunch 6. Kevin Kang (M’90), Siew Kee Lee (M’88), Paul Ng (FB’88), Desmond Ting (FB’87) and Edward Buckingham (P’86) in Kuala Lumpur 7. Vivienne Ritchie (Knox-Knight, Cl’53) and Wendy Ritchie (Alsop, He’50) at the Tower Lunch 8. Speech Day 2015 9. The Tower Luncheon 10. Christine Meek, Rubina Mustafa Kemal, Margie Gillett (Cordner, Cl’71), Bakar Aziz, Latiffah Kamaruddin, Guest Speaker Razman Hashim (FB’58), Stephen Meek, Norma Norell and Tawfik Ismail (FB’71) at the OGGAsia Dinner

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1. In Perth were Bronwyn Davies, Jamie Ogilvie (FB’71) and Simon Barnett (M’73) 2. At the OGG Golf Day were Penelope D’Alton (McGregor, Cl’93) and Caroline Russell (Clyde ’73) who played in a three with Penelope’s father Bruce McGregor (P’66) 3. At the London Dinner were Harry Calver (Cu’14), Joseph Gibney (P’14), Louis Irvine, Chris Dow and John-Louis Irvine (P’14) 4. Catherine Hackwell (Fr’14), Cora Hurley (Cl’14) and Kate Dow (Yr12, EM) in London 5. David Hudson (Ge’68), Christine Meek, Stephen Meek, Alexander Downer (Bw’64), Nicola Downer and Tim Tyler (P’54) at the London Dinner 6. Ron McCann (FB’56) played in the OGG Golf Day with Tom Harris (FB’58) who had travelled down from Queensland

OGG LONDON DINNER The OGG UK Branch held their annual London dinner on Thursday 25 June at the Travellers’ Club in Pall Mall. The guest speaker was the Australian High Commissioner to the United Kingdom, His Excellency The Honourable Alexander Downer AC (Bw’64). A gathering of around 60 people attended the dinner including Stephen Meek, Principal, and several recent leavers in the UK for a gap year or travelling.

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Guests in Perth gathered at the Royal Freshwater Bay Yacht Club for the OGG WA Branch Cocktail Party on Tuesday 20 October. LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

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7. A family affair at the OGG Golf Day when Harry Smiles (FB’02) played with his parents Peter and Patsy and Anne Stoney (Peardon, Cl’62) made up the four 8. Ian Argyle (FB’50) and Rosemarie Cooper attended the OGG WA function in Perth 9. OGG Golfers Hugh Macdonald (FB’77), David Kininmonth (M’75) and John Simson (Cu’73) 10. Annabel Richardson (Cl’14) and Harry Calver (Cu’14) in London 11. Edwina Kolomanski (Ga’09) and Lucy Kolomanski (Ga’05) in London 12. Winners of the OGG Golf Day trophies were Matt Suvoltos (A’93) and Caroline Russell (Clyde ’73) 13. Suzanne Ting (Cl’85), Hugo Gibbs (M’85) and Andrea Winterhoff (He’12) at the London dinner

OGG GOLF DAY

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Caroline Russell (Cl’73) and Matt Suvoltos (A’93) took out the Tommy Garnett and Boz Parsons Cups at the OGG Golf Day on Friday 30 October at Barwon Heads. The windy conditions played havoc with peoples games but overall it was a fun day with a record number of players. Thanks again go to Simon O’Brien (A’94) who organized the event, ably assisted by Jimmy Legoe (M’97).

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COGA NEWS The COGA AGM and Old Girls’ Day was held at the South Melbourne Community Centre on Sunday 11 October. Carol (Cas) Bennetto (Cl’74) was the guest speaker, entertaining us with tall tales and true about boarding-school life at Clyde on the mountain. Cas is the CEO of the Australia Kimberley Foundation, which works with local Aboriginal people to research, preserve and promote ancient rock art in north-western Australia. Clyde Old Girls were victorious at the Fun Cup Golf tournament held on Monday 12 October at Barwon Heads Golf Club. Clyde defeated St Catherine’s by one point in a thrilling finish, with Toorak College in third place. There were 17 players representing Clyde. Anne Stoney (Peardon, Cl’62), Deb Calvert (Moore, Cl’65), Deb Middleton (Noall, Cl’71) and Janet Gordon (Affleck, Cl’64) claimed the trophy, having finished with the four best Clyde scores on the day. Janet was also the individual B Grade Winner. Thank you to golf coordinator Anna Tucker (Kimpton, Cl'71) for her work in organising the Clyde players.

Congratulations to the recipients of the 2015 Clyde Old Girls’ Association prize for English, Hugo Bienvenu (Yr12 A) and Alexandra Cash (Yr12 Ga).

1. At the COGA AGM, Jane Dumbrell (Selleck Cl'73), Lynette Moore (Stevens Cl'73), Michelle Cook (Chalmers, Cl'73) and guest speaker Cas Bennetto (Cl'74). 2. Jenny Schmidt (McRae, He’73), Allison Rhodes (Webster, He’72) and Rosalie Collins (McRae, He’71) 3. Sisters Hilary Blakiston (Heath, Cl'44) and Dallas Kinnear (Heath Cl'53) attended the COGA AGM & lunch on 11 October. Hilary and Dallas are also Hermitage Old Girls, having spent their primary school years at The Hermitage. 4. Jess Browne (Moffatt, Cl’43), pictured with her daughter Sally Martin, travelled from WA to be at the Tower Lunch 5. Mechelle Cleary (Virtue, He’63), Patricia Roberts (Knappstein, He’63) and Mary Thomas (Fairley, He’63) 6. Winkie Mactier (Reilly, He’63), Pammy Bradshaw (Irvine, He’63), Casey Macleod (Whitehead, He’65) and Prue Troedel (Hamilton, He’63) 7. Susie Smith (Hodgson, He’75), Felicity Rousseaux (He’78), Gillian Opie (He’75) and Sally Hooper (He’75) 8. Margaret Ganly (Burn, He’31), pictured middle, who turned 100 in July, attended the Tower Luncheon with her daughters Carleen Thoernberg (left) and Margaret McKay (right)

HOGA NEWS The HOGA AGM and Old Girls’ Day was held in the Darling Hall at GGS on Saturday 5 September. Guest speaker, Gillian Opie (He’75), spoke passionately about her work as a neonatal paediatrician, particularly her role in establishing Victoria’s first breastmilk bank at the Mercy Hospital for Women. Gillian is also Chair of Ready Steady Grow, which provides programmes and support for families of premature babies. It was nice to see some of the 1975 year group there to hear Gillian speak.

We were again fortunate with the weather for the HOGA Golf Day and Lunch at the Barwon Heads Golf Club on Monday 5 October. Our special guest was Margaret Ganly (Burn, He’31), who still plays golf at 100 years of age at Torquay. LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

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Jock Grimshaw (FB'13) and Ed Gubbins (Cu'14)

CALENDAR OGG Business Lunch, Melbourne Thursday 3 March 2016 OGG V OGC Golf Day, Barwon Heads Friday 11 March 2016 Term 3 1975/ Term 1 1976 Group 40th Timbertop Reunion Saturday 9 April 2016

Old Geelong completed another fantastic football season in the VAFA competition. Highlights included the 150+ Years of Greatness special event in August, the introduction of an Under-23 Development Programme, another Seniors finals campaign and the Under 19s competing in a grand final. Four teams made up of over 180 players took to the field across the year. The Senior team lost the preliminary final to Ormond by 14 points despite having six more scoring shots, with Rupert de Crespigny (Cu’10), John Forster (P’07), George Macdonald (FB’10), Gus Macdonald (FB’07) and Nick O’Hare (Fr’07) amongst the better players during the season. The Under 19s lost the Section 3 grand final to Old Carey by the same margin, with co-captains Charles Burbury (FB’13) and Jock Grimshaw (FB’13) leading the way. The Reserves finished the season in fifth place, with Andy de Fégely (FB’10) winning the best and fairest despite playing just nine games. Old Geelong has started the cricket season strongly in the MCC Club XI competition. The 2nd XI was briefly atop the Division 3 ladder before losing its round-four clash to Old Trinity, whilst the 1st XI recorded a convincing win against Old Xavier on the Perry Oval at Corio in round three. You can follow the teams’ fortunes on the Old Geelong website: www.oldgeelong.com.au

OGG MOTORING EVENT Entrants in this year’s OGG Motoring Event came from far and wide in a range of beautifully presented vehicles, including Philip and Ailsa Simmie (Mason, Cl’64) from Toowoomba in their bright red 1975 Ferrari 308 GTB and Judy and David Little (P’70) from Adelaide in their1993 XJSS Jaguar. The course took entrants through picturesque countryside on some wonderful roads, with navigators answering questions along the way. The day included stops for morning tea at Meredith and a picnic lunch at beautiful Inverleigh before arriving back at Corio for afternoon tea. First place went to Jane McDougall (Cl’86) and Tony McKee in Jane’s 1965 MGB GT, second place to the team of Joe Mitchell, Michael and June Stafford, and Christine Stevenson in the immaculate 1958 Mark 8 Jaguar, with Sue and Tony Reilly (FB’68) in their 1975 Mercedes Benz 280 SLC in third. For more information please contact David Henry (FB’69): henry55@optusnet.com.au

Women’s Interschool Golf Challenge Monday 11 April 2016 1996 20 Year Reunion Saturday 16 April 2016 OGG Annual General Meeting, Corio Tuesday 26 April 2016 OGG ACT Branch Dinner, Canberra Saturday 30 April 2016 OGG NSW Branch Cocktail Party Wednesday 4 May 2016 OGG UK Branch London Dinner Thursday 23 June 2016 Clyde Annual Jumble Sale, Uniting Church Hall, Toorak Rd Thursday 23 June 2016 Careers Discovery Day Sunday 31 July 2016 1966 50th Timbertop Reunion Saturday 17 September 2016 OGG NSW Branch Pre-AFL Grand Final Drinks Thursday 29 September 2016 COGA Fun Cup, Sorrento Golf Club Friday 7 October 2016 1986 30 Year Reunion Saturday 22 October 2016 1966 50th Corio Reunion Saturday 5 November 2016 Tower Luncheon Saturday 5 November 2016 OGG Motoring and Cycling Event Saturday 5 November 2016

For enquiries about any of the above events please contact Katie Rafferty, Alumni Manager on tel: 03 5273 9338 or email: oggs@ggs.vic.edu.au LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

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OGG SPORT

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2007

In 2013, Easton Wood (Cu’07) was spending more time in the medical room than on the park, his career was slipping away and he needed to act. In 2015, he stands as an All-Australian half-back flanker and the 2015 best and fairest winner for a club that stormed from 14th to sixth and within a kick of a semi-final in the space of a season. Finishing in the top three in the AFL for both intercept marks and intercept possessions, Easton plays with a positivity derived from facing the stress involved with playing professional sport head-on. While he was doing all he could to recover from a catalogue of injuries early in his career, including a dislocated ankle and two dislocated shoulders, countless hamstring tears in 2013 led Easton to look a little deeper into what was causing these injuries. Easton reached out to leadership expert and author Richard Maloney from Quality Mind after identifying that stress could be behind his horror run of injuries. Richard facilitated leadership programmes for a number of AFL clubs, including the Bulldogs, as well as working with the Melbourne Storm rugby league team. “I sourced Rich to help me deal with that aspect of the game and we’ve developed tools to deal with different scenarios,” Easton explained. “I feel like being able to deal with that stress has, as a consequence, removed stress from my body and I haven’t been injured as a result. For two years I haven’t had a big injury. The best thing is it has improved everything. My relationships out of footy got better, I am enjoying everything more.”

Being injury-free may be the biggest factor in Easton’s remarkable rise, but the impact of first-year coach Luke Beveridge on a group that was in disarray at the this time last year can’t be understated. “(Luke’s) philosophies, from the outset, really resonated with our young group and me personally.” Easton described the new coach’s approach as more proactive and attacking, something that “really caught the imagination of the group”. Easton came to Geelong Grammar School in Year 11 on a Sports Scholarship, but that’s not to say that he was making up the numbers academically. He received a VCE Distinguished Achiever award (a subject score of 40 or more) for Geography and achieved an ENTER score of 97.75. He was also House Captain, Captain of Athletics, Vice-Captain of Cricket and won the S E Bailey Memorial Prize for Sportsmanship. Easton accepted a first-round offer to study Physiotherapy before transferring to Exercise Science part-time. All things going to plan, he will graduate in 2016. With five Old Geelong Grammarians playing in the AFL in 2015 a Light Blue reunion on the highest stage was almost inevitable. “Sammy Lloyd (Cu’08) was in the year below me and we played on each other a couple of times – once in the NAB Cup and once during the year,” Easton said. “Sammy and I were friends at school so it was great to be playing against him and to see him doing well at the top level also.” Nick Sculley

LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

↓ DEATHS

Georgina neé Landy (Cl’92) and David Atkins, a daughter, Scarlet Landy, on 17 May 2010 and a son, MacAdie Alec, on 1 May 2012

(2015 unless otherwise noted)

Jo and André Bertrand (P’95), a daughter, Goldie Rose, on 17 June 2015 Tunya and David Bott (Staff 2013-), a son, Hudson Antonio, on 21 May 2015 Kalaya Bruton (Cl’00) and Shane Bull, a son, Louie, on 29 April 2015 Noni-Rose neé Garlick-Sloman (Fr’05) and Stephen Buckman, a daughter, Lucy Rose, on 19 May 2015

David McArthur Baillieu (1948-53) on 10 June

George Leonard Lansell (1926-32) on 23 October 2014, aged 100

Jacqueline Louise Elisabeth Baker neé Purnell (The Hermitage 1929-38) on 22 March

Diana Learmonth neé Nicholas (Clyde 193542) on 13 July

Patricia Joan Barton neé Moore (Clyde 192734) on 28 March

Michael Anthony Mortimer (Mort) Marsh (1958-59) on 26 June

Melissa Jane Batt (Clyde 1973-75; GGS 197677) on 16 June

Lynette Christine Martin neé Mitchell (The Hermitage 1964-71) on 28 April

Geoffrey Wilfred Fenton Beggs (1933-39) on 28 June 2010

Bruce Stephens Matear AM (1929-34) on 10 August

James MacDonald Bland (1933-40) on 26 May

Mariana Matthews neé Mackinnon (The Hermitage 1947-50) on 17 August

Sarah neé Bostock and Noah Carroll (M’96), a daughter, Isabella Elizabeth, on 15 July 2015

Judith Henrietta Bone neé Dickins (The Hermitage 1951-58) on 28 April

Holly Stansfield-Smith and Richard Cutler (FB’01), a daughter, Isabelle Mary Maisie, on 27 July 2015

Rouvray Anne Boocock neé Kirton (Clyde 1953-60) on 18 October 2013

Hilary and Tom Ellis (Cu’02), a son, Thomas Chute (Ted), on 2 July 2015 Louise Ellis (Cl’00) and Tristan Green, twin sons, Henry Douglas Chute and George Jonathon Chute, on 24 January 2015 Georgina Macneil (Cl’98) and Lachlan Herbert, a daughter, Ella, on 22 August 2013 and a son, Harry, on 8 September 2015 Juleiaah and Jeremy Koren (FB’02), a daughter, Dali, on 14 November 2014 Angie neé Taggart (Cl’01) and Will Leaf, a daughter, Charlotte Anne, on 13 March 2015 Elizabeth and Rod Matthews (Fr’00), a son, Thomas Henry James, on 31 March 2014 Paula and Aaron McInnes (M’95), a son, Isaac David, on 2 July 2010 and a daughter, Isabella Hannah, on 14 October 2012 Fern neé Bonython (Cl’96) and Marcus Moufarrige, a son, Archer George, on 23 October 2013 Quimby neé Mills (Je’91; Staff- ) and Max Oddie (Fr’91), a daughter, Hazel Alexandra Mills, on 18 October 2012

Jenette Elizabeth Kuhne neé Millar (The Hermitage 1955-56) on 18 May

Allan Vincent Browne (former Staff) on 13 June (The Honourable) Frank Hortin Callaway RFD, QC (Southby Fellow, mentor, Philosophy teacher) on 2 July

Peter Irving McKerrow (1962-65) on 10 February 2014 Alexander Herbert (Tim) McMillan (1935-43) on 28 September Linus John (Len) McNamara (Staff, Highton, 1980s) on 18 June Jeffrey Adzman Middleton (1978) on 16 August

David John Norman Crooks (1968-72) on 6 April

Judith Gwen Newberry (The Hermitage 195053) on 11 October 2009

Joan Irving Crouch neé Caldwell (Clyde 192627) on 1 February 2003

Mary Gwenllian Perkins (Clyde 1925-28) on 4 December 2011

John Darling (1935-42) on 19 August

Samantha Lillian Petrie (1985-86) on 22 August

Leonard Gordon Darling AC, CMG (GGS Council 1964-69) on 31 August Ian Dexter Dunkerley (1948-52) on 3 August 2014 (Lady) Sallie Sinclair Ferrall neé Thyne (Clyde 1947-48) on 10 September Alfred William Foster (1945-47) on 28 May Wendy Joy Freshwater neé Stone (The Hermitage 1943-54) on 3 September Douglas William Gardiner (1950-62) on 26 June Howard Angus Gaston (1963-66) on 12 August 2014

Alisha Bailey and Tony Reynolds (Fr’07), a daughter, Noa Claire, on 3 March 2015

Alexis Joye Gerritsen neé Bell (The Hermitage 1958-59) on 27 July

Amelia neé Tyers (He’02) and Charles Taylor, a daughter, Charlotte Ann, on 30 March 2015

Helen Frances Gibson neé Cooley (Clyde 1939-42) on 19 September Jack Spilsbury Gilbert (former Staff) on 13 May

Georgina Sophie Robinson neé McCulloch (1989-94) on 12 October Peter Scott Rowe (1966, 1973-74) on 12 October Alexander John Herbert Salter (1938-40) on 9 May Graeme John Sanders (1960-67) on 15 June Joan Elizabeth Sargood neé Withers (Clyde 1941-48) on 3 May Noela Mary Shannon neé Adams (Clyde 1938) on 10 June Kevin Douglas Simmonds (Staff 1997-2015) on 16 August Priscilla Ann Hebden Steele neé Hosgood (Clyde 1944-48) on 4 November Elizabeth Marion Turnbull (Clyde 1943-47) on 8 January 2014

Barbara Joan Gilder (Clyde 1943-45) on 5 April

Edwin Johnston Cade Turner (1950-52) on 14 August

Tim Bain (A’96) married Justin Tang on 11 July 2015

Clare Rosamond Greaves neé Carter (The Hermitage 1943-48) on 18 July

Rosemary Alison Vaughan-Smith neé Gipps (Clyde 1947-48) on 22 April 2013

Stephanie Calder (Cl’04) married Edward McCulloch (M’01) on 21 March 2015

(Dr) Patrick John Hannah (1955-59) on 26 September

Graham Charles Williamson (1965-70) on 8 August 2014

Alice Cook (He’97) married Richard Watkins (FB’93) on 17 October 2015

Michael Charles Hansen (1960-67) on 23 August

Constance Rosalie (Sue) Winser neé Dean (The Hermitage 1937-38) on 26 May 2000

Alice Dyer (Ga’05) married Charles Atkins (P’01) on 20 December 2014

Naida Bonita Hartwig neé Chaffey (Clyde 1935-36) on 29 August 2014

Sarena Mary Wood (Clyde 1969-72) on 27 June 2012

Campbell Hanson (M’04) married Elisabeth Henderson on 17 October 2015

Christina Karen Sandford (Petee) Hindhaugh OAM neé Beggs (Clyde 1957-61) on 31 July

Elspeth Anne Woolcott neé Thompson (Clyde 1941-44) on 28 May

Georgina Landy (Cl’92) married David Atkins on 27 June 2015

George Ivan (Ian) Holyman (1938-45) on 15 September

Peter Bray Wright (1945-48) on 24 September

Georgina Macneil (Cl’98) married Lachlan Herbert on 22 October 2011

Ian Digby Homberg (1945-47) on 27 April

Rod Matthews (Fr’00) married Elizabeth Bennett on 19 January 2013

Robert Russell Kelly (1972-73) on 9 July

MARRIAGES

Aaron McInnes (M’95) married Paula Hannah on 3 October 2009 Tina Wilson (He’06) married Jake Howman (Pe’03) on 26 September 2015 LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

Howard Lindsay Hughes (1980) on 14 June Florence King (Matron, Manifold House, 195975) on 24 June Suzanne Joyce Knight neé Tallis (Clyde 194348) on 19 March 2011

SECTION 04 — THE MAIL ROOM

BIRTHS