YEARS CELEBR A TINGCOEDU C A T I

The current students researched archival material, such as press clippings, photos, official documents and uniforms, as well discovering minutes from the Debating Society discussing whether the School should become co-educational (the motion was passed!). “It was super interesting to go through the archives and look at how girls joined the School and how it grew from 33 girls in 1972 to four full boarding houses (in 2010) and having an equal number of boys and girls on campus,” Grace said. “Their stories and their experiences, from then until now, are really interesting.”

The exhibition was just as interesting for members of that pioneering group of female students who joined the School in 1972.

“It was trip down memory lane; to see the photos and remember people that I had forgotten over the years,” Mandy Edwards (Bowen, Li’73) said. A handful of those “first girls” viewed the exhibition and spoke to current students when they were invited by our Principal, Rebecca Cody, to be guests of honour at the School’s annual Founders’ Day at Corio in June. “Each Founders’ Day we acknowledge those people whose devotion founded and preserved Geelong Grammar School,” Rebecca explained. “It was timely and appropriate then to also acknowledge those people who helped progress such a significant initiative by taking those first brave steps on the path to co-education, which has become such an essential component in the life of our School.”

“SOME OF THE NEW BOYS WERE GIRLS”, THE HERALD NEWSPAPER ANNOUNCED ON WEDNESDAY 2 FEBRUARY 1972 BELOW THE HEADLINE: “IT’S GLAMOR AT THE GRAMMAR”. THE PRESS CLIPPING WAS JUST ONE ARTEFACT ON DISPLAY IN THE MAIN QUAD DURING SEMESTER 1 AS PART OF AN EXHIBITION CELEBRATING THE 50-YEAR ANNIVERSARY OF GIRLS BEING ENROLLED AT GGS IN 1972. THE EXHIBITION WAS CURATED BY CURRENT STUDENTS ALANNAH D’ANDREA (YR12 GA), KATYA EWING (YR12 HE), GRACE FORBES (YR12 HE), LUCIE GILL (YR12 HE) AND GEN WHITFORD (YR12 HE), UNDER THE GUIDANCE OF SCHOOL HISTORIAN, SOPHIE CHURCH.

It was a brave step, but not one they chose for themselves. “That decision was really one our parents made,” Libby Baker (Norton, Cu’73) said. “Very little of it had input from us.” Libby was one of 15 female boarding students enrolled in 1972, who were billeted to staff residence and spread amongst the boys’ boarding houses. “There were two or three girls to a house, so you were quite isolated,” Libby recalled. “You lived in the quarters of a married Master and his family, although you didn’t eat with them. You started your day with assembly in the house at 7.20am and then you all went on to breakfast, so we were very much with the student body the whole time, other than to sleep. I’m not particularly outgoing, so every day was a challenge, but every other girl was in the same position.”

It was challenging, and life-changing. “I have got to say that I’m very, very grateful for the education that I had here (at GGS),” Libby said. “I’ve gone on to be a Chartered Accountant. I’ve run my own business for 35 years now, and I’m absolutely sure that if I had stayed in a girls’ school, I would have either been a teacher or a nurse. There was virtually no choice. You had a good education as far as it went, but the education here (at GGS) was far superior. To come here and to have that depth of teaching was really, really special.”

It is a familiar theme. “Coming to Grammar broadened your outlook on the possibilities of what was available,” according to Julia Schlapp (Li’73), who studied Science (Microbiology) at university and pursued careers in pathology and agriculture. “It was very challenging, but it was also fun and adventurous. My mother was an educated woman of her generation, and she was keen for her daughters to be educated and to have careers. There were great opportunities (at Corio). The choice of subjects was better. The library was better. Because I went on and studied Science and Agriculture (at university), I was always a female in a male career. (Coming to GGS) meant that I didn’t feel afraid to do that.”

Sixth form students from The Hermitage (Geelong Church of England Girls’ Grammar School) had joined Science, Maths and Latin classes at Corio in 1970 and 1971 at the instigation of Tommy Garnett (Headmaster 1961-73), which opened the door for girls to be enrolled at the School “in their own right” in 1972. Mandy Edwards (Bowen, Li’73) had been a student at The Hermitage since kindergarten. “I was certainly extended a lot more (at GGS) than I would have been (at The Hermitage),” according to Mandy, who was awarded the F. Stanley Sheppard Prize for Mathematics in 1973 and excelled in Physics and Chemistry. “I got into Science at Melbourne University and ended up doing Pharmacy, which I wouldn’t have had the opportunity to do. It gave me the skills to survive in that environment.”

Mandy said that although the “teachers encouraged us to speak up and didn’t treat us any differently”, in addition to their academic subjects, the girls also took cooking and flower arrangement classes. “We knew that we were different,” she said. “We were the first girls in a school of boys. We had our own school uniform. It was a big difference.”

From those first brave steps in 1972, the number of girls at GGS continued to grow, accelerated by the amalgamation with The Hermitage and Clyde schools in 1976 and a broader acceptance of co-education (Geelong College, Wesley College, Carey

Baptist Grammar and Caulfield Grammar School all became co-educational within a decade of GGS). By the time Mandy’s daughter Kate Edwards (He’05) commenced at Timbertop 30 years later, in 2002, there was 642 female students at the School. Today, in 2022, there is an equal 50/50 gender balance at Timbertop and Senior School (Years 10-12). “I think co-education is important and that the numbers are equivalent, I think that’s really important too,” Libby said. “I think that Tommy Garnett had a great vision and he had to fight hard for that, but I think what’s transpired is really very special.”

Top: Carole Dunk (Li’72) viewing The Herald newspaper clipping she featured in from 1972

Below: Libby Baker (Norton, Cu’73), Julia Schlapp (Li’73) and Mandy Edwards (Bowen, Li’73) with Principal, Rebecca Cody, and (Bottom) with current students Katya Ewing (Yr12 He), Grace Forbes (Yr12 He), Alannah D’Andrea (Yr12 Ga) and Lucie Gill (Yr12 He)

When Marlley McNamara (Yr12 Ga) performed the role of Countess Lily in the Senior School production of Anastasia, there was one set of eyeballs glued to her every move. Mahaliah Kickett-Eades (Yr7 Ku) joined Geelong Grammar School in 2022 from Churchill, a small town in the Latrobe Valley, which was built in the 1960s to house workers constructing the nearby Hazelwood Power Station. It is the country of the Braiakaulung people of the Guna Kurnai nation, yet Mahaliah and her younger brother and sister were the only Indigenous students at her local primary school. The opportunity to go to boarding school at GGS has meant many things for Mahaliah. One that she did not anticipate was how it has felt to get to know other Indigenous students, particularly inspiring role models like Marlley. “I loved watching her (in Anastasia),” Mahaliah said. “She’s really funny and has an incredible voice. I felt really proud, and I know I can do the same.”

The School’s Indigenous Student Coordinator, Sandra Brogden, understands the importance of providing role models for our young Indigenous scholarship students. Sandra is a Minang Noongar, Karajarri and Bardi woman from Western Australia who has dedicated her life to improving educational outcomes for Indigenous children. As part of her support role at GGS, Sandra facilitates lunchtime catch-ups, outings and dinners for the School’s Indigenous students who come to Corio from all around Australia. “It is really important for them to connect and get to see and know each other,” Sandra explained. Middle School students like Mahaliah have weekly AIME (Australian Indigenous Mentoring Experience) mentoring sessions with former AFL footballer Matt Stokes, and GGS and Northern Bay College will be partnering with the Polly Farmer Foundation in 2023 to augment academic tutoring. Mahaliah also has the experience of her family; uncles and cousins who have attended boarding school, including Geelong Grammar School’s very first

Keep On Turning

Indigenous scholarship student, Elijah Weston (Cu’11), Mahaliah’s cousin from Broken Hill who joined GGS in Year 7 in 2006.

The beginnings of the School’s Indigenous programme can be traced back to an Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA) conference in Perth in 2005. The School’s then Director of Planning, Jon Apted (Ge’67, Staff 1978-2011), was presenting a Graduate Diploma in Education Management (Boarding) course he had developed with the University of New England (UNE). Whilst at the AHISA conference, Jon met Joe Ross, a Bunuba man from Fitzroy Crossing. Joe had helped establish the Australian Indigenous Leadership Centre (AILC), which was delivering short courses and mentoring in leadership and business governance for Indigenous people, working with the likes of Lowitja O’Donoghue, Mick Dodson and Pat Turner. Joe spoke to Jon about Indigenous scholarships and introduced him to Waverley Stanley, a Birra Gubba man who had received a scholarship to attend Toowoomba Grammar School. Waverley was in the process of establishing Yalari (which means “child” in Birra Gubba language); a not-for-profit organisation to provide boarding school scholarships for Indigenous students from regional and remote communities.

Jon immediately saw the opportunity for GGS to play a vital role. “The School has always had enormous potential to support kids from different backgrounds,” Jon explained. GGS was subsequently selected as one of the first Education Provider schools for the Federal Government’s Indigenous Youth Leadership Programme (IYLP). Elijah was the first student, but within two years there were eight Indigenous scholarship students at GGS, including Elijah’s younger brother Sam Weston (Cu’13) and cousin Salasei McCarthy (EM’13). By the time Elijah graduated in 2011, there were 18 Indigenous students at GGS. The School had forged a strong partnership with Yalari as well as the remote community of Minyerri, south-east of Katherine in the Northern Territory, where a student Jon had taught at Newcomb High School, Neil Gibson, was Principal of the local primary school. “It did take a lot of energy and effort and emotion,” Jon said. “It took time to understand all the cultural differences – I was learning something new every day – but there were enormous benefits for all our students, not just the Indigenous ones. It’s a fantastic programme. It really is. It’s continuing to make a difference, which gives me a nice inner glow.”

When Jon retired in 2011, the School’s Vice Principal, Charlie Scudamore (Staff 1990-2020), continued to drive the growth of the Indigenous programme, which had garnered strong community support – an Indigenous scholarship funded entirely by GGS staff supported its first student in 2011, the Pope Family Indigenous Scholarship was established in 2014, the Helen Macpherson Smith Trust and ERM Power also contributed to the programme, and most recently the Warambat Scholarship (named after the Taungurung word for Mt Timbertop) was created. In total, more than 80 Indigenous scholarship students have or are still studying at GGS. The School’s first Reconciliation Action Plan (RAP) was launched in 2017 and updated in 2020, outlining our ongoing commitment to developing an inclusive learning environment that recognises and values Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people and their histories, cultures and contributions. “That Indigenous culture is a part of the fabric of who we are (as a school) is a tremendous thing,” Charlie said. The School will review and update the RAP in 2023, guided by past parent and Wotjobaluk woman Taryn Marks, utilising the Reconciliation Australia framework and the Narragunnawali platform for schools. “We know we’re on a journey,” Taryn said. “We won’t always get it right but we’re having a go.”

Marlley

From

little THINGS

Tahlia See (Yr12 Ga), Marlley McNamara (Yr12 Ga) and Cassie Peris (Yr12 Ga) started their GGS journey together in 2017, immediately forming a strong friendship. Tahlia and Marlley featured in the SBS documentary Off Country, filmed during 2020, and all three graduated together in 2022. “Geelong Grammar opens up the world to you, which is so much bigger than your small town,” Tahlia said. “It is important to see what the world has to offer.”