Light Blue - May 2014

ISSUE 92 MAY 2014

LEARNING TO FLOURISH As the School celebrates 100 years at Corio, we explore the pathways to flourishing

↓ SECTION 01 — INTRODUCTION

When the phrase ‘Learning to Flourish’ was adopted as ‘Our Focus’ (as part of the philosophy which explains and reinforces what we mean by ‘Exceptional Education’), it clearly had a dual focus.

Especially when spoken aloud, the emphasis can be placed on either word – ‘Learning’ or ‘Flourish’. Our School believes students are Learning to Flourish and that they are Learning to Flourish. As a focus it works well because, whatever else we are about, we are deeply committed to ensuring that each student learns a great deal and flourishes not only at School but throughout their lives.

Another dual focus seems to be at play for us this year as we look back with thanksgiving and forward with determination, energy and no little excitement. Our 100 years at Corio is being remembered with appropriate celebration, mixed with respect and thanks for what those in the past have made possible in the present. We are using these memories and events as a springboard to the future. Our Exceptional Futures comprehensive fundraising campaign is into its third year and is growing in momentum and impact, our Institute of Positive Education has been established, the School’s emphasis on creativity is growing in importance and there is a continuing commitment to the building of our capacity to fund and award scholarships.

Editor Brendan McAloon Design Claire Robson Photography Shaney Balcombe Bob Bickerton Tony Bretherton Andrew Catchlove Victoria Fangan-Hall Nick Sculley Ann Tyers (Fairley, He’68) Katie Rafferty (Spry, Ga’84) Drew Ryan Stephen Solomonson

This edition of Light Blue has an eye on the past but looks more to the future and I hope you will see in its pages evidence of Our Focus coming alive. Geelong Grammar School offers and continually strives to offer an Exceptional Education.

It can do so because, at our core, there is a respect for the past, a strong commitment to the future and, every day, we are ‘Learning to Flourish’.

Tony Bretherton Director Community Relations

Website www.ggs.vic.edu.au Email lightblue@ggs.vic.edu.au CRICOS 00143G

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↓ SECTION 01 — INTRODUCTION

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CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL

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FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

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BACK TO CORIO

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RESURRECTION AND HOPE

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HAWKER SCHOLARSHIP

18 - 19

LOVE OF LEARNING

Strategies to help you learn and retain information

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SPORT

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BOSTOCK HOUSE

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TOORAK CAMPUS

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MIDDLE SCHOOL

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TIMBERTOP

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SENIOR SCHOOL

Reflecting on a summer of sporting success in cricket and rowing

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EXCEPTIONAL FUTURES

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FOUNDATION NEWS

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PAST PARENTS’ NETWORK

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OGG PRESIDENT

Celebrating the lives of 100 exceptional past students who attended Corio between 1914 and 2014

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OGG NEWS

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OGG QLD

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OGG SPORT

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OGG GATHERINGS

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COGA

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HOGA

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FROM THE CURATOR

100 EXCEPTIONAL STORIES

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ON CREATIVITY

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INTO THE SKY

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POSITIVE EDUCATION

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HOUSE MUSIC

70 years after it began, House Music hit a high note in Term 1

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↓ SECTION 01 — INTRODUCTION

CHAIRMAN OF COUNCIL

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↓ SECTION 01 — INTRODUCTION

For the thousand or so of us who were able to make it to the Back to Corio centenary celebrations, we were greeted with a perfect day (typical Corio weather really) and a joyous occasion. It was a relaxed atmosphere as old boys and girls and their families came back to Corio and had tours of the School, visited the creativity exhibitions and joined together for Holy Communion in the Main Quadrangle and lunch in front of the Clock Tower. The previous evening the student body had gathered in the same place for a concert followed by spectacular fireworks with the Clock Tower as the centerpiece.

We were blessed by the contributions of many to such a successful day and I thank the organising committee for their fantastic work.

Many people remarked to me during the day how good the campus is looking and, with Manifold House sporting a new roof, Main Oval a new scoreboard, Cuthbertson House gleaming after its recent makeover and the ovals and gardens all in beautiful condition, I certainly agree. As the Centre for Creative Education (CCE) takes shape on the corner of School Road and Biddlecombe Avenue the campus will be even more enhanced and architecturally interesting. There has been significant investment in the buildings and grounds at Corio and I believe that those far-sighted people who planned, designed and funded the new campus at Corio over 100 years ago would be very pleased with how their vision has been realised.

But as much as the physical state of the School is in good shape, more important is how the School is using the facilities it is blessed with. I am constantly impressed with the thought that the staff put in to planning and designing the way our programmes are modified or enhanced to take advantage of improvements to the School. The CCE to some is a new assembly hall and performing arts centre, and it will be very good as such. But the School is exploring how this new facility can act as a catalyst for a more holistic approach to creativity across all that we do, not just in the predictable area of The Arts. Creativity is at the core of innovation and problem solving and our students will increasingly need these skills in the workplace and in life generally. I anticipate you will hear much more from the School in this area as plans develop.

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I was delighted to be present at Wesley College when the School’s 1st XI won its first APS Cricket Premiership in 24 years. It was a very tense afternoon of cricket culminating in a 45-minute wait for the result to come in from Caulfield Grammar’s match against Carey. Carey managed to hold Caulfield from winning outright by staging a dramatic last wicket stand of a dozen or so overs. Congratulations to our team, who were undefeated for the season. It was also wonderful to see the Girls 1st VIII win the APS Head of the River and follow that up with a second at the Nationals. These performances highlighted strong performances across the School, reflecting the benefits of greater efforts from all involved in sport at the School. Sport is an important part of school life and our objective is to be competitive. This is not easy given the School’s size and composition of our students relative to those schools we compete against. Overall, I think we get the balance right and students get to play at a level commensurate with their ability.

It was also wonderful to see our fabulous new Equestrian Centre in action when the School hosted a two-day carnival earlier in Term 1. There were some 29 schools and almost 150 students competing in dressage and show jumping. School Road was a hive of activity with lots of visitors and fellow students coming over to watch their friends compete.

The School continues to plan, design and fund facilities for the future. Amanda Burt and her Toorak Wellbeing Centre Fundraising Committee are working hard and making tremendous progress, having now moved beyond the half way mark of the $8M project. The Centre will be a welcome addition to the Toorak Campus, providing it with facilities commensurate with the Handbury Centre for Wellbeing at Corio. We all know how beneficial that has been to our community so I urge you to get behind Amanda’s team and help us raise the remaining funds so that our students can benefit from it as soon as possible.

Jeremy Kirkwood (FB’79) Chairman of Council

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↓ SECTION 01 — INTRODUCTION

FROM OUR PRINCIPAL

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Encouraging and helping students to make the most of who they are is the reason why so many people go into teaching in the first place. It is just such a rewarding feeling to be able to see students develop in front of your eyes and to know that you have played some small part in that development. You can see it most keenly in the classroom, in the House and in the co-curricular activities which staff take, whether it be Music or Football – and it is that daily interaction with students in all these three areas of classroom, House and activities which I miss most by being the Principal (although I am not sure that I would have much to contribute in my two examples of Music and Football! Luckily, in a school like this one, there are always other areas where one can play to one’s own strengths and contribute.). We are blessed to have so many staff on each of our campuses who have a passion about wanting to help students to flourish.

Yet our focus is ‘Learning to Flourish’ and the first aspect of that upon which I wish to concentrate is “Learning”, for a school’s first focus is upon learning in the academic sense – and I am delighted with the most recent snapshot of our academic progress. In the most recent edition of Light Blue we reported the fact that last year was another record breaking year for the School, with more students achieving an ATAR score of 75 and above than ever before, with 76.7% of the Class of 2013 achieving such a score. 80 students (or 38.8% of the year group) achieved an ATAR score of 90 and above, which were exceptional results.

Part of the reason for these successes is clear from the article by the Director of Learning, Debbie Clingeleffer-Woodford, who explains on pages 18 and 19 about how the best learning is hard work and fun. If you are immersed in something you enjoy, then not only will you be inclined to work harder and thus do better at it, but the whole process is also helping you to flourish.

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One of the great strengths of the School is that its focus has always been broader than the academic and thus so much of what we have always done has been about helping students to find their strengths and flourish. That has been most evident at Timbertop for the last 60 years and Roger Herbert, the Head of Timbertop, explains on pages 26 and 27 how the Outdoor Programme provides a practical medium for the application of the principles and concepts of Positive Education. While on pages 20 and 21 Daryl Moorfoot, Head of Bostock House, shows that flourishing can happen on all campuses with students of any age.

The exciting point, though, is that as a School we are not resting upon our laurels, but are looking for new ways for our students to learn to flourish. That has been most obvious with the introduction of Positive Education and Janis Coffey’s article on pages 16 and 17 indicates the pathways which we can all learn to follow, making it clear that small changes can have a profound impact on each of our lives. Janis is the Associate Director of the Institute of Positive Education and the Institute’s mission is not only to help our students and staff to flourish, but also to help other schools and communities to flourish through our training programmes and the development of new materials.

The Institute has made a strong, but quiet start in the first term of 2014 and is being launched officially and publicly this month as our staff deliver keynote presentations and workshops at the Positive Schools conferences in Sydney, Melbourne Brisbane and Perth, with audiences of up to 600 teachers.

However, the new, exciting ideas do not stop there for, as highlighted in the previous edition of Light Blue, we are now embarked on a further development which we are confident will play a major part in helping our students and staff to learn to flourish – the Centre for Creative Education. As Charlie Scudamore, Vice Principal, discusses on page 14, we are focused upon helping all of our students to learn how to harness the creativity which lies within them, in all aspects of school life. Developing these ideas is incredibly stimulating for all involved and it has been interesting to see the enthusiasm with which our ideas have been received as we have talked to people in different parts of the country.

We have been extraordinarily fortunate to have received some wonderful additional gits in recent weeks towards the Centre for Creative Education, so that our total now stands at $9.3m towards the target of $10m. It is difficult to express adequately our gratitude for such immense generosity. At the same time, the building of the Centre for Creative Education is continuing apace and we remain on schedule for completion in Term 1, 2015.

The Back to Corio weekend at the end of March was a wonderful event and to have over 1,000 people returning to the Campus was uplifting. The Chairman of Council, Jeremy Kirkwood, has written about it in his article on page 5, so I will not comment further except to say that I am very grateful for all the work that so many people undertook to make it such a great couple of days. I cannot name them all, but I do want to thank Charlie Scudamore, who chaired our Corio Centenary Committee and Cathie Vickers-Willis, who masterminded all of the operations.

This year’s other centenary is, of course, that for the outbreak of the First World War in 1914. We will be holding a special service in Term 3, close to August 4, which is generally recognised as the date of the start of the war. We did, however, hold our traditional ANZAC Day Service on April 25 and it was, as ever, a very fine and moving ceremony. This year we dedicated a new plaque in the cloisters to commemorate some additional names of those students and staff from the School who gave their lives in the service of their country whilst serving in the armed forces. Overall, there are 250 names commemorated in the ANZAC Day Service and they are a reminder of the debt which we owe to them and many like them, from across the country and the world. They made the ultimate sacrifice so that we can have a peaceful world, where their standards and values can continue unabated and where we are free to be able to grow and to flourish.

Stephen Meek Principal

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SECTION 01 — INTRODUCTION

When I get asked, as I do from time to time, what Positive Education is all about, my shorthand version is that it is about helping people to make the most of who they are. Another short way of expressing that is to say that it is about learning to flourish – and ‘Learning to Flourish’ is the theme of this edition of Light Blue, as that is ‘Our Focus’ within our Purpose document.

↓ SECTION 02 — 100 YEARS AT CORIO

BACK TO CORIO Hundreds of past students, parents and staff came ‘Back to Corio’ to celebrate the 100-year anniversary of the Corio Campus on March 29-30. The festivities, which were bookended by concerts showcasing the musical talents of past students, kicked off with a bang courtesy of a stunning fireworks display orchestrated by Bill Ronald (M’70) on Saturday 29 March. The Saturday night concert featuring the likes of The Tiger and Me (Jane Hendry (A’98)), Grey Ghost (Jeremy Koren (FB’02)), The Club (Fin Bradley (P’08)) and Client Liaison (Harvey Miller (Cu’08) and Monte Morgan (P’02)) was followed by an all-day gala event on Sunday 30 March which included an Easter Service in the Main Quad, Creativity at Corio art exhibition, Centennial Lunch, archive displays, heritage trail, old-fashioned games (including Eton

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Fives, croquet and skittles) and another star-studded concert featuring the likes of Rebecca Barnard (Cl’78), Tiffany Eckhardt (Fr’85) and Evan Xia (FB’13).

The Creativity at Corio art exhibition showcased work by past students in a broad range of creative pursuits, from painting and sculpture to architectural design and short film, and included artworks by iconic Australian painter Russell Drysdale (P’30), internationally renowned photographer David Moore (Cu’45) and HRH Prince Charles (T/Cu’66). A highlight of the Centennial Lunch was celebrating past student Pat Bell’s (P’33) 98th birthday, which coincided with Sunday’s 100-year anniversary celebrations.

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↓ SECTION 02 — 100 YEARS AT CORIO

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↓ SECTION 02 — 100 YEARS AT CORIO

RESURRECTION AND HOPE What does renewal and transformation feel like? What does resurrection and hope look like? Fresh from celebrating the risen Christ at Easter, along with the School’s 100 years at Corio, it could look and feel like many things.

Perhaps renewal and transformation feels like walking down that grand staircase in Cuthbertson House – the same as always, but different somehow; light and new. Perhaps it feels like the newly cut grass of the oval on bare feet in the celebration of a narrow victory for the team. Perhaps it feels like the crisp paper of a freshly printed assignment ready to hand in – one that you know is really good this time.

I wonder if resurrection and hope looks like the late afternoon sun shining through the Chapel windows, lighting up the faces of the saints and illuminating the names of our war dead. I wonder if it looks like the Clyde courtyard in spring when the new leaves come. I wonder if it looks like the face of a friend happily returning to school after a long absence.

Certainly, to feel and see renewal and transformation, resurrection and hope, we need to be looking in the right places.

It’s a bit like Indian Jesuit priest Anthony de Mello’s story about the oyster and the pearl; when an oyster retrieves a loose pearl from the crevice of a rock and places it on a leaf hoping that the pearl diver will simply take the pearl and leave the oyster alone. However, the pearl diver’s eyes were conditioned to look only for oysters and not for pearls, so he quickly grabbed up the oyster, which did not happen to contain a pearl, and allowed the real pearl to roll back into the crevice where its beauty could not be seen.

Similarly for us, the fact that we think we know exactly where to look can be the very reason we fail to find the things of God.

*This is an edited extract from Rev’d Eleanor O’Donnell’s sermon at the Centennial Easter Service on Sunday 30 March

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Jesus suddenly met them. The message from the resurrected Christ echoed that of the angel: “Do not be afraid… Go and tell… expect to see me alive”. These first instructions of the risen Christ enabled his disciples to look to the future with hope; indeed a future with hope in God is what Easter is all about.

I’m convinced that the resurrection hope we celebrate at Easter has genuinely informed our 100 years as a school here at Corio. It can’t be overlooked that the year the School moved was also the year in which the First World War began. That war, and the wars that followed, were built into the fabric of the School – in the Chapel and in the War Memorial Cloisters. All Saints Chapel is effectively a memorial chapel; just about every brick of it, certainly every window, every fitting, every vessel and cloth, each piece of ecclesiastical equipment, given in memory of a member of this school community.

Our chapel is a memorial, for sure, but it is one full of hope. It is not a place of the dead, but the living. It looks and feels like renewal and transformation, like hope and resurrection. It is a place where consolation can be found; it is a place that points to God with joy, with thanks, and with hope for the future grounded in the resurrected Christ.

Something like one of Johnny Harts’ Hagar the Horrible cartoon strips, where a character kneels to pray. The character says to God: “It’s not easy to believe in you, God. We never see you. How come you never show yourself? How do we even know you exist?”

At this point a flower springs to life next to him and a volcano erupts in the distance. An eclipse of the sun turns the blue sky black and a star shoots across the stratosphere. Lightning cracks, a bush begins to burn, a stone rolls away from the entrance to a tomb. The character pulls himself from the mud, dripping wet, surrounded by darkness, as stars die light years away. “OK, OK,” the character mumbles. “I give up. Every time I bring up the subject, all we get is interruptions.”

Whether the interruptions are great or small, the question is always whether we are prepared to look in the right places for the things of God and whether we are able to recognise them when we see them. What will take this School into the future, into the next 100 years at least, is having a feeling for renewal and transformation and an eye for resurrection hope. We have to remember what we have, in the grace of God, been given.

We must see it, notice it, and take it forward with us – like a warrior with the pearl that guides his future and his hope. The Chinese Zen Master, Huang Po asked us this: “Suppose that a warrior forgot that he was already wearing his pearl on his forehead, and sought for it somewhere else; he might search through the whole world without finding it. But if someone simply pointed it out to him, the warrior would immediately realise that the pearl has been there all the time.”

In the warrior’s tradition, the presence of the pearl is what guarantees future victory. We, too, have what we need for a good future with hope. We have that pearl of great price – the gospel of the risen Christ – built in to our School in brick and mortar and in the life we share here and now. Indeed, as the French writer Victor Hugo reminded us over 100 years ago: “The word which God has written on the brow of every person is hope”. May we see that word, and live that word – in our own lives and in the life of this School – at Easter time, and at every time.

The Reverend Eleanor O’Donnell Senior Chaplain

It strikes me that, because of its grounding in the Christian story, especially the heart of it which is the Easter message of resurrection, this School over the last 100 years has never denied nor intentionally neglected the soul, that part of each of us that gives shelter to the feathered bird of hope described so beautifully by American poet Emily Dickinson that “sings the tunes without the words – and never stops at all”. And it is hope that gives us a future, so long as we continue to look in the right places.

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SECTION 02 — 100 YEARS AT CORIO

In the Easter gospel reading from Matthew, two women called Mary made their way to the tomb looking for Jesus after the crucifixion – looking for his dead body. The message from the angel was, effectively, you are looking in the wrong place. The angel said: “Do not be afraid; I know you are looking for Jesus who was crucified. He is not here; for he has been raised, as he said.” When the two Marys left the place of the dead and turned back toward the living,

↓ SECTION 02 — 100 YEARS AT CORIO

KEDAR AWARDED HAWKER SCHOLARSHIP Kedar Abhyankar (M’12) was awarded the prestigious Charles Hawker Scholarship by Australia’s chief scientist Professor Ian Chubb at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra on Friday 11 April. Kedar completed his International Baccalaureate (IB) Diploma at GGS in 2012 and is studying a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) at ANU. He was one of four students from across Australia to receive a 2014 Hawker Scholarship, which is valued at $60,000 over four years and the most prestigious privately funded undergraduate scholarship in Australia.

“Chemistry is how we can feed the world through fertilisers, treat and cure disease through countless drugs, and create structurally sound materials to build everything from bridges to aircraft,” Kedar said. “Through developing agriculturally useful products and medicines it has improved our quality of life and reduced mortality. I believe that chemistry can provide solutions to many of today’s issues, including reducing climate change and human impact on the environment, developing cures for diseases such as cancer, HIV and drug-resistant infectious diseases, as well as reducing our energy requirements.”

The 19-year-old from Darwin attended Geelong Grammar School from Year 10 on the Nicholas Webb Scholarship, which was established by Susie Webb (Harrison, Cl’68) in memory of her son Nick (M’99) in 2000. Born in New Delhi, Kedar applied for the scholarship to attend GGS without the knowledge of his parents, who were initially reluctant to allow their 14-year-old son to move to the opposite end of Australia to attend secondary school. Kedar arrived at Corio with his parent’s blessing in 2010, where he revelled in the intellectual challenges of debating and philosophy, and discovered a passion for chemistry. He began conducting small research “experiments” in the Chemistry Lab at GGS under the guidance of Peter Skinner, Rob England and Debbie Clingeleffer-Woodford, and firmly believes that chemistry has the potential to transform the world.

Kedar will continue to explore the field at ANU’s Research School of Chemistry with the assistance of a Hawker Scholarship, which commemorates the achievements of one of Australia’s most respected pastoral pioneers, who attended Geelong Grammar School from 1905-1913. Charles Hawker also served with distinction in the First World War and went on to become a distinguished scholar and leading figure in the Federal Parliament prior to his tragic and untimely death in an aircraft accident in 1938. “The Charles Hawker Scholarship is one of the most important in Australia,” family member and former Speaker of the House of Representatives, David Hawker (M’67), said.

“Charles Hawker was a great Australian who offered his best through his commitment to his country, countrymen and women, and democracy; these are values that I hope the scholars today take with them into their studies.”

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↓ SECTION 02 — 100 YEARS AT CORIO

100 EXCEPTIONAL STORIES The School’s 100 Exceptional Stories multi-media project attracted more than 10,000 page views within three weeks of its online release at the end of Term 1. As part of the 100-year anniversary of the School’s Corio Campus, 100 Exceptional Stories celebrates the lives of 100 exceptional past students who attended Corio between 1914 and 2014. Groups of four video interviews will be released each school term in the lead-up to the launch of the 100 Exceptional Stories book, which will be published by Hardie Grant Books in October.

The first release featured interviews with singer/songwriter Missy Higgins (Cl’01), mountaineer Tim Macartney-Snape (M’73), novelist Peter Carey (FB’60) and bomber pilot Cecil ‘Boz’ Parsons (M’36), whilst 2013 Dux of the School, Danielle Davidovits (He’13), narrated a short introductory clip.

The 100 Exceptional Stories book will profile 100 eclectic and interesting people who have achieved in an incredibly diverse range of fields, from cabinet minister James Fairbairn (M’14), who was killed in the 1940 Canberra Air Disaster,

to leg amputee skier Cam Rahles-Rahbula (FB’02), who was the Australian flagbearer at the 2014 Sochi Winter Paralympics.

The profiles have been written by a team of accomplished Old Geelong Grammarian writers, including historians Andrew Lemon (FB’66), Vicki Steggall (Mendelson, P’74) and Jo Hook (Rattray, Ga’85), academic Matthew Ricketson (M’75), novelist Anson Cameron (M’78), poet Jamie Grant (M’67) and journalists Jim Darby (A’74), Charlie Happell (P’79), Andrew Dodd (T’80) and Rachel Baxendale (Cl’04).

Visit www.ggs.vic.edu.au/100exceptionalstories

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↓ SECTION 03 — LEARNING TO FLOURISH

ON CREATIVITY The Exceptional Futures fundraising campaign went “on the road” during the month of March. Members of the Geelong Grammar School community were invited to ‘A Conversation on Creativity and Positive Education’ between Vice Principal, Charlie Scudamore, and award-winning documentary film maker, Ian Darling (P’79), in Adelaide, Sydney, Melbourne and Corio. The Principal, Stephen Meek, outlined the School’s Exceptional Futures campaign, articulating its focus on scholarships, the Toorak Wellbeing Centre, Positive Education and the Centre for Creative Education (CCE).

This was followed by a ‘conversation’ between myself and Ian, who has been the Chair of the Centre for Creative Education Fundraising Committee and a driving force behind the campaign.

As part of my expanded role as Vice Principal, I have been given the task of exploring ways to implement creativity into the curriculum. Having spent the past eight years immersed in Positive Psychology/Education, it was not surprising that some of the ‘conversations’ focused on the development, organisation and implementation of Positive Education.

This made sense to me because creative and innovative thinking fits beautifully into the domain of Positive Engagement and creativity is found in the other domains of the GGS Positive Education Model.

Ian Darling’s questions and responses gave the audience a greater understanding of why the School was making a concerted effort to integrate creative and innovative thinking into explicit and implicit teaching across all campuses. The questions asked were diverse, challenging and interesting.

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The actual CCE will act as a symbol for this focus on creativity, just as the Handbury Centre for Wellbeing acted as a catalyst for student wellbeing. Just as the old Senior School Gym could not provide the infrastructure to support the growing needs of the community, the Bracebridge Wilson Theatre can no longer hold the whole of Senior School in assemblies and the theatre is tired and in need of development.

The CCE building will provide magnificent spaces for all students, but of equal significance will be the desire to place creative and innovative thinking at the core of every child’s education. To assist with this the School will employ a Creative Research Consultant, put together a ‘Think Tank’ and harness the energy and expertise of the talented and creative educators currently employed on all our campuses. It is envisaged that all staff will be trained in creative and innovative thinking and all students will be explicitly taught these tools.

Societal change is occurring at such a rapid pace, throwing up several challenges for individuals, groups and whole communities. Education needs to equip those who will face these challenges with a strong sense of wellbeing and the capacity to negotiate these changes.

It is the School’s belief that creative and innovative thinking skills should be seen as an essential component of a child’s education. The challenge is certainly on. There are many myths and misconceptions about creativity and creative thinking. These need to be challenged. There is also a need to give all students the skills and knowledge to deal with the rapidly changing environments they will encounter in the future.

Charlie Scudamore Vice Principal

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↓ SECTION 03 — LEARNING TO FLOURISH

INTO THE SKY The Centre for Creative Education (CCE) is rising skyward on the corner of School Road and Biddlecombe Avenue.

Fundraising is also growing, with our community contributing a remarkable $9.3 million towards the $20.4 million facility – leaving a further $700,000 to be raised by the Geelong Grammar Foundation.

Follow the progress of the building of the CCE on the Foundation page of the School’s website: www.ggs.vic.edu.au/ Foundation LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

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↓ SECTION 03 — LEARNING TO FLOURISH

SMALL CHANGE IS VALUABLE I believe it was my great grandmother who coined the phrase, “Look after your pennies, and the dollars will look after themselves”. Her advice was simple, yet poignant. It also reflected the perseverance and will of a woman who lived through two world wars and the Great Depression in the 1930s.

Her wisdom still speaks to me and well beyond the context of finances. It sings out the noble truth that it is the small changes we make that can create a big difference in our lives. It is the small change that is truly valuable.

While many of us have heard the term ‘flourishing’ before it remains, for many of us, an unattainable state, a place too far out of reach. It can feel as ethereal enlightenment or as idealistic as winning the lottery. How on earth do we actually get there? But if we focus on small changes, if we focus on creating simple habits in our lives, suddenly the pathway towards flourishing might not be as long or as inaccessible as we think.

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Focusing on nurturing relationships, finding more opportunities to experience flow, and using our strengths are all pathways to flourishing. Likewise, if we reflect and prioritise our daily activities to be in alignment with what we identify as our purpose in life, we can also find a pathway towards flourishing. The GGS Model of Positive Education establishes a number of avenues we can take to get to the ‘thriving’ end of the wellbeing continuum. What is important for us to keep in mind is that we can build that pathway one stone at a time. If we focus on just one small change, we might find that it will have a significant impact on our psychological and physiological wellbeing.

Opposite are just a few ideas for the small changes you could make. But don’t underestimate that they might just have a profound impact on your life and the lives of others around you. After all, it is the small change that will matter in the end.

Janis Coffey Associate Director Institute of Positive Education

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↓ SECTION 03 — LEARNING TO FLOURISH

SMALL CHANGE #1

Be just a little bit kinder.

Make a choice to do one act of kindness for the week. Dr Ryan Niemiec recommends spotting acts of kindness in movies and trying to imitate them in real life.

SMALL CHANGE #2

Add a little love to your life.

Barbara Frederickson talks about micro-moments of connection with others in her book, Love 2.0. Take time to listen, share and connect with a colleague or a friend and soak up the same physiological effects that you get when you experience love.

SMALL CHANGE #3

Make one change in your workplace.

Dr Tim Sharp discusses how thinking creatively about small changes in the workplace will have a dynamic impact on staff wellbeing, engagement and productivity. Consider something that might boost positive emotions or introduce five minutes of meditation at midday.

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↓ SECTION 03 — LEARNING TO FLOURISH

LOVE OF LEARNING

research shows significant improvement in retention when new knowledge is reviewed after short, medium and long-term periods

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NO MAGIC BULLET

“Learning is fun,” according to Daryl Moorfoot, Head of Bostock House. In my visits to both Bostock House and Toorak Campus in Term 1, I could see the fun and the joy experienced by students as they were engaged in their learning. At the same time, I was also able to see the rigour behind each task that had been orchestrated by the teacher and the steps taken by individual students in their learning process.

Not only do we need to build new neural connections, we also have to break some old neural pathways, particularly when there are misconceptions or old beliefs that are not correct or study habits that are ineffective. Change takes time, repetition and persistence. However, the learning process can still be fun and we experience positive emotions when completing a good piece of work, finishing a test when we have prepared well or crossing the finish line at the end of a race. During the learning process, achieving a balance of effort and positive emotion leads to flourishing.

Learning is fun but I think learning is also hard work because we are literally increasing our brain’s connections and this takes effort. What is the difference as we get older? The cognitive load on our brain increases as the level of complexity increases. However, it is often more than that. The curiosity when we are young is more powerful than any inhibitions or fear of failure. Young children tend to have the persistence to try things and to keep trying them until they ‘get it’.

This persistence is essential when we are learning to walk because this is usually accompanied by some spectacular falls.

Imagine if we had given up when we first fell over? Fortunately, we all persisted, albeit learning to walk at different rates.

Each person learns at an appropriate individual pace. As we get older, we can become frustrated if we do not seem to progress at the same rate as others and at times we may be tempted to give up.

We often fall into habits that may not be as conducive to our learning. Our fear of failure grows and this can inhibit our learning. It is important to be patient and to avoid perfectionism whilst encouraging people of all ages that learning from their mistakes is an essential part of the learning process.

Every student can choose to learn and to develop the strategies required to learn in their specific situation. There is no ‘magic bullet’; consistent hard work, targeted at the appropriate tasks, is the key to success. Effective and efficient work habits take time to develop but we all need them as we get older. Here are a few specific strategies when learning something new: - Be open to learning – have high expectations - Listen attentively and observe – be curious - Take user-friendly notes – be creative so that notes are meaningful when read later - Revise more than once – research shows significant improvement in retention when new knowledge is reviewed after short, medium and long-term periods (after 10 minutes, that evening, a few days later, etc.)

- Read the textbook – both beforehand to prime your brain so that you are prepared for learning and again later, to add depth to your understanding

- Ask questions to consolidate and refine new knowledge: ask a teacher or a peer to clarify new concepts (Note: the internet may be of little help when we are confused by a new concept because searches will be impacted by any misconceptions we have) - Take advantage of extra assistance offered by teachers - Practise teaching or explaining a new concept to someone else

EMBRACE CHANGE

Learning a new skill requires deliberate practice, using proven strategies and by learning from our mistakes. AmericanIsraeli author Tal Ben-Shahar says we “learn to fail or fail to learn”. We all need to look at change as an opportunity to learn.

This change could be through travel, when we go to a different country, or when we start a new topic, a new subject, or start classes with a new teacher.

Any change offers us the opportunity to learn something new or to learn in a different way and to hone our work practices. A recent staff professional development session focusing on aspects of neuroscience was presented by David Bott, Head of Positive Education, and Janis Coffey, Associate Director of the Institute of Positive Education. Staff were reminded that ‘every conversation we have changes our brain’. In this way, every learning experience allows us to develop the strategies we need to improve our learning. So we should embrace change, welcoming the opportunity to learn differently and to embrace the challenge.

Debbie Clingeleffer-Woodford Director of Learning

- Practise a skill and, if possible, break it down into smaller skills – repetition is critical: ask any musician or sportsperson

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SECTION 03 — LEARNING TO FLOURISH

LEARNING IS FUN AND HARD WORK

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THE SIX Fs OF FLOURISHING There are many definitions of what it is to be flourishing. At Bostock House our simplest definition of flourishing is good mental health in the same way we might describe someone as being in good physical health. As a society we seem to spend a good deal of time talking about physical health and improving our fitness. However, we often do not seem as concerned about improving the fitness and health of our minds.

This is despite the fact that our mental health is just as important, if not more important, for our overall wellbeing. Our state of mental health affects every facet of our lives.

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At Bostock House we endeavour to create an environment in which each and every individual can flourish. It is a happy campus but flourishing is more than just about being happy and it is not just about one’s self. It is knowing about one’s strengths and the strengths of others, enjoying life, having a sense of purpose and being optimistic about one’s future and what one has to offer the world and others. It is about relationships at home and at school and being immersed in learning and one’s community. It is about contributing to something larger than one’s self and coping with problems when they arise.

Our Year 4 students explored the six Fs that contribute to flourishing at Bostock House. Each member of the class then set to work to write about a time when they felt they were truly flourishing.

Daryl Moorfoot Head of Bostock House

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FUN

FITNESS

When I was in Prep, I did not have many friends. When I came to Geelong Grammar School, I met heaps of nice friends straight away. So I thought, this year I will be confident to talk to new people and be a friend of new people.

Jenny

Once I was playing a new game and I didn’t understand the rules. I practised and practised and I finally got it. The game was downball, which is so much fun to play. Paige

I came third when swimming for Geelong Grammar School. I was really happy because I was swimming against 12-yearolds. Ailish

FEELINGS

FEATS

FLOW

People don’t hurt your feelings when you spell a word wrong so I feel that I am able to learn my spelling. Angus

I auditioned for the Music Award and became a Music Scholar. I was really proud of myself because I had practised a lot.

Charlie

When I am in Art and I am colouring in a picture of an animal I feel really in flow and I do not want to stop. Isabel

I felt really happy when my cello teacher said that I could do exams at the end of this year. I was so excited because it is my first year doing cello. Arabella In my parent/teacher interview something surprised me. Mr Groves said: “Sammy, you have been going extremely well, the only thing is, sometimes you work too hard. You need to take some time out too. Besides that you are a great student.” I felt super happy that day.

Sammy

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I am proud of myself today because I got my pen licence. I had to work really hard on my writing. I was so excited. Tommy I was trying with my maths. I tried and tried and tried. I thought that I was going to fail but I got it right. I felt proud. Amy

When I read Diary of a Wimpy Kid my eyes get totally stuck on it and I do not want to stop reading. Suri When I am in Art I do not want to stop painting. Tom

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FRIENDS

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UNIQUE LEARNING

“I saw all the different parts of the brain and they were all amazing and incredible. I could see both the hemispheres. I loved it, surprisingly. It links to our Unit of Inquiry because we are learning about the brain and how it controls us.”

– Cleo Anastasios

“I was interested to see the membrane around the brain.”

– Lachlan Gance

“What I found interesting was that the blood vessels were black because the brain had been preserved in chemicals.”

– Ayrton Stockdale

During our Unit of Inquiry, All Kinds of Minds, Year 3 students have been studying how we learn and reflecting on their own individual learning styles and strengths.

This unit has incorporated collaborative efforts between classroom teachers and specialist Physical Education, Science, Music and Art teachers. The central idea for the unit is that ‘unique learning styles can strengthen our understanding and development’ and the children have loved gaining a deeper insight into themselves and the conditions and ways in which they learn best.

During the unit they have analysed different learning preferences (with reference to Howard Gardner’s theory of multiple intelligences) and each student has completed a Neethling Brain Instrument (NBI) Thinking Preference questionnaire. This questionnaire is based on scientific research and considered one of the most reliable tools for measuring thinking preferences. Each member of the class received a descriptive and objective analysis of their individual thinking choices. These investigations provoked rich discussion within the classroom which has ultimately led to a deeper appreciation and respect for the diversity of learning styles and preferences amongst the children.

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Central to our unit is the investigation of the brain’s anatomy, function and its ability to think and to learn. To extend their understanding, Year 3 completed a dissection of a sheep’s brain to consolidate their understanding of the anatomy and physiology of the brain.

Therese Graham instructed the students during the dissection and the children showed extreme maturity when it came to be their turn to dissect. The dissection was not an easy task and it was impressive to see members of the class become risk takers whilst showing courage, respect and forethought.

It was wonderful to see how knowledgeable the children were in identifying the various parts of the brain and how they could connect similarities between the sheep’s brain and a human brain. The natural curiosity and the high level of questioning that arose from the dissection was sophisticated and exemplified how engaged the children were in their inquiry.

Jacqui Moses and Georgie Karamaloudis Year 3 Teachers

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“I was interested in the colour of the brain because I thought the brain was going to be much darker. It was also quite hard.”

– Skye Calvert-Jones

“When I opened the brain, I saw the spinal cord and the cerebellum. The veins were very squishy and the spinal cord was like a slippery slide.”

“I was interested to see the white and grey matter, the blood vessels, spinal cord and the frontal lobe.”

– Hugh O’Brien

– Jasper Kirkwood

MINDFUL MEDITATION Through the innovative teaching of Positive Education at our Toorak Campus, the children in our Early Learning Centre (ELC) are learning to use Positive Psychology strategies and tools in their everyday life which enable them to have a calmer and more confident approach towards their learning. Over the past few years, Janet Etty-Leal, author of Meditation Capsules: A Mindfulness Program for Children, has spent time with children in our ELC helping them to experience mindful meditation. Janet has pioneered mindfulness in Australian schools and has delivered and developed programmes with GGS for almost a decade.

The children learn about the meaning of mindfulness, different styles of meditation and the importance of meditating in everyday life. Janet’s practices link with the Unit of Inquiry, Me and the Community, where the four-year-old group inquires about themselves and the connection they have with their community. The passionate and dedicated staff in our ELC also incorporate the strategies of mindfulness into their everyday teaching by encouraging the children to positively train their thinking, to concentrate and focus, to explore who they are and how they feel, and to flourish in their learning.

Simone Carter Director of ELC, Toorak Campus

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FINDING MEANING Through the study of Positive Psychology we understand that happiness alone does not give life meaning. Research indicates that if an individual is flourishing they are more likely to develop abilities, establish and maintain stronger relationships and to contribute meaningfully to a community.

As parents and educators we could want for little else for our children, our students. The following reflections from Middle School students illustrate the notion of flourishing enabling wellbeing.

Tony Inkster Head of Middle School

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I recently travelled to Canberra to perform a special dance ceremony with my family from the East Alligator River in memory of my great uncle Bill Neidjie (Kakadu Man). Bill Neidjie was one of the traditional owners of Kakadu National Park and the last surviving speaker of the Gaagudju language. We danced wearing our traditional clothes and body paint made from ochre (gapan). We danced the Lorrkkon, which is a re-enactment of the final part of his funeral. The dance was filmed for a documentary for the National Film and Sound Archive.

Bill Neidjie wanted us to keep his story going by documenting this ceremony after our family had put his bones up in a place called Hawk Dreaming. The dance was to teach people our story and philosophy about land and country. The documentary also included such things as language, songs, dance, ceremony and knowledge of our land; teaching me and generations to come about the people of Kakadu and to help us educate people of the world about our culture. It was a truly amazing experience.

Marcus Paterson (Yr 8 Bb)

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I have recently received a scholarship from the Barwon Sports Academy (BSA). The BSA caters for many different sports.

They take young athletes and nurture ability. I joined the BSA for swimming and it has been great for not only growing my skills, but also increasing my knowledge. My eyes are set on the Olympic Games trials in 2016 and the BSA will help me focus on this goal. As I move through my school life at GGS, I hope to transfer the skills I learn through the Academy, such as work ethic and commitment, and use these to help me grow my academic achievements. I am now a national level swimmer and GGS has encouraged me throughout to reach my full potential.

Nyah Furnari (Yr7 Hi)

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LEARNING IN THE OUTDOORS At Timbertop the Outdoor and the Positive Education programmes work closely together to provide the opportunity for students to flourish. These are not the only two elements which help students grow, but the Outdoor Programme provides the practical medium for the principles and concepts of Positive Education to be applied.

In Positive Education classes a resiliency skills-based programme is taught. In the Outdoor Programme these skills are practised.

For example, the need to Actively Constructively Respond (ACR) to other students who you are not friendly with and you are placed in a hike group together becomes a vital skill. How to increase your level of self-awareness in order to understand how you respond emotionally and behaviourally in particular situations has real importance. How to display higher levels of self-regulation and self-control than normal when situations are testing, like when certain foods are running short on the second day of a four-day hike, is also important.

Another skill is the ability to detect ‘icebergs’ in others and oneself so that major conflict issues don’t have to be resolved on the summit of Mt McDonald. How do you reunite a group who are emotionally divided so they can continue their adventure harmoniously? The development and identification of personal ‘thinking traps’ which constantly cause harm is a great skill that needs to be known and practised regularly. Being able to acknowledge and express gratitude to a friend in your hike group who has erected your tent or cooked a delicious meal in the wind and the rain is valuable, as is being able to look eastward from the Crosscut Saw and truly appreciate the beauty of the Terrible Hollow. It is also important for students to learn to work together by waiting for the slower team members when they start lagging behind. All these concepts are taught during the explicit Positive Education programme and practised in the outdoors.

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The Outdoor Programme has a strong focus on hiking, intentionally. Hiking is a very simple activity that requires putting one foot in front of the other. It is an activity that everyone can do. It requires very little skill but it is an activity that calls on social, emotional and cognitive qualities to do successfully.

In Outdoor Education classes expectations and procedures as well as theory are taught. For example, navigation becomes very important, with significant consequences when a hike group loses focus and heads up the wrong spur. In the outdoors, students need to understand what a resection is and know how to do one properly and also recognise such things as an implied knoll or a false summit on a map. What is the best way to pack a pack? What is wrong with all your items hanging on the outside of your pack? The hiking programme also improves fitness and teaches the ability to keep on going in difficult situations, obviously imperative in increasing one’s resiliency.

The Outdoor Programme provides the opportunity for students to practise the Positive Education concepts learned in class.

Once these skills are learned and practised in a variety of situations they can then be called on anytime, anywhere, allowing students to flourish in their life.

Roger Herbert Head of Timbertop

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FROM THE HEART When I have a good day – perhaps I teach a class very well – I feel satisfied.

I can’t say for sure that I am flourishing, but I do feel a sense of achievement.

When I go for a run I feel satisfaction and when I spend quality time with my family and friends, I feel love and contentment. It has taken me years to know the combination of elements and how much each aspect of my life allows me to flourish. However, throughout my life I have learned to flourish and suspect I will spend the rest of my life defining and perhaps refining the right balance for me. What I believe Geelong Grammar School can do is to teach students how to flourish at an earlier age, encouraging each student to begin his or her journey of refinement.

In a recent Values and Ethics class I asked Year 10 students what it means to be intelligent. We talked about multiple intelligences and Howard Gardiner’s view that there are a number of different intelligences, not just the one. I reflected with students on the intelligences that I have seen as an educator over the years including spatial, logical, musical, linguistic, interpersonal, intrapersonal and kinaesthetic. One of the questions asked then was: “Do schools make students more intelligent or do schools just impart information?” However, perhaps a better question to ask would have been: “In the context of the education of the whole person, how do students learn

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to flourish?” Learning to flourish would increase intelligence certainly but, surely it would achieve so much more.

At our School we place a lot of value on our assemblies. When I was a boy, school assemblies consisted mostly of the principal and other senior managers reading out rules, sporting results and, occasionally, presenting awards.

Assemblies today are a very different affair indeed. As I observed in a recent Senior School newsletter, I see assemblies as an integral part of our School, as something that helps drive the culture and initiate possible changes within our community. There is little doubt that if the parents of our students could be a ‘fly on the wall’ during our assemblies, they would be even more proud of the School that their sons and daughters attend.

During those assemblies, I watch as each student steps up to the microphone and – literally – flourishes. They articulate to the student body their views on the world, whether they are about a charity or current affair or some aspect of themselves. We listen not only to the student leaders, but to any student who has something to say. In short, all are welcome. This was the case in the most recent assembly when a boy, perhaps uncertain of how to articulate his message in words, used dance as the vehicle for communication. This, to me, is the sign of a very healthy school.

On an earlier occasion, where the theme of the assembly had been set as ‘courage’, a speech was prepared

by Licia Yeo (Yr12 EM). Upon reading Licia’s speech (opposite), I am sure you will agree that this is a powerful statement from a young woman who so clearly understands what it means to be courageous. I understand that this was the first time she had ever spoken to the School community at assembly.

Considering Licia’s courage, I can’t think of a better example of a student learning to flourish and, yet, students speak from their hearts so frequently in our assemblies.

I firmly believe that our School offers so many ways for students to explore their own special form of ‘intelligence’ and, in doing so, understand their strengths.

The style of assemblies we offer here is just one way of allowing students to discover and develop a true sense of who they are and how they can contribute to our community. For me, then, the real measure of our School as an educational institution can be seen not only in the ways in which our students really flourish while learning here but continue to do so when they leave us to enjoy a wonderful, flourishing life.

Dean Dell’Oro Head of Corio

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AN ACT OF COURAGE Good morning Senior School. Like most of you, for me, standing up here, speaking in front of everyone is terrifying, but since today’s theme is courage, I took this opportunity to do something courageous.

So, put yourself in my shoes; right now my hands are shaking, my heart is racing and my body is telling me to scream and run. But, what is courage? Courage is not the absence of fear, but is the presence of fear and the will to go on.

Until recently, courage is a word that I would have linked to something like sky diving or protesting, but last week I found out that a family friend has been diagnosed with leukemia and has to go through three years of chemotherapy.

He is only six years old. This to me is the ultimate act of courage. This may sound a little extreme, but courage doesn’t have to be something big, it can be as simple as introducing yourself, swapping seats, sending the first message or leading by example. These little things that happen to everyone, every day are sometimes the most important.

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These things link to starting something new but I want to focus on the part of courage that is required to let something go. Five weeks into Year 12 has already made me realise that pushing the pause button or potentially the emergency stop can be scary. Breaking the routine or making a change is not as simple as it seems. How many of you will walk into your next class after this assembly and sit in the same seat, next to the same person that you did yesterday and the day before. We tend to get stuck in this routine, never changing, always keeping within the boundaries where safety and comfort are guaranteed. I’m encouraging you to change this; challenge the norm and don’t stick to the status quo. Every day we all see something that we think should or could be changed, and we see it again the next day and the next week.

So why not do something about it; start something new and have the courage to make a change. But the way I see it, to have courage, you must be encouraged; therefore for the rest of this week, term, year, I encourage you to do something courageous.

So, why is this important to you? Well, as Gandhi said, “be the change you wish to see in the world”. For the Year 10s and 11s, maybe you want to let go of those old habits and start afresh. For Year 12s, maybe you want to let go of the anxiety and stress about what lies ahead of us.

For everyone, most importantly, let go of judgment. Have the courage to not only stand up for yourself but for others; “say what you want to say and let the words fall out honestly”. And finally, for those of you who are Game of Thrones enthusiasts, the real question is, “can a man still be brave if he is afraid?”

Licia Yeo (Yr12 EM) *This is an edited extract of a speech Licia delivered at Senior School Assembly in Term 1

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HOUSE MUSIC If you have ever experienced being a part of a team competing for one big trophy, you will know the amount of determination, team work and effort that is put into making it reality. Times that by ten and you’ve got Geelong Grammar School’s House Music competition. This annual sound sensation sees each of the Senior School boarding and day houses present three carefully selected songs to all Senior School students, staff and two external adjudicators.

Now I’m not sure about you, but having the nerve to jump up on stage, especially in front of your peers, is never an easy thing to do. I am still personally in awe of every single performance on stage at the Geelong Performing Arts Centre (GPAC) on the afternoon of Wednesday 5 March.

The standard this year was unbelievably high and there was never a dull moment throughout the afternoon. From Perry’s choral rendition of Adele’s gospel/blues cross-over hit ‘Rolling in the Deep’ to the three amazing original compositions of Harrison Tanti (Yr12 P), Pru Illingworth (Yr12 A) and Katie ClingelefferWoodford (Yr11 Fr), and the Manifold ensemble’s version of power ballad ‘Don’t Stop Believing’ – the afternoon covered a vast range of musical ability and talent; something that is brilliant as a community to see and share.

The grand trophy this year was won by Garnett House, with their choral rendition of Bob Marley’s ‘One Love’, an ensemble performance of Roberta Flack’s ‘Killing Me Softly’ and Zoe Yang’s (Yr12 Ga) beautiful violin solo of Monti’s ‘Csárdás’.

In addition to the overall House prize, Garnett also won the choir category, Billie Hook (Yr12 Ga) took out the award for best conductor and Zoe won the solo category. Pru Illingworth won best original composition and The Hermitage won the ensemble category with their rendition of Delta Rae’s ‘Bottom of the River’. My personal congratulations to each and every one that contributed to the atmosphere of this year’s House Music.

It was a very special thing to be a part of and, as my last one, something that I will remember forever.

Bridget Sharp (Yr12 He)

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SPORT A SEASON TO CHERISH

After 17 years as Teacher-In-Charge (TIC) of Cricket, it had come to this – sitting alone in the front cab of his work ute, nervously watching the shadows of the St Kilda Road skyline creep across Wesley College’s HJ Kroger Front Turf.

A comprehensive first innings win against Wesley had completed a brilliant undefeated season for the School’s 1st XI, but it had not been enough to secure a long-awaited APS premiership. A few suburbs away, Caulfield Grammar was on the verge of routing Carey, which had slumped to 8/43 with 20 overs remaining.

An outright win by Caulfield would see them leapfrog GGS and steal the title.

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As the overs ticked by and Carey resolutely held on against all odds, the team huddled around coach Damian Shanahan’s iPhone inside the Wesley change rooms listening to a ball-by-ball account from former Test cricketer Matthew Elliott (whose son was playing for Carey), parents and supporters stood in small groups of jangled nerves on the edge of the oval, whilst David ‘Omo’ Oman (P’66) sat alone in his ute. “I couldn’t bear it,” Omo admits, as Carey’s final two batsmen dug in for 105 balls to deny Caulfield a famous victory. “I just needed some space and I knew I would hear a roar if we won and I knew I would be emotional either way.” Sure enough, the change rooms “exploded” signifying the School’s first APS Cricket premiership since 1990 and Omo was reduced to “blubbering like a baby”.

The final fixture of the season included a brilliant batting display from Jam Sheahan (Yr11 P), who scored 96 runs from 114 balls, and a devastating all-round performance from 1st XI skipper Dylan Hodge (Yr12 P), who claimed 4/42 before crashing his way to 69 from 35 balls in the second innings. Dylan and Jam were ably supported throughout the season by a fantastic team, which included vice-captain Nick Dixon (Yr12 A), Hugo Bienvenu (Yr11 A), Darcy Cordell (Yr12 P), Baker Denneman (Yr11 M), Ed Keach (Yr12 M), Charlie Mann (Yr12 FB) Charles McCartin (Yr10 Fr), Dylan McMahon (Yr12 Fr), Hayden McMahon (Yr12 Fr), Kristian Nicholas (Yr12 M), William Noall (Yr11 FB), George Osti (Yr12 P) and James Treweeke (Yr12 P).

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EXCEPTIONAL ACHIEVEMENTS

Having finished runner-up in three consecutive APS Head of the River finals, the girls’ 1st VIII were able to shed their bridesmaid tag in emphatic fashion, winning this year’s race by more than three lengths. The crew of Morgan Salt (Yr12 Ga, bow), Phoebe Chirnside (Yr12 Ga), Amy Graves (Yr12 Cl), Kirstie Green (Yr11 A), Lucy Moore (Yr12 Cl), Bridgette Hardy (Yr11 Cl), Lotti Spence-Fletcher (Yr12 He), Xenia Brookes (Yr11 Cl, stroke) and Erin Strong (Yr12 Ga, cox) then travelled to Sydney for the Australian Rowing Championships, winning the silver medal in both the Under-19 and Schoolgirls’ divisions, with Pru Illingworth (Yr12 A) replacing Amy Graves in the number three seat for the Schoolgirls’ final. A boys’ coxed four also competed in Sydney, replicating

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the feats of the 2013 GGS crew by winning the Australian Under-19 title. The crew included James Cameron (Yr12 FB, bow), Sam Finckh (Yr12 Cu), Rob Liddle (Yr12 P), Edward Gubbins (Yr12 Cu, stroke) and Annabel Richardson (Yr12 Cl, cox).

The girls’ 1st Tennis team recorded its best result in many years by finishing the APS season in third place, as did the girls’ 1st Badminton team. Tayla Honey (Yr11 Ga) was selected in the Australian Under-17 Netball Team. Sam Reiser (Yr12 FB) was selected to represent Australia at the IAAF World Junior Athletic Championships in July. Nick Dixon (Yr12 A) was appointed co-captain of the Geelong Falcons Under-18 TAC Cup team, while Paddy McCartin (Yr12 Fr) top scored with three goals in Vic Country’s 15-point win against Vic Metro in the opening game of the AFL Under-18 Championships.

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↓ SECTION 04 — FOUNDATION

For some time now the barometer on the site of the new Centre for Creative Education has indicated donations of over $7 million and the words alongside have proclaimed ‘Exceptional Progress’. Now, with wonderful support from members of our community, the barometer indicates that our community has donated $9.3 million.

This is exceptional and outstanding! My personal thanks goes to all those who have contributed so far. We now have $700,000 still to raise for this exciting project. Please do consider joining in now, if you have not already done so. This exciting new facility will transform the School for the benefit of our students and teachers. I encourage you to be part of making it happen by contacting our Executive Director, Tony Bretherton.

There is good news elsewhere. The Toorak Wellbeing Centre Committee now has over half of the funds secured for this project. The Fundraising Committee is working very hard to gain more support for a wonderful facility that will ensure that wellbeing is at the heart of what we provide for our children at Toorak Campus. Several new scholarship projects are being actively developed and we remain very keen to establish new scholarships as well as enhancing those we have.

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The Scholarships Fundraising Committee led by John Simson (Cu’73) is steadily seeking out those who want to financially assist with scholarships.

Soon you will hear more about the Institute of Positive Education and the fundraising programme that will enhance its work. This project is an important element of our Exceptional Futures comprehensive fundraising campaign.

We are undertaking this campaign over a five-year period (and we are in the third year now) to strengthen the School for the next chapter of its life. It is not a Foundation campaign or a staff campaign or a School Council campaign. It is our campaign, all of us together, and we are working to ask everyone – just once – for support for one of our projects, whichever one is best for you. We have much still to do and we welcome your interest, encouragement and involvement. Our progress to date is exceptional. Thank you.

Bill Ranken (M’72) Chairman, Geelong Grammar Foundation

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CENTRE FOR CREATIVE EDUCATION Ian Darling (P’79) continues to lead the fundraising campaign for the Centre for Creative Education and the building is now beginning to take shape on the corner of Biddlecombe Avenue and School Road. There is a further $700,000 required to meet the fundraising target of $10M. It would be wonderful to hear from people who want to be amongst the members of our community making this special building possible. While some people are looking forward to the new building, others look forward to further exploring the importance of creativity within the School – and to discovering how the building will enhance and stimulate creativity. For more information please contact the Foundation’s Executive Director, Tony Bretherton: tbretherton@ggs.vic.edu.au

TOORAK WELLBEING CENTRE Fundraising for the Toorak Wellbeing Centre continues and the Committee led by Dr Amanda Burt is working well to engage with all of the current parents at Toorak Campus. The focus is also moving to grandparents, Old Geelong Grammarians and past parents.

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A number of separate advisory groups have been set up to help engage with these groups. The Committee is now holding smaller targeted events, like the lunch that was held at Man Tong Kitchen at Southbank towards the end of Term 1, which was very well attended.

With over half the funding secured, the challenge is now to help more members of our community grasp the vision of how this new facility will enhance the lives of our Toorak Campus students. For more information please contact Victoria Fangen-Hall: vfangenhall@ggs.vic.edu.au

SCHOLARSHIPS It was exciting to hear that former Nicholas Webb Scholarship recipient, Kedar Abhyankar (M’12), was awarded the prestigious Charles Hawker Scholarship by Australia’s chief scientist Professor Ian Chubb at the Australian National University (ANU) in Canberra last month. Kedar’s journey from New Delhi via Darwin to the ANU, where he is studying a Bachelor of Science (Advanced) with a particular interest in chemistry, underlines the power of scholarships. More than 20% of current students receive some level of financial support and scholarships are a wonderful way to enable students from diverse backgrounds the opportunity to experience a Geelong Grammar School education. Our scholarship fundraising is being led by John Simson (Cu’73) and there is exciting progress to be announced in due course. For more information please contact Sue Felton: sfelton@ggs.vic.edu.au

INSTITUTE OF POSITIVE EDUCATION The School officially launched the Institute of Positive Education in the lead-up to Geelong Grammar School staff delivering keynote presentations and workshops at the Positive Schools conferences in Sydney, Melbourne Brisbane and Perth in May-June. The Institute’s mission is not only to help our community to flourish, but to also help other schools and communities to flourish through our training programmes and the development of new teaching materials.

It has been very important to refine the focus of the Institute before more widely seeking funds to support its key goals.

We look forward to sharing our plans for this fundraising project, led by Paddy Handbury (M’72), in our next edition of Light Blue. For more information please contact Frances Loughrey: floughrey@ ggs.vic.edu.au

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↓ SECTION 04 — FOUNDATION

FOUNDATION

BIDDLECOMBE SOCIETY

It is exciting to report that this year, 13 people have indicated that they are preparing their will to include the School as a beneficiary. This is wonderful because it is an indicator that people care about the School and its long-term future. Neil Robertson (FB’72), Chair of the Biddlecombe Society, says that “of course we must give proper attention to family and friends, but increasingly our community is recognising that a contribution to the School by way of their long-term financial planning is a really powerful way of helping to educate some of the young people who will provide future leadership in Australia and beyond”. For more information please contact Rebecca Howard: rhoward@ggs.vic.edu.au

FOUNDATION NEWS

In March, Principal Stephen Meek spoke at events in Adelaide and Sydney, launching the Exceptional Futures comprehensive fundraising campaign in South Australia and New South Wales. “It is wonderful to see the School looking forward, planning and building for the future with energy and vision while at the same time having an eye on the past and giving thanks for the journey so far,” he said. “The students now and the students yet to come are the reason we raise funds and invest in our School – because our investments now help to make possible their exceptional futures.” Further such events will follow in Australia and beyond.

ANNUAL GIVING

This year’s Annual Giving mailing has gone to our wider community, focussing in fundraising for scholarships, libraries and the renovation of our Timbertop Units.

However, if you are an Old Geelong Grammarian under 35 years of age you will not have received a brochure in the mail. This is because we are coming to you by email and on Facebook later this year. You are not forgotten – but we suspect you may prefer the annual opportunity to support the School via a digital medium. Of course if you would like a brochure mailed to you, please contact Rebecca Howard: rhoward@ggs.vic.edu.au

SUPPORT FOR SAILING

Sailing is a great sport and our sailors are doing wonderfully well with great coaching and mentoring – now with the help of a new rescue boat. Seen afloat on Family Day, this new boat enables the coaches to get out amongst the action and coach even more effectively.

We thank the anonymous benefactor who provided the funding through the resurgent Brazier Club, which held an awards dinner on Saturday 3 May with guest speaker, Olympic gold medallist Elise Rechichi, arranged with the very kind assistance of John Calvert-Jones.

TELE CAMPAIGN

The telephone campaign over summer proved to be a lot of fun for all of us. It was literally a whole group of friends working together, strategizing the best ways to hold a conversation and sharing amusing stories from our respective calls. It was pretty surreal, from my perspective at least, to be able to speak with OGGs who had been through the same school as me and yet had such different experiences. We were speaking to alumni who had finished school over 40 years ago! Needless to say, we all left the campaign with some interesting stories.

Our campaign leaders were really wonderful in helping us get started with the calling. I remember the two training days we had prior to the campaign where we were helped by Sandie and Tom extensively and given guidance on how to connect with someone over the phone. There was a lot of role-play involved on these training days and it was something we all had a lot of fun with.

That being said, when our first real phone call came along, the nerves definitely settled in. It was pretty daunting to think that all of a sudden you were going to be launched into a phone call with someone you had never met.

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These nerves quickly faded as all of us encountered OGGs who were more than willing to share their experiences with us.

Furthermore, OGGs who wanted to hear about our time at school as well. Something I was particularly interested in hearing about was whether or not alumni had been able to keep in touch with each other since leaving school. Inevitably, some had lost complete contact with their school friends. However there were many OGGs who had remained lifelong friends and still got together regularly.

Overall, I think this experience benefited all of us and provided an insight into the impact GGS has left on so many people. It is the honest truth that many people don’t have the best time at school but having done this campaign, all of us were able to speak with OGGs who had the most wonderful time and who shared memories with us that they continue to cherish.

Danielle Davidovits (He’13)

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PAST PARENTS’ NETWORK

More than 90 past parents attended the first Past Parents’ Network (PPN) event of 2014, hosted by Shadda and Andrew Abercrombie in Toorak on Friday 2 May. Past parents were treated to fine food and wine but, most importantly, parents from different geographical locations and year levels met, shared memories and reflected upon their experiences at various GGS campuses. PPN gives past parents the opportunity for friendships to continue, links to be maintained with each other and with the wider GGS community.

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“After many years of being a GGS parent, through Glamorgan, Timbertop and Corio, there was a strong sense of ‘ending’ once my son finished Year 12,” Sally Kincaid explained. “No more Saturdays freezing on the touchline of the rugby pitch, sizzling sausages in the rain; no more long Saturdays standing on the banks of the Barwon, wetter than the rowers themselves; no more name tapes, and a blessed break from driving up and down the Geelong Road.

For a moment this all sounded really rather good. But there was also a sense of loss – a loss of this unique community of parents who came together from across the world to join in supporting our children.

Whilst we all maintain some of the friendships made, many inevitably get lost through distance and time. The PPN has proven to be a great way to maintain these links and to maintain links with the wider school community. It is also a great way for the School to stay connected with us.”

Markela Sargent-Peck was appointed Chair of the Past Parents’ Network last September. For more information about the PPN please contact Markela: markela@tpg.com.au

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↓ SECTION 05 — ALUMNI

OGG PRESIDENT

At the recent ‘Back to Corio’ event we celebrated 100 years at the Corio campus. That event marked this significant milestone but also remembered the brave decision the School Council made in 1911 to move from a safe and secure site in central Geelong to a then very bare and bleak expanse of farming land on the foreshore of Corio Bay at the eastern edge of the small settlement of what was then called Cowies Creek. If only those members of the Council could now see the strong, vibrant and flourishing community with a worldwide reputation that exists today – a community that their succeeding generations have and will enjoy.

Light Blue Generations: A History of the Old Geelong Grammarians was also launched at ‘Back To Corio’ and has been widely complimented by many OGG and non-OGG readers.

During the research for the book, many stories were uncovered that recorded the altruism, generosity and creativity of the community that surrounds and supports our School. At times, the GGS community faced challenges, but these challenges were answered and support groups formed to provide the sustenance required, whether it be to provide funding for the School in the 1850s, to lay the foundations at Corio, including the building of our wonderful Chapel, to assist OGG families recover from bushfire events, or to host overseas students during term breaks and holidays – these are just a few of the many examples of flourishing that are the foundation of our esprit de corps.

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Another event that has occurred recently was the unveiling of a new memorial plaque for our War Memorial Cloisters on ANZAC Day. This plaque has a dual role; firstly, to remember the three OGGs who gave their lives post-World War II and secondly, to remember those 15 OGGs who were not recorded on the existing memorial plaques, including two from the 1899-1902 South Africa campaign.

The Cloisters were donated by the OGGs initially to remember those lost during World War I and serve to remind us all of those who died so we could flourish – manifest in George Lambert’s bronze group, which is symbolic of “the triumph of youthful heroism over evil”.

Looking through the names of those who attended ‘Back to Corio’ or sent their apologies, there were names that resonate through the history of the School, including descendants of the 1911 School Council members. This generational commitment shows a strong belief in and commitment to our flourishing School and OGG community.

Peter Chomley (Ge’63) President, Old Geelong Grammarians

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OGG NEWS

DIARY DATES OGG UK BRANCH DINNER – LONDON

Thursday 26 June 2014 OGG NSW BRANCH DRINKS – SYDNEY

Thursday 25 September 2014 PRINCIPAL’S COCKTAIL RECEPTION – LOS ANGELES

Tuesday 30 September 2014

TIMBERTOP MORNING

Old Geelong Grammarians have an opportunity to re-visit Timbertop on Sunday 5 October. Head of Timbertop, Roger Herbert, will be hosting morning tea in the Dining Hall at 10.00am, followed by guided tours of the campus until 12.30pm.

Given the very nature of Timbertop, the School is unable to welcome visitors during term time, so have set aside the last Sunday morning of the Term 3 school holidays for OGGs to visit the campus. Bookings are essential: online at www.ggs.vic.edu. au/oggevents or by contacting Katie Rafferty in the OGG Office on 03 5273 9338.

Please note: This is not a morning for prospective and current students to visit. Prospective families need to book a Tour Day through the Admissions Department at Geelong Grammar School on 03 5273 9307 or email: admissions@ggs.vic.edu.au.

PRINCIPAL’S COCKTAIL RECEPTION – NEW YORK

Thursday 2 October 2014 1974 TIMBERTOP 40 YEAR REUNION

Saturday 4 October 2014 TIMBERTOP MORNING

Sunday 5 October 2014 OGG ACT BRANCH FUNCTION – CANBERRA

Friday 10 October 2014 1984 30 YEAR REUNION

Saturday 11 October 2014 1961 TIMBERTOP GROUP – 50 YEAR CORIO REUNION

Saturday 25 October 2014 2004 10 YEAR REUNION

Saturday 25 October 2014 OGG SA BRANCH DINNER – ADELAIDE

Friday 31 October 2014 TOWER LUNCHEON

Saturday 8 November 2014

HISTORY OF THE OGG

Light Blue Generations: A History of The Old Geelong Grammarians was launched as part of the School’s Back to Corio celebrations on Sunday 30 March. Author Jim Darby (A’74) signed copies of this wonderful, painstakingly researched publication, which is illustrated with previously unpublished photographs of the history of the OGG Association (1900-2013).

The book weaves the history of the OGGs with that of the School, tracing the development of the School and the role of the OGG Association within that development. It also depicts the activities of the Association and contains many photographs of OGGs at OGG events. To secure your copy of Light Blue Generations, please contact the Geelong Grammar School shop on 03 5273 9329 or email: uniformshop@ggs.vic.edu.au.

RRP $85.00 plus postage.

LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

MOTORING EVENT

Saturday 8 November 2014 1974 40 YEAR REUNION

Saturday 15 November 2014 OGG TASMANIA BRANCH FUNCTION

Saturday 22 November 2014 1965 TIMBERTOP 50 YEAR REUNION

Weekend of 28/29 March 2015 For enquiries about any of the above events contact Katie Rafferty, Alumni Manager on +61 3 5273 9338 or email: katier@ggs.vic.edu.au

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↓ SECTION 05 — ALUMNI 1

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QLD OGG BRANCH FUNCTION 5

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The Queensland Branch of the Old Geelong Grammarians hosted a Cocktail Party in Brisbane on Friday 28 February. Queensland OGGs were joined by current and past parents to hear the Principal, Stephen Meek, speak about the School. Special thanks to the President of the Queensland Branch, Douglas Campbell (P’76), who is both an OGG and a current parent, for organising the event.

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7 1 2 3 4 5 6 7

Kate Larsson (Moss, Je’76) and Philip Larsson Barry Plant, Karen Plant and Ayleisha Plant (Cl’09) Bronte Larsson (Ga’12), Aleyshia Plant (Cl’09) and Byron Frost (Cu’05) Peter Dunn, Luisa Dunn and Douglas Campbell (P’76) David McKenzie (P’70) and Ben Macdonald (Cu’51) Shirley Brann, Claire Bartlam and Paul Whomsley (Ge’59) Annette Devilee (Cl’78), David Whish, Gregory Gillett and Kerry Gillett

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OGG SPORT

OGG V OGC GOLF DAY

A near record field of 125 players contested the 29th annual Old Geelong Grammarians vs Old Geelong Collegians Golf Day at Barwon Heads Golf Club on Friday 7 March. Honours on the day went to the Old Geelong Grammarians, with a win in the teams’ event. The individual OGG winner was Jimmy Legoe (M’97) with +4, while Tim Bingley (P’61) and Alistair Gleeson (Cu’62) won the pairs with a score of +9. Special thanks to Simon Reed (P’76), Sandy Hutton (OGC) and Jemma Bakos for organising the day and ensuring that next year’s event (scheduled for Friday 6 March at Barwon Heads) will again be very popular.

OGG SKI LODGE

CRICKETERS CLAIM FIRST PREMIERSHIP

Old Geelong Cricket Club has won its first premiership, with its 1st XI coming from fourth place to dominate the Division 1 finals of the MCC Club XI competition, including a thrilling grand final win against Old Xavier. In only its fifth season, Old Geelong qualified for its maiden grand final by defeating last year’s premiers, Melbourne High School Old Boys, by 13 runs in the semi-finals. It then dismissed Old Xavier for 151 runs in the grand final, with Meyrick Buchanan (FB’11) claiming 2/23.

After slumping to 7/75, Henry Weddell (60 not out) provided stability in the middle, enabling the tail order of skipper Jimmy Ratcliffe and Cam Russell to wag, with Old Geelong overhauling Xavs’ total with two balls to spare. “In nearly 30 years of playing cricket, this was one of the greatest wins I have ever seen,” Cricket Club President and 2nd XI Captain, Roly Imhoff (Cu’95), declared. “It will be an inspiration for players in seasons to come.”

After hosting several of the GGS Snowsports team in 2013, the OGG Ski Lodge is hoping to make an even greater contribution to this year’s Victorian Interschools Snowsports Competition, which will be held at Mt Buller in the last week of August. All OGGs are welcome to visit the lodge during the upcoming snow season – the joining fee has been temporarily waived for OGGs. For enquiries contact prez@oggslodge.com.au or visit the website at www.oggslodge.com.au.

FRANK COVILL ROWING CLUB

The Frank Covill Rowing Club has continued its social rowing programme in 2014, enjoying idyllic conditions on the Barwon River. The club welcomes rowers of all standards and would particularly like to hear from any younger OGGs who have left the School in the last 20 years. For further information please contact Club President, Rob Heath (A’76), on 0418 335 170 or email fccrower@gmail.com.

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↓ SECTION 05 — ALUMNI

50 YEAR TIMBERTOP REUNION 1

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3

4

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‘Fame Fleeting, Says John – But It’s Great While It Lasts.’ This 1964 headline from The Age captured John Lennon’s sentiments on arriving in Australia to perform with The Beatles. “At this point it won’t last another year,” he said. On the same front page another headline declared: ‘Nelson Mandela Found Guilty’.

Revisiting news stories such as this at our 1964 Timbertop reunion made us concede, more than anything else, that 50 years has been a long time – but some things endure, evolve, reconcile and even make the world a better place. Over a fine, sunny autumnal weekend in early April, the years fell away as a large group returned from around Australia to the Timbertop of their youth.

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It’s sobering to reflect that an experiment just 11 years old when we went there in ‘64 now rests firmly on a tradition of more than 60 years. After a BBQ lunch, many in the group took the chance to climb Mt Timbertop, and all managed to return.

That evening’s dinner gave us a chance to remember contemporaries and staff who have died in the intervening years. We started the meal with ‘Stumpy Potter’s Grace’. We toasted absent friends and shared messages of apology, several quite moving. And we talked. Douglas Ball (M’65) had unearthed a fine collection of his Timbertop photographs which ended the dinner and brought 1964 and its world back to life.

That was the year of The House of the Rising Sun by The Animals, A Hard Day’s Night (The Beatles, of course) and the Rolling Stones first number one hit, It’s All Over Now. Andrew Lemon (FB’66)

1 Jill Winny and David Manton (P’67), Chris (P’66) and Heather Howell, Rod (M’67) and Bambi Hanson, David Hawker (M’67), Chris (M’67) and Catherine Burchett 2 David O’Byrne (P’67), Tony Nathan (P’67), Andrew Lemon (FB’66), Douglas Ball (M’65), Peter Godfrey (M’67), Antony Baillieu (M’67) and Jo Laycock (P’66) 3 David O’Byrne (P’67), Rob (P’67) and Suzy Watt, Jeff Thompson (M’67) and David Bagnall (I Unit’66) 4 George Mills (M’66) and Jock Jeffries (M’66) 5 Tony (FB’66) and Beni Hannam LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

↓ SECTION 05 — ALUMNI

20 YEAR REUNION

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6 1 Paul Allen (P’94), Christopher Povey (P’94) and Rupert Sherwood (FB’94) 2 Nick Armstrong (FB’94), Chloe O’Loan (Thomas, Fr’94), Hamish Cole (M’94) and Edward Bostock (M’94) 3 Sam Strong (P’94), Malcolm Reid (Cu’94) and Peter Lovett (FB’94) 4 Jonathan Goh (M’94) and Ben Apted (A’94) 5 Skye Landy (Cl’94) and Atsuko Taylor (Wilson, Ga’94) 6 Abi Tabone (Cardell, Fr’94) and Georgie Foster (Neville, Ga’94) 7 Hamils Cole (M’94), Pip Jankowski (Ainsworth, Fr’94), Penny Whitehead (Agar, A’94) and Charles Mills (M’94)

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Around 100 of the Class of 1994 attended a 20 year reunion at the Prahran Hotel on Saturday 12 April. Organisers Hamish Cole, Penny Whitehead (Agar) and Hamish Cameron did a wonderful job bringing the year group back together for a most memorable afternoon and evening.

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↓ SECTION 05 — ALUMNI

CLYDE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION

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OLD GIRLS’ DAY

Former Women’s Weekly and New Idea editor Susan Duncan (Cl’68) will be guest speaker at this year’s AGM and Old Girls’ Day lunch on Sunday 19 October. Susan’s stellar 25-year career spanned radio, newspaper and magazine journalism, before writing her best-selling memoir Salvation Creek in 2007. Further details regarding venue will be in the August issue of Light Blue, with invitations to be posted out with The Cluthan in September.

DAME ELISABETH’S TREE

DIARY DATES ANNUAL CLYDE JUMBLE SALE

Thursday 26 June enquiries Jane Loughnan (Weatherly) tel 03 5264 1628 or 0417 535 862 FUN CUP GOLF, PENINSULA GOLF CLUB

Monday 13 October enquiries Anna Tucker (Kimpton) email anna@chepstow83.com tel 0408 540 252 COGA AGM & OLD GIRLS’ DAY

Sunday 19 October enquiries Margie Gillett (Cordner) email gillett22@bigpond.com

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CLYDE JUMBLE SALE

The annual Clyde Jumble Sale will be held at St John’s Church Hall, Toorak, on Thursday 26 June (9am set up and sorting, 10am-12noon sale). Stalls include books, bric-a-brac, linen, toys, jewellery, clothing, decorative art and a produce stall for jams, chutneys, biscuits, cakes, plants and herbs.

All donations and helpers very welcome.

Donated goods can be left at the Church Hall the evening before (back doors will be open 4-8pm) or on Thursday morning from 8am. Lou Robinson (McMillan, Cl’58) will accept goods ahead of the sale at 19 Turner Street, Malvern. Please call 03 9571 6230 to arrange a delivery time. All proceeds from the jumble sale are donated to the Isabel Henderson Kindergarten in North Fitzroy. Unsold goods are donated to the Prahran Mission opportunity shops.

A plaque commemorating Dame Elisabeth’s lifelong service to the Clyde community has been installed beside her sycamore tree near the entrance to Clyde House at Geelong Grammar School (pictured top). COGA is grateful for the assistance provided by the Clyde House Parents’ Association and Josephine Tito in the Community Relations Office.

THE CLUTHAN

Editor Julia Ponder (Cl’69) is collating material for the centenary edition of The Cluthan, which was first published in 1914.

Julia would be grateful for more Old Girls’ news, photos, reunion announcements, archival material or obituaries. Please email: coganews@gmail.com.

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HERMITAGE OLD GIRLS’ ASSOCIATION 1 Kathy Richardson née Annois, Andrea Hogan née Donald, Margaret Pearson née Freedman, Robin Ratcliffe née Dolman and Jan McLean née Kelly 2 Karen White and Jenny Schmidt née McRae 3 Joanne Coulson née Mockridge, Louise Watach née Armytage, Jill Hill née Schmidt, Margaret Pearson née Freedman and Sue McFarlane née Waterhouse At the Christmas Morning Coffee were: 4 Barbara Smith and Sue Callahan 5 Jill Byrne and Wendy Potter 6 Ros Leigh and Priscilla Laird 7 Brenda Venters and Lorraine Gready 2 8 Irma Macauley and Val Anderson

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CHRISTMAS MORNING TEA

THE LIFE OF SUE MACKINNON

60 Old Girls celebrated Christmas with parents and grandparents of Bostock House students at a lovely morning tea at 4 All Saints Hall in Newtown last December, which featured beautiful homemade festive food and plenty of cups of tea and coffee. Once again, the Bostock Choir gave a rendition of wonderful Christmas music under the guidance of Lisa PetersRoose. Their repertoire included some of the music and carols which were to be performed at the Christmas Pageant later in the week. Deidre Griffiths (He’68) was able to present Lisa with a cheque towards the music programme at Bostock.

Ducks on the Pond: The Chosen Life of Sue MacKinnon will be published at the end of May. A journalist, writer and editor involved in the establishment of the Melbourne Times and Greenhouse Publications, Sue (He’59) also established award-winning winery Passing Clouds with her partner Graeme Leith at Kingower, near Bendigo. She died in 2009 after a long battle with muscular dystrophy. For information about the book please email hermitagegirls@gmail.com or contact Ann Tyers on 0448 504 055.

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OLD GIRLS’ DAY

Professor Anne Kelso (He’71) will be guest speaker at Hermitage Old Girls’ Day on Saturday 6 September. Anne is the Director of the World Health Organisation (WHO) Collaborating Centre for Reference and Research on Influenza.

She also holds a professorial appointment at the University of Melbourne researching on immunity to influenza viruses.

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↓ SECTION 06 — CURATOR

FROM THE CURATOR

by MICHAEL COLLINS PERSSE

In their book The Public Schools and the Great War (Pen and Sword, 2013) (“public” in the sense of independent rather than government schools), Anthony Seldon (Master of Wellington College since 2006) and David Walsh (a former master at Tonbridge School) in general support the words of Montague Rendall (Headmaster of Winchester College 1911-24) at the dedication in 1924 of Winchester’s beautiful War Memorial Cloister (designed

by Sir Herbert Baker) that it “translated into stone” the idea that “Public Schools carry on as a direct inheritance, in peace or war, the traditions of Christian chivalry”.

They include Ireland and the Dominions in their study, and make the point that, while Eton College (a huge school) was the only one whose 1914-18 deaths exceeded a thousand (1,157 Etonians died – a larger number than the entire school at the time), it and Geelong Grammar School lost exactly the same proportion (20.5%) of those who had served. In fact, owing to the recent discovery of two further names of Old Geelong Grammarians who died on active service in the Great War (names included with similar recent discoveries from World War Two, as reported in our last issue, together with those of Old Boys killed in four other conflicts of the 20th century and of masters who died in both world wars, on a fresh plaque, dedicated at our Anzac Day service this year, in our own War Memorial Cloisters), the GGS

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proportion of deaths is very slightly higher – but a figure not untypical of the great Public Schools of Britain and its Empire, with officers – the more likely to be killed – predominating among those who enlisted.

2014 – a century on from the declaration of war on 4 August 1914 when German troops had invaded Belgium – is preeminently a year for reflection and mingled sorrow and gratitude for our nation (and other nations), even as at GGS it is one for thanksgiving as we remember the bold venture that transferred the School from its third (long) site during its more than 58 years in Geelong to “the Promised Land” (a bare plain) at Corio, where it reopened on 10 February 1914, and where the Foundation Stone of the Chapel of All Saints was laid by Mrs Franc Sadleir Falkiner, mother of the five donors (all OGGs), on 3 April 1914. Our Principal expressed such gratitude during his speech at lunch on the “Back to Corio” day, 30 March 2014; and it is a strong theme in the excellent book launched then by the President of the OGGA, Light Blue Generations: A History of The Old Geelong Grammarians (Third Millennium, Sydney, 2014), by Jim Darby (A’74). An essential preliminary to the decision to move was a new Constitution for the School which resulted in the presence on the School Council of Old Geelong Grammarians.

Between 1906 and 1910 no less than eight

OGGs were elected: William Thomson Manifold (OS 1873-79; Council 190922, Chairman 1911-22), the Honourable Donald Mackinnon (OS 1871-76; Council 1909-32, Chairman 1922-32), Edward Arthur (Ned) Austin (OS 1889-95; Council 1906-40, honorary Secretary passim 1907-40), Herbert Arthur Austin (OS 1872-78; Council 1908-46), Henry Percival Douglass (OS 1869-76; Council 190927), John Percy Chirnside CMG, OBE (OS 1875-82; Council 1909-25), the Very (later the Right) Reverend Dr Reginald Stephen (OS 1870-78; Council 1910-14), and Alfred Gilbert White (OS 1883-85; Council 1908-46). All eight had been influenced and inspired at the Old School

by John Bracebridge Wilson (Staff 185860, Head Master 1863-95) and James Lister Cuthbertson (Classical Master 1875-96). Their membership gave to the governing of the School a burst of energy, much needed after long and faithful but increasingly tired service by Trustees and Councillors some of whom had helped govern it for more than 30, even 40, years.

The middle-aged were succeeding the elderly. Tragically, their own successors were to be depleted by war of many of the best, as again was the following generation: but the survivors proved equal to the challenges of new times. So may we. The 250 names in our Cloisters call us all to both remembrance and ongoing service.

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↓ 1942 – the month in which Singapore fell to the Japanese – he was posted to HMAS Canberra, which in August that year was sunk during a surprise nocturnal attack by eight Japanese battleships.

Late in his life David wrote a detailed and highly technical account of why the attack was unexpected (a human factor in a complex situation having been exhaustion from intense activity and long periods of sleeplessness among the crew). Like others who were saved, he felt lingering agony for the loss of many lives and a great ship. A succession of shore postings followed, and for a short time he served in the United States Navy.

He was an Airways Engineer for the Naval Electronics laboratory in Sydney from 1947, Chief Airways Engineer from 195255, and from 1955-58 Director of Airways Engineering. In 1951 he married Ruth Crane, with whom he had a daughter and a son. From 1958, except for a brief return to Australia in 1963, he lived in North America, for some four years as the Australian representative on the Council of the International Civil Aviation Organisation at Montreal. From 1963 he worked in the computer-development division of the Collins Radio Company, based in Dallas, Texas, which was deeply involved in the Mercury, Gemini, and Apollo space missions – and a pioneer in message handling and switching. In 1969 Collins was acquired by the Rockwell International Corporation, for whose South American region David became director of marketing until his retirement in 1979, only to be rehired for a project that proved abortive but then to serve US Telephone (USTEL) as a consultant and later vice-president of a company called Telecommunications that had been acquired by USTEL in 1983, until a second retirement in 1987, after which he lived in California and later Arizona.

Peter Morris (M’44), who died on 9 October 2013, was Pastoral Manager for Vestey’s Australia, controlling eight cattle stations (including Wave Hill) in the Northern Territory, seven in Western Australia (including Gordon Downs), and seven in Queensland – totalling 32,000 square miles and, when seasons were good, carrying 360,000 cattle. Born on 20 July 1926 to Noel and Ida (or Molly) Morris, he boarded at GGS from 1940-44, becoming a School Prefect. Captain of Cricket (with the top batting average in

1944 of 19.86 and the second-top bowling average of 13,00), a Corporal in the Air Training Corps, and a prominent footballer, boxer, and gymnast. He left school in May 1944 to train with the RAAF as a navigator, although – much to his chagrin – the war ended before he could use his training; it stood him in good stead, however, in later years. Jackarooing in New Zealand and Australia (particularly at Bontharambo, near Wangaratta) helped develop a good eye for livestock.

After working for Borthwick’s, he joined Vestey’s in 1951, and in that year married the first of his four wives, Peggy Hyett; Miranda was born to them in 1953, Nigel in 1955. During his Vestey’s management (1956-68) he flew himself around the 22 properties in a Beechcraft Baron, clocking up more than 3,000 flying hours. In the 1970s he travelled extensively overseas for King Ranch Management Services, encouraging Americans to invest in Australia and conducting feasibility studies for rural properties in various countries, damming schemes in New Zealand, and meat exports to the Philippines. He and Peggy were divorced in 1965, and after a brief marriage to Diana von Kohorn – mother of Baron Steven von Kohorn (M’74) – he married Viben Lenau and, in 1979, Jane Byron Moore with whom, as she began an affectionate and amusing eulogy by saying, he “first argued” in 1975. When she was reacquainted with him at Woodlands Stud in the Hunter Valley in 1977 after she had flown up to be interviewed for a position as Secretary at the Stud, she could not open her suitcase and jokingly said, “Let’s shoot off the lock” – which Peter obligingly did (though to the detriment of her leather jacket inside). Later they bought a property near Scone, where Peter was President of the Muswellbrook Racing Club and a Councillor with the Scone Shire Council as well as helping Robert Holmes à Court as pastoral adviser. In 1997 they moved back to Victoria, to South Gippsland. He loved golf, achieving a handicap of 15, and joined the board of the South Leongatha Golf Club where, by his introduction of a hybrid couch, the course became playable throughout the year. Jane described him as “an animal lover, a whisky drinker (until 30 years ago), a gentleman, and an incorrigible flirt”.

Left: Barry Hall (Ge‘39) – for whose obituary see our January 2014 issue – presents his credentials as Australian Ambassador to the then Shah of Iran in 1968 LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

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David Medley (Cu’37), of whose death at Tucson, Arizona, on 2 May 2010 we learned only recently, was a pioneer during and after the Second World War in the field of radio engineering.

Born on 17 August 1919, he was the son – with a sister, Diana, widow of Barry Hall (Ge’39), about whom we published a substantial obituary in our last issue – of Sir John Medley, a brilliant classical scholar and comic versifier who after war service, a research fellowship at Cambridge, and work in the 1920s in Adelaide and Sydney for the family firm Gibbs, Bright & Co., was an enlightened contributor to educational thought and practice in Australia as Headmaster of the preparatory school Tudor House, Moss Vale (1931-38), and then as ViceChancellor (1938-51) of the University of Melbourne. David’s mother, Molly, was a Newbolt (daughter of Sir Francis KC, niece of the poet Sir Henry), a granddaughter of Dr James Franck Bright (Master of University College, Oxford, 1881-1906), and a third-cousin of her husband, himself the son of Dudley Julius Medley (Professor of History, Glasgow University, 1899-1931). David finished five years at GGS (during which he was prominent in the Wireless Club) as a House Prefect, and increasingly showed his own high intelligence at Melbourne University where, for a time as a young man, he lectured in Physics. After a year in the Department of Munitions, designing optical instruments for Australia’s armed forces (for which he was awarded the degree of Master of Science), he joined the Royal Australian Naval Volunteer Reserve late in 1941 and, as Radio Direction Finding (later known as radar) developed, he helped produce a range-finder for aeroplanes. In February

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Michael Osborne (M’45), who died on 2 March 2014, was a prominent grazier at Bungendore, New South Wales, and a much-loved figure in that district and far afield. Born on 28 August 1927, he was the brother of his twin Pat Granville Osborne (M’45), to whom our May 2013 issue carried a tribute after his death in 2012, and of Brian (M’50). Their father, also Pat (known as Paddy), came from an originally Irish family who had long been settlers and graziers in southern New South Wales; their mother, Marjorie, from another pioneering family, being a daughter of Major-General Sir Granville Ryrie KCMG, CB, VD, grazier, politician, soldier, and from 1927-32 Australia’s high commissioner in London. A greatgrandfather, Pat Hill Osborne, had bought Currandooley on Lake George, near the future Canberra, in 1865, and it was there that Michael’s brother Pat farmed and, with his wife, Sally, maintained the family tradition of great warmth and hospitality – one that Michael and his wife, Cassie, equally maintained at nearby Lakelands (formerly part of Currandooley) and at King’s Point, Ulladulla. As an infant he had been destined for another property, Lanyon (now part of the national estate as an historic homestead and settlement), but that was soon to pass out of Osborne hands. Michael, after Tudor House and Cranbrook, had five years at GGS about which and his masters and contemporaries, as about much else, he remained to the end of his life a highly amusing – and both discerning and affectionate – raconteur; his quiet, dry wit was part of an enormous charm. He stroked the Manifold House crew and played in the School’s third football team.

After overseas travel he returned to his district, where – a keen horseman – he

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played polo with Goulburn and helped to found the Bungendore Polo Club, becoming involved also in local racing and having some horses in training in Sydney.

Three children followed his marriage to Catherine Blanshard, from Brisbane: Dominic (M’80), Lucy (Mora), and Chloe (Cl’84). His more public service, which was mostly through kindness and friendship, and quite unsung, included chairing the Perpetual Trustee Company in Canberra and membership of the board of the parent company. At the heart of Michael’s life were three gifted and creative children, in due course six grandchildren, and above all a loving, ebullient, and brilliant wife who, with him, has enriched the lives of innumerable friends – hundreds of whom overflowed his funeral at St Philip’s, Bungendore, where—after a touching account of Michael as a polo player and a great lover of horses (he loved also his cattle and especially his dogs) by John Campbell— Dominic gave the kind of eulogy that, with mingled wit and affection (reminiscent of his father), brought its subject all but alive. Michael is survived by them, his other children, his grandchildren, including Francesca Osborne (HeYear 10), and his daughter-in-law, Jane – now, with Dominic, adding their own contribution to Osborne tradition at Lakelands.

John Joyce (FB’47), who died on 4 March 2014, was known to many much younger OGGs as a loyal supporter of the Old Geelong Football Club, attending matches – often those of the Reserves as well as the Firsts – whatever the weather, except when occasionally he was away from Melbourne. Another of their great supporters, Peter Lemon (FB’64), spoke of this at John’s memorial service in St John’s, Toorak, where the orderof-service carried a photograph of the schoolboy John coming what looks like sixth in a 1945 race won by John Landy AC, MBE (M’48; Staff 1954-57) – but not too far behind that legendary athlete.

After earlier schooling in Kew, where he grew up, at Little Ruyton and Trinity Grammar, he entered GGS in 1944. As a boy he enjoyed working on a family farm at Monegeetta. After school he joined his father in the shoe trade at Marshall Shoes, continuing with Florsheim after its purchase of Marshall’s until his retirement after some 46 years of continuous service. In 1960 he married Beverley, a Queenslander and a nurse at Prince Henry’s Hospital, and three children followed – John (FB’78), Robert (FB’80), and Fiona (McQueen) (Cl’81) – by all of whom he is survived, as by Beverley

and two grandsons.

After early married life in North Balwyn, the family moved in 1965 to Blackfriars Close in Toorak, from then on John’s lifelong home. In her eulogy for John, Beverley expressed the family’s gratitude for medical care that gave him extra years of life. When asked how he was, he would say, “I’m still the right side of the grass.” It was typical of his cheerful and positive attitude to life.

John epitomized simple goodness, and his broad, warm smile is much missed.

Peter Murray Murton (FB’47) was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day Honours of 2014 “for service to information technology, and to the community”.

Henry Angas (Cu’48), who died on 26 December 2013, was born on 22 August 1930, the son – with a sister, Sara (Phillips) – of Sir (John) Keith Angas (Cu’18) and (Gwynneth) Fay née Good – and belonged to the fourth generation of the South Australian pioneering family to live at Lindsay Park, Angaston. After a traditional childhood with nannies, housemaids, and farm workers on a big country property and some early schooling at St Peter’s, Adelaide, he entered Connewarre House at GGS in October 1939, going on in 1944 to Cuthbertson House, where he became a House Prefect, achieving also School Colours for Rowing, a Cadet Lieutenancy, and Matriculation honours in both Mathematics subjects and Physics. He then read Agricultural Science at Corpus Christi College, Cambridge, returning home late in 1952. In a eulogy his son, Henry – child with Emma (Cl’87) of his second wife, Michel – said that, “despite having such a privileged upbringing, Dad was never comfortable with the status associated with it and chose to live a life that was far removed from what his parents had lived.” Lindsay Park was sold in 1965, and he and Michel began their married life at a property near Birdwood.

They moved with their young children in 1972 to a 2300-acre property near Meningie that was overrun with rabbits and had a house uninhabited for years, renamed it Forfar, and started the long work of improving it by the clearing of scrub, pasture improvement, fencing, building sheds, renovating the house, and other arduous but rewarding work.

Henry also became much involved in the community there, serving local

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Emeritus Professor Raymond Stalker AO (FB’48), who died in Brisbane on 9 February 2014, and who from childhood had been fascinated by the possibility of space travel, became Australia’s first professor of space engineering and a pioneer of the world’s fastest jet engine, the Scramjet. His daughter Caroline in an obituary published in several papers – including The Age on 19 February – said that his “life work laid the foundations for a respected Australian presence in hypersonic aerodynamics.” “I think it will change the future of the human race,” he said, on being awarded the ATSE Clunies Ross national award in 2008: “On Earth we’re clearly beginning to run into limits on the amount of energy we can use: out in space there’s all the energy you want …”. Late in his life he was also awarded an honorary fellowship of the Royal Aeronautical Society, the world’s highest recognition of aerospace achievement. Born on 6 August 1930 to John Henry Stalker and Dorothy Marie née Nettlebeck, he went to Dimboola High School and from 1945 with a scholarship to GGS, where his brother, Laurence (FB’51), followed him. Ray then won scholarships to the Universities of Melbourne and Sydney – the latter the only one then offering a degree in aeronautical engineering – and graduated BSc in 1951 (winning the university medal in that discipline and the de Havilland LIGHT BLUE - GEELONG GRAMMAR SCHOOL

prize in aeronautics), MSc in 1955, and PhD in 1957. He married Judy Taylor in 1955, and three daughters followed, Jennifer, Sandra, and Caroline. After four years in Canada, they moved in 1962 to Canberra where Ray took up a readership at the ANU and began work on hypervelocity aerodynamics, going on to design the first high-performance shock tubes, used for testing aircraft technology and aerodynamics at supersonic speeds.

He correctly predicted the moon landing of 1969. In 1977 he became Professor in Mechanical Engineering at the University of Queensland, which in 1988 appointed him Professor of Space Engineering.

He developed a series of shock tubes – known as “Stalker tubes” – for testing new engine and spacecraft designs, in great demand from international aerospace agencies such as NASA, DERA in Britain, and DLR in Germany.

In the 1980s he began developing Scramjet (supersonic combustion ramjet) technology, opening the possibility, for instance, of flying from Australia to Europe in four hours. A stroke led to semiretirement in the late 1990s. Inducted in 2001 – the first Australian to be so – into the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, he was made an Officer of the Order of Australia in 2003. He continued to help and encourage the research group he had built up. He is survived by Judy and their daughters.

Hugh Edwards (Cu’50) has been described as “Australia’s greatest shipwreck hunter”, if only for his discovery in 1963 of the 17th-century wreck of the Dutch ship Batavia off the coast of Western Australia. Trained as a journalist, he had persuaded West Australian Newspapers in1958 to finance an expedition to explore the wreck site of the Zuytdorp, also (like many other Dutch ships) wrecked off that coast – in 1712 on its way to Batavia. In 1959 he joined a Cambridge University archaeological team diving at Syracuse in Sicily, and off the coast of Libya discovered Roman statues.

He is the author of Dead Men’s Silver (Harper Collins, 2011), which is partly autobiographical but mainly about the history of the Batavia.

Rory Edward Stanley Argyle (FB’54) was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day Honours of 2014 “for service to the

community, and to the law”. He was for many years president of the Western Australian branch of The Old Geelong Grammarians.

Christina Karen Hindhaugh née Beggs (Cl’61) was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) in the Australia Day Honours of 2014 “for service to the community of Balmoral, and to women in agriculture”.

The Honourable Alexander Downer AC (Bn’64) has been appointed High Commissioner for Australia to the United Kingdom – a post held by his father, the late Sir Alexander (Alick) Downer (Cu’27), from 1964-72 (as a result of which Alexander moved from GGS to Radley College in England).

Timothy Vincent Fairfax AM (M’64) was appointed a Companion in the Order of Australia (AC) in the Australia Day Honours of 2014 “for eminent service to business and to the community, as an advocate for philanthropy, and as a major supporter of the visual arts, to the promotion of higher education opportunities, and to rural and regional development programmes”.

Sam Staughton (P’64), who died in 2009, was a grazier and artist. A retrospective exhibition of his paintings was held in the Benalla Art Gallery in February-March 2014.

Andy (Sugarcane) Collins (M’72) won the Chain award for the Australian Blues (Male) Singer of the Year at the Australian Blues Awards ceremony held during the annual Australian Blues Music Festival in Goulburn on 8 February 2014 for the singing on his latest album, “Downunder the Blues”. He already had one Chain award – for Album of the Year in 2007.

Dr Damian Purcell (Fr’78) is Head of the Molecular Virology Laboratory in the Department of Microbiology and Immunology at the University of Melbourne, President of the Australasian Virology Society, and an executive member of the Australian Centre for HIV and Hepatitis Virology (ACH2).

Edward Cabot (P’82), who is an architect and designer based in New York (with work internationally), is Secretary of the Board of Archives of American Art at the Smithsonian Institution, Washington DC, and Treasurer of the American Friends of the Australian National Gallery, Canberra.

He has visited Australia several times in recent years.

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organisations such as the school council, the Progress association, the Meningie hospital board, the Meningie District Council for 17 years (chairing it for four), the CPS, and the Animal Pests Control Board. Enjoying water sports, he was one of the first people to take up water-skiing, building himself a ski-boat and skis and, with his father driving, began skiing with instruction book in hand. He was an active member of the Meningie Sailing Club, and chairman for three years, teaching many others to sail and to sailboard. He co-ordinated the Goolwa Meningie Sailing Classic, and often drove the rescue boat on race days. Possessed of a natural talent with machines and engineering, he had an expert knowledge of vintage cars and steam-powered vehicles and was always thinking of ways on the farm to repair, build, and improve. With all this, he enjoyed conversation with others on a wide range of topics, talking easily himself and drawing them out; and he was very much a family man, rejoicing in his and Michel’s children and five grandsons.

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Samuel Thawley (FB’87) is organizing for his family a project named The Thawley Family Prize and involving an essay of 1000-2000 words “that – in a manner fresh, lively, and engaging – talks about a person, place, or event (big or small) that shaped modern Australia or reveals what is special about Australia”. There is a prize of $5,000. Entries must reach The Spectator Australia by 31 October 2014.

Samuel [s_thawley@yahoo.com] can provide full details.

Saskia Holloway (Hi’06) was Dux of St Catherine’s School, Melbourne, in 2013 with the equal-highest score in Victoria for all her subjects – English, Latin, French, Literature, Art, and History – and over-all. Though only for two years at GGS – where her sister, Hailey (HeYear 12), has been since 2011 – she belongs through her mother, Sophie Holloway née Mann (Cl’83), to a family with deep GGS roots. Her great-great-grandfather Samuel Furneaux (Barney) Mann (OS 1881-86), her great-grandfather Ian Mann (Pe’25; Council 1949-65), and her grandfather the late John Mann (P’56) were all prominent boys at the School (and notable citizens later on).

Ivan Sutherland (Staff 1950-93, after schooldays at Geelong College) and Liza née Darling (He’47, but mostly at Toorak College) celebrated their Golden Wedding on 29 March 2014 with a service of thanksgiving at St George’s, Malvern (where they had been married 50 years earlier), followed by a luncheon attended by many of their relatives and other friends. We cannot in this journal recognise, as we would like to, the many much-loved couples in our GGS community who achieve such a milestone, but an exception may be made for the Sutherlands with no need for explanation.

In the course of a speech that ran like a peaceful, intricate, and captivating musical composition, Ivan spoke about his wooing, as a young master, of the Headmaster’s middle daughter. To Sir James Darling CMG, OBE (Headmaster 1930-61), and Lady Darling he became, like their other sons-in-law, immensely dear. All three of the Sutherland sons spoke, James (P/L’83), Charles (P’86), and Nicholas (P/L’90), each of whom had been Captain of Cricket at GGS in his day. During the afternoon we became aware that this year’s first XI might, at the last minute, achieve for the School our first APS cricket premiership since

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Nick had led his team in 1990 to the first since the legendary pair of 1961 and 1962 with Michael Landale (P’61) and Michael Richardson (Cu’62) as successive captains. While GGS does not sell its soul for such achievements, or vaunt them when made, it gave special pleasure to many when, at the close of play, it emerged that the School had indeed, under the captaincy of Dylan Hodge (Yr 12'P), achieved a premiership.

The day had also been the Sutherlands’, celebrating parents who have given so much to the School and its community, with sons who have helped to bring the true spirit of a great game to their school – and James, as head of Cricket Australia, to the nation.

Mary Coggin (Headmistress, The Hermitage, 1962-67), who died in England in 2012 after a long illness, is remembered fondly by many who knew her in Australia through years of rapid social change, if still rather bemusedly by some. Her life, rather elusive personality, strong character, and time as a very liberal headmistress are covered with sensitivity and great authority by Melanie Guile in her new (and brilliant) history of The Hermitage, Proud to be Women, published in May 2014 by The Hermitage Old Girls’ Association Incorporated. Mary, who was born at Knypersley in Staffordshire in 1919, daughter of its vicar, had a fine academic and administrative – but not teaching – career before, in 1952, marrying Leslie Coggin (GGS Staff 1963, with occasional help thereafter), who died, aged 87, in 1990 after years of retirement with Mary at Ramsbury, near Marlborough – where he had been a distinguished, and also very liberal, housemaster (with Mary very much in support). It was Tommy Garnett (Head Master 1961-73 after his years, 1952-61, as the Master of Marlborough College) who persuaded Mary to apply for the Hermitage post in 1962, and undoubtedly his and the Coggins’ liberalism and Tommy’s own thoughts about the desirability of coeducation at both Marlborough (where it began in 1968) and GGS (where it began in 1972 after a close association with The Hermitage in 1970-71) were relevant to his support of her, and to the times. Leslie was a product of Eton and Trinity Colllege, Cambridge (where he had taken a first in English), and benignly donnish. He and Mary were a devoted couple, with a touch of Bloomsbury in their highly intelligent, seemingly absentminded, manner – and

a shock to The Hermitage community after the very strict regime of Victoria Krome (Headmistress 1942-62), which is also very ably handled by Melanie Guile. It was Mary’s successor at The Hermitage, Elizabeth Britten (He’49; Headmistress 1968-75; GGS Staff 1976), who then, with courage and decisiveness, saw it through the far-from-easy years that preceded amalgamation in 1976 with GGS (and Clyde). Nearly 40 years on, we can be grateful for the ways in which a succession of able women shaped the character of a fine school which (like Clyde) has contributed so much to the character of the augmented GGS – women who, of course, include Miss Krome’s able predecessors, the founding – lovable, scholarly, and suspicious-of-the-wicked-outside-world – Headmistress (1906-32), Elsie Morres, and her more troubled successor (193242) Anne Peterson, who helped steer it through a difficult decade between the Great Depression and World War Two. Neville John Clark MC (Staff 1973-78) was awarded the Medal of the Order of Australia in the Australia Day Honours of 2014 “for service to education”. He was Headmaster of Mentone Grammar School from 1989-2003.

(Andrew) Paul Sheahan (Staff 197383) was appointed a Member of the Order of Australia (AM) in the Australia Day Honours of 2014 “for significant service to secondary education as a teacher, and through roles with sporting, charitable, and community organisations”. He was Principal of The Geelong College from 1986-95 and Headmaster of Melbourne Grammar School from 1995-2009, before becoming Development Manager (Sport) at the University of Melbourne.

BIRTHS Eve née Robinson (Cl’84) and Christopher Armytage (M’84), two daughters, Zoe on 27 September 2005 and Zara on 4 September 2008 Emma and Edward Bostock (M’94), a son, Frederick Thomas Edward (Freddy), on 18 January 2014 Caroline née Burke (Ga’98) and Nick Carr, a son, Robert Alistair, on 22 November 2013

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Caroline Hendry and Toby Cook (FB’99), a daughter, Alkina Leone, on 6 October 2013 Molly Wojcik and Davyn Edwards (A’96), a daughter, Maya Anne, on 1 March 2014 Melissa née Sprague (Fr’94) and Christopher Edwards, a son, William Henry, on 1 June 2012 Rai and Julian Hinckfuss (A’88), a daughter, Jengela Elizabeth Louise, on 14 June 2000 Sue and Simon Hinckfuss (A’89), a daughter, Daisy Hazel, on 24 July 2004, a son, Henry George, on 20 January 2009, a daughter, Camilla Grace, on 5 January 2011, and a son, Edward James, on 13 February 2013 Abby née Wall (Fr’00) and James Irwin (P’96), a daughter, Frankie Anne Montague, on 13 August 2013 Amelia née Hinckfuss (A’91) and Vigen Karibian, two daughters, Gisele on 24 November 2005 and Celeste on 25 November 2012

MARRIAGES Richard Austin (M’02) married Celeste Terese Cafra on 22 March 2014 Zoe Baker (He’02) married Nicholas William Robinson on 22 March 2014 Stephanie Blackman (Fr’04) married Shane Dunn on 4 January 2014 James Calvert (M’99) married Alice Wood (He’02) on 22 March 2014 Emily Chauvel (Cl’03) married Ross Byrne on 5 April 2014 Gordon Chisholm (M’99) married Elisabeth Tueno on 1 June 2013 Talei Deacon (He’99) married Travis Poyner on 21 September 2008 Alexandra Derham (Cl’03) married Colin Eddison on 5 April 2014 Paul Dowie (Cu’86) married Kristie Raymond on 31 December 2006 Bridget Garlick-Sloman (Fr’02) married Anthony McAuley on 25 March 2012 Timothy Gassin (M’06) married Grace Edwards on 10 May 2014

Trudy and Robert Lindblade (A’88), a son, James Berwen, on 3 January 2012

Euphemie Harris (He’97) married Thomas (Tom) Barr on 2 November 2013

Megan and Charles E Mackinnon (P’97), two sons, Robert Hugh Geoffrey on 27 February 2012 and Maxwell Edward on 2 November 2013

Kate Lamb (Cl’96) married Samuel Rees on 10 January 2014

Bridget née Garlick-Sloman (Fr’02) and Anthony McAuley, a daughter, Charlotte Elizabeth, on 17 November 2012 Emma Templeton and Alexander Morgan (P’85), a son, William Frederick Matheson, on 31 January 2014 Prudence née Plowman (Cl’95) and Samuel Pincott (Cu’95), a daughter, Arabella Clare, on 20 February 2014 Talei née Deacon (He’99) and Travis Poyner, a daughter, Sophia Johanna, on 18 July 2010, and a son, Harry Will, on 20 July 2012 Susan and Hugh Russell (Cu’99), a son, Hamish Douglas, on 4 December 2013 Lucy and Mat Saliba (M’94), a daughter, Chloe Blyth, on 7 March 2014 Anna and Dougal Speirs (Cu’99), a son, Angus Walter, on 16 January 2013 Lucy née Hinckfuss (He’96) and Maurice Tarzini, a son, Cesare Harold, on 1 January 2014

Marion Mackinnon (Cl’91) married Daniel Goss on 10 May 2014 Alison McGregor (He’98) married Mario Mortella in May 2013 Robert Mirams (FB/L’84) married Maïté Robin on 29 March 2014 Hugh Robertson (FB’04) married Lisa Scott on 29 March 2014 Julian Robinson (Cu’81) married Nicole Andrews on 23 March 2013 Hugh Russell (Cu’99) married Susan Shaw on 5 November 2011 Clementine Walker (Cl’04) married Matthew Lucas on 21 December 2013

DEATHS John Henry Fife Angas (1939-48) on 26 December 2013 Emeritus Professor David Malet Armstrong AO, FBA (1940-44) on 13 May 2014 Richard (Dick) Austin (1937-44; Council 1958-66, 1967-68) on 12 May 2014 Edward Herbert Bayley (1939-42) on 28 April 2014

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Judith Louther Chirnside née Armstrong (Clyde 1936) on 11 February 2014 Hock Leong (Leonard) Chan (1967-71) on 24 March 2014 (Elaine) Mary Coggin née Wood (Headmistress, The Hermitage, 1962-67; widow of [Frederick] Leslie Coggin [GGS Staff 1963]) in 2012 John Petrie Cormack (1964-67) on 21 April 2014 James Henry Crawford (1993-98) late in April 2014 Ian McLean (Jock) Eadie (1933-39) on 18 February 2013 (Dr) John Anson Farrer (1935-39) early in 2014 Noni Fisher née Brown (Hermitage 192334) on 21 March 2014 Erna Florence Treyvaud Ellis née Charles (Hermitage 1929-30) on 25 November 2013 Satoshi Hirahara (1980) on 20 October 2013 Gary Raymond Hudson (1956-59) in May 2014 John James Joyce (1944-47) on 4 March 2014 Garth Sarsfield Massy-Greene (193338) on 21 March 2014 Robert Peter Monahan (1948-49) on 8 January 2014 (Lady) Emma Louise Eveleen Montagu (1978-83) on 20 April 2014 Peter John Stanley Morris (1938-44) on 9 October 2013 Michael Ryrie Osborne (1941-45) on 2 March 2014 Beryl Paisley née Greaves (former Domestic Staff) on 16 April 2014 Richard Hugh Noel (Dick) RadcliffeSmith (1946-57) on 25 February 2014 Kenneth Robert Revill (1947-50) on 4 January 2014 Emeritus Professor Raymond John Stalker AO (1945-48) on 9 February 2014 Alexander Fitzalan Hamilton Stuart (1958-61) on 23 July 2012 Christopher David Waite (1948-55) on 1 July 1989 (Dr) Lynette Florence (Lyn) Wakefield (wife of Robert Wakefield [Staff 19772006]) on 10 March 2014

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Haley Brock and Hugh Chauvel (FB’01), a daughter, Alvie Dawn, in January 2013

www.ggs.vic.edu.au