OTGA and WOTG

Old Trinity Grammarians' Association

President’s Report

In preparation for writing my final report for the year, I looked back on my previous updates over the past couple of years and was struck by the pleasant realisation that the Old Trinity Grammarians’ Association (OTGA) and the school community have emerged in great shape out of a very challenging period. Instead of references to lockdowns, cancelled events and disruption, which cast an ever-present shadow over recent reports, our focus is now very much solely on supporting our OTGs in Connecting with each other and the school, in developing their Careers, in contributing to the Community and in remaining active and involved in sporting endeavours through the OTG Clubs. In our recent meetings, I have referred to our activity reverting to a ‘positive type of boring’, but purely from the perspective of an absence of disruption or surprise, as there has certainly been some great activity and exciting initiatives under way.

From a Connecting perspective, it is wonderful to have the reunions back, with a number of very successful events held during the term, including the Classes of 2002 and 2012 attending in strong numbers as well as events in London, New York and Sydney, where Adrian Farrer was able to connect with a number of OTGs living overseas. Piers Mitchem (OTG 2002 and OTGA Committee member) joined Principal Adrian Farrer and Director of Community Engagement Lucy Cohen at an OTG dinner in Sydney in August, which was a very entertaining evening. I commend all those OTGs who strongly supported these events. The school’s initiative in connecting with our OTGs who have moved overseas, interstate or regionally by holding events outside of Melbourne is a fantastic idea and one that has the full support of the OTGA. We look forward to connecting with OTGs from Brisbane, Geelong and Mornington later in the year.

Also during the term, OTGO (Old Trinity Grammarians Online), our new digital alumni platform, was officially launched and is now available for all OTGs to sign up and start connecting. OTGO will help OTGs connect with fellow OTGs, see what they have been up to and stay in touch through a directory and feed, in addition to providing details of upcoming events and photo boards. It also provides a number of tools to expand OTGs’ professional networks through a business directory, jobs page and mentoring hub. At time of writing, more than 500 OTGs have signed up as registered users, which is a great start to what will become our most important tool for connecting with one another.

Visit www.otgonline.net to sign up.

Recognising the importance of the new tool, we are currently on the lookout for OTGs with experience in journalism, communications and social media to join our committee and help drive the growth of OTGO

and our social media platforms. Please sign up and keep checking in as we continue to develop the site and the services available.

From a careers perspective, Trinity’s annual Careers Expo for Year 10s, 11s and 12s was held on 20 July as an in-person event for the first time since 2019. There were 16 OTGs in attendance, who shared their knowledge, background and insights across a number industry sectors. Our thanks go to David Lin (OTG 2017), Rory O’Donohoe (OTG 2010) and Chris Thuring (OTG 2014) who spoke on Medicine; Hamzah Brown (OTG 2014) and Andrew Bell (OTG 1987) who spoke on Engineering; Arthur Nitsopoulos (OTG 2010) and Harry Thompson (OTG 2014) who spoke on Economics; Tom Beasley (OTG 2008) and Nick Bourke (OTG 2005) who spoke on Banking and Finance; Piers Mitchem (OTG 2002) who spoke on Law; Simon Baxter (OTG 1994) and

Callum Paisley-Gunn (OTG 2015)

who spoke on Science Research; Mark Fletcher (OTG 1999) and Alex Paterson (OTG 2005) who spoke on Property, Real Estate and Construction Management; and Nick Brandon-Jones (OTG 2007) and Will Harris (OTG 2017) who spoke on Psychology, Social Work, Rehab and Medical Imaging. The engagement and enthusiasm of the boys was excellent and the feedback on the speakers was fantastic. We also saw a healthy competitive spirit between the speakers on who attracted the most interest from the boys!

Supporting our Old Boys’ career aspirations continues to be a core focus of the OTGA and it is fantastic to see so many OTGs who have established successful careers giving their time and knowledge back to the school. With the launch of OTGO, we now have an effective tool to connect OTGs with job and mentoring opportunities and have a number of ideas around how we can further support OTGs. We look forward to building this out in 2023.

Well done to our winter OTG Clubs, in particular Football, Soccer, Hockey and Waterpolo (Otters), who successfully completed seasons with some great results and strong participation. It was terrific to hear that clubs were able to regroup and reconnect to complete their seasons. We look forward to bringing you more news on our new OTG Art Club (coming soon) and wish our cricketers all the best for their summer season ahead.

James Brown (OTG 1992)

President, OTGA

Old Trinity Grammarians’ Association Notice of Annual General Meeting

7.00pm

Tuesday 8 November 2022 At Trinity Grammar School, Kew. All welcome.

Agenda

• President’s Report

• Treasurer’s Report

• Election of Office Bearers

• Other Business

RSVP (by 31 October 2022) to Sharon Kendall on 9854 3668 or by email

kendalls@trinity.vic.edu.au

WOMEN OF TRINITY GRAMMAR

Women of Trinity Grammar Social Event

Co-Convenors, Donna Cameron and Carolyn Crouch, welcome members of the Women of Trinity Group to join them on Thursday 24 November at 5.00pm - 7.00pm for an afternoon of fine music, wine and cheese, with a private tour of 'Walsh Street' - the house Robin Boyd designed for his own family in 1957, and his most wellknown work. The cost of the afternoon is $60.00, which includes wine, cheese and the tour.

Bookings are limited and essential by 10 November.

www.trybooking.com/948181

The Women of Trinity group is an informal social group founded in 2018 to maintain the links between mothers/ carers after their children have completed their schooling at Trinity. New members are welcome – please sign up at

www.surveymonkey.com/r/ women_of_trinity_grammar

to be kept informed of future events.