Focus October 2008 - The Friends' School

Year 7 

Social: 

Page 3 

House 

Drama: 

Page 6 

Friendly 

Conference: 

Page 15 

Ski Trip: 

Pages 18-19 

The Kivagala School 

By Casey Vassallo 

In 2007, The Friends’ 

School sent $2,600 to the 

Kivagala Secondary School 

in Western Kenya, desperate 

for resources to help 

facilitate learning. In doing 

so, we provided essential 

tools that will help build a 

better future for its students 

and community. The Friends’ 

School students and families 

also sent 100 kilograms of 

books along with $250 for 

the librarians to buy much 

needed curriculum books. 

With the money provided, 

the school was able to buy the 

resources needed to help build 

their long awaited Dining 

Hall, including funding 

to have a small link to the 

power system. Although the 

Hall hasn’t been completed, 

the school students and 

wider community are using 

it constantly and so far 

two weddings have been 

held there. 

Head of High School, Greg 

Hill, took the opportunity 

to visit the Kivagala School 

in 2006. “When I decided 

that I would go and visit the 

Kivagala School in Kenya, I 

had no idea how far I would 

be travelling from the capital, 

Nairobi. It was a journey of 

by Jan Stoddart 

On 22 September Morris 

students gathered to celebrate 

the International Day of 

Peace. Bad weather was not 

about to stop our students 

showing their enthusiasm for 

the day. 

The Gathering was split 

in two groups and held in the 

Frank Wells Hall. 

We entered the Hall to the 

sounds of Anne Potter playing 

her harp, such lulling music 

focused our hearts on peace. 

Alison Pocius explained 

that we were joining with 1.5 

million children all around the 

world as we planted pinwheels 

for peace. 

The pinwheels blew in 

the wind and rain outside 

the Hall and in the garden 

near Walpole. 

Every student had 

created a pinwheel and 

about 11 hours in a broken 

down car through the Rift 

Valley, passing Lake Victoria 

and almost to Uganda! 

“When I arrived at 

Lawrence Analo’s home in 

the middle of the night, with 

no power or running water, I 

was feeling a little stressed. 

With my doctor’s advice 

ringing in my ears about 

wearing long sleeved shirts, 

long trousers and plenty of 

tropical strength aerogard 

as soon as it gets dark, I 

nervously shed all of my 

clothes in the shed outside 

to ‘take a shower’. The 

hospitality at Lawrence’s 

home and at the school 

was just wonderful. I was 

made to feel so welcome 

by everyone and I really 

enjoyed the food: mostly 

vegetables, lots of beans and 

lovely fruit. 

“The students at Kivagala 

School were very friendly and 

one class in particular insisted 

that I spend all of my time 

in their room talking about 

Australia and our animals and 

birds. I also enjoyed talking 

with the teachers and having 

lunch with them outside under 

the trees. 

“The School has 250 

boys and girls from Year 9 

to 12. There are about 50 

Pinwheels for Peace 

October 2008 Issue 71 

Students with white balloons for the International Day of Peace. 

decorated it with images We were fortunate to 

and text that communicated have Jenny Burdic from 

their own views and hopes United Nations Youth, to 

for peace. 

talk to the Morris students. 

Excited students of the Kivagala School. 

boarders who live in just Our School connection 

two dormitories. There are is a very rare and wonderful 

bunk beds everywhere. link that we should continue 

All students have a cooked to nurture. The Kivagala 

lunch each day provided School has expressed their 

by the school. This food is appreciation for our helping 

mostly beans. By the time I hand and has in return 

had to leave, it was a sad and extended one to us, inviting 

difficult ‘goodbye’ made us back. 

all the more memorable by Looking to the future, 

having the whole school Greg Hill has expressed his 

sing a song for me, and the idea of establishing a School 

Kenyan students can really trip so Friends’ School 

sing! I will never forget students have the option to 

that day.” 

travel overseas to Kenya, 

Photo supplied by Jan Stoddart 

Jenny explained that 

peace starts with one person 

being kind to another even 

when they are not friends. 

A Student 

Publication 

Photo by Greg Hill 

where one could visit the 

Kivagala School and Kenya’s 

many tourist attractions. He 

also wants to sponsor one 

of the many bright children 

from the Kivagala School to 

spend a year studying at The 

Friends’ School. 

The Friends’ School, and 

especially the people that 

were so heavily involved 

in this project, should be 

proud of their achievements 

as it is striving for a better 

world. 

A classroom where 

everyone is included and 

we reach out the hand 

of friendship to all, is a 

peaceful classroom. 

Year 5M sang Bob 

Dylan’s famous 60s 

protest song, Blowing 

in the Wind, with Peter 

Mason accompanying on 

the guitar. 

At the end of our 

Gathering representatives 

from our classes released 

white helium balloons as we 

stood in silence and reflected 

on our hopes for peace. 

Morris Primary Years 

was the only school in 

Tasmania that celebrated 

International Peace Day. 

Jenny Burdic hopes 

that we will be the first 

of many schools that will 

acknowledge and celebrate 

the United Nations’ dream 

of peace. 

THE FRIENDS’ SCHOOL, P.O. BOX 42, NORTH HOBART, TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA, 7002 PH: (03) 6210 2200 FAX: (03) 6234 8209

2 

October 2008 

Contents 

news 

Tasmanian Maths Relay 

by Sebastian Hall 

Focus 

News 1 – 6, 15 

Friends’ Connections 7 – 14 

Sport 17 – 20 

Opinions 16 

Editor 

Production Manager 

Reporters 

Advisory Staff 

Friends’ Connections 

Focus Team 

Casey Vassallo 

Richard Ballard 

Richard Ballard 

Sebastian Hall 

George Harlow 

Kitt O’Halloran 

Felix Shepherdson 

Yiannis Tsovilis 

Casey Vassallo 

Ludmila Vitesnikova 

Sarah Cupit 

Kathy Rundle 

Email: focus@friends.tas.edu.au 

Homepage: www.friends.tas.edu.au 

The views expressed in this newspaper do not 

necessarily represent those of the Members of 

the Board of Governors or its nominees. 

This paper is produced by a class of Year 11/12 

Media Production Students. 

The Friends’ Connections section is prepared 

by the Development Office. 

The Friends’ School 

P.O. Box 42 

North Hobart, Tasmania, Australia 7002 

Ph. (03) 6210 2200 

On Sunday 17 August 

there were 10 teams of 

Friends' Students attending 

Rosny College for this year’s 

State Mathematics Relay. 

Each team consisted of 

four students and these teams 

were then separated into four 

sections for competition. 

The sections were 

Primary (Year 5 & 6), Junior 

Secondary (Years 7 & 8), 

Upper Secondary (Years 9 

& 10) and Senior Secondary 

(Year 11 & 12). 

The relay followed 

the same format for all 

of these sections except 

there were questions of 

increasing difficulty for 

teams consisting of the 

older students. 

At any one time three of 

the students would work at a 

problem while another acted 

Year 7s Alice Patterson-Robert, Preston Tsamassiros and Gary Jones trying to solve a problem. 

Photo by Yvonne Woodward 

as a Runner between their 

team and the Marker. 

The position of Runner 

rotated after each question 

was either successfully 

answered or passed on until 

the 45 minutes of the relay 

was up. 

Year 10 students Alex Jose, Maddy Foote, Tom Marshall and Helen Zhou before they started. 

Exam Advice for 2008 

by Lyn Tunbridge 

During 2008 our Dean 

of Students, Anne Lynch, in 

conjunction with her Study 

Skills class has placed a 

series of messages on study 

wisdom in What's On. The 

messages are from their 

fictitious student, Fred. 

Some of Fred's advice to 

consider as we approach final 

exams are first, to aim to get 

8-9 hours sleep each night. 

Sleep increases your 

energy levels, reduces your 

stress and helps you to 

internalise all the important 

information that you have 

learnt during the day. 

When students 

commence their study 

period their time will be 

more flexible, however it 

is common for students to 

waste much of this time 

initially, primarily due to a 

lack of organisation. 

We would advise that 

students plan ahead. By 

the time this study period 

commences, notes should 

be organised and a study 

timetable written out. 

Teachers and tutors are 

great sources of advice 

when it comes to organising 

study timetables. 

Many students find it 

difficult to study alone and, 

without doubt, small peer 

study support groups can 

be enormously beneficial, 

however students must take 

care not to waste time in 

this environment. 

They should be honest and 

reflect on how effective this 

is for their own learning. 

Time should be taken to 

review past assessments and 

to note carefully areas where 

improvement can be made 

and how this can be done. 

The same mistakes should 

not be made twice. 

Photo by Yvonne Woodward 

Finally, it is so important 

for students to look after 

themselves at this time of 

the year. Late nights and too 

much socialising can lower 

a student's resistance and 

result in some health issues. 

Students also need to 

make sure that they have 

a good place at home 

for studying: somewhere 

free from distractions 

Impress Your Classmates 

with a Chauffeur Driven 

Jaguar for your End of Year 

Formal or School Leavers 

All the students who 

participated put in their best 

effort and for two groups a 

placing was secured. 

The Year 8s Sharna Li, 

Mehr Gupta, Rowan Clymo- 

Rowlands and Erin Jose 

came second in the State and 

Southern Region. 

One of the four Friends’ 

School Year 11 and 12 teams 

came second in the Southern 

region and third in the 

State region. 

The members of this 

team were Patrick Neasey, 

Andrew Haigh, Georgia 

Woodward and Aaron 

Hooper, all of Year 12. 

Congratulations and 

thanks to all those students 

who participated in the 

Maths Relay on the day 

and to all the parents and 

teachers who were involved 

in the event. 

(including mobile phones 

and internet access), have 

suitable lighting and heating 

and access to any books or 

stationery that are needed. 

I would like to take the 

opportunity to wish the 

students well in their final 

exams and to remind them 

that staff are available 

to help them during the 

exam period. 

Classic Jaguars 

Ph 0488 363 863 

www.classicjaguars.com.au

y Georgia Bentley 

As many of you know, 

my family and I are currently 

living overseas. For those of 

you who don’t, we are living 

in a chalet in Méribel, a 

picturesque ski resort in the 

French Alps. We have settled 

in quite comfortably, having 

lived here since June. My 

sisters and I start school this 

week, and will be attending 

until mid-December. For 

the last three weeks of our 

stay in January, we will 

make use of the copious 

amounts of snow and have 

a skiing holiday. 

We left Hobart on 14 

June, and spent the night in 

Sydney. The next morning, 

we flew out of Sydney and 

into Japan. We spent five 

days in Japan, learning to 

appreciate English-Japanese 

dictionaries and phrasebooks. 

We then flew to England and 

then to Switzerland. 

Happy Socialites. 

Swarthmore Hall in Lancashire County. 

Focus News October 2008 3 

Rowing: a World Sport 

Our few days in 

Switzerland were exciting, 

being so close to France. 

When we left Geneva, we 

drove in our new hirecar, 

which was absolutely 

spotlessly clean (we would 

soon fix that) over the border 

and into France. We spent the 

next few days hopping from 

campground to campground. 

When we stopped at Bellevue 

Camping, we were glad to 

find it next to the lake. After 

a quick exploration, we went 

for a swim and had dinner. 

The next morning, we 

went on a pre-breakfast walk 

to the lakeside. We were 

walking down what looked 

like a driveway, when we 

discovered what looked 

like logs lying sideways in 

the trees. Further inspection 

proved them to be single 

sculls, stacked on racks 

built into the trees. We went 

further down this path, and 

discovered a small boatshed, 

Year 7s go Retro 

by Julia Last, Nicola Marshall 

and Georgina Kennedy 

Just when you thought 

those knickerbockers and 

fluoro tights were beyond 

return, the 80s made a 

Photo supplied by Tammy Giblin 

The Story Behind the Name 

by Peter Jones 

Staff, students and 

visitors coming into the 

front car park at 395 Argyle 

Street, might have noticed 

the change of name to the 

house that used to be called 

come back in the form of 

the totally radical Year 7 

Social held on 25 July. The 

Social brought back the 80s 

moving and shaking in all its 

glory after an intense vote in 

Gathering. On the night of 

Photo supplied by Peter Jones 

Anne’s Place and now bears 

the name Swarthmore. 

Only the Quakers seem 

to know the significance 

of the name as it is central 

to the beginnings of the 

Society of Friends and 

the lives of George Fox 

and Margaret Fell, often 

Boat racks built into trees. 

Photo supplied by Georgia Bentley 

complete with oars, boats in English about rowing. 

and a rowing roster. He introduced himself as 

Naturally, we were quite Monsieur Emile Clerc, 

excited to have discovered and when he discovered 

this secret boatshed. We we were from Tasmania, 

were down on the ways, it was his turn to gabble 

looking at the rest of the excitedly. “Tassmanya!” he 

boats, when we noticed said, looking pleased with 

a man lying on a banana himself. “Tassmanya, Lack 

lounge behind us. He’d been Bar-ing-tonn!” 

watching us quietly while It turns out that he was in 

we were gabbling excitedly the World Championships at 

the Social, the majority of 

people dressed up and they 

looked awesome! 

The Year 7 Social is 

always a great icebreaker 

for the students, and a way 

to feel more relaxed and 

communal within their year 

group community. Previous 

years have seen the social 

held in the WN Oats Centre; 

this year the social took place 

in the Bill and Marjorie 

Oats Theatre due to the cold 

weather. The change in venue 

was highly successful, with 

a predominance of the year 

group releasing their 80s 

rock god within (or primed 

up pilates teacher) by the 

middle of the evening. 

regarded as the father and 

mother of Quakerism. 

Like Pendle Hill, it is 

a popular name amongst 

Friends, probably best 

known in Pennsylvania 

with Swarthmore College, 

near Philadelphia. 

When George Fox, then 

26, was travelling around 

the North of England 

during the eventful year 

of 1652 (during the period 

of the Commonwealth 

and Protectorate and three 

years after the execution 

of Charles I in London), 

he came to Pendle Hill in 

Lancashire where, climbing 

to the top, he had “a vision 

of a great people waiting to 

be gathered.” From there, 

he proceeded with various 

companions to the Furness 

Peninsula, an isolated 

district of Lancashire, 

A variety of songs were 

played, from the ‘Nutbush’ 

to ‘Discovery Channel’. 

‘Low’ by Flo Rider was not 

the only thing getting people 

low during the evening. The 

groovy limbo event was also 

extremely popular, with the 

title of Lord of Limbo going 

to R4’s Jack Rintoul. Ed Cox 

and Eliza Johnston took out 

best-dressed boy and girl. 

Eliza Johnston sported an 

edgy rocker look; complete 

with fish net stockings, knee 

high boots and the accessory 

that no 80s costume is 

complete without: the mullet. 

The award for the best dancer 

on the night went to Bridget 

Wallbank, who proved 

separated from the rest of 

the country by the sands of 

Morecambe Bay. 

Here he visited 

Swarthmore Hall (sometimes 

spelt Swarthmoor), an 

Elizabethan manor house 

and home of Judge Thomas 

Fell and his wife, Margaret, 

their seven daughters and 

one son. Margaret Fell 

was the daughter of a local 

landowner and a deeply 

religious woman whose 

home was kept open for 

travelling ministers, often 

holding services and prayers 

for the household with them. 

Her husband was away a 

lot as a judge travelling on 

the circuit. 

When Fox arrived 

in 1652, he was made 

welcome but soon upset the 

local Puritan minister who 

protested about his disruptive 

Lake Barrington in 1990. He 

was very interested in our 

boatsheds and he told me to 

come down to his sheds that 

afternoon to “ave a row”. 

Of course, I took him up 

on his offer. That afternoon, 

I went down to the sheds 

in the closest resemblance 

to rowing attire I could 

manage. He showed me his 

‘training rigs’, which were 

windsurfer boards with 

rigging and slides attached. I 

paddled around for a while. 

I almost fell in watching 

a school of fish under the 

rig. The water was as clear 

as glass and it was a perfect 

day. Monsieur Clerc called 

me in, and I thought my 

session was over. Far from 

it. He wanted me to take 

out a scull. I switched my 

oars from the rig to the boat 

and rowed off around the 

point. Rowing on the lakes 

is extremely useful, as you 

can row at any time of day. 

Year 7s getting into things. 

herself the ‘dancing queen’ 

of the Social. 

The evening’s supper was 

highly anticipated (we were 

told to bring food so we could 

pig out halfway through) 

with strength depleting after 

a night on the dance floor. 

Many teachers and Year 10s 

influence to Judge Fell when 

he came home. Margaret, on 

the other hand, was deeply 

impressed by George Fox, 

and her tolerant husband 

continued to allow Fox to 

stay, though he would sit 

next door and listen through 

an open door when Fox was 

preaching in their house. 

Judge Fell died in 

1658 at the same time as 

Oliver Cromwell. Fox 

was away travelling a lot, 

but he continued to visit 

Swarthmore Hall. During 

the Restoration (after 

1660), Quakers came under 

heavy persecution, and both 

George Fox and Margaret 

Fell spent time in gaol. 

Swarthmore Hall became 

a centre for Quakers and 

from there, they organised 

deputations to London to 

petition for many of the 

You’d have trouble keeping 

your head in the boat with 

the scenery to look at. 

I thought that all the 

adults that came to the sheds 

would be professionals, 

surpassing my rowing by 

miles, s 

o it was 

fairly gratifying to see most 

of them fall in once they 

were out of the harbour. I 

discovered that Monsieur 

Clerc ran his boatsheds from 

his own pocket, that his 

regular rowers stored their 

own boats and equipment in 

his sheds, and that anyone 

was welcome to come and 

row, so long as they were 

happy to get wet. 

I enjoyed rowing on Lac 

Leman (Lac Geneve) and 

would encourage anyone 

who travels to France in the 

future to row, wherever you 

may find a club. Monsieur 

Clerc told us that “Anywon 

who want to row eez 

welcome here!” 

Photo supplied by Tammy Giblin 

infiltrated the dance floor but 

the Year 7s got over it when 

they saw the masses of food. 

Big thanks to Tammy 

Giblin, the SRC, House 

Captains and the teachers 

who helped out and all of the 

students who attended the 

social. 

Friends sent to jail during 

the years of persecution, 

when many died. 

Eventually they decided 

to get married in Bristol in 

1669, when Margaret Fell 

was 55 and George Fox ten 

years younger. Margaret’s 

daughters always supported 

her but her son remained 

hostile to George Fox and 

Quakerism. Their marriage 

lasted until Fox’s death in 

1691, although he was only 

home for around five or 

six years of their 21 year 

marriage. Margaret Fell 

lived until 1702, when she 

died aged 88. 

Today the Hall still 

stands on the edge of the 

market town of Ulverston, 

owned by Quakers, and is 

a place frequently visited 

by Friends from all over the 

world.

4 


Model UN in Canberra 

NEWS 

All the student delegates at the National MUNA stand outside Old Parliament House. 

Photo supplied by Gordon Luckman 

by Tom Marshall 

were representing Israel, we attended by ambassadors 

were in the ‘Western’ bloc and senior embassy staff of 

On Friday 15 August, along with Australia, NZ, some countries including 

Gordon Luckman and I Turkey, Japan, the UK, the Afghanistan, India, Mexico 

left Hobart at 6 am bound USA and Canada. This bloc and Nigeria. After the dinner, 

for the National Model system had limited success, most teams again burned the 

United Nations Assembly in as many countries in our bloc midnight oil. Most of the 

Canberra. Accompanied by had differing opinions, and Western countries, led by the 

Margaret Luckman we were weren’t afraid to make these US spent hours trying to come 

representing the Deloraine known, most notably on the up with an amendment to one 

Rotary Club after winning the death penalty. We did manage of the resolutions to make 

Tasmanian MUNA earlier in to band together on some it palatable and therefore 

the year. 

issues however. 

passable by a majority of 

We met up with the other With most students having countries. This sort of thing 

teams at our accomodation. won regional MUNAs in really opened my eyes to 

With 32 teams, which added order to attend, the standard the sort of negotiations that 

up to over 80 students, we of debate was extremely probably goes on in the 

were quite a crowd as we high. Most of the other teams corridors of the real United 

attended the first item on our there were from Years 11 and Nations, and gave me a better 

pretty full program of events: 12, so we were some of the appreciation for the work 

a tour of the Australian youngest people there. After of diplomats. 

National University. We had the topics and designated Another lesson came 

great fun meeting all the speaking positions were the next day, while during 

other participants in between chosen, most people stayed debate, the US amendment 

talking to the Head of their up into the early hours of was defeated 30 to two, 

faculty of Asia Pacific Studies the morning, preparing and with most of the original 

and receiving a tour of their writing speeches. Since each proponents voting against 

campus, which was almost team only got three minutes it. Despite actually being 

unbelievably large. 

to speak to each resolution, a good amendment, it was 

After listening to the Iraqi it was important that you too complex, and was not 

Ambassador, it was time made good use of the time explained well enough. It 

to vote on what resolutions you had. 

was also proposed by the 

we would be debating that The next morning US, so that might have had 

weekend. We had initially the assembly proper got something to do with it. 

been given a list of 12 underway, with our first At the end of the weekend 

highly detailed resolutions, resolution being on the we were lucky enough to 

but now we had to vote that death penalty. The assembly be awarded an honourable 

down to the five we would was held in the House of mention by the adjudicators. 

actually be speaking on. Representatives in Old We also had the chance to 

This had made preparation Parliament House, and the meet some pretty amazing 

extremely hard, as we had great history of the room people from the ANU and 

to try to prepare for all of really added to the occasion. the embassies, not to mention 

them. The initial resolutions Sitting where politicians of debating with some of the 

had covered everything from old and not-so-old had sat people who we are pretty 

Human Rights in Iran, to and debated in their time felt certain will turn out to be 

the global financial system. pretty amazing. As expected, among the best minds of our 

The ones we finally settled the debate was pretty intense, generation. 

on were: “The Right of the with plenty of wheeling and The event was run 

Palestinians over their natural dealing going on behind wonderfully by the Rotary 

resources”; “Co-ordination the scenes, and delegates Club of Canberra Sunrise, 

of Humanitarian Assistance trading verbal blows in their and we feel deeply grateful 

Measures”; “A Moratorium speeches. With the United to them, and the Deloraine 

on the Death Penalty”; States attempting to flex its Rotary Club who sponsored 

“Development of Alternative muscle, and the Western bloc our attendance. Thanks also 

Energy Technology” and hopelessly outnumbered by go to Peter Jones who got 

“Combating the Defamation developing countries, we as us to go to the Tasmanian 

of Religions.” 

Israel found ourselves on the MUNA earlier this year. We 

After deciding on these losing side of most issues. would strongly encourage 

we split into our ‘blocs’ for That evening we had anyone who likes foreign 

strategy meetings. Throughout a formal dinner at the affairs, public speaking or 

the weekend, we worked in ANU, which was another debating to think about going 

‘blocs’ of supposedly likeminded 

chance to catch up with to the Tasmanian MUNA in 

countries. As we other delegates, and was 

2009. 


Stories from Kivagala 

This piece of creative writing was in response to the challenge that Greg Hill, Sarah 

Cupit and Adam Chambers presented to the students at the Quaker School in Western 

Kenya, Kivagala Secondary School. This school has been supported by The Friends’ 

School, Hobart for some time by way of library books, sports uniforms and funds to 

help complete their multi purpose hall. 

by Sharon Esther Omondi 

I have always wondered 

what it means to have a secret 

point on Earth. I thought that 

heaven was the only secret 

place. It is because of this 

that I supported the wise men 

when they uttered, “Only 

mountains cannot meet, but 

people do meet.” 

The experience fell on 

my hand at the time when my 

grandmother was still alive. 

In my community, it was 

common that grandmothers 

were rarely close to their 

female grandchildren. 

This was very much 

unique compared to other 

communities. I, as a girl, 

was to be very much closer 

to my grandfather. Being 

the luckiest girl-child on 

the planet Earth, I managed 

to overcome this belief and 

became the best friend of my 

Grandma. This enabled me 

to share out with my fellow 

girls how sweet it was to be 

close to a grandma. 

It was a chilly morning, 

the birds were singing 

their melodious sweet 

songs when my Grandma 

suggested that we had to go 

for a walk together. At first 

I was afraid, but I never 

knew what the walk held 

for me. What made me feel 

frightened was the fact that 

we were to go to a forest. 

I was reluctant in the first 

place, but Grandma’s sweet 

tongue convinced me. We 

then set off for the journey. 

It was cumbersome, but I 

had to bear with it all. It was 

before midday when we 

reached the darkest thicket 

that I have never imagined 

in my life. It was surrounded 

by a canopy, some strange 

growing plants and the 

least I expected was getting 

into that forest. Little did 

I know that Grandma was 

determined and courageous 

when she suggested that we 

should enter the forest. She 

led as I followed her behind 

with my veins being aroused 

due to the fear I had. 

Abruptly, we came to a 

hut-like corner where we 

stood. She observed the 

structure keenly and shook 

her head in agreement. I 

wondered what she meant 

by that, when she finally 

Students in class at Kivagala Secondary School with their textbooks. 

jabbered, “This is your point 

of blessings and please keep 

it to yourself.” Silence fell 

for a moment as I tried to 

chew her words. She broke 

the silence by uttering words 

to her ancestors in their own 

spiritual language. She told 

me to turn and not look 

behind as we headed back 

to the village. I imagined 

how now I had a secret 

place in life. Surprisingly, I 

sometimes went there alone 

and could find medicine for 

curing several diseases. 

I have managed to 

conquer all kinds in the 

village with this medicine 

and everyone wanted to 

know their origin but, 

unfortunately, I had to keep 

the promise even though 

Grandma was dead. 

No one has come to 

realise this. The more 

they got interested in my 

medicine, the more I became 

the most specialised doctor 

in the village, despite my age 

and gender. I have continued 

with this work to date and I 

promise never to reveal this 

secret place. This will remain 

my secret site forever. 

Photo supplied by Greg Hill

Focus news October 2008 5 

IB Dinner: Food for Thought and Celebration 

by Betty Reeve 

Year 12 IB English 

students held a dinner 

recently to bring to life the 

central event in Virginia 

Woolf’s novel To The 

Lighthouse. Professor and 

Mrs Ramsay holiday each 

year on the Isle of Skye, 

together with their eight 

children and several invited 

guests. Unbeknownst to 

them all, the dinner is one 

of the last occasions they 

will meet together: World 

War I descends, and their 

son Andrew Ramsay is 

just one of several people 

at the table who will die in 

coming years. 

The Lighthouse Dinner 

was held in a candlelit 

Hodgkin Hall. The menu 

closely followed Woolf’s 

specifications, with the 

French recipe Boeuf en 

Daube (Mrs Ramsay’s 

masterpiece) and a 

marvellous fruit platter 

for dessert. The students, 

dressed formally according 

to custom, took on the roles 

of some of the characters. 

Dialogue became quite 

animated before it was 

time for Mrs Ramsay to 

signal the end of the dinner 

by rising from her seat and 

departing, to the salute of 

another character, the poet 

Mr Carmichael. As the 

candles were blown out 

one by one, the gathering 

darkness symbolised the 

coming deaths of three 

family members. 

To round off the IB 

English year, it is planned 

that the Year 12s will host 

a Cloudstreet picnic for the 

Year 11 IB students. Each 

student will bring a food 

item from the extensive 

menu created in the 

novel Cloudstreet by Tim 

Winton. 

Show Your Colours Day 

The Year 12 IB English students and staff having obviously enjoyed their candlelit Lighthouse dinner 

in Hodgkin Hall. 

Photo by Katie Stone 

National Youth Science Forum 

Andrew Ryan, William Hallet and Brad Thomas aren’t ashamed to wear their football teams’ 

uniforms to help raise much needed funds for the Cancer Foundation. 

Photo by Felix Shepherdson 

by Felix Shepherdson 

On Friday 26 September 

the Fight Cancer Foundation’s 

Footy Colours Day was held 

at Clemes. It was a free dress 

day held in a casual manner to 

raise funds for a much more 

serious problem: to fund 

cancer research. Students 

were given the opportunity 

to support their teams by 

wearing any sporting regalia 

they chose. A variety of 

students wore AFL, football, 

and rugby wear. Some simply 

dressed in their own casuals, 

but still sporting the colours 

of the team of their choice. 

Given that the event was 

held on the day before the 

AFL grand final, rivalry 

was in the air between those 

in Hawthorn memorabilia 

and those wearing 

Geelong’s – as well as the 

usual competitiveness that 

arises from wearing any 

sporting uniform between 

pretty much everyone else. 

The event at Clemes was 

part of a national fundraiser 

entitled ‘Show your true 

colours’ which took place 

in workplaces and schools 

across the country. The 

Clemes event raised over 

$400 for cancer research, 

proving that even the 

seemingly insignificant act 

of donating a few dollars 

to charity, when considered 

as a part of a greater whole, 

can truly count. 

Michael Yong, Duncan Sweeney, Byron Low and Toby Woolley 

proudly sporting their teams’ colours. 

Photo by Felix Shepherdson 

Joe Kaczmarski with Geoffrey Burchfield (NYSF director) and Loren Atkins (NYSF P1) and two other 

Science Forum attendees. 

Photo by Steve Bunton 

by Stephen Bunton 

This year Joe 

Kaczmarski was selected to 

participate in the National 

Youth Science Forum. This 

event is held each year in 

Canberra at the Australian 

National University for 

students in their final year 

of secondary school. Joe 

is currently in Year 11 

and will be attending the 

NYSF in January 2009. 

He is sponsored by the 

North Hobart Branch of 

Rotary International. The 

NYSF is also supported 

by the ANU and various 

industry partners. 

Joe is an outstanding 

science student who has 

achieved exceptionally good 

results in Mathematics, 

Physical Science and 

Biology. Besides this he is 

a calmly confident student 

who is rather modest about 

his abilities. While he 

knows he will study science 

after leaving The Friends’ 

School, he is not sure of 

the field in which he will 

specialise. 

Joe was able to extend 

an invitation to his science 

teacher, Stephen Bunton, 

and his mother to accompany 

him on the orientation day 

in Launceston. It was a 

privilege to attend this most 

interesting session and see 

former NYSF participants 

talk so enthusiastically 

about their experiences. 

The sessions were 

chaired by Geoffrey 

Burchfield, formerly the 

presenter of the ABC 

television show Catalyst. 

We were also given a guided 

tour of the Australian 

Maritime College design 

testing tanks. This gave the 

students a taste of the sorts 

of excursions they will 

experience while they are in 

Canberra. 

The following day 

we were invited to attend 

afternoon tea at Government 

House. Lyn Tunbridge, 

Acting Head of Clemes was 

also in attendance. 

The Governor Peter 

Underwood and Frances 

Underwood have a longstanding 

relationship with 

The Friends’ School and 

it was good to see them 

again. Peter Underwood 

was Executive Chairman of 

The Friends’ School Board 

of Governors and Frances 

Underwood was Head of 

Junior School before her 

retirement. As Governor of 

Tasmania, Peter Underwood 

congratulated the students 

and wished them all the best 

for their time in Canberra. 

He thanked the sponsors of 

NYSF and acknowledged 

the contribution of the 

parents and teachers in the 

development of the twelve 

Tasmanian participants.

6 

by Paul Radford 

The Year 8, 9 and 

10/11 Marimba Ensembles 

recently performed at the 

Bruny Island District School. 


The performance was in 

part an opportunity to say 

thank you to the school for 

their support of our Year 9 

Bruny Experience and also 

to celebrate the fact that they 

news 

Bruny Island Marimba Performance 


year’s Marimba Mania: a 

vibrant vibraphone solo 

by Will Pridmore in Van 

Morrison’s Moondance, 

Allan McConnell’s rendition 

of Tango on the piano 

accordion and the conga 

line, which formed during 

the Year 10/11 performance 

of Trinidad and Tobago. 

Students from the younger grades of Bruny Island District School 

providing percussion backing for the marimbas. 

Photo supplied by Paul Radford 

Hodgkin House 

by Claire Rayner 

This year Hodgkin House 

drama did The Incredibles 

based on the Pixar animated 

film. It took us a while to 

come up with this idea, as we 

wanted our performance to 

be original, but also effective, 

entertaining and suitable for 

the number of participants. 

Overall our performance 

and production went 

smoothly. This was because 

we all work exceptionally 

well together as a team. Of 

course, like anything else 

there was the last minute 

rush to get everything 

organised for the dress 

rehearsal, especially 

preparing our costumes, 

which took a fair bit of time 

and effort. But in the end 

our costumes were one of 

our performance highlights. 

Together we had a 

lot of fun. We always 

managed to get the job 

done but enjoy ourselves 

at the same time. During 

Ransome House 

by Jed Adams 

As I was struggling to 

come up with an idea for a 

script to use for Ransome’s 

house drama this year I 

could feel a lot of pressure. 

Ransome was on a threeyear 

winning streak and I 

didn’t want to be the one to 

bring it to an end. At school 

one day I was approached 

by Max McQueeney, a 

fellow Ransome member. 

He claimed that he had an 

idea. Naturally, I inquired 

as to what his idea was, and 

he looked me in the eye 

and said, “Macbeth”. I was 

taken aback by the idea until 

he illustrated that he didn’t 

merely want to recreate 

rehearsals our performance 

was always changing with 

everyone throwing in new 

ideas, in the end this was 

great, as it created variety 

in our performance, rather 

than just strictly sticking 

to the original script. Of 

course, the actual night was 

fantastic; the atmosphere 

that was created was like 

no other. It just added to 

the excitement and made 

the whole house drama 

experience worthwhile. 

One of the most 

important things I learnt 

when directing Hodgkin’s 

house drama for 2008 was 

how crucial commitment is; 

not just for this performance 

but for anything. 

It made it increasingly 

difficult when we would 

have a rehearsal and 

someone would not be 

there, so next rehearsal 

we would have to waste 

valuable time in repeating 

what we had already 

covered. But I would 

Macbeth, but to “take the 

piss” right out of it. I felt 

this was a wise decision 

as Year 10 had just been 

studying Macbeth and so 

the last thing they wanted to 

see was more of it. I started 

off writing a script intending 

to do a parody of Macbeth, 

but instead, I ended up 

writing a parody of modern 

America, featuring two 

Macbeth characters. 

When I first gave out 

the script to who would 

eventually be the cast 

generally their response was 

quite positive. This was a 

great relief. The process of 

putting that play together was 

possibly the most stressful, 

sleepless, patience-testing, 

Friends’ students performing in conjunction with students from 

Bruny Island District School. 


have recently purchased 

their first marimba! 

The groups all played 

very well to what was a 

Mather House 

by Sophie Booth 

Mather performed 

Captain Planet. This choice 

was decided within the first 

week, which helped with 

the development of the play 

throughout our rehearsal time. 

The rehearsals and 

meetings were not as smooth 

and well planned as Mather 

would have hoped for in the 

first few weeks, with many 

characters never turning up 

for meetings. But as time 

went on a brilliant script was 

created and a story line had 

been produced. 

The students that were 

involved took on their 

enraging, funny, enjoyable, 

rewarding experience of my 

life. You may have noticed 

that some of those words 

contradicted each other, 

well, that’s exactly what 

it was like. However, it 

couldn’t have been a more 

rewarding experience. Even 

though, at times, it was hard 

to get everyone in the same 

place at the same time, and 

if I heard the words “soccer 

practice” one more time 

I think I would’ve killed 

some one, it was such a great 

experience to work with 

such a great cast, I must give 

credit to Max, who helped 

me all the way through and 

starred in the play. We all 

had some wonderful times, 

very appreciative, even 

excited audience! 

Highlights of the concert 

included excerpts from this 

House Drama 

strongly recommend 

House Drama to anyone 

interested in Years 9 and 

10 for 2009, even if you 

‘cannot act’ there are still 

plenty of other things that 

can be done. The more the 

merrier, as they say. 

Unwin House 

by Alex Vittorio 

This year Unwin house 

drama took on the story of 

Monty Python and the Holy 

Grail. We quickly decided 

on this as a good storyline 

to entertain our audience 

allocated tasks incredibly 

well. Everyone played his 

or her part well, and all help 

(backstage, lighting, sound) 

did a marvellous job. 

For anyone who wishes 

to take part in next years 

house drama, I advise 

you to. The experience is 

definitely one you can learn 

from, and a bond between 

the houses is something 

we are always looking to 

achieve. The competitive 

nature is exciting and the 

performing night has been 

of my greatest memories 

whilst being at the school. 

I urge everyone possible to 

get involved. 

and I hope they found it as 

great as I did. 

I was extremely pleased 

with our performance on 

the night and, and the relief 

that I felt when we finished 

was immense. This was 

topped when Nicola Collins 

announced that the winner of 

House Drama for the fourth 

time in a row, was Ransome 

I’d like to thank once more 

everyone that helped out along 

the way, the cast, Nicola and 

Tammy, who organised the 

whole thing and put up with 

us, Anees and Eloise, who 

did our sound and lighting, 

the other houses, whose 

plays I thoroughly enjoyed, 

and everyone who attended. 

Thank you very much. 

Friends’ students jamming out, Bruny style. 


in August. We organised 

ourselves into roles, a long 

script was ready to be used 

and we began practices 

twice weekly with only two 

months to go. 

The two year groups 

meshed quickly and we had 

plenty of volunteers for roles 

for onstage and off, an area 

where other houses seemed 

to struggle. Unfortunately we 

were told that our script of 21 

pages was probably too long 

for a 25 minute time slot, 

so we regretfully had to cut 

almost half of our script. 

Through input from 

many of our Unwin house 

drama team members, we 

added many Friends’ School 

inside jokes, discussing what 

we thought we could get 

past the censors of Tammy 

and Nicola. 

A special thanks does 

have to go to these two 

teachers who helped out with 

all our organisation, creative 

ideas and helping to clean 

up paint spills when they 

happened. We were gaining 

confidence as we headed into 

the dress rehearsal stage with 

(most) lines being known, 

the smoothness of our 

transitions improving and 

we were all generally having 

a good time. Half the fun of 

house drama is making the 

costumes and backdrops that 

make your performance look 

that much smoother. 

Soon we came to the 

night of the performance, 

with nerves running amok 

and last minute preparations 

being hastily made. We had 

our fun watching Mather on 

stage, but it was then our turn 

to follow up to be the second 

performance of the night. We 

began our play nervously, but 

we soon began to enjoy our 

time on stage and performed 

better than we ever had at 

rehearsal. Our performance 

was almost faultless and we 

came off the stage full of 

confidence. As Director it 

was great to see everything 

we had worked for come 

together on the night and 

to know that we had made 

the crowd enjoy themselves 

so much. 

For next year’s house 

drama performers, here’s 

the advice you need: get 

prepared early, get as many 

people included as possible 

and most of all, have a great 

time being part of house 

drama. 

The Cast and Crew of Ransome’s winning House Drama 

production: Macbeth. 

Photo supplied by Tammy Giblin

Friends’ Connections 

An eight page magazine produced by the Development Office and Archives 

Old Scholar News 

Winnie Shield (1912) 

was one several members 

of the Shield family who 

attended Friends’ in earlier 

years. Kathleen (Shield 

1918) and Leslie (Shield 

1915) boarded from Glen 

Huon. Winnie Everett 

(Shield), brother Raymond’s 

children, Geoffrey David 

Shield, Vernon Rippon 

Shield (1931), Edward 

(Shield 1935) and Elizabeth 

Stebbing (Shield 1937) 

were members of the next 

generations of Shields to 

attend Friends’. These 

students walked to School 

from Elphinstone Road. 

Winnie’s daughter, Megan 

Coote and her nephew, David 

Shield visited School recently 

(stories below)and we have a 

photo of John Shield (1997) 

in our last issue of Focus. 

Mary Tonks (Colwell) 

was a student at Friends’ 

from 1928-1933. Her 

younger siblings also came 

to Friends’ - Frederick 

(1934) and Joan (1935). 

Mary’s daughters, Elizabeth 

Thompson (Tonks 1957) 

and Mary Sindle (Tonks 

1960), both attended 

Friends’ and currently spend 

some time supporting their 

mother, who despite being 

92 years old continues to 

live in her own home. 

Elizabeth Tonks, 

married another Friends’ old 

scholar, Jim Thompson. 

Their children, Mary Ann 

Thompson (1981) and Jane 

Jepson (Thompson 1983) 

Walter Thompson (1986) 

Peter Thompson (1990) all 

attended Friends’. Walter 

and Peter currently run the 

family farm, Nathan Park 

at Brighton, assisted by their 

father Jim. 

Megan Coote (Everett 

1949) attended Friends’ 

from 1937-1948. She lived 

in Augusta Road and walked 

to School. Megan was a 

good pianist and sometimes 

played in Assembly. She 

was also a singer and took 

part in eisteddfods. Megan 

remembers the first school 

play, Abraham Lincoln 

produced by Laurier Lange. 

During a recent visit to School 

she was pleased to find the 

site of the earlier chemistry 

and physics labs (now East 

Block classrooms). Megan 

reminisced about her teachers, 

Evan Williams and Alec 

Nightingale. After School, 

Megan undertook office 

administrative work and 

travelled overseas. Moving 

to Victoria, she worked in 

pastoral care and training 

with the Methodist Church 

before joining Victorian 

based Christian Education. 

Through this organisation 

Megan worked as a School 

Chaplain and later managed 

their School Chaplaincy 

program in Victoria. 

Megan Coote (Everett) 

photographed recently in 

Archives. 

Many of our School 

community have lived on, 

and spent recreation time 

on Mt Stuart. The Leonard 

Wall Valley Street Reserve 

is being developed in 

remaining bushland in the 

area by the Hobart City 

Council. The Reserve will 

continue as a recreation 

area which will include a 

native plant demonstration 

garden. Leonard Wall’s wife 

Marjorie Wall (Scott 1942) 

is a great supporter of her 

old School as well as her 

neighbourhood. 

News from Patricia 

Furley (Tilley 1954) . Patricia 

is living in Queensland along 

with her old scholar brother, 

Michael Tilley (1957) and 

sister Cathy Fitzpatrick 

(Tilley 1951) and is looking 

forward to visits to Western 

Australia to see her daughter 

and to Tasmania to visit 

family. The three Tilley 

children were boarders from 

Rosebery for the time they 

attended Friends’. Patricia 

keeps up with former School 

mates Rosemary Johns 

(McCann), Robin Jackson 

(Button) and Judy Rosie 

(Nichols). 

Jenny Wiggins undertakes 

some research in School 

Archives. (Story page 12). 

Paul Calvert (1956) 

now retired from the Senate 

has settled into the life of a 

farmer. He continues to enjoy 

tennis. Not one to sit still, 

Paul is also building a new 

house near May’s Beach at 

Sandford. 

David Shield (1963) 

kindly brought several items 

in for our Archives and 

History collection. David was 

in Hobart from his home in 

Eden Hills, South Australia. 

David’s visit was partly 

focused on historic church 

organs. This is an interest 

close to his heart. David was 

introduced to pipe organs by 

Donald Holder and was for 

some time organist at Swan 

Street Methodist Church. 

After achieving his BA from 

UTAS, David moved to 

South Australia where his life 

continued to be nourished by 

music. Retired from teaching 

now, David is researching 

historic pipe organs in 

Tasmania, South Australia 

and Western Australia. 

The Hobart City Council 

received a great accolade, 

winning the 2008 Australian 

Business Excellence Gold 

Award. General Manager 

Brent Armstrong (1963) 

accepted the award which 

recognises business 

excellence frameworking in 

public and private sectors. 

Charles (Charlie) 

Blundell (1965) and Robert 

Vaughan (1966) have been 

sailing together in the recent 

Hamilton Island race. Charles 

has been a professional boat 

delivery skipper working on 

boats for over thirty years. 

Often known as ‘Chas from 

Tas’, Charles has sailed 

22,000 nautical miles in the 

last year. 

Lindsay Botten (1970) 

Professor of applied 

mathematics at Sydney’s 

University of Technology, 

has recently been appointed 

as director of the national 

supercomputing facility 

at the Australian National 

University. 

Ristin Vanderhoek 

(Nichols 1972). Ristin has 

her own financial accounting 

company and is based in 

Crow’s Nest in Sydney. 

Her accounting company 

works mainly in the 

entertainment industry and 

she works from home. 

Ristin has been living in 

Sydney for around 16 years 

now. She has been married 

to Edward (Ted) Vanderhoek 

for 18 months (after 12 

years of dating). Ristin has 

one daughter, Lizzie who is 

an Environmental Engineer 

and head of water recycling 

for Melbourne Water. 

Almost every weekend 

Ristin goes to the South 

Coast of NSW where she 

and Ted have a 100 acre 

property right on the coast. 

She plans to semi-retire 

there in a couple of years. 

Ristin has fond memories, if 

not a little hazy, of her time 

at The Friends’ School. In 

particular, she remembers 

Jane Cannon, Esther 

McDougall, Ian Johnson and 

Jonathan Ricketts. 

Robert Banks (1973). 

Robert went on from 

School to achieve BAgSc 

(Hons) at UTAS and then 

to overseeing the extension, 

research and technical 

development of LambPlan, 

at the Meat Research 

Corporation; this enabled 

national commercialisation. 

Robert is currently the Meat 

and Livestock Association’s 

Manager of On-Farm 

Research and Development 

for Southern Tasmania. His 

work has been recognised 

with a Clunies-Ross Award 

and a fellowship from 

the Association for the 

Advancement of Animal 

Breeding and Genetics and 

by the 2006 University of 

Tasmania Graduate Award. 

We were pleased to 

catch up with Lee Peterson 

(1979) recently. Lee attended 

Friends’ all his school life 

and enjoyed Science. He was 

especially inspired by Jim 

Laver. Lee went on to UTAS 

where he studied Agricultural 

Science and gained BAg 

Science and a PhD. Living 

at Richmond now, Lee is 

a partner and consultant 

in the statewide business, 

Agricultural Resource 

Management. He and his 

wife Michelle have three 

children, Aiden, Elke and 

Ryan, and most spare time 

is used supporting his family 

though he enjoys occasional 

games of futsal. 

Lee Peterson and Aiden 

Peterson. 

We recently caught up 

with Alicia Hutton (Back) 

1989. Alicia attended Friends’ 

from her home in Launceston 

and as there was no school 

boarding house at the time, 

she boarded privately. Now 

living in Blackmans Bay, 

Alicia is the mother of two 

children and works as the 

Executive Officer of the 

Property Agents Board of 

Tasmania. 

Readers will be interested 

that Alicia’s father, David 

Back was in Hobart from 

his home in Canberra and 

his job advising Australian 

universities on aspects of 

international education. 

Jane Christie-Johnston 

(1990) will be remembered 

as a fine singer during her 

years at Friends’. She made 

great contributions to the 

musical and drama life of the 

School in her school days. 

She continues to enjoy music 

especially Gospel. She is 

musical director of The Sing 

For Your Life! Community 

Choir. 

Michelle Fernando 

(1995) went on to UTAS to 

study law after her days at 

Friends’. On completing her 

graduate studies Michelle 

travelled and worked as a 

family law practitioner. Her 

experiences in family law 

‘formed the framework’ 

for her current PhD 

research. Michelle has 

been investigating whether 

children are being adequately 

heard in parenting disputes in 

the Family Court. Michelle is 

also a member of the Friends’ 

School Board of Governors. 

Heather McGee (2000) 

remembered at School as 

a fine student, has been 

nominated as a 2008 

Tasmanian Young Achiever. 

She is working towards her 

PhD in a study of the effects 

of sunlight, particularly 

during childhood, on the 

developing immune system. 

This topic is of particular 

concern to Tasmanians as 

we are especially affected 

by sunlight and its possible 

health links. 

Many members of the 

School community will 

remember Awak Mario- 

Ring (2000) and be interested 

to learn he has completed his 

engineering qualifications 

and is currently working with 

Transend. 

Matthew Reid (2001) is 

a surveyor with Lester Franks 

Geographic and after a year 

in Hobart with them they 

decided to open an office in 

Launceston and base him in 

it. His girlfriend is doing 

fifth year Medicine at the 

Launceston General Hospital 

so it all worked out very 

well. 

Callum Findlay (2005) 

will be remembered from 

his days at Friends’ as a keen 

student of languages. He 

spent Year 11 as an exchange 

student in Japan and on his 

return shared his pleasure in 

the culture with our School 

community. Enrolled at 

UTAS in the School of Asian 

Languages and Studies, 

Callam is currently studying 

in South Korea in an 

intensive Korean language 

course offered through the 

Pusan National Universities 

International Institute of 

Exchange and Education. 

As well as studying Korean, 

Callam is taking a Chinese 

class and a Political Science 

class (in English). 

Rosie Mollison (2004) 

has been part of a group 

of university students who 

are urging young people 

everywhere to reduce their 

carbon footprint by using 

their feet and have started a 

‘carpooling, ride and walk to 

uni initiative’. Rosie, together 

with James Correy (2006) 

Jack Robert-Tissot (2004) 

Liam Correy (2004) and 

Katie Kingshott (2006)are 

active members of Critical 

Mass part of a world wide 

monthly bike riding event 

aimed at ‘pushing’ for better 

cycling infastructure in 

Hobart. 

Madeleine Holmes 

(2004) is part way through a 

combined psychology and law 

degree at UTAS.Madeleine is 

also part of the management 

team at Tasmanian Coffee 

Roasters, a business in Sandy 

Bay and more recently also 

North Hobart, and Onba, a 

relatively new and popular 

coffee shop and bar in North 

Hobart. 

Harriet Badcock 

(2005) undertook a Diploma 

in Business and Human 

Resource Management at 

TAFE after her years at 

School. She has worked in 

a variety of small businesses 

and is currently working in 

the Human Resource area 

with the Coles group. Harriet 

continues to play hockey 

and enjoys other sports. Her 

dog Max continues to hold a 

special place in her life.

8 


friends’ connections 


Friends’ visits the UK 

On Saturday 27 September 

2008 the Development office 

ran a reunion for Friends’ 

Old Scholars resident in the 

UK and Europe. The reunion 

was held on the Brookes 

Oxford University campus 

in the historic Headington 

Hill home in Oxford. Steve 

McQueeney and John Green 

travelled to Oxford to join 

40 old scholars, some of 

who had travelled from as 

far away as Belgium and 

Germany. The attendees 

were greeted by Steve, John 

and also Stephanie Farrall 

(former Co-Principal) who 

spoke about the School and 

how strong and influential 

it was on all who had 

attended. While indicating 

every attendee was special 

for making the journey to 

Oxford for the reunion Steve 

made special mention of 

Mary Clemes for being the 

only Clemes College old 

scholar (Clemes College - 

amalgamated with Friends’ 

in 1945), Barbara (Gourlay 

1952) and Milos (Martin) 

Heller who celebrated the 

46th anniversary of meeting 

each other in Headington 

Hill Hall while working for 

the then owner and media 

proprietor Robert Maxwell. 

Following a wonderful 

dinner Steve and John 

Green presented a slideshow 

presentation about the School 

today. Many in attendence 

indicated their delight at how 

many exciting things are 

occuring in the School and 

were particularly interested 

in the amazing developments 

in technology and the recent 

purchase of the Far South 

Wilderness Camp. 

John Green spoke about 

his Principalship and also 

how significant an impact 

Lyndsay and Stephanie had 

on the School when they 

were Principals. 

During the reunion guests 

had the opportunity to write 

a brief account of life after 

Friends’. 

Souda Tornero (1972) 

flew from France with her 

son Alex for the reunion. 

Souda remembered 

Friends’ School keeping the 

Wednesday morning report 

for girls in the gym and Miss 

Yeates reading reports about 

girls ‘who did not behave 

according to the Friends’ 

standard like: no make-up, 

hair must be tied back, no 

nail polish etc……’. 

Having left Friends’ 

in 1946, where she was a 

boarder for seven years, 

Dorothy Turner (Allwright 

1946) went on to travel in 

Europe and settled in England 

54 years ago. She has had 

a very interesting life in the 

UK and was delighted to hear 

of the Friends’ Old Scholars 

Reunion in the UK. In recent 

years Dorothy has returned 

to Tasmania regularly when 

she has enjoyed the Friends’ 

Old Scholars’ luncheons. 

Dorothy hopes to continue 

coming back to see family 

and friends. 

Since Pat Stokes (Davis) 

left Friends’ in 1946 she 

has lived in Hobart. Pat 

married former Old Scholar 

Alan. Their two sons Robert 

(1971) and David (1973) 

also attended the School. At 

the time of the reunion Pat 

was on holiday staying with 

her school friend Dorothy 

Turner (Allwright). She 

has enjoyed exploring the 

English countryside. 

Dorothy and Pat were 

boarders for many years and 

meet regularly with fellow 

boarders who are ‘special’ 

friends. 

Jassy Husk (1999) is 

currently living in London 

and continuing her operatic 

career. Jassy’s engagements 

include singing in Spain 

and auditioning for Covent 

Garden. She loved coming 

to the reunion and hearing 

all of Friends’ continuing 

wonderful work. 

Helen Wheatley 

(Dare 1958) retired from 

Montessori Teacher Training 

to work as a watercolour 

painter and volunteering 

work as stage manager of 

a street theatre company, 

Penny Plain Theatre. Helen 

is also a volunteer deck 

hand for Tall Ships Youth 

Trust, helping young people 

experience life working on 

tall ships. 

Sarah Lockyer (1999) is 

currently working with Go 

Ape in the UK, swinging 

from the trees. She is an 

outdoor instructor by day, 

photographer by night. A 

series of platforms linked 

with rope crossings and 

bridges, finally a zip wire 

takes you back down to 

earth. Sarah aims to be a site 

manager in 2009, responsible 

for 10,000 customers and 

13 staff a year. She wants 

to take Go Ape to Australia 

eventually, Far South here 

we come! 

In 1975 Barbara Heller 

(Gourlay) founded a photo 

archive of images of ancient 

and native cultures from the 

Arctic to Polynesia, with the 

art of the Eskimo, the Vikings 

and the Celts to the Samurai 

of Japan and the Maori of 

New Zealand. This resource 

of photographs is being used 

by authors, publishers and 

documentary film makers 

around the globe. Barbara 

has also organised several 

exhibitions of contemporary 

Egyptian weavings of 

exceptional merit. 

Alex and Souda Tornero (nee Pathoumxad) arrive at Headington 

Hill Hall. 

Anna Matysek and Emily Bailey (nee Groom). 

Clare McLaren and Derek Roebuck. 

Duncan Brian and Jassy Husk. 

James Upcher and Helena Anderson. 

Lisa Wylie, Anna Matysek and Oliver George enjoy the evening. 

Margaret Bowling and Sally Williams. 

Martin and Barbara Heller (nee Gourlay). 

Mary Clemes and Dorothy Turner ((nee Allright).

UK Reunion cont... 

Reia Anquet (nee Farrall) and Lisa Wylie. 

Focus friends’ connections October 2008 9 

Oliver George and Tim Scandrett. 

Visits to Quaker Schools 

in the UK 

Principal John Green 

and Steve McQueeney 

Development & Community 

Relations Manager took 

the opportunity while in the 

UK to visit Sibford School 

in Oxfordshire (established 

1840) to meet Head Michael 

Goodwin. Steve exchanged 

School crests with Michael 

to commemorate both the 

visit and also a desire to form 

a closer partnership with 

Quaker Schools in the UK. 

Michael was able to give 

Steve and John a tour of the 

School. A highlight of the visit 

was when Steve was able to 

join a Gathering of the whole 

School. Sibford is one of seven 

Quaker Schools in England. 

Following the visit 

to Sibford was a visit to 

Leighton Park School in 

Reading where Steve met 

with Deputy Head Elizabeth 

Thomas (in the absence of 

the Head John Dunstan) and 

again presented The Friends’ 

School crests. Leighton Park 

opened in 1890 (three years 

after Friends’ School) and has 

a large number of boarders 

among its 470 students who 

range from 11-18 years in 

age. John Green met with 

John Dunstan earlier on his 

trip after having visited John 

Walmsley, Head of Sidcot 

School in North Somerset. 

Trish Groom (Brooke) arrives at the reunion with her husband 

Malcolm. 

Lisa Bingham and Luca De Carli chat over dinner. 

Steve McQueeney is pictured giving The Friends’ School crest to 

Leighton Park Deputy Principal Elizabeth Thomas. 

Pat Stokes and John Green. 

The dining room at Headington Hill Hall was full good cheer. 

Stephanie and Lyndsay Farrall. 

Mary Clemes and Helen Wheatley (nee Dare). 

Steve McQueeney and the Principal of Sibford School, Michael 

Goodwin exchange School crests. 

The Fitzgerald Family 

Sarah Lockyer enjoys a conversation with Jassy Husk. 

Liz and Tim Fitzgerald. 

UK Reunion photos supplied by Heather Rowledge. 

Photo courtesy of Tim Fitzgerald - UK Reunion 2008. 

The Fitzgerald family photographed in their school uniforms 

circa 1962. L-r Tim, Dinah, Jo, Mandy, and Lisa

10 




WA Reunion 

On Saturday 16 

August Principal John 

Green and Development 

and Community Relations 

Manager Steve McQueeney 

joined more than forty old 

scholars, friends of Friends', 

past teachers and partners 

for a wonderful dinner at the 

Nedlands Golf Club in Perth. 

Jill Elias (Green 1983) and 

Roly Hill did an amazing job 

gathering the group which 

ranged in ages from Robert 

(Bob) Mather (1946) to 

Pepper Hutchinson (1993). 

Former Head of Clemes 

Mark Curtis, his wife Sally 

and daughter, and old scholar, 

Alison Atkins attended the 

reunion, as did Ann Zubrick 

who is the Friends' School 

board nominee from the WA 

Quaker Regional Meeting. 

Steve McQueeney and 

John Green spoke about the 

School today and some of 

the changes that have taken 

place over the past few years, 

including the purchase of 

the School's new wilderness 

camp Far South, and also the 

amazing academic results 

our students have achieved 

in recent history. WA old 

scholars have met regularly 

in recent years and hope to 

continue that tradition well 

into the future. If you are an 

old scholar living interstate 

and would like to assist 

the Development Office in 

organising a reunion please 

contact Steve McQueeney 

on 03 6210 2200 or send 

an email to smcqueeney@ 

friends.tas.edu.au for more 

information. 

Pepper Hutchinson is pictured with the Principal, John Green. 

Jane John, Christine Marinescu and Jane Younger. 

Old friends and new. 

L-r Michael Elias, Roly Hill (standing) and Colin Sherrington. 

Tony Friend (centre) had everyone smiling. 

Nedlands Golf Club was full of Friends’. 

L-r Jenny Komyshan (Forsyth), Graeme Pearce and Frank Moore 

enjoy the evening. 

Maggie Pitt (Knight) and Sandy Chittock (nee Donaldson) were 

among the guests at the Nedlands Golf Club. 

Jo Macfie and Friends’ Board nominee Ann Zubrick enjoy 

catching up. 

Jill Elias (Green) left is pictured with Heather Rowledge and Amy 

Green. 

L-r Alison, Sally and Mark Curtis enjoy chatting with Helen 

Mather.


1988 Reunion 

Hodgkin Hall was alive 

with excitement as the 

Class of 1988 reunited on 

Saturday 23 August 2008. 

Focus caught up with just a 

few of the attendees. 

Marcella Coppleman has 

spent much of her life after 

School travelling the world. 

She has held numerous 

management positions and 

recently moved back to 

Hobart and purchased a 

house. She plans to travel 

again in the future. 

Amanda Calvert has 

a diploma in interior 

decorating and design. She 

has just purchased her third 

project, a house in West 

Hobart which Amanda plans 

to redecorate. Amanda has a 

12 year old daughter. 

It was a pleasure to 

welcome Chris Parsons and 

his wife Karen who travelled 

from Sydney to attend the 

reunion. After leaving 

School, Chris studied 

engineering at UTAS. He 

then moved to Broken Hill to 

take up his first appointment 

where he met Karen. They 

left Broken Hill after four 

years to live in Brisbane 

and then Newcastle. Chris 

and Karen now live in 

Sydney where Karen works 

as a Psychologist. They are 

expecting their first child in 

November. 

It was great to catch up 

with Nicholas Wing at the 

reunion. Nicholas is happily 

married with two children – 

Oscar 4 ½ and Layla 2 ½ . 

He is currently working at 

Tradewear in Hobart. 

Alison Edwards arrived 

with her four month old 

daughter, Ivy. Alison moved 

back to Tasmania from 

Lismore four years ago and 

also has a son Monty who is 

three. 

After living in Sydney for 

some time, Paula Straatsma 

is practicing as a GP at 

Lauderdale. She is married 

to Mark and they have two 

children – Ava three and 

Harry 10 months. Paula and 

her family are planning to 

move back to Sydney soo 

L-r Long time staff member, Jenny Wood is pictured with Alison 

Edwards (and baby Ivy) and Paula Straatsma. 

Karen and Chris Parsons enjoy the ambience of Hodgkin Hall. 

Diary Dates 

2008 

The Friends’ School Fair 

Saturday 1 November 2008 

1983 Reunion 

Saturday 15 November 

End of Year Gathering 

Thursday 4 December 2008 

2007 Reunion (one year out) 

Wednesday 17 December 

1998 Reunion 

Saturday 20 December 

2009 

50+ Reunion (Lunch) 

Saturday 21 February 

60+ Year Reunion 

Sunday 22nd February 

1959 Reunion (Lunch) 

Saturday 28 March 

1969 Reunion 

Saturday 2 May 

Former Staff Occasion 

Saturday 18 July 

1989 Reunion 

Saturday 22 August 

2008 Reunion 

Thursday 17 December 

1999 Reunion 

Saturday 19 December 

Dates are subject to change 

please check with the Development Office phone 6210 2282 or 

email development@friends.tas.edu.au before making travel 

arrangements. 

Amanda Calvert and Marcella Coppleman enjoy a chat at the 

1988 reunion. 

Alex Exaharos, Tim McDermott, Jason Groombridge and Peter 

Pitt 

Gifts to Archives 

Nicholas Wing, Roger Sweet, Tony Wood and Steven Whiteside. 

Scrap Book Delights 

We received a wonderful 

scrapbook from the estate of 

Jeanette Males (Clark) It had 

been her wish that it come to 

the School Archives and her 

brother Donald Clark kindly 

brought it in. The scrapbook 

contains all sorts of cuttings 

from 1951-1955. Included is 

the programme for the 1955 

School Play, Walter de la 

Mere’s Crossings. This play 

was performed in the Theatre 

Royal in August 1955 under 

Claire Mitchell’s direction. 

Over 40 students acted in 

the play. The supporting 

orchestra was made up of 

over 20 players, assisted 

by old scholars, parents 

and friends. It is interesting 

to see the posters for this 

play were created by Mrs 

Martin, Mrs Hurburgh and 

the girls in the Art Classes” 

and the properties devised 

Jenny Wood and her boys share fond memories of the Argyle 

Street campus. 

and constructed by Mr W 

Shankley and the 9G boys. 

The sets were painted by 

Blanch Gourlay and the 9G 

boys and constructed by 

Mr Bill Wallace. The ballet 

was devised and directed by 

Lesley Stump . 

Nicole Bury (Casimaty) 

costume 

Andrew and Richard Cobham 

E E Unwin watercolour painting 

Estate of Jeanette Males 

documents and costume 

David Shield 

documents and photograph 

Sibford School 

school shield 

Elizabeth O’Kines 

songbook 

Gawin Tipiloura & Carina Coombes 

Tiwi Island flag 

Ruth Miller 

china 

Robin Wilkinson 

documents 

Andrew Gibson 

sculpture 

Estate of Cecily McKinlay 

documents, books, photographs 

Peggy Wilson (McCuaig) 

badge

12 

John Edgar Smith 

We recently had the 

pleasure of receiving 

Graham Collinson Ford 

Smith and his wife Rosalie 

on a visit to School. Graham 

is the grandson of John 

Edgar Smith, Headmaster 

of The Friends’ School, 

Hobart from 1903-1907. 

Known during his time at 

Friends’ as J. Edgar Smith, 

he and his wife, Beatrice, 

were very popular members 

of the School community. 

During their time at Friends’ 

a baby daughter, Beatrice, 

was born and old Echoes 

mention her with equal 

affection. 

Computing Around the World 

David Burela (2001), 

remembered at School 

for his keenness in the 

areas of service, science 

and technology and as an 

Echoes team member, has 

been a student at UTAS in 

the six and a half years since 

leaving School. He has 

achieved an amazing three 

computing qualifications 

there. 

Recently David and 

a team of three others 

competed against 370 

other finalists from 61 

countries in the prestigious 

Microsoft Image Cup. The 

competition was held in 

Paris. David and his team 

won the i software design 

competition. This was a 

remarkable achievement 

and a great honour. 

This Imagine Cup 

competition is a wonderful 

way to showcase student 

skills and to allow the 

wider community to come 

to a better understanding of 

what technology can do to 

enhance the lives of people 

across the planet. 


After his time at Friends’ 

J. Edgar Smith moved to 

South Australia where he 

lived at Mt Barker just 

outside Adelaide. He was, 

for many years, Headmaster 

of the Mt Barker High 

School. J. Edgar Smith had 

two more children during 

his Mt Barker days, Colin 

and Ivan. Graham is one of 

Ivan’s sons. Graham was 

pleased to find more about 

his grandfather during his 

visit to Archives and shared 

stories of his Aunt Beatrice, 

a worthy South Australian 

Quaker and, like so many of 

her siblings also, a teacher. 

Graham Collinson Smith photographed during a recent visit to 

School. 

Photo of David in the School Computing Labs in his school days. 

David and his team 

developed software called 

Soak. The software is 

designed to help farmers 

manage water shortages. 

Soak software uses sensors 

that measure moisture, 


Veronica Thorp 

This is an extract of 

a piece written by Clive 

Attwater, Lian Tanner, 

Pamela Claridge 

A large group of family 

and friends recently gathered 

in Bellerive to farewell 

Veronica Thorp (1968), who 

died from cancer. 

Veronica was a beloved 

wife and mother, a dear 

friend, and a fine writer 

and editor. She combined a 

dreamy nature with a sharp 

intellect and a deep love of 

the natural world. As a young 

woman she had gone on from 

Friends’ to study Science at 

the University of Tasmania 

(Zoology Honours), then 

travelled to Canada where 

she completed a Master of 

Environmental Studies and 

met her future husband, 

Clive Attwater. 

Growing up beside 

the Derwent inspired 

Veronica's life-long love 

of nature, ecology and 

writing. Veronica worked 

as a writer for over twenty 

years, specialising in natural 

history, environmental and 

eco-tourism interpretation, 

and coastal education. 

In 1991 Veronica cofounded 

the Howrah- 

Bellerive Coastcare Group, 

the first in the state. 

Throughout her life she was 

dedicated to the preservation 

of the coastal environment, 

and much of her work 

reflected this. 

The reason why 

Coastcare and Landcare 

rainfall, wind, dam depth, 

temperature and water 

flow so farmers can choose 

the best conditions for 

watering their crops. 

flourished in Southern 

Tasmania in the early 90’s 

was in no small part due to 

the in-depth ecological and 

local knowledge contributed 

by Veronica. 

Among her many 

publications was the 

invaluable and much used 

Community Coastcare 

Handbook, and she also 

wrote the early drafts of a 

coastal works manual for 

local councils. In the last 

few years she was closely 

involved in remediation 

work for penguin habitat 

on the banks of the River 

Derwent. 

Veronica was one of 

those rare people who 

genuinely don’t worry about 

what others think of them, 

but follow their own path 

with a quiet originality. 

She was terribly 

shortsighted, and capable 

of getting lost between one 

telegraph pole and the next, 

but she could find her way 

through hundreds of pages 

of contradictory information 

to produce an elegantly 

written and exquisitely 

comprehensible report. She 

was a passionate gardener. 

She was a woman of 

unique and wonderful spirit, 

and it seems impossible that 

she has gone. She is survived 

by her husband Clive and 

their children, Eleanor and 

Geoffrey. 

We give thanks for the 

life of Veronica Thorpe. 

Every Wednesday 

is Open Day 

If you would like to look 

around The Friends’ School 

on an ordinary teaching 

and learning day, register at 

reception 03 6210 2200 for 

Open Day tours. 

Every Wednesday is 

Open Day. 

Anyone for Lunch? 

A group of 1956-57 

leavers has been meeting 

about every two months for 

lunch at different venues 

to catch up and talk over 

old School days. Some 

attendees bring along old 

photos and have much fun 

identifying people. Lots of 

laughs are had by all and at 

each lunch more old scholars 

have joined in. If there is 

anyone who would like to 

join in they would be most 

welcome. Please contact 

Wendy Mundy on 6243 9157 

or Susie Medbury on 6248 

5083 if you would like to 

join the next get together on 

Friday 5 December 2008. 


Hugh Returns to Clemes 

Hugh Wells visited 

School recently and made 

the senior secondary part 

of the School, Clemes, his 

destination. Hugh spent 

part of an afternoon looking 

at old honour boards and 

talking with members of 

the Clemes community 

Hugh Wells below a board which bears his name. 

We were pleased to 

receive Jenny Wiggins 

(Colman 1957) at School 

recently. Jenny will 

be remembered by her 

contemporaries as a keen 

craftswoman. This is a 

continuing characteristic. 

Along with her cheery 

nature, Jenny continues to 

share her love of craft in 

classes she runs. 

After her School 

years Jenny undertook 

a commercial course at 

Hobart Technical College. 

She went on to work at the 

College before stepping 

out into the pay office at 

Treasury and being secretary 

to the Manager of T&G Fire 

and General. 

After raising her 

about the personalities and 

their stories recorded on 

the boards. If you would 

like to ‘visit’ some former 

students who are celebrated 

on the boards contact Kathy 

Rundle, School Archivist, 

on 6210 2200. 

News from Jenny 

daughters, Debbie and 

Sandra, Jenny returned 

to the paid workforce, 

working at the National 

Fitness Council and the 

Department of Sport and 

Recreation. 

Jenny maintained 

contact with classmates, 

Denise Webb (Colvin) 

and Wendy Munday 

(Donaldson) and with 

them and a wider group 

of contemporaries shares 

regular lunch get-togethers. 

(See article below). 

Jenny’s sister, Anne 

Thompson (Colman) is 

living in Victoria. Jenny’s 

daughter, Sandra Wiggins 

is The Friends’ School’s 

Counsellor. 

Photograph supplied by Susie Medbury. 

Rear from l-r Jenny Wiggins (Colman), Judith Edhouse (Boyer), 

Elizabeth Thompson (Tonks), Margaret Schmul (Langridge), Jan 

McConnen (Langridge) and Wendy Mundy (Donaldson). 

Front from l-r Denise Webb (Colvin), Susie Medbury (Leitch) and 

Maureen Woolley (Frost) photographed at a recent get together.


A Very Big Thank You - Annual Giving 2008 

What if……. 

in past generations The 

Friends’ School community 

had not given to our 

School. Much of what 

our students benefit from 

today would not be here. 

The generosity of those in 

the past who gave to us for 

the future has ensured that 

our students today learn 

in an environment that 

will provide the necessary 

knowledge and skills for 

them to meet the challenges 

of the 21st century. They did 

not know us but graciously 

gave. Each year we ask 

that members of the greater 

School community give for 

today and also for those 

whose faces you do not 

know in the future. 

Thank you to the 

following people who this 

year gave so generously to 

the Scholarships, Bursaries 

and Prizes Fund, The 

Building Fund and The 

Library Fund. 

Nancy and Keith Albrecht 

Pat and Megan Alessandrini 

Kathleen Alexander 

Craig Anderson 

Hilary and Geoffrey 

Ashton-Jones 

Edith Avery 

Kaye Baker 

Leen & Ricarda Bakker 

John Smith and Martina Ball 

Jan and Maaike Barnhoorn 

Peter and Frances Bender 

Dorothy Blackburn 

John Blundstone 

Angelika Boden 

Thomas and Linda 

Bonnelame 

Myreen Bourne 

Brian Braint 

Andrew Brice 

Jean Brown 

Aileen Buchan 

The Burela Family 

Ric Burgess 

Stan and Margo Burrage 

John Caldwell 

Caroline Campbell 

Paul and Christina Campton 

Hilary Cane 

Robert Cavaleri 

Jan Cerny 

Michael and Deborah 

Chadwick 

Alastair Christie 

Ian and Esther Chung 

Ketrina and Andrew Clarke 

Dorothea Cook 

Joshua Corney 

Margaret Corrick 

Lance and Heather Cowled 

John Cresswell 

Tony Curtis 

Cathy Cuthbertson 

Mary Dallas 

Wendy and Jeremy Dawes 

Jennifer and Peter Divis 

Angela Dowdle 

Barbara Duncum 

Ian and Pam Edwards 

Frank Ellis 

Rosemary Everett 

Lyndsay & Stephanie Farrall 

Patricia Firkin 

The Fisher Family 

Richard Foster 

Tony Friend 

Andrew Fuller and Beth 

Wardlaw 

Margaret and Dick Gardner 

Diana Gee 

Sheila Given 

Kath and John Godfrey 

Gwendoline Hackel 

Alf Hagger 

Robert and Susan Hall 

Drossos Haramantas 

M Hastings 

Sue and Ron Hawkins 

Roma Hickman 

Alison Hoddinott 

Pat and Robin Hood 

Margaret Horton 

Gillian and Brian Horwood 

Ian and Jean Howard 

John and Danielle Hyndes 

Sam and Georgie Fenn-Smith 

Ibbott 

Tony and Margaret Ibbott 

Jenny and William Inglis 

Elizabeth Jack 

Ian and Naida Jillett 

Mary Johns 

Charles Jones 

David and Jane Jupe 

Wilga and Thomas Kirkland 

Nathalie Little 

Jacqueline Lockyer 

Helen Lucas 

Robert Lucas 

Ian MacDonald 

Ian Macdonald 

Roderick MacDonald 

Michael MacKenzie 

Paul Mackey 

Kerryn MacMillan 

Sybil Manton 

Roy Mason 

Christobel and David 

Mattingley 

Daniel and Kalli McCarthy 

Roseanne and Malcolm 

McDougall 

Dugald and Cynthia 

McDougall 

Ian and Pam McDougall 

Barry McFarlane 

Carol McGhee 

Gerry and Sally McGushin 

Margaret McIntosh 

Andrew and Gill McKenzie 

Carol and Dougald McLean 

Barry and Pat McNeill 

Steve and Sue McQueeney 

Anne Medlycott 

Herbert Menka 

Derek Messent 

R. Mitchelmore 

Lea Monticone 

Frank Moore 

Kate Moore 

Sheina Nicholls 

Patricia O'Halloran 

J. Pardoe 

Wiebke Parker 

Frances Parsons 

Jo Payne 

Therese Pearce 

Dorothy Pearce 

Elaine Pearce 

John Phillips 

Clive and Jennie Pointon 

Ruth Raward 

Michael and Beverley Read 

Warwick Risby 

Joan Roberts 

Neil and Elizabeth Roberts 

Enid Robertson 

Ruth Rogers 

Ian and Annette Rumney 

Shaun Sargent 

David Sauer 

Joy Smith 

Flora Stabb 

Marion Steele 

Robyn and Jim Stokes 

Anne Thwaites 

Anne and Thomas Vincent 

Jennifer Vincent 

Mia Wakefield 

Ian Walker 

Kenneth Walker 

Jessie Walter 

Elaine Wardlaw 

Elaine Watson 

Kathleen Weetman 

John Welch 

Terence Wells 

Hugh Wells 

Lesley Gardner and Andrew 

Wells 

Raymond Westwood 

John Whishaw 

Ian and Sue Whyte 

Peter and Barbara Wilde 

Margaret Wilkinson 

Lois Williams 

Geoffrey Williamson 

Malcolm Wood 

John Dickey and Barbara 

Zimmerman 

Generous 

Donations to 

the Building & 

Library Fund 

We are extremely grateful 

to all the generous people 

who donate each term to the 

Library and Building Fund. 

Your donations make a big 

difference to life at Friends’. 

Each year your donations 

bolster our library resources 

and help fund the many 

building and grounds works 

that are always on the go at 

The Friends’ School. 

Thank you for your 

continued support. 

Steve McQueeney 

Development & 

Community Relations Manager 

The Story of Berta Monticone 

Berta Monticone was 

born in Leipzig, Germany, in 

1915. Her housewife mother 

came from Czechoslovakia 

and her father was a chemist 

in Vienna. With her two 

sisters, Berta grew up in 

Berlin. As she grew to 

adulthood, she developed a 

strong social conscience, a 

wish to help others, and thus 

a burning desire to study 

medicine. 

Berta completed four 

years of her degree in 

Berlin, before she and her 

family were forced to leave 

their country. Arriving 

in Philadelphia in 1939, 

the refugee section of the 

American Friends Service 

Committee assisted Berta 

greatly and she was able 

to continue her studies in 

medicine at Bryn Mawr 

College and later at Woman’s 

Medical College. The 

support she received from 

Friends, and the wonderful 

contacts she made, soon led 

her to take up the faith. 

Pursuing her goal was 

to prove a less than smooth 

course. Berta’s father had 

relocated to Australia and 

Berta and her mother and 

sister followed, arriving in 

Sydney in 1940, and lived 

there with her family until 

she married. 

In spite of the challenges 

of another new country, 

her wish to help others led 

to the re-commencement 

of her studies. However, 

the Australian universities 

did not recognise that she 

had completed most of her 

course in Germany and 

America, and she had to 

begin in first year again. At 

the time she was considered 

an ‘enemy alien’ and was 

subject to many restrictions. 

Just when she settled into 

her studies, she received a 

call-up to Manpower, from 

the National Service Office 

and regretfully she gave up 

her studies. 

She had a succession 

of jobs, both day and night 

work, to support her family, 

which grew to six children. 

Quakerism became the 

framework of Berta’s life. 

She regularly attended 

Devonshire Meeting and 

later, Wahroonga Meeting. 

The children attended 

Meeting too, and some 

of them attended Young 

Friends’ camps. Berta 

sometimes attended Yearly 

Meeting. Sunday Meetings, 

and her connections with 

Friends’ were a very big part 

of her life, as they were for 

her children. 

A huge range of interests, 

many of which she was 

passionate about, involved 

Berta over the years. As 

the children grew up, she 

returned to study, completing 

a Geology degree, a course 

in Indonesian and a course in 

Spanish. After her retirement 

she began teaching German 

conversation at the Sydney 

Wesley Centre, and 

continued to do so until she 

was well into her eighties 

and too frail to continue. 

She was a deep thinker, and 

well ahead of her time in 

much of her thinking. She 

loved profound sayings, 

had a keen wit, and was 

interested in politics. A 

supporter of the underdog, 

she was a humanitarian, 

and believed in the rights 

of women, workers, and 

indigenous peoples. She was 

a compassionate, selfless 

woman. 

Our School gives thanks 

for the life and work of Berta 

Monticone and acknowledge 

her legacy at the Far South 

Wilderness Camp. 

New Database 

We have been very busy in the Development 

Office getting to know our new database. We 

now have the capacity to send out emails 

advising of upcoming reunions and other 

happenings at The Friends’ School. If you 

would like to receive information via email 

please send us the following details to 

development@friends.tas.edu.au. 

Name 

Address 

Email address 

Telephone Number 

Mobile Number

14 




Teachers at The Friends’ School Between 1933-35 

by Marjorie Gibson. 

I shall be 89 this month 

and the teachers at Friends’ 

School who are still very 

vivid in my memory are 

Ernest Unwin, a remarkable 

headmaster and teacher, 

Charles Annells, unsurpassed 

in my experience as an 

English teacher and Stuart 

Hickman, an outstanding 

French teacher. Mr Hickman 

was also Headmaster 

following the untimely death 

of Ernest Unwin. 

Somehow, Mr Unwin 

found time to be an 

outstanding headmaster 

who was respected by all 

education authorities in the 

state, as well as a brilliant 

teacher of Biology, History 

of Art and Scripture. He 

introduced us to the writings 

by men of peace in the 

world eg Kagawa of Japan, 

a few years before the rise of 

Hitler. How he found time 

to meticulously illustrate 

History of Art lessons with 

large pen and ink sketches 

of famous buildings in the 

world, I do not know. 

I can still see his 

magnificent black and 

white drawing of Salisbury 

Cathedral - one felt as if one 

was walking in through the 

portal. 

1935 Prefects 

His Biology lessons were 

also a delight. At one stage 

we all tended pet rabbits. 

When the day came to 

sacrifice them for dissection, 

there were many ‘big girls’ 

close to tears - a good lesson 

for future practical work in 

Biology at University. 

Also on Friday afternoons, 

Mr Unwin took a few of us 

final year students sketching 

The Friends’ School staff in 1932. 

with him around Hobart. In 

my day, the School dining 

hall was like an art gallery, 

with watercolour paintings 

by Ernest Unwin on every 

wall. I still have two of his 

paintings in my home – one 

depicting autumnal colours, 

painted in his own garden. 

Mr Unwin gave so much of 

himself to everything he did. 

Back: L-r A. Gould, Joan Cane, Diana Thompson, Patricia Rex 

and Verl Reid. 

Centre : Bronwen Williams, M. Williams. 

Front: L-r Marjorie Botten, D. Williams, the Headmaster, Ernest 

Unwin, Nancy Mather and K. Propsting. 

Editors Note : How quaint that the girls were given christian 

names and the boys initials when photographs were named at that 

time. 

School Laundry 

Laundry days at Friends’. 

Do any readers have stories 

to tell of life in the School 

laundry? One reader has told 

us about heating up midnight 

feast savaloys in the copper. 

Can you add to this? 

Charles Annells was a 

brilliant English teacher, 

who made English poetry 

and prose come alive in 

every lesson, in the context 

of an extensive knowledge 

of Latin derivations and 

the meanings of countless 

English words. I was always 

sorry when his lessons 

finished. Mr Annells taught 

for 30 years at Friends’ 

School and was headmaster 

for part of that time. 

Stuart Hickman, 

who taught French and 

Geography, was another 

outstanding teacher. He was 

responsible for my success 

in 1935, in winning the 

General Pau Prize for oral 

and written French in the 

state-wide Leaving Exam. 

Bears 

Everywhere 

The many bears waiting to be 

dressed in the Development 

Office. 

The Development Office 

would be delighted to 

hear from members of the 

School community who are 

able to volunteer some of 

their time to help dress our 

bears. Each year we give 

approximately 30 bears, 

dressed in School uniform, 

to Morris and Walker House 

students who are leaving 

our School. The bears are 

a precious momento of the 

students’ time at Friends’. 

We would also like to sell 

the bears to members of the 

School community. We are 

very grateful to have some 

parents already assisting us 

but ‘many hands make light 

work’. 

If you are able to assist 

us with some sewing please 

contact Kalli McCarthy 

on 6210 2282 or email 

kmccarthy@friends.tas.edu. 

au. We will provide the 

materials. 

When Mr Unwin died 

suddenly of a heart attack 

at the school, there was not 

a dry eye. Stuart Hickman 

took over as Headmaster for 

a number of years. 

Later, following my 

graduation with a Bachelor 

of Arts Degree from the 

University of Tasmania, I ran 

Youth Education at the ABC. 

In 1939, I prepared School 

Broadcast booklets for all 

schools in Tasmania each 

term. Ernest Unwin was on 

one of the sub-committees 

and he raised the standard 

of all the booklets, with his 

remarkable black and white 

sketches of insects, birds, 

animals etc to illustrate his 

Biology broadcasts. 

I have often wondered 

how many young people 

were inspired by him to take 

up Botany and Zoology at 

University, because of his 

stimulating broadcasts and 

his outstanding illustrations. 

I was one of many who 

always felt I wanted to 

learn more about these two 

subjects. 

Canberra, 2 June 2007 

Obituaries 

We give thanks for the 

lives of former staff, June 

Batt who worked faithfully 

in the School office in the 

1960’s and 70’s, for Nat 

Sonners who was a caring 

cleaner and groundsman 

for several years and for 

Michael Puzney who cared 

for our Bell Street grounds 

and coached our cricket 

team in the 1990’s. 

We remember Paul 

Unwin as a very involved 

student at our School 1933- 

1943 and a parent in the 

late 1940’s. Paul was the 

son of former headmaster, 

Ernest Unwin. He went 

on to become Chief 

Commissioner for Forests. 

We Give Thanks 

for the Lives of .... 

Valmai Barrett (Ring) 

Eleanor June Batt 

Geoff Ganley 

Patricia Grevling 

Coralie Hay 

Jeanette Males (Clark) 

Max Nicholson 

Graeme (Jim) Pell 

Michael Puzney 

Ivan Sauer 

Nat Sonners 

Veronica Thorp 

Paul Thorp Unwin 

Can Readers Help With This 

Photo? 

Marie Pease is photographed here with three young students 

making the cake for the School’s 75th Anniversary. If you can 

identify the students helping Marie please contact Kathy Rundle 

on 6210 2200. 

Boys with Spears 

The photo is of John Howard (front), Jonathan Ricketts (middle) 

and Greg Wignall (rear) holding the spears. To the left Marigold 

Catleugh and a student identified as both Olaf Moon and David. 

Behind Greg is Andrew Sutherland and behind him is David 

Stokes and John Gourlay. 

Thank you to the 

readers who responded to 

our request for information 

about a photo of students 

carrying a pile of spears. 

The photo was on the 

front page of The Mercury 

in 1968 – not 1964 as 

suggested in the previous 

Focus article. 

The occasion was the 

(very) belated return from 

a school trip to Central 

Australia - where students 

and staff were caught in 

a flood at Ayers Rock 

(Uluru) and stranded for 

at least a week. In the 

picture the students were 

photographed ‘unloading’ 

some of our Aboriginal 

made ‘purchases’. John 

Howard (1973) remembers 

“waking up one morning 

to find the campsite 

completely underwater and 

all the groups’ belongings 

floating around the tent! 

- we were all in camp 

stretchers thankfully”. 

Jonathan Ricketts 

(1973) remembers the extra 

few days “stuck at Ayers 

Rock” as great fun. The 

Editor wonders how the 

teachers, including Greg 

Hill, who accompanied 

the group felt about the 

delay and the weather.

Focus news October 2008 15 

Looking After Planet Earth - Friendly Conference 2008 

by Sam McQueeney 

The Friendly Conference, 

held in the second last week 

of Term 2, was a day for 

Clemes students to celebrate 

the Year of Planet Earth. 

Workshops and talks drew 

on the expertise of guest 

speakers from a range of 

sectors in the community. 

They spoke about what 

they and their organisation 

were doing to sustain 

the Earth for as long 

as possible. 

A large group of 

volunteers and volunteer 

organisations featured, 

including Tom Baxter, 

lecturer in Environmental 

Law at the University of 

Tasmania, spokespeople 

from the Antarctic Division, 

the Wilderness Society, 

and keynote speaker, Nick 

Mooney. Nick Mooney 

talked about the Tasmanian 

Devil crisis facing Tasmania 

and his work in helping to 

contain the cancer, what has 

been learned about it and 

how the disease could start 

to be treated. 

We had positive 

feedback from everyone 

on the day. Comments 

received about the field trip 

to Brightside Farm were 

particularly positive. 

The Friendly Conference 

was a great success and we 

look forward to the next one 

to be held in two years time. 

All photos supplied by Lynne Males

16 

by Tom Marshall 

Ladies and Gentlemen, 

capitalist democracies are 

corrupt, corpulent and weak. 

A benevolent dictatorship is 

the way to go. 

So, a benevolent 

dictatorship… no, it’s not an 

oxymoron, but you could be 

forgiven for being confused. 

Also known as empathic 

despotism, a benevolent 

dictatorship has all power 

vested in one person, 

however this person is 

benevolent, and has the best 

interests of the population 

at heart. 

So today I will be 

explaining to you why a 

benevolent dictatorship 

would be superior to our 

current form of government, 

and what said benevolent 

dictator could do for you 

under such a system. 

Our country is stuck in a 

continual three-year electoral 

cycle, with almost no long 

term planning. Everything 

a government does, has to 

happen and conclude in 

by Galen Correy 

While enjoying my usual 

Sunday morning latte last 

weekend, in preparation 

for the big day ahead of 

paperwork, I pondered a 

newspaper article I’d read 

the day before, entitled: 

‘Australian Values: The 

Government Decides’. It 

outlined some of the proposed 

changes to laws surrounding 

immigration, and attempted 

to explain the implications. 

As an educated member of 

Australian society, these 

issues struck a chord with 

my own notions of justice 

and equality. Moreover 

DO YOU PLAY NETBALL 

FOR SCHOOL? WOULD 

YOU LIKE TO LEARN? Come and play 

in the STNA Winter 

Roster with your 

school club! 

2009 JUNIOR 

SELECTIONS DAY 

10 NOVEMBER 

Juniors 6-7pm 

Seniors 8pm 

at The Friends’ 

School Gymnasium 

Carr Street, North Hobart 

call 0419 560 414 or 

hondacentralfriends@ 

hotmail.com 


under three years. If it does 

not fit in this time scale it is 

either half done, or not done 

at all. This is quite possibly 

the greatest failing of a 

democratic government, the 

fact that almost everything 

they do is an attempt to 

get re-elected, rather than 

trying to govern the country 

well. Some would say that 

by trying to get re-elected, 

politicians are forced to do 

what the people want and 

therefore what is best for the 

country. I believe that these 

two things are in no way the 

same however. 

In their desire to be 

re-elected, governments 

are forced to take populist 

policies, pandering to 

people’s fears and ignorance, 

with anything even vaguely 

sensible being shot down in a 

flash. As well as all this, our 

nation swings from the left 

to the right every nine years 

or so, with a corresponding 

change in government 

priorities, and the scrapping 

of ideas. Work Choices is 

the prime example of this, 

it struck a chord with my 

expectations for Australia, 

as a voter, as a father, of a 

country which is subtly, 

yet persistently attempting 

to undermine rational and 

moral values. I may be 

labelled a “latte drinking, 

café visiting, conservative 

bureaucrat” by some, yet I 

recognise that something is 

inherently diseased in the 

current Australian political 

and social climate. It is 

related to a concept that 

is deeper than politicians’ 

thinking, deeper than 

newspapers columns, deeper 

than university lectures or 

school classrooms; and to try 

as soon as the Rudd Labor 

Government was elected 

last year, they scrapped 

this program, rendering 

the hundreds of millions 

of dollars, and thousands 

of man hours spent on 

this program completely 

worthless. This constant 

left-right swing is largely 

pointless anyway, as most 

of the population resides 

somewhere in the middle. 

This is where a benevolent 

dictatorship comes into play. 

A strong, centrist dictator, 

with the best interests of the 

people and of our country 

at their heart would allow 

all of our troubles to simply 

melt away. 

Because they are not 

shackled to the constant cycle 

of re-election, a benevolent 

dictator would be able to 

plan for our country’s long 

term future, entertaining 

sensible policies that simply 

take too long for democratic 

governments to consider – 

such as the annexation of 

New Zealand. Our friends 

across ‘thu dutch’, with their 

opinion 

The Winning Mary Stanfield Speech 

to explain it with deserved 

clarity would, most likely, 

deny it justice. 

Conversely however, an 

attempt must be made. 

Australia is my home. 

Australia is my country. Yet 

to dogmatically proclaim 

unadulterated patriotism 

takes some thinking about, 

even with the ignorant vision 

a long way off 20-20. Yet 

I will support this country, 

because it is my country, and 

I connect here. I don’t care 

what the populist tabloids tell 

me. As far as I am concerned, 

all Australian Aborigines, 

all African-Americans, all 

Europeans and all ‘men of 

Middle Eastern appearance’, 

have the capacity to connect 

and live here too. This 

arising issue of belonging, 

and attempting to adjudicate 

who we, as Australians, 

allow to come into our 

magnificent country, is one 

that many would say requires 

change. It is possibly not as 

succinct as first thought, and 

there is much controversy 

over allowing refugees into 

our country. Nevertheless, 

the way we treat those 

with no capacity to defend 

themselves, those who have 

had their person broken apart 

by disasters and atrocities 

too difficult for myself (as a 

latte drinking westerner) to 

understand, in many ways 

dictates the way we treat 

each other as Australians. 

I must digress at this 

point to substantiate 

‘fush and chups’ should long 

ago have been absorbed 

into my mighty empire, 

to enable our march of 

destruction to continue to… 

ahem… anyhow… 

Because a dictator 

does not have to seek reelection, 

they can focus all 

their attention on running 

the country. Ignoring 

populist scaremongering 

so favoured by democratic 

governments, they can 

get down to business. The 

increased efficiency would 

be incredible. 

The stable policies of a 

benevolent dictator would 

allow the implementation 

of some key measures, 

including: a national 

transport system consisting 

of airships – come on, they’re 

way cooler than trains; and a 

national broadband network. 

While I mean no disrespect 

to Slovenia I would quite 

like faster internet than 

they have. 

Some of my other 

policies, were I to be so 

fortunate as to be appointed 

previous statements. If the 

recent cyclone in Burma has 

taught the world anything, 

apart from reminding us of 

the potentially destructive 

nature of weather cycles, 

(an estimate 100,000 are 

believed dead and 1.5 

million displaced), then 

it would teach us that the 

world has not changed. 

Governments seem to be 

still caught up in the age-old 

attempt to force its citizens 

into submission, even if it 

means denying such basic 

support as fresh water and 

medicine. But to look at this 

issue in a different light: 

Would we, as Australians, 

be happy to allow a group of 

Burmese refugees into our 

communities? Would we, as 

Australians, provide them 

with support and care, in a 

time of obvious mental and 

physical difficulty? Would 

we, as Australians, allow 

them the basic human need 

to feel safe and belong, as 

their current government is 

unable? Would we? 

There is no doubt 

that some refugees find 

it difficult in Australia. 

Whether it be cultural 

differences, financial 

stress or family issues, it 

is accepted that isolated 

instances of racial tension 

and difficulty do occur. 

The recent accusations of a 

gang-like mentality among 

members of the 14 000 or 

so Sudanese refugees who 

have migrated to Australia 


as Australia’s benevolent 

dictator, include higher 

salaries for teachers, 

coupled with compulsory 

bribery in Public Speaking 

competitions, and a much 

more lenient immigration 

policy where we accept 

anyone who will declare 

their undying loyalty to me! 

Of course, as always there 

are those who would disagree 

with my ideas. “Benevolent 

dictatorships never work,” 

they say. “Power corrupts,” 

they whine. The examples 

they use for the first point 

normally include Mugabe and 

Stalin. Listen, just because 

certain dictators claim to 

be benevolent should not 

impact upon the overall idea. 

Anyway, these despots should 

not be associated with me! 

As I was discussing 

with my colleagues at the 

Benevolent and Altruistic 

Dictators Club (BAD Club 

for short), we really need 

to distance ourselves from 

these weirdos! We were 

discussing the fact that all 

dictators unfailingly portray 

Sunday Opinion - Australia: My Home, My Country 

since the mid 90’s is 

evidence of this. Failing to 

integrate into local society 

has been seen to cause 

problems, especially in 

remote outlying areas. In 

an instance two years ago, 

after a pair of refugees 

admitting to the bashing of 

a co-worker, the NSW town 

of Tamworth’s Council 

voted against an increase 

of Sudanese refugees in 

the region. 

There were only 13 

Sudanese refugees living in 

the area. 

Echoes of this were felt as 

the Australian Government 

legislated for a decreased 

intake of Sudanese refugees 

for the 2007-08 period. 

However, this ‘bandaid’ 

solution proposed by 

Government does little to 

combat the underlying issues. 

It was well within the rights 

of the Tamworth Council 

to reject an increase of 

refugees, as direct evidence 

of increasing tension was 

present. However, for the 

Government not to have 

the foresight to implement 

effective programs to help 

aid integration, and the 

reason for such an adverse 

mentality towards refugees, 

is reproachable. These 

refugees, such as those 

from the Darfur region of 

Sudan, may have undergone 

significant psychological 

damage arising from ethnic 

hatred from rival government 

backed militias. Thus their 

themselves as benevolent, 

yet by their selfish actions 

they are ruining it for those of 

us who are truly benevolent. 

Now to the second 

charge, that of corruption. 

On this I would ask you, 

What is corruption? 

Is corruption changing 

your policies because of 

political donations – yes! 

Is corruption buying 

votes – yes! 

But is… a Presidential 

Palace corruption? – no. 

I mean, who honestly 

cares about a gold plated 

toilet seat here, a private 

jet there? 

As long as the country 

is being run brilliantly and 

strongly, why shouldn’t a 

benevolent dictator enjoy 

the finer things in life? 

So, in summary, 

democracy is corrupt and 

weak, unite behind me as 

your sensible, centrist and 

friendly benevolent dictator! 

For an efficient government, 

an empathic, altruistic, 

benevolent dictator is the 

way to go! 

ability to connect to a country 

so different from their own 

would be compromised. It 

is not an easy concept for 

westerners to grasp, but it 

is our responsibility, as ‘we 

are a good global citizen…’, 

to quote the Department 

of Immigration, to aid the 

rehabilitation and integration 

of those who we accept into 

our country. 

I am not a proponent of 

an ‘open slather’ approach 

to accepting refugees. 

Allowing a small number 

in and helping to facilitate 

their education so that some 

day they may help their own 

country, would have a much 

more powerful effect than 

the current system. This I 

propose, or not accept them 

at all. 

The original idea 

must be revisited: that of 

recognising the power 

that we as Australians, in 

such a lucky, diverse and 

oppurtunistic country, hold 

in our grasp. To quote the 

Department of Immigration 

once again, apparently, ‘we 

are a good global citizen...’ 

However, looking over 

the top of my extra large 

latte, at my home, in my 

country, there are two clear 

possibilities: to either help 

and educate those who we 

accept, or to deny them 

this, thus their ability to 

connect, which then creates 

a cycle of repetition with 

unsatisfactory results. This 

I propose.

Focus SPORT October 2008 17 

Year 6 Rowing Hopefuls 

by Olivia Woof 

In the September holidays 

there was a rowing sculling 

skills program for Year 6s 

who wanted to row. Sculling 

is one of the types of rowing 

where two oars are used. 

This program was aimed 

to teach Year 6s how to 

scull so they could compete 

in Term One of 2009. We 

were taught how to steady 

ourselves, to back, and of 

course to scull. 

Some of the students got 

to row off the ropes, which 

were attached to make sure 

we didn’t just start to float 

away. There was a safety 

boat but most of the time we 

were in total control. When 

we first got into the sculls 

there were some people who 

found it just a bit tricky to 

stay upright and they fell in. 

We enjoyed ourselves very 

much and hope to see as 

many people competing in 

the future. Thank you David 

Williams and Chris (Major) 

Dalton for organising this 

event. 

Year 11 and 12 rowers with the Year 6s. 

Sports Assemblies 

by Yiannis Tsovilis and Kitt 

O’Halloran 

Sports Assemblies, 

eagerly anticipated by 

students waiting to receive 

their open colours and 

blazers, have been held in 

both the High School and 

Clemes. The High School 

Sports Assembly, held 

on Friday 5 September 

was opened by new Head 

of High School, Paul 

Goodluck, then was passed 

to Helen Manson and Sports 

Council representatives, 

Kitt O’Halloran, Amelia 

Johnstone, Seth Otte, Brad 

Thomas, Claire Rayner 

and Sacha Rose. We were 

privileged this year to have 

Olympic Rower, Kerry Hore, 

speak about her experiences 

at recent Beijing Olympics. 

Kerry is an Old Scholar of 

Friends’ and was familiar 

with the school and staff. 

The Friends’ School 

is involved in many 

Photo by David Williams 

sports activities such 

as surfing, basketball, 

rowing, swimming, sailing, 

tennis, badminton, netball, 

orienteering, cricket, hockey, 

cross country and soccer. 

Congratulations to 

everyone who participated 

in sport this year and 

to The Friends’ School 

for receiving trophies in 

basketball, rowing, hockey, 

cross country, soccer and 

tennis. Best of luck for next 

year. 

Jack Fleming on the water learning to skull. 

Friends’ Netball Success 

by Yiannis Tsovilis 

Friends’ always has 

strong netball teams and this 

season’s team of girls was no 

exception. The First netball 

team had a fantastic season 

in 2008. It wasn’t going to 

be easy but the Firsts pulled 

out a whopping seven wins 

for this season: they should 

be in the Olympics! They are 

following in the footsteps of 

last year’s team who also 

made it to the grand final. 

Unfortunately they didn’t 

bring home the bickies. 

Regardless, they performed 

incredibly well, which 

made for a exciting match. 

They had a lot of fun and 

valued the support of their 

coaches, Julia Waterworth 

and Lyn Johnston, family 

and friends on the sidelines. 

Two other Second teams: 

the red team coached by 

Marigo Hepper, Meaghan 

Volker and Jessica Savage; 

and the blue team, coached 

by coached by Ally Gibson 

also had an amazing season 

Photo by David Williams 

but unfortunately they were 

not able to secure places in 

the final. Both Second teams 

also had enthralling games 

to watch, especially when 

playing each other. Laura 

Bender coached the Third 

grade team this year. These 

girls had a fun season and, 

although they didn’t make 

the finals, they improved 

immensely throughout the 

season and learnt how to play 

together as a team. That’s 

always a winner in my book. 

Good luck next year! 

Clemes students at their presentation. 

Photo by Heather Rowledge 

The firsts Netball team. From top left; Stephanie Butterworth, Jessica Savage, Marigo Hepper and 

Amanda Cox. From bottom left; Lucy Sandford, Megan Volker, Alex Finlayson and Amy Sandford. 

Photo supplied by Kathy Rundle

18 


Ski trip 

Focus

Soccer Finals 

Focus sport October 2008 19 

The Girls’ First Soccer team: Alice McGushin, Jessie Phillips-Lee, Victoria Jamieson, Sarah Morris, 

Ella Wade, Hattie Turner, Maddy Foote, Ebony Alexander, Julia Last, Ella-Grace Blackburn, 

Camilla Hall and Patricia McLarin with coach Michael Cole. Photo supplied by Kathy Rundle 

by Victoria Jamieson 

Girls Soccer had a really 

successful year. The High 

School teams all had an 

accomplished season. 

The Year 7 and 8 teams 

came close to making it 

to the final, and the Year 

9s made it into the final 

to unfortunately lose to 

Dominic College. The Year 

10s also had a strong season, 

with some convincing wins. 

The Seconds had a pleasing 

Ski Trip 

season and some of them 

were kind enough to step up 

and play in the Firsts team 

when required. 

The Firsts Girls had a 

really successful season, 

winning the southern final 

with two injured players. 

After having a month away 

from training and games, 

we were thrown into the 

state final. A very close 

match saw a draw at full 

time and saw Friends’ come 

out on top with a goal in 

extra time to become the 

State Champions. 

This season saw many 

parents, teachers and 

students coach and manage 

teams and it is great to see 

so much support behind 

an expanding sport such as 

Girls’ Soccer. 

I was proud to captain 

such a community involved 

in this sport among our 

school and the result at the 

end of the 2008 season was 

very rewarding. 

Orienteering Championships 

by Claire Butler 

Orienteering is a sport 

that consists of running 

through the bush in, lets face 

it, the middle of nowhere 

with nothing but a map and 

a compass and the hope that 

this really is the spur you 

think you’re on. And yes, I 

know what you’re thinking: 

and the point is…? Well to 

tell you truth most of us still 

don’t know. Maybe it’s that 

feeling you get when you 

have that one perfect run 

you get only once every two 

years, or maybe it’s the fact 

that after your 45 minute 

course you can spend the 

next two hours talking to 

others who are just as crazy 

as you because they too keep 

coming back week after 

week just so they can find 

more of those orange and 

white flags. Well whatever 

the reason the fact is 21 

school kids got hooked, and 

on 19 September left Hobart 

and Launceston for what was 

to be a memorable and very 

successful (if you take out 

the numerous cuts, bruises, 

ankle injuries, blisters and 

stitches) championships. 

The Australian 

Orienteering Championships 

were held at Maryborough, 

Queensland, during the 

first week of third term. 

The Championships consist 

of eight different events 

including relays, sprint, 

middle and long distances. 

This year four Friends’ 

students were lucky enough 

to be selected as part of the 

Tasmanian Team – Karl 

Bicevskis, Amy Buckerfield, 

Sarah Buckerfield and 

Claire Butler. 

The first two events 

didn’t fare too well for most 

of us Tasmanians as we 

realised that our ‘training’ 

beforehand hadn’t prepared 

us for 7km courses and the 

suddenly 30°C heat. A whale 

watching tour was a day 

well spent in recuperation! 

The Australian Schools 

Championships fared a 

little better and provided 

the excitement of the week 

with a sprint finish between 

Sarah Buckerfield and 

the New Zealander, Kate 

Morrison – unfortunately 

Kate won! There were some 

great results achieved in the 

individual and relay champs 

and Tassie ended up a close 

third in the overall results. 

The disco was a 

success, the quiz night not 

so much… but another rest 

day spent in preparation 

for the impending deadline 

of the scavenger hunt 

provided some laughs. The 

Aus sprint, long and relay 

champs finished off the 

week with some more great 

results for Tassie. Amy did 

brilliantly in the long with a 

third and Sarah was selected 

in the Australian Honour 

Team and the Australian 

Schools Team and will be 

heading to New Zealand in 

January to compete. 

Well done everyone! 

by Steph Gunn and Katie 

Board 

On Sunday 14 September, 

43 Year 10, 11 and 12 students, 

along with four teachers 

and Dr Jones, headed to the 

spectacular slopes of Falls 

Creek for an exciting five days 

of skiing and snowboarding. 

Although the five hour bus 

ride was somewhat draining, 

once we reached the mountain 

and hired our gear we were 

reenergized and ready to 

tackle the slopes the following 

morning. 

 

The 6.30 am start at first 

seemed unbearable, but after 

we tucked into hot breakfast, 

and range of fruits, cereals 

and porridge we were ready 

to go! After getting our gear 

on and the quick trip to the 

top of the mountain, our first 

ski or snowboarding lessons 

began! While the beginner 

skiers mastered the snow 

plough and the more advanced 

perfected their parallel turns, 

the snowboarders practised 

their turning and embarked 

upon jumps in the terrain 

park. This routine continued 

throughout the week. On our 

first day we experienced a 

snowstorm, which cut our 

day short and had many 

running to purchase skiing 

goggles. However, we had 

better conditions for the rest 

of the week, though they 

varied from powder snow to 

ice and slush. 

The fun didn’t stop on 

the slopes, but continued 

throughout the evenings at 

Howmans Gap. We made 

good use of the games 

room, watched many DVDs 

and mastered lots of new 

card games. One particular 

highlight was the evening 

it snowed, which involved 

many snow fights and a few 

attempted snowmen. We 

also experienced a hailstorm 

with hail larger than peas, 

the noise of which was 

incredible. Although we had 

so many good experiences, 

at the end of the week we 

were all ready for departure. 

After packing our bags we 

again boarded the bus for the 

ride to Melbourne and then 

the flight home. 

Everyone had such a 

wonderful experience and 

we would like to thank all 

the teachers and parents 

for making the trip such a 

success. Thanks – and we 

are sure we will all be hitting 

the slopes again sometime in 

the near future! 

The Tasmanian Orienteering Team. 

Badminton 

by Jaden Rubinstein 

This year we had a very 

strong representation with 

a record breaking number 

of teams competing in the 

schools badminton teams 

roster. The development 

of the players during the 

year was fantastic and most 

really excelled later in the 

season, especially where the 

same may not have applied 

in the beginning. 

It was a monumental 

effort in the behalf of the 

Clemes squad to have six of 

seven teams make the semis 

and three teams, Boys 1sts in 

A grade, 3rds in B grade and 

Girls 1sts in A grade, make 

the finals, across three out of 

four divisions. You couldn’t 

really ask for more but a win. 

Unfortunately none of the 

three teams came away with 

a finals victory but as we are 

a Quaker school we have 

learned that winning isn’t 

everything, so we graciously 

conceded. 

Over at the High School 

Friends’ was awarded the 

Ampol Cup for the second 

year running. The Ampol 

Photo supplied by Karl Bicevskis 

Cup is awarded to the school 

which has the most teams 

make the finals and win 

flags across Years 7-10, 

male and female so… go 

High School! Well done to 

all players from all grades. 

It was a fantastic season and 

will be hard to top next year, 

but I believe we can do it! 

Four members of the First Badminton team: Kohei Araki, Jaden 

Rubinstein, Alistair Harvey and Oliver Lovell. 

Photo supplied by Kathy Rundle

Friends’ Cross Country In Command 

On Tuesday 1 July, the 

Friends’ state cross country 

team headed to Symmons 

Plains for the state cross 

country carnival. 

The team boarded the 

bus early that morning, 

many with with tired faces 

and cold toes, however not 

everything went to plan. 

Before we had even set off 

on our long trip, the bus had 

broken down. 

This slight problem set the 

trip back half an hour which 

caused both the Open Boys 

and Girls to arrive with just 

five minutes to spare before 

the start of their events. This 

was slightly stressful for the 

competitors as there was no 

time for preparation. 

The track was muddy but 

the weather was good. The 

Open Girls did exceptionally 

well in the Under 20 6km 

race, with Ella Bourchier 

finishing in second place and 

Steph Gunn not far behind 

in third. It was a fun though 

tiring day for all and at the end 

of it, everyone was ready to 

board the bus and head home. 

Ella Bourchier and Stephanie Gunn receive their medals. 

by Kitt O’Halloran 

It was a typical 

Tasmanian day: overcast, 

partly sunny with a strong 

Tasmanian head wind, when 

competitors ran along the 

shoreline leg of the race. 

The school sent 

competitors to Rokeby 

to represent the school in 

by Kitt O’Halloran 

The Firsts Hockey Boys 

team had a very good season 

only dropping one match 

and drawing three. The team 

carried many familiar faces 

from last season and were 

looking to back up the win 

at the State Final last year 

and redeem themselves as 

southern SATIS premiers. 

This year the boys were 

lucky enough to have once 

again, Nick Hutton and Ken 

Read coaching them this 

year. They were a positive 

and strong influence during 

trainings and during matches. 

Nick has been coaching the 

Firsts Boys for many years 

and they were lucky to have 

Ken Read come again and 

assist during the season. 

The 2008 Team Members 

were; Graham Brennan, 

Sam Butler, James Dick, 

Alex Given, James Hudson, 

Edward Lawler, William 

Lawler, Daniel May, Kitt 

O’Halloran, Benjamin Read, 

Tom Ritchie, Harry van der 

Woude 

the Southern SATIS Cross 

Country 2008 carnival. 

The day may have been 

patchy but the Friends’ 

spirit, cheering and support 

distracted from the weather. 

All the students who 

participated ran the best they 

could and their efforts were 

rewarded. Friends’ as a team 

finally finished with seven 

First Boys team members 

Kitt O’Halloran, Daniel May, 

Harry Van Der Woude, Alex 

Vittorio, James Hudson, Will 

Lawler, Sam Butler, Nick 

Hutton (coach) Tom Ritchie, 

James Dick, Graham Brennan 

and Ed Lawler enjoy their win 

at the presentation ceremony. 

Photo by Louise Morgan 

Photo supplied by Ella Bourchier 

of nine trophies awarded 

that day. 

One standout effort 

of the day went to Year 8 

student, Walter Lawrence, 

who won his race. The 

weather turned nasty at the 

end of the day as students 

rushed back onto the buses 

and then travelled all the 

way back to school. 

Stephanie Gunn and Ella Bourchier taste their success in the State Cross Country. 

Photo supplied by Ella Bourchier 

Friends’ Hockey Cap Off A Dominating Year On Top 

The team had co-captains 

this year with brothers Ed 

and Will Lawler. They 

were involved with the 

MIA Tassie Tigers squad 

this year along with fellow 

team member James Dick. 

The team this year is a very 

experienced team with eight 

of the players involved with 

first grade club hockey. 

The team next year will 

have a tough year ahead of 

them, with six of its players 

finishing this year. I hope 

that the players next year 

will rise to the challenge and 

back up the positive efforts 

Friends’ hockey has shown 

throughout the years. 

THE FRIENDS’ SCHOOL, P.O. BOX 42, NORTH HOBART, TASMANIA, AUSTRALIA, 7002 PH: (03) 6210 2200 FAX: (03) 6234 820

Focus October 2008 - The Friends' School

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