ignatian mid year 2012

IgnatIan

Mid Yea r Ed it ion 2012 Volu me 21 Nu mber 1

w w w.r iver vie w.n s w.e du . au

Men and Women for Others

Welcome to our new look Ignatian magazine. For those not acquainted with

the history of Riverview’s primary communication to its wide-spread community, the Ignatian was first published in November 1985 and was produced by the Old Ignatians’ Union and distributed exclusively to Old Boys. In the tradition of Our Alma Mater, the College’s annual magazine, it sought to keep Old Boys up-to-date with the movements of OIU members.

The College took on publication of the magazine in 1992. Since then, the re-badged Ignatian has been published either two (in the early years) or three times a year. The readership has greatly expanded and, as such, approximately 12 000 copies are distributed to many different groups within our Riverview community.

We are most fortunate to receive generally strong praise for a community magazine that, in many instances, differs significantly from those of most other schools. Given the high quality and the day-to-day nature of our weekly newsletter, Viewpoint, the Ignatian is able to maintain its relevance for the wider Riverview community by focusing on happenings around the College and its community, as well as the themes that underlie and demonstrate the practical outcomes of an Ignatian education at one of the finest Jesuit schools in the world.

In recent times, we have themed the underlying ethos of Jesuit education and, specifically over the past five issues, the College Values – Justice, Service, Discernment, Conscience and Courage. Over future issues, we will be profiling the themes of each of the new windows entered into the Dalton Memorial Chapel, in 2009. We are proud to bring to you in this issue, our central focus of

‘Men and Women for Others’.

The sheer economic and editorial challenges of producing a high-quality, thrice-yearly magazine have also led us to move towards extending the content of the Ignatian and moving to a twice-yearly publication. This is the first Ignatian for 2012 and the second will appear in early December.

We have also taken the opportunity to refresh the design of the magazine, giving it a new look and feel, but one that continues to reflect our strong visual identity and Jesuit values.

We are excited about the changes we are making to this important publication, and hope that you are too!

Peter Herington, EditorThe 1986 edition of the ‘Ignatian’

was produced by the OIU

Editorial Staff:Editor: Peter Herington Journalist & Media Co-ordinator: Lauren Sykes Administration: Suzie Marks Design & Layout: Peter Barker

Alumni & Special Events Manager:Christine Zimbulis Telephone: (02) 9882 8595 [email protected]

Contributions:Please forward to: [email protected] or Fax: (02) 9882 8200

Published by:Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview Tambourine Bay Road, LANE COVE, NSW 2066

Front Cover:‘Men and Women for Others’ Stained Glass window in the Dalton Memorial Chapel

Voume 1, Number 1 of the ‘Ignatian’ magazine published by

the College, in 1992

Printed on FSC certified paper

Creating a better ViewEnvironmental initiatives

Summer SportHighlights from the season

London OlympicsOur Olympic connections

Staff Service ExperienceService in action

Father General’s visitPlaying a part in God’s mission

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IgnatIan Men and Women for Others2 From the Rector4 From the Headmaster20 Riverview Bursary Program26 College Foundation Report

Around the College27 130 Years of Debating28 HSC Results30 Ignatian Children’s Holiday Camp34 International Exchange Visits36 Music Tour 201237 Royal Easter Show 38 Sorry Day Liturgy

Around the Community46 From the OIU President49 Jack Sheekey turns 10052 Honour Roll56 Parents & Friends57 Past Parents58 Resquiescant in Pace

In this edition

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Days of Our Lives‘A land of sweeping plains . . . of droughts and flooding rains.’

423250


Nearly 40 years ago now, on the Feast of Saint Ignatius’ Day in 1973, Fr Pedro Arrupe (who was then General of the Jesuits) went to a Congress of European Jesuit Alumni (or Old Boys) in Valencia, Spain. He gave an address to those gathered. The consequences of that speech continue to reverberate around the Jesuit world today.

The title of the address came to be known as ‘Men for Others: training agents of change for the promotion of justice’. ‘Men and women for others’—that’s the watchword of all Jesuit works today. Arrupe cut straight to the chase and began by asserting:

Today our prime educational objective must be to form men-and-women-for-others; men and women who will live not for themselves but for God and his Christ—for the God-man who lived and died for all the world; men and women who cannot even conceive of love of God which does not include love for the least of their neighbours; men and women completely convinced that love of God which does not issue in justice for others is a farce.

Pretty strong language, ‘farce’. But, not stopping to draw breath, Arrupe became even more provocative. ‘First, let me ask this question’, he said,

Have we Jesuits educated you for justice? You and I know what many of your Jesuit teachers will answer to that question. They will answer, in all sincerity and humility: No, we have not. If the terms ‘justice’ and ‘education for justice’ carry all the depth of meaning which the Church gives them today, we have not educated you for justice.

Temperatures were beginning to rise in the room, especially from the many Spanish alumni, who were the hosts. Arrupe was touching a nerve; stinging consciences. Jesuits’ consciences as

well. People were shuffling in their seats. Then he went on to ask where the schools and the alumni were putting their stress: Is it justice among persons, or only justice before God? Is it love of God only—what about love of neighbour? Are we only performing acts of Christian charity, or working more deeply for human justice? Are we only concerned with our own personal conversion, or are we seeking a broader and more inclusive horizon of social reform? Are we only interested in salvation in the life to come, or does that include liberation for people in this life as well? Do we envision development governed by scientific technologies and social ideologies, or are we bold enough to take a stand for development through the inculcation of Christian values?

Enough! Many of the delegates, from Spain and living under the right-wing Generalisimo Franco dictatorship, thought Arrupe was starting to smell suspiciously like a Marxist. The President of the Alumni Federation immediately resigned in protest. Spanish alumni subsequently withdrew from the world association

of Jesuit alumni. When that world body had its congress here at Riverview in 1997, I remember from the hundreds of international delegates attending, there were only about two Spanish Jesuit Old Boys who came. The wounds were still festering.

In fact, Arrupe was not proposing anything radically new in the long history of Jesuit schooling. Our men who taught in the first schools were often criticised for teaching ‘pagan’ texts. They had no qualms about this because they believed such literature, poetry and histories all taught values and contained perennial truths. Those Jesuits regularly put before their students a quote from the great orator, Cicero, writing on civic duties: non nobis solum nati sumus, ‘we are not born for ourselves alone’. From those earliest school days, then, there was a strong sense of the connectedness of humanity, of social responsibility.

And even that phrase ‘men for others’ is not entirely new. It has its origins in the great twentieth century German theologian Dietrich Bonhoeffer who lost his life in a concentration camp

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When Arrupe rocked the boat

for standing up to the Nazi regime. He first wrote of Jesus as the man for others, this way:

Who is God? . . . Encounter with Jesus Christ . . . Jesus is there only for others. His ‘being there for others’ is the experience of transcendence.

A truth crossing cultures and faith traditions.

With these words, Arrupe set in train a wave of change that continues to influence Jesuit schools and universities today. He established a precedent that, ‘in the future the

education imparted in Jesuit schools will be equal to the demands of justice in the world.’

Arrupe’s address, along with much of his philosophy, outraged many of the Jesuits as well who considered this integration of faith and justice to be too ‘radical’ a shift. Arrupe’s successor as General, Fr Peter-Hans Kolvenbach noted,

As Father Arrupe rightly perceived, his Jesuits were collectively entering upon a more severe way of the cross, which would surely entail

misunderstandings and even opposition on the part of civil and ecclesiastical authorities, many good friends, and some of our own members.

Yes, many did drift away. Many felt that alumni gatherings were only to be about grand dinners and stirring toasts, about reminiscences of sporting triumphs, of youthful escapades and pranks, about warm memories of significant friends and formators.

All of those are fine, but many more graduates believed there are richer veins to mine. Reminiscences

of making a difference, of sharing the lives of the poor, of learning from such accompaniment. A movement out from self. Something about ‘a love being expressed in deeds more than in words’, as Ignatius himself would have it.

Fr Ross Jones SJ, Rector

The Shoeshine Boy

There is a delightful and instructive

story of Pedro Arrupe whilst travelling in Latin America. A young boy off the streets asked him if he could shine his shoes. For us in the West it is a very demeaning occupation. We rightly feel embarassed that some poor person should have to clean our shoes to survive. But Pedro spoke quietly to the boy and then said yes. His minders were understandably a little edgey when they saw this. What would people say if they saw images of this? It was a potential PR nightmare.

But at the end, when his shoes had been cleaned, Pedro and the boy did a reversal. He stooped down and cleaned the boy’s shoes. A servant leader.

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From the Rector

Pedro Arrupe has his shoes polished during a visit to Quito, Ecuador

Their roles reversed


Achieving social justice for all

M ost people would know by now that my last days as Headmaster will be at the

end of Term 1, 2013. As I have said many times before, being Headmaster of Riverview is one of the best jobs in the world, however, you can’t have this job forever. In the first edition of the Ignatian next year, I will reflect on my time as Headmaster over the past 12 years.

This edition contains an article on the Ignatian Staff Service Experience, which saw all College staff participating in a diverse range of service activities ranging from visiting and spending time with people in nursing homes, prisons, hospitals and special schools; working on farms; cleaning houses; landscaping gardens; taking disadvantaged children on excursions; working with indigenous communities; and helping out at refugee organisations.

Why did they do it? The answer to this question can be found in the words and actions of one man who, through his genuine concern for the poor and the marginalised, transformed the Society of Jesus. In 1973, at the Tenth International Congress of Jesuit Alumni of Europe, in Valencia, Spain, Father General of the Society, Fr Pedro Arrupe SJ coined the phrase: ‘men for others’. In his address, he said:

What kind of man or woman is needed today by the Church, by the world? One who is a ‘man-or-woman-for-others.’ That is my shorthand description. A man-or-woman-for-others. But does this not contradict the very nature of the human person? Are we not each a ‘being-for-ourselves?’ Gifted with intelligence that endows us with power, does [sic]we not tend to control the world, making ourselves its centre? Is this not our vocation, our history?

Yes; gifted with conscience, intelligence and power each of us is indeed a centre. But a centre called to go out of ourselves, to give ourself to others in love—love, which is our definitive and all-embracing dimension, that which gives meaning to all our other dimensions. Only the one who loves fully realises himself or herself as a person. To the extent that any of us shuts ourselves off from others we do not become more a person; we becomes less.

This statement was a radical challenge to all Jesuit educational institutions. In making this statement, Fr Arrupe wanted to shift Jesuit schools across the world from their theoretical approach towards social justice, to being people of action.

It has always been a given that Jesuit schools give high priority to academic excellence and the education of future leaders of society. However as current Father General, Fr Adolfo Nicolás SJ, said when at Riverview earlier this year:

That excellence has nothing to do with social, financial or professional success. it’s an excellence in humanity. It’s forming better human beings; people with a heart, with compassion, with understanding; people who can understand our society without bias, without ideological impositions; people who can be attentive, responsible and understanding.

Fr Pedro Arrupe’s call back in 1973 was a call to action, a call to drive social change. This means that schools should not only teach ideas of social justice, they must also offer their students opportunities to practise it.

Our Ignatian Service Program—originally called a community service program until some of our boys who were completing their service in a country town, were asked what they were doing and what had they done wrong—is a practical service program. When it first began it seemed relatively simple to ask all boys to perform some service for others. However, there proved to be many ‘barriers’ to the smooth running of this program, including trying to find places that could provide ‘meaningful work’ for 800 teenage boys such as nursing homes, aged care facilities, schools, refuges, centres run by St Vincent de Paul Society. There were also issues around insurance, OH&S, transport, and the bigger question of, would staff have to come off important duties to look after boys while they were doing their service?

Over the years we have learned a lot about running service programs through our own personal experiences and through conversations with our students. When we invited our staff to take part in a service program we had a number of different goals in mind. We wanted staff to realise and appreciate what our boys and their families have to go through when they are trying to find meaningful service; we hoped they would understand how doing service provides a sense of self worth as well as a good feeling about helping others; we also wanted them to be able to

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Shane Hogan, Headmaster with new students, at the beginning of Term 1

Statement from the Chair of College Council, Mr Paul Robertson AM and the Headmaster, Mr Shane Hogan

The Chair of College Council, Mr Paul Robertson,

and the Headmaster, Mr Shane Hogan, today announce that Mr Hogan has decided to conclude his term as Headmaster of the College at the end of Term 1, 2013.

Mr Hogan was the first lay person to be appointed Head of School and Headmaster of Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview since its foundation in 1880.

Commenting on Mr Hogan’s decision, Mr Robertson said :

Shane has been an exemplary leader. Under his guidance, the College has flourished.

Our academic results over the past 11 years have improved significantly with our HSC average and median ATAR increasing by 12 percent. Shane’s decision to develop the Learning Support and Special Education Inclusion Programs at the College has ensured that every student has the opportunity to discover and achieve his God-given academic potential.

His time as Headmaster has also

been marked by initiatives such as the introduction of the Advanced Teacher Program for staff and the construction of the early learning centre, Mirrabrook. His transformation of the boarding facilities and the physical and co-curricular landscape of the College has been remarkable.

Through Shane’s dedication, this College has become a place of genuine care and commitment to the poor and the marginalised, with every student reaching out to the community as part of his Ignatian Service.

Today, 80 disadvantaged students, among them indigenous and refugee boys, attend Riverview thanks to the development of the school’s bursary program led by Shane.

To say he will be missed is an understatement. His love for the College and for Jesuit education, his deep affection for the staff and the students and his ability to always focus on the wider Ignatian perspective are qualities that have set him apart as an educational leader. However, the Council understands and respects Shane’s desire to respond to the magis—to use his gifts and experiences to serve God in other educational environments.

Mr Hogan said: The past 12 years have been an amazing experience for me and it

has been a privilege to have served as Headmaster of Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview. However, while it will be sad to leave, I know this is the right time for my family and me.

I have always believed that happiness is the key to teaching and learning. Young people learn best when they are happy. My hope is that when I move on next year, I will leave the College a happy, safe and secure place for students, staff and parents.

Mr Robertson said that there would be many opportunities throughout this year for the community to formally thank Mr Hogan and acknowledge his outstanding contribution to Riverview.

The Council will soon begin a process to recruit a new Headmaster that will seek input from various groups within the College community.

Until this time next year, Shane will continue to lead the College in its mission of educating young men of conscience, competence and compassion, committed to serving others, for the ‘greater glory of God’.

Paul Robertson AM Chair, College Council

Shane Hogan, Headmaster12 April 2012

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From the Headmaster

reflect positively on that experience even though that experience may not have been positive or rewarding. Most importantly, our hope was that apart from being teachers of social justice, by taking part in their own service experience, staff would also model social justice to the boys and be able to speak first hand about their service.

Writing recently in Viewpoint about our service program, the Director of Religious Formation, Mrs Carmel Shaw, quoted from Cicero, who said:

We are not born for ourselves alone. Everything that the earth produces is made for our use and we too as human beings are born for the sake of other human beings that we might be able mutually to help each other. We ought therefore to contribute to the common

good of human kind by reciprocal acts of kindness, by giving and receiving from one another and thus by our skill, our industry and out talents work to bring human society together in peace and harmony.

When we ask our staff and students to do Ignatian service, it’s not just about being a Jesuit school, it’s about being good Christians and good citizens!Becoming a person for others also requires a certain degree of humility. In another speech, Pedro Arrupe says:

Nothing is more practical than finding God, than falling in Love in a quite absolute, final way. What you are in love with, what seizes your imagination, will affect everything.

It will decide what will get you out of bed in the morning, what you do with your evenings, how you spend

your weekends, what you read, whom you know, what breaks your heart, and what amazes you with joy and gratitude. Fall in love, stay in love, and it will decide everything.

While it is easy to fall in love and to stay close to friends and family and indeed your school community, to truly fall in love on the other side of your world or people on the other side of the tracks—people you may not know and who may live lives you do not agree with—this requires a special humility and a special selflessness.

Fr Arrupe’s challenge was that schools must continue to be a vehicle for change in all aspects of society until true social justice for all is achieved.

Shane Hogan, Headmaster


A true lesson in serviceA long with four

colleagues (Jeremy Bennett, Bernie Winters, Brett Donohue and Damien Reidy), I was fortunate enough to spend five days in Wadeye, an Indigenous community located approximately 400 kilometres south west of Darwin. It was a simultaneously confronting, humbling and uplifting experience as we spent time conducting manual labour

work at the Our Lady of the Sacred Heart Convent, celebrating mass with the local community and familiarising ourselves with staff and students from the local secondary school. Sr Teresa Ward (Sr Tess as she is affectionately known) hosted us for the duration of our stay. Aside from the physical work undertaken, it was true lesson in service, simply conversing with, and observing, Sister Tess. She is a truly remarkable, selfless person who has devoted her life to serving others. As the sole

occupant of the convent in Wadeye, she provides spiritual direction to the local community and works tirelessly at the local school in the most unassuming and humble manner. It was truly inspirational and a genuine privilege to have had the opportunity to meet and get to know Sr Tess. She is the embodiment of true, enduring service in action and underscored why we place such importance on the Service component of the boys’ education at Riverview.

Adam Lewis, Director of Students

Service in actionOur Ignatian tradition calls for us to enter into solidarity with the poor, the marginalised and the voiceless and in keeping with this tradition, our students are required to participate in community outreach as part of an Ignatian Service Program. Biennally, staff also participate in a two-day Staff Service Experience; these are some of their experiences this year.

a Clash of Cultures

For my own Ignatian Service Experience, I travelled to Bathurst Island where I spent

time with an amazing nun from the OLSH order. Sr Anne Gardiner has lived on Bathurst Island for 52 of her

80 years and her understanding of the people, culture and the difficulties of this place is profound. Over the years she has seen many changes in legislation, funding, planning

and government initiatives, yet her commitment to the people who live there has never wavered. Bathurst Island is one of the Tiwi Islands in the Northern Territory off the

Brett Donohue with an Indigenous infant

Sr Tess was an embodiment of service in action, assisted by (from left to right) Jeremy Bennett, Brett Donohue, Damien Reidy, Bernie Winters and Adam Lewis

at Wadeye Indigenous Community, Northern Territory.

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Students at Murrupurtiyanuwu Catholic School, Nguiu, Bathurst Island

Making a differenceCana Communities (taken from

the biblical story of the Wedding Feast of Cana) is a volunteer-operated organisation providing crisis accommodation for especially vulnerable, homeless people.

Cana has three principal activities: Teresa and de Porres houses in Sydney and the Cana Farm at Orchard Hills, near Pen a unique concept that is centered around providing a different experience for the marginalised in our community. The organisation is now under the leadership of Presentation Sister Anne Jordan and receives no Government funding or grants and relies solely on the support of personal donations and appeals, and of course, the volunteers.

As part of the Ignatian Staff Service Experience, several staff from Teaching and Administration spent a day cleaning every room and surface, reorganising, and painting some walls, as well as tidying the outside areas at Teresa and de Porres houses.

On the second day the group ventured out to the formerly run-down Cana Farm where various marginalised, Centrelink and refugee groups have been learning English in the veggie patch and taking paving and bricklaying, and painting and decorating courses.

One team worked with ‘Farmer Bob’ to construct a sheep fence in time

for the arrival of sheep that were being donated to the farm. Battling wasps, overgrown grass, mud and hills we walked away satisfied that the construction of the fence had certainly progressed with the assistance of extra hands.

The second group was put to work pruning, mowing and digging, with the clear signs of sweat indicating the group had worked hard.

On both days, sitting together, sharing a meal and listening to stories from the House and Farm participants was an integral part of our enjoyment and journey. The stories of how people got their lives back on track just through

the presence of Cana’s work were inspiring. There was a warm sense of community definitely prevalent!

At the end of the two days we walked away knowing it was great to be able to make a difference to assist the volunteers of the Houses and the Farm in some small way and to experience what our students experience during their own Ignatian Service programs and immersions.

Heidi McDarmont, Business Operations Denise Slocombe, Development Officer

Margaret Molloy, Registrar

northern coast of Australia. Currently there are about 1500 people living there, most of them Tiwi Islanders.

While on Bathurst Island I met with a variety of people including families, teachers, the nurse, police, the local priest, the women elders and a number of indigenous staff who work at the school , and of course, the students.

What I witnessed while there was a people caught between two worlds—the ‘westernised world’ and the world they inherited from their forebears. Their way of life has changed so much in the past 50 years. From living on a remote island which up until recent generations was substance, they now live between two economies—

one part capitalistic supported by government assistance, the other a and hunting and gathering economy.

Spending time with those people who are hoping in some way to assist the local people transcend the two cultures that exist on the island as well as those families who struggle at times to understand which culture they exist in, made me more aware of the challenges we face for true reconciliation to happen. I am extremely proud of our Indigenous program here at Riverview, however, in some ways I have to acknowledge that it is far removed from the issues facing Indigenous and non-Indigenous people in the remoter

parts of Australia.

I left the island in awe of people like Sr Anne who give their life to such an important cause. I also left ambivalent about Government policies that do not appear to acknowledge the ‘clash’ of cultures on Bathurst Island.

I also left feeling very proud of the Riverview students who, over the years, have travelled to Bathurst Island on immersions to help Sr Anne and the students and teachers at the school there. The work our boys they have done helping to build a museum and cataloguing artefacts for Sr Anne is quite amazing.

Shane Hogan, Headmaster

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Staff Service Experience

Peter McLean, Peter Herington, Christine Zimbulis, Denise Slocombe,

Mary Byrne and Suzie Marks renovating de Porres House, Surry Hills


Volunteers teach English

A place of welcome

Josephine Bakhita was kidnapped as a young girl

and sold into slavery, forgetting even her real name. Brutally treated, Bakhita eventually regained control of her destiny, choosing the life of a Canossian sister. Following her canonisation, she is revered as St Josephine Bakhita, with special relevance for slavery and oppression.

St Bakhita Centre, Flemington is a place of

hospitality, support and welcome for the Sudanese Catholic community.

Recognising that an understanding of English is fundamental to the resettlement of new arrivals, volunteers teach all levels, from beginners to TAFE. Volunteers also mind pre-school children, so their mothers can attend classes including computer lessons, sewing, citizenship and driving theory.

Taking advantage of my graphic design skills, Sr Maria requested that I produce a brochure, outlining the work of the Centre.St Bakhita Centre is always in need of volunteers. Many come from the Riverview community. If you can assist at the Centre, please contact Sr Maria Sullivan, at [email protected] or telephone 0408 615 671.

Peter Barker Publications Co-ordinator

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Juvenile justice

Entering Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre was at first

a daunting experience, but Deb Williams, Bronwyn Taylor and I decided that we would challenge ourselves during the staff Ignatian Service week. The burly guards had big tats and a ‘don’t mess with me’ attitude, but understandably, the Centre is not a holiday camp; each door must be locked and checked before another is opened, stirring feelings of claustrophobia in me at least. We were given a 20-minute induction cautioning us about potential weapons, and the dangers of being surrounded or backed into a corner, but we were also assured that if something escalated, there were at least three guards in each classroom and a big red buzzer to hit, both of which would bring immediate help.

The Centre is for boys between the ages of 14 and 18 years either awaiting trial or actually serving their sentence. Once we overcame our initial concerns and were in the classrooms with the boys we forgot that we were actually ‘locked up’ and felt like we could be in any classroom in any school with a bunch of adolescent boys. Obviously some of the boys were troubled and withdrawn but most appeared as healthy, intelligent, friendly adolescents who were engaged in activity they found enjoyable.

On the first day we involved the boys in drama activities that culminated in them writing some short, clever

and amusing plays. Deb started us off with a well-designed quiz to break the ice, which successfully drew out the boys’ healthy competitive streak; big Tongan boys were even high-fiving and pumping fists into the air. The boys were then asked to construct and act in two short plays with similar scenarios involving a conflict that arises in a corner store and must be resolved peacefully and amicably. There were boys that not only enjoyed acting but were talented and showed high literacy skills when it came to writing their own plays, in many cases, using vocabulary sophisticated for boys of their age.

I retain a lasting memory from the second day of a guard and boy sitting opposite each other, playing chess for hours in perfect harmony. For many of the boys, Cobham Juvenile Justice Centre is a safer, more empathetic and supportive place than outside.

Perhaps if the same level of support and care existed outside maybe these boys would stay ‘on the rails’ until they were mature enough to see what they had to lose? Because what we three reflected on most and this is the perennial issue, the unresolved dilemma of how to treat juvenile crime, is why is the re-offending rate so high?

As we sat with the boys in the last session and drew pictures or played cards I asked a boy what he was going to do when he got out (we were cautioned not to ask them about why they were in a detention centre). He said, ‘I’m going to give my kids the biggest hug.’ Of course I was surprised to learn that he had twin two-year-olds and another ‘on the way’, saying it with great pride for a boy that was barely 16 or 17 years old. Samuel Hague, Senior English teacher

Helping Year 6 build a kitchen garden

Six teams of Year 6 students from Holy Trinity School

Granville recently began building a Kitchen Garden with the support and help from three Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview staff members: Mrs Sally Egan, Mr Paul Bevis and Miss Kate Hilyard.

Mrs Egan was very supportive of Year 6, sharing her knowledge with us to prepare and build the garden with her own two hands, though with the help of the boys who Mr Mills had divided into a building team. She tried to get the whole class to participate in all the fun parts, including digging up soil and planting the vegetables and herbs. Mrs Egan allowed us to interview her so we could learn more about her and what kind of person she is. She was very helpful and happy to answer our questions, expressing that she hoped she could see us again sometime this year and wishing us a good future ahead.

Mr Bevis was a great help and a very nice person who liked to help anyone with anything. We were lucky enough to interview Mr Bevis and we found out that his motto is to ‘not steal’, because he got into trouble for it when he was in Year 9. He assisted Year 6 with the stages of shoveling, leveling and patting down the soil in both garden beds; he also assisted with planting vegetables and a lemon tree.

Like Mrs Egan, he wanted everyone to have a go at something and enjoyed getting his hands dirty. He was also very funny, and thankfully enjoyed his stay at Holy Trinity, hoping too that he could see us again.

Miss Hilyard spent most of her time in the garden premises, as she was a very outdoors type of person, which we learned from the data on SharePoint. She too was very funny and helpful, and knew all about planting and digging. She helped to shovel the soil and plant our vegetables in the right order and rows that had almost the exact measurements as it said on our pieces of paper. Miss Hilyard liked to answer any of our questions and


Sally Egan, Paul Bevis and Kate Hilyard helped build a Kitchen Garden at Holy Trinity School

Life is preciousOur Ignatian Service

was such a wealth of insightful experience and reflective evaluation.

I believe that the most fundamental messages constantly being conveyed were:

1 Life is precious

2 Value the gift of life, embrace

and cherish every second.

3 Focus on the positives and appreciate the GOOD in everyone and all you experience, even if there is some issue that may present negatively, know that you are so blessed and indeed very fortunate, see this experience as a positive to fully reflect and genuinely appreciate the richness of life.

4 Our lives are so intricately fragile and one never knows what the future may bring. Seize and enrich each day, by reaching out to someone in need by acknowledging our purpose in their joy.

Julia Burfitt Teaching and Learning Support,

Years 5 & 6

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helped students with their bookwork if something was incorrect. She also encouraged everyone to do their best and try something a bit different. We also think that Miss Hilyard enjoyed her time at Holy Trinity.

We are very grateful for the three staff members from Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview who supported and helped Year 6 to build their Kitchen Garden. They all encouraged and believed in us, and always helped us to try and figure out the problem ourselves, in different ways.

An edited extract from Holy Trinity School Granville’s Newsletter,

written by Year 6 students Pauline Gerges and Simone Joseph

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Achieving independence and quality of lifeI was fortunate to do my

two-day service at Parkhill Cottage Day Centre For The Aged, part of Manly Hospital & Community Health Services.

The Centre provides a co-ordinated multi-disciplinary service for the aged and people with disabilities, aiming to help them achieve maximum independence and quality of life. Clients do a range of social, creative, physical and interactive activities each day, and are also provided with morning tea and a cooked lunch. I was introduced to Cathy Barber, who was in charge at this facility, through my sister Karina who does volunteer work on Tuesdays.

On my first day Cathy needed help setting up a display of the craft works created at the centre, which would show new clients the variety of items made during creative workshops. I was also given time to mix with the clients, about 12 women of various ages who were very friendly, and staff throughout the day, which was lovely. I really enjoyed this opportunity to help make their craft works look good in their reception and lounge area.

On the second day, there was a different clientele; 12 men and about

four women were present, with varying degrees of both physical disabilities and dementia. While they were on a bus tour during the first hour, I helped to organise and categorise the Centre’s DVD collection, which Cathy desperately needed to be compiled.

I was able to interact with the clients upon their return as we participated in activities to honour ANZAC Day.

Cathy got each of the clients to wear funny Australian f lag masks, hold an Australian Flag and we sang national songs. Then, each of the men shared their war experiences, which were amazing and very moving. Overall the day was most enjoyable and the celebrations of Anzac Day were memorable.

To sum up my experience, I can only say that it was most insightful and inspirational. I have asked Cathy if I can return to volunteer in the future and she said that she would love to have me help there. I felt very welcomed and valued and the atmosphere was so positive and reaffirming. Seeing these older people from all walks of life with a variety of disabilities, mental or physical, interacting in a range of activities was truly amazing. The service that this Centre provides creates a safe environment and one of dignity for these aged people who have isolated lives. It provides them with stimulation and care and they seem to leave at the end of each day feeling much happier with life. It was an uplifting experience for me, one that I would like to further pursue.

Katia Durst, Visual Arts Teacher

Looking into the abyssToday I’m laid up on painkillers after leg surgery

to remove venous clots—but I’m not complaining.

Last Monday, I was helping in the Starlight Express Room at a Childrens’ Hospital. Little kids in surgical gowns were teaching me how to play Mario Kart on Wii, and thrashing me.

‘Johnny’ was about five years old, constantly smiling and happy. I thought maybe he was in for a hearing problem, or something minor, as he was so relaxed and seemed well enough. Later in the day, he ambled in to our Uno game (old fashioned card games, with real cards, do still cut it with kids!) and happily smiling joined in. I met his mum as Johnny had the earphones on, playing the piano.

The new craft display

Starlight Day is the largest national fundraising event for the Starlight Children’s Foundation Australia

10 IgNatIaN

Feeding the homeless

David Jones, James Quiddington and I

spent two days at St Canice’s preparing meals and feeding the homeless of the area. We started our day at 9.00am preparing sandwiches and hot meals for about 150 homeless people. This task took us about two hours. Thereafter, we set the tables, before ‘rush hour’, feeding the 100 plus homeless who came in and had their fill for about an hour.

On the first day we provided soup, roast chicken, with all conceivable types of sandwiches, including ham, chicken, vegetables and cheese. The dessert for the day was chocolate cake and fruit. After the meals were served, we had to clear the tables and the room. Then, we made sure that the room and all of the cutlery were washed clean. The second day followed a similar routine. During our visit to St Canice’s, we also had mums, who are rostered on a regular basis, from St Aloysius’ and Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview, to help us.

Mathew Furtado Mathematics Teacher

His mum said he had serious cancer, hadn’t slept for three months, and that Johnny was on morphine. My stomach fell, or was it my heart, or was it my dread that something like this could happen to my only son? I was looking into an abyss and it terrified me. My venous clots and ‘pain’ somehow don’t mean much next to Johnny’s story!

The day was filled with similar scenarios, like little ‘Jenny’ who I complemented on her excellent artwork, thinking she was aged two, as physically she was very small. It turned out she is much older,

with an unusual cancer and poor prospects of recovery. Her mum showed me the long collection of iPhone snaps she had of Jenny’s artwork. She must have been in this room many, many times before! How do mums and dads cope with this nightmare? How do the kids do it with such grace? Lord, help me LIVE more appreciatively of my health, gifts and comfort, more appreciatively of the ‘hell’ that others have to go through!

Anthony Reilly Faith in Service Co-ordinator


Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview staff worked with the Cerebral Palsy Alliance and spent time with the NSW Boccia team at the Avalon Recreation Centre

Mathew Furtado (foreground) and James Quiddington at St Canice’s

IgNatIaN 11

Mixing with Boccia championsIn late April, as part of the

Ignatian experience, a group of Riverview staff travelled to the Avalon Recreation Centre to spend some time honing the skills of the NSW Boccia team in preparation for the National Championships, held in early May. Boccia is a Paralympic sport, mainly played by people with cerebral palsy, but also by athletes with other disabilities, affecting motor skills. As with most Paralympic sports, grading depends on the athletes’ range of movements.

After two days of training and pairs competition, we played the grand finale against a couple of extremely talented female BC3 players, who use ramps to propel their balls towards the jack. Their skill and accuracy was amazing and they wiped the floor

with us, beating Riverview 12–0 over four ends of competition. The following week, some of the same Boccia players formed part of the NSW team that won five out of the seven gold medals on offer at the National Championships.

Playing Boccia was truly a tremendous experience. All those involved enjoyed the opportunity to become friends through sport. There is now a group of Riverview staff who will be keenly watching Boccia at this year’s Paralympics, held in London. Boccia is an expensive sport, from an equipment and logistical perspective, and a greater awareness will go a long way to its growth and support in years to come.

Stuart Halsall Property Services Manager


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Days of Our LivesFor many people Days of our Lives is a long-running daytime soap opera broadcast on the NBC television network continuously since November 1965 and focusing on the Horton, Brady and DiMera families in Salem, Massachusetts. To many of our boarding families, facing the challenges of living and working in (often remote) rural Australia, coping with the eternal vagaries of the weather and the seasons, the family dislocations with children away at boarding school for much of the year and the challenges of isolation can also surely seem to be an eternal soap opera.

A fter a decade of below-average rainfall, much of Queensland, NSW

and Victoria were devastated by widespread floods earlier this year, the impacts of which remain in many of the water-logged and lower-lying parts of NSW. While the initial rains brought many benefits, subsequent

flooding brought flow-on effects: months of repairing fences and equipment; crop yields diminished or harvests unmanageable; a plague of pests, weeds and disease, including flyblown sheep; damaged and closed roads. And there are still those school fees to pay. With the help of three of our own boarding

families, the Murrays, the Iresons and the Bulls, we have tried to present a photo-essay of some of the impacts of the recent floods.

It will not do justice to the magnitude and challenge of the events; perhaps, though, it will show, particularly for those readers not directly impacted, the Days of Our Lives.

Days of Our Lives

Dermot and a few thousand . . .

It was due to the Riverview staff’s effort to get me ahead in some work, and their keenness for me to get home to see an event that

may not happen again for years, that I was granted leave to go home for part of the lead up to the flood peak.

I was able to help Dad and Mum move sheep further away from the river and creek, and lift sheep on the chopper after the rain deluge days before I got home. Disappointingly I missed the peak of the river by four days. I know quite a bit more country was covered in those last days, but I still got a fair idea of what a significant flood looks like across our country.

I consider myself extremely lucky to have been able to get back home for a week. The effort from Riverview staff was much appreciated by Mum, Dad and me.

Dermot Murray, Year 9

Post lunch, Dermot gets ready for the next muster

Idalia House Island(Top left and below)

IgNatIaN 13

The Murray family ‘Idalia’, Louth

Six generations of this family have lived with, and through,

them; it’s quite basic—you live on a floodplain, you’re going to experience floods. We live 145 kilometres, by road, downstream of Bourke on the western side of the Darling River. Our son Dermot, currently in Year 9, has been a boarder at Riverview since Year 7 and is part of the sixth generation of Murrays to live in this area. Cut him and he bleeds red-brown—it’s a bit of the Darling flowing out of him.

It’s the logistics of all things flood-related that could frustrate! There are the endless preparations, remaining mindful that we have the relative advantage of weeks to prepare as opposed to those who are directly under the rains that cause the impending river-rise. There’s the shifting of stock, preceded by the strategic lying-in-bed-awake-in-the-middle-of-the-night chess game of who-goes-where. There’s moving plant and machinery, all the while strategising which work vehicle and or trailers need to be where, and remembering any nearing re-registration dates that will require trips to town for inspections during the approaching

and predicted months of isolation. There’s the establishment of alternative fuel depots or mobile ones; the replenishment of levée banks long removed or eroded away; the gathering in of extra long-term grocery items, not forgetting the

extra dog tucker . . . or the loo paper! and the mouse-proof storage required thereof. It involves getting the family car beyond the floodwater’s reach BEFORE your road access is cut. And so it goes on, the flood-prep logistics for 270,000 acres.

14 IgNatIaN


Back to school

Dermot gets down and dirty

In May we began six weeks of general shearing and now continue to live life among the after effects of roughly 12 weeks of road isolation. Roads local to us were officially re-opened in late April to ‘light traffic only’, meaning nil truck access. Load-limited road accessibility inevitably has a chain reaction: nil trucks means no bulk fuel drops; the wool trucks can’t enter to load and take baled wool away for sale; stock trucks can’t enter to take away sold stock, or stock to sale; fencing material purchased may need to be dropped at an inconvenient site. We’re at the downstream end coupled with the south-western edge of the Shire; we were the last in the Shire to come out of flooding generally, the roads nearest to us were the last in the Shire to dry out, we were the last to have the Shire graders and associated heavy machinery repair access roads. The logistics of living post-flood: it all takes time. Then inclement weather prolongs all accessibility and repair.

This flood event has had a level of significance our family has not previously experienced. In December 2011 we came home from several months living in Sydney. Dermot, spindly-legged, was fresh out of a surgery-induced term of wheelchair confinement, and my husband Tim (OR73) was recovering from treatment for a serious illness. We drove home

learning that a significant river rise was coming. The situation was not an ideal script for Tim’s recovery. Then, with another large rain event in the upper catchments of the Murray-Darling system it became obvious a flood of significant proportions was coming. Now, there was nothing to do but act; get organised and get on with it; coping with recovery and any associated set-backs as they arose.

Come the end of January, and as with the previous year, Dermot returned to boarding at Riverview from a flood-bound home, having to fly out

as the first peak was here.His recovery from surgery was going brilliantly. He’d also done a sterling job and shown what it is to be a ‘man for others’ in aiding his father and grandfather throughout the summer. Tim had a Sydney-based check-up. All was going relatively well but slower than he wished, which was frustrating at times.

Preparing for the second and higher flood peak continued

upon Tim’s return. There was just one who could do the flying required to aerially muster: Tim. Only one who could do a fly-around to closely monitor stock, watering points, pipelines and fences: Tim. (While his father still flies, close monitoring is no longer Dad’s forte. Instead, he took on the role of the flying mailman). Tim would fly to Louth each morning, collect the workman, deliver him to his work vehicle, return at a pre-arranged time and place late in the afternoon to do a return trip to Louth,

and then go home. The ferrying often added up to hours in a day. It meant Tim could not come home early and know he could have the rest of the day off. It made for long, tiring, dehydrating summer days for a bloke supposed to be taking it easy and trying to regain weight. He was very, very relieved when the floodwater subsided enough for the workman to drive himself out.

Spanning almost 15 years, these photos show Dermot and his sister Grace standing in the same spot near their home. Top: post-flood, October 1998;

middle: during drought, April 2007; bottom: post-flood, April 2012

Days of Our Lives

IgNatIaN 15

Along with other boys at Riverview whose families were preparing for, or enduring in emergency fashion, living in the flood situation, we knew Dermot would be concerned for home and his family’s welfare. With the assistance of many Riverview staff associated with Dermot, he came home for a week in the lead-up to the peak towards mid-March. This was an important event for Dermot to see.

Witnessing what the country goes under in such a sizeable flood is going to be of benefit to him in future with his present desire to eventually return home to work. The last flood of this size occurred when he was around two years old. Dermot was also invaluable in helping save some of our young ewes still trapped in water after a too-large overnight rain event a couple days before he came home. I was beginning to wonder if I’d missed the message to build an Ark.

We used our small helicopter instead—there have been technical advances since the days of Noah!

Most significantly Dermot got to see how his Dad was recovering for himself—not just hearing the slightly dried raspy voice down the phone nightly when he’d call for his daily what’s-going-on-at-home progress report. Thanks Riverview.

Jane Murray

Footnote: Tim’s recovery continues to progress well, with weight gain improving. Dermot’s also recently had a positive post-surgical visit.

1998

2007

2012


The Ireson family‘Belmont’, Booligal

While the Murrays, at Louth, saw the flood peak

at the end of January, it was not until April that Sandra and Matt Ireson of Booligal, north of Hay, saw their property go under. Lochie (Year 8) and his sister, Ellie, boarding at Frensham, received flood evacuation messages on their mobiles while at school! Matt and Sandra joined forces with neighbours to help each other move and rescue sheep trapped by the floods.

The following photos record much of the effort that went into saving those sheep; a tiresome, sticky, smelly but very rewarding experience.

80 sheep stuck in water at the back of Dales Swamp. Most were walked out

through 500 metres of 0.5 metre deep water, which was up to 1 metre deep in some spots.

The last two sheep were boated out.

Muggabah Swamp looking south

16 IgNatIaN

75 sheep trapped on an island – walked most out, boated 30 out.

After 84 had been dragged by hand out of the mud, 52 sheep which had become bogged down were boated out of the mud.

Muggabah Swamp – Loading the boat with sheep

Walking through the mud

Loading more sheep in a boat at Muggabah

Boat, sheep and boys being pulled in

Dales sheep

Happy sheep A frilled lizard saved from deep water

The last sheep pulled out of the water

IgNatIaN 17

Days of Our Lives


The Bull family ‘Fairfield’, Boree Creek

The major flood event of 2012 literally came in ‘waves’

in our part of the Riverina. The first was a wall of water produced by run-off from an unprecedented eight inches (200mm) of rain that fell across our district overnight on Saturday 3 March. This water coursed unpredictably overland, inundating areas that, in recorded history, have never experienced significant flooding. The second was the more predictable, but still severe, flooding along the river and creek floodplains as natural and man-made levies breached, unable to contain the volume of water flowing from the Snowy Mountains catchment and spilling over the major dams. The total rainfall for the week was 14 inches (350mm). Our average annual rainfall is 18 inches (450mm).

Haydn and I had left our youngest son, Ned, at home with his grandparents as we were in Sydney to visit Stuart (Year 10) and Kyle (Year 9). With news filtering to us on Sunday morning, the realisation dawned that a ‘situation’ was developing at home and we hurriedly

farewelled the boys and headed westward along the Hume Highway anxious to be reunited with Ned.

After an eventful drive, we finally arrived home to find the road to our front gate washed away, along with a number of fences. Fortunately, our home and pets were unaffected. The namesake of our closest village, Boree Creek, had morphed into a monster just after midnight and swallowed much of the village without warning, destroying roads, homes and the local hall. Close friends who live in the village spent the night sheltering in the cab of their prime-mover as water flooded their home. This was the

same creek that our boys have seen flow only a couple of times during their lifetime.

Monday morning presented a small window of opportunity in which we could get to town in a 4-wheel drive to stock up with groceries, fuel and other essentials before we were cut off by the overland wave of water that was working its way lower to meet up with the already-swelling mighty Murrumbidgee. It would be another week, or more, before the river actually reached its peak at Narrandera, isolating us south of the river for over two weeks in total.

Ned, 11, was delighted to miss two and a half weeks of school and, having discovered his legs were finally long enough to reach the clutch, used some of the time learning to drive Dad’s ute on the deserted local roads.

It would be weeks before we could reach our other property, north of the river, to assess the damage there. A local pilot had phoned to report that our shearing shed was now surrounded by a 3500 acre lake that had formed as a result of the run-off from surrounding hill country, but our stock were high and dry.

Unlike many, our phone and internet services were preserved and we were able to maintain daily contact with Stu and Kyle in Sydney. As we described in detail the amazing

A neighbourhood party takes place on the closed Sturt Highway

The Bull family’s shearing shed gets its feet wet for the first time in 100 years

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Flood relief with Blazeaid

The 2012 Ignatian Service weekend was a chance for

four staff members: myself, Sally Tranter, Adrian Byrne and Natalie Baines, to travel to Wagga to assist Blazeaid, a volunteer organisation originally formed in Victoria to assist with bushfire damage but now expanded into flood relief. There was a sense of community amongst the volunteers from the moment we first met up with them.

The damage to property and people’s spirits was obvious as soon as we arrived in North Wagga and saw the aftermath of the Murrumbidgee breaking its banks a month previously. Homes were literally destroyed and the prospects of rebuilding were rendered next to hopeless for many who had discovered that their insurance policies would not cover them for the loss of material goods.

We were assigned to a family

who had not previously asked for help. It is understandable that a proud farming family would find it difficult to accept what they perceived as charity or welfare. They were sleeping in an aircraft hangar at Wagga Airport, their possessions were piled up outside their home and they had lost 33 sheep in the flood. Most of their fences were damaged, laid down or covered in the detritus, which

leads to the problem of rusting the galvanised wire and requires an expensive and time-consuming replacement of fencing. That was where we could help, to some extent, by painstakingly removing the build-up from the wire. It is a lengthy and laborious process and we constantly wondered how people would ever get the task finished. Hours and hours of work, with only several hundred metres of fencing cleaned up, contributed to our concern for our new friends.

Nonetheless, we found their gratitude to be heart warming despite the fact that the work we could do in the short time we spent there did very little to ameliorate the difficult and heartbreaking reconstruction that lay ahead for them.

God was seen in many things: the spirit of the suffering folk, the camaraderie amongst us and the community that Blazeaid had built up.

Guy MastersDirector of Boarding

Natalie Baines, Adrian Byrne, Sally Tranter and Guy Masters volunteered to

assist Blazeaid

Days of Our Lives

scenes that were unfolding around us, the boys, having only known drought until the past 18 months of their lives, felt they were missing out on something special. And they were. Had travel home been a logistical possibility, it would have been difficult to keep them at school. It was however somewhat distressing for them when they realised that the home of our neighbours, their lifelong best friends, was under threat and they could not be there to lend them support or assist with the sandbagging efforts that occupied us for several days.

The sandbagging operation paid dividends and, with the crisis averted, our little community turned its attention to celebrating the success of the campaign as well as the spectacle of Mother Nature at her most awesome. With the Sturt Highway

closed in both directions between Narrandera and Wagga Wagga and central to our district (and most importantly, dry) a plan for a highway party was hatched.

A week after the initial deluge, close to 150 of us converged on the highway to swap stories, compare losses and generally marvel at the turn of events. We brought portable barbecues, copious amounts of food and drink (despite not having accessed a shop for nearly a week), cricket sets,

basketball hoops, even a ping-pong table. Music blared from one young buck’s ute and any balls straying from the highway were quickly lost to the water lapping both sides of the road. Together, we reaffirmed our bonds within our tight-knit community and enjoyed each other’s company long into the night.

Plenty of photos were taken with the understanding that this was truly a unique occasion that may never be repeated—certainly not during the lifetime of every person present that night.

I admit to pangs of regret that Stu and Kyle would never share this part of our district’s history—their faces, such an integral part of our local community, would be missing from the photos that will be a talking point for some generations to come.

Sonya Bull

IgNatIaN 19

Ned Bull on the closed highway


20 IgNatIaN

‘Education is the key to a better future’

Kir Deng (OR2008) was born in Sudan, during the height of the civil war. Attending Riverview from Year 7, he graduated six years later as recipient of the Insignis award—the highest honour which the College bestows on a graduate. Below is an extract from a speech Kir gave at ‘Celebrate Riverview 2012’, in which he expresses his gratitude for the Riverview Bursary Program, which has changed his life.

I n South Sudan, roughly 95% of the population is illiterate. Most of the people serving in

higher positions, for example in the parliament, have an equivalent of Higher School Certificate to Diploma qualification. The solution to the myriad of problems and the way forward for South Sudan is education. Education is paramount when half of the population is under the age of 25 years. At this age it is not too late to Kir Deng addressing members of the College Community, at Celebrate Riverview 2012

A large crowd gathered to ‘Celebrate Riverview’ earlier this year

IgNatIaN 21

Riverview Bursary Program

change or shift your future.

In December last year I graduated with a bachelor of nursing from Notre Dame University—a momentous occasion for me and a great jubilation for the many people who got me there. The first to graduate in my family, the occasion brought a great sense of hope and encouragement to my family, friends and the South Sudanese community. I’m currently studying for the graduate medical admission test to gain an entry into post-graduate medicine at Notre Dame. One of the main reasons I’ve been able to get to where I am today is the generosity of Riverview Bursary program. No words will ever do justice to express my sincere gratitude and appreciation of this wonderful and unique opportunity. I’ve been fortunate and blessed.

Part of the reason as to why I attribute this education to where I am today is because it allowed for the fullest possible development of me as a whole person—head, heart and hands. It has instilled in me an inspiration to a life-long learning and commitment to faith.

There is a remarkable quote from

the Ratio Studiorum regarding the purpose of Jesuit education. It reads, ‘the development of the student’s intellectual capacity is the school’s most characteristic part. However, this development will be defective and even dangerous unless it is strengthened and completed by the training of the will and the formation of the character’.

Jesuit education is about instructing the intellect, training the will, and forming the character—in other words, the whole man. Jesuit education calls for a life of intellect, a life of integrity, and a life of justice and loving service to our fellow men and women and to our God. This is the call of Christ to us today—a call to growth, a call to life. These

principles are embedded within the sort of education that Riverview Bursary provides.

I can also confidently say that the Jesuit education through the gift of a Riverview Bursary has the potential to be used as a weapon for change in our world. It has the potential to turn tragedy and misery into hope and victory. For most of the kids that do receive the Bursary, it will act as the road to progress and the means through which they can realize their full potential. I find that this great service challenges and motivates us to empower ourselves and do what we can to fully embrace this wonderful program.

Albert Schweitzer once remarked that the purpose of human life is to serve and to show compassion and the will to help others. The Riverview Bursary program is such an example that if we keep an open heart and stretch our arms we can fulfil this same human purpose. Riverview can’t help everyone and Riverview may not be suited to everyone. However, with the Bursary Program, it provides us with the opportunity to do something great and to do it to the best of our ability.

A large crowd gathered to ‘Celebrate Riverview 2012’, at the beginning of Term 1

‘I found that this Jesuit education was uplifting and empowering. Therefore, it was able to push me forward to even greater heights.’


Thank you to the Riverview communityaugustin Bunani (OR2011) is currently studying Information technology at UtS, while working part-time in the It Department at legal firm, Sparke Helmore.

I have written this letter to express my gratitude in recognition of all the

contributions sacrifices many of you constantly make that concerns the well being of the Riverview community. Especially for all those parents who selflessly give to ensure the growth of Riverview, I would like to personally say, thank you. To many of us, Riverview is a like a second home. It is because of you that we can be a part of such a great environment and community, that upholds and develops the integrity and generosity of young men.

The opportunities I have been offered at this school have helped shape and change my views of life and my future, because of being a part of this diverse community of Riverview. Coming from a small country, such as Rwanda, and being welcomed into Riverview,

before I could even construct proper English sentences wasn’t as hard as I expected to be, simply because it was, and still is, a community that consists of people who are eager to be a part of your development and for this I would like to say thank you to both the school body and the parents because you have provided me with the best possible atmosphere to learn, engage in sports and get away from my sisters.

Speaking for all the boys at Riverview, whose lives have been profoundly changed for the better, by the selfless acts you have made over the years, I would like to say that we aspire to

grow up with the kind of courage and self-giving you have shown by example. I have loved this community since I was introduced to it in 2006, and the kind of environment this school provides is one I wish for all.

Your generosity and contributions to the school have had an impact on over 85 boys [through the Bursary Fund], in many different ways. The most obvious is academic, and the quality of education that you have given to boys whom you hardly know. The co-curricular and curricular aspects of the school have provided an atmosphere where many boys can express and develop their talents and where those talents can be recognised by the community.

At Riverview, many of us have made friends, best friends and people who we will know for the rest of our lives. You have made it possible for many of us, who would not normally be able to do so, to become a part of one of the greatest schools in Australia.

So, on behalf of all the boys, I would like to personally thank you, because you’ve introduced me to a community that I have come to love and which will remain a part of me for the rest of my life.

The Journey to Journeys

In 1888, Christopher Brennan, with financial assistance, completed

his secondary education at Riverview and in so doing gave effect to a Jesuit dream now called the Riverview Bursary Program.

In 2008, Ben Powell and Kir Deng stood proudly in the Rose Garden expressing their heartfelt thanks to the Riverview Community for the Program. The Riverview Foundation

has recently published the book Journeys to celebrate the amazing success of the Bursary Program which has 84 young Riverview men in 2012 receiving bursary assistance. Journeys retells the stories of 11 past bursary recipients.

There is no greater opportunity than the opportunity to receive a good education. The Jesuits at Riverview have always done this; changing the life-stories of people, who they are, and who they will become—successes and failures: all these build their story. Riverview bursaries are not scholarships. The Riverview

Augustin Bunani (OR2011)

22 IgNatIaN

Foundation provides needs-based bursaries to families and boys who would otherwise not be able to enjoy a Riverview education. We can’t help everyone, but everyone can help someone.

Pure expression of gratitude is always uplifting; declared at the right time to the right people in the right measure; it transcends division and celebrates unity. At recent Bursary ‘Thank You’ functions we have heard from men like Anthony Hourigan (OR 98), Cyril Johnson (OR 2009), Tom Randall (OR 2009) and Andy Roberts (OR 2010) recount their stories which are represented in

Journeys. The growth of the Bursary Program, from 38 boys in 1999 to 84 in 2012 has been the hallmark of the Riverview College Foundation’s work. Today the passion and commitment of donors transcends Old Boys, Past Parents, Staff, Current Parents and the much broader Riverview Community.

Those who contribute understand that small gestures can make big differences in other people’s lives. It is sometimes said that if opportunity doesn’t knock, you should build a door. But sometimes we can’t build a door on our own. We need help.The bursaries provide a door, and

with the support of the community, an opportunity. We as members of the Riverview community all benefit and share from the journeys of all Riverview men, but particularly the unique and special journeys of the Bursary program recipients. Journeys gives an insight into the personal stories and life experience of only a few men who have had their lives changed by the Riverview Bursary Program, however they also represent hundreds of boys since 1888. Their journeys were, and will be, changed forever.

Peter H McLean Fundraising Manager

The Motherland

The following is an excerpt from Augustin Bunani’s biographical piece entitled The Motherland.

I was born in a small town off to the South West of Rwanda known

as Gikongoro, and grew up in the ashes of a terrible genocide that consumed most of the country. What differentiated the Rwandan genocide from all others of its kind was not necessarily about whom the injustice was direct towards, but rather the tainted souls who committed those tragic crimes. When it started, up to 80% of the country’s Hutus made up huge numbers of rebels whose aim was to exterminate all Tutsis.

These very people who wished to harm us were not unknown soldiers set on a course, they were men, women and often teenagers my family had known all their lives; friends and people we used to be able to trust. My father was betrayed by his childhood best friend, and my brother was slaughtered by his best friend –both were around 15 years of age.

When the slaughter of my people finally came to an end, the country returned to its normal self, but

the sense of forgiveness attacked the country like a plague. Such forgiveness often unsettled me—I could not understand how such generosity was possible.

We lived as though we ignored what our Hutu neighbours had done in those dreadful 100 days. I wasn’t looking for revenge, but I always felt that my country was ignoring the big elephant in the room. Was it really so much to ask for proper apologies from those who has stripped us of what we loved, who had stolen the lives of those we depended on?

Racism in the modern age is largely recognised as between black and

white people, but what is often under looked is that discrimination is not confined within the perameters of skin colour. If I were placed next to a Hutu there would be no distinctive features to tell us apart, in fact we are of the same family lines; I have Hutu blood lingering in my veins. It is this fact that gets me: we were ready to wipe each other off the face of the earth due to the shared fear each tribe had towards the other— a cause with no validity.

Humans will always fear what they don’t understand or what they consider different and such induced hate can easily turn people into shadows of dead souls. The power to stand up for what is right amidst the pain and destruction is the hope for our salvation.

My story is insignificant; I have suffered only a speck, a minor inconvenience, in comparison to the depth of pain endured by the innocent children who lost everything. I have known street children who have lost it all completely; their entire family line slaughtered like cattle.

Compared to these people who wake up every morning in the hope of a better day, my life is a complete fairy tale with the happy endings and all.

IgNatIaN 23

Riverview Bursary Program

R W A N D A

H KIGALI

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24 IgNatIaN

Playing a part in God’s mission

The international head of the Society of Jesus, Fr General Adolfo Nicolás SJ, recently spoke at Riverview as part of a visit to Australia for the Assembly of Major Superiors for the Asia Pacific Jesuit Conference (JCAP), during January. The Asia Pacific Assistancy encompasses 16 countries. A number of new Provinces have been created in recent years, and areas such as Timor-Leste and Myanmar have a growing number of young Jesuits currently undertaking their formation studies.

T he Superior General of the Jesuits, Fr Adolfo Nicolás, has identified the nurturing and

formation of young people as a central concern for the Society of Jesus in the 21st century.

Speaking at a gathering of Jesuits and their religious and lay colleagues and supporters at Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview, in Sydney, Fr Nicolás said there was a strong need for a deep and ongoing investment in youth, especially with regard to their education.

‘We cannot build our societies unless we respect and honour the young people in our midst. They are the ones with the imagination, the energy, the desire to change things’, he said.

Fr Nicolás said this concern for the formation of young people was shared by Jesuits around the world, and that the ongoing accompaniment of the youth as they progressed into adulthood was needed now more than ever. While young people were honest, direct and willing to ask tough questions, they were finding it increasingly difficult to make decisions, he said:

How do we accompany them after graduation and into adulthood? This is an area where we have room for reflection. The aim of Saint Ignatius was that we would be internally transformed. If our education does not contribute to transformation then something very important is missing from our schools.

Spiritual DirectionIn response to Fr Nicolás’ address, Daniel Street (OR98), former Riverview student and advisor to the [previous] Foreign Affairs Minister Kevin Rudd in the field of Aid and Development, confirmed that a preoccupation with the superficial, rather than the substantial, was hampering young people in finding their spiritual direction:

This is felt more forcefully here in Australia as there is a strong force that seeks to put God at the margins. It dissipates [young people’s] aspirations and gives them no stable points of reference and no time for Fr Adolfo Nicolás speaking at Riverview

From the Province Ministries

IgNatIaN 25

discernment. Young people must have the freedom to find and follow their faith.

Mr Street said that Fr Nicolás’ presence in Australia had prompted discussion and had provided Jesuit collaborators with ideas as to how they might proceed.

‘We do this by strengthening our Christian faith, and in the spirit of the Magis, seeking to enhance our contribution to this community. As builders of an Ignatian heritage, we will be active agents of change.’

a Universal approachIn her response to Fr Nicolás’ address, the CEO of Jesuit Social Services, Julie Edwards, said that the lack of an education was felt most acutely by the young people with whom her service works:

We know that six per cent of the people we work with in the prison system have completed their schooling. We know, as Fr General pointed out, the value of an education’, Ms Edwards said. ‘We do have some real challenges if we want to engage with young people with integrity in this country.

One of the ways in which this process could be kick-started, she said, was for organisations to ask themselves whether they have contributed resources in a mutually respectful way.

During his address, Fr Nicolás took the opportunity to thank the Australian Province for the universal approach it had taken to its work and mission. ‘The mission of God has no limits, the whole world is the beneficiary’, he said.

He also stressed the important role played by lay companions, saying that their contributions helped the Jesuits to remain centred on a mission for others:

I see great depth of dedication, great desire to serve and be part of God’s mission. Like Ignatius, we want people who can be transformed and grow with us, people who have the same vision and dedication.

Our concern is to keep the vision clear and to deepen this direction as we move forward.

Catherine Marshall (From Province Express)

Joshua De Angelis, Captain of Dayboys, and other student leaders at the Conference

Former Chair of College Council Kerry James AM with his wife Christina and Chair of College Council, Paul Robertson AM with his wife Lenore

Provincial, Fr Steve Curtin SJ speaking at the Conference

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Fr Adolfo Nicolás speaking at Riverview

‘We can never define God.

We can never paint God with one colour.

No one has ever seen God. But if you

befriend the poor, God will be there.’

Around the College

26 IgNatIaN

Riverview College Foundation, 2011The Riverview College Foundation was established in 1986 with a mandate to support the work of the Jesuit Community and the Province in ensuring Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview remained at the forefront of education in NSW and Australia.

E ssentially, the work of the Foundation is to raise funds to provide the College with

capital which is invested to maintain a buffer against the effects of rising fees, to develop and maintain the current standards of College facilities and to provide financial bursaries for needy students and their families.

Since 2001, over $33 million has been raised by the Foundation through major Capital Appeals, direct donations or interest on the Foundation’s corpus, all of which has contributed significantly to a wide range of building activities and the successful growth of the Bursary program. These projects would not have been possible without the generosity of the Riverview parents—past and present—Old Boys and friends of the College.

2011 in ReviewThe last major Capital Appeal held at the College was in 2007/ 2008. This was a significant success and laid the basis for successfully helping to fund the building of the Christopher Brennan Library, the renovation of the Dalton Memorial Chapel and the establishment of a fund to assist the redevelopment of the boatshed. That Appeal raised over $4.2 million for capital works, primarily in pledges over the 2007–2012 period. Overall, to date, 95% of pledges have been forthcoming.

In addition to the Capital Appeal funds raised, the 2007/ 2008 Appeal also generated pledges in favour of the Bursary Program of over $1 million over the 2007–2012 period. Every one of these pledges has been met to date.

The Foundation reports on a calendar year basis. In total for 2011, including the Voluntary Gift donations for

College maintenance included on school invoices, the Foundation raised $3.0 million, up from $2.8 million in 2010. Of these amounts, $1.4 million was for the Bursary Program and $1.5 million for the Building Fund (including Voluntary Donations of $0.55 million). A further $0.1 million was raised to support the Special Education Inclusion Program and the Ignatian Children’s Holiday Camp.

Donations to the Voluntary Gift fund in 2011 have primarily been used for the long-overdue re-pointing and cleaning of the College’s Main Building and to provide improvements to the St John’s boarding house and for general maintenance around the College.

The 2011 Bursary Celebration—a donor’s thank you function—was this year held together with the ‘Celebrate Riverview’ function in January 2012 and included a most memorable address by Kir Deng (OR2008 and recipient of the College Insignis award for that year) tracing his perspective on the value of Jesuit education and Riverview’s role in his growth.

Bursary Program Overview83 boys attended Riverview with financial assistance in 2011. There is now significant momentum in the funding of Bursaries requiring the Foundation to raise approximately $1.6 million in new funds each year to support the education of the current number of boys on Bursaries. For the period 2012–2014 the Foundation hopes to increase the sustainable annual bursary giving program by $300,000 per year, to allow the annual funding of a further 10 bursaries.

The Indigenous Bursary Program at Riverview continues to draw most

favourable commentary from a wide selection of observers. In 2011 the Indigenous Bursary Fund assisted the education of 31 Indigenous boys at Riverview on needs-based bursaries. In addition, 2011 saw the establishment of a most generous Indigenous Leadership Bursary by a friend of the College to be used to identify and encourage promising indigenous student leaders post-Year 10 and into the commencement of tertiary studies or trade qualifications.

Separately, the Foundation has identified an emerging need in providing guidance and assistance to Bursary boys who are graduating from Year 12 and may find the immediate transitional experience to work or further education challenging. Much effort has been put into working with individual Bursary recipients, together with their families, guardians and the wider Riverview community to assist with short-term accommodation, mentoring and practical assistance on developing ‘job-ready’ skills and providing funds for leadership experiences.

In 2011 the Foundation was able to assist one Indigenous student to secure an internship at Westpac and one of our African refugee students a permanent part-time role at a legal firm. Both boys are also undertaking university courses that complement these work placements. The Foundation also supported three current students in leadership and immersion experiences, a core part of their holistic education and one which Bursary boys and their families often find challenging to fund.

Peter Cahill (OR65) Chair, Riverview College Foundation

Debating at Riverview

IgNatIaN 27

130 years of debatingThere would not be a lot of schools in Australia that could celebrate the 130th anniversary of their Debating Society, particularly one as successful as the Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview Debating Society. James Rodgers reflects.

On Thursday 1 March, more than 260 people attended a dinner in

Ramsay Hall to celebrate Debating at Riverview. It was, as the invitation suggested, ‘an entertaining, thoughtprovoking night of erudite debate and stretched truths’. A highlight of the evening was a debate between two teams of Old Boys on the topic: ‘that debating has been in steady decline since the 1950s’. Taking the negative side were Mr Justice Anthony Whealy representing the 1950s, Mr Nicholas Greiner AC representing the 1960s and Mr Justice Tony Meagher representing the 1970s. The affirmative team was Mr Justin Greiner (son of Mr Nicholas Greiner) representing the 1980s, Mr Paul Hunyor representing the 1990s and Mr Michael Falk representing the 2000s. The adjudicators were the Most Reverend Bishop Anthony Fisher OP, Mr Peter Collins and Mr Patrick Hall, Captain of Debating 2012.

It was an enlightening and amusing debate, not dissimilar perhaps to the first-ever debate held at the College on Speech Day, 1881, where a team of ‘juvenile debaters’, ‘not only spoke intelligently, and with vigour, but they exhibited a considerable amount of style’. The wonderful skills that have seen Riverview excel in debating for the past 130 years were very much in evidence on the night as the gentlemen on stage debated with eloquence and great aplomb. So convincing were both arguments that the adjudicators declared the debate a draw.

Riverview’s enthusiasm for, and commitment to, debating, indeed its

success in debating, can be traced back to the distinctive approach the Jesuits have always had to education. Since the first Jesuit schools were opened back in the mid-16th century, there has always been an emphasis on the study and practice of rhetoric. The 1599 Ratio Studiorum (Plan of Studies) for Jesuit schools included certain practices for rhetoricians.

Firstly, moderation in refutation: ‘the debater shall defend his views in such a way as to allow moderate and kindly consideration of the opposing view.’

Secondly, honesty: ‘he shall not bring forward any views which are useless, antiquated, absurd or patently false.’

Thirdly, quality rather than quantity in illustration: ‘he shall strive to prove his conclusions not by the number of his arguments but by their effectiveness.’ And finally, the Ratio Studiorum said that ‘authorities ought to be quoted only sparingly, and then with meticulous accuracy.’

That a school like this could celebrate debating and could have so many people attending a dinner on a Thursday evening, for something that is not even a mainstream co-curricular activity, is quite amazing. Fascinating, too, is the fact that this school has fostered such wonderful companionship among its debaters that they wanted to come back and

celebrate the art of eloquentia perfecta, the ability to think worthwhile thoughts and to express them effectively.

Of all the co-curricular activities the College offers, Debating aligns itself so well with the Jesuit’s desire to produce ‘men and women for others’ who will go out and change the world. The person who has excellent rhetorical skills will be much more convincing in a discussion than one who has good hand-eye co-ordination. It is so important for a young man to be able to argue firmly and logically and in a gracious manner.

As Saint Ignatius wrote in a letter to the Jesuit Community at Alcalá, Spain in 1541: ‘We should not dispute stubbornly with anyone. Rather we should patiently give our reasons with the purpose of declaring the truth lest our neighbour remain in error, and not that we should have the upper hand.’

James Rodgers, Associate to the Rector and Headmaster

Academic results and specialist programs HSC Results, 2011

275 Riverview Students sat the HSC in 2011, 228 of whom were

Year 12 students with another 47 Year 11 students accelerating in Studies of Religion 1 unit, Mathematics and Information Processes and Technology. The students achieved exceptional results, well in line with the achievement of previous years.

Riverview students earned high placings across the State in a number of subjects. Jack Skillbeck was placed fourth in the State in Business Studies and ninth in the State in Economics. Michael Boyd was placed third in the State in Chinese Extension and Jason Yun was fourth in the same subject. Special congratulations go to Mr Lewis Liu who taught this class. Henry Davidson was placed third in Visual Arts.

Thirteen students were recognised as Top All Rounders (with ten or more units in Band 6, or a mark over 90%). These students are: Nathan Askey-Doran, Jayden Basha, Jack Bridges, Raymond Caldwell, Jason Chow, Edward Conroy, Charles Curtin, Liam Dwyer, Nathan Lambrinos, Callum Ryan, Jack Skilbeck, Jonathan Vaux and Patrick Veyret.

Our students gained 242 Band 6 results, the third highest number ever, and 51 Band E4 (the highest band for extension subjects), giving 293 in total, also the third highest on record.These results are a credit to the hard work and dedication of the students, their parents and guardians, and to all College Staff who have taught them throughout their years of schooling.

advanced Learner ProgramsThe general aim of Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview’s educational process is to

promote an education that assists in the full development of all the God-given talents of each person as a member of society.

In so doing, this process encourages a life-long openness to growth, an openness to change, a striving for the magis (‘more’) through a pace suited to individual ability and the characteristics of each boy’s own personality.

Riverview recognises that within the community of students there are many groups that require specialist policies and programs that meet the specific learning needs of the student.

Those students who possess superior learning abilities and potential for outstanding achievements in comparison with the total school population make up such a group. Therefore, they need differentiated educational opportunities if they are to reach their potential.

Riverview acknowledges these needs and has implemented programs of enrichment and acceleration that are specifically devised to meet the needs of gifted and talented students.

Such programs commence in the primary levels of the College and spread across many disciplines in all levels in the school. The aim of such programs is an attempt to continue

to provide a stimulating, purposeful and goal oriented environment in which gifted students can achieve academic milestones commensurate with their abilities.

Special Education ProgramsSaint Ignatius’ College, Riverview is a non-selective Catholic boys’ school, drawing students from a variety of educational backgrounds. All children and students have the right to the most appropriate educational programs available to meet their individual needs.

Students with disabilities, learning difficulties and behaviour disorders often need specialised support services to provide them with the opportunities to achieve their potential and to become contributing members of society in a dignified and meaningful way.

Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview is committed to providing Special Education services to meet the needs of all these students in accordance with the characteristics of Jesuit education and philosophy.

Students with special needs form an integral part of the school’s population and their educational needs are to be catered for in that context, as part of the whole school. Therefore, the responsibility for the

needs of these students is met by all staff in conjunction with the Centre for Educational Excellence.

Students with special needs include those with a disability defined as sensory, physical, psychological, intellectual or emotional, thus reducing their ability to participate in mainstream educational programs.

Peter McLean Director of Senior Schooling

28 IgNatIaN

Around the College

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HSC Band 6 / E4 Count

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2011

This school has literally changed my life The following is an excerpt from the address to the College Assembly on 8 February, 2012 by Callum Ryan, 2011 Dux of the College.

I ’d like to quickly start with a borrowed anecdote from Mark Dapin, who writes a weekly

article in the Good Weekend. He recalled a trip he’d taken to an island resort where a renowned chef had prepared a degustation menu. At the conclusion of the feast, the chef responsible emerged from the kitchen and cited his secret as the appropriation and utilisation of the freshest, local organic produce. At this point, Dapin mused as to why no chef had ever simply come out and stated, ‘the secret to making good food is just being a really, really good cook.’

Like most of you, having sat through numerous returning dux speeches, I resent having to listen to one’s results constantly being attributed to the same things: outstanding teachers and opportunities. Why can’t someone simply come out and state ‘the secret to receiving dux is just being really, really smart’? Firstly, it would be entirely supercilious. Secondly, it would be like having one’s arms soaked in butter and creamy marmalade—if any of you have read The Silver Brumby then you would know to what I am alluding here. Finally, it would be an injustice to the effort and hours that the Riverview staff invest in preparing the senior class for the ultimate quiz. Naturally, there are countless people to whom I feel indebted: all the teachers who invested countless hours in guiding my impressionable mind in the right direction; the many staff members running the boarding community; the individuals who worked behind

the scenes in capacities such as administration, on the executive board, in the health centre, catering, maintenance and groundskeeping; Mrs Marilyn Fitzgerald, who as both my tutor group life guide and English teacher provided me with direction and friendship; Mr Bernie Winters, my Housemaster, who was instrumental in keeping me on the straight and narrow throughout my ‘trouble child’ period; and finally my parents, I could have achieved nothing without you both.

To me, Riverview is like a wise old grandfather: old, wise, magical and always willing to sow its seeds of knowledge; I have reserved a special place for it in the deepest cavity of my heart. This place literally changed my life. I’ve tried to knock together a short triptych of tips that are not often expressed in such a forum. Number one: College sport is something which I truly believe is massively beneficial to your academic rigour and record. I unreservedly recommend participation in the entire year of co-curriculum.

Number two: try from Year 7. It’s reasonably popular to coast through the early years, but it’s an absolute farce to believe that you can just magically switch on study skills that you haven’t accessed for 16 years. Your

results in early classes (especially Maths and English) will at some point affect your positioning in later years. A man once said to me that the best remedy for glaucoma was to read a book, back to front, atop a racehorse. The crux of this is that it’s best you try your hardest.

Number three: the internet is the devil. Having wireless internet or even a plugged in connection in a space in which you are attempting studious habits is an absolute killer. Speaking from personal experience, my best work was produced when I was either at the Lane Cove Library without the desk connection available in Kevin Fagan House or spread over the dining room table at home. The internet is a delightful source of knowledge and information and incredibly useful for plagiarism, but whenever I tried to knuckle down, I would find myself on that weird part of YouTube. In short, lose the admission to the internet if you want to get some quality work done.

In closing, I intend to offer to you all my entire philosophy and the closest thing to a secret for guaranteed success I know: the immortal words of my Year 8 technology teacher and closest friend, Mr Gandalf the Grey: ‘If you do not study, you shall not pass.’ All the best in the coming year.

Dr Mark Ryan, Callum Ryan, Dux of the College 2011, Dr Katja Ryan and Adam Ryan (Year 10)

IgNatIaN 29

Academic Excellence

Something that stays with you forever

Fourteen Years Ago, generous Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview students

set the ball rolling on a campaign that now stretches across 45 schools nationwide.

Back then, students from the College, supported by the Sony Foundation and other donors, hosted a four-day camp for special needs children with intellectual and physical disabilities.

The Ignatian Children’s Holiday Camp

still operates each year, and student volunteers who lent their holiday time, their care and their compassion last year are being rewarded.

At a special assembly on Wednesday 9 May, Sydney dance troupe, Justice

A life changing experienceThe following is an excerpt from an address to a College assembly given by Michael Ryan, Insignis Medal Recipient 2011

The Ignatian Children’s Holiday Camp is a four-

day camp where you become entirely responsible for a young disabled boy or girl. It is a massive responsibility as your camper becomes entirely reliant on you for all their daily needs.

ICHC is a unique and incredible experience. It will teach you patience, an abundance of Wiggles songs, a new relationship with your peers and teachers and an entirely new outlook

on life. This however is not the primary goal of the camp. This camp is entirely designed for the campers. For the whole week you must be committed to being selfless, and putting your camper’s needs above your own.

My camper, Michael, was a 10-year-old boy with Autism who was unable to communicate verbally or sign. Initially I struggled with this as I felt like I was having conversations with myself, getting no emotion or reaction from him. Eventually I did gain a connection with Michael as he began to trust what I was saying and find comfort in me when he was scared. These are moments that you do not forget.

As a boy who loved to run, explore, steal parked cars and who was not a big fan of sleeping, I was totally exhausted after four days. I gained a

real respect for Michael’s parents as their patience, commitment and love for Michael was inspiring. In fact, the connection and bond that you form with your camper is so strong that many of the boys are brought to tears when they leave.

The camp will undoubtedly test you in some way. It is the hardest, most fun, most rewarding and funniest days of your entire life. I am certain that you will become great friends with the others on the camp and see some indescribably funny things.

One boy tried to sum up what the camp did in a final reflection. He said that in society there is a wall with the sick, afflicted and disabled on one side and we, being young and healthy, on the other

30 IgNatIaN

Around the College

Campers and their companions participating in the 14th Ignatian Children’s Holiday Camp, during December 2011

Crew—winners of reality TV program Australia’s Got Talent in 2010—surprised students with a 10-minute, special performance.

They were introduced by a group of young Riverview students who themselves performed before handing over the stage.

Justice Crew are ambassadors for the national program, the Sony Foundation Children’s Holiday Camp, which spawned from the original program held at Riverview in 1998.

Member of Justice Crew, Lukas Bellisini, 21, said he was excited about being a part of the event.

‘It’s a privilege to be where we are and to reward and motivate [students] to get involved in a positive program like this’, he said.

In December last year, 50 Year 11 and 12 students gave up the first week of their Summer holidays to take on the role of companion for a child with special needs.

Michael Ryan, 18, said the experience

was life changing. ‘I didn’t realise how hard it was going to be’, he said.

‘For four days, 24 hours a day, you’re asked to be completely selfless and put your needs second to theirs’.’

The former Riverview pupil looked after a 10-year-old autistic boy named Michael. ‘The bond with the child and the gratitude from their parents is incredible’, he said. ‘It’s something that stays with you forever’.

Sony Foundation CEO, Sophie Ryan,

who presented a $15,000 cheque for the school to continue its work this year, said Riverview had set an example for other schools to follow.

‘It’s really important that we continue to acknowledge what began here’, she said.

‘Now, each year, we bring in new schools and touch young lives— it just works’.

Rohan Smith (From the North Shore Times)

Sony Foundation CEO, Sophie Ryan presented a cheque to the Headmaster, Shane Hogan, in order to enable the College to host the Ignatian Children’s Holiday Camp again this year

IgNatIaN 31

Ignatian Children’s Holiday Camp

side. He said that many people throw money over this wall, which does help and is needed to slowly bring down the wall, but he felt that doing the camp tore down the wall entirely as there is no distinction between campers and companions.

Tearing down this wall allows you to give a worthwhile

contribution to not only your camper’s life,

but their entire family. Your gift of

friendship to their child

cannot be bought. By the end of the camp this wall is so well and truly gone that you no longer see these children in the same light as your first impressions.

I encourage all boys in Years 11 and 12 to apply. It doesn’t conflict with schoolies or any other major events, you just need to be committed as you do have a responsibility like you have never had before.

One of my major anxieties going into the camp was that I was worried that I would be unable to entertain my camper for four whole days especially as he was non-verbal. At no stage did I feel like I had to think of something to do. Harley Davison rides, arts and crafts, sports, petting zoos, slip n slides, trips to the aquarium, singing,

dancing and general shenanigans are just some highlights of the

experience for the campers. These activities are things that these children have never done before and unlikely to do again.

Of course none of this is possible without the ongoing support and dedication shown by not only many staff here at Riverview but also the Sony Foundation, some of whom are present today. After Riverview’s first camp years ago Sony jumped at the opportunity to support the event. There are now 22 Sony camps across the country and over 550 children a year now have the chance to participate.

On behalf of all the past companions, volunteers, campers and their families, I would like to thank Sony for their support in spreading and helping the Ignatian Children’s Holiday Camp.

Michael Ryan

Encouraging future sustainability leaders at the heart of Riverview’s Ecological Sustainability Vision is a drive to encourage all members of the Riverview community to be active participants in sustaining god’s creation. This year provided the Environment Committee and the wider community with many opportunities to ‘Create a better View’.

Earth Hour Breakfast

Students from 19 schools around Sydney came to Riverview on 20 March to participate in the

College’s annual Earth Hour Breakfast, raising awareness about school environmental programs. Yet the Breakfast was also about mobilising budding community and business leaders. Keynote speaker Louise Rhodes, National Sustainability Manager for Metcash, spoke to the students about the organisation’s sustainability program, and encouraged them to get into positions of power in government, business and corporate sectors to ensure significant, large-scale results in environmental sustainability. The Breakfast, now in its fourth year, aims to bring leaders from various schools together to exchange ideas and

experiences and help build a network of young people to generate change across the school system.(An edited extract from Province Express)

World Environment Day

World Environment Day, 5 June, was celebrated in a big way among the staff at Riverview, with green attire worn and green food eaten all round.

The Environment Committee used the day to launch a ‘Save Power Kit’, similar to the kits available in our local libraries. The kit contains tools that measure energy consumption, and a guidebook which contains tips on how to save energy and reduce our impact on the environment.

The Day also launched Riverview’s Pedal Power Bike, a fun way to charge a phone or computer! The student environment leaders will be using the bike to promote the creative thinking around generating our own power.

Sustainable School awardThe College’s commitment to preserving the environment was recently recognised as part of the 2012 Lane Cove Citizenship Awards. Riverview received the Sustainable School Program award in recognition of its significant achievements in environmental sustainability.

Other Environment InitiativesDuring Week 7 the Therry boys were out conducting bush regeneration, well done boys! Our Sustainable Living Festival was held on Sunday 17 June to great success. A full report will be published in the next edition of the Ignatian.

Greg Conlon, Director of Business Operations and Chair of the Environment

Committee, charging a mobile phone, using Riverview’s Pedal Power Bike

Around the College

Students from 19 schools across Sydney attended the Earth Hour Breakfast in Ramsay Hall

32 IgNatIaN

Walk to School Day

This year’s Walk Safely to School Day was our

most successful yet. Year 7 Co-ordinator Matthew Smith ran 23kms to Riverview from Castle Hill, and Mathematics teacher Paul Collins walked to the College from Castlecrag. Our student environment leaders gave green frogs to those without their cars, and recorded this year’s number of cars entering the College at 352, reduced from last year’s figure of 392.

Sue Martin Environmental Education Officer

The Main Building during and before Earth Hour (above)

I n 2007, Sydneysiders were inspired by WWF-Australia to show their support for climate

change action. The first Earth Hour event demonstrated that everyone has the power to change the world in which we live, with 2.2 million individuals and more than 2,000 businesses taking a stand against climate change and turning out their lights for one hour.

Earth Hour quickly became an annual global event, closely

coinciding with the equinox, in order to ensure that most cities are in darkness as Earth Hour makes its way around the globe.

In 2012 Earth Hour celebrated its largest event to date, with more than 6,950 cities and towns in 152 countries and territories switching off their lights. Riverview did its bit by switching off the lights of the main building during the Hour, which this year occurred from 8:30–9:30 on Saturday 31 March. Earth Hour is working towards an interconnected global community, committed to creating a more sustainable planet, by harnessing the power of social networks, in order to promote the campaign.

EARTH HOUR

Reconciliation with Creation

IgNatIaN 33

Italy Study Tour 2012

Five Riverview boys (Billy Bellew and Adrian Vipond from Year

11, and Zachary Woodward, Alex Bethwaite and Nicholas Benecke from Year 10) joined other students of Italian, from Saint Augustine’s and Saint John Bosco, on the Italy Study Tour, from 5–27 April. The tour takes place every two years, involving a two week exchange in Rome, and a final week visiting Venice, Verona and Florence.

In Rome, the students stayed with

Italian families and attended school at the Liceo Farnesina. The first few days were spent with their host families on Easter vacation, before plunging into the daily school routine. In Italy, students attend school from Monday to Saturday, and lessons can be quite intense. Although sitting in a Chemistry or History class conducted exclusively in Italian might have seemed a little overwhelming at first, the students appreciated the opportunity of being totally immersed in the language. Complete exposure and the need to communicate relying solely on one’s

own linguistic reserves can really accelerate learning. That is the reason why our Riverview language tours are immersion/exchange programs, not just sightseeing trips.

Two days in Rome were set aside for cultural excursions, covering Castel Sant’Angelo, the Vatican, the Forum, the Colosseum, the Circus Maximus, as well as other well known landmarks, including the Spanish steps and the Bocca della Verità. The boys were particularly moved by their visit to the Capuchin Crypt, with its poignant decorations made from the bones of hundreds of

On 6 April, 19 students of Chinese, with the exception of Crawford Elias and Sam

Smith, arrived at Sydney airport for a 9pm flight to China. Upon arrival, we were greeted by the nervous but assuring Mr Liu, Mrs Liu and Mrs Wade. We met our tour guide, known by his English name as ‘Jerry’, at Beijing Capitol International Airport, where we were treated to a McDonald’s breakfast.

We then commenced our journey through the most popular tourist attractions of Beijing: the Olympic site, the Great Wall and the Summer Palace. All were outstanding and served as a great start to the trip. Many students returned from the Great Wall saying that it was one of the greatest experiences of their life. On the evening of the first day, all of the anxious boys were introduced to their host families.

Staying with the host families was the first true test of how much knowledge of the Mandarin language could be put to use in the real world. Though I can only document the details of my own experience, the general consensus among the Australian students was that all families were extraordinarily caring. On the first day, boys were taken to many different places, including markets, hutongs (lanes) and on culinary adventures. Throughout the week, the boys attended school from 7.30am until roughly 6.00pm, where associating with our Chinese counterparts boosted our language skills. A trip to Beijing could not have been complete, however, without a visit to the Temple of Heaven, Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City on the final day.

We then travelled via overnight train to Xi’an, an exciting experience and the first time on an overnight train for many. On our first day in Xi’an, most of the students cycled the famous city wall, providing views of the whole city. A stop at the famous Terracotta Warriors could not be missed; viewing the thousands upon thousands of warriors was mindblowing.

Hangzhou was received by a mob of tired teenagers, however this was soon to change. As a city that I myself had never heard of, it was amazing

Riverview students walking along the Great Wall of China

Around the College

34 IgNatIaN

China Study Tour 2012

monks belonging to the order. Similarly, the true significance of our Ignatian heritage had quite an impact on the boys as they saw the Church of Gesù and the Church of Saint Ignatius, and the impressive statue of Saint Ignatius, amongst the other founders of holy orders in St Peter’s Basilica.

The coach trip north provided an opportunity for students of the three Australian schools to forge new friendships. Highlights included a two night stay in Venice, a ferry trip to the islands of Burano and Murano, a glass-blowing demonstration; the amphitheatre and Juliet’s balcony in

Verona; a two night stay in Florence; as well as trips to the mediaeval hill towns of San Gimignano and Montepulciano.

While genuine sadness was felt by the boys and their host families as they farewelled each other in Rome, we look forward to the arrival of the correspondents for their Australian stay at some time in the future.

Louella Perrett Head of Languages

From left to right: Nicholas Benecke, Zachary Woodward, Alex Bethwaite, Adrian

Vipond and Billy Bellew, in the cloisters of St Augustine’s at San Gimignano

to consider that it has a population of 6.3 million people. Hangzhou is a city of picturesque nature, and this was proven to us by the wonderful morning cruise, a tea plantation visit, a pagoda visit and the ‘West Lake Impression Show’, to which a story similar to that of Romeo and Juliet was displayed upon a perfectly still mirror-like lake. Superb accommodation was gifted to us all, which provided the rest that we all needed from the strenuous itinerary.

We then embarked on a five-hour bus journey toward the town of Huangshan (meaning Yellow Mountain), including stops to the ancient villages of Hongcun and Xidi. Australia isn’t gifted with the same preserved ancient history that China

offers, and so this was an amazing experience to us all. A second day in Huangshan saw a visit to the Yellow Mountain, where we travelled by cable car to the cliff-scattered heights. Misty views of what seemed like Avatar floating islands made us feel like we were on top of the world.

Shanghai was the destination that everyone was most excited for. Our first day was spent shopping in prestigious department stores on Nanjing Road, and also bargaining shopping at the markets. Shanghai’s looming skyscrapers and lighting fast trains all served as a predominant incentive to continue learning the language. A cruise on the Huangpu River, bypassing the Bund and the CBD as well as a walk through the Yuyuan Garden ended our fabulous experience of travelling throughout China.

Experiencing Ignatian heritage was another highlight of the trip. Liturgies at the Old Summer Palace, Ricci’s tomb and St Ignatius’ Church helped us better understand the contribution made by the Jesuits to the history of ancient China. Overall, the study tour certainly delivered. For me, it was the main reason as to why I continued learning Chinese and it has certainly inspired me to continue to the HSC. I, along with many other boys who participated in the tour, would all highly recommend learning Chinese, the most useful and exciting language in the world. Mr Liu, Mrs Liu and Mrs Wade all helped tremendously in organising the trip, and their passion for the language and care for the students certainly showed. I look forward to returning to China in 2014.

Xavier Eales, Year 9

Futuristic skyscrapers of Pudong, ‘Huangpu East Bank’, Shanghai,

dominated by the Oriental Pearl Tower

China Study Tour group standing amid the ruins of the Summer Palace, Beijing

International Exchange Visits

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USA Music Tour

The 2012 USA Music Tour, lasting for 16 days, had been custom-developed for our students over a period of a year. The touring party of 57, comprising

47 students, four staff members, five parents and Fr Gerald Brennan SJ travelled to New York and Orlando.

The tour provided our boys with the opportunity to perform at world-renowned venues like the Lincoln Center, Central Park New York, Kennedy Space Center and Walt Disney World in Orlando.

The Juilliard School of Music at the Lincoln Center is the most prestigious music institution in the world taking 130 students from approximately 7000 applications each year. Riverview students were given the chance to perform in the Lincoln Center performance area, the same space used by students from the Juilliard School. Our boys performed beautifully and we had a number of very positive comments by some of the regulars to these concerts. The Lincoln Center also houses the New York Metropolitan Opera, the leading opera institution in the US, of which we were given a tour. We also toured

the Koch Center, an extraordinary performance space.

We attended musicals Spiderman

and Jersey Boys, and participated in the

‘Emerald City’ backstage tour, obtaining insight into the production techniques used in the Broadway production of

Wicked. Spiderman was a state-

of-the-art performance

and had the group mesmerised by the acrobatics, set design and stagecraft—not to mention the outstanding singing, dancing and orchestra. For most of us it was

easily the best musical we had ever seen.

We visited and enjoyed masses at Jesuit Churches renowned for their music tradition, and journeyed to the Canadian Border to the Shrine of Our Lady of Martyrs at Auriesville—an important Jesuit site. In preparation for the visit, our boys watched an edited version of Black Robe.

In Orlando the students had a three-day pass to Walt Disney

World, and also spent a day at Universal Studios

and the Islands of Adventure, which included ‘The Wizarding World of Harry Potter’.

Our students were always impeccably

behaved and were excellent ambassadors for

the College, drawing positive comments wherever they visited and performed. Their good behaviour and manners also drew positive comments over the intercom on two United Airlines flights.

Judging from feedback from the boys and parents, the tour was successful in its intent to lift standards, and to create a bond amongst students, staff and parents. The boys and adults on tour had a wonderful time and many claimed that it was one of the most exciting experiences of their lives.

Dev Gopalasamy Head of Performing Arts

Around the College

The Chamber Choir performing at Walt Disney World, Orlando

The Riverview Touring Party at the Kennedy Space Centre, Florida

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Royal Easter Show, 2012As Term 1 came to an end,

the Agriculture Department was absolutely buzzing with activity, preparing for the Royal Easter Show.

All of the Year 9 and 10 Agriculture students were involved in the handling and preparation of the three steers entered in the ‘Hoof and Hook’ competition at the Royal Easter Show. The College entered two Angus steers, ‘Vegemite’ and ‘Morrison’, kindly donated by the Sykes and Fuller families, and a Braford steer, ‘Flash’, kindly donated by the Buttenshaw family.

On hoof, the competition was very intense, as our Angus steers were considered to compete in the Stan Hill Cup Trophy competition. ‘Vegemite’ managed to get into the top ten, as one of only two school steers in the competition, with various stud breeders.

On hook, ‘Morrison’ gained third place in the carcass judging competition. Both of our Angus steers were placed second in the virtual taste competition, in their weight classes. This was a wonderful result for everyone to be proud of, especially for all the Ag

Showteam boys and their efforts.

None of this would have been possible if it wasn’t for all the enthusiasm and support shown by the Ag Showteam members, their parents, teachers, the Maintenance Department, our conscientious Farm Assistant, Kieran, and my fellow Year 9 Agriculture Teacher, Miss Venta Protas.

A big thank you also to all the staff that made the time to come and visit us at the show including, Fr Ross, Neil Mushan and his wife, Anthony Reilly and his wife, Jessica Jorna, Rob Luttrell and family, as well as John

Hogan and family. Thank you also to the Sykes and Lott families for their support on Competition Day. A huge thank you to Mr Roger and Annette Fuller for their help in the clipping and preparation of the steers, also to my fabulous Ag Showteam boys, who gave up their own holiday time and Easter to work at the show, especially the ‘Maintenance Crew’: Ed Hunter, Jake Perko-Bennett, Angus O’Neill and Hamish Fuller for taking part in the Paraders’ Competition.

Christina Mikan, Agriculture Teacher

Agriculture at Riverview

Back Row: Venta Protas, Vincent Woodward, Ed Hunter, Angus O’Neill, Ignatius Woodward, Jock Wilcox, Jackson Scott holding Vegemite, James Lott

holding Flash, Hamish Fuller holding Morrison, Hamish Markey, Kieren Coffey and Christina Mikan; Front Row: Will Young, Ned Loneragan, Jake Perko-Bennett

John McKay, Kyle Bull and Joshua McEnallay

IgNatIaN 37

Walking together again

R econciliation means ‘Walking together again’. In late 1986, Pope John Paul II

gave a landmark address to the Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities at Blatherskite Park in Alice Springs. In his address, the Holy Father spoke of the indwelling of the God’s Spirit in aboriginal culture. He spoke of that culture’s ‘genius and dignity’. He paid tribute to their stewardship of the land. He noted how kinship ties ‘spoke of reverence for birth, life and human generation’. He remarked how the stories of the Dreamtime underscored some of the great themes that come through many biblical stories. The Pope then turned to the darker side of the story that followed white settlement—a story of dispossession and discrimination. And in paying tribute to the missionaries of the Christian faith who served in Aboriginal communities, John Paul II also honestly acknowledged their frailty and mistakes.

Yes, it has to be acknowledged that the Church, like so many others, has a checkered history with Indigenous Australians. But there have been many prophetic stances taken. In 1869, Sydney’s first Catholic Archbishop, Bede Polding, wrote a Pastoral Letter calling on people to restore the dignity of the Aboriginal people. Polding opposed the legal fiction adopted by arriving European settlers that Australia was terra nullius or ‘nobody’s country’ because an observer could see no ‘signs of ownership’ like fences, title deeds, permanent houses, etc. Yet it took more than a century for that notion to be overturned. Only in 1992 did the High Court of Australia in the Mabo decision put paid to the notion of terra nullius and determined that there was a concept of native title in common law, and that the source of

native title was the traditional connection to or occupation of the land. This year we will celebrate the 40th anniversary of that momentous decision.

On a more buoyant note, in our recent Reconciliation Day liturgy, the whole school gathered to remember. Jaxon Petterson (Year 8) reminded us that ‘Remembering helps us understand. Understanding allows us to move forward and make sure it never happens again.’ Indigenous students joined together in story, song and dance. Mitch Whiteley’s (Year 12) interview with his grandmother and Dominic Craig (Year 12) sharing the experience of the stolen generation in his own family were moving moments. Aiden Potts (Year 12) drew us together, bringing to our attention that:

Today we are focusing our attention on the people in Aboriginal communities who have tried to close the gap. They are Advocates for Justice. They are black and white. They are young and old. They are in cities and remote communities. And they are here at Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview.

Long may it be so. Fr Ross Jones, Rector

PrideCampfire warms the cold damp night. Alone, weary faces glow off the firelight.I am the red pindan that covers this land; I live, my pure country, with bare hand.I breathe the quiet voices of the gum trees that gently whisper to my ancestor’s pleas.I am the footprint of the red kangaroo, And I am the claw mark of the grey koala, too.Fresh rivers run freely over the broad land, as the bright red sun showers over the golden sand.Nothing can take the wild spirit of my land, protected by the great white wall of these gum trees grand.The red dingo howls off that tall rocky hill, silky pindan sprays as shadows stomp to kill.Corrobories call upon spirits to guide those that had nothing but pride.Hearts full of fear, my people would run; footsteps grew near, hearing shots of a gun.Spears were thrown, boomerangs not far behind, but nothing could match the white man’s clever mind.Blood shed and tears; nothing but defeat. Land was threatened, trod on by leather feet.Bruised and broken, chained up, walking a straight line, no one can take my pride away. This land is mine!

Anthony Treacy Winner of the Year 9 Poetry Competition

Around the College

38 IgNatIaN

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Shane Hogan Headmaster, wearing the Riverview Reconciliation T-shirt, with indigenous students after the Sorry Day Liturgy

TransitionsSally Egan joins Riverview as Head of Learning and Innovation, after working at AISNSW as Assistant Director, School Evaluation & Performance. At AIS, Sally actively engaged in research in relation to developing schools from good to great, as well as working on Numeracy in the Middle years. Sally has a Master’s Degree in Educational Leadership and is committed to ensure that all young people have access to a quality education. As Head of Learning and Innovation, Sally will work across the College to ensure that all students are offered the best possible learning environment to meet the needs of the diverse student body, and ensuring that Riverview is at the forefront of education in a 21st century context.

John Frare was educated at Parramatta Marist Brothers Westmead, where he was heavily influenced by a few of the Marist Brothers, leading him into a career in education, most recently at St Aloysius’ College.

He is married with three children, aged three years, 22 months and eight months, all of whom keep him busy. He enjoys all sports, however rarely plays them anymore! He is currently completing the last subject in his Master’s of Educational Leadership at Australian Catholic University (ACU) and has been appointed as Riverview’s new Director of Co-Curriculum.

Lauren SykesAs a young girl, Lauren dreamed of one day becoming a librarian. As a much older girl, Lauren was adamant that she would never become a teacher—

unlike her two parents, who have been teaching in the Catholic Education system for over 25 years.

It is with a small chuckle now that she recalls the span of her full-time career: two jobs, both at secondary colleges; the first at Newington College and the second here at Riverview. Though she shares her parents’ passion for spelling, grammar and the English language, she does not share their passion for teaching, instead studying Media and Communications at the University of Wollongong and joining Riverview as Journalist and Web Content Co-ordinator in April 2012.

Sally Egan

John Frare

Light it up blue

Iconic landmarks across Australia and the world turned blue on

2 April 2012 in support of World Autism Awareness Day! In Australia, Autism Awareness was proud to light up the Sydney Opera House and Old Parliament House, in Canberra, blue in support of the campaign. We held a free community event in Sydney where the Director of the United Nation’s office in Canberra presented the UN Secretary General’s message for World Autism Awareness Day. Jack Rogerson, Year 10, played a role as one of the MCs for the evening, introducing speakers to the podium.

Nicole Rogerson

Volunteer Help Needed for the Centre for Educational ExcellenceThe Centre for Educational Excellence (previously the Centre for Teaching and Learning Support) provides much needed support for both high-achieving and more challenged boys at the College. At

exam times (see below) the pressure on supervisory staff is great and any support past parents, students, their families or friends can offer including as scribes, readers and supervision of students with rest breaks and extra time is gratefully appreciated. Please contact Kim Prodinger on [email protected] or 9882 8409.

Volunteering requires no formal experience.

HSC trials Tuesday 14 August–Friday 31 AugustYear 11 Exams Thursday 6 September–Tuesday 18 SeptemberHSC Finals Monday 15 October–Friday 9 NovemberYear 10 Exams Monday 5–Wednesday 7 November

Jack and his brother Tom

Jack introduces a speaker

College News

IgNatIaN 39

Lauren Sykes

Around the College

ANZAC Day

On April 26, we marked ANZAC Day as a College. These were the words used

to introduce our ceremony:

‘Today we commemorate ANZAC Day 2012 – the 97th anniversary of the first landing on Gallipoli and we commemorate it especially as a Riverview community.

There is no more solemn day in the Australian calendar than ANZAC Day. As we mark it today, there is a special solemnity as men and women continue to suffer from war and terrorism around our world.

Just before dawn, on that first ANZAC Day 97 years ago, boats carrying Australian and New Zealand soldiers including old boys of Riverview were moving through darkness towards a place in Turkey now called Anzac Cove, near Gallipoli. As the leading boats touched the beach, a single shot was heard. Then several more and then gunfire and bombs and the screams of combat, suffering and death rang out. By evening 16,000 Australians and New Zealanders had landed. 2,000 were dead or seriously wounded.

For Australia, Gallipoli was a military defeat. But Australia’s greatest memorial is at Gallipoli. Gallipoli did not change the world but Gallipoli Peninsula continues to be full of significance for us all. There are things greater than victory or defeat: courage, endurance, goodness, survival, decency and love.

At the time of the First World War, there were only 650 Old Boys of Riverview alive. 310 of them enlisted for the Great War. 40 won decorations or awards for bravery. 62 were killed. 18 went ashore at Gallipoli. Many of them were no older than our current Year 12 boys. Some had the same surnames as their descendants at Riverview today.

There are now no living Anzacs who

were at Gallipoli on that first day. Not one Australian is left of all those who fought in the World War I.

Yet the story of those years and of all that they involved lives on . . . In World War II, 645 old boys enlisted and 54 were killed.

From the Boer War to Timor, Iraq and Afghanistan, Old Boys are still serving bravely and honorably for Australia and we should remember today those who are still serving in Australian colours in places around the world.

Today we do not glorify war over peace but we do honour the memory of all those who have fought for Australia to remind us what we have lost and what we have gained.’

Australia my country

At College Assembly on 14 March Year 11 student, Noah

Vaz was presented with an award from the local RSL branch for achieving second place in a state-wide competition in 2011. The competition required students to submit a written piece of work such as an essay or poem on the theme, Australia My Country. Noah chose to write about Julian Assange, the founder of Wikileaks. His poem is confronting and thought provoking and shows evidence of a Jesuit education.

A student stands in honour of each Old Ignatian who died in the service of their country.

From left to right Bruce Plummer, Secretary of Lane Cove RSL Sub branch,Noah Vaz, Year 11, and Harvey Porter, President of Lane Cove RSL Sub branch

40 IgNatIaN IgNatIaN 45

Acrobatic gymnastics

Having qualified to represent Australia at

the 7th World Sports Acrobatic Gymnastic Championships during April this year, Perry Drakopoulos, (Year 9) competed in the mixed pairs competition with his partner Tara. Competitors in Sports Acrobatics have to complete routines in two categories, Balance and Dynamic. Perry and Tara came in fifth putting them through into the final series where they completed their routines finishing in fifth place overall. This was a great result and an inspiration for them to work towards the next championships.

Peter Kovacs, Head of PDHPE

Gail Kelly – Hot Potato Shop

Earlier this year Gail Kelly, CEO and Managing Director of the Westpac Group, addressed a packed and receptive Hot Potato

Shop audience. Speaking about leadership, Ms Kelly endorsed keeping a positive frame of reference, encouraged the boys to grasp every opportunity that came their way and spoke of the importance of being generous in spirit, and resilient.

Ms Kelly is pictured in this photo with Old Boy Zach Martin-Dennis (OR2011), who was offered and has accepted a cadetship with Westpac.

Angel of the week

G lobal Angels is an international charity,

championing the causes of disadvantaged children and communities around the world.

Each week, the charity recognises someone who has made a great contribution to the cause. On 13 April, Year 8 student, Nicholas Firth (8.2) was selected as the Angel of the Week for his efforts in raising awareness and money for Global Angels’ projects.

Nicholas raised $500 through a cake stall and undertook a 12 hour trek in the rugged terrain of a north central NSW property. Congratulations, Nicholas.

Public speaking award

Sean Walton (Year 6) and Dashiell Upton (Year 5) recently

represented the College at the Rotary Club Lane Cove Public Speaking Competition. Sean spoke eloquently and earned first place for his speech about ‘Friendship’, while Dashiell impressed the audience with his speech on ‘Heroes’. Ms Kaye Walker’s tremendous advice and support enabled the boys to perform at their best, and both boys are to be congratulated on their achievements.

Sean was awarded first place with a cheque for the Regis Library by Martin Silink, President of the

Rotary Club of Lane Cove

College News

IgNatIaN 41

Perry and Tara

Basketball

The 2011–12 Basketball season was another

memorable one. Significant improvements in facilities across the GPS schools, access to more indoor courts, and later time slots negated the impact of wet weather upon being able to hold games. Congratulations to Patrick and Matthew McElhone, and Joshua Simpson who were selected in the GPS 2nd V.

The season held success for many age groups: the Opens were the

most successful group, winning more than 78% of all games; the 4ths, the 10ths, the 16As, the 16Gs and the 14Bs each finished the season as undefeated; and while they did

not share in many wins across the season,

the boys in the

U15s group displayed a marked improvement in the second half of the season, greatly increasing their win-rate above that of the initial stages of competition.

Unfortunately during mid-season the College lost one of the drivers of the program, 1sts coach Daniel Kovacic. Daniel departed Riverview and headed to a Marist school in Alice Springs, accepting a full-time position as a Physical Education teacher. He is sorely missed, but went with our blessings; we wish him all the best in his career.

Chris Baxter, MIC Basketball

Cricket

Being a part of Riverview Cricket is more than just

playing against other GPS schools in the Saturday fixtures. The 1st XI attended an LBW Trust Cricket event to raise money and awareness for tertiary education in developing nations. As part of the event, the team trained at the SCG indoor cricket nets, was served pre-dinner drinks on its hallowed turf, and dinner in the Steve Waugh Room. Rahul Dravid, former Captain of India, spoke at the event and the boys were even lucky enough to get a photo with him! Another highlight for the season was a T20 Charity Cricket match, which raised over $9000 for the ‘Life for

Koori Kids’ program. The event pit the 1st XI against a team comprising staff members Mr James Rodgers, Mr Guy Masters, Headmaster Shane

Hogan and celebrities John Eales, Mark Taylor, Gus Worland, Peter Toohey, Wayne Holdsworth and Mike Coward. Riverview had a most successful season in representative cricket, with Jackson Bird (OR2004)

named 2011–12 Sheffield Shield Cricketer of the Year. He was also selected in the Australia A cricket team set to tour England in August.

This year a two-week T20 Tournament was held in the lead up to the GPS Season. The boys thoroughly enjoyed the Tournament, and the 2nd XI finished in third place. In the main competitions, the 1sts and 2nds both placed third overall and the 14A and 16A teams finished the season undefeated. However the real success is seeing many of our boys develop not only their cricketing skills, but also their character on and off the field.

Geoff Tesoriero, MIC CricketThe boys in the 1st XI were lucky enough to

meet Indian cricket great Rahul Dravid

The T20 Charity Cricket match saw Riverview’s 1st XI play against a team comprising staff and Australian celebrities to raise money for the ‘Life for Koori Kids’ program.

42 IgNatIaN

Around the College

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Rowing

‘New’ was the buzzword for the 2011–12 Rowing season:

a new synthetic surface pontoon replaced an old rotting one and joined three other boats as the newest additions to the fleet; new faces and coaches joined the team with a fresh attitude towards being successful.

This season the AAGPS mandated a shorter rowing season, which directly resulted in two Riverview Gold Cup Regattas being held last year. To sustain the relevance of the event, a group of people, now known as Regatta Stewards, has been empowered as custodians of the Gold Cup in order to ensure its longevity, integrity and history.

The season saw a number of outstanding races from various crews. At the Shore School Regatta, three Year 8 crews won the Quadruple Sculling events despite a disrupted week of training due to a school camp. At the Newington College Regatta

the Year 10.1 VIII, determined and level with St Josephs’ College with 100m to race, accelerated to win by two lengths. At Head of the River, the 1st VIII finished in a season-best time of 6.03.

In rowing, winning races is only a small part of success. Success is being in an AAGPS crew at the Head of the River; it’s sharing the ecstasy of winning, as well as the

chagrin of losing, with your mates; it’s developing physical potential, intellectual refinement, and a spiritual synergy within a team. Some boys have trouble coping with the demands of such an intense sport, but success is surviving the demands of the sport and sharing the experience. The Riverview rowers can look back on this season as a successful one.

Alex Rybak, MIC Rowing

Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview 2nd VIII (from left to right):Coxswain: Jack Jones, Stroke: Jackson Bird, Louis Meagher, Jack Robertson,Jack Drury, Joe Druce, Sam Sheil, Xavier May and Andrew Welsby going on

to win the Sidney Raper Memorial Trophy at the Gold Cup Regatta.

Water Polo

This season saw the dawn of a new era with many new

acquisitions to the Riverview Water Polo community. After five years of great service John Hahn replaced James Falzon (OR2000). The Basha brothers, Lintyn (OR2010) and Jayden (OR2011) took the helm of the 16As, bringing the boys to achieve second place; the highest position in this competition for almost ten years. The College welcomed back Old Boys Sam Boneham (OR 2009) who took over the 16Bs, and Conor Nix (OR2009) who coached the 14Bs to complete the season as the only undefeated Riverview team. We also welcomed teacher Naomi Williams who replaced Rose Reid as manager and coach with the 14s. Riverview

has a rich tradition in water polo and over the last six years we have experienced considerable success, winning three unparalleled consecutive 2nds Premierships and two 1sts Premierships. However winning trophies has never driven Water Polo at Riverview. Instead, we have created a culture that is about attracting boys to this wonderful sport and encouraging them to greater heights within the game, with the continual development from the 14s up as our primary goal.

The efforts of all boys has not solely centered around their playing time in the pool. It is evident when they help set up and pack up at the end of the day; through the generosity they display when working the desk; and in their commitment to training and meetings. Playing a sport at Riverview is more than

just trophies and the maturity and enthusiasm exhibited by the boys week in, week out is what makes a season a successful one.Many thanks to the brilliant team I work with: coaches John Hahn, Simon Ferguson, Don Bogg, Lintyn Basha, Jayden Basha, Samuel Boneham, Llewellyn Cross, Patrick Long, Stephen Marshall, Conor, Nix, Naomi Williams, Father David Strong SJ and the Gartlan staff. The dedication and promise they have delivered on a weekly basis is what helps create this friendly and supportive community that the boys thrive in. And finally to the parents; their encouragement for their sons and coaches throughout the season combined with their efforts in bringing the boys to and from games is the backbone to our success every season.

Kurt Bartelme, MIC Water Polo

IgNatIaN 43

Summer Sport

Swimming

The Riverview swim team had a solid 2011–12 season

with some wonderful performances throughout the carnivals and competition evenings.

In the GPS competition, the 12–14 years team placed fourth in the overall pointscore; the 15–16 years team finished in first place; and the 17 years team placed second. Standout performances included Samuel Fitzgerald breaking the 14 years 100m Butterfly record with at time of 1.04.65 and the 14 years 200m Butterfly record with a time of 2:26.49, and Angus Hannan’s record-breaking time of 52.94 in the 100m Freestyle race at the championships meet. The Riverview teams’ depth and team spirit was further demonstrated in the relay performances, with the 12–14 years , 15–16 years and 17-19 years 4x50m Freestyle teams and the 15–16 years Medley team making it through to represent GPS at the CIS. Both the 15–16 years teams, Freestyle and Medley, broke the GPS records.

A total of 19 swimmers competed

in the CIS competition, with many highlights: Jesse Dibley finished third in the 16–19 years 100m Freestyle and second in the 16–19 years 50m Backstroke; Matthew King placed third in the 15–16 years Individual Medley; Samuel Fitzgerald finished first in the 12–14 years 200m Butterfly; and the 15–16 years 4x50m Freestyle team also won in a record time of 1:40.91.

A total of seven boys were selected in the CIS team to compete at the All Schools Carnival, which brought together the best swimmers in the State. Jesse Dibley was part of the relay team that placed second; Matthew King placed third in the

15–16 years 200m Individual Medley; Samuel Fitzgerald placed third in the 12–14 years 200m Butterfly, and the 15–16 years freestyle team kept up their record-breaking performance with another first place in a time of 1:40.39.

The program is continuing to develop with winter training well under way, there are also a number of Junior swimmers who are eager to train and be a part of the growing swim team. We hope that the swim team can only continue to grow and improve on performance in the GPS competition in years to come.

Michael WebbMIC & Coach Swimming

Surf Life Saving

The 2011–12 Surf Life Saving season demonstrated the

opportunities available to boys who participate with wholehearted commitment. There was noticeable improvement in the boys’ racing and rescue board skills as they benefited from early morning extra-curricular skills sessions. Indeed it was pleasing to witness an almost literal sea of Riverview boys progress from the early season nosedive to a graceful trimming of the board all the way to the beach. This season 30 boys received Bronze Medallions, 10 received

Surf Rescue Certificates and eight were awarded with Inshore Rescue Boat (IRB) Crew Man awards. These are all nationally-recognised SLS awards. In addition 23 boys have completed or are currently undertaking regular volunteer surf club patrols. The College continues its strong partnership with Freshwater Surf Club, the

members of which consistently offer their time and expertise. Their dedication to our program is a shining example to their Club and our boys are encouraged to continue surf club membership once they have moved beyond the College gates.

Paul Stormon MIC Surf Life Saving

44 IgNatIaN

The 15–16 4x50m Freestyle relay team that won at CIS and All Schools and broke both records (from left to right) Lincoln Whitely, Christopher Dwyer, Matthew King, Angus Hannan

Boys enjoy the surf

Around the College

Summer Track & Field

I n its first year, Summer Track & Field went from strength to

strength. In order to have the best preparation for the GPS the College registered with the UTS Athletic Club. At the first Club Premiership held at Matraville Athletic Field, Sam Mete was in his element, finishing second in the 100m event with a time of 11.03. Sam Howard also ran a gutsy 400m with a time of 52.22.

At the NSW State Relays event, held at Homebush, the 14 Years 4x100m relay team won gold, finishing almost 20m in front of the field in a time of 48.50. The 18 Years 4x100m team made the final in a fiercely competitive age group, placing seventh in a time of 46.06.

At the Open Age Allcomer meets held at Homebush, Henry Hutchison posted a personal best of 11.7 seconds in the 100m, Sam Howard ran the 400m in a time of 52.13 and Chris Best registered his first 800m run, notching a time of 2:06. In the last

Allcomer Meet, notable personal bests were run in the 100m event, where Angus Graham finished in a time of 12.69 and Dominic Bullock in 12.83. In the 400m, Sam Howard and Alex Jalloh competed in the Waratah event, the elite seeded race of the night. Alex finished third with a time of 50.34 and Sam closely followed with 51.53. The 1500m saw eight boys take the line with a gutsy run from Alexander McGuire who smashed his personal best by 10 seconds with a time of 05:15.05. The Summer Track & Field program rounded out its year with a visit from former US

Olympian, John Marshall, who spent a week assisting athletes, providing training techniques and race tactics, and mentoring the coaching staff.

Special thanks to Cathy Walsh, head Spring Coach, and Tom Lonergan for their professional approach and dedication to training programs, a main contributor to this year’s success. Many thanks to parents for their understanding of the new program and transportation of athletes.

Kate HilyardMIC Track & Field

Golf

For the first time in the history of both Saint Ignatius’

College, Riverview and St Joseph’s College, the two Colleges competed in the Independent Interschool Golf Series at Strathfield Golf Club in February.

The Riverview boys played with determination and enthusiasm in trying conditions, on what was a day of unsettled weather to win the competition three matches to one. Sean Beaumont led the charge, taking the lead early but unfortunately lost on the 17th hole. Victories were awarded to Oliver Mead, who played very consistently

to record a win; Benjamin Hugh, a first-timer, who had won by the 13th hole; and Kris Silitonga, who faced

a difficult contest but held on for a victory after the 17th hole.

Martin Collins, MIC Golf

IgNatIaN 45

Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview versus St Joseph’s College at Strathfield Golf Club (from left to right): Anthony Baker, Jack Hamilton, Oliver Mead, Rohan Brotherson

Sean Beaumont, Benji Hugh, Matthew Dane and Kristopher Silitonga

Riverview’s Track & Field team received a visit from former US Olympian John Marshall

Summer Sport

Around the Community

Strengthening Jesuit connectionsHello everyone and welcome to this update from the OIU.

Strengthening connections across the Jesuit community

W e have recently instigated two initiatives that align with the OIU’s

mission to strengthen ties across the Jesuit Community: building ties with Australian Jesuit Alumni and the re-introduction of OIU Country Vice Presidents.

Encouraged by the former Superior General Peter Hans Kolvenbach and current Superior General Adolfo Nicolás, the OIU is now inviting the alumni associations of three Jesuit schools here in Australia (St Aloysius’ College, Xavier College and Saint Ignatius’ College, Athelstone) to all of our functions. Just as our Indian Bazaar boasts a very strong representation from the Old Xavs and Aloys’ Old Boys (and soon possibly Old Ignatians from Athlestone), we too hope to get a strong attendance by our Jesuit alumni colleagues at our functions as we go along!

To that end, I caught up with the new president of the Saint Ignatius’ College Athelstone, Adelaide, Old Ignatians’ Association (OIA), Rob Underdown, when he was recently in Sydney. Fr Rob Davoren SJ and Fr Joe Dooley SJ are currently located at the same College. Rob Underdown and his committee are working hard at re-invigorating their ex-student association, which has been very quiet over the past few years. We are providing Rob a lot of support and wish him and his committee every success!

I am also very pleased to announce the re-introduction of the OIU Country Vice Presidents. The specific role, as I have discussed with the Country Vice Presidents, is to assist the OIU President in contacting Old

Boys in the district where an event is to be held and encouraging Old Boys and others they know to get along to the function. Part of getting in contact with Old Boys is to ensure records are kept up to date! I anticipate we’ll get together here in Sydney or in a country town every few years.

It is my privilege to announce the following Country Vice Presidents:Brisbane: Peter Johnson (OR89);North West – Moree: Patrick Dillon (OR71);NSW North Coast – Ballina: Ralph Matthews (OR81);Northern tablelands – tamworth: Jerry Dangar (OR61);Central NSW – Cowra / Canowindra district: Tom Ward (OR94);Newcastle: John Hayes (OR63) and David Moir (OR89);Canberra: Michael Gillespie (OR73);Central West – Warren: John Mackay (OR85);Central West – Dubbo: Brothers Mike Anderson (OR75) and Peter Anderson (OR87);Central West – Young: Brothers Paul O’Connor (OR80) and John O’Connor (OR81);Riverina – Wagga: Steve Sykes (OR81);Melbourne: Mark Paul (OR83);Congratulations gentlemen, we look forward to continue working with you.

If you are interested in helping as Country Vice Presidents, please don’t hesitate to contact me, on 0410 611 962.

OIU Country ReunionsNewcastle Reunion: 5 May – hosted by John Hayes (OR63) and David Moir (OR89). I ventured up to Newcastle on 5 May for the annual OIU Newcastle dinner. These dinners have been held almost every year since WW2. This year the evening commenced with a

mass celebrated by Fr Gerald Brennan SJ followed by a wonderful meal at the Newcastle Club, with wines from James Estate kindly donated by David James (OR79)—many thanks David—see you again at the Gold Challenge in October! As a result of the great efforts of John Hayes and David Moir in contacting everyone for the event we ended up with well over 30 for dinner and amazingly received over 100 apologies, including Lance Hogg (OR41), who attended the 1946 Newcastle dinner. Lance organised the dinners for many years and, up until a few years ago, was a regular attendee. The highlight of the evening for me was the heartfelt toast to the College delivered by Michael Stenmark (OR74). Michael talked about his dad, Jim (OR42)—a member of the 1st XV, NSW Rugby rep and Australian Wallaby—about how well he was regarded in the broader community and that he was in fact the recipient of one of the first bursaries! Michael also shared with us many of his school memories including several insights into the remarkable Fr Feruccio Rominan SJ.

Riverview in Canberra; 12 May – hosted by Dr Michael Gillespie (OR73) and Michael Kerr (OR82).

On 12 May I joined the Riverview community at The Commonwealth Club, followed by mass and morning tea at the Jesuit Community Chapel. Once again the event was well attended with well over 60 for dinner, with a very strong contingent from the ‘50s, and almost 30 braving the chill winds for Mass and morning tea.

OR57–60 Reunion (Orange)On the evening of Saturday 18 February, 13 Old Boys plus their wives and partners met in Orange to celebrate the fact that one of their compatriots from the years 1957, 58, 59 and 60 had joined an exclusive group of

46 IgNatIaN

boys from that period who represented Australia at the highest international level. During those years, only three boys had represented Australia, Jim Lenehan and Sean Spence as Wallabies and Bob Lachale as an Olympic rower at the Tokyo Olympics.

Last year, Geoff Knight represented Australia at the World Rimfire Bench-rest Championships, which were held in Charleston South Carolina in August. Geoff was part of a 15 man Australian team and in the individual score competition he was placed ninth in the world. A great effort !

Geoff entertained us all with the story of how he only took up the sport when he retired, as an activity to keep him busy and involved. However, it came as no surprise to those who had been at the College with Geoff that his interest became an obsession, culminating in Geoff wearing the green and gold for Australia. Geoff’s story warmed the hearts of all those who celebrated with him, as the youngest Old Boy there, aged 69. The oldest there was 71 years of age.

OIU City Breakfaststuesday 27 March – Professor greg Craven, Vice Chancellor australian Catholic University

In late March we hosted a small crowd to hear past Riverview parent and current Vice Chancellor of the Australian Catholic University (ACU), Professor Greg Craven, speak on Catholic education today. The essence of the presentation was that Catholic education today is doing a damned fine job, despite a hostile media and Catholic social justice values that are quite contrary to dominant social values. One example of Catholic education success is ACU; in 2013 it will become the largest English-speaking Catholic University in the world! Greg further argued that education is the most vital work of the Church, producing young Catholics who are confident, determined, humourous, generous and intransigent in what they believe is true and taking

the Catholic view into their lives. Greg left us with the challenge: If that’s what we want Catholic education to produce, are we? And if not, what can we do to achieve this? It’s worth taking in the full presentation via the videos on the OIU and College websites as my summary does not do it justice!

Thursday 14 June Fr Richard Leonard SJ

The second OIU City Breakfast for 2012 was held on Thursday 14 June. Guest speaker Fr Richard Leonard SJ shared his personal stories about spirituality and suffering including stories from his recent international best seller Where the Hell is God? Finding God in pain and suffering. Fr Richard’s presentation dealt with how we can hold to a God who walks with us when we are in ‘the shadow of death’.

The presenter for the final City Breakfast for 2012, Tuesday 11 September, is barrister and Old Boy Julian McMahon (OR81), a strong advocate for social justice in the legal system. Julian has represented those on death row and many of the marginalised both in our community and overseas. I hope you can join us.

OIU golfThere are many very good golfers in the OIU—and I am not one of them! The OIU has been involved in two golf days so far this year. Our annual OIU Golf Day was held at Avondale Golf Club, Pymble in late March and the the 17th Jesuit Mission Golf Day was held at Pymble Golf Club in early March. It was the first time the OIU had formally supported the Jesuit Mission Golf Day through sponsorship of a hole—and I am pleased to say we shall continue this

new tradition into the years to come! Our inaugural participation was most successful—Tim Gavan (OR79), John Allen (OR81), Jon Greathead (OR72) and Leo Barry did well enough to place second! The funds raised from the day go to Loyola College, Culion, a former leper colony on a remote island south-west of Manila, Philippines.

Upcoming events the OIU are hosting and supporting in 2012;• Riverview in Narrabri – 21 July• OIU Long Lunch – September – TBC.• OIU versus Joey’s OBU golf Day, Avondale; 5 September• OIU Father – Son golf Day; 8 October• CaNa Communities gala Dinner 13 October• OIU agM 23 November

Please see Viewpoint, the College and OIU websites and the OIU Facebook page for more information about all these events closer to the date.

If you are interested in getting involved with our community service /social justice initiatives or getting involved in any of the OIU activities and initiatives, please don’t hesitate to contact me.

Chris Tait (OR79), OIU President Mobile: 0410 611 962 www.oiu.org.au [email protected]

Community News

Sam Cuschieri (OR97) and Jonas Cuschieri (OR96) Winners of the Tony Clark Shield

IgNatIaN 47

Help needed

Following the success of To Give and Not to Count the Cost, chronicling the 62 Riverview

Old Boys who died in World War I, James Rodgers, Associate to the Rector and Headmaster, is writing a book which will contain the biographies of the 54 Old Ignatians killed in World War II. The book will be launched in November this year. If anyone can help with tracing any relatives of the following, I would be very grateful:Sgt Laurence archer (OR36) killed 27 June 1945Sgt Maurice Barry (OR30) died 21 June 1941Lt allan Belford (OR29) died 23 January 1945Pte george Chandler (OR30) died 21 January 1942Sgt John Dallas (OR37) killed 11 August 1943Pte Reg Daly (OR32) killed 12 July 1943Flight Sgt Colin Delaney (OR42) killed 31 March 1945Flying Officer Herb Ellens (OR41) killed 6 November 1944Lt Charles gataker (OR29) killed 9 November 1942Flight Sgt William gunning (OR39) killed 11 July 1943Lt John Walter Healy (OR27) killed 12 May 1941Sgt Frank Lowney (OR18) killed 13 April 1941Flight Sgt John Maclean (OR40) killed 14 January 1945Flying Officer Cliff O’Riordan (OR27) killed 30 July 1943Warrant Officer Eric Peacock (OR31) killed 27 January 1945Sgt Harold Power (OR35) killed 29 October 1942Sgt Pilot John Rankin (OR36) killed 21 July 1942Squadron Leader anthony Scott (OR33) killed 7 July 1941Pte Donald Wall (OR25) killed 27 January 1941Sgt Bill Williamson (OR21) died 3 September 1942

2012 ReunionsReunion Class of: Contact Email Function Date5 Year Reunion 2007 Tom O’Brien [email protected] tbc15 Year Reunion 1997 Anthony Gray [email protected] Friday 27 &

Saturday 28 July20 Year Reunion 1992 Angus Stuart [email protected] Friday 27 July25 Year Reunion 1987 David Hendriks

James Macken0411 680 404 0408 899 273 [email protected]

Saturday 8 & Sunday 9 September

30 Year Reunion 1982 Simon Rorke [email protected] Saturday 28 July35 Year Reunion 1977 John Ballhausen

Roger Byrne Chris Cahill

[email protected] [email protected] [email protected]

Saturday 8 September

50 Year Reunion 1962 Alan Hamilton Paul Keighery

[email protected]@gmail.com

Saturday 13 October

60 Year Reunion 1952 Christine Zimbulis [email protected] Tuesday 26 JuneMelbourne Reunion Mark Paul [email protected] Saturday 4 AugustRiverview in Hong Kong Christine Zimbulis [email protected] Thursday 11 OctoberRiverview in Singapore Christine Zimbulis [email protected] Saturday 13 October

10 Year Reunion (Class of 2002); 40 Year Reunion (Class of 1972); 45 Year Reunion (Class of 1967)For further enquiries, or if you would like to co-ordinate your class reunion for 2012

please contact Christine Zimbulis on (02) 9882 8595 or email: [email protected]

Old Ignatians’ Union Inc – 2012 Annual General

MeetingNotice is hereby given of the 116th Annual

General Meeting of the Old Ignatians’ Union to be held on Friday 23 November 2012 at 6.00pm at The Royal Automobile Club of Australia, 89 Macquarie Street, Sydney.

The Agenda for the Annual General Meeting will be;• Apologies• Adoptionoftheminutesofthe115thAGM• President’sReport–ChrisTait• AdoptionofthePresident’sAnnualreport• AnnualFinancialReport–HonTreasurer Rex Hoeben• AdoptionoftheAnnualFinancialReport• ReportonCollegeMatters– Headmaster Shane Hogan• FormalElectionofOfficeBearersfor2013: President, Honorary Secretary, Honorary Assistant Secretary, Honorary Treasurer, Twenty-two (22) Committee Members• GeneralBusiness Dated 8 May 2012,

for the Old Ignatians’ Union Inc Chris Tait, President


Military pride

Andrew Roberts

(OR2010) marched out on January 20 at Kapooka and was so proud and satisfied. I was able to take his

younger brother

Nathan down and we were very glad to be there. We are so proud of him finishing school and now completing the first part of his army training.

These were just dreams that seemed impossible when he came back down from Darwin in early 2008. It is a certainty that without the three years at Riverview and all that he gained there, Andrew would not be where he is now. He was on a

very different trajectory. Andrew’s platoon has now dispersed to different training bases for the next stage depending on what they are doing. Andrew is now at Singleton for 3-4 months, focusing on infantry training.

With deepest thanks to everyone at Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview who contributed to Andrew’s success over the last few years.

Meryn O’Brien

J ack Sheekey (OR28) is a remarkable man. One of the 15,000 Old Boys of this College

still alive, he is the oldest having finished his schooling at Riverview 84 years ago and, on 7 June 2012, Jack turned 100. Jack, his daughter, Jill, and son in law, Lou, attended, and were honoured at, a College assembly on 6 June.

When Jack was born on Friday 7 June 1912 in a small stone cottage in Yass, King George V, the current Queen’s grandfather, was on the throne of England. The population of Australia was only 4.5 million.

He was one of seven children—he had six older sisters—and at the age of 13 he was sent to board at Riverview on a Bursary in February 1926. He was one of only 150 boys at Riverview that year but he quickly and consistently established himself as one of the

best academics at Riverview. He won prizes every year and in 1928, in the Intermediate exams, he was first in Maths, Latin, French and Greek, second in English and History and Dux of his year for the third consecutive year.

He was also good at Rugby, playing in an undefeated side in 1928 as a quick runner who played on the wing and scored plenty of tries.

Jack then worked for over 50 years in insurance companies and worked his way from the ground floor to managerial level.

He married Jean Mary Monro in 1939—a marriage that lasted 60 years until his wife’s death in 1999. They lived at Bondi for most of that time.

Just after his son, Michael, was born in 1942, Jack enlisted in the RAAF and served for four years as a Radio Operator in New Guinea. Jack has remained active all his life, playing competition tennis into his 80s. Retaining a great interest and care for other people, he served for many years with the St Vincent de Paul Society. He has a great sense of humour and he follows Riverview’s fortunes through the Ignatian magazine. He says that ‘Every day is the best day of his life’.

The College is 132 years old and Jack is still a vital, sprightly, intrepid, resilient link to a past that is beyond the memory of most Australians today.

On 23 May Luca Pannozzo, of Year 5, turned 10—the youngest boy at Riverview; Jack is 100. Ninety years separate them but Riverview binds them with a link that spans the ages from the early days of the 20th century, perhaps into the 22nd century.

James Rodgers, Associate to the Rector & Headmaster

Jack Sheekey (OR28) and Luca Pannozzo, Year 5. Although they are separated by

90 years, they are bound together as members of the Riverview family

Andrew Roberts (OR2010)

IgNatIaN 49

Community News

100th birthday celebration

Riverview Olympic connectionsWhile almost 17,000 km separates Sydney from London, the connection between Riverview and the 2012 London Olympics is stronger than you may think. Read on below to find out how five Riverview Old Boys are involved in this year’s Games.

The Builder: David Higgins (OR72)

Sir David Higgins is not competing at the 2012 London

Olympics, nor is he a coach. In fact, David’s involvement in the games has little to do with the sports side at all. David was the first employee—and was Chief Executive Officer for six years—of the Olympic Delivery Authority (ODA), which, along with the London Organising Committee for the Olympic and Paralympic Games (LOCOG), is responsible for organising the Games.

Specifically, the ODA is responsible for the infrastructure and David was instrumental in securing the land that was to be used to build London’s Olympic Park.

No stranger to Olympics organisation, David was involved in a similar role during the Sydney Olympics, overseeing the building of Sydney’s aquatic centre and Olympic village.

Announcing his leave from the ODA in 2010, David is currently CEO of Network Rail, owner and operator of most rail infrastructure in Great Britain.

The Coach: Joe Donnelly (OR69)

At the 2010 Asian Games in Guanzhou China, the

Vietnamese women’s rowing team came away with two silver medals—the first ever rowing medals for Vietnam in the history of the games. At the more recent Southeast Asian Games, held in November last year, the Vietnamese rowing squad topped the medal tally. The recent success of national rowing in Vietnam can largely be attributed to Joe Donnelly who started working with the Vietnamese women’s rowing team

Top row (From left to right): Ed Fernon, AJ Roach and Dan Noonan

Bottom row: Joe Donnelly and Sir David Higgins


50 IgNatIaN

Joe Donnelly and Do Manh Tung with the Women’s Lightweight Double Scull team’s Pam Thi Thao and Pam Thi Hai

Sir David Higgins, former Chief Executive Officer of the Olympic Delivery Authority

in 2009 after a successful career in Australia as a rowing coach.

For the past 18 months Joe has been preparing teams for Olympic qualification, though not without facing setbacks along the way, some of which rendered three of his intended four teams disbanded. However at the Korean Olympic Qualification event held in April of this year, the Vietnamese women’s lightweight double scull team finished in third place, one second behind Korea, earning the team a place on the Olympics starting line in London.

The Pentathlete: Ed Fernon (OR2005)

Ed Fernon has been competing in the Modern Pentathlon since

2007, and has been representing Australia in the sport since 2009. The event, an Olympic sport since 1912, consists of five disciplines that must be completed in one day—fencing, swimming, show jumping, running and pistol shooting. Despite the sport’s demanding nature, Ed has still found the time to complete a Bachelor of Commerce at Sydney University, and is currently undertaking his Master’s Degree.

Before he started Pentathlon, Ed was an adept middle-distance runner, representing the College in both athletics and cross country, and was an experienced horseman. With these existing skills, he took up Modern Pentathlon, hoping to achieve Olympic qualification. He has a rigorous training regime, made

all the more intense by only minor prior experience in swimming, pistol shooting and fencing. After a nail-biter of an event in Chengdu, Ed managed to clinch qualification. He is honoured to be representing Australia, and is looking forward to the Games in London. We wish him the best of luck.

Michael Everest (OR2005)

The Rower: Dan Noonan (OR97)

It is safe to call Dan Noonan an experienced rower. He began

rowing around the age of 13 or 14 when he chose it as his summer sport here at Riverview. Around the age of 25 he gave away his plumbing apprenticeship to row full-time at the Australian Institute of Sport in Canberra. He was a member of the men’s quad scull that placed ninth at the 2006 World Rowing

Championships; he rowed in the men’s quad scull that placed fourth at the 2008 Olympics in Beijing; he was in the men’s quad scull that won bronze at the 2010 World Rowing Championships and more recently, was a member of the winning men’s quad scull team at the 2011 World Rowing Championships.

This year, Dan will be a proud member of this year’s Australian Olympic men’s quad scull team. We wish Dan and the team every success.

The ‘Shark’: aJ Roach (OR2008), Water Polo

Aidan ‘AJ’ Roach was not a successful Rugby League player.

Unlike his father, rugby league great Steve ‘Blocker’ Roach, AJ never quite found the skill on the footy field. After three unsuccessful years as a youngster with Five Dock, he gave up on carrying the family legacy. Swapping the field for the pool, AJ tried his hand at water polo—and immediately found a passion.

Through commitment to the sport, gruelling training and some natural talent, AJ has quickly made a name for himself in the sport. He secured a contract with Serbian club Vojvodina, where he has been playing for the past two years in a country with a reputation for Water Polo.

This year he will play for Australia as part of the 13-man Olympic Water Polo Team, ‘The Sharks’. We wish him and the team good luck.

Community News

IgNatIaN 51

Aidan ‘AJ’ Roach competing at Riverview. Aidan was selected for the Australian Men’s Water Polo team, the ‘Sharks’

Christopher Morgan, James McRae, Karsten Forsterling and Dan Noonan won gold medals at the World Rowing Championships in 2011

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Ed Fernon Photo: Mitchell Wall (OR2005)

Australia Day HonoursFollowing the award of australia Day Honours, we congratulate the following recipients who have close associations with the Society of Jesus, or the College.

Officers in the general Division:Dr David Skillern aO, past parent of Matthew (OR96) and Jeremy (OR2003), ‘for distinguished service to science and engineering as a leading researcher, and to the design and development of world-leading information technology communications applications’.

Fr William Uren SJ aO, past Provincial of the Australian Province ‘for distinguished service to education as a philosopher and bioethicist, as a commentator on contemporary issues in Australian society, as a scholar and mentor, and to the Catholic Church in Australia’.

Member in the general Division: Dr John Buckingham aM (deceased) (OR 1964), brother of David (OR62) and Roger (OR72), ‘for service to medicine, particularly the care of women undergoing treatment for breast cancer, through executive roles with BreastScreen ACT, and to medical education’.

Professor Michael Dureau aM (OR59), brother of Chris (OR61) and past parent of Anthony (OR92), ‘for service to engineering, to professional education and research, and to the community, particularly through the RedR disaster relief organisation’.

Medal in the general Division:

Fr Paul gardiner SJ OaM, former teacher at the College, ‘for service

to the community in the fields of education and religion, as Postulator for the Canonisation of Mary MacKillop, and to the Catholic Church in Australia’.

Mr John Kean OaM, past parent of Brad (OR97), ‘for service to the community through education, medical research, trade and charitable organisations’.

Dr John Roarty OaM, brother of Ted (former teacher at the College), past parent of Chris (OR75), Mark (OR77) and Tim (OR81), ‘for service to medicine, particularly through contributions to St Vincent’s Clinic’.

Da Virtutis Meritum

Queen’s Birthday HonoursI am pleased to acknowledge the following who are connected with the Riverview Family and have been awarded australian Honours for their service to others:

Member of the Order of australia

Rev Mons tony Doherty, aM (OR 1950)

For service to the Catholic Church in Australia, through adult faith education and pastoral care, and to the Parish of Rose Bay.

Dr Keith Hartman, FRCOg, FRaNZCOg, aM [Father of Luke (OR 93), Alexander (OR 98), Edward (OR 99) and John (OR 03)]

For service to medicine in the field of obstetrics and gynaecology as a clinician, and through executive and fundraising roles with the Friends of the Mater Foundation.

Dr Raymond Francis Raper, FRaCP, aM [Uncle of Hugh (Year 10) and Lachlan (Year 7) Raper]

For service to medicine in the field of intensive care as a clinician, researcher and educator, and through contributions to professional associations.

Reverend Emeritus Professor Fr Peter Steele, SJ, FaaH, aM (Former Provincial of the Society of Jesus in Australia)

For service to literature and higher education as a poet, author, scholar and teacher, and to the Catholic Church.

Medal of the Order of australia

Mr David Hutton, FaCE, FaCEL, OaM [Former Jesuit and member of staff at Riverview (1981-1983)]

For service to education in Queensland, and through roles with professional organisations.

Mr Christopher guy Noel, OaM [Father of Edward (OR 04) and Thomas (OR 06)]

For service to the sport of rowing in New South Wales.

Public Service Medal

Ms Jane Herington, PSM (Sister of Peter Herington, Director of Development)

For outstanding public service to the Victorian aged care system, improving the lives of many older Victorians, people with disabilities and vulnerable client groups.

Fr Ross Jones SJ, Rector

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Fensham Medal award

Congratulations to Kieran Lim (OR80), Associate

Professor in Chemistry and Forensic Sciences at Deakin University, who was recently awarded the Royal Australian Chemical Institute’s (RACI) Fensham Medal for outstanding contribution to Chemical Education.

The award is named after Professor Peter Fensham who elaborated and popularised the notion of ‘science for all’, believing that school science must be designed to prepare all students for the future, rather than preparing an elite few who will enter into science professions.

Kieran was honoured with the award in recognition of his innovations regarding the connections between various

chemistry sub-disciplines, and chemistry and other disciplines. These insights have been developed into study resources, lesson plans and other learning materials and through these, combined with his involvement in local community groups and schools, Kieran has fostered an interest in chemical science among members of the wider community.

Kieran Lim

GPS Gold Challenge 2012The battles continue

The GPS Gold

Challenge 2012 is for those lads who left ‘View in 1979 and 1980.

The challenge is held every two years, in order to rekindle friendships among former class mates, develop new contacts among the GPS fraternity and raise money for the designated charity, Redkite, an organisation which assists children and the families of children, suffering from cancer.

The GPS Gold Challenge will be held at Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview, on Saturday 6 October 2012 with the golf competition conducted the day before, Friday 5 October 2012 at Ryde Parramatta Golf Club, West Ryde.

Contact DetailsFor more information, please refer to the website www.gpsgoldchallenge.com.au or contact;

1979 – Nick Ireland 0437761993 [email protected]

Hugh Macken 0414849248 [email protected]

Bernie Rorke 0447490473 [email protected]

1980 – Bob Coulthurst 0418 214 390 [email protected]

Hayden Rorke 0411425599 [email protected]

Percy Power Medal

D r Peter Lewis, a medal collector, was at an auction in Surfers Paradise on 6

November when a particular medal caught his eye. Having studied Greek himself at London University and at the Brisbane College of Theology, Dr Lewis was drawn to the medal—a prize that had been issued by the University of Sydney in 1895 for first place in Greek.

The medal in fact belonged to Percy Power (OR1897), a Brisbane-born Riverview student who first came to the College in 1891 and had sat the University of Sydney’s Junior Public Examination in 1895. Described as a ‘very edifying and very hard-working boy’, who ‘carried all before him in the classical studies’ (Our Alma Mater, 1903). Percy excelled in Classics, and

upon leaving the College, where he was

Dux of his year, he sat both Senior

and Matriculation Honours Exams at Sydney University, winning the Cooper Scholarship for Latin and Greek. After obtaining his BA in 1901, Percy left the University of Sydney campus in 1902 and travelled to America. He died of illness in 1903 in San Francisco.

A display on Percy, including his medal and a list of his achievements, will be added to the Riverview Archives Museum next year.

IgNatIaN 53

Community News

Swapping football boots for designer clothing

Their grandfather Jim Stenmark (OR42) may have

played for the Wallabies in the 1940s but,

despite their talents on the AFL field,

twins Zac and Jordan Stenmark (OR2010) have swapped their football boots for designer clothing, launching their international modelling careers at Milan Men’s

Fashion Week in January. The brothers opened and closed

Calvin Klein’s Autumn / Winter 2012–13 collection at the Fashion Week event, each taking three turns on

the runway.

Modelling does run in the family: Zac and Jordan’s mother Susie had a long modelling career

in the 1980s. However it

wasn’t until a friend

suggested that a career on the catwalk may prove easier and more lucrative than pouring coffees —the part-time job that both boys had as a supplement to their AFL sports scholarships at Sydney University—that the boys decided to embark on their journey towards the runway.

Since making the switch, the brothers have been on a whirlwind tour of the fashion world, being especially flown to London to meet designer Tom Ford, as well as appearing in Fashion Week events in Paris. They have been photographed by esteemed fashion photographers Bruce Weber and Terry Richardson, and have starred in multiple campaigns for companies such as Abercrombie & Fitch, Ralph Lauren and American Eagle.

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Eight life size figures wearing ‘hoodies’ form Alex Seton’s installation ‘Elegy on Resistance’ and are carved from a

single block of Bianco Carrara marble

Elegy on Resistance

A lexander Seton (OR94), creator of the marble sculpture entitled In the Stacks (or my functioning obsolescence) and housed in the

College’s Christopher Brennan Library, was recently featured in the Hong Kong International Art Fair, held in May. Alex’s installation work, Elegy on Resistance, features various pullover jumpers known commonly and affectionately as ‘hoodies’: one is worn by a life-size figure sitting cross-legged in the central figure of the installation; six hang from coat hangers and one sits crumpled on the floor. All are carved from one single block of Bianco Carrara marble.

According to Alex, he was drawn to the hoodie due to its contentious nature, explaining that while initially the central figure can be seen as malevolent or benevolent, it is essentially ‘a figure of passive resistance’.

The installation is ‘about not being able to be labelled . . . and where to find that space as an individual’, he said.

Cricket Hall of Fame

Ron Porter (OR17) was recently inducted into the Bendigo Cricket

Association’s Hall of Fame. Ron’s grandson Justin Hartnett was present to receive the award, supported by nephews Noel and Drew Porter.

Originally from Ramsay, Booroorban in south western NSW, Ron was selected in Riverview’s 1917 1st XI just after his 15th birthday. It was upon relocating to Xavier College, Melbourne however that his all-round sporting accomplishments were raised to such a high level: In 1919 he rowed in the 1st VIII Head of the River final; that same year he won the Victorian Schoolboys Singles Tennis Championships at Kooyong; in 1919 he led the batting averages and again in 1920, the same year he was named Captain of the School, with an APS average of 106.

As Captain of Melbourne University’s Newman XI in 1921, he scored 93 and

182 against Trinity College in the opening round of the inter-collegiate cricket competition. His prodigious run-scoring continued, playing for the University in the district pennant. When he represented Harcourt in the BDCA competition between 1926–27 and 1933–4, he amassed 4148 runs and a high score of 225 at an average of 58.62. In 1933 he was named Captain of the Victorian Country XI which played Douglas Jardine’s touring MCC team at Bendigo—even facing Larwood and Voce, he still managed to top-score with 58 n/o.

Ron passed away in 1935 quite

unexpectedly, after a short illness, at the age of 33. From all reports he faced his demise exemplifying the same qualities of courage grace and humility he had demonstrated so admirably on and off the sporting field.

Drew Porter 2012

1st XI 1917: (Standing) A Oxenham, F Hennessy, C Dalglish, H Best; (Sitting) V Dempsey, W Gissane, J Sullivan (Capt),

R Porter, F Cruise; (On Ground) N Meagher and O Landers

Back to Warren

The Warren district of NSW has a very long and deep

history with Riverview. The first student from Warren was Herbert Vaughan Egan (1888-92) from Kianwion, Warren.

Herbert was born 5 July 1875, son of John and Agnes Egan, one of eight children (five girls, three boys). Herbert’s two younger brothers, John and Francis went to The King’s School.

There has been a long line of Egans following Herbert to Riverview, the most recent being Timothy who finished in 2007.

Perhaps, however, the most famous Riverview Warren name is McKay. James Harold McKay (1909-12) was the first of the McKay family from Warren. There has been a constant stream since and John McKay of ‘The

Overflow’ is a current Year 9 student.

The Western Plains reunions were the first held by the Old Ignatians’ Union. The first country reunion was held at Warren in 1921 with 12 Old Boys in attendance including a number of McAlarys, McKays & Quigleys, Desmond O’Hanlon & Clive Wilkinson plus Fr Tom McLoughlin SJ, First Prefect and Rowing Master at Riverview 1921 – 25 who travelled from Sydney to be present. Clive Wilkinson wrote in the 1921 Our Alma Mater:

A room was taken in the Hotel Tinandra, 12 miles from Warren. Mrs McAlary was responsible for the decorations in which the College colours figured prominently. A McAlary monster turkey was amongst the good things beneath which the table groaned. Toasts to the old school and its master punctuated the reminiscences of the past. The festivities concluded with Auld

Lang Syne and the light of other days still linking them together on flood and field and friendly contest, they promised each other to meet again next year and departed through the gloom of the gum trees to their respective homes.

There was no ‘monster turkey’ at the 2012 Warren reunion but there were McKays (in abundance), Quigleys, McAlarys (by marriage) as well as Beaches, Noonans, Andersons, O’Briens and many other old Riverview connections.

A very entertaining evening was held at the Warren Golf Club at which over 85 attended and this was followed up by a brunch at John and Toni McKay’s magnificent property, ‘The Overflow’, the following morning.

It was a very special weekend and all appeared to thoroughly enjoy the opportunity to get ‘Back to Warren’.

IgNatIaN 55

Community News

Celebrating the 80th anniversary of our community

2012 is the 80th anniversary of the Saint

Ignatius’ College, Riverview Parents and Friends’ Association. We have come a long way and yet the tenet of the association remains the same—to offer support to the parents and the school through social and financial functions.

This year we have focused on three Cs—community, cash and communication.

More specifically we are:1. Creating community: creating events, and opportunities for us to gather, socially and also for us to meet as a community in faith;2. Raising funds, which go to the Bursary and to the College, in whatever the College deems to be its highest area of need for augmented funding;3. Acting as a communications channel between the College administration and parents.

As parents, we try to lead by example, to show our boys the value of the community. We play a significant role in doing this, by showing them their parents working with, and enjoying the company of, other parents as well as the staff of the College. This is all part and parcel of your membership of the Parents and Friends’ Association.

Our survey, late last year, brought up some interesting facts. We found that 70% of mothers and 98% of fathers work, either full time or part time. This was a very different figure 80 years ago. As a result, we have made a concerted effort this year to have a variety of functions. In doing this, we hope that everyone might be able to attend at least one function.

Socially, the beginning of the year is busy. The information nights and morning teas come thick and fast. They always remind me of the first day back at school after the holidays; so much to say, but so little time to say it.

On the last day of Term 1, we held our traditional charity walk. With so much pressure on our boys, this year we chose to donate the proceeds $1500

to Foundation for Life Sciences – SAD kids project, which deals with providing resources to teenagers experiencing stress, anxiety and depression.

The focus of Term 2 was the 42nd

annual ViEW Exhibits, the College’s major fundraiser and Sydney’s biggest community art show. Held on 26–27 May, more than 600 exhibitors were present, and more than 3000 visitors passed through the College gates.

Dr Garry Darby, Art Historian at the University of Sydney, provided a selection of contemporary works for display and sale and gave talks throughout the weekend explaining their meanings.

ViEW Exhibits celebrated our community. Not a virtual community but a real one where people connect and join together to support each other and deliver a common goal. It changes lives—you may think that contributing in small ways is inconsequential but your single acts of generosity add something to all our lives.

A really special thanks to all of the volunteers and those who helped put it all together. The money raised by the P&F Association goes towards the Bursary Program, and to the purchasing of equipment to enhance the school environment for all boys.

Angela Hinchley, P&F President

P&F President, Angela Hinchley, and the Headmaster, Shane Hogan Opening Night of ViEW exhibits

Indigenous students welcomed visitors on Opening Night


56 IgNatIaN

Phot

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phs:

Mic

hael

Egg

er

Past Parents

The first function for the year was the Mass and

luncheon in Febuary which was very well attended. The highlight was the unexpected visit of Bishop Greg O’Kelly. My thanks to all that helped to make it so successful.

Our annual lunch will be held at the Sir Stamford Circular Quay Sydney on Wednesday 19 September. We are very fortunate to have Geraldine Dougue as our guest speaker. Enquiries to Moya Mawson [email protected] or myself at [email protected]

The Past Parents’ Association enables all past parents the opportunity to keep in touch with

friends they have met during their sons’ time at the College. On that note, I extend an invitation to all past parents to join our social mailing list. The Past Parents’ Committee also welcomes volunteers to join the committee. It is not an onerous task, as the Past parents meet a few times a year and new members can help refresh our

planning. If you are interested please contact Christine Zimbulis in the Development office at [email protected]

Diary DateThe 2012 Reunion Dinner and Mass will be held at Riverview on Friday 23 November and is a wonderful way to revisit the College, by celebrating mass in the Dalton Memorial Chapel,

followed by camaraderie over dinner in Ramsay Hall.

Finally, I would like to acknowledge the contribution of the previous Association President Trish Tarnawsky and her committee to the success of the Association.

Diane Edwards, Past Parents’ Association President

From left to right: Diane Causer, Liz Henville, Helen Keys, Di Edwards, Moya Mawson,

Pam Clarke, Diana Brookes

Nor the Years CondemnNor the Years Condemn is the latest work from Riverview Old Boy Justin Sheedy (OR86), author of Goodbye Crackernight.

Unlike his first novel, a detailed portrait of growing up in Epping in the 1970s, Justin’s latest book is set amid Britain’s fighter squadrons during World War II and is based on the true story of a young, elite unit of Australian pilots who flew against Nazi Germany.

Released to rave reviews, Nor the Years Condemn is published on Print-on-Demand Paperback at Amazon.

From the P&F

IgNatIaN 57

Tour de GrozziForget the Tour de France!

Tim Grosmann (OR2000) started the Tour de Lounge (TdL) a couple of years ago when his (now) wife Di Meagher was undergoing chemo treatment for Hodgkin’s lymphoma. Grozzi was so bored hanging around the unit being the caretaker that he thought riding his exercise bike while watching the Tour de France would help him kill some time. All on his ownsome, he set up the bike in pole position in his lounge before the SBS coverage and started to feel he was riding in the ‘peloton’. After sending updates to friends and family, the thing soon turned into the Tour de Lounge and Di, once returned from hospital, became the tour manager. Last year, the peloton grew to five, with four of his tubby Riverview mates joining. They set themselves the challenge of clocking up 1000 kilometres over the 23-night duration of the Tour de France, and got their family and friends to sponsor them in achieving this goal with all money raised going to the Leukaemia Foundation. The Tour de Lounge is all about not feeling the road beneath you or the sun in your face. It’s about living your pro-cycling dreams in your pyjamas in the comfort of your living room. It’s about believing you can be a world-beating, mountain-eating, enduro-freak without ever leaving the comfort of your own home. Wives and girlfriends (aka tour managers) reluctantly provided supplies and hydration during many long nights, and last year they raised more than $10,000. Anyone and everyone is welcome to join the peloton this year. Please have a look at tourdegrozzi.blogspot.com You can also go for the 250km Sprinter’s Cup or 500km Roleur’s Dream. They’ll even accept regular road miles and gym miles. If you are interested, email Tim at [email protected]

In pole position in his lounge, Tim Grosmann (OR2000) cycles

the Tour de Lounge, to raise money for charity

Erik Shipp (OR43) died on 22 August 2011. Erik was born at Waverley, Sydney, but his early life was spent in Longueville and his secondary schooling at Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview after which he trained as a pilot in the Australian Air Force. However, the war ended before he saw active service.

Erik had a passion for science from an early age and completed a B.Sc (Hons 1) at Sydney University in 1950. Erik’s first appointment 1950-1951, was as a Biologist with the Australian National Antarctic Expedition at Macquarie Island working on rabbit management for which he was awarded an Expeditioner’s Medallion. Erik was well known from the 1960s through to the mid 1980s for settting up a team at UNSW that developed methods for assessing modes of action and efficacy of insecticides and for researching new and integrated approaches to the control of sheep blowflies and many other urban and agricultural pests, including research into the biology and management of a range of stored product pests and the effects of irradiation on insects, especially leaf hoppers, houseflies and fruit flies.

Erik had a strong, positive influence on the lives of many. He was responsible for the teaching and supervision of several hundred entomology graduates and post graduates many of whom are now to be found in key positions within the industry and government and he is remembered by them with gratitude and fondness. Erik is survived by his wife Inga, his three daughters, Elizabeth, Jennifer and Bronwen, their families and children.

An Extract from A Tribute by Chris Orton, School of BEES,

University of NSW:

Peter John Maguire (OR44), husband of Margaret and father of David, died on 13 April 2012. Peter spent many years as a Pharmacist at Calvary Hospital, Kogarah.

John Desmond Hehir (OR44 – Peer Year) died on 3 May 2012. John left Riverview in 1943, completing his final year of school at Xavier College, Melbourne. John’s grandfather, Michael Hughes (deceased) (OR1883), was one of the first students to attend Riverview. His uncle, Cedric Hughes (OR1926) also attended the College. John became a highly respected obstetrician and gynaecologist in Canberra. John married June and was the father of Peter (OR75), John (OR76), Mark (OR79), Jane and Andrew (OR88). Andrew has three sons on the College waiting list.

De B (OR55)

John Caragh gorman (OR44) died on 16 August 2011. He was born on 5 July 1926 in Queanbeyan, NSW, the third and last child of John Caragh Gorman and Margaret O’Hanlon. His was a privileged and sheltered childhood with his sister Moya and brother Neville (OR41 deceased) on the property of Googong, south of Queanbeyan.

The life that John had was a remarkable one. His growing up on the land, Saint Ignatius’ College, Riverview education, military experiences, marriage and family, playing polo and extensive travels, reflected an uncommon way of

living life. John spent the last five years of his schooling at Riverview, finishing in 1944. He was told to do physics and chemistry and claimed he was hopeless at doing them, always being much more interested in history and geography. But it was sport that claimed him at Riverview and I believe it was during this period that John formed the view that life was an adventure to be enjoyed and lived to the full.

At Riverview, John enjoyed rowing, loved rugby and was committed to boxing. In rowing, training consisted of racing the ferries on the Parramatta River. This is how John described it.

‘I did rowing in the eights. I was the front guy in the boat. …. The ferries could beat us on the straight but they were always having to stop and pick up people and we were going flat out. It was very ‘sharky’ country there and often there were great big sharks beside us. You only have about two millimetres between you and the shark. It wasn’t all that good.’

John was an enthusiastic rugby player at school and continued to play while in the army at Duntroon. This is how he described the time.

‘[At school] I played front row. In the pigs. So when I went to the army and they said, ‘Where did you play’. I said ‘wing!’ I was not going back to the front row again. I don’t think I had all that much [speed], but I had a lot of determination.’

John left school and joined the army, graduating from Duntroon in 1947 then seeing service ‘attached’ to British occupying forces, first in Japan in 1948, then in Germany from 1949 to 1950 and with the English 8th Hussars in Korea in 1951. He never lost touch with the reality and brutality of war. Seeing the truck loads of semi frozen, dead American soldiers during the Korean War made him realise, ‘the war was no longer the sort of plaything I thought it was. This was deadly serious.’

John married Marcella Rex in April 1953 and they later had three

Lieutenant John Gorman, 1st Armoured Car Squadron 1948


58 IgNatIaN

children, Julia, Gabriella and Fiona. John left the regular army in 1953 and joined the Citizens Army stationed at Parramatta, resigning in 1960. ‘I’d got my war and I’d got everything it had to offer . . .So I thought I’d squeezed the lemon pretty dry by then.’

John and Marcella built their house Bunyip on their own piece of land and then in 1959 the family bought the property ‘Taliesin’ and another of John’s long held dreams of playing polo came true. During his thirty-year polo career, John achieved a rating of three. He also managed to combine polo with his enthusiasm for travel. The next thirty years saw him establish a pattern of travel, horses, good company and plenty of lively conversation at garden and dinner parties, around food and wine. John spent the last ten years of his travels with his partner Sanyu Kibukamusoke.

John loved books and reading because they widened the world for him. This was his Riverview, legacy. Even though John was not particularly religious he considered the Jesuits to be by far the greatest of the Catholic Orders. For him, they were teachers and soldiers and they provided the best preparation for making your own way in the world. In 2007 John revisited Riverview for the first time since 1944 and was just as enthusiastic about his old school as ever.

Throughout his life, John always had superb timing when switching to a new activity or adventure. He always knew when to go. And so it was with his death in 2011 at the age of 85. His property Bunyip south of Queanbeyan, NSW, will soon be encircled by the residential development of the new township of Googong. This is a part of progress in which John had no interest in whatsoever.

George Imashev

Anthony (Tony) Joseph Gardener (OR48) died on 3 April 2012. Brother of John (OR46) and Justin (OR53). Tony was born on 21 April 1931 in Newchwang China, and

from 1935 we lived in Shanghai. He was a very lively boy who loved the out doors and sport. Tony and John were booked to go to Stonyhurst, the famous Jesuit College in England in 1940, but because of the Second World War, this was not possible, so in January 1941, the two older boys went to Riverview. Until October 1945, John and Tony remained boarders at Riverview with absolutely no family in Australia.

These five years at Riverview were the most formative of Tony’s life. Despite the vagaries of the war and being so removed from his parents, these were generally happy years for him. He played rugby and cricket and made lots of friends who he remembered

fondly for the rest of his life. His faith, imbedded in him by our Mother, deepened and developed into a life long devotion to the Eucharist and the Church. During these years, Tony was befriended by the family of his class mate, Paul Lamerand (OR49). He stayed with the family during some of the holidays at their property, Mulga Downs in Western Queensland. He loved the whole family for the rest of his life, Mr. and Mrs. Lamerand, who became his surrogate parents, their two daughters Jeannette and Marie and their son Paul, his best friend. During these holidays, Tony also fell in love with horses, riding and every thing about the Outback.

John, Tony and I became boarders at Stonyhurst College in 1946 but

these years were a distraction for Tony and on leaving Stonyhurst, he returned to Australia and, as soon as he could, became a jackeroo and then an overseer on various properties in the Outback. But in his late twenties, Tony reluctantly came to the decision that he did not have a future in the Outback. He then tried his hand at several professions before becoming a qualified teacher of disadvantaged and, in particular, sight impaired children. When he retired he worked for many years as an honorary Brail translator for the Blind Society, translating several books into Brail each year.

In retirement, he lived in Woy Woy, close to the water so that he could swim and sail, near quiet roads where he could ride his bike, and was somewhere that had a local rugby team that he could follow. But most importantly, it was close to the church, so that he could attend Mass and receive Communion every day. He was a catechist and a Minister of the Eucharist at St John the Baptist Parish Church in Woy Woy.

Tony suffered a severe stroke in June 2010 and died a slow death thereafter. He was in Purgatory, and whilst painful, I trust that this has speeded his journey to his God.

This was a loving man who gave his love to the children that he taught, to his family, his friends and to his Saviour and had more love than the World knew how to accept. He was truly ‘A Man for others’, who’s life followed the Prayer of St Francis that we sang during his Mass. Please remember him in your prayers.

Justin Gardener (OR53)

Peter Reginald Cahill (OR51 – Peer Year 1950) died on 8 January 2012. Peter was a Bowral Boy, going to the local Our Lady of the Sacred Heart School and then on to Riverview, where he was in the 1st XV and the Senior Athletics Team, in his final years. Peter had many business interests including Cahill

Requiescant in Pace

IgNatIaN 59

Restaurants, founded by his father Reginald. Our condolences to his widow Madeleine Pedersen and his son Stephen and daughters Jenny, Alice, Teresa and Julia, as well as his brother John (OR67).

De B (OR55)

William (Bill) James Thomas (OR51) died on 17 August 2011. Bill was a real estate valuer and property developer. We give our condolences to his widow Jann; children Michael, David, Bill, Paul, Robert and Julie, as well as his brother Ric (OR55) and his sons Ross (OR81) and Mark (OR86).

De B (OR55)

Paul Edward Lewis (OR51) died on 7 December 2011. Paul had a very succesful career as an orthodontist and towards retirement age continued part time. He was a great supporter of the OIU and Country reunions. He was OIU Committee President in 1982. When he told the same ‘bore water’ joke at all these functions. It went down well with the locals. However, some of the Sydney contingent, including the late Fr Charels Fraser SJ, did tire of it. His widow Lesley was P&F President in 1980 and was instrumental in the introduction of the Riverview Rose. Brother of Noel, deceased (OR54) and John, deceased (OR56), father of Catherine, Antony (OR80), Paul (OR80), Joanne and Matthew (OR84). RIP.

De B

Warwick Robert Ingall (OR51) died on 16 February 2012. He worked as a stockbroker in Sydney.

Paul James Fitzgerald (OR55)died on 12 February 2012. A successful grazier and farmer, living at Ashley, north of Moree, he moved to Goondiwindi in his retirement. Paul was a regular attendee at Country reunions (He was known as ‘Fitzy’ in Brisbane) and Class reunions, in Sydney. Our condolences go to his brother John OR49 and his sister Margaret. Paul was pre-

deceased by two other sisters Joanne and Geraldine.

De B (OR55)

Alexander Denis Larking (OR55) died on 27 March 2012. Alex studied Industrial Chemstry at Sydney Tech (now UNSW), with the assistance of ESSO, for whom he continued to work. He then became the Queensland Manager for BASF, for approximately 19 years. With the re-organisation of the company, Alex branched out on his own. Our condolences to his widow Jude and his sons Paul, Robert, Gary and David, all of whom were educated in Queensland.

De B (OR55)

Noel Michael Hammond (OR58) died on 21 May 2012. One of Riverview’s Greatest all-rounders it was inevitable that Michael Hammond was going to be talented – he came from very fine stock. His father Noel was an outstanding rower at Shore College in the 1st VIII and he coached the Riverview’s 1st VIII for a number of years in the 1960s and a winning GPS Eight in 1964. His Aunty Dame Joan Hammond was the famous opera singer who succeeded Dame Nellie Melba and preceded Dame Joan Sutherland. She was also the Australian Ladies Golf Champion.

Michael had a magnificent family of two boys and three girls all of whom were talented, especially Michael Junior who is a successful television personality and executive and his loving and devoted widow Kerry (neé Cleary), who was his teenage sweetheart and the sister of Michael Cleary who was a triple Australian representative.

Michael Hammond was outstanding in everything for which he strove; he was in the 1st XV for two years and selected with his brother, Sam,

and John Thorpe in the GPS 1st XV and played State Rugby after school. He rowed in the Riverview Senior VIII which won the 1958 GPS Head of the River. He was in the Senior Athletic Team as a runner and won the shot put (he was amazingly fast for a big man). He could sing well and was a highly successful hotelier and businessman along with his brother Sam. He was one of the first to export livestock to Saudi Arabia. He was the club champion at NSW Golf Club and was in the ‘A’ Pennant team for many years – he could have been a professional golfer as he was on a scratch handicap. Mick was one of the greatest all-rounders that Riverview has produced.

Yet, with all of his multifarious talents and achievements his most outstanding talent was his ability to get along with people in all walks of life. He had such a magnetic, engaging and gregarious personality. He loved everyone and everyone loved him.

Michael was a devout Catholic as is his wife Kerry – they were the model family in the true Catholic tradition and indeed in the Ignatian tradition he was a ‘man for others’ and one of the finest men you could ever meet. I valued his friendship especially and it was a privilege to have known him, as so many of us feel.

At the Dalton Memorial Chapel Riverview a magnificent ceremony was conducted by Fr Tom O’Hara SJ and he was assisted by Mons Tony Doherty (OR50). Fr O’Hara SJ said that Michael had the gift of faith, hope and love. Michael, his son, spoke of a giant of a man, of his unconditional love of him and his family. He was an uncomplicated and sincere man. Chris his other son, in an unabated genuine emotion, spoke of the great love for his father and he would miss him tremendously. Sam, his brother, and Sue, his sister, read from the Gospel beautifully. A wonderful and welcoming gathering was held at Tara and David Sekel’s place at Castle Cove.

(Noel) Michael Hammond (OR58)


60 IgNatIaN

He battled cancer for many years and pulled through many relapses with his typical courage and determination. At 70 years of age it is a tragic loss to his family and many friends and the world will be a sorrier place for his loss. He is survived by his widow, Kerry, his children Michael Junior (OR82), Tracey, Chris (OR86), Tara and Kirsty; his brother Sam (OR58) and his two sisters Sue and Antoinette and 15 grandchildren.

Terry Pfafflin (OR54)

Ian Richard Joyce (OR59)Ian was born in Plymouth, UK on 6 May 1942. He started his secondary education at Saint Thomas More College in Nottingham and immigrated to Australia with his parents and sister, Phillipa, in 1956 attending Riverview from 1956 to 1959. He married Vreni in 1970. They lived in England for approximately 25 years, running several successful businesses. Upon returning to Australia, they settled on the hinterland of the Gold Coast, where Ian died on 16 November 2011. Ian’s sister, Phillipa, is married to David Hayes (OR65). They have four children.

Ian was the epitome of politeness and charm giving unbounded joy to all who knew him. His love of the great German racing cars earned him the affectionate nickname von Benz.

Marshall Ahern (OR60)

Thomas (Tom) Joseph Hartigan (OR61) died on 27 November 2011 after a long battle with cancer; it was, to the day, his 40th wedding anniversary. Son of Geoffrey Thomas and Kathleen Hartigan, Tom was born on 14 December 1943. His brother Geoffrey (OR64) died some six years ago. Tom was one of the bright ones in his year and excelled in maths under the tutelage of Tom Crowley.

After leaving school Tom attained a Bachelor of Commerce and qualified as a Chartered Accountant through Smith Johnson (later KPMG) in 1968.

He thus followed in the footsteps of his father who was a leading Sydney Chartered Accountant and Company Director. Tom’s career moved from Chartered Accounting to stockbrok-ing, then as Chief Executive of finance company Midland Credit.As Tom’s career developed, he became well recognised as a director of entrepreneurial type companies. This continued for decades and at the time of his passing he was the Chairman of three listed companies.

Tom was a man of a generous spirit. This was shown not only by his teaching contribution to Glenaeon School (where he gained great joy and pride that he was able to pass on his commercial knowledge and experience to the students), but also to St Patrick’s church development committee where he served for some 20 years.

In his eulogy, Marist Priest Ray Chapman referred to Tom in Ignatian terms as being ‘generous to a fault and someone who gave himself willingly and gladly to others’. His funeral was held at St Patrick’s Church and was packed to overflowing. He is survived by his wife Felicity and three children Hugh, Patrick and Kathleen.

Robert Pfafflin (OR60)

Paul Charles Koenig (OR69) The husband of Moira; father of Toby (OR2001), Kip (OR2004) and Petra, Paul died on 17 January 2012.

Paul attended kindergarten, two doors from home; then Loreto Kirribilli; next to St Aloysius’ in Primary School and Riverview in Secondary School. Paul & I did many things together. We joined Lavender Bay Sea Scouts. Later he became the troop leader, a highly exalted position.

Paul showed a lot of ability from an early age. It so happened that the Big Bear shopping centre had a Bike Competition. You had to write, in so many words, why you wanted this glistening Malvern Star bike. The other 163 entrants lost; Paul won; he got the bike. To top that,

several years later, whilst a student at the University of NSW, he bought a 250cc Honda motor-bike, no doubt giving Dad a lot more grief.

I should also make reference to Paul’s success in the College Cadets, where he became the second highest officer. cricket and rugby union were two sports that Paul enjoyed most at St Aloysius’ and Riverview. He also rowed in the 1 st IV at the Head of the River. Later, he continued his interest in cricket and rugby.

In the School Certificate, Paul scored perfect 6As. In the HSC, his result was good enough to allow him to enter medicine at the University of NSW. Whilst there, like myself, he joined the Universities of NSW Air Squadron part time (a legitimate way of avoiding Vietnam conscription). Here we learnt to be officers and gentlemen, and enjoyed access to the Squadron bar and several memorable dining-in nights.

Paul was a well-rounded person. He seemed to always succeed in what he sought. He attracted and kept many good friends. He had a sharp eye for detail and a keen sense of humour.His mantra was ‘Nothing ventured; nothing gained’.

Chris Koenig

Martin Hawcroft (OR77) died on 30 April 2012. Marty was both a horse breeder at Byerley Stud, Sandy Hollow, and an owner of hotels, including Newcastle’s iconic Noah’s on the Beach. Remembered by some as a ‘fun-loving larrikin’, he is more generally remembered for his devotion to building profile for the Newcastle and Upper Hunter tourist industry, as well as his generosity, kindness to others and his ability to encourage others to believe in themselves. Others remember Marty’s love of music, particularly country and western, of his reading of bush poetry and storytelling and of a strong handshake and direct look in the eye. He is survived by his wife, Jennifer and their boys Nicholas and Henry.

the College extends its sympathy to all members of the Riverview family who have lost loved ones. While every care is taken with the accuracy of these obituaries we cannot accept responsibility for errors in material provided in good faith.

Requiescant in Pace

A suite of six new windows was created in 2009, as part of a larger ‘renewal’ of the Dalton Memorial Chapel. In the initial stages of their design, the committee adopted an approach based several key points. For example, it was important for the windows to

create the sense of one, coherent suite. Further, the windows that faced each other on opposite sides of the Chapel needed to visually relate to one another.

Transparency and simplicity were to be the principle design elements of the windows, aiming to reflect the uncluttered journey of Ignatius—the journey of ‘the feet and the heart’. A key part of the simplicity of the design was the use of one central symbol that reflected each of the six key themes of Ignatius the Pilgrim, faith that promotes justice, men and women for others, God in all things, the founders and the Magis. In addition, each theme would be personified by an individual or individuals through the use of either a direct or oblique reference.

Finally, it was intended that the windows would promote contemplation, meditation and investigation through the layered complexity of the central symbol, intended metaphors and textured backgrounds.

Men and Women for OthersThe circular symbol is the rim of a bowl. It is the bowl of offering, a metaphorical symbol for unrequited giving. Both Kevin Fagan and Mary MacKillop are used as examples of selflessness in this window through a quote pertaining to each of them: ‘he never spared himself nor would he while he was needed’ which appears within the rim of the bowl, and ‘never see a need without doing something about it’, which surrounds the outer rim.

The background of the window is the ubiquitous gumleaf cover of the Australian ground surface, while contained by the bowl shape is the Ignatian prayer for generosity.

Fr Andy Bullen SJ

Artist’s preliminary drawing for the ‘Men and women for Others’

stained glass window in the Dalton Memorial Chapel

Men & Women for Others

IgNatIaN

N ever see a need without doing something about it

Mary MacKillop

Dearest Lord teach me to be generous . . . to fight . . . to toil . . . to labour and not ask

reward save knowing I do your holy willPrayer for Generosity

ignatian mid year 2012

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