Principal's Report

ANZAC Day

As I write this editorial, I’m sitting in my comfortable office chair, at my desk, typing away on my computer and my mind drifts off as I imagine a “normal” non-COVID-19 life. Like most people I love Fridays, but I would have been jumping out of my skin today! Tomorrow is ANZAC Day, my favourite day of the year. To me this iconic day beats all comers, be it Cup Day, Christmas Day or even my birthday.

Like many Australians and New Zealanders my day starts early, with my son Thomas and I waking early to make the short drive from our house for the dawn service at Pearcedale, a small village on the outskirts of suburbia, about 15kms south of Cranbourne. We have been going to this dawn service for nearly 8 years now and the crowds have grown bigger and bigger every year. No matter the weather; men, woman and children from nearby suburbs and towns, descend on the grounds of the immaculate white, wooden town hall with a distinctive rivergum green colourbond roof, surrounding the grey stone monument and unusually tall silver flag pole, standing patiently, awaiting the entrance of the bagpipe player and catafalque party from HMAS Cerberus, the nearby naval base. The service includes speeches from members of the armed forces, local politicians and school children, the national anthem, a prayer read by the navy chaplain and the usual highlight, the eerie playing of the last post by the navy bugle man, as first light breaks across the district. We all pay tribute to those who have served and remember those who have fallen, many, including me, find it difficult to keep emotions hidden, reflecting on the ultimate sacrifice that men and women have made in the service of our country. In particular, I think about my grandfather who served in the 2/1 Topographic Survey Company throughout World War II. From the deserts of Northern Africa to the jungles of Papua New Guinea. Whilst he didn’t serve directly on the perilous front lines, he suffered in many different ways, whether it be with malaria, dysentery or the constant exposure to the life and death struggle against the marauding Japanese army. This saddest part is that when the war was won, like many, he didn’t return the same person that he was when he left. As Winston Churchill so eloquently and famously said, “Never in the field of human conflict was so much, owed by so many, to so few.”

Once the dawn service concludes and as Thomas and I head home, our minds begin to shift: to Football. As proud, passionate and probably one-eyed Essendon members, ANZAC Day is the highlight of our year (probably because we rarely play finals these days!). We watch the Bombers most weeks, sometimes travelling interstate and we love every minute of it. Tomorrow we would normally head in early, have lunch on Swan Street in Richmond and make the short stroll over to the MCG, filled with hope for a Bombers win, and maybe even another Zaharakis type finish like his match winning goal in the final seconds of the 2009 game. “To Zaharakis, Zaaaahhhaaarrakkiisss has kicked a goal, the Bombers are in front at the G!” It’s still gives me chills! As does the solemn last post and minutes silence in a stadium filled with 100,000 silent people. The national anthem then builds the atmosphere to a crescendo and the roar at its conclusion is like nothing else, I experience all year.

There is so much that I am going to miss tomorrow on ANZAC Day. There is so much that I have missed about “normal life” over the past few weeks. I know most of our students, staff and parents feel the same way I do. But ANZAC Day does provide us with perspective about what we are missing out on, because what we are going through at the moment is the loss of some things that we take for granted, for what we hope will be a short period of time. As much as we miss our friends, family members, football games, shopping, travelling, teachers, school etc., we are not being required to make the sacrifices that our previous generations had to make when we were at war. But like then, we will get through this period together by supporting each other, because that is what Australians do best! Right now, we want everyone to be safe, happy and healthy. Our teachers and leaders are committed to this, and we will adapt our approach with this in mind. Stay safe, stay healthy.

Lest we forget.

Kevin Murphy

Principal