Vale - Jan Heaslip OAM

*Cover Image: Prime Minister John Howard, visited the College to pay tribute to Rev Dr Fred McKay. Here she is together with Chris Tudor and Dr Charles Butcher in 2001.

This week our College community was deeply saddened by the news that our beloved College Life-Governor, Jan Heaslip OAM had passed away. 

Jan was instrumental in the development of the day school and was a passionate advocate for children of the Outback. A member of the College Advisory Council / College Council for 22 years, and first Chair of the College Council, St Philip’s will be forever grateful for Jan’s immense contribution to the development of the College.

Jan’s tenacity through her association with St Philip’s, School of the Air and the ICPA ensured that parents in the Outback had a choice as to where they could school their children. In 1999, she received the College’s esteemed Outback Achiever award. Jan embodied the spirit of a pioneer, and her legacy will endure in the community she helped shape.

Below is an extract from The Right Amount of Crazy (a book which details the history of St Philip's College) written by Rev John Lamont and Mrs Alison Lamont, it highlights Jan's contribution in ensuring the day school became a reality.

Extract from The Right Amount of Crazy.

Jan’s first involvement with St Philip’s had come in the 1970s when Rev Graham Bence, the secretary of the Uniting Church’s Northern Synod, invited her to be on what was then the college advisory council. Jan had been heavily involved in the Isolated Children’s Parents’ Association (ICPA), becoming the NT branch’s inaugural president in 1982, and Graham had been impressed with her insight and compassion. In 1982 the Commission for National Mission and Frontier Services passed the governance of St Philip’s to the Northern Synod, with immediate responsibility for the governance of the college resting with a local council. By 1983 Jan had become chairperson of this newly established college council, a position she held for 11 years. Jan had first come to the Northern Territory when she was employed as a governess at Hamilton Downs Station and had learned firsthand the challenges of educating children in the bush. She married Grant Heaslip from Bond Springs Station and was soon faced with the challenge of educating her own four children, Tanya, M’Lis, Brett and Ben. Subsequently they went to Adelaide for their secondary schooling, an experience that devastated Jan as she missed them all terribly. It was at that time she developed a passion for education in the Outback.

Jan and Chris Tudor had originally envisaged developing a school for isolated children who would attend St Philip’s for twelve months prior to attending local government schools. However, when Jan retired as school council chairperson eight years later, St Philip’s was successfully running as an independent secondary school and a 10-year plan for the next phase of development had been established. They spent much time canvassing business and other personnel to gain insight into the educational needs of town residents. They also visited the head of the Joint Defence Facility at Pine Gap to promote their plans: the Americans appointed to postings in Alice Springs often sent their children to Melbourne boarding schools, or they stayed in the USA.

MAJOR SUPPORTERS

... when it came to financing the new school, it was the NT Government who came to the party. The CLP Government was willing to support endeavours that would keep people in the Territory by promoting choices in education. There were many risks, and so much to do. Jan was particularly grateful for the Uniting Church’s support in the persons of Colin Gillmore AM and Alex Kilgour, who gave generously of their expertise merely for the cost of airfares and accommodation. 

Jan’s role was crucial: she was in Darwin every couple of months, at her own expense, to liaise with government officials. She was always appreciative of Grant’s support both financially and emotionally. The Bicentennial Library—an initiative of Jan’s—was opened in 1988, and a stained-glass window there donated by the Heaslip family is a reminder of their contribution. Jan later became involved in the redrafting of the school constitution, and the designing of buildings and grounds. She was, however, mindful that her role did not interfere with the running of the school. 

She appreciated the consultative role Paul McKeown played in steadying their plans: Paul came for a few days each month and his help, insight and forward planning were invaluable. Paul’s motto was ‘no development without discussing the planning with me!’

Jan remembers him:  … walking around the school and making comments such as “Mmmmm … Christopher; I don’t recall that door being in thatwall last time I was here”, or “Christopher, is that really a newshed over in the corner?” … He was an outstanding advisor for us; we appreciated his input greatly. And I do think he enjoyed the very unorthodox but necessary way we operated.

Jan provided strong analytical leadership, researching and working to make sure St Philip’s was comparable to schools elsewhere in Australia. There were constant meetings, journeys to Darwin, hundreds of letters and many speeches toconvince people that this was possible and needed to be done. 

Jan concluded that:… this dream completely consumed our lives: our thinking, sleeping, living and planning moments. Lack of money did not hinder us. The challenge of locating the next grant, benefactor or supporter were challenges Chris and I relished and were excited by. Our vision kept driving us forward. Jan was later gratified that her grandchildren Mitch, Bonny and Anna Scott attended St Philip’s.

Jan was awarded an Order of Australia Medal in 1993 for her services to the education of children in isolated areas, and was a finalist in the 2011 Senior Territorian of the Year award. Other achievements have included the St Philip’s College Outback Achiever Award in 1999 and being admitted as an Honorary Fellow of the Association of Independent Schools NT (AISNT).  

She became the school’s first life governor in 1994. The citation concluded by stating that: … she has shown us that without vision little is achieved, but that if a vision is to be realised it must be coupled with hours of hard work, great determination, an unfaltering belief in what has to be achieved and a single-minded quest for success.