Alumni

Building the Alumni Connection

In a change to the alumni program, Alumni Pins now include students’ graduating year (cohort) and from 2022 will be presented to students as they commence Year 7 to build connection and strengthen community amongst year levels and with the School.

To ensure this year’s students don’t miss out, Community Engagement has been presenting 2021 students in Years 7 to 10 with their Alumni pins. Year 12, Year 10 and Year 7 received their Pins during Gatherings at the end of Term 1. Other year levels will receive theirs during Term 2. Alumni Pins are also presented to those students who depart Friends’ during primary school.

“Once you leave the School, you will start making your own choices about what communities you are part of, and how you want to contribute. Please know that you are always welcome in the Friends’ Alumni Community. You will be adding your stories to a rich tapestry and there is great strength in sharing our stories, and through them, making meaningful connections that strengthen and connect us, our community and The Friends’ School.” Lucy Loney, Development Manager.

Please click here to read the full story.

The Friends’ School LinkedIn

The School is growing The Friends’ School LinkedIn community to build global digital connections with our alumni community. When adding the School in your profile, please select The Friends’ School from the drop-down menu as opposed to entering free text and ‘follow’ the page for updates and information about the School and Alumni community.

Melanie Eckersley-Maslin, Class of 2003

Using stem cell research to fight cancer has won former student Melanie Eckersley-Maslin one of two $55,000 annual Metcalf Prizes for Stem Cell Research, awarded by the National Stem Cell Foundation of Australia. Now married with two sons aged 1 and 3, Melanie runs a research lab at Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne.

What happened when you left School, what path did you take?

After leaving Friends’ I completed a Bachelor of Advanced Sciences with an honours year in Immunology at the University of Sydney. During this time I got to do some projects in various research labs and really enjoyed the experience so decided to do a PhD. I really love travelling and exploring so I applied to PhD programs overseas and was accepted into Cold Spring Harbor Laboratory’s (CSHL) Graduate School of Biological Sciences on Long Island in New York, one hour from Manhattan. Here I spent 5 and a half years completing my thesis research on gene regulation in stem cells. 

CSHL is a melting pot for molecular biologists and during this time I met a lot of amazing scientists including many Nobel laureates from all over the world. I also got to enjoy travelling around the USA, Canada and Mexico to go to scientific conferences but also on holidays. 

During my PhD I decided I really enjoyed academic research and would like to run my own research group one day, but wasn’t quite ready to return to Australia. So I moved to Cambridge in the UK to do my postdoctoral research with Professor Wolf Reik who is a world leader in using new technologies to look at how cell identity is controlled in development. I spent nearly six years in Cambridge, researching a range of important developmental questions including how the genome is first awakened after fertilisation, and why the earliest cells in the embryo can become any cell type in the adult, while adult cell types are locked in their identity. 

During this time I met my husband and my two sons were born. I loved being in Europe and spent a lot of time travelling to visit other research labs in Paris and Germany, go to conferences in Spain, Portugal, Switzerland and Greece and explored many different countries on holidays including Croatia, the Netherlands and further afield in Africa. In 2018 we decided to move to Australia to raise our young family, and so I started to look for group leader positions. I’m really excited to have now started my research group in early 2021 at the Peter MacCallum Cancer Centre in Melbourne where I use principles from developmental biology to get new insights into cancer.

One thing that has struck me over the years is how early embryonic development shares several similarities with cancer development. My lab leverages this parallel by using knowledge of how embryos grow to understand how cancers develop from normal healthy adult cells. The first cells to form in the embryo are unique in their ability to become any cell type found in the adult, while healthy adult cells suppress this ability through control mechanisms. When these control mechanisms fail, adult cells can acquire new identities reminiscent of the rapidly growing early embryo, ultimately leading to cancer. This research will ultimately lead to opening new avenues for cancer prognostic and therapeutic interventions.

What are your memories of Friends'?

I have some very strong memories of Friends’, mostly of the people and teachers who believed in me and nurtured my interests in maths, biology and creative writing. I joined the orchestra and Duke Of Edinburgh Award and loved going on the overnight hikes in Tassie’s national parks. I was very focused academically and a bit of a nerd as I actually really enjoyed studying and learning new things. I did try my hand at sports like tennis and hockey but was really quite bad! 

What advice do you have for current students? 

To have fun and enjoy what you’re doing. Find something that excites you and you will never feel like you have a ‘job’. I still pinch myself that I’m being paid to do what I love to do day in day out. There are so many possibilities out there so seize them and live the life you dream to have.

Beth Bennett, A Life of Service (1923-2021), Class of 1940 | Kathy Rundle

Beth (Elizabeth) Bennett (nee Geeves) was born in Hobart in 1923 and died in February 2021. The Geeves family lived in York Street, Sandy Bay so it was logical that in 1930 she was enrolled at “Little Friends” in nearby View Street. Beth remembered her years at Friends’ Sandy Bay Prep School fondly. She especially remembered Miss Tanner and Miss Piece. Beth credited the musical grounding given by Miss Piece as a big part of her lifelong love of Music. She remembered regular visits to “Little Friends” by Mr. Unwin. Moving to the Commercial Road School in the mid-1930s Beth’s delight in “School” continued.

She loved a full gambit of classes and activities, especially remembering “lit“ nights where plays and skits were performed with “everyone having a part”.

Beth said Friends’ School allowed her to “embrace Quaker values” which in turn, helped shape her personal life values: “commitment to community, compassion for others”.

During her School years, Beth attended Quaker Meeting in the old Meeting House in Murray Street and sometimes the Boarders’ Sunday evening gathering. She became an active member of the Society of Friends as an adult. Confirming her practice of lifelong “serving”.

Headmaster Ernest Unwin recommended Beth to the Mothercraft Nursing training Institution at the time of her leaving School in 1940. Beth married Harry Bennett after his return from war service in 1947 and they moved to raise their family and work their orchard in Geeveston.

At the time of crisis in “the apple industry” in 1974, Beth and Harry retired to Orford. Beth immersed herself in her new community and used her personal enthusiasms to leverage, change and enrich the community to which she belonged for over forty years.

Beth’s time living on the East Coast was devoted to service, she began her service to Girl Guides as a leader in Geeveston and went on in Orford to become District Commissioner for the East Coast and later a Board member for Guides Australia. Beth continued working for the War Widows’ Guild of Australia and was Chair of the East Coast branch for over 30 years.

Beth served as Councillor on the Spring Bay Council (and was a trailblazer for female councillors in the municipal area). She was the Council’s representative on the Regional Library Board and acted as custodian and committee member of the Orford Hall. A member of the Spring Bay Singers, she was also an organiser of concerts and supporter of local theatre through the Orford Odeon.

She served as a Justice of the Peace, was a founding member of Prosser House in Orford, offering group activities for seniors and people with disability. She served as a board member of the Orford Caring Group and an advocate of memory services for those lost to suicide. Beth was a Board member of the Seniors Bureau and was instrumental in the Eldercare unit project at Triabunna.

Apart from her extraordinary contribution to the life of her community, it was Beth’s small everyday actions, “her revelling in daily delights” that were her greatest triumphs. Beth’s appreciation and love of people and the natural environment were the platforms from which she let her life speak.

Beth was honoured on the Tasmanian Roll for Women in 2007, a Tasmanian finalist for Senior Australian of the Year in 2008 and awarded an OAM for her service to the community.

Inspirations | Barbara Campbell (Masters), Class of 1958

It is very much later in your life that you realise the effects some special teachers can have on your life.

I enjoyed the History of Art with Mrs Martin. I have been interested in Architecture and archaeology for many years. The use of perspective in building and painting and photography was the influence in my belonging to the National Trust for more than thirty years. I suppose it was also the influence of my ancestors who were Architects, also three engineers in my family, which drew me to the works of Frank Lloyd Wright.

I loved the paintings of Max Angus and Ernest Unwin because I was so familiar with their subjects. You could get feelings from their painting, both in what the weather was like and the memories it inspired. The love of mixing and matching colours has fostered my hobby of making patchwork quilts.

I only did one year of Latin but it was so helpful in the nursing language and also understanding words in Italian and Spanish. I was not very good with spoken French at school, but when I was in Paris in 2017 I could understand the text on the television, in the newspaper and in the cafes.

I received a lower pass in maths one in Schools Board but it did not stop me from getting a degree at a mature age. I did the book-keeping for about 36 years as a farming business partner. All thanks to Miss Newbon.

In Science, we did Anatomy and Physiology with Mr Brown. It was very helpful in the nursing training and later I earned a distinction in Biology in my Degree. The values of behaviour expressed in Mr Oats’ books inspired me to study Ethics in my degree. I later went to a major Ethics conference in Sydney and also was on the Ethics Committee at the hospital.

My love of books caused me to have 10 bookcases in our last house and I now have three in my unit. I also look after the library in the village and for the Riverside Probus Club. I looked after the National Trust Historical archives for more than ten years until they went to Hobart.

I also remember with respect Miss Stanfield, Miss Yeats, Mr Asten and Mrs Barnard.

I loved signing at the Speech Nights in the City Hall.

From ‘worst students in the class’ to published authors! | Prue Hutton and Jane Naqvi (nee Blythe) – from the class of 1962

Prue Hutton began at The Friends’ School in Class 1 in 1951, well before Jane Naqvi (nee Blythe) arrived in Class 7. Many years after School they reconnected only to find they had much in common!

School days for both of us were over in 1962 and were followed by lifetimes of studies and sport, travels and work, kids and grandkids. Busy, busy times, during which we rarely ran into each other, and when we did it was usually in ‘an education context’ as Jane was a teacher at Fahan for many years and I (Prue) taught here at Friends’ for an equally long stretch. 

When we happened to be seated together at the Friends’ 50 plus Alumni Luncheon in 2020, on the cusp of Covid, we shared memories of teachers, stories and old friends, before Jane said: 

‘Ok, so tell me what you’ve been up to since we left school a thousand years ago.’ 

Prue ended her story with: ‘And then in 2018 I had a book published and later this year, I’ll be publishing another.’  

‘Unbelievable,’ said Jane, ‘I’m in the midst of getting a book published too.’ 

‘Really?’ said Prue, ‘And what do you reckon Seedy Yates would think about that?’

‘She wouldn’t believe it.’ 

‘She was pretty hard on me,’ said Prue.

‘Were we really the worst students in her class?’ said Jane.

‘Probably.’

This instigated many discussions about Miss Jean Yates (Seedy) the revered teacher of English and then we spoke of Mrs Roslyn Martin, a revered teacher of Art. 

We laughed as we recalled our antics (in both classes) but we concluded how indebted we were from having both of these task-master teachers who now appeared to have inspired us in our own career paths, from Prue’s career in Fine Art and Art teaching at Friends’ and Jane’s in teaching English and a variety of subjects from Years 6 to 12 at Fahan.  We didn’t talk of the content of our books; we didn’t have time left for that. But we promised to go to each other’s book launches. 

Friends’ Hobart Alumni Club

The first Friends’ Hobart Alumni Club was held on 29 January 2021 at Boodle Beasley. Open to any Friends’ Alumni community members (former students, past parents, former staff, volunteers and friends) we hope to hold more events this year for our Hobart Friends’ community to connect. If you have an idea for a future event, or an experience you can offer our group, please get in touch. 

For more information on the event contact Alumni Community Representative Flick Boucher at felicity.boucher@hotmail.com or Laura Halm, Community Engagement Coordinator at lhalm@friends.tas.edu.au. 

A special High Tea | 50+ Reunion

With appropriate COVID safe measures in place, we were delighted to be able to proceed with the 50+ Reunion event on Sunday 28 February. Held as a High Tea those former students who left the School more than 50 years ago came together to connect after an extraordinary year. 

Please click hereto see some photos from the event and read some reflections that Mary Woolnough has collected about the day. 

Ric Finlay - The man behind the numbers

Ric recently provided his story to Mary Woolnough. Thank you to Ric and to Mary for this story.

I arrived at Pendle Hill in early 1965 as a boarder from the Campbell Town district, and spent four mainly productive years at the Friends’ School (Classes 8 to 11), which did most of the three schools I attended to set me up for my life. For family reasons, I spent the last two years of my school education in Launceston, mainly, I think to prevent me and my siblings being scattered all over the State at this time. Although I was part of a State Independent Schools premiership cricket side, the move certainly flattened the trajectory of my academic development, and it took me a while to “catch up” when I returned to Hobart for university study.

Anyway, it all ended well: I accepted a studentship from the Education department in return for a year’s compulsory employment at the end of my study, and after four years, I was posted to Burnie High School, happy to do my “bond” year and then perhaps look for something more exciting to do. In the event, the one year turned into 33 as I completed three of them at Burnie before returning to Hobart, and stints at Claremont High, Rose Bay High. I then embarked upon 20 years of teaching Mathematics at Hobart and Elizabeth Colleges, retiring from that profession at the earliest opportunity in 2008.

Continue the full story on our website.

Postponed 2020 Reunions have now been held!

Reunions scheduled during 2020 that were not able to be held due to Covid have now happily run this year. To see information and photos for any of these reunions use the links below.

Class of 2010

Class of 2000

Class of 1990

Class of 1980

Class of 1970

Upcoming Reunions

To keep up to date visit Reunions & Events and don’t forget to update your details to ensure you receive information about your reunion. Enquiries to stayconnected@friends.tas.edu.au. 

Class of 1991 – 30 Year Reunion

Saturday 11 September 2021

Upstairs Boodle Beasley | Tour 4pm, Drinks & Nibbles 5.30pm

Class of 1981 – 40 Year Reunion

Saturday 11 September 2021

Upstairs Boodle Beasley | Tour 4pm, Drinks & Nibbles 5.30pm

Class of 2011 – 10 Year Reunion

Saturday 18 September 2021

Upstairs Boodle Beasley | Tour 4pm, Drinks & Nibbles 5.30pm

Class of 2001 – 20 Year Reunion

Date TBC

Upstairs Boodle Beasley | Tour 4pm, Drinks & Nibbles 5.30pm

Class of 1971 – 50 Year Reunion

Saturday 6 November 2021

Hodgkin Hall | Tour 4.30pm, Dinner 6pm

Class of 2020 – 1 Year Reunion

Friday 3 December 2021

Hobart Brewing Co. | Drinks & Nibbles 5.30pm

Class of 2016 – 5 Year Reunion

Saturday 4 December 2021

Upstairs Boodle Beasley | Drinks & Nibbles 5.30pm

Tasman Inglis (2020) our newest Alumni Rep

The Friends’ School Alumni Representatives would like to give a warm welcome to Tasman Inglis, joining the Rep team from the Class of 2020. Tasman brings a wealth of current knowledge about the ‘transition from School’ and the experiences of our young alumni. We look forward to working with Tasman to build our young alumni program. Thanks for joining the team Tasman!

We are currently seeking Representatives in ACT, NSW, NT, SA and Queensland to help coordinate local activities and initiatives. Contact stayconnected@friends.tas.edu.au for more information.

Alumni Rep Quarterly Meeting

Friends’ Alumni Reps meet each Term to discuss community initiatives that support meaningful engagement amongst our community and with the School. Our 2021 priorities are:

1. Grow The Friends’ School LinkedIn community to build global digital connections with our alumni community.
2. Continue to source and share Friends’ stories with our community.
3. Grow our newly minted Friends’ Hobart Club, including developing connections with those in our alumni community who can assist with the event.
4. Enhance our engagement with young alumni to assist with the transition from School and the initial years after graduating.
5. Continue to seek broad representation across leaving years (cohorts)and geographies.

Quarterly Alumni Rep Meeting - summary of discussions

About the Friends’ Alumni Community

The Friends’ Alumni Community encompasses alumni and their families, former staff and volunteers, and friends of the School – wherever they are in the world. Membership is automatic – there is no application or membership fee. Alumni Community Representatives volunteer their time to foster meaningful connections amongst the alumni community and with the School. To learn more about the Alumni Community, and current Representatives, visit Alumni Community on our website.

Stay Connected

Email: stayconnected@friends.tas.edu.au

Update Your Details

The Friends’ School LinkedIn

Friends’ Alumni Facebook