Community Engagement
We are very pleased to share a short film that was created about Gatherings at Friends’.
Gathering in silence, also known as Meeting for Worship, is the cornerstone of a Quaker School such as The Friends' School. This cherished practice offers students, staff, and the broader School community meaningful moments for reflection on the Quaker testimonies: simplicity, peace, integrity, community, equality, and earthcare. Through these Gatherings, students explore these values in depth and discover their relevance in the learning they engage with both inside and outside the classroom.
The School recently produced a new online tour via a YouTour portal. This online tour helps the viewer experience our facilities and learning in action. You are taken on a journey with fly-through virtual tour technology and can view 360 degree images at various locations. Please visit https://friends.youtour.com.au/
Giving
Student Giving Day - Wednesday 28 May 2025
This year’s Student Giving Day will be on Wednesday 28 May 2025. Once again students will be invited to come in free dress and bring a gold coin donation as a contribution to The Friends’ Fellowship. This needs-based scholarship enables a young person, whose family can least afford the fees, to commence at Friends’ the following year. The 2024 Student Giving Day was authentic and moving with students from Kindergarten to Year 12 reflecting on our shared value of gratitude and our ability to take collective action in the service of others.
Impact of Giving 2024
The Impact of Giving 2024 is out now.
This annual magazine acknowledges and thanks all those in our community who support The Friends’ School. When you give to Friends’, your gift and support don’t just impact the current student body; they create a ripple effect that extends far beyond. Students educated in an environment that values integrity, critical thinking, and service to others are more likely to carry these values into the world. They become leaders, innovators, and positive contributing members of society.
To read the Impact of Giving visit the Publications webpage on the School website or call Main Reception on (03) 6210 2203 to obtain a printed copy.
Alumni in the news
Congratulations George Kennedy (2013), for being a finalist in this year’s prestigious prize for landscape painting, the Glover Prize with his work “The Wreckage of Rokeby”. You can read a longer story about George here.
Classical music fans - visit ABC to stream Friends' alumnus Samuel Cairnduff (Class of 1994) week long presentation of ABC Evenings.
Gaining real global experience, Lachlan Smith (2008) is teaching at the high school at Penticton Indian Band (PIB), a First Nations government in the Okanagan Valley in British Columbia, Canada.
Road and track endurance cyclist Felicity “Fliss” Wilson-Haffenden (2023) is also gaining a global perspective living in Girona, Spain, having signed up with the Lidl-Trek team after winning the world championships in the junior individual time trial in 2023. Read the Bicycling Australia interview with Fliss here.
Alumni quick updates
Laura Michaelson (2009) is Assistant Director of Corrective Services in Tasmania’s Department of Justice. The lawyer previously worked on the Commission of Inquiry into the Tasmanian Government’s responses to child sexual abuse in institutions.
Elizabeth Pearce (Mead) (2000) is in her final year of a Juris Doctor at Monash University and plans to practise in the area of Equity. She started studying law after 13 years of working with MONA, mostly as a writer and researcher on its curatorial team.
Rhodes scholar Ed Doddridge (2004) is investigating ocean/sea ice interactions in the Southern Ocean as Senior Research Associate in Physical Oceanography at the Institute for Marine and Antarctic Studies (IMAS).
After rowing with the Australian women’s eight in the 2016 Rio Olympics, studying geography at UCLA and engineering at UTAS, Meaghan Volker (2008) is back in Hobart working for the road construction company, Ian Harrington Group.
Keon Pavlides (2021) has deferred his Politics, Philosophy and Economics degree at ANU to focus on Beauty Recovery, the app he built to help businesses recover lost bookings from missed phone calls.
Reunions
We finished 2024 with the 1 Year out reunion for the Class of 2023, catching up with each other at the Hobart Brewing Company.
50+ Reunion
We started off 2025 with the annual 50+ Alumni Reunion. This year, we began with a tour of the School, ferrying alumni by bus between both campuses. Two days later, on a sunny day at the Royal Yacht Club of Tasmania, 150 guests gathered for lunch. Spanning graduating classes from 1949 to 1974, they traveled from all corners of Australia, reuniting with old friends and creating unforgettable memories.
2025 Reunions
It will be another busy year for the School with the reunions for the Classes of 1985, 1995, 2005 and 2015 all taking place during May. Tickets are available for purchase via the links below.
Class of 1985, 40 Year Reunion: Saturday 3 May, Boodle Beasley https://www.trybooking.com/CZTAR
Class of 1995, 30 Year Reunion: Saturday 3 May, Boodle Beasley https://www.trybooking.com/CZTIN
Class of 2005, 20 Year Reunion: Saturday 3 May, The Republic Bar & Cafe https://www.trybooking.com/DABHD
Class of 2015, 10 Year Reunion: Saturday 3 May, The Republic Bar & Cafe https://www.trybooking.com/DABIC
If you were in the following classes and wish to be notified of your reunion in 2025, please visit our website to update your details to avoid missing yours!www.friends.tas.edu.au/update-your-details
Class of 2020, 5 Year Reunion: Saturday 29 November, Boodle Beasley
Class of 2024, 1 Year Reunion: Thursday 4 December, Boodle Beasley
Calling all Marimba lovers! We will be holding a Marimba Reunion workshop on Sunday 1 June with the chance to perform in a School concert on Tuesday 3 June. For more details and to register your interest, please email Jenny Mitchell on jmitchell@friends.tas.edu.au
Bill Avery - Director of Community Engagement