Our Community

Why the Waratah?

Recently, some beautiful Waratahs flowered at Pendle Hill. These are the first Waratahs to flower on the School grounds in recent living memory, thanks to the loving care of Groundsman, Wilbur. The Waratah is a prominent part of The Friends' School crest, and here is why (in the words of Principal Ernest Unwin): 

"The colours are the School colours, scarlet, blue, and grey. The grey or silver cross on a blue field is very like the Hodgkin coat of arms, the only one available among the early supporters of the School. Probably most Quakers of the olden time thought coats of arms too worldly, but the cross is on our field because we stand for the Christian faith. The red rose and the scarlet waratah are emblems of the land of origin and of adoption, and suggest how much this School in far-flung Tasmania is linked with Friends at home. As for the torch, it is the symbol most appropriate for a school, with its suggestion of tradition and the handing on of the torch in the race, each doing his best to hold it aloft and to keep it burning. It suggests that we need the fire of divine and eager purpose, and high ideals." 

Bought from a nursery, these are apparently Telopea speciosissima (New South Wales Waratahs) though Wilbur suspects that they may, in fact, be the Tasmanian Telopea truncata!  The generic name Telopea is derived from the Greek 'telopos', meaning 'seen from afar', and refers to the great distance from which the crimson flowers are discernible.

Wendy Chapman - Obituary by Pam Poulson

It is with great sadness we note the death of Wendy Chapman. Following her funeral, in September, colleagues, friends and former students gathered at the Meeting House to honour her long-term service and contribution to The Friends School. Wendy taught at Friends’ from 1964 until 2000, except for two years of travelling and polishing her French. She held many roles during her 32 years of service, years which exemplified excellent teaching and honouring of Quaker values. Her main teaching areas were French and English but when needed British History and Latin. She was an Assistant Senior Mistress and Head of Languages before becoming Assistant Head of Clemes in 1961 when the Matriculation Centre was established.

Wendy’s ability to care for people is probably her enduring legacy. She was greatly admired for her treatment of staff and students, and for making others feel cared for. She put the welfare of students at the highest level of priority. She was a tireless colleague. As Mark Curtis recalls of the time they both led Clemes, Mark as Head and Wendy as Assistant to the Head of Clemes:

‘If someone was in trouble, she would want to help. She would adopt the lonely. If you were snowed under with work....in need in any way, Wendy would be there. She would brighten any gathering of people with her presence.’

Wendy played a large part in the creation of the outstanding school culture of these years; a culture which continues. Wendy’s contribution to her subject was not limited to the School: At various times she was State Moderator for French, Setting Examiner and Matriculation level Marker. Wendy epitomised how French should be taught. She loved language and taught with passion and warmth. She was especially encouraging of new French teachers. She was a vigorous member of Alliance Française, holding various positions such as President or Vice President over many years. She was the social convenor, acting as hostess at coffee croissant mornings, and organising events and finding guest speakers. She organised the largest language competition in Tasmania. It involved finding judges for 10 sections: poetry, posters, conversation, reading and listening comprehension. It also involved setting and

marking.

Even faced with piles of marking, Wendy’s positive nature never seemed to fail her, and nor did her sense of humour, her joy in life, her love of learning and her interest in travel. She was the first Friends’ School teacher to undertake an international trip for students when she travelled to New Caledonia. She was to lead six subsequent School trips. Wendy loved France and the opportunity to converse in French. Her death came as she returned home from another wonderful French holiday. She died in ‘the midst of life’ and we are all the richer for knowing her.

Photo: Female staff attending the Botanical Gardens in 1964 (Wendy Chapman second from right). 

The Friendly Conference

Quaker Service Australia generously provided funding to foster connections with Refugees and Migrants in our community this year. The funding helped International Baccalaureate CAS (Creativity, Action and Service) Year 11 students spend three days engaging with TAFE Young Migrant Education Programme (YMEP) students. Students sampled a range of activities including playing games that helped them with learning English and Maths such as ‘Simon says’, going bowling and meeting with Bushcare on the Queens Domain to collect and categorise rubbish.

In August, the theme of the CAS day was about the importance of reducing pollution in the environment, especially plastic pollution. Students learned how to make macramé pot holders from materials at the landfill centre and they were also taught how to make beeswax wrappers, which can be used instead of soft-plastics like glad wrap. The final day held in early November at Long Beach Reserve, Sandy Bay was a hive of activity with four teams consisting of Friends and YMEP students taking part in numerous activities based on co-operation that was fun, helped promote Maths and English skills and allowed everyone to participate.

The Friendly Conference, with a theme based on Australia and its obligation as a nation to refugees, was a melting pot of culture, knowledge, relationships, community engagement and perhaps most importantly, Service Learning. Guest speakers included Gillian Triggs and freelance storyteller Manal Younus. Each Clemes tutor group fostered a relationship with a few students from the Young Migrant Education Program (YMEP) at TasTAFE over the course of five weeks, exchanging knowledge, ideas, stories and customs.

The culmination of the Friendly Conference was the World Food Fair, in which every tutor group cooked a recipe from the home country of one of their YMEP students who was invited to share this food extravaganza. Money raised, $1200, was donated to the local Red Cross asylum seeker program, but the relationships students developed with these young migrant students was much longer lasting and rewarding.

Kenyan Book Drive

Over the course of last month, Greg Hill and several students from the High School have been working on a service activity to raise awareness, funds and books for the Gaigedi Secondary School in Kenya. Our aim is to promote equality and convey the importance of education through action, ultimately helping students with their learning and their future opportunities. We held various meetings to learn more information, we made clear goals and plans and spread the word through our Gathering meetings. We then proceeded to put boxes around the High School to collect donations and novels, in the High School Library, Common Room and High School Office.

The Kenyan Book Drive has been successful in retrieving books and we are still looking for even more generous people to donate. A small gold coin contribution to help send books to Gaigedi Secondary School would be greatly appreciated. If you have any old or unwanted books suitable for children of high school age, please feel free to drop them off in any of the three locations. This small action will benefit these kids greatly and we hope to see boxes full of great novels by the end of the year.

- Lia De Santis and Aaliyah Walker (Year 9)

FriendsMusic Farewell

We recently said farewell and thank you to Rhoda Girao, a long-serving member of FriendsMusic. Rhoda’s daughter, Kaelyn, finished Year 12 at the end of this year bringing Rhoda’s time with this parent-support group to an end.

Rhoda has been a highly creative and energetic member of FriendsMusic, and an inspiring member of committees that organised events such as this year’s Barn Dance, the Country Hoedown in 2016 and at least one curry night. Rhoda has always been a strong supporter of school performances and has been a wonderful help with interstate trips, such as the 2015 marimba trip to Sydney, where she made at least 10 kgs of chocolate brownies for the close to 75 students who participated!

Thank you, Rhoda, for the wonderful support you have provided Music at Friends’ during your six years as a member of FriendsMusic.