Aloysiad 15-12 2006.indd - St Aloysius

ALOYSIAD 

The Magazine of St Aloysius’ College • ‘Men for Others’ • Issue XLIV • Summer 2006 

Wishing you a Happy and Holy Christmas

from the rector 

Entering the foyer outside The Great Hall, one passes by 

a number of honour boards which record the various 

Duxes, Presidents, Captains, School Heads, and the 

like, over this College’s one hundred and twenty seven year 

history. It is an impressive record. In recent years we have 

had Gap Students working here from the Jesuit boarding 

school in England, Stonyhurst College. It is a little older than 

St Aloysius’, having its beginnings four hundred and fourteen 

years ago! I recall once visiting it, and being impressed with 

just two honour boards which were displayed at the school’s 

entrance. One listed Old Boys who had been awarded the 

Victoria Cross. There were seven names there. Adjacent to 

this was a list of Old Boy martyrs and Old Boy saints. There 

were twenty two Old Boys who died for their faith. Seven 

are Blesseds, three are canonised Saints. 

I wondered what it would be like to have a martyr in 

the Aloysius’ family. One who was prepared to surrender 

their life for what they believed in. Then a couple of months 

ago, Fr Michael Head SJ, whom many readers would 

remember with affection as a former teacher at St Aloysius’, 

wrote to me. He is now in charge of the Jesuit Archives in 

Melbourne, where all our ancient letters and documents 

are housed. To my surprise and great delight, his letter 

informed me that he discovered we did, indeed, have our 

own martyr. 

Fr Vicente Guimerá SJ was a Spanish Jesuit. He was 

trained as a Physics and Chemistry teacher, and first worked 

in Jesuit schools and colleges in Spain and the Philippines. 

In the 1920s, Fr Guimerá was sent to a plantation in New 

Guinea, to help find a solution to some territorial problems 

after German missionaries had left New Guinea following 

the First World War. He then came to Sydney where he 

lived and taught here at St Aloysius’ during 

1924 and 1925. We have few records 

of his ministry here, only that he was 

much liked by all, taught classes, 

did local work as a priest, and 

was recovering from malaria during 

some of the time. 

St Aloysius’ College 

A Jesuit School for Boys _ Founded 1879 

Returning to Spain, Fr Guimerá 

was put in charge of fund-raising 

for the Missions in Micronesia 

– the same place where two of our 

graduating Year 12 boys 

now serve each year 

for twelve months. Fr 

Guimerá must have made 

some journeys himself to 

Micronesia, because 

the National Library in 

Canberra contains 

some works of 

his describing the 

islands and their 

customs. 

In 1935, due to 

the Civil War in Spain, his Mission Office was transferred 

to Belgium. But when religious persecution began in Spain, 

he wanted to return to his home country. He knew there was 

an increasing need by the people for priests to minister to 

them. He knew God’s Word must be preached. He also 

knew the dangers. Typically, each day he would say Mass 

in one place, eat in a second and sleep in a third house, 

so as to avoid arrest. As the persecution strengthened he 

moved to the house of his brother. Soon he was joined by 

his sister, a nun who had been expelled by the Republicans 

from the College in which she taught. 

The concluding lines of a letter written to Fr Austin Kelly SJ at the 

College on a tiny piece of paper, less than a year before Fr Guimerá’s 

martyrdom. 

Things in Spain are running behind: we are separated again and 

without seeing any precise light on the horizon. Pray for us. 

I came back to the Aragon Province a month ago. Here, we work a lot: 

help us with your prayers. 

Pass on my salutations to the Fathers I know. 

Yours in Christ 

Vicente Guimerá, SJ 

Because of the perils of being a priest, he was given 

money to buy ordinary clothing. But shortly afterwards, the 

house in which he lived was raided by the police. Vicente 

and his brother were taken into custody. People brought 

him food and blankets in prison, but it is said he gave them 

away to sick and dying prisoners. 

Vicente was executed by firing squad on 30 September 

1936 by the Republican forces. One hundred and twentytwo 

Jesuits were martyred in that war. The first day of our last 

holidays was the seventieth anniversary of his death. He 

was sixty-seven years old. The morning after the execution 

one hundred and five bodies were found and, though a list 

of them was taken, no attempt was made to identify where 

they were buried two days later. 

So why now remember a man long-dead? Why hail 

a martyr? Why bother with such an old tale from the 

College? Because this school draws strength and identity 

from its traditions, and in its history. It shapes who we are. It 

constantly reminds us of values worth holding on to. Vicente 

a l o y s i a d / p a g e 2

Guimerá was determined that no force was going to stifle 

the truth. No ideology suppress working for the good. No 

political movement should deny justice. God was to be 

served. People were to be ministered to, especially in the 

most testing of times. In the face of that, Vicente believed 

that his life was not something to cling to at all cost, but to 

be spent in service. 

This school has many illustrious alumni. A host of heroes. 

Many models to emulate. And now we have one martyr. 

An early Christian philosopher once wrote, “the blood of 

the martyrs is the seed of the Church”. That is to say, martyrs 

nourish and inspire the Church community. Their death, 

paradoxically, brings life. 

There is a certain anonymity in Vicente’s life. There is 

no mention of him in our Aloysian magazines of the time. 

There is no photograph of him here or in Spain. In the 

latter case, any photos may have been destroyed in the 

Civil War. No one even knows where he is buried. So 

he remains a quiet and understated model of conviction of 

heart and a model of service to others. 

It is the sort of anonymity which will be the lot of most of 

us with the passing of time. Our hidden qualities and values 

may perhaps ultimately be known to us and to God alone. 

But my hope is that they be like Vicente’s reference points: 

Conviction and service. Ideals and generosity. Loving that 

which is of God, and loving others in need. Even when it 

costs. 

Fr Ross Jones SJ 

College Rector 

Left to Right: Paul Ellis and Nick Sunderland (SAC 2006), plot their 

course to Chuuk in Micronesia. 

The Editorial Staff of 

The Aloysiad and the Board of 

Management of the St Aloysius 

College Foundation would like 

to wish every member of the Aloysian 

Family a very Merry Christmas 

and a Happy, Healthy and 

Prosperous New Year. 

We pray that our Patron, 

St Aloysius’, keep a guiding 

and protecting watch over 

the College Family in 2007. 

THE ALOYSIAD 

Executive Editor: Fr Ross Jones SJ 

Editor: Murray Happ (SAC 1985) 

Assistant Editor: Trish Flynn 

Printing: The Precision Printers Pty Ltd 

Circulation: 10,000 

E-Mail: murray.happ@staloysius.nsw.edu.au 


Senior: 47 Upper Pitt Street, Milsons Point NSW 2061 

Telephone: 02 9922 1177, Fax: 02 9929 6414 

Junior: 29 Burton Street, Milsons Point NSW 2061 

Telephone: 02 9955 9200, Fax: 02 9955 0736 

Website: www.staloysius.nsw.edu.au 

Cover pic: Anthony Spiteri (Year 4) 


A Jesuit School for Boys _ Founded 1879 a l o y s i a d / p a g e 3

from the principal 

Discipline 

In 1925 a young American was studying physics at 

Cambridge University. A bad year, including a struggle 

with depression and frustration with practical work in the 

laboratory, culminated in an incident that threatened his 

career. He gave an apple coated in noxious chemicals 

to his tutor. Fortunately the apple was not eaten, but the 

student was discovered. And the venerable University’s 

punishment? He was placed on probation and sent to 

sessions with a psychiatrist! 

The New Yorker magazine leads with this story in an 

article on discipline in schools today. The point of the 

article is made through the fate of the American student, 

who today, no doubt, would have been expelled. Back 

in 1925 his teachers at Cambridge weren’t sure that the 

benefits of enforcing the law, in this case, were greater 

than the benefits of allowing the offender an unimpeded 

future. They considered the individual circumstance, and 

they acted accordingly. That student went on to change the 

face of science through his work in quantum physics. We 

know him as Professor Robert Oppenheimer, the scientist 

entrusted with the most critical and morally charged project 

in the history of science, the Manhattan project, and the 

development of the A-bomb. Oppenheimer later became 

one of the great thinkers about science and morality, and 

was a voice against the proliferation of nuclear weapons. 

The Oppenheimer story relates to the magazine’s critique 

of zero tolerance as the answer to the challenge of discipline 

in schools. It cites a US study that finds that the frequency of 

targeted offences in schools soared after a zero tolerance 

policy was applied. More fundamentally, the article 

advocates the historical practice in education of being 

able to administer discipline with discretion. The argument 

is that every case is different, and that, more importantly, 

every offender is different. It is an argument that resonates 

with me. Often when we know a boy better, knowing 

his context and reaching an understanding of the various 

pressures in his life, then matters of discipline become far 

less black and white. Indeed a maxim might be stated that 

the better our pastoral care the more 

nuanced must be our discipline 

procedures. A distinction can be 

drawn between acting ‘fairly’ 

and acting ‘justly’ in dealing 

with boys in trouble. Fairly is when 

everyone is treated exactly the 

same, and this is the least that can 

be asked of any system of discipline. 

Acting justly is when you take 

other significant 

factors into 

consideration 

before acting, 

and this is a 

more exacting 

standard. 

It is fair to say that there is pressure at times from parents 

and staff, and even boys, for what is termed more clear-cut 

and punitive action: consequently, a more discretionary, 

individual based approach is somewhat out of favour. The 

New Yorker laments that “to acknowledge that the causes 

of our actions are complex and muddy seems permissive, 

and permissiveness is the hallmark of an ideology now 

firmly in disgrace.” Unusually for a secular magazine, it 

goes further with a religious analogy, “that conservative 

patron saint Whittaker Chambers once defined liberalism 

as Christ without the Crucifixion. But punishment without 

the possibility of redemption is worse: it is the crucifixion 

without Christ”. There is always a challenge in maintaining 

a balance between a structured learning environment 

with clear boundaries and a model of education that is 

formation-based and relational in nature. 

Other factors are also relevant in framing an approach 

to a discipline policy. We are preparing our students for a 

world in which authority generally must be earned rather 

than simply given by virtue of the power or office one holds. 

The Church itself has struggled to come to terms with this 

mindset, and it is important that a Church institution is less, 

rather than more heavy handed, in the exercise of authority. 

To a certain extent we should welcome the questioning 

student, while also demanding the responsibility that 

comes with questioning. Jesuit schools have always had a 

tradition of producing enquiring students, and some such 

as Voltaire of Castro have travelled a very different road 

from one we might wish for them. Nevertheless the gift 

from God of an enquiring intellect is never one we should 

turn our backs on. 

We live in a world, moreover, where personal 

responsibility plays an ever-increasing role, given that many 

of the traditional structures of authority have eroded. Ideally, 

the school community should model both the development 

of personal responsibility and the exercise of authority in 

a way that better prepares our students for the future. The 

example set by adults is a more powerful force than any 

other in forming the character of the young person for 

today’s world. Put bluntly, the day is gone when a school 

can simply ask parents to butt out and leave the business of 

education to the school. The day is gone when the word 

of a Head is law, and staff act accordingly. And the day 

is gone when student behaviour can be modified solely by 

the exercise of authority from above. The claim may be 

made that parents run the school or teachers run the place 

or that students run the place! And in a sense this is exactly 

as it should be! Today’s education should be a work of 

collaboration, as frustrating as it sometimes becomes. Yet 

all of us from time to time pine for a simpler time when 

things could be done be a simple authoritative command, 

though I’m not sure such a time really ever existed beneath 

superficial appearances. 

There is a criticism that a more collaborative approach 

to discipline is too soft and may represent an abdication 

of authority. To my mind, however, collaboration is more 



demanding of all involved. Both rights and responsibilities 

need to be emphasised. Parents in their communications 

sometimes seem to regard teachers as deliverers of 

a service rather than as professionals involved in a 

challenging enterprise. Teachers in turn can fail to see 

parents as genuine partners in education. Students who fail 

to give respect to their teachers are not only breaking a 

discipline code, but more significantly, their actions weaken 

the relationship of teacher-student that every study shows 

lies at the heart of academic achievement. The respect 

given by a teacher to a student may be a powerful gift of 

personal formation. 

Complementing a relational model of school authority is 

our tradition at St Aloysius of ‘cura personalis’, the care of 

the individual within our community, which, as I understand 

it, gives priority to regarding each individual as of infinite 

value and dignity, and thus impels us to act accordingly. 

There is an Ignatian adage of “adapting to times, places 

and circumstances” which stands against a “one size fits 

all” approach in dealing with people. The temptation to 

sacrifice the individual for a perceived common good is 

one that goes back at least as far as the justification given 

for the move against Jesus. While there must be bottom 

lines, and, as in any community, there must be rules and 

regulations that we have every right to enforce, there is also 

a higher requirement to show and give respect, based not 

on authority, but on the relationships that shape a community 

such as ours. Comments are frequently made about the 

nature of community and the sense of belonging that help 

shape the Aloysian spirit, and to my mind this stems in part 

from an approach to discipline that seeks never to forget the 

individual or to sacrifice easily the individual in the interests 

of control or order. 

As 2006 winds down, we turn our eyes to the coming 

of the Christ Child. In the midst of all our activities we recall 

the extraordinary claim we Christians make about God’s 

great act of solidarity with humankind; of God becoming 

so fully part of the human story so as to transform and 

redeem it by becoming incarnate with us and for us. Mary 

was pregnant with Jesus before her marriage with Joseph, 

and undoubtedly knew the pain of rumour and disapproval. 

Jesus was frequently criticised for breaking the law. He 

taught of the imperative of a love that transcended all other 

commands. And the Lord was crucified by lawful authority. 

The God revealed in Jesus is ‘the God of surprises’, among 

which is the knowledge that God deals with us, not as we 

deserve, but out of God’s infinite and generous love. There 

is a challenge for us in this, not only in our personal lives 

but in the way we run institutions and deal with people in 

all sorts of situations. 

Christmas brings both reassurance and challenge to 

the believer: may the Love which nourishes and renews be 

with all the Aloysius Family this Christmas and the coming 

New Year. 

Fr Chris Middleton SJ 

College Principal 

Overseas Reunions 

During October and November a series of Reunions 

for members of the Aloysian Family (Old Boys, 

Parents, Past Parents, Grandparents, Future Parents 

and Friends of the College) were held in Hong Kong, San 

Francisco, New York and London. 

The younger Old boys and partners at the Hong Kong Reunion 

Twenty-two members of the Aloysian Family gathered 

in Hong Kong on Saturday 28 October for the inaugural 

Hong Kong – North Asian Dinner at the Ladies Recreation 

Club on Hong Kong Island. Unfortunately, the date 

coincided with a long weekend in Hong Kong and a 

number of people availed themselves of the break to either 

return to Australia or travel throughout the region. Special 

thanks to Andrew Fox-Smith (SAC 1983) for hosting the 

Dinner at his club, Henry Wong (SAC 1983) who coordinated 

the dinner and handled the finances and Andrew 

McDermott (SAC 1985) and Matt Nacard (SAC 1989) 

who assisted in the organisation of the event, much to the 

chagrin of other guests at the Reunion, Matt Nacard wore 

his College Blazer that even after seventeen years, still fits 

him like a glove!. Guests at the dinner ranged from Old 

Boys living in Hong Kong long term to expatriates based 

in the city for a short-term transfer and Future Parents. 

Plans are afoot to hold the dinner regularly each year and 

to arrange a few more casual get togethers throughout 

the year. 

Guests at the Inaugural Hong Kong-North Asia Reunion 

Following the Hong Kong Dinner a reunion was held 

in San Francisco on Sunday 29 October. Twenty members 



from the foundation 

Some of the diners at the San Francisco Reunion. 

L to R back row: Patrick Herlihy (SAC 1985), Sean Baggott (Future 

Parent), Paul Nysen (SAC 1965), Deborah McNeil. 

Seated: Brenda Herlihy, Stephanie Dunn, Stephen Dunn (SAC 1985) 

and Jay and Willow Bechtel (Past Parents). 

of the Aloysian Family came together for a meal, to share 

stories and to catch up. A smaller group met for a meal in 

New York and plans are afoot for more regular get-togethers 

for members of the Aloysian Family based in North America, 

including a possible dinner in Toronto, Canada for people 

based in Canada and nearby US cities. 

Justin Porter (SAC 1990), Murray Happ (SAC 1985) and Ashley 

Fontana (SAC 2003) at the Dinner in New York 

The largest Reunion held was the UK – European Dinner 

on Saturday 18 November in London. Fifty-eight members 

of the Aloysian Family enjoyed a magnificent meal and 

great camaraderie. Old Boys from the 1940’s right through 

to members of the Class of 2005, together with Past and 

Current Parents enjoyed a great event. Special thanks to 

Warwick Bergin (SAC 1968) for handling the acceptances 

for the dinner and sending reminder e-mails, Phil McCreanor 

(SAC 1985) for assisting Warwick with the co-ordination of 

the event and Paul Schaafsma (SAC 1990) for generously 

donating a magnificent selection of premium McGuigan’s 

wines which were served at the dinner. 

One highlight at the UK – Europe Dinner was the 

awarding of Honorary Life Membership of the Old Boys’ 

Union to Father John Grumitt SJ. The Union conferred this 

great honour on Father Grumitt to acknowledge his gracious 

friendship and generous support of the College over the past 

Murray Happ presents Fr John Grumitt SJ with his Old Boys tie after 

announcing his Honorary Life Membership of the Union. 

twenty years. Since the late 1980’s Father has been a very 

active supporter of the College, firstly through the creation of 

the Young British Jesuit Alumni Programme, known to those 

of us at the College as the Grumitt Scholarship, where boys 

from the College spent twelve months after completing the 

HSC working at Jesuit schools, shelters and parishes in the 

UK. Since the cessation of the programme in 2003, Father 

Grumitt SJ has been a generous supporter of the College 

Bursary Programme, enabling many boys the opportunity to 

attend the College that otherwise might not have been able 

to. Congratulations to Father Grumitt on this recognition 

and thank you for your ongoing loyal friendship with 

the College. 

Trader Faulkner OME (SAC 1945), Elizabeth Drown, Reinhart and 

Gabriele von Gutzeit (Current Parents) at the London Dinner. 

The UK – European group have agreed to meet twice 

a year. In May/June each year a casual get together will 

occur and a more formal Dinner will be held in London 

each October. To that end, Warwick Bergin (SAC 1968) 

has kindly offered to host a casual get together on his 

Motor Yacht, MY Seafin, on Saturday 27 May 2007. 

The yacht is moored on the Solent near Portsmouth and 

can accommodate about thirty guests. Any member of the 

Aloysian Family based in the UK or Europe who would like 

to attend the event is asked to contact Warwick to book 

a place. 



Estelle and Sasha Conoplia (SAC 1990) with Madeleine and Paul 

Schaafsma (SAC 1990) at the London Dinner. 

The next UK-Europe Dinner will be held in Central 

London in October 2007. An e-mail and notification will be 

posted in 2007 to everyone based in the region, anyone 

wanting further information is asked to contact Warwick 

Bergin. 

Members of the Class of 2005 at the London Dinner. 

Plans are also underway to create a website for overseas 

based Old Boys. This site, attached to the main College 

website, will list future events and contact details for Old 

Boys re-locating overseas or visiting a region. Details of the 

site will be in the next edition of The Aloysiad. 

Stephanie O'Reilly, Leagh McCreanor, Phil McCreanor (SAC 1985) 

and Chris O'Reilly (SAC 1987) at the London Dinner. 

If you know of an Old Boy or other member of the 

Aloysian Family who now resides overseas, please contact 

Murray Happ (SAC 1985) in the College Development 

Office, murray.happ@staloysius.nsw.edu.au, to have their 

address changed (invitations for overseas events are posted 

to members of the Aloysian Family who have The Aloysiad 

magazine posted overseas directly to them by the College 

as opposed to their mail being forwarded to them by 

companies or family members in Australia). 

1990's Old Boys enjoying the London Dinner. 

Overseas Reunion Contacts 

Hong Kong – North Asia 

Andrew Fox-Smith (SAC 1983) 

Andrew@stryker.com.hk 

Henry Wong (SAC 1983) 

hhcwong@henryhcwongandco.com 

Andrew McDermott (SAC 1985) 

andrew.mcdermott@hk.abnamro.com 

Matt Nacard (SAC 1989) 

Matt.nacard@macquarie.com 

UK-Europe 

Warwick Bergin (SAC 1968) 

wbergin@trianglepartners.co.uk 

Phil McCreanor (SAC 1985) 

phillip.mccreanor@livguarantee.com 

Dom Hugh (Scott) Somerville Knapman OSB (SAC 1986) 

hughmanity@gmail.com 

Paul Schaafsma (SAC 1990) 

pauls@mswl.com.au 



from the junior school 

We have come to the 

end of yet another 

sensational year. 

There has been action aplenty 

throughout with Term IV living up 

to its fast and furious pace. In 

what has been the shortest Term 

of the year we have had to fit 

in several rites of passage for 

students moving on to another 

phase of their schooling as well those continuing and 

starting off in 2007. In the first week of November we 

welcomed one hundred and twenty five new students and 

their parents for an Orientation Morning in preparation for 

2007. For the vast majority of boys and parents, it was 

a reassuring few hours on their choice of a new school. 

Getting familiar with their new surroundings, meeting their 

soon to be new teachers and participating in various 

activities gave the boys a taste of what was going to be 

an Aloysian way of life. 

Grandparents Day 2006 on November 16 was a 

memorable day for these special people. Around two 

hundred and fifty grandmothers and grandfathers braved 

an unusually cold and wet late spring morning to join the 

boys in a beautifully celebrated Eucharist. Grandparents 

simply lapped up the various tributes boys had put together 

for their very special friends. The Mass began with the 

Blessing of the new Baptismal Font occupying the pride of 

place at the entrance to the Chapel. We were delighted 

to welcome Mrs Iris L’Estrange who has donated the 

font in fond memory of her late husband Jim L’Estrange 

a, highly distinguished Old Boy of the College from the 

Class 1937. Despite the inclement weather our guests 

were able to thoroughly enjoy a delightful concert and 

a sumptuous morning tea presented by the boys and the 

P & F respectively. On Tuesday 21 November, the College 

community gathered at the Big Top Luna Park for the annual 

distribution of prizes and Speech Day. Her Excellency, 

Marie Bashir, the Governor of NSW was the guest of 

honour at this special celebration honouring the academic 

efforts and achievements of our boys in 2006. 

On 29 November, the Junior School officially farewelled 

our Year 6 students with a Thanksgiving Mass and Dinner 

for the parents and sons. It was an important rite of passage 

for our Year 6 boys, one of the finest groups ever to have 

“graduated” from Junior School into the “big” school in my 

long association with the Junior School. 

On November 30 we congratulated our athletes and 

sportsmen at the Annual Distribution of Sports Prizes. 

On a different front but in line with our Junior school way 

of life, Term IV saw many efforts by our boys in the service 

of Being Men for Others. The Junior School community 

was an active participant in the Trivia Night organised to 

support the efforts of the Karuna Foundation, an orphanage 

project established by an Aloysian family (Joe Kiely SAC 

2006). Boys have also established links with Mr John 



O’Rielly (SAC 1984), an Old Boy of the College and a 

lawyer who has established an orphanage in Tanzania. 

In another fundraising effort the boys were able to raise 

close to $15,000 for our brother schools in East Timor and 

Micronesia. Then there were a number of other outreach 

efforts to support Fr Ross Jones SJ and his work with the 

Manila Prison Ministry and the Immersion Programme for 

our Year 11 boys. I would like to conclude by thanking 

the Junior School community for their support in our efforts 

on behalf of the boys as I look forward to this association 

continuing just as positively for many years to come. 

Mr Martin Lobo 

Deputy Principal – Junior School 

Year 5 Science/HSIE Excursion 2006 

On August 10, Year 5 went on an excursion to the 

Australian Museum to participate in ‘Science in the 

City’ and see Antarctica at the IMAX theatre. The 

first thing we saw was a science show with a few other 

schools. In the science show they showed us some illusions. 

The first illusion was a weight in a shoe box which made 

it look like it was hovering on the edge of the table. In the 

second illusion the man took a spoon, held it in the middle 

and shook it around in a way that made it look like it was 

bending. Then they got someone up from another school to 

lie on a bed of nails. They also got Paddy Jenkins (Year 5) 

to go up as well. They told us that the bed of nails works 

because the nails are so close together that your body 

weight gets distributed evenly. 

Junior School Expo 

After that we walked down to the IMAX where we saw 

a movie called Antarctica. Before we watched the movie 

we had recess at Darling Harbour. In the movie it showed 

the animals, the explorers, and the dangers of Antarctica. 

The funniest part of the movie was the sound effects that 

accompanied the image of the penguins jumping into the 

water. It was great to see Antarctica on the big screen. It 

made us feel like we were there. 

Then we returned to the Australian Museum where we 

saw an exhibition about Science. There were lots of stalls 

a l o y s i a d / p a g e 8

with different hands-on experiments. In one area there was 

Aboriginal face painting. In another area you could create 

fossils out of plasticine. We were allowed to keep the fossils 

that we made. There was also a place where you created 

electrical circuits with lights, motors and fans. There was 

a place where you dug through leaves and searched for 

insects. There was computer software called cosmic blobs. 

This software lets you pull, stretch and shape a blob into 

anything you want. You could make a dog, human, spider 

and a few other things. There was a booth where you 

could experiment with equipment used in laboratories. The 

museum was fun and interesting. At one of the stalls we 

used magnets to power cars and we raced each other. At 

another booth we viewed the DNA of strawberries. 

Overall the day was very fun and exciting for everyone. 

It related to the topics we were studying in Science and 

HSIE and everybody enjoyed it. Thank you to the teachers 

for organising such a great day and thank you to the parent 

helpers for volunteering their time. 

Joel Patniotis and Tim Spooner (5.4) 

The Flying Padre – Bringing God 

to soldiers and soldiers to God 

Jesuits are called to 

perform some unusual 

jobs, all for the sake 

of serving Christ. Perhaps 

one of the most dangerous 

roles is that of Military 

Chaplain. 

Father John Quinn SJ 

served with the US Marine 

Corps in Vietnam, before 

entering the California 

Province of the Society of 

Jesus. In his priestly role 

he served in a number of areas and spent 1992 – 1998 

working at our brother Jesuit School, Jesuit High School 

Sacramento. 

The following story was passed on to us by the editor of 

Pace, the magazine of Jesuit High School Sacramento. 

Who would have ever thought... from the Jesuit High 

School Publications Office to the ‘sandbox’ of Iraq... 

certainly not I! And yet, a Jesuit is called to be ‘available 

for mission’... ready and willing to ‘go anywhere, and do 

anything – “For God’s Greater Glory,” (Ad Majorem Dei 

Gloriam – AMDG). 

Convinced that God was calling me back to Active 

Duty, I told the US Army Chaplain Corps that I wanted to 

minister to Soldiers serving in harm’s way. There is a critical 

shortage of priests serving as Catholic Chaplains, and I was 

assigned to an Aviation Unit for efficient movement around 

a large area. As one of only two Catholic Chaplains 

serving over twenty thousand Soldiers, providing Catholic 

Coverage (Mass, Reconciliation, Anointing of the Sick, and 

Last Rites and Prayers for the Dead) is a huge part of my 

job. Every week, a helicopter crew flies me to four different 

Forward Operating Bases. 

I’ve done Communion Services in tents, first aid stations, 

in a Humvee, walking along the road, and while we’re 

airborne. Only in a combat zone could a priest have 

such an opportunity for Ministry... the graced moment to 

live the Chaplain Corps motto, “‘For God and Country,’ 

— Bringing God to Soldiers, and Soldiers to God!” 

If it’s God’s Will, everything is possible... even for a fifty 

two year old former Vietnam era Marine to become a US 

Army Battalion Chaplain in Iraq. 

Fr John Quinn SJ 

USMC Chaplain Corps 



junior school sport 

Term IV Sportsmaster's Report 

As we look back on the year that was we can see 

how sport has influenced the boys who attend 

the College. They strive to put in their best effort 

week in and week out but more importantly they want 

to participate regardless of success. Success in sport is 

not about one player, it is about one team, and that is 

exactly how I saw the Junior School this year. One team 

that comes together as a result of something deep inside 

of them which makes them champions in their fields. These 

past few months have not been different. 

In our annual sporting tours for the Junior School 

the Prep 1st V Basketball team with the new addition 

of James Harte (Year 6), traveled to Penrith Basketball 

stadium to compete in the Parramatta Diocesan Basketball 

Gala Day with more than one hundred and twenty teams 

participating over two days. This annual event in our sport 

calendar is Basketball’s equivalent to a ‘tour’ so all boys 

were very excited. 

Some great basketball was played over the day 

especially with the modified halves of twelve minutes and a 

running clock which meant no time could be wasted. Our 

start was excellent with the boys beating Christ the King 

North Rocks 67-14 (the biggest point’s margin on the day 

out of all pools). From there the boys had a rest where we 

watched our opposition play in their other games before 

taking on St Madeline’s Kenthurst beating them 48-9. 

While we looked the part in our uniforms the boys were 

constantly reminded that they had an advantage by the 

very fact they play together every week where as most of 

our opposition did not. Our third game was against an 

athletic Marayong but to the boys’ credit they played a 

great game winning 32-4. 

A special mention must go to the second five consisting 

of Max Van Deventer (Year 6), Declan McCarthy (Year 6), 

Luke Nicholson (Year 6), Tom Kennedy (Year 5) and James 

Harte (Year 6) who put in some very hard work when asked 

to relieve the starting five in the last two pool games. They 

stood out in our last game when we played Emu Plains 

winning 60-2. In our semi final we took on the power house 

of basketball, St Michael’s Baulkham Hills but beat them, 

44-19 in a game where team work and passing stood out 

over the score. In the final we took on St Bernadette’s Castle 

Hill (who had won the competition three years running) and 

the boys saved their best to last under the leadership of Alex 

Perkins winning 47-13. So after an early pool knockout in 

2003, runners up in 2004, semi finals in 2005 we finally 

took out first place in 2006. 

On the same day we had our annual competition 

for the Prep 1st XI versus Canberra Grammar School at 

the College Oval at Willoughby. On a beautiful, sunny 

Sydney day it was a pleasure and a privilege to play on 

our home ground and a rare opportunity to play on a full 

field. Canberra Grammar won the toss and elected to bat. 

An innings of 35 overs on offer. 



Chris Mullarky had an excellent opening spell of 4 overs 

taking one wicket. This was followed by Mitchell Wood 

(Year 6), Dominic Ellis (Year 6), Andrew France (Year 6) 

and Ollie Masters (Year 6) all taking wickets and we had 

Grammar out for 58 in just 23 overs. 

After an early BBQ lunch and platters of refreshing 

fruit, juices and water, our turn to bat came and we 

passed their total in the seventeenth over with 3/61. 

In the spirit of sportsmanship we decided to give all 

their bowlers an opportunity to bowl and therefore our 

batsman a turn at the crease to see out the day. This 

was enjoyed by all in the spirit of friendship and fun. 

Afternoon tea followed and the presentation of the trophy 

to St Aloysius’, our tenth win in as many years. Tom 

Goh (Year 6), our captain thanked the opposition and 

coaches for a great day and we made a presentation to 

their best and fairest. 

As we completed the Athletics season last Term with the 

NSW Selection Carnival we were lucky enough to have 

two boys representing CIS at this meet. This carnival was 

the selection carnival for the NSW Team that will travel to 

the Nationals later this month. While both boys had some 

tough opposition Alex Perkins (Year 6) was unfortunate not 

to make the selection despite receiving a credible fourth 

place in shotput on the Wednesday. 

Our second representative, Olivier Wetzlar (Year 5) 

threw 11.85m in the Junior Boys Shot Putt to win a gold 

medal. This was an incredible putt considering second 

place was 11.37m. Olivier now holds this new Junior 

School record and will compete at Nationals as part 

of NSW Team in late November in Cairns. Not to be 

outdone our Tennis Teams have been performing strongly 

with thirty boys from St Aloysius’ College representing 

the school in the Northern Suburbs Primary School 

Championships. Twenty one schools took part in the 

tournament. With some two hundred and twenty players, 

playing at seven venues, it was a huge event. We sent 

six teams and our division one team won the event taking 

home the Winning Schools Trophy for Term IV, 2006. 

Some great results but it is also pleasing to note that at the 

time of print we still have the following teams undefeated 

in the Junior school in our summer season. In Basketball 

the Prep 1st V remain undefeated with the Prep 2nd V 

only losing one game so far. In Tennis the Prep As and Bs 

are also undefeated. In Cricket the 10A team are the only 

team not to lose a game this season and are the strongest 

age group so far. 

Enjoy your Christmas and to all the families many thanks 

for your efforts throughout the year. 

“The way a team plays as a whole determines its 

success. You may have the greatest bunch of individual 

stars in the world, but if they don’t play together, the club 

won’t be worth a dime”. - Babe Ruth, Baseball Legend 

Mr Trevor Dunne 

Junior School Sportsmaster 

a l o y s i a d / p a g e 1 0

from the deputy principal 

As a staff, we have had a 

number of opportunities 

this year to reflect, either 

individually or in a group, on our 

role as teachers. Many of us view 

the important role we have as a 

vocation - something more than a job 

or profession. It is a calling from God 

to lead our lives in stewardship with 

young people; called to this ministry 

to reflect and model the values of the 

Gospel in our daily interactions with youth. 

We have put together, loosely, a five-year plan of 

formation in the Ignatian tradition - for every member of staff, 

not just teachers; though, naturally, it may lend itself more 

meaningfully to them. 

In the first year of engagement as an employee at 

St Aloysius’, staff are led through an induction process 

which, ideally, prepares them for the workplace, but also 

introduces them to the ideals of our specific context - what 

is often referred to as our “culture” or “ethos”. Every school 

has a different climate and culture. At St Aloysius’, our 

Ignatian heritage - following the spirituality and educational 

philosophy of the Jesuits - links us to many similar institutions, 

both nationally and internationally. It is these ideals which we 

introduce to our staff through their induction. 

Staff are given the opportunity to attend days of reflection 

throughout the year. It is hoped that, over a three-year period, 

all staff are able to participate in the three different days 

we offer:- 

(a) Ignatius - the man and his story 

(b) Ignatian Spirituality 

(c) Jesuits and the Context of Education 

In their fifth year, a staff member may wish to participate 

in a three-day retreat experience - again, aimed at deepening 

their experience and understanding of our context of Jesuit 

and Ignatian Spirituality. 

There are other opportunities throughout the year for 

longstanding staff - a popular option is the Colloquium on the 

Ministry of Teaching, a three-day residential experience which 

seeks to ground the teacher’s experience of the classroom in 

their faith. It is an experience which sees teaching very much 

as a call to serve. The Colloquium is a shared encounter, with 

up to twenty other teachers from nearby schools - including 

St Ignatius’ College Riverview, Monte Sant’ Angelo Mercy 

College, Loyola Senior High School and Loreto Kirribilli, to 

name a few. 

Staff also have access to a trained spiritual director who 

will lead them through a daily retreat programme, called 

the Retreat in Daily Life - often thought of as a retreat for 

“busy people” - allowing them to read and reflect on some 

selected Scripture pieces, and discuss, with their director, 

their meaning and impact. 

In 2005 we commenced, at the Rectors’ request, two 

further immersion opportunities - this time for leading teachers 

and executive staff. Two pilgrimages were undertaken - one 

to Sevenhill, the spiritual home of the Jesuits in Australia, 

The bridge crossing the Cardoner River which Ignatius would have 

crossed to enter the town of Manresa where he spent ten months 

while undergoing a spiritual conversion. The cross marks the spot 

where many times he stopped to pray at the Cardoner. 

and one to Spain and Rome. Having attended the latter 

in 2005 as a participant, this year I was asked to co-lead 

the pilgrimage to Spain and Rome. Two senior staff, Mrs 

Suzanne Leahy and Mr Nicholas Thill attended from St 

Aloysius’. For all involved it was an opportunity to deepen 

our awareness and understanding of the life and importance 

of our founder St Ignatius of Loyola, tracking his life from his 

birth in Loyola in 1491 to his death in Rome in 1565. The 

pilgrimage covers the significant moments and experiences 

of his life’s journey through Northern Spain, his conversion at 

Montserrat, his vision and spiritual renewal at Manresa, his 

education in Barcelona, and his administration of the newly 

founded Society of Jesus from Rome for the last fifteen years 

of his life. 

As with all these opportunities, staff at Aloysius’ are able 

to live out the spirituality of Ignatius daily - seeking and finding 

God in their everyday life and their work. Much material is 

now available online through the Internet to assist with one’s 

personal and spiritual journey, especially as it relates to the 

Ministry of Teaching; AMDG, for the greater glory of God. 

Mr Sam Di Sano 

Deputy Principal - Senior School 

Fr Terry Kelly SJ (from St Ignatius’ College Adelaide), celebrating 

Mass for the pilgrimage group in the rooms of Ignatius where he 

lived and worked for the last fifteen years of his life, in Rome. 


A Jesuit School for Boys _ Founded 1879 a l o y s i a d / p a g e 1 1

from the senior school 

National Champions for Literacy 

and Numeracy in 2006 

Literacy and Numeracy Champions promote National 

Literacy and Numeracy Week (NLNW). These 

Champions are Australian authors, entertainers, sports 

people and other inspirational high profile figures who can 

highlight the importance of literacy and numeracy skills. 

Of the eight National Champions for Literacy and 

Numeracy in 2006, three of them are Old Boys of 

St Aloysius’ College. 

Adam Spencer (SAC 1986), 

Radio Presenter 702 ABC Sydney 



“Numeracy – it’s as easy as 

1, 2, square root of 9.” 

Adam Spencer began his 

career in radio by winning 

the Triple J Raw Comedy 

Championship in 1996 

and went on to take over 

the coveted breakfast time 

slot, hosting from 1999 

- 2004. An accomplished 

learner, Adam holds a 

first class honours degree 

in Pure Mathematics and 

has an immense interest 

in science. These passions led Adam to host the ABC 

programme Quantum and FAQ from 1998 to 2001. 

Adam’s book Little Book of Numbers has been published 

by Penguin and has been translated into many languages 

around the world. His book More Mind Numbing Math 

was published by Penguin in 2006. 

Khoa Do (SAC 1996), Film Maker 

“I’m thrilled to be a 

‘Champion’ of National 

Literacy and Numeracy 

Week. National Literacy 

and Numeracy Week 

reminds us all about what’s 

important in education - 

for young people, literacy 

and numeracy skills are the 

building blocks which set 

the foundation for success 

in later life. When I was 

growing up, Mum said that 

as long as I read well, 

wrote well and made sure I knew all my times tables, 

I should be set for life... lucky for me, I took her advice!” 

In January 2005, Khoa received the Young Australian of 

the Year Award for his work in film, theatre and for his 

community work. Khoa is a writer and director who, in 

2001, was nominated for an AFI Award for his screen play 

for the short film, Delivery Day. In 2003, he directed and 

produced the critically acclaimed film, The Finished People. 

For this film and for his community theatre, Khoa was 

nominated in 2004 for two AFI Awards, three Film Critics’ 

Circle Awards and two Australian Writers’ Guild Awards. 

Matthew Reilly (SAC 1992), Author 

“This is the fourth time I have 

been involved with NLNW 

and I’m still thrilled to be a 

part of it! You can never 

overstate the importance 

of being able to read, and 

I will always be happy to 

promote it and put it on the 

agenda. The ability to read 

is enormously empowering 

– it is from books that 

we learn more than just 

what we have personally 

experienced. As someone 

famous once said, we read to find out that we are not 

alone.” 

At thirty two, Matthew Reilly is the international bestselling 

author of seven novels: Ice Station, Temple, Contest, Area 

7, Scarecrow, the children’s book - Hover Car Racer, 

and Seven Ancient Wonders. After self-publishing his first 

novel, Contest, his books are now published in over twenty 

languages and have sold over two and a half million 

copies. Walt Disney Pictures has optioned the film rights to 

Hover Car Racer. In 2005, Matthew released two books: 

Hell Island, a novel written specifically for the Australian 

Government’s ‘Books Alive’ initiative, and Seven Ancient 

Wonders. 

St Aloysius’ College represents 

NSW in the Australian Finals of 

the Tournament of Minds 

Tournament of Minds (TOM) is a problem-solving 

programme for teams of students who are required 

to solve demanding, open-ended challenges from 

a number of disciplines. This year St Aloysius’ College 

entered two teams into the Secondary Competition in the 

Language Literature and Social Science Challenges. 

The two teams were originally required to work together 

on a Long Term Challenge for six weeks. They were 

encouraged to explore possibilities and experiment with 

ideas as they endeavoured to produce their best possible 

solution. They developed a creative and original way to 

communicate this solution to others and worked within 

predefined parameters such as limited materials, complex 

challenge criteria and the deadline of Tournament Day. 


Tournament Of Minds NSW State Champions 

Left to right – Jourdan Wetzlar (Year 7), Zachary Parker (Year 7), 

Daniel Vickovich (Year 10), Jack Oakley - Captain (Year. 10), 

Will Comino (Year 8), Alek Breznik (Year 8) and Michael Parker (Year 8) 

Students presented their challenge solution to a panel of 

judges and an audience on Tournament Day. They had just 

ten minutes in which to present and they had to do so within 

a three metre by three metre performance area. 

The teams also participated in an unseen, Spontaneous 

Challenge. This challenge required the rapid interchange 

of ideas, the ability to think creatively and well-developed 

group cooperation skills. 

On Sunday 27 August the Social Science Team won 

a Special Award and the Language Literature Team won 

the Sydney North Regional Final. The Language Literature 

Team then went on to compete in the NSW State Final, 

which was held at the University of NSW on Sunday 10 

September. 

At this event the boys participated in yet another 

spontaneous challenge and were given just three hours to 

prepare an entertaining and creative solution to a specific 

Language Literature problem. The boys demonstrated that 

they could certainly work under pressure. They showed 

maturity, creativity and teamwork. Their reward was the 

coveted NSW Tournament of Minds State Language 

Literature Award. 

On Saturday 21 October the boys represented St 

Aloysius’ College in the Australian Final which was held 

at Flinders University, South Australia. This proved to be a 

wonderful experience for all of the boys. 

Although they were unsuccessful at gaining a place 

at the Australian Final, first place being awarded to 

Walford Anglican School for Girls (SA), their solution to the 

Language Literature Challenge was thoughtful, imaginative 

and very entertaining. 

I accompanied the boys to Adelaide and I was very 

impressed with their performance. I truly believe that our 

boys could not have done a better job and I am very proud 

of all of them. 

Jourdan Wetzlar (Year 7), one of the members of the 

team broke his arm during the holidays but this did not 

dampen his enthusiasm. He made the effort to fly down 

to Adelaide the night before the Australian Final so that he 

did not disappoint his team. This definitely demonstrated 

the true Aloysius’ spirit. We also had the largest number of 

parent supporters who enjoyed the performance as well as 

a visit to the Jesuit owned Sevenhill Winery. 

The boys met and socialised with students from all over 

Australia, New Zealand and Singapore and I was pleased 

to see the camaraderie that developed over the four day 

trip. It was wonderful to see the students from the city mixing 

with the country students and learning about life from a 

different perspective. 

St Aloysius’ College is now the proud recipient of both 

the Tournament of Minds Sydney North Regional and the 

NSW Language Literature Awards. Needless to say, the 

students are very keen to compete again in 2007. 

Ms Linda Maher 

Head of Learning Enrichment 

Careers Day 

One of the major Careers functions of the year was 

The Lower North Shore Schools Tertiary Information 

Evening held on Tuesday 16 May 2006. 

Mendoza family with Angelo at Monte Sant' Angelo Mercy College 

Our students and their parents were invited to attend this 

important function hosted 

by Monte Sant’ Angelo 

Mercy College at North 

Sydney. 

Mark and Neville Williams 

Most of the Universities 

in New South Wales 

and the ACT were in 

attendance. There were 

also representatives from 

Bond University, New 

Zealand and the United 

Kingdom. In all, there 

were more than fifty 

exhibitors which included 

tertiary institutions, TAFE 

and private colleges who 




were on hand to inform students about all courses they 

were offering in next few years. Organisations which offer 

exchange and gap programmes and scholarships were 

also there. The College was well represented and students 

came away with very valuable information. 

This is now an annual event for our Year 10, 11 and 12 

students as part of their preparation for their future careers. 

Mrs Deirdre Agnew 

Careers Counsellor 

9th World Children’s Haiku Camp- 

Matsuyama, Japan 26–31 July 2006 

During Term III, the winners of the 9th World Children’s 

Haiku contest were invited to Matsuyama, Japan 

by the JAL Foundation, for a week long Haiku 

Camp flying Japan Airlines. We developed a greater 

understanding of Japan, its culture and lifestyle and 

enjoyed the mutual exchanges with participants from Japan 

and around the world. As Australia’s representative, it was 

tremendous sharing with twenty two other participants from 

seventeen different countries. The Camp greatly enhanced 

the experience I gained from the College’s Japan Study 

Tour last year and was extremely enjoyable. 

Haiku is a traditional form of classic Japanese poetry 

using only seventeen syllables in the format of three lines 

consisting of five-seven-five syllables in each line. Its focus is 

on nature and daily life through which writers express their 

emotions. This year, we had to express our thoughts on the 

word “home”. Matsuyama is located on Japan’s southern 

island of Shikoku and its natural environment, provided 

much inspiration for Haiku writers. It is the hometown of the 

famous Haiku poet, Matsuoka Shiki. 

From Tokyo the participants flew to Matsuyama where 

we met a group of Japanese and Korean students and 

John, our activities co-ordinator who is an ex Shore 

Grammar exchange student. The welcome dinner party at 

Himegahama Inn where we stayed for the next two nights 

was delicious, with a smorgasbord of local food. 

Thursday was a real cultural experience. We watched 

suigundaiko which is Japanese drums and dance, then 

participated in calligraphy, Ikebana (flower arrangement) 



The group working on Japanese poetry 

and a tea ceremony. Following this, we were challenged 

with bringing in a huge beach fishing net and mountain 

climbing, then cooked our BBQ dinner. The next day, we 

learnt and wrote Haiku poems, swam, did sea kayaking 

and stayed with our host family that night. 

On Saturday we attended the Nakajima Cultural Centre 

for the World Children’s Haiku Summit where the Mayor 

of Matsuyama, Mr Tajima Meishi spoke and each of us 

presented our haikus to the media. Then at the summer 

festival and fete, some of the highlights included shaved 

ice, fairy floss making and mini fishing. There was a 

touch of sadness at our sunset farewell BBQ beach party 

as we had such a great time and didn’t want to leave 

Matsuyama. 

Sightseeing on Sunday included the landmark Matsuyama 

Castle, a shopping centre, games and baseball centres and 

the Matsuyama fireworks festival that night was superb. 

Our meeting with the Minister for Education, Mr Kenji 

Kosaka in Tokyo was quite formal. He talked to us about our 

time in Japan before we flew back to our home countries. 

The fun filled week at the Haiku Camp was a tremendous 

experience in learning and sharing, enjoying Japanese 

hospitality, international exchanges and friendships so 

instantly made. I came back with many international 

souvenirs after giving all the participants a little Australian 

koala bear. The trip has provided me with a lifetime memory 

not only of a great week in Japan but of all those connected 

with it to whom I am grateful, including Mrs Teruko Sharif 

who has encouraged and inspired us in her Japanese 

classes, my fellow Japanese students at St Aloysius’, the 

College, the JAL Foundation and Japan Airlines and its 

representative, Ms Lesley Edwards. 

James Yee Joy (Year 10) 

Wacky Yak Designer Tats 

Young Achievement Australia (YAA) has been operating 

in Australia since 1977. It seeks to build partnerships 

with business and education to provide young 

Australians the opportunity to access vital business enterprise 

programmes. 


These skills, capacities and understandings are 

developed through the experience of participating in the 

YAA Business Skills Programme. It fosters innovation and 

creative thinking; it provides learning environments and 

mentored entrepreneurial experiences; it culminates in the 

production, marketing and selling of goods or services. 

Enter Wacky Yak. Generously sponsored by The 

Australian Gas and Lighting Company (AGL) – which 

provided Board Room facilities and devoted Mentors – the 

Wacky Yak Company commenced operations in May 

and wound up in October. An Executive Committee was 

comprised of eighteen gifted, diligent and conscientious 

students from a variety of schools including our own St 

Aloysius’, North Sydney Girls’ High School, Sydney Girls 

High School and Pymble Ladies’ College we were heavily 

out-numbered by girls! 

The Executive comprised a number of specialist teams. 

Key positions held by Year 11 Aloysians were Finance 

Director (William Sudarmana), Manufacturing Director 

(Ben Rushton), Marketing Director (Michael O’Callaghan), 

Banking Manager (Matthew Wong), Customer Service 

Manager (Benton Ng) and myself as Company Secretary. 

Representing only one-third of the company team, Aloysians 

occupied two thirds of all Directorial positions – surely a 

recognition of talent as well as a base of influence over 

company strategy and direction. 

The initial capital required in order to commence 

business operations was raised through the selling of $2 

shares. A total of four hundred and nineteen shares were 

sold to one hundred and thirty seven lucky shareholders. 

After raising the initial capital, planning and research began 

into finding a product or service that would take the market 

by storm. After many interesting ideas such as Customizable 

Underwear, Flashing Pens, Folders, Stationery, Disposable 

Dog Litter Scooper, the company came to the conclusion 

that it would produce and sell Customizable Temporary 

Transfer Tattoos. 

We sourced the tattoo paper and ink, as well as 

the packaging. Application instructions were created at 

our weekly meetings. Wacky Yak produced a total of 

one thousand six hundred and sixteen temporary tattoos 

in the operating period. A selection of unique designs 

– dragons, butterflies, flags, sports logos, emoticons and 

many more customized compositions – were created by 

artistic members. After production, members hawked their 

wares at venues such as schools, special events, on-thestreet, 

and to local businesses. 

At the conclusion of the programme, Wacky Yak had 

made a massive eighteen per cent six month return on the 

initial capital (a figure which even outperformed our mentor 

company, AGL!) giving shareholders a handsome dividend 

payment of $2.36 per share. This result was very pleasing 

and reflected the dedication and enthusiasm of all members 

and mentors. 

And, as if that were not enough, Wacky Yak has been 

nominated one of the finalists for the Harvey Norman 

Wacky Yak Directors (L-R) Matthew Wong, Ricky Cheng, 

Ben Rushton, Benton Ng (displaying one of the products: the AMDG 

Jesuit logo) and William Sudarmana 

Company of the Year Award, prime candidates for the 

Mirvac Annual Report Award and for Blue Chip Status. 

Personally, I have enjoyed the challenging role as 

Company Secretary. But more than this, discovering as a 

group, the talents, strengths and skills within ourselves which 

we were not previously aware of. And, of course, the new 

friendships. It has been a fun and rewarding experience. 

Ricky Cheng (Year 11) 

Corrette and CD Sales 

This CD of the Michel Corrette Concertos is the fruit 

of a seed planted back in late 2003. It started one 

evening with a phone call from Munich. Martin Cooke 

(SAC 1972), baritone with the Bavarian Opera, was 

full of enthusiasm to celebrate the life of the late Anthony 

Wallington (SAC 1959) by means of a concert in the 

SAC Chapel. It was then that the Anthony Wallington 

Scholarship originated. Taken by Martin’s infectious fervour 

for such a good cause, I was ready to assist in any way 

possible to enable this goal to be achieved. Martin quite 

rightly pointed out that it was our duty as Old Boys of the 

College to set an example and thereby ‘pass on the baton’ 

to future generations of Aloysians. 

At that stage I had just completed the editing of the six 

organ concertos of Michel Corrette (1707 – 1795). Four of 

these had recently been published with two more to follow. 

The task of editing is a tedious one. In this case, it entailed 

the careful study of an original 1756 manuscript where the 

quality of the printing in places left a lot to be desired. All 

of the instrumental parts were originally printed separately, 

and it was only when each part had been keyed into 

the computer that the entire score could be revealed, not 

unlike a giant jigsaw puzzle. Although various editors had 

published some of the concerts, none of them had made a 

complete, modern edition. Access to the original was made 




possible by Dr Yves Jaffrès, a world authority on Corrette 

from Lyon in France, with whom I have had a continuous, 

happy collaboration since the mid 1990s. (We are 

currently working upon an edition of Corrette’s organ book 

of 1787, the last organ works published in France prior to 

the French Revolution.) 

The choice of a Corrette concerto for the inaugural 

Anthony Wallington concert had several layers of 

significance, all of which I outlined to Martin in one of our 

many communications. Corrette held two prestigious posts 

as organist in Paris: one of these was at the Jesuit church of 

St Louis in Paris until 1764 when the Order was expelled 

from France by Louis XV. Corrette was a pedagogue par 

excellence: with no fewer than seventeen published music 

teaching methods to his credit, spanning a wide range of 

musical instruments from the violin to the hurdy-gurdy. These 

concertos would have certainly involved his students during 

the weekly music-making soirées at his residence. Why not 

have Old Boys of the College and current students, perform 

such a concerto at the Anthony Wallington concert? 

Moreover, there was a third, valid element: the chapel is 

a Jesuit one. Martin was totally convinced of the rationale 

of all this and the result was a successful performance of 

the sixth concerto in D Minor which was scored for three 

violins, viola, cello, flute and organ. 

Towards the end of 2005, I had a phone call from 

the Director of Music at the College, Michael Hissey, 

which resulted in a hand-picked group of musicians: James 

Zwar (Violin I), Alex Smith (Violin II), Jonathan Chan (Violin 

III), Cameron Hissey (Viola – SAC 2005), Angus Ryan 

(Cello – SAC 2005) and Findley Hipkin (Flute). Cameron 

Hissey would be the recording engineer and editor, and 

James Goldrick (SAC 2005), former organ scholar, gladly 

accepted the invitation to be my assistant at the console 

in addition to being a very valuable second set of ears. 

James Dixon (SAC 2004), another former organ scholar, 

became the convenor of musicians and had arranged the 

first meeting in the January holidays. 

The synergy of this group exceeded my expectations. 

I must confess that I have rarely experienced the joy of 

performing with such a dynamic group of young players. 

I sincerely feel that a prayer was answered and I am 

convinced that this project was being divinely guided. On 

the evening of Sunday 5 February, we had successfully 

recorded Concertos no. 2, 3 and 6 all within two hours. 

Ever conscious that the students had just started a new 

school year and with the time-consuming commitments of 

Jesus Chris Superstar looming, I judiciously decided to 

record the remaining three concertos as organ solos, an 

option which Corrette specified in his preface. 

As ‘filler items’ on this CD, I have chosen a small 

selection of works from Corrette’s 1756 organ book, 

none of which has ever been recorded. The Létourneau 

op 22 organ in the College Chapel is truly a ‘Rolls Royce 

instrument’ and speaks with the requisite French accent! 

These musical gems are as enjoyable to play as they are to 



listen to. For those who are unfamiliar with the organ and 

its vast repertoire, let these works speak for themselves and 

transport the listener to a bygone era. 

Mr Pastór de Lasala (SAC 1975) 

Copies of the CD are available from the College 

Development Office (tel: 02 9922 1177) for $25 

per copy including postage. All funds raised from the 

sale of the CD will be directed to the Dr Anthony Wallington 

(SAC 1959) Memorial Music Scholarship. The College is 

indebted to Pastor and the other Old Boys associated with 

the production of this fine CD, for their generosity in support 

of the ongoing promotion of Music at the College and the 

extraordinary support they have given to the establishment 

of this Music Scholarship dedicated to the memory of the 

late Dr Anthony Wallington (SAC 1959). 

From the Languages Department 

We have had a very successful year again 

in the Languages Department with our boys 

performing exceptionally well in external exams 

and competitions and having a great deal of fun in their 

annual Drama Workshop where they participated in drama 

games and activities using their French to communicate. 

In Latin our boys did exceptionally well in both exams 

and competitions. For many of the CLTA Competitions it is 

our first year of performing or competing and so our boys 

are showing much potential. A quick summary of our results 

in Latin are: 

Latin Reading Competition our Year 9 Team were placed 

third in the Chorus Section. 

The Year 9 Team won the Orpheus Award For 

Encouragement 

American Classical League Exams. An International 

Competition 

Daniel F (Year 8) received full marks in the Introduction 

to Latin Exam 

Kieran Kishore (Year 9) won a Gold Medal in the Latin 

I Section. 

Joe McKenzie and Ignatius Wilson (both Year 9) were 

awarded Silver Medals. 

In the Latin II Section, Peter Robinson and Daniel Lynch 

(both Year 10) were awarded Gold Medals. 

In the Prose III Section, Jeremy Marel (Year 11) won a 

Gold Medal. 

In Japanese our boys sat for their ACER Examinations 

which are similar to the NSW University Exams however 

ACER exams are Australasian exams sat by Japanese 

students in Australia and New Zealand. 

Years 9 and 10 sat for the Beginners levels with 

eighty percent of the boys achieving Distinctions and the 

remainder being awarded High Distinctions. Year 11 sat 

for the Intermediate Level with all students being awarded 

Distinctions. 


Ms Carmel Amasi and the Year 8 winners 

In the Haiku Competition, James Yee Joy (Year 10) 

won a place at the World Children’s Haiku Competition in 

Matsuyama Shikoku, Japan. 

We entered a large number of essays in the 24th 

Australia – Japan Relations Essay Contest. The results will be 

posted in January 2007 and the winners will be announced 

in the next edition of The Aloysiad. 

In French our boys entered various Alliance Française 

Competitions throughout the year and on November 10 

the winners were invited to the Alliance Française in the city 

to accept their prizes at the official prizegiving ceremony. 

These competitions are open to all member schools in 

NSW so the competition is very tough. 

Ben Weissel at Alliance competition 

The winners were as follows: 

In the Year 7 Cézanne Poster Competition, Joelan 

Wong (Year 7) won third prize and Rory Macken (Year 7) 

won the Prize for Originality. 

Luke Jones (Year 8) won second prize and was asked 

to perform his rendition of Le Dormeur du Val by Jean-Arthur 

Rimbaud in the Year 8 Poetry Recital Competition. James 

May (Year 8) and William Craft (Year 8) came equal third 

in the same competition. 

Joseph Gaudioso (Year 9) wrote and performed his own 

poem in the Gueuloir Poétique and took out first prize with 

Ben Weissel (Year 9) being awarded second prize. 

In the Le Mans Poster Competition we won first and 

second prize with Ben Weissel (Year 9) winning first prize 

and Felix Buddee (Year 9) winning second prize. Felix was 

then asked to explain to the assembled guests how he had 

produced his poster 

Xavier Rahmé (Year 10) won first prize in the Royaume 

de l’Atlantide Competition where he had to create thirty 

rules for the country of Atlantis in French as well as do some 

research on where Atlantis was and what life was like to 

live in it. Struan Todd (Year 11) won the same Competition 

in the Senior Division. 

Felix Buddee at Alliance comp 

In Year 11 Declan Byrne was invited to sit for the 

prestigious Laperouse Competition where nineteen Year 11 

students are invited to compete after the regular Alliance 

Française Examinations. These students are the best 

candidates in the State and whilst Declan did not win the 

competition he came a brilliant sixth place. 

Year 9 French winners 

The regular Alliance Française Examinations were held 

this year and our winners for each Year Group were as 

follows: 

Year 9: Sean Ronzani 

Year 10: Stephen D’Souza 

Year 11: Declan Byrne 

Year 12: Jack O’Donoghue 




Ms Amasi winning French class 

And finally to keep up the tradition that our Year 8 boys 

have started, Ms Amasi’s class of Year 8 boys came equal 

first in the Alliance Française Song Competition where 

they sang and danced to a French song called Ensemble. 

This is the third year in a row that our boys have topped 

this Competition. The boys involved were; Samuel Burrett, 

Kieran Chowdry, Michael de Gail, James De Lucia, Andrew 

Devaraj, Logan Grisaffe, Mitchell Hockey, Mitchell Hodson- 

Tooth, Dominic Malouf, James May, William Nelson, 

Benjamin Patterson, Samuel Payne, Dominic Quattroville, 

Joseph Riordan, Thomas Ruehl, Jeremy Sweeney, William 

Thompson, Matthew Ticehurst, Benjamin Tully and Samuel 

Wood. 

Having been so successful at the Alliance Française 

Competitions, we are still waiting to hear the results of the 

Lire en Fête Competition for Years 9 and 10 in which our 

boys had to write the opening chapter of a science fiction 

novel in French. 

And to cap off the year, our Year 9 – 11 boys who sat 

the National ACER Examinations in French did the College 

proud, with ninety three percent of Year 11 achieving at 

least one Distinction, many achieving two distinctions, and 

sixty seven percent of Years 9 and 10 boys achieving at 

Simon Danieletto and Jacques McElhone - French drama 



least one distinction, many achieving two distinctions and 

others being placed in the top ten percent of candidates in 

Australia and New Zealand. 

Our congratulations to all of our students for their 

efforts and valuable contributions to the French speaking 

community of NSW. 

Mrs Karen Downes 

Head of Languages 

All Saints and All Souls Day 

The All Saints Day and All Souls Day student Mass 

was a very memorable experience for a number 

of reasons. Firstly sixteen Eucharistic Ministers were 

installed during the Mass. Fr Ross Jones SJ blessed them in 

an appropriate ceremony that saw the students pledge to 

be a Eucharistic Minister. These students all from Year 11, 

were Jacques McElhone, Alex Duncan, Chris Almeida, 

Thomas Hogan, Mark Slaven, Sidney Hioe, Daniel Yee, 

Declan Byrne, Troy Abolakian, Christian McMahon, Tim 

Telan, Alex Koumarelas, Tom Kelly, Richard Alessi, Thomas 

Chan, Mark McKibbin. It is wonderful to see that we have 

so many of our students willing to display their faith and be 

willing to share the body of Christ with their fellow students 

and Staff. 

The second inspirational part of the Mass that was 

so inspiring was the creative music. A group of Year 10 

musicians and choristers performed You Raise Me Up and 

The Power of Your Love. This complimented the other songs 

played and there is always a smile from the congregation 

with the playing of one of Fr Middleton’s SJ favourite 

songs, When the Saints Go Marching In as the recessional 

music. 

Perhaps though, the most moving experience was the 

reflection by Declan Byrne, who is the Prefect for Pastoral 

Care. His insights show maturity beyond his years, and 

gives us much hope for the future where we know we have 

such outstanding faith filled students in our presence. 

His reflection follows: 

“The Beatitudes essentially are a list of characteristics 

exhibited by a person who is deemed blessed by God. 

Pure of heart, peacemaker, gentle and poor in spirit are 

a few of the traits mentioned that are central to living out 

our faith. Possibly the most important line in this passage 

is “Rejoice and be glad, for your reward will be great in 

heaven.” Basically, be happy and grateful and you shall go 

to heaven; so simple in words, yet so difficult in action. 

As today we celebrate All Saints Day it is evident that 

these saints are the most obvious examples of people in 

our world who have lived out the above qualities. Saint 

is such a broad term. Our stained glass window to the 

left conveys some of the canonised saints our school feels 

epitomise what we hope and strive to be like. Yet these 

saints represent in fact only a small amount of all the saints. 

Not only is everyone in heaven a saint, but all Christians 

form “the communion of Saints”. It’s a term thrown around 


a lot but each one of you may have someone you consider 

a saint, an unofficial saint. Whether the person is alive or 

dead, related or just a good friend or even just someone 

you have heard of or seen, these people are saints. They 

are saints because you feel they exemplify the qualities that 

you deem to be a saint. 

Our Richie Fernando Centre was named after a man 

who lived out his faith like a saint. Richie Fernando died 

at the mere age of twenty six, ten years ago this month. 

After becoming a Jesuit he was sent to Cambodia for his 

Regency, a journey he would take which is considered 

central to the Jesuit formation. There he worked for the Jesuit 

Refugee Service, at a school for the victims of land mines. 

There, these people came maimed by bullets and mines, 

scarred by hunger and plagued by disease, fighting simply 

for hope. He spent years there helping others. Helping 

others rebuild their own lives, helping others to learn a trade 

so they could work and make money but most importantly, 

Richie Fernando helped liberate others and free them for 

the future. One day Richie came to this school, like any 

other day, ready and willing to serve and to learn. That 

same day a boy came to school, distressed and prepared 

to kill everyone in the school. In the panic Richie not only 

managed to usher a class out of the building but raced 

back into the building to try and convince Sarom not to 

kill himself. Sarom declared he did not want to kill Richie, 

but in Richie’s desperation to save him he held Sarom. As 

the grenade fell to the ground he shielded Sarom from the 

blast and in turn he was killed. Sarom survived but Richie 

Fernando died saving another, he died living out his faith, 

he died a saint. He rejoiced, was glad and was grateful 

and we believe was rewarded with eternal life in heaven. 

The story of Leila is one filled with heartache, tears and 

happiness. Leila is from Iran, a country where people are 

not free to do what they want. In escaping this situation 

in search of a new life, she ended up in Australia, seven 

months pregnant, very sick, yet hopeful of a new start. From 

the shores of Australia she was put in Villawood Detention 

Centre. I would like to quickly read a small excerpt from her 

story. “Villawood is like a jail. It’s not good for family. There’s 

nothing to do there. I was eighteen months in Detention... 

Whenever I talk about detention I cry... When Sara was 

10 months old, I started crying every night. My body was 

always cold, I couldn’t eat and I had headaches all the 

time. One day I had an appointment with the doctor... The 

nurse told me the doctor was too busy... I got so angry, I 

started screaming. I didn’t eat for nine days. Then they took 

me to hospital. When I got my visa I was in Bankstown 

hospital... I screamed. I was so happy... My family in Iran 

are always asking when I’ll come and visit them. I say I 

can’t come and you can’t come. I can’t explain to them the 

system... When I told my mother she couldn’t visit me she 

started crying. If I go back to Iran, I don’t know what will 

happen to me. I’d be very scared. Maybe I would be in 

jail forever... I like it here. I have freedom. My daughter will 

be able to study what she likes.” Leila’s unselfish nature and 

care for her family in particular her daughter’s wellbeing are 

traits worthy of sainthood. She was persecuted in the cause 

of right, she is poor in spirit and she is pure in heart. 

Saints are people who are not only proud of their faith 

but are ready and willing to display it. In 2008 World 

Youth Day comes to Sydney, a period of time where young 

people from all around the world gather here in our city to 

profess their faith and pray together. It was launched last 

Tuesday at All Saints Church at Liverpool and the current 

Year 9’s will be heavily involved in this event. Last year 

Andrew Haylen (SAC 2006) and Tom Haremza (SAC 

2006) ventured to Germany for World Youth Day and the 

celebrations. In less than two years it will be here in our 

own backyard. 

These canonised and unofficial saints are recognised 

so as we can use them as models. We are inspired by 

them, by their hearts and their work and we use these 

saints as guides for our own lives. As we celebrate All 

Saints Day it is vital we remember All Souls Day that is 

celebrated tomorrow. Many of us in this Chapel today 

have lost people close to us, people we consider saints. 

These people who have passed away were people we 

trusted, people we talked to, people we asked things of 

and people we were grateful for. So why not pray to them? 

Instead of speaking to them face to face, try speaking to 

them through prayer. We know that they will care, because 

they are our saints.” 

Debating in 2006 

There is no doubt that in very recent years our duty to 

speak on a very wide range of issues has become 

clear. To witness, therefore, the excellence with which 

our seventy odd debaters have persevered on both the 

personal and competitive levels, has been a privilege. To 

stand and debate, often complex issues, in front of a critical 

audience of coaches, parents and teachers, is daunting to 

say the least. I would like therefore to extend my thanks to 

these boys. 

The depth of talent that became evident as the season 

progressed was very impressive. The most glittering of 

victories was of course our four CAS titles – the Firsts, 

Seconds, 10Bs and 7Bs, truly an outstanding achievement. 

In the ISDA competition our Firsts, Seconds and Thirds all 

reached the grand-finals with our 8Bs making the semi-finals 

of the CSDA competition. It’s been many years since the 

College has experienced such an array of wins. 

Special mention must be made of the First III and their 

bringing home of the Father Charles McDonald SJ Cup. 

The debate on the night was reminiscent of many of the 

great debates that we have seen between St Aloysius’ and 

Riverview over the years. A similar standard was evident 

when our 1st III flew to Adelaide for the Australian Jesuit 

Schools Debating Championships and were undefeated, 

going down to Riverview in the grand-final. 

Later in the year, CAS selections saw four of our 

boys making the eight available positions, yet another 




remarkable achievement. Jacques McElhone (Year 12) and 

James Johnston (Year 12) were selected for the Seconds 

with Tom Haremza (Year 12) and Harrison Grace (Year 12) 

occupying places in the Firsts. Harrison went on to Captain 

the NSW School’s Debating Team which came second at 

the Nationals in Darwin. Special praise and thanks must 

go to Harrison for his splendid Captaincy of the Debating 

Squad and NSW – quite an achievement! 

The boys, of course, thoroughly deserve the above 

successes however mention must be made of their excellent 

coaching. With ten coaches looking after the Squad, a 

rigorous training schedule is now well and truly up and 

running. Nik Kirby (SAC 2001) and Aaron Rathmell (SAC 

2001) are our head coaches and their work with the 

Senior boys has been truly outstanding. The combined 

experience of all our coaches means that our boys are 

equipping themselves quite soundly with the skills necessary 

for an articulate and well reasoned style, they are indeed 

privileged to be in such a position. 

Sincere thanks also to the many parents who regularly 

get out the road maps for some of our more remote 

Friday night excursions and of course, for the suppers 

that invariably fill and impress, at night’s end! Without 

this tireless support, we would not have the outstanding 

reputation for hospitality that the College enjoys in the 

broader debating community. 

A final thank you to the College staff, Messrs. Gould, 

Irwin, Turnock and Tzantzaris who without fail put in long 

hours every Friday evening, plus the regular mid-week 

events with skill, sensitivity and humour. Both the boys and 

I are particularly grateful. 

Our year has ended well. Yes we have had great 

successes, but above all, we have helped to develop a 

collection of boys capable of presenting well informed 

arguments and realistic appraisals of many of the disturbing 

issues that are too often presented in the broader community 

with anything but a balanced perspective. Congratulations 

boys and many thanks. 

Mr Mark Norton 

Debating Master 

Nambucca Heads Cultural 

Immersion and Exchange 2006 

Working with the Gumbaynggirr People 

During our time in the Nambucca Valley we were 

fortunate enough to visit the Muurrbay Language 

Centre. This centre is run by a group of Aboriginal 

elders from the area. The Muurrbay Language Centre was 

set up too teach young people out Aboriginal heritage, 

language and art and we visited the centre twice during 

the two weeks. 

During our first visit to the centre, we greeted Aunty 

Shirley, who is the aboriginal elder responsible for organising 

our visits to the centre, among other things. The elders had 



Left to right: Nick Plummer, Luke Fussell, Brendan Lim, David Prosser 

and Will Hart 

prepared a medley of sings for us. Some songs were sung 

were purely aboriginal but some were of European or white 

Australian origin, that had been translated into the Goori 

language. These were songs like; Twinkle, twinkle little star, 

Mary had a little lamb and Give me a home among the 

Gum trees, an Australian classic. 

The Choir consisted of singers, guitarist, the clapping 

sticks and a DJ. After the initial performance we had a 

chance to talk with the elders and have some lunch. From 

speaking to the elders we heard many stories from the 

Nambucca area, including the story of how that tribe came 

into existence. Many of the elders were interested in us and 

a lot of out time was spent describing the reason that we 

were here; “an exchange and immersion”, were we came 

from and what AFL team we supported; a groan echoed 

around the room as a voiced that I was a Sydney Swans 

supporter. 

The second time we visited the centre we were lucky 

enough participate in some Aboriginal art lessons, from one 

of the elders. The first painting we did involved a process 

of drawing charcoal lines and painting within them. This 

method was described to us as, “a form of meditation” and 

the experience was very relaxing. The process of letting 

the charcoal lines go were your hand put them and then 

following the line with a paint, dragging the charcoal away 

from the line you made, was is a sense, calming, it seemed 

to focus and relax you. 

At lunchtime one of the elders taught us how to cook an 

aboriginal style of bread. The way of making this bread 

reflects aboriginality by being so natural. After the dough 

was made; a mixture of flour, self raising flour, powdered 

milk and water, it was left to settle for a short while, then 

cut up and fried. We ate it hot, with butter and jam. But we 

could only manage about four pieces as it was so filling. 

Later that day we painted a huge canvas, about one 

meter high, we divided it into ten sections, that we could 

paint ourselves. There was a section for the four of us, our 

two teachers and four elders. Each section told a little story, 


using aboriginal picture art and the traditional dot painting. 

We would present the painting to the School when we got 

back to Sydney. 

On the Sunday the elders had organised a special 

mass for us. The mass was held on a sacred site, on a little 

peninsula in the river. The mass was very social, with Father 

often asked the gathering questions, especially the younger 

boys and girls. There were many songs in both Goori and 

English. The Father had printed pictures that we were given 

and discussed, what they meant in relation to Catholicism 

and aboriginality. During the mass there was a ceremony of 

water and smoke, which symbolised the aboriginal link to 

the land, and how they incorporate their aboriginal culture 

within their Catholicism. This mass was a reflection of how 

the white and aboriginal communities have joined and how 

they bonded together through faith and love of God. 

Fr Brian S.M. (Marist Missionary Father’s, Macksville) 

These experiences were a huge chance to reflect for us. 

Living in the city it is very busy, but out at Nambucca there is 

a sense of relaxation and just living that is inescapable and 

unforgettable. The co existence of the aboriginal and white 

community is truly inspirational. The Nambucca community is 

so welcoming that we were accepted immediately and I’m 

sure will always be welcome as members of their community. 

It is a beautiful thing, how every body knows everybody; 

so that no matter where you go in the town you are always 

guaranteed a friendly face and a welcoming hand. 

Luke Fussell (Year 9) 

The Vee – Wall 

The Vee-Wall was made by the council for residents and 

visitors to the town of Nambucca Heads. It is made of 

rocks of varying shapes and sizes which are available 

for anyone to paint. 

When a rock was found that fitted our need, Miss 

Moran prepared it for us while we were at school. We 

now have a large flat rock, which we have to paint in such 

a way that when everybody sees it, they will know that St 

Aloysius’ College students had been there. We settled on 

Left to right: Miss Emily Moran, Luke Fussell, Martin Ballangarry, 

William Hart, Nicholas Plummer and Brendan Lim 

a basic design of the school crest, the names of all five of 

us and a painting by Uncle Martin who was an Aboriginal 

elder of the area. 

With Luke as our painting leader we started that 

afternoon. Luke drew the outline of our college crest (which 

we realized was very detailed) while Nick, Brendan and 

Will painted a blue and gold border around the rock. After 

that the drawing of the crest was outlined in black and the 

larger parts were coloured in. 

The next day all that was left to do was finish colouring 

in the crest and for Uncle Martin to finish his bit. Uncle 

Martin’s contribution was a painting of some of the local 

mountains (the tribe his Dad came from) with the sea at their 

base (his Mothers tribe). Over the top of these was a carpet 

snake (representing the Gumbaynggnirr tribe, they were the 

local tribe) with Gumbaynggirr nation written on it. Once 

we had all placed our hand prints along with our names on 

the rock our Vee-Wall painting was done. 

The Goorie radio station was just off the main street. 

It is voiced by Uncle Gary Williams, and it is run by the 

local elders as a public radio station for all who want to 

hear it. This was where we did a half hour interview one 

afternoon. 

In a funny coincidence, Tom Makinson (SAC 1940) visited the 

Nambucca Heads area in October and came across the rock that the 

boys had painted. 




Uncle Garry Williams, Luke Fussell, Brendan Lim, William Hart and 

Nicholas Plummer 

Uncle Gary asked us what we thought of Nambucca as 

a town, to which we answered that Nambucca to us was 

a small town compared to the hustle of Sydney but it had 

this “air” about it and the people who lived here made us 

feel welcome. 

There were other questions such as what we had done 

so far, but I won’t go into detail as these will be covered 

elsewhere in the article. 

Will Hart (Year 9) 

Nambucca Heads High School 

Nambucca Heads High School is located at the 

Pacific Highway end of Nambucca Heads. The 

school first opened in the early 1990’s and the 

Principal is Mr Hilton Humphries. Mr Humphries along 

with the billeting families went out of their way to make 

us feel welcome. Mr Humphries’ dry wit and rye sense 

of humour ensured a smile and a laugh was never far 

away. 

Nambucca Heads High School is a Co-Educational 

Public High School. Yes this means there were girls!!!! 

The four of us therefore, were naturally excited about our 

first day at Nambucca Heads High School. It can be said 

that it was a very different experience to that of St Aloysius’ 

College. Nambucca Heads High runs on a different format 

to that of Aloys, with different subject choices available to 

Year 9, a six period day, roll call and behavioural levels 

and sports Co-curricular on Wednesday afternoons from 

period 3 onwards. 

All core classes were graded into four class levels, 

depending upon aptitude. The students attended compulsory 

Maths, Science, Geography, English, History and PDHPE, 

taking scripture classes only once a Term. 

Nambucca Heads High School students, choose to 

study any three electives from the following; Wood 

Tech, Metal Tech, Food Tech, Drama, Music, Visual 

Arts, Japanese, Gumbaynggnirr (the local Aboriginal 

Language), Aboriginal Studies and Applied Sports. We 

generally attended classes with the billets, however, we 

were permitted to choose our own electives which meant 



we often drifted between the electives our school doesn’t 

offer so as to make the most of the experience. 

Some of the fun activities we participated in while 

attending the school were practical music lessons, PE, Food 

Tech, Metal Tech and Wood Tech. 

Some of the things we made in Food Tech, were Sang 

Choy Bao and Yum Cha. Luke made a metal box in Metal 

and Wood Tech and I made a ring. 

At lunchtime we would meet most of the Year 9s outside 

while eating lunch and having a chat about our experiences 

at home and in Nambucca Heads. 

Personally speaking my favourite elective subjects were 

Drama and Food Tech. 

Nicholas Plummer (Year 9) 

Nambucca Heads High School and St Mary’s 

Primary School 

At 7.15am on Monday 11 September, four Year 

9 students, Nicholas Plummer, William Hart, Luke 

Fusel, Brendan Lim and Miss Emily Moran boarded 

a train bound for the coastal town of Nambucca Heads. 

We were embarking on the first Cultural Immersion with 

the Gumbaynggirr People of the Nambucca Valley and 

Exchange with the students from Nambucca Heads High 

School. 

What did we think we would encounter? We didn’t 

really know. The only problem that filled our minds was 

how to survive the eight-hour train ride. The answer to this 

was simple and effective, a $6 pack of cards and plenty 

of edible goods to sustain us, courtesy of the Natural 

Confectionary Company. 

Eight-hours and 1kg of snakes later, we were met by our 

billeting families and settled into what was to become home 

for the next two weeks. The school Principal, of Nambucca 

Heads High is Mr Hilton Humphries. The four of us were 

quickly reassured that we will be well rested, watered and 

fed by the kind, friendly faces that were to be our familyaway-from-home 

family. But St Aloysius' didn’t forget Miss 

Moran. She was put up in a roomy apartment overlooking 

a stunning view of the ‘vee wall’ and the ocean. 

On Wednesday 13 September, accompanied by 

Shirley Ballangarry, an elder from the Gumbaynggirr 

Nation, we drove to a small town outside Macksville, 

called Bowraville population of two thousand. There we 

met the Principal Ms Claire Mellon and the students of St 

Mary’s Primary School. 

St Mary’s is a great school with roughly fifty indigenous 

pupils ranging from Kindergarten to Year 8. 

Any initial awkwardness we might have felt soon 

dissolved as Luke and Brendan got into answering the 

questions from the children about where we live and go 

to school. They are great kids and soon we were feeling 

like we had known them for a long time. After recess 

(playground games included crocodile, i.e. tip, and see- 


if-you-can-catch-the-red-back-spider-while-freaking-out-theguests) 

we went to visit the Year 3, 4 composite and the 

Year 5, 6, 7 composite classes. In these classrooms there 

was much more of an air of work and study as the kids 

sat an assessment and then focused on maths by way of 

a computer programme. The kids were easy to get along 

with as well as a lot of fun, as we answered their questions 

as best we could and took part in various activities like 

reading and playing games. 

Left to right: Ned Hicks (billeting family), Nicholas Plummer, Brendan 

Lim, Amy Savage (billeting family), Luke Fussell, Will Hart and 

Gorgie Maggs (billeting family), saying goodbye at the Nambucca 

Heads train station. 

Lunch was eagerly looked forward to and lunch games 

were pretty much the same as recess. After lunch we had 

the pleasure of going back to the K, 1, 2 composite and 

the teacher was so kind as to slot in free time at the last 

minute. Unfortunately we couldn’t stay much longer and 

had to leave. 

By going to St Mary’s and meeting with the kids and 

talking to the teachers and the principal, we were exposed 

to a completely different environment of a very small town 

and school. 

Brendan Lim (Year 9) 

Life For Kids 

There is an air of excitement at our weekly breakfasts as 

Christmas approaches. 

It embraces the awe of the heritage of our Aboriginal 

children and their respect for the red earth we all tread, 

the wonder of skies shining with stars above and the bright 

sunshine they bring to our lives. Such spirit reminds us of 

the beauty and simplicity of the surrounds of Jesus’ birth in 

a distant land. 

Our ‘kids’ and their families have no expectations in their 

day-to-day harsh lives except the goodwill and peace when 

Christmas brings us together as the wondrous community 

of Life for Kids. For many our Christmas Party is their only 

The Hickey children in the pool at the Gartlan Centre at Riverview 

celebration, so we are planning a very special gathering 

with fun, games, turkey dinner, Santa with presents and 

hampers for families, Christmas Carols and a Christmas 

Concert by the ‘kids’ and volunteers. 

We are indebted to our dedicated volunteers, including 

students from St Aloysius’ and Riverview and young Old 

Boys, and to the leaders, staff and parents of our Jesuit 

schools for the extraordinary support we have received 

during 2007. A really big THANK YOU to you all. 

Activities during the last Term, as well as the weekly 

breakfasts, have encompassed a memorable day at the 

Gartlan Sports Centre at Riverview, the recommencement 

of surfboard riding lessons with the Northern Beaches 

lifesavers, the continuing support in education, provision of 

basic food for families and support through deaths and for 

those in detention centres. 

May Christmas bring goodwill, peace, joy and a great 

sense of hope for 2007 to you and your families. We 

welcome you to share in Life for Kids’ activities at any 

time. 

Mrs Ailsa Gillett AOM 

Life for Kids Co-ordinator 

Shanie and Benjamin at the Christmas Party 2005 



senior school sport 

From The Director of Co-Curricula 

- Winter Review 

Cross Country 

Only a handful of students compete each week in the 

combined CAS/GPS invitations. Three of our students 

Brendan McLenaghan (Year 12), Alex Godbold (Year 11) 

and Joe Craft (Year 10) were selected to represent CIS at 

NSW All Schools at Eastern Creek which was an excellent 

achievement. 

The College team competed very successfully only 

recently at the CAS Championships at Macquarie Hospital. 

Best performers included in the 14s, Ben Klarich (Year 9), 

sixth, Robert Joannides, seventh (only Year 5), and Chris 

Joannides (Year 8), eighth. The 16s team won their team 

event with Joe Craft being placed first and Rupert Holmes 

(Year 10), second. Ben Kikby (Year 11) was also placed in 

the top ten. In the Opens, Alex Godbold finished second 

whilst Brendan McLenaghan was sixth and Graham 

Purcell (Year 12) seventh. The Opens team finished second 

overall. 

Football 

As mentioned in the previous edition of The Aloysiad, 

the College was delighted to obtain the services of 

ex-Socceroo David Mitchell to coach the 1st XI this season. 

The team had an excellent start to the season winning 

most of their trial games which included a 3-0 win over 

Barker and a 2-1 success against St Ignatius' College. 

Unfortunately the team lost to Sydney Grammar in the first 

round of the Independent Schools Cup. 

At the Jesuit Schools Carnival held at Riverview this year, 

the team emulated last year’s performance by winning the 

Loyola Cup, defeating the host school 2-1 in the final. The 

team went through the competition undefeated. Four boys 

were selected in the Australian Jesuit Schools team including 

three from Year 11.They were Stephen Gaudioso (Year 

12), Theo Coolentianos (Year 11), Luke Maurel (Year 11) 

and Matthew Carnuccio (Year 11). 

In the CAS competition, the 1st XI only managed one 

win over Cranbrook and a draw against Trinity but were 

unlucky to go down by one goal in each of the other three 

matches. Knox were CAS premiers again. Picked for CAS 

1st XI representation were David McClatchey (Year 12), 

Stephen Gaudioso and Matthew Carnuccio. Matthew 

was also selected in the CIS team for the second year in 

succession. 

Other teams that performed well in the College included 

the 10Bs and 9As, coached by Paul O’Byrne (SAC 

2003). 

Rugby 

The 1st XV had a disappointing season by their 

standards. After a big loss to St Ignatius', the team rallied 

to draw with St Patricks' and win handsomely against St 



Pius and beat Trinity by one point in the trials. The boys 

toured Queensland along with the 16As and Preps and 

played their best football of the season along with the other 

two teams beating St Patrick’s Shorncliffe and the strong 

Brisbane Church of England School. However the team 

failed to win a CAS game, the closest being an unlucky 

loss to Trinity 21-25. Barker was CAS champions, being 

undefeated in the competition. 

Captain and lock Mark Williams (Year 12) and prop 

Chris Favretto (Year 12) made the CAS 1st XV team. Chris 

was later to be selected in NSW 2nd XV. 

At the end of season Opens Dinner, we farewelled 

Frank Clarke, MIC for five years and 1st XV coach for 

three seasons. Frank has left for Ireland to take up a new 

teaching position as Director of Ethos at the Jesuit College, 

Clongowes. Frank introduced many initiatives into Aloysian 

Rugby as MIC, including involving the Junior School more 

closely in rugby matters, organising tours for all ages, 

introducing the new harlequin top for players and suitably 

clothing both staff coaches and Old Boys for games. We 

wish Frank and his wife Sinead all the best. 

Other best performed teams in the College included 

the 15As who won five matches and were close to being 

the best in the CAS whilst the both the 13As and 13Cs 

lost only two games in the season. Both teams were 

undefeated in the CAS but two rounds were washed 

out. The 13As, coached by staff member and Old 

Boy Michael Taylor (SAC 1985) boasted a particularly 

impressive record. Their wins included St Pius, 78-0, 

Trinity 48-0 and Knox 41-12. 

Tom Kingston (Year 9) was selected in the Sydney 15s 

team. Tom played centre in the 15As this season. 

Tennis 

The 1st V had one of their best seasons in some time 

and were placed second in the CAS competition. Knox 

went through undefeated after two rounds. The team had 

a mixture of youth and experience with Captain Rohan 

Chowdry (Year 12) and oldest player, while Nic Fuentes 

(Year 8), and was the youngest. Alex Patten (Year 10), 

our number two seed in the team, won the majority of his 

singles matches. He is a player of great natural talent. 

Our 10As, 9As and 8As all had their share of 

competition wins but our most successful team was the 7As 

who won seven out of eight games. 

Volleyball 

The College fielded two Opens teams this season with 

basically all boys new to the game. So the 1st VI was 

a very inexperienced and young side with a number of the 

boys from Year 10. The team was however very competitive 

in their matches and had wins over Waverley both rounds 

and were unlucky to lose to Barker in the final game. The 

team was coached by Old Boy Chris Lobascher (SAC 

2003). The 2nd VI recorded three wins beating Waverley 

twice and Barker. 


Student Achievements (in other sports) 

Basketball 

Tom Wright (Year 12) captained an undefeated CIS team 

and was selected in the NSW Combined Colleges team 

for the Australian Schools Nationals in Perth. Tom has since 

been picked in the Australian School Boys Team. 

Snow Sports 

Twelve boys qualified for State Championships this year. 

At the Thredbo Cup, brothers James Boyd (Year 9) and 

Daniel Boyd (Year 7) excelled. James was placed first in 

the Men’s J1 Giant Slalom and first in the Men’s J1 Slalom 

whilst Daniel was first in the Child C1 Slalom and third in 

the Child C1 Giant Slalom. 

Daniel has since been picked in the Australian Children’s 

Squad. 

Waterpolo 

Michael de Gail (Year 8), Mark Sindone (Year 8), and 

Paul Sindone (Year 7) represented NSW Under 14s 

at Nationals. The team defeated Queensland in the finals. 

Michael captained the team. 

Fencing 

Captain David Donato (Year 12) was selected to 

represent Australia in the World Championships earlier 

in the year and has since qualified to represent at the 

Commonwealth Games. 

Hayden Fitzgerald (Year 8) won a bronze medal in Foils 

at the NSW Schools State Championships 

Three boys represented NSW at the Australian National 

Championships. Jeremy Aimes (Year 8) was picked in the 

Under 15 Foil Team, James Zwar (Year 11) for the Under 

17 Epee Team and David Donato for the Under 17 Foil 

and Epee Team. 

Gold Blazers 

Two boys this year achieved this rare sporting honour. 

Graham Purcell (Year 12) for Swimming, Waterpolo and 

Cross Country and Alex Godbold ( Year 11) for Waterpolo, 

Athletics and Cross Country. 

Summer Preview 

Athletics 

The CAS Athletic Championships were held in near 

perfect twilight conditions last at Homebush. Despite 

the fact that our team finished sixth for the first time in 

many years, the performance of the whole team was 

very praiseworthy. We improved our overall points by 

over thirtypoints and doubled our wins from 2005. In fact 

we were only fifty points off second placing in what was 

the closest competition in years, especially amongst the 

bottom five schools. On the track, we were the second 

best school in terms of points scored. Knox won the 

championship on the day. 

There were some outstanding performances, including 

a number of College records. Vice Captain Ben Tweedie 

(Year 12) broke the Opens Javelin record with a throw of 

53.38 metres. John Wunder (Year 10) in the 16s Discus 

threw 34.12 metres whilst Tim Shmigel (Year 8) equalled 

his 13s Long Jump record with a leap of 5.19 metres. The 

15s relay team of Tom Priddis (Year 9), Tom Kingston (Year 

9), Travis Owens (Year 9) and Chris Chan (Year 9), not only 

broke the College record, but also the CAS record. 

Individual winners on the evening included: 

Opens Brendan McLenagan (800m Division and 1500m 

Championship) 

17s Alex Godbold (800m Championship and 1500m 

Championship ), Oscar Merven (Year 11) (1500m 

Division), Harry Irving (Year 12) ( Hurdles Division) 

16s Sam Stevens (Year 10) (200m Championship and 

400m), Michael Mulcahy (Year 11) (200m Division) 

15s Tom Priddis (Hurdles Championship), Travis Owens 

(200m Division) 

13s Tim Shmigel (200m Championship, 400m and 

Long Jump) 

Apart from these winners, there were many other 

excellent efforts with numerous boys performing personal 

bests. Captain Harry Irving (Year 12) , led by example 

with outstanding efforts in all his races. He was well 

supported by his Vice Captains Brendan McLenaghan, Ben 

Tweedie and Sean Lambert (all Year 12), all of whom were 

inspirational athletes throughout the season. 

Full CAS results are on the College intranet. 

Congratulations to Sam Stevens and Ben Shorter (both 

Year 10), who have qualified for Nationals following their 

performances at All Schools Championships. 

My thanks go to Mr Justin Langley, MIC, who again 

administered the sport so well. Well done to Head Coach 

Mr Clayton Kearney and all staff and outside coaches who 

were fully committed all season. Old Boy coaches included 

Matt Dwyer (SAC 1997), John Corpuz (SAC 2004), 

Matt Walker (SAC 2005), Ian Skinner (SAC 2004), Tom 

Borger (SAC 2003), Daniel DeZilva (SAC 2003), Jonathon 

Owen (SAC 2004), Angus Ryan (SAC 2005) and Damian 

Milani (SAC 1983). Physiotherapist Ms Louisa Coleman 

served excellently both in this role and as coach. The 

Parent Committee, headed by Mr Peter Kingston, is to be 

commended on their efforts along with all parents who 

helped out at the various carnivals. The Irving’s, along with 

many others organised a fabulous end of season dinner 

on Saturday night. And finally a word of thanks to Fr Ross 

Jones SJ and Fr Chris Middleton SJ whose presence was 

very obvious throughout the season. 

Australian Rules 

The College fielded three teams again for the short five 

week season against various CAS and GPS schools. 




The boys were more successful than last year winning 

games in all age groups. A number of boys were selected 

to represent the North Side Private Schools Team which 

included Angus Buncle (Year 10), Malcolm Gandar (Year 

10), Matthew Osborn (Year 10), Luke Robinson (Year 10) 

and Toby Jones (Year 10). My thanks extend to parents Paul 

Robinson, Bernie Buncle, Mike McCann and Old Boy Chris 

Lobascher (SAC 2003) who assisted with the coaching this 

season. 

Basketball 

Michael Turton, continues as Director and will be 

supported by MIC Mr Sinclair Watson. Old Boys 

coaching teams include Dom Pelosi (SAC 2000) (2nds), 

Phil Cunningham (SAC 1991) (10As), Daniel Tardo 

(SAC 2005) (10Bs), Adam Fisher (SAC 2004) (9As), 

Andrew Punturiero (SAC 2005) (9C and D), Justin Fontana 

(SAC 2005) (10C and D) and Michael Kennedy (SAC 

2005) (8Bs). 

At the end of five CAS rounds, the 1st V and 2nd V 

have just recorded a solitary win over Waverley and Trinity 

respectively but play four home games next Term. The 

10As have won four out of five games whilst the 9As and 

8As too have won some CAS matches and are continually 

improving. 

Individually Liam Andrew (Year 8) has won selection in 

the Under 15 NSW Metro Team. 

Congratulations to the Prep 1st V team who are still 

undefeated after seventeen games. 

Cricket 

MIC Mr Michael Rogan has taken over the reins of 1st 

XI coach for this season only as we look at 2006/7 

as a rebuilding year in College cricket. We have worked 

very closely with Mosman Cricket this year to establish 

close ties with the club and work towards offering our 

young cricketers more specialist training in the future. 

The 1st XI began the season on a very bright note 

defeating both top Canberra schools, St Edmunds and 

Marist in one day games prior to the CAS. Opener and 

keeper Mark Harrold (Year 11) top scored in both games. 

Unfortunately the team has lost its first three CAS matches 

against Waverley, Trinity and Barker on first innings only. 

Captain Bernard Foley (Year 11) has been impressive with 

both bat and ball. 

Other Opens teams are performing very well, especially 

the 3rd XI who have lost only the one match. 

All other teams have done well with many wins 

throughout the age groups. The 10Bs, 9Bs and especially 

the 8Bs who have lost only one game are amongst the best 

performing teams. 

Patrick Kennedy (Year 7) hit 102 not out for the 8As in 

their six wicket win over Barker. 

Old Boys coaching include Jeremy Curtin (SAC 2003) 

(3rd XI), Dominic Haylen (SAC 2003) (4th XI) Tom Borger 



(SAC 2003) (8As), Russell Skinner (SAC 2000) (10As) and 

Patrick Lindsay (SAC 2003) (9Bs). 

Congratulations to the Prep 1st XI cricket who are 

winning most games and the 10Cs who are presently 

undefeated. 

Swimming 

Mr Martin Tenisons will MIC the strongest swim team that 

the school has produced in years. Sam McConnell 

(Year 11) recently competed successfully at the World 

Schools Championships in Greece and is an outstanding 

talent. Both Sam and Junior School student Matthew Jepson 

(Year 6) performed brilliantly at Nationals this year. Sam 

won eight events and was judged swimmer of the meet. 

Sam also received the prestigious Pierre de Coubertin 

Award for Sporting Excellence, an initiative of the NSW 

Olympics Council. Both Sam and Matthew are part of a 

small but very talented swim team. 

During the last holidays, over twenty boys went on a 

combined Swim and Waterpolo tour to the United States. 

This was a very successful tour both in and out of the pool 

and was a great lead in to the coming seasons in both 

sports. A full report of the tour appears elsewhere in this 

edition of The Aloysiad. 

The College held its annual swim invitation at North 

Sydney Pool in early Term IV to officially commence the 

season. Trinity again won the overall points score but 

we finished a solid second ahead of Cranbrook, Oakhill 

and St Patricks'. At the St Patricks' invitation, the carnival 

was called off mid way through the evening because of 

lightning. At that stage the College was on track to retain 

the Senior, Intermediate and overall points trophies won 

last year. 

Barker was a little too strong in the head to head met 

which included both Junior School and Senior School 

swimmers. 

Tennis 

The College is fielding the strongest and youngest Opens 

teams in many years with all three players back from 

the successful winter team along with a number of very 

promising junior players who tried out for possible selection. 

Three Year 7s are currently in the 1st IV and 2nd IV including 

Harry Kelleher, Matt Rowland and Ben Lalic. The 1st IV 

have defeated Waverley and Cranbrook in Round 1 and 

are aiming to secure a possible second placing in the 

CAS competition. Terry Watson remains MIC and 1st IV 

manager. 

The 3rd IV and 8As are undefeated after five rounds 

whilst the 4th IV and 10As have lost only one match each. 

The College will be hosting the Jesuit Tennis 

Championships this December at Tennis Cove and this 

years team should be very competitive. 

Congratulations to the Prep 1st IV who are still 

undefeated this term. 


Volleyball 

The College is fielding three teams again this season. The 

1st VI are being coached by Old Boys Chris Lobascher 

(SAC 2003) and Carl Sullivan (SAC 2003). Along with 

the 2nd VI, they have won all games so far except for the 

Trinity fixture. 

The 3rds won their first game of the season beating 

Barker last round. 

Waterpolo 

Laurie Newton stepped down as MIC this season and was 

replaced by staff member Mr Steve Zolezzi. Mr Newton 

did a wonderful job in organising and promoting the sport 

in what is a tough CAS/GPS competition. The future of 

this sport looks very bright with so many outstanding young 

players in the school including brothers Mark Sindone (Year 

9), Paul Sindone (Year 8) and Michael De Gail (Year 8), 

all of whom are in the NSW Under 14 Team and all who 

played in last years 1st VII team. 

As mentioned a number of our players joined their 

swimming counterparts when they toured the United States 

last holidays on a combined Waterpolo/Swim Tour. 

Old Boys coaching this season include Sam Nolan 

(SAC 1999) and Peter De Gail (SAC 2002) (Opens), 

Todd Miller (SAC 2004) and Charles Edwards (SAC 

2005) (Under 16s) and Sam Gladman and Lionel Newton 

(both Year 12s) (Under 14s). 

With one round to go in Term IV, both the 1sts and 2nds 

are presently undefeated and both teams are in tremendous 

form. They have defeated St Ignatius' College, Waverley 

College, Newington College, Knox Grammar (19-1in 1st 

VII) and Trinity Grammar so far. 

The 16s and 14s have done it tough with limited 

success but are improving all the time. 

New Groundsman 

It was reported in the previous edition of The Aloysiad that 

Chris Millar had retired as groundsman after serving the 

College Oval so well for twenty two years. I am please 

to announce that our new man Paul Chalmers is up and 

running at working very hard to make the College Oval 

a real showpiece. Paul worked previously on Manly Oval 

which was considered one of the best cricket ovals under 

his care. Paul can be contacted on 9958 5118 but for 

Oval bookings, please ring Mrs Kathy Fitzgerald in my 

office on 99365547. 

Mr Paul Rowland (SAC 1973) 

Director of Co-Curricula 

David Mitchell Inducted into 

Football Hall of Fame 

2006 1st and 2nd XI coach and current Perth Glory 

Assistant Coach, David Mitchell was recently inducted 

into the Australian Football Hall of Fame. Although 

David McClatchey Year 12 2006 Capt of 1st XI with David Mitchell 

nine former players and administrators were recognised, 

David is this year’s the sole inductee for the top category 

– ‘Hall of Champions’ 

David Mitchell represented Australia with distinction 

for twelve years becoming the first player to compete in 

four World Cup campaigns between 1981 and 1993. 

He made a total of twenty nine appearances for Australia 

scoring eleven goals. 

David was at the vanguard of Australians playing in 

Europe, representing several high-profile clubs in the 1980s 

including Glasgow Rangers, Eintracht Frankfurt, Feyenoord, 

Chelsea and Newcastle United. 

He became the first Australian to play in the Scottish 

Premier League, German Bundesliga and the Dutch Premier 

League and was also the first Socceroo to score in a 

European Club Competition. 

In 2006, David led the SAC 1st and 2nd XI, assisting the 

College retain the Loyola Cup (Jesuit Schools Tournament). 

Last weekend, David invited Firsts and Seconds players 

to the Sydney FC/Perth Glory fixture. Perth went on to 

snatch a hard fought draw. At the game’s conclusion he 

chatted to the boys from the sideline. 

David remains a close friend of the College and recently 

wore his St Aloysius’ tie during a Fox Sports telecast. 

The College congratulates David on his recent induction 

and wishes him well for the remainder of the season. 

Mr Antony Sindone 

MIC Football 




Swimming/Waterpolo Tour of the 

West Coast of the USA 2006 

This was a ground-breaking tour, not only for St Aloysius’ 

College, but also for New South Wales schools, since 

we believe that this is the first tour of its kind. It was 

brave and adventurous, and it succeeded far beyond our, 

probably cautious, expectations. 

The programme that we planned was designed to 

combine the requirements of all St Aloysius’ tours together 

with our own special needs. Therefore we offered a Jesuit 

aspect, a cultural aspect, and an educational aspect 

together with expert training and competition for our 

athletes. I believe that all these needs were addressed, 

with the highlight of the Tour being the contact with St 

Ignatius College. We were also given expert training and 

fierce competition, which together with many sight-seeing 

opportunities made for happy but tired tourists! 

Overall we are celebrating a great success which 

has already manifested itself in the outstanding Water 

Polo results since our return and will hopefully deliver us 

great success in the CAS swimming competition next year. 

However, the fact that it was a complete experience, and 

that we have made many new friends as well as blazing a 

new trail, is the real success. 

Mrs Caroline Linschoten 

Tour Convenor 

2006 Swim Tour to the USA 

The St Aloysius’ College Swimming and Water Polo 

Tour of the USA during the October holidays can only 

be described as a huge success. 

As leader of the swimming contingent, I must compliment 

the boys not only on their performances but also their 

commitment to training during the long winter months which 

allowed us to arrive generally in peak condition. 

Overall, we were the match of any of the twenty five to 

thirty clubs we encountered along the way. 

Mr Zolezzi has reported on the water polo games which 

????????????? 



occupied our first week of competition. The swimmers had 

their first taste of competition at the 2006 Columbus Day 

Invitational on the week-end of October 7 and 8. This meet 

was hosted by the Santa Maria Swim Club (surely the most 

wonderful of hosts) 

Age groupings at this meet made it difficult to establish 

exact placing’s (i.e. thirteen years and over grouped in 

heats according to qualifying times.) but it was most evident 

that Sam McConnell, Chris Sudarmana and Matthew 

Jepson were the outstanding Senior, Intermediate and Junior 

swimmers respectively. All the others swam well against some 

fifteen strong Clubs from all around the San Francisco area. 

Times recorded were difficult to assess and compare 

as the Americans race in twenty five yard pools. The 

conversion from our fifty metre times to fifty yards and then 

to short course yards is indeed difficult and for our purpose 

pointless. Despite this all the boys swam very well first-up. 

One week later, we had our second swim meet at the 

Seal Beach “Monster Splash” at the Joint Forces Reserve 

Centre. This military base co-incidentally serves as the 

home base to both the USA Women’s and Men’s Water 

Polo Teams. By the end of the second week of our tour, 

unfortunately a few of us were a little worse for wear with 

injuries, chest infections, shoulder injuries etc. Those that 

survived injury free, performed extremely well, and we 

held our own against slightly stronger competition than the 

previous week. 

Others will expand on their results and experiences, 

but from the swimming perspective I am pleased to report 

that the 2006 Tour was a great success, and rest in the 

knowledge that our Swim team have never been in better 

form or better spirits this early in the season. 

Mr Martin Tenisons 

MIC Swimming 

Water Polo USA Tour Summary 

The Water Polo Tour Squad comprised of the following 

members who represented the Senior (Varsity) team: 

Chris McMahon, Sam Dalton, James Orlov, Luke 


Bouris, Mark Dietz, Mark Sindone, Michael de Gail, Paul 

Sindone and Ben Klarich. 

The Junior (Varsity) team also included both Mark and 

Paul Sindone, Michael de Gail, Ben Klarich, Tom Ruehl, 

Luke Ververka, Chris Chan and Sam Moran. 

The Varsity teams in the USA are U18s and Junior varsity 

U16s. We played ten games in total, and won six games 

out of the ten. The results were as follows: 

Senior Varsity 

4-9 SAC vs St Ignatius' College San Fransico 

2-12 SAC vs Marin Catholic 

4-8 SAC vs Marin Academy 

9-8 SAC vs St John Bosco 

4-8 SAC vs Inter City High 

10-3 SAC vs La Jolla High 

Junior Varsity 

15-13 SAC vs St Ignatius' College San Fransico 

9-7 SAC vs Marin Catholic 

9-8 SAC vs Marin Academy 

13-2 SAC vs St John Bosco 

The Junior Varsity team were undefeated on Tour. The 

Varsity level is very strong as they train generally twice a 

day and have extremely high swim standards. 

The Water Polo tour awards were presented as follows: 

Senior Varsity 

Best and fairest: Sam Dalton 

Most improved: James Orlov 

Best team player: Luke Bouris 

Junior Varsity 

Best and fairest: Mark Sindone 

Most improved: Luke Ververka 

Best team player: Chris Chan 

Special award: Best Polo/Swim - Ben Klarich 

Game Highlights 

Highlights were the game against St John Bosco where 

the seniors were trailing by two goals in the last quarter 

6-8 and came back 8-8 in full time. This resulted in three 

sessions of extra time in which Sam Dalton pulled off two 

amazing saves after which we scored the winning goal. In 

the Junior varsity game against Marin Academy we held off 

relentless attacks to squeeze a 9-8 win. Luke Ververka won 

all of his swim-offs and scored three times. 

Training 

We had a two hour training session with Marin Catholic 

in which we learnt how to structure a good training 

programme in blocks; 

Block 1 20 min swim and sprints 

Block 2 20 minutes - leg and resistance exercises 

Block 3 30 minutes - passing 

Block 4 20 minutes - shooting 

Block 5 30 minutes - 6 v 5 and extra man 

A further one and a half hour training session took place 

Left to right: James Orlov, Christian McMahon, Sam Dalton (c), 

Mark Dietz, Luke Bouris, Michael de Gail, Tom Ruehl, Paul Sindone, 

Ben Klarich and Mark Sindone 

at Loyola University which specialised in shooting drills and 

hesitation shots. The USA school players are extremely fit 

and good on counter-attack. 

The host schools were generous with their hospitality 

and we made good contacts with their coaching staff: 

Scott Dumas at St Ignatius' College 

Andrew Morris at Marin Catholic 

Svi Gvishi at Marin Academy 

Robert Smith at St John Bosco 

John Loughran and Justin Jewel at Loyola University 

Nate Heppner at La Jolla High 

Mr Steven Zolezzi 

The Tourists View 

The St Aloysius’ College USA Swimming and Water 

Polo Tour 2006 was a tour to remember. It expressed 

everything great about the school spirit and a desire for 

a first rate achievement in most, if not all competitions. 

However, every great tour has equally great people 

organising it from behind the scenes, and to those many 

people, we, the boys, are eternally grateful. 

It was seventeen days of pure excitement, right from the 

time we left. Even at the airport. After having had a small 

discussion about how to keep our valuables safe, the boys 

were all very amused to see none other than Mr Zolezzi 

almost forget his passport. This was to be a funny and 

worthwhile trip. 

The plane trip was long and tedious, lasting a good 

thirteen hours during which many managed to sleep. The 

monotony was broken intermittently by a select few of the 

senior boys who thought it funny to amuse themselves, with 

those asleep. The victims of course included Mr Martin 

Tenisons and Mr Justin Langley. However upon arrival, the 

jet-lag aside, we began our trip by touring the city of San 

Francisco. We were met by a bus driver who was very 

obliging and happy enough to crack the odd joke, or 

recommend the odd food joint, as we toured the downtown 

region of a bustling city. The highlights for many of us 




included Pier 39, as well as the intriguing festivals along 

the way. The twin peaks along the back of the city provided 

one of the best views of the entire harbour affording many 

of us good snapshots. 

After acting like tourists for much of the first day, we 

were more than happy to meet our very hospitable billets 

from St Ignatius Prepatory. The next day was the cultural 

and insightful part of our trip. The first few days with this 

school and our second billeting school Marin Catholic 

proved to be one of the best times on the tour itinerary, 

a view shared by most of the boys. The two Water Polo 

meets with these schools proved to be difficult with out 

Senior Team going down to both teams. Our Junior Team, 

however, proved to be a different story. Even though 

many boys had never played the game before, they won 

both games convincingly and continued this success right 

throughout the tour. 

After sightseeing, particularly at the famous Golden 

Gate Bridge, we continued our journey to a small city town 

in Santa Barbara County, known to the locals as Santa 

Maria. Staying at nice accommodation at the Travelodge, 

we embarked upon a swimming meet over that weekend, 

in which we swam against teams such as Santa Maria 

Swim Club and Puma – to name a few. Many of the boys 

achieved great times, some pulling away PB’s. But it was 

the friendly nature of the Santa Maria Swim Club (especially 

the Santa Maria girls!) that saw many boys make friends. 

By the end of the meet, we were invited to a party at which 

a great time was had and we all made good contacts with 

these hospitable people. 

Continuing on with our journey, we eventually made 

our way down the scenic coastal roads to Los Angeles. 

The tourist destinations here were plentiful, and a lot of the 

boys’ time and money was spent on them. These highlights 

included the Santa Monica Pier, Venice Beach, The 

Hollywood Walk of Fame, and yes, even Universal Studios 

and Disneyland! 

However the ease of this place was starkly contrasted 

to the fierce Water Polo demands when we competed 

against schools such as St John Bosco High, Inter City High 



and La Jolla High. I believe we rose to the occasion with 

our Senior Team winning two of these three games, one of 

which lasted a gruelling nine quarters! The one and only 

Junior Varsity game played in LA saw us win by an immense 

eleven goal margin. 

This concluded the Water Polo meets of the tour. Our 

Junior team was proudly undefeated on tour. The Varsity 

level is very strong as they trained generally twice a day 

(cleverly called ‘two-a-days’ by the Americans) and had 

extremely high swim standards. 

By giving equal time to both sports, we had many 

swimming training sessions throughout the tour, and when 

we weren’t training, we were competing. The two major 

swim meets held, spanned over the two weekends that 

we spent there. So for those tough boys who managed 

the overlap of both Swimming and Water Polo, there was 

very little time to rest their weary legs. When we weren’t 

Swimming or playing Water Polo, we were sight seeing 

and shopping. Every man had a busy plan. We had 

people to see and places to be. One of these places was 

of paramount importance to us all. Disneyland, all “nine 

lands”, meant that the boys spent a lot of time on rides and 

in shops. This large expanse was a tourist haven. When 

the boys were not riding joyfully on the roller coasters or 

singing merrily on the ‘it’s a small world’ ride, they were 

waiting in lines, queuing up for hours. A select few boys 

were so overjoyed by the time spent there that they lasted 

well into the night. Myself, of course, being one of them. 

Now, with all the fun having been had, and with all 

our energy expended, the last few days were spent gladly 

in our quality accommodation. The ‘Quality Inn’, rightly 

named. However, without losing sight of why we were 

there, the last day or two were indebted to the swimming 

cause. Being a high profile meet, the competition was tight. 

I can honestly say, we swam well, and made our presence 

known. 

As the sun set on our final day, the camaraderie of 

the boys was best felt when we visited Newport Beach, 

famously known as the “O C beach”. We all got together 

and immersed ourselves in the culture by playing a social 

game of grid iron (or ‘football’ as we were often corrected!) 

Special recognition needs to be shown to George, our 

good friend and bus driver who sang a good tune or two 

at his own expense. 

A great opportunity and an even better experience. 

We thank the touring party, who held great responsibility 

and were the source of discipline (although little was 

actually needed) and organisation. The boys’ thank you Mr 

Langley, Mr Zolezzi and Mr Tenisons for all your efforts. 

Christian McMahon (Year 11) 


cadets 

A Bridge to Nowhere... 

As I’m always looking for something new to keep 

cadets occupied at camp, when Mr Turner suggested 

they build a bridge, I thought... Why not! 

Planning started in Mr Turner’s usual format, a hasty 

sketch on the back of an envelope, accompanied by his 

technical mantra, “you don’t need to write the measurements 

down son, we’ll fix it as we go”. 

Michael Curtin (Year 10), Sam Levy (Year 12), Andrew Pendlebury 

(Year 12), Michael Bryant (Year 12), Richard Alessi (Year 11), 

Stephen Stanton (Year 11), Mr Simon Turner, Christian McMahon 

(Year 12) and David Michel (Year 11) 

Being a feat of engineering, sort of, the Pioneer Platoon 

was tasked with the assembly and construction of the 

bridge. Timber, paint and rope were ordered and at some 

stage during the planning stage, the bridge was changed 

from a single span to a suspension model. Friday parade 

afternoons for the Pioneers were spend drilling deck plates, 

dipping suspension ropes and pre-packing all the parts for 

assembly in the field. 

We needed a site on Singleton Range that offered a 

reasonably challenging crossing yet allowed construction 

to proceed with a modicum of safety. That accomplished 

after an extensive search, the Pioneers set to work. They 

were given two days to complete the build before Charlie 

Company was to turn up for a crossing. The team, led by 

Staff Sergeant Michael Bryant and assisted by WO2 Adam 

Pendlebury were slow to start and their motto of “work 

hard, rest harder“ did little to instil a sense of confidence, 

however, by the end of Day 1, at least the shape of the 

bridge to come was visible. 

Like construction sites anywhere, tidiness was not 

a driving force with the Pioneers. Because of the tight 

deadlines they were allowed to camp beside their project 

and the construction site soon resembled their bedrooms at 

home. They left equipment and personal gear everywhere 

and regular inspections were required to achieve even a 

hint of any military discipline. 

Their claim that they started work at 6.00am each 

Adam Pendlebury (Year 12), Richard Alessi (Year 12), Sam Levy 

(Year 12), Michael Bryant (Year 12), Michael Curtin (Year 10), 

Stephen Stanton (Year 11), Christian McMahon (Year 12) and 

David Michel (Year 11) 

morning, met with some scorn by the other cadets, may 

have been accurate. Despite our misgivings construction 

proceeded apace and by the end of Day 2 they had 

decking laid and all that remained was to adjust the 

risers so that the deck was something close to horizontal, 

horizontal being a descriptive term for Pioneers meaning 

anything from five to twenty degrees above or below what 

the rest of us class as horizontal. 

Load bearing tests were conducted, Doctor Forrest 

kindly volunteering his load for the test, and then side 

swivel tests with the building team lending their weight to 

the exercise. By daybreak on Day 3 the bridge was open 

for business and Charlie Company successfully negotiated 

the route without mishap. 

It was quite an experience, both for the builders and the 

passengers who crossed. The entire Pioneer platoon should 

be congratulated on their efforts. SSGT Michael Bryant, 

SGT Andrew Pendlebury, SGT Andrew Fitzpatrick, SGT 

Richard Alessi, SGT David Michel, SGT Sam Levy, LCPL 

Michael Curtin and WO2 Adam Pendlebury. 

Major David Clancy 

Commanding Officer 

Doctor Allan Forrest (Current Parent) tests the bridge 



drama 

Aloys Play Fest 2006 

Next year will mark forty years of continuous Drama 

productions at St Aloysius’ College. In 1967 The 

Great Hall was finished, complete with its full 

stage, orchestra pit and dress circle. In 1968 the Gilbert 

& Sullivan operas started up again after a seven year gap 

– this time with the Senior School – and Fr Donal Lane SJ 

began what has become a long tradition of Middle School 

play festivals. In The Aloysian of 1968 he writes that he 

was also able to take Live English classes each fortnight and 

so let the boys participate in curricular Drama activities as 

well. Over the next eleven years he would produce usually 

two one-act play festivals a year giving countless boys the 

opportunity to work on stage and back stage. To do this 

he also ran the Stage Crew, or Stage Staff as they were 

called then. By 1969 the Actor of the Year awards began 

with Tony Pieterse (SAC 1969) being the first winner and 

this has been running right up to today with Kurt Menzies 

(Year 11) taking out the Senior Award this year and Daniel 

Vickovich and Ben Armitage sharing the Year 10 Award. 

Daniel Farina as The Health Inspector, Michael Parker as Sybil and 

James May as Basil in Basil The Rat 

In 1979 Fr Lane moved to St Mary’s Parish in North 

Sydney and Mrs Margaret Cody and Miss Anne Ford 

joined the staff. They began staging full length dramatic 

productions starting with The Thwarting of Barron Bolligrew 

and went on to include Macbeth, the first full length 

Aloys Shakespearian production, Twelve Angry Men and 

Everyman. 

After Mrs Margaret Cody and Ms Anne Ford left, Mr 

Rob Schneider (SAC 1959) arrived and Drama at St 

Aloysius' has never looked back. As well as continuing 

the full length major productions starting with Pygmalion 

in 1987 and taking over the Stage Crew, he converted 

the old dormant Lecture Theatre into The Auditorium and 

re-instigated the one-act play festivals in 1989. They have 

continued to this day and though no longed called On 

Stage and Curtain Up, we now have the annual Aloys 

Play Fest. Rob Schneider also, with the assistance of the 

then Head of English Mr Magar Etmekdjian (SAC Staff 

1983-2004), re-introduced classroom Drama in Years 7 



Damien Choy as Vern, Ben Gagaler as Taylor Dent as Chris and 

Joel Martorana as Gordie in Stand By Me 

and 8 and this fed a thriving and enthusiastic Year 7 and 

Year 8 Play Festival. By 1997 he had also succeeded in 

introducing Drama as an elective subject in Year 9 and 

eventually it continued through to the HSC. 

In 2001 the Year 8 Drama classes ended and the 

periods reverted to English. Finally, this year saw the end of 

the Year 7 Drama classes and the end of an era. Without 

the enthusiasm kept up in the classroom and with increasing 

competition for time, less and less boys are getting involved 

in the Aloys Play Fest. This year only two plays were 

performed – Stand By Me, an adaptation of the famous 

movie, and Fawlty Towers; Basil The Rat. Both plays had 

been performed before and this year they played to full 

houses over their two night run – a great success. Thanks 

to student director, Kurt Menzies (Year 11) for Stand by Me 

and to Ms Sarah Zinkin for Basil the Rat. 

Over the next year I would like to put together a 

history of the last forty years of Drama at St Aloysius’ 

so we can celebrate the fortieth anniversary in 2008. I 

have perused The Aloysians and listed the productions 

from 1968 to 1986 as much as possible. If anyone has 

photos, programmes, stories, additions and corrections to 

the information below please get in touch with me at the 

College so we can update the information. Any photos, 

William Nelson as The Major in Basil The Rat 


programmes, fliers etc that you have would be scanned 

and returned. We also have a Friends of Aloys Drama 

(FAD) group who receive invitations to our productions, 

special events, theatre subscriptions and the annual Drama 

Dinner. We would love to hear from any Old Boy who 

would like to be added to the list. Please contact me at 

Peter.Gough@staloysius.nsw.edu.au 

Although we no longer have Drama in Years 7 and 8 

we do have a strong Drama Department and in 2007 we 

will have two Drama classes in each Year, 9 to 11, an 

HSC class and Video production classes in Year 9 and 

Year 10 as well. There will be the Major College Drama 

production of Rosencrantz and Guildenstern are Dead, 

two full length Year 11 productions, a second major cocurricular 

production that we have planned to take overseas 

to Hong Kong, and of course the Aloys Play Fest 2007. 

Mr Peter Gough 

Head of Drama 

Dramatic Productions 1968 to 1986 

1968 An Entertainment – Chekov’s Swan Song (with 

Michael Snelling) and Summer in the Country; 

Pinter’s Last To Go (with Anthony Pieterse and R 

Clout) and Still Alarm (5th Form) 

The Stage – The Secret; The Message; The Ship of 

Dreams: Play of the Yorkshire Shepherds 

Dir: Mr R Bardshaw and Fr Donal Lane SJ 

1969 Festival of Drama – St Joan (with Nicholas Lush 

and Peter Karbowiak); The Doubtful Misfortune 

of Li Sing (2nd form with Brendan Higgins and 

Damien Peach); four mimes and Rory Aforesaid (5th 

form with Dan Madigan, Gervasse Liddy, Anthony 

Pieterse [Performer of the Year] and Barry Pheloung) 

Dir: Fr Donal Lane SJ; Staging: Paul Berkemier; 

Lighting: Tony Vidot. 

1970 Night of Plays – Captain of the Gate (3rd form 

with Damien Peach, Brendan Higgins, R Givney, M 

Collins and J Donaldson); The Bespoke Overcoat 

(5th form with D Madigan, Nicholas Lush, M 

O’Donnell and C Bernaud); The Dear Departed 

(2nd form with Michael Smith, S Hart, Huon 

Snelgrove, D Pieterse, C Ivens and A McSpedden) 

and Unhand Me Squire (1st form with S Higgins, 

Robert Pelletier T Cumming and S Lill) 

Dir: Fr Donal Lane SJ; SM: Jeremy Gormly; Lighting: 

Peter McGarry. 

1971 Curtain Up – The Final Factor (with Nicholas Lush, 

C Bernaud, M Mahady, C Hawkins and B Burke); 

Queer Street and Blue Murder (with A Bleasal, M 

Collins, Damien Peach, Michael Smith, S Hart, 

P Crennan, R Givney, D Pieterse, J E’Estrange, S 

Kelly and S Higgins); Black and White (with Huon 

Snelgrove [Performer of the Year] and J Fitzpatrick) 

and A Narrow Squeak for Humpleberg (with 

Robert Pelletier, T Cuming, B Churchill, P Dwyer, G 

Higgins, C Cummins, M Bernaud and S Lloyd) 

On Stage – The Wall (with B Burke, J McKenzie, P 

Donnelly, Huon Snelgrove, J Fitzpatrick, M Cooke 

and S Burton); The Jest of Hahalaba (with S Lill, B 

Favaloro, G Howard and C Henry); The ‘Ole in 

the Road (with J Bennett and Robert Pelletier); The 

Walrus and the Carpenter (with D Pieterse, Michael 

Smith, J L’Estrange, R Noonan, S Hart, C Ivens 

and S Kelly) and Ah! Cruel Fate (1st form with B 

Churchill, C Power, C Wilkinson, S Rice, P Neeson, 

C Cummins, P Hofstetter, B Jenkins, M Benaud, S 

Bleasel, Robert Cavanagh and B Biggs) 

Dir: Fr Donal Lane SJ; SM: Jeremy Gormly; Lighting: 

C Branagan. 

1972 Curtain Up ’72 – The Sky is Overcast (with P 

Donnelly and Brendan Higgins); Boy Dudgeon (with 

R Hyde and L Beange) and comedy sketches (with 

M Chase, S Kelly, Michael Smith and D Pieterse) 

Playbill ’72 – The Formula and Operation Plughole 

(with S Newman, Robert Pelletier and J Corcoran); 

Forty Winks for Beauty and Hi-Fi-Spy (with S Burton 

and D Goldrick). 

Dir: Fr Don Lane SJ; SM: P Buckingham and 

P O’Connor. 

1973 Curtain Up ’73 and A Trilogy of Comedy – In The 

Zone (with Brendan Higgins); Pukka Sahib; The 

Real Inspector Hound (with J Quoyle, Michael Smith 

[Actor of the Year] and G Higgins); Ernie’s Incredible 

Illucinations (with S Burton); Weevils in My Biscuit; 

Thread O’Scarlet (with W McGuire); Sweeping 

Reductions (with T Connors) and Fiesta Fandango 

Dir: Fr Donal Lane SJ; SM: P Buckingham 

1974 The Jolly Good Fellow; Davy Jones Goes Hunting; 

As Good as New; Albert Laddin; Olaf and the 

Ogre (with M Branagan and Don Hardman); The 

Day of Atonement (with Robert Pelletier [Actor of the 

Year], T Burton, Joe McGirr and C Still); Trial and 

Error and The Crimson Coconut 

Dir: Fr Donal Lane SJ 

1975 Ile (with Grant Higgins [Actor of the Year] and 

Tony Kelleher); The Quack Doctor (with D Holt, 

Joe McGirr, K Pedemont, M Branagan, N Polin 

and S Burton); Birds of a Feather (with N Bates, 

D Goldrick, J Quoyle and S Burton); A Fourth for 

Bridge (with Robert Pelletier, G Burke, B Churchill 

and J Cocoran); You Never Heard Such Unearthly 

Laughter (with S Cahill, Mark Edwards, D McKenzie 

and Don Hardman); The Doubtful Misfortune of Li 

Sing (with S Uglow, M McGirr, G Sutton and R 

Powell); I Am a Dustbin (with G Pedemont, Tony 

Kelleher, S Cahill, D Powe and D Rice); Rinse The 

Blood off My Toga (with G Sutton, J Fisk, A Chalk 

and S Edwards); Over the Garden Wall (with 

M Branley and G Pedemont) and Unhand Me 



drama 

Squire (with P Shepherd, P Dwyer, A O’Grady, J 

DeMestre, S Edwards and M Branagan) 


1976 Term I – Hewers of Coal (with Steve Goldrick, 

Joe McGirr and Tony Kelleher); Make Your Play 

(with Adrian Burton); Mockery Hollow (with Chris 

O’Mahony, Martin Jude and Stephen Edwards) 

and Passion, Poison and Petrification (with Crispin 

Rice [Actor of the Year] and Stephen Edwards) 

Term 3 – The Eccentric (with Joe McGirr); Who’s 

Been Stalking (with Adrian Burton); The Pie and the 

Tart (with Martin Chalk and Jamie Branley) and The 

Adventures of Chastity Pewke (with Crispin Rice) 

Dir: Fr Donal Lane SJ; SM: Peter Gormly 

1977 On Stage – The Monkey’s Paw (with Crispin Rice, 

Don Hardman and Tony Kelleher [Actor of the 

year]); The Chameleon (with J Branley, M Chalk, 

S Eagleton, J O’Mahony, P Kavanagh, J Ryan, Bill 

McManus, P Callanan, C Harrison and P Darwell); 

I’ll Ring for More Toast (with M Branagan, M 

Branley, B McNamara, C O’Mahony, Dominic 

Hearne and Connor Brennan) and Snow White 

(with M Law and A Smith). 

Term III – The Invisible Duke (with M Chalk, N 

Doyle and D Beange); Rory Aforesaid (with G 

Burke, Tony Kelleher, C O’Mahony, N Polin and 

Bill McManus); There’s an End of May (with P 

Callahan, C Harrison, J Bertucen, A Szabo, Bill 

McManus, D Stevens, A Smith, J Hewitt and E 

McDonald); The Muddleston Express (with Dominic 

Hearne and Crispin Rice) and Ah! Cruel Fate 


1978 First Term Plays – A Kind of Justice (with Mark 

McManus, Mark Law, Crispin Rice, Don Hardman 

[Actor of the Year] and Julian Gormly); Forty Winks 

for Beauty (with Damien Burton and Hugo Walker), 

The Walrus and the Carpenter (with Greg Burke, 

Dominic Stevens, John Hewitt and Adrian Burton), 

On Top of The World (with Derek Lindsay and Bill 

McManus) 

Dir: Fr Donal Lane SJ; SM: Mark Edwards and 

David Palmer 

1979 The Thwarting of Baron Bolligrew (with Mark Law, 

John Moore, Edward McDonald, John Hewitt, 

Dominic Hearne, Peter Slingo, Peter Kananagh, 

Peter DeMestre, Jamie Branley, Matthew Coldrick, 

Liam Branagan, Brian Neilson, Chris Freeman, Jim 

Fitzgerald, Bill McManus, Patrick Callanan, Stuart 

Eagleton, Michael Leavey, Adrian Burton, John 

Ryan, John Scallan and Michael Conaghan 

Dir: Mrs Margaret Cody, Miss Elizabeth O’Halloran 

and Mr D Madigan SJ 

My Three Angels (with Mr Dan Madagan SJ, Mr 

Brendan Kelly SJ, Miss Anne Ford, Miss Elizabeth 



O’Halloran, Mrs Hilary Croke, Jonathan Cohen, 

Andrew Chalk, Crispin Rice, Mark McManus and 

Connor Brennan) 

Dir: Mrs Margaret Cody 

1980 Smike (with Matthew Flood, Matthew Coldrick, 

Adrian Burton, Paul Scott, Bradley Eddy, Geoff 

Parmenter, Matthew Hill, Murray Happ, Mark 

Simkin and Mark Da Silva) 

Dir: Mrs Margaret Cody and Miss Anne Ford; SM: 

Philip Kewin and Paul Gaha 

1981 Twelve Angry Men (with Jeffrey Bertucan [Actor of 

the Year] and Tim Gleeson) 

Dir: Mrs Margaret Cody 

If I Were a Princess (with Jeremy Rice, Matthew 

Burke, James Fenwick, Paul Scott, Greg Field, 

Geoff Parmenter, Matthew Pye, Andrew McDonald 

and Liam Collins) 

Dir: Mrs Margaret Cody and Miss Anne Ford 

1982 Macbeth (with Ian Irving, Michael Lehmann, John 

Maguire, Matthew Bracks, David Conley, Michael 

Houston and Nick Garling) 

Dir: Mrs Margaret Cody, Mr P Foster and Fr Kelly 

SJ; SM: Stephen de Lorenzo 

1983 Egad, The Woman in White (with John Kennedy, 

Paul Thwaite, Mark Simkin, Daniel Cusick, Jason 

Grose, Geoff Walker, Jon Poynter, Paul Dunn, 

Andrew McDonald and Ben Tallentire) 

Dir: Mrs Margaret Cody and Fr Celso Romanin SJ; 

SM: Stephen de Lorenzo 

No Smoke – a Revue 

1984 Everyman (with Mark Simkin, Sean Carmody, 

Paul Dunn, Peter Congram, John Spender, Adam 

Griffiths, Daniel Lapaine, Justin Harris, Lazlo Szabo, 

Fergus Brooks, Peter Oder, David Warr) 

Dir: Mrs Margaret Cody and Fr O’Mara SJ; SM: 

Stephen de Lorenzo; Lighting: Tom Igoe 

No Need – a Revue 

1985 No Taste – a Revue (with Mr Damien Corrigan, Fr 

O’Mara SJ, Mr Crawford, Daniel Lapaine, Daniel 

Kennedy, Edward Dwyer, Jonathan Callaghan, 

Kristian Andrewjewskis, Justin Hogan-Doran, Gary 

Au-Yeung, Malcolm Hobbs, Brad Martin, Chris 

Ford and Mark Webster) 

Dir: Mr Jim Long and Mrs Peggy Todd; SM: John 

Kenny; Lighting: Peter McCreanor 

1986 The One Act Players – God: A Play (with Daniel 

Lapaine, Daniel Kennedy, Justin Doyle, Julian 

Burton, Justin Hogan-Doran, Scott Summerville- 

Knapman, Jeremy Slattery, Paul Harris and Andrew 

Low) Dir: Mr Damien Corrigan; Rinse the Blood 

off My Toga (w Darren O’Brien, Michael Quinlan, 

and David Warr) Dir: Mrs Daina Stumbles 


Julius Caesar – Year 10 Co-curricula 

Drama Production 

At St Aloysius’ College in 1938 an occasional play 

night of short plays was produced. Amongst the 

programme were three scenes from Shakespeare; 

Julius Caesar (with John Kearney (SAC 1938) our 

Ambassador-at-large), Macbeth and The Merchant of 

Venice. It then wasn’t until 1982 that Mrs Margaret Cody 

would attempt the first full-length Shakespeare production 

of Macbeth. Since then Robert Schneider (SAC 1959) 

directed Henry the Fourth: Part I (1991), Mrs Heidi Quinn 

directed A Midsummer Night’s Dream (2004) and I directed 

Twelfth Night in 2001 and Julius Caesar this year. 

Liam Gibson as Mark Antony over the body of Julius Caesar 

This is the second year that the Year 10 production has 

been a co-curricular one rather than a class production 

and it turned out to be a very talented year. Eighteen boys 

joined the cast along with two Year 10 girls from Loreto. In 

fact as we moved through production, more and more boys 

wanted to be in the play. There have been many design 

approaches to Julius Caesar over the years and it probably 

hasn’t been staged in a traditional Roman setting for some 

time. One of the most famous productions was in 1936 

when Orson Welles presented it in Nazi style costumes on 

Broadway. I based our script on Welles’ streamlined version 

and I also decided that we should have the fun of staging it 

in togas and with an elaborate set. We painted the floor of 

Conaugh Mckenzie as Octavious and and Liam Gibson as Mark 

Antony in Julius Caesar 

Chris Morrow, Michael Curtin and Henry Cornwell in Julius Caesar 

the new Playhouse ‘marble’ and with backdrops, columns, 

statues, collapsible daggers, armor and togas we began 

rehearsing. Considering the cast were only in Year 10, 

the boys achieved a remarkable result. Their intellectual 

interpretation of the lines, their focus, their stage presence, 

their camaraderie during rehearsals and back stage made 

it a truly, powerful and effective ensemble production. Three 

of the principles had the daunting task of managing the 

major load of the lines and Liam Gibson (as Mark Antony), 

Ben Armitage (as Cassius) and Daniel Vickovich (as Brutus) 

were outstanding. Liam used his vocal experience and 

stage presence to make Mark Antony engage with the 

audience, Ben was very focused and thoughtful as Cassius 

and Daniel not only played out the troubled Brutus but had 

a strong overall handle on the direction of the play. Other 

strong performances came from Eric Martin as the arrogant 

and commanding Caesar, Chris Morrow as the more 

larrikin Casca, and Jack Oakley gave a very disciplined 

and focused performance as Decius. 

As we used an abridged script we had the time to add 

a postscript and what could be better than to stage that 

old favorite, Rinse the Blood off My Toga, first directed 

here in 1975 by Fr Donal Lane SJ, and many times since! 

In fact some of the cast had performed it in Mr Greg 

Marinan’s Year 6 class. Matthew Osborne revisited his 

role as Flavius Maximus and without realising it, I cast 

Henry Cornwell in his old role of Brutus. This spoof proved 

to be a lot of fun, especially on the stylish set, and capped 

the evening. 

Special mention must be made of the expert and 

invaluable input of the co-director, Mrs Jacqui Field, the 

Speech and Drama Coach here at the College who not 

only injected special energy into the boys’ performances 

but was a joy to work with. 

At our Drama Dinner (only the second one to be held) 

Mrs Margaret Cody came as a guest and was able to 

tell us a couple of stories about that 1982 production of 

Macbeth. For their wonderful performances, Ben Armitage 

and Daniel Vickovich share the Year 10 Acting Award. 


Producer and Co-director 



video 

Shorts on Show - Video Production 

at St Aloysius 

Ever since 2001 video production at St Aloysius College 

has steadily grown. Over the years the College has 

already produced a number of film producers and 

directors, amongst them producer Richard Brennan (SAC 

1959) with News Front, Starstruck, Cosi, Spotswood etc, 

and Daniel Lapaine (SAC 1988) and Khoa Do (1996) with 

48 Shades and Footy Legends this year. 

Alex Hunter in Will Clark’s Room 137 

We have had a number of students make short video 

films for their HSC Drama and currently at least six recent 

ex-students have either just finished or are studying filmmaking. 

Another Aloysian, John Buckmaster (SAC 1988) 

teaches film production at The Sydney Film School and his 

brother Peter (SAC 1988) also works in the industry. 

Three years ago we began the first Year 9 Video 

Production class as an elective and this year it extended 

into Year 10. We are one of only a few schools in the 

State who offer such a course. We have now held three 

Short Film Evenings called Shorts on Show to showcase the 

students work and in 2003 Hugo O’Connor instigated the 

Gonzagarama student-run competition on St Aloysius’ Day. 

In recent years some of the more outstanding productions 

have included: 

Luke Maurel in Michael Larcher’s When it all Falls Down 



Michael Kennedy in Josh Hawkins’ Control 

2001 

Froth by Dom Fitzgerald (SAC 2001) 

2003 

Push It! by Jayden Zullo (SAC 2004) 

Watch This Space by Zac Norman (SAC 2003) 

The Good Son by Hugo O’Connor (SAC 2003) 

Hangover by Nick Walsh (SAC 2003) 

The Decision by Richard Smith (SAC 2003) 

2004 

Room 137 by Will Clark (SAC 2005) 

Murderous Fatalities by Joshua Rathmell (SAC 2005) 

Aquarious Goes Down by John Paul Mockler (SAC 2005) 

Alex Wilson: King Procrastinator by Jayden Zullo (SAC 2005) 

2005 

Showers and Fountains by Liam Gibson and 

Andrew Smith (Year 9) 

Butterfly Caught by Nick Salter (Year 11) 

Control by Josh Hawkins (SAC 2006) 

All About the Genre by Tom Lockley (SAC 2006) 

Falling Ice by Will Clark (SAC 2006) 

The Little Green Man Walks by Patrick Schneider (SAC 2006) 

2006 

Where's Your Head At? by Mitchell Bainton, Ben Rice 

and Jason Fong (Year 9) 

The Cadence of Luke by Liam Gibson, Rupert Holmes 

and Aiden Rooney (Year 10) 

Bloodrock by Peter Bardos, John Christos and 

Jake Dimarco (Year 10) 

Danny Dunlop by Tom Rolfe (Year 11) 

When It All Falls Down by Michael Larcher (Year 11) 

Just My Luck by Kurt Menzies (Year 11) 

Shades of Grey by Nick Salter (SAC 2006) 

Alistair or Ace by Patrick Griffiths (SAC 2006) 


Head of Drama 


from the registrar 

Another busy year has come to an end with every 

year level fully booked for next year as well as 

Year 7, 2008. Just over 500 boys sat entrance 

examinations this year which were held in March. Interviews 

were all held in May and offers of places went out in late 

May. We now have waitlists for every Year in the school 

for next year. 

Orientation Day was held in November this year for all 

new boys starting in the Junior School as well as for Year 7 

next year. The boys participated in sporting and classroom 

activities including Science, Visual Arts, Music, IT and 

Languages and were assisted by Prefects and other senior 

students who managed their group for the day. Parents 

enjoyed a morning tea and the Junior School new parents 

had an information session as an introduction as to what 

they can expect for next year. 

Open Day will be held next year on Sunday 4 March 

2007 from 12noon till 3pm at both Junior and Senior 

School campuses. A variety and demonstrations and 

displays will be held, there will be activities for children, 

and staff, current parents and students of the College will 

be available to conduct guided tours of both campuses. 

There is no need to make a booking, just come along and 

enjoy the afternoon. 

All applicants need to sit an entrance examination in 

the year prior to anticipated entry for Years 3, 4 and 5, 

and two years prior to anticipated entry for Year 7. All 

entrance examination dates have been set for next year 

and these, along with closing dates for applications are 

listed opposite. 

Academic scholarships are no longer offered from 

2007, so no scholarship exam will be held in 2007. 

However, the College has a Means-Tested Bursary Scheme 

to offer students an opportunity to avail themselves of a 

Jesuit education in circumstances when such enrolment is 

not affordable or sustainable. A number of these bursaries 

are offered to boys entering Year 7 and Year 11 in 2008 

and are reviewed annually. Please contact the Registrar if 

you would like more details about this scheme. Information 

can be also found on our website. 

If you would like more information on enrolments, 

please contact the Registrar on +61 2 9936 5535 or 

email: registrar@staloysius.nsw.edu.au. Alternatively, this 

information can be accessed on the Admissions page of 

our website: www.staloysius.nsw.edu.au 

Mrs Anne-Maree McCarthy 

Registrar 

AMDG 


St Aloysius’ College is an independent Catholic School for 

boys in Years 3 to 12 conducted by the Society of Jesus 

(Jesuit Fathers and Brothers). Students desirous of attending 

the College should be sympathetic to, and supportive of the 

school’s faith, tradition and educational aims, have a sound 

academic record and be willing to participate actively in the 

College’s co-curricular activities. 

Open Day 

Sunday 4 March 2007 12 noon – 3.00pm 

Junior School Campus 

29 Burton Street, Milsons Point 

Senior School Campus 

47 Upper Pitt Street, Milsons Point 

All welcome 

Applications – 2008 and 2009 

Parents who have not yet made application for their sons for 

Years 3, 4, 5 and 8 to 11 in 2008 and for Year 7 in 2009 

are invited to do so now. 

Closing date for enrolment applications: 

Thursday 8 March 2007 

Entrance examinations will be held on the following dates: 

Year 3, 2008 Wednesday 21 March, 2007 

Year 4, 2008 Friday 23 March, 2007 

Year 5, 2008 Saturday 24 March, 2007 

Years 8 to 11, 2008 Saturday 17 March, 2007 

Year 7, 2009 Saturday 17 March, 2007 

Bursaries 2008 

A number of Bursaries (means-tested scholarships) will be offered 

to boys entering the College in Years 7 and 11 in 2008. 

The entrance examination will be held on 

Saturday 17 March 2007. 

Closing date for Bursary applications is 

Thursday 8 March 2007. 

Further information may be obtained from our website: 

www.staloysius.nsw.edu.au or by contacting: 

The Registrar, St Aloysius’ College 

47 Upper Pitt Street, Milsons Point NSW 2061 

Phone: (02) 9936 5535 

Email: registrar@staloysius.nsw.edu.au 



from the P & F 

Term III commenced and continued in traditional 

Aloysian fashion with ongoing Year Functions and 

Class Masses. It is a great tribute to the Class 

Coordinators and their support teams for their effort in 

organising not only their scheduled year functions but 

additional activities. Without their assistance the Aloysian 

spirit would not continue to grow. 

The 2006 P & F Committe members at the Ball 

The Parents and Friends’ major event “The St Aloysius’ 

Five Star Ball” was held at the InterContinental Hotel in 

August. The months of preparation that goes into an event 

of this magnitude paid off as it truly was a magnificent 

extravaganza. The venue, the food, the band and of course 

the company made the night, particularly for the Year 12 

parents leaving the School, a night to be remembered. 

Thank you to The Ball Committee, members of the Parents 

and Friends’ Association and the St Aloysius’ College staff 

whose contribution made the night such a success. 

The third P& F Forum for the year was held in conjunction 

with the Parent Enrichment Programme. The topic was 

“How to Live (Almost Happily) with a Teenager”. Caryn 

Walsh, our guest speaker gave a very thought provoking 

and enlightening presentation. 

The annual Jesuit Indian Bazaar was held in mid 

September with an ever increasing Aloysian involvement. 

Thank you to the many parents who helped by way of 

giving of their time to make either gift items or cakes to sell 

on the day or coordinate and run the stalls. 

Year 3 parents 



Cathy Craft, Judy Emanuel and Jane Armitage 

Towards the end of October the P&F hosted the 

International Teachers and Staff Morning Tea. It was a 

great opportunity to thank, on behalf of the parent body, 

the teachers and staff for their significant contribution to 

College life and involvement with our sons’ education. 

In November the new P&F Committee for 2007 were 

elected. We wish Jana Carrozzi and the Committee all the 

best in their endeavours next year. 

Finally I take this opportunity to thank the outgoing 

P&F Committee of 2006 - Tom Carroll (Chairman), Jana 

Carrozzi (Vice-President, President Elect), Judy Emanuel 

(Vice-President), Dare Skinner (Treasurer), Jenny Greaves 

(Treasurer), Jill Jenkins (Secretary) and Joanne Perry 

(Secretary). The Committee gave so generously of their 

time and made an enormous contribution to maintaining 

the Aloysian spirit. 

Mrs Jane Smith 

President 

Parents of Past Students 

Membership Form 

Name: ........................................................................... 

Name of sons: .............................................................. 

Years attended SAC: .................................................... 

Address: ........................................................................ 

...................................................................................... 

Telephone No: ............................................................... 

Fax No: ......................................................................... 

Email: ............................................................................ 

Please complete and return to: 

Mrs Pat Kennedy 47 Upper Pitt Street, 

Milsons Point NSW 2061 or fax to 02 9929 6414 


From the Property Manager 

The Property and Maintenance Department, along 

with the Business Manager and the ongoing Building 

Committee have big plans for the upcoming Christmas 

period and for 2007. 

Plans are being finalised to upgrade the cricket practice 

complex at the north western corner of the oval. The 

upgrade will consist of top quality synthetic turf wickets 

with a special Raschel netting to form five practice wickets 

(an increase from the existing two). They will also be re 

orientated to a North South position. 

Other works at the Oval include the widening of the 

doors into the First Aid Room (which will allow entry for 

an ambulance gurney), a coat of paint to the interior and 

external areas of the function room, canteen and change 

rooms and replacement of the existing scoreboard platform 

to a new brick structure. The injection of colour at the oval 

with the recent introduction of an annual flower bed and ten 

garden troughs which frame the grandstand seating area 

has significantly lifted the aesthetic. 

Along with the routine holiday checklists that the 

maintenance department undertakes – ensuring that 

every classroom and facility is up to scratch for 2007, 

there are continuing plans to develop both learning, 

study and recreation areas. Some of these include the 

modification of the Year 12 Study Room in the library 

to be opened up into a larger computer workshop/ 

classroom whilst retaining the Year 12 study area. The 

Gym shower and toilet block will have a minor facelift 

and a ramp will replace the steps that form the Jeffreys 

Street entrance. All in time for the first day of Term I, 

2007! 

There are many other projects that are pencilled in for 

the New Year but I will introduce those to you in more detail 

in a later edition of The Aloysiad. 

Welcome Aboard! 

The College is also proud to welcome two new 

members to its Maintenance team. After the resignation 

of our long standing grounds man Mr Chris Millar, 

the school has engaged Mr Paul Chalmers to ensure the 

Oval is maintained to the highest possible standard. Paul 

comes with excellent credentials and has worked at venues 

managed by Hornsby and Manly Councils. His most recent 

accolade was the third placing in the Sydney Cricket 

Association Ground of the Year awards for his work at 

Manly Oval. 

When next you are at the Oval be sure to make yourself 

known to Paul. 

Mr Stephen Buhagiar joins our Maintenance Ieam as a 

Carpenter/General Assistant. Stephen has been involved 

in the building construction industry as well as a string of 

charity and community involvements. Certainly his passion 

for further studies as well as interest in the implementation 

of environmentally aware solutions is a welcome attribute 

and addition to our team. 

Welcome aboard Paul and Stephen! 

Mr Andrew Baxter 

Propert Manager 

IGNATIAN VOLUNTEERS 

AUSTRALIA 

Companions for a Faith that does Justice 

Ignatian Volunteers Australia is a national 

volunteer programme being developed by the 

Australian Jesuit Province. 

The volunteer community of women and men 

seek the opportunity to accompany and serve the 

poor and marginalised through a wide range of 

activities. This service is enhanced by reflection 

in the Ignatian tradition. 

Anyone who would like to join the activities 

of the Ignatian Volunteers Australia is asked to 

contact: 

Christina James 

kandcjames@bigpond.com 9418 3796 h 

Ailsa Gillett OAM 

ailsa.gillett@staloysius.nsw.edu.au 9936 5563 w 



from the archives... 

Hello! My name is Kim Eberhard, and it has been 

my privilege and honour to take over from Gerri 

Nicholas, who retired as St Aloysius’ College 

Archivist in August this year. I have spent the past few 

months familiarising myself with the Archives collection, 

which includes traditional ‘archival’ materials such as paper 

records, photographs, 

n e w s p a p e r 

cuttings, and school 

publications. The 

wonderful thing about 

‘School’ archives is that 

they are also in part 

a museum, containing 

objects such as 

uniforms, hats, items of 

religious significance, 

furniture, sporting 

equipment, trophies, 

shields etc etc... It is 

these items which lend 

a vibrant immediacy 

St Aloysius Annual Report 1906. 

Distributed to parents and friends 

at the end of each year in 

conjunction with speech day. 



to the collection, and 

belie the stereotypical 

‘dusty’ tag under which 

so many heritage 

collections suffer. We 

have velvet Honour Caps, which were awarded for 

excellence (sporting and academic) from the early 1900s 

until approximately the 1960s. The variety of colours and 

embellishments on these lovely items speaks volumes about 

how much they were treasured – and that hasn’t faded in 

nearly ninety years. We also have blazers with rich gold 

and blue piping, or hand-embroidered pockets, still as vivid 

as they were forty or fifty years ago. These items represent 

the hopes and dreams of the boys who once wore them 

and although society may have undergone many changes 

since 1879, the essence of growing boys stays the 

same – rushing, questioning, trying, idling (!), striving, 

inventing... There are 

hand made school 

newsletters dating from 

1915; invitations to 

and programmes of a 

wide variety of events 

– sports, drama, music, 

fetes, (some in Sydney 

landmarks, past and 

present); and of course 

photographs which 

give individuality to 

generations of boys 

and their teachers. We 

also have a collection 

of ever-expanding 

Invitation to Annual Ball, held at 

UNSW Round House 1964 

biographical files 

tracing the varied 

careers of Old Aloysians, many of whom have made very 

public contributions to Australian life as well as those who 

prefer to seek fulfilment in quieter ways. 

I invite you to pop in and visit the Archives. We are 

located at No 5 Jeffrey Street, and open every Monday 

and Tuesday. Alternatively, please feel free to contact me by 

phone 9954 4454 or email kim.eberhard@staloysius.nsw. 

edu.au if you’d like to chat about any aspect of the history 

of St Aloysius’ College. 

Ms Kim Eberhard 

College Archivist 

History of the Creative Arts at the 

College 

Recently we welcomed our new College Archivist, Kim 

Eberhard. In the tradition of that very moving history of 

Aloysians who died in war service by Gerri Nicholas, 

we are beginning yet another history of our Old Boys . 

Archivist Kim Eberhard (left) and Siobhan McHugh exploring some 

of the collection of Gilbert and Sullivan programmes. 

Current parent and writer/broadcaster, Siobhan 

McHugh, is to be commissioned to write an account of the 

creative arts at the College and beyond. This will embrace 

music, the stage and the visual arts, tracing a thread 

between school endeavours and subsequent professional 

careers. 

Siobhan is very much an oral historian and would be 

keen to hear from any present Aloysian families, Old Boys 

or, indeed, anyone who actively participated in creative 

arts at the College (or knows someone) and could provide 

her with some links, sources or materials to help in her 

research. Good yarns also appreciated! She is happy to 

be contacted by email (siobhan@mchugh.org) or phone 

(02-9555 8002) if you can assist in any way. 


from SACOBU 

The Gonzaga Society 

Members of The Gonzaga Society met for the Annual 

Christmas Mass, Carols and Lunch on Tuesday 5 

December at the College. 

Members of the Class of 1948 and 1949 at The Gonzaga Society 

Lunch – David Hamilton, John Donnellan, Malcolm McFadden, Don 

McLeod, Ian Russell, Ron Burke, Phil Thompson and John Playoust 

The Gonzaga Society was established in 1998 and 

welcomes all Old Boys, their wives/partners, widows of 

Old Boys and past staff and Jesuits of the College who 

left the school more than forty-nine years ago. In 2007 

Members of the Class of 1958 will be invited to join this 

very active group. 

The Gonzaga Society meets twice a year – a May 

or June Mass and Lunch to coincide with either ANZAC 

Day or the Feast of St Aloysius and in early December to 

celebrate Christmas. 

Invitations are posted about five weeks prior to the 

event. If you would like further details about The Gonzaga 

Society and its activities, please do not hesitate to contact 

Murray Happ (SAC 1985) on 9936 5561. 

Members of The Gonzaga Society enjoying the Lunch. 

Jean Nysen, Kate Russell, David Hamilton (SAC 1948), Margaret 

Molloy and Ian Russell (SAC 1948) enjoy a drink on the roof terrace. 

Dr Ron Burke (SAC 1949) and Mrs Margaret Molloy (widow of Tom 

Molloy SAC 1948) 

David Hamilton (SAC 1948) and Ian Russell (SAC 1948) drink to 

each others health 



from SACOBU 

Old Boys Updates 

Jon Fisk is the Managing Director of Intero 

1979 Technology, an IT company and has been on 

the board of Odyssey House for 12 years. 

John Tully is the CEO of Northern Suburbs 

1983Rugby Union Club. The Club has recently 

received two major awards. The Cabana Bar and Lounge, 

which is Norths’ spectacular licensed premises’ was named 

Club of the Year at the annual Australian Liquor Industry 

Awards. This follows on from being named Registered Club 

of the Year by the Bartender and Industry Awards for the 

second year in a row. 

Greg Bookallil runs the Bistro at the Epping 

1985Hotel in Sydney. At the 2006 Australian Hotel’s 

Association Awards for Excellence, Greg’s Bistro was named 

the Metropolitan Bistro of the Year. Greg was nominated by 

Jim Granger (SAC 1988), the Licensee and Manager of the 

Epping Hotel. Greg and Jim would be pleased to welcome 

any member of the Aloysian Family to the Epping Hotel where 

you will not only enjoy an award winning meal, but a fine 

selection of beverages and very friendly service. 

Mark Simkin won an award for International Journalism at 

the 2006 Walkley Awards for Excellence in Journalism. 

Mark is the ABC Television Correspondent in Washington 

DC and won the national prize for his coverage of the 

Hurricane Katrina disaster in 2005. 

After fifteen years at Colliers International, 

1987 John Kenny has been appointed CEO 

Australia. Colliers International is the largest real estate 

AMDG 

Class of 1956 and 1957 

– 50 Year Reunion 

Michael Delaney (SAC 1957) and Tony Bland (SAC 1957) 

propose to organise a 50th Reunion for both 1956 and 1957 

leavers on the second weekend in March 2007. The format 

presently proposed is a Mass at the College on the Saturday 

evening at 6.00 am and a dinner on the fourth floor of the 

College with access to the roof terrace overlooking the Harbour 

and the Bridge following the Mass. 

On the Sunday morning brunch is proposed at the Royal 

Sydney Yacht Squadron together with wives and family 

members who may care to be present. The brunch is designed 

to make the event a matter of some interest to members who 

may be bringing their wives for long distances for a weekend 

in Sydney. 

Any other suggestions will be readily considered. 

Please communicate your interest to Michael Delaney at 

mjd@delaneylawyers.com.au or (02) 9230 1500, 

or to Tony Bland at tony.bland@optusnet.com.au 

or (02) 9955-2940. 

AMDG 

Classes of 1946 and 1947 

60 Year Reunion 

Date: Wednesday 28 March 2007 

Where: St Aloysius’ College 

11.30am Voluntary Mass in the College Chapel 

12.15pm Drinks on the Chapel Roof Terrace 

1.00pm Buffet Lunch in the Juana Mateo Room, 

Level 4 of the College 

All Old Boys from the1940’s and 1950’s are cordially invited 

to attend this event. In our days at school, when the class sizes 

were small, students were friends with people in years above 

and below their own, so please feel free to come along and 

join us. There is a lift at the College and the site is wheelchair 

friendly. Formal invitations will be posted in January 2007. 

For further details, please contact: 

John Goldrick (SAC 1946) 

Tel: 02 8920 1042 h 

Peter Morton (SAC 1947) 

Tel: 07 5471 0417 h or 07 5455 3577 w 

service provider in Australasia and recently acquired PRD 

Nationwide. Sean Unwin (SAC 1987) works beside John 

as the Finance Director of Colliers International. James Fox 

(SAC 1990) also works with John and Sean in leading the 

PRD Nationwide office in Oman in the Middle East. 

Bill Cotter works as an insolvency practitioner 

1988 with Sims Partners in Sydney. Bill and his wife 

Sharni have two children, Thomas who is 15 months old 

and Evie who was born on 17 September 2006. 

Sean McKeown and his partner, Venice, have a daughter 

Cleo (aged 2) and are expecting their second child in 

November. Sean studied law after leaving the College and 

is now the Joint General Manager of Consolo Property. 

Andy McKeown works as a sound engineer 

1991 in the music industry. He has travelled to India 

and Fiji for work and when in Australia has worked on 

national tours by Tina Arena, John Farnham and Tom Jones 

and is currently working on the U2 Tour. 

Julian Morrow picked up two awards at the Australian 

Film Industry (AFI) awards in December. Julian and the team 

from The Chaser picked up the award for Best Television 

Comedy Series for their weekly show, The Chaser’s War 

on Everything. Julian and also won the award for Best 

Performance in Television Comedy. 



Daniel Gardon has completed Medical 

1997 Science at the University of New South Wales 

and has been offered a scholarship to pursue special cancer 

research at Concord Hospital in 2007. Whilst completing 

the research, Daniel will also be completing his Honours 

Year and is considering studying medicine in 2008. 

Nick Gardon is playing First Grade Cricket 

1998 with Mosman Cricket Club. 

I f you have any news about yourself or a classmate 

that you would like published in The Aloysiad, 

please contact Murray Happ (SAC 1985) at murray. 

happ@staloysius.nsw.edu.au” or call Murray on 02 

9936 5561 or fax 02 9921 5905. Please ensure 

you include a contact telephone number in any 

correspondence. 

Deceased Old Boys: 

Rev Fr Hugh Boland (SAC 1932) died on 20 August 

2006. 

Carey Grief (SAC 1980) died on 31 August 2006 at 

Royal North Shore Hospital. He is survived by his wife 

Clarissa and three children, Danielle, Page and Jamie. 

Luke Morrison (SAC 1982) Luke is survived by his wife 

Veronica and their one year old daughter, his four brothers, 

Mark (SAC 1979), Gregory (SAC 1978), Ian (SAC 1974) 

and Alex (SAC 1974). He was involved in a car accident at 

Mosman and subsequently died in hospital aged forty-two. 

Obituaries 

The College is saddened to hear of the passing of the 

following Old Boys of the College. We ask you to remember 

them and their families in your prayers. 

Brian Thomas Gilmore (SAC 1943) 

met Brian in 1934, when I moved to Beauty Point in close 

I proximity to Brian’s family home. We commenced out 

education at Marist Brothers Mosman, a school with a high 

reputation, and sporting capabilities. We soon became 

good friends and after two years there my parents moved 

me to Elements at St Aloysius’ College. They had a real 

belief in a Jesuit education and I went on to do my leaving 

certificate in 1943. 

Brian stayed with the Marists and completed his 

Intermediate certificate in 1941. We continued our 

friendship with after school activities such as cricket with a 

portable wicket which could be moved quickly when cars 

and horse and cart traffic with vegetables, milk etc needed 

the road. 

In 1942, Brian came to St Aloysius’ College with 

something of a reputation and was selected in the First XI. 

The Aloysian of 1942 (page 87) summarised his success. 

“In the first match... may many more flow from his bat” 

Rugby in 1942 enjoyed one of the most successful 

years ever experienced by our Aloysian XV, page 79 of 

The Aloysian reads “Among the factors contributing to 

our success, were, no doubt, the presence in the team of 

six experienced players of last year, the extra verve and 

dash given to our three quarter line by the advent of Brian 

Gilmore.” 

In the 1942 CAS Athletics Championship, the principal 

performer at the meeting was Brian Gilmore who won all 

three Under 16 events in which he competed; The 100 

yards, 220 yards and the Broad Jump. 

In the 1943 1st XI Cricket team, “Brian Gilmore was 

undoubtedly the most brilliant and consistent performer with 

the bat in the history of Associated Schools cricket. Brian 

has the astonishing record of six successive centuries in the 

Associated Schools matches and ended the season with an 

average of 180.6 for Associated Schools matches. He is 

also a brilliant fieldsman. He was not often called upon to 

bowl but when he did he was quite a successful left hand 

slow bowler.” The Aloysian 1943 (page 96). 

On leaving school, Brian joined the Commonwealth 

Bank moved extensively in NSW and South Australia, 

finishing his banking career as Branch Manager of the 

Woden Valley branch in the ACT. One of the largest 

branches of Commonwealth Bank in Australia. 

He married Margaret Croll of Sydney who sadly passed 

away twenty-four years ago. Brian was the very proud 

father of Amanda, Jeffrey, Victoria and Lisa. He valued his 

Jesuit education deeply and always kept in touch with the 

College. 

A summary of Brian the man was expressed in his 

Eulogy. “Someone for whom pragmatism and a sound 

Bankers judgement was balanced by love, good sport and 

a wicked sense of humour that was rewarded by many who 

loved him and gave him great loyalty and admiration.” 

Bob Ryan (SAC 1943) 

John Thomas Skehan (SAC 1947) 

Adapted from a reflection on John’s life, at his funeral at 

St Mary’s North Sydney on 22 November 2006 

John was born on 1 April 1929 and began his schooling 

at St Aloysius’ College in 1942, in our first year of high 

school, then known as Grammar II. He was quiet and unassuming, 

with a very quick, a sometimes quirky sense of 

humour. We stayed together for the next several years until 

the leaving certificate. 

During this time, in addition to studies, we played rugby, 

and joined the College Cadet Unit, where John rose through 

the ranks to become Sergeant, and the Unit Quarter-Master. 

He developed an active social life, and enjoyed dances, 

and the occasional ball at The Trocadero. 

Later, he worked for much of his life with the NSW 

Housing Commission. He did not marry, but delighted in 

the company of small children, and had ongoing affection 

for his nephew, five nieces, and their subsequent families. 



from SACOBU 

One of John’s life-long interests was Sydney Harbour, 

and the ships that used it, an interest probably fuelled 

by the proximity of the College to the water. After a few 

years, he could name all the ferries and visiting ships, their 

dimensions, displacement, capacities, ports of origin, when 

and where they were to dock, when to depart. 

He travelled widely within, and beyond Australia. He 

loved bush walking in the Blue Mountains, and regular 

visits to O’Reilly’s Lodge, in the rainforest of the Lamington 

National Park, where he became a personal friend of many 

of the very extensive O’Reilly clan. 

John did not enjoy good health, particularly in his latter 

years. Some ten years ago, he was hospitalised with a 

heart attack, followed fairly soon by a serious stroke. He 

was greatly saddened by the death in 2002 of his only 

love, his sister Cecily, but he bore all these set-backs with 

characteristics fortitude. 

He had a quiet, thoughtful and unassuming nature, 

underpinned by kindness and compassion. Being always 

conscious of the needs of others, he gave frequent 

charitable donations; he worked voluntarily at the Australian 

Jesuit Mission in North Sydney, and performed frequent 

small acts of kindness among his elderly neighbours in 

Crows Nest. He did not achieve to great eminence in the 

worldly scale of priorities, but rather in spiritual values In 

accord with the two great commandments of the Gospels, 

he loved his God, and he loved his neighbour. He was a 

good friend, and truly a gentle man. 

A Mass to celebrate John’s life was held at St Mary’s, 

North Sydney on 21 November 2006 

Tony Ryan (SAC1946) 

Craig Buckley (SAC 1983) 

Three years ago Craig was diagnosed with a very 

rare Cancer. It was also considered one of the most 

aggressive of all cancers. Craig underwent three operations 

and chemotherapy. 

At his fortieth birthday in mid-July, Craig spoke confidently 

of coping with his cancer and said he would get past it. He 

had a very positive attitude and even bought himself a new 

set of golf clubs and shoes, and a ticket to the Brisbane 

Rugby test! 

Shortly after new tests showed the cancer had spread 

and no further treatment was possible. 

Craig was born on 14 July 1966, the eldest child of John 

and Marilyn and older brother to Karen and Michelle. 

As the first child he was “perfect in his parents and 

grandparents eyes. As a boy Craig was kind and 

considerate, not dominating or overpowering. Craig was 

always more interested in how other people were and what 

they were doing, rather than discuss his illness. 

Craig was educated at St Aloysius’ College and played 

in the 2nd XV. After school he joined Westpac and was a 

loyal employee reaching the position of Global Manager 

for Complex and Structural Products, which meant travel 

to Hong Kong, Japan, New York, London and Singapore. 

The fact that some many of his colleagues from Westpac 

are here today is evidence of their respect and admiration 

for him. 

He had a special friendship with Charles Moses and 

Adam Laws. 

Craig spent many happy times with his cousins Stephen, 

Mark, Rick, Suzy, and Mike, particularly at Christmas or 

Easter and family functions. 

Craig enjoyed life and really lived it! Craig certainly 

achieved many things, but his real passion was golf. 

He managed to sink three hole-in-one’s in competitions 

representing Manly Golf Club, his second home! Craig 

also enjoyed swimming, surfing and skiing, everywhere he 

travelled. He loved all sports and was a great supporter of 

the “Sea Eagles”. 

Craig had a fine group of true friends, as well as a 

loving and supportive family. 

Family were his top priority, everyone from his parents-inlaw 

who came out for a surprise for his fortieth birthday, to 

his parents and loving wife Shelley and his children. 

Shelley we admire your bravery and strength, and the 

love and support you gave Craig, despite the difficulties 

of his illness. Our prayers and thoughts are for you and all 

your family. We will always remember how Craig enriched 

our lives with his friendship, courage and determination, 

and his great kindness and affection. 

Paul Flynn (SAC 1952) 

Eternal Rest grant to them O Lord 

and let perpetual light shine upon them, 

may their Souls and all the Souls 

of the faithfully departed Old Boys of the College, 

through the mercy of God, rest In Peace. Amen. 

St Aloysius, pray for us!

Aloysiad 15-12 2006.indd - St Aloysius

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