Celebrating 30 Years
St John’s celebrates its 30th year in 2023 and while we will mark this milestone with several special events, we will also reflect back on the early years at the College. Early Years teacher Mrs Deborah Wilson shares with us her reflection being one of the first staff members of the College in January 1994:
“I have the immense privilege of being one of the first staff members on the very first day of the College in January 1994. I, along with my esteemed colleagues believed we were here to build a diverse, inclusive, caring, innovative school and to help children to do extraordinary things – something I still believe today. We were teaching children to be the leaders of the future – to be the influencers in their chosen fields. We were breaking new ground in encouraging all our students to learn a musical instrument and to learn Chinese as it was going to be an essential language in the future. And we continue to break new ground in so many areas today.
On that very first day, a special badge was presented to every student to commemorate being a foundation student in the very first year. Each teacher was also allocated a House of which there are four and I was the very first teacher in Braithwaite House.
As well as being the Year 2/3 classroom teacher, I was the music teacher and developer of all things cultural within the College. In the first year, I started a choir that performed at the opening of the lake that the suburb, Forest Lake, is named after, and they also performed at the Community Carols down on the oval by the Lake. Approximately halfway through that first year, I was joined by Mr Wilson, now a Junior School classroom teacher, but originally our first strings teacher, and he started our strings program while I taught all the brass and woodwind lessons. With the help of our new brass teacher Mr Barker, I also started a school band! Mr Barker also wrote the original music for the College Song – Living Faith, Living Forest.
When I put the application in for my initial job at the College, I had just been married, so I had to include my marriage certificate. This certificate has beautiful calligraphy on it as the man who married us, Father David Binns, was a very talented artist. The Principal of the College at the time also knew Father David from one of his first teaching posts and knew of his artistic ability. It was for this reason that Father David was also asked to create the College logo and later designed the stained glass for the Administration Building also known as the ‘Coman Building’ at the Junior School which remains to this day.
One of the enduring memories for me was the idea to introduce a uniform for all staff. During our first year, we had a lot of conversations about the way we were going to do things and what would set us apart from other schools. I lived quite a distance from the College in those days, so was often rushing to get ready, and deciding what to wear each morning was a challenge sometimes! My husband said to me that he wished I just wore a uniform like the children and my choice would be easy. So, I turned up at school that day, having thought more about this comment, and pitched it to the Principal. He immediately thought the idea had merit. I still remember staying after school one day to take the first sketches and ideas to present to the College Board. The idea was so innovative that the newspapers asked for a story and some photos as a corporate wardrobe was unheard of in those days.
This College has been, and always will be, a very special place. The ‘feel’ of the community, the connection one makes with this place, has always been evident by those who have worked or visited here. For those of us privileged to be here from the start, we wanted to leave a Legacy that would be ongoing, to set some traditions that could be built upon and pave the way for future opportunities. I feel this legacy that began just on 30 years ago is well and truly fulfilling the original motto of Living Faith in the Living Forest.”
