FROM THE PRINCIPAL
A Reflection on The Anzac Spirit at Lauries:
It was 7.30am at Ekibin Memorial Park and the Anzac Day Service had just completed. Most were moving quickly as the cold of the morning had arrived late and the unexpected fog was bearing down on the few thousand attendees from the local community. Dr Herbert and Mr Wigan were hurriedly trying to organise the large group of Lauries boys present, for a photo before they left to unwind for the day. Members of the community were approaching both staff and students to congratulate them on their attendance and their conduct throughout the service. Suddenly a member of the public, not a Lauries parent, pushed forward, seemingly wanting to share an opinion, and asked for a minute of Gianluca Josey’s (College Captain) time. The request was somewhat forthright and caused staff to be alert. It was clear the member of the public had served in the Australian Army by the placement of his medals.
Gianluca had just delivered a powerful address on behalf of the community, focusing on the need for the youth of today to maintain the Anzac Spirit. He spoke with pride and authenticity about people of his age, declaring that the youth need to continue to share the Anzac story, acting as a beacon of the Anzac values for generations to come.
Perhaps Gianluca drew inspiration from Captain Michael Lorrigan from 42 for 42 (Callan House Partner Charity) who was our guest presenter at the SLC Anzac service on Wednesday. Captain Lorrigan who served in Afghanistan in 2010 called for our students to understand the Anzac spirit in a context relevant to them as teenager in 2024. He touched a nerve in all present, when he spoke to the boys about the Anzac spirit coming from knowing your purpose and finding a way to serve your community. Unknowingly or not, Captain Lorrigan had in an instant drawn a pragmatic and tangible connection between the Lauries journey and the Anzac Spirit.
As the member of the public pushed forward to share his thoughts with Gianluca, the words he was greeted with will remain with me for some time. “Young man, there is much written and publicised about our youth in our community at the moment and most of it is negative,” said the member of the public. “It is important you keep doing what you are doing and representing the good in our youth, because you are the future. You were outstanding today.” Reaching out to shake Gianluca’s hand, the member of the public then quickly departed.
In preparing to write this article, my thoughts centred on a recount of both the College and RSL services, and how to share the experience of both events. Both fantastic and sombre occasions with significant involvement from our students. However, the incident I have just described and the address from both Captain Lorrigan and Gianluca have calibrated for me that the real takeaway from this week for our community, is not only the memories and respect that is held for those who have served for our country, but also that the Anzac Spirit is alive and well in the gentleman of St Laurence’s.
In nearly 25 years of education, it still amazes me and brings me great joy to witness the level of respect and understanding our youth have for the Anzac Spirit. This week, your young men were fantastic representatives of your family and the Lauries community. They were able to draw connection to, and offer proof of, a lived Anzac Spirit.
Over the last few weeks, we have seen many exciting things happening in the College Library. I will confess somewhat of a passion for Libraries as a learning community in schools, much accredited to an excellent teacher who I had as professional placement supervisor many, many years ago. Hence, I was interested to read an article this week from the Australian Education Council that highlighted a study noting the correlation between book borrowing and reading comprehension success at assessment time.
In considering the article, there would no doubt be many hidden social variants that may contribute to the findings in the paper. However, what I do know personally is a love of reading starts early and the individual development of reading comprehension can assist academic success at all levels. In a message for families with sons of all ages and abilities, encourage your young man to check out the great work that Ms Templeton and her team are doing in the library, and engage with them to find a literature type that is right for him.
This week is first official round of the AIC Competition against Iona College. I wish all students the best of luck for their matches in Chess, Football and Rugby.
MR BEN LOWRIE
College Principal (Acting)