Walk the Mile

The idea behind this podcast was that Peter Eyers (Head of Drama at SCEGGS) and I would chat about the year gone by and all that it held. What eventuated was a discussion about religion, power, loss and community!!  A very interesting conversation about how we take what has happened and look towards the future. I hope that you enjoy it. It’s the last one for this year and I want to say thank you to everyone that has listened, been a guest and given feedback. I am proud to say that we have made it to 60 episodes with a growing number of listeners and doing its job of building community and communities. I look forward to another 60 conversations!

I have conducted over 300 weddings in my 24 years as an Anglican minister and many of those have been for students that I have taught. This is always a great privilege and honour to be invited into such an important event in their lives, to continue that connection post school and to recognise that the SCEGGS community means something to people, even after they no longer walk in through the green gate. I first taught Unity Patterson when she was in Year 1 back in 2002. Who would have thought that one day I would be conducting her wedding to Chris Warren in January 2025? In this episode, we talk about marriage in the 21st century, the reasons why some people choose it and others don’t, the value of commitment and the perceptions that we place upon it. I hope you enjoy our conversation.

This time of the year is when our Year 12 students are finishing up their school life and looking towards a new and different future. Two of those students, Amelie and Lauren Ransom, have gone through their whole schooling life together. In fact, they have been together their whole lives as they are twins, identical ones at that! In this conversation, we find out what its like to be a twin from their perspective and I get to ask some of those questions that you might have always wanted to ask. I hope you enjoy our discussion.

There is much to be said about leadership and it is modelled to us many different ways by those that lead. We all have experience and ideas of what leadership is and what might make a “good” leader. Pretty soon we will be selecting new student leaders for 2025 and we spend time beforehand considering what leadership looks like for our school. Margot Faraci runs a business called “Love Leadership” which approaches leadership, as the name suggests, from a love perspective. We talk about parenting and how that has influenced her view of leadership, what do we define love as and the model that she uses, not just with her clients, but also in her day to day life. I found it a very helpful conversation and I hope you do as well.

The SCEGGS Primary School observed Reconciliation Week last week and Secondary School is doing so this week. Going along with these events, this week’s podcast is a conversation with two of our Indigenous Aunties: Aunty Kath Farrawell and Aunty Viv Freeman. They both share their own stories, as well as their ancestors, and talk about what drives them to continue being a voice to future generations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. We discussed reconciliation and its part in constructing a stronger, more compassionate and equitable nation. I hope you gain something from our conversation.

This episode contains references and stories about Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people that may cause distress.

The goal to be “successful” is very enticing for many of us. Not only do we want to be good at what we do but we would love to be recognised and applauded for it. But is that all there is to success? This is a conversation with one of our former Head Girls, Zoe Vrachnas. We talk about what success might look like, the subjectiveness of such a description and whether it is necessary for confidence and fulfillment. We also discuss her path to where she is now and what influences or impacts her goals and dreams. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

The concerns about our environment and the impact that we have on it continue to be a regular topic of discussion. The changing weather patterns, our use of resources, consumerism and waste management are all issues that we can not only talk about but affect each one of us in different ways. They will also determine what sort of planet the generations of the future will live upon. In this discussion, I am speaking with Hudson Worsley, a long-time SCEGGS dad and the owner of his own sustainability company. Hudson has done some great work with us to help reduce our waste and the way we use our resources. We talk about sustainability from an ethical point of view and how we might play our part in maintaining the land that we inhabit. I hope you enjoy the conversation.

This conversation is with a former school board member, parent and media personality Sally Loane. We discuss what it takes to build communities in all sorts of settings and some of the obstacles to building community within our current environment. Sally’s experience on television, radio and through print media has provided her with many insights into what it takes to create and maintain strong communities. I hope you enjoy our chat.

Ross and Sunny Lusted are two of our Primary School parents. They have had years of working in the hospitality industry and together have created restaurants and hotels around the world. Through their travels, they have learnt many lessons about community, culture and people that can only come through experience. In this conversation, they share some of their learnings and how it has shaped what they do and who they are. I hope you enjoy our chat.

One of the great joys that I have received from standing at the gate each morning to greet the students is getting to know many of our neighbours. Don Spencer OAM is one of those people that I have got to know over the years and have enjoyed hearing his story. He has had a lifetime in the music industry, was a presenter on the ABC’s Playschool for many years and has established a charity which addresses the needs of the most vulnerable children in our society. In this conversation, Don shares his journey and what drives him to be the person that he is. I hope you enjoy our chat.