It is helpful if we are able to teach in a community which we like. If we do, we are more likely to relate well to the community and become part of it and probably teach better.

I have been fortunate. I have only taught in three places, all in the country and have always enjoyed where I have taught. Like so many people, I came to Alice Springs for three years, fell in love with the place and have been here now for over 37 years. Alice, as we all know, has taken a battering over the last little while and its reputation has suffered. But there are many like me who value Alice as a really special place. When I have been away and return, I always feel, as I reach Alice, that I’m coming home. I’m sure there are plenty of people who feel the same way. And, I’ve lived in Alice far longer than I’ve lived anywhere else.

Here is a poem I’ve penned in celebration of our town Alice Springs. I’ve used the term “Mews” because it once referred to a place where horses could be kept safely or originally where the king’s hawks were once “mewed” or confined and kept safe at molting (or “mew”) time. The word has now been used to describe a type of street. Mews are pretty, often traffic free streets usually found to the rear of a row of extravagant 18th and 19th Century mansions. In our context the mansions are the beautiful bush land that surrounds Alice Springs.

Australia’s Cultural Mews

My gaze it sweeps out westward to that line of purple hue,

That guards the dappled valley of Australia's cultural mews.

A town that causes wonder to a nation bound by coast,

For the mystery of the inland remains a mirage and a ghost.

So it's rock to dust and gravel with battle blasted sand,

Where trees and scrub grow boldly to beautify this land.

Dry creeks that wind in hope with a promise of new life,

Though the harshness has a softness which settles fear of strife.

“What's it really like the city dweller will ask through a distant gaze,

As he tries to sense the outback through a noisy city haze.

"Is the heat beyond redemption can you live in such extremes,

Is the isolation crippling, does it colour all your dreams.”

No, for we are teachers of the Centre in this special place of ours,

We strive to support kids’ aspirations and skills to meet their own desires.

Our schools are working hard to provide what kids will surely need,

Providing education opportunities upon which they can really feed.

The City’s choking, slothful traffic defies the purpose of its cause,

As it winds a daily pattern and is the pulsing city's source.

It's a haemoglobic essential that city folk will let pass by,

But it’s the high price the city pays no matter what it tries.

The dawning breaks the silence of the twinkling bush night dome,

Below which the nightly creatures have hunted far away from home.

The morning shift of the great creation quickly moves to seek the coming day,

With the optimistic hope of tucker and a full belly on its way.

Then from the east it happens, as the glow slowly seeps away the dark,

The stage show of the morning as a wonder makes its mark.

A breath, the first fire, then the raging glory strips away an Alice night,

For the sun has risen boldly and grasps the day with all its might.

Alice has a strength and power that lights my spirit’s flame,

That’s ignited in the early morn as the sun rises once again.

Anxiety as an oily blanket smothers out the dark's last hours,

Is defeated once again by the Rising Sun’s all healing powers.

Alice is a healing wonder with its endless big blue sky,

It stays the fear of chaos, helps to raise the spirits high.

The Spirit shows its powerful glory to all who venture there,

It is my deepest feeling and with all, it is this I’d like to share.

*. * *. *. *. *

There are people I know who find visiting Alice Springs and its surrounding country a truly spiritual experience even on their first visit.

I know for many teachers and certainly Principals, Alice has been the land of opportunity. I came to run St Philips, which was not a school but was a residential college of the Uniting Church. I arrived just before I turned 35. Soon the opportunity to turn St Philips into a day/boarding school appeared. By 2.5 years later the opening date was set. However I suddenly realised that, because I was appointed to run a residential college, I might have done myself out of a job, because the council might have wanted a more experienced person to run the school. I made my case to the council, fortunately satisfactorily, and was given the job. I wonder if it would have happened like that in the big city. But Alice was a pioneering place with lots of energy, get up and go and that was really appealing.

 The council gave me a pretty free hand but with a strong caveat of “make it work”. This arrangement suited me far more than perhaps running a staid school in the city. Remember, I didn’t come to Alice to run a school. This isolated town was a place of opportunity where you could make things happen and really make a difference. In those days you could readily see the minister of education or indeed the chief minister who would listen with interest about St Philips developing as a school because they considered the town need it.

Move on to 1996 and the Round Square Conference in Nairobi where we were made members of Round Square. That international organisation sported some famous schools and we were accepted as part of it. Ah, the Alice factor at that conference! Though brand new members, we were surprisingly asked if we would run the International Conference in 2001. Of course we would, though we were not experienced at International Conferences. We were given the chance not only because they thought we could do it but also because Alice Springs was a unique and interesting place.

In 1997 I was appointed to the Round Square International Board. The exciting thing was that they met at Hellenic College, a small Greek school in London, twice a year. Part way along the Jumbo trip from Singapore to London, I walked over to the door and peered out of the window at the landscape carpeted with snow below and gratefully mused at how lucky I was to be the Australian rep. I was from a very isolated and moderate sized school in the Outback of Australia and was on my way to a meeting in London. How exciting! Somehow being from Alice caught people’s imagination and I had many, many conversations about life in Alice. Most people knew little beyond Neville Shute’s book “A Town Like Alice”.

I know that students going away to the cities to University are often of great interest to their peers because they come from Alice Springs. The town is a fascinating mystery to those from the coast. Alice students are quickly engaged in conversation and rapidly become identities.

I spent 17 years as chair of AISNT and therefore 17 years on the national board of ISCA. During that time I spent 3 years as the national Chair, a position I really valued. When visiting federal politicians it was advantageous to point out I was from a low fee school, in an isolated area, facing challenges that our city members were less likely to face. It was the start of some good conversation.

I had the opportunity to represent Australia at the South African Independent Schools’ and Heads’ Conference. As the only Australian there I was asked to address the conference and enjoyed the friendship and banter of sports rivalry that exists between our countries.

My appointment to the position of chair of ISCA was probably assisted by the non - aligned nature of AISNT considering that a degree of rivalry could exist between the larger states.

So, these are simply a few of the opportunities that came my way as a Principal in Alice Springs. To me it is indeed a town of opportunity.

MAYBE THESE QUOTES WILL BE OF INTEREST

I’ve used this quote in 2022 No 10 but I think it’s worth sharing it again.

Dr Geoffrey Griffin, Founding Principal of the Famous Boy’s School in Nairobi, Kenya Starehe. Final Words of Dr G W Griffin (1933 -June 28 2005) read to the School at his final Farewell Service on July 8, 2005. He had led Starehe for 46 years.

“This world is full of people who do their duty halfheartedly, grudgingly and poorly. Don’t be like them. Whatever is your duty, do it as fully and perfectly as you can.

And when you have finished your duty, go on to spare some time and talent in service for less fortunate people, not for any reward at all, but because it is the right thing to do.

Follow my advice in this and I promise you that your lives will be happy and successful.”

Being a Principal in Alice gave me the opportunity to meet Geoffrey Griffin.

Dame Jane Morris Goodall 1934 - She is an English primatologist and Anthropologist. She spent 60 years studying wild chimpanzees. She is also renowned for conservation and animal welfare.

“Change happens by listening and then starting a dialogue with people who are doing something you don’t believe is right.”

Aristotle 384BCE - 322BCE A great Greek philosopher and first genuine scientist who was taught by Plato. He tutored Alexander the Great, seeking to create an enlightened monarch who would rule over a world guided by justice.

“Knowing yourself is the beginning of all wisdom”

“It is the mark of an educated mind to be able to entertain a thought without accepting it". 

“Patience is bitter but its fruit is sweet.”

Jessica Mauboy is a famous Australian singer, songwriter and actress, born and raised in Darwin. Jessica is a keen supporter of Indigenous communities and is an ambassador for the Indigenous literacy Foundation.

“When I get into the studio, it’s not about trying to get a good song. It’s about whatever comes naturally.”

Chris Tudor

Principal Liaison & AISNT Historian