Iconic Ironbark. Only at St Peters.
One of the joys in my role as Head of College is the opportunity to visit each of our Year 9 Ironbark groups. I did so for 9GH late last week, and I never tire of hearing from our young people about their experience of this iconic St Peters program offering. This year marks 50 years of Ironbark becoming part of a St Peters Education (noting that there was a pilot program for 34 Year 10 students in 1974, which formed and shaped the basis of our program).
Right from that first full program in 1976, Ironbark fused both heart and mind, becoming a pivotal moment in the St Peters experience. Over the ensuing 50 years, Ironbark has become the iconic thing about a St Peters Education. I constantly meet Old Scholars who tell me that Ironbark was the making of them as a person; a defining moment in the formation of their character. To quote one Old Scholar, Ironbark was "Character building, so liberating, a time of immense spiritual and personal growth that epitomises the St Peters experience". I have lunch with the Year 12s in small groups throughout the year, and I always ask them what’s good about their St Peters experience; on 99% of occasions, Ironbark is in the top three responses. As one student said a few years ago: "Sir, Ironbark was the reason my parents sent me to St Peters". The Year 12s tell me that they talk about their Ironbark experience every week at school; such is the impact it has had on them. Ironbark has become a true differentiator in the St Peters offering.
Over the past ten years, as I’ve made the trip out to Crows Nest (and I do try to visit every group once during their program), I’ve reflected on why Ironbark is so special. What is its magic? The essence of the program hasn’t changed. Freed from the distractions of technology, building a fence, learning to ride a horse, hiking 15 kilometres, sleeping in a swag, preparing the evening meal, completing farm chores or hanging out with the people in your dorm — these are pretty ordinary activities. So, what IS the magic of Ironbark?
In part, the answer lies in an article I read in the 1982 Review (the College yearbook) which records one of the Ironbark staff members who was concluding their service at Ironbark at the time: "One of my greatest joys has been to see the relaxation on kids’ faces when they stopped pretending and began to enjoy living and began to make choices as to what kind of person they really could be". The Human Becoming that Ironbark does so well is central to the identity of a St Peters Education. A St Peters Education, and in particular our Ironbark experience, is about the growing of the 'who', growing fine young people of character.
As we enter the age of Artificial Intelligence, Ironbark will take on even greater significance, helping reveal and develop those things that are uniquely human, positioning our young people strongly and positively for the world in which they will live, work and lead.
I conclude with a quote from St Peters Old Scholar Owen Ronalds (1976), who was part of that Ironbark pilot group in 1974, in which he encapsulates the Ironbark experience of so many. "I have learned a lot, and changed a lot here. I know that it will affect the rest of my life and my relationship to other people. I hope and pray that I can return here. This phase has been one of the best, most happy times of my life." May Owen’s sentiments about Ironbark continue to echo for the next 50 years.
Tim Kotzur
Head of College
