4 CLASS OF 1975
IN 1975...
WELCOMING BACK THE CLASS OF 1975
475 students enrolled overall There were just 27 girls in Year 12 (or Sixth Form as it was known at the time). Afternoon Clubs and Choirs The event, then called Club Afternoon and Interhouse Activities, was held in the afternoon for the first time since the competition began. Senior Public Speaking The topic of the competition in 1975 was “Motor Car – Master or Slave?” with Sally Clendinning in Barker placing first overall. Casterton house victory Casterton won nearly all the house events, including both the Swimming and Athletics Carnivals. Opening the Green Lab The new laboratory (pictured, above) was opened on 19 April. The green-coloured room sat between the Jane Barker Hall and the St John’s building. Students raised $1,685.45 Roughly $14,600 in today’s money was raised for the Archbishop’s Disaster Fund for Darwin in the aftermath of Cyclone Tracy. Year 12 Revue The Class of 1975 performed a parody of Speech Day Prizegiving for their Revue. Bishop’s Reception After Bishop Hulme-Moir’s retirement, Sixth Form girls and other student representatives were invited to his farewell. Papua New Guinean feast The school celebrated the nation gaining independence with a traditional mumu feast.
When the Class of 1975 last gathered at St Cath’s for a reunion, the OJ Simpson trial was making headlines, Disney’s Pocahontas had just hit theatres and Microsoft was preparing to launch its first stand-alone Windows program. It was 1995, and Dr Diana Whitton (STC1975) had organised their 20-year reunion, spending weeks tracking down classmates across the country through a series of handwritten letters. “Don’t worry about what you have or haven’t done over the last 20 years,” she wrote at the time. “This reunion isn’t about achievements — it’s simply a chance to reconnect, catch up and remember the things we shared all those years ago.” Now, as the Class of 1975 prepared to celebrate their 50-year reunion, it was significantly easier to bring everyone together — but the occasion was no less special. As the group arrived, it felt as though no time had passed since they were students. Stories, laughter and memories were flying thick and fast, with Diana remembering burning her foot on a hot water urn while helping her mum coordinate the Devonshire Tea stall at the Magnolia Fair, while Celeste Dunn (Dawson, STC1975) brought along a remarkable piece of St Cath’s history, a 1910 school report she had discovered hidden behind a cabinet while doing home renovations. “It must have been left by a member of the clergy who lived there at the time,” she said. “It just goes to show that no matter where I go in life, I’m still connected to St Cath’s.” We were so honoured to have the Class of 1975 join us back at school for a special celebration on Foundation Day.
This year, we decided to pull out all the stops to properly honour the Class of 1975, by introducing a new tradition into our Foundation Day festivities, on Tuesday 4 March 2025. Historically, our alumni who graduated 50 years ago are honoured at our Jane Barker Luncheon in May. But this year, we decided to move the luncheon forward to Foundation Day. This change meant that we were able to invite the Class of 1975 to join us for a special K-12 Assembly. While not everyone could attend, we were thrilled to welcome those from the Class of 1975 who were available to be with us on the day. The group excitedly made their way to the Jo Karaolis Sports Centre for the first school assembly they had attended in over 50 years, where they were invited to proceed in with the official party. This was a special highlight for Jennifer Fealy (Grouse, STC1975) who remembered doing the same thing as a prefect during her time at St Cath’s. At the assembly, our students surprised the Class of 1975 with a special presentation about what life was like in their final year at school. Then, each alumni was presented with a Magnolia Pin by a junior school student — a symbolic gesture celebrating their legacy as St Cath’s Old Girls. For Diana, the entire day was a wonderful opportunity to reflect on her school days. “We had some strict teachers, some hard teachers — but boy, they were good at their jobs,” she said. “They made sure we learnt and understood the world. At the time, I probably didn’t appreciate that in the way I do now.”
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