It’s hard to believe we’ve come to the end of year. And what a year it’s been!
We began our celebrations on Monday 13 February, exactly 100 years since our very first students walked into our campus on Barkers Road for their first day at the School. Our commemorations commenced with a series of special assemblies that delved into our 100-year history, honouring our past and bringing to life for our students the legacy upon which our school is built. Bookending our extensive schedule of celebrations throughout the year, our final event took place exactly 10 months later on 13 November, with the unveiling of our centenary sculpture, Learning to Fly, which beautifully encapsulated the other parts of our centenary theme of embracing the future.
2023 will certainly be a year for our school community to look back on proudly and with fond memories of a milestone well-marked. Beyond our events, much work went into creating a real sense of celebration that permeated the School and all of our communications. Highlights included the stunning centenary timeline featured in the De Young Centre for Performing Arts, the larger-than-life signage around our campuses, the beautiful commemorative edition of the Torch magazine, the opening of our first Heritage Trail at the Kew campus, the launch of our new digital archives portal, Carey Collections, and the opening of a time capsule from 1982!
A centenary is a significant milestone in the life of any organisation. It is a privilege to be able to celebrate it in such a dedicated way, and to have spent this year reflecting on how the past has shaped our school community into what it is today. Our centenary has been an opportunity to celebrate our successes, our growth and the strong legacy that binds us as we look to the future and imagine what the next century will bring.
Our centenary celebrations would not have been possible without the dedication and passion of so many staff, parents, alumni, sponsors and, especially, Carey’s Community Engagement team. We’ve put together a beautiful reflection on the major events that brought our community together in 2023. You can read this here. And be sure not to miss the amazing highlights video below, capturing all the nostalgia, fun, people and passion of this very special year of celebration.
Thank you to everyone in our community who engaged and participated in our centenary events. Wishing you all joyous and peaceful festive season.
Julianne Brandon
Director of Community Engagement
