On the first day after the holiday break, the excited chatter of students welcoming each other back fell silent as the College took time to commemorate Anzac Day at a special assembly.
With COVID-19 restrictions still in place, Year 12 students gathered in the College gymnasium for the ceremony, while other years watched the livestream from their Mentor rooms.
James Hellewell (Year 9) read a story written by his great-grandfather, Vivian Mervyn Simpson, who served in the Australian Army during World War 2, followed by Noah Kenworthy reading a poem that he wrote called A life leading to war.
The gentlemen returned to their seats while Marco Pizzo recited the poignant war poem, In Flanders Fields. Mr Domenic Burgio and College Captain Luke Bowyer then laid a wreath at the base of the national flag hanging at half mast, honouring the 164 CBC alumni who lost their lives in armed conflict, as well as more than 100,000 Australians who made the ultimate sacrifice while in service to their country. The senior students stood respectful and silent as the bugler played The Last Post, contemplating the legends of the Anzacs that have contributed to Australia's history.
Cadet Pyrs Jeffery (Year 9) raised the flag from half mast, as it had been performed around the country at yesterday's Dawn Services. Mr Burgio spoke to the assembly, acknowledging the incredible privilege of the generations who have not had to endure the sacrifices of the past and prompting the young men of CBC to consider their actions in the light of the freedoms that were fought so hard for.
The poignant ceremony was wrapped up with a special video produced by Oscar Doye in Year 9.
You can read Mr Burgio's Anzac Day address below.
Good morning to our staff, students and families.
Welcome back to Term 2. I hope you had a wonderful break and are invigorated and rested. I hope you have reflected on Term 1 and wish you the best of luck for Term 2.
Gentlemen, it is appropriate that the last two times we have gathered, for Easter and today, that the theme has been about sacrifice. I'm not sure whether it's real for you or abstract, hearing other people's stories about sacrifice. It's certainly real for people of my age. Sacrifice has been around along time. Written history goes back six thousand years, and in the book of Genesis, whether have to make one sacrifice in this perfect place, and that is you can't eat from that tree. Adam and Eve's children Cain and Abel were asked to make a sacrifice. Cain sacrificed fruit and grain and Abel sacrificed a lamb. Sacrifice is to give up something important to you, and the greatest thing you can give up is your life. Like Christ and like about 106,000 Australians have done for their country, 60,000 of which were in the first world war. you believe it or whether you think it's a myth, God said to Adam and Eve that you only have to make one sacrifice in this perfect place, and that is you can't eat from that tree. Adam and Eve's children Cain and Abel were asked to make a sacrifice. Cain sacrificed fruit and grain and Abel sacrificed a lamb. Sacrifice is to give up something important to you, and the greatest thing you can give up is your life. Like Christ and like about 106,000 Australians have done for their country, 60,000 of which were in the first world war.
The reason sacrifice was real for people my age is because when I was growing up in the 1960s, I didn't know a family who had not been touched by war. They had lost fathers and uncles, brothers and cousins, so it was very real. I want you to think about this, Year 12 leaders, while you are sitting there. When I went to high school all the Year 12 boys were called Fifth Years back then and they were six months younger than you. The problem was the year after they left school they would have to go into the Army, and if they refused they would have to go to Fremantle jail, just down the road here. Young 18-year old boys put in with the rapists and murders. When they were 19, if their number came up, like Noah's Pop in today's poem, they were sent to Vietnam to be shot at. And that was two years before they could drink legally in a pub, or vote for the mugs who sent them to war. So you could die for your country in the 1960s and '70s, but you couldn't go and have a drink in the pub. You could die for your country and yet you couldn't vote for the people who were making those decisions. When you reflect on that, gentlemen, ask yourselves, 'What do I know about sacrifice?' We put a few pebbles in your shoe at this school – cut your hair, shave, do up your top button, tuck your shirt in – and they're pretty small sacrifices to make. But if you can't get that right, how would you have gone in the '60s?
There's a line in Flanders Field:
Take up our quarrel with the foe:
To you from failing hands we throw
The torch; be yours to hold it high.
If ye break faith with us who die
We shall not sleep, though poppies grow
In Flanders fields.
I hear a lot about rights these days; I hear a lot about freedoms; I hear a lot about how these people died to protect these freedoms, and people feel that means you are free to do anything you like. And you're not, and never have been. What people who died for this country did is fight for your freedom to do good, to do right, and that starts with small acts of kindness every day, to each other, to your parents, to your family, to your neighbours, to the staff at this school. It's not until you have a child of your own that you will understand why this is important to adults. Until your child comes home from school one day and says I was called gay, or fat, or dumb, or was left out, and your heart will shrivel It's a parent's worse nightmare.
If you want to respect the people who made the ultimate sacrifice, then my advice is always to be kind. Be kind to each other, at school, at home, online, on the bus. It's a small word – kind. But it is incredibly powerful as an act. Some of the things I hear and read that some of you get up to breaks my heart a bit. If any of this means anything to you, put it into practise. If you get it wrong, then get it right. There are a lot of heroes in war, and unfortunately most of the heroes today sit behind a keyboard. Think about your footprint, your kindness footprint, in this College, in this town, in this state, in this country, and in this world. Right now I think the world needs more kindness and I know that every one of you is up to it.
Good luck for this term, God Bless you, and I hope you enjoy the fruits of your endeavour.
Click here to view the extended gallery for the event.
