Phil Beecher: Principal 2008 to present

Phil Beecher was appointed as Principal to Canberra High School in 2008 .

Phil began his teaching career in the ACT in 1984. Prior to that he worked in the NSW system teaching in Yass and Queanbeyan.  His first teaching appointment was to Kaleen High School where he taught English and Drama. In 1990 he transferred to Dickson College and taught English. His first promotion was to Calwell High School in 1995 where he was the Executive Teacher for English, Languages and Student Support.  In 1999, Phil transferred to Hawker College where he was the Executive Teacher for Student Support area, affectionately known as The Den.  Whilst at Hawker College, Phil was promoted to Deputy Principal and acted as Principal in 2006. He was then promoted to Principal to Canberra High School in 2008.

Phil grew up in Goulburn and his father worked on the railways. His was the third eldest in a family of four boys. He attended Goulburn High School for his secondary education, and was a keen sportsman and represented Goulburn in hockey. Phil moved to Canberra in 1977 to study at the Australian National University and lived on campus at Burgmann College. In 1981, he moved to Wollongong to study for his Diploma in Education.

Phil married his wife Gai (the current principal of Gungahlin College) in 1984 and has three grown up children – Andrew, Stephen and Michelle.

During his teaching career Phil has combined his keen interest in sport – playing, coaching or managing teams at club and, state and international level.  In 1995 he was appointed Tour Manager for the Australian Schoolboys Rugby League team that toured England and France.  He is currently the national secretary for the Australian Secondary Schools Rugby League and was awarded Life Membership of this organisation in 2011.

Phil has always had a passion for public education and providing opportunities for all students. This has continued at Canberra High as he has supported programs and activities that provide all students with opportunities to challenge and extend themselves to be the best person possible.  

Credit: Paul Branson provided this bio of Phil.

CHS75: Open Day Map

Note: Not to Scale

Canberra High Open Day in Macquarie: 10.00 am – 2.00 pm

Former and existing students and staff, and members of the community, are invited to the (new) Canberra High School at Macquarie for a School Open Day to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of the School.  

The day will start in the hall with an Official Opening and Welcome, before visitors are invited to tour parts of the school where exhibits and archival material of the past and present will be displayed.

Parking will be available on the School Oval, with entry via Halloran Close, off Bowman Street, from 9am.  Parking is also available at Jamison Centre.

 10.15 am  Official Opening and Welcome in the School Hall

                      Welcome from the 2013 Canberra High School Captains
                      Canberra High School Concert Band performance
                      Official Party welcomed to stage
                           Joy Burch (ACT Minister for Education)
                           Mary Porter (Member of the Legislative Assembly)
                           Keith Hawke (Chairman 50 Years Committee)
                           Beth and Merv Knowles (original students from Canberra High School)
                           Alaine King (75 Year Celebration Chairperson)
                           John Bury (current P&C President)
                           Alan Thomas, Helen Burfitt and Anne Dash (Previous Principals)
                           Phil Beecher (Current Principal)

                     Acknowledgement of Country

                     Speeches

                          Joy Burch

                          Phil Beecher

                     Unveiling of Commemorative Plaque

                     Canberra High School Concert Band performs the School Song

                     Fashion Parade of past uniforms

                  

Activities

Front Office

The front office is open for the signing of the visitors’ book and collection of information.  There are pages available for people to write their own ideas on their time at the school which will then be made into a book to be kept at the school.  The old Headmaster’s desk is set up to replicate the original Principal’s Office complete with cane and strap hanging on the wall.

Hall and AB Building

There is a photo display showing on the big screen as people come into the hall.  Technology and Art displays of student work including 75 faces for 75 years are set up in these two spaces.  The Parents and Citizens Committee is running a BBQ and there are cold drinks and food served from the canteen.

Gymnasium

There are Physical Education displays and student reports on the history of Physical Education in the school set up in the gym.  There is also a space arranged for some games that students played throughout the decades at Canberra High.

Science Labs

Students have set up a timeline through the decades that highlight significant scientific discoveries over the past 75 years. There are also displays of science equipment and experiments.

Technology

All the Technology rooms are open with displays of student work.  The Tea Tree Café is serving coffee and student-made food in the courtyard.

Photography

The Photography room is set up with activities including cut outs to make funny photographs of visitors in the old uniforms.  Photos prints are available for $2.

Around the school

Students will conduct audio and video interviews of visitors in various places around the school. Student photographers will also be taking shots of people interacting with the activities and displays.

Archives Displays are in the following rooms:

• 1938-1959 and Significant Historical Documents in the Library
• 1960-1969 in Room 125
• 1970-1979 in Room 127
• 1980-1989 in Room 130
• 1990-1999 in Room 110
• 2000-present in Room 111

Helen Burfitt  and Phil Beecher

There are Dux, Honour and School Captains Boards, the World War II Roll of Honour, trophies, cups, plaques and paintings on display in the front foyer and the conference room.

The photographs of all the Canberra High School principals are on display in the conference room.

Canberra High School memorabilia from other sources are available on the computers in the library, e.g. Trove from the National Library of Australia, the National Archives of Australia, the Canberra and District Historical Society and the Canberra High School Honour Roll.

Donations to the Archives

Donations of archive material and memorabilia can be left in any of the display rooms.  There are envelopes available.  Please write your name, contact details and other relevant information on the outside of the envelope.

If you don’t want to leave original material, there is a portable scanner available in the library for you to copy material and one of the supervisors will be able to assist you.  Scanning can also be done at the school’s reception desk.  To help us identify scanned material, please write your name and contact details on a piece of paper, along with the nature of the material, and scan this also.

If you want to contact us about donations at a later date, please contact the school after the Open Day.  If you would like us to contact you, please leave your details (name, phone number and/or email address) with a supervisor in the library.

Memorabilia for Sale

 There is a range of memorabilia and souvenirs for sale, under the tent in the inner quadrangle, including stationery, clothing and other mementos.

Profiling Ralph Wilson: Principal 1970 - 1981

Ralph Wilson was principal when I was at the school between 1971 and 1976. He was affectionately called "Horrie" Wilson and was famous for knowing everybody's name.  The school photos were taken early in the year and Wilson look the time to memorise everyone.  It was a nerve-wracking experience, as a junior student, to be walking along the corridors and be greeted by the principal by name.  Especially when there were some 800 students in the school!

Wilson was a well known public figure in Canberra and received the Order of Australia in 1988 for services to the Performing Arts.  The Ralph Wilson Theatre in Gorman House is named after him.   He was also named The Canberra Times Canberran of the Year in 1988 for his "remarkable contributions to the fields of education and theatre in the ACT". 

Ralph Campbell Wilson was born in Newcastle in 1917, the son of a working-class family. At school he excelled in languages, then studied at Sydney University, where he became involved in theatrical scene, as well as in politics and unionism.  In 1949 he married Antonia Venn in Sydney and in 1954 they moved to Canberra. They had a son Kyle and a daughter, Harriette.  

Wilson originally taught at Telopea Park School and became the Language Master at Canberra High for many years. He was appointed principal of Canberra High School in 1970. While principal, Wilson introduced many innovations including the American Approach to timetabling and the introduction of the Activities afternoon where a wide range of options were available.  I remember learning to shoot a rifle at a target range on Mount Majura as an Activity one year!    During the Wilson years, the change over from the NSW Education System to the ACT Schools Authority occurred and Canberra High became a year 7 to Year 10 High School from 1977.

Wilson's leisure hours were devoted to theatre. His great loves included German, French and Russian literature,and  European cinema. Classical music, wine and Scotch whisky.

Wilson produced over 200 plays for the Canberra stage and a theatre in Gorman House was named after him. Some of his notable productions were Gogol’s The Government Inspector, Chekhov’s Uncle Vanya, and Brecht’s Mother Courage. The last production he undertook was Beckett’s play Footfalls. Programs of these productions are available in the ACT Heritage Library.

With Philip Mackenzie he founded the Classical Theatre Ensemble in the 1980s. Among this group’s productions were Tartouffe, The Country Wife and Lysistrata.

Wilson died on 28th May 1994. 

2 November Celebrations Update - what is happening?

There are three main events planned on Saturday, 2nd November 2013, to celebrate the 75th Anniversary of Canberra High School: Open days at both the Old and New Canberra High Schools as well as the Cocktail Party.

9am to 11am: OPEN DAY at the Old Canberra High School, now the ANU School of Art, in Acton

Escorts will be available, leaving from the foyer.  We are very grateful to the ANU School of Art for making this available to our alumni.  It is most generous of them!

10am to 2pm OPEN DAY at the (new) Canberra High School, Bindubi Street, Macquarie

1. Go to the School Hall at 10:00 for the 10:15 start to the Official Ceremony, where you will be entertained by the Canberra High School Band; welcomed by Phil Beecher, the principal; participate in the formal ceremony with Joy Burch, ACT Minster for Education and Training; and reminisce while watching the fashion parade of uniforms past and present.
2. Collect your Cocktail Party tickets.
3. Visit the archive collections set up by decade in rooms across the school.
4. Be interviewed by students about what it was like when you were at the school.
5. Be photographed with your former school mates and teachers.
6. Buy some souvenirs to remember the event... we have umbrellas, t-shirts, jackets, cups, ......



Canberra High School Band ... practising for the Open Day
under their conductor, Ms Eileen Curry

7. Enjoy some refreshments from the cafe or the sausage sizzle.

5pm to 8pm COCKTAIL PARTY at the Ann Harding Conference Centre, University of Canberra

Ann Harding Building at University of Canberra

1. Relax, catching up with Canberra High alumni and teachers. 
2. Eat up some snacks and enjoy a drink
3. Be entertained with music from across the last 75 years.

Then, if you wish, catchup with your alumni afterwards.

Profiling Edward G "Digger" Evans: Principal 1960-1969

Edward Evans had a long distinguished career in NSW schools.  He started out as a teacher in Ballina, Canterbury Boys and Goulburn High Schools.  He was then appointed Languages Master at Cessnock and Classics Master at Newcastle High. He was Language Master then Deputy Principal at Maitland High and then Principal at Cowra High. Following this he was appointed as Principal at Canberra High in 1960.

Evans introduced the hobbies period as an innovation, and by all accounts these were very popular!  The hobbies on offer included art, social graces, judo, athletics, choir, cadets, stamps, film projection, chess, drama and public speaking.  He also introduced a small ceremony on Monday mornings consisting of an oath of allegiance, the 23rd Psalm and then the Lord's Prayer.


Evans oversaw the relocation of Canberra High School from Action to Macquarie in 1968.  In all his years at the school he was affectionately known as "Digger" Evans.

Profiling Frank Bennett Jones: Principal 1949 - 1959

Canberra High School's principal from 1949 to 1959 was a World War 1 veteran, Frank Bennett Jones.

Born in Drummoyne in Sydney in 1897, Frank served as a driver with the 37th Battery of the Australian Imperial Forces between 1917 and 1919 in Belgium and France.

Jones was teaching in Hay, Wagga and Armidale before being appointed to Canberrra High in 1949. Jones' French textbook, Explanatory French Grammar for Early and Intermediate Years, was widely used across the NSW Education System at the time.  It was first published by Angus and Robertson in 1931, and four further editions followed, with the last in 1960.

 Jones was well known in Canberra as a member of the Alliance Francaise, of Rotary and the Masonic Lodge.  Jones died on 3 June 1959.