By Mrs Louise Wallace-Richards, Acting Deputy Principal, Head of Secondary School

The House banners—that Radford collegians and some current students will remember hanging in the order of each year’s House Cup results—have just been cleaned, restored to their former glory and reinstalled in T.B. Millar Hall. The black interior walls of the hall now showcase the banners beautifully. In my 20 years at Radford, I have never seen the intricate designs and gorgeous colours so clearly, because they were obscured by 32 years of accumulated dirt and dust.

In the 40th Anniversary edition of the Radford Report, the College Historian, Mrs Annette Carter, explained that the artists who created these banners were Radford students, led by renowned artist Roy Churcher. Mrs Carter went on to describe how the students shared their ideas for the banners and Churcher—also an art teacher—helped them to bring their ideas to life on the canvases. Now that the banners are clean, the personality and cheekiness of our students shine through—especially in the playful addition of smiley faces to the House names.

In creating these precious artefacts—admittedly assisted by a famous artist—our students played a major part in developing the iconography associated with our House system, echoing the school’s bush setting on Gossan Hill.

And while the banners represent each College House, they also stand for so much more. They symbolise how we value student voices and trust our students to create such beautiful representations of the trees our Houses are named after. By working together and respecting the views of others, Mr Churcher and the students were able to capture the ...

• Delicate wattle of the Acacia, the emblematic flower of our nation,

• Silver white of the leaves of the Banksia,

• Red bell-shaped blossoms of the Boronia,

• One of the longest living species of pine, the Huon,

• Gorgeous red of the stringy bark Jarrah tree,

• Mighty eucalyptus, Karri,

• Kurrajong with its bottle shaped trunk and glossy green leaves, and

• The Wandoo Eucalyptus tree with its blue grey leaves.

Through the banners we are also reminded of the importance of the House system as a place of belonging for our students and how the values of the College—established nine years before the banners were created—live on in all aspects of student life. Truth and Compassion are embedded in good sportsmanship and evidenced through our expectation that our students play fairly and with respect for their team members and for the opposition when competing in House competitions or against other clubs.

Wisdom is shown through our students supporting each other in House activities and at our many carnivals. A striking example of this occurred last week when our Junior School students joined the Secondary School students for the House chants at our Cross Country Carnival. It was uplifting to see students of all ages coming together to cheer for their respective Houses.

Parents or collegians reading this article will also have the opportunity to see the banners displayed in the T.B. Millar Hall at the P&F Artshow this weekend. The banners are hung in alphabetical order on both sides of the Hall and will remain in situ for perpetuity. They represent Radford’s heart and heritage and are truly a joy to behold.