Podcasts @ The Hamilton and Alexandra College

David Thornton joined the Board in October 2021. David was raised in Penshurst and Hamilton and is the Managing Director of Thornton Engineering Australia Pty Ltd.  David’s father founded the business in 1975 as a Penshurst based engineering workshop servicing rural industries. Since moving the business to Geelong in 2000, it has grown to be a market leader in structural steel, pressure vessels, heat exchangers, heavy wall pipe, stress relieving and heavy plate fabrication.  The company supplies nationally and internationally to some of Australia’s largest companies and employs over 180 staff, including 15 full time staff at the original workshop in Penshurst.
David is an Old Collegian (1990), is married with four children and has a strong community focus, as an active member of Apex Geelong, coaching junior football and an avid member of a cycling group that he founded.

Our first Formal Dinner of 2023 was held in March with two wonderful guests presenting to our boarders.

Jessica Dowdy and Mardi Johns are both solicitors who work at Melville, Orton & Lewis.

Jessica is a Director, and is an experienced litigation and dispute resolution solicitor, practicing primarily in the areas of family law, intervention orders, criminal law, child protection and civil law. Jessica told her life story beginning in the small town of Binnum in South Australia. She worked hard to receive a scholarship to attend boarding school at Walford Anglican School for Girls in Adelaide, and then again, was fortunate to receive another scholarship to Bond University to study a Bachelor of Laws.

Mardi considers herself very fortunate to have had the best of both worlds growing up. She was raised on a busy and exciting family farm near Crystal Brook in South Australia, and had the opportunity to complete the whole of her secondary schooling at Immanuel College in Adelaide as a boarding student. After completing year 12 in 1999, Mardi was accepted into her degree of choice, and graduated from Flinders University in Adelaide in 2006 with a Bachelor of Laws and Legal Practice (with Honours) and a Bachelor of Behavioural Science. Mardi was admitted to the Supreme Court of South Australia as a Barrister and Solicitor in the same year. Whilst at university, Mardi was appointed to the position of undergraduate Legal Officer in the Royal Australian Navy, and in 2006 completed the six-month Royal Australian Navy Officer Training Course at naval base HMAS Creswell in Jervis Bay. 

Both Mardi and Jessica presented insightful stories of their life and journey into the legal profession. The presentation highlighted the importance of hard work, perseverance and being organised in life. 

Formal Dinner – Term Four.

It was a pleasure to host our final Boarding House Formal Dinner for 2022 this week. In our 150th year we focused this terms’ dinner upon connecting our Old-Collegians with the context of the Western District agriculture industry. Three impressive old-collegians attended our dinner and presented their life-story from College to the present day.

Sam Winter-Cooke is a local farmer and operations manager at the Murndal property, Tahara, close to Hamilton. Sam spoke of his time at University in Adelaide and the passion he has for an outside office! Sam encouraged boarders to be innovative in their practice, to try different approaches to whatever they choose, and most of all, be a problem-solver when it comes to entering the agriculture sector.

Lachie Holcomb graduated in 2018 continuing his passion for farming at his home property. Lachie spoke of the importance of persevering through the tough times and to understand life is not always going to be smooth riding. For Lachie today, he is a proud livestock agent with JM Ellis and Co, working alongside James Pike.

James Pike graduated Year 12 in 2011, alongside Sam Winter-Cooke. Both studied at University in Adelaide, with James complete a Bachelor of Commerce. James’ stressed the importance of hard work whilst at school and that your attitude in having a go will set you apart from others. James’ story was an eye-opening experience for the boarders as he discussed the plethora of opportunities in the agricultural industry; from viticulture, goat farming, aquaculture, and hemp farming practices. He highlighted the future for Australian industry in particular the medical industry being supported by agriculture. As a livestock agent and real estate agent, James also gave the important advice to all boarders that they must be focused upon having good communication skills and social intelligence to survive in the real world.

In our 150th year of celebrations we invite Dr Nick Russell a College parent and local Orthopaedic surgeon to join us to share insights on his career pathway.

Mr Russell was born and raised in the foothills of Adelaide. During school he found his interests lay in Maths and Science, and after finishing at Blackwood High School, undertook a Bachelor of Engineering at Adelaide University. He then worked as a structural engineer in the design of bridges and multi storey buildings. Whilst enjoying the challenges of engineering design, he re-thought his long term career path, looked afield and deliberated medicine, a career he had never previously considered. After gaining entrance through the post graduate admission process, he completed a Bachelor of Medicine and Surgery at Flinders University. It didn’t take long to realise that his training and work as an engineer was not wasted. He found an exciting combination of these skills in Orthopaedics, the surgery of bones and joints, where physics and materials engineering form the basis of successful surgery. He went through the surgical training program, and has been working as an Orthopaedic surgeon in Warrnambool and surrounds for almost 7 years now. He is married to Katherine, has one daughter at the College, with his second daughter starting next year, and a 5 year old son.

Lucie and Toby Hawthorne are old Collegians and Boarders of the College. In our 150th year of celebrations, we invited Lucie and Toby to share both their experiences in boarding and the value this has brought them through their life journey and current occupation.

Our first Boarding House Formal Dinner introduced Dr Andrew Bradbeer speaking on the topic of sleep and sleep hygiene. The importance of sleep hygiene could not be understated; it is important for growth, recovery, concentration, mood, sport performance, mindset and attitude. It is recommended that adolescents aim to get at least nine hours of sleep a night, with the quality of sleep also an important factor in understanding our sleep patterns. Dr Bradbeer’s engaging presentation provided knowledge and practical advice to our boarders to take away which was relevant and realistic. The broader topic of stress, anxiety and how electronic devices effect our sleep patterns was discussed with advice about how to deal with this and what to do.

In focus is a regular podcast published by The Hamilton and Alexandra College. The hosts, Deputy Principal Wellbeing Kristen Waldron and Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning Susan Bradbeer, invite the College community to focus in on what matters most in education, whilst having fun.

In focus is a regular podcast published by The Hamilton and Alexandra College. The hosts, Deputy Principal Wellbeing Kristen Waldron and Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning Susan Bradbeer, invite the College community to focus in on what matters most in education, whilst having fun.

This episode featuring Principal, Dr. Andrew Hirst.

In focus is a regular podcast published by The Hamilton and Alexandra College. The hosts, Deputy Principal Wellbeing Kristen Waldron and Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning Susan Bradbeer, invite the College community to focus in on what matters most in education, whilst having fun.

In focus is a regular podcast published by The Hamilton and Alexandra College. The hosts, Deputy Principal Wellbeing Kristen Waldron and Deputy Principal Teaching and Learning Susan Bradbeer, invite the College community to focus in on what matters most in education, whilst having fun