03 July 2019
On Friday 28 June, over 400 guests gathered in the Tasman Room at Wrest Point to celebrate and farewell our Principal, Mr Tony Freeman, who is retiring at the end of this term.
Guests included parents of current and past students and alumni from the years that Tony was Principal, members of the Nateby Club, Fahan School staff and Board members. Past parent, Mr Mark Thomas, was Master of Ceremonies for the evening and spoke fondly of his experiences with Tony during his daughter’s time at the School.
In Tony’s speech that followed, he reminisced about his time at Fahan, “It has been a real privilege to have been the Fahan Community’s Principal. It is a sheer pleasure to go to work and it is really the greatest job in the world. The best thing about it has been the people; I have met many wonderful people and have followed the careers of former students with great interest. The last 11 years have been very special and I have been very pleased with the developments we have made. I am most proud of the strength of the Fahan culture. The girls have been wonderful and their preparedness to attempt and achieve feats above expectations and the pride that everyone shows at being a member of the Fahan Community – I think will ensure the culture will continue to thrive.”
Throughout the evening there were performances by the Junior Vocal Group, the Senior Choir and the Senior Vocal Group who sang a lovely rendition of The Carnival Is Over by Tony’s favourite band, the Seekers. The highlight of the evening was a surprise performance by five alumnae who flew in from around the country to reprise their roles in Downtown! The Mod Musical that was performed at the Theatre Royal in 2015. The event also included a touching tribute video from students reflecting on what they will miss about Mr Freeman and what is the best thing about him.
Fahan School Head Girl, Isabella Farid, and Fahan Chair, Mr Charles Badenach, also spoke during the evening and reflected on the wonderful contribution Tony had made to daily life at Fahan. Charles commented that, “Over the last 11 years, Tony has led the school through an evolutionary change, and we thank him for performing his role as Principal with energy, passion, distinction and, above all, putting the interests of the girls first.”
At the end of the evening, Tony and his wife, Anne, accepted a gift on behalf of the School Community, a painting of the School by one of our incredibly talented Alumni, Abigail Rothery. Presenting the gift with Charles was John Padas, President of the P&F Committee and Caroline Burbury, President of the Alumni Association.
Thanks go to the Fahan Music Department for their incredible hard work in preparing for the event and the IT Department who worked tirelessly all day alongside the Marketing and Communications department to coordinate the event.
