Richard Wardman is retiring – we wish him all the best

Richard Wardman has retired this year, after over 30 years teaching at Radford, so who better to have as the key note speaker at the Radford College Awards night this year.

He was urged to share some anecdotes from the early days of the college: “Radford was a tiny school of modest resources, but with a big heart and a focus on community.”

He reminisced about Jock McKinnon and Graeme Wigg, eating sandwiches in duffle coats in the main quad in the rain, running to UC ovals for PE classes and the Friday activities program with the countless action buses.

Richard was attracted to Radford as it was a new school, hoping it would “provide many opportunities for an energetic, efficient and idealist young teacher who was not afraid to take risks.”

He spent his time at Radford as Head of Science, where highlights included writing accreditation for all Senior Science Courses, a night time picnic to watch the return of Halley’s comet, and Wilfred Fullagar receiving Silver and Bronze in the Chemistry Olympiad in Helsinki.

He recalled downsides of his time at Radford where the Creek overflowed 3 times and he was calf deep in water in the Labs, one time just after is daughter was born where he was called in to inspect the damage.

He has spent a fair bit of time clearing out old papers… rumours are he had a copy of one of Nerida Dyne’s (our Secretary), and he found one which caused him to pause, authored by Bhavita Patel.

Richard was also very involved in all matters ICT at the college, and often these matters kept him awake at night…. but he noted it was his Science classes that cause him to rise fresh and energised in the morning.

Richard went on to address the College community about adventure and why it is such an important preparation for young people as they move through school.

Richard said “for our purposes an adventure is a series of deliberate actions which result from the decision to break routines and head off to explore new domains, often in the company of new companions.

The adventure must contain unplanned elements.  It should test a few certainties.  Some discomfort is to be expected.

You can prepare for adventure by training …. by equipping yourself and by reading … but the essence of adventure is that you are going to make a series of decisions, and you must live and work with the consequences of these decisions.”

His full speech can be seen below.

As collegians we would like to wish Richard all the best for his retirement and congratulate him on a successful career! Those collegians that had him as a teacher, tutor, or year 9 camp companion were extremely blessed.

Many other much loved teachers are moving on this year and more stories will become available over the next month.