BCC Alumni – Bunbury Catholic College

The Bunbury Catholic College Alumni has a mission statement of “building community by celebrating the past, connecting with the present and creating a pathway to the future.”

The Association meets between four and six times per year, on a Monday night at the College.

Goals of the Association include –

The College Hall of Distinction, held every second year, which honours students and staff members who have made outstanding contributions.
Maintaining the College’s history, such as through the ongoing digitisation of yearbooks.
Funding annual bursaries students currently at the College and awards for the highest achieving Year 12 students from the previous year.
Promoting ex-student achievements and upcoming reunions through our Bulletin and Facebook page.

Economically Speaking

Our 2023 Year 12 ATAR Economics class members were inspired to take their studies further by an ex-student who gave them a summary of the economics concept of productivity.

Since graduating in the class of 2019 Michael Frayne has been studying Commerce at the University of Western Australia and has recently returned from studying at Cambridge University in England.

Having achieved a Bachelor’s degree this year, Michael has been working on papers dealing with the intersection of finance and economics in banking regulation.

His education has been boosted by the opportunity to reside at Girton College while studying at Cambridge, where he contributed to a paper and gained credits towards his Honours program.

Michael has a particular interest in bank regulation and the quantification of data pertaining to the Global Financial Crisis (GFC) and the Great Depression.

During his visit Michael was pleased to discuss his post-College studies aspirations in commercial banking with Assistant Deputy Principal Justine Bow and Head of Year 10 Wendy Morris.

He described the feeling of presenting to Ms Bow’s Economics class as “weird” and said he felt that he should still be in his school uniform.

“I still can’t call them anything other than their teacher names,” he said.

“The College’s 50^th Anniversary Reunion in October may be another opportunity to touch base with some of the College community I have drifted away from.”

Making Music

Brodie Stewart is teaching youngsters how to make it in showbiz.
The BCC Class of 2011 graduate is an award-winning piano and keyboard player, composer, musical director and audio engineer lecturing in Contemporary Music at the West Australian Academy of Performing Arts (WAAPA).
This year he returned to his hometown to be an adjudicator for the 2023 Bunbury Eisteddfod which he performed in as a school child.
“It was an honour to be part of the Eisteddfod, but on the ‘other side’ this time,” Brodie recalls. “There is a lot of talent in Bunbury, and so hopefully I’ve been able to guide them with some inspiration and things I’ve learnt along the way!”
Brodie was the Musical Director for a musical at age 15 and from there has risen to the forefront of the jazz and contemporary music scenes, where his musicianship has placed him in high demand by national and international artists.
Brodie’s extensive and impressive skill set as a musician regularly lands him in the position of Musical Director for bands. His ability to sight read, play multiple instruments, transcribe and write note-accurate charts, as well as his advanced technological and programming skills allow him to get the most out of any group.
Recently he has performed with Kav Temperley (Eskimo Joe), Katy Steele (Little Birdy), and Reigan Derry with Ministry of Sound Classical. Australian 90s pop sensation Human Nature chose Brodie to tour nationally with them in 2020.
Brodie is a recipient of the Channel 7 Award for Jazz for Best Graduating Recital in 2014 and a WAAPA graduate with First Class Honours in Jazz Performance.

Foundation Student

Br Mark Paul is a Marist Brother who was a foundation student when Bunbury Catholic College opened in February 1973, as one of the first coeducational Catholic high schools in WA.

That was 50 years ago and at the time there were two Bunbury campuses, what had been the Sisters of Mercy St Joseph’s High School next to the convent in Wittenoom Street and the Marist Brothers St Francis Xavier College on the site where Bunbury Catholic College stands today.

In recognition of our special 50th Anniversary year, we asked Br Mark to put some words together that hark back to the early days of the College…

What a time! 1973. Neil Diamond released his album ‘Hot August Night’!

I could not listen to him enough while working part time at Boans of Bunbury, in the Electrical Department selling the latest technology – first release colour TVs.

No sooner than they hit the shop floor, they were sold. If only I was working on a commission basis, I would have made a bundle!

It was also the year that BCC came to birth, offering what was then termed Leaving and Matriculation (Year 11 and 12) and girls were going to be in the mix! Excitement and trepidation prevailed as the group of 36 ventured into a new era of education at BCC.

We tried our best! Our classrooms were in a building, now demolished, located next to the Convent: Girls on one side of the classroom, guys naturally on the other! All of our own making and it stayed that way for the final two years of our schooling.

We used a lot of banter in trying to relate with the girls which didn’t wash well with them. All of our teachers were religious Brothers or Sisters with the exception of one. They were a very committed group of staff dealing with a motley crew who were easily drawn to the surf at nearby beaches.

I am very grateful for the opportunity of achieving a full secondary education in my hometown. Boarding school in Perth was not the alternative for me! I’m honoured to be in that first class to have Year 11 and 12 offered to us. A privilege, a wonderful gift received that I still cherish.