A stellar St Paul’s innings
Schools
The St Paul’s College community farewelled its longest serving staff member, Peter Judd, at the end of Term 2.
After 44 years of service at the Gillies Plains school, the popular teacher and talented sportsman is looking forward to the next chapter.
Reflecting on his long career in education, Peter said it was a teacher at St Joseph’s College, Mitchell Park, now Sacred Heart Middle School, that sparked his interest in teaching.
“My Year 7 teacher was a Marist Brother by the name of Brother Paul. He was a young, energetic and encouraging teacher and there was something about him that made me think, ‘it’d be nice to emulate him a little bit’,” Peter said.
Embarking on a Bachelor of Education degree at Sturt College of Advanced Education, Peter secured his first teaching appointment at St Paul’s at the age of 20. Having completed his Diploma of Teaching, he continued his studies part-time and gained his degree after two years.
When Peter started at the school in 1981 there were 600 students in Years 5-12. It was all boys except for a brief time in the 1980s when girls were enrolled in year 12, and three years ago the school became co-educational, taking the number of students in Reception to Year 12 to nearly 1200.
Peter taught under six principals, including Peter Shanahan and Paul Belton who he described as providing “wonderful support, tutelage and encouragement” during their tenures.
Affectionately known as ‘Juddy’ to staff and old scholars, he taught Health and Physical Education, Maths, and was Sport and Co-curricular coordinator for 25 years.
He also planned and coordinated 10 snow trips, 25 football trips to Melbourne (these jaunts always coincided with an opportunity to watch his beloved Carlton Blues) and as Year 9 coordinator he was responsible for seven Flinders Ranges Camps.
Peter was described by old scholars as a ‘legend’ and ‘one of the best’ when the news of his retirement was posted on social media.
“With an extraordinary 44 years of teaching at St Paul’s, no staff member has served our community for longer than Peter Judd, making this a truly exceptional commitment of service,” wrote acting principal Josh Foulis,
Outside of St Paul’s College, Peter is a cricket player with an outstanding record. In February, he was vice-captain of the Australian Over 60s cricket team that won the Over 60s World Cup played in Chennai, having also been the vice captain of the Australian Over 60s Cricket Team for the 2023 UK Grey Ashes Tour and a member of the Australian Over 50s touring teams to the UK and New Zealand in 2017 and 2018.
Peter’s most profound legacy is arguably the impact he has had on the thousands of St Paul’s boys he taught in PE and Maths.
“It’s a job where you don’t see your impact instantly,” he said.
“They (the students) grow up and develop, then maybe they think back to their school days.”
Peter and his wife Gayle, who retired from Mitcham Primary School at the end of Term 2 after 21 years, are looking forward to spending more time with family, especially their new grandchild, and many trips travelling around Australia.
“People ask what we’re going to do and say, ‘you’ve got to have a purpose’,” Peter said.
“I don’t worry, we’ll work it out. To be honest, currently, I’m still pretending I’m on school holidays.”
One thing is certain, old scholars will call out, ‘hello Juddy’ and ‘hello Mr Judd’ when they encounter him in public during retirement.
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