And while family festivities have duly focused on his personal accomplishments, Geoff has much to celebrate professionally, too. He was one of the first health and physical education advisors appointed by the NSW Department of Education and spent more than 40 years supporting teachers and championing the wellbeing of young people.
His service coincided with a period of great social change, and we have Geoff and his colleagues to thank for encouraging many of the school health and safety programs we now take for granted. Like physical exercise, sex education, healthy eating, road safety and even wearing school shoes.
After completing his teaching qualifications at Armidale Teachers’ College in 1944 –including weekend Air Force training in readiness for potential World War II service – Geoff became a member of what were known as “flying squads”. These multidisciplinary teams “parachuted” into schools throughout the New England and North West, many of them in the bush that had been closed throughout the war, to restore operations and assist teachers returning from military service.
Image: Geoffrey dancing with students.
“Our teams of teachers with different specialties would travel around on trains or frequently mail cars to advise the schools and give teachers refreshers,” said Geoff, who later became an education officer working throughout NSW.
“I can remember when we decided that no junk was going to be sold in school tuckshops and that they would become the vanguard of healthy eating. A lady came up to me and said: ‘What’s all this? No toffee apples on sticks?’. School back then was about textbooks and ink bottles, not food.”
The introduction of sex education was even more controversial.
“It was a hot potato. Many parents were opposed to it at first. What their mothers and fathers had taught them was all they had ever known. Others didn’t have a clue what to say or do.”
Advocating for compulsory bicycle helmets and road safety sessions, overnight camps, swimming lessons and even the wearing of protective shoes was all in Geoff’s wheelhouse.
“At one point I even delivered some lessons on firearm safety!
“Many of these things were once considered none of the school’s business. I think all the young teachers saw it as an evolution while the older ones saw it as a revolution.
“Again, some parents were delighted and others were hostile. But, bit by bit, we brought in a lot of new ideas over the years and conducted lessons with parents to get support for what we planned to introduce to the students.”
Image: Geoffrey in his younger days.
In the late 1950s and early 1960s, Geoffrey even helped to train inspectors of schools from across Asia in the very best of Australian rural education as part of the Colombo Plan.
Embarking on a Bachelor of Arts at UNE in the 1960s – correspondence study completed largely during his school holidays – gave Geoff the opportunity to upgrade his qualifications, but career progression was never a strong ambition and Geoff’s heart was always in the bush.
“I had the chance to work in the city but wanted to stay in the country. I travelled all over and out to the back of Bourke.”
And as for what inspired his personal teaching philosophy, Geoff looks no further than the beloved Charles Chipping from his favourite film, Goodbye Mr Chips.
“The best teachers are those that sit and listen; who can advise without driving a wedge between a child and their parents. Some teachers saw teaching as a springboard. For me, it was a vocation. A teacher is like a stone thrown into a pool. The ripples travel out in concentric circles.”
On the personal front, Geoff went on to marry Betty Dengate and have three children. He retired in 1985 and still lives in the Northern Rivers of NSW, the region he devoted so much of his professional life to.
Among his five grandchildren – he also has one great grand-child – is Bethany Ryan, who says Geoff’s connection to UNE and Armidale runs deep.
“Pa was dux of the male students in his graduating year from Armidale Teachers’ College before studying at UNE and traces much of his life’s work back to those formative years in Armidale,” she said. “He remains an extraordinary example of the curious, active and community-minded spirit that both institutions have always represented.”
Geoffrey Walker graduation with his family.
