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The Barker

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Since 1981, The Barker Foundation has been assisting the School Council through capital fundraising to provide the best possible facilities for teaching and learning for Barker's students.

The Centenary Design Centre, the Barker Foundation Aquatic Centre, the Hornsby Hundred Building, the Library in the secondary school and the Barker Foundation Science Centre have been made possible by the enthusiastic commitment of volunteer parents in securing donations from other parents and members of the School community, and as a result Barker College boasts facilities for teaching and learning that are second to none. Other Foundation projects include the extensions to the Music Centre, the refurbishment of the original Senior School Library as the Mathematics Centre, and the Information Technology Centre.

Today, the Kurrajong Building, the School Council's largest ever building project, is under construction because the work of the Barker Foundation in raising a proportion of the capital cost has given the School Council the confidence to proceed, thereby completing its ten-year commitment to replacing or refurbishing every teaching area in the secondary School.

The members of the Barker Foundation are parents, former students and friends of the School who are donors to its Building Fund, its Library Fund, or its Education Trust Fund. The Foundation's Board of Directors comprises Directors elected by and from the membership, as well as Directors nominated by the BCMA, by the Old Barker Association, and by the staff. The Board elects its own Chair. Over the years, most of the members of the Board have been parents or past parents of students attending the School.

The current Chair, Mrs Liza McKenzie, is retiring this year. Mrs McKenzie, like her husband James, is a former student of the School (she was taught English by the Headmaster), and the last of her three children leaves Barker at the end of 2008. During her time on the Board the School has conducted two successful capital campaigns, the Millennium Appeal and the Kurrajong Building Appeal, and the Board has striven to raise the profile of the Foundation amongst members of the School community.

At a recent farewell function, the Chairman of the School Council paid tribute to Mrs McKenzie's work in leading the Foundation Board, and to her commitment in assisting the School Council to fulfil its vision for the School.

During its long history, Barker has been richly served by countless parents who have selflessly volunteered their time and their talents to ensure that the young people attending Barker have access simply to the best possible facilities and resources for their learning. With the BCMA and the other Barker parent support groups, the Barker Foundation has helped to provide a teaching and learning environment at Barker within which young people can genuinely thrive.

Dr Roderic Kefford