Earlier this term our 2023/24 student leadership team was formally commissioned for the year. In keeping with tradition, they came up with a food metaphor – a way to describe the SACS community which has been used by many of our School Captains in the last fifteen years and has included such culinary delights as the trifle, chocolate chip cookie, meat pie, trifle and cappuccino, just to name a few. 

Here is a list of our new leaders along with an excerpt from the speech given by new School Captains, Rama Chadda- Harmer and Cleo Gavagna.   

RAMA: We know it may seem a little cheesy, but this tradition has been going on for over 15 years and is an important part of today. Yes, it is indeed time for the much-awaited SACS Food Metaphor.  

CLEO: This year, we sat down and thought of SACS food, and the natural answer was the canteen. But which dish to choose from? The SACS canteen has an impressive range, from muffins to pasta to little ice-cups which are just lovely in summer. After much deliberation, we decided on the SACS canteen pizza! Yes, let’s do that one! 

CLEO: Well, Rama what exactly is a SACS canteen pizza?  

RAMA: Well, the canteen pizza is probably the most sought-after dish on the menu. It is rather like a pizza/sandwich crossover, being a pizza, but with a thin layer of crust on top to help you hold it in the playground mess-free.  

CLEO: Now, you may be wondering how on earth this relates to SACS, but believe me, there is more to this pizza than meets the eye.  

RAMA: First up, the base of any pizza is flour - it represents the students at SACS, who are at the core of everything the School does. There are so many kinds of flour ranging from wholemeal to plain, self-raising and corn but all of them work just as well for this type of pizza.  

CLEO: Consequently, each SACS student has a unique set of interests, from knitting club to drama, athletics training, or da Vinci Decathlon, but all of them are welcomed and treated just the same.  

CLEO: Once you have your flour, you need to use milk to knead it into a dough. Milk makes the dough softer and lighter when baked – making the pizza so much better. In the same way the Old Andreans are a vital part of the SACS community.  

RAMA: The Old Andreans help us current students by sharing their guidance, knowledge and wisdom with us, helping prepare us for life beyond school, and transforming plain, dry flour into dough fit for a pizza.  

RAMA: Now that we have our dough, we need to add the yeast to make it rise. The yeast is an integral part of the dough, doubling its volume, but remaining unseen. This symbolises the history and traditions of SACS, hidden on the surface, but guiding and improving our school experience underneath.  

CLEO: Even this food metaphor is not really our idea, it is a SACS tradition that the new school leaders talk about the vibrancy of the SACS community via a food metaphor.  

CLEO: Next, the pizza sauce. The base of operations. The pizza sauce doesn’t force itself to be known but is pivotal to creating that oh-so-good pizza flavour. In the same way, the admin and maintenance staff lay the foundations for the School to operate. They work tirelessly behind the scenes and are an amazing group of individuals we are spoiled to have.  

RAMA: It is impossible to properly list the thousands of activities which admin and maintenance cover on a single day. For admin, everything from enrolments to events to giving feedback on certain speeches (thank you Mrs Jarvis) is included in the job, while we can thank maintenance for the heating on those chilly winters’ days (which I very much appreciate). Further, just like tomato paste can be had with numerous other dishes, both admin and maintenance are extremely versatile - shout out to Mr Perry for teaching us mathematics for half a year on top of all his other work!  

CLEO: and shout out to Mr Simpson for always managing to convince us that the mornings are just…so very awesome and WE WANT to be at school…  

CLEO: CHEESE! Man I loveeeee cheese, it makes me smile…. I would argue it is one of the most important parts to making a good pizza, just like the teachers at St Andrew’s. They are what makes the school an amazing place for the students. Without teachers you don’t have a school, without cheese you don’t have a pizza. (RAMA…mhmm I think she likes cheese just a little bit too much…anyway...)  

RAMA: There are so many different types of cheeses, and our staff are equally versatile – taking on hundreds of different roles – even running our entire school while still teaching literature (Dr M).  

CLEO: The teaching staff are a huge part of what makes life at SACS interesting, and sometimes, it only takes one cool fact to start a conversation. So, to help you get to know our staff even better, here are a few cool facts you may not have known: 

RAMA: If you chat to Mr Sahlstrom, he may agree (if you push him) to recount the fabled saga of Sahlstrom and the donut machine.  

CLEO: Mr Wann is actually very good at Mongolian throat singing. 

RAMA: Mrs Phipps has the original Parramatta Eels jersey and can tell you quite a lot about rugby union as she is a Waratahs fanatic and loves the GWS Giants.  

CLEO: But finally, Mr Swibel’s renowned TikTok dances.  Action!!! WOAH 

These are just a few, to learn more, you’ll have to find out.  

RAMA: The toppings are where you get to personalise your pizza, and the best pizza places allow you to choose from a wide variety. The toppings aren’t necessary, but they enhance the flavour and help make the pizza your own. The co-curricular SACS offers are like these toppings. There are so many to choose from, and SACS lets you do your pizza, your way.  

CLEO: Of course, the SACS canteen pizza is folded over, so you can’t immediately see the toppings and CHEESE (Cleo…) but the student who ordered it knows, and you can taste the difference.  

CLEO: Next, the oven is what takes cold, raw, and inedible ingredients, and turns them into a delicious, warm, and filling meal – combining everything together and making the pizza whole. The oven is like our parents, without them, school would not be, and could never be, half as wonderful as it is today.  

RAMA: Parents are the ones who encourage us to pursue the things we love, ferrying us from one school commitment to another – while working hard the entire time so that we can attend one of the best schools in Sydney. And when things get overwhelming and we feel we can’t go on, it’s our parents who can always be trusted to give valuable advice till we stand squarely on our own feet again. Without the oven, the dough could never be cooked and without our parents, we could never achieve half of what we can alongside them.  

CLEO: It feels like only yesterday that we were in Year 7, listening to the speeches of the then Year 12s and thinking, wow, that could never be us.  

RAMA: I recall a particular pillar blocking my vision, so I certainly didn’t see anything… 

RAMA: But being shy, timid, and shorter than the pew barricade, our school careers ahead seemed like a very daunting prospect. Now, with only a year left before we graduate, it is startling to reflect how much we (CLEO: and all our peers) have grown in confidence, faith and integrity.   

CLEO: It is thanks to all of you, as the St Andrew’s community that we are standing here today. Your endless willingness to give has brought us to this point, and now we are honoured to be able to give a little something back.