Tom Hoar Dining Hall
The dining hall is a representation of the School’s past and present through its name, its architecture and its internal decor.
It was built in 1960 in preparation for the move to Wembley Downs from Havelock Street. For the first year, in 1962, it was used not only for dining but as a substitute chapel for the Arbor Day service and the First Confirmation, both ministered by Bishop Charles ‘Tom’ Riley.
A description of meals in the dining room pre-1975 from an unknown Old Boy:
“The Dining Room and kitchen were highly polished and every metal surface gleamed. In those years, students marched to the Dining Room in squads and moved silently to their fixed tables to await grace by the Duty Prefect. Precise, economic, unvarying portion control of measured or cut food to the students. Never a spare potato. Each table had approximately two boys from each year with a clear pecking order and the Year 12s with hearty appetites and strong arms served the food. The Year 8s (were) fortunate to have a fair share with some more benevolent despots in some cases. Same meals, same days, each week. Breakfast: two jugs of milk with Weeties, Weetbix or Cornflakes, one when porridge served in winter, one basket of toasted white bread with red jam or Vegemite, 10 squares of butter, one large aluminium teapot for the table. Knives under the teapot to warm so they could spread the butter across some of the cool toast. Some mornings fried eggs and bacon or baked beans. The kitchen staff were not allowed to give extra milk or anything but two did bravely and warily sneak some to the Oliver Twists. Rowers had (their) own table with steak, eggs, etc., unlimited for (those) who earned it. The boys cleaned and set the tables.”
In May 1998 the Dining Hall was named after past long-serving staff member, Tom Hoar in recognition of his service to the School.
Today the Tom Hoar Dining Hall is used for all boarders’ meals at weekdays and weekends and for staff lunches during the week. It plays host to many functions including the annual Havelock Lunch for members of the OHA.
Designed by award-winning architect and Old Haleian, Tony Brand AM, the architecture of the dining hall is unique. The internal roof was designed to replicate the hull of a rowing boat. If you look up to the ceiling, the wooden beams are exposed, representing the inside of a rowing eight.
According to Tony Brand, supporting the roof was a challenge. They didn’t want to use wide columns as this would detract from the floor space. Tony wanted to use jarrah in line with the old jarrah boarding house tables that had been brought from Havelock Street. At that time Bunnings had plenty of small sections of jarrah and it was suggested these were used and laminated together to create large beams, which then became the beams in the roof today.
After the end of the Second World War, Kalgoorlie-born Flying Officer Tom Hoar faced the question of what to do next in civilian life. He chose teaching, completed a Diploma of Education, and in 1948 accepted what would become both his first and final posting—joining the staff of Hale School. He moved into School House on Havelock Street as an Assistant House Master and began his long career teaching Mathematics.
Tom quickly became known for his remarkable ability to make mathematics clear and accessible. His skill in the classroom earned him a reputation as one of Western Australia’s finest maths teachers, and within five years he was appointed Master-in-Charge of the Mathematics Department. He was well loved for his patience and willingness to help students, often giving up his lunch breaks and afternoons to support anyone struggling with their work.
Beyond teaching, Tom contributed widely to school life. He served as Training Officer for the School’s Air Training Corps from 1950 to 1958 and as Officer-in-Charge from 1959 to 1962. He led Wilson House when it operated as a day house from 1954 to 1960, and when the School moved to Wembley Downs in 1961 he continued as Housemaster of the newly established Wilson boarding house. In 1966, with the opening of a new boarding house, Loton House, he became its Housemaster. The boarding community affectionately called it “Uncle Tom’s Cabin,” and even produced a quarterly magazine under the same name.
In 1971 Tom was appointed Deputy Headmaster under Headmaster Ken Tregonning. After retiring in 1985, following 37 years of service, he remained closely connected to Hale School. He worked as Secretary, Treasurer, and Committee Member of the Old Haleians’ Association until 1996, and later volunteered in the School Archives, continuing his commitment to preserving the School’s history.
Tom Hoar passed away on 30 April 2017 at the age of 92.
The long wooden benches still used today at each of the tables are from the original dining hall at School House, Havelock Street.
On the back wall is part of the shell of a Rowing 8 and an oar donated to the Archives by Old Haleians Bob Glover (1963-70), Kim Roberts (1966-69), Paul Malcolm (1968-73) and Frank Kuhn (1963-65).
On the inside east wall are hung framed AFL jerseys, each with an Indigenous design created by Year 12 students from each year from 2015.
On the west wall of the canteen is a portrait of Old Haleian, the late Syd Kirby, explorer of Australian Antarctic Territory and the mind behind the phrase, Find your frontier.
This painting is of Old Haleian, Syd Kirkby (1944-50), painted by Tom MacBeth and entered in the Archibald Prize in 2010. It was jointly purchased by Hale School and the Fine Art@Hale Committee in 2010 when Syd officially opened that year’s Fine Art@Hale exhibition, in which his portrait was exhibited.
As a child, Syd suffered from crippling polio. With sheer determination and his family’s unwavering support, he overcame the disease and was able to attend school. After leaving Hale School, he trained as a surveyor and was subsequently selected, at the age of 21, for the 1956-57 Australian National Antarctic Research Expedition. It was to be the first of three winters he would spend on the icy continent.
In his first Antarctic expedition, he became the first man to venture into the Prince Charles Mountains with sleds and a team of huskies. It was here that he performed a series of astrofixes, which charted the coordinates of the Prince Charles Mountains.* Among his many other achievements in Antarctica were the establishment of the easternmost, westernmost, and southernmost astrofixes in Australian Antarctic Territory.
Syd Kirkby was awarded a Polar Medal in 1956. In 1966 he was made a Member of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE) and in 2018, an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) for distinguished service in surveying, polar exploration, research and mapping expeditions, and to professional scientific societies.
Syd was a proud and active Old Haleian, frequently returning to his alma mater to meet with staff and inspire students. He coined the phrase “Find your frontier,” which has since become a School tagline. While the world may offer fewer physical frontiers than those Syd explored, his message to the boys was clear: step beyond your comfort zone and discover the personal frontiers that shape who you become.
When asked about what he learned at Hale, Syd replied,
What did Hale teach me? … not just Geography or English, Physics or Maths, but the deeper things about commitment and endeavour, pride, honour and service. One’s duty was to honestly and sincerely try for worthiness, to put more in than one took out. I realised, too, that, succeed or fail, there was satisfaction and pride in the endeavour, and, with pride came the inclination to try more endeavours.
And every time, there was an increasing belief in one’s ability to succeed. And this, itself, generates success.’
Syd Kirkby AO, MBE died in Nambour, Queensland on 7 July 2024 aged 91.
*The original hand drawn map is in the School Archives and is available for viewing upon request.
