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A Sonnet for Retired Senior Educators and Administrators

With love from
Deb Summerhayes, PSM
Deputy Secretary, Public Schools, NSW Department of Education

Upon your path, the torch has long burned bright,
A steady flame that shaped our public schools.
You taught us how to lift each child to light.
To lead with heart, with wisdom, and with rules.

Though seasons change, your legacy remains,
In every classroom’s hope, your echoes stay.
Your counsel still enriches what sustains,
Our work, our purpose, guiding us each day. 

For even now, your passion has not ceased,
You gather still in friendship, truth and grace.
Ensuring every voice is heard, increased,
By collegial ties, no time can displace.

So, thank you, leaders, mentors, exalted throng
Your steadfast commitment keeps Public Education strong.

Treasurer’s Blues
(“Ray’s Song”) Apologies Eddie Cochran

Well, I’m gonna raise a fuss, I’m gonna raise a holler
Workin’ all day just tryin’ to get a dollar
From those superannuated dudes, the IRSEA crowd
I’d like to pull a gun, but they say it’s not allowed
Sometimes I wonder what I’m a-gonna do
‘Cause there ain’t no cure for the Treasurer’s Blues

They told me when I got the job that it’s a piece of cake
Just rake the money in; how much effort can it take?
Send it through to the bank, via EFTPOS EFT
Don’t even have to leave your chair, it’s easy can’t you see?
But it didn’t quite work out that way, I’m a-tellin’ you
That there ain’t no cure for the Treasurer’s Blues .

 


The fly in the ointment was the guy who paid by cheque
I think his name was Baldwin, but who cares, what the heck
I had to walk to the bank, risking life and limb
Thinking all the time why it’s me and not him
And standing in line in a twenty-metre queue
Yeh, there ain’t no cure for the Treasurer’s Blues 

But my prayers have been answered, after years and years of fight
The last one to pay by cheque now has seen the light
And gone for the use of Internet banking
Which he fin’lly realised wasn’t just wanking
And now I know what I’m a-gonna do
For that is the end of the Treasurer’s Blues!

GB Dec 2025