Staff 1987–2017

Peter has acquired legendary status at Carey over his 30 years of loyal and unique service. Whilst he now hands over the mantle of our oldest employee, he has been one of the youngest at heart, connecting passionately with both students and staff of all ages and interests.

Appointed by Geoff Thomas in 1987 to an unexpected career change from Cold War warrior, ‘Schills’, as he is affectionately known, reinvented himself successfully into his dual role of School Officer and footy coach, which he has continued happily throughout his illustrious career at Carey, and been duly honoured by the football community and the Old Carey Grammarians Football Club.

In terms of his impact on football at Carey, if sheer passionate dedication can turn around a struggling football tradition, then Peter gave his all when he took on the unenviable position of First XVIII coach for the 1989 season. Using an eclectic method of volcanic hot gospel and fatherly rapport with players, Peter imposed himself as a true believer that Carey would challenge their nemesis Xavier for the APS Premiership. On game day, cool rationality and responsible adult behaviour at times seldom prevailed when Schills commanded his charges from the sidelines.

Fellow coaches learnt not to stand near him during a game because for ‘Schiller – unplugged’, football was far more important than life and death each contest an apocalyptic battle; a catharsis of the sound and fury within this otherwise loveable family man, and prince of pastoral care. Peter not only coached boys to play footy, he acted out a tragi-comedy on the boundary line for the world to watch. This public theatre became so famous that during a knife-edge match at Melbourne Grammar, where Peter appeared to play mad King Lear under the oak trees, a Texan parent was so impressed he filmed the ‘Schiller Show’ for his friends and relatives back home in Dallas.

Nevertheless, Peter drove relentless improvement in his team, and his players loved the passion and camaraderie. Over six illustrious seasons as First XVIII coach, achieving a second to both Wesley (1991) and Xavier (1994), water bottles and clipboards were observed to shower like Mount Vesuvius ash on imperfect players, shocked parents, harassed colleagues, and other innocent bystanders. When we discussed these somewhat outrageous antics with Peter on the following Mondays in the Common Room, he merely smiled and replied with amnesia induced innocence, ‘Did I SAY and DO that?’ But Schills enjoyed an amazing diplomatic immunity for over a quarter of a century because people genuinely liked him – he is a good person, and his spirit and language were never bland nor boring, and visitors to his office in Student Services cannot miss a photo gallery of happy faces and trophies surrounding him on the walls.

Furthermore, like the good teachers, Peter has been a performer of conviction, leaving a lasting impression. One parent put it perfectly: ‘The kids get Schiller’. Students truly regard him with respect and love him. The thin red line of compassion runs through his veins, pumped by the heart worn on his sleeve. As School Officer, he has listened respectfully to the guilty secrets and awkward sorrows of scores of students. They usually confessed to him because they trusted their disclosure would be safe. The ‘Good Shepherd’ is an old story, today it is called Pastoral Leadership, and for 30 years Peter has been out there in the Quad, by Sandell Oval, on MacAfee Courts, tending his flock. He knows them, and they know him. His soft spot was for the larrikins, and those who felt not always comfortable in their own skin. With his friendly and skilful conversation, he counteracted the strangeness and timidity that some students can feel inside a big school.

As a respected colleague and friend to many, Peter is an intelligent, humorous and spontaneous companion. His close friends on staff greatly enjoy the meandering conversations and his appreciation of the ridiculous.

Thus the invisible thread that guided Peter from the international spy school to School Officer has now found its end, and he has completed important work with young people. We thank Peter for his rich contribution and achievements in pastoral care, law and order, football coaching, and friendship at Carey. On behalf of our community, it can be truly stated that the spy who loved Carey has been a fine colleague and friend to the parents and students of this school for 30 years, and has left an indelible mark.

Written by Adrian Collins & Brendon O’Brien and published in the Chronicle (2017).