Published on: 29 February 2024





This week, the whole school came together for an assembly to celebrate Christ Church Grammar School’s 114th birthday. Honouring our school’s rich history is an important part of every student and staff member’s journey, and by reflecting on this each year, we aim to inspire pride and foster a sense of belonging among our school community. As part of the event, we also recognise service to the School, and this morning we acknowledged staff who have been part of the community for 15, 20 and 25 years.

The School was fortunate to have Old Boy and Perth Scorchers Captain, Mr Ashton Turner (’10), as the guest speaker for the occasion. Ashton’s sporting talent was evident in his early years, and during his time at Christ Church, he achieved Honours in Athletics, Football and Cricket, and was awarded the 2010 Beatty Cup for Best All Round Sportsman in the School. He represented WA in the U15, U17 , and U19 levels as well as Australia in U19 level. Ashton went on to make his WA debut 2012/13, Australian 20-20 debut in 2017 vs Sri Lanka, Australian ODI debut in 2019 and has played cricket around the world including in Sussex, Lancashire, and Durham in England, and for the Rajasthan Royals in the Indian IPL. As captain of the Perth Scorchers since 2020, Ashton’s leadership, notably in the team’s 2022/23 victory, and the positive culture and values of the team under his captaincy, has earned him widespread admiration, setting the benchmark for Australian cricket.

Ashton spoke about how where he got to in his career has been a result of multiple failures, and how life will always offer us opportunities to embrace failure. He shared with the students his fear of failure during his school years, and added that while that is a normal feeling that they too may be experiencing, encouraged them to face failure, as it is these experiences that encourage learning. Ashton also spoke to his efforts in living the School’s values every day, particularly being compassionate and caring towards his teammates and friends to support their failures. His key message to the students was to similarly support their peers when they fail, and in doing so, they will know that those same peers will support them in return.