Rod Farraway, Chaplain
This week I reflect on the life of Angus McNiven (OC 2015) who sadly lost his life in a car accident last week. Many in the school will be familiar with Angus without knowing it, because he is one of those smiling 1st XV rugby premiership faces we walk past regularly on our way into or out of tahe Aquatics and Fitness Centre. Others of us are more closely connected to Angus from teaching him in his time here in the Junior and Senior Schools, as well as the years he spent being mentored in Strickland House. Two of our current Senior School teachers were in Angus’ year (Mr Fryer and Mr Clifton-Bligh). And of course, there are his three cousins presently in our school, to whom we extend our heartfelt condolences along with all of Angus’ family.
To say Angus was a handful in his early years he would concede is a generous euphemism. Ms Marquet will remember him from his time in the Junior School, Mr Davis from his first years in Strickland. Angus struggled to channel his focus and his energies in the classroom. But like many before and after, he was mentored with patience and perseverance both in his House and the indefatigable care of our Learning Support team lead by Ms Bain.
Where Angus did learn to channel his energy best, was in sport. Whether it was summers with Mr Carroll and the rowing programme or on the rugby field in winter, from Mr Messiter’s 13As through the three seasons I spent with him in the 16As and his two years in the 1st XV. For Angus, it was sport that taught him that valuable lesson; reward for effort. Learning that his efforts were appreciated gave him a sense of identity and confidence that spilled over into other areas of his time at school. In time he transformed (slowly!) from being a concern, to being a contributor.
He and his rugby teammates won the 16s premiership in Year 10, he played in the premiership team in 2014 and in 2015 was appointed the vice-captain of the 1st XV and captained the team away against Knox that year (pictured). To have predicted in Year 7 that he would be given the opportunity to represent the ethos of the school in leading his teammates at the highest level, would have taken a time machine!
This is part of what it means to celebrate the individual at Cranbrook. To help you find your lane, the one that will help you to flourish and for your flourishing to overflow into other aspects of your life and then into the lives of others. For some this will be through sport, for most it will be somewhere else. It could be with an instrument or behind a camera, on a stage or in service, through debating or coding. The classroom could be your dojo as you learn to martial the art of essay writing or wrestle functions to the floor. I encourage you, like Angus, to find your passion, apply your effort and enjoy your reward.
Angus also showed great capacity for looking after others (not just in cover defence). Max Milsom, a disability student, was a regular companion under Angus’ care. When Ms Sanders had a Year 7 boy in Cutler who was struggling to find his way fitting into the classroom, it was to Angus that she turned to dispense his unique wisdom. Time would prove that this conversation would be one 1st XV captain speaking to another (Jack Ryan, OC 2020), six years apart.
After graduating, the boy who used to struggle to fill in his diary went on to become a man who went through the rigors of earning his helicopter license. A journey made possible by time in a school community of patience, perseverance and accountability. Proof that Cranbrook is for anyone, as long as they are prepared to lock in and go on the journey with us.
In speaking with his classmates and teammates over the last week, one word that has kept being invoked was Angus’ loyalty. He would do anything for his friends and was a man of words in action. If asked, he would run through a wall for them. Which is fortunate, because on the rugby field, playing #12, that’s often what we asked him to do. He never counted the cost of looking after others, so those who knew him were always the net beneficiaries of his friendship.
In thinking of a passage of the Bible to help reflect Angus’ life, I kept being drawn to 1 John 3:16-18:
16 This is how we know what love is: Jesus Christ laid down his life for us. And we ought to lay down our lives for our brothers and sisters.
17 If anyone has material possessions and sees a brother or sister in need but has no pity on them, how can the love of God be in that person?
18 Dear children, let us not love with words or speech but with actions and in truth.
Angus was a man of love in action, whose journey was shaped by the care of those around him for his individuality, who learned to live sacrificially through the responsibility entrusted to him of representing more than himself. That is a lesson he learnt here at Cranbrook. We can all do the same. Let Angus the student, be our teacher in the end.
Amen.
Rev Rod Farraway
Cranbrook School Chaplain