In this special episode of "Dare to Be More," host Anthony Perl speaks with Jane Noake, a proud MLC School alumnae who graduated in 1974 and has maintained a deep connection with the school across three generations. Jane is a pharmacist, a Masters swimming champion, a former state and national president, and a passionate advocate for community sport — all values she traces back to her time at MLC School.

Jane's story is a beautiful example of how the values instilled at school — participation, service, and giving back — can shape an entire life. From nearly drowning at the school swimming carnival to becoming a national leader in Masters swimming, Jane's journey is both humbling and inspiring.

Featured Guest: Jane Noake, MLC Alumnae (Class of 1974), Pharmacist and Masters Swimming Leader

In This Episode, You'll Discover:

• How Jane's MLC School education shaped her values of service and community contribution
• Her unexpected journey from reluctant swimmer to national Masters swimming president
• What it means to have a three-generation connection to MLC School
• The importance of giving back to the sports and communities that enrich our lives
• How MLC School's values have been passed down through her daughter and granddaughter

Key Topics Discussed:

• The lasting impact of a girls' school education on values and character
• Masters swimming as a community and a vehicle for service
• Three generations of MLC School connection — and what that means
• Philanthropic contribution and the joy of giving back
• Seeing MLC School's values reflected in the next generation

About MLC School: MLC School is a leading independent girls' school in Sydney, committed to empowering young women through academic excellence, character development, and innovative education. Our mission is to inspire girls to dare to be more.

Connect With Us:

• Website: mlcsyd.nsw.edu.au
• Instagram: @mlcsydney
• Facebook: @MLCSchoolSydney
• LinkedIn: MLC School

Co-host: Anthony Perl

• Produced by: 'Podcasts Done for You'

Hashtags: #MLCAlumnae #DareToBeMore #WomenInSport #MastersSwimming #GivingBack #MLCSchool #GirlsEducation

What does it look like when the values you learn at school

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shape an entire lifetime of giving back?

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Today I'm joined by Jane No,

a distinguished MLC School

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alumni alumni award winner, and

a three generation MLC family.

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In this episode, we explore Jane's

remarkable journey, including

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her career as a pharmacist.

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Her rise to leadership in

Masters Swimming, her lifelong

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commitment to community service

and what it means to give back

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to the sport and school you love.

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I'm your host, Anthony Pearl.

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Let's begin today's conversation.

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Well welcome everyone, and

we welcome an alumni today.

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Jane, I would like it if you

started by introducing yourself

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to everybody listening in.

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Jane Noake: Hi, my name's Jane.

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No, I attended MLCI left in 1974,

so quite a while ago, but I've

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been very fortunate to have a lot

to do with the school since then.

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And I still have connections with

the school with a granddaughter at

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school in year eight at the moment.

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So I've been very lucky to be connected

with a school for many years, and

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I've seen it change and grow, and I

can only say good things about it.

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I definitely enjoyed my time at

MLC and I think my life has been

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enriched by my time at the school.

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Anthony Perl: I love that

it's such a special thing.

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I mean, I think, you know, we talked

a little bit before we came on air

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here about there are many people

that have a three generational

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connection with the schools, so.

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That's pretty impressive.

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And obviously the school has had

an important impact on you, your

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daughter, and now your granddaughter.

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Jane Noake: It certainly has.

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I was.

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I'm very lucky to be able to

send my daughter to school.

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And when she went to the school, there was

still some teachers that were there when I

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was at school, so that was, that was fun.

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But then my daughter, when she

married, moved to Canberra, so my

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granddaughter started in Canberra and

I thought that she was never gonna be

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able to go to MLC, but circumstances

changed and she came back to Sydney.

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We put her into MLC straight away, and

she has loved it as much as my daughter

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loved it, as much as I loved it.

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We've all got and are getting so

much out of the school, but it

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has changed a lot in those years.

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Anthony Perl: I was gonna say, what's

the difference when you walk in through

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the school these days through the gates?

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Does it in any way feel the same?

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Jane Noake: Every time I walk in through

the gates, I stand in the middle of the

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area that I'm in and I try and picture

what it was like when I was there.

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It is very difficult to do

because it has changed so much.

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There's a few little spots which

are the same or similar, but I can

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honestly say I've stood in the middle

of the quad angle at times and I

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cannot picture how it was in 1974.

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Anthony Perl: Then I guess there's

the physicality of it in terms of

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looking at it, but then there's

the sentiment, the way the school

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is, the values that it upholds.

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Do you get that feeling that

there's still a comparison?

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Jane Noake: Oh, absolutely.

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Absolutely.

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Probably more so now, probably

appreciate it more than I

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did when I was a school girl.

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Not that I didn't appreciate

it when I was at school.

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I think I probably appreciate it more

because of what it's done for me, for

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what it's done for my daughter and what

it's now doing for my granddaughter.

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Anthony Perl: Tell me a little bit

about what it's done for you, because

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you are here and talking to us

because you've won an award from the

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school and recognition of sporting

achievement and philanthropic endeavors.

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Tell me a little bit about that journey.

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Jane Noake: When I was at school,

I participated in everything I

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could and particularly sport.

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I did every sport that I possibly

could, but I was not good at any sport.

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But I did everything because I enjoyed it.

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When I left school, I had my daughter

pretty quickly and went to university

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and spent a bit of time away from sport.

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And when my daughter was getting towards

the end of school, my brother noted

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that, you know, what are you gonna do

when your daughter finishes school?

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And I thought about it for a while and I

thought, okay, I should go back to sport.

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So I actually worked in Auburn and

a teach of who taught me swimming

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at school, also worked in Auburn.

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And we connected and she suggested

that I came down to the pool.

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Joined the swimming club, joined

the Master swimming Club, which I

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did hesitant, very hesitant to do so

and could just about swim 25 meters.

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But I went back the next week and the

next week and the next week and I got

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really involved with, with swimming and

I guess, you know, getting a little bit

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fit again, but, but more so the fact that

other people were doing the same thing.

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I mean, masters is anybody over 18, but.

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Lots of people are much,

much older than that.

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Well obviously 'cause I'm a lot older

these days, but it was the community,

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the community of master swimmers

that, that I was so excited about

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and doing it for a couple of years.

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I realized that there was a need and

there was a need for people to be more

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involved and, and to become officials

because obviously we're swimming.

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You need officials and.

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Not everybody wanted to do that, and I

could see that need as I've always done.

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And I became an official and one

thing led to another and I kept

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going on and on, you know, to the

highest official that you could.

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And then I saw other needs running

programs, which I was lucky enough to do.

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And then joining the New South Wales

committee and doing lots of things

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for New South Wales as a state.

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And I was president for quite a

number of years and then I stepped

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down and then unfortunately the

president died and I stepped up again.

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And then when I'd had enough of

that, then I went on to to see a

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need in the Australian Masters.

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So basically anything that I've

done has just been because I've

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seen a need and I've wanted to help.

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And that's what it's all about

really, is just stepping in

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there and helping people and.

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Making it so everybody can enjoy

the sport and have a good time.

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And that's what I get out of the

sport is not so much my own swimming,

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but it's seeing people enjoy what

they set out to do and getting a

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lot out of the sport themselves.

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Anthony Perl: I think that's so

fascinating because it sort of embodies

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what you were saying about the values

of the school from the beginning,

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that it's kind of embedded itself and

you've had this journey where you,

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sport was something of enjoyment but

wasn't necessarily your, um, you know,

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you were gonna be the world champion.

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At any particular sport, but it still has

had an impact and the school had an impact

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then and you going, making that choice

later on as well as obviously the family

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connection that's continued along the way.

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It's such a strong series

of interconnected events.

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Jane Noake: Yes, it is.

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It's very interconnected.

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And my daughter was good at

sport and I always supported

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her and now my granddaughter's

probably the best at sport.

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I spend many hours in the swimming

pool and on the netball course watching

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her and supporting MLC all over again.

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Anthony Perl: I have to ask this

question 'cause I know you said

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you weren't great at it, but do you

remember jumping in the pool for a

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swimming carnival back when you were at

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Jane Noake: school at MLC?

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I certainly do.

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I certainly do.

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Yes.

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We didn't have the beautiful

pool they've got now.

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We had an outdoor pool, which

was only ever used in summer.

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Um, went green in winter.

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I certainly remember jumping in

the pool and swimming 25 meters

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and nearly dying at the end.

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I remember all of the swimming

carns because all of the, all of

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the school managed to get around

the pool and they were very crowded

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in, but it was an exciting time.

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Just as swimming carnivals

are exciting now, except that

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there's a lot more people.

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But yes, I certainly remember my

time at MLC and jumping in and nearly

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drowning and assuming you can book.

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Yeah.

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Anthony Perl: Oh, who

hasn't been through that.

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I guess the question as well is, you

know, if you're casting your mind

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back to those days, did you have a

vision for what you were going to be?

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Um, you know, post school and where you

thought that was gonna take you and could

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you possibly have imagined this kind of

circular journey that you've been on?

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Jane Noake: No, not really because I

came from a family where my parents were

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quite insistent that I went to university

and I got a career, which I did.

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I'm a pharmacist by career

and I loved that as well.

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I was lucky enough to work in retail

pharmacy for 25 years, and now I

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work in manufacturing pharmacy.

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So I, I love that Jew and I, I

love my work, but swimming is

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the sport that I chose to do.

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I did play squash and tennis as

well, but the swimming was just

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sport I chose to do, and everything

else I did after that just came out

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of getting into the swimming pool.

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So, yeah, it's been a big journey

and I've enjoyed every minute of it.

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Anthony Perl: And what's it

like for your granddaughter now?

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Do you see her embodying the

same values as it, you know,

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invoke those memories for you?

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As to what you were just describing

it was like for you in those days?

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Are you seeing that coming

to fruition with her as well?

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Jane Noake: Yes.

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That's an interesting question

because when she first started, I

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certainly didn't, but in the last

few years, the last couple of years,

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I've noticed exactly the same thing.

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Yeah, she's very much into

sport, but she's also into.

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Not just her own sport,

but being part of a team.

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And she's also, even though she's quite

young, she's now umpiring, netball.

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So yeah, she's putting back into the

sport that what she's taking out,

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even though she's still very young.

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We didn't get those opportunities

when we were at school.

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We didn't get the chance to umpire.

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We could play, but yeah, we

weren't able to put back.

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I'm very pleased to say that even

though she's really fantastic at

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sport, she's also giving back to

the sport that she really loves.

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Anthony Perl: Yeah, and that idea

of giving back, I mean, that's such

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an important obviously idea for

you personally as well, because.

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As you've talked about giving back

and you know, part of the award is

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for Phil philanthropic endeavors.

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That's not something that comes to people

all that easily to be able to do that.

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And, and it's a wonderful thing

to be able to give your, give your

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granddaughter that idea as well.

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Jane Noake: Yes, it's, it's funny

because when my daughter was

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growing up, my daughter said,

I'm never gonna be like you mom.

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I'm never gonna be like you.

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And my daughter has turned out exactly

the same as me, loves her work, but also

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gets very involved in anything that.

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Olivia, my granddaughter

does, and she's now actually

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coaching a netball team at MLC.

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So she's doing exactly the same

thing, giving back to MLC sport,

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similar to what I'm doing.

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So yes, I guess it's going through

the family, but I, I think it

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comes, comes from my parents.

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I mean, my parents basically

did the same sort of thing.

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May not have been in sport,

but they were givers.

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Anthony Perl: Just to wrap

things up, I wanna ask you.

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The name of the podcast, which is Dear

to the School, is Dare to Be More.

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What does that mean to you and what

do you think it's meant to you over

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your, you know, over your journey?

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Jane Noake: Well, it's interesting 'cause

somebody said to me the other day was

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that the motto of the school when I was,

when we were there, and it wasn't, I'm

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not quite sure when that came about, but

it's been there for a long, long time.

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But it certainly wasn't the

motto when we was there.

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What does it mean to me?

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It means give it everything.

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You've got the opportunity.

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Give it all you've got, and MLC is giving

us the chance to give of ourselves and

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give everything that we've got to life.

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Anthony Perl: I love that.

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What a terrific way to end it.

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Thank you so much for

joining me on the podcast.

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Jane Noake: Thank you

very much for having me.

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Anthony Perl: Thank you for

joining us on Dare To Be More.

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If you enjoyed this episode, please

subscribe wherever you get your

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Your likes and comments also

help more families discover

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these valuable conversations.

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For more information about MLC School

and their approach to girls education,

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visit their website, MLC c.nsw.edu.au.

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Check out the show notes

for more information.

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The Dare To Be More Podcast is

produced by podcast Done for You.

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I'm your host, Anthony Pearl,

and we invite you to join us next

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time as we continue to explore

what it means to dare to be more.