FROM THE HEADMASTER
Purpose
driven
“Disturb us, Lord, when we are too well pleased with ourselves, when our dreams have come true
because we have dreamed too little, when we arrive safely because we sailed too close to the shore.
Disturb us, Lord, to dare more boldly, to venture on wider seas, where storms will show
your mastery, where losing sight of land, we shall find the stars…
We ask you to push back the horizon of our hopes, and to push us into
the future in strength, courage, hope, and love.”
This prayer was passed on to the staff
by Ms Natalie Charles, Head of Senior School
at Carey Baptist Grammar School in Victoria,
following her inspirational visit this year as
a guest speaker. Natalie weaved into her
narrative the parallels between Guildford
Grammar School’s future direction and the
similar transition made at Carey some
40 years prior, whilst at a very different
time in history.
As would be expected, during the year I have
often been asked to state the real driving
factor behind the Council’s decision to
extend co-education into the Senior School.
My response every time has been simple
and direct – ‘Our School Purpose’, which
is ‘Inspiring students to achieve personal
excellence and be outstanding citizens who
work to create a just, loving and peaceful
society’. Every decision we make comes back
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to this statement and whether the decision
will enable this statement to be more fully
realised in the life of the School.
For the first time at our recent Preparatory
School Year 6 Graduation Dinner we
celebrated the fact that the girls were able
to continue into the Senior School with their
male classmates and to look forward to the
same range of incredible opportunities in the
years ahead.
The pace of change that is ahead of these
students may be characterized by the
acronym VUCA, which is gaining traction
in leadership and educational research
literature, referring to our Volatile, Uncertain,
Complex and Ambiguous world. We
hear of the disruption of technology, the
considerable impact of Artificial Intelligence
and the changing skillset needed to succeed
in the workplace of the future. Emotional
Every decision we make comes back
to this statement and whether the decision
will enable this statement to be more fully
realised in the life of the School.