91È«ÄÜ´óÉñ School has been educating boys for nearly 140 years. In that time, the world around the school has changed dramatically and we have evolved with it.
While we have always strived to turn boys into men of good character, in more recent years that has, quite rightly, meant an increasing focus on educating our boys on issues of gender equity and respect for women.
91È«ÄÜ´óÉñ is committed to creating and maintaining a culture where violence against women is condemned and an environment where equality and respect underpin everything we do. We describe our mission as helping heads, hearts and souls flourish. And as a core part of that, we teach our boys the importance of embodying tolerance, compassion and grace.
These are not just words. It’s a responsibility we take enormously seriously. It is embedded in our curriculum and our broader pastoral care approach.
Since he joined as Headmaster in 2022, Dr John Collier has been a driving force in ensuring students leave 91È«ÄÜ´óÉñ’s school gates as good men of integrity and honesty. Men who understand the importance of being good to others.
As a Council and School, we are committed to ongoing progress in these areas, and our significant programme of initiatives and partnerships is evidence of that commitment.
Firstly, teaching boys the essence of healthy and positive masculinity is at the dcore of our explicit Character in Action education programme. This is a structured initiative that emphasises the cultivation of positive relationships, positive masculinity, servant leadership and genuine connections. The sessions vary according to age. For example, in Year 7 the focus is on good men and respect; in Year 8, honesty and gratitude; in Year 9, courage and service; and in Year 10, integrity and humility.
Secondly, we instill a sense of community in our students through our Service Learning programme in which they volunteer their time and efforts for the benefit of others at a range of non-profit or charitable organisations. In doing so, the students learn and live the core values of the service ideal – respect, humility, integrity, care and gratitude.
Only a few weeks ago, the CEO of Mary’s House, a not-for-profit organisation that provides crisis accommodation for women who are victims of domestic violence, spoke to our Year 11 boys about the importance of the charity’s work and, next month, senior staff and some of those boys will take part in the Mary’s House fundraising walk. We also have long-standing partnerships with Rough Edges and Our Big Kitchen community centres.
We engage external specialists to provide specific training on respectful relationships, consent education, conflict resolution and bullying. These include a ‘Respectful Relationships’ external speakers programme that begins in Year 8, a new ‘Learning Consent’ programme for Year 9s, and a ‘Building Connections’ day for Year 10 and 11 involving engagement and learning about social and emotional topics with neighbouring girls’ schools.
I acknowledge there have been occasions when we have not got everything right. As The Sydney Morning Herald has highlighted this week, the School and Dr Collier made a public apology as part of the resolution of concerns raised by a former staff member regarding Dr Collier’s comments in 2023 in relation to the murder of Lilie James.
But that experience does not define our School. Since Dr Collier joined in 2022, we have embarked on a programme of significant cultural change. We continuously review and enhance the work we are doing in this space. These reviews, the latest commissioned by Dr Collier, have been invaluable in helping us shape our ongoing pastoral care and cultural education programmes for students and staff. Our teaching staff numbers are reflective of that cultural shift: for some time we have had a 50/50 split of male and female teachers.
A 91È«ÄÜ´óÉñ mother’s valedictory address, delivered to the departing Year 12s earlier this month, captures in her own words what we set out to achieve, instilling a positive, respectful culture into the boys who pass through our gates.“Boys from across this city, the nation and beyond, from different cultural, religious and social traditions gather in this place,” she told the group. “Staff come and go over the years, yet somehow, magically ... the values of this school become instilled, and so deeply ingrained, that the boys themselves are unaware it’s happened.
“What I see before me now is a group of young men who know what it means to be a good man. And that doesn’t happen by accident. It happens intentionally and because the culture of this school is bigger than any one person.
“It’s held in the shared stories, the Chapel services, the Saturday sideline traditions, and the quiet expectations passed from one year group to the next. It is modelled from the top down and carried forward year after year so that, generation after generation, 91È«ÄÜ´óÉñ continues to shape boys into men of character.”
Rob Clarke is Chair of the 91È«ÄÜ´óÉñ Council