FOREWORD

As we approach the end of another school year, it is easy to share the narrative that education is exhausting; and in truth it is. In our commitment to giving our students the best of opportunities, we cram so much that is good into short terms that sometimes we leave too little time to take care of ourselves. Education is a giving profession. We do it because it fulfils us to see our students grow, and no-one dedicated ever wants to put limits on that; so we give more and, if we are not careful, the wells of our giving, by the end of the year, begin to dry. The stories of our profession become parched and dusty. We long for input to refuel our capacity for output.

Holidays help, of course, but our thirst is not just for rest; it is for fresh ideas, for new clarity of purpose, and for the energy of optimism that realigns us with the young. How wonderful then that this edition of CGS Aspire should come like drenching rain into the pause between school years; an opportunity to read over the summer story after story of what a privilege it is to be an educator; a loud expression of the joy that it is to work with the young and with ideas, and with colleagues who are dedicated and curious.

This volume articulates the profound fulfilment that comes of seeing the impact of your efforts on hundreds of individual minds and lives, and on the horizons of opportunity for successive generations. It is a generous sharing of insights and experience; a humble offering of thoughts explored, ideas researched and experiments tried. It is an assertion that teaching and learning are intrinsically entwined, each recharging the power of the other. Likewise, it is an instance that all who work in schools – teachers and otherwise – are together shaping a culture that is premised on the perpetual quest for excellence in what we do and distinction in what we give in service to the young.

This fourth edition of the professional journal of Canberra Grammar School is our largest yet, by far. What began as an aspiration in itself a few years ago, in the thick of the pandemic, is now a substantial annual publication and a central vehicle of our conversation as a school that demonstrates the extraordinary diversity and sincerity of our endeavours and our dedication.

In these pages, colleagues explore the many facets of our continuously evolving academic and pastoral programmes, from our new IB MYP to the Wellbeing Project. Others illuminate different aspects of our commitment to holistic education: mathematics and the arts, technology and justice, writing and reading. Some examine leadership and professional coaching, or global and Indigenous education. Several present a timely focus on the education of masculinity, while others offer a pertinent expression of education as a source of hope in uncertain times.

What unites them all is a refusal simply to tell the end of year tale of weariness, but instead to seize a challenge: to prove ourselves as educators to be energised by the dynamism and the yet-unanswered questions of our field; to insist that, despite what makes our business hard, what we do is worth it; and that we are not only the masters of our profession but the narrators of its greater stories.

For all of that and more, I thank everyone who has contributed to this edition of CGS Aspire and to the vibrant community of learning from which it comes. I hope you take great pride in everything it represents.

Sincerely,

Dr Justin Garrick Head of School