Welcome – From Tony George, Headmaster

Welcome

From Tony George, Headmaster

The Need for Clarity in a VUCA World. This year has certainly highlighted the challenges of a VUCA world: volatile, uncertain, complex and ambiguous. The impact of COVID-19 on the world, our country and our School has been quite unprecedented. We are used to predictability and certainty. We plan our day, our week, our term, our year, and all with the expectation that all will generally go to plan. But that didn’t happen in 2020.

There has been a steady increase over recent decades in our efforts to manage uncertainty. We do this by setting goals, planning, implementation and measurement of outcomes. We encourage this in our staff and our boys. Without planning and budgeting we would tend more towards a state of chaos. However, while planning is good and proper, from the outset of 2020, our best made plans were challenged and thwarted on a regular basis.

The events of 2020, which included bushfires and drought and death and a pandemic, are a salutary reminder that as much as we desire to be in absolute control, we’re not. Rather, we need wisdom and discernment that are informed by our values. Wisdom and discernment are different kinds of qualities to that of knowledge and skills. Most of our time at The King’s School is dedicated to the development of knowledge and skills in our students. Afterall, this is the core business of education.

However, we need more than knowledge and skills. For while knowledge and skills tend to rely on certainty, in a VUCA world we need more clarity. Clarity depends first and foremost on what we believe to be important and significant, and that requires wisdom and discernment that is informed by our values. The King’s School values begin with Humility and end with Excellence.

“Compassion is being able to live our lives for the sake of others, to care deeply and genuinely for others. To show empathy, to sit alongside and with others, is a uniquely human quality and essential for maturity”

Humility is the starting point for our School’s values, for it is only when we see ourselves as God and others see us that we are able to have a right and honest perspective of reality. Humility allows us to reach out to others in relationship to help and be helped. Humility recognises our interdependence with one another and protects against hubris and arrogance. Humility is essential for us to be honest with ourselves and with each other.

Honesty is critical for healthy relationships. We need to be honest with ourselves and each other. Honesty is not only about speaking the truth, but about being true to one another. Honesty depends on humility in order to drive out hubris. Being vulnerable and transparent with each other enables the building of trust and respect.

Respect is about recognising the value and significance of each other. Respect is much more than tolerance, as it actively seeks to affirm and embrace each other. Mutual respect is essential for relationship and depends on honesty and humility. It is when we believe our own publicity that honesty and humility are compromised and respect falters.

Responsibility is following through on what we say and what we do for the good of others. It is not only about taking responsibility for ourselves, but for each other also. Humility, honesty and respect are all important if we are to exercise genuine responsibility for ourselves, and each other. Integrity is all about working well together in relationship with one another. When we actively step into situations of responsibility alongside each other, we exhibit integrity. Our respect for one another, that arises from humility and honesty, enables us to live and work together with integrity.

Compassion is being able to live our lives for the sake of others, to care deeply and genuinely for others. To show empathy, to sit alongside and with others, is a uniquely human quality and essential for maturity. Compassion is the hallmark of a King’s education that is for the benefit of society, and not just those upon whom it is bestowed.

Excellence is the standard to which we all aspire to live our lives. We aim to be excellent for the sake of others and not just ourselves. When all the other values come together as virtues in the lives of our community, we see and experience excellence.

The King’s School values are evidenced in all that we say and do, whether in the classroom, on the sporting field, on cadet camp, or during this year of COVID-19. At the heart of every value is the importance of relationship. COVID-19 has reminded us of the essential nature of relationship to human flourishing, and it is our values that give expression to how we build and sustain healthy relationships. Consequently, in times of uncertainty, we need to keep our focus on our relationships with one another and the values that guide and strengthen them. This helps us provide the clarity of wisdom and discernment when we may be surrounded by chaos. Allow me to give a sporting example as I finish.

Great teams are more than a team of great players. Instead, a great team (excellence) is characterised by players who have a right view of themselves and each other (humility), who are honest about their own abilities and skills and those of their team mates (honesty), who respect one another and recognise the need to rely on each other and play together (respect), who are able to take a collective responsibility to play as a team and not just as individuals (responsibility), who play as one team where all the different parts work together (integrity), and whether they win or lose they do so graciously (compassion).

Very few games go according to plan, and 2020 didn’t go to plan either, but keeping true to our values and working together as a team has enabled the School to flourish. Well done to all our students, staff and families for an excellent year. Let us keep looking after one another and seek to live lives of excellence for the sake of others.