SO WHAT HAS CHANGED, AND WHAT HAS REMAINED THE SAME?

Some changes are easy to spot for anyone who has been away for any length of time. Singapore does not stand still, and the reduction of Dover Campus leased land over the decades (from 40ha to 20ha to 11ha) has mirrored the increased intensity of land use nationally (as the Dover Campus lease ends in 2030, there will no doubt be some further changes ahead—though we do not yet know what they are). East Campus has, at the same time, grown from the newly constructed start-up feel to the firmly established, green and highly successful enterprise. Our Learning Programme has been formalised in the 5 Elements structure that today’s students know and (err...) love; technology is now part of school infrastructure, not a shiny new toy; the presence of four year olds on both campuses is also a huge change—and the family feel is a huge bonus for us. The father of one of the St John’s Club shot a crocodile that had been attacking people near campus; happily, this too has changed and doesn’t happen anymore!

So much has changed. But look under the surface and much has also endured, as it does with any strong institution. And that’s not because we have strict and detailed standard operating procedures (which we do, by the way). If that were the case then we would only need only to get the right procedures or manuals to build great institutions—but it’s not so simple. Singapore politician George Yeo put it this way; institutions are not built topdown but bottom up. They are animated not by instructions but instincts; human instincts. These instincts are shaped by culture. We must first know what we are, what we have inherited from our history.

So it’s worth affirming what we know we have inherited from older days. Most of all, we have a long tradition of attracting families and individuals with the instincts we need to enact our Mission—this is expressed most clearly in our values, and informs what we do every day. This may be, for example, connecting with others; sticking with things in a difficult time; standing up for the right thing; genuinely engaging with other perspectives or following through on commitments. If you are reading this as an alum, I sincerely hope you saw and experienced those instincts in your time here, that this helped you develop the instincts yourself, and that you are paying it forward in whatever way you can. An extremely powerful instinct is also the ‘tendency towards action’—whether it’s starting a local service, connecting with an NGO abroad, leading a sports team, directing a theatre show, challenging a wrong—and being, what we have been called—’a place where things happen’.

These are lofty and perhaps abstract institutional things. But one alumna said to me the other day that though she has been away for decades, and it all looks so different, it all also feels exactly the same. So what, exactly, on a dayto-day basis has endured?

For our students; the thrill of having one’s mind stretched, the queue for the naan-counter, the excitement over project week, the exuberance in sports, theatre, dance, debate and so on, the laughter among friends, the support through difficulty, the sharing of cultures and perspectives, the teenage romances: these have endured.

For our teachers and support staff; the chance to work with superb colleagues on personally and professionally enriching projects; to stay young (our student body never ages!), to serve our community and to shape young minds: these have endured.

As a proud member of the United World College movement, what endures most of all is being part of something that is bigger than us as individuals, bigger than us as an institution, bigger even than education: the chance to make a contribution in our small way to a more peaceful and more sustainable future for our children, and our childrens’ children. This endures.