NEWS & EVENTS Executive Principal Garth Wynne
Garth Wynne has spent six busy months at College. He gives his views about the need for College to provide boys with programmes and skills they need for life in an increasingly globalised world, while making sure they understand and grow to demonstrate the school’s core Christian values.
thinking about current issues which may affect them, both now and in the future.’’ Another important part of providing a quality College education is to ensure that what is provided is relevant, says Garth. “We are currently reviewing our curriculum, asking whether our lessons in and out of the classroom are fit for purpose for a man of the future. How do we develop skills for life – such as creativity, critical thinking, communication and collaboration? “We need to make sure we build the right foundations, dispositions and capacities. “Our boys are part of the privileged few who have been given the most incredible opportunities and we want them to give back. The College experience is all about continuous improvement through contemporary, relevant education, while helping our boys become good men, fathers, husbands and partners who are strongly involved in the community of which they are a part.’’
Garth Wynne has spent time engaging with the school community to find out what drives it and to ensure College continues to be an exemplar of excellence, leading learning into the future. “Since being at College, I have been incredibly impressed with the respectful and positive atmosphere of the school,’’ he says. “I’m in awe of the connectedness boys feel with College and am intending to encourage and maintain the engagement and love for Christ’s College that I see around me. “I am impressed with the capacity of the wider community of parents and Old Boys who support our current boys. We also have a group of exceptional teachers – a great combination. “There is no doubt there are challenges ahead. One is around the nature of our physical facilities, some of which will need to change. We also need to address the enduring nature of what makes for a meaningful and relevant education for today’s boy. Our pedagogy needs to meet the boy where he is in preparation for his future. “I have been suggesting that College is a place where innovation and excellence are wrapped in tradition,’’ he says. “An overwhelming sense
of the school’s tradition is visible when you walk into the Quad. It is an essential part of the College experience. As custodians of that heritage, we have to make sure it is maintained and fits comfortably alongside a forward-thinking and innovative educational experience for the boys. “We need a continually reflective approach that demands an understanding of what excellence is. This is a much used word that is not always well understood. In our context it means ‘Each boy at his best’. This means each boy gaining an understanding of his own “personal excellence’’. It is the school’s responsibility to guide the boys to this goal.’’ One of the strengths of College is its size and its potential for personalisation of a boy’s programme, as well as the emphasis on pastoral care to help boys be all that they can, says Garth. “The College experience must also be one where boys learn to give to others. This is part of boys being at their best, as no-one is truly complete if they are thinking only of themselves. We need to be explicit about this in our programmes. It has given rise to the new Centre of Ethics and Spirituality to engage boys and the wider community in
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Christ’s College Canterbury
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