128 years ago last Thursday, late in the afternoon, a distinguished group of leaders from state, church and community, including Lord Jersey, the Governor of New South Wales, gathered on the shores of Botany Bay to open The Scots College and welcome its three staff and thirty-five boys. Among the speakers was the Moderator of the Presbyterian Church in New South Wales, the Right Reverend Dr James Smith White. A leader and scholar of substance, Dr White ended his stirring address about the purpose of this new school by talking about its teachers:

‘The Principal and teachers are Australians who have won the highest honours in the University of Sydney, have had long experience in teaching Australians, and to whom teaching is a work of faith, a labour of love, and a patience of hope. May their most sanguine hopes be fulfilled in the success of The Scots College; and what greater success can be desired than that its alumni realise the aspirations of its motto: “Utinam patribus nostris digni simus”.’

Teaching and schools have changed a lot since 1893. Yet those who teach and lead the College well over a century later follow the same sense of vocation Dr White evoked of the founders. They are men and women of character who teach not just knowledge and skills, but character and values, not chiefly in what and how they teach, but in the overflow of who they are. 

The Scots College Research Office exists to inspire our staff to continue to pursue expertise in their calling of developing the brave hearts and bold minds of every Scots boy.

We began our year doing just this with our annual Staff Culture Day on Friday 22 January. Picking up our College value of ‘Leadership Through Teams in a spirit of service, compassion, humour and community’, staff engaged in a range of experiences to help them reflect on their own character and how to best develop it in the boys. 

We heard inspiring stories from those who’ve put leadership and service into action, including a grandmother who has fostered 75 children over the last 45 years, and the Captain of the Wallaroos, our own staff member Ms Grace Hamilton. We welcomed representatives from over a dozen charity partners, including Jericho Road (the Presbyterian Church’s mercy ministries), the Salvation Army, Bushcare, and more, to talk with staff about what compassion and service looks like and how they might engage their boys. And staff competed in the world-first blended XVenture Mind Games, tackling physical and online challenges across our campus. 

We will take these experiences as inspiration for our work across the year of embedding character formation further into our teaching and learning, and our culture as a staff team. Dr White would expect nothing less.

Dr Hugh Chilton
Director of Research and Professional Learning

Our critical friend, Dr Phil Cummins, shares some of the findings from a major International Boys' Schools Coalition research project on the nature of character education in schools for boys, of which Scots was a key participant.

The popular ScotsIdeas program of ‘compelling conversations in education’ is back for 2020 with more engaging, relevant and thoughtful voices to help you bring out the best in boys. On 24 February, a sold-out audience of parents and staff enjoyed a compelling conversation about the science and character of relationships in schools.

Dr Rob Loe, former teacher, senior leader and leading academic in the measurement and management of human relationships as CEO of the Relationships Foundation, spoke lucidly about why relationships matter and why we don’t understand them as well as we should. In an age obsessed with social networks, he called for schools and families to invest in ‘relational networks’. ‘Relationships are not about how well you like people, but how well you know them,’ and the foundation for flourishing individuals, communities and nations.

How can we build deeper relational networks in schools? Drawing on ground-breaking research with tens of thousands of school students, teachers and parents around the world, he showed the protective impact of good relationships, and how great schools invest seriously in creating belonging. Four key strategies for improving relationships in schools included:

1. Developing students’ awareness of unity over diversity
2. Exploit synchrony, those routines and habits that enculturate, such as uniforms, chapel and assembly
3. Create healthy competition among teams and not individuals
4. Instil in students an awe for something larger than themselves

See below for a full recording of Dr Loe's talk.