Grammar School A culture of caring

History and facts about ing is currently only available for boys, school but there are plans to extend this of- fering to girls. Rooted in ’s capital city, Can- berra Grammar School (CGS) was es- CGS has always been a proud board- tablished in 1928 after existing as var- ing school, acknowledging the respon- ious different schools since way back sibility and commitment it takes to in 1902. Boarding was available at the nurture students who are entrusted to independent Anglican school since the its care. With a vibrant community of 1930s, although while girls were ac- students from Canberra, New South cepted into the school in 1975s, board- Wales an overseas, boarding is central

PB Business View Oceania - October/November 2017 AT A GLANCE WHO: Canberra Grammar School WHAT: An independent, day and for boys and girls, located in Red Hill, a suburb of Canberra, the capital of Australia. WHERE: 40 Monaro Cres, Red Hill ACT 2603, Australia WEBSITE: cgs.act.edu.au

boarders change as folk from different part of the country, and indeed, differ- ent parts of the world make their way to CGS. This has contributed hugely to the diverse, nurturing environment the school has cultivated. It has boarders from Southeast Asia, the Middle East, rural and coastal Australia and many more. Some students only live within Canberra Grammar School one to two hours’ drive from Canberra, but are just that little bit further out to commute every day, and so take ad- A culture of caring vantage of the CGS boarding facilities.

“We’ve also noticed a growth in the to the CGS community. The school cur- last three years of student coming in rently offers boarding care to around from Sydney. At the end of last year 90 students, and we spoke with Ga- we peaked, we had 10 students from reth Downey, Head of Boarding, about Sydney,” Downey tells us. This is par- boarding at the school, where it’s head- ticularly interesting because these stu- ing, and his time there. dents are leaving a large city, with a large number of highly regarded and A life of variety prestigious schools, in favour of CGS.

Even in the three years he’d been “I think a lot of that is about the fact there, Downey has seen the variety of that we’re not in Sydney, if that makes

PB sense, trying to remove students from range of year groups that girls could that sort of environment,” he adds. join in the junior school, and this year [2017] we’ve had girls joining us in Similarly, the school’s boarding has year seven and year 11, so we’ve be- attracted students from the southern gun the transition into coeducation. isles, students who have traditionally We don’t have the boarding facilities gone north to Sydney for school. The yet and we’re still in the planning stag- school is even home to military kids es, but we intend to have girls board- from within Canberra, but whose fami- ing as well.” ly may be posted far away. Going viral “Many go on postings in three year cycles, and they want their children to Boarding is currently at its full ca- stay in Canberra, and finish their edu- pacity, and Downey attributes inter- cation at a quality school.” est in the School’s boarding facilities to a number of factors; “The school, a To take that diversity a step further, number of years ago did not have the Downey did confirm that the school same strength when it came to board- becoming fully coeducational was a ing numbers. In the last three to four big strategic plan for the school. years we’ve really increased that, now we have a waiting list for boarding “Last year, the school extended the which is a terrific position to be in.”

PB Business View Oceania - October/November 2017 PB So where does this assortment of rolments from that same town. From interest come from? The school’s in- there, we get one student, then all of roads have come from not only its a sudden we get three, four or five. It’s strategic marketing, but also the word all word of mouth, and parents sharing of mouth that happens when students their positive stories with their friends and their parents who feel they’ve been and family.” For Downey, this kind of well looked after, start to spread the success comes not solely from word of word. It’s word of mouth that Downey mouth though. It’s the strategic stages has seen to be the most powerful mar- it takes from converting this interest keting force for Canberra Grammar into actual pupils that want to attend. School: He works with marketing to produce promotions, goes through the usual “When a parent is considering send- meet and greets on open days, sport- ing their child to boarding school, it’s ing expos and national and interna- a pretty major decision. The school tional boarding expos. they choose and the care and atten- tion that’s given at the school. It’s a big “I guess that meeting them and talk- deal to send your child away like that, ing to them and showing them around and often, for many, thousands of kilo- is the best form of marketing,” says metres away.” Downey, adding “It’s the highest con- version rate, whereas when you’re us- For these families, to put their kids ing above the line marketing strate- into someone else’s care, and then gies, like ads, it’s very difficult to know those people to make decisions the how successful it is.” parents usually make, Downey has found that word of mouth from trust- The school had a few success stories ed family/friends/acquaintances, has from Hong Kong, then all of a sudden definitely been the strongest market- it had students trickling in from there. ing driver. “You get this sort of an almost viral Patterns emerge where a boarder thing happening where you can see comes from an area new to Canber- ground zero, this middle area where ra Grammar. Downey explains that the we’ve been successful, and then it school did a little bit of analysis on spreads from there.” where its boarders come from. Its success is in the numbers. Board- “For example, if we had never had ing is full, and it has waiting lists for any boarding students enrolled from year groups that haven’t even yet start- a particular town in rural New South ed at the school. Being in this kind of Wales, and a student from that town strong position opens the school up to enrolled, we saw a sudden spike in en- financial and academic planning.

PB Business View Oceania - October/November 2017 PB Genuine support tion of caring for students, and not just for the sake of keeping them in check. Another major focus for CGS Board- Trying to make the boarding environ- ing, is developing cross-generational ment a positive one is one of the hard- relationships between the students. est things for all boarding institutions. Specifically, having older students This is a place where students spend leading, mentoring and guiding the more time with staff than at home. younger ones. Not just in an academ- ic sense, but in their conduct and their “Thirty-seven to thirty-eight weeks a behaviour, connecting them through year, they’re a boarder, fourteen to fif- sports training, and other similar pro- teen they’re at home,” Downey tells us. gram schemes. “It’s hard work, and it’s intense, but Downey explained: “We’re trying to we’re doing our best to create an at- get that feeling that the older students mosphere of homeliness and comfort aren’t in charge because of some an- and an environment which feels open cient kind of hierarchy, but that they’re and caring not necessarily an institu- there to lead by example.” tion.”

And for the staff it’s the same. The school also encourages its stu- The school tries to make sure that dents to encompass this open, car- everything they do is from that posi- ing culture into their own natures and

PB Business View Oceania - October/November 2017 PB behaviours, and in the things they do, the students’ wellbeing as much as and CGS’ variety of service programs their academia. help them achieve this. From dog walk- ing and charity fundraising events, to The school has two physical build- community volunteering and helping ings that its 90 boarders live in, and all the aged and those with learning sup- boarding staff are fully responsible for port needs. the wellbeing of these students. This encompasses all academic needs, “There‘s a strong sense of giving pastoral needs, their health needs, something back that I really want to making sure they’re well and comfort- continue to grow. It’s all about being able. part of a caring community, and about caring what happening around us in Downey’s network of staff is tight- the local community. We’re always knit and varied. He has a team with looking for ways for our students to some direct reports, some auxiliary contribute.” staff, and contract staff that provide additional support. The catering arm is Facilities and support an external provider, the relationship for which Downey manages. There are As a part of its caring, nurturing out- also six resident tutors that live with- look, the school’s facilities look after in the boarding community to provide

PB Business View Oceania - October/November 2017 Gareth Downey, Head of Boarding Dr Justin Garrick, Head of School

Mr Gareth Downey started at Canberra Dr Justin Garrick became Head of Grammar School as the Assistant Head Canberra Grammar School in 2011. of Boarding in 2014, and shortly after He was educated at Sydney Grammar moved to the role of Head of Boarding. School and Sydney University, where He was educated at the University of he graduated with first class honours in York where he obtained his Bachelor of English Literature. Dr Garrick also has a Science, and then later completed his master’s degree in Education from the Graduate Diploma in Education at the University of New England. University of Technology Sydney.

Gareth grew up in North Yorkshire and He undertook his PhD as a Cambridge moved to Australia in 2001 and met his Australia Scholar at Corpus Christi wife soon after. Before joining CGS, Ga- College, Cambridge, and he has an MBA reth also spent time at the Cranbook from the University of London. School in Bellevue Hill, Sydney, as a Housemaster. He had a strong passion He has taught at Sydney Grammar for cycling, but switched to rugby in his School, St Paul’s School in London, late teens, only to re-take up cycling af- Oundle School and Wellington College, ter retiring from rugby and commuting in UK, where he was Head of English and Sydney every day for seven years, before then Deputy (Academic) prior to joining moving to Canberra. Canberra Grammar School.

PB after-hours care to students, there are From if they stay away from school clinic staff and three registered nurses sick, through to calling specialists for who provide a great deal of care to the sporting injuries and things like that. boarders (as well as the day students.) So yeah, we’ve got quite a big team that surrounds these boys, and I man- “We make up 10% of school popu- age to coordinated all of that and still lation, but take up more than half the manage to teach chemistry too.” clinic time,” Downey states “This is be- cause we provide every level of care. One of things Canberra Grammar of-

PB Business View Oceania - October/November 2017 ward boarding population have their own rooms, and the few that don’t, share with just one other person. Stu- dents avoid the stereotypical boarding style dormitories, and rest easy in their single or double rooms. There are sep- arate study spaces, private areas to change, storage, Wi-Fi, common areas for group and private study, relaxation areas, three common rooms, the clinic and a traditional old dining hall with a very modern kitchen attached to it.

It’s not just these areas that make up day-to-day life for the boarders. Enter- tainment-wise, the school lets board- ers make use of school pools and the gymnasium and it has provided things like table table and pool table. Simple touches, but representative of the enjoyable, home- ly living environment, atmosphere and culture the school is trying to create through its boarding. Don’t lose it

“I strongly believe that as soon as you think you’ve got everything sort- ed, that’s the time you start to lose your edge. Here, we’re in a state of constantly trying to do things the best fers that often other boarding schools way we can for our students,” admits don’t, is that the majority of its stu- Downey. Through regular surveys, par- dents have single room which is ac- ents committees, staff development tually quite uncommon. Where these and open channels for feedback, the schools do have single room, it’s usu- school is always comfortable uncom- ally just for those in year 12. This does fortable with itself, and always happy depends on the mix of year groups and to change and adapt to continue on its the number of students, but most of steady, successful path through board- Canberra Grammar’s year nine and up- ing excellence.

PB An inclusive culture and mary School since 1975 and who will community that supports now be represented across the range individual development of School life by 2020.

Canberra Grammar School is an Inde- The School respects and nurtures pendent Anglican School offering out- all students as individuals, seeking standing academic education, co-cur- to inspire, support and celebrate the ricular opportunities and pastoral care efforts of all in realising their intel- to day and boarding students of all lectual, spiritual, cultural, social and backgrounds and faiths within a com- physical aspirations. Building on the munity guided by Christian values. The professional expertise of its staff, the School is in the process of becoming commitment of its community and the fully co-educational. It educates boys resources of the nation’s capital, Can- from Pre-School to Year 12 and is cur- berra Grammar School aims to be the rently extending its offering to girls, most dynamic and distinctive centre of who have been educated in the Pri- learning in Australia.

PB Business View Oceania - October/November 2017 Each individual student is treated with a great amount of care and con- sideration, and the School believes children need an environment that en- courages them to seek out academics and social relationships, to find their passions and purpose in a complex world, and provide a range of curricu- lar and co-curricular options that help prepare young people to face the chal- lenges of a globalising world.

The education, the opportunities and the facilities that CGS provides must prepare the students to play an active role in a changing world. It must equip them with the knowledge, skills and at- titudes that will help them to embrace the challenges of our time as opportu- nities to make a difference in whatev- er fields of endeavour they choose to enter.

CGS is a great place for all kinds of students and we realise that everyone Canberra Grammar School students is different, so rather than providing present themselves with an engaging you a generic prospectus, we encour- mixture of openness, sincerity and pas- age you to create your own and find sion. Be it in classrooms, in the board- out how our School suits you. ing houses, in orchestras, on stage, on the sporting field or in Chapel, they are enthusiastic and determined; they care for each other and they aspire to the highest standards in education. It is the School’s goal that not only each Supporting Partners student, but each parent too, feels a ArborSafe sense of belonging to the School com- arborsafe.com.au munity, and that our students have My Maintenance the opportunity and support for per- mymaintenance.com.au sonal, social, academic and spiritual Besselink growth. besselink.com.au

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PB Business View Oceania - October/November 2017