As Chair of Melbourne Grammar School Council since May 2020, I have had the honour of overseeing much of the work that has contributed to Towards 2030, which sets out the School’s strategic intentions.
Beginning my role at the start of the COVID-19 pandemic, I was keenly aware of our need to create a strategy that could guide the Melbourne Grammar community through times of both change and stability. This need was underscored as our community adapted to new modes of online learning, and as we navigated the post-COVID educational landscape. With these experiences in mind, we consolidated our strategic intentions during 2022, and began reconsidering and rewriting our School’s values.
It was important at this particular moment in our School’s history that we complete this careful strategic work. The values laid out in Towards 2030 – Learning and Wellbeing, Courage and Integrity, Respect and Compassion, and Service and Contribution – reflect the existing strengths of Melbourne Grammar while also preparing us to respond to an unpredictable outside world. These values, and the priorities that support them, ensure Melbourne Grammar is ready for its next steps, even as the world continues to change around us.
Similarly, at this particular moment, it is well-timed for the School to be embarking on a philanthropic campaign. Achieving our purpose requires the guidance contained in Towards 2030, along with the support of our community as a whole. The economic realities facing independent schools mean they must partner with their communities to succeed, and Melbourne Grammar is no different in this respect.
The philanthropic campaign for Melbourne Grammar School has been shaped by many participants across the community, and I thank each of my fellow Council members for their role in bringing it to life, as well as for their early participation in giving to the campaign. The strategy behind this campaign, and the leadership that will see it through to fruition, give me great confidence in its success.
This confidence bolsters me as I take my own next step, concluding my role as Chair of Council at our upcoming Annual General Meeting in May. I am excited to immediately take up the role of Campaign Chair, and to announce that current Melbourne Grammar Foundation President Julian Smith will step into my position as Chair of Council. Current Council member, Alex Scanlon, will take on the role of Foundation President. I have great confidence in both appointments, and their respective capabilities to continue this important strategic work.
With Philip’s recent announcement of his planned retirement as Headmaster at the conclusion of the 2027 school year, Council is also commencing a comprehensive, international search to find the next leader of our School.
In these last months as Chair, I am struck by the ways in which our sense of community has only deepened over the past six years. I have no doubt that we have the right strategy and leadership in place as we move towards the next phase of Melbourne Grammar’s history.
Chair of Council
