We began our project with the goal of looking into how we develop our students’ personal capacity – their wisdom, ethics, sense of responsibility, values, and civic engagement. As a College, we want to ensure that students leave us with not only the academic skills to succeed, but the capability to make decisions, hold firm to their values, face challenges with courage and resilience, and make positive change in their communities. After extensive research, one thing became clear – regardless of the opportunity, the experience, the type of sport or style of music ensemble – the key factor in building the personal capacity of our students is the teacher/coach/leader. It’s easiest to see, perhaps in toddlers and those in the early years of education. They mimic the activities, the language and the behaviours of the significant adults in their world. As they age, that mimicry gets a little more subtle – but nonetheless, our actions as adults have a significant impact on the young people in our care.

I can reflect on my own experience playing sport as a pre-teen. After my lack of sporting genetics foiled any and all attempts at team sports, my parents enrolled me in golf. Despite hours and hours on the fairways, what I remember most of all is the personal impact of my coach – a man in his late seventies who was a consummate gentleman and taught me how to play the game with respect, dignity, and sportsmanship. His values and his personal code of conduct was something that I aspired to, and twenty years later, still recognise as a significant influence on my development.

So where does this lead our Personal Capacity project?

In order to get the best for our students, we must look to our staff. It’s great to reflect on the wonderful work of our teachers, coaches, and staff in role-modelling positive values and behaviours to the students in our care. Whether it be the weekends they spend running through the National Park with their Kokoda teams, getting stuck into construction work alongside the students in Cambodia, the birthday cupcakes they bake for their home groups, or the highly competitive staff v students basketball games in the RGC, our St Andrew’s staff do go above and beyond to role model the ideals of kindness, participation, generosity, and compassion that the College really values. As we take our project further, we’ll be investigating how we maintain the positive culture we have in our organisation, and how we can continue to energise and empower our staff to be the best possible role models they can be for our students.

Lauren Norbury

PERSONAL CAPACITY PROJECT LEADER & COORDINATOR OF STUDENT ENGAGEMENT