Stuart Meade, Acting Head of School

It is a pleasure to be back at Cranbrook, albeit it for this term only prior to Dr Johnstone commencing. Having spent sixteen years here in two iterations, including six as Deputy Head from 1997-2002 along with a few weeks last year, I have great affection for the place and look forward to being part of the community in the coming weeks.

Speaking of Dr Johnstone, the Year 12 students were fortunate to share lunch with her last Friday before the Prefect body had a Q&A session with her. She was impressed with the insightful questions asked and the ‘positive vibe’ as she called it that came from the senior students. That may have been in part because they were collecting their Year 12 jerseys, but I know they were also genuinely interested in finding out her thoughts and ideas on all things Cranbrook.

Quite a few of the questions were around school culture – “What was it like at her current school, Ravenswood?”, and she asked the boys what it was like here. To my mind, in a school, culture is king. In its simplest form, culture can be defined as “how we do things around here”. In the Senior School Assembly this week, I asked the boys to reflect, individually or in mentor groups or classes, how would they describe the student culture here and what part are they playing in that? Representing the School in sports or other activities is one part; helping a friend, engaging in something which has a positive impact on others or contributing to something bigger than yourself are parts of the culture piece that underpins so much of what goes on here.

From a person far wiser than I am, Professor Dumbledore in Harry Potter and the Chamber of Secrets, said “It is our choices, Harry, that show who we truly are, far more than our abilities.” Guiding our students to make wise and informed choices is vital and the partnership between home and school in this space is central to it all. It is worth the time and effort.

It is wonderful to have the students back on campus for a new term. I am enjoying the many events and activities currently taking place: sport, music, drama, academic achievement, service activities, social events – the opportunities are endless. And to see the large crowd at the CSPA Mother’s Day breakfast this week was further evidence of the strength of the partnership mentioned above. Thank you to Angelique Haritos and her team for their organisation of this event.

I am looking forward to seeing all that unfolds in the weeks ahead and I wish all families an enjoyable term.

With good wishes

Stuart Meade
Acting Head of School