Message from the Headmaster
‘For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.’
Ephesians 2:10
Dear Students, Parents and Carers
Often I speak to aspirational groups of boys and their parents hoping to commence at Shore. My remarks are necessarily limited by time, and hence, any outline will be by its nature, reductionist. Notwithstanding, here is the ‘Collier Codex’, employing the speaker’s / preacher’s device of alliteration to assist recall.
Our culture at Shore is to assist every boy to be excellent in every way possible and to be known, by adults and other boys, to be comfortable and to experience a deep sense of belonging. In order to achieve this, we major on the importance of community to provide real connection. Friends made here can be, and often are, friends for life. Boys are carried forward after graduation and as men through the Old Boys’ Union (OBU), the networks of which are positive, powerful as a community, and intergenerational.
Shore is seeking curriculum excellence. This implies student cooperation with expert teachers, a consistency of effort and a comprehensive approach to studies in order to maximise outcomes. Our aim is to assist students, through their results, in launching into careers which enable them to flourish as adults. We wish them to graduate with a sense of citizenship, an appreciation of many of the dimensions of our civilisation and with a commitment to doing good.
“For we are God’s handiwork, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do.” Ephesians 2:10
Part of this will be enfolding within the nuances of a great School, Shore, where they challenge themselves to be the best version of themselves possible. Much of this framework is embedded through the Christian faith represented through Shore’s Anglican heritage and through the invitational presentation of the doctrines and values of faith. Our desire is that these attributes are well grounded in each boy, to enable him to embark on an adult life well lived. Such will exhibit various criteria, such as a sense of ethics, a care for others, and a basic humility, which is prepared to learn and which acknowledges the rights and interests of other people. Such a young man will be kind, free of arrogance and entitlement and demonstrate a care for others. Part of the formation of a young man of character will occur through our co-curricular activities which enable the exercise of creativity and of conviction, whether we speak performing arts, sport or other Shore endeavours. Shore’s outcomes depend upon excellent collaboration between boys, staff and parents.
If this list of excellence seems essentially unattainable in its immensity, the evidence that it can be attained is all around us, as manifested by so many of our boys themselves and so many of our graduates. Accordingly, this inventory of excellence is essentially a paean, a 21-gun salute, to our boys, our young men and our not so young men.
Assistant Chaplain
It was a pleasure to attend the service in St Andrew’s Cathedral on Saturday wherein the Anglican Archbishop ordained our Assistant Chaplain, Mr John Sheldon, as an Anglican Minister. This follows four years of theological training by Rev Sheldon, and hence was a high point for his family. Congratulations Rev Sheldon!
Dr John Collier
Headmaster