Engaging in a number of building projects on site has reinforced to me the importance of collaboration in order to achieve a purpose. Our new cover over the outdoor courts, the new administration building, which is getting closer to construction, the renovation of the top floor of our Library block and so on, all require significant coordination and collaboration by all the parties involved.

The second element of the GPCC Graduate Profile is to be collaborative. We live in an increasingly individualistic society. Arising from philosophies developed during the Age of Enlightenment in the 18^th century, Western civilization has increasingly moved away from thinking of a human being as a person in community to one of a person in isolation.

If you are old enough to remember Simon and Garfunkel, they sang of being a rock and an island:

I have my books
And my poetry to protect me
I am shielded in my armour
Hiding in my room safe within my womb
I touch no one and no one touches me
I am a rock I am an island

And a rock feels no pain
And an island never cries

But the Christian faith does not hold this view. God created the first human and said, “It is not good for him to be alone.” He created us to be in community as he is in himself.  The Christian doctrine of the Trinity speaks to us of a God who is three in one – Father, Son and Spirit, collaborating together in the creation of the world and working out its ultimate purpose together. To be fully human is to understand and embrace this need of others. When we collaborate together, we achieve so much more than when we work on our own.

But being collaborative is now counter-cultural in many ways so as a school we are trying to help students understand and learn what it means to work with others rather than be in competition with them. Of course, we also appreciate and value competition as an often helpful means of pushing us forward. But if there is only competition, we miss out on being able to achieve our highest. Even in sport we admire the selflessness of an athlete who stops to help another even though doing so may mean they do not achieve first place.

It takes effort, humility and selflessness to collaborate, but these are excellent qualities to have as a person. If we as a school community commit to each other and seek to be collaborative, then all will benefit. The Scriptures remind us that every part of the body is important for the body to be able to function fully. Our goal as a school is to help our students come to value and appreciate collaboration as a characteristic it is important to have for their own sake as well as for the benefit of others.

Phillip Nash

Principal