The Dunstonian Chronicle

Editorial – A Message from Matthew Moolman

During my first St Dunstan’s Assembly, I drew a parallel between the start of a running race and the surge of energy at the beginning of a school term, noting how that initial momentum often dictates the final outcome. Yet, while a strong start is vital, to quote Aristotle:

Returning to St Dunstan’s nearly six months ago, over a decade since my departure in 2013, I find myself reflecting on our progress. Has our collective effort truly cultivated a lasting, self-sustaining culture of excellence? Our mission statement, forging character through a holistic, co-educational, and personalised learning experience, provides a clear lens for this reflection.

To say the development of the College, in all spheres, has been striking would be an understatement.

The introduction of the 3-IN-1 Festival in the Preparatory School, the rejuvenation of the College Easter Festival and the various sports tours to prestigious schools around the country are highlights on the sporting calendar. The manner in which these festivals have grown each year continues to put St Dunstan’s on the map.

The improvement on the cultural front has been nothing short of exponential. At the recent retirement farewell of a longstanding staff member, I thought of the humble beginnings of the music programme at St Dunstan’s in contrast with the broad offering provided now. We have group and individual music and drama lessons taking place daily, weekly timetabled slots for children to gain exposure to various performing arts, termly music evenings, and annual performances.

St Dunstan’s has long been held in high regard by the educational community. It has been pleasing to see so many familiar faces providing the much-needed stability on which academic excellence is founded. The focus for all strong academic programmes is blending tried-and-tested best practice with current research. The Preparatory School reading programme provides a good example of this. Reading is a foundational skill which unlocks all future learning. Introducing the “Time2Read” programme, which is based on current educational neuroscience and the science of reading, will undoubtedly improve reading at the very inception of acquiring this key skill. The focus remains the same, but the manner in which the goal is achieved is improved upon by modern scientific findings. I have repeatedly been asked how I am settling in and how I am finding being back at St Dunstan’s. Due to the fact that the Christian ethos remains strong and service is a priority, it has, in many respects, felt like coming home. The core of the school remains the same, as stated in Matthew 22:37-40:

“You shall love the Lord your God with all your heart and with all your soul and with all your mind. This is the great and first commandment. And a second is like it: You shall love your neighbour as yourself.”

St Dunstan’s is, and always has been, a community school. The privilege of meeting Dunstonians who are now enrolling their own children, some of them third generation Dunstonians, at the Preparatory and Pre-school, entrusting the education of their most precious possessions to the school based on their own positive experiences, is unbelievable to be a part of. This is the true strength of St Dunstan’s. Whether you left St Dunstan’s five or fifty years ago, you are the living proof of this culture of excellence.

Teaching in the College in the late 2000s and early 2010s, I vividly recall the outdoor assemblies, our noses running in winter and foreheads sweating through summer. This year, the multi-purpose hall and STEM Centre will open in the College. The development of the school over the past decade has been remarkable; it is a testament to the foresight of leadership under Mrs Barry and the Council, Mr Taylor (the current Rector), the support of the SDC community, and, most importantly, the prayerful consideration with which the development of the school has been approached.

Aristotle was right, excellence is a habit, and St Dunstan’s is a living testament to this. It is a privilege to serve at a school that is rooted in its beautiful history yet bold enough to be progressive. To our ‘Old’ Dunstonians: whether you are returning to drop off your children or simply reminiscing from afar, know that the ‘start’ you received here continues to fuel a culture of excellence that is stronger than ever.

Mr Matthew Moolman