I vividly remember the first time that my mum told me about St Chris; I was over the moon to hear that a school like that that existed that I could go to.
In many schools, education is somewhat limited to the lessons or the vision of education is limited to grades and qualifications. I really felt like St Chris was the place to let my creativity loose and, upon joining the school, all of a sudden everything came alive. Previously, I didn't really enjoy learning through a curriculum or learning for the sake of an exam. However, by the end of my time at Chris, I was able to just learn for the passion of learning. I was doing subjects that I loved so much, and it was amazing to have the freedom to follow my interests.
Being part of the School Council was maybe the most significant part of my Senior School journey.
At St Chris, students have the autonomy to make real and lasting change, and being in the school community is like a microcosm of the wider world.
Within it, you have the same conflicts between finances, moral values, leadership and management. Trying to create change within that space and navigate that (through communicating over email, talking to people and working with others) was pivotal in my development. It helped me come to understand how the world works, even though on a surface level it seems it's just a school environment.
It made me think about growing up - how I might challenge issues and topics that I'm really passionate about and create change in the wider world. That’s actually been just as important, if not more important, than maths or English lessons.
I feel very proud of St Chris for doing things differently, and am incredibly fortunate to have spent time here.
You might come to St Chris and you might not understand the significance of calling your teachers by their first names or not wearing a school uniform; these things might seem trivial. However, the values underpin everything we do. That is why St Chris is progressive because it's not just calling your teachers by their first names, but actually building a relationship, which is more of an equal balance. It’s not hierarchal, not just forced upon you. The lack of fear leaves space for enjoyment, and you learn so much more because you learn about life.
School shouldn’t be about all looking the same. St Chris is about really encouraging diversity in allowing everyone to express themselves. That’s so important in the modern world; we should be able to think differently, come up with new ideas, be able to express who we really are.
A small thing is that at St Chris, we have ceramic plates for meals. This may seem small – again, perhaps insignificant – but at St Chris students are trusted to have responsibility: knowing that sometimes plates get accidentally dropped, knowing that’s okay, knowing mistakes don’t hinder students, but enable us to grow.
