The Pursuit of Excellence - One Step at a Time
August 29, 2025
‘Excellence is not about perfection or about being the very best in every field. Rather, it is about improvement – about growing steadily, intentionally and purposefully’ - Dr Leigh Hobart
As the seasons turn and students move from winter to summer uniforms, we are reminded of the value or presentation and pride. Wearing our uniform well is not a trivial detail; it is a daily act of discipline, a small expression of excellence. Excellence, after all, is not a singe event or an isolated triumph, but the cumulative result of consistent, deliberate choices made day by day.
At Fairholme, we speak often of striving for excellence. But what does that really mean? Excellence is not about perfection or about being the very best in every field. Rather, it is about improvement – about growing steadily, intentionally and purposefully.
Sir Dave Brailsford, former Performance Director of British Cycling, captured this idea with his philosophy of ‘marginal gains’. He believed that if you could improve every area of performance by just 1%, those small gains would compound into remarkable results. His athletes focused not only on cycling technique and training but also on sleep, nutrition, recovery, equipment, and even how they washed their hands to avoid illness. Over time, those tiny improvements led to extraordinary success: Olympic medals and Tour de France victories.
The beauty of this principle is that it applies far beyond elite sport. It is just as relevant to the classroom, the stage, the debating chamber, or even the way we wear our uniforms each day. A single day’s improvement might feel minor – a more carefully written essay, a sharper argument in debate, a deeper effort at training, or the decision to present oneself neatly and proudly. But over weeks, terms and years, those daily gains accumulate into excellence.
In recent weeks, we have seen countless examples of this pursuit across our College. Our Year 12s celebrating their final 100 days of school, stands as living proof of the growth that steady, disciplined effort produces over time. Achievements on the sporting field – from Ella’s softball prowess representing the Green and Gold in the USA to the successes of our High Performance Sports Program – remind us that resilience and incremental improvement are the hallmarks of true performance.
Our Year 7 Debating team’s grand final victory, the continued expansion of robotics as an offering, to the creativity on display for our Grandparents and visitors during Book Week, all show the same truth; excellence is built through persistence, preparation and the willingness to keep improving. The trophies and accolades are important, but the deeper value lies in the habits that made them possible.
This is why I return to Brailsford’s lesson. Excellence is not reserved for the few with exceptional gifts. It is within reach of every student, in every classroom, on every field, in every rehearsal. The challenge – and the opportunity – is to make a conscious choice each day to improve, even in a small way.
As parents, educators and supporters, we can help by affirming effort as much as outcome, and by modelling the pursuit of excellence in our own lives. If our young women can learn that excellence comes not from grand gestures but from steady, incremental improvement, they will be equipped for success well beyond their school years.
So, as we step into the new season of Spring, may we each commit to the pursuit of excellence in our own way. Let us honour our achievements while remembering that excellence is not a moment, but a mindset. Excellence begins with the small things. It is in how we learn, how we play, how we create, how we present ourselves and how we treat others. Let us encourage our young women to keep building the daily habits that, compounded over time, will lead them to extraordinary futures.
Dr Leigh Hobart | Principal
More News…
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On Friday 9 September, our Head of Teaching and Learning, Pam Stains, and our Head of Faith and Wellbeing, Cath Butler, were invited to present a session at the International Coalition of Girls’ Schools Symposium highlighting an important element of the Fairholme culture: Relational Pedagogy. At Fairholme, we believe that learning begins with relationship. That when a girl feels safe, seen, and supported, she is far more likely to flourish - not just academically, but emotionally and socially too. This belief isn’t just a nice idea; it’s a lived reality, reflected in the feedback from staff and students collected through interviews and surveys conducted by Professor Andrew Hickey from UniSQ in 2024. We’ve long worked in the “with” quadrant of Ted Wachtel’s social discipline window - doing things with students, not to or for them. However, a few years ago, we noticed something. While our restorative approach was helping resolve conflict, it often came too late. Teachers were feeling stretched, and students - especially in moments of challenge - needed more than resolution. They needed connection and they needed skills. This aligned with research supporting the idea that our students have varying levels of skill in demonstrating empathy or engaging with others using social and emotional intelligence, and therefore have varying ability or desire to resolve conflict restoratively. It’s not a will problem, this is a skill problem. So we asked ourselves: what could help staff to enhance the skill level of students struggling to meet expectations, whilst still strengthening connection and building relationships? That question led us to Dr Ross Greene’s Collaborative and Proactive Solutions (CPS). CPS is a gentle, trauma-aware approach that sees behaviour not as defiance, but as communication. A child who struggles isn’t choosing to misbehave, they’re lacking the skills to meet expectations and communicating this in a variety of ways, using behaviour that will either frustrate us or engender empathy. And so, instead of reacting, we slow down. We listen. We work with them to understand what’s hard, to build the skills they need, and see the change. To strengthen this approach in the college, in 2025, twelve staff members joined a CPS pilot program. These staff were offered professional learning time to train, reflected, and practise and what they found was remarkable. Relationships deepened, classrooms became calmer, students began to take ownership - not just of their behaviour, but of their learning. Teachers felt more regulated, more connected, and more hopeful. Instead of asking what’s wrong, in this approach, we seek to ask: what’s hard? What skills might be lagging? What expectations are difficult to meet? It’s a small shift, but it’s changing the way we see our girls, and the way they see themselves. Students are not problems. Rather, we collaborate, and become problem solvers together. Of course, it’s not always easy. CPS takes time. It asks us to stay curious longer, to resist the urge to fix, and to trust the process. But the rewards are real. From 2026, our staff training will evolve to include both Restorative Practices and CPS—under the banner of Relational Pedagogy. Because at Fairholme, we’re not just teaching content, we’re building skills now and into the future. And, we’re doing it together, with collaboration, and enjoyment.
