LISA Kerr, the principal of King Charles' former school Gordonstoun, visited Timbertop last week to find out more about the King's memorable experience there and to explore new opportunities.
"It has been wonderful to see the archive and the Timbertop team have been really generous in letting me see some materials from his time here," Ms Kerr said.
"The King always remarked that his time at Timbertop was even more challenging than his time at Gordonstoun."
The visit is a part of a wider trip to Australia, connecting with schools that share many of the same values as the Scotland–based school.
"The founder of Timbertop was really influenced by the teaching of Kurt Hahn and he founded Gordonstoun," Ms Kerr said.
"Gordonstoun is where the Duke of Edinburgh Award the Round Square movement of schools began."
These movements have inspired many schools around the world to adopt similar practices, especially incorporating outdoor education to the curriculum.
Collaboration is a core part to this, working with other schools, cultures and viewpoints to help deliver even better education outcomes.
Ms Kerr said, "One of the reasons I wanted to come to Australia is because having a different regulatory and legislative framework means that you respond to questions with radically different answers."
Gordonstoun incorporates the same activities over the whole schooling experience, unlike the year–long intensive program that Geelong Grammar provides.
"There is something about the intensity of [Timbertop's] program that I find really inspiring," Ms Kerr said.
King Charles reflected this sentiment when writing about his exchange in the 1960s.
The royal visit is still well–remembered by the King, who returned to tour the area in subsequent years and continues to recount his time in rural Victoria with fondness.
"When young people experience this life changing curriculum, their connection with their school is really strong," Ms Kerr said.
"The international exchange program at Gordonstoun is really important thing that we've always done for our students.
"I'm really aware of that the time that King Charles spent Timbertop was really formative in his education."
During the COVID–19 pandemic, exchanges from Gordonstoun were paused, giving the leadership at the Scottish school time to re–evaluate the relationships it had with other schools around the world.
Ms Kerr said, "We've refocused our exchange program on schools that share our ethos and one of my purposes in coming to Australia has been to connect with some of those schools so that we can reopen those exchange programs."
Ms Kerr's visit comes as the King is scheduled to celebrate his coronation in May and Gordonstoun nears its 90th birthday next year.
"Gordonstoun's vision is to be the world leader in character education and we've been the birthplace of so many educational ideals," she said.
"We take that that leadership responsibility very seriously and coming to Australia to see how different schools are delivering character education has been a big part of that.
"I'm very much hoping that my visit here will reconnect Timbertop and Gordonstoun even more strongly, and that we may move to the exchange of ideas more readily."
