Retirement of Headmaster, Mr Bill Low

On 18 July, our long-serving Headmaster, Mr Bill Low announced his intention to retire at the end of 2023. You can read a letter from the Chair of Central Coast Grammar School below along with Mr Low's response and message to the community.

Letter from Chair of CCGS

Dear members of the CCGS community,

On behalf of the Board of Central Coast Grammar School, I write to inform you that our Headmaster, Mr Bill Low has advised the Board of his intention to retire at the end of 2023. 

Bill has been an outstanding Head of the School for 14 years with a clear vision to make CCGS the best school, and we have much to thank him for. 

During the course of his leadership, he has strengthened the profile of CCGS as an outstanding choice of education within the local and broader communities. Through his leadership CCGS is in an excellent position, with an exceptional team of staff, record enrolments, outstanding results, improved co-curricular facilities and an effective wellbeing program. Bill should also be acknowledged for his leadership of the substantial upgrades to facilities and infrastructure through an expansive capital works program. Bill’s leadership of CCGS through the last several years of COVID has been remarkable. 

The Board has appointed a specialist recruitment consultant to undertake an extensive search for a new Principal to commence January 2024. Whilst this may seem a long way off, the Board wishes to allow enough time to conduct a thorough search to find an exceptional person to lead CCGS forward. 

Throughout Bill’s leadership, he has engaged in a positive and cohesive manner with the School Board and is committed to continuing to pursue an ambitious agenda of ongoing quality improvement over the next 18 months. Given the very high reputation of the School, we expect to attract a strong field of candidates to apply for this prestigious role. 

I trust that the whole school community will join me in thanking Bill for his outstanding contribution. There will be opportunity between now and the end of 2023 to express our appreciation and gratitude to Bill.  

I will keep you advised of our progress as we work through the process of transition.  In the meantime, I look forward to another exciting year at CCGS and seeing our students thrive in their endeavours. 

Yours sincerely,

Mr Stephen Brahams FAICD
Chairman

Letter from Headmaster

Dear members of the CCGS community, 

I would like to thank the Chair of the School Board, Mr Stephen Brahams for his kind words in announcing my retirement at the end of 2023. 

I am very satisfied with the position the School finds itself in and its very strong reputation in the education sector within NSW. I am privileged to work with a wonderful team and a special community of students, parents and caregivers. The role of any leader is to be part of the team, sometimes leading from the front and often capitalising on great ideas and initiatives from individual staff, Board members and members of the School and broader community. 

The achievements of anyone leading a complex organisation are a reflection of the quality of the people they are surrounded by and I very much see my achievements as not only being personal but collective. I thank everyone for the opportunity to have worked in such a dynamic organisation and look forward to continuing to work with you all to keep the School on its strong trajectory over the next 18 months. 

I share the Chair’s optimism with regard to attracting a high-quality Principal to CCGS. It is difficult to think of a more perfect Principal position within the Independent sector. We have amazing students and a passionate community, a highly committed, professional and hardworking staff, and a very supportive and highly professional School Board. All of these factors lead to a school that is at the heart of the social and economic development of the Central Coast. I will also look forward to meeting the new Principal and assisting the Principal and Board in every positive way during the transition period. 

I’ll have more to say later next year about my plans for retirement, but at this stage, I’m still very focused on the job at hand. 

Thank you for the pleasure of the journey so far and I look forward to the next 18 months. It has been a privilege coming to work every day and I look forward to continuing that joy through to my retirement. 

Thank you for your support and friendship. 

Kind regards,
Mr Bill Low
Headmaster/CEO