*Br Garry Coyte FSC says school as a Christian ministry has become central in his life. PHOTO: De La Salle Brothers.*

Brother Garry Coyte FSC first left his mark as a school leader at De La Salle Orange in the early 1960s. Now, after being a principal at five De La Salle colleges and an educational consultant, he has returned to school.

Garry’s return to school life has been as ‘Staff mentor and Coach’, at Oakhill College Castle Hill. His role focuses on promoting growth in leadership for middle managers. He works, as well, with new staff pushing quality learning and teaching; this involves classroom teacher observation and analysis.

Complementing this ministry is developing resilient and better leadership in Lasallian schools in Papua New Guinea and Pakistan, via Zoom.

School as a Christian ministry became central in his life, but without great forethought and planning.

Garry explains that failure at secondary school led to the journey of being a De La Salle Brother in the Church.

“Somehow God was using failure for me to lead me on this journey”, he says.

“The daily life of school gives me energy, and the youth keep me positive and happy.

“Education is a place where daily small miracles can occur. I want to be an instrument to allow such miracles to happen”.

The opportunities in being a Brother has also amply provided a road for professional development. As Principal of the senior Benilde High, at Bankstown, he completed a top Masters in Educational Administration. Garry’s leadership talents were further tapped with principalships at De La Salle Colleges in Malvern, VIC., Mangere, Auckland, New Zealand. and Mentone, back in Melbourne, there for 12 successful years.

Never one to let grass grow underfoot, he also juggled other post-graduate courses in educational and business leadership, as well as a Harvard University-Leadership: Evolving Vision Course, in 2013.

Today, his commitment is fired, he says, by “a love of Christ through scripture reflection, and through the Christian Meditation movement”.

This article is drawn from a De La Salle media release, and was published on CathNews.