At home with ... Timothy Hawkes, headmaster of The King's School in Sydney, writer and rugby tragic

At home with ... Dr Timothy Hawkes, educator, writer and rugby tragic

At home with ... Timothy Hawkes, educator, writer and rugby tragic

Adelaide-born Dr Timothy Hawkes, 55, joined elite Sydney institution The King’s School as headmaster in 1998. He is author of the acclaimed book Boy oh Boy (Pearson Education) and the Learning Leadership series, and lives 100m from his office in Sydney’s west. He has many passions including his wife, Jane, and their three adult children, Peter, Alicia and Pippa.

No 1 love Jane and I have been married for 33 years and we remain unfashionably fond of each other. We fell in love at Durham University in England. I had gone there to play rugby union under the guise of doing an honours degree in education.

Biggest influence I have an identical twin brother, Nick, who causes mayhem when he visits. One headmaster is bad enough. Nick is an outstanding man and one of the most profound influences on my life. Our father was in the army and we moved a great deal so Nick was always a constant reference point. He encourages and challenges me. He’s also an author.

Morning routine My alarm goes off at 6.30am. After a rapid shower, it’s over to the dining room, where three times a week I have a working breakfast. Then there could be an assembly – we’ve got 1500 boys here, from four to 18.

Uniform appeal The King’s uniform with its grey jacket, red epaulettes and cuffs, silver buttons with crowns and blue trousers with red stripe, is iconic, outrageous and looks like a lost remnant of Napoleon’s army. But I love it. People say we don’t change our uniform but that’s not true: more than 100 years ago, we introduced a black tie in mourning of Queen Victoria’s death. We take death very seriously here.

Collectables I love wooden model boats. You can fashion wood and it’s quite forgiving. It creaks and bends and groans. And there are not many straight lines on boats, which makes their design interesting.

Heroes Churchill is a hero of mine. He was largely a flawed man and I love his eloquence and bull-doggy courage. I am in awe of Nelson Mandela and another of my heroes is a heroine – Jackie Pullinger, a Christian missionary working for the care of drug addicts in Hong Kong, who wrote the book Chasing the Dragon. Dad was posted to Hong Kong when Nick and I were about 18 and we became involved in the mission.

Keeping fit I play an occasional game of tennis and enjoy hill and bush walking. Molly, our Cavalier King Charles spaniel, is my personal trainer.

Prized possession Stirling Mortlock, captain of the Wallabies, is an old King’s boy and he had a rugby shirt signed by the team for me when I turned 50. I’m very proud to own it.

In the study My academic gown is very handy at Christmas – a very useful red. My PhD at Macquarie University was in aerial photography. There’s always a fight as to who gets the window seat when we fly.

Current passion I am passionate about the development of character and leadership in students. I wrote the series of Learning Leadership books for an interactive course to be taught here and in other schools. We’ve sold a million dollars’ worth and all proceeds go to a King’s scholarship fund.

The great escape My favourite place in the world is our holiday home at Pretty Beach, north of Sydney. The majority of my book-writing was done up there but, somehow, when you’re writing with a sandy rump and a jetty nearby, it doesn’t classify as work. I’m also the Pretty Beach bombing champion. It’s a close-run thing between me and Taylor, who lives two doors up. He’s 14.