PAGE 12 / EDUCATING GIRLS: An intriguing history

PAGE 06 / BEYOND THE CLASSROOM by Ms Jacinda Euler, Principal

PAGE 28 / GRAMMAR GOES GREEN by Mrs Judith Tudball, Deputy Principal

BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL / ISSUE 2 / SPRING 2013

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IN THIS ISSUE

PAGE 08 / CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS by Georgia Murphy

PAGE 03 / TEACHING TOMORROW’S TEACHERS by Ms Michelle James

PAGE 04 / THE OXBRIDGE EXPERIENCE by Ms Julie Hennessey

PAGE 06 / BEYOND THE CLASSROOM by Ms Jacinda Euler

PAGE 08 / CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS by Georgia Murphy

PAGE 10 / ALLYING FOR CEREBRAL PALSY RESEARCH by Aakanksha Desai and Caitlyn Duke

PAGE 11 / ‘MISSA SOLIS’: AN INSPIRATIONAL TRIUMPH by Mr Mark Sullivan

PAGE 12 / EDUCATING GIRLS

PAGE 15 / GRAMMAR WOMEN by Ms Elizabeth Jameson

PAGE 16 / GIVING ACROSS GENERATIONS by Ms Michelle James

PAGE 19 / CONNECTED TEACHERS by Mrs Marise McConaghy

PAGE 22 / THE CHOSEN by Ms Joanne Martin

PAGE 27 / REUNION WEEKEND

PAGE 28 / CONNECTING COMMUNITIES — GRAMMAR GOES GREEN by Mrs Judith Tudball

As a parent of a girl starting Year 8 next year, I congratulate the School on a very impressive Open Day. By the end of the evening, we were filled with an overwhelming sense of confidence in our decision to send our daughters to Girls Grammar. From the Chairman of the Board of Trustees and the Principal right through to the girls on the stalls, there was an enthusiasm and warmth that gave us great comfort.

MR M AND MRS Y DERRICK, INCOMING YEAR 8 2014 PARENTS

Editor’s note: The students’ fundraising efforts on Open Day resulted in more than $21,000 being raised for several charities.

Congratulations on your School’s cycling initiative! Whilst out on a recent ride with a friend, I cycled past Girls Grammar and was so impressed to see your girls on bikes, I could not stop myself from shouting out encouragement to them. It is a credit to your School to provide these kinds of opportunities and skills for young women.

We are extremely fortunate in Queensland to have such a wonderful climate and with schools like yours equipping young people with cycling skills, the world will surely be a better place. Well done!

MS K FORSTER, HAMILTON PINE RIVERS WHEELERS

This is our grand-daughter’s first year at Girls Grammar and she played in the Autumn Concert in March. Congratulations to all concerned on staging such a brilliant evening of first class music and to the many great musicians in the various groups. I was a secondary school teacher for forty years and have not heard the equal of those fine young musicians in any other school.

MR R AND MRS L HOGAN, YEAR 8 GRANDPARENTS

Many thanks for the wonderful evening celebrating our 50 Year Reunion. It was a fantastic night, meeting up with others, reminiscing and seeing the amazing growth of the School facilities and increase in the diverse subjects now being delivered. The two Year 12 students who ushered us around were a delight — extremely helpful, respectful and a credit to the School.

MS B EVERSEN, CLASS OF 1963

GRAMMAR GAZETTE VOL 22 ISSUE 2 SPRING 2013

Managing Editor: Mrs Loren Bridge, Director, Communications & Community Relations

Editor: Ms Michelle James, Publications Officer

For Grammar Gazette enquiries and comments: T 61 7 3332 1437 E communications@bggs.qld.edu.au

To receive an electronic, rather than printed, version of the Grammar Gazette, please email communications@bggs.qld.edu.au

CONTENTS LETTERS

THE FUTURE ENTICES US WITH a sense of hope and optimism, and at Brisbane Girls Grammar we have much to look forward to. While the purchase of our sports campus at Fig Tree Pocket was an exciting acquisition, we now turn our attention to developing its potential. The possibilities suggested have been imaginative and exciting: extensive sporting fields and courts; a centre for sporting excellence and leadership for girls; environmental education opportunities; cultural venues and events in the longer term; and even an observatory has been suggested. At our historic Spring Hill campus, work has commenced on the new Research and Innovative Learning Centre that will open in time for the arrival of Year 7 in 2015. This next stage in our School’s history is well underway.

While Girls Grammar is an icon of Brisbane’s educational landscape, for generations of girls and their families the heritage building and white picket fence on Gregory Terrace are imbued with particular meaning and resonance. They are not just symbols of exemplary education for girls, but represent a connection to place that is vital to our sense of identity, both personal and communal. Just as Marrapatta at Imbil has long held a special place in the hearts of Grammar girls, in time, Fig Tree Pocket will inevitably become another place to connect with the natural environment, broaden learning, strive in sport and create happy memories through the years.

To help us fully realise these possibilities, particularly in this era of funding uncertainty, we have appointed an inaugural Director of Development. Philanthropic principles are intrinsic to the spirit of Brisbane Girls Grammar, as it was founded through direct community participation and contribution in 1875. The generosity of benefactors throughout the School’s history has ensured that our contemporary learning spaces and resources for innovative

teaching practice continue to provide the exceptional education for which we are renowned. Since its inception, our community has understood and greatly valued the School’s contribution to the education of girls and young women, preparing them for purposeful lives and to inspire and lead in the world.

At this time, we are also exploring, examining and reflecting upon our past with the publication of our first School history. Professor Erica McWilliam, a leading academic and educator, was engaged to undertake this important work. Educating Girls is a rigorous, insightful and beautiful publication that will proudly mark the contribution of a far-reaching succession of determined, inspiring and pioneering educators.

While there are always new developments in education and fresh approaches to teaching and learning — as exemplified by the introduction of our Bring Your Own Device policy next year and the design of our Research and Innovative Learning Centre — the broad liberal platform of education upon which Brisbane Girls Grammar School was founded remains at the core of what we value in education for our girls today.

We could not achieve all that we do without the strength and spirit of a supportive community of trustees, staff, old girls and parents who give so much to the wider life of our School. It is a community that values intellectual engagement and energy; maintains high expectations; and provides the support and challenge required to shape and nurture the intellect, the confidence and the character of our girls. We have much to honour by looking back and to plan for in looking forward.

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Looking forward, looking backARTICLE

AUTHOR MS JACINDA EULER, PRINCIPAL

SPRING ISSUE / 2013

OPEN DAY EMBODIES THE YEAR 12 motto for 2013: Embrace the new! Link the Blue! The evening sees the campus lit up with fairy lights and lanterns, flooded with staff, girls, and prospective students. Opening our gates to the community means this evening is one of the most exciting events of the School year — the one time of the year when all aspects of Grammar life are truly on show.

Among the stalls selling fairy floss and the Fathers Group sizzling sausages, it was easy to get lost in everything going on at Girls Grammar. Every girl took part, whether it was the talented Senior Drama Company performance in the Gehrmann Theatre, an elegant rhythmic gymnast performing her routine in the Sports Centre, or the many ensembles, concert bands, orchestras or choirs showcasing the hard work of the past term in the Creative Learning Centre. Students from all year levels involved themselves in this evening, painting a portrait of the vibrancy of Grammar life. Simply by walking down Gehrmann Lane or taking a trip around the CLC, you were inundated with various displays of Sport, Drama, e-Sports, Service, Calligraphy Club, the Libellum Society, Chess Club, Anime Club or Debating.

On a day-to-day basis, individual students are always so busy experiencing both curriculum and co-curriculum that it is often easy to miss the wider range of truly exciting aspects of Grammar life. The message of Open Day is that — somewhere amongst the myriad of sports, music, drama groups and countless other clubs — there is a place for everyone. Open Day presents an excellent opportunity for young prospective students and families to see this. Girls can sample a taste of what they have to anticipate and the many choices available to them.

We were fortunate to have the opportunity to speak to two groups of prospective Girls Grammar parents and their daughters. The delight for us came at question time when we were met with many raised hands and eager faces from the young ladies in the audience. While their questions focused more on where they would be sitting at lunch or whether there is a Formal to look forward to, their excitement and anticipation about becoming Grammar girls was undeniable. These girls, already so interested and keen to learn about their future, were a testament to the fact that Girls Grammar will no doubt have a confident and enthusiastic group of future students. It brought back fond memories of our own first encounters with the School, both the nervous anticipation and the excitement at starting a new adventure.

In these sessions Ms Jameson, the Chair of the Board of Trustees, reiterated something we’d heard a number of times throughout our years at School: ‘Once a Grammar girl, always a Grammar girl.’ Perhaps now, with the end of our own time here looming, we begin to understand this mantra. With this biggest term of our schooling clouding the view of how close we are to the finish line, we hope that, as a cohort, we remember to cherish each other and make the most of the little time we have left as Girls Grammar students.

We believe that, as a Year 12 cohort, we have lived our motto: the exciting challenges of embracing our new Year 8 buddies and leadership; welcoming our principal, Ms Euler; exploring our new Sports Campus at Fig Tree Pocket; and greeting future Grammar girls on Open Day and wrapping them in the rainbow colours of the Houses and those of our special spirit days.

Naturally, our entire education at Girls Grammar has been enhanced by the dedication and support of the academic and professional staff, and of our parents. While the girls love to run around and show off our wonderful School on Open Day, we know that, more importantly, the evening is the culmination of everyone’s efforts and we fully appreciate their energy, imagination and commitment.

It is comforting to be reminded at times like this that — even though next year and in the years beyond, we may not tie our hair every day with the same blue ribbon — the education, friendships and memories given to us by Girls Grammar will always remain with us.

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GRAMMAR GAZETTE

Open Day: Embracing future Grammar girls

ELIZABETH REDMOND AND SOPHIE WEIR, HEAD GIRLSAUTHORS

ARTICLE

A GREAT TEACHER CAN INSPIRE a life-long, and life-wide, passion for a particular subject area — whether it is astronomy, Japanese culture, or literature. When Dr Anita Jetnikoff, Senior Lecturer in English Curriculum Studies at the Queensland University of Technology, needed an exceptional educator to demonstrate best practice in English teaching for students at her university, she chose Brisbane Girls Grammar’s Miss Rachael Christopherson.

QUT’s Embracing Curriculum Change project involves filming an expert English teacher in the classroom to create digital resources for university students undertaking their teaching degrees. The lessons are edited into teaching episodes, focusing on the content and pedagogy of the new Australian Curriculum for English, and viewed by these pre-service teachers.

Miss Christopherson has been working with QUT since 2006 when she, along with her Year 10 English class, participated in a similar project. The filming of her 2013 Year 9 English class — while they study Oscar Wilde’s classic comedy of manners The Importance of Being Ernest — is a follow-up to the initial project, linking to the introduction of the Australian Curriculum and the emphasis on multimodal texts.

Dr Jetnikoff says that the videos are invaluable learning resources for our future teachers. ‘Rachael Christopherson is an inspiring educator. We worked together some years ago and the resulting videos of her excellent teaching have been viewed

positively by hundreds of QUT students. It was time to make some new videos for the new Australian Curriculum and Rachael extended her generosity again, so that a new generation of student teachers can see how a brilliant teacher works in the classroom.’

Demonstrating ‘teaching’ encompasses much more than ensuring students understand the subject matter says Miss Christopherson. ‘It ranges from demonstrating pedagogical practice, to managing students with special learning needs, to encouraging quieter students to interact, and even to showing how to get students to settle when they arrive for class.’

The recipient of the English Teachers Association of Queensland’s Peter Botsman Award for excellence in English education in 2005, Miss Christopherson is an acknowledged expert in her field. Even so, she says that the project has provided her with a wonderful opportunity for reflection. ‘It makes me stand back and look at the way I teach, and think about what I can do to enhance the learning experience for our girls.’

This collaboration with QUT epitomises Girls Grammar’s aspiration ‘to be a leader in exceptional scholarship’. Through observing Miss Christopherson teaching our Year 9 girls, pre-service teachers will be able to apply educational theories in context, contributing to their skill development in the craft of teaching. In this way, Miss Christopherson is inspiring the teachers of tomorrow — as well as her students.

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SPRING ISSUE / 2013

TEACHING TOMORROW’S TEACHERSARTICLE

AUTHOR MS MICHELLE JAMES, PUBLICATIONS OFFICER

Brisbane Girls Grammar School’s Centre for Professional Practice (CPP) — and its programmes linking pre-service, beginning and experienced teachers in a seamless collaborative learning environment — has placed Girls Grammar at the forefront of providing mentoring and quality professional development since 2005.

In partnering with QUT in the Embracing Curriculum Change project, Girls Grammar is able to extend our mentoring expertise beyond the campus, broadening the commitment of our academic staff to encourage and support fledgling teachers to become the very best educators of the next generation that they can be.

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The Oxbridge experienceMS JULIE HENNESSEY, HEAD OF HISTORY, AND STUDENTS

ARTICLE

AUTHORS

SINCE 2010 SEVENTY-FOUR BRISBANE Girls Grammar students have participated in the Oxbridge Academic Program. First established in 1985, it provides middle- and high-school students from around the world the opportunity to study in Oxford, Cambridge, Paris, New York and Barcelona. Oxbridge is based on the principles of experiential learning, imaginative teaching and cultural enrichment.

At Girls Grammar the programme is offered to Year 11 students, who attend the course during the June–July holidays and the early weeks of Term III. Since 2012 academic staff have been given the opportunity to participate in the Oxbridge Teacher Seminars. To date, three staff members — Mr James Seaha, Director of Post Secondary Planning; Dr Natasha Mayne, English teacher; and myself — have revelled in the chance to be part of the world’s greatest classrooms where current scholarship and university resources in a wide variety of fields are on offer. The Oxbridge courses available to Girls Grammar students and teachers are an important aspect of the School’s commitment to exceptional scholarship.

CATHERINE CHAN: OXFORDAttending the Oxford Tradition allowed me to cultivate new friendships with students from all over the globe including India, Singapore, Malaysia, Switzerland and America. By living, eating and studying together for one month, we became a tight-knit international family sharing our different cultures and interests.

My academic courses were Law and the Economy (major) and Bioethics (minor). The challenging coursework, combined with excellent teachers, gave me new global insights and perspectives into topics ranging from corporate law and the carbon tax to developing biotechnologies. These classes helped me find my passion and possible future career path.

I have also become more interested in world news and events; something that I never took much interest in until studying with international students at one of the world’s most prestigious universities. Studying at Oxford is one of the best experiences of my life.

SAMANTHA DOBRENOV: PARISParis in summer is breathtaking and my experiences here have been life changing. The people I met and the knowledge I gained all contributed to an unforgettable month studying abroad.

Every day I discovered something new, which made me fall more in love with the city. Some of my favourite experiences were seeing the La Sylphide ballet at L’Opéra Garnier, walking through the catacombs, attending a service at Sacre Coeur, watching the Bastille Day parade from the Champs-Élysées and the finish of the 100th Tour de France. The highlight was an evening stroll around the candlelit Vaux-le-Vicomte, the palace that was the inspiration for Versailles.

Ernest Hemingway was right when he said, ‘If you are lucky enough to have lived in Paris as a young [wo]man, then wherever you go for the rest of your life it stays with you, for Paris is a moveable feast.’

MACKENZIE GEEVES: CAMBRIDGEOne of the many highlights of my time in Cambridge included my (major) Advertising class. We discussed issues related to the morality of advertising, banned advertisements and campaigns, as well as innovation and creativity. Creators, innovators and visionaries shape the advertisements we see each day and help transform the way we live our everyday lives.

The most important lesson I learnt from this class, if not the whole experience, was that with the right idea, set of skills and mindset, anything can be achieved — no matter how crazy it might sound. We were told that ‘people who are crazy enough to think they can change the world are the ones who do’. The extent to which my mind has developed creatively is immeasurable. This, together with the lessons learnt and the relationships forged, will remain with me for the rest of my life.

EMILY HARDING: NEW YORKAmazing does not begin to describe my experience in New York City this summer. The activities on offer included trips to Wall Street, Brooklyn, the United Nations, Central Park, Broadway musicals and a Mets baseball game. We also visited the university campuses of UPenn, Yale, Columbia, NYU and Princeton.

My fondest memories are of my art class, when we explored New York while learning new skills. Small crowds would gather around as we drew, painted and sculpted in Times Square, Grand Central Station and at the Chelsea Highline. We also visited galleries such as the MoMA and the Met. Having classmates from around the world — Iceland, Spain, Mexico, India and Singapore — made these visits more enriching as everyone had different perspectives on what we were viewing. This trip provided a great opportunity to develop my skills, explore a new city and make friends across the globe.

IMAGE Mackenzie Geeves’s Advertising class at Cambridge

GRAMMAR GAZETTE

A SCHOLARSHIP TO THE MILLFIELD School in Somerset, England, has Millicent van der Velde (Year 11) anticipating the chance to compete in Europe against some of the best fencers in her age group.

Head of Mackay House Ms Ruth Jans was instrumental in Millie receiving the scholarship. ‘The School fully supports Millie in this endeavour. We want all our girls to achieve their full potential, which was why I was happy to provide a recommendation to Millfield outlining her academic, co-curricular and sporting achievements. Although we are sad to see Millie leave Girls Grammar and Mackay House, it’s a wonderful opportunity for her.’

Millie will attend Millfield for two years, completing her A levels and training in their Fencing Academy under the guidance of experienced UK National Coach Professor Sue Benney. Millfield has a distinguished sporting history with many Olympic athletes among its alumni, including fencer Sophie Williams who represented Great Britain the 2012 London Olympics.

Millie will board at the school, and she is looking forward to meeting people from different parts of the world and to experiencing life in a different country. ‘The staff and students at Millfield were very friendly and very encouraging when I visited earlier this year. The campus is amazing — it has international standard sports facilities, a concert hall and theatre, and it is in a beautiful part of England.’

As with any significant life change, Millie’s feelings of excitement are tinged with a little sorrow. ‘After three and a half years at Girls Grammar, I’ve made some great friends, and I’m sad to leave them. And I’m sure I will miss the Brisbane sunshine. It will be a big change going to England and being so far away from my family, but I am looking forward to this fantastic opportunity.’

AFTER A CHALLENGING THREE–STAGE application process and a nerve-wracking two days of interviews, Brisbane Girls Grammar Year 12 student Katie Ward learned she had been selected as one of The Australian National University’s inaugural Tuckwell Scholars. In 2014, she will move to Canberra and commence her degree studying Astronomy and Astrophysics.

The highly competitive Tuckwell Scholarships — only twenty-five scholars were chosen from 657 applicants — provide up to $100,000 per student for their undergraduate degree and are funded by Graham and Louise Tuckwell’s donation of $50 million to ANU, the largest-ever single donation from individuals to an Australian university.

‘I am honoured to receive this scholarship because of its emphasis on excellence in all areas and not just academics. As someone doing an esoteric course, the support is particularly significant,’ Katie said. ‘The Tuckwell Scholarship emphasises the importance of contributing to ANU and to the wider community by participation outside the classroom. The generosity of the Tuckwell family is remarkable, and it has given me confidence that what I want to do is valued and important in society.’

The week before the Tuckwell Scholarship interview marathon, Katie undertook work experience at ANU’s Mount Stromlo Observatory. ‘It was a terrific experience and confirmed for me that Astronomy is what I want to study,’ she said.

As Katie’s Physics teacher, Director of Science Dr Sally Stephens is delighted for her, and looks forward to Katie’s contribution to the scientific world in the future. ‘Katie is a wonderful example of a curious human being with a yearning desire to understand the world around her. She is an intensely inquisitive and unusually capable young woman. She is a ponderer, yet is still extremely practical when researching the objects of her fascination. Young women such as Katie bring wonderful characteristics and attitudes to the research process — characteristics and attitudes that benefit all society.’

Through her achievements and enthusiasm for scientific endeavours, Katie is an inspiring role model for younger Grammar girls considering science for their studies and for their future careers.

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Millie goes to Millfield

Katie Ward’s exceptional scholarship

ARTICLE ARTICLE

SPRING ISSUE / 2013

IMAGE Millicent van der Velde and Ms Ruth Jans IMAGE Dr Sally Stephens and Katie Ward

MS JACINDA EULER, PRINCIPAL

BEYOND THE CLASSROOMARTICLE

AUTHOR

THE SKILLS REQUIRED FOR a modern world may be different from those of a century ago, however, Brisbane Girls Grammar School has always been characterised by dedication to engaged learning, reflective practices, renewal and innovation in teaching. The introduction of Year 7 in 2015 has presented us with the opportunity to review how we are developing thinkers and learners for a global future.

The UK’s Times Educational Supplement surveyed thousands of teachers recently to ask them what education is for. The list (cited in Hannon, 2013) was inspiring:- to promote passion for and engagement in learning- to grow humanity, empathy and collaborative intent- to stimulate curiosity, imagination and a futures orientation- to develop the skills to become confident, independent decision-makers about to shape our future- to build resilience and introduce the joy of falling forward- to induct into different cultures and different worlds.

The emphasis is clearly on developing the skills of critical thinking and creativity, fostering empathy and engagement with others and preparing for active

participation in the future. ‘Though it draws heavily on the accumulations of culture, education is fundamentally a preparation for the future, not a veneration of the past’ (Claxton, 2007).

In building the curriculum for Year 7 in 2015 the focus has been not just on what our girls will learn, but more importantly how they will learn. Knowledge is no longer ‘power’; for, ‘with expertise, analysis and opinion just an instantaneous click away, being a know-all is no longer a viable mission’ (Bright, 2013). Critical reasoning skills, the ability to ask the right questions and collaborative skills to work effectively with others to access information is essential. This ‘creative power’ is crucial to put knowledge to good use (Bright, 2013).

From 2015 all Year 7 students will learn Latin because contemporary research strongly links the study of Latin with improved literacy skills, general cognitive development and greater cultural awareness. Our girls will also study two subjects created by Girls Grammar academic staff that develop critical thinking skills and positive self-concepts about themselves as learners: Philosophy of Learning and Dispositions of Scholarship.

Philosophy of Learning, taught over the past two years to our Year 8 girls, has been created from research into metacognition and the applications of neuroscience

GRAMMAR GAZETTE

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on how mindset and our beliefs about learning impact on academic success. Creative thinking, for example, requires a preparedness to take risks and even failing. Philosophy of Learning seeks to build such intellectual resilience in our girls and provide them with the tools to understand how they learn, enabling them to become more effective learners.

Dispositions of Scholarship is an interdisciplinary subject designed to develop critical thinking and the skills of analysis. It draws on content, concepts and teaching expertise from across all of the academic faculties, which girls will apply to abstract, philosophical and investigative problem-solving tasks. This foundation of skills will support the girls to succeed during their time at school and well beyond.

Our new Research and Innovative Learning Centre, to be opened for the start of the 2015 school year, has encouraged us to review our approaches to research, technology and classroom design. We have drawn on the research of leading educators such as Valerie Hannon who, in her presentation to the Australian Institute for Teaching and School Leadership’s (AITSL) Anticipating the Future symposium in Melbourne this year, articulated four important platforms of learning.

1. A significant part of students’ learning will be Project Based Learning. A powerful question that matters inspires research, drafting, redrafting and critique. Public exhibition of the completed work reinforces to students its significance and value.

2. The notion of Extended Learning Relationships reminds us that young people require a matrix of learning relationships, which includes teachers, family, peers and external experts. These learning connections are essential to the development of empathy and the healthy relationships that form the basis of a meaningful life. This is why, for example, this semester we invited parents of Year 11 and Year 12 girls to bring their daughter for parent–teacher interviews to be part of an open discussion about their learning.

3. School as ‘base camp’ recognises that education is not just about what happens in the classroom, and promotes learning relationships with outside institutions and experts. The collaborative Drama project between teachers, students and playwright Lachlan Philpott to produce The Chosen this year is a good example. Girls Grammar is the base from which our girls build their learning story within a structured, planned approach to holistic, life-wide learning and think collectively about their place in the world.

4. School as a Learning Commons requires each member of our School community to have an explicit identity as a learner. Mrs Marise McConaghy’s article in this Gazette highlights what exemplary role models our teachers are in this regard.

From 2014 the Bring Your Own Device (BYOD) initiative will be another catalyst for fundamental and transformational changes in teaching and learning. It will allow Girls Grammar to bridge formal learning in school and informal learning outside of school through ubiquitous access to laptop or tablet devices for all students.

Devices will typically be used by students for both educational and personal use, and the students’ affinity with their own personal devices creates a high level of familiarity and a powerful learning tool. Teachers recognise that every device is different and will no longer be able to provide step-by-step instructions for specific applications; instead, they will focus on outcomes and what the student must accomplish using the device.

Finally, amidst all of the exciting developments and innovative change, there must still be at the core of our School the space for stillness and reflection. To develop our capacity to consider the bigger questions of life, and to strengthen the relationships that will always form the foundation of our School, requires space — both physical and metaphorical. A Girls Grammar education is preparation for the future, but also celebrates a joyful appreciation of the here and now as we nurture the interests, character and spirit of each girl and consider who we want them to be, not just what we want them to do.

The values of a Girls Grammar education remain steadfast, as noted by Professor Erica McWilliam in the School’s new publication Educating Girls. Professor McWilliam reflects on Miss Milisent Wilkinson, Principal of Girls Grammar from 1900–1912 (2013, p. 46):

In 1901 Wilkinson, like many of her counterparts since the school’s inception, defended staunchly the relevance of the cultural values of a grammar education for the new century, insisting that it instilled a sense of dignity and calm that she saw as altogether lacking in the culture of the times: ‘This is a hurrying age, too impatient in its expectations of results, intellectual activity and [that] rapidity may increase and flourish at the expense of strength and dignity, and care is needed lest, in the haste to grasp the commercial and the utilitarian, we lose the calm atmosphere which is essential to true character.’

Miss Wilkinson’s words are as relevant today as they were over a century ago.

REFERENCES

Bright, J. (2013, August 3). Now you’re thinking. The Age.

Claxton, G. (2007, June). Expanding young people’s capacity to learn. British Journal of Educational Studies, 55(2), 1–20.

Hannon, V. (March, 2013). Learning futures. Retrieved from http://www.aitsl.edu.au/learning-frontiers.html

McWilliam, E. (2013). Educating girls. Brisbane: University of Queensland Press.

‘...education is fundamentally a preparation for the future, not a veneration of the past’

SPRING ISSUE / 2013

CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPS:

20 years of QGSSSA wins

IN 1994 MY PARENTS GOT engaged, and in the same year Brisbane Girls Grammar School’s Cross Country team initiated a twenty-year winning streak. They must have known that one day I would be the Captain of the team to win the twentieth consecutive title!! Twenty years is a significant age for anyone, not in the least for a record. Ever since I naïvely strolled into Victoria Park five

years ago for my first training session, cross country has been an integral part of my Girls Grammar experience. Back then, I thought warm-up jogs were a race, forgot my water bottle, asked the coaches countless questions and often got lost!

But, despite my numerous irritating habits, the older cross country girls were always welcoming and supportive. Cross country helped me to make lasting friendships in a fun, inclusive environment away from the purely academic social sphere.

I soon realised and respected the importance of the legacy of the QGSSSA victories — we were already at 15-in-a-row by 2009. The support from the entire cross country community helped me and every other girl to do our very best for the good of the entire team, as well as for ourselves.

I had always been in respectful awe of the cross country captains and marvelled at their apparently calm, organised demeanours. When I was elected to be the 2013 Cross Country Captain for the (insert intake of breath here) possible twentieth QGSSSA win, I was aware of the

enormous pressure that could have been placed on the cross country team to uphold such an exceptional record. Outside of the immediate cross country community, winning was just expected — demanded almost.

In our ranks, as we raced up hill and down dale, through mud and mist, we grew strong in the knowledge that this was a challenge we could face — and it was a challenge we wanted to win! While I have no doubt that the entire School community would have been just as supportive if Girls Grammar had succeeded to gain second place, the relief and joy I felt when we secured our twentieth consecutive QGSSSA crown was overwhelming. I will never forget the ecstatic faces of the entire team — coaches and parents alike — and the palpable excitement in the atmosphere as we celebrated the win with war cries, cheers and many, many photographs! That day, for me, stands out as a clear highlight of Year 12 — and one for my entire high school career.

While the win topped off the entire experience, the sense of community and achievement within the team shone brighter than the closely guarded QGSSSA trophy. Cross Country 2013 was an unforgettable, sweaty journey but the QGSSSA Championship made every grassy early morning, hot afternoon meet, exhausted tear, crushing disappointment and painful injury worthwhile. This season was an irreplaceable, magical experience and I hope everyone else had as much fun as I did.

And here’s to the next twenty years… and the next… and the next!

GEORGIA MURPHY, 2013 CROSS COUNTRY CAPTAIN

ARTICLE

AUTHOR

GRAMMAR GAZETTE

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It’s not up for debate:Developing logical reasoning

‘WE ONLY FAIL WHEN WE stop trying.’ This was the premise put forward by three Year 10 debaters who had one hour to justify the claim that ‘we have not failed our indigenous people’. They went on to demolish the opposition with a

reasoned attack setting out how Australia is attempting to right the wrongs of the past. That day, we saw the realisation of one of the goals of Girls Grammar debating: that girls have no need to echo the strident aggression of boys to make their voices heard.

So who are our girls? To answer this question we have to consider a little data. According to the Australian Institute of Family Studies (2012) around sixty per cent of girls come from one or two children families. Ausport (2013) tells us that less than fifty-five per cent of girls play a team sport, with barely twenty per cent continuing beyond age 15. Meanwhile, over eighty per cent of their male counterparts are pursuing team glory on a weekly basis. Furthermore, over forty per cent of girls attend single-sex secondary schools.

Culturally, girls are encouraged to see arguing as a form of emotional communication and bonding. Boys, however, see arguing as an exercise in logical reasoning — a strategic means to an end, with winning as the goal. Tying the facts together, we see a significant population of young women who have very little day-to-day experience of how males compete, negotiate and work. This is an issue because girls emerge into workplaces where power is still disproportionally held by males.

Debating at Girls Grammar aims to develop a more flexible and open-minded approach to thinking; to provide opportunities for scaffolded risk-taking; and to offer an insight into how males think, argue and compete. As well, it builds understanding of how teams function and, perhaps most importantly, debating provides each girl with the opportunity to find her own voice.

The Queensland Debating Union competition has been running for over forty years and traditionally has been dominated by boys’ schools. But this dominance has been challenged in recent years. Girls Grammar teams have reached the Finals in seven of those years, with wins in 2011

and 2012. This year two teams won through to the Grand Finals. The Year 8 girls took out the title with a unanimous decision and the Year 9 girls were narrowly defeated with the only split decision of the evening.

Those intrepid Year 10 debaters who never stop trying won the 2011 QDU State Finals, one member of the team won the 2012 Australian Individual Debating Championships, and in 2013 the team won the QUT Business School Brisbane Girls Competition.

In 2009 Girls Grammar established the Brisbane Girls Debating Competition. The competition has proved an overwhelming success, extending into the Senior School with over sixty teams competing annually. And let’s not forget Interhouse debating. Year 8 students across all Houses compete for four weeks in a colourful and energetic competition. In the past five years School debating numbers have doubled to the point that one in nine girls debates. This may be our most exciting achievement of all.

Debating also offers older debaters and alumnae leadership and mentoring opportunities. The Senior students run workshops, assist with selection and contribute to the Debating Newsletter. Alumnae return as coaches and workshop contributors and for School Debating functions. They provide exemplary role models and inspiration for the younger students.

So, whether it is Blue-spotted Ribbon Day, a comedy debate, or the mental rush at the end of a ‘short prep’ debate, we aim to offer an insight into how the world works — along with a little fun and, ultimately, a pathway for our girls’ voices to be heard loud and clear.

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REFERENCES

Ausport. (2013). Australian sport, the pathway to success. Retrieved August 16, 2013, from www.ausport.gov.au/_data/assets/pdf_file/001

Australian Institute of Family Studies. (2012). Family facts and figures. Retrieved August 20, 2013, from www.aifs.gov.au/institute/info/charts

SPRING ISSUE / 2013

ARTICLE

AUTHOR

IMAGE QDU Grand Final runners-up: Team 9.3 – Lucinda Jolly, Caitlin O’Meara, Anna Ruddell, Phoebe Henderson and Nicole Andronis

IMAGE QDU Grand Final winners: Team 8.1 – Isabel Nolan, Abirami Somasundaram, Cara Whiting and Alice Dunn

MRS ANNE BYRNE, DEBATING CO–ORDINATOR

Allying for Cerebral Palsy researchAAKANKSHA DESAI AND CAITLYN DUKE, SERVICE CAPTAINS

ARTICLE

AUTHORS

BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL SELECTED the Cerebral Palsy Alliance as our charity for 2013. This organisation aims to enhance the lives of people with cerebral palsy and enable their full participation in the community. The Alliance strives to achieve this through the provision of therapy and support services, as well as funding research to answer the many unanswered questions that surround CP.

As representatives of an academic institution of ambitious young women, it seemed fitting for the Girls Grammar Student Council to decide to support a female scholar in her endeavour to make a difference through scholarship. Ms Hayley Smithers-Sheedy is a speech therapist, PhD student, and epidemiologist with the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation. On 20 May this year we welcomed Hayley to Girls Grammar for the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation Day. She conducted two interactive sessions for students about her career as a research scientist and as a speech pathologist, engaging and inspiring girls in their scholarly aspirations.

Hayley’s presentation was based around the relatively deficient knowledge base surrounding the causes of cerebral palsy. Her research involves looking into infections that may be contracted while babies are in utero. Hayley is specifically exploring congenital cytomegalovirus, and distinguishing the link between this virus and children born with cerebral palsy. Hayley expressed her gratitude for the funds we were providing, and explained where each $10-increment raised will be utilised in her research. She gave us a sense of inclusion and personal ownership of the study.

The Student Council has been collecting funds for the charity by hosting several awareness and fundraising events for the School community. These have included Blue Day celebrations before major co-curricular events, selling Valentine’s Day treats, the YOLO debate against Somerville House, BiGrammar Touch and Netball games, and the ‘Steptember’ health and wellness initiative. Additional funds have been received from selling Cerebral Palsy Alliance badges made by students, café charity tins and through a generous donation from the Girls Grammar Interact Club.

This important cause has become part of the Brisbane Girls Grammar School Service programme. We hope that the strong bond that has been forged with our sponsored scholar and the Cerebral Palsy Alliance will continue beyond 2013.

GRAMMAR GAZETTE

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Pink Day supporting NBCF

RAISING AWARENESS AND FUNDS FOR the National Breast Cancer Foundation was the focus of Pink Day at Girls Grammar on Friday 3 May. Through selling Pink

Ribbon merchandise, fairy bread and raffle tickets for a three-tiered cake, more than $1800 was raised to support

NBCF research.

A strong message about prevention and early detection was conveyed to all students and staff, and everyone recognised the giant pink ribbon formed by students

on the pool lawn as an emblem of significance to the many families who have been affected by

this disease.

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THE AUSTRALIAN COMBINED SCHOOLS MUSIC Festival has been a national biennial tradition for the past thirty-four years. It has enjoyed a most productive history, with some of the country’s finest young musicians coming together every two years. Participants are challenged technically and musically with professional level repertoire, directed by some of Australia’s most prominent conductors.

The 18th Festival, held in June this year, saw 340 participants from Adelaide, Melbourne, Sydney, Canberra and Brisbane assembled at Brisbane Grammar School to begin a four-day programme of intense rehearsals, tutorials, personal practice and social interaction. This was the culmination of two years of planning and organising to create a festival that would continue the tradition of exceptional performance and the development of lasting social connections with fellow musicians across the country. Many Brisbane families hosted interstate students in their homes, which added an extra dimension to their festival experience.

Each of the conductors — Neil Coy – Concert Band, Debra Shearer-Dirie – Choir, and Richard Gill – Symphony Orchestra — had the enormous responsibility of choosing and rehearsing the repertoire that would motivate, engage and inspire each musician to produce a polished final performance from a group of students with significantly diverse experiences.

The rehearsal and tutorial schedule was intense, with twenty-one hours of practice completed by each of the ensembles. Mastering new techniques and strategies to improve personal skills resulted in unified ensembles performing with impressive precision and musical expression.

The highlight for most, which exemplified the true ideal of the 18th Festival, was the ambitious finale. This featured the symphony orchestra and the 170 voice choir performing the recently composed ‘Missa Solis: Requiem for Eli’, written by Australian composer Nigel Westlake and conducted by Richard Gill.

Well known for his film scores including Antarctica and Babe, Westlake had been commissioned to write a secular mass to the sun called the ‘Missa Solis’. Shortly after finishing the first draft in 2008, his life was completely shattered by the tragic death of his son Eli. He found himself grief–stricken, broken, creatively numb and unable to compose. Three years after the tragedy, he began composing again and foremost in his mind was the desire to express his grief at the loss of his son. He began again revisiting his ideas and the powerful and emotional ‘Missa Solis: Requiem for Eli’ emerged.

Premiered by the Melbourne Symphony Orchestra in 2011 and not previously performed by a student orchestra, the festival orchestra and choir were greatly challenged by the difficult pitch, rhythm, meter, harmony and orchestration of the work. By the end of the first rehearsal, conductor Richard Gill knew the names of all eighty-five musicians and consistently asked individuals to contribute their thoughts and ideas. His expectation for excellence was clear and his rehearsal technique strategic — he treated the musicians as professionals. This approach created an environment of confidence and unity and an expectation that, no matter how difficult the challenge, a memorable performance would be achieved. Concentration levels at rehearsals and tutorials were intense, but the genuine trust that was developed between performer and conductor ensured the final performance was a real triumph and a musical milestone for all involved.

While I marvelled at the amazing musical achievements of the festival ensembles, the opportunity to observe master musician and brilliant educator Richard Gill in action was inspirational.

‘Missa Solis’: An inspirational triumphARTICLE

AUTHOR

MR MARK SULLIVAN, DIRECTOR OF INSTRUMENTAL MUSIC

SPRING ISSUE / 2013

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ON A BRIGHT SPRING DAY IN EARLY SEPTEMBER, BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL WAS HONOURED BY THE PRESENCE OF THE GOVERNOR-GENERAL OF THE COMMONWEALTH OF AUSTRALIA, HER EXCELLENCY THE HONOURABLE QUENTIN BRYCE ao cvo, TO OFFICIALLY LAUNCH EDUCATING GIRLS.

Commissioned by immediate-past Principal Dr Amanda Bell and written by Australian educationalist Professor Erica McWilliam, Educating Girls is a revealing account of the struggle for educational equality set against the historic backdrop of colonial Queensland’s aspirational society.

At the launch, Professor McWilliam expressed her heartfelt thanks to her ‘remarkable mother’, saying that her mother’s ‘lifelong love of the written and spoken word’ began when she was a Girls Grammar student, and that she passed this gift on to Erica.

Her Excellency warmly congratulated the School on the book’s publication. ‘Educating Girls is a major scholarly body of research, eloquently presented, and a significant contribution to our knowledge of Queensland and our social, cultural and political history — those struggles, those disappointments, the lost potential of women who

were denied opportunities in the past. Educating Girls is a celebration of more than a century of reform in women’s education, which has been the greatest achievement of the women’s movement of my generation. It is an elegant persuasive argument, not a logical, dry, linear chronology that these pages hold. The story is a proud, uplifting, enduring narrative of scholarship, care, opportunity and inspiration for young women.’

Educating Girls highlights the passion for scholarship and the desire to produce the very best in every girl that is Brisbane Girls Grammar School’s philosophy.

Educating Girls: Leading in exceptional scholarship

IMAGE (L—R) Chair of the Board of Trustees Ms Elizabeth Jameson; Dr Amanda Bell; Governor-General, Her Excellency the Honourable Quentin Bryce ao cvo; Professor Erica McWilliam; and Ms Jacinda Euler at the launch of Educating Girls

ARTICLE

GRAMMAR GAZETTE

IT IS TOO EASY TO overstate, or understate, the role of this School, or any school, in relation to exceptional achievements by many of its graduates. On the one hand, it could be argued that Girls Grammar merely added icing to the genetic cake that was already full of potential and promise. On the other hand, it could be argued that the girls were mere putty in the hands of experienced educators who moulded them into world-beating shape. The importance of a combination of both nature and the particular kind of nurture available at Girls Grammar seems undeniable. It is a combination captured in the reflection of Old Girl Mrs Hazel Burnside on the part played in her early life by one of her teachers at Girls Grammar. Travelling on the same tram to School each day with the much-loved Miss Benney, Hazel ‘happened to say that I thought my sisters were cleverer than I’. Miss Benney’s reply, ‘There is nothing wrong with your ability to think!’ gave her renewed confidence in who she was and could become (Burnside, n.d.).

The ability to think can be a much underrated asset in a speeded-up world where stimulation and simulation rule, where every mistake seems to be instantly correctible and every decision reversible, where the sales chart is so often the default measure of worth, and where opinion is so often blurted rather than built. Those who claim, like Hazel Burnside, that Grammar ‘taught us a love of the world’ are unlikely to be flippant or to seek quick fixes in relation to their own or their planet’s future. Like women travellers in the past, they are eager to explore the fullness of the world, armed with relentless curiosity and unflagging enthusiasm. In her book, delightfully titled The Blessings of a Good Thick Skirt, author Mary Russell captures the essence of this imperative to discover and engage with unfamiliar people, places and things in women of the past. She writes of two kinds of female travellers – the restless and the dawdler:

Travellers can be roughly divided into two types. There are those who set out with their sights firmly fixed on a distant destination. It may be an ancient city concealed in the deserts of time, or a river whose source is unknown, a mountain peak which has retained its snow-bound secret. The journey is a quest, the traveller searchers who cannot rest until they reach their goal. There is a second sort of traveller however – those who weave in and out among the lives of people they encounter on the way, picking up during their odyssey, a stitch here and a pattern there so that they return wearing cloaks embroidered with the rainbow of the world. (1994, p. 211)

Interestingly, some Grammar Old Girls seem to combine both dispositions in shaping their destiny. A pupil who left in 1996, Dr Jo Darby, for example, recounts a nomadic existence in which she, as a young adult, has ‘lived in three countries across the globe, in four states and two territories in Australia, and … moved home nineteen times’. Her teachers gave her ‘a passion for Japan’, which made her restless to move there at the first opportunity she had. Her passion for Japan, however, did not keep her from returning home to study for a career in medicine. She later became an Air Force doctor on Ashmore Reef, tending to dozens of Defence Force colleagues who were victims of an explosion there. The message to Grammar girls about to graduate from the School is to focus on the journey, to dawdle long enough to ‘enjoy the journey, enjoy the ride’ and to ‘see where life takes you’ (Darby, 2010, pp. 42–46). It is a sentiment endorsed by the many graduates who have used their Grammar experiences and achievements as a launching pad for ‘spin[ning] off out of the orbit of the mundane’ (Russell, 1994, p. 224).

Being AspirationalARTICLE

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REFERENCES

Burnside (née Palmer), H. (n.d.). Old Girl recollections, Brisbane Girls Grammar School Archives.

Darby, J. (2010). Dr Jo Darby, alumna 1996, valedictory address. In Brisbane Girls Grammar School Annual Review. Brisbane Girls Grammar School.

Russell, M. (1994). The blessings of a good thick skirt: Women travellers and their world. London: Harper Collins.

AN EXCERPT FROM EDUCATING GIRLS BY PROFESSOR ERICA McWILLIAM

SPRING ISSUE / 2013

DR ANN FARLEY, DIRECTOR OF DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING

The voice of differentiationTRADITIONALLY FACULTIES WITHIN SCHOOLS ARE identified by the subject areas that provide their content focus. The foci of the English Faculty, the Mathematics Faculty, the Health Studies Faculty and the Technology Studies Faculty are quite clear.

What, you may ask, is the focus of the Differentiated Learning Faculty?

Within the framework of a differentiated, inclusive curriculum, teachers at Brisbane Girls Grammar strive to cater for the needs of each student within the classroom. All students deserve equitable access to an engaging and rigorous curriculum (Tomlinson & Javius, 2012). However, equity does not mean that the same experiences should be delivered at the same time to each student. In fact, effective differentiation results not in responding to individual needs as they arise within classrooms, but in developing units of work where the essential principle is designing experiences which provide maximum access to,

and participation in, individually tailored learning. Teachers learn to accept that diversity is the norm and thus naturally adjust content, process and product in response to each student’s readiness, interests, and learning profile.

Teachers in effectively differentiated classes help students to participate in the formation of their own identity as learners. Students come to trust that process, they develop the power and agency they need to become intellectual beings and thus to own the process of learning. (Tomlinson, 2008)

Recently, several factors have merged to provide a particularly fertile ground for a review of curriculum content and delivery. The introduction of the Australian Curriculum, the relocation of Year 7 from primary to secondary school, the development of a variety of flexible learning spaces across the School, and the opportunities provided by our Bring Your Own Device initiative have provided an unprecedented opportunity to rethink the ways teachers interact with their students.

The Differentiated Learning Faculty, with its primary focus on ensuring more personalised learning, has existed within the School for a number of years. However, in 2013, the School extended the role of the faculty to include a representative from each

of the other faculties. Their major role as new members of the Differentiated Learning Faculty is to be ‘the conscience of differentiation’ during faculty discussions and planning. With their intimate knowledge of the content and skills being developed in their various areas and an increased understanding of the elements of differentiation, these teachers work to ensure that learning is accessible to all students and that each student is faced with an appropriate level of challenge.

An increased understanding of how the brain works and the many facets of how a learner engages in her own learning process means that teachers are constantly immersed in discussions focused on catering for the range of abilities and experiences that are the reality of the classroom. During the year, each faculty has identified curriculum materials and practice that need further development. For some, it has been a focus on ‘student voice’: how can we gain a better understanding of where students are located in the learning process through more effective student feedback? For others, it has been a more thorough provision of layered learning resources to cater for the variety of learning styles. For other faculties, the

development of online resources using Moodle, the School’s Learning Management System, to provide ‘point of need’ learning to satisfy the increasingly discriminating independent user, has been the priority.

Creating the most effective learning pathway for each student at Brisbane Girls Grammar is a responsibility that is taken very seriously. Teachers are very aware of the inherent dangers of teaching to the middle (Kryza, Duncan, & Stephens, 2010) and encourage students to be active, rather than passive, learners who understand and appreciate their own learning strengths and weaknesses. This partnership of student and teacher, coupled with a differentiated, inclusive curriculum, enables that wonderful diversity of learners to be accommodated within a single classroom.

REFERENCES

Kryza, K., Duncan, A., & Stephens, J. (2010). Inspiring middle and secondary learners. Moorabbin, Victoria: Hawker Brownlow Education.

Tomlinson, C. (2008). The goals of differentiation. Educational Leadership, 66(3), 26–30.

Tomlinson, C., & Javius, E. (2012). Teach up for excellence. Educational Leadership, 69(5), 28–33.

AUTHOR

ARTICLE

All students deserve equitable access to an engaging and rigorous curriculum — (TOMLINSON & JAVIUS, 2012).

GRAMMAR GAZETTE

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DR ANN FARLEY, DIRECTOR OF DIFFERENTIATED LEARNING ARTICLE

AUTHOR MS ELIZABETH JAMESON, HEAD GIRL 1982 — CHAIR, BOARD OF TRUSTEES

ENCOURAGING COMMUNITY LEADERS

GRAMMAR WOMEN:

THE ANNIE MACKAY ROOM IN the School’s lovely Main Building is in many ways the very heart of the Girls Grammar. Not only in terms of it being a central pathway from the School’s ‘front door’ to the lively campus behind, but also because of the stories that its honour boards and photographs, and those of the adjacent Mittelheuser Museum, tell about the 138-year life of the School.

It was therefore fitting that the heart of the School was beating out a strong and healthy rhythm on the last Saturday in June, as thirty ‘Grammar women’ across several generations shared stories about lives, careers, children, grandchildren, aspirations and School memories. The common bond in this case was that, across more than fifty years, each of the women in the room had been a Head Girl, a Lady Lilley Gold Medallist (Dux) or a Lady Lilley Silver Medallist (Proxime Accessit).

The Reunion Luncheon was the third of its kind held over recent years and is set to become a semi-regular feature in the School’s calendar. All who attended — from the most senior of the group Miss Margaret Vallance, the 1959 Lady Lilley Medallist who shared her original gold medal with the group, through to the fresh-faced young women from the 2012 alumnae year — agreed that the event is a marvellous way to forge stronger bonds across generations, the School’s ephemeral ‘Grammar spirit’ being the binding force.

The fascinating and varied conversation culminated in discussing the ways in which this group could become a forum for the encouragement of greater leadership mentoring for our women of all ages. The School already has a number of excellent programmes and networks with a leadership focus for today’s students, but the discussion turned to the concept of finding, supporting and encouraging the development of more community leaders, including in the boardroom, from among our old girls and alumnae.

After all, as demonstrated by the many stories shared on the day, for decades Brisbane Girls Grammar has encouraged our young women to independence of thought and a courageous preparedness to push the boundaries when circumstances demand. These features — courage and independence — are obviously common threads throughout generations of Grammar women. They are perhaps the very essence of the ‘Grammar spirit’? They are also clearly critical attributes of true leadership in any walk of life.

Combine this Grammar spirit with the old girl/alumnae network, its tendrils stretching across endless disciplines and interests right around the world, and we Grammar women are well placed to do much more for each other in this regard.

The Girls Grammar heartbeat was loud and clear that day in the Annie Mackay Room. It is hoped that future Reunion Luncheons will keep the circulation moving — the healthy circulation of ideas, friendships and community leadership opportunities.

TOP LEFT Guests at the Head Girl, Lady Lilley Gold Medallist (Dux) & Lady Lilley Silver Medallist (Proxime Accessit) Reunion Luncheon

TOP RIGHT Mrs Jayne Marriott (nee Sellars) Head Girl 1968, Mrs Rosemary Doyle (nee Henzell) Head Girl 1967, and Mrs Barbara Alexander (nee Harris) Head Girl 1967

BOTTOM RIGHT Ms Tanvi Karnik Head Girl 2012, Ms Emma Nicol Dux 2012, Ms Phoebe Tronc Head Girl 2012, with Ms Elizabeth Jameson Head Girl 1982 and Chair of the Board of Trustees

SPRING ISSUE / 2013

THROUGH THE SCHOOL’S SERVICE PROGRAMME and co-curricular activities, our students and staff raise funds to support many charitable community organisations. Our young women carry this tradition of giving with them after they leave Girls Grammar. For many, this tradition encompasses giving back to their School for the benefit of current and future generations. Mrs Karalyn Shaw (née Orr) (Head Girl, Class of 1992) and Ms Kylie Elkington (Class of 1983) are generously supporting the School in personally meaningful ways.

Karalyn Shaw’s very fond memories of her school days and her fervent belief in education inspired her gifts back to Girls Grammar. ‘I had a dream to become Australia’s first French-speaking astronaut for most of my formative years. I was always offered every encouragement by my incredibly dedicated and passionate teachers. There was never a dream too big or too “out there” for any Grammar girl.’

Like many other past students and their families, Karalyn chose to support the School’s building fund through establishing a bronze plaque under the Aere Perennius programme. The name comes from a Latin Ode by the Roman poet Horace (65–8 bc) — ‘Exegi monumentum aere perennius’ — which translates as ‘I have created a monument more lasting than bronze’. The plaques feature inspiring quotations selected by donor families, together with the names of students and their graduation years.

A former International Humanitarian Law Officer with the Australian Red Cross and now mother-of- four, including three future Grammar girls, Karalyn wanted the wording of her plaque to reflect her family’s impassioned belief in education. It reads: ‘An investment in education returns an immeasurable richness.’

‘Education enables us to develop our whole selves — intellectually, spiritually, culturally and physically — to

our greatest potential so that we not only feel fulfilled personally but may also give back and contribute meaningfully to society. My parents instilled in me the importance of a broad-based, enlightened education and saw Girls Grammar as the optimal environment in which I could explore my interests and abilities and thrive. Their gift to me, in not only my schooling but in an appreciation of the true significance of life-long learning, has been invaluable. It’s a gift I continue to give myself and now strive to give our children.’

‘My husband and I made this gift to the School because of our passionate belief in education; in the School to provide the highest quality education; and in our daughters and future generations of women to become the thinkers, doers, motivators and leaders of tomorrow.’

As the gift is made over five years through regular tax-deductible donations, Karalyn finds Aere Perennius an affordable way of supporting her School. ‘We are very proud to make our small contribution to the School. It is very easy to give to a community you believe in and care about so much — a community which has given me and, therefore, our family a great deal in such a multitude of ways and which continually pursues excellence in educating young women.’

For established visual artist Kylie Elkington the idea of giving to Girls Grammar by donating two fine artworks arose from a conversation with Principal Ms Jacinda Euler at the 30 year reunion held at the School earlier this year. Currently residing in Melbourne, Kylie also took the opportunity to discuss her gift with Ms Euler and Director of Development Ms Lea Walker at the recent Alumni and Art viewing of the ‘Monet’s Garden’ exhibition at the National Gallery of Victoria.

Kylie enjoyed the day at the NGV getting to know staff and past students, whose graduation years ranged from 1950

PHILANTHROPY IN FOCUS

MS MICHELLE JAMES, PUBLICATIONS OFFICER

GIVING ACROSS GENERATIONS

GRAMMAR GAZETTE

ARTICLE

AUTHOR

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to 1988. ‘It hit home once again just how important it is for students to be exposed to as much learning at a young age as possible. On discovering that the School had an art collection, I was very keen to contribute my artwork to support this endeavour.’

Kylie is gifting two paintings — Faultline 2009 and Rocks, Shoalhaven River 2012 — under the Australian Government’s Cultural Gifts Program, which encourages donations of culturally significant gifts to public collections by offering tax incentives to the donor.

Kylie painted the recent work during an artist’s residency at Bundanon, the property overlooking the Shoalhaven River near Nowra in New South Wales that was gifted to the Australian people in 1993 by venerated Australian painter Arthur Boyd and his artist wife Yvonne.

With a Bachelor of Fine Arts, First Class Honours, from Queensland College of Art Griffith University and a Master of Fine Arts from Victoria’s Monash University, Kylie is a mid-career artist who paints on linen and on plywood, often using the grain of the timber to complete the image. Her quiet appreciation of the understated and sometimes conflicting drama of both untamed and manicured garden landscapes feeds directly into both donated works. In recent years the doyen of Brisbane art dealers Philip Bacon has awarded Kylie with a competition win and an acquisition prize, and she has been a finalist in several national painting prizes, including the Tattersall’s Prize, the Thiess Art Award, the Stanthorpe Art Award and the John Leslie Art Prize.

While based in Melbourne, and represented by Bridget McDonnell Gallery in that city, Kylie has family in Brisbane and her ties remain strong. She is thrilled that current and future students will be able to contemplate the paintings of a past student. ‘I am absolutely delighted to support the Brisbane Girls Grammar art collection, and I see my gift as a way of “passing the baton” between generations.’

Our inspirational past students are uniquely placed to give back to their School and model philanthropic ideals to our girls. Through the support of women such as Karalyn and Kylie, the School is enriched financially, intellectually and culturally. Whatever form these gifts take, they demonstrate our community’s belief in the value of girls’ education and help make this exceptional School what it is today.

TO DISCUSS DONATING AN ARTWORK THROUGH THE CULTURAL GIFTS PROGRAM OR NAMING AN AERE PERENNIUS PLAQUE, PLEASE CONTACT DIRECTOR OF DEVELOPMENT MS LEA WALKER.

TOP LEFT Karalyn Shaw with her children at the CSIRO’s Australia Telescope National Facility Paul Wild Observatory in Narrabri

TOP Kylie Elkington ‘on reconnaissance’ in the bush

ABOVE Rocks, Shoalhaven River 2012 oil on linen

For many, the tradition of philanthropy encompasses giving back to their School for the benefit of current and future generations.

SPRING ISSUE / 2013

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MRS ANNE INGRAM Dean of Students & Head of Multi-strand ScienceGrowing up in an extended family of teachers was bound to exert a strong influence over my choice of career. With my grandfather a primary school principal, my father a school inspector and my mother a specialist in learning disabilities, my early childhood years were spent travelling the coast of Queensland as my family moved from one school placement to the next. With each new location, I became quite proficient at adapting to new environments, new cultures and new friends.

My teaching career began in the 1980s, after graduating from the University of Queensland with a Bachelor of Science degree and Diploma of Education. Music, which I studied from an early age, has also always been a passion of mine, and the completion of my Associate Diploma in Music Australia (AMusA) in piano, awarded by the Australian Music Examinations Board (AMEB), was personally very satisfying.

My first teaching placement was at a co-educational state high school in a socially disadvantaged demographic in Ipswich. The work was challenging and many of the students even more so; however, I found the vibrancy of school life uplifting and the role that I played exceptionally rewarding. It was here that I came to the realisation of the vital importance of the role student care plays in schools. Having a sense of belonging impacts on many aspects of individual and educational outcomes, and it became clear to me that students who did not feel secure, who did not feel that they belonged, were the ones to struggle with many aspects of their school experience. Connectedness is the key. Students need to feel that they matter, that their contributions are valued and that others care about them. It is only then that they are able to flourish.

In 1993, my teaching path brought me to Brisbane Girls Grammar School where I have enjoyed many rewarding years as a member of this exceptional School community. My current role as Dean of Students has afforded me the opportunity to work closely with many facets of the School — the Student Care team, the teachers, the students and their families. We continue to develop a student care structure within the School that provides essential support for the students, and also encourages the girls to thrive by seeking personal challenges and rich opportunities.

I see Brisbane Girls Grammar as a community of people that feel positively connected with each other. This degree of connectedness culminates in a level of social capital in which trust and reciprocity predominate and members of the community support each other to attain shared goals. Within the Girls Grammar community, the focus on ‘we’ rather than ‘me’ is in everyone’s best interest.

MS LEA WALKER Director of DevelopmentI’ve always loved learning and meeting people. So whether as a student, teacher, parent, or a director on the executive team, schools have always played a major role in my life. My appointment at Brisbane Girls Grammar provides the opportunity to work at a girls’ school, whereas previously I’ve worked in boys’ schools (Newington College and Trinity Grammar in Sydney) and two co-educational schools.

I attended a co-educational state high school in Sydney’s south which, regrettably, didn’t have much to be proud of. Fortunately, that helped motivate me to want to be one of the few

students to go to university. I loved uni and knew that I wanted to do something in the economics/business world but, as I was unsure what that could be, I trained as an Economics, Business Studies and Geography teacher.

I enjoyed teaching and was truly inspired by working in schools with history, heritage, a sense of community and generations of school pride displayed across the ‘school family’. It was a natural progression for me to be drawn into the community engagement and philanthropic aspects of helping schools turn their Boards’ visions of providing the best possible educational facilities and resources for their students into reality.

Further study beckoned and, after completing a Master of Business Administration with a triple major in project management, marketing, and not-for-profit organisations, I began developing a culture of philanthropy in my then school through establishing a range of events and community engagement activities for past students, as well as parents and staff. I now enjoy presenting at conferences and sharing what I’ve learnt — so, as life has it sometimes, I’ve come full circle in some respects with enjoying teaching again!

In my role as the inaugural Director of Development at Girls Grammar, I look forward to getting to know the ‘heartbeat’ of our School. We must have the courage to ask everyone who loves Girls Grammar to consider making their own personal best gift (which starts with me), because that’s what a close community does; it pulls together in the same direction to transform dreams into reality — a reality where every girl will directly benefit for many generations to come. This is a remarkably exciting time to be at Brisbane Girls Grammar, and I’m honoured to join you as we write the next chapters in our School’s history together.

STAFF PROFILES

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GRAMMAR GAZETTE

THE BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL Board of Trustees often states that the biggest asset this School has is its teachers. In part, this is due to the tradition of a love of scholarship passed on to us by former colleagues over the past 138 years. Indeed, the beautiful heritage building in which I sit seems to eke a gracious, yet muscular, intellectualism and a desire to contribute to understanding. So, as educators here, we are advantaged by this heritage.

However, the learning required in the globalised, networked world that our current students navigate will not ignite without the presence and vibrancy of teachers who are engaged in the world beyond the white picket fence. Our teachers harness the velocity of change and channel it in pedagogically clever ways for our students’ learning. Like our girls, our teachers inhabit online worlds and are part of networks posting, blogging and tweeting educational ‘#edchat’ across local, national and international forums. A number of our teachers have become online leaders in their fields, gathering followers seeking to gain from their expertise and curious intellectualism. Cyberspace has become the living embodiment of ideas, and we can imagine the Girls Grammar pedagogical brain activity synapsing its way to and from Gregory Terrace.

Meanwhile, in real time and physicality, connections are being made by teachers across all areas of the School.

Ms Julie Hennessey, our Head of History, was exposed to some of the best scholars and scholarship on offer at Cambridge University when she participated in the Oxbridge Academic Program recently. This experience followed her secondment to Education Queensland last year to develop the Australian Curriculum for History and, while she was sorely missed, she returned to us renewed from her experience working with like-minded colleagues.

Mr Alan Allinson’s leadership in teaching Physics also has an international context through his work as President of the International Young Physicists’ Tournament. He, teacher Ms Carmen Keating and several students have recently returned from the 26th IYPT in Taipei, where they participated in ‘Physics Fights’. By meeting Noble Prize Winner Professor Douglas Osheroff at the opening ceremony and visiting the President of the Republic of China in his offices, our teachers and students furthered

their experiences and connections marvelously.

Meanwhile, in the Mathematics Faculty, Ms Maggi Gunn and Dr Peter Jenkins established valuable contacts through their attendance at the Australian Association of Mathematics Teachers annual conference. As a result, the National Mathematics Summer School is seeking to engage Dr Jenkins as a tutor, and Ms Gunn has been invited to speak at the Mathematical Association of Victoria annual conference. Mrs Judith Muller and Ms Gunn recently accompanied students to the Singapore Mathematical Modelling Forum and Challenge hosted by Ngee Ann Secondary School and Raffles Girls’ School. Teachers and students had the opportunity to liaise with international counterparts and gain insights into teaching and learning practices from around the world.

Our English Faculty is considered a leader in the field, and universities are frequently seeking to develop relationships with our School. This year Dr Natasha Mayne, Head of English Curriculum Development, has been invited by Griffith University to lecture part-time in their Secondary English course for pre-service teachers. The School is supporting Dr Mayne so that she can extend herself professionally and bring back to her students and colleagues the benefit of her experience working in a university setting. Ms Rachael Christopherson’s classes have been filmed by Queensland University of Technology so the footage can be used as an exemplar of best practice in English teaching to their pre-service teachers. Dr Kay Kimber, Director of the Centre for Professional Practice, English teacher, and Adjunct Researcher at Griffith University, has recently returned to us full-time after being seconded to Griffith to work with research teams on several projects.

The sports area of the School is as vibrant and forward-thinking as ever. Recently, Director of Sport Ms Sally Northcroft attended the International Conference on Sport and Society in Chicago. Leadership was a key focus of Ms Northcroft’s interest and she met university lecturers from the USA and Europe to explore how girls can use their sporting capabilities to become leaders in their future careers. She also attended the National Coalition of Girls’ Schools conference in Massachusetts, where girls and leadership was again a key topic, and was able to make connections with many like-minded people. In particular, discussions are ongoing with the Hockaday School in Texas about creating future programmes between our two schools.

The activities described here are just an example of the professional connections that our staff build to create exceptional learning opportunities for our students. We may spend our hours and days behind the white picket fence on the Terrace at Spring Hill, but technology, enquiring minds and adventurous spirits ensure that we are part of a national and international context.

CONNECTED TEACHERSMRS MARISE MCCONAGHY, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL (STAFF)

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Bringing together over 500 Year 8 students from two schools for a collaborative, technology-based activity spanning two days and two campuses is an annual undertaking for Brisbane Girls Grammar School and Brisbane Grammar School.

In August each year, we unite for The Quest — a learning activity developed by experienced teaching staff that engages students from the two single-sex schools in peer-level problem-solving design tasks. The Year 8 cohorts unite to find a marketing solution to a fictional brief:

Java Jake’s, a new company marketing only fair-trade coffee, has just been established. They require an innovative advertising campaign that will convince the Australian public that they should drink their new line of fair-trade coffee named ‘FairBeans’, even though it may be a little more expensive than other brands on the market. The effective marketing of coffee and its products is a valuable trade, especially as Australians are a nation of coffee drinkers.

Java Jake’s feel confident that by delving into the treasure chest of young minds not yet exposed to coffee advertising, they will be able to produce original and convincing ideas to encourage consumers to buy their product.

Using their technological and communication skills to solve open-ended complex problems, cross-school teams of seven students design, produce and present a new product. Each team is overseen by an elected student Project Manager.

Students create a corporate identity for the imaginary new range of fair-trade coffee being launched onto the market, including a new logo design, packaging to contain coffee beans and a presentation of the new brand.

A key focus of The Quest is to nurture communication and conflict-resolution skills in a team environment, while immersing students in a problem-solving activity. Over time, various contexts and design situations have been used. The Java Jake’s brief further expands upon a new set of digital and design technological capabilities. Each group is required to use and integrate various Microsoft and Adobe software packages as they develop their logo and packaging designs.

The teams encounter many constructive challenges throughout The Quest. By taking on their individual roles, and their team members’ perspectives and personalities, students’ social and emotional skills are developed. The most challenging aspects are working to tight timelines and communicating effectively under pressure.

Throughout the two-day activity, the boys and girls present a wide repertoire of multiple intelligences (Gardner, 1993), as they collectively reason with the challenges of The Quest. Interestingly, the girls tend to have more sophisticated communication skills, displaying a greater

level of verbal reasoning and diplomacy. As born out by research (Gurian, 2001), the boys tend to be better with the physical and spatial elements of the activity.

The students utilise higher-order thinking skills to collaborate and discuss their ideas and engage their emotional intelligence (Boyatzis, 2007). The experience encourages them to be confident within the group and experiment with new technologies, while drawing upon skills sets of their peers.

The Quest is an education activity that caters for the developmental and social needs of young adolescents in the vital middle years of schooling. The collaboration between the Year 8 girls and boys employs their cognitive, creative and interpersonal skills; and, while doing so, they have a lot of fun.

REFERENCES

Boyatzis, R. (2007). The creation of the emotional and social competency inventory (ESCI). Boston: Hay Group.

Gardner, H. (1993). Multiple intelligences. The theory in practice (10th-anniversary ed.). New York: Basic Books.

Gurian, M. (2001). Boys and girls learn differently. San Francisco, CA: Jossey-Bass.

THE QUEST FOR COLLABORATIVE LEARNING

MS EMMA JONES, TECHNOLOGY STUDIES FACULTY

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ON YA BIKE!ARTICLE

AUTHOR MR STEPHEN FOGARTY, DIRECTOR OF HEALTH STUDIES

ALBERT EINSTEIN IS REPUTED TO have developed the Theory of Relativity while riding his bicycle. According to author Elizabeth West, ‘progress should have stopped when [we] invented the bicycle’ because, in doing so, we reached the peak of our attainments. Cycling continues to hold its place in the collective thinking of Australians. A bike is still a much sought-after gift for children during times of significant celebration, and one need only look to our roads on weekends to see that people continue to value cycling as a form of exercise.

The students at Brisbane Girls Grammar are fortunate that the School also sees great merit in cycling. The School maintains a fleet of fifty bicycles for curriculum use during Health Studies classes with an additional thirty-five programme-specific bicycles available for use at Marrapatta, our Memorial Outdoor Education Centre in the Mary Valley.

Year 8 students ride bikes as part of the cycling unit in Term III in preparation for their Year 9 overnight expedition at Marrapatta — a camping experience that involves cycling and canoeing. As part of the Year 10 experience at the Memorial Outdoor Education Centre, students are able to return to the bikes as they get to know the sixty kilometre ‘Noosa Trail Journey’, in and around Pomona. Cycling forms part of the ‘Fit for Life’ unit in Year 11 Health Studies and, importantly, provides the means of transport for all Year 11 and Year 12 Senior Physical Education students as they make their way from School to the Victoria Park Golf Complex during their tertiary entrance-based Golf units.

For a student at Brisbane Girls Grammar School, cycling can be a way to get from point A to point B, it can be a way to maintain fitness and it can be a way to challenge oneself both mentally and physically. Most importantly, it is fun. Despite the growing efforts of city councils, cycling in built-up areas remains a relatively difficult pastime for adolescents. The School is proud to be able to provide safe yet challenging environments for girls to get on their bikes!

REFERENCES

West, E. (1977). Hovel in the hills: An account of the simple life. Cardiff: John Jones Publishing.

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Back in May 2011, the Senior Drama Company staged Lachlan’s play Bustown. The playwright came to view the final show and in post–show discussions the idea of Girls Grammar commissioning him to write an original play script was developed. The School was very interested in building this partnership with such an acclaimed playwright, and a framework was developed that involved Lachlan spending many Friday afternoons throughout 2012 with the then Year 11 Drama students developing ideas, storylines and characters. By the end of 2012 the first scenes were written. By early 2013 a first complete draft was available, and the audition and rehearsal process began.

Lachlan’s engagement with the students was built on a genuine desire to hear their ideas and opinions and to deepen his understanding of the machinations of the teenage–girl dynamic. The characters in this play are heightened and stylised in many ways, but we understand them and recognise their fears

and doubts — we care for them. They are more complex than most teenage drawings, and provided the student actors with plenty of scope for the development of engaging characterisations.

While creating a play can be a serious and complex process, Lachlan brought a joy and light–heartedness to this project. He shared the scaffolding of his craft and insights into the development, editing and refinement of a play script. In theatre making, there is a constant flow of questions that must be resolved by all involved — playwright, designers, director and actors — that are never really locked in until the final moments before the audience enters the theatre. It is a dynamic ongoing experience of ‘staying in the grey’ — of working with great energy and conviction without holding all the answers — and trusting in the process. Not knowing the answers leads to an organic process that truly reflects on all the individuals involved.

FOR THREE NIGHTS IN MID–AUGUST, THE SENIOR DRAMA COMPANY STAGED MR LACHLAN PHILPOTT’S COMMISSIONED PLAY THE CHOSEN TO PACKED HOUSES. THE GIRLS HAD WORKED TIRELESSLY AND CREATIVELY TO BUILD A POLISHED, ENGAGING AND THOROUGHLY ENJOYABLE PERFORMANCE, AND THEY WERE THRILLED TO FINALLY SHOW THEIR WORK TO AN ENTHUSIASTIC AUDIENCE. LACHLAN WAS IN THE AUDIENCE ON OPENING NIGHT AND WAS TRULY AMAZED BY THE SKILLS OF THE GIRLS AND THE QUALITY OF THE PRODUCTION.

THE CHOSEN MS JOANNE MARTIN, DIRECTOR, THE CHOSEN

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The songs in the play also provided many girls with the opportunity to learn how to sing, with the wonderful support of Choral Director Ms Adele Cummings. The songs are partly in recognition of this generation’s leanings towards a soundtrack for all experiences, a choice that enhances the Glee–esque style of the play; that is, championing of the underdog. The songs also brought joy to the performance and deepened the sense of community that is created within this narrative.

Fast–paced, zippy, punchy dialogue punctuated by poetic musings on a universe filled with life force made for energised rehearsals and an upbeat tempo. The barbed language of the bully was balanced by the wistful ponderings of the main character Freya,

as she sought to understand her place in the world around her and her struggle to ‘fit in’.

In rehearsal, the script was fun to play with — shifts in time and place were many, which led to a tempo that picked you up and swept you along. The world of the teenage girl is at the heart of this new play; yet it also ponders the big questions that face humanity: Are we alone in this universe? Are our lives valuable in this context? This process spanned more than two years and the end result was tangible and satisfying. Yet, no answers were provided — just a fresh and exciting theatrical exploration of what it is to be human.

We look forward excitedly to the publication of the script by Playlab in the coming months, and thank the School community wholeheartedly for its enthusiastic response to this project.

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LEFT (L–R) Playwright Lachlan Philpott, Lead actor Sophia Bergman, Director Joanne Martin, and Assistant Director Katrina Riveros at opening night.

TOP LEFT/BELOW From The Chosen, Brisbane Girls Grammar School Senior Drama Company Production 2013

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IN TERM II, EIGHT YEAR 11 and Year 12 Economics and Accounting students were invited to accompany Principal Ms Euler and Director of Post Secondary Planning Mr Seaha to The University of Queensland Business School’s NEXT? The Future of Business Q&A Luncheon with Sir Richard Branson. Not only were we able to listen to the insights and debates of important business figures at this prestigious event, but we also met Sir Richard Branson and other future-thinkers in business.

The panellists included academics, business people and, of course, magnate Sir Richard Branson. The panel discussed their views on where business is headed in a worldwide context. Questions ranged from topics such as the education systems of the twenty-first century to hypothesising what developments might follow the industrial and technological revolutions.

Speculations of ‘what’s next’ in business considered the impacts of technological advances and environmental issues, and how these could be used to benefit the evolution of business. Perhaps most relevant to the many students attending were the questions regarding modern schooling structures: Are education systems failing twenty-first century students? What should be the most important change to what, how or where students are taught and how would this benefit business and society in the future?

Sir Richard Branson emphasised the importance of science, technology and engineering studies to enrich society by further developing human capabilities in the

big issues such as global warming and medical research. Regarding education, he explained the difficulty in teaching entrepreneurial skills and rationalised that the most valuable learning tool is experience. He suggested that more active incorporation of business experiences in tertiary education would improve the system, as university courses still provide the fundamentals and connections needed for success.

I feel that, at Brisbane Girls Grammar, we are privileged to

receive an exceptional education, with our School offering a myriad of opportunities to further enhance our learning. As an Economics student, I have been presented with many unique and motivating experiences, such as this event and the Ecoman programme. These opportunities will undoubtedly be valuable to my intentions of embarking on business studies at university, and be advantageous to my future business career prospects.

All of the ideas and concepts discussed at The Future of Business Q&A were enlightening and stimulating for the girls attending, and the experience is certain to be beneficial to our studies and future endeavours.

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What’s NEXT?ARTICLE

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MIA FINLEY

What should be the most important change to what, how or where students are taught and how would this benefit business and society in the future?

IMAGE What’s Next? — Elizabeth Redmond, Ingrid Williams, Ashley McGregor, Mackenzie Geeves, Millicent van der Velde, Sir Richard Branson, Alexandra Perry, Ms Jacinda Euler, Grace Wright, Mr James Seaha and Mia Finley. Courtesy of The University of Queensland Business School. Photographer Dylan Evans.

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FIGHTING FOR PHYSICS

ALLISSA LI

THE 2013 INTERNATIONAL YOUNG PHYSICISTS’ Tournament was held at Taoyuan, Taiwan in July. Five students were selected to form the Australian Team after the Australian Finals in Melbourne in March. Four of the team were Year 12 Brisbane Girls Grammar students: Heather Hunt, Katie Ward, Sophie Weir, and myself, Allissa Li; Michael Chen from Brisbane Grammar School completed our quintet.

The tournament is based on the presentation of solutions to complex physics problems and the discussion of the strengths and weaknesses of the solutions with other teams in five intense rounds of ‘physics fights’.

Each round consists of three teams each taking a turn in the three roles of presenter, opponent and reviewer. At the start, the opposing team has 1 minute to challenge the presenting team to one of the seventeen problems. This minute is very suspenseful as we do not know what we are being challenged upon. If we accept, then we are given exactly 12 minutes to present our solution, with the chairperson stopping us at 12 minutes whether or not the presentation is finished. There is then a discussion between the opponent and the reporter about the presentation, with the opponent trying to test the reporter’s understanding of the phenomenon. Following this, the reviewer summarises the presentation and the discussion, concluding which side is more convincing.

Heather presented her solutions to the problems entitled Meniscus Optics and Carbon Microphone, Katie presented Elastic Space, and I presented Hearing Light. Sophie opposed Water Rise and Coloured Plastic and also reviewed Coloured Plastic. The problems varied in nature and had different focus areas, such as sound, light, thermodynamics, or fluids. We had to investigate each problem in great detail, with most of our solutions exploring concepts taught in university level physics.

A momentous occasion within the week was when Professor Douglas Osheroff, a Physics Nobel Laureate, spoke about his journey through physics and how he eventually earned a Nobel Prize for his discovery of the Superfluidity of Helium-3. He told us to be persistent, as Mother Nature wishes to keep her secrets and only lets the determined find out what she is hiding.

Not only was the tournament exhilarating, but we also went to many different places in Taiwan. The schedule included a trip to the National Synchrotron Radiation Research Centre in Taipei, Shihsanhang Museum of Archaeology, and Yangmingshan National Park. The Yehliu Geopark was a highlight. The park consists of large stones covering its surface, the most iconic being the Queen’s Head. Another unforgettable place was the Night Markets. These markets run along a street and each stall sells something unique. We saw baby turtles, charm bracelets, lasers, authentic Taiwanese snacks and even snakes!

After the five-day physics competition, the final — featuring teams from Korea, Switzerland and Singapore — was held at the National Taiwan Normal University. Singapore emerged as the winning team taking the IYPT Trophy. Overall, we came fifteenth out of twenty-six countries. IYPT 2013 was such a wonderful and amazing experience; it is a memory that Sophie, Katie, Heather and I will keep forever.

IMAGE (L–R) Allissa Li, Michael Chen, Heather Hunt, Katie Ward and Sophie Weir competing at 2013 IYPT.

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ONE AIM OF THE OLD Girls Association is to encourage former students to maintain personal connections with the School. Having one’s daughter, or granddaughter, at the School presents the perfect opportunity. On 5 June, fifty Old Girls — representing almost all years from 1972 to 1994 — with daughters currently at the School attended the Everything Old is New Again cocktail party in the Annie Mackay Room. Twinkling fairy lights on the front veranda and the current Year 11 OGA Service Group welcomed guests. A Year 10 string trio played, setting the scene for a convivial and relaxing gathering. Standing in an elegant space charged with memories of School assemblies and dinners, Old Girls renewed their relationship with the School and with each other, meeting and making new friends.

Salliann Powell (née Johnson 1986) welcomed everyone and encouraged all to reminisce and enjoy the display of School Magazines, photos and collage banners spanning the eras of the attendees. OGA President Janine Schmidt

(née Hogg 1964) spoke, reflecting on her time as a student and as a mother of two students. Principal Jacinda Euler addressed the gathering, speaking about the importance and relevance of the Old Girls Association to the School community. Pauline Harvey-Short (née Harvey 1971), Associate Dean and Staff Liaison for the OGA, compered ‘a trip down memory lane’ in the form of a fashion parade of various Brisbane Girls Grammar School uniforms from the 1970s, 1980s and 1990s. Girls from Years 8, 9 and 11 modelled the uniforms with great sophistication to a very appreciative audience. The highlight was the 1970s mini skirt!

Kirsten Whip (née Macallister 1981), Jessica Bindon (née Axelsen 1983) and Grainia Schmelzer (née King 1981) ensured a steady flow of chilled champagne and delicious nibbles. Shared memories and laughter enjoyed by the Grammar Old Girls ensured that ‘everything old was new again’. It will be an annual event our calendar.

ARTS EDUCATORS AND STUDENTS WERE invited to listen to and interact with artists and industry professionals in a day of lively discussion at the inaugural Creative Futures Symposium, organised by the Brisbane Girls Grammar Creative Arts Faculty, on Saturday 27 April.

It is essential for educational institutions to provide guidance for students constructing vocational pathways in the twenty–first century where, increasingly, work practices will be predicated on the ‘portfolio career’ – that is, people working in more than one job simultaneously, often including contract or freelance work – rather than the single–track career pattern of the last century.

As arts educators, we must consider how classroom studies in the arts can lead to career paths that allow students to pursue and directly use their artistic skills and interests.

Principal Ms Jacinda Euler opened the symposium and introduced our dynamic keynote speaker Mr Adam Blake, the National Manager of the Design Integration Program, Enterprise Connect – Creative Industries Innovation Centre.

Adam oversees innovative projects that model new ways to support and grow creative graduates, entrepreneurs and businesses. He specialises in fostering the integration of creative intelligence and expertise, such as design and interactive media, within other sectors to facilitate new business thinking.

Dr Ruth Bridgstock, co–ordinator of the Queensland

University of Technology’s Bachelor of Creative Industries, spoke about her research into the facilitation of organisationally–based innovation and entrepreneurship within the creative sectors.

Our panellists were all practising artists: contemporary artist Professor Pat Hoffie; playwright Mr Lachlan Philpott, whose commissioned play for Brisbane Girls Grammar School, The Chosen, premiered in mid–August; musician Dr James Cuskelly; and musician Dr Robert Davidson. They responded to the question: ‘What were the steps and processes that formed your journey in establishing a career in the arts?’

The Creative Arts Faculty was delighted to provide the forum for these distinguished professionals to share their wisdom. The School looks forward to hosting a second symposium to promote the possibilities and opportunities provided by arts education.

EVERYTHING OLD IS NEW AGAINARTICLE

AUTHOR GRAINIA SCHMELZER (NÉE KING 1981)

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Creative Futures Symposium 2013MS LORRAINE THORNQUIST, DIRECTOR OF CREATIVE ARTS

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2013 REUNION WEEKENDThe first annual Reunion Weekend at Girls Grammar was celebrated in June. With seven reunions spanning more than seventy years of Grammar girls held over the weekend, laughter, recollections and reflections filled the campus as long-lost friends reconnected as if no time had passed.

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IMAGES (L-R, top to bottom:) 5 Year Reunion, 10 Year Reunion, 20 Year Reunion, 30 Year Reunion, 40 Year Reunion (held on 24 August), 50 Year Reunion, 60 Year Reunion, 70+ Year Reunion

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Connecting Communities – Grammar Goes GreenMRS JUDITH TUDBALL, DEPUTY PRINCIPAL (OPERATIONS)AUTHOR

THE ACQUISITION, AND ONGOING RESTORATION, of the former Marist Brothers Rosalie playing fields at Fig Tree Pocket by Brisbane Girls Grammar enables our School to continue providing exceptional sporting opportunities for the students in our community for generations to come. The School is very much looking forward to witnessing the great sense of School pride that hosting sporting fixtures at our very own home ground will imbue in our girls. Just as this campus will become the sporting heart of our School, we eagerly anticipate exploring the broader opportunities the campus will provide in areas such as environmental education.

The purchase of the Sports Campus has already facilitated several opportunities for Brisbane Girls Grammar to engage with the local community. Since our successful Sports Campus Open Day on 20 April this year, the School has conducted two Grammar Goes Green days, connecting with the local Cubberla-Witton Catchment Network to assist with greening projects along the waterway that borders our campus. The Fig Tree Pocket community has now become a very significant part of the Girls Grammar community. By joining with local environmental group projects, a meaningful and tangible link to the care and stewardship of our local environment has been afforded to our students.

The first of the Grammar Goes Green days involved a greening project along the creek-way just to the north of our Sports Campus. Local community members joined forces with members of our Grammar Environmental and Conservation Organisation (GECO), the Student Council, Brisbane Grammar School’s Greening Grammar team and supervising staff. Volunteers were treated to a guided walk through an area of successfully revegetated land, known as the Rainbow Forest, by the local environmental group. Having survived several floods in the past twenty

years, participants saw how revegetation and weeding had redirected flood water, attracted bird life and enhanced the natural beauty of this picturesque location, now so accessible to our School community. The working party then engaged in planting grasses and trees to further enhance the creek-side location that borders our Sports Campus. In a delightful connection between alumnae, Dr Cathryn Mittelheuser AM (1949) visited the site and discovered that two members of the community environmental group had attended their fifty year reunion at Girls Grammar the previous evening.

Continuing the wonderful display of community collaboration, the Fathers Group undertook a restoration project at the Sports Campus on the same day. The Fathers Group, ably supported by Girls Grammar staff members, displayed great industry in their restoration of the original spectator seating and generously provided refreshments for the students and local environmental group on completion of their planting. Students, staff and community members appreciated the hearty barbeque provided by the Fathers Group while enjoying the glorious Fig Tree Pocket sunset.

DAD POWER – MR KEVIN COATES, FATHERS GROUP PRESIDENT

For more than thirty–five years, the Fathers Group has been supporting the School — in particular, by developing and maintaining Marrapatta, the Memorial Outdoor Education Centre. Now, with the addition of the Sports Campus at Fig Tree Pocket, we look forward to making an even bigger contribution.

A small group of fathers, with the help of Girls Grammar staff, recently did an outstanding job fixing the Sports Campus grandstand. It is early days, however, for Fig Tree Pocket and there will be plenty more opportunities to get involved.

We need all the help we can get and, with only twenty to thirty dads out of more than 1100 volunteering for these working bees, there is definitely room for improvement. There is always great food, drinks and camaraderie to be had, and I encourage more dads to sign up for both Marrapatta and Fig Tree Pocket working days.

We are all ‘too busy’ today, but priorities have to be set and my children’s education is a very high priority for our family, so I make time. Dads, do something for your daughters – and, most likely, your future grand-daughters – and get involved with their School.

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IMAGE Students returning from their greening project to join the Fathers Group restoring the spectator seating

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Brisbane Girls Grammar School Gregory Terrace Brisbane 4000 Queensland Australia

T +61 7 3332 1300 F +61 7 3832 6097 E communications@bggs.qld.edu.au

(IMAGE) The Chosen, Brisbane Girls Grammar School Senior Drama Company Production 2013

www.bggs.qld.edu.au

FOR ENROLMENTS T 61 7 3332 1386 E enrolments@bggs.qld.edu.au

FOR ASSISTANCE WITH REUNIONS T 61 7 3332 1448 E reunions@bggs.qld.edu.au

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