1980 School Magazine

PRINCIPAL'S ANNUAL REPORT

3OTH NOVEMBER, 1979 CENTENARY HALL, B.G.S.

ln the lndependent School system at least, the end of the year Assembly is traditional. lt is a time for looking back, a time for congratulations, aiime for thank-yous, a time for good-byes. But it is also a time for looking forward - to the long vacation, to holidays, to relaxation and to Christmas, the most widely celebrated festival in the world. We are in a season of endings; the end of the School year, the end of the calendat year, the end of a decade; the end of a class unit, the end of Year 10, the end of Year 12, the end of school life. And so this is a time of mixed feelings; perhaps sighs of relief that "it's all over" - for the year or forever. But it is also a time for a little sadness; memories of successes or failures; the joy of f reedom and the loss of the familiar routine. For some it is a time of regrets for the passing of times that never will and never can be again. Some of you probably know the lines from Tennyson "Break, Break, Break" - "But the tender grace of a day that is dead Will never come back to me" and over the next few weeks and months many of you who are leaving will experience a similar feeling as you increasingly magnify the good and forget the not so good memories of your days at Brisbane Girls' Grammar School. But life and experience teaches us that there are no f inal ends - that always "in my end is my beginning." We may change life styles but there is always new liJe, new hope, new expeclation, new anticipation - the glory of going on. At our Easter Assembly this year we centred our thoughts on the theme of Resurrection: of life out of Death; good out ol evil; hope out of despair and it all came to mean a great deal more to many people in the dark days which struck our school family so soon after- wards. With the death of John and Janelle StamJord, Helen Gahan and Jillian Skaines and the severe injury to several others in the Christmas Creek bus accident on April 21st. many members of the school family as well as many people from outside the school rallied together to turn disaster and great sadness into something positive and worthwhile. The Board of Trustees set up two funds - The Stamford Endowment Fund - to carry out a special responsibility to the orphaned children of John and Janelle and The Memorial Fund - to provide a living, useful memoriallor the girls in the school that will serve to remind us all of the courage and determination so many showed when faced with great adversity. It is also fitting that the Board agreed to educate Rebecca and Rachel Stamford in their secondary years at BrisbanB Girls' Grammar School and to provide one full scholarship in memory of Helen and Jillian that for 1980 will be awarded to Susan Warren, a new girl enter- ing the school next year. Girls of the school and particularly those in Year 10 have worked together to help the Board provide a new two- way radio transmitter to Beaudesert Ambuance Centre 2

that allows for communication to areas previously inaccessible to radio contact. The new system also provides a direct link to Princess Alexandra Hospital in Brisbane and hence the full utilisa- tion of the Para-medic facilities associated with the Beaudesert Ambulance Centre. Few of us realise the total implications of any event such as an accident like we experienced. Today lwould like to give special thanks to the lndependent Schools in the Brisbane area that rallied to support the two funds and to the Headmistresses and Headmasters of those schools who supported and encouraged me. I would also like to pay special tribute to the parents of the girls involved and to our Student Counsellor Mrs. Lynch and to give thanks for their continuing support and loyalty to the school and its ideals and to the support they have given one another. Mrs. Sue Johnston and her husband Michael continue to set a fine example to everyone and it is with great sadness that we farewell Sue f rom the staff this year. Her strength of character and purpose have been an inspiration to us all and I am sure you join with me in wishing them both the very best in the future ahead of them. The opening of the new Multi-purpose complex on School Day by His Excellency, The Governor of Queensland and the dedication of the Memorial Garden in the surrounding area helped to place all the previous happenings of the year into perspective. The Parents, Friends and Old Girls of the school continue to give practical help and support to the school by working together with the Board to provide improved facilities for the education of our girls. When the new development was first envisaged in 1977 no one even contemplated that it would be fully completed and equipped by mid 1979. This feat is itself a tribute to the strong support and loyalty within the school family and the determination of the Board to provide modern, versatile, flexible facilities for students at the school. Mrs. Mortimer as President of the P. & F. is to be congratulated for her sincerity of pur- pose during the past two years and for the able way in which she has directed the affairs of the P. & F. and its associated Committees.