1982 BGGS Magazine

Another misconception exists in the community that Brisbane Girls ' Grammar School is a selective school but, in the true sense of the word, it certainly is not. Girls enter this school because of their position on the waiting list and the only thing that may appear to make us selectiv,e is the type of subjects we offer in the junior school. The philosophy of the school is to consider Years 8 to 10 as a period in which all students, irrespective of ability, are given a solid grounding in basic academic areas that will allow them to diversify more in the senior years. The Board of Trustees has been aware of the need to support this policy and now provides a wide variety of experiences for girls in Years 11 and 12. We believe that the longer specialisation is withheld, the easier will be the choice made by the students in our school. It is practically impossible for young people at the age of 13, 14 and 15, and indeed 16, satisfactorily to determine what they want to do with the rest of their lives, and yet, unfortunately, our whole education system is demanding that this is done. Is it any wonder that there is such unrest and so many changes by young people after they leave school? It is a well known fact that firm decisions can rarely be made before the age of 19. Not only has the Board of Trustees been aware of the needs of students, particularly in senior years, and hence improved the breadth of academic offerings in the school, but it has also been concerned with improving the quality of education in the school by continually improving the facilities. You all have only to look around the school to see the vast improvements that have taken place, not only through the erection of new buildings in recent years, but also in the refurbishing of existing rooms and in the maintenance of grounds. The pupil/teacher ratio has been reduced from 1 to 16 in 1977 to 1 to 13 for 1982, which is in keeping with the average national teacher jpupil ratio for independent schools. The average class sizes are gradually being reduced so that in the junior school the major subjects have classes of below 30 and in the senior school in the vicinity of 20 to 25 students. The freedom of choice permitted by the existence of independent schools in Australian society, therefore, becomes a reality when alternatives such as ours are available. But all this costs money. Our school has been placed in category 1 for the new levels of funding based on a three scale grouping of independent schools. We have reached this category because of the Board's policies to make our school ' s educational offerings equal to, if not better than, those recommended by the schools commission. This means that we receive twenty per cent of funding from the Commonwealth or, in real terms, $480 per student per year as against $721 for schools in category 2, and $913 for schools in category 3. To maintain our high standards other funding is received from the State Government but eventually the balance of 62% must be found by the parents. It is obvious from our long waiting lists that people accept that they have to pay for their freedom of choice and for what we have to offer. But I only hope that the girls here today realise how much of a sacrifice this can often mean to their parents. The only way in which you can thank your parents for this sacrifice is for each of you to do the very best that you can do each year and to take advantage of all the opportunities that are offered to you. l am now left with only one last task to do today, and that is to offer my thanks to the members of the Board, and in particular to the Chairman, Dr Gehrmann, for the help and 6

support they have given me throughout the year; to all the members of staff who have so willingly contributed to the future development of the school, and in particular to Miss Greet for her special assistance as co-ordinator of the School Evaluation Project; to the parents for their belief in the school and their support. And last, but by no means least, to the girls under the leadership of Andrea and Lesley for the warmth and spirit they displayed on so many occasions. To the girls leaving I wish you well in whatever lies ahead of you and I hope that you will continue to build on the firm foundations that have been given to you during your time in the school.