1983 School Magazine

one of the tertialy institutions, be it University or Coilege of ,Advaneed Edueation, so that your quest for employment winn be detrayed for a few years. F{opefulXy, by that time, economic conditions witrl have irnproved. Your immediate concern then witrl be the quaiity of your perforrnance and your chanccs of suecess in your preferred eourse of study. Thus your Tertiary Entrance Score becomes an irnportant factor; and it was as an aid to the selection piocess for tertiary entrance that the T.E. Score was designed" The tsoard of Secondary Schooi Studies has always rraintained the view that the T'.8. Score is only one of a nuinber of measures of student achievement; but over the years it has tended in some instances to be the sole criterion for selection for a tertiary place; and has been used as the seleetion rnechanism on a much wider scale than it rnerited or was designed for. X am reminded of the story . . . But enoilgh of that. tr hadn't intended today, to devote my tirne to thc tsoard. Rather, n should say something to the girls leaving sehool and if possible, in such a way as not to appear to be sermonising or pontificating. tr wonder what your expeetations were when you started at Girls' Gramrnar, and to wtra{ extent they have been reaiised? n can thinl< of a nurnber of expectations you could have had, and froin n'ly position as an ex-teacher and education adrninistrator, n'd probably describe them as aims of secondary education. tr suppose the sum of all the aims of secondary education is to fit €ach and everyone of us to take a proper and fulfilling role in society; so education has a number of different roles to play. One feature of today's society is a greater polarisation of though,t and attitude; there is an atmosphere of controversy and indeed confrontation on many aspects of social, rnora! and political issues - and, indeed, no small measure of vocalisation about them. As you move from the relatively protected environment of school and home, you will be nlore exposed to conflicting views on many of these issues. I am confident that your experiences at school will have developed your intelligence, so that you will have the capacity to be critical of what you hear and read, and that you will have developed an independence of thought and action so that you can make independent and well reasoned judgements. Your experiences in the classroom, combined with your experiences within the school cornmunity as a whole, within the community at large, and with parents and farnily, have all contributed towards your character formation. Education and the sum total of your experiences in your adolescent years, cannot force you to choose right from wrong, but they should put you in a far better position to do so. tr hope these experiences will prevent you from becoming a moral jellyfish - just floating with the tide - so that you won't subscribe to such attitudes as - if it feels good, do it! She'll be right mate! It's all right as iong as you aren't caught. Endeavour always to show sympathy, care and concern for people in need, and to keep your own moral values clean and unsullied - as I read recently "when a nation's morai sense decays, so also does its social structure". It is good to remember that rvhat we are is much more important than what we have.

n hope ihat in your forrnative yeai:s, yolt fia.re been able to develop a. love of, and a respeet for, our o'wn euliural heritage, espeeialiy in the fielcls of the arts, rnusie and architeeture, and in the areas of literature and history. We are absorbing into our society the riehes of so many othex and older eultures than our own ,{ustralian heritage, and our society is so mueh the rieher for them" The experieirce and exhilaration of the Cornmonwealth Garnes and Festival '82; the continuing eievelopinent of the Cuitural Centre; and the rnany exciting things that are happening in the whole eultural field shoulcl make us proud of our eity, state and country" lfhese, arid sueh things as a greater awareness of our environment and of our historic buildings and sites, and ttre eontiriuing emergenee of our own country in so rnany asBeels of art, literature and musie shouid encourage us all to play oi.rr part in preserving and advancing our eultural heritage. Frobably the impact of edueatioil as a preparation to earn one's living is greater in the minds of many today. ,{nd I suppose understandably so. nt is an obligation on a school to have a eurriculum that will endeavour to prepare its elients to take a proper plaee in society, and that includes the world of work - activities have been designed, and prograrnmes prepared, that are designed fairly specifically as a preparation for work' But we must be mindful always that TF{E, aim of seeondary education is preparation for iiving, and that undue highlighting of any particular aspect must be to the detriment of all other aspects. Finally, n am sure that the experienees of the pasi three or five years you have spent at your school have helped to develop you spiritually, moraily, mentaiiy and physieally, and so to prepare you to live a fuifilling and satisfying life - whether you do so or not is in your own hands. My best wishes to you ail for the Christmas season and for the realisation ol your plans for your immediate future"

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