1988 School Magazine

r:,.: ., , ,.i, entered two plays in the Warana Drama ,'-", , ,-,: "Not Just Flenry Lawson's Mum" in the ',,,, - ,on and "Card Tricks" in the Senior Section' : ^, : - L,f the Speech and Drama Department also ,-. . . at the Princess Theatre in the opening :' , 7 of the Drama in Education Conference in i,,r'l r',:. Such experiences help our.s-tudents to gain in i.:r',j,''',,=,,". ancl to improve. their self-image, an"d thus tt ,-, ,,'uV an important part in the school curriculum' Ir,:- .,,.,-',Jy of languages is considered as an important ec,: -.,.icnai experience for all students and four l;;:,;".,.:iE^€s are presently offered at the school. Through ,r.. - i"ot.nsion activities, students achieve a high level oi 1r' tliciency in French, German, Japanese or Latin' il, .. ,; Ja:rese students are enriched by visits to and f rom o,, r r."r school, the Hirayama Cakuen Tsushima Cirls' ii ,-,-L School and this year we were pleased to welcome ,'l-, I-: students f rom that school as part of the I;ii,:r,rational Exchange Program, as well as over eighty sLr-;,:erits who visited us for a shorter period of time. ln Ma-cir, ,\zir lnoue f rom Saitama Prefecture visited the srl'rool for two weeks as a Japanese Resource teacher. He w;s followd in April by Mr Sato who came to Brisbane Cirrs'Crammar School from our sister school for three rnonths to obrserve classes. ln May, Year Eight students p;-i'cipated in the Annual Year Eight evening at the Ba,cor Professional Development Centre where girls fi-om the Japanese Dancing Croup provided part of the entertainment. Next month, ten of our Year Eleven students will travel to Japan to be hosted by families from our sister school in Nagoya. The girls willspend six weeks in Japan - some of the time at school, and the remainder of the time on holidays with their Japanese host sisters. Such visits are now organised annually and greatly help to improve student language skills. The German Department was again actively involved in the Oktoberfest and the Cerman Dance Croup added a new dimension to School Day and Assembly. The inclusion of native speakers as part of the Resource staff of the school has proved highly successful and increased the students' confidence and proficiency in iistening and speaking skills, as well as bringing a vital touch of cultural authenticity into the classroom. Students f rom this school continue to perform at a high standard in LanguaBe competitions, particularly speaking competitions where we have long lists of prize and merit winners. ln the more senior competitions ihere have been commendable achievements. Narelle Keen won the Queensland section of Concours Ia Perouse and went on to the national finals. Nicole Robinson won a Queensland Society for Cerman Student Exchange Scholarship to Cermany f or six weeks. Two Year Ten French students, Amanda Hingston and Margot Cowen, will be spending two months with families in France through the Southern Cross Cultural Fxchange Program. The exchange students, Arja Halme from Finland and Miho Fujita f rom Japan, also added new dimensions to class work. Arja was sponsored by the American Field Scholarship program and Miho by the Rotary Club.

With the inreasing influence of the media in our daily lives greater emphasis is being placed on student analysis and critical evaluation of the form and techniques of print and television journalism. This year students in Year Fleven English undertool< a Word Processing f amiliarisa- tion course and acquired new skills. This experience also meant that seven of the English staff, some of whom had Iittle previous computer experience, have now met and conquered the challenge of nrodern technology.

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Cirls in the school are actively encouraged to participate in Health and Physical Education classes, with the result that the majority play in at least one representative team, whether at House, lnterschool or Club level. At the lnterschool level results varied and I am particularly concerned that our students are not always able to compete on an equal footing with students who have been selected by some schools because of their particular ability in a specif ic sport and awarded sporting scholarships. Our aim has always been to encourage maximum participation and to develop a healthy attitude to competitive sport. We must therefore look at our involvement in lnterschool f ixtures to determine if there is not some better way of developing sporting prowess in our students. Students' involvement in service and co-curricular activities continues to play an important part in the school curriculum. The Athene Club had a most successf ul year with well-attended meetings alternating between Brisbane Grammar School and the Cirli