1988 School Magazine

Gramrnar School. The club allows senior students to share opinions and points of view on current economic, social and cultural issues and is also very important by providing social contact between the two schools. The Zenith Club has also had a successful year with full membership under the presidency of Leanne Buckle. Special efforts were successfully made to include a large number of new members from students in Year Eight. The club has discussed many topics of interest and many of the girls have shown marked improvement in their .^- --.ability to express themselves fluently. During the lnternational Year of Peace, 1986, a peace group was {ormed within the school. lt has subsequently become known as the Amani Group (the Swahili word for peace) and is supported by an enthusiastic group of students in Years Eleven and Twelve. Their activities this year have included a "Peace Day" held in October, and a very successful Christmas Cift stall at the school on behalf of U.N.l.C.E.F., The Wilderness Society, Creenpeace and others. A special thanks should go to all members of the group who have worked so hard to establish Amani as a new and exciting initiative within the school community. 1987 has been a productive year for lnteract. Interact members, through their spirit of service to others, benefited immeasurably from their personal involvement in a range of fundraising, sponsorship and other activities, designed to help those in need. ln recognition of their achievements in -1987, the school was placed second in the lnteract District Awards, whilst Meera Sinnathamby was elected a District Representative. A very enthusiastic R.S.P.C.A" group was formed during the year under the Ieadership of Elizabeth Murray. A substantial amount of money was donated to the Association as the result of the fundraising efforts of the committee. The Kirsten jack Leukaemia Committee, under the capable and committed direction of Megan Flint, raised $3000 for research into childhood leukaemia. This money was presented to Dr Tiernan and Dr Smith from the Royal Brisbane Hospital at a special Assembly, and it was again pleasing to welcome Mr Jack on that occasion. The Student Representative Council provides a vital communication link within the school and they have had a very successful year under the presidency of Diana Papas. Representatives were involved in a range of activities, and constructively articulated and addressed issues reflecting the ideas and concerns of students within the school. Extension Education Activities continue each Thursday afternoon f or Year Eleven and Twelve students. Approximately eighty-five girls in each unit have given assistance in one of twenty-two venues over twenty-f ive Thursdays. These venues have included hospitals, nursing homes, schools and pre-schools with special needs, and therapy and training centres f or the handicapped. The girls have been made aware of some of the needs in the community and have been guided in ways to render positive help. The girls and staff of the school continue to sponsor seven children in third world countries through the Save The Children scheme. t0

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New copiers in the pnimt

In November 1986 a new Board of Trustees was appointed to govern the school for the next four years. At its first meeting the Board elected Dr M.C. Crassie as Chairman, and he quickly established his priorities by stating that the main aim of the Board during his term o{ office would be "to provide conditions under which staff of quality will wish to teach in the school and will wish to continue their professional development for their own, as well as their students' benefit". This thrust cornes at a time when education throughout Australia is being widely criticized by all sectors of the community. Covernment, hroth at state and national levels, are making major changes to existing educational structures in the misguided and short-sighted belief that such changes will benefit the quality of education. Many of us have been actively involved in the debate on the implementation of Education 2000 in the State Department of Education and more recently in the moves by the Minister for Education to abolish the Statutory Bodies presently taking responsibility f or Secondary education, Teacher education and Advanced education. Likewise some of us have been concerned with moves at the national level to abolish the various commissions that intitiate programs for Schools, Universities and Colleges of Advanced Education, and with the development of the new portfolio of Employment, Education and Training. The result of such moves will be to politicise education and to increase the power of the bureaucracy, taking away much of the freedom for educators in the various educational sectors to co-operate with each other and to develop programs that will meet the needs of students for the future. What the proposed models fail to address is the crucial and central factor in the education of our young people - the quality of our teachers and the terms and conditions under which they are employed. In the report Pnolect 2'l: Teachers fon tire 21st Century recently released by the Queensland Board of Teacher Education, reaff irmation was made of the Board's vision for teaching to be strengthened as a profession. The report considered the roles and competencies that will be required by teachers o{ the future and highlighted