1989 School Magazine

Cerman Student Exchange Program to study in Cermany for six weeks. I have only been notified today that, in further recognition of their excellent performance in Cerman, additional Prizes have been awarded to Elsina and Julie. Elsina has won the Australian High Flyer Award of the Coethe Society of Queensland and Cerman lndustry. This Award includes a free flight to the Cerman Creek, North Queensland, with a visit of the Mines of Ruhrkohle Pty Ltd. Julie has won the Cerman Travel Award of the Coethe Society Queensland, which this year amounts to $500. This year is the Tenth Anniversary of our Sister School relationship with the Hirayama Cakuen Tsushima Cirls' High in Nagoya Japan. ln recognition of our ten years of association, the School donated a Japanese Carden to Cirls' Crammar. This has been a wonderful addition to our School grounds and will serye as a permanent reminder of the friendship that exists between our two Schools. Mr. Hirayama visited the School to dedicate the garden in August, and in October, I reciprocated by visiting Japan to present our Sister School with a sterling silver Friendship Medal which is to be awarded each year to the student who is most proficient in English. While in Nagoya it was pleasing to meet with four of the Japanese students who had studied in our School under the lnternational Program and to hear from them of the value of the exchange.

ln June of this year seventeen students from the Cerman Department, together with Mr. Miles and Mrs. Kiolle, travelled to East and West Cermany, Austria and Switzerland. At the same time nine students from the French Department were involved in a four week exchange trip to Bordeaux, arranged through the Youth for Understand ing Program" The English Department has continued to offer students a rich and diversified program, with a spectrum of language experiences ranging from Wordsworth to Word Processing. Units of the Senior English course have been given added impetus and impact by the inclusion of seminars conducted by guest speakers, including the A.B.C. television journalist, Janet Wilson, and the award-winning Australian poet, Mark O'Connor. Such experiences provide students with the opportunity to listen to, and talk with, professionals who are expeft in using language in varied ways. Students have been encouraged to enter National and State competitions and all students who entered such competitions have benefited from the experience, whether they gained prizes or not. First prize winners include Jennifer Stewart-Richardson, who won the Senior Section of the Bicentennial Project "Sharing our Future - Australia in 2010" Competition, and Erica Fryberg, who won prizes in the 1988 Q.AJ.l.S. Literary Competition. Jennifer's prizes include a trip to the National Capital to meet with the Prime Minister and Covernor Ceneral. ln a modern society the art of communication is of paramount importance, and through the Speech and Drama Program as well as the Media Program, students have been given many opportunities to improve their skills and to strengthen their use of English. This year students have been involved in a number of Theatre Sports Competitions including one at interschool level. Lunchtime performances in the Cehrmann Theatre have proved to be very popular, as were the matches against Brisbane Crammar School. Twenty-eight students participated in the lnternational lnterplay Festival, where they devised and perfornred The Daisy Chain, the story of Daisy Bates. This Festival at La Boite, allowed our students to appreciate performances from students from Canada and New Zealand, as well as from the Brisbane area. A number of other successful performance evenings were held to enable parents to see students work. A play reading group has also been established which provides the students with the opportunity of reading and reviewing plays, thereby helping to develop an appreciation of drama. This year's lnterhouse Drama Festival provided opportunities for students to write, produce, direct and act in plays. The winning play came from England House and was written and produced by Erica Fryberg. Abracadabra adds to Erica's long list of writing achievements. Debating has been very successful again during 1988 with students being given the opportunity to pafticipate at lnterhouse or lnterschool level. Sixteen teams panicipated in competitions organised through the Queensland Debating Union, Apex and School Circuit Debating. A record number of teams'made the final rounds in the Q.D.U. Competition and the Senior A Apex teanr

While I was in Japan I signed an agreement with a second School, Matsusaka Cirls' High, which unlike Tsushima Cirls' High School, takes students from the age of twelve years. This new relationship will allow younger students to participate in an Exchange Program, thereby strengthening their knowledge of language and Japanese culture at an earlier stage than has been possible previously.