1992 School Magazine

ACTIVITIES IN THE HISTORY DEPARTMENT

Year' 12 Modern History students this year embarked upon a fascinating journey. They visited BGGS in the past. Among the keys they used to enter the past were pho- lographs, sporting results from old school magazines, ITo- phies, SUI'veys, ageing textbooks, maps, the occasional aca- demic report, subject listings, the school buildings them- selves, newspaper reports, and of course interviews with the people who were the school in times long ago, (or in some cases, not so long ago)

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Eva reredoes, Lady Schubert, Am anda Lane and nona Veldman

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DAYID FARMITER On 31st July, 1992, all Year 12 students participated in an extended seminar on the documentary genre presented by David Parmiter who was the ABC's Senior Education Producer (Television) in Queensland, until the closure of its state production units in 1989. Since then he has developed his own freelance video pro- duction consultancy, Suncoast Audiovisual, which spe- cialises in the making of documentaries and educational and training programs His production activities in 1991 -92 included scripting and studio direction of language tapes for the LOTE program of the Queensland Education Department, training pro- grams for the RACQ, corporate videos and short documen- His teaching activities include devising and implementing formal courses for the Australian Film and Television School, Universities, and for State and Independent schools such as Brisbane Girls' Grammar The seminar constituted a highlight of the Media Studies Unit in the Year 12 English program, and provided stu- dents with valuable and pragmatic insights into, and exper- tise gained from, "the real world". This knowledge was put to effective use in the subsequent devising of their own documentaries, of which there were many impressive, imaginative and original productions. STEVEN HERRICK On Thursday 23rd July, the nationally and internationally known performer, Sieven HerTick, a guest of the English Department, delighted an audience of Year I O students and their teachers for over an hour in the Gehmnann Theatre. What may prove sumrising to some is that those present were captivated by one of the oldest fonns of human enter- lainment - that of poetry in performance, with poet Sieven Her Tick being a modern exponent and a very talented inheritor of a tradition that has flourished for thousands of years B. G. G. S. was doubly privileged, as the occasion also served as the launch of Sieven's latest book of verse, Water Bombs, with Mrs Colwill and Mrs Kiolle combin- taries.

Mrs Manorie Prureger Manorie Prureger was Head Girl in 1923 and remembers the introduction of the uniform in that year. it was intro- duced she says at the insistence of students, who took such pleasure in wearing it that it was often seen around the streets of Brisbane on a Saturday. Manorie visited the school on August 8th, and spoke with Year 12 Modern History students in the comfort of the new Westpac semi- nar room in the library. Sitting down, she chatted about many aspects of questions asked by the students, The van- 61y was due to the fact that students were each focused on a different aspect, of their own choice, about BGGS histo- ry. Manorie seemed to relate to such choice and described the school in the 1920's as a place without strict rules where students were encouraged to ". . . stand up for them- selves". Occasionally, Manorie would stand, as in the pho- lograph, and adopt a more formal pose. 11 was then that she told us about one of her duties as Head Girl . . . to make sure all students leaving the school were wearing their gloves! There have been changes and continuities in the history of Girls' Grammar. LADY SCHUBERT Lady Schubert, in her capacity as a member of the Board of the Australian Children's Television Foundation, con- ducted a Seminar with Year 10 students as an extension of their Media Studies in Semester One, Lady Schubert spoke about the origin, aims, and ongoing impetus of the Foundation, as well as discussing and show- ing clips from some of the very successful recent award- winning productions in Australian Children's Television. The Seminar proved infonnative, interactive and entertain- ino for both staff and students alike, and Lady Schubert's contribution to the Year 10 Media Studies Unit was both a valuable and valued one,

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