2003 School Magazine

Co- CURRICULAR

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PHILOSOPHY CAFE The Philosophy Cafe is an informal symposium where all interested members of the School community, past and present, can engage in discussion of a range of topics and ideas. Each session begins with a presentation by a guest speaker on a philosophical or topical issue with discussion and questions from the floor following. The Cafe has been attended regularly by parents, staff and students, Prof Mark Colyvan from the University of Queensland Philosophy Department addressed the first Cafe for the Year with the topic "Time Travel for Beginners" In Term 11, Professor David Wyatt from the

Queensla rid University of Tech nology Introduced us to Chaos Theory and explored Chaordic organisations such as the Internet, Visa a Kaos Pilot University as examples of self organising chaords capable of rapid learning and survival in complex chaotic environments. in June, Dr Marguerite to Caze from the University of Queensland Philosophy Department spoke about the life and work of SImone de Be auvoir and provoked discussion about the relationship between the sexes. Our next guest for the year was Dr Max Ouanchi who teaches Pacific Island History at the Queensland

University of Technology. Max brought not only detailed knowledge about the Pacific region but proved to be a passionate and entertaining speaker. in September, one of our Year 8 parents, Peter O'Reilly, spoke about Spiral Dynamics Theory and the evolution of thinking. values and society Philosophy Cafe is an initiative of the Principal, Mrs Am anda Bell, with Brisbane Girls Grammar School being the first secondary school in Australia to institute its own Cafe

Mr Doriald Pincott. Co- ordinator

READING GROUP This Year the Reading Group has been joined by a large number of very enthusiastic students who take pleasure in getting together to discuss the latest acquisitions of the Beanland Memorial Library. They enjoy the many fiction genres available today but have a particular passion for Fantasy. Earlier this year the fifth book in the Harry Potter series was released and along with the rest of Australia, the race was on to purchase the book AND be the first to finish it. Harry was the topic of discussion for the next few meetings; from which some very good book reviews were written. Once a term brochures were produced to display the reviews written by the students' These are available from the circulation desk in the library Another highlight of the Year was Open Night. The girls worked tirelessly to produce posters and giveaways, including badges, bookmarks and stickers. These giveaways proved to be very popular with the guests, especially the Younger children who had

much delight in selecting a badge or sticker to wear Below is a list of the ten most popular books In no particular order or series the members of the reading group have read from our library this Year I. The Lord of the Rings by JR. R. ToIkien 2. Harry Potter and the Order of the Phoenix by J. K. Rowling 3. The Sister hood of the Travelling Pants by Ann Brashares 6. The Immortals Series by Tamora Pierce 7. One for the Money by Janet Evanovich 8. The Deltora Quest Series by Emily Rhodda The Narnia series by CS. Lewis 9. Iespecially the illustrated version) 10. The Northern Lights series by Phillip Pullman Mrs Debra Adams Co- ordinator 4. Black Taxi by James Maloney 5. The Messenger by Markus Zusak

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