2006 School Magazine

Lighting a candle against the dark It has been an exciting year for Amani, theSchool’sAmnestyhuman rights group. With the Amnesty candle event at which the world record for the largest flaming image was broken in an act to speak out against tortureoccurringaround the world, the year has been ideal for Amani to raise funds and awareness for Amnesty’s human rights work. Amani’s fundraising efforts for Amnesty throughout 2006 have reaped excellent results, with its fundraiser on Open Day being a particular success. Amnesty International is a global organization that is passionate about defending the human rights and dignity of the world’s people and is active in fundraising, campaigning and in educating youth about important human rights issues. An Amnesty youth conference earlier in the year provided an excellent opportunity for a number of Amani members to raise awareness of such human rights issues. Members gained vital knowledge through workshops, letter writing sessions and lectures fromexperienced guest speakers on such topics as the death penalty and the current situation in West Papua. The continued enthusiasm and dedication of Amani members throughout the year has clearly demonstrated their active involvement in supportingAmnesty International and their human rights work. Helping Hands

HelpingHands

FromThe Service Captains Community Service is an integral part of the Grammar ethos and this year our focus has been on generating awareness and support for those in need and on making a difference. In the process, we have worked as a cohesive unit with the Head Girls and the School Executive to provide enjoyable fundraisers for the School community. Service, however, is about more than money and our goal has also been to promote School and community spirit and to encourage a sense of being part of a team. Working together to overcome challenges can be immensely rewarding, especially when these challenges occur in unfamiliar situations. Students can gain an inner sense of wellbeing, improve their patience and above all, take comfort in the fact that they are doing something for someone else. Girls have enthusiastically taken up these challenges throughout the year. Across the School, Years 8 and 9 students successfully fundraised for their House charities and Year 10 completed 15 hours of Community Service in an area of their choice which ranged from forming relationships with those at an aged-care facility to teaching a child how to read over the phone. Various groups have taken up sponsorship of a World Vision child and all the individual service groups have supported their causes with energy and sustained interest. Senior students have also been encouraged to engage in twenty hours of community service.

Animal Protection Society

The Animal Protection Society is a group of like-minded and ethical young women who endeavour to eliminate all forms cruelty against animals. We accomplished this goal through fundraisers and awareness raising activities. The result of these efforts was donated proudly to the RSPCA. Thanks to all the proactive and enthusiastic girls whowere involved this year. These avid animal rights activists never gave up and will continue to inspire girls in future years.

Year 10 Service Speakers from two favourite venues who have long supported our programme introduced the programme to the girls in February. Mary Ann Saxby spoke about her work with residents at Hilltop Gardens Aged Care Centre and Janelle Williamson gave a talk on the challenges of Red Hill Special School. Girls who help at these centres are always well supported in their quest to make a contribution. A popular choice for girls this year was the Smith Family student2student Programme. This involves being a telephone buddy with a young primary school student and encouraging them to read. Eleven girls signed up and took the two hour training course with Cherry Northam and Vanessa Burdon. They were then assigned to a young buddy and it was up to them to develop a relationship and make the phone call two or three times a week. Books were sent to both parties allowing the young student to make a choice of reading material. Experiences differed widely across the group. Some girls clicked immediately with their young buddy, made friends quickly and found an enthusiastic participant in the literacy process. Others, though, found they were working with reluctant readers who needed considerable persuasion to open a book or even come to the telephone, and one or two discovered families where there was an older sibling who tied up the telephone line for internet access. It took many different qualities to make each relationship successful. The girls did very well to persevere with their commitment. They asked for advice, never gave up, and constantly looked for ways to make it work. Cherry and Vanessa have been available throughout the whole process by email contact to support the girls and they visited again earlier this term for an interimworkshop. The girls will complete the programme by the end of this term and say goodbye to their buddies. To compile 15 hours from a series of 20 – 30 minute phone calls takes some doing, especially when there are difficulties, and the girls are all highly commended for their patience, resourcefulness and goodwill. If they have encouraged a child to read and enjoy books, they will have made a huge difference to that child’s future.

Grammar Environmental & Conservation Organisation If you thought you saw a bright green frogwalking around onOpen Day distributing green-ribboned pins, gecko stickers and paper hopping frogs, you probably did. In the past the Grammar Environmental & Conservation Organisation (GECO) has been a quiet organisation working behind the scenes at Interhouse events and important dates such as Clean Up Australia Day, hosting competitionsandencouragingother students to keep our school and the environment clean. This year GECO has taken a step forward by making Our thanks go to the Year 12 cohort for their support in our endeavours. Without your help it would have been impossible for us to achieve our goal of making service an integral part of the Grammar community. Also, many thanks go toour Co-ordinatorMrs Stubbington for her valuable advice and enthusiasm for our ideas. Emma Burrell (12R) and Anna Huynh (12E) Service Captains

Nicole Fraser (12H) Captain

It was delightful to see new students joining GECO, with our newest members being girls from Year 8. New members are always warmly welcomed, as they are the future of the organisation. As many environmental issues remain unsolved, endangered animals remain unprotected and dam water levels reach record lows, it is important to remember that this is our future, and if we do our part to save the environment, the environment will be there for our children and future generations to enjoy as well.

itself more well known to the School with presentations on

assembly and by distributing items on Open Day to show the support for the environment - both activities involving the bright green frog costume. WithSouthEastQueenslandrunning low on water, preserving the little water we have left is a significant issue and GECO has been pushing for students to do their part by saving every precious drop. On a school assembly earlier in the year, Froggie asked that everyone turn off the taps while brushing their teeth, take short showers and collect water in buckets for the garden while waiting for hot water to come through.

Megan Pitty (12M)

Elpiniki Pantges (12E) Captain

Mrs A Stubbington Co-ordinator

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Br isbane Gir ls Grammar School

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