2020 Annual Review

Chair’s Address Thursday 19 November 2020

MS JULIE MCKAY CHAIR OF THE BOARD OF TRUSTEES

Ms Julie McKay, Chair of the Board of Trustees, delivered the following address at the Annual School’s Speech Day and Distribution of Prizes 2020.

This year has taught us all that the only thing certain in life is uncertainty. But it has also taught us to consider permanence—no matter how bad things seem, they won’t feel like that forever. And pervasiveness—a bad experience, a loss, grief, a mistake—does not define who you are. The stories that have been shared with me this year of our girls adopting new technology for their studies, but perhaps more importantly, finding ways to support each other, connect with their teachers and reimagine the BGGS experience in different ways have been nothing short of inspiring. Girls, you may not realise it yet but every time you have felt disappointed or worried this year you have deepened your resilience and it is a skill you will carry with you throughout your life. In the words of Ruth Bader Ginsberg: ‘So often in life, things that you regard as an impediment turn out to be great, good fortune.’ A year of authenticity My curly-haired four-year-old daughter waves and calls out ‘Hi big boss Tom’ as she heads off to Kindy on a Monday morning and we are starting our weekly meeting. She has turned up to lodge a complaint that her sister isn’t sharing the peanut butter during a video meeting with the CEO of a major bank. She has attended Grammar Board meetings and on one occasion came in with a water spray bottle and hairbrush and proceeded to play ‘hairdresser’ while I was on a live, recorded video event. This year has demonstrated how artificial the barriers we all create between life and work, life and school really are. In reality, teachers would choose to wear pajama bottoms to teach if they could. Your parents never wanted to take you to swimming or rowing at 5 am and were relieved when sports were halted. Just out of camera view we all have piles of washing and dirty dishes. Life is messy and rather than spending time trying to curate our image, 2020 has given us the opportunity to be a bit more authentic and we have been challenged to accept others, as they are.

Trustees past and present, Principal, Jacinda Euler, staff, parents, friends—and most importantly—girls. I want to start by acknowledging the traditional owners of the land on which we are meeting and pay my respects to elders past, present and emerging. I suspect many of us have spent more time in our communities, valuing and appreciating the natural beauty of this land that is, and always will be, Aboriginal land. In the context of everything that 2020 has thrown at us—bushfires, a global health and economic crisis, restrictions on our freedoms in ways that we have not previously experienced, global conversations about racism, sexism and inequality—I am not sure any of us expected that we would be here today, in person to celebrate the achievements of our girls—and in particular to farewell the Graduating Class of 2020. One thing is for sure—you will never forget this year. There aren’t too many people who can say I finished school in the year that Collins Dictionary named ‘lockdown’ as word of the year. For some, the uncertainty, direct and indirect impacts on family and friends and the loss of some treasured activities throughout the year has felt overwhelming, disheartening. For others, a slower pace of life, time to connect more deeply with family and time to reassess priorities has been game changing. At the risk of giving you a lot of ammunition for buzzword bingo—for me, 2020 has been a year that tested our collective resilience, authenticity and responsibility . Resilience Regardless of how you feel today, this year has undoubtedly challenged each of our resilience. But what we know for sure is that resilience can be learned, it is not something you are born with or that you simply have or don’t have. It is a skill—and it is one that if fostered, will stand you in good stead throughout your lives.

Brisbane Girls Grammar School Annual Review 2020

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