2020 Annual Review

It is amazing the relief you experience when you find a place in the world where you don’t have to pretend to be someone—where you can be your authentic self, feel safe and feel valued. I hope that most of you found that place at Grammar, but if it is still a work in progress, 2020 has given us a mandate to make change. Responsibility to push for change There was a risk that the loudest stories about community this year, would be about how we fought each other for toilet paper and hoarded bulk quantities of sanitiser. But what I hope you will remember from this year are the moments you showed up for each other as friends, the chats you had with neighbours who you didn’t know well before COVID, the community that was formed around elderly Australians—ensuring they were not lonely during the harshest periods of lockdowns. Families sharing resources, sharing care for children, people actively wrapping their arms around those who lost their jobs, livelihoods. Around the world we are already seeing the rates of girls attending schools fall away. Early signs are that school closures and additional financial hardship are impacting girls disproportionately with many being required to care for younger siblings or work to support their families. As hard as this year has felt for students in Australia, I think we need to focus our compassion on people who hold less power and privilege and who rely on those of us who do have access to education to amplify their voices. Girls, when you spend years in an institution like Brisbane Girls Grammar School—led by an amazing female leader in our Principal, surrounded by stories of our alumnae, many of whom are mothers, aunts, friends of our current students—you could be forgiven for thinking that the fight for gender equality had been won.

2020 will be remembered as the year that saw the first woman—a woman from a diverse cultural background—be elected Vice President of the United States. It was a year when the first Maori woman was appointed as Foreign Minister in New Zealand. Girls around the world will grow up believing that women have a place in the highest level of politics and that Indigenous women have an equal right to leadership positions for the first time in history. But while we celebrate these gains, as inspiring as they are, we cannot afford to become complacent. Too many women and girls around the world are locked out of opportunity. We know that in every industry women continue to be underrepresented in leadership roles, spend longer at every level of management and face extensive sexism in the workplace. Year 12, your time at Grammar is coming to a close. Your last blue ribbon, the last day wearing that mis shapen hat. Finishing school should bring a sense of pride, achievement and joy but it might also come with a sense of grief and fear. I challenge you to remember that resilience, authenticity and responsibility have perhaps been forced on you this year but they are life lessons you will never regret. I challenge you to really acknowledge and pay tribute to your teachers, parents, family and friends for the role they have played, supporting you to reach this significant milestone. I challenge you to remember that we all stand on the shoulders of the women who have gone before us. To this end, we hold a significant responsibility—to open doors, support others and ensure that the path to equality is not as rocky behind us as it might be in front of us. Congratulations girls—tomorrow you join a new movement of trailblazers and we couldn’t be more proud.

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Brisbane Girls Grammar School Annual Review 2020