Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2011

SPOTLIGHT

EXCELLENCE IN TEACHING AWARD FINALIST

in the Kod aly method of teaching music, which is based on a philosophy of "music for all" and excellence in music, with the voice as the pri mary tool for teach ing. ln demand as an adjudicator, conference presenter and choir conductor, Sarah has also developed classroom music resources a nd teach ing notes for the M usica I Begin n ings DVD, d istributed to m usic specialists and primary classroom teachers th roughout Queensla nd. She is cu rrently on the working tea m for M usic in Middle Years DVD, to be launched in J u ly 20IL Ms McGa rry currently teaches Years 8,9,10 and 72 Classroom Music and co-ordinates the Antipodeans Abroad Programme at Brisbane Girls Gram mar. She sits on the State Committee for the Koda ly M usic Ed ucation lnstitute of Australia, the Opera Queensland Ed ucation Foru m a nd the o rganising com m ittee for the lnternationa I Koda ly Sym posiu m to be held at the Queensla nd Conservatorium of Music in July. M usic lessons with Ms McGa rry are inspirationa l, whether covering theory, history, culture, multimedia, or actively playing - her students benef it f rom her expertise and enthusiasm. MRS MARISE McCONAGHY

The awards were ina ugu rated last year to recogn ise the ach ievements of inspirationa I Queensla nd teachers. Nominees were judged on teaching ach ievements, in novation, creativity a nd professiona I relationsh ips with in their school community. With a Master's degree in M usic, Ms McGarry is recognised nationally a nd internationa lly for her expertise

Brisbane Girls Gram mar Music teacher, Sa ra h McGa rry, was one of sixteen finalists of th e 2010 QCT Excellence in Teaching Awards. The Governor of Queensla nd, Her Excellency, Ms Penelope Wensely AO, presented each finalist with a certificate and prizemoney of $500 during a reception hosted at Government House on World Teachers' Day, Frid ay 29 October 2010.

AU REVOIR ln July 1994, Brisbane Girls Grammar welcomed the first group of students from our Affiliate School in France, Lycee Saint Paul, thus beginning eighteen years of visits to date. ln the 22 years since the inception of the Affiliate School programme with this lycee in Angou l6me, so m any student lives have been touched by the cu ltu ra l, lingu istic a nd persona I experience of the excha nge visits, beyond those who have been d irectly involved . Over the yea rs, the n u m ber a nd level of ongoing f riendsh ips between students a nd fa m ilies from both Schools have contin ued to grow. For many students, participation in the Study Tours to and from France is merely the introduction and prelude to contin u ing f utu re con nections a nd visits. Wh ile the relationsh ip a nd f riendsh ip with Lycee Sa int Pa u I owes its ongoing success to many staff and principals from both schools, for these past 1B years the France side of the programme has been susta ined by the perso nal and professiona I com m itment of two teachers, Monsieur Jodl Bernuchon and Madame Betty Astier. With the recent retirement of M . Bern uchon, the decision has been made to pass the organisation of the programme at Lycee

Saint Paul into new hands. We acknowledge and sincerely thank both these teachers for the philosophy and vision of this cultural excha nge sha red with B risba ne G irls G ra m mar School, for infusing the programme with a strong and deep sense of the value of knowing and being part of other lives beyond our own definitions of culture. We look forward to continuing to build on the contribution that both M. Bernuchon and Mme. Astier have made to our lnternationa I Affiliate School Progra m me. MRS LORRAINE THORNQUIST

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