Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 1995

School news

Education to the Board of Trustees and in 1986,electedChairman,aposi tion he still holds today. Under his Chairmanship, the Restoration and Building Appeal was launched in 1989 and a Master Plan developed, which has now, six years later, been realised. It included the restoration andre-de velopment of the boarding house, the opening of the Judith Hancock Com munications Centre, the redevelop ment of the Arts Centre and now the completion of this sports complex. Dr Grassie has had a very im pressive academic career. He holds an Honours Master of Arts in Modem History and Political Economy and a Master of Education from the Univer sity of St Andrews' Scotland together with a Doctorate of Philosophy from the University ofQueensland. Prior to coming to Australia he qualified to teach in both primary and secondary schools in Scotland and held posts as Assistant Director of Education in the County of Fife, becoming Deputy Di rector between 1958 tnd 1967. In 1967 he moved with his family to Queens land, having accepted a position as Senior Lecturer in the School of Edu cation at the University of Queens land. Among his most prized achieve ments are a University Medal in Edu cation and election to Fellowships in both the Australian College ofEduca tion and the Queensland Institute of Educational Administration. From 1984 until 1987 when he retired from lhe University of Queensland, Dr Grassie was Director of the Tertiary Education Institute. His services to education were recognised when he received an Order of Australia medal in 1992. During his time as Chainnan he has served the school wilh three Boards of Trustees. It has been a pleasure for me as Principal, to work with him, and to acknowledge him as a friend who has shared my vision for the education of young women in this country. I believe that the previous Board's decision to name this Centre after Dr Grassie pays him fitting trib ute for his major involvement with the school. It has not always been as easy for other Heads of the school as it has been for me, and I have greatly appre ciated the enormous support I have had from the various Boards of Trus tees who have served in the school since my appointment. We are very pleased that so many of these men and women have been able to join us to day . It is interesting ,to look back through past records to note that the Trustees in the 1920s did not favour establishing a swimming pool and ac tually rejected an offer by the Old Girls' Association to build one. By 1936, the old gymnasium built in the last century was in desper ate need of replacement. But when the estimates in 1941 came through at three thousand pounds, what with wartime and all, a new building was deferred until the 1960s. When I ar rived in 1977, it was obvious that the building again needed upgrading and in 1979, a state-of-the-art gymnasium was added to the back of the existing gymnasium/auditorium area. The fa cility was so highly regarded then that we actually hosted the Q .G.S .S.S.A. Gymnastics carnival the following year. We all know how professional sport at all levels has now become, and it quickly became evident that if we were to continue to provide our young women with op portunities to extend themselves, then we would need to build yet another state-of-the-art gymnasium. We thank Civil and Civic, Powell Dads and Thorp and all the other companies who have been involved in the devel opment of this building and to Coca Cola Amatil (Qid) for their sponsor ship of the Centre. We are pleased that representatives from these com panies are here today to witness the

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opening of the Centre.

The Board of Trustees, Principai,Parents' and Friends' Association, Friends of Girls' Grammar CORDIALLY INVITE parents, staff, past students, present year 11 and 12 students and friends of the School to the ANNUAL DINNER at The Sheraton Brisbane Hotel on Thursday 14 September, 1995 7.00 pm for 7.30 pm DRESS: Lounge suit/Semi-formal COST: $70 per ·head $50 student (11, 12,tertiary) ALL PROCEEDS TO SPECIAL SCHOOL PROJECTS ------------········ ACCEPTANCE I will be pleased to attend the ANNUAL FRIENDS' DINNER on Thursday, 14th September, 1995 TICKETING DETAILS D Single D Student $70 $50 Please make all payments to the Friends of Girls' Grammar D Cheque D Credit Card 0Bankcard I I I I I Dvisa I I I I D Mastercard I I I I I I Debit amount: _____________ Expiry date: Signature: ______________ Name(please print) .:....___________ Address: (Institution attended:

I have talked much of those who have been committed to the de velopment of this Centre and also of the role ofgymnastics in the life ofthe school. In developing this Centre, how ever, the needs ofother groups within the school have also been acknowl edged. The girls now have access to facilities for abseiling, weights train ing, basketball, volleyball and spe cialised classroom facilities for Health and Physical Education theory. We have come a long way from when the schooljoined the fledg ling Queensland Girls • Secondary Sports Association in 1908. At that stage, girls from the School only com peted in tennis, unlike today where we participate in ten Q.G.S.S.S.A. sports and six other club sporting activities. In 1908, just after joining Q.G.S.S.S.A., a decision was made to expand sporting activities to include cricket, rowing and swimming. The fact ofour having a cricket pitchcaused a lot of amusement. 'Girls can 'I play cricket', many said derisively. 'What ever did girls want to play cricket for?' Miss Wilkinson, the Headmis tress at the time retorted: "girls un doubtedly have limitations in the mat ter of games, but it seems to me that whatever benefits cricket confers on boys, it confers on girls. Surely we want our girls to be physically strong and healthy and certainly girls need everyone of the qualities called for by games- courage, endurance, promp titude in action and skill of hand and eye. School is a preparation for after lifeand in the days to come the girls of this land are bound to require all of these qualities." She even went on to say: ••that it was generally acknowledged that the law-abiding character of the Eng lish may be partially traced to the influence of games." Even though we are not open ing a cricket pitch today. the senti ments expressed by Miss Wilkinson apply to the values that are inherent within the Physical Education pro gram in the School . I sincerely thank Mrs Pauline Harvey-Short, our Director of Health and Physical Education, and her staff for theexcellence they achieve through their programs. As a former student of the school and a past Australian Rep resentative Softball player, Mrs Harvey-Short has always recognised the value of physical fitness and a healthy body. She also appreciated the role of competitive sport in the development of young people as well as the value that can be gained from participating in physical activities sim ply for the personal enjoyment that they can bring. So many of her former students are now professional sports women who acknowledge lhe enor mous contribution that she has made to their personal development. Dr Grassie, loo, has been committed to sport throughout his life. One of his most valued treas ures is a Soccer Blue from St An drews' University. Scotland where he captained the University Soc cer team for two years. He was very proud to be selected to play for the Scottish Universities team which defeated the team from the English Universities . These achievements followed his posi tion as senior sports champion dur ing his last two years at high school and throughout his life he has re mained committed to the view that it is only with a healthy body that one can achieve one's maximum academic potential. In recognition ofhis contribu tion to the development of Brisbane Girls' Grammar School and in par ticular to his commitment to this Cen tre, I now invite Your Excellency to address us and to officially open the building.

Throughout the years, other Principals were not as successful with gymnastics as Mrs O'Connor appears to have been. During the 1890's the ftrst school gymnasium was erected and each year in the annual report, comment was made on the girls' progress in that area. For example, in 1893, MissPells, stated that 'not many girls were willingly going to gymnas tics'. Despite this, however, she strongly believed that it was essential there be a well-arranged system for all the girls to follow during the entire year, which would have positive ad vantages for their health. She noted that this was a fact proven by the experiences of our country-men in India! What a comparison! By the following year, she modified her de mands somewhat and Indian Club exercises were introduced. Thesewere considered less severe than the exer cises on the bars and ladder. She was thereforedisappointed to find that girls still showed a strong disinclination to avail themselves of the opportunity for strengthening their muscles and improving their carriage . What a dif ferent world we live in today where the vast majority of young women are committed to health and physical fit ness . lt is now firmly embeddedwithin our curriculum with most positive re sults - some of which you will wit ness today . You have noticed the House banners which have been hung on the Centre's walls. Each of the eight Houses has been named after people who have played a major role in the developmentof the school. Naturally, LiJley 's name heads the list. Five of the other names acknowledge -the work, leadership and commitment of Chairmen of the Board who have held office since the school opened. The other two are named after Prin cipals of the school- Mrs O'Connor, the very first Lady Principal and Miss Beanland, the Principal who was in office when the school became inde pendent from Brisbane Grammar in 1882. Dr Gehrmann. Chairman of the Board from 1977 until 1986 and Dr Grassie who succeeded Dr Gehrmann are not represented by Houses but have been honoured in other ways. These two men have been actively involved with and promoted the modernisation of Girls' Gram mar, overseeing major strategic and ' ..••.··C•...•. ~>. · . ..· - . . .. -.. . ~~, .. ~'*':~ ~ ' . .,/ f · Dr McCrae Grassie master planning strategies which have culminated with lhe opening of this magnificent sporting and recrea tion facility today. DrGrassie's association with the school has been since 1981 when he was involved in the evaluation of the school prior to the development of our first strategic plan. In 1982, he was appointed by the Minister for

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RSVP Wednesday 23rd August 1995 with cheque or credit card details to The Treasurer The Friends of Girls' Grammar P.O. Box 193 Ashgrove 4060