Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2005

FROM THE PRINCIPAL

I30yearanniversarydinner Birthdays conjure up all sorts of emotions for us.

Brisbane Girls Grammar School

commemorates 130 years of

providing continuous educational

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leadership for young women

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For young children birthdays are keenly anticipated weeks in advance of the special day and CUIminate in parties For adults, birthdays are imbued with memories and are often times of nostalgic reflection; as time goes on they may also be strategically avoided! Whatever our age though, birthdays are significant annual events worthy of celebration because they provide a special reason to remember and to renew our family connections. When a school celebrates a birthday, or foundation day, our community connections are collectively celebrated - especially when a great milestone is reached. As Brisbane Girls Grammar School commemorates 130 years of providing continuous educational leadership for young women, it is time for everyone to stop and reflect upon the significance of the event. Not only has this School enjoyed an uninterrupted academic focus since 1875, it has also been led exclusively by women. unlike many other girls' schools in Australia, we have continuous history of female role models as Principals for 130 years' These women successfully juggled their commitment to girls' education, personal careers and family responsibilities - a balancing act which women today still grapple with, but which was the absolute exception in those early years of the School's development! The first 'Lady Principal', Mrsjanet O'Connoi; travelled from Ballarat with her husband and five children to forge a foundation for Girls Grammar. She was a confident woman, not prepared to accept second best for the

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Ms Am anda Bell with past Principals Drjudith Hancock and Miss Nancy Shaw

girls in her care nor subservient to outside intervention or interference. While it was the vision of the boys' Grammar School Trustees to establish a branch to educate girls, it was lanet O'Connor who laid the female foundation' for the School The Australian College of Educators sponsored a research project last year on measuring values in education. ' The report stated that: ... significant to values education is the cultural heritage of the school community and those myths, heroes, symbols and traditions that characterise its history and impact on its future. Girls Grammar is proud of its history. We incorporate it in our teaching, we protect it through our archives, we encourage further knowledge through our Staff Research Grants and we enjoy a close association with the Old Girls Association and our alumni. This School actively promotes the value of our history. To celebrate 130 years, Girls Grammar hosted a dinner at the Brisbane Convention Centre in the presence of Her Excellency the Governor of Queensland, Ms Quentin Bryce. Past and present Trustees, staff, students, parents and friends in attendance created a truly diverse cross section of the School community. it was very special

to welcome past Principals, Miss Nancy Shaw and Dr Iudith Hancock to the event; together they represent 31 years of leadership! it is most important and right to acknowledge their contributions to the school's growth and development, both forming a significant part of our living heritage. perhaps the essence of how we reconnect, reflect and review our past is summarised in these words by Margaret At wood: All history is written backwards. .. We choose a significant event and examine its causes and consequences, but who decides whether the event is significant? We do, and we are here; and it and its participants are there. They are long gone; at the same time, they are in our hands. z I am extremely privileged to be the 15th Principal of Brisbane Girls Grammar. I feel inspired by the women who have led this School before me, supported by the women I work with and greatly encouraged for the future by the young women we educate. Ms Am anda Bell I Measuring Values in Education: Developing Tools for the Renewal of School Culture, 2004, Australia College of Educators, Qld z Atwood, M 1994, The Robber Bride, Virago Press, London

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