Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2006

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Cover Image: Greg Gardner Photography

grammar gazette: may 2006 edition

From the Head Girls From the Principal

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Staff Profiles

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Letters Congratulations Ms Bell for the recogni tion Brisbane Girls Grammar received in the 2006 Employer of Choice for Women Awards. It’s so nice to feel that our girls are brought up in an exemplary work ing environment for women. It’s further recognition of your great contribution to the School. Mrs Helen Darch (parent) This school has empowered me in ways I could not imagine, and presented me with many opportunities, and given me many possible pathways for the future years. There are so many small things the school does for me, as well as the more prominent ones that culminate into providing a wonderful and enriching experience. Marisa Camastal Yr 12 (2005) I have been so impressed with the number of occasions and opportunities that the School has provided this year to ensure that new girls will have the very best start to their new life at high school. It has been of enormous benefit to both my daughter and to me as a new parent. As both an educator researcher, and Girls Grammar parent, I feel very confident that your school is right on the leading edge of innovative curriculum design. Congratulations on having the initiative to be involved with universities such as QUT who are exploring and creating genuinely excellent educational learning experi ences for kids. Ms R Capeness (parent) I want to thank you for running what is an extraordinarily happy school that really seems to bring out the best in the girls......... That kind of camaraderie can only happen where there is a great atmosphere, and you have it at Girls Grammar in all the subjects, the clubs and the teams. (Year 10 parent)

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Hybrid Arts Project

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Demystifying the OP Score Real World Challenges

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Grammar Girls

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Sport

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Reflections

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Alumni

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From the Principal

From the Head Girls

Photograph by Megan Cullen, The Courier-Mail

The year 2006 has started with a bang! We returned to School to find demolition of the auditorium and art rooms had been completed and construction of the new Creative Learning Centre (CLC) was underway. As Head Girls we felt that we could not ignore the physical changes that were taking place on campus and have therefore aptly themed this year, Build It Up. We will be endeavouring to encourage the girls to build up the spirit, build up the enthusiasm and build up the fun in all aspects of Grammar life. Innovation is a key concept in the improvement of technology. This year while the School advances physically, through the construction of the CLC, we will aim to help every Grammar girl to learn more about herself and her School in exciting and innovative ways. We felt it was important to start the year with a fresh canvas, a clean site, and this became the motivation behind our campaign Bin It, Bag It, Better It. This developed into the unusual, and slightly humiliating sight of the Head Girls and members of the Student Executive Council gallivanting around the School at lunchtime wearing garbage bags and rewarding groups of girls in clean areas with stickers. We hope that through similar campaigns and presentations, we will promote a sense of involvement and risk-taking within our School. Leading by example we hope to promote the idea of ‘giving it a go’. In Term I, Grammar girls have been building up the spirit by supporting the Build It Up!

The technology sector must raise its profile, improve its image and adopt more flexible work practices if it wants to include more women. (Jeanne-Vida Douglas) In a global communication environment where technology is critical to the fast, efficient and reliable delivery of information, career and employment opportunities abound. However, figures from the Australian Bureau of Statistics show that women comprise only 20 per cent of ICT employees and women make up only 25 per cent of university students who choose to study ICT, and disturbingly the trends show that this figure is falling. Helen Coonan, Federal Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts, believes that we need to show women and girls that a career in information and communications technology is not only possible, but that it can be exhilarating, challenging and fulfilling as well. Most people agree that any initiative to increase the number of women studying ICT or working in the technology industry, needs to begin in schools and later be actively promoted in the tertiary sector. The importance of encouraging women to enter ICT professions makes sound business sense and as such should be profiled and supported by the corporate world. Brisbane Girls Grammar offers technology subjects at every year level. Computer Studies is a mandatory subject for all Year 8 students and in 2003 a new elective subject was introduced to the Year 9 curriculum – Computers and Information Processing. The School now has seven CIP classes in Years 9 and 10 catering for 157 students. In the Senior School, 97 students currently study Information Technology Systems (five classes), representing a high continuance rate from Junior to Senior IT study - well above the Queensland Studies Authority statistics for girls studying senior technology subjects in the state. By offering a range of curricular and co-curricular technology-related options, Girls Grammar looks to consolidate and reinforce the value of ICT as a discipline rather than it just being a device. Unfortunately this level of engagement and interest still does not translate into

university choices and this year only one per cent of girls from our 2005 Year 12 cohort commenced tertiary technology studies. The post-secondary sector and industry will need to urgently investigate new strategies to attract and retain women if they are going to achieve an inclusive and diversified work force in ICT. One of the most exciting, unique and innovative aspects of our School’s new Creative Learning Centre will be the floor dedicated to Creative Technologies. The ability to develop a cross-disciplinary curriculum in a flexible learning space underpinned and supported by the latest technology — hardware and software — is critical to the future learning opportunities for our girls. Currently the School has a computer to student ratio of 1:2 and this will be enhanced further with the addition of new PCs in the Creative Learning Centre. The more sophisticated the technology the more vital it is that the curriculum fosters the ability for our students to think critically. Competence with the technology required to access and filter the vast amounts of information now available is something that Girls Grammar addresses by training and guiding students in the use of computers in the classroom and with a focus on helping them to be independent learners. Technology is not an end in itself. What we look to achieve is using these new tools available for teaching and learning without neglecting the intellectual rigour of critical analysis and the creation of original thought. Ms Amanda Bell References : Jeanne-Vida Douglas, ‘Flexibility key to attracting women’, The Australian Financial Review , Friday 10 March, 2006 p70 Senator the Hon Helen Coonan Minister for Communications, Information Technology and the Arts ‘If the stiletto FITTS’ Address to Females in Information Technology and Telecommunications International Women’s Day luncheon, Sydney. Wednesday 8 March 2006

Interhouse Swimming Carnival, decked out in House colours and costumes. The Girls also supported the inaugural Teachers First XI versus Students First XI cricket match. Held in the Sports Centre this event featured special guest Belinda Clark, Australian international cricket champion, and raised money for our chosen charity for the year, the National Breast Cancer Foundation. Both events were highly successful and helped to accomplish our aim of building up the spirit. With events such as Blue Day prior to the QGSSSA Swimming and the charity Spicks and Specks trivia competition in Term I. We look forward to guiding the School through another fantastic and productive year. Enacting the Grammar motto, Nil Sine Labore – nothing without work, we intend to use this year as an opportunity to make Brisbane Girls Grammar School shine as brightly as the new Creative Learning Centre. By using all the resources available to us and creating new and innovative ways of fulfilling our goals, we all will be able to get our kicks on route 2006. Sophie Matterson and Elizabeth Forrest

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