Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2007

IN FOCUS Developmentally, where are Year 8 old girls?

and are endlessly discussed, burgeoning sexuality and physicality are managed. They give themselves freely to friends and experiment with different relationships and different personality ‘roles’ within their peer groups. They seek out and try to immerse themselves in the vicissitudes, whether supportive or dubious, of group life because group membership, of whatever kind, shields the vulnerable adolescent from intense insecurity about who they really are as individuals and where they fit in. It is a time characterised by desire, doubt and enthusiasm. Parenting at this time can feel very difficult and surprisingly lonely as parents are required to question their previously held beliefs about their adolescent, to bear not knowing, to examine themselves, to tolerate rejection and assist the adolescent as they take their first uncertain steps from self consciousness and self doubt towards self certainty.

As thought becomes more abstract the principles of formal logic begin to be incorporated. The ‘formal operational stage’ gives adolescents the ability to reason contrary to fact (for example, they will argue that day is night) which is an important part of their progression to developing problem solving capabilities. Abstract thinking allows adolescents to reflect on their thought processes in an objective manner. This may lead to premature confidence in their reasoning abilities and disdain for others’, particularly adults, ability to think. Confidence leads to risk taking, thinking becomes self-centred but the brain is not yet fully equipped to deal with the situations which arise. Adolescents find themselves caught in an ‘in-between time’, a torrid state of wanting to assert independence while needing to feel a sense of belonging. They look to their friends more than ever for acceptance and understanding, finding security with others who are going through the same experience. New kinds of friendships develop

Perspective – House Group Teacher Year 8 is unique. For girls at Brisbane Girls Grammar School, Year 8 means engaging with a new school environment, new peer groups, new adult mentors, and new learning experiences as well as negotiating the minefield of intense emotional and physical change. The role of the Year 8 House Group teacher is as unique as this experience. The House Group teacher needs to provide information at a rate at which the student can process it, as well as a secure environment in which the students can learn to manage new challenges. Most importantly, the teacher has a responsibility to help students establish connections with each other. Students from diverse backgrounds need to develop into a supportive and cohesive group; one that cares for the individual yet can negotiate the pathways of secondary school as a team. The House Group teacher needs to manage the balance between the fun: “birthday cakes, games, competitions” whilst reinforcing to the students respect for the Code of Behaviour of the School. Each Year 8 student is valued and as a House Group teacher, the experience is challenging but always rewarding. Mrs Jenny Winter House Group teacher 8W Developmentally, students in Year 8 are at the beginning of adolescence which is often experienced as the most conflict laden, bewildering and challenging of all years. The focus at this time is on independence, identity and acceptance. It heralds the beginning of an intimidating and intoxicating rite of passage which is met in a wide variety of ways. The central occupation is one of ‘Who am I?’ The working through of this, one of the most important of the tasks of adolescence, enables the transition from place in family to place in outside world and society to occur. At this time the adolescent is physically growing more rapidly than at any other stage except in the womb. Puberty has begun or is about to begin bringing with it body changes, anxieties of old emotions and new feelings and a confusing mix of self doubt and self assurance. Students at this age are enduring the losses of childhood, testing boundaries and changing interests. The endocrine glands are in full gear, releasing hormones everywhere, but the brain is a ‘work in progress’, still in the process of moving from concrete to abstract thinking.

Mrs Karen Belbin School Counsellor

Buddies Being in Year 12 is all and more that it’s glorified to be. One of the rewards for Year 12 students are the extra responsibilities of having a Year 8 buddy to guide for a year. Many students when starting at Brisbane Girls Grammar find having someone to help them out in their first year is particularly beneficial, especially in their first week of school when finding their way to and from classes and trying to understand Girls Grammar’s unique traditions. As their relationship grows deeper,

both girls find a new, fresh pair of eyes through which to view the School and the outside world. For the Year 12s, the 8s are particularly special as they show us how far we’ve come since we first stepped through the picketed fence. For the Year 8s, the 12s reveal to them that it is possible to make it through high school … Shanti Mistry (12O) and Katrina Couzens (80 ) grammar gazette autumn 2007