Grammar Gazette- Issue 2, 2010

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also felt bound to provide boarding places for country girls even though the House, containing about 20-30 girls, regularly ran at a loss which was off-set by the day school. As a consequence of the straitened financial means, Kathleen Lilley and her teaching staff, despite being well-educated, articulate professional women, some of whom were the backbone of the Assistant Mistresses’ Association (the union), experienced difficult and sometimes exploitative working conditions which were often clearly inferior to those of their male colleagues. An important role of any Head in an independent school has always been labour management — the selection, supervision, promotion and dismissal of staff. Kathleen Lilley appears to have been a fair employer who demanded high standards of performance from her staff, but was concerned with their general welfare. The Board Minutes show that Kathleen Lilley (prior to sick-leave provisions being included in the Award) interceded on behalf of long-standing staff members who were ill on a number of occasions to secure some salary entitlement for them. Women who had been on the teaching staff recalled a number of specific instances of extreme kindness and tolerance to staff who were ill or who had other personal difficulties. Typical of her period, Lilley exercised a mix of benign paternalism and fearsome autocracy in labour relations, and was quite capable of reducing ‘erring’ staff to tears. On occasions she even shouted at staff in front of students, and quite failed to respect their sensibilities when her temper was roused. Outside criticism of staff (or girls) however was never tolerated whether from parents or from the annual Department of Public Instruction (DPI) inspection; this loyalty to her staff was reciprocated and many of her academic colleagues remained in her employ for years. Teaching conditions were far from ideal across Lilley’s era and she too shared in these vicissitudes. There was no holiday or sick pay, long service entitlement or superannuation provisions until after 1945. Nevertheless, she led her school through those difficult times with determination, humour and a clear vision of just what was important in the education of young women. While material comforts were almost non-existent, the luxuries of well-stocked minds and rich imaginations were indulged.

School Sports 1940

Both as a teacher and the curriculum leader of the School, Lilley had strong views on what constituted an ‘educated’ person. This was certainly not to be a ‘walking encyclopaedia’, but one who could appreciate literature, history and classics. While she ‘accepted’ science and mathematics, she once observed in one of her glorious and memorable one-liners, ‘You don’t need brains to do mathematics, all you need is a diligent pencil!’ All students had to study History, and Languages had an esteemed place in the curriculum. These, in Kathleen Lilley’s view, together with literature, enriched civilized life and engendered a love of learning. As a teacher of English and French, Lilley never limited her students to studying simply what was necessary for passing exams but laid before her girls the great wealth of English literature — all except Byron that is, as she did not approve of his morals! Despite the presence of the external examinations, the Inspectors made repeated comments that pupils were being trained to think rather than to simply indulge in rote learning, as typified by a 1943 observation preserved in the Board of Trustees Confidential

1916 – 1924 ANNIE MACKAY

1913 – 1914 M ATKINSON WILLIAMS

PRINCIPALS BRISBANE GIRLS OF

GRAMMAR SCHOOL

1914 – 1915 JANE WALKER

1925 – 1952 KATHLEEN LILLEY

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