Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2014

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INTERNATIONAL PERSPECTIVES

and a passion for learning Japanese. Not to mention the incredible benefit the trip had on my speaking confidence. Being in another country without my family also helped to develop my independence and our tour group grew much closer. I would recommend exchange trips to anyone — it is an opportunity for which I am truly grateful. (Madeleine Farr, 11M, Japan Study Tour 2013) This year, groups of Year 10 and 11 students will embark on Language Study Tours bound for China, France and Germany. These tours provide students with the culturally enriching experience of homestay, and at school, students participate in formal language and classroom lessons. Leadership and service experiences such as the Antipodeans Abroad programme emphasise a growth mindset in order to overcome physical and mental challenges throughout a three-week expedition in a developing country. The current model encompasses Year 12 students, and this year, 31 students will return to Borneo where groups of girls will plan and control their own budget, travel and accommodation arrangements, climb Mt Kinabalu and assist in a community service project in a small local village. Courage, determination and generosity are essential and students often return from the ‘Antips’ sojourn with increased self-confidence, independence and heightened intercultural awareness. The inaugural Anzacs and Antiquities Tour, planned for April 2015 promises to be a unique opportunity to explore historic ruins, investigate foreign cultures and civilisations, and is for students to deepen their historical and cultural knowledge by creating connections with first-hand experiences. In anticipation of full immersion in the adventure ahead, preparatory academic work prior to departure will begin from Term II 2014. There are many ways in which academic travel creates global citizenship, but perhaps none as academically stimulating as international competitions and Olympiads. Classroom learning is augmented by competitions such as the Singapore Mathematical Modelling Forum and Challenge, the International Young Physicists’ Tournament (IYPT), the Junior Young Physicists’ Tournament (JYPT) and the Science Olympiads. While the emphasis is on developing the skills of critical thinking and creativity, fostering empathy and engagement with others through collaboration across cultures is also required — all of which are important threads of the life-wide learning tapestry. Guided by the overarching intent of exceptional scholarship, Brisbane Girls Grammar School took part in the annual International Young Leaders Forum (IYLF) for the first time in 2013. This new, rigorous and interactive initiative will continue into the future, and in 2014 we will send representatives from Year 11 to Suzhou Foreign Language School in China. Intercultural experiences with six other schools from the Asia Pacific will take place, and students will discuss issues of global significance. Page 23 of this issue of the Gazette captures the IYLF programme in more detail.

AUTHOR Mrs Emma Lowry, Assistant to the Dean of Students

WITH AN EVER-INCREASING EMPHASIS on global awareness in 21st century education, our responsibility as educators is to develop thinkers and learners for a global future. Critical thinking skills and creativity, and collaboration and communication are paramount, as are the social and emotional competencies of empathy, and intercultural understanding (ACARA, 2011) to enable our girls to live and work together in an interconnected global world of the future. Whether it is within the four walls of the classroom or beyond, students of Brisbane Girls Grammar School are presented with a variety of opportunities to engage with diverse cultures through interactions with people, technology, texts and contexts. Educational travel is one of those contexts which is an authentic educational experience that ‘breaks down the classroom walls, opens doors and puts primacy on the connections between the activity inside the classroom and the broader world and society around it’ (Fischer & Mazurkiewicz, 2011, p.6). The International Affiliate Schools Programme which connects Brisbane Girls Grammar with schools in China, France, Germany and Japan enables students to implement their target language skills, create new friendships and engage with other cultures in ways that recognise commonalities and differences with mutual respect. The Japan exchange trip was one of the most amazing experiences of my life. Being immersed in the culture left me with a better understanding of,

GRAMMAR GAZETTE