Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2014

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GRAMMAR GOES GREEN

ON A WARM SATURDAY AFTERNOON in May, a group of green thumbs from the Girls Grammar community joined forces with local councillor Julian Simmonds (Walter Taylor ward) and the Cubberla Creek Catchment Group for the fourth Grammar Goes Green event at our Fig Tree Pocket Sports Campus. 240 butterfly-attracting trees, shrubs and grasses, provided by the Brisbane City Council were planted as part of an ongoing rejuvenation project for the bushland and creek bordering the sports fields. GECO (the Grammar Environmental Conservation Organisation), Student Council, staff, students and members of our School and local community worked together. But as Principal Ms Jacinda Euler reflects, behind the fun that was had in getting hands dirty there is a powerful message in getting back to nature:

Since taking possession of our own sporting fields at Fig Tree Pocket, we have thought carefully about how else we might use this gift. Head of Chemistry, Mr Keith Treschman has helped us with our wonderful wish list that we might create a butterfly garden, ephemeral frog pond, a bird list, or perhaps even an observatory. Such hands- on experience, offering our girls opportunities to study the science behind these ideas and ecology, through biology, astronomy and geography, helps our students to better understand our world, their intimate connectedness to it and the importance of the natural environment. This sense of wonder and developing inquiry, so reminiscent of the important work of that great naturalist David Attenborough, encourages us all to probe deeply, just as exceptional scholarship should do.

WINTER ISSUE / 2014