Grammar Gazette- Issue 1, 2014

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ACTS OF SERVICE

As a Grammar girl, Stephanie had a proud record of involvement in Service, and at this assembly she told the girls how her Year 10 Service experience, ‘led to much greater things; a transformative experience, that was the beginning of what has since been an incredible journey, and the discovery of a profound personal and professional passion’. Stephanie is thankful for the inspiration she received from retiring teacher and Head of Hirschfeld House, Mrs Anne Stubbington, who has over many years developed the Service programme to be the highly regarded programme that it is today. Throughout this time Mrs Stubbington has encouraged girls to engage, reflect and learn from the opportunities presented to them through their Service. Student Council support of the Cerebral Palsy Research Foundation in 2013 enabled students to contribute funding towards research to test for Cytomegalovirus (CMV), a potentially preventable causal pathway to Cerebral Palsy. Students met with project researcher, Ms Hayley Smithers-Sheedy who discussed the many aspects of her project, including gaining approval for and the collection and testing of samples, and the presentation of data. Hayley also gave an insight into her life and career path as a therapist and female research scientist. The School community raised a total of $25,594.34 for this research and for the Cerebral Palsy Alliance from fundraising, participation in ‘Steptember’ and a generous donation from the Mothers Group. In 2014 the Girls Grammar Service Programme hopes to continue this link with Service and scholarship as we aim to close the gap in Indigenous health and education through awareness, engagement and contribution. Student Council fundraising is well underway thanks to the students’ enthusiastic contribution to Valentine’s Day and Blue Day celebrations, and the Great Debate between Girls Grammar and Somerville House. With the support of the Uralla Club, the newly formed Indigenous Service Club, the School charity will unite the School community in this cause and contribute to the judicious and ethical engagement with the world and life-wide learning of our students.

AUTHOR Mrs Lynne Mungomery, Director of Service

PARTICIPATION IN SCHOOL SERVICE ACTIVITIES at Girls Grammar offers our students the chance to engage in many different learning opportunities outside of the classroom in a vast and diverse range of contexts. Such experiential learning enables students to grow as a whole person and to develop lifelong learning capabilities that are needed in our ever-changing society (Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region, 2012). Students experience life-wide learning as they face new challenges, explore their interests and realise their capacity to contribute to their community. It is the hope of our 2014 Service Captains, Amy Hancell and Eugenie Smith, that every girl will contribute to the School’s extensive Service Programme in a way that is personally significant and rewarding, but that also enables them to contribute to their local community. This may take the form of learning about and engaging in activities to fundraise for her House Charity, regularly attending the meetings of one of the many charity groups on offer, or volunteering for 15 hours in the Year 10 Community Service Programme. School Service has the capacity to enable students to think more deeply and to develop a stronger sense of empathy and respect for their community. Amy, Eugenie and students at the Year 10 assembly were recently visited by 2007 Service Captain, Ms Stephanie Carter. Stephanie encouraged our students to approach their Service experience with an open mind, with respect for others, and with readiness to be challenged on all levels (Carter, 2014).

REFERENCES Government of the Hong Kong Special Administrative Region. (2012). Life- wide Learning . Retrieved from www.edb.gov.hk/en/curriculum-development/ major-level-of-edu/life-wide-learning/index.html” http://www.edb.gov.hk/en/ curriculum-development/major-level-of-edu/life-wide-learning/index.html Carter, S. (2014). Year 10 Assembly presentation . Presented at Brisbane Girls Grammar School, Brisbane.

WINTER ISSUE / 2014