2017 School Magazine

LORD MAYOR’S YOUTH ADVISORY COMMITTEE

The Lord Mayor, Graham Quirk, chairs the official meeting which is held five times per year. Some of the topics we have discussed include youth mental health, the new transport plan for Brisbane and ways to make Council’s events more attractive to young people. The meetings are colourful with a room full of students with varying cultural perspectives, educational backgrounds, personality traits and differing value systems. The one constant however, is that we all want to positively contribute to the world of tomorrow. SOPHIE WATKINS (10G)

Being Brisbane Girls Grammar School’s representative on the 2017 Lord Mayor’s Youth Advisory Committee has been an extremely positive experience. It has been rewarding to contribute to actions that ensure that all young people in Brisbane are engaged, empowered, included and celebrated. The committee comprises a student representative from almost every private and public Brisbane secondary school, comprising a total of more than eighty delegates. We are charged with the responsibility of raising issues or sharing ideas that affect young people.

QUT FUTURE LEADERS Future Leaders is a programme run by the Queensland University of Technology (QUT); its aim is to bring together students from the Brisbane Metropolitan region that could potentially be the leaders of our future. Through this programme, I met many people from many different backgrounds who I would not otherwise have met. This programme extends across Year 11 and 12 and includes events such as study skills workshops and special career counselling sessions with QUT counsellors. Overall I have really enjoyed the opportunity this programme has provided and the skills it has taught me and I recommend it to any other girls who have been offered a place. GRACE MITCHELL (12R)

The QUT Future Leaders Program is a unique programme, offering students opportunities to engage with QUT through a series of thought-provoking and challenging enrichment activities throughout Years 11 and 12. As the representative for Year 11 at Girls Grammar, throughout this year, I have attended many worthwhile events, including study skills and leadership workshops, tours of the QUT campuses and various networking events. These have proved very beneficial to me, allowing me to meet other like-minded students from other schools and providing me with information to assist me in succeeding during my senior years of school. Next year, I look forward to continuing to participate the programme and learning more about other opportunities available to me during university and beyond. Overall, I greatly enjoyed participating this year and I am incredibly grateful for the way it has inspired me to pursue not only academic success, but also leadership in the senior school. GEORGIA PERRY (11G)

JUNIOR EXECUTIVE FORCE

Over the course of 2017, the Junior Executive Force (JEF) has been involved with a variety of events. The group has been responsible for representing the younger years at Brisbane Girls Grammar School. These activities were successful in incorporating the younger years’ opinions and helped to give the Year 7, 8 and 9 cohorts an opportunity to state their point of view. In semester one, JEF participated in the organisation of multiple activities. This included the Year 9 picnic, input to the Board Strategy Day and helped to create the Student Council suggestion boxes. During the Year 9 picnic, the cohort played multiple games of dodgeball and was able to effectively bring the girls from different houses and friendship groups together. During the Board Strategy Day, the girls contributed to the discussion about future plans for our School. They spoke about sustainability and the amount of green spaces around the School as an example. Over the duration of semester two, the JEF committee organised a Christmas decorating competition, created scrapbook pages for the time capsule, and ran a stall on Open Day. At the Open Day stall, the JEF girls welcomed interested parents and their daughters, and informed them about leadership opportunities in the junior school

and what to expect when entering into Brisbane Girls Grammar School. We would like to thank our Student Council representatives, Emily Ferguson, Abirami Somasundaram, Eliza Watson, Madison Satyasiv, Catriona Gu, Alice Dunn, as well as Mrs Mungomery and Miss Frew for their dedication to JEF throughout the year. BRONTE CATHCART (9E), VICTORIA REX (9H), MIKAYLA RENTOUL (9R)

054 | COMMUNITY | BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL 2017