Grammar Gazette- Issue 2, 2022

A Legacy of Generosity Celebrating 70 years of parent support

Dr Cate Campbell President of the Parents and Friends Association

In 1952, a group of parents came together to organise an afternoon tea as part of the first Brisbane Girls Grammar School Fair. This very simple act of generosity and hospitality quickly led to the establishment of a formal Parents and Friends (P&F) Association and for the past 70 years, the P&F Association has worked with the School for the benefit of our daughters.

As we celebrate our 70th anniversary, perhaps it is time to reassess why our organisation exists In the modern world, schools are large, complex, professionally run institutions Young women are sophisticated and empowered, and parents are busy with careers and other responsibilities Surely, the days of organising sausage sizzles, bake stalls, and Mothers Group lunches are coming to an end Well, maybe not—maybe what we really need, now more than ever, is a group that brings us to together to create connections and support optimistic projects that look to a better future. The decision this year for the P&F to fund a perpetual Bursary takes our support for the School in a new direction and explicitly recognises our belief in the benefits of a Girls Grammar education. This year the P&F Association has also funded student initiated activities including songwriting workshops and Japanese drum performances, and perhaps most importantly, we have continued to provide opportunities for parents to meet, support, and learn from each other at various social functions In the wider world parents can never seem to get the balance of nurture and promoting personal responsibility quite right—we are either ‘helicopters’, ‘tigers’ or ‘lawnmowers’! With the gift to the School of the bronze bust of Minerva to mark our 70th anniversary, the P&F Association instead celebrates all that is positive about the contribution parents can make to the education and advancement of their children ■

top P&F Association members present and past with the Minerva bust above Principal, Ms Jacinda Euler Welsh, with Dr Cate Campbell and Chair of the Board of Trustees, Ms Julie McKay

Gazette

Brisbane Girls Grammar School

32

Issue 2, 2022