Inspired by the Dalai Lama, Head of Griffith House Ms Jan O'Sullivan asks, ‘How do we grow a good person?’ Living a happy life depends on the nature of the society in which we live. We are social animals and a good person can only be ‘grown’ in a family or community of people who demonstrate genuine affection.
Why is it that some students can spend a lot of time studying without being productive? Dr S Stephens, Director of Science, looks at how the visualisation of abstract concepts can lead students to a deeper understanding of scientific phenomena and result in improved performance on assessment.
Parenting ‘experts’ are churning out books to meet the supposed unquenchable thirst for guidance and direction about how to be the best parent and produce the ‘best’ child. School Counsellor Ms K Belbin discusses how the contrasting and competing beliefs and expectations can leave parents feeling overwhelmed.
Technology in the home has become normalised and young people today revel in it. However, there can be a disconnect in schools as students using technology are deprived of the autonomy, personalisation and familiarity of their own devices. Our students often hold the link to life-wide learning in their bags, what can schools do to harness it?
Dr Kay Kimber, Director Centre for Professional Practice Rose Kennedy, mother of President John F. Kennedy, once said ‘Life isn't a matter of milestones, but of moments.’ Typically, milestones mark moments of transition, a concept made more poignant as the countdown for Year 12s rapidly diminishes. Rituals and traditions shape the event, honour individuals and affirm a community’s core values. In education, the quality of the learning that shapes those transitions rests on the level of sustained engagement with suitably challenging experiences— across a multitude of moments. This Saturday evening, a School community signature event will simultaneously become a first for many Year 8s and their families, and a precious ‘final’ event for many of our Year 12s. Hundreds of our fine musicians will perform in what will no doubt be yet another ‘unforgettable’ Gala concert. Orchestras, bands, choirs and soloists will treat us to a wide-ranging programme of well-loved classical, theatre music, jazz and more.…
Mr Mark Sullivan, Director of Instrumental Music ‘When I started on this path of research I thought that music was important, but I realised that it was vastly more important than I imagined,’ Daniel Levitin, Psychologist and Neuroscientist Imagine a world without music. It would be like a car without an engine or a library without books. It is simply impossible to contemplate as music is so embedded in our daily life. From the stirring of national fervour at public events, to the creation of dramatic tension in a movie, the jingle that encourages shoppers to spend money, or the fireworks at Brisbane Riverfire, music always seems to play an essential role. Is this just entertainment and something to fill our hours of leisure or is there something more to it? We know instinctively that music has a primal power and it is fascinating that anthropologists have yet to discover a culture without music. The foundations…
Celebrating 100 Years of Lifesaving at Brisbane Girls Grammar School Mr Stephen Fogarty, Director of Health Studies Faculty The past is a different country. They do things differently there. So begins L.P. Hartley’s 1953 novel, The Go-Between. The novel’s protagonist reflects on past events in an attempt to better understand his current circumstances. In this, the year in which the School celebrates 100 years of Royal Life Saving involvement, it is worth us doing the same. As outlined in Pauline Harvey-Short’s history of health, physical education and sport at Brisbane Girls Grammar School, To become fine sportswomen (2011, p. 26), In 1912 three students, Lottie Bond, Olga Hertzberg and Mary Lilley, were successful in achieving the Royal Lifesaving Society’s medal, as was their instructor, Miss Hunt. Five other students achieved their elementary certificates. These girls were Ena Eden, N. Hamilton (possibly Helena M. Hamilton), Irene Manning, Doris Park and Joan Quinlan. The three medallists, Lottie, Olga…
Mr James McIntosh, Director of Marrapatta On Sunday 10 June Brisbane Girls Grammar School will celebrate the twenty-fifth year of Marrapatta—Memorial Outdoor Education Centre. This facility was opened in 1987 by the then Chairman of the Board of Trustees, Dr A S Gehrmann and was the result of committed and determined contributions from the Girls Grammar community. The early curriculum initiatives at the Centre were designed to broaden and integrate a range of learning experiences and contribute to the needs of the whole person (Dale, 2000). The programme at Marrapatta reflected the responsiveness of the School to the changing educational climate of the 1980s, which acknowledged the imperative to move beyond purely academic realms and consider more holistic learning approaches. Outdoor Education had been operating within the School for many years prior to the development of this dedicated campus. However, such a facility enabled a concentrated approach to new curriculum and programme initiatives. The foundation of Marrapatta’s…
Ms Natalie Smith, Director of International Studies An article that crossed my desk recently caught my attention with its title “Learning to stop; Stopping to Learn” (Brady, 2005). I wondered why the title of the article intrigued me— perhaps it was the word “stop”. I was told that in the midst of the inherent busyness of school life that it was permissible to stop: that stopping equated with learning. I was more than interested. On reading further the introduction asserted that to arrive at the simplest truth required not activity, not reasoning, not calculating, not busy behaviour of any kind, not reading, not talking, not making an effort, not thinking. It required contemplation: simply bearing in mind what it is one needs to know (Brown, 1979 as cited in Brady, 2005). Contemplation, the act of attending with nonjudgmental awareness or being open to things just as they are has long been practised and cultivated in the…
Ms Sarah Boyle, Acting Head of O’Connor House At each break throughout the school day the tables around the Main Building become a hive of activity and the excited buzz of chatter from Year 12 students. When passing by the tables you can hear the girls talking about weekend events, discussing assignments, or planning the next bake stall. Everything happens at the Year 12 tables, it is the hub of their final year. While they typify chatting teenage girls, a more significant observation about the tradition of the Year 12 tables is that the girls are sharing and supporting one another through the ups and downs of their final year at school. It is at the table that they find comfort and reassurance in each other’s company, reinforcing meaningful friendships. Can the same be said for the family dinner table? With the pressures of modern life, there is a renewed emphasis on the importance of sharing a…