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Dr Sally Stephens, Director of Science and Mathematics …the walls of the classroom are literally made irrelevant by the creation of communities of learners that span oceans, races, genders, and generations. Richardson (2009, p.130)  Take a snapshot of how students conduct their out-of-school lives and you will see them using a kaleidoscope of digital technologies to communicate, collaborate and form social constructs with the world around them. They might tweet, text, chat or blog, buy and sell online, Skype or use Facetime. Or they might play online games. On their Facebook page they might update their status, write on their friend’s wall, upload and view still and video images, sort their ‘friends’ into social groupings, make their likes and dislikes known, and play games with other Facebook users. They might watch a video clip of One Direction singing ‘What makes you beautiful’ over and over (preferably wearing their headphones) or even, like thousands of other people,…

Mrs Anne Ingram, Dean of Students It was a pleasure to welcome back to the School this week visiting cyber safety expert, Ms Susan McLean, to address students in Years 10, 11 and 12. Our first experience with Ms McLean was in 2011 and the students were looking forward to hearing from her again. Acknowledged as Australia’s foremost expert in the area of youth cyber safety, Ms McLean's career spans twenty-seven years of distinguished service in the Victoria Police, with much of this time dedicated to working in undercover operations to expose online offenders. Students, parents and staff alike gained much from Ms McLean’s presentations this week. She is an engaging and, at times, hard-hitting speaker, able to draw on a wealth of real-life experiences and examples that make her deliveries so captivating and compelling. With the explosion of cyber technology, the issues of cyber bullying and ‘sexting’ have emerged as key concerns confronting the safety…

Professor John Armstrong, Visiting Philosopher Brisbane Girls Grammar School's Visiting Philosopher for 2012 is Associate Professor John Armstrong. Professor Armstrong is a Senior Advisor in the Office of the Vice Chancellor at the University of Melbourne and has been Philosopher in Residence at the Melbourne Business School. Educated at Oxford and London, he moved to Australia in 2001. His primary interest is in the quality of relationships to ideas, people and objects—and the significance of such relationships for individual and collective flourishing1. Professor Armstrong has published a number of books including The Secret Power of Beauty (2006) and In Search of Civilisation (2009). Girls Grammar is extremely fortunate to have someone of Professor Armstrong’s calibre working with the School this year. In Term I, Professor Armstrong spent some time in the School meeting with various staff and Faculties to gain an understanding of what underpins the School's strategic aspiration to be a leader in exceptional scholarship and…

School Psychologist Jodie Forbes outlines the very real physical, emotional and cognitive benefits to be gained by us all from getting physical.

... Exploring the characteristics and applications of creativity has attracted researchers and business worldwide. The focus on creativity as a path to improvement and its perceived role in superior problem solving, thinking and entrepreneurial success has become an industry in itself. Unfortunately, governments and bureaucracies (including education) see creativity primarily as a process, a tool for a solution, rather than something far more essential, elusive and enmeshed with sophisticated interpersonal communication and enhanced understanding of our world.