The incredible rise in technology over the last decade has led to social networking being woven into the fabric of everyday life, no more so than for our current generation of adolescents. Internet sites such as Facebook can be a vehicle for self-objectification in a unique and concerning way.
After the announcement of 'Embrace the new! Link the Blue!' as the 2013 motto and vision for the School, Marrapatta staff considered how our thematic approach to the outdoor education programme could support the student focus for the year.
Six times every year, as an English teacher — and, therefore, a white-hat-wearing good-guy — I find myself cast as the villain in a Western film. I push through the swinging saloon doors of the classroom, and the happy chatter stalls. Twenty pairs of eyes fix on me in a small-town silence tainted with a palpable dread. The beribboned townsfolk gasp as they realise I have come among them armed not with the usual arsenal of whiteboard pens, PowerPoint presentations, and lame jokes, but with the scourge of English students everywhere: a sheaf of graded papers.
In each year of my experience co-ordinating the Year 12 cohort the incoming Student Council expresses surprise and wonder at the intensity of the role and responsibilities of the Council. This body, and its predecessors, have existed for many productive years and is the 'engine room' of the student body. The Council's role is to provide a voice for the students; act as role models; be the prime conduit between the students, staff and community; and nurture the spirit of Girls Grammar.