Students completing Year 12 have the option of taking a ‘gap year’ to travel and experience the world. For those student who undertake a gap year, the benefits far outweigh the costs. A range of academic, social and cultural benefits results from gap year experiences, including linguistic and cultural immersion, and working and living abroad.
Year 7 and 8 students are all participating the School’s unique and tailor-made Philosophy of Learning course. Students explore issues such as: organisation, mindset, failure, resilience, brain science, metacognition and thinking skills. Our approach emphasizes the learning journey and that success is not necessarily always linear. In fact students are encouraged to view disappointment as a wonderful opportunity for growth. Year 7 students were asked to write a poem encapsulating as much as they could about their Philosophy of Learning journey during their first term at the School. Jessica’s poem was a wonderful expression of how she had internalised the term’s curriculum. We are who we are and that is good enough. It is all about our achievement and while beating someone else is a bonus it should never consume us. When we fail, learn to fail well and try be better next time. Resilience is no more than experience lived well. To be inquisitive and…
The teenage brain is a wondrous organ, capable of immense stimulation and stunning feats of learning. Mrs Anne Ingram, Dean of Students, examines current research into the development of the teenage brain and explains how it is fit for purpose.
Ms Alysia Stark, Head of England House, investigates how adolescent mental health is impacted by food and nutrition intake.
Dr Kay Kimber, Director of the Centre for Professional Practice, considers the integral role of trust in personal and professional relationships.
‘… the historian’s picture of the past is … in every detail an imaginary picture …’ As a teacher of history, I sometimes wonder about the mysterious space that exists between my understanding and that of my students’. It is not just a matter of my knowing more than they do but rather, how the image that I try to create might be received by them; whether I can make them see what I see. Of course the process of learning is far more complex than the transferral of knowledge directly from teacher to student (it’s not, after all, about reading the teacher’s mind). Nevertheless the question of how we ‘see’ history is an interesting one.
The double intake of Year 7 and 8s this year has had an extremely positive impact on the School community; the Year 12 Prefects and Buddies have made particular comment on the younger girls’ levels of exuberance and often playful approach to school-life, and have actually questioned ‘where does it come from and why aren't we like that?’ This concept of ‘play’ should be pondered upon: what would our Year 7 and 8 girls miss out on if free play became a thing of the past, best enjoyed at primary school?
Finding one’s way (building a career) can be loosely described as an exercise in stringing together seemingly random life experiences; seizing new opportunities as they present themselves; navigating unforeseen circumstances; and embracing life-wide education and emergent technologies. The stories in this article are written with a singular purpose in mind: to reflect upon the emerging careers of recent Brisbane Girls Grammar School graduates to teach, guide and inspire those who will follow.
Fathers tend to be the most critical behavioural influence for both boys and girls regarding sport matters and in particular becoming involved in sport. Parental involvement is particularly relevant for girls because parent activity and encouragement have been shown to influence the activity patterns of girls to a greater extent than boys.
Each year, Mr Andrew Pennay is surprised by the number of younger students who have never seen The Sound of Music in which Julie Andrews famously rattles off the syllables do re mi fa soh la ti do with barely cursory explanation. In this article, he looks at some practical examples of these notes to demonstrate the function and emotion each one carries.