CGGS Newsletter No. 23 – 17 August 2007

MESSAGE FROM THE PRINCIPAL

It was my pleasure to attend the Choral Festival last Sunday.The Festival is part of a series of Sunday concerts being held at CGGS. Choirs from the Junior and Senior School performed during the afternoon, with a grand finale of all choirs performing a medley of songs from Les Miserables.

The concert highlighted for me the wonderful tradition of choral singing which we have in the School and the progression which is evident as our students move through their years at both the Junior and Senior School campuses. We are fortunate to have students who appreciate the skills to be learned and the sense of satisfaction to be gained from singing with a group.

Thanks to Mary Tatchell, the end of the program allowed family members and staff members to join with the massed choir. It was wonderful to see parents singing with their daughters and I certainly enjoyed singing with the students. This was a strong illustration of the importance of School community.

My thanks to all of the students who participated in the Choral Festival and my congratulations to Mary Tatchell, Jennifer Johnson, Sara David, Helen Swan and accompanist, Megan Hodge. My congratulations to the following students who accompanied choirs: Louise Underwood, Lydia Dobson and Imogen Hur-Thompson.

Throughout September we have a number of Sunday concerts, but I would like to draw your attention to the Australian Schools Music Festival concert which will be held on 15 September at 4.00pm. In 2007, the Australian Schools Music Festival is being hosted by Canberra Grammar School and Mary Tatchell has been working with the CGS Director of Music, Craig Woodland, in the organisation of this event. Students from independent schools around Australia will be coming together for workshops offered by highly respected musicians and conductors.

I attended the concert for the last Australian Schools Music Festival which was held in Melbourne in 2005. It was an experience that I will never forget and one which has inspired me to continue to follow our vision of offering an holistic education to our students. The student musicians and choir members were challenged and inspired to reach their potential.

The disappointing feature of the concert was that the Town Hall was not full of people ready to listen to these wonderful performances. I would like to encourage every parent and friend to attend this concert. The students deserve to have an appreciative audience and those of us who do attend will understand that our young people are ready for any challenge.

During this week I attended our third Year 6 Father/Daughter Dinner and it was a great success. Our guest speaker was Associate Professor Marc Budge.

The Year 6 Father/Daughter Dinner is an important event in our yearly calendar because we have an opportunity to welcome our current students and their parents to the Senior School campus. The dinner forms part of our transition process and our aim is to ensure that the students feel comfortable as they enter this significant change in their lives, and that our parents, in this case, our fathers, understand that we appreciate their active support in the education of their daughters.

As you would be aware, we will be introducing a Faculty structure in 2008 which will replace the current Heads of Department structure. Interviews have now been completed and I will be able to provide the names of our Heads of Faculty to parents in the next Newsletter. We have also undertaken interviews for the two new positions of Assistant Head of Human and Social Sciences faculty and the Teacher-in-Charge of Creative Arts faculty.

We have received a considerable number of applications from around Australia for the Head of Senior School and the Director of Staff Services. Both of these positions have become available because of promotional positions offered to Fiona Godfrey and Scott Pearsall. We are currently developing a short list of applicants for both positions and will undertake interviews during August.

In the Junior School we will be interviewing for ongoing positions from 2008. These new positions have arisen from increased enrolments, and our need to find replacements for staff who have chosen to retire.

Given that we are currently obtaining nominations from students who wish to be considered for Senior Council positions in 2008, I thought that it would be helpful to provide some insight into the work undertaken by the students.

The focus of attention for the Senior Council during this term is the Fête Fashion Parade, a Year 7 Social and the Op Shop Ball which the students have decided to run for Year 11 and 12 students from CGGS and CGS. It is the responsibility of the Senior Council to plan, organise and run each event. Members of staff provide support to the students but the success of each event will depend upon their creativity and organisational skills. The students gain a great sense of satisfaction from planning and organising such events but time management skills become important when the same students are organising House and School activities, such as House Music, participating in the co-curricular program, studying and often undertaking part-time work outside of school.

Throughout the year, the Senior Council has undertaken a variety of activities, along with planning for their particular areas of responsibility. The number of activities will vary in each Term and the Fête Fashion Parade is one of the larger activities which falls under the responsibility of the Senior Council. The students are well organised, but they do rely on each member of the Senior Council to undertake the tasks assigned to them.

Students who nominate for the Senior Council positions will need to consider their current activities within the School and outside of the School. Consideration will need to be given to how a balance will be achieved when additional Senior Council duties and Captain duties are included.

Susan Just
Principal

During the week there has again been a call through the media to ban mobile phones at school. These recent calls have been sparked by concerns over the posting of video footage on websites, such as You Tube, showing acts of violence and bullying in school grounds and classrooms. In most cases the videos have been shot using mobile phones.

At CGGS, we are not considering banning mobile phones but instead seek to educate our students about the appropriate use and storage of mobile phones at school. We accept that there are great security and convenience benefits in students having mobile phones. Most parents give their children mobile phones to protect them from everyday risks involving personal security and safety and it is acknowledged that providing a child with a mobile phone gives parents the reassurance that they can speak with their child quickly at any time, particularly when travelling to and from school.

There are, however, a number of issues relating to the use of mobile phones at school that must be resolved. They are:

• Disruption to educational programs through the receipt and transmission of text messages as well as telephone ring tones.
• Privacy concerns mainly related to the ability of many mobile phones to take photographs, videos or record conversations in the ignorance of those being recorded.
• Loss and/or theft of phones.
• The right of the School to confiscate property as a form of punishment
• The right of the School to insist on the deposit of mobile phones in secure places for extended periods of time.

To address these concerns the following guidelines are in place at CGGS:

1. All students are aware that mobile phones are to be at all times switched off during class time or between classes.
2. Students are not permitted to use their mobile phone to tell the time in class, particularly when completing assessments.
3. All students are encouraged to limit the use of mobile phones during Recess and Lunchtime as this restricts their opportunity to socialise with their peers.
4. Students are encouraged to have their mobile phone in a secure place at all times whist at school. Their locker is the best place to store their mobile phone.
5. Students who are found to be using their mobile phone or receive text or phone calls during class or between classes will have their mobile phones confiscated until a letter from parents is provided.
6. Students are encouraged to name or put some sort of identifying mark on their mobile phone.

The Australian Government, through the Australian Communications and Media Authority, has recently released a mobile phone child safety checklist. This is an excellent resource for parents to help protect their children when giving them a mobile phone. For more information go to: www.acma.gov/mobilesforkids

Parents are again reminded that students should not be dropped off inside the School grounds. In recent weeks we have experienced an increasing number of parents who are driving into the School via the Melbourne Avenue, Gabriel Drive and Chapel Drive entries. In the interest of student safety and traffic flow management I would ask that all students are dropped off outside the School grounds, even when students are running late for Tutor Group. Parents are also asked to observe traffic signs and general road usage etiquette when dropping off or picking up students. This includes keeping driveways and other roads clear of traffic at all times.

Next week, all parents will receive via mail Parent/Teacher Interview sheets for Semester 2. Parent/Teacher interviews will be held on Monday 17 and Thursday 27 September between 4pm and 8pm. Please restrict interviews to 5 minutes. If a longer interview is required, please make an appointment for another day. I would ask all parents to indicate a preferred day for the interviews and then sign the sheet so that Tutors can be assured that parents have seen the form.

Fiona Godfrey
Deputy Prinicpal/Head of Senior School