Canberra Girls Grammar School — CGGS Newsletter 0925 complete

CGGS Newsletter 25 - 28 August 2009

MESSAGE FROM THE PRNICIPAL

I am proud to announce that the following students have achieved leadership positions for 2010 and will be members of the Senior Council.

• School Captain: Sarah Williams
• School Vice Captain: Sarah Dobbie
• SRC Chairperson: Lizzie Kaye
• Service Captain: Christabel Richards-Neville
• Boarding House Captain: Anna Rush
• Debating and Public Speaking Captain: Georgia Lourandos
• Drama Captain: Jo Richards
• Music Captain: Colette Lipp
• Sports Captain: Elizabeth Pearson
• Burgmann House Captain: Nipuni Wijewickrema
• Deakin House Captain: Victoria Sewell
• Glebe House Captain: Michaela Leerdam
• Kilburn House Captain: Ellie Dean
• Robertson House Captain: Jessica Williams
• Waverley House Captain: Alice Storey

We offered our congratulations to the students at a Leadership Service on Tuesday of this week which was arranged by the Rev Paul Harris. In 2010 the students will participate in a special induction service.

I would like to give our sincere thanks to the students who made application for leadership positions in 2010. It takes courage to stand up and show the School that you are willing to become a leader. All of the students who nominated for positions have the potential to be excellent leaders and we hope that each will undertake a leadership role in their senior year. I was particularly proud of the composure which each of these students demonstrated when we made the student leadership announcements on Tuesday. Each student who had nominated for a position demonstrated grace and sincerity in their happiness for students who did achieve positions.

We will be undertaking Election B leadership positions during Term 3 and I will be making further announcements about student leaders for 2010.

I would like to congratulate the students and staff who participated in the Sunday Choral Concert on 23 August. The performance was most enjoyable and I would like to apologise for my own non-attendance. Due to the current poor health of my mother, I was visiting my family in Brisbane.

I was very pleased to attend a performance of the Senior Drama production Dinkum Assorted which was directed by Teacher-in-Charge of Creative Arts, Donna Trucillo. Each year I look forward to the performance of our Senior students and both the student performances and choice of play were excellent. It is terrific to see a play which gives attention to an Australian theme and focuses on the role of women, in this case, during the period of World War II.

I would like to say well done to: Aleks Trkulja, Jo Richards, Sam Weaving, Jessica White, Chelsea Needham, Brittney Gould, Erin Parker, Victoria Sewell, Ros Quincy O¡¯Neill, Lizzie Kaye, Bonnie MCArthur, Clair Phillips, Lauren Jenkins, Lane Sainty, Sasha Killalea and Emma Turnbull.

It was a pleasure to attend our annual Y6 Father and Daughter Dinner and I would like to thank our guest speaker, Philip Milne. Philip has three daughters, one of whom has now left the School and is studying Law at the Australian National University. He has taken an active interest in the education of his daughters and has been involved in a variety of school activities, particularly basketball.

The purpose of this dinner is to highlight the importance of the relationship which daughters have with their fathers and to foster continued involvement of our fathers in the School activities of their daughters as they enter the Senior School.

I am aware that our mothers are also keen to have some special school activities in which they can become involved with their daughters. I have been working on a plan which involves the introduction of a fathers group and a mothers group which I will bring to the P&F Association executive meeting in the next week. I am hopeful that this will be accepted by the Association and that in 2010 we can develop a number of activities for both groups.

I would like wish the members of the Old Grammarians' Association all the best for their annual Market Day to be held tomorrow at the Elizabeth McKay Aquatic Centre. The Aquatic Centre is a terrific venue for the market day and there are lots of interesting purchases to be made. Funds raised by the Old Grammarians' Association are used for students in the School and we are grateful for their continued interest and assistance.

Susan Just
Principal

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF SENIOR SCHOOL

The results for the election of the Senior Council positions were announced at the Senior School Assembly on Tuesday 25 August. All the students who were nominated were of the highest calibre and any of the nominees would have been valuable members of the Senior Council. There will always be disappointments and we always tell those students that were not successful that there will be many other leadership positions and opportunities available to them throughout the remainder of this year and next year. Congratulations to all the students who were nominated for the various positions. The 2010 Senior Council members are listed in the Principal's article.

A reminder that Parent/Teacher interviews will be held on Tuesday 15 September and Thursday 24 September from 4pm to 8pm. As mentioned in the previous CGGS Newsletter, information will be distributed to parents explaining the new online procedures for booking interview times. The process was explained to staff on Thursday afternoon at the Senior School Staff Meeting and information will be uploaded so that the process is ready for parents closer to the interview days.

As part of providing the students, staff and parents with relevant information about the dangers of the technological age, CGGS have been able to arrange for the Australian Communications and Media Authority (ACMA) to run a series of presentations. Unfortunately, there was a double booking on the evening of 17 September which has meant that the parent session has had to be moved to Wednesday 14 October. An invitation will be distributed to parents inviting them to this important information evening.

Presentations provide valuable information about the risks confronting children online, and offer tools and tips to help make their internet experiences safe and positive.

Internet safety presentations cover topics including:

• the ways children use the internet and emerging technologies
• potential risks for children online, such as cyberbullying, illegal content, inappropriate contact, identity theft, grooming and predatory activity
• tips to help children stay safe online.

The presentation is thorough, non-technical and is conducted by an accredited cybersafety trainer.

Support materials for parents - the Australian Communications and Media Authority's (ACMA) Cybersafety Outreach program offers a range of free resources for parents, teachers and children.
Materials developed for parents include:

• Cybersmart Kids, an online guide to smart surfing, chatting and emailing - www.cybersmartkids.com.au
• Cybersmart Kids brochures:
  • Cybersmart Guide
  • How to be phone smart
  • Smart guide to social networking.
• Cybersafety Gateway - In mid 2009, ACMA will launch a Cybersafety Gateway'a web portal giving all Australian primary and secondary schools easy access to the full range of ACMA's cybersafety education resources. The Gateway will host current ACMA resources, link to existing national and international resources and offer new materials as they are developed. The Gateway will include strategic tools for cybersafety education planning.
• Cybersafety Contact Centre, for information and advice. Telephone 1800 880 176.
• Email for information, printed materials and advice about online safety - cybersafety@acma.gov.au 

Congratulations to Aimee Hughes (10R) and Nicky Mound (10W) on gaining roles in the Quantum Leap 'Chaos' dance projects. The students will perform at the Street Theatre in October.

Congratulations to Ady Elmitt (12W) on gaining a place in the Australian team this year for the ITU Triathlon World Championships. This year, the Championships will be held on the Gold Coast on 13 September.

Congratulations to Annabel Lloyd (9D) and Scarlett Feltham (8D) on being selected for the U15 Women's ACT Representative Hockey team. The team will compete in Brisbane in October.

		Congratulations to debaters Eleanor Ryan (10B), Prashanthi Mathew (10B), Georgia Behrens (10R), Soumya Jyoti (10B) and coach, Bee Tapp (12D) on winning the annual ACT Debating Union (ACTDU) Murray Competition. Eleanor was also awarded the Moss Medal for the best speaker of the grand final, the Farrell Perpetual Trophy for best speaker in the Murray competition and the Zapari medal for best and fairest in the ACTDU. The last medal includes the three competitions run by ACTDU in the first half of the year (their premier competitions) and so involved students from Years 7-12. This was the first time a CGGS student has achieved this.

Congratulations to Imogen Brown (9G) on winning the Junior section (Years 7-10) of the Royal Commonwealth Society Public Speaking Competition on 28 August.

Bruce Handley
Head of Senior School

MESSAGE FROM THE HEAD OF JUNIOR SCHOOL

We have another NEiTA Teacher! The NEiTA Foundation has congratulated CGGS on having a teacher nominated for an ASG Inspirational Teaching Award.

Adam Hall was nominated by members of our community and this week was presented with a NEiTA Certificate of Nomination. The purpose of these prestigious awards is to honour and recognise inspirational teachers, and to highlight the work, not only of individual teachers, but also the team contribution of all teachers in every school.

Inspirational teachers develop in students a strong and long lasting love of learning, encourage student empowerment and self belief (resilience), stimulate students' creativity and innovative thinking, create innovative teaching environments, and have a positive influence on colleagues and community.

"Next to a parent, teachers have the most influence in a young person¡¯s life. When a teacher engages a student with enthusiasm, skill and passion, magic can happen in the mind of that student" NEiTA's Chairman, Terry O'Connell said.

Adam is now eligible for consideration for a National ASG Inspirational Teaching Awards and grant. We all congratulate Adam and thank the parent community who nominated him.

Last week we commenced our weekly visits to the Junior School construction area. Each week a group of students in Years 5 and 6 will have a tour of the construction area with members of our project management group, Construction Control. Following their visit, the students will report back to every Year level to give updates and view the photos that are taken on the day. The students have been very interested to see the boundaries of the new Multipurpose Hall and to ask questions about the materials used and facilities that have remained. Ms Lauren Couter and Mr Andrew Champness from Construction Control will be leading the site Visits each week.

Site Visit Report from Rachel Marsh and Alice Wang

On 27 August 2009 six students from Years 5 and 6 went on a site visit of the construction area of the new Multipurpose Hall. We had to wear hard hats and fluoro orange or yellow vests. We wore hard hats so that if anything fell out of place we would be protected. We wore vests so that everybody working could see us. We found out that they have to had divert sewer pipes so that they could build on top of them. There will be columns holding up a bridge from the Hall to the oval for easy access. The Hall will be coloured in school colours. The Hall will be a lot bigger than our previous one and from what we saw, it seemed as if the old hall was miniature. All the materials from our old hall have been recycled. On Friday 28 August 2009 the builders are pouring cement to make a wall. We learnt many interesting things on our site visit.

In the CGGS Newsletter of 14 August, I was unable to provide details of our age champions and record breakers and I am delighted to share this information now. Our Age Champions were announced and congratulated by the School this week. We all join in our congratulations for the outstanding achievements of these students.

2009 Age Champions 8 years Tallulah Farrow and Zoe Tregeagle 9 years Rosemary Schweizer 10 years Isobel Clark 11 years Charlotte Baillie and Jemima Millar-Carton 12 years Joanna Chalker

Records Broken Y2 Girls 70m Mel Clery 12.30 10 years 100m Rebecca Sargent 15.84 10 years and under 200m Rebecca Sargent 35.30 9 years 800m Capella Maguire 3.17.48 10 years 800m Rebecca Sargent 3.06.37 9 years Discus Capella Maguire 15.87m 10 years Discus Catherine Khan 16.80m 9 years Long Jump Sophia Miller 3.36m 9 years Shot Put Rosemary Schweizer 5.75m

The Participation Points, listed below, are an integral part of the results. Every student who enters an event is awarded a point for his or her House. We were delighted with the number of participants in the long distance events and heats for sprints and 200metres. PDHPE teacher, Greg Cross, reporting about the 800metre events said "There were truckloads of them!" It was certainly the highest level of participation that I have seen in the last few years and we had 19 heats of the 10 years 200 metres.

Aggregate result, which includes Participation Points.

Book Week

It was a jungle of safari animals interspersed with book characters that filled the Gymnasium for the Book Week Assembly on Monday. This year¡¯s Book Week theme is Book Safari and we were taken on a journey in darkest Africa as Steven Spielberg (aka Teacher Librarian, Barbara Selleck) and David Attenborough (aka Teacher Librarian, Corrie Bennett) collaborated on the making of a documentary about the endangered 'R D gorilla'. Library Captain, Morag Hutcheson, introduced the innovative program throughout which there was much laughter. The short listed and winning books were presented, there was a cameo appearance by a gorilla and the staff showed their dubious dancing skills to Surfing Safari!

The Early Learning Centre also had their Book Week Assembly on Monday and we thank the parents from all parts of the Junior School who helped their children be prepared and also attended the performances. It is always a very special day in the Junior School and ELC; one that is eagerly anticipated and long remembered.

Additional School Buses ¨C Gungahlin And Bungendore

As I have not received any responses to the article regarding the possibility of school buses from Gungahlin and Bungendore, I have included the article from the last CGGS Newsletter again.

The Senior Management of CGGS have been looking at the changing demographics of Canberra and we have begun initial discussions as to the possibility of organising school buses to run from Gungahlin and Bungendore. We have contacted Canberra Grammar School (CGS) and they have also recognised the potential need for such a service and both schools are keen to work together to provide an additional service to the students from these areas. ACTION buses looked into the possibility for this year but felt that the demand was not sufficient to warrant the service.

It is early in the planning process, but we are looking at potential costs and routes. The Gungahlin bus would most likely cover the following areas: Palmerston, Nicholls, Ngunnawal, Amaroo, Gungahlin, Forde, Harrison and Franklin. The number and location of the stops would need to be looked at very carefully as timing will be an important issue. The bus would drop and pick up students at CGGS and CGS only. The School is examining the cost of offering such a service and we need to know if there is enough interest from the community to warrant further investigation. If you live in the Gungahlin or Bungendore area could you please complete the form at the following link and return it to the Junior School or Senior School Reception.

Heather Ablett
Head of Junior School

IN THE NEWS

More articles on School news, activities and events are available in the section ‘In the News’ on our website.

http://www.cggs.act.edu.au/pages/page416.asp