This past fortnight has been exceptionally busy at MGGS. We have seen our Grammarians ambitiously pursue their interests across myriad areas of endeavour, and there have been wonderful displays of excellence at all levels. We can be proud of the engagement of our entire community as they have celebrated the successes of each other, and contributed to the culture of the School in so many ways including: STEM awards, ‘Artists’ Talk’ with our Old Grammarians and also sharing career trajectories with our Senior Years students across other diverse fields. We have witnessed our senior girls perform brilliantly alongside MGS in West Side Story and over the weekend I have celebrated with our skiers as they have taken to the slopes in the Victorian Interschool SnowSports Championships. I am proud to share that our competitors in the Primary category achieved a wonderful second place position and our Secondary aged competitors came in first for the second year consecutively! Overall, Melbourne Girls Grammar earned the most points. Book Week is always a delight as we see our youngest Grammarians showcase their favourite books and the creativity in putting together a costume, while our oldest Grammarians relish in the delights of sharing ideas and insights into literature on many levels. At its core, Book Week is about celebrating a love of reading at every age and stage and its importance in stimulating academic rigour, and the development of creativity, language, and curiosity.
The strength of our community shone brightly on Thursday 15 August when over 60 parent, OG and staff volunteers reached out to harness support for our Red Brick Appeal. We are all so pleased with the outcome with the actual figure on the day totalling $526,102. The people at Glenhope really got into the spirit of philanthropy and were so excited to see the numbers roll in throughout the day. We also know that our community were watching the tally as the day progressed and to get $15,000 at the 11th hour (doubled through matching donors) to reach the goal of $500,000 was unexpected and a true demonstration of what an amazing contribution our community makes in supporting our School.
Over the course of the year, the ‘Principal’s Update’ in Messenger will feature the important work being undertaken by our Deputy Principals. The incredible work that they do in supporting me through their leadership in the areas of Wellbeing, Mrs Lynn Broadway, and Academic [programs], Ms Lynda Wall, is highly regarded not just within MGGS but within the education sector more broadly. In this Messenger, we celebrate the leadership of Ms Lynda Wall and her recent involvement at a national level in driving academic excellence and her influence is bringing that into our academically focused programs and staffing at MGGS.
Dr Toni E. Meath
Principal
UPDATE FROM THE DEPUTY PRINCIPAL – ACADEMICI was privileged last week to present in Sydney as part of a panel at The Hatchery’s national conference on ‘Evidence Informed Teaching’. The two-day conference on this topic was affirming of the approaches underpinning curriculum, pedagogy and assessment at Melbourne Girls Grammar. Much of the important thinking on these topics has also been at the forefront of professional conversations at MGGS as our professional learning sessions have focused on analysing our student, parent and staff feedback, and ensuring our strengths are reinforced and perceived areas of needs are identified and addressed. The cycle of reflection and growth enables us to remain at the forefront of education.
From the Evidence Informed Teaching Conference, several messages were key. These included the importance of students’ deep thinking about the curriculum content, and understanding what success looks like in each study area. For deep thinking to occur, attendance and engagement are critical and, at Melbourne Girls Grammar, we continue to focus on ensuring that our lessons engage students with the mental rigour of learning. We use explicit teaching, with good quality models, to exemplify for all students what successful learning looks like. We continue to reinforce for students the importance of practice – classroom work, not just summative assessment, is essential. The use of data to track student growth was also a focus for the Conference and in this area, the Melbourne Girls Grammar model of House and Year Level Wellbeing Coordinators who know each student’s progress, offers support for student growth.
Around MGGS, STEM Week has been celebrated with gusto, commencing with assembly on Monday 12 August. The featured installation of an Analemmatic Sundial was unveiled by the STEM captains following the assembly. This sundial can be seen alongside the multipurpose courts on the Merton Hall campus.
Melbourne Grammar School’s August Production of the musical West Side Story featured a number of Senior Years Grammarians. It was a vibrant, energetic and exciting showcase of talent across both schools. The wonderful orchestra played with skill and passion and set the pace for the drama and dance on the stage. Three of our students were among the musicians, well done to Shuying Jiang, Shibei Hong and Maggie Shi. West Side Story calls on the triple threat talents of its performers and we were treated to powerful performances by Stephanie Adamson (Maria) and Esther Nastri (Anita); as well as Emily Walters, Ava Allen, Mimic Koczkar and Isabella Troise, whose performance of “America” was masterful. We were equally proud of all our Grammarians who joined ‘The Sharks’ and ‘The Jets’: Honey Anderson, Emily Gillard, Tabitha Chamberlain, Amelia Pickering-Banks and Pippi Bottomley. An amazing time was had by all who attended and obviously, by all involved.
National Book Week was also a delight this week, with students and staff taking joy in dressing up. Underpinning the fun was the joy of engaging in conversations about our favourite books across all levels of the School community. Thank you also to parents and carers who may have been involved in last minute scrambles to put together the perfect costumes!
In staffing, we are currently seeking a Director of Learning Enhancement and Support Years 5–12 and we encourage our community to share the role with qualified professional educators in your circles. We also welcome Lucy Jongebloed to the role of Director of Teaching and Learning Years 7–12 from Term 4, while Roseanne Tiziani takes parental leave.
Lynda Wall
Deputy Principal: Educational Leadership, Academic