HIGHLIGHTS
SCHOOL • In its 140th year the School welcomed its first Year 7 cohort and the new $17.4 million Research Learning Centre was opened by His Excellency the Honourable Paul de Jersey AC Governor of Queensland • Brisbane Girls Grammar School’s reputation for academic excellence continued with the Year 9 cohort ranked as the top performer in NAPLAN for the second consecutive year. The Year 7 cohort also performed exceptionally well in the School’s first instance of NAPLAN testing for this age group • Year 12 students in 2015 achieved outstanding OP and QCS results with 100 per cent of students eligible for an OP • Girls Grammar was named as the top secondary girls’ school in Queensland on The Australian’s My School website (which utilises 2014 NAPLAN data) and was ranked highly in the nation’s top 100 schools and top 50 girls’ schools • The Fig Tree Pocket Campus was officially named the Rangakarra Recreational and Environmental Education Centre at a special community event held on Saturday 23 May 2015. The main playing field at Rangakarra was named ‘Daphne Welch (1949) Oval’ in recognition of her achievements in sport and leadership • Girls Grammar was the top girls’ school in the medal tally at the Queensland Schools Championship Regatta in Rockhampton in September with two gold medals, one silver and two bronze • The BGGS Under 16 Water Polo Team was the top school team and fourth overall in the 16U National Club Championships held in Perth at the end of September
• Emma van Baarle (11M) and Molly Pate (11G) received full ASSIST scholarships to attend American independent schools for the 2015/2016 school year • Elizabeth Cox (12R) and Grace Rehn (12E) were selected for the Australian team that competed at the International Young Physicists Tournament in Thailand. Elizabeth and Grace had previously competed with Fiona Huq (12E) and Isabelle Higgins (12W) at the International Young Physicists Tournament Australia Challenge • Gabrielle Callow (10E), Adeline Chan (10L), Aleesha Ganendran (10H), Xuan-Nghi Pham (10O), Brooke Tran (10G) and Yidong Wu (10R) represented Australia at the International Junior Science Olympiad in Daegu, Korea where Xuan-Nghi Pham was awarded a bronze medal • Rebecca Emmett (11H), Chanelle Ren (11O) and Alisha Tang (11W) were awarded places in the 2015-2016 The University of Queensland’s Young Scholars Program • Imogen Low (12O) was awarded first place in the senior state division of the annual Young ICT Explorers competition held at The University of Queensland in August for her 3D Maps for Industry project and secured an internship with competition sponsor SAP, an international enterprise software company. Imogen went on to compete in the national round of the tournament as the only female competitor in her category, where she was awarded third place • Lucinda Duke (10H) won the Bank of Queensland ESSI Money Challenge in the junior section of the national financial literacy competition LEADERSHIP
STUDENT ACCOMPLISHMENTS ACADEMIC • Shiye Su (12R) represented Australia at the Asian Physics Olympiad and received an Honourable Mention. She was then selected as a member of the Australian team that competed in the International Physics Olympiad in India where she received a bronze medal • Shiye Su (12R), Lily Rath (12B), Aarthi Sritharan (12M) and Estelle Sah (12B) received Certificates of Academic Commendation from the Queensland Curriculum and Assessment Authority (QCAA) for achieving Very High Achievements in the equivalent of at least six authority subjects • Two students were offered places to study at Harvard and Princeton Universities in the United States
• Starr Lee (10W), Alice Dunn (10E), Jennifer Zhang (10M), Fiona Qiu (10R), Sher Meng Tan (10O), Ellen Gardner (10E), Anastasia Georgiou (10O) and Alexandra Finn (10M) participated in the International Young Leaders Forum at the Hwa Chong Institution in Singapore • Laura Fell (11B), Anna Ruddell (11O) and Josefine Ganko (12R) were selected as winners of the Queensland Premier’s ANZAC Prize 2015 and travelled to Gallipoli to take part in the historic ANZAC Centenary commemoration • Josefine Ganko (12R) was selected as the Brisbane Central member for the Queensland Youth Parliament CO-CURRICULAR
• Rianna Bell (11M) was selected to attend the Australian Science Olympiad Summer School, having achieved an outstanding performance in the qualifying exam in which almost 4000 students took part. Rianna achieved a high distinction and gold medal in the exam, placing her in the top 22 of all students who participated
• Anna Ruddell (11O), Phoebe Henderson (11O), Isabella Busby (11M) and Caitlin O’Meara (11R) competed in the Australian Individual Debating and Public Speaking Championship. Anna and Caitlin were selected in the national team that will compete in the World Championships in Pittsburgh in 2016 and Isabella was awarded a medal for her outstanding performance in the Persuasive Speaking category
• Joanna John (12O) won a Peter Doherty Outstanding Senior Mathematics and Technology Student Award — the only girl out of eight recipients
• Bridgette Watkins (7R) was awarded a silver medal in the U12 Girls Problem Solving Category at the Australian Junior Chess Championships in Canberra
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BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL 2015 Annual Review