ANNUAL REVIEW 2024
ACKNOWLEDGEMENT OF COUNTRY
In the spirit of reconciliation, Brisbane Girls Grammar School acknowledges the traditional custodians of the lands on which our campuses stand, the Turrbal, Jagera and Kabi Kabi Peoples, and all Indigenous people in our School community. We honour and respect their Elders past, present, ad emerging, and recognise that these lands have always been places of teaching and learning. We are grateful for thousands of generations of care for Country and seek to walk in solidarity with the First Peoples of our nation for reconciliation, justice and healing.
Printed in Brisbane on environmentally responsible paper.
From t he Chair
Ms Julie McKay (2000) Chair, Board of Trustees
As we reflect on the achievements of 2024, the Board of Trustees and I are filled with excitement and optimism for the future of Brisbane Girls Grammar School, particularly with our 150th anniversary celebrations in 2025 and the upcoming opening of our Junior School in 2026.
This expansion marks a transformative milestone in our commitment to empowering the next generation of young women, with the Junior School setting the stage for future success and leadership.
Our dedication to gender equality remains central to our vision, and the introduction of the Junior School reinforces this commitment. By offering education to girls from Year 5, the School will ensure equal access to the same high-quality learning opportunities that have traditionally been available to boys. This progressive step aligns with the philosophy of our founder, Sir Charles Lilley, who firmly believed that girls should have the same educational aspirations as their male counterparts.
‘While preparing for this historic future development, and celebrating our 150th year in 2025, we also commend another year of academic excellence.’
—Julie McKay (2000)
Construction is well underway on the Junior School—a major step forward in our commitment to providing an exceptional primary school experience. Set to open in 2026, with the introduction of Years 5 and 6, the Junior School will offer distinct academic, co-curricular, and pastoral care models that foster holistic growth and development.
While preparing for this historic future development, and celebrating our 150th year in 2025, we also commend another year of academic excellence. The National Assessment Program-Literacy and Numeracy (NAPLAN) and Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR) results once again positioned Girls Grammar as one of Queensland’s top-performing educational institutions. These 2024 results are a reflection of the strong community spirit at BGGS, and we thank our staff, alumnae, volunteers, and families for providing unwavering support to ensure our students thrive and that our rich tradition of excellence continues.
On behalf of the Board of Trustees, I would like to acknowledge and thank Principal, Ms Jacinda Euler Welsh, for her exceptional leadership and dedication to the School and its students. Following on from the visionary women before her, she has continued to lay the foundation of excellence for which Girls Grammar is known. I also extend my gratitude to my fellow Trustees for their exceptional guidance, vision, and determination, ensuring that Girls Grammar continues to earn national and international recognition.
As we move forward into 2025 and beyond, we are optimistic about the possibilities that lie ahead. Our Sesquicentenary anniversary will celebrate our incredible history and heritage while marking the beginning of a new chapter for the School. We are proud to take this important step into the future, and I look forward to the lasting positive impact it will have on our Grammar girls for generations to come.
From t he Principal
Ms Jacinda Euler Welsh Principal
As a proud institution with an expansive history, Brisbane Girls Grammar School remains committed to building a strong educational foundation for girls and young women, empowering them to contribute confidently to their world with wisdom, imagination, and integrity. This commitment is evident in our continued academic and co-curricular success. Our 2024 NAPLAN and ATAR results highlight this ongoing dedication to scholastic excellence, with Girls Grammar continuing to be one of Queensland’s top-performing secondary schools—a testament to not only the tremendous effort and determination of our students, but the expert guidance of their teachers and dedicated support of their families. Our 2024 graduates will make their way beyond the School bolstered by the robust foundations of learning they need to face the future with confidence.
Beyond the classroom, students have embraced the multitude of opportunities available to them, from the vast array of musical ensembles to sporting groups and extension activities that have taken students interstate and overseas in pursuit of excellence. Girls also indulged their passions through the abundance of Clubs available—whether delving into the languages, science, reading, history, or technology, there is a Club for every Grammar girl.
The importance of service and giving back to the community is grounded in BGGS culture. In 2024, Grammar girls continued to offer their time and skills to assist young readers through the Brisbane Central State School Reading Club; recycled plastics into bag tags and pens through the Precious Plastic project; acted as ambassadors for the School; and supported charities including Save The Children, World Vision and Second Chance.
The generosity of our School community continues to significantly impact the opportunities available for the students. In August, the 2024 Giving Day raised an impressive $544 401, which will support initiatives, including the development of the Junior School and greening of the Cherrell Hirst Creative Learning Centre, enhancing connections to nature while complementing the building’s striking design. The philanthropic spirit
of our community also supports the vital means-tested bursary program, reinforcing the School’s commitment to inclusivity by providing a Girls Grammar education to those without the means. In addition to the existing bursaries, in 2024 we launched the Parents and Friends Association Bursary, awarded to a Year 7 student. We also established a new perpetual bursary, to be awarded annually starting in 2025 as part of the School’s Sesquicentenary celebrations.
As we reflect on 2024, we eagerly anticipate the many significant milestones of 2025, marking 150 years of Brisbane Girls Grammar School. It is my hope that each and every member of our community can find the time to celebrate and enjoy the next chapter in the history of our School, particularly as we await the opportunity to welcome students and their families to Years 5 and 6 in 2026.
Board of Trustees
Brisbane Girls Grammar School
Brisbane Girls Grammar School’s Board of Trustees each bring extensive experience, knowledge and skills to their role of guiding the School to ensure the continued delivery of the broad, liberal education for which Girls Grammar is renowned.
Ms Julie McKay (2000)
Chair of the Board of Trustees; Chair of the Development and Philanthropy Committee; Trustee since 2016 BA, BBusMan, Fellow in Ethical Leadership, EMBA, MPP
Julie McKay is an independent consultant, advising some of Australia’s largest and most complex organisations on building safe and respectful workplaces and fostering inclusion as a foundation for high-performing cultures.
Ms McKay has previously held an Executive Board role at one of Australia’s largest consulting firms, served as Gender Advisor to the Chief of the Australian Defence Force, and as Executive Director of UN Women Australia for nearly a decade.
Ms McKay is on the Board of the Campaign for Female Education (CAMFED) and in 2023 was named as one of the top 10 diversity and inclusion leaders globally by Sustainability Magazine. She was the ACT Young Australian of the Year (2013), and Chair of Council at the Women’s College at the University of Sydney (2016 to 2019).
Ms McKay is a past student of the School (2000).
Ms Kerryn Newton
Deputy Chair of the Board of Trustees; Trustee since 2018 LLB, LLM, MBA, MA, GradDip(Applied Finance and Investment), FAICD, FGIA, FIML Kerryn Newton has more than 30 years’ experience in legal, management, and commercial roles across the private and public sectors. She is currently Chief Executive Officer at Directors Australia, a national board and governance advisory firm.
Ms Newton has served on the boards of private, public, and not-for-profit companies and advises boards and companies in an extensive range of industries. She is a regular speaker, facilitator, and commentator on board and governance-related topics and is a member of Chief Executive Women.
Ms Newton is a past parent of the School.
Ms Sophie Moore (1991)
Chair of the Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee; Trustee since 2019 BBus, CA, FFin
Sophie Moore is Chief Financial Officer at Eagers Automotive Limited. Leading the company’s accounting, taxation, payroll, treasury and internal audit functions, Sophie is also an Executive Director of Eagers Automotive Limited, Australia’s oldest and largest listed automotive retail group.
With more than 25 years’ experience as a Chartered Accountant, Ms Moore has previously held the positions of General Manager (Global Corporate Finance) at Flight Centre and Associate Director (Advisory/Transaction Services) at PwC.
Ms Moore is a past student of the School (1991).
Mr Berkeley Cox Trustee since 2023
B.LLB (Hons)
Berkeley Cox was previously a Partner at King & Wood Mallesons and the Australian firm’s Chief Executive Partner (2017 to 2022). He has extensive experience in financial services and business, including digital transformation, and performance and development.
Mr Cox has a deep interest in respectfully and actively supporting First Nations communities. He is a member of the First Nations Working Group of ACT for Kids (an Australian charity that provides free therapy and support services to children and families who have experienced, or are at risk of, child abuse and neglect) and served eight years on their Board. He is also a Director of Workplace Giving Australia.
Mr Cox is a past parent of the School.
Professor Maher Gandhi Trustee since 2023
MBChB, FRCP, FRCPath, FRACP, PhD
Maher Gandhi is the Chief Executive Officer of the Translational Research Institute (TRI). He is also a pre-eminent senior staff haematologist with a particular interest in lymphoma and immunotherapy. He was previously Executive Director, Mater Research and Director of Mater Research Institute-UQ and the previous Leukaemia Foundation chair of Blood Cancer Research. Professor Gandhi is a member of the Federal Government-appointed National Blood Cancer Task Force steering committee that aims to improve access to blood cancer services across Australia.
He is a prior Chair of the Australasian Leukaemia Lymphoma Group Scientific Sub-Committee and of the Metro South Human Research Ethics Committee.
Professor Gandhi is a past parent of the School.
Mr Andrew King Trustee since 2014
Andrew King possesses more than 35 years’ experience in the Australian corporate property and funds management arena. Over this period of time, Mr King has created countless enduring relationships within the corporate community both locally, nationally, and internationally.
Mr King has held various directorships over many years of both not-for-profit and for-profit organisations, together with various advisory boards and committees at all levels of government.
Mr King is a past parent of the School.
Ms Diana Lohrisch (1989) Trustee since 2019 (and from 2013 to 2016) BComm, LLB, FGIA
Diana Lohrisch is a legal, governance, and strategic consultant and independent non-executive company director for a number of organisations. Ms Lohrisch was a corporate and commercial partner at a leading independent law firm and has more than 25 years of legal experience advising on capital markets, commercial transactions, mergers and acquisitions, and corporate governance across multiple market sectors.
Ms Lohrisch works with start-ups, SMEs, listed companies and well-established businesses, and corporate groups.
Ms Lohrisch is a past student of the School (Head Girl, 1989).
Professor James Nicklin
Trustee since 2018
MBBS, FRANZCOG, CGO
James Nicklin is a Visiting Gynaecological Oncologist at Wesley Hospital. Professor Nicklin completed his specialty training in obstetrics and gynaecology in Queensland, followed by sub-specialty training in Sydney and the USA.
Professor Nicklin is a Professor of Gynaecologic Oncology at The University of Queensland, and has previously served as Chairman, Australian Society of Gynaecologic Oncologists.
Professor Nicklin is a past parent of the School.
Professor Deborah Terry AO Trustee since 2023
BA(Hons), PhD ANU, HonLLD Aberd., FASSA
Deborah Terry is Vice Chancellor and President of The University of Queensland.
Professor Terry is a highly experienced leader in the Australian university sector, and an internationally recognised scholar in psychology. She is a Fellow and past President of the Academy of Social Sciences in Australia, and an appointed member of the Australian Research Council Advisory Council. She also currently serves on the Board of the Australia and New Zealand School of Government, and the National Schools Resourcing Board. She is a former Chair of the Board of Universities Australia and a member of the Universitas 21 Executive Committee.
THE SCHOOL
Established in 1875, Brisbane Girls Grammar School is one of Australia’s leading girls’ schools and one of Queensland’s original Grammar schools.
Through diverse opportunities and experiences, Girls Grammar students are encouraged to embrace the unexpected, bravely pursue their dreams, and inspire the creation of a more just world.
Identity and History
On 15 March 1875, six years before women were admitted to universities in Sydney and Melbourne, Brisbane Girls Grammar School was established— initially as a branch of Brisbane Grammar School— to provide girls the same educational opportunities as their brothers.
The School opened in a two-storey house, located on George Street, catering for 50 students under the leadership of Lady Principal, Mrs Janet O’Connor. Within six months, the School outgrew these premises, and relocated to Wickham Terrace.
In 1882, the decision was made to separate from Brisbane Grammar School and operate independently under the Grammar Schools Act. Two years later, in 1884, the School relocated to its current site on Gregory Terrace.
The original Main Building still stands proudly in Spring Hill, symbolising Girls Grammar’s unique heritage, and its unwavering commitment to establishing the educational foundation for girls and young women to contribute confidently to their world with wisdom, imagination and integrity.
Above 1949 Yr 9 First day of school
Above right Drill with Hilda Kennedy Webb and Kathleen Lilley Right 1940 interschool Athletics Cheersquad
HISTORICAL TIMELINE
1875—Brisbane Girls Grammar School is established in a two-storey house on George Street.
1877—Sir Charles Lilley is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees; Sarah Cargill is appointed Lady Principal.
1878—Mary Mackinlay is appointed Lady Principal.
1882—Sophia Beanland is appointed Lady Principal; Girls Grammar separates from Brisbane Grammar School.
1884—The School relocates to what remains its current Main Campus on Gregory Terrace.
1887—Sir Samuel Walker Griffith is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees.
1889—Charlotte Pells is appointed Lady Principal.
1896—Eliza Fewings is appointed Lady Principal.
1899—The Old Girls Association is established.
1900—Milisent Wilkinson is appointed Lady Principal.
1904—Sir Hugh Nelson becomes Chair of the Board of Trustees, succeeded by John Laskey Woolcock in 1906.
1913—Mary Atkinson Williams is appointed Headmistress, succeeded by Jane Walker in 1914; the first School Magazine is published.
1915—Margaret Annie Mackay is appointed Headmistress; the West Wing opens as a single-storey building, housing an art room and three classrooms.
1925—Kathleen Lilley is appointed Headmistress; the first School uniform is introduced.
1952—Louise Crooks is appointed Headmistress; John England is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees; the Parents and Friends Association is established.
1958—The Kathleen Lilley Library is opened.
1964—Year 8 students commence secondary schooling, known as Form II; the House system is introduced.
1968—Yvonne Bain becomes the first woman Trustee.
1971—Nancy Shaw is appointed Headmistress.
1975—The School celebrates its centenary.
1976—Dr August Shaw Gerhmann is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees.
1977—Judith Hancock is appointed Principal; the Fathers Group is established.
1986—The Gerhmann Theatre is built.
1987—Dr McCrae Grassie is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees; the Marrapatta Memorial Outdoor Education Centre is opened at Imbil.
1995—The McCrae Grassie Sports Centre is opened.
1996—Dr Cherrell Hirst is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees.
2000—The School song, Nile Sine Labore, is introduced.
2002—Amanda Bell is appointed Principal; the Boarding House is closed.
2007—Elizabeth Jameson is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees; the Cherrell Hirst Creative Learning Centre is opened.
2013—Jacinda Euler is appointed Principal; the School unveils the Rangakarra Recreational and Environmental Education Centre at Fig Tree Pocket.
2015—Year 7 is introduced to the School and the Research Learning Centre is opened.
2017—The Dorothy Hill Observatory commences operation at the School’s Marrapatta campus.
2019—Julie McKay is appointed Chair of the Board of Trustees.
2020—The Science Learning Centre is opened.
2021—The Floreamus Centre, the School’s central location for student wellbeing, is opened.
2023—The School announced the introduction of Years 5 and 6 from 2026.
Our purpose
ASPIRATION
Lives Enriched by Learning
MOTTO
Nil Sine Labore—nothing without hard work
INTENT
Proud of our Grammar tradition, we are a school that establishes the educational foundation for girls and young women to contribute confidently to their world with wisdom, imagination and integrity.
GUIDING PRINCIPLES
Systematic curiosity in teaching, learning and research
Judicious and ethical action
Life-wide learning
Stewardship and sustainability
Belonging and wellbeing
Purposeful community engagement
A GRAMMAR GIRL IS ...
CURIOUS
Seeks diverse experiences and different perspectives, and thrives in a vibrant environment that fosters deep and inquisitive learning
PRINCIPLED
Engages ethically, respectfully and purposefully with the world and its people
ADVENTUROUS
Embraces the unexpected, bravely pursuing her dreams
BALANCED
Balances self-awareness with external demands, to develop a sense of wholeness and lead an authentic life
INDEPENDENT
A confident, independent young woman who actively inspires the creation of a more just world.
PERFORMANCE
Through 2024, the School delivered strong academic results including significant measurable and intangible outcomes across academic achievement, co-curricular accomplishments, service, supportive student care, and the responsible management of its resources.
The following reports provide an insight into the performance of the School during 2024.
Performance
The School recognises its students’ academic achievements and the enduring contributions Girls Grammar alumnae contribute in their professions and communities beyond School.
In 2024, the School’s dedicated, caring, and expert staff once again supported students to maximise their individual learning potential. The School’s students continued to receive strong results in the National Assessment ProgramLiteracy and Numeracy (NAPLAN), and in the system of senior assessment, the Australian Tertiary Admission Rank (ATAR).
Girls Grammar is academically nonselective in its main year of entry (Year 7), with places offered in strict date order of application. The School offers no scholarships and is one of the few schools in Queensland whose entire Year 12 cohort is ATAR-eligible.
2024 TERTIARY OFFERS
YEAR 12 2024 AUSTRALIAN TERTIARY ADMISSION RANK RESULTS
The 2024 Year 12 cohort attained outstanding results in the ATAR system. These results continued the School’s history of strong performance.
*100 per cent of all students completing Year 12 students in 2024 were ATAR-eligible, The reported outcomes are based on the ATAR values disclosed to the school, which represents 95.67 per cent of the cohort.
2024 NAPLAN
Year 7
Year 9
Queensland Girls Secondary School Sports Association (QGSSSA) Premiership 2024
SPORT TEAMS
Artistic Gymnastics Year 7 (i)
Badminton Open, Senior A, 8A, 8B, 7C
Basketball 10B, 8B, 7B
Cricket Div 1-A, Div-2- BGGS Blue
Football Junior B Blue
Hockey Senior A
Netball
Senior C, 10B, 10C, 9C, 8B, 8C, 7A, 7C
Rhythmic Gymnastics Year 7 Div 2 Ball (ii)
Softball Div 1, Div 2 White
Tennis Senior A, Senior B, Senior C
Touch Senior B, 10B, 7B
Volleyball Year 8A, Year 8B, Year 7A
Final year of Softball in QGSSSA competition
Finance
Summary of financial performance
In accordance with the Strategic Design 2023-2025, the School’s financial management must deliver appropriate, sustainable, transparent and empowering fiscal management that balances the surplus requirement for future reinvestment with immediate educational program priorities.
Annual Financial Statements for 2024 highlight the School’s strong financial position.
The annual operating surplus of $3.98M (2023: $3.03M) was driven by the following factors:
• tuition fees in 2024 were increased by 5.25 per cent
• a strong return on the School’s investments and interest income
• continued strong philanthropic support, with contributions received towards the School’s bursary and building funds
• consistent and strong operational and financial delivery.
The School has also recorded other comprehensive income of $6.9M with an increase to the asset revaluation reserve as a result of an indexation review of the School’s land and buildings.
The School has continued to generate consistent and reasonable surpluses each year, which are used by the School to fund payments on capital loans, capital expenses and to provide for future capital projects and ensure long-term sustainability.
The main revenue source of the School is tuition fees, comprising 73 per cent of total revenue (2023: 75 per cent). The Board remains committed to keeping the School’s annual increase in tuition fees as low as possible for the broad and deep offerings sought and expected by our families, and to ensuring a consistent and reliable approach when setting fees. This includes maintaining a longstanding policy of an all-inclusive fee, with no additional levies, while addressing a decline in real terms of government funding from both State and Federal Governments.
Three of the most significant categories of expenditure in delivering the exceptional education for which Girls Grammar is renowned are:
• employing the best teachers and other professional staff it is possible to secure and remunerating them fairly and appropriately, this representing around 64 per cent (2023: 64 per cent) of our annual expenditure
• delivering excellent academic programs
• providing the resources required to deliver the current quality and standard of a Brisbane Girls Grammar School student experience and, additionally, the School’s physical resourcing requirements into the future.
The ongoing growth, liquidity and financial stability of the School is supported by the ongoing careful review of the School’s procurement and efficiency opportunities to find sustainable cost and productivity savings without reducing or impacting on the experience of its students, families and staff.
Capital programs and infrastructure
The construction of the new purposedesigned, five-storey Junior School building commenced in 2024 and is on track to be delivered for the commencement of teaching in 2026.
In 2024 the School continued investment in IT infrastructure and systems across the Spring Hill and Marrapatta campuses, with an ongoing focus on cybersecurity.
The School also continued to invest in improved amenities on the Spring Hill campus throughout 2024. This included greening of spaces and the addition of shade to allow increased use and enjoyment of outdoor areas.
Monitoring of financial performance and effectiveness
Management and the Board of Trustees, with support from its Audit, Risk and Compliance Committee, continually monitor the School’s financial performance and effectiveness. This is undertaken through monthly financial reporting, a robust budget process and annual review of the School’s 10-Year strategic forecasting.
GOVERNMENT ASSISTANCE
The School acknowledges the contributions made by the State and Commonwealth Governments in the form of grant allocations. The grants received and approved in 2024 included:
• Recurrent State and Commonwealth Government Grants, including Indigenous assistance:
– Commonwealth Grants—$5 960 407
– State Government Grants—$3 656 343
• Queensland State Endowment Grant provided to Grammar Schools in Queensland to assist with the additional cost of complying with State Government legislation for Statutory Bodies—$21 500
PHILANTHROPY
Girls Grammar is supported by a strong community of parents, alumnae and friends who are dedicated to providing students with the best possible education. The School is grateful for their commitment to our shared purpose.
Philanthropy
The remarkable generosity and commitment of Brisbane Girls Grammar School’s community continues to shape the future of generations of Grammar girls.
Since its founding in 1875, Brisbane Girls Grammar School has been dedicated to nurturing the intellectual, social, and emotional development of young women, equipping them with the knowledge and skills to confidently contribute to the world with wisdom, imagination, and integrity. The ongoing generosity and engagement of our alumnae, families, friends, and staff have been instrumental in the School’s legacy, empowering young women
through education and supporting our vision of exceptional scholarship and leadership.
In 2024, the BGGS community’s extraordinary support was once again evident, highlighting the commitment to both current and future generations of Grammar girls. On the third annual Giving Day, generous donations—matched by the School—raised an impressive $544 401. These funds will support the greening of the Creative Learning Centre, the Junior School building, and the expansion of our bursary program.
This collective generosity reflects the transformative power of a united
community, agile and supportive of new initiatives designed to strengthen the School’s foundation and reinforcing the delivery of an exceptional education for young women.
A generous gift from Mrs Kay Bryan OAM, enabled the establishment of a perpetual bursary to be awarded annually from 2025, as part of the School’s sesquicentenary celebrations. Mrs Bryan’s enduring legacy will ensure future generations of young women benefit from the unparalleled opportunities provided by a Girls Grammar education.
2024 Highlights
Junior School Capital Campaign
With the steadfast support of the Board of Trustees, donors, and the wider community, Brisbane Girls Grammar School is poised to enhance its strong foundation in secondary education for girls with the opening of the Junior School in 2026. Together, the Girls Grammar community can ensure the School extends its exceptional education for girls into Years 5 and 6, empowering generations to come.
Excellence in Academic Endeavours Bursary—made possible by Mrs Kay Bryan OAM
The School was honoured to receive an extraordinary contribution from Mrs Kay Bryan OAM, a woman whose generosity will have a profound and lasting impact. This remarkable gift enabled the creation of a perpetual bursary, which will be awarded annually starting in 2025 to a student entering Year 7 who would not otherwise have the means to access a Girls Grammar education. This transformative bursary represents a lasting investment in young women, expanding access to the opportunities of a Girls Grammar education and inspiring excellence for generations to come.
Greening the CLC
The Cherrell Hirst Creative Learning Centre (CLC) greening project will offer students an inner city oasis in the heart of the campus. This project will provide a vibrant green space—part of a larger initiative to cultivate small forests and landscaped gardens across the grounds. The CLC greening was made possible by donations received during Giving Day 2024 and aligns with our Strategic Design 2023–2025, enhancing sustainable and enriching spaces for students.
Looking Ahead: 2025 and Beyond
As Brisbane Girls Grammar School celebrates its 150th anniversary in 2025, this milestone provides a unique opportunity to reflect on our long-term strategic goals and the initiatives that will guide the School into the future. We are excited to continue building on our history, empowering generations of Grammar girls to achieve excellence, and remain committed to shaping a future that honours the legacy of our founder, Sir Charles Lilley, and the enduring values of our School.
Thank you
The Board of Trustees and the Principal, on behalf of the School, thank members of the Brisbane Girls Grammar School community for their generous support in 2024.
AJ Family
Jacinta Akers
Dr H and Mrs E Alexander
Jacinta Amies
Nicole & Jared Andersen
Michael and Geetanjali Anthonisz
Dr Nathan Anthony & Ms Kirani Heeremans
Stefanie Bailey
Prof Andrew Barbour & Dr Samantha McLaughlin
Gay Barnett
Michael Barnett & Andrea Higgins
Eugene Barry
Drs Lilantha & Renu Basnayake
Beckingsale Family
Sarah Beckingsale
Dr A Bell AM
Dr Brendan & Mrs Vanessa Bell
Tanya Benson
Angela Bensted and Benedict Devereaux
Drs Nandan & Suruchi Bhende
Justin Bindman & Anna Wagstaff
Inais, Matisse, Persia & Arabella Black
Thady and Kylie Blundell
Krishna & Gayathri Bodla
Derek & Catherine Bond
Tyson Booth
Chamsi Bouhafs and Meriem Boudjakdji
The Bowden Family
Mrs Kay Brassil
Janet Bray
Brittain Family
Alistair & Colette Brown
Dr Derrick Brown & Rachael Browning
Nick & Bridget Brown
Mrs Kay Bryan OAM
Keryn Bryce
David & Peta Bunce
Suzanne Cali
Campbell Family
Louise Campbell
Marg Campbell
The Cardell Family
Cardell-Ree Family
Ramsay and Michelle Carter
Rebecca Castley
Ann Caston
Julie Caton
Francis Chan & Alison Yu
Chang Family
C Chang & N Kambe
Linus Chang
Chen Family
Dr Michael and Mrs Linda Chen
Yizu Chen & Shuangyan Zhang
Dr Eddie Cheng
Cheri Chern
E Cherry
Stephen & Kristina Chesterman
Anne Chidgey
Dr D Chin
Tung Chiu & Ka Ng
Raymond Chun and Ming Chow
Andrew Clark
Maria and Brett Clark
Clarkson Family
Taryn Collins
Sally Condon
Dale & Teresa Connor
Sarah Cooper
Jill Corrigan
Tatiana Coulter
Michael & Rosalind Creedon
David Cui & Helen Wang
Laura Cunning
Lavinia Dack
Lachlan Davidson
Dr Glenn and Mrs Cynthia Davies
Lesley Davies
Tania Davey
Janelle Desouza
Donaghy-Lowrey Family
Donnelly Family
Kathryn Dooley
Dr N & Dr A Dore
Ian Dorey & Hannah Riggs
James & Sarah Earnshaw
Peter Edwards
S Edwards
Wendy Edwards
Lynette Ens
Nikki Estrera
April Euler & Harry Tynan
Ms Jacinda Euler Welsh
Nova Evans
Dr Henry Fang & Ms Tammy Liang
Di Feng & Xiaomin Guan
Finch Family
Isla Fisher, Danika Fisher & Jasmine Lutz
Fitzgerald Family
Neil & Belinda Fletcher
Jody Forbes
David and Judy Fraser
Dr Margaret Fry
The Fu Family
David & Eva Gaffney
Mel Galloway
Gamer Family
Gandhi Family
Jo Genders
Jacinda & Mark Geritz
Drs D Ghahramanipour & L Imani
The Gianduzzo Family
Paul & Raeleen Gough
Ruth Gough
Governance by Design
Emily Granger
David & Kathryn Gregory
Dominique Grigg
Lyn Grigg
Richard & Jennifer Hadfield
Jane Hailes
Janet Hanscomb
Pauline Harvey-Short
Peter Hastie and Suzanne Sheridan
Dorothy Hawkins
Ian Hazzard Family
Heinemann Family
J Hennessey
Sacha Hennessy
Emmelia Herron
Higginson Family
Kellie Himstedt
Dr Cherrell Hirst AO
Noela Hirst
Nathaniel Ho and Jasmine Kiu
Hodge Family
Lisa Honeychurch Van Riel
B & R Hosking
Michael and Jenny Hovey
Teresa Howard
Hoyling Family
Chenggang Hu & Lan Xu
Victor Hu and Susan Zhu
Simon Hua & Jessica Shen
Geoff Huang
Helen Hunter
Dr Syed & Mrs Sitti Hussain
Savindra and Hapange Ilangamage
Mr Jackson & Dr Po-Ling Inglis
Anne Ingram
Inoka
Isbel Family
Sam & Amy Iskander
Prof Saso & Mrs Katie Ivanovski
Alison Jack (McAdam)
Ms Elizabeth Jameson AM & Dr Abbe
Anderson
Ruth Jans
Wen Ji
James & Jenny Jiang
Anna & Edward Johnson
Elizabeth Jean Johnson (Casswell, 1953)
Hyun-ju Johnson
Hannah Jones
Pamela Jones
Zachary & Ernestiene Jones
David Daniel Keane
Margaret Kelly
Timothy & Melissa Kent
Melissa & Andrew Kerr
Khursandi Wild Family
Jan Kildey
Hyoungnam Kim & Yuna Lee
Soohyun Kim
Racquel Kolkert and David Coates
Aleksandra Skaljak Kovacevic
Dr Benjamin & Mrs Rebecca Kroon
Ki Kyoung & Na Lee
Roger Lago
Lam Family
Nina Lamprell
Mark & Ellissa Lauder
Syndia Lazarus and Andrew Harcourt
Wei-Tse Lee & Fiona Tan
Jinxia Li
H Lin & T Chu
Ying Lin, Peiheng Hu & Sunnie Lin
Michael and Zora Liu
The Liu and Chen Family
Dr Benjamin & Mrs Alexandra Lloyd
Carla Lloyd
The Hon Justice John Logan & Mrs Janice Logan
Bridget Lowry
Dan Lu & Ling Li
Mark and Amanda Ludlow
Philip and Lillian Lui
Allison Luque
J & C MacDonald
Emily Mackenzie
Clare Maguire
Gary Mahon
Kathryn Mainstone
Eimear Mann
Jane Martel
Lisa & Paul Martens
Suzuki Masatoshi & Xia Wang
Crystal Mason
Matthew Mazzotta & Tatiana Chashchina
Noelene and Ian McBride
Bill & Kate McCredie
Dr Mark & Mrs Andrea McCullen
Troy & Elissa McDonagh
Frances McInerney & Sean Martin
J McKay
Dr S & Mr H McKay
McLaughlin Family
John & Angela McMillan
Nicola McPhedran
Jonathan and Terriann Meadmore
Saxon Mew
Josh and Danielle Milani
Alexander Miller & Fiona McDougall
Paul & Melanie Mitchell
Dr C Mittelheuser AM
The Moody Family
Sophie Mooney
Rebecca Moore
Sophie Moore
Dr Debraj & Mrs Madhubanti Mukherjee
Ms L Mungomery
Timothy & Lyndall & Savannah Munro
Myers Family
Mr Adam Nancarrow & Dr Juliane Kampe
Rebecca Nardi
Jennifer Nash
Scott & Lisa Naumann
Johanne Neill & Ben Dodd
Jennifer Nevard
Geoff & Caroline Newman
Jim and Jill Nicklin
Mr Travis O’Brien & Dr Sarah Steele
Georgia O’Hare
Mr Shi Pan and Ms Emily Qi
Dr Jai & Mrs Katherine Panchapakesan
Lasanthi Paranavithana
Soojang Park & Minjae Lah
Lara Parker
Mark Parker and Lisa Wruck
Emma and Nick Parr
Dr Andrew & Mrs Carly Patten
Miranda Patten
Eve Peacock
Troy & Charlie Pearse
Ela and Peter Perry
Lucy Peters
Dr Damien Petersen and Dr Sharyn Van Alphen
The Phua Wu Family
Aaron & Rebecca Pollard
Andrew Pollock
Dr Glenda Powell AM
Maurice Prendergast and Family
Toby & Monique Prior
Grace Qiu
Richard Qiu and Connie Shen
Louise Quinlan
Justin and Jacklyn Quinn
Rafiee Family
Dr L Thasini Ramachandran and Mrs A Lakshmi Narayanan
Sanjeev Ranjan
Mr Ranjithan Ratnam & Dr Elavarasi Ranjithan
David Rawson
Tracey Redmond
Drs Alistair & Abigail Reid
Thank you
Rombola Family
Stephanie Russell
Mr Michael & Mrs Elizabeth Ryan
Salisbury Family
Bradley & Emma Sartori
Dr Keshan & Ms Anne Satharasinghe
Tim & Nina Sayer
Janine Schmidt AM
Darren Scott & Kirrily Hoole
Kim Selwa
Elaine Serisier
Mr Shamaleh and Ms Hassouneh
Karla Shaw
Mark Shaw & Vanessa Taylor
Jinghuan Shi
Jay Siddhpura
Jasjeet Sihota
Shang Min Forex Sim
Gurmandeep Singh & Jasjeet Sihota
James Skene & Kathryn Allan
Mr H Smerdon AM & Mrs S Smerdon
Charlotte Smith
Dr Tony Son & Mrs Jenny Lee
Carol Sorensen
Paul & Roberta Spezza
Alysia Stark
Mrs Ann Stark
Stevens Family
Melissa Stevenson & Tom Granger
Alison Stocker & Anthony Lynch
Mark & Jane Stuckey
Owen Su
Yong Su & Qingfen Lin
Chun Sui & Qingdong Ren
Gavin Sun
Sunny Sun & Julie Wang
Nisha Swanston
Swindells Family
Kathryn Talbot
Elin Tan Family
Guy Taylor
Renae Taylor
Christian and Leah Telford
Betty Teo
Kirsten Thatcher
Brendon & Kerrin Thomas
Mr Matthew and Dr Anna Thomas
Drs R Thomas & D Jacob
Lorraine Thornquist
Dr Nicholas Ting & Mrs Emily Tiang
Steven & Anne Ting
Tobin Family
Quang Tran & Hoa Huynh
Trappett Family
Susan & Luke Uhlmann
Dr Jatheesh Valappil & Vidya Jatheesh
Diane Voller
Ronny & Meleah Wachtel
Lili Wackwitz
Elaine Wan
David Wang & Ling Ling Li
Nathan Wang & Linda Lu
Bethel Webb (Hunter)
Andrew Wells
Robin Williams
Elvyn Wilson
Drs Peter Wong & Anita Lau
Yat Tung Wong & Pui Sze Chung
Retha Wood
Charlie and Dianne Woodward
Daniel Worthley and Liza Phillips
David Wright & Emily Cross
Bin Wu & Yanhong Zheng
Keping Wu
XinGang Wu & YanYan Gao
Dr Peter & Mrs Leigh Wysocki
Nan Yang & Nina Xing
Suzhen Ye
S Yong Gee
Mr S Yuen & Mrs H Jiang
Annie Zeng
Laurinda Zhang
Jun Ling Zhao
Ling Zhao
Queenie Zhao
Yan Zhao & Xiaoqi Ma
Zhi Zhao
Sarah Zhou
Zuting Zhuo & Yan Lin
72 Anonymous Donors
Associations and Groups
Parents and Friends Association
P&F Uniform Shop
Old Girls Association
Mothers Network
Fathers Group
Music Support Group
Rowing Support Group
Water Polo Support Group
Grammar Women Mentors
Sophia Beanland Circle Members
Mrs Kay Brassil (1959)
Dr Barbara Burge (1950)
Mrs Ann Caston (1958)
Mrs Julie Caton (1981)
Mrs Tatiana Coulter (1994)
Dr Jonathan Davies &
Mrs Helen Davies (1962)
Mrs Lesley Davies (1959)
Mrs Jenny Everett (1961)
Ms Elizabeth Jameson OAM (1982)
Ms Linda Lee
Mrs Jeanette Lockey OAM (1952)
10 Anonymous Members
Grammar Women
Old Girls Association Celebrates 125 Years
Founded in 1899, Brisbane Girls Grammar School’s Old Girls Association (OGA) has long embodied the values of connection, giving, and sisterhood. In 2024, as the OGA celebrated its 125th anniversary, the Committee honoured the contributions of past Grammar Women, recognising their dedication and creating a lasting legacy for future generations.
The OGA plays a vital role in fostering lifelong connections among alumnae, building a strong network for past students to maintain and strengthen bonds with their fellow Grammar sisters.
A highlight of the 125th anniversary year of the OGA was the creation of the
HIGHLIGHTS
Connections for Life badge. Presented at a whole-School assembly in May, the badge symbolises the enduring sisterhood among Grammar Women, transcending time and distance. It was also gifted to incoming Year 7 students at Open Day 2024, marking the beginning of their Girls Grammar journey.
On 18 May 2024, Grammar Women gathered at the OGA 125th Anniversary Gala Dinner at Victoria Park to celebrate this unique bond. The event was attended by current Chair of the Board of Trustees, Ms Julie McKay (2000), Principal, Ms Jacinda Euler Welsh and past Chair of the Board of Trustees, Ms Elizabeth Jameson (Head Girl, 1982).
• Dr Helen MacGillivray (Anderson, 1967) made a Member (AM) in the General Division of the Order of Australia for her significant service to mathematics and statistics education
• Dr Margaret Ward (Tonge, 1968) awarded a Medal (OAM) for service to the building industry
• Ms Jacqueline Trappett (2023) awarded a QUT Excellence Scholarship (Elite Visual and Performing Arts) worth $30 000
• Caitlin Brittain (2021) received an Academic Excellence Prize—QUT Academic Prize
• Mia Boe (2014) was named a finalist for the Archibald Prize
• Gabbi Palm (2015) and Abby Andrews (2017) won a Silver Medal with the Australian Water Polo Team, the Aussie Stingers, at the 2024 Paris Olympics
The unveiling of the Sisterhood sculpture, created by Grammar Woman, Danielle Piat (1981), during a School assembly on 15 May was another memorable moment. The sculpture, depicting an older woman embracing a younger girl, will reside in the Junior School as a permanent reminder of the connection between past and present students.
The OGA Committee members encompass graduating years from 1958 to 2016. The Committee continues to cherish the School’s heritage while providing a constant and supportive network for all Grammar Women.
Above Gabbi Palm (2015) and Abby Andrews (2017)
STAFF
The staff of Brisbane Girls Grammar School deliver the broad, liberal education for which the School is renowned.
The School’s teachers are central to its culture of deep learning, possessing extensive knowledge of their discipline, an unending passion for discovery, and the ability to nurture creativity and a sense of possibility in the minds of students.
Brisbane Girls Grammar School Staff
Senior Leadership
Principal
Ms Jacinda Euler Welsh
BA, GDipEd, MEdSt, MACE, MACEL, MAICD
Deputy Principal
Mrs Anne Ingram
BSc, DipEd, AMusA, MACEL
Deputy Principal (Academic)
Dr Bruce Addison
BA, BBus (Econ), BEdSt, PhD, DipEd, MAICD, MACE, FACEL
Chief Financial Officer and Secretary to the Board
Ms Jane Hailes
BCom/BBus (Man) CA
Dean of Studies
Mr James Keogh
DipTeach, BEd, MEd, MACE, MAIP, MACEL
Dean of Operations
Ms Tennille Cummings
BSc, GDipEd, MEd (Leadership and Mgt), MACEL
Dean of Students
Ms Melinda Egan
BA, GDipEd, MEd
Dean of Academics
Ms Elaine Serisier
BEd(Hons)
Executive Director Human Resources
Ms Retha Wood BA(Psych), BCom(Hons)(Industrial Sociology), MBA, MAHRI
Director of Communications and Engagement
Ms Veena Herron BJourn, BCommun(Hons), GradCert (Research), MIR (Terms 1-3)
Director of Communications, Development and Engagement
Ms Lucy Ernst BJ, BA(Hons), MTeach(Sec) (Term 4-)
Director of Finance
Ms Hannah Jones BCom(Acc), CPA
Director of Information Technology
Mr Sean Lutton
Directors
Cultures of Thinking
Ms Susan Garson BA/BEd, MEdStud
Creative Futures
Mr Andrew Pennay BA, BEd
English
Ms Jo-Anne Genders BEd(Hons)
Health and Physical Education
Mr Stephen Fogarty BEd, MACHPEMs
Humanities
Ms Alison Dare BA(Hons), DipEd, MA
Instrumental Music
Mrs Laurinda Davidson BAMus, GDipMusSt
International Studies
Mrs Paula Quinn
PGDipED, BA(Hons), MAppLing
Library and Information Services
Ms Rachael Christopherson BA, DipEd
Mathematics
Ms Catrin Huxtable BSc(Hons), PGCE
Outdoor Education
Ms Kimberly Wood BASc, GDipEd, MEd
Science
Dr Sally Stephens BSc, MScEd(Dist), GradDipT, GradDipCommComp, EdD Service
Ms Lynne Mungomery BHMS(Ed), CertIVTrngAssmnt
Sport
Ms Jane Gooden BHMS(Ed)
Technologies
Mr Brendon Thomas CertFineArts, BEd, PGradCertOEd, MEd, CertIVTrngAssmnt
Associate Deans and Heads of House
Associate Dean (Administration)
Ms Sarah Frew BA, BEd, MEdSt(Leadership), MEduProfSt(Research)
Associate Dean (Students)
Mrs Stephanie Thomas BEd(Sec), GCertEdMgmt (Term 4-)
Associate Dean (Wellbeing)
Dr Jody Forbes BA(Hons), PhD Beanland
Mrs Sally Callie BEd
England
Ms Alysia Stark BAppSc(HMSEd), Cert IV Training & Assessment, MAppSc (Sports Coaching)
Gibson
Mrs Hazel Boltman HDE(Physical Science)
Griffith
Mrs Raechelle Finch GradDipEd, BHMS Hirschfeld
Mrs Alice Dabelstein BEd
Lilley
Ms Sybil Edwards BA, DipT
Mackay
Ms Ruth Jans BA, BEd
O’Connor
Ms Sarah Boyle BA, BEd(GE), GradCertRE
Woolcock
Mrs Violet Ross BA, GradDipEd
Year 7-9 Advisor
Ms Anna Flourentzou BA, BEd (Term 4-)
Year 10-12 Advisor
Mrs Belinda McGarry BSc, BEd, MEd(Leadership and Mgt) (Term 4-)
Heads of Department/Subject
Accounting
Ms Kylie Meek
BBusMngt, BComm, GradDipEd(Sec), GradDipCA
Ancient History
Dr Rashna Taraporewalla BA(Hons I), PhD, GradDipEd
Assistant Director of Sport (Operations)
Ms Stevie Nicholson Bachelor of Sport and Recreation GDipEd(Sec)
Assistant Director of Sport (Development)
Ms Melissa Rippon (Term 2-)
Biology
Ms Tracey Monteith BSc(Hons), DipEd
Chemistry
Mrs Jacqueline Ross BSc(Hons), GradDipT
Chinese
Ms Serina Zhong BA, MEd, GradCertECE, GradCertSecEd(Maths)
Coordinator of Co-Curricular Drama
Ms Belinda Lindsay BA, BTArt, GDipEd
Curriculum Development and Digital Technology Studies
Mrs Malgorzata Golawska-Loye MagisterBEd
Curriculum Music
Mr Michael McGrath BMus(Hons)/BEd(Sec), BMus, CMusA
Drama
Mrs Katrina Riveros BA(Drama), GradDipEd
EAL/D Coordinator
Mrs Tanya Knight BA, DipEd, MEd(TESOL)
Economics
Dr Zhi (Sam) Peng BA, MA, MIB(Hons), PhD, GradDipEd
English Curriculum Development
Mr David Rawson BA(Hons), BEd(Sec), EdM, MACEL
English Years 7 to 8
Ms Laura Dewar
MA (Hons), PGCE, GradDip
English Literature (Acting)
Mr Richard Laur BEd(PG), BA(Hons), MEd
English Years 9 to 10 (Acting)
Ms Kathryn Talbot BA/BEd(Sec)(Hons), MPhil
Special Project—Literature and English
Ms Meghan Parry BA/BEd(Sec) (Term 3-4)
French
Ms Natalie Holden BA (Hons), GDTL
Geography
Mr Paul Martineau BA, BEd
German
Mrs Izabela Minuzzo Licencjat Magistra
Humanities, Year 7
Mr Christian Moffat BA(Hons)(Cont Hist), MA (ModHist), PGCE
Health and Physical Education Curriculum Development
Ms Jane Martel BAppSc(HMSEd)
History
Ms Julie Hennessey BA, MEd, DipEd
Japanese
Ms Sanae Asada-Leone BA, GradDipEd
Latin
Mr Nicholas Hollier BA(Hons), GradDipEd, GradDipDivinity
Learning Innovation and Design
Mr Shane Skillen BEd, CertIVEng, DipMultiMedia
General Mathematics
Mr Steven Van der Ros BEd(Sec)(Hons), BIT, CertIVTrngAssmnt
Mathematics Methods
Mr Robert Paterson GradDipEd, MEdSt(Maths)
Mathematics Curriculum Development
Dr Peter Jenkins BSc(Hons I), PhD, GradDipEd
Mathematics Curriculum Development
Years 7 to 8
Ms Maryanne Christie BEd(Sec), BSci
Physics
Mr Alan Allinson BSc(Hons), PostGradCertEd
Resource Development and NAPLAN
Mrs Betty-Anne Briggs BMath, BEd
Senior Physical Education
Ms Amy Penberthy BHlthSport&PhysEd
Science Curriculum Development Years 7-10
Mrs Monica Urry BSc, BEd
Science Curriculum Development
Ms Gerri Bernard BSc(Physics), MSc(MatSciEng), GrDipEd(Senior Yrs)
Visual Art
Mr Donald Pincott BEdSt, BA, MEd, MLI, DipSecT(Art), MACE
Academic Staff
Ms Karen Abell BA Grad, Dip Ed, PGCE, Nat. Cert SENCO, IEMA
Mr Bryn Arnfield BEd(Sec)(Hons)
Mrs Jasmin von Arx-Kessler ExamCertDisTeach
Ms Stefanie Bailey BSc/BEd
Ms Zoe Ballard BMus, BEd(Sec)
Mrs Stefanie Barbera BA(Hist), BEd(Sec:Hum&SocSic)(Hons)
Ms Gay Barnett BA, DipEd (Term 3)
Mr Thomas Baskerville BSc, GradDipEd(Prim) (Term 4-)
Mr Patrick Batch BVSc, GradDipTeach (Term 3-4)
Miss Elizabeth Bate BEd, MEd
Ms Aliyah Booth BA, MTeach (Secondary)
Dr Ruth Burnett BEcon, DipT, MEd, EdD
Brisbane Girls Grammar School Staff
Ms Keryn Bryce BEd(Sec)
Mrs Anne Byrne BSc, BEdSt, MEd, DipEd
Mrs Nadine Cameron BSc, GradDipEd
Ms Anne Conlan BCom, MTeach(Sec) (Term 2-)
Mrs Kristine Cooke BA, DipEd, GradDipResT, MEd(TeachLib)
Ms Grace Coxon BA, GrDipEd(Sec)
Dr Alice Cranney BA(Lang) (Hons), MTeach (Secondary), PhD
Ms Angela Crawley BA, BEd(Sec)
Dr Anthony Cupitt BEd(Sec)(GE), BA(Hons), MA(Philosophy), PhD
Ms Renae Davis BEd(LOTE)
Dr Debra da Silva PhD(Philosophy), MTeach, GradDipBusAdmin, BA(Hons), Becon (Terms 1-2)
Mr Benjamin Dervish-Ali BCI, BEd (Hons), AssocDip (Speech and Drama)
Ms Rebecca Dover MEnvSc, BBiomedSc, GradDipEd
Mrs Sally Downes BA, DipEd
Mr Alexander Duckham BA(His&IntRel), GrDipEd(Sec) (Term 2-)
Ms Kirsten Eadie BEd, GCCI, MEd(LeadershipMgt)
Ms Caitlin Finn BEd(Sec)
Ms Sharni Folland BFA (Drama), GradDipEd (Secondary)
Mrs Samantha Francis BEd
Ms Emily Frazer BSc, GradDipEd
Ms Hannah Holt BSc, GradDipEd
Ms Nicci Gelder BA(Hons), PGCE(Sec)
Mrs Maddison Gilbert BTech(Sec)
Mrs Chrissy Goldshtein BSc(Eng)(CivEng), PGCE(SenPhase&FET)
Ms Taylor Goltz BDes(Hons), MTeach(Sec)
Mr Jon Grant BEcon, Mcom, MTeach(Sec) (Term 2-)
Ms Hannah Grimes BScEdu (Term 4-)
Ms Christina Harrow BA(Hons)
Ms Lorraine (Ruoyi) He BEd(Sec)/BA, MEd(Leadership and Mgt), GradDipTESOL
Mr Allan Herbst BEd(Sec), DipAcc
Ms Abigail Hills BVA, GradDipEd
Ms Jo-Anne Hine MVA, Grad Dip Teach, Dip Fine Arts, Lead Teacher (Term 1)
Ms Caitlin Hockings BHlthSport&PhysEd(Hons)
Ms Anne Horswell BArts/BEd(Sec)
Ms Marie Hubert-Delisle BMarketing&Media, GradDipEd
Mr Christopher Humphreys BSc, PGCE, MSc (Term 2-)
Dr Paula Johnson BA(Hons I), PhD, GradDipEd
Ms Stephanie Johnson BAppSc(HMS), BEd(Sec)
Ms Carmen Keating MBiomedE, BMechE(Hons), GradDipEd
Ms Sandra Kiehne BEdSt, BA, DipEd (Term 1)
Mrs Kate Kildey BEd(Sec)(Hons I), MLI, MACE (Terms 1-2)
Mrs Kate Kregenbrink BEd, MEd(Leadership and Mgt) (Term 3-)
Mr Satendra Lal BSc, DipMathsEd, GradCertEd (Terms 1-3)
Mr Andrew Lanning BEd(Sec), BSc
Mr Daniel Larkin BA, BEd
Mrs Catherine Lay BSc, GradCertA, BEd(Sec)(GE) (Terms 1-3)
Mrs Emily Levett BA, BEd(MidYsSch), MEd, GradCertEd(CareerDev&Couns)
Ms Perri Lohrisch BSc/BEd(Sec) (Term 1-3)
Mrs Amee Magee BSc, GradDipEd
Ms Anna Martin BHumMvt, GradDipEd (Secondary)
Mrs Lee Mazzaglia BEd, DipT
Mrs Kate McCarthy BHMS, BAppSc(Ed)
Ms Yonnie McDonnell BA, GradDipEd (Term 2)
Ms Prue Morgan DipEd, BAgrSc (Term 3)
Ms Susan Morrison BEd(Sc)
Ms Jane Muil BA, TESOL, GradDipEd (Sec)
Mrs Danielle Munro BTeach&Learn/BAppSc
Ms Kylie Nealon BA, DipTchg (Sec), MA (Term 2)
Mr James Nicholls BBus (Finance), GDipT (Sec)
Ms Madeleine Nielsen BEd(Sec)
Mrs Joanne Nisbett BEd
Ms Brittany Nunan BHealth&ExSc, GradDipEd(Senior Yrs)
Mrs Anna O’Gorman BSc(Hons), DipEd
Ms Cassandra-Lyn Palmer GDipEd(Secondary), BVA (Term 2-)
Mr Apostolos (Paul) Papadopoulos BEd, PGradDipACC, MBUS (Terms 1-2)
Ms Shivaun Pereira BSc/BEd(Sec)
Ms Deborah Perz BSc, BEd
Ms Catherine Rees DipT, GradCertHlthSc. (WomHlth)
Mrs Jacqueline Rose-Diamond BSc, PostgradDipEd(Sec)
Ms Kelly Russell BBus/Blaws, GrDipEd(SeniorYrs), GradCertEdSt(MiddSchMath) (Term 1)
Mr Jack Saunders GDipEd(Sec), BMus(Perf) and DipArts
Ms Pamela Schmerl BA, PGDipIT, ProfGradDipEd(Sec)
Ms Corrinne Scruby BA, DipEd
Mr Bilal Sezgin Bec, GradDipEd, MEd (Term 1)
Mrs Jessica Shackleton LLB (Hons) GradDipSecEd (Term 3-)
Ms Adelle Shea BA, Mteach&Learn (Term 3)
Mrs Katy Smith BSc (Hons), PGCE (Terms 1-2)
Ms Alina Solomkina BA, GrDipEd(Sec)
Mr Paul Soward BEd(Sec)
Dr Juliet Stone BSc (Hons), GradDipEd, PhD
Mrs Nisha Swanston
BSc(Hons)(Multimedia DesandTech), ProfGradCertEd(DesandTech)
Ms Stephanie Torrisi BEd(Sec), BExMvmtSc (Term 2-3)
Ms Sandra Vecchio BEd(Sec)
Ms Matilda Walsh BA, GradDipEd
Mrs Jessica Watkins BEd(PrimTchg)
Ms Kayley Williamson BHlthSportsandPhysEd, MEd (Leadership and Mgt)
Mrs Joanne Wood UniEdDip, BSc (Term 2-)
Mrs Christine Woodford BSc, DipEd (Term 4)
Instrumental Music Staff
Band Director/Percussion Teacher
Mr Jacob Cavanough BMus
Band Director, Woodwind Teacher
Ms Jessica Garvey BMus, GrDipEd(Sec)
Choral Teacher
Mrs Wendy Rolls BEd, MMusSt, GCMusSt, BVSc
Choral/Voice Teacher
Ms Ruani Dias-Jayasinha BMus(MusEd), BA
Choral/Voice Teacher
Ms Chloe Evans
BMus, GradCertMusic, MTeach(Sec)
Coordinator of Bands
Mrs Ashleigh McLaren BMus, GradDipEd, AMusA
Coordinator of Choirs
Ms Clare Finlayson BMus, BEd(Sec)
Coordinator of Small Ensembles and Community Engagement
Mr Jonathan Zorzetto BMus/BEd
Coordinator of Strings
Mr Michael Patterson BMus(Hons), MPhil
GradDipLearning&Teach(Sec), LMusA, AMusA
Flute, Oboe and Bassoon Teacher
Mrs Anne MacAskill Auld BMus(MusEd)
Flute and Flute Quartet Teacher
Ms Emily Smith BMus
Guitar Ensemble Teacher
Mr Ian Weston
BJS(Dist), MMusSt
Instrumental Music Teacher
Dr Bernardo Alviz Iriarte
BMus, PhD Music (Composition)
Instrumental Music Teacher
Ms Helen Butcher
BMus
Instrumental Music Teacher
Ms Kara Williams
BInfoSt, Qualified ADF Bandmaster (Term 1)
Instrumental Music Teacher
Mr Kentaro Koido
BMus, GrDipEd(Sec)
Instrumental Music Teacher
Mr Julian Sharp
BMus (Term 3)
Instrumental Music Teacher
Mr Paul Johnston
BMusPerf, GradDipEd
Instrumental Music Teacher
Mr Michael Patterson
BMus(Hons), MPhil
GradDipLearning&Teach(Sec), LMusA, AMusA
String Orchestra Director/ String Teacher
Ms Josephine Pollicina
BMus(Hons), MPhil
Accompanist, Piano Teacher
Ms Sherelle Eyles
MMus(RCM), ARCM(GradDip), BMus, LMusA, AMusA
Accompanist, Piano Teacher
Ms Kylie Los MMus, BMus
Brisbane Girls Grammar School Staff
Accompanist, Piano Teacher
Mrs Kathryn Sander
DipMus(Creative Arts), BMus(Perf— Accompaniment and Chamber Music), AMusA
Accompanist, Piano Teacher
Ms Cara Tran BMus(Hons)
Accompanist, Piano Teacher
Ms Kerry Nian BMus, MMusConducting
Language Assistants
Chinese
Ms Jingying (Jenny) Qi BA, BSc, MTech(Prim)
French
Ms Valérie Gorse
Japanese
Ms Aya Topp BA(Ed)
German
Ms Michaela Diestel BA (Term 4)
German
Mrs Martina Todd BCom, GradDipAdvAcctg, CA, GAICD
Specialist Staff
Director of Learning Enhancement
Mrs Sacha Cross BAppSc (HMS)/BEd(Sec) (Term 4-)
Director of Tertiary Pathways
Ms Louise Walls BEd, MEd(Guidance & Counselling), CDAA, QASA
Careers Counsellor
Ms Karla Shaw
BA,BEd, MEdSt
School Psychologist
Ms Teri Kim MPsych(Clin)
School Psychologist
Ms Lisa Manning BA(Hons), MClinPsych
School Psychologist
Mrs Tara McLachlan BPsychSc, MPsychClin, MAPS
School Psychologist
Ms Michaela Jepsen BPsySch
School Nurse
Ms Sarah Duke BN
School Nurse
Mrs Rebekah Carter
School Nurse
Ms Sarah Richards BN (Term 2-)
School Nurse
Ms Sanchia Watchorn BN, GCPaedNursSt
Professional Staff
Academic Administration Officer
Ms Melissa Taylor (Term 1-3)
Academic Administration Officer
Ms Ashleigh Hextall
Academic Administration Officer
Mrs Olivia Edwards BBus, CertIIIEvent&Tourism (Term 1-3)
Academic Administration Officer
Ms Bianca Craven
Academic Administration Officer
Mrs Susan Agnew AssocDipBus (Term 4-)
Academic Administration Officer
Ms Jasmin Tavella DipEvMngt (Term 4-)
Administrative Assistant—ASC
Ms Gillian McHarg
Administrative Assistant—ASC
Mrs Jennifer Stafford DipBus
Administrative Officer—Music
Mrs Talluah Harper
Administrative Officer—Sport
Ms Catherine Taylor BNursing
Adminstration Officer (Data Entry)
Mrs Kaszandra Ogden Cert III in Early Childhood Ed
Administration Officer (Floreamus Centre)
Ms Jacinta Akers
Administration Officer (Student Care)
Ms Tamara Archer
Administration Officer (Student Reception)
Ms Viv Neurohr DipBus, CertIVBusAdmin
Accountant
Ms Emma Strang BBus(Acc), CPA
Accountant
Ms Aimee Robertson (Term 1-3)
Accountant
Ms Monica Djaja BAcc, MCom
Alumnae Relations Coordinator
Mrs Sophie Mooney, BBus (Term 3-)
Alumnae Relations Manager
Mrs Antonia Swindells DipEvents
Application and Data Lead
Mr Lewis Kelly BInfTech
Athlete Development Manager
Mr Paul Pearce
Carpenter
Mr Brock Gaffney CertIIICarpentry
Communications Manager
Ms Jackie Hayes BA(Hons)
Communications and Engagement Advisor
Ms Billy Miceski
BEnvEng, Bcomm(Journ, Mtkg, PR) (Term 4)
Communications Officer— Senior
Ms Keziah Sydes BCommun, BA (Terms 1-2)
Communications Officer
Ms Emily Eden BBus(Mktg), BMedia&Comm (Term 3-)
Communications Officer
Ms Hannah Davies BCommun (Journalism)
Communications Projects Manager
Ms Robyn Osborn BSc, DipEd
Community Engagement and Events Manager
Ms Chloe Stark BComm/BA
Community Engagement and Events Coordinator
Ms Sonya Waters BIHTM (Terms 1-2)
Community Engagement and Events Coordinator
Ms Morgan Winlaw BMassComn (Term 3-)
Data Analyst and Database Administrator
Ms Sheethal Ramakrishna MInfoTech, BEng(CompEng)
Development Manager
Ms April Euler BA(Hons) (Term 2-)
Development Coordinator
Ms Janet Ren MJ, BScFor (Term 4)
Development and Alumnae Relations Coordinator
Mr Joseph Stewart (Term 1)
Drama and Music Technical Assistant
Ms Suzannah Ferry
Electrician
Mr Luke Munro
Cert III Electrotechnology, CertIV TrngAssmnt, CertIVTeleCommEngTech, CertIVElectInst
Head of Enrolments
Ms Jennifer Todd BA
Enrolments Administrator
Ms Mina Keenan
Enrolments Assistant Manager
Mrs Nicole Budgen ASSDipBus (Term 1-2)
Enrolments Officer
Mrs Lisa Horan
Evening Study Program
Ms Susan Morrison
Executive Assistant to the Principal
Ms Lara Parker
Facilities Coordinator
Ms Bridget Briais
Facilities Operations Manager
Mr Christopher Bailey-Bolton
Facilities Support Officer
Mrs Leonie Doran
Facilities Support Officer
Mr Patrick Hayes
Facilities Support Officer
Mr Josh Ryan
Facilities Support Officer
Ms Nicolette Stewart (Term 1)
Facilities Support Officer
Mr Yoel Yoel DipIT (Term 3-)
Facilities Support Officer
Mr Les Harris (Term 4-)
Finance Manager
Mrs Melissa Galloway BBus (Term 1)
Finance Manager
Ms Kirstin Griffith
BBSc, PGDip(Acct) (Term 2-)
Finance Officer
Mrs Fran Letson BBus, MBus
Health and Safety Advisor
Ms Joan Coyle GradDipOHS
Horticulturist
Mr Ben McCann
Human Resources Manager
Ms Brigitte Bickham
Human Resources Officer
Ms Logan Duke
BBus(HRM)
IT Support Officer
Mr Jay Siddhpura
IT Services and Operations Manager
Mr Tristan Royce-Carter
Dip Digital Multimedia & Design
IT Helpdesk Support Officer
Mr Joshua Cowper
BCompSc (Term 3-)
IT Helpdesk Support Officer
Mr Timothy Hales
MInfTech, Bachelor of Audio (Sound Production)
IT Helpdesk Support Officer
Mr David Jernigan
BCompSc, BCompEng
IT Helpdesk Support Officer
Mr Thomas Killin DipIT
IT Infrastructure and Security Manager
Mr Breck Felsman
BInfoTech, MCSE
IT Services Operations Team Leader
Mr Tyson Booth DipIT
Laboratory Technician—Biology
Mr Anthony Brinin
BAppSci
Laboratory Technician—Chemistry
Ms Emily Grundgeiger
BAppSc
Laboratory Technician—Physics
Ms Amy Lubrano
BSc(Physics) (Term 2-)
Laboratory Technician (Senior)—Physics
Mr Anthony Lumsden
BSc(Hons) (Term 1)
Librarian—Archives
Ms Catriona Banks
BA, DipInfoMgt (Term 3-)
Library Technician
Ms Rachel Patty
BA (Media, Film and TV Studies), DipArts, DipEd, MInformStudies
Library Technician
Ms Amanda McAuliffe
BSc(Hons), GDipInfMgt
Brisbane Girls Grammar School Staff
Library Assistant
Ms Matilda Askey
LMS Specialist
Ms Anita McMillan
BA, GradDipApSc (Lib&InforMan), GradCertEdStud (DigitLrn)
Manager of Collections
Mrs Lorraine Thornquist
BA, DipEd, MA, CertIIITourism, GradCertMuseumSt
Manager, School History and Culture
Mrs Pauline Harvey-Short BHMS, DipT(PE), MPhil, FACHPER, FRLSS
Outdoor Educator and Administration Officer
Ms Gen Lee
CertIVOutdoorRecreation, CertIVTrain&Assessment
Outdoor Educator
Ms Seanna Hill
CertIVOutdoorRecreation, DipSport&Fitness
Outdoor Educator
Ms Clare Drabsch (Term 1)
Outdoor Educator
Ms Sydonny Fry
Bachelor of Outdoor Education (Term 1-2)
Outdoor Educator
Ms Karen McLean
Outdoor Educator
Ms Lili Nemeth
Bachelor of Recreation and Outdoor Education (Term 3-)
Outdoor Educator
Ms Prue Passlow
Diploma of Outdoor Leadership (Term 4-)
Outdoor Educator
Mr Andrew Read
BSustOutdoorEd (Term 4)
Payroll Officer
Mrs Sharon Rose
Payroll Officer
Ms Gabriela Pereira (Term 3)
Payroll Officer
Ms Emily Earnest BBus (Term 4-)
Personal Assistant to Chief Financial Officer
Ms Kirsti Moyle
Personal Assistant to Deputy Principals
Ms Sally Condon
Photographer/Videographer
Mrs Kate Wilson
BTVSoundProd
Project Manager
Ms Kristina Formuzal
MSocSci(Econs), GradCertProjectMgt
Property and Capital Works Manager
Mr Peter Allan
BAppSC(ConstMgt) (Term 4-)
Property and Capital Works Manager
Mr Aaron Bowden
DipProjectMgt, DipBus(Frontline Management), DipBuilding&Construction, CertIVWHS, FSA, QBCC Licence
No 1264810 (Terms 1-3)
Property and Facilities Maintenance Manager (Marrapatta)
Mr Joel Dunmore
Receptionist
Ms Emily Hillyar
BA(Hons) Musical Theatre & Dance (Term 2-)
Repairs and Maintenance Officer
Mr Robert Hetherington
Research Officer (Sesquicentenary)
Mrs Jenny Davis
BA(Hons), GradDipArts
Senior Librarian
Mrs Rosalie Stafford
DipTeach, BEd, MLI (TeacherLibrarianship)
Sports Administrator
Mr Jordan Sheterline
Bbus, BBehavSc (Psych) (Term 3-)
Sports Manager
Mr Liam Mulligan
BSpandExerciseSc(Hons), ASCA Cert, AWF Cert, CertIVTrngAssmnt
Stores Officer
Mr Phillip Hopkins
Systems Administrator
Ms Maxine McCabe
BMus, MCommun
Systems and Network Administrator
Mr Kieren Anderson
Technical Support AV Specialist
Mr David Joncheff
Technical Support AV Specialist
Mr Jamie Petterson
BMus
Visual Arts & Technologies Assistant
Mrs Virginia (Ginnie) Dawson CertIVEdSupport
Web Systems Analyst
Mrs Subodha Dharmasiri
BScIT, BTEC(HND)
ADDRESSES
Girls Grammar formally farewells and celebrates the achievements of the Year 12 cohort at the annual Valedictory Dinner. The following day, at the Annual Speech Day and Distribution of Prizes, the School acknowledges the academic and co-curricular achievements of Grammar Girls across all Year levels.
Chair’s Address
Thursday 14 November 2024
Ms Julie McKay (2000) Chair, Board of Trustees
Ms Julie McKay, Chair, Board of Trustees, delivered the following address at the School’s Annual Speech Day and Distribution of Prizes 2024.
Councillor Vicki Howard.
Former Chairs of the Board, Elizabeth Jameson and Cherryl Hirst.
My fellow Trustees.
Staff.
Families.
And most importantly, girls. I acknowledge Aunty Kathryn Fisher and thank her for the warm Welcome to Country.
There is a shared joy in the room today— as we celebrate the achievements of our girls and farewell the class of 2024. No one feels that joy more than our staff, whose pride in their students is visible today. I wanted to pause at the outset to acknowledge the contributions of the entire staff of BGGS—led, so ably, by Principal, Jacinda Euler Welsh. I know that our students, their families and the Board are aligned in wanting to share the joy of today through our gratitude to you, for all that you do.
As I threw my toddler into my Dad’s arms on my way to Speech Day today, I was once again reminded of the role that our parents play—in providing love and care, as role models, transport and logistics operators, caterers, professional jugglers. I want to acknowledge all of the parents and caregivers in the room and say a special thank you to you too.
Today, as we farewell our Year 12s, I can’t help but be taken back to the summer of 2000. I am sure you can’t picture this— but while most of my cohort lounged around pools humming ‘absolutely everybody, everybody, everybody’ a nerdy, slightly anxious Julie McKay was
working full-time at the Indooroopilly Perfume Connection.
It was my high school job, and I loved it. I loved serving customers, up-selling, gift wrapping and the challenges of rostering.
Fast forward to New Years Day 2001. We opened the store, only to be told to close within the hour because there were no customers. But, I knew that industrially, each staff member was entitled to a three-hour shift and so I proposed that we stay and start the stocktake. My regional manager instructed me to send the staff home without pay and I refused. The next day, I was fired. Dismissed from my first job for insubordination.
In that moment, I was devastated; I felt an overwhelming sense of shame. My parents would be horrified to hear that I had been insubordinate. How would I ever get another job? Would this be on my record and follow me throughout my life? In that moment—I won’t lie—I sat on a bench in the carpark and ugly cried until my dad picked me up.
But that day, in the summer after finishing school—I learned an important lesson which was that you will never regret standing up for what’s right and for others.
When I eventually saw my former colleagues again, they were overwhelmed with gratitude at how I had stood up to management and fought to ensure that they were paid what they were entitled to be paid. In their story, I was the first leader who stood up for them—qualities that they would seek to adopt in their own careers.
I now work with leaders of organisations where there are significant cultural
issues, or where women and people from diverse backgrounds have not got equal access to opportunity. Whether it be the United Nations, the Defence Force, the Police, Fire Service, mining organisations or educational institutions, consistently I am reminded that the leaders who people admire and respect are the ones who stand up for others. They call out poor behaviour, they give tough feedback to their peers and friends, they flag when a joke has gone too far or when someone isn’t finding it easy to navigate the group dynamics.
Girls—you are all growing up in a world which is undoubtedly more complex than the one I grew up in.
The wars in Israel, Gaza, Lebanon, the Ukraine and Afghanistan continue to have a disproportionate impact on the lives, rights and freedoms of women and girls. The less reported famines, climate events and conflict throughout Africa will set back progress against the Sustainable Development Goals for decades, again—disproportionately impacting women and girls.
We only have to look to election campaigns here in Australia, in the US and in many other countries we would consider placing a similar priority on the principles of democracy, to see that women’s rights—your right, girls, to live free from violence, with independent economic security and access to leadership roles—are not universally supported or guaranteed.
Social media continues to erode our sense of community and magnify minority voices of hate and fear— creating a disruptive backlash against
women’s rights and the fight for gender equality and reinforcing the entitlement to male power and privilege.
In the face of this level of fear and uncertainty, it becomes even more important to stand up for what is right and amplify the voices of those who perhaps do not have a voice.
While in the present day, 2024 is intrinsically linked with big names like Taylor Swift, Kamala Harris and Simone Biles, history will remember the actions and impact of a different set of people. A set of people who in their own way have stood up for what is right:
• the women in Afghanistan sharing music and educational materials, despite the bans, to maintain connection and hope in their communities
• the men in Regional South Australia who are working with young men to challenge attitudes and behaviours towards young women
• the kid that called out a friend for bullying or being unkind
• the woman who paused to say thank you to the security guard at the hospital, for their role in the health system.
These small, seemingly unimportant, everyday actions are what legacies are made from.
Behind a picket fence on a plot of land between a major road and railway—a smaller plot, I might add than the Boys’ school was given—with terrible parking, in a city that the world won’t know about till 2032, stands an institution that was built on the premise of standing up for what is right. A place that for 149 years, has worked to empower young women and support them to take their place in the world. Each girl who has worn—or stuffed into her bag— the navy hat, contributes to a world where women are more equal, more empowered, more able to reach their potential and achieve their ambitions.
Girls—your education is a foundation for your life. Of course, we encourage you to strive to reach your potential and do your best. But it is my hope, in addition to receiving a leading education, each of our students understands that it is the cumulative impact of their everyday actions and behaviours that is their legacy—not their grades, their positions, their looks, their popularity.
To our Year 12 students—so much of your schooling has been controlled: where you need to be, when you need to be there,
‘It is my hope ... each of our students understands that it is the cumulative impact of their everyday actions and behaviours that is their legacy.’
—Ms Julie McKay
what to focus on, what colour ribbon you wear. But what I hope you remember as you walk out the gates tomorrow, celebrated by your friends and the students who look up to you, is that your legacy is something that you control. It is entirely yours. And while there might be a lot to be unsettled about, if you focus on your everyday actions and stand up for what is right, you will be well positioned to take your place in the world with confidence and conviction.
Congratulations to the Class of 2024. We celebrate you and we stand ready to support you.
Principal’s Address
Thursday 14 November 2024
Ms Jacinda Euler Welsh Principal
Ms Jacinda Euler Welsh, Principal, delivered the following address at the School’s Annual Speech Day and Distribution of Prizes 2024.
Julie McKay, Chair of the Board; Trustees— past and present; Honoured guests— including Past Chairs, Dr Cherrell Hirst and Elizabeth Jameson; Councillor Vicki Howard; Guest Speaker, Helen Penrose; President of the P&F, Kerrin Petersen; Julie Caton, President of the Old Girls Association; Teachers and staff; parents; Grammar girls (our students) and most particularly the young women of Year 12.
Attachment, Authenticity, Anxiety and AI
Artificial intelligence has been with us for a long time and yet suddenly, it seems, there’s been exponential growth and impact. But amidst the wonders of AI and amazing world-changing possibilities what is it that is making people uncomfortable and uneasy?
What is at stake?
Does it threaten authenticity, our humanness? Do we worry we will lose, surrender, handover essential human capabilities—the ability to discern, create, empathise and connect?
As humans we have a fundamental need for attachment and authenticity.
The need for attachment—connection and closeness with another person for the sake of being taken care of, that fundamental need for dependence—is essential to our survival. We also have the need to be authentic—knowing what we feel, being able to express, and to act on who we, truly, are.
What is our School’s role as we face these new horizons?
If attachment is the bond of humanity, one of the most important things we seek to create is a sense of belonging—to the institution, its community, our teachers and one another. As the girls understand … Together strong, in blue we belong.
At the same time, our School, I hope, supports girls to be authentic, uniquely themselves … while understanding we are all a part of a bigger entity—our School, our society, our shared humanity.
Tyler Austin Harper writing in The Atlantic (https://www.theatlantic.com/ideas/ archive/2024/05/ai-dating-algorithmsrelationships/678422/) has said the new AI products infiltrating seemingly all domains of life are ‘gate-crashing spheres of activity that were previously the sole province of human beings’.
Want to avoid the hassle of dating and all its messy inconvenience? A dating bot concierge will do it for you. Need a poem to propose to a loved one—that most intimate human moment? Firing up ChatGPT will get you something more eloquent perhaps than your ‘roses are red’ attempt.
In the back of our mind, though, we have a sneaky suspicion it all came a little too easily. That we’ve cheated somehow.
Not when you use it to create an Agenda, gather some background information quickly. And certainly not when using AI to detect fraud in finance, using virtual assistants, carers even pets for the elderly and lonely. Or in healthcare, improving diagnostics, drug discovery and personalised treatment plans—analysing vast amounts of medical data to detect disease early.
Our response
Our response therefore can’t simply be that AI is ‘bad’.
A more ‘sophisticated approach’ requires us to distinguish, Harper says, between the ‘uses of AI that legitimately empower’ us and ‘those …. that wrest core human activities from human control’.
But to determine which is which means we have to define them. Because as Harper asks, ‘what (are the) activities (that) belong to the jurisdiction of our species, not to be usurped by machines’ in order ‘to pin down why some uses of artificial intelligence delight and excite, while others leave many of us feeling queasy.’
In a time when there is great emphasis on our difference, when we appear to be moving away from a shared understanding of what is common to us all, what are those innately, uniquely, human capabilities?
A way forward
Philosopher, Martha Nussbaum, offers a way forward, perhaps, with the ‘so-called capability approach to human flourishing’, so aligned with our purpose as educators.
She argues that there are universal ‘basic human capabilities’ we should be able to develop. ‘Being able to imagine, to think, and to reason’ .. ‘engage in … familial and social interaction’. A good society she says ‘is one in which human beings are not just theoretically free to engage in these basic human endeavours, but are actually capable’ (Robeyns, Ingrid and Morten Fibieger Byskov. Summer 2023 ed. The Capability Approach. The Stanford
Encyclopedia of Philosophy, https://plato. stanford.edu/archives/sum2023/entries/ capability-approach)
Is this one of our deepest concerns, that AI might diminish our human capability? Atrophy our skills and independence?
A ‘world in which,’ Harper says, ‘people feel that everyday social interactions …. require expert advice and algorithmic assistance’ accompanied by a pretty scary sales pitch, he says, ‘AI will teach you how to be human.’
The School’s role
These challenges of course, just sharpen our focus. Bring what we value, don’t want to relinquish, to the fore.
Our School will explore and embrace the great possibilities and practical application of AI—we are already doing that right now.
But we will, perhaps paradoxically, continue to draw on the strength of our foundations and eternal guiding purpose …. as we continue to redefine and protect, not just hand over, responsibility for developing our students’ essential human capabilities: conversation, musical composition, artistic expression and facilitating the need for human attachment and connection— COVID taught us that can’t be outsourced to a machine.
Our School is a place where we understand the need for our students to be their authentically unique but flawed selves.
There is a modern desire to smooth and perfect things, and the promise of AI feeds into that.
We don’t want to lose all the struggle and messiness of life and understand
‘We retain our very human ability to imagine different futures rather than having it all neatly figured out for us.’
—Ms Jacinda Euler Welsh
that intellectual, social, emotional dramas enacted in safe spaces, develop our human capabilities, our resilience.
We retain our very human ability to imagine different futures rather than having it all neatly figured out for us.
This Year
• we have begun the building of the Junior School, the arches are in place. We’ve enrolled our Year 5 & 6 students, alongside Year 7 for 2026, appointed our inaugural Head
• we celebrated talent, athleticism and the drive to achieve excellence as we cheered on our very own Olympians in Paris—Gabi Palm (here today) and Abbey Andrews
• laid the foundations for our 150 years celebrations in 2025, the return of the Main Building to its original colours, commissioned the writing of our School history
• our first means-tested perpetual bursary was established, made possible by a woman committed to the life-changing power of education. She has made provision on into perpetuity, and her generosity will profoundly impact generations of future Grammar girls. This gift will provide access to a Girls Grammar education—through the Excellence in Academic Endeavours Bursary—for girls who would not otherwise have the means to attend. It has been made possible by a great friend of Girls Grammar—Ms Kay Bryan—who we acknowledge, honour and thank today. And the inaugural bursary has been awarded to a student who will commence in Year 7 2025, the School’s Sesquicentenary Year.
I thank …
• the Trustees for their expert presence, wise counsel and their time as stewards of our School
• Julie McKay—for her strong, effective and wise leadership, particularly this year, as our deeply respected Chair
• our parents for their loyal support
• our teachers and staff for their expertise and dedication
• our students for reminding us, every day, there is every reason for us to be optimistic and confident about the future.
The author David Brooks wrote recently, ‘Artificial intelligence is going to do many things for us in the decades ahead, and replace humans at many tasks, but one thing it will never be able to do is to create person to person connections. If you want to thrive in the age of AI, you better become exceptionally good at connecting with others’.
As a School, we connect you to education, great minds and ideas but most importantly we connect you to other people, to one another. We develop those fundamental human abilities to empathise, to imagine, to create.
I hope our Year 12 girls who are leaving us will connect to passionate endeavours, places and ideas and, most importantly, to people who are truly worthy. Although you say goodbye to us today, your connection with us continues long on into the ultimately unknowable but very exciting future.
Thank You.
Head Girl’s Address
Thursday 14 November 2024
Iha Agrawal (12R) and Aoife Bedggood (12O)
In their last formal address as Head Girls 2024, Iha Agrawal and Aoife Bedggood, delivered the following address at the School’s Annual Speech Day and Distribution of Prizes 2024.
Good afternoon, Chair of the Board of Trustees, Ms McKay, Principal, Ms Euler, esteemed members of the Board of Trustees, Occasional Speaker, Helen Penrose, distinguished guests, family and friends of the school, staff, and students. My name is Iha Agrawal, this is Aoife Bedggood, and we are the Head Girls of 2024. It is our absolute pleasure to be speaking with you today.
We are very grateful to Ms Penrose for speaking to us today. You have given us insights in to the history of Girls Grammar, and the importance of recognising and celebrating this.
We’d like to begin our speech with this sentiment; every beginning has an end, and every end has a beginning.
Over the course of our time at Girls Grammar, each year has felt like a new and exciting gift—as the first day of each year approached, we were filled with anticipation and enjoyed the beauty of not knowing what experiences awaited us. We were eager to discover who we’d be in one year’s time.
Just as meaningful were the ends. The days where we could sit back and appreciate all our hard work, all of the little moments, all the new and special people that had entered our lives and become pieces of the mosaic of us. Special occasions such as Speech Day allow us to revisit everything in between and reminisce over the time we’ve spent growing and learning together.
For example, it’s safe to say that 12 months ago, Iha and I were feeling slightly uneasy about how the year would pan out, whether we were up to the task, and most importantly, if our jokes would land. But we were undoubtedly eager to find out. Standing here today, we can confidently say that our roles have instilled us with the ability to adapt to change and facilitated our growth into who we are today. We feel incredibly honored to have stood by a School full of such inspiring and powerful students, and will forever carry this experience with us.
So, this afternoon, it is only fitting to take a look at the year that has been.
Twelve months ago, the Student Council decided upon the motto, ‘Together strong, in blue we belong #tietheblue’. Given the School motto is responsible for shaping the incoming year and, not to mention, the main spectacle while we’re waiting for chicken nuggets in the tuck-shop line, the Council stakes were high. At first, this motto was simply an encapsulation of our goal to strengthen the bonds in our Grammar community, with a catchy reference to our iconic royal blue ribbon. We wanted students to know that belonging is not something to be earned—simply by virtue of attending this school, we are part of a team that supports each other through thick and thin. That as Girls Grammar students, we are powerful alone, but even stronger together. Now, thanks to the spirit, kindness, and joy of every single person
in this room, these words are no longer a goal but a reality and will forever more define the way we remember 2024.
Zooming in, the diverse range of talent at BGGS has remained on full display. We’ve had our fast-paced athletes hurdle their way to QG, watched our QG swimmers dominate the pool with the biggest crowd in Grammar history behind them, and stood with jaws wide open as Grammar students made it to worlds in Taekwondo. On the court, our basketball and volleyball players have shown heart and resilience, whilst on the field, our hockey and football girls have put some gold on the Grammar name. Even beyond the white picket fence, members of our Grammar community have represented Australia at the 2024 Paris Olympics.
‘That as Girls Grammar students, we are powerful alone, but even stronger together.’
—Iha Agrawal and Aoife Bedggood
Right Aoife Bedggood (12O) and Iha Agrawal (12R)
Head Girl’s Address
Thursday 14 November 2024
Meanwhile, the Creative Learning Centre continues to foster exceptional musicians, actors, dancers, and artists, all of whom have enriched our lives by making the world seem just that bit more beautiful. In bearing witness to performances from the Romeo and Juliet Drama Production to our Gala Concert, we could not be luckier. Not to mention, school service has allowed us to give back to a community that has given so much to us. Through the efforts of countless service clubs, events such as Grammar Goes Green, the Ponytail Project, and Blue Days, and in raising funds to support our School charity, Cancer Council, we hope to have done the opportunity justice.
Speaking of Blue Days, we’d like to extend an apology to the School community for all the pun-filled Blue Day themes this year—we couldn’t help ourselves. High School Blue-sical. Blu-nnings. Blu-lympics. Aside from emphasising some of the shortcomings in our sense of humour, this year’s Blue Days are a perfect example of how proud we are to don the blue, and sing, dance, run, jump, and drill or dig in support of our talented Grammar sisters. With about 300 events available for Grammar students to attend throughout the year, we must acknowledge and appreciate the infectious spirit displayed by supporters. As such, as a continuation of last year’s True Blue initiative and with the help of our wonderful Principal, Ms Euler, this term we conducted a coronation for the spirited royalty who had attended the most true blue events throughout the year. With a red carpet and crown, they were recognised for their contribution to the supporting and warm atmosphere at Brisbane Girls Grammar School.
After all, this year’s assemblies have been like no other—we’ve had oompa loompas, admittedly amateur rapping, a visit from a Japanese student and an almost visit from some German students, a Year-12 flash mob, seen some impressive sprints from the Gehrmann theatre to McCrae Grassie, and and evacuation or two. We’ve seen a celebration of the outstanding talent at our School, from Math, Science, History, or language competition prize recipients, to beautiful, moving music performances, and have taken in the insight and wisdom of guest speakers. Tonight, is a culmination and commemoration of all these efforts. Every time we have collected together as a School community, as a sisterhood, it has been undeniably special. After all, together we’re strong, and in blue we belong.
We must express our gratitude. To our Principal, Ms Euler, thank you. Your wisdom and eloquence, passion for equality of education, and innovative vision forms the foundations of the Girls Grammar experience—through your leadership, every student feels empowered to take their rightful place in the world. You are a role model to many, and an inspiration to even more. Thank you for your unwavering belief in our capabilities and always making us feel valued and heard—we are incredibly appreciative.
To every single teacher and staff member at Girls Grammar, your understanding, patience, and passion have made us learn and grow in ways we didn’t know were possible. We are endlessly grateful for your guidance and mentorship—Brisbane Girls Grammar School would not be the institution it is today without all of you.
To our beloved Grammar sisters, thank you for creating the wonderful community that we are so proud to be a part of. We are so excited for you to experience all the growth and joy Grammar has to offer, and with Abby and Zoe’s support, you will be in fantastic hands. To Abby and Zoe, Head Girls elect, enjoy the year, take in everything you possibly can, and remember that you’ve got the entire sisterhood cheering you on.
To conclude, we’d like to revisit our initial message with a slightly different take. While it is easy to get caught up in ends and beginnings, with all the nostalgia, nerves, and excitement associated with them, remember that the middle is what holds the magic. It’s the little moments that make life big. Relish the feeling of laughing with your friends until your stomach hurts, telling your parents all about your day on the way home, watching the rain pour through the classroom windows, drum-rolling as you wait for the results of interhouse athletics, or cheering with pride and amazement as your friend steps into their element. The warmth of those little moments, brimming with that feeling of belonging and joy, are what will stay with you forever.
It has been an absolute pleasure and honour to have been your Head Girls this year. In the wise words of Winnie The Poo, thank you all for giving us something so hard to say goodbye to. We wish you all a wonderful afternoon, and for the last time, ‘together strong, in blue we belong, #tietheblue.’
Occasional Address
Thursday 14 November 2024
Helen Penrose Managing Director, HistorySmiths
Historian and author of Brisbane Girls Grammar School’s history book, Helen Penrose, delivered the following Occasional Address at the School’s Annual Speech Day and Distribution of Prizes 2024.
Good afternoon students, parents, staff,
Trustees and Principal.
One of my favourite stories in the book I have written on the history of your School is about Josephine Bancroft. She completed her schooling at Brisbane Girls Grammar School in 1914, then went on to finish tertiary qualifications at The University of Queensland. She became an entomologist—a specialist on insects. Many of her collections were displayed at the Queensland Museum. I have selected a photograph of her for the book that I think is quite remarkable for its time. At the age of about 20, she is standing in the bush, wearing a long dress typical of the era, with a broad-brimmed hat and carrying a shotgun because she was stalking snakes for her research into blood parasites. The image, to me, is all about the hard work and courage she showed to be able to pursue that career. Much later on, during World War Two, she enlisted in the Australian
Imperial Force (AIF) in 1942 as a doctor in the Medical Research Unit with the rank of Major to work on anti-malarial drugs. Hers was a remarkable career.
Josephine’s story inspires me because her pathway in life was, then, so highly unusual for a young woman. Very few completed school. Even fewer went on to tertiary education and, until 1911, could not complete that tertiary education in Queensland because the state’s very first university, The University of Queensland, did not open until then. I invite you to imagine how optimistic women must have felt when that university opened. Think how it also enhanced women’s success in the long struggle they had experienced to be allowed to vote in Australian parliamentary elections. Women won the right to vote in federal elections from 1902 and in Queensland elections from 1905. Consider what it was like when, until the 1960s, the community did not value girls’ education as much as it valued
‘I invite you to listen carefully to the voices of the past and bring what you learn across the imaginary bridge to the present.’
—Ms Helen Penrose
education for boys. Some girls around the world today still have little or no access to education. These historical understandings, for women everywhere, might inspire many of us to action.
Josephine and others like her were also beneficiaries of an education at Brisbane Girls Grammar School. At that time, such an education could not yet be taken for granted because some members of Parliament, and many in the Department of Education, had been determined to close the school in 1899. It was a vital turning point after the controversy surrounding the departure of Principal, Eliza Fewings, because the School did not close. Tenaciously, the new Head Mistress, Milisent Wilkinson, the staff and Trustees rebuilt the School’s academic reputation. Milisent Wilkinson also showed great courage during her 13 years in guiding the School to a brighter future. She also eloquently stated her support for a liberal education.
This is what she said at Speech Day, 120 years ago, in 1904:
Is it not a fact that there is an increasing need, as well as desire, on the part of women to earn their living? And this being granted, is it not fair to the girls that they, as well as the boys, should be fitted to fight the battle of life? A girl who enjoyed the benefits of a sound secondary education should be able to perform duties of any position to which she may be called. In Grammar School, her mind is, as far as possible, trained on all sides, and she should be able to devote the best of her powers to whatever the future may have in store for her. It is this higher general intelligence conferred by a liberal education, which is of value; facts in abundance may be known but the power to use them to any advantage depends upon the intelligence.
A fundamental part of a liberal education, as you know, is the study of history. As a professional historian, of course I celebrate that, as well as the fact that the Grammar Schools system in Queensland is unique in Australia. The wonders of history, as a discipline, and as a formal subject at secondary school and in a tertiary environment, teach us skills of critical reading and analysis, of how to interrogate a research topic, write about the evidence and craft a story. Historical research also connects us directly to the past. The thrill of holding original documents and artefacts, the sense of discovery, of learning about the people who are central to the narrative, makes the world of history exciting.
During and after World War Two, educators around the globe thought about how to create a new style of education that could improve world harmony. Humanities subjects such as History and Geography were critical to this, as were concepts such as student-run school life and, perhaps more radically than anything else, the abolition of end-of-year examinations. Teachers and principals met around Australia to consider all of these ideas. Eventually, only one state abolished examinations and introduced internal assessment. This new system, known as the Radford reforms, began in Queensland in 1972. No other states had the courage to try it, and the system remained in place here until 2019. Isn’t this a marvellous example of the circle of history?
Why is history so important, now more than ever? What is its value? If more people in our society were history literate, we would be better able to face the world’s challenges. The bitter global enmity, seen today in wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, have demanded our attention. Certainly, the issues are complex, but any historical literacy that we can master might just help to lift the quality of the discussions we have with each other. To learn and understand the world through the lens of history is to glimpse humanity’s complexity, to come to know and treasure its diverse people, their different political, religious and economic systems, and therefore to develop empathy with them in the present. I invite you to listen carefully to the voices of the past and bring what you learn across the imaginary bridge to the present. Perhaps consider doing at least one history subject all the way through to the end of secondary school and in your degree later. And perhaps also shift your thinking of history as merely a subject with a capital H that is learned in timetabled periods. Look for it actively in all of your subjects, in your lives outside the classroom and beyond. It is all around you.
2025 marks 150 years of Brisbane Girls Grammar School. The building blocks of local history, such as may be found in the history of your school, echoes that which is all around us every day in our schools, workplaces and communities. You are part of a wonderful historical continuum, and you will also create your own legacy while you are at school for the generations who follow. Understand that there is more that unites than divides us, and always has, throughout history. The study of history will strengthen us all. Draw strength and courage from that in all of your endeavours, seek to understand all that is new and sometimes confronting by asking the most essential history questions: ‘Who said or wrote that? When?’ And the most important question of all, ‘Why?’ This is the question that joins the dots between understanding the past and our place in the present.
So let me conclude with a story about a young Grammar girl who later modelled immense courage and hard work—two of the defining historical characteristics of your school. She won several prizes on Speech Day in 1907 for Languages, Swimming, Gymnastics and Tennis. With no university then open in Queensland, she had to move to Sydney to complete
her first degree, a Bachelor of Arts with Honours in French. She became a teacher, moving states again back to Queensland to teach at Ipswich Girls’ Grammar School. Later, from 1925 to 1952, she served as Head Mistress of Brisbane Girls Grammar School. All eyes were on her because this woman was Kathleen Lilley, niece of Sir Charles Lilley, founder of the School, former Chair of the Board of Trustees, former Premier of Queensland.
Her time in charge coincided with the Great Depression of the 1930s, when there was very little money to do building repairs or buy new desks. Nevertheless, sufficient funding was found to build the School’s very first science laboratory in 1933—an important step in the progress of girls’ education. From 1939 to 1945, World War Two meant more restrictions, even less money, and wartime shortages of everything from science teachers to tennis balls. The School had to close for several weeks at the start of 1942 when the government decided that no-one should go to school because of the very real threat of the war. With no internet for online lessons, girls did their work by mail, sent back and forth to their teachers. Despite all of this, Kathleen Lilley determinedly worked on, employing the best possible teachers she could find who in turn encouraged academic excellence and hard work among their students. Kathleen Lilley’s legacy, as this School’s longest-serving Head Mistress, is especially important because of the time at which it occurred. She provided stable leadership through the economically straightened years of the 1930s and during the alarm of World War Two. Her regime of strict routine and her selection of several excellent teachers created the School’s culture of hard work and academic success. Given the shabby, crowded classrooms, and other buildings in which the School worked, it was a remarkable gift. And the culture of hard work and striving for academic excellence has endured.
So you see, then, the value of history? Sometimes we can almost touch the past because of these stories and their direct relevance to our present. As American historian, Will Durant, said: ‘The present is the past rolled up for action, and the past is the present unrolled for understanding.’
Valedictory Address
Wednesday 13 November 2024
Dr Karyn Lun (1983)
Dermatologist
At the School’s Annual Valedictory Dinner, alumna, Dr Karyn Lun (1983) delivered the following Address.
Good evening, Principal, Ms Jacinda Euler Welsh, President of the P&F Association, Dr Kerrin Petersen, President of the Old Girls Association, Mrs Julie Caton, staff, girls, parents and friends.
What an honour to be here tonight to give the Valedictory Address for the Class of 2024.
Many of you may be wondering how you go from being a Grammar girl to Assistant Chief Medical Officer for the Australian Formula 1 Grand Prix, particularly as my specialty is dermatology.
The answer is simple: it’s a journey.
However, no journey is straightforward, and I never imagined that I would be involved in Formula 1, let alone motorsport, when your very own Mrs Sybill Edwards, myself and rest of the BGGS Class of 1983 were attending our own Valedictory Dinner.
You are all celebrating the end of a season, the Grammar season, and this is a great time to reflect and be thankful. Look around, some of these girls are your friends for life. I am confident you will all be well prepared for the coming seasons; thanks to the excellent education you have just completed.
In contrast to school, where the path is straight and progressive, the journey afterward is dynamic, and not necessarily linear. There will be turning points in your journey, let’s call them waypoints, and the directional change may be mild through to radical.
My first waypoint was during the season of university and medical school, when I went on a horse-riding farm-stay near Canberra. Due to inclement weather, there was no riding, so the ex-fighter pilot owner of the property introduced me to advanced driving. It was so much fun learning to control a car sliding around a small circuit in a muddy paddock, I developed an interest in possible rally driving.
I attempted to enter dermatology during the season of being a junior doctor, but this was not the right time. Instead, I ended up in a season of general practice and experienced my most radical waypoint trying to get from the Wintergarden carpark into the Hilton hotel for a nicotine patch dinner. Traipsing up and down the carpark stairs, I met another GP, Dr Iain Corness, who was a longtime race driver and owned the Quit Racing Team, a small stand against tobacco sponsorship. He introduced me to circuit racing at Lakeside Raceway and the medical chase car,
which follows the first lap of each race with a doctor in the passenger seat. After one chase lap I was hooked and began my motorsport journey.
I even raced for a year!
Motorsport has been an amazing part of my life for over 30 years. I’ve been a motorsport medical official at dozens of grassroots club events, gravel rally meetings including WRC—where we practiced cutting with the jaws of life— events at Bathurst, Supercars events in Queensland and Darwin, and even the Singapore Formula 1 GP. The track medical team looks after the drivers, crews, officials and contractors—not the general public. I’ve attended motorsport events in Montreal, Silverstone, Austin, and Indianapolis, and I’ve become acquainted with esteemed international motorsport medicine colleagues. Last month was my 27th Gold Coast event and next year will be my 24th Formula 1 Australian Grand Prix.
Right Aoife Bedggood (12O) , Dr Karyn Lun and Iha Agrawal (12R)
A couple of years ago I was promoted to Assistant Chief Medical Officer for the AGP. We have over 50 medical team members and my role is to assist the Chief and Deputy Chiefs with their duties, helping to coordinate and manage the medical assets around the track and within the track medical centre, mostly from Race Control. We work directly with the Formula 1 medical delegates, as well as all other officials, emergency services and other stakeholders.
In 2010, Formula Ford driver, Caleb Rayner, hit the wall heavily at Turn 3, where I was part of the track medical team. We had to run through the gravel trap to attend to him. There’s a method to running in a gravel trap, which is to avoid leaning forward, otherwise your feet slip and it’s easy to fall on your face, which I have done previously. Once we assessed that Caleb had some injuries, we organised the extrication team and an Alpha ambulance unit to take him for assessment, and we even made the paper for that one.
Then there was the celebrity race in 2014 when former Miss Australia, Rachael Finch, had a roll-over accident in front of our position at Turn 11. She was uninjured but was suspended upside down in her seat. The trick is to not quick release the belts to avoid falling on your head, but to lengthen the shoulder straps until she was able to reach the roof underneath, then unclip the belts so she could crawl out and sit for a moment. Of course, Rachael then jumped up, peeled off her balaclava, shook out her hair and waved at the crowd while we escorted her to our medical car to take her for a check-up!
Being involved in motorsport may seem glamorous, but as part of the medical team, we need to be at the circuit before and after all on-track activities, often doing 12+ hour days for all three or four days of a race meeting.
Sometimes we are paid, but much of the time we are volunteers. Can you believe there’s a term for this level of dedication? It’s called serious leisure.
An actual serious part of my motorsport involvement is advocating for female participation. I’ve served on the Women of Australian Motor Sport (WAMS) committee, Australian Women in Motorsport Commission, and participated
in a women in motorsport panel discussion at an international congress and attended a FIA Women in Motorsport conference in Lisbon. I’m currently a Girls on Track Champion for Motorsport Australia. This program has two components: ‘Inspire’ gives school girls an insight into motor racing; while ‘Pathways’ is for young women interested in a career in motorsport.
You may wonder how dermatology might fit with a motorsport career.
After a few years of working in general practice, I reconnected with a friend who was a dermatologist, and this proved to be another radical waypoint. After jumping through some hoops, I was accepted onto the dermatology training program, and with lots of hard work, managed to fulfil all of the requirements. As I came closer to qualifying as a specialist, I did do some extra certification to support the motorsport medical work. Being a dermatologist in motorsport may seem a bit unusual, however, I do come in handy when there are skin issues.
At all Formula 1 events, officials are given specific tabards with identifying numbers and job descriptions. One year, as a track medical officer at the AGP, I was treated to a motorbike ride to the pits to provide consultations for a Formula 1 team that had multiple members with skin problems. It turned out the team socks caused marked sweating in the Australian summer, with secondary bacterial overgrowth and maceration of the feet, for which I gave management advice. Ironically, because I was a trackside medical officer, and not in a vehicle, the French FIA tabard had me labelled as a ‘foot’ doctor.
What have I learned from my journey so far?
Serendipity—be open to opportunities.
One year at Bathurst, there was a disgraceful comment made by a V8 Supercar driver about an all-female team, for which he was fined $25 000, and attracted much media attention. At the next round at the Gold Coast, as a member of the WAMS committee, I took the opportunity to approach the V8 Supercar CEO and asked if he was open to supporting women in motorsport. Of course, he said ‘yes’, and this conversation was the inception of the Supercars
female officials exchange which we ran in conjunction with Motorsport NZ for several years.
Curiosity—expand your understanding of the world.
Continue to learn, seek new knowledge and experiences, this adds flavour to your journey. Imagine if I hadn’t been open to going to the racetrack that first time, I wouldn’t be here tonight!
Persistence—consistent effort, dedication.
Nil sine labore. Do not be afraid to persist and work consistently towards your goals, at the same time being open to changes in direction.
Patience—embrace failure.
If I hadn’t failed my first dermatology exam, I wouldn’t have worked as a GP, and I wouldn’t have ended up in motorsport. Accept that everything takes time, it took me six years to be posted to a pit lane position at the AGP. Luckily, this was the year my cousin was in the celebrity race, and I was able to meet my cousin, Jeff, and his work colleagues in person.
Find your tribe, associate with people with common interests.
This was the most extraordinary incident I’ve attended. Kain Magro lost control of his MINI, launching it into an end-over-end barrel roll, finishing in the spectator area. The driver was uninjured, two spectators were significantly affected, but fortunately healed from their injuries. This is when we are grateful to have a team of medical professionals and ambulance support to deal with the aftermath. Collaboration is powerful.
In summary, understand that this may be the end of your Grammar season, but there are many more seasons to come. Each one will begin with a waypoint, but the curious thing about these turning points, is that they are often only clear well after they have occurred.
Be open to the possibilities, be curious and above all, be kind to yourself and those around you.
So, what will your life be like after Grammar? Where will your journey take you?
We all look forward to finding out!
