Term 1, Week 1

Thank you for watching the first in the Grammar Magic Series. In two weeks, we will feature students from our Junior Campus as together we tell our Grammar story.

What a fabulous start to the year we have had. This year we welcome 106 new families and if their welcome is anything like the warm one my wife Jane and I have received, they will feel the heartfelt embrace of our community. I believe we are not just a school, we are ONE community working together to create a learning journey for our children that reflects our desire to make the world a better place. Much like the mighty Tamar, we have all started our journey in different places and Grammar is a testament to the power of coming together and creating something much greater than ourselves. Our students are at the heart of all that we do. We are a place of connection and belonging. And this is what I call the “Grammar Magic”.

My challenge for this year is to look, listen and learn as I lead the school into the next exciting phase of growth as one of Tasmania’s leading schools. This year I pose for all members of our community a challenge which resonates with our Anglican values of Compassion, Safety, Inclusivity and Respect. I need each of our families to embrace and work with us to create the layers of opportunity that ensure the lessons their children learn at our school are lessons for life.  How will we work together to provide an educational offering that nurtures, challenges and inspires our children to be amazing adults, effectively contributing to and leading their future communities and workplaces?

On Monday 219 staff came together for their start-of-the-year training and professional learning. Grammar must be, above all else, a safe place and this was a key theme in our program.  We welcomed 22 new recruits across all areas of the school including 12 teaching staff.  We will share and celebrate with you in the coming weeks the wonderful talents of our staff team. A quality education offering starts with quality people.

There have been numerous highlights since arriving in early January and I am relishing each one as an opportunity to look, listen and learn. Travelling to Lake Barrington to see our senior rowing crews training at summer camp was a great experience. Hearing a school chant that seems to have been around since time immemorial was inspiring, as was the stunning lake. I look forward to many regatta visits.  The students rehearsing at the summer intensive for our musical production of Cats have amazing talent and I cannot wait for the performance season in May to come around. Our cricketers have been playing well and it would be remiss of me not to highlight the achievements of Aiden O’Connor who scored 202 not out against St Patricks!

As we settle into the school year It was wonderful to welcome onto the Mowbray campus 74 Grade 7 students. We also had 50 new students commence Kindergarten and ELC on Thursday. I had the pleasure of spending some time in each Junior Campus class this week and loved seeing the joy and excitement on their faces as friendships were renewed and the seeds of new ones being firmly planted.

On Tuesday evening we were delighted to host a function for our 40 Hawkes boarding families, the boarding staff and key staff in the lives of their children. What a fabulous community Hawkes is, with boarders ranging in age from 10 to 18 and coming from Hong Kong, China, Indonesia, Flinders Islands, the North East, West Coast, Central Midlands to Campania. At least 10 distinct cultural backgrounds are represented. Our boarding house is a place of diversity and inclusion and our new head of boarding, Theunis Pieters and the team are working hard to ensure this unique community is well looked after and very much part of the fabric of Grammar.

A lot has been happening around our campuses. The Broadland House restoration has now been completed – what a grand building that stands as a testament to our strong heritage and recognition of the Broadland House Church of England Girls Grammar School. The new green spaces at our Junior Campus are being prepared for our students. I sincerely thank the generous members of our community, especially those from the Diprose families, who have worked hard to prepare the grounds for planting.  We are hopeful of a mid-Term 2 opening of the space.

What a wonderful week it has been, our very first for 2023. I very much look forward to getting to know you as we move through the school year.

Dale Bennett

Principal

As I sit in my office this morning, I hear a comforting sound; children laughing and talking. For the preceding weeks, the campus has been a hive of activity yet somehow empty. It’s the students that make up the missing component. Schools are dynamic places that are directed by, as much directing of, the student body. Each year is as vastly different as the students who attend the school which makes for a vibrant and exciting place to work. The enthusiasm of our students as they tackle their chosen tasks is infectious. And how quickly it begins. Rowing camps have already been and gone, regattas rowed, school production camp held, music camp impending, cricket matches played and an array of training and rehearsals. Similarly, our staff have been working through January in preparing for students to return. PD weeks have been held and plans made to make the campus and our programmes as vibrant as the students who they are designed for. Our office and ground staff have worked tirelessly preparing for week one. As we reach the end of week one and students stream past my office windows on their way to their next class one thought flashes through my mind, all is right in the school again.  

As your children settle into the new year, we encourage you to reach out if there are any queries or feedback. For information regarding School dates and general information about the School, please visit the School’s website. The School calendar can be accessed via the following link and our parent handbook via this link. 

Like our new students, we also welcome new staff. Many of you will have met Dale Bennett, our new Principal. Also having joined our Senior Campus in term one are: 

Mr Jordan Travers in Grade 7 and Science
Ms Olive Ashmore in Outdoor Education
Mrs Jo Stackhouse in Science and Sustainability
Mr Andrew McKerihan in Mathematics
Mr Philip McLennen in Business Studies
Mr Ariel Halperin in English
Mrs Chloe Brown in Science 

In our Boarding House, we also welcome our new Head of Boarding Mr T.J Pieters and Deputy Head of Boarding Jack Murphy. They are joined by Mrs Lesley Pyecroft, who is looking after our health centre while Mrs Conti is on leave. 

I look forward to catching up with you all during the course of the year. 

Warm regards 

Our students are back and it is very exciting. Service to our community is in the DNA of Launceston Grammar and I have the privilege of facilitating some of that service.  

The command to “Love your neighbour as yourself” is the foundation of our service because it pushes our focus to build loving relationships, not just doing good. Loving relationships consist of the mutual sharing of benefits and resources, even at our own expense. We are working specifically at growing relationships with our immediate neighbours. 

At Mowbray Heights Primary School our senior Grades provide Breakfast to the Mowbray students every day in term time and have been doing so for many years. 

New Horizons is a local organisation that gives people access to activities and social engagement that they may not otherwise have. Every Tuesday in term time, a team of up to ten Grammar students, led by parent Patricia Quinn, participate in the New Horizons Craft Group. We are exploring ways to grow our relationship with New Horizons. 

Each year a good number of our students participate in the Smith Family “Student 2 Student” literacy program where our students coach and nurture young Tasmanian students in improving their reading and comprehension skills. The results of this high-commitment service are very impressive. I am hoping we can have 10 students sign up this year. 

We are planning the Christmas Sony Camp again where we provide respite for parents and carers by running a 3-day residential camp for high-care children. The 2022 Camp video has been posted on our Facebook page. It takes 40-plus student volunteers as well as Staff, Parents and Old Grammarians to run these camps and we are determined to continue. 

There are many other ways we serve and give, not least through the House system and the initiative of students. 

On the final Thursday of last year, we spent a day with the Grade 9 cohort focusing on the essence of service. They prepared and participated brilliantly as we explored the great possibilities of engaging with another of our neighbours, the Mowbray Migrant Resource Centre. 

There are a significant number of refugee migrants in Launceston known as Lhotshampas (“southerners”) and are a group of Nepali language-speaking Bhutanese people who fled persecution in Bhutan. Our current Grade 10’s have heard their stories and will be looking to grow a relationship with them – specifically through the game Carrom (Carrom – Wikipedia) Among other things we are considering how our students can be taught to play Carrom by the Lhotshampas, how we might learn to build Carrom boards in our workshops and eventually to host a Tasmanian Carrom tournament in partnership with the Migrant Resource Centre. Watch this space! 

Finally, I want to emphasise that our focus is on training and supporting our students so that our service is inspired and led by students. We are nurturing inspired, creative and empathetic people who know that service is the expression of loving relationships. 

Reverend Matthew Pickering

Senior Campus Chaplain

We are thrilled to welcome our community of learners back for another year of curiosity and growth! During the first few weeks of term, and indeed throughout the year, we want to encourage all our learners to embrace positive emotions and try new things. Barbara Fredrickson’s broaden-and-build theory outlines how positive emotions increase life satisfaction. She writes that “positive emotions broaden an individual’s momentary thought-action repertoire…[and] build that individual’s personal resources…to improve the odds of successful coping and survival” (Fredrickson, 2004). Essentially, if we are experiencing excessive “negative” emotions, such as sadness or worry, we tend to behave in ways to reduce or remove these, which can narrow our world and isolate us. Conversely, when we engender more “positive” emotions, such as joy, gratitude, or hope, we become more aware of our surroundings, are more likely to embrace challenges and sensible risks, and feel an enhanced sense of fulfilment and enjoyment. While negative emotions are normal and we will all experience them throughout our lives, if we focus on positive emotions, we can create an upwards spiral (see image below). 

Figure One: Broaden and Build Theory 

The new year provides us with this opportunity. Our curriculum offers opportunities to experience positive emotions such as that “a-ha” moment of pride when understanding a new mathematics problem, the awe and wonder built in the Outdoor Education programme, or the empathy that can come from understanding the journey of a character in a text in English. We have a wide range of subjects for students to choose from; students can change subjects until the end of Week 3 (17 February). Maybe you want to broaden your world by trying something new! We also aim to encourage students to create new relationships by changing their core groups every year across Grade 7 – 10. This is an important experience for young people and one that we encourage to be embraced with openness, flexibility, and inclusion as well as with positive emotions like optimism. 

We hope this helps to inspire our staff and students to foster positive emotions in each other and try new things in 2023. We look forward to learning alongside you all. 

Sarah Shepherd and Natalie Stewart 

Co-Directors of Teaching and Learning 

Fredrickson, B. L. (2004). The broaden–and–build theory of positive emotions. Philosophical Transactions of the Royal Society of London. Series B: Biological Sciences, 359(1449), 1367–1377. https://doi.org/10.1098/rstb.2004.1512. 

Image reproduced from “Positive emotions broaden and build,” by B.L. Fredrickson, In P. Devine and A. Plant (Eds.) Advances in Experimental Social Psychology, 47, p. 16. As cited in Yarwood, M. Broaden and build theory of positive emotions. Psychology of Human Emotion An Open Access Textbook. Retrieved https://psu.pb.unizin.org/psych425/chapter/broden-and-build-theory-of-positive-emotions/. 

GRADE 12 CAREER COUNSELLING 

One-on-one compulsory career counselling sessions for all Grade 12 students commenced this week.  Whilst the content of these sessions vary to suit the needs of each student, the focus is on discussing aspirations, researching post-Grade 12 options and understanding the processes for pursuing chosen pathways. 

Sessions are held during a student’s study line (or at lunchtime for those without a study line) and all Grade 12 students will have their session in the first half of this term. 

Students from all grades are encouraged to pop in or email at any stage throughout the school year to receive friendly, personalised careers support. 

THE UNIVERSITY CLINICAL APTITUDE TEST (UCAT) 

The University Clinical Aptitude Test (UCAT) is a compulsory requirement for entrance into most medicine courses and some dentistry and clinical sciences courses taught in Australia and New Zealand.  The test helps universities to select applicants with the most appropriate abilities and professional behaviours required for new doctors and dentists to be successful in their clinical careers.  It is used in collaboration with other admissions processes such as interviews and academic qualifications.  The UCAT replaced the UMAT (Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test) in 2019. 

More information about the UCAT is available at www.ucat.edu.au/ and by speaking with the Careers Centre.  

2024 GAP YEAR PROGRAMMES 

Taking a gap year between completing senior secondary school and commencing work or further study is an increasingly popular option.  Students may choose to take a gap year because: 

• they want to take a break from studying, 
• they are unsure of what to do after school and want time to consider their options, 
• they want to gain skills and experience to help you get into a course or job, or 
• they want to make some money before going on to further study. 

Many organisations provide structured gap year programs which may include volunteering, employment and travel. Grade 12 students who are interested in undertaking a gap year programme are encouraged to speak with the Careers Centre. 

THE AUSTRALIAN NATIONAL UNIVERSITY TUCKWELL SCHOLARSHIP PROGRAM 

The Tuckwell Scholarship Program at the Australian National University (ANU) is the most transformational undergraduate scholarship program in Australia.  

Every year, 25 Tuckwell Scholarships are awarded to highly talented and motivated school leavers planning to study at ANU, to help them fulfil their potential and reinvest their knowledge, skills and experience in ways that positively benefit others. The program has a focus on giving back to Australia and is the only one of its kind that nurtures Scholars to fulfil their broader community ambitions over and above the pursuit of an undergraduate degree. 

The application process for the 2024 intake opens in March, so I would encourage all interested Grade 12 students to look into this opportunity now by visiting the Tuckwell Scholarship website: https://tuckwell.anu.edu.au/scholarship.   

I welcome the opportunity to sit down with parents and students at any time throughout the year to discuss options; please contact me by phone: (03) 6336 6058 or email: careers@lcgs.tas.edu.au to arrange an appointment.  

Fiona Symons 

Careers Advisor 

From the 29th to the 31st of January, the 2023 Cats cast attended an Intensive Summer School Production Camp in preparation for their Princess Theatre premiere in May. The three days consisted of learning numbers from Act I, including practising part singing, solo work, and dancing. Featured dancers had the opportunity to rehearse at the Ballet and Dance Arts Tasmania studio under the professional guidance of Miss Jackie. The cast met each afternoon for a company call, combining singing and dancing.

During the camp, the cast completed their bios and had their headshots taken for the programme. On the final day, a professional makeup artist, Paige, applied Cats make-up for a small group of leads for promotional purposes. The camp concluded with a fun pool party and ice cream.

As the 2023 Music Captains, we would like to thank our director, Ross Marsden; Choreographer, Jacquelyne France-Marsden; Producer, Ally Colbeck; Musical Director, Dr. Melissa Rogers; Vocal Director, Mrs Amelia Reynolds; Costume Team led by Mrs Janelle Scott; Repetiteur, Mrs Therese Wahl; and our Makeup Artist Paige Alice.

Tickets for our performances on May 12 and 13 are available from Theatre North. https://theatrenorth.com.au/cats

Launceston Grammar students made it to the front page of The Examiner talking about Cats camp. You can read the full article here.

Sophie Lamb & Sahara Rumble

Music Captains

As Term 1 swings into gear, the Drama and Dance department is very much looking forward to an exciting 2023.

It is great being able to welcome Ms Jami Lane into Grade 7 Drama. Jami is Drama trained and well-known to our students.

Congratulations also to this year’s Captains:

Drama:   Lola Eastaugh and Toby McGee

Dance:   Mia Ainslie

This Term TCE Drama and Theatre will be rehearsing and presenting Eyes to the Floor, by Australian playwright, Alana Valentine. The script chronicles the experience of the inmates sent to Hays Girls Home in the 1950s and 1960s. It is based on actual recordings and documentation.

In the Dance department, Mrs Reynolds-Larsen welcomes back the Grade 8 Dance class and a combined Grade 9/10 Dance class together with the two Grade 7 Movement classes for this semester. Students will have a mix of theory and practical tasks assigned to them to introduce/ develop further their knowledge of the body and its capability for beautiful storytelling.

Louise Peters

Head of Drama

On Monday 6 February 2023, Launceston Church Grammar School will hold the historic commissioning of our 21st Principal, Mr Dale Bennett. The service will be conducted by the Bishop of Tasmania, the Right Reverend Dr Richard Condie.

There will be a link issued on Monday morning to the School’s Facebook page for you to watch the service.

Returning to school for 2023, the last thing some of our students were anticipating was a personalised Christmas card from around the globe.

In December, Mrs Pickering worked with her Christian Studies groups to send Christmas Cards to our most mature Alumni. They took the time to hand-make the cards and write messages inside, not expecting that they would receive exactly the same back from as far afield as England. There were hand-drawn designs and images from the home of a former student, beautiful pictures and a thoughtful message.

What a wonderful way to start the year!

Auskick returns for 2023 at East Launceston Junior Football Club for all children 5+. For more information, visit www.auskick.eljfc.com.au