I just wish the world was twice as big and half of it was still unexplored.” – David Attenborough

A warm welcome back to all Grammarians and their families to Term 3. It has been a happy and lively start albeit in an icy and wintery fashion, but both our students and staff seem to have returned with a spring in their step, hopefully well rested from a mid-winter hibernation period. Travel refreshes, restores, and reawakens your lens on the world. Having just returned from a few weeks of hiking and camping on K’Gari, it is nice to be back at MGGS with fresh eyes and new ideas that come from time away. I am very pleased to be back working hard with the MGGS staff on continuing the journey of bringing to life our Strategic Plan that is our road map for success. We have stayed closely to this plan which has enabled us to achieve so much.

As per our visioning in our Strategic Plan, our School is growing steadily and in 2024 we will need three new classrooms to accommodate our learners. These will be created as general-purpose classrooms for Year 7 and will be in Phelia Grimwade where our Business, Operations and Community teams currently work. These teams will be relocated to 466 Punt Road, Glenhope, providing opportunities to increase our learning and teaching facilities at Merton Hall. The refurbishment of Glenhope has commenced and I encourage you to drive by 466 Punt Road to see the building sitting proudly on Punt Road Hill – it feels and looks very MGGS! This addition to the School will also provide spaces for community engagement through our PA and OG volunteer network and for MGGS community-based events.

Much has been happening at Anderson and Caroline Streets over the term break. The roadworks and paving are finally finished at Morris Hall and you will have noticed the scaffolding shrouding our heritage Chapel of St Luke. The 40,000 handcrafted terracotta tiles required to replace our old roof have finally arrived from Italy. Work has commenced in refurbishing the roof and this will be completed in late October, before the commencement of VCE exams.

With the growth of our School, we will also begin an international recruitment process for a second Deputy Principal who will work with Mrs Lynn Broadway and I to lead the School. This position will commence in 2024. Additionally, with our School’s Master Plan now ratified by Council we can begin communication around this plan and how the School grounds and facilities will be improved over the next 25 years. So, we are in the midst of very exciting developments as the School continues to flourish.

As I write this, our Grammarians have just won themselves a spot in the GSV Football grand final, which will be held on August 9th. Venue is TBC. Go Melbourne! It marks another element of the School’s success and the involvement of our Grammarians across so many areas where they demonstrate their commitment to excellence. We invite our community to cheer on our girls from the sidelines!

The annual Premier’s VCE Awards recognises students who have demonstrated outstanding achievement in the Victorian Certificate of Education (VCE). The award presentation ceremony was held on 27 July 2023 at the Melbourne Convention Centre and I was very proud to attend to witness six Grammarians recognised for their outstanding academic results. These included: Ella Grant for Art, Isabelle Balding for Biology, Zoe Vlahos (Year 12) for Biology, Eloise Bisley (Year 12) for Classical Studies, Shuheng (Louise) Wang for English and Rosemary Nguyen (Year 12) for Chinese Language, Culture and Society. These awards are also testimony to the excellent teachers at MGGS and I also congratulate the teachers of these student Ms Sheryle Allan (Art), Ms Aleks Ballarin (Biology), Ms Caroline Foster (Classical Studies), Ms Linda Vloedmans (English) and Ms Sarah Xu (Chinese Language, Culture and Society).

MGGS has an exceptionally strong and nationally renowned STEM program, from ELC through to Year 12. We are excited to launch our second whole School STEM Celebration event on 10 August. This event promotes and celebrates student success in STEM. It showcases projects and provides an opportunity to hear from our amazing guest STEM speakers talking about nature, innovation, and sustainability. I encourage all to attend this calendar highlight put on by our STEM Auxiliary.

We finished Term 2 with a hive of activity. Our youngest Grammarians delighted everyone with the most wonderful Morris Hall Performs and enthralled the audience with the joy of performing and their beautiful voices. The Year 11 Retreat provided an opportunity for this cohort to reflect on their final 18 months of School and prepared them to dig deep and focus on their individual goals and dreams.

Our Year 9 students ventured to East Arnhem Land where they engaged in authentic learning with the Yolngu people. This is a long partnership with Culture College, and we were warmly welcomed and embraced as long-lost friends. I was fortunate to be part of this cohort of over 120 MGGS staff and students. Together we embarked on a week of learning of culture, law, language, art, weaving, dance, and astronomy. Our learning of law and kinship was within groups – I was placed in the Wurpan, or Emu, Group. We were also each given a clan name of Yirritja or Dhuwa and this invited us to have a place with the Yolngu of relationship. At our Term 3 Commencement Assembly, Year 9 presented the School with four bark paintings of sacred Yirritja and Dhuwa designs that will be added to the MGGS Art Collection and will remind us of the ties that connect us.

I am looking forward to so many wonderful events this term and especially for the Parent’s Association Navy Blue Gala Ball on 2 September. I hope to see you there!

Yours in learning

Dr Toni E. Meath
Principal