Wow! Wow! Wow!
Drama and Music at Melbourne Girls Grammar are electric! The hottest tickets in Melbourne over the weekend were to the MGGS Senior Years Production of Mamma Mia, the Musical. We all know that the seats sold out in record time, and although we were unable to put on an extra show, we managed to reshuffle and maximise our space to add more seats to each of the four performances. The magic of ABBA’s ageless songs drives this charming tale of love, laughter, and friendship, creating an impressive show. I now have an earworm of ABBA songs that I can’t remove. The production was high energy and joyous. It was executed with polish and high technique and lots of problem-solving on opening night when illness struck one of the leads. Thank you to our wonderfully talented Grammarians! Thank you to our MGS brothers who were also in full swing! Thank you to our wonderfully talented staff!
Last week we celebrated National Reconciliation Week and reflected on the roles we each play in achieving reconciliation in Australia. Reconciliation week falls from 27 May to 3 June. These dates commemorate two significant milestones; the successful 1967 referendum, and the High Court Mabo decision, respectively. National Reconciliation Week is a time for all Australians to learn about our shared histories, cultures, and accomplishments. This year’s theme, Be a Voice for Generations, encourages all Australians to be a tangible voice for reconciliation in our everyday lives. For the work of generations past, and the benefit of generations future, it urges all Australians to use their power, words, and actions to create a more just, equitable, and reconciled country for all. Reconciliation has elements of truth, justice, forgiveness, healing, reparation, and love, reflecting MGGS’s values of compassion, integrity, courage, and self-discipline.
National Reconciliation Week has encouraged me to reflect on my personal connection to Country. Every year I go camping on K’Garri (or Fraser Island) with my family and close friends. We camp at a site called Boomanjin. Lake Boomanjin is the largest freshwater perched lake on the planet. It is stained black from the surrounding vegetation, and it is beautiful. It is my time to touch earth, sit down, and appreciate the bush. I always try to imagine Boomanjin before white settlement and the paradise it must have been for its Indigenous families. There is something about Australia that seeps into our skin. I am a fifth-generation Australian woman, and I feel that there is something about this country that binds us, connects us, and nurtures us.
We live in an ancient land, Gondwanaland, Terra Australis, the Great Southern land. White settlement of Australia is only 235 years. My family came to Australia as farmers from Scotland in 1830. This amount of time is nothing in comparison to our First Nations peoples. Our country has had 65,000 years of Indigenous inhabitancy. If I feel connected after 193 years of my family living in Australia, imagine how deep that connection is for families who have been here for this length of time.
At the time of first European contact, it is generally estimated that between 315,000 to 750,000 people lived in Australia in diverse groups, but upper estimates place the total as high as 1.25 million. A cumulative population of 1.6 billion people has been estimated to have lived in Australia over 65,000 years, prior to British colonisation. The regions of the heaviest Indigenous population were the same temperate coastal regions that are currently the most heavily populated. Post-colonisation, the coastal Indigenous populations were soon absorbed, depleted, or forced from their lands. There has been great wounding in our nation, and National Reconciliation Week is about healing past harm and truth telling.
We must remember the importance of the “Apology Speech” delivered on 13 February in 2008. I remember that day vividly as a Deputy Principal; our whole School stopped to listen to the Prime Minister speak. Every school in Australia received a copy of this important document, and at MGGS this hangs proudly in my office. In this address, the following was stated:
We today take this first step by acknowledging the past and laying claim to a future that embraces all Australians. A future where this Parliament resolves that the injustices of the past must never, never happen again. A future where we harness the determination of all Australians, Indigenous and non-Indigenous, to close the gap that lies between us in life expectancy, educational achievement, and economic opportunity. A future where we embrace the possibility of new solutions to enduring problems where old approaches have failed. A future based on mutual respect, mutual resolve, and mutual responsibility. A future where all Australians, whatever their origins, are truly equal partners, with equal opportunities and with an equal stake in shaping the next chapter in the history of this great country, Australia.
As a school, we have a strong partnership with the Yolgnu people of East Arnhem Land that has been nurtured over many years. In a little over two weeks, our entire Year 9 cohort will travel to sit on Country, listen, and learn. Our Grammarians have been preparing for this since the beginning of the year, seeking to understand the richness of culture, language, and heritage. I am honoured to be joining Year 9 for my first trip to this remote part of our country.
Later this year, Australia will go to a referendum to vote on the Indigenous Voice to Parliament from the Uluru Statement of the Heart. The tone in which we approach this is important. We should not make this political. At MGGS we always speak of explicitly teaching our Grammarians to hold on to their capacity to think and to critically question before forming a view. We talk about the importance of agency and enabling our Grammarians to have a voice and the importance of listening. As a scholarly School, we will be looking for opportunities to discuss the Referendum from all sides. Our Grammarians are engaged and interested in this topic, so we must provide learning moments for authentic discourse.
Our Reconciliation Assembly on Monday 29 May commenced with our Executive Director of Middle Years, Ms Kerry Oldman, reminding us of mother nature’s power, referring to Melbourne’s 3.8 magnitude earthquake the night prior. Then technology failed us, and we were plunged into a blackout meaning we had to reschedule this important Assembly. We did, however, get the opportunity to congratulate our National Rowing Champions, members of the Grant and the Merton, and wish our Henley Grammarians the very best before they travel to the United Kingdom to represent Melbourne Girls Grammar, Victoria, and Australia.
At MGGS we have a strong Indigenous scholar program, and the 2023 Annual Giving Campaign is a wonderful opportunity to support us in providing scholarships for current and future Indigenous students. A donation to the MGGS Annual Giving Campaign helps to reinforce our strong culture of philanthropy, through supporting opportunities for current and future students through equity scholarships. I invite you to join me in making a tax-deductible donation and leaving a message of support for MGGS at: https://www.charidy.com/mggsag23
Winter is upon us and, in the final weeks of Term 2, our staff have been busy assessing student work and writing Semester 1 Reports. Our senior students are in the thick of exams and assessments, impressing us with their attention to the tasks at hand. Feedback given to students is critical to their learning, and I encourage all families to have a conversation with their daughters about their learning progression. Students will receive their Semester 1 Reports on the last day of Term 2.
Keep warm and enjoy the upcoming long weekend!
Dr Toni E. Meath
Principal