The Grand Old Lady: 2019 Edition Available Next Week!

The Grand Old Lady, as she has become affectionately known, is at least ninety years old. This is the oldest picture that we have of her. Browse the full edition here: https://oga.girton.vic.edu.au/images/sites/6/2017/03/1929-Girtonian.pdf

We are referring, of course, to The Girtonian Magazine - our annual reflection of who we are and what we did, which has been published every year since this Volume 1, Number 1 edition in 1929.

Students will receive their copy of the much-loved School magazine next week.

This was how the magazine looked ninety years ago, before colour photography or digital design and printing. The School at the time was an all-girls school named the Girton Church of England Girls Grammar School, Bendigo. Mostly, the magazine was made up of a report from each year level, or ‘form’, as they were called, creative writing, school events such as the ‘garden fete’ and sports results. Poetry was particularly popular, and this particular edition was 19 pages long.

And rather than signing each other’s shirts as they left school, the girls signed one another’s copy of their annual magazine.

By the 1939 edition of The Girtonian, the magazine was featuring pictures, giving us a wonderful glimpse into the history of our School.

This is a picture (above) from The Girtonian in 1946 when Aherne defeated Frew in the equivalent of our Inter-House Athletics Carnival, and it looks like the school tennis team did well that year.

The Girtonian Magazine has always been a reflection of both the School and the times, taking a large design leap into its more familiar ‘modern’ format in 1968.

In our founding year, when Girton College became Girton Grammar School, the magazine took on a very familiar format, with some pages -  but only some - in glorious colour.

The magazine by this time was 92 pages long.

House colours have proudly featured on the cover of recent editions, especially with the introduction of our House Crests in 2016.

Which brings us to the 2019 Girtonian Magazine. The beloved Houses feature again on The Girtonian cover, but this time, just subtly with single elements from each House Crest hiding in the artwork of 2019 graduate student, Phoebe Cook.

So as you, the students, receive your copy of the 2019 Girtonian Magazine in House Tutor Group and in Junior School classrooms, understand that you are holding a piece of school history.

Be proud of the people, the activities and the talent within the pages of our Grand Old Lady, and please enjoy the reflection of all that this School has to offer.