International Women's Day

International Women's Day

On Tuesday 8 March we celebrated International Women's Day with the Year 9-11 students. A video presentation was put together of three of our alumni students, Isobella Lucic, Mackenzie Downie and Tyla Naughton, and our IT Systems Administrator Laura Angove.

As well as listening to the stories and advice of some impressive young women, our students were inspired to #BreakTheBias and embrace a world free of bias, stereotypes and discrimination. 

In this weeks Secondary assembly, two Year 12 students spoke wonderfully about this years theme, #breakthebias

We wanted to share their encouraging and powerful speeches with you:

Imagine a gender equal world.

A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination.

A world that is diverse, equitable, and inclusive.

A world where difference is valued and celebrated.

Together we can forge women's equality.

Collectively we can all Break The Bias.

My name is Niah and as Jaymi said, today Holly and I will be speaking about this year's International Women's Day. Although it was celebrated yesterday we just wanted to touch on the theme of ending gender bias, across work, sport, school and everyday life. ​​International Women’s Day is held annually on the 8th of March to commemorate the cultural, political, and socioeconomic achievements of women. It is an opportunity to unite as one, an opportunity to appreciate how far women across centuries have fought for equality, peace and development. 

Gender bias refers to an individual receiving different treatment based on the person's real or perceived gender identity. 

This year's campaign theme of “break the bias” signifies the action that needs to be taken to create an equal world. 

As an active woman who flourishes on the football field, out the river and with mates. As a girl that grew up in the shed passing Dad the tools to service the car on the hoist, as a girl that grew up dreaming to be an astronaut or a spy. As a woman that grew up challenging the stereotypes one day at a time. I have faced bias, I have been called a “boy”. And why? For simply lacing up some football boots. I have been labelled “bossy” or rude for speaking my voice. I have been silenced. 

We need to accept and acknowledge that we are bias, internally or externally. We need to remember to think about how much small words can affect someone and take action in calling out bias, toward all genders. 

- Niah Bacon

Unfortunately, not one country can yet say that they have achieved gender equality. We have all experienced gender bias or discrimination to some extent, whether you know it or not. 1 in 4 women aged 15 and over have been sexually harassed in the work place. People who are part of the LGBTQIA+ community are 3 times more likely to experience depression. Young men having to suffer from mental illness, due to toxic masculinity, unable to ask for help for fear it would make them “less of a man”. 

I first witnessed gender bias when I was in primary school. Like many others, I was an upbeat and talkative little person who was passionate about life. I soon found out from my peers and teachers that I was “bossy”. Was I a little girl who displayed leadership qualities? No. Why was it, that when my male peers shared the same ideas, they were seen as brilliant? It was difficult for my young brain to comprehend, but I soon realised what the “idealistic” little girl looked like. She is passive and sensitive. She does everything she’s told without question. She’s not allowed to be aggressive, and there was no way she could be independent. Her favourite colour is pink and when she grows up she wants to be a princess. Of course, this is a representation of gender stereotypes. But, I’m not meant to fit into any category at all. I’m my own person and so are you. Whatever gender you identify as shouldn’t limit you down to how you should act, look or feel. 

I’m privileged enough to have grown up in an environment where I haven’t experienced drastic gender bias in comparison to other women. 70 young women for every 100 young men complete upper secondary school in low-income countries. You may think we’ve come a long way from where we started, but it’s been 102 years since women were declared for the first time that they, like men, deserve all the rights and responsibilities of citizenship. Now, we’re in the 21st century and we still see that women account for two-thirds of the world's illiterate people. 

Everyone has opinions, about others opinions, about the clothes they wear, and about the bodies we were born with. As soon as someone tests the boundaries of gender stereotypes, we make assumptions about them and decide their worth. Let us be free from the imprisonment of stereotypes. Let us have no fear from self-expression.

So if you hear or see an act of gender bias, discrimination and stereotyping, choose to not be a bystander. Call it out. Break the bias. 

- Holly Butt

VET Construction

Sophie Douglas – winner of the 2022 Balance for Scholarship Program

Tuesday 8 March 2022 was International Women’s Day, a global day celebrating the social, economic, cultural and political achievements of women. Some of the goals of the day are to celebrate the achievements of women and raise awareness of women’s equality. Women only occupy 10.9% of all workers in the construction industry, with only 2.5% of workers being female trades people working on the frontline. It is on the background of these numbers that makes Sophie’s story something worth celebrating.

Sophie is a Moama Anglican Grammar alumni, having graduated in 2016. When Sophie graduated she knew she did not want to go to University as she preferred hands on learning to the more academic type of study. Her gap year turned into four years of working at Big W and then a year at Intersports Echuca. She did not want to spend her life in the retail industry and that was when she decided to try cabinet making. 

Sophie only recently started her apprenticeship with Riverland Cabinets and Joinery, a local business owned by a Moama Anglican Grammar family. Sophie is enjoying the challenges of learning new skills and the variety in the job. Some days are spent in the workshop, while other days are spent out on site installing the cabinetry, where Sophie finds seeing the end product as rewarding. Sophie will also be completing a Certificate III in Cabinet Making at Shepparton TAFE over the course of her four year apprenticeship.

Sophie is working in an industry where only 14% of all workers under the age of 30 are females and the number of female apprentices drops to only 8%. Coinciding with International Women’s Day Sophie was awarded an $800 award under the 2022 Balance for Scholarship Program, to help her buy tools.

When asked if Sophie would have liked the opportunity at school to study VET Construction she said she would have loved the opportunity to participate in a more hands on HSC course, which could have given her some experience in the construction industry. Sophie feels supported and treated without gender bias in her workplace, but in the short time she has been out on worksites, she has already come up against some sexist comments, which she is lucky to have her boss speak up against. 

Moama Anglican Grammar wishes Sophie well in her new career, where she is a part of breaking the bias, and we look forward to following her journey.

This year marks our second year as a school offering VET Construction as a HSC subject. Students sit VET Construction as an early entry to the HSC and sit their HSC examination for this course when they are in Year 11.

Our first group of construction students are in the process of completing their second project of a step ladder, and will be proceeding to build a cubby house next.

Our second group of construction students have pleasingly got our first female students. Only 5% of all Construction students across the state are female, so these girls will be amongst a small group of students to attain the carpentry skills and credentials to work in construction in the future.

Kim McFadden

Head of VET