Senior School News

Senior School House Singing Competition

Friday 23 May held host to Girton's annual House Singing Competition. Students participated in a short musical performance constructed by their House Captains complete with a choir, soloists, choreography and, in some cases, even a live band! While results were close, Jenkin House was ultimately crowned champion with their rendition of 'It's a Hard Knock Life' from the musical Annie. 

This year, we felt incredibly privileged to have Old Girtonian and incredible string player Evangeline Victoria join us as a guest musical judge. Evie was kind enough to speak of her musical journey throughout Girton Grammar in a video that you can view below. We give thanks to Evangeline Victoria, Ms Louise Matthews and Mr Stephen O'Hernfor kindly donating their time to judge the event. 

Senior School Colour Run

After two false starts last year, the inaugural Girton Grammar Colour Run finally took place this term. Students in Years 7 to 10 participated on the day, with staff getting into the act and sharing in the fun! Year 7 and Year 10 Peer Support Leaders led the way, followed by the Year 8s and then the Year 9 cohort and remaining Year 10 students. The laughter and happy squeals echoing around Londonderry made it clear that our very first Colour Run was a great success. Thank you to all who participated on the day and especially to those students who fundraised for the World Wildlife Fund last year.

Additionally, we would like to congratulate the following students who won the 'crazy glasses' prizes; please come and collect your canteen voucher from Mrs Naughton after Examination Week:

• Finn Beattie (8 Jenkin)
• Ellen Frigerio (8 Aherne)
• Aurelia Ford (9 Riley)

Highlights from the colour run can be seen in the video below:

Girton students join the Victorian Parliament for the day

On Friday 24 May, Mrs Naughton, Ms Gilkes and five students boarded the 6.30am train to Melbourne for an unforgettable experience. The Victorian Schools Parliamentary Program (VSPP) provides immersive opportunities that support all Victorian students to learn about civics and actively participate in democratic processes. Girton Grammar School was part of a parliamentary inquiry into the question: “Should the State government ban business from going cashless?”. Ted McCarthy (10 Jones), Mitchell Pole (10 Jenkin), Siun O’Malley (9 Jones), Anika Tadmadkla (9 Frew) and Aarya Sapehiya (9 Riley) were selected to be a part of this valuable experience. 

As a group, the students were required to meet over two weeks to prepare for the day – discussing what becoming a cashless society means, the pros and cons of such a move and developing a statement of their position, which our speaker, Mitchell Pole, delivered to the assembled group on the day. Ten other schools also attended, and this allowed for a robust discussion on the matter, ultimately leading to a final vote to disallow businesses from being cashless. Being in the Parliament, sitting in the Legislative Assembly Chamber and seeing the process of democracy in action was an impressive day out and worth the early rise!

Mrs Melinda Naughton

Assistant Head of Humanities

Visit to State Parliament House 

Last Friday, a group of five students, including myself, went to State Parliament to learn about the parliamentary process firsthand. We began the day with an early rise, having to board the 6:30am train to Southern Cross. After our uneventful two-hour train ride, we caught the metro to Parliament, arriving at around 8:30am. Upon entering Parliament, we found ourselves in the elaborate Queen’s Hall, where we began our journey. 

After opening statements and the Welcome to Country delivered by Wurundjeri Elder Aunty Annette, we entered the Legislative Assembly (the Lower House), where we were able to sit in politicians’ seats and begin our day. We started with a representative from each school reading the school's view on the question of whether state government should ban businesses from going cashless. After this, we received an extremely informative explanation of the parliamentary committee process and continued onto morning tea. After morning tea, we received two lectures from experts on the issue of a cashless society. First was Dr Alex Belli, a Senior Lecturer at the University of Melbourne's Faculty of Business and Economics, who discussed the 'cashless phenomena', where we tend to spend more if we use payment methods other than cash. 

The second lecturer, Professor Angel Zhong from RMIT University's School of Economics, Finance and Marketing, spoke about the inevitability of becoming a cashless society and how we can manage this for all sections of society. Afterwards, we re-entered the Queen’s Hall and had lunch before splitting off into discussion groups with students from other schools. Each group would discuss a bill that had been handed to us as a draft for the theoretical law we were discussing. We were instructed to discuss the bill and what changes we would add to it. After discussing the changes, we entered the Legislative Assembly once again so that each group's representative could explain their proposed changes to the bill. 

Once all the changes had been proposed, we held a final vote on whether the government should ban businesses from going cashless, and it ended in an overwhelming majority vote of yes, they should. In conclusion, the excursion was very informative and provided a great first-hand experience of parliament and its processes, allowing students to discuss ideas and further their own knowledge. It is a day I will never forget.

Mitchell Pole (10 Jenkin)

Year 8 Humanities Medieval Day

This term, our Year 8 Humanities students have been learning all about the wonders of the medieval world. To kickstart their learning, Girton Grammar School was host to Medieval Education for a fun-filled day of Middle Ages frivolity! Students enjoyed learning about crime and punishment, weapons and armour, games and education, and even had a go at archery. A hearty peasant meal of veggie soup and bread was supplied for all to enjoy. The day finished with a tournament where students were trained in the art of battle – medieval style! It was a great way to bring history to life, and both students and staff enjoyed the day immensely – with staff even getting into the spirit by dressing for the occasion!

Mrs Melinda Naughton

Assistant Head of Humanities

Bendigo Interfaith Dinner

The Bendigo Interfaith dinner, held on Thursday 1 May was attended by staff members Mrs Melinda Naughton, Mr Jack Smeelie, Ms Kelly Smith and Mr Chris Simpson, along with Girton Community Action Group Captain Eva Westbrook (12 Frew) and members Amelia Westbrook and Aayliah Greenwell (10 Frew). 

This was an opportunity for people of all faiths in the Bendigo region to gather in friendship to share insightful ideas and different perspectives. This year’s guest speaker was The Reverend Sharon Hollis, the current President of the Uniting Church and Associate General Secretary Synod of Victoria and Tasmania. Reverend Sharon has worked in the area of interfaith advocacy for the Voice to Parliament and in engagement with Uniting Church partners overseas. She discussed her experiences in this area and shared her own unique perspective from growing up as a Uniting Church follower through to adulthood.

A common theme mentioned throughout the night was the 10th anniversary of the founding of Believe in Bendigo. Initially formed in 2015, Believe in Bendigo was formed to show the world that Bendigo is a diverse, welcoming and tolerant city no matter where you are from or what God you follow. The Interfaith Dinner arose from this and continues to be a positive way to celebrate all that is wonderful about our diverse Bendigo community. The upcoming opening of Bendigo’s first mosque shows how far we have come as a community.

Aaliyah Greenwell (10 Frew)

Girton Community Action Group

Year  8 Japanese: Kendo Lessons

On Tuesday 20 May, Year 8 Japanese students had the amazing opportunity to be involved in a professional kendo informational class performed by Mr Gary Oliver. He showed us the traditional ways of how to begin, perform and end a professional samurai fight, all while maintaining respect for one another and the tradition and culture. Mr Oliver told us how the samurai became popular, what and why they were used for and how they and their materials evolved over the years. On behalf of the Year 8 Standard Japanese Class, thank you so much, Mr Oliver! We would gladly have you visit again sometime!  

Ellen Frigerio (8 Aherne)