From the Principal

Last night, I had the honour of welcoming guests to the opening night of AQUA: a celebration of water in art, our 2025 ArtsFest exhibition. I’d like to congratulate and thank everyone involved in creating this incredible event – including but not limited to Art Show Director Mrs Nic James, our Head of Arts Mrs Cally Bartlett and our Head of Visual Art Ms Alex Ashley, all teachers of Visual Art and Media across both our Junior School and Senior School campuses, and our Arts Administration, Maintenance, Administration and Events teams.

I am always wowed by the exhibition, and this year is no exception. Our students have embraced the aquatic challenge this year, diving headfirst into creativity and letting their talents flow. The exhibition continues over the weekend, and I encourage you all to visit the iconic Beehive Building and immerse yourselves in the incredible artworks of our students.

On behalf of the Board, I would like to thank those of you who registered for and attended the Board Forum this week. The Board was excited to share a sneak peek of Girton’s new mission and values, and to receive overwhelmingly positive feedback. We look forward to officially launching the mission and values to the Girton community later in the year, in preparation for 2026.

Last week, I was saddened to learn of the passing of Tom Glazebrook. A longtime member of the Rotary Club of Bendigo South, Tom was integral in forming a scholarship for a Year 10-11 student at Girton Grammar School. This scholarship was named the ‘Rotary Club of Bendigo South – Tom Glazebrook Scholarship’ in honour of his work and acts of charity. Tom took great pride in personally presenting the scholarship at Speech Night, and regularly checked in on the recipients of his scholarship.

Tom lived a life of giving and of community service, and it warms me to see this reflected in the Girton community. We see our students participate in large-scale fundraising events such as the Red Shield Appeal and the Mother’s Day Classic, and we see the efforts of the Girton Community Action Group (GCAG) which has already raised more than $7,000 this year for organisations including Headspace, Minus18, Righteous Pups, Reconciliation Australia, Bendigo Foodshare, World Wildlife Fund and SisterWorks Bendigo. 

We also see it in other acts of doing and of generosity at our school. We see students volunteering time to assist with events and co-curricular activities for younger students, speaking at events, and sharing their experiences with each other. We see parents volunteering time for the Girton Parents and Friends Association and the Uniform Shop, travelling to support Girton teams at inter-school competitions, helping to construct sets for our productions, and framing and mounting artworks for our ArtsFest exhibition.

What we do – and who we do it for – matters. I’m proud of our students and our community for leading the way and generously giving time and energy to important causes and to the school. As we prepare to launch the mission and values, I am excited to share them with you because I can see that we are already living them.

As we approach the end of Term Three, I congratulate you all – students, parents and carers – on an excellent term so far. Please enjoy the final week of term next week, and these early days of spring.

Dr Emma O’Rielly

Principal