Farewell to Mrs Gramaconi

Above: the farewell speach was read by students who will remember Mrs Gramconi with great fondness

Below: It wouldn't a celebration of Averil Gramaconi without a touch of Ireland - Grade 3 students created Leprachaun traps (see BBPS life for more on this), which adorned the stage. 

Averil’s farewell Speech

‘Caed Mille Failte’ to each and every one of you here today. That means a hundred thousand welcomes in Irish. 

I have been reflecting over the past number of weeks about what I am grateful for at BBPS and what has kept me here for 20 plus years…

Arriving in Australia from Ireland leaving my family and friends the community at BBPS welcomed me with open arms. And it soon became apparent that I had found my new home away from home. 

I will speak in the present tense in my reflections because the qualities I mention form an integral part of the culture that is…Brighton Beach Primary School. 

At BBPS we all have each other’s back. We support each other through the highs and lows of life, the trials and tribulations- we laugh and cry together, we work as a team. No problem is ever too big, no celebration is ever forgotten.

Some of the fond memories of my time here ….

Amongst many of the traits, skills and expertise as our leader that I admire, the fondest memory I have of Bev is seeing her walking round the school with bucket in hand and wearing rubber gloves …on her way to clean up a mess as the result of some mishap or other - The power of leading by example, which reminds me of the values my father instilled in me as a child - never ask anyone to do anything you aren’t prepared to do yourself.

Observing Kim co-run the school and still find time to facilitate a PD with the wealth of knowledge she has, not to mention her expert delivery, never fails to astound me, whilst at the same time keeping an eye on Mr Ancrum and adding to her family even as we speak! 

Team teaching with colleagues - and there have been many - who always have your back and from whom you can always learn has been such a joy and privilege- they teach me computer skills, celebrate with me when I master the skill of teaching by PowerPoint …AND retrieve the documents I accidentally delete from Google Drive 

Liaising with supportive parents, working as part of a team, to do the best for the children we all want to see thrive 

Working with the beautiful children at BBPS who have such a desire and willingness to learn 

My motto is, ‘that every child can learn, you just have to find the way that suits them’ and that was my challenge and motivation for every child I taught. 

I have always tried to lead by example in my teaching career. 

That reminds me of a story from a number of years ago when West Coast beat Collingwood in the AFL Grand Final. I was at a function close to the MCG and found a number of the winning posters handed out after a GF floating in the breeze. I picked them up and pinned them to the wall in my office the next morning as I had a small group of Year 5s coming in for a lesson. Three of them happened to be Collingwood supporters… it took them 10 minutes to realise what I had done and less than 20 seconds to rip the West Coast posters off the wall!! 

 And the children help to keep it real - which reminds me of another story…I was in a Grade 2 classroom observing a young teacher teach a lesson. I was sitting on the floor with the children. As I attempted to get up off the floor a young girl approached me and asked, ‘Why does it take old people so long to get up off the floor?’ I responded with ‘I don’t know. Why does it take old people so long?’ She proceeded to describe to me how I had gotten up - huffing and puffing, groaning, slowly and unsteadily….- from the mouths of babes. As much as they learn from us we can also learn and adapt from them. By the way, as a result of my newfound knowledge I have talked to my physio about exercises to help me rise from the floor with grace and ease! 

 My favourite story is written by an author from the same country as me- Northern Ireland. His name is Martin Waddell and the book is called ‘Owl Babies.’ There is a copy in Prepland and is a very useful book to illustrate an important point at the beginning of Prep. It tells the story of 3 young owls - Sarah and Percy and Bill waiting on the branch of a tree for their Owl Mother to come back. They had woken up to find her not there. Sarah, being the oldest, was trying to reassure the other two, Percy was sitting on the fence and Bill kept crying, ‘I want my mummy.’ And she came, swooping through the trees to Sarah and Percy and Bill. A reassuring story that mum may drop you off in the morning to school, but she will always return in the afternoon to pick you up. Just like the Owl Mother I hope to be back from time to time and pop in to see you all. 

It has been my pleasure and privilege to spend the last twenty years or so at BBPS. We have a wonderful community and can be so proud of our beautiful school. Thank you everyone, from the bottom of my heart for making my time here such a wonderful experience, so much so that he has taken me this long to say ‘slon a gwith’ which means till we meet again in Irish. 

Above: Former students gather to show their love. Below: Staff who have worked with Averil over the years also attended to wish her the best. 

The River of Love: A BBPS tradition usually reserved for our graduating grade 6 students was rolled out for a much loved teacher.