Weekly eNews

Thursday 1 May 2025

As I outlined earlier this year, the Harmony Project is a major initiative in 2025, to help our boys reduce their overall screen usage and use technology in more healthy ways.

I asked for parent input for this project to be meaningful, and I appreciate your feedback which will help to frame the School’s approach to this issue. Our staff also provided their perspectives and concerns.

Surveys conducted among parents and teachers highlighted the shared apprehensions regarding children’s smartphone usage and engagement with social media. They also emphasised the need for evidence-based guidance and strategies to collectively support our children form healthier and more constructive relationships with technology, both at school and at home. Please view our executive summary of the survey results.

We are now developing policies and processes to help boys regulate and reduce the time they spend on screens at school, and our Crowther Centre team is preparing parent resources on monitoring and regulating social media, internet and phone use outside school.

A cohesive and collaborative community approach will serve as the most effective strategy in guiding our boys toward making informed decisions. Additional updates on this initiative will be provided throughout the year.

On Monday afternoon, our Prefects participated in the Brighton-Firbank Leadership Conference, featuring guest speaker, Andrew McGrath (OB 2016), former School Captain and current Essendon player. It was a valuable opportunity for our student leaders to connect and reflect on their roles within the school community.

Congratulations to Rupert Toomey, Zane Li, Woody Aldridge, and Max Pihan on their win at the APS/AGSV Golf Tournament earlier this week. An outstanding achievement, well done, boys!

Yesterday, BGS and FGS Year 10 students came together for an afternoon of friendly competition. The event featured an interactive bingo challenge and a spirited paper airplane contest, providing another valuable opportunity for the two cohorts to connect and engage.

Thank you to everyone who attended Tuesday night’s Jazz Night Concert. It was wonderful to see the students perform to such a supportive audience. The performances were exceptional, and we wish our musicians all the best as they head to Mount Gambier this weekend for the Generations in Jazz Festival. Our sincere thanks to the dedicated staff accompanying and supporting this trip.

Finally, congratulations to these students who were awarded Summer Sports Colours at yesterday’s assembly, a well-deserved recognition of their commitment and achievements.

Meliora Sequamur.

Happenings & Reminders

• 7 May – Year 12 Workshop: How to reduce the stress of Year 12 (Annandale Library)
• 14 to 17 May – High School Musical (Firbank Gym)

Care Package Initiative

The Crowther House annual fundraiser sees Crowther House create 20 pamper bags to give to ongoing cancer patients, with this year being the third year of this initiative. Started by 2023 Crowther House Captain, Jack Barlow, the care packages in 2023 were for women undergoing breast cancer. The following year saw the bags being created for men undergoing cancer treatment.

In 2025 we have decided to focus our efforts on creating care packages for children tacking the greatest fight of their life. Later this year, the bags will be delivered by staff and students to The Monash Children’s Hospital School.

As my cousin works at Monash Children’s Hospital, this is something I am passionate about and I am very much looking forwards to being able to give back to a service which my family is involved with.

With approximately one in two Australians experiencing cancer in their lifetime, it is likely that mates of mine and mates of yours will experience cancer at some point. This fundraiser allows us to give back and help others.

Donations to this cause mean so much to Crowther House. All donations can be made via the link here by 31 August.

We kindly ask all donations to be a minimum of $5 and be sure to write Crowther Care Package under description. We look forward to doing our small part in putting a smile on a child’s face soon.

Isaac Pels
Prefect, Crowther House Captain

Golf Success

Four BGS students were the victors at the annual APS/AGSV Golf Tournament at Spring Valley Golf Club this week.

Rupert Toomey (Year 12) was our best golfer with a score of 74 (+3 over par), but it was the performance of Zane Li (Year 10) shooting a 4 over 75 and Woody Aldridge (Year 12) who shot a 77 that secured the victory for BGS, beating Haileybury by 1 shot!

Max Pihan (Year 12) also performed well, finishing in the top 30. This is the third time in four years that BGS has won the combined APS/AGSV Trophy.

Well done to all!

Tim Blackwood
PE Teacher

Japan Study Tour

Ten Year 10 and Year 11 students recently returned from an incredible trip to Japan, packed with cultural experiences and language learning. The group visited Kyoto, Osaka, and Hiroshima, exploring famous temples, busy city streets, and peaceful gardens.

Read full article by Melissa Faulkner, Head of Languages.

Friends of Art Morning Tea

On Tuesday, we had the pleasure of welcoming 30 staff members, students, and parents from our Art community to formally celebrate and congratulate our Art Leaders across both the Junior and Secondary Schools. It was a wonderful opportunity to recognise the creativity and leadership these students bring to our school’s artistic life.

We are also delighted to warmly welcome Noni Drew, a renowned local artist, as our 2025 Artist in Residence. Noni brings a wealth of experience and a passion for inspiring young artists, and we look forward to her working closely with students across the school starting this term.

If you’re interested in becoming part of the Friends of Art parent group, please get in touch via email to learn more.

Student Safety

As part of the School’s ongoing commitment to student safety and community courtesy, we remind all families about the importance of keeping our neighbours’ driveways and designated clear zones unobstructed during drop off and pick up times.

Please do not park or idle your cars in front of neighbouring driveways, staff access points, or areas marked as No Parking / No Stopping zones.

Thank you for your support and understanding.

From Reverend Waterhouse

During the recent Anzac Day long weekend, I took the opportunity to finally get around to watching a movie that I was keen to see but had missed on initial release: the 2023 film Freud’s Last Session.

Set in 1939, during the early stages of World War II, the picture is an imagined discussion between the Austrian psychoanalyst Sigmund Freud and Christian author C.S. Lewis (writer of the Narnia Chronicles), as they debate the existence of God, the problem of pain and the perplexity of human relationships.

Freud is dealing with the ongoing discomfort of inoperable cancer in his jaw and Lewis with PTSD after his World War I service, and at one point in the conversation, Lewis remarks, “What if God wants to perfect us through suffering? If pleasure is His whisper, pain is His megaphone.”

We are currently in the season of Eastertide (which occurs between Resurrection Sunday and Pentecost), and so we are reminded that in one sense, our healing from sin and separation was secured through the sufferings of Christ.

Furthermore, the apostle Paul, when writing to the church at Rome, is bold enough to declare that our own daily sufferings ‘produce perseverance; perseverance, character; and character, hope. And hope does not disappoint us’. (5:3-4).

God himself is familiar with grief, yet through it, we learn to cling to Christ and be assured of a new heaven and earth to come.

Diary Dates

• Wednesday 7 May, 7.00pm Year 12 Workshop: How to reduce the stress of Year 12
• Wednesday 14 May - Saturday 17 May High School Musical - Years 10 - 12 production