Weekly eNews
Ross Featherston
Headmaster, Brighton Grammar SchoolWork hard, be kind and embrace the challenges and opportunities that come your way.
These were key themes of this week’s Business Breakfast guest speaker, Jo Gilbert which all relate to our BGS core values.
As a leader, Jo, who is Head of Sustainability at the AFL, believes in collaboration, inclusivity, empathy, having a growth mindset and being authentic – all attributes that we encourage in our students.
These values were on show with the recent strong performances of our First XV Rugby team at the VSRU grand final and our Year 7-9 performers in The Lion King JR, and will again come to the fore when our students support the Winter Sleepout tomorrow night.
Finally, I hope you enjoy the opportunity of a long weekend with our mid-term break on Monday.
Simon Angus
Deputy Headmaster, Head of Secondary SchoolLast week I joined a small group of Year 10 boys at the Tiwi Immersion experience. Our boys are very fortunate to have the opportunity to be involved in these programs. We continue to build strong relationships with First Nation Communities as we enrol young fellas into our school through our MITS program and visit communities around the country to learn of their culture.
Congratulations to the First XV Rugby team for their efforts in making it to the Premiership in 2023. It was an exciting game and it was great to see so many supporters at the Crowther on Saturday. Whilst it wasn’t the desired outcome, I am proud of the boys for not only their success but how they represented themselves in defeat. Our players and supporters maintained respect towards each other, the opposition and referees at all times – an important display of positive masculinity.
Congratulations to all involved in the Middle Years Production of The Lion King JR last week. What a spectacular production! The talent on show from these young men and women was truly exceptional.
I hope you all get to enjoy a welcome break over this long weekend.
Meliora Sequamur.
Happenings and Reminders
- Monday 21 August – Mid Term Break
- Friday 25 August – Wear it Purple Day
Building Update
Our Centre for Science, Creativity and Entrepreneurship is certainly rising from the ground at a pleasing rate with much of the basement area now completed, paving the way for the ground floor works to commence very soon indeed.
This is an incredibly exciting project as we focus on preparing our boys for the world beyond tomorrow. The ground level will feature multiple creative arts, design and technology spaces for pursuits including woodwork, materials technology, digital artwork and traditional art practices.
The second level is dedicated to science featuring state-of-the-art laboratories for chemistry, biology, and physics designed to spark curiosity and foster a passion for scientific discovery.
A sincere thanks to the generous members of our community who have already made our Centre for Science, Creativity and Entrepreneurship a philanthropic priority.
There are still a range of opportunities available for members of our community to support the Centre. If you are interested in finding out more, please contact John Phillips, our Director of Advancement,
BGS Winter Sleepout
The annual Winter Sleepout is being held under the Oak tomorrow night. It sees staff and students sleeping out in the Quad with only a sleeping bag, pillow and a cardboard box. It is part of the BGS annual Winter Appeal which is run throughout August with all funds donated to The Good Box.
The Good Box is an Australian charity that creates boxes full of essential items for homeless people to help ease the burden of living on the streets. You can donate to this great cause.
Hugo Faulkner-Aschman
Year 8
Wear it Purple Day
Wear It Purple strives to foster supportive, safe, empowering and inclusive environments for LGBTQIA+ young people. The principles of Wear it Purple are to:
- Advocate for and empower LGBTQIA+ young people.
- Celebrate and promote the value of diversity and inclusion in all community settings.
- Raise awareness about sexuality, sex and gender identity and challenge harmful social cultures.
- Champion role-models to help young people establish the confidence to be who they are.
On Friday 25 August, Year 7 to 12 students will have a casual clothes day to celebrate Wear it Purple Day. Students are encouraged to wear purple colored clothing on this day to support and raise awareness for this important cause.
Katie White
Director of Students (Years 7–12)
Winter Sport wrap
On Saturday 12 August, BGS hosted 12 schools across seven fixtures in the VSRU Finals Day.
It was a day to remember. The BHIVE, staffed predominately by students, offered a wide variety of delicious food and coffee, before the entire BGS community descended on the Crowther Oval for the First XV Grand Final between BGS and St Kevin’s.
SKC proved too strong in the end but it is a day that will be etched in the memory of those who were in attendance forever. We are all extremely proud of the First XV’s efforts this season!
In other exciting news, there were a number of our boys who were selected in the 2023 APS Representative team (for their respective sports) that represented the APS vs AGSV on 12 August at Penleigh & Essendon Grammar School:
- Terence Wang (Badminton) – Captain of the team
- Seb Kahn (Basketball)
- Oliver Elliot (Hockey)
- Lucas Gray (Hockey)
- Lachlan Bogoevski (Soccer)
- Matthew Cruse (Soccer)
- Luca Durso (Soccer)
We now transition to summer sport, please see the overview of Term 4 sport (PDF).
Go Tonners
Jack Joslin
Director of Sport & APS Delegate
BGS Athletics
Our first athletics session was a resounding success, with enthusiastic athletes of all levels coming together to hone their skills and push their limits. Don’t miss out on the next session – come and be a part of the Brighton Grammar Athletics family today!
Afternoon Tea with the Headmaster
Secondary School grandparents are invited to join the Headmaster, Ross Featherston, for afternoon tea in our new BHIVE building at Rosstrevor. This informal gathering will provide grandparents with the opportunity to meet with other grandparents as well as hear from the Headmaster as he shares his plans for the exciting years ahead at BGS.
Date: Tuesday 29 August
Time: 2.00- 3.00pm
Where: BHIVE building, Rosstrevor end, enter via Gate 9 in Outer Crescent, near corner of Allee Street.
Cost: Nil
RSVP: Thursday 24 August to Eden Phillips
Spaces are limited to 40 grandparents with further afternoon teas planned.
Eden Phillips
Advancement Manager
Model United Nations
Secondary School students, Julian, Hunter and Mohamed brilliantly represented BGS at the Model United Nations at Trinity Grammar. Read report by Madeleine Dwyer, Head of Humanities.
From Reverend Waterhouse
Last Saturday evening, my wife and I attended a screening of the Barbie movie. I described it to a friend afterwards as a kind of ‘Toy Story for adults’.
One interesting thread was the humorous character Ken, played by Ryan Gosling, and his inner turmoil regarding having a one-dimensional existence: in his case, Beach Ken! As the film develops, the idea of having a purpose in life – especially a relational purpose – becomes a priority.
Whether it is in the context of a sporting team like our Firsts Rugby Union squad, a debating team, an orchestra, or a drama troupe, everyone likes to feel that they have a purpose; a role that will contribute towards something bigger, outside of ourselves.
In his letter to the Ephesians, the apostle Paul affirms that, ‘we are God’s workmanship, created in Christ Jesus to do good works, which God prepared in advance for us to do’ [2:10].