Weekly eNews
Ross Featherston
Headmaster, Brighton Grammar SchoolIn my final address to the Class of 2024 at their Valedictory Dinner this week, I quoted Ralph Waldo Emerson, the 19th century US philosopher who said, ‘What lies behind us and what lies before us are small matters compared to what lies within us.’
I asked the 165 boys of the Class of 2024 to ponder what lies within them, a question as relevant to them as it is to the Class of 1974 who we welcomed back to school last week for their 50 years on lunch.
Our Year 12s have developed a number of lasting qualities within them and will be remembered as a group that embodied our approach to positive masculinity by showing respect, authenticity, connectedness, good nature and kindness.
My advice to them was to stay true to themselves and be authentic; to be kind, gentle, humble, empathetic; not to be afraid to ask for help and to help others; to aspire to do good things with vigour, focus, enthusiasm and energy but remember rarely are good things achieved without others; and, perhaps most importantly, to be loving and not to be afraid to love, be loved and show love.
To quote another elder statesman, Winston Churchill, although the Class of 2024’s time at Brighton Grammar is now at an end, it is not the end; rather it is the end of the beginning.
The transition programs held this week in the Junior School and Urwin Centre are also important beginnings for our current and new students as they embark on the next chapters of their schooling life and consolidate their places in our community.
Meliora Sequamur.
Simon Angus
Deputy Headmaster, Head of Secondary SchoolOver the last week, we celebrated our Valedictory Days with the Year 12 boys.
Highlights included the Valedictory Assembly and Beating the Bounds, where Year 12 students walk the grounds for the last time together. We commemorate the people, places and time spent at various points around the school, culminating in a farewell from all of the Secondary School boys in the Quad.
It is always a highlight for the students and their families as they remember and reconnect with events that shaped the boys’ time at BGS.
A big thanks to all Year 11 parents involved in providing the morning tea. The day concluded with the formal Valedictory Dinner; a wonderful evening of celebration hosted at the MCC.
Congratulations to the Valedictory prize winners and good luck to all students for their upcoming exams.
Today was another big day in the Secondary School with our first transition day for the 2025 Year 7 students. The boys enjoyed a day of orientation and fun activities, while parents had an opportunity to have coffee and connect with each other. We look forward to having the boys join us in Secondary School in 2025.
Meliora Sequamur.
Happenings & Reminders
- 30 October, 7.00pm – Years 9-11 Play: In the Wings at Rosstrevor Hall
- 4 November – Mid-term Break
- 5 November – Melbourne Cup Public Holiday
- 7-12 November – BGS Community Art Exhibition at Bayley Arts in Highett
- 27 November, 6.00pm – Presentation Evening at Robert Blackwood Hall, Monash University (Clayton Campus)
- 2 December, 7.00pm – Community Carols Service at St Andrew’s Church
Chopin Piano Showcase
Over 30 students from Years 2 to Year 11 performed in our recent Chopin Piano Showcase, celebrating the 175th anniversary of this influential Polish composer.
Special guest, Australian pianist Dr Leigh Harrold spoke to the boys about Chopin’s immense legacy to the art form and performed one of Chopin’s lesser known Mazurkas.
Dr Harrold chose Thomas Chen, Raph Contessotto (both Year 8), Thomas Dunne (Year 11), James Rodriguez (Year 9), Eric Gong and Oscar Xu (both Year 4) to workshop their pieces in a masterclass setting on Saturday 26 October from 2.00-4.00pm in the Secondary School Music department. All welcome.
Read more from Susie Heggie, Head of Piano, Voice and Guitar
Art Exhibition & Community Art Show
BGS friends and families are invited to attend the Years 9-12 Art Exhibition and Inaugural Community Art Show from 7-12 November at Bayley Arts Gallery.
The opening event will be held on 7 November from 5.30-7.00pm at the gallery, 1 Avoca Street Highett. Please RSVP here.
The exhibition will feature artworks created across curricular and co-curricular programs in the Secondary School, with the exception of Year 7 and 8 coursework which will exhibited at the Secondary School Presentation evening.
The exhibition will also feature a community art show and works by a number of professional artists who have supported BGS Art programs this year. Artworks sold at this event will in part support the programs of Bayley Arts.
Michael Hawkins
Head of Art, Years 7-12
Breakfast with Mark Finn (OB 2002)
Join us at our upcoming BGS Business Breakfast on Wednesday 20 November at the Royal Brighton Yacht Club.
Mark Finn, the Co-Founder and CFO of ROLLER, a global software platform that serves leisure and attractions venues, is joining us for a fireside chat to discuss the ROLLER story and the scaling of a global technology company.
Mark founded the business with his brother Luke (OB 2004) in 2012. From humble origins, ROLLER now has approximately 2,000 venues using its technology in over 30 countries and has processed in excess of $12 billion worth of transactions. With 180 staff across Melbourne, Sydney, Austin, San Francisco and London, they have also raised in excess of $100 million from leading investors such as US based Insight Partners.
Wanted – Uniforms
Friends of Music wishes all our Year 12 students the best as they approach their final exams, and the end of their secondary schooling – good luck!
Upon completion of exams, the FOM Second Hand Uniform Shop would be thrilled to receive donations of any unwanted uniform items.
Donations can be left in the red tubs at each of the Junior School, Urwin Centre and Secondary School receptions; in the blue wheelie bin in the Secondary School Music office; or at our drive and drop collection in the Junior School car park on 11 December (further details to come).
From Reverend Waterhouse
The Royal Tour of Australia has just finished, and although Victoria was not part of the official itinerary, it was hard to avoid the regular news reports showing King Charles and Queen Camilla being welcomed and meeting with fans in both Canberra and Sydney.
Of the thousands of people seeking to take photos or catch a glimpse of their majesties, many were monarchists or royalists, some were republicans and others were perhaps indifferent, only curious.
I wonder whether for many citizens, what was most exciting was simply being in the presence of a king? Being able to get up close and personal with a monarch!
In the last book of the Bible, the book of Revelation, Jesus makes a remarkable promise: ‘Listen! I am standing at the door, knocking; if you hear my voice and open the door, I will come in and eat with you, and you with me.’
If we allow our lives to be shaped and transformed by Christ, then through the presence of the Holy Spirit, we actually get to share an intimate metaphorical meal with the King of kings!