Weekly eNews
Ross Featherston
Headmaster, Brighton Grammar SchoolEarlier in the year I mentioned that Jonathan Haidt’s excellent book The Anxious Generation was on my holiday book list.
Having now read Haidt’s book, I would recommend you consider adding it to your reading list.
The continuing and increasing public discourse regarding social media and teenagers drew me back to Haidt’s work with an emphasis on his four foundational harms that can spring from excessive time online.
It should be noted that in summarising these four harms, I am not really doing Haidt’s work justice, but I do believe as a community we need to take a closer look at this important topic.
Haidt proposes that excessive daily interaction with electronic devices can lead to social deprivation (missing out on ‘old fashioned’ outdoor play time with other children), sleep deprivation (fairly self-explanatory, but exacerbated if children have their phones in their rooms during bed time), attention fragmentation (losing the ability to concentrate on a single task for a long period of time) and finally, addiction (becoming hooked on something online).
Haidt acknowledges that, of course, there can be benefits of social media for adolescents, but he posits that there is little evidence that indicates the benefits to adolescent mental health from long-term and heavy social media use.
Whilst we currently have a clear approach in place for the use of phones and technology across the whole school, as mentioned, it is an issue that we are closely reviewing. Crowther Centre’s position paper on Screen time is another valuable resource.
Changing topic, a shout-out to all our Performing Arts students and staff for the highly successful Journey Concerts over the past two weeks, with the final one taking place tonight.
Also well done to our Snowsports boys and staff for their excellent results at the recently completed Interschools Championships – BGS placed 2nd Overall Champion Primary Boys School and placed 3rd Overall Champion Secondary Boys School.
Finally, this Sunday is Father’s Day, a time to celebrate and honour the significant male role models in your life and your son’s life.
Simon Angus
Deputy Headmaster, Head of Secondary SchoolTonight, our final Music Journey concert series continues with the Bands Showcase. On Tuesday, we gathered for the Strings Spectacular, and last week, we enjoyed the Choral Journey concert.
The impressive number of students participating in our Music program is a testament to the dedication of our Music department. A heartfelt thank you goes out to the entire music team, led by Jared Furtado and strongly supported by Pat Burke.
Looking ahead, our Year 8 Outdoor Program kicks off next week for Armstrong, Crowther, Dixon, and Fairweather Houses, with Hancock, Melville, Rofe, and School Houses to follow the week after. The students will be heading to Lake Hattah in northwestern Victoria for an exciting and challenging program.
We also extend our congratulations to all students who participated in the Victorian Interschool Snowsports competition. Competing against 220 schools and over 6,500 entries at Mount Buller, BGS finished on the podium (in 3rd place, behind Scotch and MGS), an outstanding achievement for our boys.
Finally, I’d like to thank all the fathers who attended our Father’s Day Chapels and wish you well this coming Sunday.
Meliora Sequamur.
Happenings & Reminders
- Thursday 29 August, 7.00pm – Journey Concert: Bands Showcase
- Friday 30 August – Wear It Purple Day. Out of Uniform Day
- Tuesday 3 September, 7.30am – Business Breakfast with Lou Pascuzzi
Snowsports Championship
Brighton Grammar students delivered outstanding performances at the Victorian Interschools Snowsports Championships, with 18 boys qualifying for Nationals.
In Division 1 (Year 11/12), the team excelled in Slopestyle, Alpine GS, and Ski Cross, with Leonardo Grollo taking first place in Slopestyle.
Division 2 (Year 9/10) saw Yuzhu Zheng lead the team in Snowboard Cross and GS, while Division 3 (Year 7/8) secured a gold medal in Ski Cross, with Toby Jones leading the charge.
Division 4 (Year 5/6) saw Tom Salvo crowned State Interschools Champion in Alpine. In Division 5 (Year 3/4), Jax Uglow and Jasper Morley showed great determination in Snowboard events, and Division 6 (Prep/Year 1/2) saw Patrick Thornborrow, Angus Graham, and Ethan Lin secure a third place finish in Ski Cross.
My thanks to parents, volunteers, and team managers for their support and congratulations to all our boys—your hard work has made us proud! Go Tonners!
Mathew Steed
Head of Snow Sports
F1 in Schools: BGS Cup
At BGS, we pride ourselves on providing our students with opportunities to engage in real-world learning experiences that not only challenge their intellect but also nurture their soft skills, which are essential for their future careers.
One such opportunity is the F1 in Schools program, a prestigious STEM initiative that has captivated the enthusiasm of our students since Term 1.
This year we have had an unprecedented number of students enrol so for the first time we have had to run an internal qualification competition.
More than 60 students in Years 7-9 registered for the inaugural BGS Cup with the aim to qualify to represent BGS at the State Finals in late October.
Read full report from George Neophytou, F1 in Schools Coordinator.
BGS: A Community That Reads
Last week we celebrated Book Week and there was a strong focus across the Secondary School on providing the boys with time and space to read.
By creating highly visible social norms around reading we want all our students to receive the consistent message that ‘we are a community of readers’. We do this because there is overwhelming evidence that reading has immense academic, social and emotional benefits for young people.
Book Week was an opportunity to showcase our commitment to reading; reading was the theme of our Secondary School Chapel service; our teachers stuck posters on their office doors about what they are reading; our entire school participated in Drop Everything and Read; our Book Week Trivia competition had over 80 participants, and we were amazed by the hidden talents of our Year 7 and 8 rap poets.
Friday rounded out our Book Week celebrations with a student discussion with Dr Ray Swann where he highlighted the truth about reading, which, in a nutshell, is the more you read, the more the world makes sense.
Kristen Molloy
Associate Head of the Crowther Centre, Literacy and Engagement
Model United Nations Assembly
Year 10 students Nicholas Michele and Kenneth Yeung recently joined 44 other delegates from 15 schools across Victoria, New South Wales, and the ACT to participate in a Model United Nations Assembly (MUNA) in the historic House of Representatives Chamber in Canberra’s Old Parliament House (now the Museum of Australian Democracy).
The participants engaged in real-world, high-stakes debates, advocating with knowledge and authority on behalf of their assigned countries.
Read full report from Kirsten Dunsby, Head of Debating and Public Speaking.
Hobart Dance Tour
Fourteen of our talented Secondary School dancers recently travelled to Hobart, Tasmania, to perform in the Hutchins School’s annual Dance Showcase.
The event attracted over 1,000 audience members, offering our students a fantastic platform to display their skills.
The trip included two days of intense rehearsals, with the boys showing great dedication and enthusiasm and a trip to the waterfront for ice cream provided a welcome break. Read full article by Michael Kent, Head of Drama Curriculum (7-12).
Community Art Exhibition
Eight BGS Secondary Students, from Years 7-11, recently took part in a Community Art Exhibition and charity initiative run by the Ministry of Art in Highett.
The exhibition featured 92 artworks, all using a colour palette of blue and for sale by silent auction, created by professional artists, members of other schools and the broader community.
Our students gave their own time to create their artworks for the show and they raised a combined total of over $450 for Headspace and Youth Mental Health through their creative toil.
Congratulations to Corey Dow (Year 11) and Matvey Kononchuk (Year 10) who both received commendation awards from the Director-judges and to Sihan Meng (Year 8) for receiving one of two premier awards of $200 from the Ministry of Art for his stunning artwork of Princess Diana.
A huge thanks to all the students who contributed and to the Ministry of Art for providing a platform for our creative students to serve their community.
Michael Hawkins
Head of Art, Years 7-12
National Champion
Year 8 student Kaevish Bhasin’s skills as a cricketer were on show recently as a member of the winning Victorian U14 Indoor Cricket team.
The team were crowned National Indoor Cricket Champions, with Kaevish playing a crucial role, particularly in the finals where he emerged as one of the leading run-scorers. Read more here.
From Reverend Waterhouse
This week, we observed the second of our two Father’s Day Chapel services, in anticipation of the event proper being celebrated this coming Sunday.
It is obviously a day of happiness for some and perhaps a day of sadness for others.
Many of us would have heard the expression Like Father, Like Son. The adage is about how we tend to see both physical and behavioural characteristics between the parent and the child: often these are positive; at other times, they might well be frustrating!
I have inherited my father’s height and love of books but have also developed the observed annoying habit of easily misplacing my car keys, or sometimes frantically looking for my reading glasses, only to discover that they are perched atop my head!
Whether we like it or not, we all are our parent’s child.
In John 14:7, Jesus remarks, ‘If you really know me, you will know my Father also. The Father lives in me.’
How extraordinary! Jesus not only reflects God the Father but is actually one with the Father.
In other words, if we want to know God, get to know the Son of God, Jesus Christ.