Weekly eNews

Thursday 4 December 2025

2025 has been another fantastic year for Brighton Grammar.

Innovative teaching and a creative approach to learning have enriched every aspect of school life – driving success in academics, the arts, sport, and our Positive Masculinity (+M) program.

Our boys excelled across STEM, sport, music, theatre, dance and the creative arts, underscoring our commitment to developing confident, capable young men who grow and contribute meaningfully to every aspect of life at school and in the wider world.

The Year 12’s Legacy Project, Honour, Celebrate, Embrace, reflected the cohort’s commitment to honouring those who came before them, being present in the moment and embracing what lies ahead – leaving the school even better than they found it, strengthening the sense of belonging and connection that defines our community.

Please enjoy the 2025 highlights featured in our online edition of The Grammarian, with printed copies to follow in the new year.

I am deeply grateful to our students, staff, families and the entire BGS community for their unwavering support throughout the year. I look forward to sharing the Class of 2025’s academic results with you next week.

Thank you for your contribution to another superb year at BGS.

Wishing all families a safe, restful and joyous festive season, and I look forward to welcoming the boys back on Thursday 29 January.

As we draw the school year to a close, there is much to celebrate and acknowledge across our school.

On Monday evening, we gathered for our annual Community Carols at St Andrew’s Church. It was a pleasure to join the orchestra and musicians as a fellow flautist, and my heartfelt thanks and congratulations to everyone involved in creating such a joyful occasion.

Tomorrow, our Year 10 students depart for First Horizon, an important rite of passage in their school journey. Upon their return on Monday, they will be formally acknowledged as emerging adults and presented with their VCE blazers, marking a significant milestone in their transition to their senior years at school.

This morning, we also welcomed our current Year 6 students who will be joining the Secondary School in 2026 for their second transition day. Their enthusiasm and excitement were wonderful to see as they prepare to embark on this next chapter.

Tuesday marks the final day of term for students, beginning with a Carols Service for staff and students, concluding with our final Assembly. As we wrap up another great year, I would like to extend my sincere thanks to everyone for their support, participation, and commitment through practices, rehearsals, games, concerts, and countless other contributions that enrich school life.

Thank you to our students, staff, and families for the part you have played in making 2025 such a successful and rewarding year.

I wish all families a safe, restful, and joyful festive season and look forward to welcoming the boys back on Thursday 29 January.

Meliora Sequamur.

Happenings & Reminders

• Tuesday 9 December – Term 4 concludes at 12.30pm
• A new version of the BGS app will be released on Monday 8 December, view details and instructions.
• A reminder for all parents to please complete the SIT Parent survey to provide us with your valuable feedback.

Sunrise at the Sheds

Last Sunday, the entire BGS Boat Club came together to celebrate the return of the BGS House Cup for Rowing at our annual Sunrise at the Sheds event.

The atmosphere was electric as all Houses battled it out in eights, with rowers from every year level proudly representing their teams. The Yarra River set the stage for an exhilarating 200-metre sprint, where determination and teamwork decided the ultimate House Rowing Champions!

All Houses competed in eights, with boys from every year level involved in the Rowing program taking part.  The race was on the Yarra River, and the boys raced over 200m to determine the House Rowing Champions!

Early racing saw great form from Crowther, School and Dixon. The heats were competitive, with all Houses putting their best foot forward to try and race in the A Final. After 4x heats of racing, the A Finalists were determined, with School, Hancock, Fairweather and Dixon racing in the main event.

Ultimately, it was School House that came out victorious. The beneficiaries of some hazardous steering from the other Houses, they rowed a clean and consistent race to come out on top. Well done to Max Edwards, Ed Arendsen, Felix Wilkins, Harley Wilkins, Benji Carr, Joseph Smith, Jack Carson, Henri Haycox and Cooper Strachan.

The boys then turned their attention to the House Ergometer Challenge. In an intense, almost six-minute effort, boys from all year levels raced 400m each in a relay challenge. Crowther House won the day, with an exceptionally fast time of 6:22!

It was a fantastic day that brought the entire BGS Boat Club community together in full force. Go Tonners!

Mitch Nelson
Director of Rowing

BGS App – please update for 2026

We’re adding ‘Clipboard’ to the BGS app to manage Secondary School APS sport teams, fixtures, and communications. All parents will need to update the BGS App on their device on or after Monday 8 December 2025 to access the new features for 2026. Read more.   

Look what’s in the Archive!

Need any ideas for dinner? Look no further than Grammar Gourmet!

This cookbook was compiled in the early 1970s from a selection of favourite recipes submitted by members of the Brighton Grammar School Mothers’ Circles and friends.

The pages are divided into thirds: First Course, Second Course and Third Course. Each third can be turned independently to enable budding chefs to create their own menu.

The copy in the Archive has been well used. There are traces of all kinds of meals splashed all over it!

If you have anything to contribute to the School’s archive, we’d love to hear from you. Please contact us here.

Student Device Safety and Usage Policy

In line with the Online Safety Amendment (Social Media Minimum Age) Act 2024, which restricts social media and YouTube access for children under 16 from 10 December 2025, the School is taking proactive steps to protect our students online.

From 10 December 2025, all BGS student laptops will remain child-safe and learning-ready at all times, extending our current school-hours restrictions to home use.

To support focus and wellbeing, gaming will no longer be permitted on school devices. This aligns with expert recommendations from Headspace and our commitment to a safe, productive learning environment.

From Reverend Waterhouse

Last weekend, I finally got around to stringing up some coloured solar lights around the conveniently bushy topiary trees in my front yard. Concurrent downpours of rain, however, prevented the panels from charging for a few days!

While such a tradition can easily become something of a competitive exercise between neighbours (or even suburbs!) and can certainly be a hassle in the untangling of globes that were packed away too hastily the year before, in terms of an annual ritual, setting up the lights is both a lovely and comforting declaration that the season of Advent has started and Christmas is at hand.

The weeks leading up to 25 December can obviously be a frenetic logistical exercise regarding searching Amazon for quick-delivery gifts, organising travel arrangements or allocating domestic roles in the wider family concerning who brings what to a communal meal. However, at its heart, Christmas is chiefly about basking in the wonder of the Incarnation – God becoming human like one of us in the person of Jesus Christ, the promised Saviour of the world.

Just as we are so very conscious of how much darkness there is at present in this fallen world, so we also thank God for the birth and ongoing presence of the true ‘Light of the world’ [John 8:12].

This Christmas, why not come closer to that light and feel its life-restoring brightness?

It is a light and guide that is forever bright and promises to be with us always, ‘to the very end of the age’. [Matthew 28:20].

Diary Dates

• Tuesday 9 December Final Day Term 4 - 12.30pm finish