Begin as you mean to go on. The way we begin most things, including the academic year, tends to set the tone we carry throughout, and it has been an overwhelmingly positive start with a strong sense of momentum building already. This will be a year of action and progress.
Year 7 have met their teachers, found new friends, explored interesting subjects, and got to know our School. Year 12 appeared confident, prepared, and ready—the presentation of their badges was a tangible reminder of the responsibility they carry. And all of our students must decide what they are committed to and how that will shape their experiences in 2023.
There are always new, often unexpected, topics in education that receive widespread media attention and this week it has been AI, specifically ChatGPT. We will, along with all other areas of society, seek to better understand and embrace, or respond to, the opportunities and challenges ahead, and I have made some preliminary observations in this article.
We are perhaps far more humble in our predictions these days, less certain than we once were. However, this year: there will be more travel, such as interstate Music tours and Space Camp; our sustainability plan will be delivered through new Grammar Goes Greener initiatives; the upcoming referendum will be an opportunity for our Girls Grammar community to debate important issues and implement the BGGS Reconciliation Action Plan; the Women’s World Cup will be an exciting point of focus for many; and the Olympics, while still a decade away, will require significant foresight and planning to bring direct benefit to our School.
While we must be wisely responsive to the challenges ahead, both predicted and real, we can steer our own ship, make our own decisions and write our own powerful narratives that will inspire and guide us. This holds equally true for nations, the institution and community of our School and for the many unique individuals within it. It has been a very happy start to the year and we look forward to seeing how it unfolds.
Ms Jacinda Euler Welsh
Principal
