Canberra Girls' Grammar School

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Canberra Girls' Grammar School
Canberra Girls' Grammar School crest. Source: www.cggs.act.edu.au (CGGS website)
Iuventuti Nil Arduum
(Latin:"To the young nothing is difficult")[1]
Established 1926[2]
School Type Independent, Single-sex, Day and Boarding
Denomination Anglican
Slogan "A future built on opportunities"
Key People Miss. Susan Just (Principal)
Mr. David W. Holmesby (Chairman)
Rev. Paul Harris (Chaplain)
School Fees AU$9,610–15,175 p.a (Day)
AU$32,415–33,725 p.a (Boarding)[3]
Location Deakin, Australian Capital Territory, Australia Flag of Australia
Coordinates 35°18′59″S 149°6′53″E / -35.31639, 149.11472Coordinates: 35°18′59″S 149°6′53″E / -35.31639, 149.11472
Enrolment ~1,450 (ELC–12)[4]
Employees ~205[5]
Revenue $23,830,611 (2006)[5]
Colours Red, Green, Navy Blue and White                 
Homepage www.cggs.act.edu.au

Canberra Girls' Grammar School (C.G.G.S) is an independent, Anglican, day and boarding school predominantly for girls, located in Deakin, a suburb of Canberra, the capital of Australia.

Established in 1926[2] as St Gabriel's School, by the Church of England[2] religious order, the Community of the Sisters of the Church,[5] Canberra Girls' Grammar is the oldest private day and boarding school in Canberra.[6] It has a non-selective enrolment policy and currently caters for approximately 1,450 students, with co-education from Pre-school to Year 2, and girls only from Years 3 to Year 12. Boarding facilities are available on the Senior Campus for up to 90 students in Years 7 to 12.[4]

Canberra Girls' Grammar is affiliated with the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA),[7] the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA),[8] the Australian Boarding Schools' Association (ABSA),[9] and is a member of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools (AHIGS).[10]

Contents

[edit] History

St Gabriel's School was established with nine students in 1926, as a day and boarding school for girls, by the Church of England[2] religious order, the Community of the Sisters of the Church[5] (the Kilburn Sisters). Its purpose was to cater for the small but growing community in what was designated as the new Federal capital.[2]

St Gabriel's School, 1928
St Gabriel's School, 1928

From 1926 to early 1928, the Old Rectory of St John the Baptist Church, Reid, was leased from the Government by the Kilburn Sisters. The rectory was known as Glebe House, and was close to the city. In May of 1927, the day before the opeming of Parliament House, the foundation stone of the current site on Melbourne Avenue at Deakin, was laid by Dr Radford, Bishop of the then Diocese of Goulburn. The school officially moved into its new site in 1928. In 1933, the school was renamed Canberra Church of England Girls' Grammar School (CCEGGS).[2]

CCEGGS was nearly closed down during the Great Depression, and sold some of its land in order to remain solvent. A boom period in the 1970s saw the school expand, with the Junior School moving to a new Campus in Grey Street, Deakin, in order to cater for a surge in enrolments. Today the junior school remains on a separate campus within the suburb.[2] In 2001, the school name changed again, this time to its current form Canberra Girls' Grammar School (CGGS).

[edit] Principals

Period Details[10]
1934 – 1937 Miss Bessie Tomson Forster
May 1937 – 1947 Miss Una Mitchell May
1947 Acting Principal – Mrs Doris Laity
1947 – 1962 Miss Isabel Masters
1962 – 1965 Miss Mavis Prater June
1966 – 1970 Miss Evelyn Heath
1971 – 1973 Mr Donald V. Selth
1974 – 1979 Mrs Jennifer Shaw
1980 – 1984 Dr Helen Granowski
1984 Acting Principal – Mrs Elizabeth McKay
1985 – 1999 Mrs Elizabeth McKay
2000 – 2004 Mrs Alyson Groom
2003 – 2004 Acting Principal – Mrs Elizabeth Gilbert
2004 Acting Principal – Mrs Jane Pelvin
2005 – Present Miss Susan Just

[edit] Campus

CGGS viewed from Red Hill with Lake Burley Griffin in distance
CGGS viewed from Red Hill with Lake Burley Griffin in distance

Canberra Girls' Grammar School is located over two campuses (Primary and Secondary) in the inner Canberra suburb of Deakin,[4] within view of Australia's Parliament House.[5] Combined, the campuses are 10 hectares (25 acres) in size, and include an indoor heated swimming centre, gymnasiums, sports courts, playing fields, an Aquatic Centre on the shores of Lake Burley Griffin, and buildings catering for the performing arts, art and textiles.[11]

The School's most recent additions include a Music Centre, and adjoining 1,000 seat hall. 2006 saw improvements made to the junior school with the opening of six new classrooms, two music rooms and accompanying practise rooms.[11]

[edit] Fees

As with most Australian independent schools, Canberra Girls' Grammar School is not a full fee paying institution, due to it receiving some government funding; full fees only apply to international students, who are not subsidised by any government funding. For non-international students, 2008 fees range from AUD$9,610 to AUD$15,175 per annum, and in excess of AUD$32,000 per annum for boarding students.[3]

CGGS offers scholarships that provide part remission of tuition fees to students. There are currently two scholarship programs - the Gabriel Boarding Scholarship and the Vivien Gough Memorial Performing Arts Scholarship. Each year the school awards a limited number of Gabriel Boarding Scholarships, which provide up to 50% remission of boarding fees until the completion of Year 12. The Vivien Gough Memorial Performing Arts Scholarship provides 33% remission of tuition fees, and is awarded on the basis of interview, resume, audition and ability to contribute to Dance, Drama or Music within the School.[12]

[edit] Curriculum

[edit] Junior school

The junior school curriculum is based upon the New South Wales Department of Education Board of Studies syllabus, and is differentiated where possible to cater to specific learning needs and interests of students.[13]

[edit] Senior school

Students in the senior school (Years 7 to 12) are offered a varied academic curriculum, and are prepared for the ACT Year 10 High School Certificate and the ACT Year 12 Certificate, as mandated by the Department of Education and Board of Senior Secondary Studies respectively.[14]

A high percentage of students who graduate with a Year 12 Certificate also obtain a UAI and go on to study at university. In 2007, of the 150 students awarded a Year 12 certificate, 91% were awarded Tertiary Education Statements. Also that year, the median UAI gained by students was 86 compared with the average of students from all across ACT colleges of 79. Students from Canberra Girls' Grammar and Merici College had the second highest median UAI of the ACT colleges (students from Radford College had the highest median with 92). 92% of students from the school who were awarded Tertiary Education Statements in 2007 scored over 65 for their UAI compared with 79% of all ACT students.[15] 11 students were awarded a vocational certificate in 2007 and 4 students were awarded a vocational statement of attainment.[16]

[edit] House system

As with most Australian schools, Canberra Girls' Grammar utilises a house system in order to facilitate intra-school activities and competitions, and form the basis of its pastoral care programme.[17] Students in the senior school are divided into six houses:

  • Burgmann Named after the Right Reverend E H Burgmann, bishop of Canberra and Goulburn from 1950 to 1960
  • Deakin Named after the suburb in which the school is situated and former prime minister Alfred Deakin
  • Glebe Named after the building in which the school was first established
  • Kilburn Named after the suburb in London where the Mother House of the Order of Sisters of the Church was located
  • Robertson Named after Archdeacon C W Robertson
  • Waverley Named after the Sydney suburb of Waverley where the Mother House of the Order of Sisters of the Church in Australia was located.[17]

[edit] Notable alumnae

School Prayer

Almighty God
In whom we move and live
And have our being
Make this School as a field
which the Lord has blessed
that whatsoever things are
True, pure, lovely and of good report
May here forever flourish and abound
Preserve in it an unblemished name
enlarge it with wider usefulness
and exalt it in the love
and reverence of all its members
as an instrument of your Glory
for the sake of Jesus Christ our Lord
Amen.[18]

Alumnae of Canberra Girls' Grammar School are known as Old Grammarians and may elect to join the schools alumni association, the Old Grammarian' Association (OGA). The OGA was formed as the Old Girls' Union in 1931 and has a number of branches around Australia and overseas.[19] Some notable Old Grammarians include:

Academic
Entertainment, media and the arts
Politics, public service and the law

[edit] References

  1. ^ Welcome from the Principal. About CGGS. Canberra Girls' Grammar School (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  2. ^ a b c d e f g History. About CGGS. Canberra Girls' Grammar School (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  3. ^ a b Scale of Fees - 2008 (PDF). Enrolment. Canberra Girls' Grammar School (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  4. ^ a b c Canberra Girls' Grammar School. Canberra. School Choice (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  5. ^ a b c d e Report to Synod (PDF). Canberra Girls' Grammar School. Canberra Goulburn Synod (2006). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  6. ^ Canberra Girls' Grammar School. Seek Home. Seek (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  7. ^ Butler, Jan (2006). Member Schools. Members. The Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia. Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
  8. ^ Australian Capital Territory. AHISA Schools. Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (November 2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  9. ^ Canberra Girls' Grammar School. Schools. Australian Boarding Schools' Association (2005). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  10. ^ a b Heads of New South Wales Independent Girls' Schools. About AHIGS. Association of Heads of Independent Girls Schools. Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  11. ^ a b A Quick Glance. About CGGS. Canberra Girls' Grammar School (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  12. ^ Scholarships. Enrolments. Canberra Girls' Grammar School. Retrieved on 2008-02-18.
  13. ^ Curriculum. Junior School. Canberra Girls' Grammar School (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  14. ^ Academic Curriculum. Senior School. Canberra Girls' Grammar School (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.
  15. ^ Overview - 2007: Year 12 Certificates and Tertiary Entrance Statements awarded (pdf). ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies (2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
  16. ^ Overview - 2007: Year 12 Certificates and Vocational Certificates awarded (pdf). ACT Board of Senior Secondary Studies (2007). Retrieved on 2007-12-21.
  17. ^ a b Student Handbook (PDF). About CGGS PP.18-25. Canberra Girls' Grammar School (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
  18. ^ The School Prayer. About CGGS. Canberra Girls' Grammar School. Retrieved on 2007-06-27.
  19. ^ The Old Grammarians' Association. Community. Canberra Girls' Grammar School (2007). Retrieved on 2007-08-16.
  20. ^ "NSW Rhodes Scholars" — University of Sydney list, (retrieved 23 July 2007)
  21. ^ "WHITLAM Freda Leslie". Who's Who in Australia Live!. (2006-11-17). Ed. Suzannah Pearce. North Melbourne, Vic: Crown Content Pty Ltd. Retrieved on 2007-09-26. 
  22. ^ McFarlane, John (1988). The Golden Hope: Presbyterian Ladies' College, 1888-1988. P.L.C Council, Presbyterian Ladies' College Sydney, (Croydon). ISBN 0-9597340-1-5. 
  23. ^ Rt Hon Patricia Hewitt MP. Speaker Biographies. Cabinet Office (2007). Retrieved on 2007-11-28.

[edit] See also

[edit] External links

v • d • e
Members of the Association of Heads of Independent Girls' Schools, New South Wales, Australia