It was wonderful to see old girl Meggan Beutel earlier this week when she was guest speaker at our welcome breakfast for Girls Grammar’s Year 12 cohort. It was great catching up with her and I particularly enjoyed her speech. The final Part of Meggan’s presentation featured her fellow 2013 alumni who gave video messages of advice to our girls. The advice given was overwhelmingly positive and thoughtful. It mostly centred around being true to oneself, believing in yourself and maintaining happiness. As Year 12s enter their last semester of schooling, this is sage advice to be mindful of. It is important to keep perspective in the coming months as pressure will mount with forthcoming external exams. Equally, it is important not to leave at the end of the year asking yourself “what if?”. Now is the time to be making sure that you are doing all you can to maximise your opportunities. Our most academically successful girls are not necessarily those blessed with the most natural academic ability. Those who are organised and prepared, most often perform to a higher level in all aspects of their lives. Teachers have been working with the Year 12s each week in a series of subject specific after school external exam preparation sessions. These have been successful in introducing the best techniques with which to approach each exam. There is however a very significant amount of independent student preparation required for these exams. Subjects in the Arts, Mathematics and Sciences will be assessed on two units of work which began in the final term of 2019. All other subjects will be assessed on one unit of work which commenced in early 2020. After the completion of the last internal assessments in August, teachers will commence concentrated in class preparation. Our girls are very aware that these exams cannot be crammed for and preparations must have already commenced. Families can support their daughters by discussing their preparations and by encouraging appropriate time for practice. With the support of Girls Grammar and families, our Year 12s are positioned to succeed and move to the next phases of their lives with happiness and no regrets.
Dr John Fry
Deputy Principal - Studies