BALLARAT AND QUEEN’S OLD GRAMMARIANS’ ASSOCIATION

MESSAGE FROM THE INCOMING PRESIDENT, BQOGA

It is an uncertain time for our School community, following a summer that has witnessed significant challenges and now compounded by COVID-19. As an Association, the Old Grammarians are excited that our students successfully returned to school progressively in Term 2.

Annual General Meeting

On Monday 24 February, the Old Grammarians’ Association held its Annual General Meeting. Outgoing President Laura Le Marshall spoke passionately about her association with the School and the significant number of initiatives the Old Grammarians’ Association was able to undertake during her time as President.

These included joint discussions between the Committee and the School, leading to the signing of a Memorandum of Understanding, which greatly strengthens our relationship. We also saw the introduction of the 50+ Luncheons for Old Grammarians, wonderful occasions and very well attended, with many old acquaintances being renewed. The BQOGA thanks Laura for her contribution and achievements during her four-year term.

2020 and onwards

The Committee will be pursuing a number of initiatives in 2020 including expanding Ballarat Grammar Connect, Careers Breakfasts, Careers Expo involvement, annual Peer Year Reunions, and our 50+ Luncheon amongst others. The Careers Breakfasts will involve Old Grammarians returning to present real time professional information and life experience to assist students with future subject and career choices.

We strongly encourage all Old Grammarians to sign up to Ballarat Grammar Connect as this is the key platform that we will be using to share information and remain connected with our community. It will become a most useful tool to use for career mentoring and professional networking post Ballarat Grammar - register at www. ballaratgrammarconnect.com.

We are delighted to welcome the return of past Old Grammarians’ President, David Perrin (1989), Tom Hunt (2012) and Sophie Grills (2017) to the Committee to lend their expertise and experience in achieving our goals. Should any Old Grammarians wish to support the Committee’s activities, please contact us via Mrs Claire Hay, Alumni Relations Officer on Claire.Hay@bgs.vic.edu. au or (03) 5338 0950.

On behalf of all Old Grammarians, please stay safe and remain positive during this unprecedented period and we thank you for your ongoing support of our School community.

John Taylor (1967)

President, Ballarat and Queen’s Old Grammarians’ Association

THANK YOU, LAURA LE MARSHALL, OUTGOING BQOGA PRESIDENT

For the past five years as President of the Ballarat and Queen’s Old Grammarians’ Association, Laura Le Marshall (MacDonald, 2002) has worn her passion and love for our School on her sleeve. Through her determination and perseverance, OGs now have an online platform, Ballarat Grammar Connect, where our OG community can network and connect, share and mentor. Laura has been instrumental in making this happen and for taking our organisation into a renewed and relevant partnership with the School. Grills (2017) to the Committee to lend their expertise and experience in achieving our goals. Should any Old Grammarians wish to support the Committee’s activities, please contact us via Mrs Claire Hay, Alumni Relations Officer on Claire.Hay@bgs.vic.edu. au or (03) 5338 0950.

Laura has represented the OGs at countless events over her time as President, sharing her inspiration and wisdom, advice and good humour. She has hosted reunions, presented medallions at Heritage Football matches, and attended many School assemblies, concerts and chapel services. She has worked tirelessly to enhance the OG presence within the School, and we owe her our gratitude and heartfelt best wishes.

In April 2020, the Ballarat and Queen’s Old Grammarians’ Association launched the first OG Connect Newsletter designed and written for Old Grammarians.

The electronic newsletter will be sent quarterly with the view to engage Old Grammarians in past students’ professional achievements and stories as well as some updates from the School. The first edition featured our recent Old Grammarians volunteering their time to support current Year 12 students through the challenges of studying and Learning at Home. We also covered the recently-launched Ballarat Grammar Business Directory which promotes Ballarat Grammar family businesses within the Ballarat Grammar community. This has been a long-held ambition of the Old Grammarians’ Association and is in line with a number of strategic priorities as outlined in the Association’s Strategic Plan.

YOUNG OLD GRAMMARIANS IN ACTION

Past students are encouraged to contact the Old Grammarians’ Association to share any interesting achievements or updates regarding themselves or other past students and to share stories of interest such as examples of Old Grammarians mentoring each other through study or in a professional sense. The more you are prepared to share, the more interesting the OG Connect Newsletter will become!

To share news or ensure that you receive future OG Connect newsletters, please contact Mrs Claire Hay, Alumni Relations Officer at Claire.Hay@bgs.vic.edu.au or phone (03) 5338 0950. You can also make sure you receive OG Connect by signing up to Ballarat Grammar Connect: register at www.ballaratgrammarconnect.com.

We look forward to staying in touch with you and sharing more stories and news of our Old Grammarians as they progress on their journey through life after school!

The entire school community has embraced the opportunities available within the Learning at Home program. An enormous amount of preparation by our teachers and support staff has led to the seamless delivery of learning and pastoral care online.

However, as with any significant change, the Learning at Home program has come with some challenges for our School community, particularly for our 196 Year 12 students who found themselves learning subject content at home. This has presented some unique challenges, with some students potentially feeling alone, anxious and in need of further support.

In response to this, our youngest Old Grammarians rallied together and signed up to help and tutor the current Year 12s with their toughest subjects and to provide extra support and motivation while they study.

In response to the call for support:

35 Young Old Grammarians signed up within one day to support and promote the Young Grammarian Gurus program - see https:// tinyurl.com/grammariangurus

Over 200 Young Old Grammarians, themselves recent Year 12 graduates from the last five years, signed up inside four days to be a Young Grammarian Guru. This response has been overwhelming, and the program is full.

According to Harrison Monk (2017): “The main reason I signed up was because during my time at Grammar I found myself surrounded by people, both teachers and peers, who offered so much support and help to me which went a long way in enabling me to achieve my goals and ambitions. I could imagine that with Year 12s at home they don’t have that direct access to teachers and peers and therefore may not be able to seek the help I received during this time. I signed up with the hope that I could help these students in that situation and wished ‘to pass on the favours that were passed on to me’. I am excited to be involved with Grammar again and hope that through this experience, I can do my little bit in helping students achieve their goals and ambitions despite the circumstances.”

John Taylor OG (1967), President of the Ballarat and Queen’s Old Grammarians’ Association, said that “it is fantastic to see Old Grammarians step up and help out fellow Grammarians in a time of real need. This is what being an Old Grammarian is about.

As a community we look to support each other when and where we can. I encourage all Old Grammarians to sign up and register to Ballarat Grammar Connect www.ballaratgrammarconnect.com so that we can continue to support each other into the future”.