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Brisbane Girls Grammar School
Location
Spring Hill , Queensland Australia
Coordinates	27°27′30″S 153°1′11″E / 27.45833°S 153.01972°E / -27.45833; 153.01972
Information
Type	Independent, Single-sex, Day
Motto	Latin: Nil Sine Labore (Nothing without Work)
Denomination	Non-Denominational
Established	1875 [1]
Principal	Amanda Bell
Enrolment	~1150 (8–12) [2]
Colour(s)	Royal Blue
Website	www.bggs.qld.edu.au

Brisbane Girls' Grammar School, is an independent, secular, day school for girls, located in Spring Hill, an inner suburb of Brisbane, Queensland, Australia.

Founded in 1875, the school is one of eight grammar schools in Queensland which were established under the Grammar Schools Act of 1860. The school originally opened as a branch of the Brisbane Grammar School, with fifty students, under the direction of a Lady Principal, Janet O'Connor. Today the school caters for approximately 1,165 students from Years 8 to 12. In 2015, the School will commence enrolments for Year 7 girls in line with the Queensland Government's adoption of the Federal Government's National Curriculum, which requires Year 7 to be the first year of high school.

Brisbane Girls' Grammar is affiliated with the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia (AHISA), ^[3] the Alliance of Girls' Schools Australasia (AGSA), ^[4] and is a member of the Queensland Girls' Secondary Schools Sports Association (QGSSSA). ^[5]

History

Brisbane Girls Grammar School was founded in March 1875, six years before women were admitted to universities in Sydney and Melbourne. The School opened as a branch of Brisbane Grammar School with fifty female students, under the direction of a Lady Principal, Janet O'Connor, in premises on George Street, Brisbane. Within six months the School outgrew these premises and subsequently moved to Wickham Terrace. ^[1]

By July 1882, the School was well established and a decision was made to separate from Brisbane Grammar School, so as to operate independently under the Grammar Schools Act. Plans were also made to move the School to its present location on Gregory Terrace. In 1884, the Main Building, designed by architect Richard Gailey, was opened to one hundred students. ^[1]

The school's motto is Nil Sine Labore, Latin for "Nothing Without Work". It was adopted from the Brisbane Grammar School, which in turn borrowed it from Horace's Second Book of Satires. The school badge is an open book on a shield with the school motto on a ribbon underneath. The open book was also borrowed from Oxford University, where over half of the original staff of Brisbane Grammar School were originally secured.^{[ citation needed]}

Uniform

The school uniform consists of a white blouse, long navy blue skirt, and royal blue tie. In winter the girls are required to wear black stockings and the school blazer outside of school. The summer uniform substitutes socks for stockings, and does not require the blazer. The school badge and respective house badge are required to be worn on the tie. Officially, the girls are required to wear a royal blue ribbon in their hair throughout the whole year. The school colour, royal blue, was adopted from Brisbane Grammar School, as a result of a tradeoff between the Oxford and Cambridge colours, light blue and dark blue.

Recent projects

In 2003 Brisbane Girls Grammar School and m3architecture began creating plans for a new Creative Learning Centre. The master plan for the school incorporated a new learning space for the school's 4 main creative departments. During the construction of the CLC more than 6000 cubic metres of earth were excavated, 4198 cubic metres of concrete and 484 tonnes of steel have been used in the creation of this iconic development. After 3 years of planning and just over 18 months of construction The Cherrell Hirst Creative Learning Centre opened on Grammar's Gregory Terrace campus in May 2007. The Creative Learning Centre (CLC) increased the learning space available to BGGS students by 25%. The $25 million dollar building has 6 stories housing music, drama, computer technology classes and art facilities in addition to introducing a new gallery space and staff rooms. ^[6] The building is visible from within the Girls Grammar campus, from the inner city bypass and from Brisbane Grammar School. Also in this building are a new cafeteria and cafe, which were opened to replace the old cafeteria.

The building in which the old cafeteria, as well as music rooms, were housed were demolished to make way for a new twenty five meter heated pool. This pool was built on steel poles to allow for an undercover area under the pool. The pool is used for the swimming lessons as part of the school's physical education curriculum, whilst also providing a training area for the swimming and water polo teams. The pool was opened in November 2009.

House system

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As with most Australian schools, Brisbane Girls' Grammar utilises a house system. There are now nine houses, each named after past principals and teachers of the school as well as previous chairmen of the Board of Trustees:

Beanland (Pink)

Named after Sophia Beanland, the former Head Mistress of the School from 1882 to 1889. The House was first established in 1964 when the School had ten Houses, each with approximately fifty students. Beanland House and four other Houses were discontinued in 1966, as the system of ten Houses was not manageable. The House was reintroduced in 1994.

England (Blue)

Named after Mr John Edwyn England, one of the longest serving trustees of the school. He was a member of the trust for 20 years and was Chairman of the Board from 1952 to 1961.

Gibson (Purple)

Originally formed in 1964 and lasted until 1973 when the House System was discontinued in favour of a horizontal division based on year groups. Gibson House was officially re-constituted in February 1980 after a gap of seven years and is named in honour of Major John Lockhart Gibson, M.D. one of Brisbane's best known doctors. Gibson was appointed Vice-Chairman of the School Board of Trustees in 1906. From 1929, until his resignation in 1940 he served as Chairman of the Board.

Griffith (Red)

Originally established in 1964, and combined with Mackinlay House in 1966 to form a larger Griffith house. It continued in this form until 1973, when the house system was discontinued. Griffith House was officially re-constituted in February 1980 and is named in honour of Sir Samuel Walter Griffith, former Chairman of Trustees, Premier of the Colony of Queensland, Chief Justice of Queensland and the first Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia.

Hirschfeld (Orange)

Named after Dr. Konrad Hirschfeld (1904–1987) who served as Chairman of the Board of Brisbane Girls Grammar School between 1963 and 1976. Dr. Hirschfeld was involved in many aspects of the medical profession and also had an enduring passion and commitment to education. Hirschfeld House was formed in 1980 in recognition of his services to education and the School.

Lilley (Green)

One of ten houses established in 1964. Lilley House was named after Sir Charles Lilley, the former Premier and Chief Justice of Queensland, and the founder of Brisbane Girls Grammar School. Particularly influential in the educational arena, Sir Charles Lilley had a substantial influence on the Education Act 1875, and was responsible for the introduction of free education in Queensland in 1870.

Mackay (White)

Started in 1998, and named after Margaret Annie Mackay, a pupil at the School in its early days. She became a teacher at Brisbane Girls Grammar School and finally was appointed Head Mistress in 1916. She retired in 1924.

O'Connor (Maroon)

Named after Brisbane Girls' Grammar School's first Headmistress, Mrs Janet O'Connor. From 1875 to 1877, O'Connor led the fledgling School which was then located in George Street. O'Connor House was established in 1964 and was discontinued in 1966. In 1990, it was re-established and adopted maroon as its colour.

Woolcock (Yellow)

First established in 1964, and named after John Laskey Woolcock in recognition of his contribution to the School and to education in general. In 1966, Woolcock and O'Connor Houses combined keeping the name Woolcock. In 1973 the House was discontinued, but was re-established in 1980. ^[7]

Notable alumnae

• Air Vice Marshal Julie Hammer – Engineer
• Gwen Harwood – Poet
• Professor Dorothy Hill – Geologist
• Judith Rodriguez (née Green) – Poet
• Myf Shepherd – International Model
• Shelley Craft – Television Presenter
• Betty Churcher - Artist and former Director of the Australian National Gallery (attended Somerville House from age 7-15) ^[8]

See also

• List of schools in Queensland
• Education in Australia
• Queensland Great Public Schools

References

External links

• Brisbane Girls Grammar School website