The Importance of Outdoor Education and Curriculum Camps In all my years in schools, outdoor education has on occasion been questioned by some parents as to its value, specifically with concerns expressed about missing academic learning time. I’ve reflected on this view over many years; however, I retain the view that outdoor education [...]
The Benefits of Music As I reflect on working with school-aged children over nearly three decades, one of the greatest joys of this privilege has been to witness first-hand their on-stage performances in music across an array of instruments. These performances have ranged from stunning solo performances to large bands producing unimaginable sounds that stir [...]
This past week, Holden commenced their historic media statement by stating that it was “with a heavy heart, GMH will be retiring the Holden brand in Australia and New Zealand” permanently. As has been reported widely in the media, Holden was a quintessential Australian brand and the thought of it disappearing as our country’s leading [...]
I am delighted that, for the fourth consecutive year, Snowy Mountains Grammar School has been recognised as a leading Australian school by those in the profession, at the annual Australian Education Awards. In addition to winning multipleInnovative School awards and Australian Boarding School of the Year in 2018, we have also been recognised as a National Finalist two [...]
The rise in mental health issues is of great concern within our wider community, though none more so than the increase in mental health prevalence among our youth. We now have years’ worth of quality data collected from various creditable organisations, which consistently report that around one in four adolescents are presenting with mental health [...]
Very recently SMGS completed a submission to the NSW State Government to host a project which, if successful, would see two modern multi-purpose courts built on our site for our whole community to use. A requirement of the funding is that the wider community can use these, in addition to our school students using them [...]
I was delighted that the Deputy Premier of New South Wales, Member for Monaro, Minister for Regional NSW, Industry and Trade, and Leader of the Nationals, the Hon. John Barilaro MP, accepted an invitation to visit our school this week. Eve Donnelly, one of our School Captains, hosted the Deputy Premier, along with myself as [...]
Announced last year, the Go Jindabyne Master Plan is now gaining noticeable momentum. A Community Statement has just been published, which was largely informed by consultation with the general community late in 2018 through to early 2019. The principal planner, Rukshan de Silva, has worked with students from our local community, with students [...]
Our modern world has morphed from a mindset of producer to consumer. As we shift from industrialised economies in countries like Australia to evolve as knowledge economies, it appears some critical skills are at risk of being diluted in our youngest generations. If we consider the mantra of ubiquitous convenience, espoused and driven by commercial [...]
Author: Dr Andrew Bell As parents, or as teachers, how often have we deliberately or inadvertently praised a child for their innate abilities? I would suggest we do this more than we realise, and this has been happening for generations. Of course, the intent is all positive, but the reality is quite the opposite and [...]
