No President's report, office-bearers list, or Births/Marriages/Deaths register appears in this issue.
By David Challen, School Captain
"The student body of Brisbane Grammar School, in the year 2002, are confronted by the challenge of maintaining, and hopefully in some areas surpassing, the achievements of past student bodies. There are four major facets of the various activities at the School encompassing academic, sporting, cultural and social activities. As in every walk of life, standards of achievement have now reached levels which once seemed unachievable. The bar is continually being raised..
The School's motto Nil Sine Labore is fundamental if we are to achieve anything. In 2002 I ask you to allow this motto to drive your involvement in all activities, with the additional challenge of adopting the motto of Australia's best trained and most fearless Army strike force, the Special Air Services: Who Dares Wins. The SAS' reputation for being one of the world's elite fighting forces arises out of its members' commitment to achieving a very high level of skill in a wide variety of activities and being independently resourceful, yet operating highly efficiently as a team with total confidence in the ability of its fellow members.
The challenge which we face is not to be intimidated by what has previously been achieved, but rather to boldly plan to seek to achieve higher levels both individually and collectively, by actively participating in as many of the various activities being offered by the School as possible."
By David Challen, School Captain
"Over the last four years, sitting in the seats before me, I have listened to each year's distinguished guest relate his experiences and important lessons to the young men who are about to enter the real world. I've always viewed Speech Night as a night where we celebrate our outstanding achievements. However, I've come to the realisation that Speech Night is not merely a night where we recognise the elite achievements of the School, but it is also a time when we celebrate because of who we are, what we have become..
The School offers a highly successful academic learning programme for boys. This is commendable in this current era when there is so much discussion on the failures of the education system to encourage boys to strive to learn. From the beginning in Year 8, we have been exposed to the curriculum framework labelled Dimensions of Learning, that empowers students to become independent learners for life.. Despite the excellent record the School possesses, never has our current Year 12 group been pressured to perform beyond our capability; rather, the programmes have been aimed at preparing and allowing us to perform to the best of our ability and letting the result take care of itself.
But of course, it is a daunting and impossible task to survive the pressures of school life on your own. Everyone needs somebody at some time to lean on.. This is what separates not just a great year level from a good year level, but a great school from a good school. The difference lies in the strength of the bonding and the amount of support that exists between every student who attends the School. If you had to put a name to this feeling I suppose it would be called School Spirit.. Anyone who might be at all sceptical about the amount of support within the School was obviously absent at the GPS Swimming this year at Chandler, when there were not enough seats to house the four hundred light-and-dark-blue spectators who turned up to cheer."
David Challen, School Captain
No formal Old Boys' Association section appears in the 2002 magazine. Alumni relations are handled by the School's Development Office. The 2002 issue records the departure of Development Officer Bill Maddock, "an Old Boy of Brisbane Grammar School," who joined the Development Office in January 2000, "became the face and voice of the Development Office," and co-ordinated alumni relations on behalf of the School before taking up a position at QUT in September 2002 as Alumni Officer. (The magazine also thanks Mr Bernard Backstrom for his work on School and Old Boys' Association badges.)
Format note: As in 2001, the 2002 magazine is a yearbook with no traditional Old Boys' Association section (no President's report, office-bearers, or registers); alumni matters sit with the School's Development Office. School Captain 2002 was David Challen (Vice-Captains: Robert New and Ben Wilson).
Brisbane Grammar School Old Boys' Association · Old Boys History. Part of the OBA Knowledge Project.
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