CHAPLAIN ’ S REPORT
Teaching conference leading the way for WA teachers
On Saturday 17 September , we held our second Guildford Grammar School teaching and learning conference , with the aim of sharing good classroom practice with colleagues from other schools . We have known for some time that authentic , useful professional learning opportunities that focus on good teaching strategies are rare and challenging to find , so our conference was designed to fill that gap .
The planning for this sort of event takes a lot of time . As always , the Guildford Grammar School teachers stepped up and offered their services , with a fantastic range of workshops on different topics . We registered 99 teachers from across the state ( I really wanted to round it up to a hundred , but it felt dishonest !) and they travelled from as far afield as Geraldton , Albany and the wheatbelt , as well as from across the metropolitan area , to hear our teachers talking about teaching .
The workshops on offer were diverse in every sense of the word . Mr Clark Wight gave a lecture on teaching boys and one delegate confided that “ this alone was worth the enrolment fee !” Mr David Gething spoke about what the research shows when comparing reading on screen versus on paper and Mrs Sally Judges shared ideas on ‘ The Importance of Being Little ’. Mr Gary Foster demonstrated how to use water rockets to teach working scientifically skills and Miss Monica Gordon continued the science theme with a series of practical experiments . Miss Jess Rumble ran a workshop on ‘ Making Fiction Fun ’ and Ms Jane Diamond showed how Drama can be integrated into the classroom . Mrs Barbara Cooper shared ideas on teaching science to very small people and her practical , which involved stretching a Mintie to hitherto unimagined lengths , was very popular . Miss Emma Brown showed teachers how to take good photographs and
Miss Alison Lang shared ideas on teaching students for whom English is a second language . There were many , many more Guildford Grammar School teachers who offered a fabulous variety of workshops and generously gave up their Saturday to share their expertise .
The feedback from delegates was overwhelmingly positive and many asked whether we will be running a similar conference next year . I suspect , like childbirth , it will take a while to get over the event but then we ’ ll forget the pain involved and will commit to another one in the future . All in all , watching colleagues from other WA schools enjoying our company , learning from our teachers , appreciating the excellent food from our kitchen and soaking up the lovely Guildford Grammar School campus made for a very satisfying Saturday .
Dr Julie Harris Director of Teaching and Learning
Guildford Grammar School Giftware
The Clothing Shop , located near the Bursar ’ s Office , has a wide range of school branded memorabilia and giftware available at very reasonable prices . A selection from the available range is shown here .
For opening hours , or further information on the Clothing Shop , please visit www . ggs . wa . edu . au / Our-School / Clothing-Shop
Hi Ball glass $ 18.50
Red or white wine glass $ 17.50
Whiskey glass $ 18.50
Travel Mug $ 18.50
Water Bottle $ 20.00
Cufflinks $ 20.00
Cup and Saucer $ 21.00
Mug $ 16.50
Thermal Mug $ 22.50
Umbrella $ 31.00 /$ 49.95
T-Shirt $ 42.50
Golf Balls $ 20.00
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