Vol. 5 - 4 March 2015 - Melbourne Grammar School

Number 5 - 4 March 2015
From the Deputy Headmaster/ Head of Senior School
Late last year, I wrote a newsletter article regarding anaphylaxis. I have, with minor editing, included it
again in this edition. I do so in order to try and raise awareness of this very significant health issue within
our school community.
I have an important request to make, but do so in a rather roundabout way below. If you read only one
paragraph of this article, please make it the last paragraph.
Last year, I watched a program called Insight, on SBS. It may be familiar to some. It is perhaps best
described as Q and A with experts rather than politicians. The topic in question was allergies or, more
specifically, anaphylaxis.
This is a term of which every teacher is aware. We are mandated by Ministerial Order to have two briefing
sessions per year on how to use an adrenaline injector and in which circumstances. We are also mandated
to have a 3 hour training session every three years so that our skills in identifying a suspected anaphylactic
reaction, and our skills in dealing with it, are honed. Awareness of anaphylaxis is part of the professional
life of every active teacher.
This wasn’t always thus. I first heard the term around 2006. Before then, there were some students with
allergies, but these weren’t necessarily seen as life threatening conditions, but rather as something of a
curiosity. I didn’t see an epipen, the name for the adrenalin injector, until 2010. Some avoidable tragedies
began to sharpen the educational world’s focus on anaphylaxis.
The most striking statements on Insight came from parents who were living with a child who has
anaphylaxis. There were some very moving comments about the difficulties of managing such a condition,
where exposure to an allergen can be deadly. One mother stated that she was often looked at as if she
were crazy or, at best, over protective, in her desire to keep her 4 year old away from such common things
as nuts. Yet exposure to nuts, the most common allergen for those suffering from anaphylaxis, could result
in the death of her child. She has learnt to brush aside such attitudes.
The Senior School has students within its ranks who are at the most severe end of the anaphylactic range.
An allergen has to be consumed for an anaphylactic reaction to happen. However, we have students
amongst our number who are having allergic reactions, albeit not life threatening, when in the proximity of
nuts. These reactions have lingering consequences, and have resulted in significant absence from school.
They have also resulted in feelings of insecurity, and a sense that school isn’t always safe.
The highest incidence of death as a result of anaphylactic reaction occurs amongst teenagers. There is, no
doubt, a range of reasons behind such a statistic. I am sure one of the major reasons is that this is the
time young people are starting to move out into the world and express their independence, a world which
provides its own share of joys, and dangers, for those who don’t have allergies that could kill them. For
those that do have such allergies, this is the most dangerous time.
...cont’d/..
It is, perhaps, impossible to protect them entirely from the world. In many ways, the most important
educational task confronting those with life threatening allergies is to learn how to manage them in
environments that can’t necessarily be controlled.
One environment that can’t necessarily be controlled is Melbourne Grammar School. We have a nut
policy, which does state that Melbourne Grammar School cannot be declared nut free. Certainly, no food
will knowingly be served with nuts, but we as a school do not ban nuts.
However, I would ask respectfully that all families consider the above when sending lunches and snacks
along to school, and avoid sending nuts, or foods containing nuts. Our students with deadly allergies are
only just beginning to learn how to manage them, and to remove one possible source of danger would
make a very substantial difference to their peace of mind. They are beginning to negotiate a world in
which substantial danger lurks. To remove one such danger in their time in the Senior School would
provide some measure of reassurance. We can but ask on their behalf.
Nick Evans
Headmaster’s Reflection
I was pleased to receive permission from the Melbourne Grammar School Council to take sabbatical leave
during Term 2 this year. I have divided the leave into two sections; during the first half of the term I will be
present for a number of important MGS events, but will be overseas during the second half.
In recognition of the centenary of the ANZAC landing at Gallipoli, there will be several significant school
events at the commencement of Term 2. Mr Rob Shields, Teacher in Charge of Rugby, has organised a
unique ANZAC rugby tournament which will involve schools from a variety of states in Australia, as well as
several schools from New Zealand. At the commencement of the tournament, there will be a ‘naming
ceremony’ for the fallen Old Boys from each school who were killed at Gallipoli, led by the respective rugby
captains. An ANZAC Service will be held, as well as a variety of social functions, including a formal dinner
in the Luxton Dining Room. On 27 April, the School’s ANZAC Day Service, held in the Old Melburnians’
Memorial Hall, will be a special event enjoyed by Senior School students. A variety of curriculum
initiatives, especially by the History Department, have been implemented to recognise the important
celebrations occurring this year. I will be present for these and other important MGS events, such as the
entrance examination and various School AGM’s which are held in April and May.
In the second half of the term, I will be visiting current parents, past parents and Old Melburnians in Hong
Kong and London, before flying to Singapore to complete a leadership course at the Centre for Creative
Leadership. The course topics will cover strategic issues, business operations, managing change,
boundary spanning, talent identification and management, as well as individual leadership styles. The
course has been highly recommended and I am looking forward to attending.
During my absence the Head of the Senior School, Mr Nick Evans, will be taking on duties as Acting
Headmaster which will be a great experience for him and I am confident he will perform admirably in the
role. I will be returning to Melbourne Grammar School in the final week of the July holidays to resume my
duties for the commencement of Term 3.
Roy Kelley
From the Director of Leadership
The Old Melburnians
As many within the Melbourne Grammar School community well know, we are incredibly fortunate to have
such a large and actively engaged alumni body, known collectively as The Old Melburnians. While I remain
very fond of my old high school, even attending the occasional casual reunion, there is no formal group or
association charged with keeping alumni connected to the School or one another. As a result I know little
about the goings on at the School or what some of my former classmates might now be doing.
In contrast The Old Melburnians remain involved with Melbourne Grammar School through sporting clubs,
functions, mentoring programmes and various other activities. They are also kept up-to-date with the
current life of the School through publications such as the Grammar News and The Melburnian. During my
time at MGS I have also been impressed with how many OM’s are willing to return to the Bluestone to
speak to current students and staff. In my role I am contacted on almost a weekly basis by former students
offering their assistance in one form or another. Some are recent graduates, but the majority finished some
decades ago. Of the latter, a number have not visited the School since the day they graduated.
One such person is Mark Balla (OM1980). Following a lengthy career as an editor with Lonely Planet
Publications, which saw him travel to over 70 countries, Mark established and later sold a technology
company to Indian interests. It was during a business trip to India that Mark visited some schools located in
slum villages near Mumbai. He noticed that while the schools were full of young children and adolescent
boys, there were very few teenage girls. Upon enquiring why this was the case, Mark was shocked to
discover that the main reason was the absence of toilets at the schools. While this had little impact on the
sanitary requirements of the boys, it caused significant shame and practical difficulties for girls once they
started menstruating. Mark returned to Australia and formed a charity named ‘We Can’t Wait’, with the aim
of funding the installation of toilets in Indian schools.
Mark made contact with me two weeks ago following an invitation he received to attend the Community
Speaker Series. His email briefly outlined his career to date and included an open offer to speak to
students if an opportunity presented itself. With this week’s Senior School Assembly being used to promote
the forthcoming Global Awareness Week, I invited Mark to speak at the assembly and run a lunchtime
discussion forum in the CLL. Arriving at MGS early, there was time to take him for a tour of the School
before the assembly commenced. This is always an enjoyable experience, particularly if an OM has not
visited the School for some years. It is remarkable to hear former students vividly recount stories or
experiences. In Mark’s case he was able to recall fleeting moments or anecdotes even though they
happened some 35 years ago. Walking into the Memorial Hall for the assembly, memories of his
graduation ceremony came flooding back. Mark then provided the audience with a lighthearted but
insightful overview of his work.
The involvement of former students at Melbourne Grammar School is quite unique, with few Australian
schools having such an active alumni association. Hopefully this will continue for years to come, with our
current students remaining closely connected to the School beyond their time of graduation.
Nathan Jessup
From the Chaplain
Global Awareness Week
The Pakistani girl, Malala Yousafzai was only 11 years old when she began writing an anonymous diary
blog advocating for girls’ universal rights to education. She was shot in the head by the Taliban. She
miraculously survived. She was named one of TIME Magazine’s most influential people in 2013 and she
has since won the Nobel Peace Prize and is now a global champion of human rights.
As I write, two Australian citizens, alongside many other people, are awaiting execution in Indonesia. At
least 150 children are locked up in detention by our Australian government. Thousands of people are
imprisoned throughout the world for speaking their opinion or just for being who they are. Between 40 and
50 million people are currently displaced and seek safety outside their country.
It is no longer possible not to pay attention to what is going on around us in the world. Technology has
brought us so close together. With one click, we can celebrate what happens on the other side of the world
and we can weep over injustices.
We are living on one planet. We are one human family. We are all inter-connected. What happens to one
affects us all. We have many cultures and expressions of our humanity but ultimately we share one world
and we have to learn to live together – our future depends on it.
Who is my neighbour, the lawyer asked Jesus in the famous story of the Good Samaritan. Jesus illustrated
how our neighbour is everywhere: he or she is the one right next to us. But our neighbour is also the child
dying of Ebola in Africa, or the girl denied her educational rights in Nigeria, or an asylum seeker boarding a
boat to reach Australia, or the homeless living right next to us in our own city.
Our neighbours are everywhere. Christianity is very clear: we all belong together and we need to love our
neighbour as ourselves. On these two commandments hang all the law and the prophets. It begins with our
neighbour right beside us and extends to the furthest corner of the earth.
I am sure that you, like me, take great inspiration in the way Malala Yousafzai spoke up and inspired the
world. Let us hope and pray that we may all have the eyes to recognise our neighbour in need and have
the courage to love him and her.
Next week is Global Awareness Week in Senior School and we are already beginning with activities and
speakers this week. The Chapel services throughout the two weeks will be entirely student-led with a year
12 student reflecting on the Good Samaritan story and a guest speaker next week reflecting on her
experience as a refugee. I hope that our students and staff will enjoy our global focus so that together we
may come closer to living in harmony with our neighbour.
Blessings,
Rev’d Hans Christiansen
From the Languages Department
MGS Japanese Department: Tour/Exchange Opportuni es
Notices have been sent home with all students of Japanese in Years 9-12 this week in relation to the
following opportunities. If you are interested in your son participating in any of these programmes, please
contact me by email at mbmclaughlin@mgs.vic.edu.au or phone on 9865 7774.
2016 Japan Tour (27 December 2015 – 15 January 2016 TBC)
We are currently working to finalise the arrangements for the next Study Tour to Japan. It will follow our
usual pattern of just over one week of travel to various parts of Japan, including the ancient capital of
Kyoto and then another week spent in a home-stay with the students at Waseda Senior High School.
Hosting (25 July – 8 August 2015)
In weeks 3 and 4 of Term 3 each year, we welcome about 12 students from our sister-school, Waseda
High School, with two of their teachers. We provide ESL classes for the Waseda boys each day and they
spend the rest of their school days in class with their host brothers or on excursions to Healesville, the
Botanic Gardens and the like. As with all exchange programs, we rely on the generosity of families to
host incoming students and provide them with an opportunity to experience normal family life in another
culture firsthand. Students planning to participate in the Japan Tour are normally expected to host.
Year 10 Waseda Exchange (27 December 2015 – 30 January 2016 TBC)
There is an exciting opportunity for up to 3 students currently in Year 10 to stay on for a further 2 weeks
in Japan at Waseda High School at the conclusion of the 2016 Tour. A small number of boys have taken
up this additional opportunity to challenge themselves and develop as self-directed learners since the
introduction of Beyond the Gates. The boys would return to Australia in time to begin the first full week of
the 2016 school year (Monday 1 February).
Megan McLaughlin
Head of Japanese