International Women's Day
Imagine a gender equal world. A world free of bias, stereotypes, and discrimination. A world that's diverse, equitable, and inclusive. A world where difference is valued and celebrated. This has always been the world we strive towards at QASMT, and on International Women's Day, we hosted our inaugural International Women's Day High Tea Breakfast.
It was wonderful to see our refectory transformed into a beautiful setting for a delicious high tea breakfast. Our guest speaker was Alumni and 2021 Academy Captain, Grace Terec. Grace is impressively studying both Law and Medicine at university, and is a huge inspiration to all of our students, receiving the prestigious ZONTA International's Young Women in Public Affairs Award. I would like to thank Grace for delivering a motivating address. I am thrilled to hear of Grace's successes after graduating from QASMT, and I look forward to following along her exciting journey ahead.
Kylie Rule, the Year 11 Parent Representative, gave a touching presentation on Share the Dignity, a charity that strives to make a difference in the lives of women and girls. Kylie explained that Share the Dignity is a women's charity whose purpose is to make a real, practical difference in the lives of Australians experiencing homelessness, fleeing domestic violence or simply doing it tough. The charity has been advocating for many years to address inequity in education by ensuring period poverty is not a barrier to education or the ability to work. Donations made directly to Share the Dignity's website, by our generous parents, students and staff make a huge difference to the lives of many women and girls around Australia.
I would like to give a very special thanks to Kylie and our Year Level Parent Representatives, our Business Manager Kelli, our facilities staff, and our amazing student volunteers for providing our school community with a lovely morning. It was a beautiful day to celebrate and I thoroughly enjoy catching up with students and parents.
International Women's Day Guest Speaker – Dr Divya Viswanathan
At lunch on Friday, QASMT was also honoured to host a very special guest speaker for our students on International Women's Day. Dr Divya Viswanathan works as a generalist O&G, with special interests in medical education, paediatric and adolescent gynaecology, medical leadership and policy development. She is involved with the Zonta Club of Brisbane East, and a passionate advocate for women's issues including DV. It was amazing to hear her story and learn from her experiences, and our students are grateful for the lessons and inspiration garnered from her talk.
Leadership Professional Learning Symposium
This week, all of the Academy leaders met for our annual Leadership Professional Learning Symposium. The symposium is a professional learning opportunity for the Senior and Middle leaders within the school, and is a crucial function in mapping out strategies and work goals for the Academic year. The symposium enables professional development and intentional collaboration between pastoral leaders and curriculum leaders, to ensure alignment in delivering the Annual Implementation Plan.
Each leader produces individual Project Plans and Annual Implementation Plans, which is crucial to ensure alignment and precision in our work. It is incredible to see their actions and accountabilities for the year, and I am so proud to see the amount of work we collectively engage in.
This year, the focus of the professional development was around organisational health. Organisational health is vital as organisations must be 'smart and healthy' in order to maximise results. Our teams participated in group activities which included tapping into their vulnerabilities, working through strategies to breakdown conflicts, delving into the 5 dysfunctions of a team, and strategising ways in which we can work towards maximising efficiency in workplace meetings. We thoroughly look forward to implementing the constructive skills developed throughout the conference.
Ned and the Turtle Tribe
QASMT's very own young entrepreneur Ned, started the Turtle Tribe back in 2018, at just 11 years old. Ned is making and selling sustainable bamboo toothbrushes to try and help offset the 3 billion plastic toothbrushes discarded yearly.
Last week, Ned ventured down to Sydney to pitch his bamboo toothbrushes to the Woolworths Head Office team!
We are so proud of your initiative and sustainable thinking, and look forward to seeing your toothbrushes on our local supermarket shelves soon.
