Forward December 2015 | Page 9

VA L E JOH N M O OD Y A M Mr JOHN MASSON MOODY AM Career Awards Guildford Grammar School Headmaster 1979-1996 Member of the Order of Australia – 1996 For service to education as Headmaster of Guildford Grammar School and through the Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia Pembroke School Co-Principal, 1974-1978 King’s College Teacher, Deputy Head and Headmaster Elect, 1961-1973 Australian Regular Army Lieutenant, Royal Aust. Infantry, 1958-1960 Significant Posts St George’s Cathedral, 2003-2012 Chairman Restoration Taskforce Anglican Schools Commission (WA) Chairman 2000-2008 Lord’s Taverners Australia (WA) President 1998-2012 Association of Heads of Independent Schools of Australia Chairman 1994-1995 Centenary Medal – 2001 For service to education in Western Australia Australian Sports Medal – 2000 For ten years as administrator and influential in construction and staging of Lilac Hill Festival Match Sword of Honour, RMC Duntroon – 1958 For exemplary conduct and performance of duty Queens Medal, RMC Duntroon – 1958 For graduating first in his Class Honorary Life Member, The Old Guildfordians Association – 2015 For exceptional service to the School and the Old Guildfordians Association Life Member, Pembroke School – 2003 For long and outstanding service to the School Life Member, Australian College of Educators – 2002 In recognition of 30 years membership and Fellow status since 1988 Honorary Life Member, Midland Guildford Cricket Club – 1994 For conspicuous service to cricket and the Club Lilac Hill Festival Match Chairman 1990-2007 JL Mulrooney Medal – 1957 and 1958 ACT AFL Best & Fairest Midland Guildford Cricket Club President 1985-1996 ACT AFL Hall of Fame – awarded 2003 ACT AFL 25 Greatest Players Murdoch University Murdoch University Senate 1982-1991 Paul Harris Fellow, The Rotary Foundation – 1996 For service to the Swan Valley region (WA) Our first GGS teaching and learning conference Saturday September 19 was a huge day for the School as we hosted our inaugural ‘Excellence in teaching and learning’ conference. It was born from the observation that there just isn’t enough good quality professional development for teachers that focuses on our core business – what goes on in the classroom. Talking to teachers from other Perth schools over the years, it became obvious that there is definitely the need for a forum in which teachers can discuss their classroom practice and what they have found works and what doesn’t work in real schools. Nineteen Guildford Grammar School teachers from both the Senior School and the Preparatory School shared their classroom practice in various one and a half hour workshops on topics ranging from technology to numeracy to literacy. Our teachers facilitated discussions on our e-learning journey, they shared ideas on providing feedback in Maths lessons and they talked about how to teach religion. They ran team building activities on the Chapel Close, taught teachers how to digitally manipulate sound and practised running science experiments and nanotechnology activities. There were too many other offerings to list here, but suffice to say that we were proud to be able to put on a conference which showcased the excellent staff we have at Guildford Grammar School and their work in the classroom. One hundred and fifteen teachers signed up for the conference, from independent, government and Catholic primary and secondary schools. As well as teachers attending from across the Perth suburbs, we were impressed to find that one party of teachers had flown to Guildford from Esperance as well as other groups driving in from as far afield as Albany, Geraldton, Busselton and Narrogin. Clearly teachers are keen to share good practice and to learn from each other. In typical Guildford style, we ate both frequently and well during the day. I won’t list the many treats that we enjoyed, but Danish pastries with coffee on arrival started the day off well and were followed by delicious morning and afternoon teas, a large lunch and wine and nibbles on the Thwaites Terrace at the end of the day. This all contributed towards a successful gastronomic experience and kept us learning throughout the day. As always, the boys did us proud – student volunteers from Years 7 to 12 in their full winter uniforms showed delegates to various locations around the school. Many of the visitors commented on how the boys were ‘smartly uniformed and well-groomed’, ‘charming’ and ‘well-mannered’, which was lovely to hear. In the weeks that followed, we received many e-mails from delegates commenting on how much they enjoyed the day, how lovely the campus is and how much they learnt from the workshop presenters. Although I aged visibly during the week of the conference and my heart sank when I received half a dozen e-mails on the following Monday morning asking which date we planned to hold the conference on in 2016, it was good to know that we were able to share our lovely campus as well as contributing to the professional development of West Australian colleagues. Dr Julie Harris Director of Teaching and Learning 9