Lights, camera, action: Open Day

School History and Culture Manager

What school day would give you total chaos but turn into stunning elegance: a week of electricians in the bushes; distribution of thousands of sheets of multicoloured cardboard; enough Blutac to make a soccer ball; thousands of thumb tacks; 500 white and blue helium balloons or 583 metres of environmentally responsible royal blue ribbon; or 181 metres of Velcro dots? Of course, School Day!

Many young Grammar Women would be saying, what is School Day? Perhaps Open Day would ring more familiar with those students hailing from 2002 to the present.

When asked to reflect on my experiences of School Day or Open Day, I seemed a logical candidate as an old girl, staff member, ex-Director of Health Physical Education and Sport, organiser of Open Day and past Dean of School. To have experienced and been intimately involved in 45 of these events is confronting!

2024 sees our 67th Open Day take place later today, which doesn’t seem an impressive number really given BGGS is on the cusp of celebrating 150 years. However, 111 years of open doors does! Open Day was born from Old Girls’ Day, first chronicled in 1913 in the inaugural School Magazine. The 125-year impact of the Old Girls Association (OGA), their drive, obvious love of the School, and belief in its values and education for women is inspirational.

Old Girls’ Day started as, ‘One Saturday afternoon in each year there is an “annual” social meeting at the school and a tennis match between Past versus Present (students)’ (BGGS Magazine 1913). This match was followed by an afternoon tea which morphed into a ‘Bring and Buy’ fete organised by the OGA.

Like all things Grammar, progress and creative thought result in bigger and better events. In 1957, Old Girls’ Day was ‘suspended’, and the OGA combined with the School and the Parents and Friends Association to hold School Day. On arrival at Girls Grammar in 1967, I experienced School Day (1957-1997), then School Expo (1998-2001) and now Open Day (2002-current day). Each of these iterations hold a range of memories—as a current student, a Director of a Faculty, and an organiser.

My clearest memory as a student was our Form 4B—read: Year 10—School Day. Our fundraiser for the School was to be a café entitled Maud Glutts’ Speak Easy! Under the guidance of our Form Mistress, Miss Lesley Trotter, the class transformed what is now known as W2.4 into an atmospheric refreshment area. Or so we thought! Huge posters, all hand drawn by the members of 4B, graced the walls, tables and chairs were arranged, and curtains were drawn to create a secluded, quiet area in the bustle of School Day. I have no idea of the funds raised but we had the best time!

Fast forward to the 1990s where my role shifted to Director of Health, Physical Education and Sport. The McCrae Grassie Sports Centre was a hive of activity where artistic gymnasts were flicking, split leaping, and forward rolling on the ‘blue floor’; the foyer was a display of all sports on offer; climbers were literally going up the wall; rhythmic gymnasts were throwing, leaping and creating illusions; and netballers and basketballers were shooting and passing. The mezzanine was full of young girls being mesmerised by the movement, and parents were seeing their lives for the next five years flash before their eyes! All this coupled with a subject display manned by enthusiastic Physical Education teachers sharing the wonders of exercise physiology, anatomy, history of sport, biomechanics, and health science. And all this before Hirschfeld hot potatoes and Mackay cupcakes!

2005 saw my role shift again, and I became responsible for the organisation of the whole event. Yet another perspective working with the ever-accommodating and creative ground staff, the inspired academic and professional staff, the caterers, the Senior Leadership Group, and the hardworking support groups which, of course, included the ubiquitous OGA. All working towards a vibrant, exciting and dynamic Open Day, which captured us all, well into the evening.

A permanent accoutrement for the day was a two-way radio worn constantly on my hip. During the late morning the two-way kicked in with, ‘Pauline, we have a problem. Can you meet me on the terraces?’ I arrived to seeing five groundsmen looking upwards at a tree fern. Happily coiled at the top was a very laconic carpet snake. All five pairs of eyes dropped to me. After ascertaining we had no experienced snake handlers amongst us, I went immediately to Reception and rang the RSPCA. Said snake was respectfully removed during the chaos of lunchtime, much to the enjoyment of the students. Another problem solved.

However, how do we compare this calm snake removal to the catastrophe of COVID-19? In 2021, an immaculate-looking school and the infiltration of the virus led to a two-week lockdown impacting thousands of Queenslanders, including what seemed like the vast majority of Brisbane’s medical profession. Owing to personal circumstances, I was unable to attend this Open Day, which meant I could deliver sustenance to my then-quarantined sister, Kristine, who had diligently attended that event, her 56th Open Day.

Successful Open Days require an enormous amount of preparation, effort, and creativity by the whole School community. Although memories blur, staff change, and Grammar girls become Grammar Women, what underpins this success and remains the same, always, is the buzz of the occasion, the joy of returning Grammar Women looking to link with past staff members and friends, the pride in the School looking vibrant, beautiful, loved, and welcoming, and the joie de vivre of the current students greeting the next cohort who will make their mark on this extraordinary school. Come on Grammar blue, blue, blue!