Conversations with the Head: Recent Episodes
Bunbury Cathedral Grammar
Join Acting Head of School, Matthew O'Brien as he speaks to visitors, staff, students and members our community.
In this episode, Mr O'Brien speaks to Dr Sarah Jefferson, a senior lecturer at Edith Cowan University. Dr Jefferson discusses the make up of the Teenage brain, how it works and parents' role in supporting their development.
Join Head of School, Mr Matthew O'Brien in his latest podcast. In this episode, author and Ted X speaker, Mr Joel Whitwell and Deputy Head Boarding, Mrs Meredith McCarthy participates in a conversation about wellbeing, where Mr Whitwell shares his personal experiences about how he conquered adversity for the way he was born, and was able to step out of his comfort zone. The conversation is in conjunction with the newly introduced wellbeing program in Boarding called the ‘Lighthouse Program’.
In this episode, Mr O'Brien speaks to Mrs Kathy Chiera, The Head of Secondary and Deputy Head of School and reflects on the first Term in our 50th Year, the impacts of the current COVID-19 wave and look forward to the rest of 2022.
In this episode, Mr O’Brien speaks to the 2021 School Captains Tara Anderson and Henry Openshaw. Tara and Henry speak about when they joined the School, their growth since joining and highlights over the years. They also discuss the events and sports over the last Term, the upcoming events to end the year, their achievements with the student executive this year and finally what they are looking forward to for the future.
In this episode, Mr Matthew O'Brien speaks with the CEO of Nature Play WA, Mr Griffin Longley about modern parenting, the importance of unstructured outdoor play to encourage a full and healthy childhood and the many benefits of spending time in nature.
To find out more about Nature play WA, who are working to ensure that Western Australian children have access to time and space to play and to connect with our state’s greatest asset, our extraordinary natural environment, go to www.natureplaywa.org.au
In this special live recorded episode, Mr O'Brien speaks to some of the students and teachers during the Impact Week fair about the many meaningful projects that were run throughout the week. Impact Week is a week where we stop all timetabled classes, and students in Years 7 to 9 work in groups on passion projects that make an impact. As a full member of the Round Square Association, we leverage the Round Square discovery framework, taking advantage of the IDEALS, an acronym for Internationalism, Democracy, Environment, Adventure, Leadership and Service. Each project focusses on at least one of these ideals, and also must make an impact to the community in some way.
To read more about impact week, and see all the wonderful support we had from the community, go to www.bcgs.wa.edu.au/impact-week/
In this special Reconciliation Week episode, Mr O'Brien speaks with Mr Yates and Ms Douglas, who is doing her final practical placement with our Year 6 class. Mr Yates talks about his background, involvement with community development and his role supporting and working with our students and Ms Douglas discusses her own background and the story behind the book, 'Finding Our Heart', by Thomas Mayor and illustrated by Blak Douglas.
This episode is part two of a live recording of the Senior Secondary Parent Information Evening held on Thursday, 6 May 2021, and includes a panel of parents discussing their individual senior secondary experience. They provide advice and personal recommendations on how to support your child as well as about what to expect from the staff at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School. Thank you to the panel members, Rachel Jackson, Roxanne Wilson, Jodie Spanswick, Malinda Nixon and Amanda McGregor.
This episode is part one of a live recording of the Senior Secondary Parent Information Evening held on Thursday, 6 May 2021, and includes a panel of educational experts comprising Kathy Chiera, Head of Secondary, Georgina Ferreira, Future Students Engagement Co-ordinator at ECU, Naseem Mkandawire, Manager of the School Engagement Team at UWA. During the discussion definitions of educational terms are provided, details of how the ATAR is calculated and what it means is defined and pathway opportunities into tertiary institutions are outlined.
In this episode, instead of the normal end of Term One letter, Mr Matthew O’Brien speaks with Mrs Chiera, Mr Whirledge, Mr Forbes. Highlights for Term 1 2021 are discussed for Primary, Secondary and Boarding, and some of the upcoming events and plans for the rest of the year are announced.
In this episode, Mr Matthew O’Brien speaks with Mr Forbes, and students Miss Hill and Miss Telfer, and discuss all aspects of Boarding life, describing why students choose Boarding, a normal day and special events, the support and structure of Boarding, and some of the plans for the future.
In this episode, Mr Matthew O’Brien speaks with Mrs Chiera and Mrs Walker about Senior Secondary and the pathways available for the students at Bunbury Cathedral Grammar School. Information evenings, pathway planning interviews, subject selection and the resulting timetable creation is all discussed, along with the range of subjects and vocational options and specialist pathways with mentoring available for Senior Secondary students.
For more information about an information night being held, visit https://www.bcgs.wa.edu.au/event/senior-secondary-information-night/
In this episode, Mr O’Brien and Mr Mountford talk about looking after our wellbeing while we are remote working and learning.
In this episode, Mr O’Brien and Mr Cowan discuss the things people can do at home to look after their bodies whilst they are remote learning or working during the COVID-19 crisis. Be sure to check out the bonus video content to see the exercises and stretches demonstrated (https://vimeo.com/403185420). Sean is an Old Grammarian, and was Head Boy 2000, and in this episode we also get to hear about his journey since graduation and his involvement as a mentor in the Medical and Allied Health Specialist Program.
In this episode, Mr O’Brien and Mr Payne discuss the Digital Education Revolution, how schools have adopted it and how it has changed the way students learn at school, following the roll-out of the new Surface Pro stylus enabled devices to our Year 7 and 10 students.