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
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