A boy doesn’t have to be an academic genius, an arts maestro or a sporting superstar to excel at Ipswich Grammar School.

He really just needs to ‘buy in’.

We commenced ‘real school’ this week, and it has been wonderful. The ‘buzz’ around the school has been profound. The ‘buzz’ is the sound of boys and staff reconnecting, and it’s been music to my ears.

Every boy starts 2022 with a simple choice about what they are prepared to do to take advantage of the superb opportunities which IGS provides for them.

Wonderful academics, ‘A grade’ sports, diversity in the Arts, leadership challenges and deeply authentic mateship are all here for the taking.

It’s now ‘buy in’ time boys.

Over 190 newly enrolled boys now proudly can call Ipswich Grammar School their school. It’s not easy starting somewhere new, whether ‘new’ is your first year of schooling in Prep or ‘new’ is commencing in the IGS secondary school.
We understand the challenges involved with ‘new’ because all of us have experienced similar moments in our lives. That’s why we implement so many formal and informal strategies designed to ensure newly enrolled IGS boys are welcomed, supported and encouraged.

Our Year 12 prefects and white shirts will often lead the way in supporting this connection. We know after two relatively disconnected COVID years at IGS that a connected up IGS is greater than the sum of its parts. When we connect effectively at IGS, every individual grows through the experience, as in turn does the entire school. 1100 IGS boys is a force of nature and a force to be reckoned with.

Our school is only as strong as our loneliest boy and as settled as the last boy who is lost between classes, so judge us less by the performance of the highest achieving IGS boys and more by how a boy whose parents thought he might not make it; has flourished. This is a school for every boy and for parents experiencing IGS for the first time; you will observe our actions and behaviours play out in such a way that this ideal is clear to all.

My best wishes to all of our new families and their sons.

Until next time

Richard Morrison
Headmaster