Learning within a dedicated girls’ environment is part of what makes Melbourne Girls Grammar a great place to study – there are no barriers or gender biases. The same can be said for boys-only schools. By actively creating opportunities for the two groups where they can engage on a level playing field and there is the opportunity to build equality across the sexes. In this context, as equals, it is possible to foster respectful relationships focused on common interests and shared goals.  

This year, our Grammarians have engaged on many levels with their counterparts at Melbourne Grammar engaging in lively debates, developing their creativity and talent on the stage, focusing on societal issues through philanthropic activities and sharing ideas gleaned from celebrated authors. They have also had the opportunity to simply enjoy each other's company through social gatherings.

An example of the two schools coming together as equals in the name of competition is the much-loved Domain Cup, a tradition which was revived by the 2022 MGGS and MGS SECs. This year, the schools competed fiercely on the netball court, passionately debated the topic of formals, and performed to their peers in 'Domain's Got Talent'. The competition for bragging rights is usually fierce, but the bonding and connection between students is clearly evident.  

The Melbourne Experience was a new opportunity for MGGS and MGS students to connect and learn in 2022. The St Hilda's program (Years 7 and 8) joined forces with MGS's Wadhurst program for a week of experiential learning for 350 students in November. Throughout the week, students covered cross-curricular content related to Geography, History, Maths and English by working in co-educational groups to produce a documentary on the topic of ‘Living in Melbourne’.  

2022 Community and Environment Captain Grace said community awareness and fundraising events such as Walk for Women and Clean Up Australia Day present fantastic opportunities to build connections and a sense of community between the two schools.  

"It's nice to create that sense of community again after the pandemic and to foster a stronger connection with MGS," she said.  

"When working on a cause like Walk for Women, where we are helping to raise awareness for an issue such as domestic violence; having two schools interact and discuss ...creates this centred awareness around an important issue."  

The Year 12 Grammarian added that interacting with other schools was a way to combat echo chambers within a school's student community.  

"Hearing lots of different perspectives and experiences is important, …[we] should broaden interactions with other schools," she said.  

"As part of the SEC, we went to the Alliance of Girls' Schools conference, which was amazing because we got to hear experiences from girls' schools from across Australia."  

"It's nice to connect to other schools because it allows us to come together and meet new people, which is the best thing."  

"It's beneficial for students to connect with as many schools as possible just to build that network because you never know where you're going to go and what career you're going to be in."  

MGGS Senior Years productions and MGS Quad and August productions are other valuable ways for MGGS and MGS students to come together and connect whilst creating and performing. Year 10 student Esther has featured in several productions with MGS, including Matilda, Romeo and Juliet and Guys and Dolls, in 2022. She says the opportunity to connect with her peers from MGS in productions was “incredibly important because of all the new opportunities that arise from being able to do things at both schools and the [different] experiences you gain".  

"My dream is to become an actor. Therefore, it was great to experience being involved in productions at two different schools that approach things differently and where I got to experience different styles of working. To collaborate … is essential."

Esther says the productions are great community builders and help create shared opportunities and networks that extend beyond their time at school.  

"[Our connection with MGS] gives you three years of getting to do different types of shows and enjoying alternative ways of approaching acting and theatre, so you see the best of both worlds whilst getting to meet new people," she said.  

"By the end of Year 12, you've got this community of Melbourne Grammar students and Melbourne Girls students, who genuinely go, 'we'll stay in touch after school'."  

"I honestly feel like I will have a community of people to reach out to."

Our Grammarians get all the proven benefits of a single-sex education but also get opportunities to work, exchange ideas and collaborate with their peers at MGS. Learning and discussion opportunities like the Stella Society's Literary Evening, The Melbourne Experience and the Healthy Relationship Workshops help provide these opportunities.  

Year 8 students Romy and Lexie said the Healthy Relationships workshop taught them how important it is to have ways that focus on ways of connecting with genuine respect.  

Lexie added how important it was for her to see how ideas can be challenged respectfully also, but that building a sense of true equality is hard.  There are some aspects to our ways of thinking that need to be tested and understanding where some of the thinking comes from can be eye-opening.

"There was one very controversial question, which was that women should get paid the same as men to play footy," she said.  

"A lot of the boys said ‘no, they shouldn't’. But all the women were very positive towards that, and we wanted to enforce that. But it was a very controversial argument.”

Like in a formal debate, Lexie and Romy could see that each side was trying to validate their opinions. What they learned was that each side needed to listen to the argument and come to a consensus. Robust discussion is important, and at times the ideas clash. What is important is that at the end, the students retain their respect, feel that they have been heard, and have the confidence to voice their ideas and opinions.

Year 10 Isabella said the Stella Society's Literary Evening with Evelyn Araluen was a valuable interaction for her to experience the different perspectives of her male peers whilst discussing Stella Prize-winning book Dropbear.  

"Through conversations like these, our viewpoints can be broadened, as we are invited to look not just directly in front of us but to use our peripheral vision to see the full picture," she said.  

"It was highly invigorating and engaging to not only listen to the ideas of the MGS students but to question them and arrive at the destination of heightened understanding of their views."  

With a shared love of literature, students from both schools unpacked the notion of what it means to be an indigenous woman writing in a conventional western form – poetry. It also enabled them to review the works of an award-winning author who set out to shine a light on the past and suggest a way forward for a decolonial future. This was a book with big ideas, big underlying issues, and for big thinkers!

"This was an ideal opportunity to debate and question one another's ideas, as both the MGS and MGGS students listened to one another's views not from an angle of judgement but rather from a wish to understand," Isabella said.

"This allowed for an environment characterised by collaboration; ...we increasingly bounced ideas off one another."  

"I left the event feeling as though I had made connections that were founded in something deeper than the typical bonding between teens."  

"I hope there will be many thought-provoking events like this one down the line, allowing us to share perspectives and, in doing so, to broaden our own."