The Round Square Movement
The Round Square Movement is an international organization of sixty independent schools world wide. It serves as a network which embraces a commitment beyond academic excellence to encourage personal development of every student, the acceptance of responsibility and the acceptance of service for the good of others.

Round Square Schools believe in the promotion of 6 IDEALS:
I – International knowledge, awareness and friendship. This can happen through simple awareness activities within the school, through exchanges, conferences and interaction with all out sister and brother schools.

D - Democracy. This element must permeate every aspect of the school with every student having the means for expressing opinions and views, having a chance for participation and having an equal chance alongside other students for experiencing leadership opportunities
E- Environment. It is a serious responsibility of Round Square schools that they take care of the environment through awareness, action and programs which enhance the environment

A - Adventure. Programs and opportunities are offered to students in Round Square schools which challenge students mentally and physically. These may be small and local activities or international in scale.

L - Leadership. This can take many forms but there is a general facilitation of activities, personal challenges and programs which encourage initiative in leading to achieve outcomes for a better world.

S - Service. It is a strong pillar of the movement that service will be undertaken at all levels – local, regional, national and international in whichever creative ways are possible. Some of this will involve fund raising but some may simply be contact, awareness, physical service in an area, etc.

Membership has to be applied for and requires demonstration of adherence to the ideals over an extended period. There is a financial commitment which is substantial and this is used for administration of the world-wide movement and the setting up of service projects and there is also an expected contribution to the Prince Alexander Fund which supports the purchase of building materials for official service projects.

After more than 6 years of Round Square activity at NEGS, the school was formally inducted into the world-wide Round Square organization in Victoria, Canada, in October 2008.

Round Square Conferences
It is expected that a party of NEGS students will annually attend the:
• Senior Australasian Conference
• Junior Australasian Conference
• International Conference

In all these cases the attendance numbers are suggested as 6 students and up to 3 staff per school.

Junior Conferences have been attended in New Zealand and in Sydney, Senior Australasian Conferences in Singapore and Perth and an International Conference was attended in Victoria, B.C., Canada. Two students went as guest delegates to an international conference at The Daly College, Indore ( India).
Conferences are gatherings of like minded students from member schools who debate and learn and apply the six ideals of Round Square to a program which engages and challenges delegates. They are held annually at a different school location each year.

Exchange Program
Through membership of this network, access to exchanges of students is encouraged. Year 8 students exchange within the Australasian region for 2 weeks. Year 10 students can exchange within Australasia or overseas for up to a term.

The Round Square Exchange Coordinator has compiled an information booklet with exchange information for students and their parents.

At this date ( Feb 2009) exchange students have come from Ballarat Grammar School (Ballarat Victoria), St Phillips School, (Alice Springs ), Woodridge College ( South Africa), The Daly College (Indore, India), Gordonstoun ( Scotland) and Aiglon College, (Switzerland). Later this year we expect a student from ‘L’Ermitage (Paris ) and The Regent’s School ( Thailand).

At this date ( Feb 2009) we have arranged for NEGS students to go to Woodridge College ( South Africa), Appleby College ( New Brunswick, Canada), Aiglin College (Switzerland), Gordonstoun ( Scotland), ‘L’Ermitage (Paris), The Daly College ( Indore, India) and The Regent’s School ( Thailand).

Leadership
NEGS prides itself on the student body contributing to every aspect of the school’s growth and development. NEGS provides many opportunities for leadership experience, starting, in the Secondary School, right from Year 7. Leadership qualities such as preparedness for Assembly speaking, formal thankyou speeches to school guests, reports to parent bodies and representing the school in the wider community are common responsibilities in everyday life at NEGS. As students progress through higher years the expectations in leadership become more demanding in time and complexity and each NEGS girl grows, knowing and accepting this responsibility. Official positions are recognized in the SRC Committee, Prefect and Captaincy roles, Round Square representative responsibilities, sporting representative responsibilities and the like. The L in IDEALS is a role which NEGS continually looks to expand with a belief that student driven initiatives result in student ownership of the activity and better outcomes for all from leaders of the activity to participants.

Service
It is expected that Round Square IDEALS will permeate all aspects of the school with a heavy emphasis on service. The school has a policy of 10 hours of compulsory service per student per year. This can be any service of choice ( with some consultation with the Year Advisor if there is any doubt as to suitability in qualifying as service) and is recorded and signed by a responsible person in the student’s Year Book. NEGS has more than met the criteria for membership but is required to build upon this and the other IDEALS for deeper commitment.
In addition, Round Square members can undertake any needed service projects and these can be local, national or international and as well there are official international service projects where students from many countries contribute labour and love to specified projects, usually in Third World countries.

Staff Coordinators and Communication at NEGS
An official Round Square website is maintained and New England Girls’ School is listed as a full member, with a link to the NEGS website.

At NEGS there are 4 executive teacher coordinators:
• Round Square School Coordinator and International Conference Coordinator: Mrs Heather Fisher
• Exchange Coordinator: Mrs Stephanie Thomas
• Senior Australasia Conference Coordinator : Mrs Kay Hiscox
• Junior Australasia Conference Coordinator: Ms Megan Druce

These executive teachers meet formally from time to time and meet informally very frequently for information exchange and discussion.

Whole School Support
The School Board and management of the school has been very supportive of initiatives, projects and the general aims of the Round Square movement at NEGS and encourages exchanges and interaction with other schools. There are substantial expenses but the exposure of NEGS as one of only three Round Square schools in NSW is seen as an important credential of the school.
It is an imperative of the Round Square Movement that the activities of Round Square be student driven. The staff is seen in a facilitating and convening role with all meetings, committees, projects and activities essentially being run by students. It is also expected that Round Square ideals will be accepted as a whole-school philosophy and that these ideals will be embedded in activities, programs, service projects and the like.

Duke of Edinburgh’s Award
NEGS has adopted a rigorous endorsement of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award program and this correlates very comfortably with the IDEALS of Round Square. The Awards are a relatively recent addition to the co-curricula programs but already they are a firm and strong element in the school fabric. It is compulsory for all Year 9 students to participate and complete their Bronze Award. Students are then given the opportunity and encouraged to continue with the Award program through Silver and Gold levels. The vision is for senior girls to progress to toward completion of the Gold Award challenges. The program comprises involvement in sport, attainment of proficiency in a chosen skill, completion of a community service commitment and meeting the challenges of planning and conducting an outdoor expedition. At the Gold level there is an additional requirement that the participant must undertake a residential project of 5 or more days to learn and interact with others of their own age group outside their school and peer group.

Gap Placements
While the facilitating of Gap Year placements is not essentially a function of the Round Square movement, there is an informal exchange of information between Round Square members about overseas students who would like placements at NEGS and conversely, NEGS students who would like a placement elsewhere. The Round Square Coordinator works in this area and for some years there have been placements at NEGS.
After some experimentation, it has been found that NEGS can comfortably accept two Gap Students. The Round Square Coordinator assists with communication of information to all enquiries from Australia and overseas, the settlement on an agreed contract with two Gappies per year ( usually beginning of October – end of June ), the arrangement of visas and travel, supervising and nurturing of the girls when they arrive, checking and furnishing of accommodation at school, arranging of the work timetable and all documentation associated with superannuation, taxation, bank accounts and other such details. The Round Square Coordinator meets regularly with the Gappies and with the teachers they are assigned to, working towards a harmonious, productive and enjoyable work experience where everyone benefits.

Heather Fisher
Round Square Coordinator
Feb. 2009