Page 12 - 2019 - Altiora Vol 71 Sem 2

12 |

CELLULOID STARS

Move over Middle Earth! It was a Christmas tale like no other, with the
premiere of this year’s major creative arts project at the Preparatory
School, filmed entirely in ‘Middle Mountains’, in the style of Lord of the
Rings.

The Preparatory School staff and students produce a feature-length film
every two years, alternating with a major stage production, and each film
tells the Nativity story in different genres. Previous films have included
a western (Davidstown), a sci-fi hit (Star Wars) and even a swashbuckling
parody of The Pirates of the Carribean. They have even explored
special effects such as green screen technology to film the students as
Super Heroes.
Students in Stage 2 take lead in each film, although every student and
staff member is involved, with the process allowing the students to gain
an understanding of film-making, from script development through to
post-production. These blockbusters are developed under the direction
of Stage 2 teacher Mr. Andrew Phillips, and are the highlight of the
Preparatory School’s annual Celebration Evening at the end of the year.

HICES DEBATING
After 535 debates, involving 45 schools, 236 teams and 1,388
students, the 2019 Heads of Independent Co-educational
Schools (HICES) Debating Competition concluded for the
year and, although none of our teams reached the Finals, they
achieved tremendous success in each of the rounds in which
they debated. Every member of the HICES teams showed
great passion for debating and contributed to the overall
success of their team and the School.

As the result of what their coaches, Mrs. Manners, Mrs.
Grassmayr and Mrs Roberson, described as their “unbridled
enthusiasm and dedication in ensuring they gave of their
best in each round”, BMGS was announced the winner of the
HICES Champion Debating School for 2019 - a magnificent
achievement! At an Assembly in September, our Captain of
Debating, Matilda Merry (Year 11), proudly presented Mr.
Maynard, with the Champion Debating School Shield.

Also throughout the year, the BMGS Debators were powering
through the local Blue Mountains Debating Competition, in
which our students featured in four of the five Finals, with our
Year 10 team taking out the title.