Anchorage House News
What a great start to the year we are having in Anchorage as Term One starts to gather momentum. Thank you to the parents who have dropped in and said hello, it’s been great to meet you and make the connection to you and your son in boarding. As our new boarders transition into boarding life and the return of the existing ones, we have seen a varied range of emotions as boys bond and fit into living in a communal environment.
Trust and Respect
Our theme this year is Trust and Respect and we have chatted about how this looks and how this will drive our culture in Anchorage house. We know adolescent boys won’t always make the right decision, we are about checking poor decisions and owning them moving forward, so we don’t keep making them. Always a good read for parents is one of Steve Biddulph's books Manhood where he explains the role teachers play in developing a co-parenting and mentoring role in boys’ emotional development (so that school is an extension of family and the whole boy is the focus and aim.) In Anchorage House we are about boys having fun with other boys, being noisy, wild and safe. Be proud of being male and maintain a good network of friends. We understand that the self-made man is a myth Waterman's- we all need the help of others to make and sustain change. Through all these moments over the last three weeks, the boys have been learning about themselves and how to get along with others.
I have really been impressed with this group in the way they are moving in a forward direction with how they speak and interact with staff and their peers and I am super excited to be working with them as they start or continue their journey at GSG boarding this year.
Recreation
Our boys have been busy during the week and over the weekends, they have energy to burn, so it has been great keeping pace with expending energy and finding time to rest and recover. One thing I have really enjoyed is seeing these 'old men' get together and sort out teams then get into either AFL on the back oval or the big bash in the nets. A typical week will see our boys after breakfast hit the nets or ride a bike before school. After school, boys can be at the nets before dinner or riding their bikes or in Kade Watermans case riding Mr Keatches e-scooter around.
On the weekends the juniors have had a chance to swim at Middleton beach, fish near the whale station groyne, ride the trail track to Lower King bridge and back, or have a SUP down the beach. There have been trips into town and the slippery slide also came out and was put into action.
Prep
This is the prep routine that we are running in both Anchorage and Endeavour Houses. It is based around students taking ownership of their learning by starting prep with a reflection of what they have learnt for the day, then organising a priority dot point list of what they need to focus on for the evening.
Staff are able to check in with students and see what they have for that night to work on based on the dot points. If a child doesn't have any homework, we are asking them to write dot points on what they have learnt in each subject for the day, so they can use them as study notes or revision. As part of the prep routine students have 10-15 minutes of reading, this can be silent or to one of the staff.
Finally, we have two x 20-minute sessions of work. The first one is silent for boarders to try and work independently, the second one is for checking in with peers from the same class or group work.
Nyree and I are impressed with the boarders' attitude and buy into how they are adjusting to this new approach. The next part of this will be to measure the outcome through goal setting.
Mr Ashley Keatch | Head of Anchorage House