From the Principal
P&F Sundowner and Craig Challen
Last Thursday, the P&F held a Sundowner followed by a presentation by Dr Craig Challen. Craig is an Australian cave diver who saved a soccer team of twelve boys and their coach trapped in a Thai Cave. This event was well-attended and proved to be a crowd pleaser. Craig motivated and inspired the audience with his story that gripped the world in 2018. Thank you to P&F President, Mr Jim Darmody, Vice President, Mr Darryl Hancock and Community Relations Manager, Mrs Julia Bairstow for their wonderful coordination of the event. Special thanks are also extended to Chef Nick and the Years Eleven and Twelve VET Hospitality students who assisted with the preparation and presentation of a range of appetisers they then served to the guests.
Book Week
As part of Book Week, I was asked, “What book are you currently reading Mr Sawle?” I then explained to the student that I just finished reading Against All Odds, written by Craig Challen. I never would have read this book if it was not for the visit to GSG by Craig last week. Actually, I didn't even know he had written a book. It was the generosity of P&F President, Mr Jim Darmody, who shared his personal copy with me. I thoroughly enjoyed the book, reading about the human struggles, the joy of success and the courageous nature of all of those involved in the Thai cave rescue. Reading provides the opportunity to broaden one’s understanding. Without reading, you can limit the capacity to learn from someone else. Reading a book and then listening to the author, who is one of the main characters, makes this year’s Book Week a special week for me.
Agriculture Programme
Next year, the School Agriculture programme will look a little different. After careful consideration of the School’s current and future development, the difficult decision has been made to remove the cows from the Agriculture programme. All current stock will be sold or returned to their original owners.
The School will continue to offer a variety of agriculture options including the vineyard and market garden and will explore different opportunities for 2023. I would like to acknowledge Farm Manager, Mr Julian Gugenheim, for his commitment to the development of the cattle programme over the past six years and thank him for his skillful cattle breeding, enthusiasm and hard work. Julian will now redirect his energies into other learning areas within the School.
The School is seeking expressions of interest from members of the community who may be interested in leasing approximately 50 acres of the Manley Land from the School. For more information, please contact Business Manager, Mr Andrew Orr, on 9844 0305 or andrew.orr@gsg.wa.edu.au.
GovHack
GovHack is an annual open government data competition held all over Australia and New Zealand. Like previous years, Albany was a dedicated centre. Historically GSG has performed well in this competition. In simple terms, GovHack is about working with government data to innovate and create solutions to a set range of government issues over a weekend. One topic that caught my attention was, 'how to we dispose of COVID waste?' This year we had three GSG teams across a variety of year groups. Thank you to IT Manager and teacher, Mr Kieran Bailey, who supported the students across the entire weekend. I was lucky enough to attend the opening and closing ceremonies and was impressed with the students' use of technology to solve these problems. National and State winners will be announced at the end of September. More information regarding the solutions our students came up with as well as pictures of the event are located in the Whole School News section. Well done to all student hackers.
Country Week
We wish our students travelling to Perth for Country Week a safe and enjoyable competition. It’s an honour to represent your school in competitions like Country Week and students are well aware of the expectations that go with wearing the Grammar school colours.
This experience is another opportunity for students to engage with each other and enjoy the company of other regional schools. Thank you to Mr Nathan Symonds for his coordination and thank you to the staff attending.
Radio Active Concert
At tomorrow night’s Radio Active concert, we welcome back former student Sophie Scott (Wilson, 2018). Sophie and other WAAPA students will perform alongside our VET Music students. We look forward to celebrating the talents of these students.
Kingfisher Concert
I hope you have managed to secure tickets to this year's much anticipated Kingfisher Concert, to be held on Wednesday 14 September. I would like to congratulate Maame Yeboah (Year Twelve) on her stunning artwork that is featured in the promotional material for the concert. Tickets to the concert can be purchased here: Great Southern Grammar Presents Kingfisher Concert | Arts and Culture Trust (artsculturetrust.wa.gov.au)
Mr Mark Sawle | Principal