Secondary School
What an exciting week we have had in Secondary School! The atmosphere at the Athletics Carnival on Friday was superb and a wonderful final sports carnival for our Year Twelve students as well as a fantastic first Athletics Carnival for our Year Seven students. We were able to enjoy some beautiful weather and an unusually dry track which contributed to the festival feel. The high levels of participation were wonderful to see with a highlight being every Year Twelve student present participating in the final team game.
Since then, our Years Seven, Eight and Nine students had a wonderful day at the cricket, a group of Year Eleven students participated in an engaging RAC road safety event, all students have selected a Club for this term’s Values and Christian Service (VACS) program, and our Year Twelve students have completed their final formal classes in the lead up to Valedictory on Friday.
At Assembly on Monday, some Year Twelve students shared the following words with the Secondary School.
Stella Boyce:
Good morning, and welcome to the last Secondary School assembly with the Year Twelves. The last six years for the Year Twelves has been a blast, and today I’d like to share with you all, the exciting things you all get to look forward to in the years to come.
As you begin Secondary School, your education can feel like a chore. Something you have to do and not something you want to. Although I can’t promise that thought process will change completely, I can assure you that it will improve and you will begin to think of school as a privilege at the very least. At the moment you might find yourself fighting against the teachers, arguing, getting told off, they’re all against you. Believe or not, they’re here to help you and support you on your journey through school, and although it might not feel like it now, they are on your side.
As you get into Years Nine and Ten, you find yourself realising that school is slowly getting harder, and more meaningful. The first exams begin and you start thinking about the subjects you might like to do in Years Eleven and Twelve. That’s a hard decision, don’t rush it, make the decision based on what you want to do, not what you think others want you to do.
Then finally, you reach the final sprint, the last little bit of your schooling, and you begin to get excited to leave, and finally finish. Then you get to this point of your schooling, the last few weeks, and you realise you’re going to miss it all. The socials, the camps, the excursions, the class parties, the mocktail party, the ball, the kitchenette, and your cohort. Don’t miss the fun parts of your schooling while you’re stuck focusing on the fact that it’s boring. And don’t get me wrong school isn’t short, I mean 14 years in education is an insanely long time, but you have to embrace that, make memories, get to know people, learn, thrive and have fun.
Build relationships with your teachers, see them as your support system, not your enemies. Enjoy it, because in the end, this is the place that is building you up and supporting you to become the adult we all know you can be.
Pierce Newman:
When I was in Year Seven my biggest concern about moving to boarding school was missing my favourite holiday of the year the Newdegate Machinery Field days. The highlight of the day being checking out the latest and greatest farm machinery. One of the greatest machines today is John Deere X9 1100 it is currently the most powerful combine in the world. Boasting 690 hp and a 100 ton per hour harvesting rate, the machine is the epitome of agricultural efficiency.
Combine harvesters are extremely complicated machines, a processing plant on wheels it takes whole plants from the field then refines them to remove the rubbish such as the stem and chaff. To produce a perfected final product that is shipped around the world.
In total the X9 combine has over 8000 individual parts. Pulleys, belts, bearings, bolts and wiring. Like all things the whole process revolves around one key component, this being the turbo charged 13.6 Litre diesel engine but like our school grounds this big hunk of metal is pretty useless without the thousands of other smaller parts that support it.
Our teachers, parents and family make up the supporting parts around our school, so as my final message to the Secondary School is never be too hard on the people around you. Just like parts in a header these people are all there to support you and push you towards becoming the best version of yourself.
And as much as you might not get along with these people there’s never any use being hard on them, as just like parts in a harvester you might wear them out. Then these people who our school cant run without, may leave and our school wouldn’t be the same. Be grateful for them, show appreciation and always remember that they are there for you.
Alessandro Genovese:
My journey at GSG is something that now only a few people in the Year Twelve cohort can say they’ve experienced. I’ve been wearing a Grammar uniform for over 14 years, but I’ve actually been rocking up for over 18 years now, starting out in a pram, thanks to having an older sister here. It’s been a real journey for us, and we’ve lived through a whole lot of changes around here including the 10 different hairstyles of Dr Mitrovski.
There's the obvious highlights such as the Ball and having naps back in Kindy, but my personal favourite was always winning the spoon game in Mr Davidsons Year One class.
I do want to thank all the teachers for their guidance and patience over the years. I can acknowledge that we weren’t the easiest of cohorts, especially with our four-square reputation and hallway mischief. I’d also like to thank my fellow Year Twelves who’ve made it this far through the hardships of schooling. It’s definitely created a group of strong, ambitious young adults who I know can succeed in anything they pursue in the future.
I remember it was about seven years ago when I was sitting out there as my sister Claudia did the same speech that I’m doing right now. And to be honest, even though it was my sister, I probably wasn’t listening, so I don’t expect you to have listened to mine. But If I can leave you all with one thing, to those who are listening right now, and to those staring at the ceiling waiting for me to shut up, don’t listen to anyone who says that your schooling is short, because it’s definitely not, it’s actually painfully long. But that’s the beauty of it, it’s a whole lot of time to make memories, some good lifelong friends, achieve some milestones, but most importantly setting yourself up for the real world.
As much as I want to end my schooling by saying “hell yeah, I’m done with this place”, I don’t think I can, because I will truly miss it here, and you’ll come to realise that too. It's not gonna be easy to walk away from here knowing that I’ll no longer be one of Ms Mordy’s special cabbages.
Rosie Page:
As cliché as it sounds, the past six years have flown by before our eyes. From the beginning, in the Endeavour boarding house, my young Year Seven self would not have believed where I am today.
I remember starting at Great Southern Grammar at 12, an enormous adjustment from a school of 25 kids total, transitioning to 25 simply in a class. I would never have admitted it then, but it was one of the most terrifying experiences of my life. Boarding was a large turning point in my life, and from this experience, I was able to grow independent and honestly, realise how quickly we were all growing up.
Through not only boarding, but day school, I began to grow lifelong friendships, ones that have lasted through the duration of Secondary school. Transitioning through our middle school years, we began as the terror group, the one that ‘happened’ to be the last year of three teacher's head of year careers. These years were filled of Seb breaking many things, and Mrs Henderson’s amazing stories about her life in South Africa - especially those of the unique animals that she owned, including a pet buffalo. Despite this, I believe that we have grown into a very liked year group. As I look back, there were many moments that I will remember vividly, such as going into the first round of exams in Year Ten, and now, it seems like a lifetime ago.
I would not have been able to develop into the person that I am today without the aid of the school. I have been able to learn so much from individuals within GSG, whether educational, or simply life skills. Due to this, I’d like to thank all the staff that have been a part of my schooling journey. Thank you to my teachers over the years that have enabled and pushed me to perform to the best of my abilities, despite my own doubts. Special thank you to Mrs Stone for helping to navigate through two very important years of life, despite many breakdowns in her office, and encouraging myself and others to achieve what we are in fact, very capable of achieving.
To the Secondary School, don’t rush through these years of your life. You’ve got all the time ahead of you, and before you know it, this small portion of your life will be complete. Begin to cherish the moments and times that you experience at school, and don’t worry about growing up and being able to do all the cool grown up things, just be a kid while you are one, you’ll soon be graduating and wishing that you didn’t rush through the years.
To the class of 2023, I would not have wanted to grow up beside any other group of people. You have all made school such an enjoyable experience, and I wish everyone the best for their future aspirations. Let’s enjoy the last couple of weeks that we have together as we go into exams. I cannot wait to see what the future holds for everyone over the next month, and in following years to come.
Ivy Moir:
Good morning everyone, I hope that you have all had a lovely start to your Term Four. It seems very bittersweet standing here talking to you all today, although I am beyond excited for the next chapter of my life to begin, I am understandably a little sad to leave what has been my home for the last 14 years. As I reflect upon my time at Grammar, my most memorable moments were those that took place in the things I was doing outside of the classroom.
The music department has been my safe space throughout my entire time here and I greatly encourage everyone to find a way to get involved there. A special thank you to the Pipe Band, it was truly a once in a lifetime experience to be a part of, and I am very sad to be leaving behind my kilt-wearing days.
If I could give my Middle School self one piece of advice it would be to not be in such a rush to get older and move on. When you get to the end of Year Twelve you will realise how quickly time seems to have flown, and wish that you could go back to Mr Mclean’s Year Seven science lessons learning about Mrs Gren acronyms, or have Mr Gibson tell you to show your working about a hundred times in a Year Eight Maths double.
Moving up to Year Ten was an interesting experience as we all separated ourselves from the middle schoolers, but also we probably weren’t quite mature enough to be considered Senior School. Year Ten also brought about our very first exams, and although this was a stressful time, Mr Ruggera was incredibly enthusiastic to help us with our preparation for the English exam by accidentally emailing the exam to half of the Year Ten cohort.
As we moved into Year Eleven, we were all so excited to finally have control over which subjects we wanted to do. Please take every opportunity you can get to talk to the Year Elevens and Twelves in your homeroom about the subjects that they do and what they like or don’t like about these subjects to see what will be the right fit for you.
You’ve heard it before, but I’ll say it again, this final year really has gone by so incredibly fast. Year Twelve has been so memorable and I have made so many memories that I will treasure forever. I would be lying if I said that I’ve enjoyed every minute, as I probably could’ve gone without the three-hour exams, but it was 100% worth it and I am so grateful for every single person who has made this year such a wonderful experience.
To the teachers, I thank you for everything I have learnt from you and the ways that you have pushed me to be better and grow as a person. To the younger students, make it your mission to make everyday fun. To those of you drawing closer to the end of your school life, soak up every second, and make as many memories as you can.
Finally, to my fellow Year Twelves. Thank you so much for making the last 14 years of my life so incredibly fun. Thank you for the laughs, the stories of our ratty middle school times, and the everlasting memories. A special thank you to those of you who have been by my side since the beginning. No one could have known how much trouble that little gang of kids in red and navy-blue polo shirts could get into.
Good luck to all of you, I can’t wait to see where each and every one of you end up.
Online Literacy and Numeracy Assessment (OLNA)
Our next round of OLNA starts next week for our Year Nine students. Many of them have been working hard to prepare for these assessments by attending targeted support sessions and accessing the materials provided on MyGSG. We wish these students the best of luck for these assessments.
Elevate
We’re excited to announce that Elevate Education will be hosting a free webinar for our parents on Wednesday 25 October.
Elevate Education works with our students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how you can help better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school:
How You Can Help Your Child Manage Their Time
Wednesday 25 October, 6.30pm (AEDT)
In this webinar Elevate will be showing parents how to:
✅ Align family expectations on homework
✅ Work with your child on managing other activities such as your child's hobbies or sports
✅ Create the best weekly planner tool for your child
Mrs Victoria Turnor | Head of Secondary