From the Deputy Principal
NAIDOC Week
This week we are celebrating NAIDOC Week at GSG. The co-Chairs of the National NAIDOC Committee shared these thoughts:
In 2025, we celebrate 50 years of NAIDOC Week, celebrating our cultures and teaching about our people’s histories and cultures… The theme for 2025, ‘The Next Generation: Strength, Vision and Legacy,’ focuses on our youth… We want to highlight the amazing role our youth play in our futures. They are our strength, they provide our vision through their ongoing work with Elders in their own communities and they are responsible for future legacies.
Co-Chair National NAIDOC Committee Aunty (Prof) Lynette Riley AO (Wiradjuri and Gamilaroi)
And what better place to celebrate our youth than at school? We made a cracking start with our NAIDOC Assembly on Tuesday and it was a joy to hear Cameron Gravestock, a local Menang Noongar man, play the didgeridoo for us. I had the pleasure of watching the faces of our students light up as they listened, including one of our Primary School students whose eyebrows bounced up and down in time to the beat of the didgeridoo!! Two of our indigenous students, José Bin Omar and Zane Cairns spoke beautifully at the assembly and we followed this up with activities in the Library, with students making bracelets.
This week, every student in the school has been involved in NAIDOC activities in some way, and we welcomed members of our local community, Nan Eliza Woods, Aunty Lea and Geraldine Martin to teach us about damper making, creating beautiful textiles and learning Noongar language, just to name a few activities. We had our Secondary School students participate in activities including a Marngrook game, basketball, Deadly Mob hip hop dancing, and documentary films.
Our celebration of NAIDOC Week reminds us all of our role in reconciliation, to acknowledge the importance of all Australians coming together, recognising the truths of our past and creating a bright future for us all. A special thanks to our Indigenous Student Support Officers, Lewis Ward and Madi van der List, for their leadership in such an amazing week for all our students.
Staffing update
This term we welcome Chaplain Levi Cosh to the GSG community in partnership with Youth Care. Levi is a former boarding student with qualifications in ministry and is currently studying to become a Primary School teacher.
Levi’s appointment comes after a period of prayer and discernment and with the School Council endorsement, we are thrilled to welcome Levi back home to the GSG community.
GSG also welcomes Lynette Swarbrick – Music Tutor, Ashlee Hepburn – International GAP Assistant – Boarding, Keeley Grove – Teacher practicum, Term Three and Chloe Flockart – Artist in Residence Possum Project. Please join me in warmly welcoming these members of staff to our community.
In other news, Gary Fullarton has resigned from his position as a Mathematics Teacher. He has served the GSG community for 23 years and we give thanks for his contribution and wish him every success for the future. David Moule has completed his time at GSG as an IT Technician and we wish him the best for his future.
The school is currently recruiting for an HR Advisor and is in the process of appointing a new Head of Business Operations and an IT Technician.
Mrs Emma Franklin | Deputy Principal - Head of Teaching and Learning
This NAIDOC Week, we pray for a more equitable future where all people in Australia can live with dignity, respect, and justice.
May we walk together with open hearts, acknowledging our shared histories and the truths that have shaped our nation.
May we work with courage and compassion to build a country where the rights and aspirations of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples are honoured, upheld, and celebrated.
May we be a school community that lights the way towards a more reconciled future alongside our Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander brothers and sisters in the spirit of love, truth and unity.
Amen.