From the Head of Boarding

This term seems to have flown by, but we have seen quite a bit of activity around the boarding houses. With the restrictions in place and the wild weather we have had to make adjustments to our day to day. 

Farming communities are also being creative with how they communicate and the Farm Weekly has produced a Virtual Agricultural Field Day.  GSG Boarding features in the school section of this edition.  A link to this special edition of the magazine can be found here.

Farewell Jenny Colgate

This term we received the news that we knew was coming, but tried hard to ignore.  Jenny Colgate has let the School know that she will resign her position as Head of Michaelmas House at the end of the year.  Jenny and Peter have been icons of GSG boarding and worked tirelessly to build this boarding community since their arrival in 2010. Jenny was a great support to Peter in the early days in his role as Head of Boarding, before taking up the position as Head of Michaelmas in 2019.  Jenny’s experience in boarding and commitment to the well-being and care of our boarders is something special and hard to find.  Initially committing to one year, we are very glad she stayed on and she will be missed.  Peter will stay on at GSG teaching Materials and Design and Jenny is looking forward to this new chapter in her life. We all wish Jenny and Peter the best of things in 2021.

Care Bags

Our boarding community is getting behind a fundraising initiative introduced to us by our own Brianna Cunningham.  Over the next week we will collect items suitable for inclusion in a ‘care bag’. The bags will be filled with essential items and given to young children entering foster care.  This is such a wonderful gesture and I really encourage everyone to donate an item and send it back to boarding to be included in the care bags. 

Forum

We saw reduced numbers at the forum in Week Four, but we managed to connect to parents both here at Grammar and online via Teams.  Perhaps the bout of gastro we experienced in that week had an impact on parent attendance. During the forum we discussed the feedback we received from the parent pulse and I outlined some of the steps we’ve taken to address these. The minutes from the Boarding Forum can be found on MyGSG here.

Staff also completed a Boarding Pulse which allowed up to reflect on the services we provide, which fuels discussion for improvement.  18 Boarding staff returned the survey and a summary of the results can be found on MyGSG here.

Recreation was one such topic and our recreation calendar for Term Three can be found on MyGSG here. We are looking to include some new activities, including some activities we hope will interest the senior group.  Building memories of their time in boarding will be the most enduring thing our graduates take away from here.

Food Survey

In our discussion around food at the forum, I outlined how we have used smiley face survey (mood box) to gather data on which meals were enjoyed and which ones weren’t so popular. We collected data in this manner for one month.  A number of examples are included below.  After the novelty wore off, I think we collected some accurate data.  There were some clear differences in the tastes between boys and girls and also some difference between younger boarders and older boarders.  The challenge for the kitchen staff is to provide a menu that appeals to all tastes. Overall, boarders are really enjoying the new lunch format, with the online ordering system.   The kitchen staff have tried a few new items and these have been well received too. Food satisfaction is an ongoing issue and we will be receptive to the opinions of all our boarders and regularly make updates to the menu. Parents are most welcome to stay for dinner on Monday night when dropping your child/ren back to boarding.  We hope this might give you a break before your drive home.

Academics

Academics were also discussed at the forum.  In our analysis of the Semester One results, we were particularly interested in the effect online learning may have had on our boarders.  It seems that the Middle School was largely unaffected by the disruption and some very solid grades across the four core subject (Science, HASS, Mathematics and English) were seen.  The figures for Year Eleven and Twelve boarders show a mixture of successes.  It is not uncommon for students to choose an ATAR pathway for Year Eleven and decide that it doesn’t suit them and switch to a General pathway for Year Twelve.  This decision is a personal one and there are merits to knuckling down and graduating on an ATAR pathway however, approximately 70% of university enrolments are currently coming from a general pathway.  It’s important for our boarders to have conversations with parents and staff around this and reflect on their own needs and abilities.

Those students receiving D grades will have conversations with their HoBH in order to focus on a way forward.  Typically, improvements will lie in three areas: mindset, strategy and support. Mindset relates to internal motivation, developing resilience and having set goals.  A strategy will include attending extra tutorials and creating a study plan.  The support can be found in the encouragement and advice from parents, Heads of Boarding House, teachers and tutors.  A student’s friendship circle will also have a real impact on their motivation and overall performance.  We see this type of collaborative study behaviour all the time in our open study sessions in the library and the common areas of the senior houses.

Boarding Parent Gatherings

On Friday of Week Five we took the opportunity to invite parents of Year Eight and Nine boarders for lunch at Anchorage House. This coincided with the School's Future Pathways presentation for Year Nine students and parents.  It was a nice way to catch up over a coffee.  Thanks to the catering staff for providing the lunch.

On behalf of the Heads of Boarding, I’d like to invite all parents and guardians to our Boarding Gathering on Friday 11 September, in Week Eight.  We have looked to provide an opportunity for our boarding parents to catch up and make new links and for the Heads of Boarding to catch up in a more informal setting than would otherwise be possible.  The venue for this event will be the Albany Golf Club and we will be able to provide a special rate for accommodation at Middleton Beach. An invitation for this event will be sent out in the coming week.

Quiz Night

The annual Boarders' Quiz Night was a fun, inclusive way to spend a Sunday evening.  We’re thankful for the flexibility of our kitchen team who put together some nice platters of healthy and treat foods for the boarders to enjoy.  Some great leadership was shown by Jess Dolan and Amberley Daw who came down to help direct the girls in the set-up of the night and then from Josh Pearce and Jacob Featherstone who directed the boys to pack everything up at the end.  Mariah Lennard did a great job running the ice-cream bar at intermission, as a part of her fundraising efforts to ‘pay it forward’ to allow another Yalari scholar the opportunity to come to a boarding school like GSG.  I was very impressed in the manner in which our boarders mingled and participated in the events on the night.  A special mention also goes to the Year Nine boys who stayed behind to help carry the props back to their storage area, despite the wet, wintery night we found ourselves in.  Well done Grammar Boarders'.

Mr Brendan Goggins | Head of Boarding