Breaksea House News

The last few weeks in Breaksea House have been full of the excitement of the upcoming Year Twelve Ball, many gym sessions, netball trials and celebrating International Women's Day. It is always so lovely when spending time with the students in your boarding house is a positive experience and this is the way all the supervisors feel working in Breaksea. 

Congratulations to all those students who have been selected for the various Winter Sports teams. There was a lot of excitement when the Netball teams were announced for the new season last week. Thank you to those young people who are also volunteering as coaches for the season with younger students. Additionally, last week Tiffany Butterworth spent her long weekend supporting her local town in a swimming championship. I hear that she did very well. We strongly encourage all our students to be involved in various sporting or gym activities throughout the week and weekends. Currently, we have many students who are making good use of Snap Fitness and Body Care gyms in town. 

International Women's Day

Each young person has responded cooperatively to the numerous changes that have occurred with COVID regulations. It is always encouraging to see young people choose to look for the new opportunities when faced with uncertainty, rather than respond negatively. This was evident a few weeks ago when a discussion about having a guest speaker for International Women's Day was discouraged due to only boarders and staff allowed in boarding houses. It was one of the students who came up with the idea the person could stand outside the boarding house and the girls all sit on the front verandah and listen. This created a wonderful alternative and one which was truly appreciated by all the students. 

The theme for this year's IWD was #breakthebias and the students in Breaksea sought to "break the bias" by listening to the lived experience of Michelle Salisbury and then working with one of our boarding supervisors, Janet McArtney, to create attractive boxes to collect donations for the Women's Shelter in Albany. Thanks also to the kitchen staff who baked very yummy pink profiteroles for the evening. Below is a reflection written by Kobie Featherstone and Ella Main after the evening. 

On International Women’s Day, Tuesday 8 March, we had a guest speaker Michelle Salisbury come to Breaksea Boarding House. She shared her story and her personal experiences of being in an abusive relationship and how she’s developed as a person since that time. The story she shared was very eye opening, as she spoke with us in a very raw and honest way. After sharing, Michelle was open to questions and answered in an emotionally honest manner. I enjoyed how she was so open to talking about her past, as it takes a lot of courage and bravery. We gained insight into how a person can grow in strength and resilience and the need for other women to encourage and support the person on their journey. Her willingness to be vulnerable was inspiring and we hope to see more of this throughout our boarding community.

Afterwards, we created boxes for the Albany Women’s Refuge. This idea was given to us by Mrs McArtney who volunteers with the Soroptimists and she shared how they support women locally. We had a lot of fun making these boxes, being creative and knowing that they are going to help many women around the community. We recognise how important it is for people to receive dignity, through the kindness of donated items such as toiletries. These boxes are going to be placed all around the school for the entire GSG community to contribute by donating items. 

Year Twelve Ball Excitement

There is a lot of excitement throughout Breaksea about the Year Twelve ball this weekend. Numerous beauty appointments have been attended, gowns being steamed at the dry cleaners and the compulsory "walking in heels" practice up and down the corridors. Thank you to the various boarding staff who have ferried students to appointments, collected dresses from dry cleaners or supported the young people preparing for the weekend. We will be taking a bus to Retravision Stadium on Saturday night, so the Years Ten and Eleven students can also join in the excitement of supporting their fellow boarders on the red carpet. Look out for photos in the next edition of the Buzz. 

COVID Regulations

Thank you to all the parents and guardians for your support of our COVID regulations and requirements. If you have any questions or wish for a front verandah cup of tea, please let us know. 

Birthdays

We give our best wishes to Xanthe O'Neill who recently celebrated her 15th birthday.  We also have Chloe Roberts celebrating her birthday this coming weekend.

Ms Vanessa Bromhead | Head of Breaksea House