The Anchor

Senior School

From the Head of Senior School

Tom Mitchell - St Thomas More College

This week we have been lucky enough to welcome Mr Tom Mitchell to Senior School.  Tom is the Head of College from St Thomas More College in Perth and while he is keen to promote his College to our students, he has a passion for working with young people. 

Tom spoke to our Year Eleven and Twelve students and received rave reviews!  Year Twelve students reported that Tom talked to them about the importance of being a balanced person and he used biochemistry to explain why self-care is not optional. He urged students to be the best versions of themselves and to pursue what they love.

Year Eleven students told me that Tom was very entertaining and that he held their attention with his anecdotes and jokes.  They felt that he was enthusiastic and believed in the message he was sharing. Please talk to your children about their time with Tom, he gave them much to think about. Tom will be returning to Great Southern Grammar in Term Four to work with our 2023 Leadership group.

UniReady Pathway

This week I would like to introduce Liv Cook-Barron who is enjoying her UniReady Pathway.  Liv studied five ATAR and one General course in Year Eleven.  While she enjoyed all of her subjects, she was concerned that her results may not give her the ATAR she was hoping for so she made the change to a UniReady pathway in Year Twelve.  Liv said, “I love the independent learning.  The units are so diverse and the assessments are very manageable.  It’s great that I can use this course to access so many Universities and so many courses.”

 

When I asked her about the keys to success on this pathway, she told me: “It’s simple: you just have to do the work.  Pay attention in class and manage your time well.”  Liv is a keen sportsperson and plays basketball and netball for Griffins. She has just completed her training to be a swimming teacher and starts paid work next term. With so many University courses no longer having an examination element, this pathway is ideal for bright, hardworking students like Liv who struggle with exam performance but have the desire to study at University.

 

Mrs Victoria Turnor | Head of Senior School

GSSSSA Volleyball Tournament

Last week we had two teams represent GSG at the GSSSSA Volleyball tournament at ALAC. 

 

We are pleased to announce both the GSG teams won their respective boys and girls divisions. Congratulations to all players for playing and performing duties, which included umpiring (top ref and 2nd ref), scoring and lines. Many of these players train weekly and play in the local AVA which helps to show their commitment to the sport and why their skills are developing. We thank Mr Donaldson for organising our GSG teams to participate in the event, and thank Mitch at ASHS for being the host. 

 

Boys

The boys performed really well by only dropping one set for the whole tournament. We unfortunately could only field five on the day due to sickness affecting some of our players. There were some great plays involving all five players during the day, by working on our three touches and controlling the ball on our side of the net. Our service was instrumental in adding pressure to the teams we played, by creating freeballs back across the net, which assisted in turning defence into attack. It was a tight contest against St Joseph's College in the grand final with both sets going down to 25-23. There was some great plays and rallies by both teams and we would like to thank all coaches/staff/parents for attending and helping promote this supportive sport in the Great Southern.

 

Girls

The girls have put in a mountain of work over the last two seasons to prepare for events such as these. You get out what you put into sport, and the girls have been very committed attending two morning trainings a week, after school meetings, duties, multiple games per week and even training themselves when I couldn’t make it to a training. We played some beautiful volleyball, using our three touches, hitting the ball well and serving with venom. While individually all of the girls had their moments, the collective were solid all day, only dropping one set in the process for a dominant win. It was great to see them all playing with energy and positivity. Victory was a just reward for the effort they have all put in and it will serve as good preparation as we begin our journey towards Country Week 2022. 

 

Please congratulate the following players: Ben De Klerk, Bronté Fethers, Sian Tebbutt, Harrison Campbell, Lizzie Hodgkinson, Didi Cusack, Charlie Cosh, Stella Mellows, Charlotte Freeman, Henry Baker and Luke Harvey.

 

Mr Nathan Symonds | Director of Sport

First Aid course for 'L' & 'P' Platers

  • The initiative involves a student signing up with St John's for the one day ‘Provide First Aid’ course 8.30am to 4.30pm.
  • The course is offered by St John's to L (yellow plate) and P (red and green plates) drivers.
  • There is a 60 to 90 minute online pre-assessment that needs to be completed prior to attending the course. 
  • The value of the course is $160, on completion, the student is given a first aid kit, to the value of $150.