From the Head of Secondary

Kate Mitchell visits GSG

Initiated by our Boarding Captains, Ava Smith and Darcy Barrett, we welcomed Kate Mitchell from The Darcy Effect, to GSG to talk about her experience and why we should support rural health projects. Kate thought long and hard about the message she wanted to share with our young people and her message was so positive and uplifting that I thought I would share it with our wider community here:

Good morning, everyone!

Firstly, thank you to Darcy and Ava for inviting me here today, and for your involvement in creating care bags for families who have unexpected hospital stays in regional, rural, and remote areas.

Our story began when Darcy, who was just 16 months old at the time, became unresponsive. Harry, Darcy's 3-year-old brother, called out to me to check on him. Since that day, a lot has happened, and if I were to share the entire story, we would all miss out on lunch - so I won't. But in a nutshell, Darcy has been diagnosed with epilepsy, a medical condition that affects 1 in 25 people, although 1 in 10 individuals will experience a seizure in their lifetime.

Life is full of unexpected challenges, big or small. It could be not getting the result we wanted on a test, not making a sports team we worked hard for, or experiencing a friendship falling apart. These things can leave us feeling overwhelmed and unsure of what to do next.

Today, I want to share a recipe I use for dealing with life's challenges - "Feel it, think it, flip it."

The first step is to acknowledge our emotions and allow ourselves to truly experience what we are going through. It's important to recognize and accept that life's challenges can evoke a range of emotions - fear, anger, frustration, and sadness. It's normal to feel these emotions; it's part of being human. Instead of pushing them away, we should acknowledge and learn to sit with them. This step helps us build a foundation for moving forward.

Once we have allowed ourselves to feel and experience our emotions, it's time to take a step back and think. This is where we can assess the situation and look for potential solutions. Thinking critically about the challenge allows us to break it down into manageable pieces. It helps us see things from different perspectives and explore various possibilities. During this step, we can tap into our problem-solving skills. This is how the Darcy Effect came to be - by observing what was happening around me and having conversations both inside and outside the hospital, I had a clear vision of what I could do to make a difference to others who may be going through a difficult time, and what would be helpful for the incredible nursing staff.

If Darcy was going to have a neurological condition, it was going to be for a very good reason.

But the real magic happens in the final step - flipping it. This is when we take control of our mindset and choose to see the challenge as an opportunity for growth and learning. Instead of viewing it as a roadblock, we change our perspective and embrace it as a steppingstone. Challenges shape us into resilient individuals capable of adapting to difficult situations. By flipping our mindset, we transform obstacles into avenues for growth.

In less than a year and a half, The Darcy Effect community has raised over $19,000 for Epilepsy WA, more than $8000 for the Royal Flying Doctor Service, and have donated over 500 Darcy Effect Hospital bags to hospitals across Australia, along with care boxes containing items such as toiletries, clothing, books, and colouring materials to help those in need.

I received an email last week that I would like to share with you:

Dear Kate,

I am writing to thank you for the beautiful and very thoughtful care package the Paediatric Ward at Kalgoorlie Health Campus received. The jumpsuits and books are greatly appreciated and have already delighted several of our paediatric patients and families during their hospital stay.

As you can appreciate, we have a large proportion of our patients and families who have been swiftly RFDS’ed to us from remote communities and have very little if not anything with them, so having a beautiful clean fresh grow suit is so very welcomed.

The care package is immensely appreciated.

We thank you again for your thoughtful package.

So, when life tests you, I want you to remember this simple recipe - "Feel it, think it, flip it." Embrace the challenges, grow from them, and make a positive impact on your own life and the lives of others.

Thank you.

To support The Darcy Effect, our Boarding Captains, Ava and Darcy, have the following message:

This term, GSG boarding is supporting The Darcy Effect, and we need your donations!

To fill up as many hospital bags as possible to be delivered across regional WA, we are seeking items that might be handy during an unexpected hospital stay with a sick child.

This may include:

Books
Toys
Toothbrush and toothpaste
Deodorant
Body wash
Phone chargers
Puzzles and other activities

These donations do not have to be expensive, but they must be new and unopened. No food items please.

Collection points can be found at the Head of House offices, Secondary Admin Building, and all boarding houses.

Your support will mean a lot to those who receive these bags, and we thank you!

Year Nine Future Pathways Information Session

I look forward to our session with Year Nine families next week where we will explore the multitude of pathways available to students as they progress into Years Ten, Eleven and Twelve. We find ourselves in a situation where there are many pathways to each destination whether that be apprenticeships, University, TAFE or the workplace. Similarly, each pathway leads to hundreds of future options. I hope to take the mystery out of the next steps for our Year Nine students and show families how we build a unique journey for each student.

The session will be recorded, so if you are unable to attend you will be able to access the information.

Years Seven, Eight and Nine Social

One of the highlights of the calendar for our students is approaching! The theme for this year’s event is ‘Neon’ and we look forward to a night of fun and bright colour on Wednesday 23 August, 6.00pm to 8.00pm, just after the long weekend. Tickets are $5 and will be available from the Secondary Administration Team from Monday.

Message from Elevate

Upcoming webinar for parents – How You Can Make Technology an Ally (& Not the Enemy!)

We’re excited to announce that on 16 August Elevate Education will be hosting its second free webinar of the term for parents.

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:

Wednesday 16 August @ 6:30pm (AEST) How You Can Make Technology an Ally (& Not the Enemy!)

Click here to register for free

Here's what Elevate will be covering:

✅Technology addiction and how to reduce technology dependence

✅Practical strategies and apps to minimise procrastination

✅How to help your child use technology productively to enhance their learning

We hope to see you there!

Cert III in Business

On Wednesday 2 August, the Certificate III Business class went on an excursion to the Hilton Garden Inn Albany, near the Entertainment Centre. We first met up with their Human Resources officer, Ms Maxine Jones, in their function room. She spoke to us about the importance of customer service (the current unit we are doing). She explained the importance of treating all customers with respect and how this would apply in the current part-time jobs some of us had. We also talked to two customer service managers about what questions they asked when people checked into the hotel, and how they based their services on the nature of people checking in. Examples they gave were how a family checking in might be asked what sorts of things they were doing around Albany, and whether they would like any suggestions about places to go or things to do. This was contrasted with someone checking in for a business conference, who may only be there for one night.

We then were given a tour of the hotel, seeing the restaurant and kitchen, staff rooms, and one of the accommodation rooms that looked out over the water. We also learnt about the different jobs available at the hotel and the bonuses/rewards for working there. (You pay only $70 a night for any Hilton Hotel around the world).

Overall, it was a very interesting experience and we would like to thank Mrs Cooper and Hilton Garden Inn Albany for the excursion.

Olivia North | Year Eleven

Great Southern Griffins