Senior School
From the Head of Senior School
Last weekend the 2022 School Leaders and a few members of staff went to Karribank for the annual School Leaders' Camp. Once again we were joined by the Rev. Richard Pengelley, who is currently Chaplain at St Mary’s Anglican Girls' School in Perth, and who has visited this camp several times over the years. As always, Richard’s message of goodness and hope was very inspiring for our students, and we thank him for his time and wisdom.
The camp began on Friday afternoon with a climb up Castle Rock. From that height Albany and its surrounds lay stretched out before us; my message to the students is one about perspective – the mountains of Mt Clarence, Adelaide and Melville are reduced to tiny blips on the horizon. Standing beneath them they loom and tower over us, representing a huge challenge or obstacle. But given sufficient scale and perspective, against the larger backdrop of the horizon, they appear quite insignificant. I find this a helpful metaphor for the students, and encourage them to keep the image in their minds when the grind of Year Twelve discourages them!
One highlight of the camp for me was a conversation about the School’s Student Code of Conduct, which we presented to the School Leaders. It elicited an interesting and wide ranging discussion about values and standards, and I think both students and staff enjoyed hearing each others’ views. My thanks to the staff who attended the camp, and to the students who engaged so wholeheartedly.
Free Webinar for entry into Dentistry or Medicine
Are you currently studying in years Ten, Eleven or Twelve? Are you considering a career in medicine or dentistry? If you have answered yes, then you may need to sit a compulsory entry exam known as UCAT (Undergraduate Medicine and Health Sciences Admission Test) before you can apply to certain universities! The webinar is a free information seminar all about UCAT and the undergraduate pathways into medicine, dentistry, and some other health science programs.
When: Monday evening, 29 November 2021 (7.00pm - 9.00pm AEDT)
Link: https://www.nie.edu.au/ucat-free/free-ucat-information-sessions
Mr Mark Bonnin | Head of Senior School
2022 School Leaders Camp
Last Friday the Year Twelve School Leaders, Mr Bonnin and Mrs Turnor packed up our things, got on the bus, collected our groceries and headed out to Karribank Country Retreat in the Porongurups. Once we had reached the retreat, we were welcomed by tall, blossoming trees that surrounded the whole area. It was so beautiful. We split off into our small chalets and prepared ourselves for the walk up Castle Rock.
The trek up Castle Rock was our first small challenge together, as leaders. We all felt comfortable with each other and enjoyed being sheltered by the neighbouring trees as we advanced to the top. We met up with Mrs Franklin along the trail and completed the walk with her by our sides. When we got to the finish we followed Mr Bonnin to a large rock that overlooked Albany. We talked a lot about perspective and spent time in silence, listening to only the sounds of nature. The mountains that would usually be so huge to us, appeared as a little dots in the distance. It made me notice that my challenges that may appear big to me are actually fairly small if you look at it from a different view or perspective.
Now, for the people with a fear of heights, we had reached the biggest challenge of the trek of climbing up the Skywalk. The wind was chilly and looking down at the ground frightened some of us, but the serenity was unbelievable. The sun started to fade which was our sign to finish the trip back down the trail. After having warm, rain water showers and a delicious dinner cooked by the Baudinians we gathered in a circle to listen to our special guest speaker, Rev. Richard Pengelly. Most of us were astonished by his achievements over the years; one being that he had made it to the Olympics for water polo. He talked to us about what a real leader meant and how strong leaders of today’s society have demonstrated that. We talked about different types of leadership and how they are beneficial to people. After some of our questions were answered we made our way to our chalets for some rest for the next day.
Saturday was a pretty packed day and we needed to stay on task to get everything done. Mr Bonnin had written all our names on individual envelopes and we were told to fill each other’s with little notes about what we liked about them or personal things that we looked up to. He had told us that we would receive these envelopes back at the end of the camp.
In the morning we began a mindfulness session with Richard. We were required to bring a rock and a pillow. All of us lay down in a circle with our feet in the middle. Richard took us through some muscle relaxation and played some classical music while we closed our eyes. We were told to feel the rock and he said that it was symbolic of our fears. After the music had played we swapped our rocks with different members of the groups and learnt that we weren’t alone to deal with our fears by ourselves and that we have other people that can help us.
After breakfast we began talking in our leadership groups about our roles and goals for the next year. After the group sessions we were given some solo time that gave us a chance to think and note down things we wanted to achieve within our given role. It was a great opportunity to brainstorm some of our ideas for the school and individual goals. We had a quick lunch break and joined everyone up for a whole team discussion. We brainstormed ideas about improvements we wanted to make around the school, talked about how we would handle given situations, had input on new adjustments we wanted to make to the ‘Student Code of Conduct,’ and had collective discussion about big upcoming events in Year Twelve. As a leadership team we had a lot of great ideas and I know that as a group, we will made good improvements to the school. After our session we cleaned up and got back onto the buses to head back to the grounds of GSG. We received our envelopes and the amount of nice words and comments that all the team said about me was so heartwarming.
Personally, I got a lot out of this camp and feel as though I got to know every member of the team a lot better. On behalf of all the 2022 School Leaders, we wanted to thank all of the Heads of House that came out to support us, Mr Sawle, Mrs Franklin, Mr Bonnin and Mrs Turnor. It was such a great experience for all of us. Thank you.
Emma Taylor | 2022 Communications Prefect
Year Ten Digital Technologies
In Year Ten Digital Technologies, Henry Stephens completed an external exam as part of a SCSA endorsed programme for a Microsoft Office Specialist certification. His result for this exam was in the Top 30 nationally (in fact, in the top 0.06% Australians of the 1,000,000’s of people who sat the exam worldwide) which includes competition from other VET students, university students and other school students.
Henry has just competed for a place to take out the national championship, however, he missed out on the top spot. The national winner of the competition was invited to travel to the USA to compete internationally to represent Australia at Disneyworld in the Microsoft Office Specialist World Finals. Although missing out on the top spot, Henry’s achievement is not to be underestimated; his new qualification arms him with industry leading skills in collaborating, connecting, creating, and problem solving using digital technologies, which are collectively the number one skills demanded by employers in every industry, now and in the future. Congratulations Henry on your outstanding achievement!
Mr Kyal Rose | Teacher
Year Ten Hospitality
Congratulations to the Hospitality students who have won the WA State AND National Prize in the 2021 Flavour Forecast Recipe Challenge. Each year, the challenge is supported by McCormick Foods who identifies and reports on flavour trends that are expected to drive global innovation in food. Students worked hard on four flavour trends: Humble Nosh – using pandan as the hero of a street food dish to nibble on; Plants Pushing Boundaries – pushing fruits, vegetables, and botanicals beyond their healthy halo; Underwater, Under discovered – bringing flavours from the coast to the kitchen; and Physiological Eating – mindful eating using intentional ingredients to achieve mind-body balance. They delivered amazing dishes that impressed the judging team - the flavours, techniques, and reflections were of a very high standard.
Humble Nosh
Tennille Ryde, Brianna Harris, and Jocelyn Meade designed and produced Fried pandan kaya turons
Plants Pushing Boundaries
Max Sounness, Adelaide Boetel, and Luke Harvey designed and produced ube gnocchi with charred zhug and crispy fried noodles
Underwater, Under discovered
Georgia Patterson, Jorja Moore, Chenae Wreford, and Zoe Diletti designed and produced a charcuterie board including three elements
1. Seaweed crackers and samphire pickle served with smoked ham and mature cheddar, 2. Barramundi ceviche, and
3. Seaweed cheesecakes with blueberry and seaweed jam served with salted caramel.
Physiological Eating
Maddie Byrne, Estella Trahair, Grace McPharlin, and Lily Parker-Halstead designed and produced spicy chicken wings with lime salt, and feel good sorbet.
Mrs Teresa McAllister | Hospitality Teacher
Year Twelve 'Gap Year' Opportunities
A reminder to continue to check the 'Careers' tab on the Senior School page of MyGSG as new Gap Year positions are still being added, the most recent one just this week.