Secondary School

Student Leadership

Year Twelve Leaders

As we begin Semester Two, our Year Twelve students are approaching the end of their high school journey, with most completing their formal classes by the end of this term. Consequently, we are now focusing on our Year Eleven students as they step up to become our new school leaders. The process of forming our Student Leadership Team for 2025 is about to commence.

As the Acting Head of Secondary School, I will be stepping aside from this process because my child is interested in becoming a school leader next year and I want to ensure that the selection process remains impartial and transparent. To maintain the integrity and fairness of the selection process, our Principal and Deputy Principal will be overseeing all aspects of it from now until its conclusion.

Our current Year Twelve leaders have been a joy to work with, showing remarkable growth both individually and as a group. They have each brought unique skills to the table and have developed a deep appreciation for each other’s strengths.

I encourage our Year Eleven students to consider the qualities they can bring to the next leadership team. Whether they have creative ideas, excellent organizational skills, a knack for getting things done, or strong communication abilities, every contribution is valuable. I look forward to receiving this year’s applications and building the next team of Year Twelve leaders.

Student Council

Another leadership opportunity is available through our Student Council, which consists of four students from each year level, one from each House. A new Council is formed each semester, and members play a crucial role in supporting school events and providing a student voice on policies, decisions, and future plans.

The current Student Council is busy organising the Years Seven to Nine Social, scheduled for 21 August. They have also collaborated with Mr Irving on a presentation regarding the school uniform.

The Student Council members are:

Tessa Hartley

Jaylah Ninyette-Hardy

Bo Anning

Lily Vesey

Riley Jenkins

Genesis Amisi

Matilda Cook

Laila Cook-Barron

Charlie Hill

Maya Capelli

Colin Ferreira

Poet Smargiassi

Olympiad Participation

Congratulations to all the Years Eleven and Twelve students who participated in the Olympiad exams in Physics, Biology, Chemistry, and Earth and Environmental Science. Your dedication and hard work are commendable, and we celebrate your achievements in these challenging competitions.

Discover GSG Day

On Monday we held our Discover GSG Day. This event allows future students and families the opportunity to learn more about what we do at Great Southern Grammar.

We had a group of students from Year Four to Seven join in a range of fun sessions with our teachers. There was also a Q+A student panel session for parents/guardians, hosted by Mr Irving. Thank you for Rosie, Tiffany, Macy and Lewis.

Students had an egg-cellent time exploring physics and chemistry with Ms Di Thomas, learnt to play songs on the ukulele with Miss Kaila Thomas, ventured into our Wildspace with Mr Tone Ritchie, and played a frenzied and fun game of three-ball soccer with Mr Nathan Symonds and Mr Paul Donaldson.

This was a valuable opportunity for the students and families to make new connections, learn more about our school and have fun!

Korean War Service

Evie Woodall, Madeleine Warren and I joined the RSL Albany to honour the 339 Australians who lost their lives in the Korean War. It happened on Saturday 27 July, the community gathered at St John's Church at 2.00pm for the Korean War armistice commemorative service. Evie Woodall, Madeleine Warren laid a wreath on behalf of the school community.

Mr Neil Ferreira | Acting Head of Secondary

Years Nine and Ten AFL Carnival

Student Reflection

The Years Nine and Ten girls and boys attended the 2024 GSSSSA AFL carnival on Tuesday and had an amazing day out! Ella Belfield and I were fortunate to coach the girls' team who played six games for the day and secured one win. George Bockman, Kaleb Germain, and Aiden Clarke coached and umpired the boys' team who also played six games and completed the day in third position.

We were blessed to have the sun shining and no rain making it a fabulous day. The girls fought hard all day rotating through positions and some playing their first-ever AFL game! The girls lead well with Kimberley Duncan and Gladis Markey through the ruck, Fenella O’Neill strong through the guts, and Esteanne Newfield, Mackirra Williams, and Azriel Bin Omar kicking several goals for the day.

The boys began the day a bit slowly, but their performance improved significantly as the day progressed, resulting in a big win over ASHS. A few best players in the team included William Baldwin, Lucas Smart, Fraser King, and Henry Smith.

Overall, it was a great day full of sportsmanship and encouragement. Thanks to all the Grammar players who helped out Mount Barker by playing a few games for them!

Thank you, Mr McLean, for ensuring this day was possible.

Tiffany Butterworth | Sports Captain

Creative Writing Workshop

In Week Two of this term, GSG had the pleasure of hosting Dr Alan Hancock, a writer, educator and theatre director. Dr Hancock ran two creative writing workshops while with us, one with our Year Eight students and one with our Year Ten students.

It was delightful to see all students so engaged in writing and to learn valuable lessons in creativity and taking risks. The activities run by Dr Hancock were informative and fun.

Here's what Year Eight student, Sarah, had to say about the experience:

On Tuesday 23 July, all Year Eight students participated in a creative writing workshop during periods four, five and six. Our guest speaker was an author named Alan Hancock. Dr Hancock taught us about different writing techniques and how we can enjoy writing more, through different exercises and prompts.

He started by explaining why people write, and that it is so important that we have the skill to think creatively. He explained that sometimes it can be hard for people to just sit down and write. He explained that we can’t think negatively about our work, and that our biggest critic is always ourselves.

Dr Hancock told us about a specific technique that most modern and successful authors use, which is called ‘Free Flow Writing’. He gave us three prompts, one was a story about a man at work pushing a red button, and one was the words ‘I remember the smell of…’ and my favourite was the one where he told us to think of a character and a problem they might get into. Our task was to write for five minutes straight and not stop to think about what we were writing or where it was going. First thoughts only.

After these prompts, he got us to do one last exercise, where we wrote a line of a story before swapping it with someone else and writing a line of their story. We kept going until we had six lines, which resulted in some very unusual and funny stories. The Year Eight students are grateful to Dr Hancock for coming and teaching us about ways to improve our writing and putting the effort in to make such fun activities.

Mrs Samantha Ray | Head of English

From the Careers Centre

Murdoch University - Albany Parent Information Evening

Murdoch University will be holding a Parent and Supporters Information Evening at the Albany Regional Universities Centre on Wednesday 28 August starting at 5.30pm.

For more details about Murdoch University please visit www.murdoch.edu.au

For more details about this event please email: Engage@murdoch.edu.au

Rio Tinto Indigenous Cadetships and Scholarships

The Rio Tinto Indigenous Cadetship Programme supports Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander students to complete their undergraduate degree, and gain professional work experience within the organisation.

For more information Creating opportunities (riotinto.com)

Rio Tinto provides a study allowance, and twelve weeks of paid vacation work to students on the programme.

To be eligible for the program you must:

Be of Aboriginal and/or Torres Strait Islander descent
Provide evidence of your Indigenous identity by means of recognition with a ‘common seal’ from the relevant Indigenous group
Be enrolled for full-time study at an Australian university
Be enrolled in your first undergraduate degree
Not have completed a cadetship previously
Meet Australian Taxation Office (ATO) requirements as the Indigenous cadetship programme is taxed accordingly.

You must also be enrolled into one of the following disciplines:

Engineering and Mathematics
Science
Business
Environment

For further information please contact:

Ria Stephensen, National Recruitment Manager, AFL SportsReady

E: ria.stephenson@aflsportsready.com.au

M: 0457 772 600

Murdoch University Open Nights

Murdoch University invites you to join us for our 2024 Open Nights.

Spread over three nights, prospective students, their families and the wider community are invited to Explore, Discover and Immerse themselves in everything that Murdoch University has to offer.

Hear first-hand from our students and academics about what to expect when studying at Murdoch
Explore double major and double degree combinations and possibilities
Tour our state-of-the-art facilities
Find out where our courses can take you in your career
Learn from current students about the practical experiences and opportunities available while you're studying
Find out how to gain entry through portfolio and enabling pathways
Ask questions about the application process, scholarships, and support services

Wednesday 28 August - Health & Education

Thursday 29 August - Sciences, Information Technology, Engineering & Maths

Wednesday 4 September - Business, Law, Humanities, Arts & Social Sciences

Mrs Renae O'Donnell | VET & Careers Coordinator