From the Principal
Great Southern Grammar Foundation
I am delighted to announce the formation of the Great Southern Grammar Foundation under the governance and approval of the School Council. The Foundation will provide the opportunity for the School to achieve the charitable purpose of providing education to children who may normally may not be able to attend GSG for financial reasons. The Foundation will raise funds by attracting and encouraging bequests, legacies, and donations to provide assistance to the School to offer scholarships. The Foundation Board will manage the affairs of the Foundation and the first official meeting to elect the Board of the Foundation will be held this month. The current working party are the Chair of Council, Mrs Fran Leary, Mrs Jennifer Shearer, Mr Gary Philpott, Mrs Sue Howson, and Alumni Mrs Alice Gillette (nee York 2008) and Mr George Knowlden (2010) with ex-officio’s Business Manager, Mr Andrew Orr and myself.
Spirit of Grammar Scholarships
Community is at the heart of Great Southern Grammar and we care for some current families through our Bursaries and these will continue into the future upon application. We work together to build a strong, caring and committed school community that contributes to our local and regional areas. We welcome people from all walks of life and find strength in our diversity. Thanks to the recently formed GSG Foundation, we are pleased to be able to offer a limited number of Spirit of Grammar scholarships for students in Middle and Senior School, commencing in 2022.
The GSG Foundation will support the School through scholarships to actively contribute to build our GSG community into a better place for all. The Spirit of Grammar scholarships allow us to extend a helping hand to families for whom an education at GSG may be out of financial reach. The scholarships offer a subsidy to cover 30 to 50% off tuition fees for students from Years Seven to Twelve with a preference for students in Year Seven and Year Ten. We are seeking families and students who are committed to our values, our community and who will actively contribute to our school during their schooling years. The Spirit of Grammar scholarships are open to all new families who need financial support, display the values of the School, and who will contribute to our community.
Further information can be found by visiting our website: https://gsg.wa.edu.au/new-gsg/scholarships/spirit-grammar-scholarship/
New GSG Website
The School has been developing a new GSG website which will be launched next week. The new format provides easy navigation, up-to-date information and a conversational approach. It has more images, is easily read on multiple devices and platforms. Parents will be able to access the latest social posts and Alumni can now register through the new website. Parents can continue to access MyGSG through the new website if preferred.
Legal Aid WA (LAWA) leads sex consent education for secondary students
Legal Aid WA has developed new WA-specific resources on sex and consent for use with secondary students following high-profile calls for better and earlier education to tackle rape culture and sexual violence. The new resources, titled ‘Let’s Talk About Sex and Consent’ include a short, animated file and a fact sheet and was launched in the Great Southern this week at Great Southern Grammar. The resources will be rolled out in schools across WA as part of the LAWA’s highly successful 'R U Legal?' community legal education program which provides young people with information about the criminal justice system and the laws that affect them. Students from Years Nine to Eleven learnt about WA’s laws around sex and consent, the age of consent, the impact of drugs and alcohol on consent and what it means if you have a special relationship with another person, including a teacher, coach or guardian.
P&F AGM
On Wednesday 3 November the annual P&F AGM was held. The following Executive positions were elected:
President: Jim Darmody
Vice President: Darryl Hancock
Secretary: Joanne Wegner
The Executive Committee will continue to seek further parent involvement with Subschool and Year Representatives. In the coming weeks I will share this information with you.
GSG App
We’ve made some improvements to the GSG app so it will launch links to MyGSG and Reach in your device browser. This will allow you to save your user ID and password in the browser, rather than needing to enter it in every time you use the app. The GSG app is a convenient way for you to check the school calendar, view current and past editions of The Anchor, access key contacts across the school, and launch off to our other online services.
For more details on installing our app on iOS or Android, please see our helpful guide Accessing the GSG App – Great Southern Grammar - Support.
The GSG app now also prompts to launch the SEQTA app on your device. The SEQTA app will allow you to easily access your child’s timetable, upcoming assessments and course information, and receive push notifications on your child’s academic progress. To install and configure the SEQTA app, check our instructions Accessing the SEQTA Engage App – Great Southern Grammar - Support (gsg.wa.edu.au)
Mr Mark Sawle | Principal