From the Deputy Principal

Celebration and anticipation

As we anticipate an exciting year of learning and growing, there is much to celebrate this week as our students have made an excellent start to the school year.  Connections forged at this time of the year are vital to ensuring our students feel a sense of belonging in our community.  I have spoken to students about their new teachers, new friends (and old!) and the highlights of their year so far.  These interactions with fellow students, staff and their experiences at school are the stuff from which memories are made.  

We also celebrated our Leaders' Induction Assembly and heard some brilliant advice from Heath Turnor, our Dux for 2023.  We also congratulated Fletcher Cugley, our Proxime Accessit.  Heath spoke beautifully about his opportunities at GSG, about the power of his hard work (to which Heath's teachers can attest) and the importance of balancing study with the many other pursuits at which Heath excels.  His guitar playing and skills on the AFL oval will be long remembered.

You may like to read Heath's speech:

Good afternoon,

I feel very privileged to be back at school one last time to receive this award. It feels a little strange being back, after thinking I had stepped foot on campus for the last time over two months ago, but I am, nevertheless, glad to be here again.

My journey at GSG started when I joined Mr Davidson’s Year One class in Term Three of 2012. From the get-go I was encouraged to extend myself in both my academics and in activities such as sports and music. I appreciate all of my teachers who have got me to the point I am at today and there is no way in the world I could have achieved the results I did without them. Building strong relationships with teachers will not only allow you to succeed in the classroom but will make your schooling journey a whole lot more enjoyable. I would like to further extend my thanks to my friends and family who pushed me to be better and supported me the whole way.

I am forever grateful to the school for the endless amount of opportunities offered to me. This includes the academic competitions like ICAS and Olympiads, musical opportunities such as performing in concerts held at the AEC and sporting opportunities like Country Week; I will never forget when the footy boys came from coming second last in 2022 to grand final winners in 2023. I will always tell people to take advantage of all the amazing opportunities given at this school.

Years Eleven and Twelve are often dreaded and thought to be a time where you must focus only on school. Throughout my final two years of school, I participated in local and school sporting competitions and stayed heavily involved with the music program here at GSG; I also worked a part time job. Having these outlets away from the classroom was valuable for me to take a break from study and allowed me to keep my stress levels down which in turn allowed me to do well in my academics. 

I have often been asked by people what my “secret to success” is. I thought about it for a while and couldn’t come to a concrete answer. From my experiences, to succeed academically, you need to learn to study effectively without taking shortcuts and maintain a healthy work-life balance. I worked incredibly hard throughout my schooling journey to achieve the results I did and am extremely satisfied to see that hard work pay off. There were plenty of days where I didn’t feel like studying and would rather procrastinate, but it’s those days where it takes a strong minded person to persevere and push through. I firmly believe hard work cannot just start on the first day of Year Eleven or Twelve, it’s something you must carry through your entire schooling journey.

My hard work has led me to now, where I will be moving to Perth in just three days to start my University degree at UWA, whilst living at St George’s Residential College. I am studying a six year double degree in Mechanical Engineering and Maths and although I have enjoyed having over two months doing no study for the first time in a long while, I am excited to start a new journey and see what the future holds. 

Best of luck to everyone for the rest of the year.

Mrs Emma Franklin | Deputy Principal