Whole School News
Arts
Shaun Tan Youth Art Award Subiaco Library
Every year, the Subiaco Library runs the Shaun Tan Youth Art Award, which celebrates the creativity and imagination of our young artists. This year, the school has selected the following students’ artworks to enter: Year Eleven Charlotte Stephens, Year Eight Hazel Bee, Year Seven Oliver Hall, and Year Two Benjamin Fergie.
Students can enter their own works into this award: https://www.subiaco.wa.gov.au/shauntanaward
Entries close Monday 19 May.
Red Moort Art/Literature/Geography Camp
A group of Year Eleven Visual Arts and Literature students and Year Twelve Geography students had a fabulous time out bush last week. Art and Literature visited the Red Moort Reserve at Boxwood Hill. We walked through the woodland and spent time with Aboriginal artist Jessica Woods, who told us the story of how the red moort flower came to be red. After a fascinating afternoon with Jessica, we headed to our campsite at Bremer Bay and a delicious BBQ dinner followed by a movie under the stars and some toasted marshmallows.
Seven cold and sleepy members of our group managed to get up at 3.00am to see the showers of meteorites on display. This seemed to link nicely with the story of the Seven Sisters, who return to the cosmos to become stars that Jessica had also talked about.
Thursday was our creative day. Students paired up to paint and write responses to stories, creating some very inspiring pieces.
Backyard Possum Encounter Update
Our play is beginning to take shape! All of the stories about western ringtail possums from our school community have been collated, and Arts staff spent a very productive weekend with Michael Barlow, Associate Director of Spare Parts Puppet Theatre, and Chloe Flockart, who will be our lead artist on this project.
Chloe is a multi-talented artist with puppetry skills, acting, and directing. She has worked with a number of companies in Australia and the UK, including Barking Gecko Theatre Company, The Last Great Hunt, and Spare Parts Puppet Theatre. We’re very excited to be working with her on our project.
There will be a call-out shortly for expressions of interest from Year Seven and above students who would like to perform in the play. Dr Watson will work with students this term to further develop the narrative structure that has been mapped out for the play.
Skywhales Event
Contemporary artist Patricia Piccinini’s beloved Skywhale 2013 and Skywhalepapa 2019-2020 will fly over Albany this Saturday. This is courtesy of the National Gallery of Australia and is part of a national tour. The sky whales take the form of monumental hot-air balloons and represent nature, family, evolution, care, and wonder.
They will be taking flight at 5.00pm this Saturday. Further information is available through the City of Albany
https://www.albany.wa.gov.au/events/skywhales-across-australia/15762
2025 Equestrian WA Interschool State Championships
The start of the Easter school holidays saw four GSG students load up their horses and head to the State Equestrian Centre in Perth to compete in the 2025 EWA Interschool State Championships. The team consisted of Amelia McDonald (Year Ten), Abbie Cameron Year Eight), Cooper Lucas (Year Six) and Sadie Cameron (Year Five). The four-day event consisted of over 200 riders competing in show jumping, dressage, show horse, show hunter, combined training and vaulting events.
The GSG students did us proud with placings in almost all the events the team entered.
Thank you to Mrs Penni Berryman for coordinating the team and ensuring that the riders and horses looked absolutely fabulous!
Mrs Caroline Cameron | Team Manager
From the School Counsellor
As we venture more deeply into this purposeful term, several issues around boundary setting, study techniques and stress management are emerging.
As adults in the lives of our young community members, it behooves us to model the behaviours we espouse, including the really challenging skills of apologising, managing our windows of tolerance, and being kind to ourselves and others. Over the next few weeks, there will be some information, tips, and guidelines that you might find helpful.
teenMHFA
Again, it has been an absolute privilege to work with the Year Ten cohort in their Health Education lessons to deliver the teenMHFA course. Today, I completed my last session with a fantastic class of curious and compassionate young people. Certificates will arrive in a fortnight.
The students take home their booklets after the final session, so now all Year Ten students have ownership of those valuable resources. To recap, see below some of the topics and skills this course offers:
- Mental health problems in general, and understanding how common and disabling these are in young people.
- Students also learn about professionals who can help.
- Helping a friend who is in crisis, whether because they are suicidal, engaging in non-suicidal self-injury, using alcohol or other drugs, or experiencing bullying or abuse.
- The Action Plan (‘Look, Ask, Listen, Help Your Friend’) is introduced for the first time, and applied to a crisis situation. The Mates film outlines the process of applying teenMHFA to a friend who is struggling with thoughts of suicide.
- How to help if someone seems to be developing a mental health problem. We don’t teach students how to diagnose problems – it’s advice about being a supportive friend, encouraging the friend to seek help, and knowing when it’s time to get an adult involved.
Please spend some time chatting with your young person about some of the content of our work together. The manual includes a broader range of content than we can cover in class.
If you wish to learn more about mental health problems experienced by young people, visit:
… about Teen Mental Health First Aid®:
• www.mhfa.com.au/courses/public/types/teen
… about other Mental Health First Aid® courses:
For immediate online help for teenagers:
Conversations about NSSI
This 4.5-hour course will be happening later this term. Watch this space next week, please, for details.
Conversations About NSSI Course Flyer_August 2023_Web.pdf
Boundary Setting and IT Usage
After several recent chats with community members who are navigating boundaries around IT, screen time, and social media with their adolescents, the first person who comes to mind is Dr Brad Marshal, the Unplugged Psychologist.
“Brad Marshall AKA The Unplugged Psychologist has spent over a decade at the cutting edge of healthy screen use. But don’t be confused by the name, Brad is NOT anti-technology. Brad is an internationally published author, researcher, clinician and speaker. Brad walks his talk and delivers from a place of real-world experience.
Brad authored ‘The Tech Diet for Your Child & Teen: The 7-Step Plan to Regain Your Kid’s Childhood (and Your Family’s Sanity)’, which has now been published in over a dozen countries worldwide by HarperCollins. ‘The Tech Diet for Your Child & Teen’ provides real-life strategies that any parent can implement to create a healthy balance and put your kids’ development first. Based on solid psychological research explaining why screen addiction is so powerful, his jargon-free advice gives a clear plan for parents who have had enough and are serious about changing the way their kids use and interact with technology.”
Parents - The Unplugged Psychologist
Black Dog Institute
The Teens & Screens program by Black Dog Institute supports Year Seven to Nine students to develop healthy online habits and confidently navigate the digital world.
This guide provides practical strategies to help you, as a parent or carer, start open conversations with your child about screen time, online safety, and positive digital behaviours.
It’s natural to feel concerned about how much time your teen spends online, who they’re interacting with, or the type of content they might encounter. The online world moves quickly and it’s not always easy to keep up.
At the same time, being online is a big part of teen life. From learning and friendships to creativity and self-expression, the digital space plays an important role. While most teens are digitally savvy, some may face risks that are harder to manage alone.
Teens & Screens program: A guide for families - Black Dog Institute | Better Mental Health
Setting healthy boundaries with your teenager | Boundary setting
The importance of healthy boundaries
Raising a teenager is both exhilarating and overwhelming. One moment, you’re amazed at how effortlessly they navigate new technology, and the next, you’re wondering if you’ve completely lost control over their screen time, social media, and online safety. If you feel a mix of excitement, concern, and total cluelessness about setting boundaries around tech use—you’re not alone. The good news? You don’t have to have all the answers, but you do need a plan. Let’s talk about how to set healthy, realistic boundaries that support your teen’s growth while keeping them safe in our ever-evolving world.
Technology is woven into the fabric of our daily lives, shaping how we communicate, learn, and entertain ourselves. For teens, social media and smartphones are often more than just tools—they’re spaces for connection, self-expression, and even identity formation. But as research shows, excessive tech use can come at a cost, and often to the very same things they use it for in the first place.
Boundaries are an important part of creating clarity between you and your teenager as you both navigate a time of great change. By setting and agreeing on boundaries together, you create a ‘contract’ of expected behaviour that can help avoid conflict. While boundaries help parents to feel more in control of their teenager’s behaviour they also help them by:
- letting them know that you care about them, and you are concerned about what they’re doing even when you’re not together
- making them feel safe and supported
- helping them make informed and sound decisions
- providing them a framework within which they have autonomy.
What are the most important boundaries for your family?
Before discussing boundaries with your child, first sit down with your partner and/or all of the important authority figures for your child and agree on what the most important boundaries are. It’s important that there is consensus amongst you so that you are giving clear and firm boundaries, not mixed messages.
And boundaries must be anchored to family values – those touchstone beliefs and practices which the family embrace and identify with.
Happy to chat about any of this.
Ms Sheryl Moncur | School Counsellor / Teacher
Discover GSG - Friday 13 June
We are excited to announce our Discover GSG experience, and we encourage our families to share this fun opportunity with their friends.
The come-and-try day is for Years Five to Eight in 2026, and prospective students are encouraged to invite a friend to attend on Friday 13 June from 9am to 1pm.
Prospective students in Years Four to Seven can register at https://gsg.to/Discover. For queries, contact julia.bairstow@gsg.wa.edu.au.
P&F Events
Mr Jason Pages | P&F Coordinator
Regional Roadshow Sundowners
The great GSG Regional Roadshow Sundowners continue in Term Two, with the first hosted at Galafrey Wines. We would love to see all families and any friends they wish to invite. See details below to RSVP for this event.
Mount Barker Regional Roadshow Sundowner
Date: Friday 16 May
Time: 5.00pm to 7.00pm
Venue: Galafrey Wines
(432 Quangellup Road, Mount Barker)
We look forward to connecting with past, current, and prospective families at our Regional Roadshow Sundowner.
Light refreshments provided.
Register here.
Canteen
Weekly Special - Week Four, Term Two
Recess: Banana Bread - Served Warm with Butter
Lunch: Roast Pumpkin Soup - Served with a Bread Roll & Butter
(Vegetarian & GF options)
Specials Winter Menu for Term Two
Monday
- Toasted Turkish Roll - Chicken, Cheese, Spinach and Avocado
Tuesday
- Toasted Turkish Roll - Chicken, Cheese, Spinach and Avocado
- Nachos
- Nachos Deluxe
Wednesday
- Butter Chicken - served with Rice and Naan Bread
- Toasted Turkish Roll - Chicken, Cheese, Spinach and Avocado
Thursday
- Pizza -Hawaiian/Vegetarian (GF Option available)
- Toasted Turkish Roll - Chicken, Cheese, Spinach and Avocado
Friday
- Spaghetti Bolognaise - Served with Garlic Bread
Uniform Shop
Term Two opening hours
- Monday: 8.00am to 4.00pm
- Tuesday: CLOSED
- Wednesday: 8.00am to 4.00pm
- Thursday: CLOSED
- Friday: 8.00am to 1.00pm