Breaksea House News
Hello Boarding Community, I hope you’ve had a positive few weeks and are tracking well. As usual, life in Breaksea House has been full of activities, opportunities and connection the last few weeks. Please find below some highlights and updates as the term progresses.
Castle Rock Hike
A recent highlight in Breaksea was our rec last Sunday when Breaksea and Endeavour boarders came together to hike up to Castle Rock in the Porongurup National Ranges. Alongside the students, joining us was the whole Turrill family, our supervisor Liz Stewart and her partner Paul Donaldson (who is also an Outdoor Ed teacher at GSG) and their two children. The boarders really enjoyed having a family atmosphere and everyone was quite impressed to see the little ones make it all the way to the top! The constant uphill hike required resilience and encouragement but was worth the challenge for the incredible view from the top. A huge thank you to everyone who joined in and made the most of the warmer weather. Filling the day with some positive exercise and a healthy dose of nature was refreshing and rejuvenating.
Year Twelve Dinner
We have a fantastic committee of Year Eleven students who have been working alongside Mrs Franzinelli and I to organise a student farewell dinner for our nine graduating Year Twelves. This dinner will be held on Tuesday 12 September in Breaksea House. This event is run by the students for the students, with a more formal valedictory for families to come later in the year. Our Year Eleven Committee consists of Tiffany Butterworth, Amber Pearce, Tyla Climie, Olivia Willis, India King, Xanthe O’Neill and Wayahpo Manolis. Many of our other Year Elevens have been working on the gifts, awards and presentation aspect of our dinner. It has been uplifting to see the Year Elevens display teamwork and leadership skills in the coordination of this event. During the dinner, funny awards will be presented to each of our Year Twelves alongside a more sentimental farewell from the Year Elevens and Breaksea Staff which includes the presentation of gift boxes to each student. The gift boxes are made up of gifts from the students and Breaksea Staff, many of them thoughtful and handmade. It is heartwarming to see the generosity and warmth around the celebrating and farewelling of the Year Twelves.
Kingfisher Fair
Thank you to those families who collected coffee jars and delivered them to Breaksea, alongside the donation of art and craft style gifts for our Kingfisher Fair projects. Next week, we will be using the jars to hold our homemade rocky road that we’ll be selling from our Breaksea Stall. The boarders will be making, presenting and selling these at the stall. It’s a great chance for the students to engage their entrepreneurial skills, as well as connect with the wider GSG community. Our art and craft donations will be used to make prize baskets for our collective boarding stall, where we’ll be running a chocolate wheel style activity. If you are able to make it to The Kingfisher Fair on Sunday 10 September from 11.00am to 3.00pm, we’d love for you to stop by our stalls and say hello.
Supervisor Update
We really are fortunate to have a wonderful team of supervisors here at Breaksea. Whether it’s Mrs Mikaela Burton's heartwarming baking, Ms Carter Wight’s thoughtful and lively activity ideas, Mrs Nicole Scott’s comforting chats, Ms Liz Stewart’s enthusiasm or Miss Zoe Kerr’s calming nature, each member of our supervisor team brings their own individual strengths and positivity to the house. To provide extra support during our dinner and prep time, over the next few weeks, we’ll be moving towards having two supervisors on shift at the same time. This will provide that extra help and tutoring for those on study plans. Our assisting supervisors have qualifications in education that position them well to provide an extra layer of academic support. It’ll also be helpful to have an additional listening ear, at the time of the day that the boarders need it most.
Birthdays
We have been bursting with birthdays in August. Many happy returns to Tiffany Butterworth, Wayahpo Manolis, Rhiannon Williams-Jolley, Mariella Somerscales, Dannielle Frost and Tyla Climie.
Please don’t hesitate to get in touch with our supervisors via the Breaksea mobile phone (0438 217 129) regarding any logistical updates or check ins. Thank you for being part of our community and trusting us to provide care and support for your children. We are always here to help and share in this journey with you.
Wishing you all the best.
Mrs Teliah Turrill | Head of Breaksea House