Endeavour House News

Endeavour House is a nurturing, happy and secure co-educational environment for Years Seven and Eight students. Students are mentally, emotionally, and socially safe. Students aim to make themselves and their families proud. Students are guided by the Boarding Values; doing our best, honesty & trust and care & compassion.

Hello and welcome to the first Buzz of 2025. It has been my absolute pleasure to meet many new and existing families over the last few weeks, thank you for all the chats! It has been a time of tremendous change for our Endeavour students, with 21 out of 25 students being brand new to GSG and Boarding. The students have had ups and downs, but considering it all, I believe they are doing amazingly well! Thank you to all families and staff who are guiding the journeys of these wonderful young people, especially during this all-important transition time.

Having a co-educational boarding house is new and exciting for everyone and it has been fascinating to see how the students interact and live together, both in the common indoor/outdoor areas and separate zones of Endeavour House. The interactions between students have felt very natural and family-like. If you've had a chance to visit Endeavour at the end of a school day, I am sure you’ll agree, the overall tone of the house is vibrant, friendly, and energetic!

Staff

This year, the students are very fortunate to be supported by supervising staff members; Amber Freeman, Axelle Sommier, Lachie Steytler, Kier Perryman, Cheryl Baum and myself, plus we have a number of relief staff members from time to time. The staffing mix is new to Endeavour, with male and female supervisors working within the house.

The Endeavour boarders are additionally supported by our nurses; Mrs Liz Cosh and Ms Bec Davies, catering staff, cleaning staff, bus drivers and International Gap students; Chelsea Greeff and Kyle Kovacs, who live in the house Sunday to Thursday. Chelsea and Kyle are running our morning fitness program 6.00am to 7.00am, and they also support the house at busy times, such as prep and weekend recreation. The Junior Boarders and becoming increasingly comfortable with supervising and support staff, and things are starting to settle into a comfortable rhythm.

Homesickness

Emotionally, there's been a bit going on. Homesickness is so difficult, but with time and strategies, it can be softened. The support that our students have been receiving both here at boarding and at school has been incredible. I thank staff for their unwavering support and understanding of where our boarders are coming from and the significant amount of change, they are currently experiencing. For more information about coping with homesickness, please click on this information sheet here, provided by Ms Sheryl Moncur, School Counsellor.

Prep

Thank you to GSG teachers Ms Penny Simpson and Mr Brodie Sarre, who have been assisting with Junior prep (study) in our new prep location at Michaelmas House. It is wonderful to have academic staff working with us, as it helps the boarders immensely with their progress and gives supervisors the confidence to know that students are staying on track. So far, I've been impressed at the Junior Boarders approach and attitude towards prep.

Questions

Endeavour students have been naturally curious about everything Boarding. I would like to take this opportunity to highlight some of their most frequently asked questions over the last few weeks:

Movement

As a first option, I prefer visitors to meet with students in common areas, a supervisor will collect your child, if they are in their room. We announce visitors to the wings with a bell, as we have zones in the house. Zones have been created to define male and female sleeping/bathroom areas, and we use a schedule to zone recreation areas, as needed.
Please see the ‘Activities’ poster for planned activities (these are in-house activities, separate to our Boarding Rec calendar)

I am on call every evening [after the duty supervisor has finished for the night], in case of emergency or illness. Students in both male/female zones have access to two ‘staff assist’ buttons, to be pressed, as needed.
I encourage students to lodge weekend leave on Thursday evenings, that gives families and myself a chance to approve by Friday. I understand that some leave is not always known in advance, and that is fine.
Students are encouraged to take two friends when on Plaza Leave. On weekdays, students typically catch the 3.30pm bus and return on the 5.00pm. Students need to seek permission from families (please enter details in Leave request) to venture outside of the direct Plaza building i.e. Cotton On/Hungry Jacks etc. Students should never leave a friend behind when downtown and stay as a group.
Students notify the supervisor on duty before tagging out for on-campus movements, such as cricket nets, courts, Eclipse, Breaksea, etc (Reach is on display in main foyer).
Taking a mobile phone to medical appointments is a good idea, so students can debrief families directly after the appointment and potentially make arrangements for future appointments with families/nurse, as needed. Please contact the Helth Centre, as staff assist in booking medical appointments (the nurses arrange transport at the same time). The Nurses' mobile is 0475 964 163.

Behaviour

Privacy, property and wellbeing is paramount in a boarding house, students should be mindful of how their actions and choices can affect those around them.
Students and families should report any incidences or concerns to staff, in a timely manner, so issues can be addressed in a timely manner.
Students should greet bus drivers, dining hall staff and supervisors with common courtesies ie hello, thank you, goodbye etc. This is never a problem, as we have the best students in the world.
After showering, we encourage students to wear a dressing gown or hoodie when moving from the bathroom to the bedroom. It is not appropriate for students to be in shared spaces wearing underwear or no shirt.
Staff check that every student has gone to bed at the end of the day. This is for the purpose of completing a roll and to ensure we meet their duty of care responsibilities. How this looks: a staff member will knock, pause, open the door, check the student is in bed (sometimes using a torch light) and say goodnight. Staff pause before entering to give the student an opportunity to say ‘no’, if they are getting dressed, for example. Staff typically stay at the door frame region of the bedroom.

Commitment

There is a student duty roster each term, the timetable, including expectations is displayed in-house, on the Leaders board.
Prep is sacred! Everyone has the right to learn and prepare. All students are encouraged to respect the prep space at Michaelmas and positively engage in ’the hour of power’!
School Academic Support starts in Week Two each term, students are encouraged to access that valuable resource, as they wish. The timetable is available on MyGSG/Secondary/Documents.
We have a number of music students who have been allocated a music room at Michaelmas House. On weekends, this is a shared space, so supervisors will escort students to their music room, on request, and notify the on-call staff member. During the week, the duty supervisor will manage.
Student leadership is important to the health of the boarding house, and something we will be discussing with all Junior students soon.

Recreation

Junior students may explore all ‘grassy’ areas of the campus (bound by grape vines, ovals and senior houses), but are not to go to the Fish Traps, Oyster Harbour foreshore, Wild Space, the point, Coraki Park, Lower King bridge/store/pump track without a Gap supervisor/duty supervisor. Gap students are available for rec 4.30pm to 5.30pm each weekday and flexible times on weekends. There may be a loosening of this rule in Term Two and beyond, but my focus in Term One is to ensure everyone has an opportunity to learn and explore safely. Students are not to cross Nanarup Road or go to the Rowing Club alone, for safety reasons. When out walking or running, students should take at least one friend with them and in Term One and Four, students must stick to paths, in case of snakes.
Students are asked to wear a yellow GSG beach rashie for identification, when on beach rec and are also encouraged to wear their new blue GSG beach oodies to/from the beach. Sunscreen and a hat are a must!

Students are to use their equipment only (bikes, skateboards, fishing gear, surf boards and sporting gear etc) i.e. boarders should not lend/borrow equipment to/from each. All equipment is stored in the Anchorage Rec shed, which is locked at the end of the day. If your child would like the use of bikes or fishing equipment, there is school equipment that they can borrow. Students have been instructed on our expectations with regards to using this school equipment.

I encourage a helmet to be worn by batters at the cricket nets, for safety reasons.
Students are encouraged to have conversations with staff about what they would like to do for recreation – we will try and accommodate, as much as possible!

On reflection – I've had plenty of questions! I hope this information is helpful. Please don't hesitate to contact me if you have any further questions or updates about your child.

Mrs Nyree Mackenzie | Head of Endeavour House