Heads of House
Cowan House
What a term it has been for Cowan House. It has been fantastic to see students continuing to throw themselves into House life, whether through House Week, service opportunities, PCG competitions or simply supporting one another throughout the term. The energy, participation and willingness to get involved continues to grow, which is a great reflection of the culture we are building together.
Week 4 saw the return of House Week, with Cowan students competing across a range of activities. A highlight was the Puzzle Competition, where we secured an impressive 2nd place finish after a closely contested battle.
The Interhouse Readers Royale Competition also provided plenty of laughs and competition. Whilst we finished fourth overall, our team represented themselves brilliantly during the quiz component, securing 3rd place against strong opposition. Most importantly, it was fantastic to see students proudly representing their House.
From a service perspective, our Year 10 students recently participated in the Lap-o-thon as part of St George’s Day. I am proud to share that Cowan House raised the most funds across the four Houses, contributing an outstanding $1,083. A special mention goes to Romilly Jones (C4), who individually raised an incredible $450. It is always great to see our students supporting causes bigger than themselves and giving back to the community.
Looking ahead, our next major House event will be Battle of the Bands in Term 3, Week 8.
Expressions of Interest are now open for both our Choir and Band teams. If you would like to be involved, please check your SEQTA messages for further information. I cannot wait to see what talent Cowan House brings to the stage.
Mr Adam Edwards
Head of Cowan
Gandhi House
Gandhi House has had a fantastic start to Term Two, with students demonstrating incredible enthusiasm, talent and House spirit across a range of Interhouse events. Congratulations to all students involved in helping Gandhi achieve outstanding results, placing first in the Interhouse Cross Country Carnival, first in the Interhouse Readers Royale and second in the Interhouse Performing Arts Festival.
A special congratulations goes to our top readers for the Readers Royale: James Locsei, Hugo Canham, Evie Craig Harding, Judith Vigier, Billie Holden, Amelie Manning, Ava Anderson and Finn Craig-Harding.
House Week also saw an excellent display of House spirit and participation, particularly through the Puzzle Competition and the Interhouse Readers Royale Quiz. It was wonderful to see so many students getting involved and proudly representing Gandhi House. In Week 2, our Year 10 students participated in the St George’s Day Lapathon, raising an incredible $887 for the Starlight Children's Foundation. A special congratulations to Caitlin Humphries (G7), who was our top fundraising student. Thank you to all students and families who supported this important cause.
Looking ahead, expressions of interest for Term Three’s Battle of the Bands and House Choir have now opened. Our Year 12 leaders are already busy planning what promises to be another fantastic performance opportunity for Gandhi House. Please contact Miss Raynor if you would like to be involved. Go Gandhi!
Miss Molly Raynor
Acting Head of Gandhi
Lincoln House
We are now officially over halfway through the term, and what a term it has been for Lincoln House. Following from our win at the Interhouse Performing Arts Festival, we scored well in this term’s House Week. Jack Camplin contributed greatly to the Interhouse Reader’s Royale, scoring the most points out of any student and our Senior team helped us take second place in the event.
This has helped us secure enough points to put us second place in the overall standings for the House Cup. With only a few weeks left until the end of term, it’s more important than ever to ensure that you are gathering those House tokens and putting them into the House jars.
Lincoln Charity Day is once again being held at the end of this term. This year students will be participating in a lapathon, raising money for Headspace Osborne Park. For those unaware, Headspace is Australia’s National Youth Mental Health Foundation, providing early intervention mental health services for 12–25 year-olds.
Each year, Headspace helps thousands of young people access vital support through their Headspace centres in communities across Australia, online and phone counselling services, vocational services, and their presence in schools.
The event will be held at Moort-ak Waadiny (Wellington Square), where students will walk (or run) laps to raise money. Sponsor and donation cards will be handed to the students in PCG next week to start raising money, alongside a link to the donation page for headspace Osborne Park. We will also have food trucks and a headspace booth at the event for students to take a break and learn more about what headspace does.
I look forward to seeing everyone at the event and helping to raise money and awareness for an important cause.
Mr Vincent Lim
Head of Lincoln
Mandela House
It is hard to believe we are already well over halfway through the term, and it has been fantastic to see Mandela students continue to bring such strong energy, pride and House spirit.
Week 4 saw the return of House Week, as well as the final week of the Readers Royale competition. Mandela students threw themselves into the week with great enthusiasm, and their efforts certainly paid off. Mandela convincingly won House Week, largely thanks to our puzzling experts, who were the quickest to complete the 500-piece puzzle across both the Middle and Senior Schools.
Alongside this, Mandela also had another outstanding result in Readers Royale. Our students read the second-most books across the competition, but it was the quiz section where Mandela really stepped up, securing the overall title for the second year in a row. This was a brilliant achievement and a great example of students contributing in different ways to House success.
The PCG Quiz competition is also heating up. Bonus points have been awarded to the PCG that completes their Pulse check-ins first, which has made the leaderboard even closer. Ms de Witt’s M2 currently leads on 65 points after receiving five bonus points last week. Close behind are Ms Watson’s M7 on 60 points and Ms Bauer’s M1 on 59 points. With four weeks remaining, it is still anyone’s competition.
Looking ahead, our next major House events are the Interhouse Athletics Carnival in Term 3 Week 2, followed by Battle of the Bands and House Choir in Term 3 Week 8. Students interested in Choir or Band should keep an eye on SEQTA for practice information, and it is not too late to sign up. I am looking forward to seeing what Mandela can do in these upcoming events as we continue to build on a fantastic start to the term.
Mr Conrad Sloan
Head of Mandela