From the Deputy Principal

There is a strong sense of community at Great Southern Grammar which makes us so much more than just a school. I encourage our parents to look for opportunities to get involved in school events and make connections beyond the campus.  

This week, our P&F launched WhatsApp groups as a way for parents to connect with each other, share knowledge, and look for ways to enhance our students' experience. Our parent body has a wealth of knowledge and volunteer power that can help support our students both inside and outside the classroom. 

Each Year group has a representative on the P&F who can advocate for students and parents; please make sure you have read the Parent Code of Conduct and Communication Guidelines that have been posted in the WhatsApp groups for when you have any questions or ideas. 

There was another example of parent connection at the Year Seven P&F Meet and Mingle last Sunday, where we saw a fantastic turnout and plenty of smiling faces as parents shared their experiences of the first few weeks of school. The Year Seven cohort has almost doubled since last year, so it was fantastic to have our new parents mingling with parents who are well-established within our community as well as fellow new parents. I am sure that children would have returned from school having made a new friend in the last few weeks, so it was a good opportunity for parents to meet and make those connections. A special thank you to the P&F for this function.  

Another example of our community came on Tuesday when we had our annual vintage of the GSG vineyard! We had parents, friends, staff, and students all pulling together to harvest the grapes in the early hours before school started that day. Our incredible Facilities team made it very easy to help by organising the event and our catering staff chipped in and cooked us a yummy breakfast as a reward for our efforts. The GSG grapes have headed off to Castle Rock winery where they will be crafted into a Sauvignon Blanc for the ages! This is the sort of thing that you don’t see at other schools and is an excellent example of community in practice. 

One of the great advantages of Grammar is that our whole school is on one, connected campus. This fosters a sense of community amongst the students and allows for some wonderful interactions. This week, as I walked through the gym, I saw a group of Year Eleven students on one half of the gym playing badminton as part of their Physical Education class, and on the other side of the gym, Mr Berryman was taking the Year Two students for a lesson on indoor soccer skills. As I headed to the library, I could see a group of Year Eleven and Twelve Literature students reading stories to our Djinda students. On Friday of this week, our Year Twelve leaders are going to sell icy poles at lunchtime to raise funds for their House community service project. Soon, we will be opening the stall up at a more centralised location and inviting the Primary School leaders also to have a stall, which will encourage more interaction between the Secondary School and Primary School students. Our recently revised bell times, so that the whole campus has recess and lunch at the same time, have been designed to provide more opportunities for our Secondary and Primary students to mingle. 

Today, we had our Tour Morning, where more than 50 people visited the campus in search of information about the school, with an eye to enrolling their children for 2026 and beyond. The Tour Morning showcased that its purpose is more than information about the school; it’s the feeling of the community at the school. 

If prospective families can get a feel for our community, I am convinced they will be very keen to join us. As families visit the school, they get a sense of place in our stunning setting; they meet our students, far and away our greatest asset, and learn about the fantastic opportunities at GSG with regard to our teaching and learning, our pastoral care, our cocurricular opportunities, and our experiential learning. I can honestly say that as a new staff member and as a new parent, this has been our experience with the GSG community, and we are thrilled to be a part of it. 

Finally, I encourage our parents to visit our campus when they can. Assemblies at GSG are a great time to visit and immerse yourself in our school culture. In Week Six, Monday 10 March, we celebrate International Women’s Day as a whole school at assembly. Multiple students and staff speak about International Women’s Day, and following assembly, we have a morning tea in the library for parents and staff, another great chance to build community. 

I wish all GSG families a restful Long Weekend.

Mr Jordan Owenell | Deputy Principal - Head of Secondary