Term Three ends and upon reflection there are three strengths within Eclipse I would like to share with you that have been prominent over the last ten weeks.

Mateship

In any given week when you walk through Eclipse there is a strong theme of mateship within the house. All boarders engage in positive relationships across year levels and often engage in activities or recreation with their mates. There are friendships that have been forged over many years in boarding and others that are just beginning. I have no doubt that the friendships nurtured within Eclipse will last for years to come. This theme of mateship creates a welcoming and calm environment that is enjoyable to be around. I encourage all boarders to continue to celebrate their friends and spend time listening and laughing together.

Teamwork

All strong communities and families work as a team. Each member plays a different role and is control of different aspect of co-living. Eclipse is no different. Each week the teamwork is evident within house duties, planning recreation and study schedules. I congratulate all Eclipse boarders on what they bring to the team and thank them for their contribution. Every single individual plays a part in building a community that stands up to challenges and adversity.

Personal Excellence

No boarder is the same, however, a common passion they have is achieving personal excellence in their chosen area of motivation. This spans far and wide. It may be across academic pursuits, sporting teams, personal organisation, personal fitness, their friends, family or cocurricular activities. As supervisors, it is a pleasure to witness and support boarders along their journey and we look forward to celebrating further milestones.

Year Twelve Dinner

On Tuesday 12 September we held our Year Twelve farewell house dinner. It was a great evening to celebrate those departing over a long table BBQ dinner delicious cakes and warm fire. Thank you to the Year Elevens for putting together a small speech on their chosen Year Twelve and organising a departing gift.

Birthdays

Happy 18th birthday to three boys this month, Fletcher Cugley, Brendan Quick and Trenton Hams.

Mr Taylor Colton | Head of Eclipse House

Leaders Report

The final few weeks of Term Three have certainly flown by with many important events for the whole house. The Year Tens came back from work experience with positive reviews and a better idea of what they might want to do when they grow up, this week has helped to influence the boys on which pathway they will choose for Year Eleven and Twelve. This week the Year Twelves have been busy studying and completing their mock exams, aimed to prepare them for the WACE exams next term.

On 9 September many of the Eclipse boarders drove out to Mount Barker to watch the Colts boys Jack Carlson, Koby Hams from Royals and Hamish Murphy from Railways compete against each other. After a big final quarter the Royals won by 25 points. The boys who couldn’t make it to Mount Barker watched the live stream on YouTube. Later in the afternoon most of the boys in the house gathered around the TV to watch the Newdegate vs Lake Grace Grand Final where Newdegate won for the first time since 2016. To round off the finals, last Friday eight Eclipse boys played in the under 18s hockey Grand Final against Mount Barker where it went down to flicks after double overtime with Grammar winning 4-2, mainly thanks to the 300+ supporters who came down to ALAC to watch.

Last Sunday was the Kingfisher Fair where many boys went down and enjoyed the food, raffles and games on offer, some boys even volunteered for their house’s food stalls cooking burgers, beef and gravy rolls or potato’s. The day was a great success and I look forward to the next one.

Finally, I would like to say a big thank you to Mrs Spinks who will be leaving us at the end of the year. Mrs Spinks has been in boarding for many years and dedicated many hours of hard work to making Eclipse a better house whether that is with her endless knowledge and advice or her famous waffles and brownies which is always a favorite of all the boys. I wish Mrs Spinks all the best for the future and hope to see her around Albany.

Hamish Medway | Year Twelve

Year Twelve Reflection

My journey at GSG starting back in January 2019. I was just a scared little Year Eight boy not ready for the huge but exciting journey of boarding and life that was ahead of me. I believe boarding school is the best thing that anyone can do as it truly makes you a more resilient, independent and I believe that it sets you up for life after school.

From the beginning of our boarding journey, we had quite a large group with a range of different people. Over the years it slowly decreased in numbers whether they left because they were getting in trouble for many reasons, or they left for a different school. By the time of Year Ten everyone had made their final schooling decisions and either left for good or stayed and put their head down.

Some if not all people say our year group has been one of the most troubling ones the school may have ever seen. From when some of our year group started in Year Seven to now, we have somehow counted up to 50 people that have come and been through our year group whether it was for a few years and for some just a couple of days. I cannot believe that our year group has lost that many people by now in Year Twelve we still have about 80 students still attending school.

GSG has offered lots of different camps and excursions over the five years I have been here. I have done Outward Bound twice, been to Camp Quaranup, stayed at the Castle Rock Camping Chalets, driven to Perth for lots of carnivals including Country Week, snorkelling in Denmark and mountain biking in Margaret River. It is certainly safe to say that the school has given us lots of opportunities and we have had a lot of fun.

Going into my senior years of education I made the decision to do the VET/general pathway. I believe this was the best decision I could have ever made. Along with my Certificate II in Outdoor Education that I completed in Year Ten, I have completed many certificates since. Last year in Year Eleven, I completed a Certificate II in Building and Construction through South Regional TAFE and began my Certificate III in Sport and Recreation. Now that I am at the end of my final year of school, I have successfully completed the Certificate III and have also completed a Certificate II in Furniture Making. I have been privileged enough to be able to do all of these certificates while I have also been at school, and I am very grateful for all the people that have helped me along my journey.

Boarding as a whole has been an eye-opening experience but I have loved every minute. While I have been here, I have had four Heads of Boarding, three Heads of House and dozens of supervisors in between. I just want to say thank you to everyone that has loved and supported me through my boarding journey it has truly been a rollercoaster.

Thank you, Mum and Dad and to all other family members that have helped me along the way especially in the early days when I got very bad home sickness. If you were to tell my Year Eight self that boarding would be the best experience anyone could ever have, I would have said that you were very wrong.

As my time comes to and end as a school student and Boarding Captain, I look forward to what the future has for me but will always look back and cherish the time I had at school in boarding. I have loved it.

Darcy Barrett | Year Twelve

Dates to Remember

Week One, Term Four

Week Two, Term Four

Week Six, Term Four