Secondary School
I know that we have lots of things happening around the school when there are more requests for Assembly slots to showcase events than we have time for! This week we heard about the Year Eleven Mocktail party, Years Seven to Ten Basketball Carnival, the Year Nine ANZAC excursion and the Year Eleven Outdoor Education Expedition. We also enjoyed hearing from Fiona Jane who shared the importance and significance of the work provided at Albany Hospice. Fiona visited us to receive a donation from Camfield’s fundraising day last term.
Another feature of the last couple of Assemblies has been our new leaders introducing themselves to the school.
I thought I would share their words below:
SCHOOL CAPTAINS
Louis Cosh:
Good morning staff and students. For those of you who haven’t met us before my name is Louis and this is Maddie, and we are your School Captains for 2024. I myself have had a long journey at GSG, beginning here in Pre-Primary. And throughout all this time I have learnt and grown a lot. I am excited to get to know you all in the time to come.
During my time here I have always tried to be the best version of myself I can be. An example of this is by showing compassion, this year I was also lucky to be given the role of Captain of the Shark’s colts football team.
And to my surprise a sport where most of the time is spent running into each other I have also found high levels of compassion here. For example, a game against Railways this year was neck and neck throughout. Until in the last five minutes where one of our teammates got badly knocked out.
The game stopped and he had to be stretchered off. At this moment the game suddenly didn’t matter, and all our focus was purely on helping our mate. The care and compassion our teammates showed on that day has stuck with me since and made us stronger as a team.
Big or small acts of kindness towards each other can go a long way. You can do this at school by holding the door open for someone, saying good morning to your mates or talking to someone new, small things like this can make someone’s day. Although you may feel awkward at first, it is always good to take the first step to make an impact. And believe me, kindness is contagious.
Thankyou.
Maddie Warren:
Good morning, everyone. As Louis mentioned, my name is Maddie, and we have the privilege of being your School Captains for 2024. I came to GSG at the start of Year Seven, and I can’t wait to work with you all over the coming year.
We are well into Term Four now and coming up to the last part of the year. I know that this is a busy time for everyone.
Our Primary School has lots of events coming up, including school swimming lessons and a few camps.
Secondary School students are busy completing final assessments and some of us are studying for exams.
While we finish up this last term, I want to encourage all of you to show compassion to each other. I was thinking of the little things people have done for me recently that have made my day easier.
From my friends sending groups texts to remind everyone of important events, to someone photocopying an extra worksheet for me in maths, to a simple ‘how are you’ in the morning, these are all ways you can show compassion to the people around you and make their day better.
See if you can think of some things you can do for someone else over the next week.
But it is also important to look after yourself at this time of the year. Be kind to yourself and remember to take breaks when you need them.
It’s okay to ask for help because that is what your friends and teachers are for. Do little things that will make you happy, such as taking walks before or after school, or spending a few hours with your friends on the weekend.
Louis are I are very excited for the coming year and would love to have a chat or hear any ideas you have. Please feel free to send us an email or come up to talk to us at lunches or recesses. I hope you all have a great week.
Thank you.
BAUDIN HOUSE CAPTAINS
Sam Jeffery:
Hello everyone, my name’s Sam, and this is Evie, and we will be your Baudin leaders for 2024.
Next year will be my 14th year at Grammar and I’m grateful to be leading with such an amazing group of people. Soccer is one of my biggest hobbies along with going to the gym with friends and getting involved with school and the Albany communities.
One of our main goals for next year is to make the newer vertical homeroom system even more inclusive and fun. We would like to encourage open communication and friendliness between everyone, regardless of year group. We believe that this will create a strong sense of family between all, helping enrich and nurture everyone’s schooling experience.
We also plan on further working on the Baudin birthday as well as many other fundraisers to ensure that everyone can enjoy themselves whilst working on helping those in need.
I look forward to working with all if you in the next year and hope to get to know all of you better.
Evie Woodall:
As Sam mentioned my name is Evie, I have been at GSG since Year Seven and love all the opportunities this school has given me. In my spare time I enjoy cooking and netball. I love meeting new people, learning new things and love to do volunteer work. I’m really looking forward to working with you all and my fellow leaders over the next year.
Something Sam and I aim to achieve next year is increasing our participation in House events. We really want to make sure VACS and House sports carnivals are a fun experience for everyone whether you’re the top sprinter or your favourite event is tug of war it doesn't matter.
We are also hoping to make our House meetings more exciting and working on getting everyone involved as our house groups are a key element of our support system here at school.
Sam and I are super excited to hear all the ideas and feedback you have so come have a chat with us anytime.
Thankyou.
CAMFIELD HOUSE CAPTAINS
Scarlett Swain:
Hi, I’m Scarlett Swain the new Camfield House captain alongside Angus McSweeney for 2024. We are both really excited to work with Camfield and the other leaders in the coming year. I have been at GSG since Kindy and am looking forward to my final year here. I have loved being part of the house spirit ever since I was in ECC and hope to keep that going this year.
This year, Camfield has made a fantastic effort at our fundraising days. We raised a total of $1500, mainly at our crazy socks day.
We have used this money to support Kosal, who is Camfield’s sponsor child from Cambodia. We are also making a generous donation to the Albany Hospice. We hope to continue the success of the past leadership group, and we are really looking forward to working with you all in this coming year.
Angus McSweeney:
Hi, I’m Angus and I am also your Camfield House leader for 2024. I have been at GSG since Year Nine, where I boarded before coming into day school in late Year Ten. Similarly to Scarlett, I too am looking forward to working as a leader in 2024. In addition to the fundraising, last year's leaders introduced vertical homerooms, which were an excellent success, bringing the different year groups of Camfield House together. As House leaders we plan to add to this, by implementing more games and activities during homeroom, as well as increasing participation in extracurricular events such as the swimming and sports carnivals. Scarlett and I are both very much looking forward to working with all of you next year. Thankyou for listening.
MOKARE HOUSE CAPTAINS
Rosie Nicoll:
Good morning everyone I'm Rosie and along with Mary we are your Mokare House Captains for 2024. Being some what related to each other we share many similar interests and passions. We both enjoy the creative arts and are very sporty and love to participate in footy, soccer, netball, running, biking, hiking and swimming.
Our love for team games probably comes from our love to work with others and communicating ideas.
Mary Witham:
I came to Grammar in Year Seven and Rosie has been here since Year Two, and throughout this time we have already made so many amazing relationships, a lot with the Year Twelves whom have just left.
Having learnt so much from them, we are now super grateful to be able to pass down our knowledge and extend our friendships.
Rosie Nicoll:
We can't wait to get to work with all of you, listen to your inputs and feedback, make lots of memories and get to know you and your life better over the coming year.
We are here for anyone who needs a chat and for anyone that needs a helping hand. We love being a part of Mokare and can't wait to keep the House spirit high.
Mary Witham:
As your Captains we would like to build House connections and focus on mental health. Along with raising awareness and aid to mental health, we also hope to increase showcase of art, amongst all aspects of the school.
WILSON HOUSE CAPTAINS
Felicity Ericsson and Pippa Wilson:
Being a part of Wilson House has been an influential part of supporting us throughout our years of schooling, and we wish to continue and pass on the much-loved Wilson House spirit. Our vision is for all members of the House to feel included and passionate within the Wilson family, as well as having lots of fun along the way. We’ve kickstarted this approach by initiating a welcome party for the Year Sevens last Wednesday in Homeroom, as well as making time to get to know the younger students. We are super excited for the coming year, and hope that we can provide a friendly face and open mind to all students. Please don’t hesitate to approach us for a chat or to share your feedback and ideas. We can’t wait to get out and about within the community and meet more of you in the year to come. Thankyou.
BOARDING CAPTAINS
Brianna Cunningham:
Hi My name is Brianna and along with Steven we are your 2024 Boarding Captains. I’m from a farm near the town of Tambellup which is 150km north of here. I’ve a boarder since coming to Grammar in Year Seven.
My favourite part of Boarding is all the amazing friendships you make with your fellow boarders. Making teas and coffees in the kitchen, watching movies in the lounge, the weekend beach trips, and the many rec activities have created so many memories over my boarding years.
I can’t wait till next year to help run the many exciting boarding events such as the quiz night, MasterChef, Boarding's Got Talent and the boarders vs day bugs sport day. Boarding is my home away from home and I’m so excited continue creating the many special opportunities us boarders have.
Steven Wiech:
Hello everyone, and as Brianna mentioned my name is Steven and we will be your Boarding Captains for 2024. I grew up in a small town called Lake King which is about three hours northeast of Albany. We own a family farm where we grow crop and graze sheep. I came to the school in Year Seven and have been here ever since.
Our goals for this year are to make sure boarders feel at home and included in school life. Walking around the school there are about 100 boarding students among us. Some that live in Albany and others as far as Oman, 9,873 km away. Next time you see us don’t be afraid to say hi as we are a friendly bunch of people and are always on for a chat. Thanks.
ARTS CAPTAINS
Ella Anderson:
Hi everyone! I'm Ella and this is Lily, and we are your new Arts Captains for 2024!
As you may know both Lily and I have been involved in the Arts program for quite a while now. Lily has helped set up for Kingfisher two years in a row and been enthusiastically involved in all areas of arts - including drama, visual arts and music. I have also been involved in Grammar's drama and music communities - costarring with Lily in last year's performance of 'The Real Inspector Hound' as well as performing with other VET students in this year's VET shows and Radioactive.
We are both super passionate about this area of the GSG community and are excited to work with both students and staff in the next year to continue to develop big projects like Radioactive, the Arts Exhibition and Kingfisher.
Lily Quick:
Alongside these existing events, we hope to create new opportunities for our students to engage with the GSG arts community in the year to come.
Obviously, we were elected by you guys for you guys. So, if you have any questions, queries, or comments regarding the Arts program at Grammar or even just general concerns at all, please don't be afraid to approach us or send us an email as we're always happy to have a chat.
Again, Ella and I are so excited to be the leaders of Grammar's amazing Arts program and we'll see you all in the next year! Thank you!
SPORT CAPTAINS
Michael Watson:
Hi, my name is Michael, and this is Tiffany, and we are your Sport Captains for the coming year.
I grew up on a farm near a small town called Lake Grace, where we farm crop, sheep, and a few cattle. I came to GSG as a boarder in Year Eight. In my time here, I have been able to take part in multiple sporting teams, events, and carnivals. As your sport captains, our main job is to encourage your participation in school carnivals and sporting events, and also sport in general. This mostly means occasions like the swimming and athletics carnival, cross country and Wountry Week. But this also means smaller events throughout the year like cricket carnivals, netball carnivals, footy carnivals, and others.
Finally from me, if there’s any questions, queries or suggestions, you can come to either Tiffany or me, and we will be happy to hear about it.
Tiffany Butterworth:
Hello, for those of you that don’t know me, my name is Tiffany, and as Michael mentioned, I am one of your Sports Captains for next year. I am the youngest sibling of four girls and grew up on a farm in Katanning.
I have an endless amount of love for the sport and all the sporting communities that I am involved in. I have enjoyed playing netball, basketball, football and recently, rowing, in the last few years.
Together, we are both very excited for what next year is going to bring, and we encourage you all to get involved in as many sporting opportunities that the school offers. We are especially seeking to bring lots of enthusiasm to all sports carnivals to ensure high participation and enjoyment from all.
A highlight in the sporting department is definitely country week, this is by far the best week on the calendar! This year we came away the overall winners of tier two and we have high hopes of what we can achieve this year.
I am so grateful for being appointed this position and am very excited to make next year as fun and sporty as we can!
Remembrance Service
On Saturday I accompanied Matilda Cook and Nyomi Johnson to Albany’s Remembrance Service held at the Albany War Memorial in town.
Please see Nyomi’s reflection below:
Every year, on the 11th November, countries across the globe commemorate Remembrance Day. This year, Matilda Cook and I attended the Remembrance Day Ceremony representing GSG, laying a wreath on behalf of the school. With many wreaths being laid this year, it was the most they have ever had. One of the highlights from the ceremony was listening to Brigadier Amanda Williamson’s Formal Address. Brigadier Williamson is a member of the Australian Army and spoke to us about WW1 and how on this day 104 years ago, the Armistice was signed and ‘The Great War’ ended. It was a valuable experience that allowed us all to reflect on the lives sacrificed.
Elevate
We’re excited to announce that Elevate Education's next free webinar will be taking place on Wednesday 22 November.
Elevate Education works with our students, delivering high impact workshops on study skills, motivation, wellbeing, and exam preparation. By tuning into their webinar series you will learn how you can help better support your children at home through reinforcing the skills they learn at school:
Wednesday 22 November @ 6.30pm (AEDT)
How You Can Build Resilience in Your Child
Click here to register for free
In this webinar Elevate will be showing parents:
✅ What resilience means, what it doesn’t mean, and why it’s important;
✅ How to help build your child’s resilience levels, both in and out of school
✅ How to help your child break their ‘fear of failure’
Mrs Victoria Turnor | Head of Secondary