From the Deputy Principal
Community Assembly: tackling racism
On Monday students in Years Seven to Twelve attended our Community Assembly tackling racism and heard, first hand, about the personal impact of racism, the power of language and the difference between prejudice and racism. Organised by Mrs Rachael Colmer, our Aboriginal Liaison Officer, the assembly provided space for stories and questions. Our thanks goes to Tony Norment who travelled from Perth to be with us and to Asha Bhat, CEO of Southern Aboriginal Corporation who joined Rachael Colmer in sharing their deeply personal stories. The feedback to Mrs Colmer from our students, parents and teachers speaks volumes about the importance of us all taking an active role in tackling racism.
I wanted to express my gratitude for organising and facilitating the assembly on Monday. It’s a big subject and it was broached really well. I (and many others) really appreciated you, and Tony and Asha, taking time to share your stories and advice about racism and coping with it. Especially, thanks to Tony for driving all the way from Perth that morning to come! I really appreciated the way he broke down such large concepts like prejudice and racism and explained them in a very understandable and clear way. ~ Year Twelve student
I just wanted to let you know that my son said yesterday was the best assembly he has attended. He actually wanted to talk about it and the stories he had heard which led to some great conversations about biases and diversity. He said the speakers were really engaging and your stories stayed with him. Thank you for your work! I’m lucky to have a very thoughtful kid but to have him come home and want to talk about these things because of things that happen at school is wonderful. ~ Parent
It was great to hear you all speak and share. This was such an important assembly. ~Teacher
From Beyond the MusicalVerse
What fun! We have just shared our first musical production in some time and we had two full houses in our audience to share the magic. This production came into being due to the tenacity, inspiration and talent of a group of our Senior students, determined to experience the joy of a musical. Brainstorming a way to bring some of our previous musicals to life, River Waters, Ella Anderson and their support team devised a storyline based on musical worlds colliding, while the characters searched for identity, belonging and the most outlandish outfit!
Having written an insightful script, exploring what it means to belong somewhere…anywhere… we set to work to create some magic. As a Director I am so grateful to Mr Mathew Irving as Musical Director (disguised as our Principal!) who guided our cast and led the band, Mrs Emma Poole who draped us in finery, Mrs Kym Clifford who found our treasures and many other friends behind the scenes made small miracles happen.
Creating a musical takes many hands, hearts and minds and this is no exception; we are here thanks to our GSG community. Beyond the MusicalVerse crossed time and space and reminded us that no matter how far we go, and how weird things get, we still need a place to belong and people to be with.
A huge thank you to Mrs Renae O'Donnell for the beautiful photographs. We are looking forward to releasing these to the cast soon.
And now, we look forward to Aladdin Jr. in 2025 at the Albany Entertainment Centre! Auditions for students in Years Six to Ten will be happening soon. If you are interested, please get in contact with me or Ms Emma Luxton.
Mrs Emma Franklin | Deputy Principal