Breaksea House News
Term Two is often the busiest time of the school year, with winter sports kicking off, exams and reports just around the corner and a host of school-wide events. Our broad range of extra-curricular activities is one of the best things about life at Great Southern Grammar. Our boarders love their sport, music and outdoor adventures and have spent the last few weeks heavily involved in all three of these things. The house is constantly full of hockey bags, netball uniforms and music practice.
Amidst the flurry of extra-curricular activities, study has been of the utmost importance this term as Years Ten, Eleven and Twelve exams and Year Twelve ESTs approach. The house is quiet and studious come prep time and many of our Years Eleven and Twelve students are spending any spare time they can find, revising their subjects.
However, we always manage to squeeze in a healthy dose of fun too. We’ve had a range of rec activities since the term started. These activities have included beach walks, market trips and café runs into town. My personal favourite was the MSWA Ride that the Breaksea students completed on Saturday 6 May. We braved the cold for a 7.00am start, after loading up the school’s fleet of mountain bikes the afternoon before. There were some handstand competitions to pass the time while we waited for our race to set off but once the horn sounded, everyone was speeding away. A huge congratulations to Mariella Somerscales and Chloe Climie who took out the first two places in the 10km race! We were all rewarded afterward with a free lunch and the satisfaction of getting some great exercise whilst supporting a worthy cause.
We would like to give Mr Nathan Symonds a huge thank you for sizing the students for bike frames and helmets and helping load the trailer. Thanks also to Mr Mark Sawle for joining in on the 40km ride with Mr Keatch and six boys from Anchorage and Eclipse.
On the note of good causes, two of our Breaksea Year Twelves participated in the World’s Greatest Shave on Monday this week to raise money for Leukemia research. We were all very proud of Halle Cosh and Georgia Patterson for participating in the fundraiser and think their new haircuts look great! Our very own Breaksea Supervisor, Ms Kate Valleri, was honoured when she was asked to hold the scissors.
It's so important to fit in some relaxation time too amongst the extra-curriculars, study, fun and supporting good causes. Each of our supervisors bring unique ideas into the house to infuse some relaxation time where they can. Last week, Carter Wight treated students with some relaxing face masks after prep and one of our new supervisors Lorna Boasman has been engaging the boarders in some relaxing weekend drawing and art.
We’re bracing ourselves for a busy few weeks as the term reaches its peak but continue to work together with teamwork, diligence and kindness to help each of the precious young people in our care to reach their full potential.
Birthdays
To start the term off, we have had three birthdays, many happy returns to Lily Quick, Emmeline Cunningham and Bella Patterson. Chloe Climie, Bethany Robertson, Faith Bin Omar and Rif McNeil-Hanna were all lucky enough to have their birthdays in the school holidays. Best wishes to all.
Mrs Teliah Turrill | Head of Breaksea House
Leaders Report
The start of the term has just kicked off, and all the Breaksea boarders are getting back into rhythm. From managing school loads to numerous weekend plans, the term has started off busy although enjoyable. In Breaksea House, Term Two has brought with it astronomical amounts of study and student endeavour.
At the start of Week Three, Breaksea House was lucky enough to welcome a new friendly face. Zoe Keley has joined our boarding community and has already expressed her excitement.
Amongst the boarding community, National Boarding Week this week has definitely seemed to strike some excitement. Breaksea boarders have involved themselves daily in all boarding dinners, and had the opportunity to wear the boarding jumpers, and boarding leavers jumpers to school on Wednesday to represent the boarding enthusiasm amongst the school environment.
With exams approaching and ESTs in progress, the level of stress throughout Breaksea is apparent among all. Boarders have been stuck in their books in preparation for these important upcoming events. To aid in the process of relieving stress, all boarders have been encouraged to study collectively. This is a study method that most boarders have taken up, and the study environment has visibly changed to a less confronting, and more approachable plan of action.
Over the past four weeks, many of us have participated in fundraising events, these range from chopping hair for the Leukemia Foundation, riding bikes and running/walking for the MSWA foundation. As a house, we are all very proud of one another and love hearing what we can do next to support our peers and community.
With Week Four coming to an end, the long weekend seems to be approaching rapidly, and the excitement to go home is rising. We hope everyone has enjoyed the term so far and can't wait to hear what people have got up to on their long weekend.
Kobie Featherstone and Ella Main | Breaksea House Leaders