Eclipse House News

This term has been a term of changes, celebrations and farewells. The Recreation area in the house has been rearranged into various configurations, until we finally found one that works well for boys playing pool, table tennis and Xbox at the same time. We have also said farewell to the Year Twelves and Levi and the rest of the boys are preparing to finish for the year.

Farewell Year Twelves

The last of the Year Twelves have now finished their exams and moved out of boarding. It was both an exciting day for them and an emotional day for a lot of the boys. Daniel Cosh was the last of the Year Twelves to move out and the Year Ten boys enjoyed gathering around him and wishing him all the best as he drove away from the boarding house for the last time. We wish them well in the all their future endeavours.

Eclipse Upgrades

As the weather has improved, some of the Year Ten boys were asking about getting more clothes lines outside. The maintenance staff were very quick and helpful in completing this request and we now have a new washing line outside the laundry and a new Hills Hoist, for students to make use of in the improving weather.

I am very pleased to say we now have a brand new dishwasher and another one on the way. This has been very much appreciated as the dishwashers are one of the most used appliances in the house.

2022 Eclipse Leaders

I am very pleased to announce Pierce Newman is the first 2022 Boarding Vice Captain. This role will be shared between four students who nominated themselves and interviewed for the role. Pierce has started strongly, taking on the role and responsibilities with maturity, supporting the Boarding Captain and Staff. He was invaluable in helping and supporting staff during the Year Seven orientation last week and has already assisted in interviewing and selecting house leaders for both Eclipse and Anchorage Houses. We congratulate Mitchell Hawley and Daniel Fisher as the Eclipse House leaders for Semester One 2022 and look forward to all the ways they will positively develop Eclipse House. 

One of the first initiatives Pierce brought in as Boarding Vice Captain was the “Australian of the Week” award. This is an award presented to a member of Eclipse who has shown great Australian spirit and character. So far Jed Kowald and Daniel Fisher have been the two presented with this honour. 

Christmas Decorations

During the weekend at the end of Week Six, we decorated the house for Christmas. Greta and Hazel put up the Christmas tree and the boys have been having fun rearranging the decorations on it ever since. At first the star on top was replaced by one of the Santa hats, it didn’t take long before the tree was then covered in hats.

Greta and I have been filling a bowl in the kitchen every few days with candy canes and toffees, to help get the boys get into the Christmas Spirit. This has added a nice element of fun and celebration for the final couple of weeks of the term and the boys have really appreciated it.

Farewell Levi

Thursday 25 November saw Levi Cosh’s last day with us. Levi has been an incredible support and help in the house and we wish him all the best with his Chaplaincy studies next year and his Half-Marathon at the end of this year. 

We had a gathering the night before Levi’s departure where we presented him with a card, signed by all of the boys, thanking him for the memories and wishing him all the best in his future plans. We then shared cakes with whipped cream for supper to celebrate his time with us.

On Levi’s last morning we sent him off by all getting up early and going with him to the dining hall for one last cooked breakfast together.

Fundraising for Albany Men's Shed

This term, each house raised money for a nominated group or charity. Eclipse chose to do a Sausage Sizzle at lunch time last Wednesday 1 December to raise money for the Albany Men’s Shed. The Men’s Shed support various community groups and projects, including kindergartens, and the new skate park. They also focus on men’s mental health with the idea of “blokes supporting blokes” and providing a safe and welcoming environment for men of all ages.

On Saturday 27 November, I took a group of nine Eclipse boys down to the Albany Men’s Shed. We were taken on a tour of the sheds by Gary. He explained what it is they do, from restoring furniture, chopping and selling bags of kindling, building cubby houses for local kindergartens and making pens, to crafting sculptures and building scale model, working steam engines. Their most important function however is supporting each other and helping the older men to still feel useful. 

After the tour and a bit of a chat about how important it is to keep busy, and support each other’s mental health, particularly for men after retirement, we were invited to stay for a sausage sizzle. We spoke with some of the other men who were there and listened to their stories, before having one last look around and some of their machines and completed projects.

This was such a positive experience for the boys, each of them commenting on how much they enjoyed it. Darcy Barrett is already keen to get involved in further connections with the Albany Men’s Shed in 2022.

Birthdays

Happy birthday to both Steven Wiech and Mackenzie Smith who celebrated their birthdays in November and to Daniel Cosh, Rhori Williams-Jolley, Jed Kowald and Riley Hitsert who all have December birthdays.

I wish everyone a happy and safe holiday, Merry Christmas and Happy New Year. As always, please feel free to call, text or email me on 0448 125 919 or via brenton.rice@gsg.wa.edu.au anytime.

Mr Brenton Rice | Head of Eclipse House