Term Three has seen a multitude of activities from sporting finals, various boarding activities, community service and parent social events. I am grateful for the commitment of the boarding team to make these activities possible. We have all seen terrific examples of boarding spirit from our students, which makes us proud of them all.

Boarding Parent Sundowner

There’s no doubt, boarding parents clock up a lot of kilometres in driving to and from boarding and driving their children to sporting fixtures, so last year the Boarding Parent Committee and I thought about creating an event for boarding parents. The idea was to provide an opportunity for parents to come together, make connections with other GSG parents and have a nice night out. Our night at the Albany Golf Club was certainly very pleasant and everyone enjoyed catching up and sharing a few stories from home and boarding life. Many thanks to everyone who came along and I look forward to planning something for 2021.

Marsh Award

In 2018 the boarding team began to identify the qualities we would like to see developed in every GSG Boarder. These qualities can be found in our Boarding Pillars and describe elements of School, Service, Spirituality and Self. Boarders who demonstrate strong character, in line with these ideals, are noted and can earn points towards an award we named in honour of our recently retired, long-serving chaplain, Reverend Rod Marsh. This term we have the first recipients of the Marsh Awards, and five young men and women will be celebrated at a chapel service. These boarders have not only demonstrated a commitment to achieving their best for themselves, they have consistently participated in community events and volunteered to help others. Congratulations to Jessica Dolan, Fletcher Cugley, Mitchell Hawley and Bethany Robertson. Well done to you all.

Boarding's Got Talent

One of the biggest boarding community events of the year is Boarding’s Got Talent. This year we organised a different format, which was more in line with COVID recommendations, by reducing density of people indoors and allowing our boarders to demonstrate their talents in a different way. Each house was split into five groups, with each group taking a turn to play host to boarders from other houses. Each house was decorated in the theme of a nation, a meal was planned, prepared and served, and marks were awarded for each element of this. After the meal, each house devised a challenge, which tested different types of talents. We saw some great meals created and our boarders competed in mini golf, darts, boules, giant Jenga, dancing and a chilli eating contest. Lots of fun was had. Planning an event such as this, also helps develop social skills which can transfer to a variety of real-life situations.

Academics

Good luck to all the Year Twelve students who are about to embark on an extended period of testing and assignment writing. The support of your peers, teachers, boarding staff and tutors is an important part of this journey. Two more weeks of formal schooling will fly by I’m sure.

We are always looking to develop the way we approach academics across boarding and this term Ms Bromhead delivered a session on effective study techniques to our Year Ten cohort. It was great to see these students listening intently and the positive feedback afterwards confirmed that it was well received.

Across all years, boarding staff and tutors are now electronically recording student performance during prep. This will allow us to match effort with academic results and provide more valuable feedback to our students.

Guest Speakers

Recently our boarders were treated to a visit from WAPOL when Senior Constable Martin Franzinelli and First Class Constable Neil Baines came to a special all boys dinner. We heard some good stories about the challenges of the job, with both officers crediting their actions to their training. The boys were particularly interested in the variety of weapons and accessories found in the utility belt. We had a demonstration on how effective the handcuffs were, and some boys even took the opportunity to sit in the patrol car where they allegedly gave the lights and sirens a quick blast with good effect. It was a very entertaining night and the questions kept coming well into prep time.

This week was the girls’ turn and we played host to Detective Senior Constable Kylie Bell and Senior Constable Hannah Mackay. These officers discussed a range of policing areas, with a special mention of forensics. Det. S/C Bell spoke about beginning her career working in a pharmacy, moving into the police force and then 17 years later rising to the level of a Detective Senior Constable, working all around Western Australia and enjoying the surprises each day offers. S/C Mackay spoke of her work in forensics, dispelling the myths of forensics in television shows, and teaching the girls about the wonders of fingerprint identification. Lots of great questions came through from the girls, including how you manage in difficult crime scenes. Focusing on the task and the forensic techniques and doing the best job they could was the response.

Winter Sports Awards

This week, the School congratulated the Winter Sport Award recipients. Well done to the following boarders who receive awards:

Hockey - Coaches Awards

Millie Plowman (Year Eight), Tom Hams (Year Seven), Daniel Fisher (Year Nine), Darcy Barret (Year Nine), Abby O’Neil (Year Eleven), Jacob Featherstone (Year Twelve).

Hockey - Fairest and Best

Xanthe O’Neil (Year Eight), Steven Wiech (Year Eight), Jack Carlson (Year Nine), Kaden Patterson (Year Nine), Mitchell Dolan (Year Twelve).

Netball - Coaches Awards

Georgia Williams (Year Eight), Faith Bin Omar (Year Eight).

Netball - Fairest and Best

Chloe Climie (Year Seven), Kira Tapscott (Year Eight), Kobie Featherstone (Year Nine), Maddison Smart (Year Ten).

Netball Perpetual Shield Winner – Taylor Netball Shield

Jasmine Butterworth (Year Eleven).

Volleyball - Fairest and Best

Mariah Lennard (Year Eleven), Jessica Dolan (Year Twelve).

Community Service

A group of boarders recently honoured a promise to work with the City of Albany to rehabilitate a weedy section of the Oyster Harbour shoreline. With the natural bush and school paddocks separated by a walking path, this area is well used by boarders who regularly walk, ride and skate to the Fish Traps and back. Over 200 seedlings were planted, with boarders from each of the five boarding houses lending a hand.

Boarding is an important part of the School's sustainability plan and we have several initiatives that adhere to these principles. Some of our projects include a worm farm, recycling, tree planting and minimising our use of plastics.

The State Government recently launched a Containers for Change programme and boarding would like to assist the School in this new project. To assist in the collection of the containers we are asking all boarding families for donations of unused IBC/Shuttle 1,000L containers that we will use as collection bins. From October we would also love to receive donations of your eligible containers. Proceeds raised will be used for projects within Boarding and the School. If anyone has clean shuttle containers or even just the shuttle cage, we would greatly appreciate your donation.

Photo Competition

The annual photo competition is now open to all boarders. The categories are:

Landscape or Iconic Place
People or Characters

Boarders can enter two photographs for each of the above categories. Entries should accompany an appropriate name for each photo and emailed to Mrs Franzinelli by Monday 2 November.

Make the most of the coming holidays to take some great pictures.

Mr Brendan Goggins | Head of Boarding

Dining Hall News