The Boarding Buzz

From the Heads of Boarding

You read the Buzz! We were super pleased to see that the Buzz is read by many people. We have made a concerted effort to communicate with our boarding families more effectively and hope that you are finding the Buzz beneficial, it’s out preferred means of communicating with you. 

Year Nine Boys

The Year Nine boys are moving to Eclipse at the end of Week Two in Term Four and they are very excited. The Anchorage upgrade will occur at this time also and the remaining Anchorage boarders will move to the senior wing so work can begin in the junior wing. We are looking forward to Anchorage looking light and fresh at the beginning of 2022. 

Security Cameras

Our security camera instalment schedule continues with Endeavour and Eclipse next on the list. Over the holidays the cameras will be installed into the common areas and wings of each house. The cameras are for access by Executive staff if there is an incident in one of the houses. These do not replace the active supervision of our staff. We have found these to be beneficial in Anchorage.

Health Centre

The Health Centre path is now complete and we hope to be operating from the new Health Centre very early next term. We can’t wait to show you how lovely the new reception and treatment areas are and looking forward to continuing to provide top quality care for our boarders. 

 

We request that all medical appointments during the day for students be booked by Mrs Liz Cosh and Mrs Rebecca Davies, our Nurses. This allows them to consider all the factors required. If you wish to make your own appointments, you will need to either transport students to and from these appointments or arrange that the student can catch the 3.30pm boarding bus into town and get to the appointment on their own.

COVID vaccinations

We have recently been advised by the WA Country Health Service that COVID-19 vaccinations will be offered to all boarding students, 12 years and older, during Term Four.  This opportunity is open to all GSG boarders, should they wish to take up the offer.  

 

Further information about the process and a link to the form to register for the vaccination will be emailed later today.

 

Students must be registered on the VaccinateWA website in order to be vaccinated and a consent form must also be completed in order to receive the vaccination.   Boarders wishing to take up this offer will be vaccinated on Monday 18 October and will be transported to the vaccination centre between 3.30 and 5.30pm that afternoon.  The second vaccination date is Monday 8 November.  

Women in Farming Enterprise Conference

Recently Vanessa and Tara were able to travel to Wagin to participate in the Women in Farming Enterprise Conference. The day was filled with fascinating speakers and information about soils, regenerative farming and the inspiring lives of various people. We enjoyed providing information about Great Southern Grammar to potential families and catching up with current families. We both look forward to any opportunities to connect with GSG families around the regions. 

Buchanan Cup Grand Final

On the first day back next term, Monday 11 October, the Buchanan Cup Grand Final between Como and Great Southern Grammar is being held in Albany. We are excited to have two of our boarders included in the team, Kira Pearce and Isabelle Plowman. To support this event, boarding will run buses to ALAC turf at 3.30pm. If you want your student to join the GSG supporters at the final, please book transport and have them back at school before 3.30pm.  To support this event, boarding will be open from 3.00pm on Monday 11 October.

Winter Sport Awards

The Winter Sports Awards were held at the beginning of Week Ten and we wish to take this opportunity to congratulate all GSG award winners.  Winners from boarding include:

 

Netball

Fairest and Best Awards - Ashlyn Evans and Audrey Cherry

Coaches Awards - Jasmine Butterworth, Karis Cristinelli, Tiffany Butterworth, Xanthe O’Neill, Eilidh Kershaw, Amy Medway and McKayla Ettridge

The Perpetual Shield Winner was awarded to Jasmine Butterworth

 

Hockey

Fairest and Best Awards - Lysbeth Cunningham, Isabelle Plowman and Hamish Medway

Coaches Awards - Amy Medway, Emma Dolan, Stephanie Lamont, Georgia Patterson, Michael Watson, Fletcher Cugley and Alexander Norrish

 

Soccer

Jack Lange received a Fairest and Best Award 

 

Volleyball

Dan Cosh received two Fairest and Best Awards for both of his Volleyball teams.

Boarding Parent Forum

We plan to hold the final Boarding Parent Forum of the year on Friday 29 October. The Forum will begin at 1.00pm, to be followed by a Sundowner in Michaelmas House with wine and nibbles being served. Details will be emailed out next term. We encourage as many parents as possible to come and join together for the Sundowner, as it provides a wonderful opportunity to meet other boarding parents. 

Boarding Bus Runs

For future boarding bus runs, it appears there aren’t enough students to run both buses for School Holidays. The two bus services will likely only run for Closed Weekends.  The boarding bus will only make one journey to Newdegate for the School Holidays in 2022 unless numbers increase. 

Boarding Parent Committee 

We would like to extend a thank you to Mrs Rachael Plowman and Mrs Anita Penny for their role on the parent committee over the past number of years. The time and effort they have put into this role, supporting parents and advocating on their behalf, is greatly appreciated. We wish them both the best in their post GSG lives.  Expressions of interest for positions on the Parent Committee are open. Please let us know if you are interested in being part of the Parent Committee, we meet three times a year. The Parent Committee Terms of Reference is located here for your information. We are keen to have parents who represent both a variety of year groups and geographical regions. 

Boarding Photo Competition

The annual Boarding Photo Competition is now open to boarders from Years Seven to Eleven.  There are two categories:

  • Landscapes
  • People/Characters

Students can enter up to two photos for each category.  There is a prize for the winning photo (voted by boarding students) and the winning photo will be printed and displayed in the Dining Hall.  The school holiday break is the perfect time for boarders to get creative and take some wonderful snaps for the competition, so please encourage your child to get involved.

Chapel

Over this year we have focused on the Values of a GSG Boarder during our chapel services. This week we held our chapel service and focused upon the value of honesty and integrity in all that we do. Madison Smart and Darcy Barrett provided insightful reflections on this value and spoke about ways this has impacted their lives and the power we have over the words we choose to use. Our school chaplain, Mrs Naomi Cooper, challenged students to be people of honesty and known for the trustworthiness of the words they speak. We finished the chapel service with a time of thankfulness for Year Twelve. There was a presentation of photos of the Year Twelve students, which you can view here and Jed Kowald provided a reflection from the Middle School students before Ms Bromhead prayed a blessing over the students. It was a special final service for our students. 

Student Leadership

We would like to begin by thanking our boarding student leaders from 2021, Karis Cristinelli and Daniel Cosh. These two young people have worked tirelessly to serve our boarding community throughout this year. Both Dan and Karis have worked to build greater connections between the Middle and Senior Boarding communities through the Middle School Tutoring programme and the shared dinners on a Sunday night. Additionally, they planned and orchestrated the Year Twelve boarding jerseys, which will be enjoyed by Year Twelve boarders for many years. However, it has also been in the quiet encouragement to boarders within houses, their constant presence at various sporting events, leadership at chapels and service opportunities where Karis and Dan have been appreciated by both boarders and staff. Thank you Karis and Dan for your leadership throughout 2021. 

 

In 2022, there will be change to the leadership structure within boarding, with one Boarding Captain from Year Twelve and a Vice Captain from Eclipse, alternating each term. There were a number of Year Eleven students who have applied for leadership within the school and boarding for next year. Four students decided to apply for Boarding Captain and gave a speech to the combined Breaksea and Endeavour Houses and then the Eclipse and Anchorage Houses. All students in boarding were asked to nominate their preference for Boarding Captain and these slips have gone to the school Executive. We look forward to celebrating the achievements of our boarders in Week One of Term Four. 

On Thursday 9 September, the Australian Boarding Schools Association held its inaugural Boarding Student Leaders Conference. It operated over Zoom and involved over 50 schools from Australia and beyond. The students engaged in activities and talks focused on character development, traits of a leader and communication styles. It was a wonderful opportunity for three of the 2022 Year Twelve leadership candidates and five Year Eleven boys who have nominated to be involved in leadership next year.  The students loved meeting and chatting with other boarders from around Australia, hearing about their values and leadership role models. The new Boarding Captain, with Tara Ball and Vanessa Bromhead, will be interviewing students for the role of Vice Captain at the beginning of Term Four.

Ms Vanessa Bromhead | Head of Senior Boarding

Mrs Tara Ball | Head of Middle Boarding