Breaksea House News
Hello Boarding Community!
We’ve made a positive start to Term Three here in Breaksea House. With a new semester of learning, the weather starting to warm up and loads of fun events coming up this term, there’s a lot to look forward to. I hope you are having a good start to Term Three but as always, there can be rough patches and difficult times that do crop up. Being a part of the boarding community means that we get to share in both the highs and the lows, we all go through. It’s often just as rewarding, if not more so, to be able to offer support during tough times, as much as it is to celebrate the good ones. Whether you’re having a great start to Term Three or a challenging one, we are grateful to have you as part of our community and to share in this journey with you.
Welcome Goldfish
One of my highlights so far this term was when one of our Year Eleven boarders, Tiffany Butterworth, shared her three adorable goldfish with the house by moving them into the living room. Pickle, Tuna and Kaka now live under the TV as the centrepiece of our living room. I thought they might be a bit overwhelmed when over 30 teenagers were staring at them during roll call the first night, but they just kept swimming around, the same as always. They always seem so peaceful, so unphased by anything, enjoying floating around. I think they’ve had a calming effect on all of us. Thank you Tiffany for letting us share your lovely pets.
Laundry Days
One of our house goals this term is to work towards making our laundry days more efficient. The Breaksea students have the option, three times a term to send their bedding off to the local laundromat to be professionally cleaned. We’ll be encouraging all our Breaksea boarders to do this. Some of our boarders prefer to wash their own bedding, which we’re happy to allow, but we’ll be checking in to make sure those who don’t send their sheets off to the laundromat are washing their bedding every three weeks and enjoying fresh and cosy sheets. All boarders should have two sets of sheets to swap over on laundry days.
Supervisor Update
Breaksea is genuinely blessed with a great team of supervisors. Each supervisor brings their own unique personality and strengths to the house, and yet at the same time we all strive for consistency and teamwork with managing the logistics and expectations of the house. One of our supervisors, Miss Sienna Ball, is taking some time off to finish her nursing studies. We wish Sienna all the best in completing her nursing degree. This term, we are fortunate to welcome two new supervisors to our team. Ms Elizabeth (Liz) Stewart, the partner of one of our beloved teachers, Mr Paul Donaldson, will be completing shifts on Friday nights and Sundays. Liz is a qualified teacher with a wealth of experience and was a boarder herself at Penrhos College, so she can relate well to the boarding experience. We also welcome Miss Zoe Kerr to the team on Monday and Friday mornings. Zoe is currently studying to become an English teacher but has also worked in mental health. She lives on-site in our boarding village with her partner, Mr Samuel Forward, who is a supervisor in Eclipse and Anchorage houses. We are looking forward to having Liz and Zoe join the Breaksea community and I’m confident that they’ll both be positive contributors to the house.
Just a reminder, that if you need to get in touch with the supervisor on shift about any logistical issues or changes to leave, you can call them on the Breaksea House phone 0438 217 129. For any more significant issues or pastoral care concerns, please contact me on 0400 276 347. A copy of our supervisor roster was sent out last week but please don’t hesitate to get in touch if you have any queries.
Crazy Hair Day
On Friday morning last week, the Breaksea dining table was covered with pipe cleaners, hair chalk, hair spray, patty pans and a rainbow of ribbons. It was Crazy Hair Day! Crazy Hair Day is an annual fundraising event held by the school to raise money for a charitable organisation. It was both heartwarming and hilarious to see the boarders get behind this good cause. We had some of the Eclipse students come over to have their hair styled and check in over breakfast. Whilst there were some wacky dos, the stand out was definitely our Year Eleven boarder, Olivia Willis, who borrowed one of my daughter’s Barbies to put in her hair and made her plait the mermaid’s tail! It was such a creative idea and sparked quite a few smiles in both the boarding house and the day school. Thanks to all those who got behind this great event.
As always, please don’t hesitate to get in contact if you have any questions or concerns or just want to connect and say hi. Thank you for your ongoing support.
Mrs Teliah Turrill | Head of Breaksea House