The Boarding Buzz

From the Head of Boarding

Term Three

Term Three has been busy with activities and there is much to celebrate on behalf of our tremendous boarders and the wider boarding community. 

Winter Sports

Winter sport saw a large number of boarders involved in finals, and it was great to see so many commit to their training, eating well and getting the rest they needed prior to their big games.  The Winter Sports Assembly this week recognised outstanding efforts from our students, with the event being well-presented by Sport Captain, Blair Watson. 

 

Among the winners of fairest and best awards were netballers Xanthe O’Neil, Rhiannon Williams-Jolley, Rosie Page and Karis Cristinelli. Jack Carlson won fairest and best award for hockey, while Flynn Cristinelli won fairest and best for football for this year’s Country Week Carnival. 

 

Boarders took home three of the major awards of the season, with Blair winning the coach’s trophy and awarded the McLean Shield for outstanding contribution to the promotion of football. Abbey Cristinelli received a dedication award for her years of service as Netball Captain and scoring the highest points of any GSG player in the association. Taylor Pocock received the Champion's Award for great leadership, coaching and excellence as a player.  Well done to these and all our young sportsmen and women.

Kingfisher Fair

The Kingfisher Fair was a school-wide activity that saw the boarding community come together like never before. Many thanks to families who donated gifts towards the chocolate wheel, and to the Penny family for organising the entertaining yabby races — a novelty for the 2019 fair!

 

This year each Boarding House took ownership of a particular activity to raise funds for the school.  It was our way of contributing, but it has also built a sense of ownership and achievement amongst those involved. 

The total takings before expenses have been calculated. We can be very proud of the contribution boarding made this year:

  • Chicken Tractor: $743.00
  • Chocolate Wheel: $661.00
  • Rocky Road: $258.00
  • Yabby Races: $208.00
  • Eco Logs: $178.00

Off-Campus Events

Boarding has been represented out in the community in recent times at the Newdegate Field Day, the Women in Farming Enterprises (WIFE) conference and the Yalari dinner. Mrs Tara Ball and Miss Alkira Miller went on a road trip with our terrific group of Yalari students to attend the Yalari dinner in Perth, which saw a celebration of Indigenous culture with a view to providing opportunities for Indigenous scholars. For the second year running, a GSG boarder was awarded the Yalari Resilience Award, with Mariah Lennard taking out the prize this year.  Well done, Mariah!

Boarding Captain Elections

As Senior students are focused on their upcoming exams and finishing off Certificate courses, our eyes were focused on those who might be leaders in 2020.  Still busy with Winter sport commitments, we heard from most Senior candidates via a video recording. 

 

Josh Pearson and Jacob Featherstone pitched their view of boarding for the boys' role, while Jess Dolan and Amy Gillam spoke for the girls' leadership portfolio. Candidates spoke about using their past experiences in boarding to help develop the boarding culture.  Helping with new boarders who might be homesick, and developing an inclusive community were some of the ways our future leaders plan to achieve this.

Academics

Our academic program is an evolving practice.  As new research comes to light around the best way to engage students in their studies, we are reflective of the practices we have put in place.  We know that there is no single model for effective study and the range of study techniques are as diverse as our students.  Some use headphones effectively, to provide background music, which blocks out distracting noises.  Some use colour to highlight important sections of their notes and some study best in a small group where they are able to talk, move and write their ideas on a whiteboard.

 

In Term Three the Year Eight and Nine students were allocated a tutor who oversaw their progress from week to week.  We encouraged some collaboration and lots of note taking.  Analysis of the academic data showed some solid improvements for each year from their Term Two results.  For our year 7s, 21 out of 23 students showed an improvement in at least one core subject area, with six girls and three boys showing improvement in multiple subjects areas.  26 out of 33 Year Eight students showed similar improvements with 16 improving in more than one core subject, while ten out of 19 Year Nine students showed this improvement. 

 

Good luck to the students and I hope this trend continues in Term Four.

Mock Arrangements and Start of Term Four

All the best for our Year Twelve students studying for their upcoming WACE exams these holidays. They will come back to boarding for the second week for their exams.  We expect that all Year Twelve students will take advantage of their time off and return home when they are not required to sit an exam. We can accommodate most requests, so please let your Head of Boarding House or myself know of any changes to these arrangements.

 

Classes for Year Twelve ATAR students will commence with a review of mock exam performance on Monday 14 October, a day earlier than the rest of the cohort.  We expect the majority of Year Twelve ATAR students to arrive on Sunday 13 October, with the remainder of the boarding cohort returning on Monday 14 October from 4.00pm.

 

All the best for happy and safe holiday.

Mr Brendan Goggins | Head of Boarding