SENIOR SCHOOL
Tip Three
My third tip is that you have to realise that
everyone is feeling the same. Everyone at some
stage will feel overwhelmed, nervous and
under pressure about starting Senior School –
even the parents. Don’t worry – those feelings
are completely natural. Everyone feels them,
especially during such a big transition. You are
not the only one.
Let me ask, who in this room is nervous (or was
nervous) about moving to Senior School?
I know I was.
See, have a look around, there are so many
people with their hands up. For many of you
I know you are also coming from a different
school, not from the Preparatory School. If you
stay calm and talk about your worries, you can
overcome these feelings and then get the most
out of school – both academically and socially.
Tip Four
My fourth tip is to make the most of all the
opportunities that you are offered at Guildford.
When you start in the Senior School, you will
quickly learn that there is a club or group to do
any activity you could dream of doing. You can
do debating, drama or music ensemble. If it’s
sport you love, you can do athletics, swimming,
cricket and my favourite, football. Some of
these are compulsory, but there are so many
optional things that you can do also.
Not only are they fun, but they help you meet
new students, students from other years and
other houses.
Finally, Tip Five
This is my biggest tip – know that there is
always someone in the Senior School who will
have your back. It might be your best mate,
your mentor, or your Head of House. It might
even be the counsellors or Father Philip. Or
even some of the teachers and students in the
front row. There is always someone you can
go to.
You will hear how special and unique the
Guildford House system is – this isn’t just talk.
It is really true. While Woodbridge House is the
best house, I am sure that the other Houses are
nearly as good. Woodbridge is the place where
I go and I feel welcomed by the older boys.
Hopefully with these tips you will not only enjoy
and have a great time in the Senior School but
get the most out of it and the most out of you
– while having fun of course! I hope that I have
excited you about being a part of the Guildford
Grammar Senior School Community new year.
Fergus McNamara
Year 7 Woodbridge
Ten years of Book Club
The Senior Library fiction area was transformed on Saturday 19 August as former
students from the past ten years of GGS Book Clubs gathered to celebrate with a
literary lunch. The Book Club graduates were joined by Senior Chaplain, Father Philip,
who remarked later “It was a joy to see so many “old faces” and catch up with
where they are; but more excitingly it was a delight to listen as they readily spoke of
their reading books today.”
The coveted Book Club T-shirts were worn
with pride by most of those attending,
a symbol of their final graduation and
farewell from Book Club. Older members
and newly minted graduates chatted over
cake as they browsed photos of their
younger selves and added to our map of
Book Club graduates now living as far
afield as Stockholm and Singapore.
Older Book Club graduates found the new Book Club room in L2 quite a change from
their Book Club days, whilst recent graduates felt quite at home there.
Ten years ago at the behest of the Director of Library Services, Michelle Pritchard,
Evening Librarians Alison and Merriwyn Spicer-Wensley invited a small group of keen
recreational readers to join them in starting a Book Club. It quickly became apparent
that two Book Clubs would be required since senior and junior students had after
school commitments on alternate days. Posters, notices and visits to a few English
classes were used to invite interested students to get involved in planning how their
Book Club would run. This student-centred approach has remained a feature of Book
Club, with members deciding when to all read the same book, read different works
within a genre or by a particular author and when to share recommendations and
reviews based on their current reading.
Over the years Book Club has been busy with:
• Online discussion
• Book crossing
• Regular meetings with Perth College Book Club
• Attending author events
• Author visits
• Excursions to see film adaptations of books
• Literary excursions such as book crossing excursions and a visit to the newly built
Perth City Library.
We look forward to future reunions as Book Clubs continue to grow at Guildford
Grammar School. A love of reading is a wonderful way to bring people together and
an interest that will stay with them for the rest of their lives.
Alison and Merriwyn Spicer-Wensley
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