Welcome to the Great Southern Grammar residential community! GSG is a world-class school, with boarding forming an important element of the school's fabric and reputation. Boarding is a busy environment with a wide range of experiences and activities to enhance residential life. Boarders at GSG live in comfortable, onsite boarding houses located on a spacious 144-acre site, alongside the Kalgan River and Oyster Harbour waterways.
Boarding provides a unique opportunity to live within and contribute to the school community. Many wonderful friendships are developed, with close bonds serving residential students well into their adult lives. We see firsthand the amazing experiences and opportunities available to GSG boarders.
The GSG boarding intake is predominantly made up of boys and girls from farming communities and includes students from a variety of backgrounds. In 2019, GSG accommodated up to 148 residential students from Years Seven to Twelve. Living away from home in a coeducational boarding environment helps develop students' sense of sharing and capacity to look after one another.
Boarding staff appreciate the commitment and sacrifice parents make to send their children to GSG and are thankful that you trust us to take care of your children living away from home. Our aim is to make this life transition as smooth as possible for all involved. While we will never replace the family home environment, we like to think of the boarding community as an extension of boarders' homes.
Most residential students at GSG occupy single rooms. Boarding houses emulate extended homes, providing a friendly and warm environment. Permanent house parents live in each residence where they extend genuine family values to boarders. Within each residence boarders enjoy comfortable and spacious living areas and a fully maintained kitchen.
After school, boarders have access to school facilities including supervised academic support, computers, the Library and sporting activities. The school provides transport for boarders to and from after school and weekend excursions, sport and other commitments, ensuring that they have access to all the opportunities that the picturesque Great Southern region provides.
Limited places are available to ensure we provide a quality residential experience for students with a clear focus on maintaining a friendly spirit of cooperation between staff and families.
Open, effective and positive communication between staff, parents, boarders and teaching staff is a vital element of GSG's boarding success. Positive communication allows us to address concerns while at the same time sharing the joy and excitement of many successes. We welcome you and your family to the Great Southern Grammar residential community.
Location
GSG is located in an idyllic setting where the mouth of the Kalgan and King Rivers meet Oyster Harbour. The school is positioned 16kms east of the city of Albany on a 144-acre rural setting. GSG is located in the Great Southern region, close to many boarding students’ homes in farming communities.
The school offers competitive boarding and tuition fees. For more information, please contact Registrar, Mrs Julia Bairstow, on 9844 0307 or via [email protected]
Facilities and Services
GSG offers five onsite boarding houses, each providing a homely, caring environment. Boarders’ rooms are of ample size, with a small number of double rooms for younger boarders. All boarders have access to ovals, the Multi-Purpose Sport Complex (gymnasium), cricket nets, tennis courts and walk trails. Full Wi-Fi is available in all boarding houses. We offer online transport and leave booking via REACH, as well as lunch orders via Flexischools.
Staff and our Standards
GSG employs caring, family-oriented staff with a low staff-to-student ratio. Our staff is trained in Duty of Care as determined by the Australian Boarding Schools Association (ABSA). GSG is a member of ABSA which represents 98 per cent of Australian boarding schools. GSG operates under the National Standards for Boarding Australia.
Transport
Transport requests are booked and activated online. We provide a bus service to take boarders to and from their sporting commitments (training and games), medical appointments, cultural events and shopping, during the week and on weekends. A bus run (Jerramungup and Pingrup bus service) provides drop-offs and pickups on Boarders’ closed weekends to the outlying regions of Albany.
Medical
The school offers a purpose-built Health Centre for boarders to make morning and after-school visits in regards to illness or injury. Nursing staff arrange medical appointments on behalf of boarders and day staff take boarders to their appointments during school hours.
The GSG Boarding Lifestyle
GSG Boarding is a clean, secure, safe and friendly community for all boarders and staff. We offer a range of services to ensure students lead active and happy hours during their stay.
Each GSG boarding house is managed by live-in House Parents responsible for the wellbeing of the students in their care. House Parents are supported by trained, certified staff who assist with the daily running of the houses.
On any given weekend either the Head of Boarding or the Assistant Head of Boarding is onsite, along with another Head of House. Well-trained, professional staff are always on hand to deal with any issues arising.
Most residential students reside in single rooms, with some houses featuring double rooms for younger students. Each house features a kitchen and television area for students to enjoy, just like home.
A boarding Recreation Officer provides weekend activities for boarders to enjoy. These include; shopping, concerts, school productions, beach, fishing, movie nights, pizza nights, and trips to outlying areas, such as Denmark. On campus, boarders have access to school facilities such as the Multi-Purpose Sport Complex, basketball and tennis courts, ovals and cricket nets.
Boarding buses transport boarders to and from after-school and weekend commitments, such as excursions, sport, medical appointments and cultural events, ensuring that boarders have access to as many of the opportunities that the region offers.
On weekends, students have access to school facilities such as cross country walks, basketball courts, tennis courts, cricket nets, ovals and supervised activities in the Multi-Purpose Sport Complex. The Recreation Officer provides options for boarders to enjoy on weekends. These may include trips to the beach to swim, walk, surf or fish; movie nights; ten pin bowling; excursions; cultural events; and gymnasium activities.
Having 144 acres of land at their disposal, boarding students have room to move and enjoy the wide open spaces of their beautiful waterfront campus.
The main meals of the day are served in the newly refurbished Dining Hall. The Catering Manager and his team provide nutritious and varied food options for residential students. The menu is updated regularly to take advantage of seasonal, local produce to meet GSG’s Healthy Eating Policy.
During the week, breakfast and dinner are served in the Dining Hall. Students make their own lunches from lunch options provided and, once per week, boarders order their lunch through the School Canteen.
On weekends, breakfast is provided in boarding houses, while lunch and evening meals are served in the Dining Hall. Arrangements are flexible depending on the number of students staying over the weekend and the occasional take-away is an option.
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