Dear Secondary Parents

Following consultations within the school management and contacts with parent representatives, we have decided to reduce screen time for our secondary school students.

The previous opportunity to play computer games on the computer once a week during the break will be replaced by the opportunity to read books, play board games or simply socialise.

In addition, the long-awaited climbing frame will finally be installed in the lower schoolyard during the holidays, which the students can use for physical activity.

We are also waiting for the final completion of the area in front of our kiosk, which we would like to turn into a student-friendly and "cafeteria-like" area as soon as possible.

Do you still have old, favourite board games at home that you haven't used for a long time? Please contact our librarian, Mrs Sibylle Burkart, if you would like to donate them.

On behalf of the secondary teachers, I wish you a relaxing and enjoyable autumn break!

Thomas Szartowicz

from the head of secondary

Liebe Eltern der Sekundarstufe

nach Beratungen innerhalb der Schulleitung und Kontakten mit Elternvertretern haben wir uns entschlossen, die Bildschirmzeit für unsere Sekundar-schülerInnen zu reduzieren.

Die bisherige Möglichkeit, einmal pro Woche in der Pause Computerspiele zu spielen, wird durch die Möglichkeit ersetzt, Bücher zu lesen, Brettspiele zu spielen oder soziale Kontakte zu pflegen, sprich, sich einfach "face to face" zu unterhalten.

Außerdem wird in den Ferien endlich das lang ersehnte Klettergerüst auf dem unteren Schulhof aufgestellt, das die SchülerInnen nutzen können, um sich auszutoben

Wir warten auch auf die endgültige Fertigstellung des Bereichs vor unserem Kiosk, den wir so bald wie möglich schülerfreundlich und "cafeteria-ähnlich" gestalten möchten.

Haben Sie noch alte, beliebte Brettspiele zu Hause, die Sie schon lange nicht mehr nutzen? Bitte wenden Sie sich an unsere Bibliothekarin, Frau Sibylle Burkart, wenn Sie sie der Schule zur Verfügung stellen möchten.

Im Namen der Lehrkräfte der Sekundarstufe wünsche ich Ihnen erholsame und schöne Herbstferien!

from the head of secondary

Thomas Szartowicz

Your task was to engage with Poetry. You were asking yourselves the question of how poets represented war and conflict. Immediately it raised the age-old question of why we fight, why we oppose, why we battle under the name of one ideology or another. And did you answer that question? No! But you read, you were moved and you felt the dehumanising qualities of war. You wept with the young man who asked, “Why [does] the Channel Seven chopper [chill] me to my feet?” You questioned the idea of duty, “the love that asks no questions, the love that stands the test…”. In fact, you shook your heads with Wildfred Owen when you read that it is an ‘old lie’ that declares, “Dulce et decorum est Pro patria mori”. Deep eyes of teenage optimism said, “Surely, humanity has learnt its lesson!” So you searched further and deeper looking for answers! You weren’t satisfied with the classic Schoolboy Canon of war poems and you looked for representations that smelt authentically of the modern soldier, so you travelled to Afghanistan and Iraq and experienced that baleful truism, "Plus ça change; plus c’est la meme chose”, nothing changes. You shook your heads when you saw that there is a darkness in men’s hearts and you realised that governments play chess with the lives of the bravest and the best. It’s in dark theatres of war when poets write lines like, “It's getting dark, but not dark enough to see /An exit wound as an exit strategy (Afghanistan, Paul Mundoon). It’s either a trench in northern France, a lonely stretch of water off Dunkirk, rec leave in Vung Tau or it’s the wind swept Oruzgun Province where the cry is always the same: “And can you tell me, Doctor, why I still can’t get to sleep?”


a letter to year 10

Sebastian Percival, Secondary Teacher

  • You examined how poets constructed texts to position the reader to feel, to wonder at, to shake their heads at and to cry, “Why?”

  • You explored how poems operated.

  • You learnt more about the parts of poetry that ‘made meaning’.

  • You broadened your vocabulary.

  • You commented on how language, word choice and imagery are the tools of the poet.



  • You went to theatres of war and you empathised with those young warriors through the power of poetry.You deepened your knowledge of how to construct meaning, how to talk about and write about poems, their ideas and their constructions.

  • You engaged again with how to best organise a coherent argument that leads the reader into a deeper understanding of poetry.

  • You collaborated. You took risks. You guided your mates and you shared openly about the power of language and the misery of war

  • And in the potential that is the young heart, you quietly raised a prayer to the above and whispered, “To forget them means to let them die again”.

Thank-you for being alive to the idea that you do credit to yourself when you open your heart and mind to the wonder that is literature.

butterfly foundation workshops for years 7 to 10

Let’s talk body image online : years 7 and 8

This presentation explored the role that social media plays on body confidence and self-esteem. It aimed to strengthen young people’s media literacy skills and empower young people, through the way they use and view social media platforms, to have a safer, more positive online experience. 

Last week the students from Years 7 to 10 had the opportunity to experience workshops run by the Butterfly Foundations to discuss the important topics of body image and relationships with eating and excercise. The students were engaged and real-life experiences were shared bringing the different topics to life. Thank you to Clare Hennessy from Butterfly Foundations for coming to our school to discuss these important topics with our students.

Let’s talk relationships with eating and exercise : years 9 and 10

This presentation was designed to help young people understand what a healthy relationship with their bodies, eating and exercise feels like. It explored the various influences on our understanding of health and fitness, including the diet industry and harms associated with fad diets. It also explored healthier, more productive ways to support health and wellbeing, including listening to our bodies and adopting behaviours that can be maintained long term.  

Following the student workshops, parents also participated in a session later in the week to discuss the topic of Raising Body Kind Teens,  with a focus on how to prevent body dissatisfaction and serious eating issues. This interesting workshop provided information and practical tips to help parents of teens better understand and promote positive body image in the home and how to encourage all members of the family to be Body Kind with a focus on prevention and fostering positive body image and healthy behaviours.


raising body kind teens : parents

Our Concert Band program is up and running, having had a very successful term!

Around 20 students are now ready to form the GISS Concert Band, which will begin rehearsing in Term 2 on Monday afternoons.

Many thanks to Ben Miesch from Teaching Services Australia, who visits GISS each week to inspire and gift our students with a love of playing music.

If any students are interested in joining the GISS Concert Band (also if they are already playing/taking lessons outside the school), don’t hesitate to contact Janine Boubbov, who will direct you further, so that they can get started with the commencement of Term 2 !

giss concert band

Unser Concert-Band-Programm ist in vollem Gange und  war ein großer Erfolg in Term 1.

Etwa 20 SchülerInnen freuen sich, im 2. Term mit Montagnachmitagsprobem zu beginnen. 

Vielen Dank an Ben Miesch von Teaching Services Australia, der jede Woche die GISS besucht, um unsere SchülerInnen zu inspirieren und ihnen die Liebe zum Musizieren zu vermitteln.

Falls SchülerInnen daran interessiert sind, der GISS Concert Band beizutreten (auch wenn ihr bereits außerhalb der Schule spielt/ Unterricht nehmt), freut sich Frau Boubbov von euch zu hören.

giss concert band

science ag

The project topics were:
- Creating a volcano eruption with vinegar and 
   baking soda
- Baking dough in a solar oven
- Making paper from egg carton
- Dying celery leaves
- Demonstrating animal vision
- Explaining air and water pressure

It was a fantastic presentation. The hard work certainly paid off! Well done everyone!

In Term 1, Year 5, 6 and 7 students of the Science AG researched various topics to design their own experiments in small groups. They gathered materials, prepared and conducted their experiments, recorded observations, created a poster summary and presented their projects in a final step at our Science Fair.

our senior string ensemble

The Senior String Ensemble performed at the Northern Beaches Youth Orchestra’s “Friendlies Concert”, at St Luke’s Grammar in Dee Why. Manly Village Public School and the Northern Beaches Youth Orchestra also performed, and our 14 students (this year is our largest ensemble ever!) represented the school extremely well, behaving with maturity and dignity.

Our musicians have been practising very hard in their own time, as well as attending extra sectional rehearsals and weekly Thursday morning rehearsals to get themselves ready with new pieces in a short time. They were reluctant to perform so early in the year, but they rose to the challenge and I’m super proud of them.  - Janine Boubbov

Das Senior Streichensemble trat beim "Friendlies Concert" des Northern Beaches Youth Orchestra im St Luke's Grammar in Dee Why auf. Die Manly Village Public School und das Northern Beaches Youth Orchestra traten ebenfalls auf, und unsere 14 SchülerInnen (das größte GISS Ensemble aller Zeiten!) vertraten die Schule sehr gut und verhielten sich reif und würdevoll.

Unsere Musikerinnen und Musiker haben in ihrer Freizeit sehr hart geübt und zusätzlich an Sektionsproben und wöchentlichen Proben am Donnerstagmorgen teilgenommen, um sich in kurzer Zeit auf neue Stücke vorzubereiten. Sie zögerten, so früh im Jahr aufzutreten, aber sie stellten sich der Herausforderung und ich bin sehr stolz auf sie.

das senior streichensemble

Thea from Year 6, who skates for Macquarie Ice Skating Club, came in second place in the Macquarie Ice Rink Artistic Competition on 23rd March 2024. She skated at Aussie Skate Level Two.

The next morning she undertook her Preliminary tests – skills and patterns tests at Erina Ice Rink and is now skating at Preliminary level for future competitions. Thea has competed at many ice rinks in NSW, including the Hunter Ice Skating Stadium at Newcastle and Ice Zoo at Alexandria. She has been skating since she was six years old and enjoys the artistry as well as learning many skills involved with this sport, such as balance, agility and coordination.

Congratulations Thea!

ice skater - thea from year 6

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