cas fiji trip
For our class CAS trip, we had the privilege of travelling to Fiji and seeing firsthand the lives of young children there. Our first stop was St Mina’s Children’s Home in Nadi, where we helped improve the area by moving hurricane shutters, picking up rubbish, gardening and tidying spaces. We also got to spend time with the children, playing games, chatting, and learning about their stories.
We then visited Nabalasere village, where we hiked to a breathtaking waterfall and carried out tests to check the water quality. During the trip, the a Girl and her world ambassadors met with Urmila, the in country- coordinator of our school charity, to hear about her experiences and discuss how we could contribute more. She explained that the fundraisers and awareness campaigns we already run at school are making a real difference and encouraged us to keep going.
We heard about the challenges faced by the girls the charity supports, balancing school, housework, and even earning income for their families. We also learnt that the charity focuses on women, as in Fiji they often have fewer opportunities for education.
Visiting a local high school in Rakiraki was another highlight. We ran workshops on baking, sports, dancing, and even taught some Aussie slang. This was a wonderful experience as it allowed us to see how different their lives are to ours.
The trip was an eye-opening experience that gave us a deeper understanding of Fijian culture and the resilience of its people. - Shreya, Year 11
new giss trophy - neuer giss pokal
Secondary teacher, Stefan Hendry, took the initiative to craft an incredible new trophy for the upcoming annual GISS IB Students vs Staff soccer match to be held on 26 September this year.
Save the date to see who will win it!
Stefan Hendry, Lehrer in der Sekundarstufe hat die Initiative ergriffen und einen neuen Pokal für das bevorstehende jährliche Fußballspiel zwischen den IB-SchülerInnen und den GISS Mitarbeitern entworfen, das am 26. September stattfinden wird.
Merken Sie sich das Datum vor, um zu sehen, wer gewinnen wird!
We are all going to experience setbacks in life - your challenges will be different to mine but we can use the same strategy to overcome them by focusing on our strengths. The students who lead this conference know their strengths and can recognise them in others because they have been taught this - that's something we could also learn at GISS. Strengths are attributes like wisdom, courage and justice - for example, you might be creative, have a great sense of humour or be a natural leader or team player. When things seem hard, knowing your strengths will help you find a way through because applying your strengths in the real world will boost your confidence and give you something positive to focus on. For example, if creativity is your strength, you could focus on a creative hobby or apply your creativity to projects at school. Or if you are a good leader, why not try coaching or mentoring younger students?
My main takeaway from the conference was gratitude - after hearing Michael speak, at times with great emotion but also humour, it reminded me just how lucky we all are at GISS. We all have so much opportunity through the sheer luck of being born or raised in a country that has good access to education and healthcare for starters. I thought a lot about this on our CAS trip to Fiji - it was a really powerful reminder not to take our everyday fortune for granted. Thank you to all the families who donated shoes to take to the children's home - they were so grateful and the kids were eager to wear them straight away. It was a good reminder that we don't have to do big things to make a difference to others. If we all make an effort to notice small opportunities to help each other, we also improve our own wellbeing.
We know that humans need each other to thrive - loneliness is predicted to be one of the biggest health issues in the future. By recognising our own strengths and the strengths in others, we can work together to make positive change, in our own lives but maybe also for people we never even meet, as you did by donating shoes. I'm grateful to have had the opportunity to go - now it's time to try and apply what we learned to our own school community. -Aureleo D, Yr 11
student wellbeing conference
What does wellbeing actually mean? As School Captains we attended the Knox Ravenswood Student-Led Wellbeing Conference to find out more. It soon became clear that wellbeing isn't about being happy all the time - the theme was 'mental toughness' and the day began with a powerful keynote speech given by Michael Crossland, whose life story has been defined by hardship. Michael was diagnosed with cancer at 11 months of age and, despite being told several times that he didn't have long, is now a proud father of two and is a highly sought-after speaker all over the world. His message was this: have hope, and courage and determination to keep going because anything is possible. Nobody really knows what the future will bring.
It got me thinking about what wellbeing really means for us as students and I think it boils down to this: we all have immense potential to do something that is meaningful to us. Our worth is not defined by our grades, and how well we do at school is not an indicator of what is actually really important - finding a purpose or something that gives our life meaning, and making a positive impact on our world, starting with the people around us.
year 12 mock exams
The Year 12 students recently got a taste of what their final exams will be like when they sat their mock exams over the past two weeks.
These mock exams provide an excellent opportunity to experience the structure and pressure of the real exam environment, helping them prepare for what to expect during the actual exams.
Die SchülerInnen der 12. Klasse haben in den letzten zwei Wochen bei ihren Probeprüfungen einen Vorgeschmack darauf bekommen, wie ihre Abschlussprüfungen aussehen werden.
Diese Probeprüfungen bieten ihnen die Möglichkeit, die Struktur und den Druck einer echten Prüfungssituation kennenzulernen, und helfen ihnen so, sich auf die tatsächlichen Prüfungen vorzubereiten.
On 31 July, Callum P from Year 11 won the youth category of the Australian Life Photography Competition. What a fantastic achievement!
Congratulations Callum!
Click on the link here to see the artworks of the other finalists.
giss has a winner!
February Boat Carnival - Callum P