Secondary School

A focus on wellbeing and achievement

Let’s face it. Starting Secondary School can be tricky for everyone in the family! Your child’s brain and body is growing at a rate comparable to their first year of life. And with changing schedules, new friends, and growing independence, it can take time for parents to adjust as well.

At GSG, your child’s specialist teachers recognise how tumultuous the teenage years can be. We also see within them a huge opportunity to help your child choose the right path.

Learn and grow in a safe, supportive environment

At GSG, your child's wellbeing goes hand-in-hand with the academic programme. That’s because we know that in order to learn, your child first has to feel safe and cared for.

Year Seven: Embracing change

Our pastoral care of Year Sevens is a particular point of pride for us at GSG. Starting well before the first day of school, your child (whether they’re a day student or a boarder) will be given opportunities to see what life will be like at GSG.

For several years, your child has been focused on starting Secondary School. And when the moment arrives, they might be excited, elated, nervous, terrified — or all of the above.

At GSG, we’ll support your child every step of the way.

Our Year Seven Transition programme, is designed to make your child feel welcome and confident as they start Secondary School.

This support system includes four pillars:

• Homeroom: This is your child’s home base. Their homeroom teacher will take them for at least one subject and where possible, all other subject teachers will come to your child’s homeroom. This reduces anxiety about the size of the campus, organisation, and managing the expectations of multiple teachers.

• Pastoral care: Your child will spend much of the first week with their homeroom teacher, learning how to stay organised, find their way around campus, and getting to know their classmates. As a result, most students develop a strong relationship with their homeroom teacher. This relationship will help your child (and the family!) navigate the first year of Secondary School.

• Learning: In Year Seven, your child will have the chance to experience all that GSG has to offer in terms of subjects. Apart from the core subjects they’re probably expecting, they’ll try a number of electives over the course of the year. Trying new things means our Year Sevens discover new interests, build self confidence and discover new skills.

• Outreach: Year-group activities and House events give our Year Sevens a chance to forge relationships with their peers and student leaders, laying the groundwork for the years ahead.

Year Eight: Embracing choice

Thanks to broad subject exposure in Year Seven, your Year Eight child will be ready to make some decisions about their educational path, including choosing elective subjects.

They’ll be making choices in other parts of their life, too.

• Social life: From peer groups to cocurricular activities, your Year Eight child will choose and learn to manage commitments and expectations in a positive, proactive manner.
• Physical wellbeing: As your child gets older, they are more responsible for their physical health — in Year Eight, we focus on choosing healthy activities, nutrition, and relationships.
• Mental health: When the tough stuff happens, your child will learn to respond appropriately, choosing resilience and learning positive life lessons in a safe environment.

Years Nine and Ten: Accept the challenge

As a seasoned secondary schooler, your child now has the opportunity to be a role model for younger students, thanks to community, sport, and leadership opportunities.

As they develop personal independence and start to make choices about their academic pathway, your child will begin to get a clear idea of what success looks like to them. Not only that, they’ll start to make plans to bring that vision to life.

Alongside engaging, supportive teachers and staff, your child will experience a new world of learning opportunities. A strong focus on wellbeing and personal development creates a foundation upon which your child will discover and develop their talents.

Based on their interests, your child may choose to head into Work Experience, take the camp challenge or test their sea legs on a Leeuwin sailing expedition. Our wellbeing team will guide your teen in their academic and social development as they make their way towards their final years of school.

Years Eleven and Twelve: Find your pathway

At this stage, your child will choose from four distinct pathways for Year Eleven and Twelve. Each pathway is valid, constructive, and tailored to your child’s needs and interests.

Choosing a Year Eleven and Twelve pathway can feel confusing and overwhelming, but it doesn’t have to be.

Using data collected from Secondary School teachers, your child’s Head of House is on hand to support your child as they make choices about their studies.

As a team, we’ll carefully monitor your child’s progress. This means that when the time comes, we can curate the most appropriate pathway for them.