Gippy Grammar to host open days

GIPPSLAND Grammar will host three Open Days next month offering families the opportunity to discover the advantages of the complete Early Learning to VCE education offeredatthe independent school’s three campuses.

Gippsland Grammar’s BairnsdaleCampus includes an EarlyLearning Centre(ELC)offering threeand four-year-old kindergarten programs, and willbeonshow for interested families on Saturday March 18 from 9-11am.

In Sale, the school’s historic junior St Anne’s Campus, whichalsoincludes an ELC, offering threeand four-year-old kindergarten programs. The FoundationtoYear6campus will hostits OpenDay on Saturday, March 25 from9am to 11am. The senior Garnsey Campus (Years 7-12) on the Princes Highway will also be open on March 25 from 11am to 1pm.

Gippsland Grammar principal, Michele Wakeham,saidshe wasexcited to throw open the gates for her first Open Day as principal and to show families, who perhapsaren’t familiar with the school, what it has to offer.

“Even though we are one school, each of our campuses has its own personality and Ican’t wait to introduce this to some new faces,” Mrs Wakeham said.

“Our Bairnsdale Campus is located on the banks of Clifton Creek (an offshoot of the Mitchell

River) and hascampus chickensand atherapy dog creating quite arural feel. Our St Anne’s Campus is the historic heart of our school and is knownfor its red brick buildings and richhistory, while our Garnsey Campus and boarding house are dominated by ahugeexpanse of greenopen spaces and state-of-the-art facilities including our new Art &Design Centre.

“But of course overarching those individual campus personalities are our comprehensive teaching andlearning programs and ourrich cross-campus co-curricular offerings,which is why we have such aseamless transition experience from our ELCs to our junior campuses and then from our junior campuses to our senior campus.”

Mrs Wakeham will be joined by members of the school’s leadershipteam at the Open Days, which includes actingdeputy principalJustinHenderson, as well as the following:

Head of Bairnsdale Campus Virginia Evans, head of St Anne’s Jie Van Berkel and head of Garnsey CampusRohan Jayatilake. Student leaders and teachers will also be on hand to share their expertise and first-hand experiences.

Mrs Wakeham said feedback from the parents of some Year 7studentswas how welcoming and inclusive Gippsland Grammar is.

“They said they’d noticed how much our students embraced their own freedom of expression and that they feltour school was inclusive of everyone’s interests.

It’s incredibly important to us thatevery student feels welcome and respected,” she said.

Ahighlightofthe Bairnsdale andStAnne’s campus Open Days will be the chance to explore the ELCs, which both offer athree-year-old ‘Reception’ program and afour-year-old ‘Transition’ program. They both have age-appropriate programs and are rated as ‘exceeding’ the National Quality Standard.

At Garnsey, Blackwood House (the school’s boarding house) will also be open for families to see whatlife is like when students both studyand live on-campus, while the rowing program, performing arts department and the Year 9program will also be on show.

Gippsland Grammar has more than 1100 students enrolled across its three campuses in Sale and Bairnsdale.The boarding house hasfull-time and casual options and private daily bus options for students from East Gippsland to the Latrobe Valley.

Gippsland Grammaralsooffers substantial scholarships annuallyincluding general excellence and music.Applicationsfor the 2024 Scholarships will close on March 6.

For more information about both the upcoming Open Days and scholarships pleasevisit gippslandgrammar.au