One of the great things about a new school is the ability to start a school house competition from scratch. At the start of the year, we had the house colours in place, and students were divided into each house, but that was it.
Another benefit of being a new school is the year sevens have an amazing opportunity to be house captains and leaders right from the start, rather than having to wait until they are in higher year levels. The first way this became apparent was when the houses voted for their captains early in term one. The house captain role is not just a sporting role or a figurehead, but it is a chance to help shape the school and house culture, with membership of the Student Representative Council also included as part of the role. There were a number of fantastic candidates who put themselves forward for these roles, and we thank them all and congratulate those who were elected.
The next thing to establish were the house names and mascots. Towards the end of term one, at the activity day associated with the year seven sleep-over, students attended a presentation where they were introduced to the seven seasons of the Kulin nation, after four of which the houses would be named. Each season also came with a mascot. It was a very tight race as to which house would be Biderap, the dry season, with the mascot of a butterfly! House names and mascots were announced on the final day of term one, and the system for our foundation year had been put into place.
| House Name | Season | Colour | Mascot | Captains |
| Biderap | Dry season | Orange | Butterfly | Meena Mandlay Narin Karadan |
| Waring | Wombat season | Blue | Wombat | Evelyn Koko Omar Al Rozzi |
| Poorneet | Tadpole season | Green | Frog | Madi Murray Melisa Yavuzcan |
| Garrawang | Kangaroo apple season | Red | Kangaroo | Georgia Pollakis Keola Kang |
Our first mini house competition also came on the activity day of the year seven sleep-over, with students participating in a dodgeball tournament then an escape room. A big thank-you goes to Mr Davey Van T’Schip for organizing these activities, which the students certainly found enjoyable and sparked some fierce competition! Poorneet and Garrawang came away with joint dodgeball honours, whilst Biderap was the undisputed winner of the escape room.
The biggest house competition we have had so far this year, however, was the house athletics and swimming day. The drizzle did not seem to dampen the enthusiasm of the students, many of whom threw themselves into the competition, jumping at the chance to show their skills in different areas and running with the changes made to the program as the day went on. In the end, the victors were Poorneet, with the house spirit points going to Garrawang.
There are many more events in the pipe-line for the house competition, with students and teachers alike keen to see a range of activities which give all students a chance to shine. We are also looking to keep developing house identities and to build a strong competition where all students are proud to participate and contribute to their houses. Whilst it is not possible to put everything in place this year in terms of competitions and fully-fledged house identities, we are open to ideas and are keen to see how we can put them in place, whether it be now or in the coming years. We look forward immensely to seeing how this house competition grows and develops, now and into the future!
