2017 School Magazine

OCTOPI STICK TOGETHER

The theme for O’Connor this year was ‘Octopi stick together, O’Connorians are forever’ and we really think the house has embraced this idea. We wanted our motto to represent the spirit of O’Connor House. Our mascot, Otis the octopus, is very similar to the O’Connor House in 2017. It has many tentacles just like O’Connor has many unique and independent girls. O’Connor girls, although all different, are still connected just as all of Otis’ tentacles meet in the centre. It has been a great year for O’Connor with the introduction of many new activities and traditions. We started the year with an ‘Under the Sea’ themed house party in honour of our underwater mascot. It was a fun afternoon with girls dressing up for the theme and dancing away to plenty of sea songs. The girls also made a wall of ‘Starfish wishes’ for the year ahead. O’Connor has done outstandingly in interhouse competitions with some fantastic athletes, especially from the new Year 7 house group and a great commitment from the house as a whole. To encourage house spirit before the athletics carnival we distributed monogrammed maroon ribbons to each O’Connor girl and encouraged them to wear the ribbons at interhouse events. It was amazing to look up at the stands to see a sea of maroon ribbons unifying the house. In Term III we introduced the O’Connor ‘fight series’, an intrahouse group competition in House Assemblies. The series went for three weeks and featured a physical week (thumb wars), a brains week (general knowledge quiz) and an all-round week (survivor challenge). There was so much enthusiasm during the series, as each house group fought it out for the spirit stick. Another exciting initiative was the Octopus of the week award given to a girl in the house who did something extraordinary but would not normally be acknowledged. This could be as simple as lending a helping hand setting up the Open Day O’Connor Brownie Stall (which was a great success), working up the courage to busk at school or always volunteering for house assembly activities. All the recipients are just some of the incredible, unique girls who unite the house. We trust that next year the O’Connor Octopi will continue to stick together and support each other through the maroon. We thank and acknowledge the tremendous support provided by our two Heads of House this year: Ms Boyle (who went on parental leave during the year); and Ms McDonnell who very ably took over to guide and lead us throughout the remainder of the year. ELIZA WOODS AND MEG HENDERSON HOUSE CAPTAINS

020 | HOUSES | BRISBANE GIRLS GRAMMAR SCHOOL 2017

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