Clements House 50 Years Young

This year marks the 50th anniversary of Clements House, originally started as a Day House for First Form boys in 1971 to cater to students’ growing numbers. You may notice in the Head’s Speech Day Report from 1970 that things have not changed drastically since then; the students are still organised in Tutor Groups, and our focus is still on Pastoral Care. Clements students are still allotted to their Senior Houses for sporting purposes. Our links with our four Senior Houses (Blaxland, Edwards, Hay and Middleton) go deeper than that; our committed and fantastic Year 11 Seniors work closely with each group, ensuring to help integrate them into their Senior Houses.

COVID has somewhat thwarted our plans to celebrate our 50th birthday, but it has been an excellent year in many ways nonetheless, and I have been most impressed with the character of our students. They have willingly engaged in many activities and discussions, helped and encouraged each other, and supported each other through difficult times. Lockdown has been very challenging in many ways. Still, Clements’s students have tried to keep a positive attitude and have come together as a community via Zoom every week.

The year started with an afternoon of bonding and teambuilding activities, several of which were facilitated by our Year 11 Seniors. We engaged in discussions about mindfulness and some yoga sessions run by our Careers advisor, Verity Beman, and our Spanish teacher, Fabian Lopez. These sessions were interesting for those among us who have difficulty keeping still! Other notable activities have been the Clements-Blaxland Camp-out in the Quad. Led by our Clements-Blaxland Tutors and Seniors, the students learnt to pitch tents, engaged in various activities and games and enjoyed breakfast the following day with our CGS Boarders. We were very privileged to have Mr David O’Rourke come to speak to us just before lockdown. David is an obstetrician who has for the last eight years sacrificed a portion of the fees from his private practice in Deakin to build and fund a hospital in a poverty-stricken town in West Timor. David has been awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia for his work. His message to the students was that every small thing we do to help others counts and that we can all play a part in making the world a better place. He delivered his speech with humour and humility, and his message resonated with staff and students alike. Lastly, we are fortunate to have a Dance teacher in our ranks who has willingly taken on the challenge of teaching all of Clements House a dance via Zoom. To some Bruno Mars tunes, Jess Mercer patiently taught us the moves, and it was a great pleasure to see most of our students getting up from their devices and giving it a go. Post lockdown, we were grateful to come together and celebrate our 50th birthday. Each Clements student received a little celebratory pin to keep for years to come as a memory of their year in Clements House.

– Madeline Leslé, Head of Clements House

HISTORY

Clements House is named after Bishop Clements, Bishop of the Canberra and Goulburn Diocese for eleven years and chairman of the CGS Board of Management. Bishop Clements made an enormous contribution to the School, and this was recognised and acknowledged in the naming of Clements House in 1971. Our emblem, the Paschal Lamb, represents the pastorally sensitive nature of Bishop Clements. It reflects Clements’s core values of compassion, kindness and inclusivity.