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Lavarack Head of House
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From the Lavarack Head of House
In 2021 Lavarack House has focused on learning about the history of the House and who the House was named after. It was discovered that Lavarack House is in fact named after Lieutenant General Sir John Lavarack, affectionately known by his mates as ‘Joe’.
John Lavarack was a decorated Australian Army officer who served in both world wars earning a number of accolades such as the distinguished service order. Based on the life of our patron, Lavarack House developed three key values that students in Lavarack or ‘Lavarackians’ strive to live out through their everyday actions. The three key values developed were:
• Courage - Step out of your comfort zone • Service - Look for opportunities to serve others • Effort - Perfect effort in everything you do
These values are now known as the ‘Lavarack Legacies’ and will remain the foundations of Lavarack House into the future. Each year Lavarack will also have a theme and a Bible verse attached to it. In 2021 the theme was ‘Boomerang’ symbolising the fact that you only get back what you put in. The associated Bible verse was Luke 6:38 –
“Give, and it will be given to you. Good measure, pressed down, shaken together, running over, will be put into your lap. For with the measure you use it will be measured back to you.”
The focus for students in 2021 was to give their best effort in all that they do, you only get back what you put in. It was great to see students in Lavarack House living out the ‘Lavarack Legacies’ and yearly theme through their actions and participation in many House events this year.
2021 also saw the introduction of the ‘Interhouse Spirit Competition’ where in addition to overall points at Carnivals, Houses also earn ‘Spirit Points’. The Spirit point criteria included attendance, House shirts, cheers and visual presentation.
This initiative was received extremely well across all Houses and ‘House Spirit’ has been well and truly on display throughout 2021. Lavarack House is off to a solid start in the Spirit competition with one Second and two Third overall placings across the three Carnivals. The highlight was our 92% attendance at the Cross-Country Carnival which blew the other Houses out of the water! A new war cry was also introduced, which is based on the famous or perhaps infamous (depending on if you are Aussie or English) English Cricket Barmy Army chant. ‘The Lavarack Army’ could be heard in full voice across Stolz and Scurr Ovals in 2021! Despite being the second smallest House in terms of student numbers, Lavarack also achieved well in the overall points sections of the Carnival, with a Second place finish at the Swimming Carnival being the highlight.
Providing opportunities for all students to contribute to the House community is a big focus of the Interhouse program at Redeemer. It was great to see many students with artistic talents step up and produce some phenomenal artwork for the Pavement Art competition. Both our Junior and Senior teams created some thought-provoking pavement murals and finished Second and Third respectively in their divisions. The long awaited return of RecyKle after a hiatus in 2020 provided another opportunity for Lavarack students to contribute to their House. A strong team led by the experienced Mr Puk, rode their way into a close Third place, while raising money for the Leprosy Mission.
A number of competitions between Home Groups were also completed with one of the highlights being the quiz race where Home Groups had to complete a quiz in order to receive a clue to a final riddle. The riddle revealed the location on campus where Heads of House and House Captains were located. This turned into a very competitive event! The competition was made even better because it was created and implemented by our student leaders, the House Captains. Well done, team!
In closing, I would like to thank all Lavarack students who contributed to the House community in 2021 and lived out the ‘Lavarack Legacies’ through their everyday actions. In particular, the House Captains Issy Daley and Sam Eivers who went above and beyond in their duties as student leaders. You have both left a legacy in Lavarack House that you can be proud of!
