TheHallowian-2021Vol2 - Flipbook - Page 23
160 STORIES
Stay Away From Those Anglicans
James McIntyre, from memories of his mother Dorothy Murphy, Class of 1955
I remember Mum telling me that All Hallows’ girls were told, that on no account were they to meet up
with the boys from Churchie for milkshakes at the city milk bars. There was no mention, however, of
whether it was acceptable to meet up with boys from Terrace or Nudgee at the milk bars!
One School, Two Houses, Three Home Rooms
Genevieve Easton, Class of 2017
At All Hallows’, when you are allocated to a House in your entry year, that is your House for the rest of your stay
at the school. Unless of course, your mother works there and completely messes things up for you…
My mum (Claire) was Acting Head of Adderton House during my Year 7 year in 2012. I had been in Gorry House
since arriving in Year 5 and I was proud to be a golden girl.
At the end of 2012, however, the Head of Gorry House retired and Mum was offered the role in a permanent
capacity. Of course, I was thrilled for her, but this is where the drama started.
For logistical reasons, I couldn’t be in the same house as my mother so, I had to move from Gorry House when
I started high school the next year. Mum broke this news to me as we drove to Celebration of Excellence that
night. I was devastated. Belonging to a house is like being part of a family… and now I was just supposed to
move families.
I eventually came to terms with changing houses and actually began to feel very excited about the move to
Adderton as I would be in the same house as my best friend. Moving houses for the first year of high school felt
normal, appropriate even; most of my peers were new to the school and knew no different. I settled into life as
an Addertonian well and had a fantastic Home Group – AD3 with Mrs Malone. Things felt comfortable… AD3
was beginning to feel like family to me.
Until… in March of that year, the Head of Adderton House decided to leave and in the interests of continuity,
Mum was asked if she would return to the house she had led the previous year – Adderton – my new house!
Off I went again, back to Gorry. There were more tears, of course. It felt like the AHS gods were out to get me –
change is hard when you’re 13 years old. However, I soon realized that I was blessed with yet another brilliant
Home Group – GO2 with Ms Hickey. Somehow, I was lucky enough to be blessed with two phenomenal home
group ‘families’ in just as many terms.
This all happened just two years before all Home Groups were reshuffled to accommodate the incoming Year
7 cohort. I would be moving ‘families’ yet again. All I could think was ‘Really? Again? That would make it three
homegroups and two houses in three years.’
By the start of 2015, I was in GO3 with Ms Allen and 21 of my Gorry Sisters. As a family, we ate many birthday
cakes together, shared opinions on dozens of semi and formal dresses each year, and triumphantly won the
Gorry Grail for three consecutive years.
I could not be more thankful that GO3 was my family until I graduated in 2017.
2021 | The Hallowian
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