08

Exeats, attendance and travel

Modified March 7, 2023
7.5 min
Modified March 7, 2023

Exeats

Exeats (leave from school)

Exeats provide the opportunity for students to have a break from the boarding environment and enjoy time with their parents and families, nominated guardians or with the families of other Geelong Grammar School students.

Mid-term exeats

Mid-term exeats are compulsory breaks in the academic calendar and occur in the middle of terms 1, 2, 3 and 4. On these weekends, students will leave the campus on Friday afternoon or after their Saturday sport commitments and return to campus by 7pm (and after 5pm) on Monday. Term 4 exeat extends to 7pm on Tuesday.

Dates of mid-term exeats are announced in the preceding year and marked in the school calendar. Parents can view the Term Dates via Hive and the GGS website. Parents, guardians and students are encouraged to plan mid-term exeats well in advance.

Weekend leave

Boarding students are permitted weekend leave (i.e. Saturday and/or Sunday) most weekends. Public holidays are not observed at Geelong Grammar School unless they coincide with an exeat weekend or school holiday period. 

Weekend exeats begin on Saturdays following the conclusion of sports commitments. Students must return to house by 8 pm on Sunday evening or 8am on Monday morning.

Weekday exeats

Weekday exeats are not encouraged and permitted only occasionally for students to have a meal with their parents or guardians visiting the school. On those occasions, students may be absent from school following sport or other commitments and must return in time for bedtime routines at 8:30pm.

Process for applying for exeats and leave

Students apply for leave online through the REACH management system, which connects families to the boarding houses to ensure an efficient and safe leave approval process.

Students initiate a leave request by completing the required fields, including the exit destination, full address, and times for departure and arrival. This is automatically emailed to parents/guardians for permission to be granted before routing to the Head of House for approval. Leave involving a host will need to be approved by parents and the host. This is a simple process, enabled by email notifications generated by the system. Entering the leave request is the responsibility of the student.

For weekend exeat, requests need to be submitted online and approved by parents, guardians or hosts by 8:30pm Wednesday to allow time for the Head of House to review and approve.

All leave is subject to the student not being required for school activities.

Travel arrangements to and from exeat destinations are the responsibility of parents or guardians and must be detailed in the application.

Leave requests are required any time a boarding student is leaving the Corio Campus unless they are under the direct supervision of a Geelong Grammar School staff member (e.g. school excursion, house activity, school sport) or are on house sanctioned weekend shopping leave to pre-approved locations subject to the relevant curfews and permitted duration.

Absence

For parents of day students, if your child will be absent from school due to illness or unforeseen circumstances, please email the Head of House, or complete the Absentee form via Hive.   

For planned short absences for boarding students, parents should email their Head of House. Requests for more extended periods of absence, longer than one week, should be addressed to the Head of Middle School. It is expected that students do not take holidays during term time. Refer to ‘Exeats’ for information on weekend leave.

Airports

Parents should be aware that, given the travel time from Corio Campus to Melbourne Airport (Tullamarine), students need to leave Corio at least three hours before the departure time of international flights. Students can use the Gull Airport Shuttle service to and from Tullamarine for all flights. International flight tickets must be purchased by parents and sent to the Head of House as far ahead as possible. Domestic flights may also depart from Avalon Airport, which is approximately 20 minutes from Corio.

Buses

The school operates many bus routes travelling daily to and from the Corio Campus for day students. The buses are available only to Geelong Grammar students and travel from Altona, Anglesea, Ceres, Drysdale, Highton, Newtown, Ocean Grove, Point Cook, Toorak, Torquay and Williamstown. Most buses are fitted with the Bus Minder system, which allows students to ‘tap’ on and ‘tap’ off, providing parents with real-time information on their child’s location whilst in transit. Up to date timetables and route descriptions are provided in Hive.

At exeats and the end of term, the school coordinates bus travel to and from Corio Campus, transferring students to Southern Cross Station, Tullamarine Airport and Toorak Campus. In addition, service to the Albury/Wodonga border has been provided for students over recent times due to border restrictions and when required. Parents are advised of details for the bus service via the Head of House, and announcements from the Principal and Head of Campus. 

Commencement and conclusion of a term

Students need to arrive back on time at the start of term. All boarding students are expected to be in their house before 7pm on the evening before classes commence. At the end of term, students may depart from Thursday afternoon, and up to 8am on Friday. Our academic program runs until the last day of term, and we ask that is recognised when making travel arrangements. Requests for early departures will only be considered if there is a significant reason for departure. Heads of House need to receive all requests for early departures or late arrivals well in advance where possible.

Taxis

Payment for the service will be by cash or cab charge, which incurs a 20% accounting fee and is passed on to the user. Cab charges, which the issuer must authorise, are available only from Heads of House, their deputies, and teachers in charge of sports and activities. Taxi companies will not accept any other form or docket/requisition. The School will not be responsible for the payment of any unauthorised taxi trips, and students must return any unused dockets to the person who issued them. They must not be altered or given to other students. For reasons related to child safety, we do not advise the use of Uber type services.

Travel arrangements

Whilst the School will provide reasonable assistance to ensure that satisfactory travel arrangements are made for all students travelling to and from the School, it is the responsibility of parents or guardians to ensure adequate travel arrangements are made. Accordingly, the School does not accept responsibility in any respect for those arrangements.

Consequently, when making travel arrangements, parents or guardians should ensure that adequate arrangements are made not only for travel but, where necessary, for the supervision of students travelling to or from the School. In general, all travel bookings (air/rail/bus) need to be confirmed at least two weeks before the end of term.

Visitors to boarding houses

All external visitors to boarding houses must do so via communication with the Head of House. Visitors do not include casual staff working in the houses or tutors employed by families to provide academic tuition. All visitors must inform the Head of House, or the tutor on duty, at a minimum. The Head of House will have the opportunity to approve the visit to campus and make arrangements for all visitors to do this in a manner that observes the Geelong Grammar School Child Safety Code of Conduct. Visitors are not permitted to enter a student’s room; instead, all visitors must stay in shared spaces in the house.