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 Term 4 (for Years 5-11). On these weekends, students will leave the campus on Friday afternoon, or at the completion of their Saturday sport commitments, and return to campus by 7pm on the Monday evening. Dates of mid-term exeats are announced in the preceding year and marked in the school calendar. To make the best use of mid-term exeats, parents, guardians and students are encouraged to plan them well in advance.
Weekend exeats
Boarding students are permitted weekend exeat (i.e. either Saturday and/or Sunday) every second weekend. The first and last weekend of each term are ‘closed’ and exeat arrangements on those weekends are not permitted. Public holidays are not observed at GGS 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 6.30pm on Saturday or Sunday evenings. Exeats are not taken on Friday night except under extenuating circumstances and in consultation with the Head of House and with approval from the Head of Campus.
Weekday exeats
Weekday exeats are not encouraged and permitted only occasionally in order for students to have a meal with their parents or guardians who may be visiting the School. On those occasions, students may be absent from school following sport or other commitments and must return in time for roll call at 7pm.
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 leave is the responsibly of the student.
For weekend exeat, requests need to be submitted online and approved by parents, guardians or hosts by 7pm Thursday evening to allow time for the Head of House to review and approve. Overseas and exchange students are asked to submit a leave request before Wednesday 10am ahead of the exeat weekend to allow sufficient time for the parent/guardian, home stay provider, Overseas Student Officer and Head of House to review and approve.
All leave is subject to the students 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 GGS 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 boarders, 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 the Hive app.
For planned short absences for boarding students, parents should email their Head of House. Requests for longer periods of absence, longer than one week, should be addressed to the Head of Corio. 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 a number of bus routes traveling to and from the Corio Campus every day. 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 the location of their child whilst in transit. Up to date timetables and route descriptions are provided in the Hive.
Over exeat and end of term, the School coordinates bus travel to and from Corio Campus, transferring students to Southern Cross Station, Tullamarine Airport and Toorak Campus. Parents are advised of details for the bus service via the Head of House, and through announcements from the Principal and Head of Campus.
Commencement and conclusion of term
It is important for students to arrive back on time at the start of term. It is expected that all boarding students are in their house before 7pm on the evening prior to classes commencing. At the end of term, students may depart from Thursday afternoon and up to 8am on Friday morning at the end of term. 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 cause for departure. Heads of House need to receive all requests for early departures or late arrivals well in advance where possible.
Student motor vehicles
As per the Student Behaviour Rules available in Hive, students cannot drive a motor vehicle on the School’s Corio Campus, or to or from the School’s Corio Campus without the permission of Heads of Senior School and Head of House. Students may only be a passenger in a motor vehicle when the driver is a person approved by parents/legal guardians or the Head of House. If students have an approved vehicle on campus, they must provide their car keys to the Head of House and may not drive other students in the vehicle.
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 must be authorised by the issuer, are available only from Heads of House, or 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. Students must return any unused dockets to the person who issued them. They must not be altered or given to other students. For child safety reasons , 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 satisfactory travel arrangements are made. 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 the boarding house
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 who have been employed by families to undertake 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, but must stay in common spaces in the House.