On Monday, Tallong Public School welcomed two of Goulburn's biggest sporting stars to officially announce its new sporting houses.
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Former Kookaburra Glenn Turner and current Jackaroo Ellen Ryan were warmly welcomed by the children as the namesakes for two of the school's three houses.
The third, Jarrod Croker, was unable to attend the ceremony, but sent his apologies and well wishes to the school.
"It's really cool, the opportunity to do that is pretty special," Turner said. "I'm pretty honoured to be a part of it and it's something you don't expect because most school houses have been around for many years."
With 61 students, Tallong Public School is diminutive, but principal Scott Osborne said its size will not impact the school's sporting goals.
"Being a small school doesn't mean we can't have sporting houses, and moving forward having those competitions in our school, house-versus-house," Osborne said.
The three sports stars, Osborne said, were "very proud" to have houses named after them, and that their participation was a great boon for the school.
"[Turner and Ryan] were both willing to participate and join in sporting events over the next couple of years, and Jarrod said when he was available he would make those appearances as well," he said.
"The community was surprised and pleased, and they said it was great that small schools have that opportunity as well."
Turner expressed his eagerness to turn out for the school's events and help the children come up with unique anthems for the yellow house.
"[School carnival days are] some of the best memories for me," Turner said.
"I'll obviously happy to go there any chance I get when I'm not traveling for their carnivals."
The three sporting houses will have flags bearing the athletes' names and pictures, and will be coloured green (Croker house), yellow (Turner house), and red (Ryan house).
Osborne hopes that having three of Goulburn's best athletes adorning their house flags will encourage sporting participation in the school.
"[I spoke about] what great role models they are, and how that could improve our participation," he said.
"It's diverse, we've got hockey, rugby league, and lawn bowls, and both boys and girls can participate.
"The kids were really excited to see them, some people wanted autographs and got photos, so that was a real buzz. As we build that partnership, the kids will get to know them more."
That partnership, Osborne said, will develop inside the classroom as much as it will outside. At the beginning of the 2020 school year, the children will learn about the stars' careers and achievements.
Meanwhile, the introduction of the houses will also lead to some new responsibilities for the students.
"Next year we'll have a voting process to elect Tallong's first sporting captains for those houses as well," Osborne said.
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