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 Publications High Notes Older Volumes High Notes, Vol 11 No 17, June 04 2010
High Notes, Vol 11 No 17, June 04 2010
From the Principal
High Talent
Year 9 Reports
Gate entrances and security
New Grass
Gate 1–Gate 2 Roadway
Communications and Data Handling Policy 
From the Two LibrariesFrom the Andrews Library
BOOK FAIR Thanks to really fabulous staff who moved 1100 plus students through the Book Fair strictly according to schedule and to our vigilant volunteers and hard working library staff and our positive thinking beautiful students the Book Fair proceeded without a hitch. Not one of our display books disappeared and all were packed beautifully thanks again to boys who volunteered. All are now back with Borders. It is now up to parents to ensure the success of the Book Fair by actually seeing that their son does order one lovely book to read and then donate. Of course our boys are not in charge of the money in their households and need your encouragement to actually make a one book donation. These have to be done online with Borders or by returning a form to Mrs Gordon. Any family who does not do credit card transactions online can purchase a great book from any bookshop, give it to their son to read and then donate and this will still have the same effect of procuring fiction for the libraries this year. These donations will receive the same permanent acknowledgement of a plate inside the book cover as the others. Borders has kept their 20% discount until the end of this week. I believe the Borders shop is making a 35% off discount offer with this voucher: Boys only informed us at the Book Fair that 46 books would be donated and all our hard working volunteers and staff were very disappointed as such a big effort had been made to make this a real success. If 46 books were donated this year this is still over $600 worth of books but it does not justify the huge effort on advertising, organising and creating websites that was made on this Book Fair. So now we need the parents to show their sons they support the concept of boys reading. However we hope that seeing a great display of 1600 of the latest books has turned some boys on to reading and that alone will justify the effort. For many boys in our school, teaching them to value reading is an acculturalization as demanding as teaching boys to love sport by running GPS sport. This is the challenge successfully faced by High English teachers and High Librarians. With an excess of 11,000 loans by the Andrews Library alone last year we think we are meeting it. With last year’s First in English so are our English teachers!
DONATIONS AS A RESULT OF THE BOOK FAIR
NEW RESOURCES PROCESSED THIS WEEK ANDREWS LIBRARY:
SENIOR NON FICTION:
JUNIOR NON FICTION
JUNIOR NON FICTION
From the McDonald (Senior) LibraryThe Book Fair has come and gone and much has been achieved we feel from holding such an event. Some books have been donated to the library, many students have had the pleasure of viewing and suggesting titles for the newly established book collection and the profile of the libraries has been raised considerably in the process. We would like to thank the many fantastic volunteer helpers for all their work and support in making this first Book Fair successful. Thanks also go to teachers for bringing students through the library to see the books on display and to those generous teachers and students (and their parents) who donated books. So far these people have donated books: Mr Hannon (Young Stalin by Simon Sebag Montefiore); Ms Kaye (Manhood for Amateurs by Michael Chabon); Dale Chen Yr 12 (The Curious Case of Benjamin Button & Six Other Stories); Soorag Prakash Yr 11 (Peeps by Scott Westerfeld); Warren Dang Yr 11 (The Name of the Wind by Patrick Rothfuss); Jeffrey Ni Yr 9 (Lady Macbeth’s Daughter by Lisa Klein); Leon Zhang Yr 10 (We by John Dickinson); Chris Morrow Yr 11 (I Am Not a Serial Killer by Dan Wells); Elbert Ly Yr 9 (Best of the Best Modern Australian Short Stories by Tim Winton); Francis Pham Yr 11 (61 Hours by Lee Child). Their generosity has meant these fantastic new titles will be available to all students for years to come and they will be the first borrowers to read them. So many thanks once again to these generous library benefactors! We are still waiting for a few people to bring in their payment so if you haven’t yet done so can you make sure this happens this week? The library will also be purchasing many titles suggested by teachers and students and these will be advertised in this article in future issues of High Notes as well as new titles purchased and selected by the librarian.
Other news helpful to HSC students is regarding HSC Seminars to be held by the Marrickville
Library Service. Please find attached to this article a flyer with topics being covered and
dates they will be held. All seminars are free and if you live in the area these are very useful
and relevant to Year 11 or 12 students.
Parent-Teacher Interviews
Year 7 will take place on
Years 10, 11 and 12 will take place on
Years 8 and 9 will take place on
Booking interviews with your son’s teachers
SBHS Debating
FED Grand Final Please wish the best of luck to these boys:
Year 8
Year 11
Coaching Terms 2 & 3 Coaching will remain as is until weeks 9 and 10 when the coaching groups will be decided upon. Stay tuned to your email and High Notes for more information closer to the time. (Ms) Quick Quiz
More information can be found at and will be emailed to
you on a weekly basis.
Music Notes
Music Tour 2010 to France & Flanders Our time in Ypres was one of frantic organisation and relaxation. After arriving in Belgium from Paris, staying in a small town was quite a contrast from busy city life. The Belgians could not have been nicer to we Australians, and the ovation we received upon our performance at the Menin Gate couldn’t have been louder. The Marching Band’s performance itself was a solemn occasion, as we paid our respects to unknown lives lost. Early the next morning we set off on a tour to the Belgian battlefields, notably Hill 60, the site that the recent film of the same name depicted. The landscape around the area had not been levelled since the war, and it was fascinating to see the damage that was caused by the war, a reminder that in Europe, the last remnants of the wars still haven’t been finalised. In fact, as our guide informed us, every year as the farmers plough their land, they still retrieve unexploded shells and sometimes even long dead soldiers. . Later that day, we visited two war cemeteries. The first was the Australian 5th battalion cemetery, the tranquil graves surrounded by the green of the woods. The second was at Tyne Cot war graves cemetery, and the wall of soldiers whose bodies lay unfound stretched across the wall end to end. The amount of names was so great, and it was hard to imagine that there lay so many without a true grave. It was at least comforting to think that those who gave their lives had been recognised for their bravery.
It was not until our time in Bruges that we truly had a free day. The small, cobblestoned city
was marked with churches, chocolate shops and horse drawn carriages. To have a full day to
explore such a spectacular city was both breathtaking and a relief. A special mention goes to Ms
Lim for supporting the economy by buying at least 5 kilograms of fresh homemade Belgian
chocolate.
ENSEMBLE Rehearsal Times for 2010
Marching Band
Drama Festival26 & 27 July at 7pm in the Great HallThis term in Drama students have been learning many skills in Physical Theatre, Playbuilding, Text Interpretation and Characterisation. As part of their assessment boys are required to devise and present an original piece of theatre to the class. Students will then be selected to perform in the school’s Drama Festival held in Week 2, Term 3. This is the school’s first ever Drama Festival and will hopefully become an exciting annual event on the school calendar. The festival will include students from Years 7 – 10 Drama classes and special performances by the school Drama Ensemble and Circus Troupe. In order to prepare for this large scale production participating students MUST ATTEND both technical and dress rehearsals. Students are to organise their own costumes and personal props. The technical rehearsal will be held on Sunday July 25 from 2 – 6pm and there will be a full dress rehearsal during school hours on Monday 26 July in The Great Hall. Tickets will be available at the door at a cost of $5 for students, $10 for adults and $15 for families. There will also be a School Matinee on Tuesday 27 July for the Junior School. This promises to be a fun, lively and highly entertaining event. Your support and attendance is greatly appreciated.
If you have any further questions please don’t hesitate to contact me at the school.
Drama NewsTheatresports
Tuesday 25 May was the date of the Theatresports schools challenge for intermediate years and the
SBHS representatives (Khushaal Vyas, Alexander Pereira, Sikandar Hussaini, Patrick Rynsaardt and
Agnish Nayak) were there doing our school proud. The night consisted of four rounds in which
seven schools competed against each other in their choice of a selection of totally improvised
theatresport games. Theatresports are games which test a person’s ability to think on the
spot whilst also adhering to the rules of the specific game and trying to entertain the audience.
Although the SBHS boys put up a valiant effort, they eventually lost by a narrow margin of
points. Despite these factors, the night was still a great success, with all the contestants
having a huge amount of fun and the audience enjoying the brilliant display of young
talent. APRA Backstage PassAustralian Performing Rights Association (APRA) is looking for talented secondary school students to take part in Backstage Pass on Sunday 20 June a once-in-a-lifetime opportunity to hone their musical skills and learn from some of Australia's leading songwriters and musicians including John Foreman, Erana Clark (Australian Idol), Rai Thistlethwayte (Thirsty Merc), Finabah and many more! Students, register today to secure your place at a full day of workshops tailored to specific instruments and skills relevant to music production; plus a live performance with the mentors, to end the day.
Hurry registration closes June 15.
Boggabilla Charity Day24 May 2010On Monday 24 May, the Community Services Committee held a mufti day for Boggabilla Central School. Boggabilla Central School is the Year 9 charity that our school has an exchange program with. By coincidence, today was also the day for the Boggabilla students to arrive and spend their time in Sydney. During their time in Sydney the Boggabilla students were also taken to the first State Of Origin Game. Once the Boggabilla students had arrived at the school, they were treated to our barbecue. While the barbecue was running the Boggabilla students watched the annual Jaggar Gift which consists of a 1.6km run. The top 3 finishers win a cash prize.
Monday was the first time that the Community Services Committee had the barbecue on Moore Park
West because of the running of the Jaggar Gift. Having the barbecue on Moore Park West turned out
quite well raising $551.55. The mufti collection raised $1408.70. The total amount raised was
$1960.25 for Boggabilla Central School which was a great effort on behalf of the school. Da Vinci Decathlon
On the 27th May, 8 Year 7 students (Wesley Beare, Adilmorad Nadir, Thomas Nassif, Ben Nguyen,
Leonard Mah, Jesse Nixon, Dimitri Nossar, and Jun Park) set out from Central Station, to travel
to Knox Grammar School to participate in the Da Vinci Decathlon. It was our big day after many
weeks of training. However, we were up against some very competitive schools so we knew that it
wasn’t going to be easy. When we arrived, we found our allocated table and set up in haste
as the competition was about to begin. First up were Engineering, Games of Strategy and Art and
poetry. Our engineering didn’t go quite to plan. The task was to create a tower which could
support a block. We ended up with a leaning tower of Pisa. It looked bad but it supported the
block. We did well with Science. We were required to write an explanation consisting of a flow
chart. Wesley was left to solve the Games of Strategy. He won all Mastermind games but struggled
with connect Four. It was still an impressive effort. Leonard did really well in Chess. In the
meantime, Ben, Jun and I were doing Art and poetry. We felt the pressure of time. In session 2 we
completed Maths-went well, English and Forensic Sleuths. Again, it was a team effort with us
dividing into groups to get everything finished on time. The afternoon sessions were Code
breaking, which was very difficult but we gave it all we had, and general knowledge which we were
confident with. Overall, we had a great day. It was exhausting but exciting. We didn’t get
a place but it made us determined to aim for a place on the team next year when we could serve it
up in a rematch to Sydney Girls-(they won and then we had to travel back on the train with them.
We went in a different carriage)
Year 9 Team - Da Vinci Decathlon
From the CanteenThank you to the following people for their help in canteen last week: Cia Koukouras, Anne Aylmer, Jenny Hu, Irene Ben,Yan Mei Yin (Rina), Sally Allingham, Jian Ping Li, May Ip, Irene Ben, Jeffi Wu, Zhu Zhu Zhang (Julie), Faye Haung, Jenni Rajendram, Gina Jun, Fabienne Ovadia, Jenny Leonard,Barbara Taylor, Shilpar Punekar, Li Yang, Shihong Yang. Our canteen managers would simply not be able to do their job as well as they do without the help of volunteers. At the moment though, we are a bit short of help on Mondays particularly the 2nd, 3rd and 5th Monday of each month. If anyone thinks they may be able to spare some time once a month, then Tracey and Karen would love to hear from you!!
Give them a call at the canteen on 9360 4027.
From the High StoreWeekend Wear ONLY Not a substitute for school jumper SYDNEY HIGH HOODIE Grey marle with Sydney High in navy embossed $66 Limited stock available
WINTER SPECIAL
National Chinese EisteddfodOn Saturday 29 May 2010, selected students participated in the 21st National Chinese Eisteddfod at Strathfield Girls High. The eisteddfod is a nationwide event for Chinese language students in Australia, organised by the Chinese Language Education Council of NSW, co-organised with Chinese newspaper Sing Tao Daily. Contrary to popular perception, the competition is not merely about poetry recital; it is a performance requiring adept pronunciation and the conveyance of meaning and emotion through changing facial expressions, body language, pitch, rhythm, tempo and dynamics. However, tones may not be altered so much such that the four tones inherent in Mandarin Chinese become unrecognisable. As a result, the task is an extremely tough one - credit goes to Ms W Zhang for her relentless work in shaping us up to these challenges. Students were proficient in culminating concepts taught and placing them in practice with confidence. Sydney Boys High participants have rehearsed for more than three months, steadfastly congregating each week both in class and at lunch to practise. As a result, we have secured some excellent achievements for the school in both group and individual performances. Prose/poetry performed included Huang He Song, a glorification of the Yellow River; Zhi Yao Ming Tian Hai Zai, giving hope in times of sorrow; Man Jiang Hong, a patriotic poem concerning the Mongolian invasion of China; Shui Diao Ge Tou, reminiscing an old friend and Mu Qin, describing a mother’s love. Our group achievements include:
Individual achievements include:
Congratulations to all participants for your efforts! Special thanks to the Year 12s who despite
heavy demands from HSC assessments still contributed significantly to the eisteddfod. Best wishes
for the future! The rest of us will undoubtedly be working hard throughout the year, mastering
the Chinese language to re-emerge stronger and more powerful for next year’s
eisteddfod.
High SocietyThe Bulletin Board for Sydney Boys High P & C
Julie Connolly Joint P&C SBHS and SGHS 7.00pm Wednesday 30th June, Great HallPlease note the earlier start time of 7.00pm for our joint meeting with Sydney Girls High parents. This evening is not like a regular P&C meeting, but an opportunity for us to meet and mingle with parents from the girls school following a presentation from a speaker specifically arranged for the evening. This year we are hosting and have arranged for Dr Michael Carr-Gregg to address us on The Five Greatest Challenges for Parents in 2010. Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is one of Australia's highest profile psychologists and is described by the Sunday Age, as one of the country's leading authorities on teenage behaviour. He specialises in the areas of parenting adolescents and adolescent mental health. This is a great opportunity for our parents to hear from an expert. Dr Carr-Gregg is an informed, entertaining and most inspiring speaker on some of the most critical issues for our adolescents today. Supper will be served following the presentation. Upcoming Parent Meetings and Events
Thursday 17th June
Monday 21st June 3.00pm–6.30pm
Thursday 24th June 3.00pm-7.30pm Years
Wednesday 30th June 3.00pm-6.30pm
Wednesday 30th June 7.00pm
Volleyball Report
First Grade Report
Missing three key players (Merlin Li, Hugh Huang and Patrick Lai) High knew it would be a tough
game against one of the fiercest teams in the GPS. The game began with High taking the opening
two sets 25-21 and 25-22 thanks to solid blocking from Chris Morrow and David Nguyen and
versatile passing from the back court. However, Grammar were able to bounce back and take the
next two sets 20-25 and 21-25 through their very strong middles and backcourt attacks. Going into
the fifth and final set, the pressure was on High to defend their long streak of GPS wins. The
set played out evenly but a few crucial errors and scrappy plays gave Grammar a 14-12 lead with
two match points. However thanks to clutch plays from John Gim and great setting from John Mok,
High was able to edge out Grammar 18- 16 in what was one of the most thrilling GPS volleyball
games ever.
Second Grade Report
The match began with High gaining momentum fast, but a large amount of unforced errors late in
the set drew the score out to 26/24, with High narrowly clinching the set. However, with 2nd
Grade pulling ourselves together, it was downhill from there on, with Grammar, demoralized and
reeling from the exceptional hitting and serving of 2nd Grade, slowly losing their grip, with the
2nd set ending 25/21. The outstanding stamina of all the 2nd Grade players resulted in consistent
and exceptional play through out the 3rd set, resulting in a 25/17 finish. The end result of 3/0
sets stays in line with 2nd Grade's season standard of no dropped sets. The win was a combined
team effort, with excellent setting from Tony Wang and Ennes Mehmedbasic, strong hitting from
Brendan Cheung and Justin Yang, and solid blocking by Shiraz Biscevic.
Sydney Boys High School FencingSBHS U15 Fencers: State ChampionsOn Saturday the U15 team comprising Shaun Pak [Captain], Mathew Chan, Hayden Rabone and William Yeung [pictured] fenced an outstanding series of matches before defeating St Aloysius with an impressive 45-37. This sees SBHS ranked NSW State Champions, the first time SBHS has fenced with such success. Congratulations! The fencers persisted doggedly and calmly putting the strategies outlined by coach Alwyn Wardle into action. The Senior teams: Two teams entered the finals in the Senior division. SBHS Seniors Blue [Anirban Ghose, Ian Ho and Shaun Fletcher] went into the finals ranked 14th and fenced St Aloysius 1sts [ranked 3rd]. Despite the odds SBHS Blue gained a respectable 13 hits, many of which were against the Australian fencing Champ. They retained the rank of 14th. The SBHS Green team [Ben Hillier [Captain] Hung Ting Lin, and David Zhuang entered the finals ranked 12th against Newington 2nds. This was an impressive and exciting match with dogged fencing and heroic persistence. They lost 34 to 44 but the team was jubilant to have prevented this strong team reaching the 45 within time and causing them some anxiety. The man of this match was undoubtedly Ben Hillier who won many hits and closed the gap. They finished 9th in the ranking, up from 12th. In the U13 Division three teams went through to the finals: ranked 3rd was SBHS 1, 7th was SBHS 2 and 10th was SBHS 4. Teams retained their positions except SBHS 1 who narrowly missed out on the bronze and came 4th in the ranking; bad luck, boys! From the sidelines, parents were supportive and were met with some excellent bouts.
We have had a fantastic start to the season considering our tendency to have more success later
in the season at the Schools League after more sustained training. Other schools fence throughout
the summer as well and enter the School Championships far more conditioned. SBHS fencing is
clearly benefitting from our permanent home under the Covered Learning area. We are grateful to
the Principal for these facilities.
Sports DonationsGPS sports competition is very demanding on people and resources. At High we have ongoing needs for facilities development, equipment and development through expert coaching. If you would like to help through a tax deductible donation for a particular sport, the appropriate form can be posted to you by calling 9361 6910. Alternatively, you can go to our website click on Sport /Sports Donations to download either Development Donation Form or Equipment and Facility Donation Form.
Hear Dr Michael Carr-Greg, 30 June 2010Fantastic Opportunity to Hear One of Australia's Leading Voices on Teenagers
7.00pm, Wednesday 30th June, Great Hall The Five Greatest Challenges for Parents in 2010The joint Sydney Boys and Sydney Girls P&C meeting for this year – 7.00pm, Wednesday 30th June, in the Great Hall – will feature Dr Michael Carr-Gregg speaking on The Five Greatest Challenges for Parents in 2010, including aspects of online safety, alcohol, sleep and other key issues. This is a fantastic opportunity to hear one of Australia’s leading voices on adolescents and we urge parents to attend this P&C presentation. Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is one of Australia's highest profile psychologists and is described by the Sunday Age, as one of the country's leading authorities on teenage behaviour. He specialises in the areas of parenting adolescents and adolescent mental health. Michael is the Consultant Psychologist to the Victorian Secondary Schools Principals’ Association and is a founding member of the National Coalition Against Bullying. He is an official ambassador for beyondblue and Mindmatters - one of 16 youth suicide prevention programs run by the Federal Government - and has served on the advisory committee for the Federal Government's Boys' Education Lighthouse School Programme. Educated in Kenya, the UK, Australia and New Zealand, Michael is married with two sons. For seven years he worked as an Associate Professor in the Department of Paediatrics at the University of Melbourne, before going into private practice in the Melbourne suburb of Kew. Michael has worked in private practice as a family therapist, child psychologist and clinical psychologist, as an academic, researcher and spent four years working as a political lobbyist. He wrote his PhD on adolescents with cancer at the University of NSW which resulted in the formation of CanTeen - a support group for teenagers with cancer in 1984. Michael has a high media profile working on national TV on Channel 7's Sunrise and The Morning Show as well as Fairfax Radio 3AW. He is a columnist for Girlfriend and Australian Doctor and has written six books, including the best selling Princess Bitchface Syndrome - how to survive teenage girls for Penguin in 2007 and has just finished another book When to Really Worry which was released in 2010. Dr Michael Carr-Gregg is an informed, entertaining and inspiring speaker addressing some of the most critical issues for our adolescents today. This is a great opportunity for High parents to hear his insights. Supper will be served following the presentation.
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Sydney Boys High School
