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High Notes, Vol 11 No 27, August 27 2010From the Principal
High Talent High There was a real sense of excitement at McKay last Saturday as Old Boys, parents and supporters gathered at our only real combined home game of the season. Playing before a large and vocal crowd of High supporters, the first XI came back valiantly from 0-2 to snatch a draw on an incredibly sandy, bumpy and threadbare McKay 4 pitch. The first XV played to the game plan and executed well to restrict SGS to a narrow win 20-11. This was the best result by a High team against Grammar since 2001. Well done indeed! At the NSW Interschool skiing this week at Perisher, the High team of Tim Collier, Julian Edggton and Tom Connolly, won silver medals in the cross-country freestyle and cross-country relay events. A great effort boys!
Athletics Season The two new long jump pits will be ready for use by next week. These pits will be for the weekly skills rotation on Wednesdays and Thursdays for seniors and juniors. We try to make the athletics season as well organised and meaningful for non-GPS students as it is for athletics team members. This year we have purchased additional high jump mats to make high jumping more accessible and safe. There are rotations in sprints, distance events as well as shot put and long jump.
Paying General Service contributions
Where does your money go? Casual Salaries. engaged in music programs, chess, debating, leadership and community service activities. We also pay for our network managers, additional Teacher librarian, Library Assistant, Library overtime and our bus driver. All these people are employed for the benefit of your sons. The salaries bill paid for from school funds this year so far:
The $471,390 we have financed from school and community sources is greater than the entire yearly
contribution provided by DET to run the school. The fantastic range of services provided for your
sons needs your financial support. From the Two LibrariesFROM THE ANDREWS LIBRARYNEW RESOURCES OUT THIS WEEK – ANDREWS LIBRARY
SENIOR FICTION
JUNIOR FICTION
JUNIOR NON FICTION
SENIOR NON FICTION
Veronica Crothers What’s Up in the McDonald Senior Library
Author Visit Tristan will be giving “a 1-hour inspirational talk presenting fresh ways of using music, photos, video, free writing and the web to generate new story ideas and to feed the creative writing process. Tristan draws on his background in filmmaking, acting and as an author to give you tips and techniques for bringing the writing process alive, making it exciting and getting your stories out of your head and onto the page. Tristan will also touch on the emerging possibilities in digital and interactive storytelling and what this means for the content creator.”
I’m sure our students will gain much from hearing this amazingly talented and versatile
storyteller speak. Please if you are interested in finding out more about him have a look at his
sites online:
New Books Jane’s Fame: How Jane Austen Conquered the World by Claire Harman – “the enthralling story of a remarkable woman and her enduring – if belated – fame.” (book blurb) The Book Thief by local writer Markus Zusak – narrated by Death this best selling and brilliant novel is set in 1939 Germany and relates the story of young Liesel who begins a journey into literature and reading against the dangerous background of Nazi book burnings and the Holocaust. Beatrice and Virgil by Booker Prize winner Yann Martel who also wrote the wonderful Life of Pi. “With all the spirit and originality that made Life of Pi so treasured, this brilliant new novel takes the reader on a haunting odyssey. On the way Martel asks profound questions about life and art, truth and deception, responsibility and complicity.” (book blurb)
Going Bovine by Libba Bray has won many awards for this novel including the Michael L
Printz award 2010 for excellence in young adult literature. A funny and unconventional novel
which combines fantasy and humour and a crazy road trip to save the world! Will not
disappoint! From the Canteen
The Canteen Committee needs a new secretary – can you help??
Our next meeting will be Friday 10th Sept. Die deutsche Quiz Frage
Was haben das Herzogtum Liechtenstein und Grossbritannien gemeinsam? Die Antworten bitte zu Frau
St Leon – die erste richtige Antwort gewinnt einen Schokoladenriegel! Basketball AGMWednesday 4/8 Room 901Parents: Please attend and be in support of the future direction of basketball From the High Store
FATHERS’ DAY Sunday 5 September FREE Gift wrapping with every purchase. The HIGH STORE will be CLOSED from 9th Sept & will re-open Term IV. From the Office
Letters Re Absence/Lateness/ Early Leave If your son has an early leave note he is required to have his note signed by either Mr Barris, Mr Dowdell or Mr Prorellis before 8:55 am and handed in to the Main Office immediately after. Each letter should be signed by a parent or guardian with the name, date and roll class of your son printed clearly. Your son needs to pick up a leave pass from the Main Office before he leaves the school.
Leave SBHS DebatingWe are officially on the home straight for the GPS season! What an eventful season it has been with our Seniors, having taken out the PDC competition, being rolled in Round 1 in what can politely be called an unfortunate timing issue and then being on the wrong side of a split decision in a great debate against Grammar last week. However it was great to see a large turnout of seniors (and some juniors) to support the boys in their away debate. Year 10s are showing some excellent consistency and should be congratulated on being excellent role models for the junior years. Best of luck to all teams in the final rounds! See you all at the Debating Dinner – Saturday 11th September ParkingWe have another parking event this Sunday (August 29). Thanks to all volunteers as these funds are essential to keep our debating program going strong! As always, special thanks to Harleen Kaur and the DSG for their excellent coordination of these activities. GPS – Round 6 v NewingtonBoys are reminded to be READY AND WAITING for topics BY 5.45pm. Failure to do so will result in topics being released without you and you will miss valuable prep time.
Topic Area: Current Affairs
More information can be found at and will be emailed to
you on a weekly basis. Debating Dinner 2010Saturday 11 SeptemberThe annual dinner to celebrate debating at High will conclude the debating season. It will be the week after the final debate of the GPS competition. We will also be thanking our staff and coaches for their great work on all of the competitions that High enters.
This year’s Debating Dinner is being held on BOOKINGS MUST BE MADE BY FRIDAY SEPTEMBER 3. Payment for the dinner can be made at the main office. NO bookings can be accepted after this date as catering numbers must be finalised.
WHAT SHOULD I DO? Detach the form [included in the PDF version of this edition of High Notes].
Next, pay your money at the main office Can you help with dinner set up? email This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Dinner Co-ordinator 2010 DEBATING DINNER The 2010 Debating Dinner RSVP form is available in the PDF version of this edition of High Notes. High SocietyThe Bulletin Board for Sydney Boys High P & C
Julie Connolly Parent Volunteers needed for Sydney Boys High Open Day on Thursday, 2nd SeptemberCan you spare a couple of hours between 9.30 am and 12 noon on Thursday, September 2nd to help at the P&C Open Day tea and coffee stall? Volunteer parents serve refreshments in the courtyard outside the Great Hall, chat to prospective parents and answer any parent-to-parent questions such as “How did your son settle in?”; “What sport does your son play?”; “Is your son involved in music?” It’s an enjoyable morning, and all you need to bring with you is a friendly smile. Please contact Barbara Taylor on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or 0410 268 444 if you are able to help out at any time between 9.30 am and 12.30 on Thursday 2nd September - Thank you. P&C Literacy Week Awards LiteracyWeek is taking place in Week 7, from 30th August to 3rd September. To celebrate Literacy Week, the School is encouraging our boys to participate in a literary competition. As in past years, the P&C will offer prizes in Junior and Senior divisions. We would like to have one or two parents participate as members of the panel that will judge the finalists in the competition. It will involve meeting on Thursday 2nd or Friday 3rd September to read the creative entries selected by the teachers to be in the final round. This is open to any parent with an interest in literature and writing. If you are interested in being a member of the judging panel, please email Fabienne Ovadia directly: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone on 0412 938612. School Wellbeing CommitteeThe school’s Wellbeing Committee is involved in promoting and coordinating many initiatives that contribute to our sons’ wellbeing at school. The P&C has a representative on this Committee – Fabienne Ovadia. Sydney Boys High is seeking to formulate a plan to help those boys who are experiencing a difficult time through adolescence. The school is keen to put a structure in place that would identify and help students at risk of depression or suicide. To that effect a one day forum will take place in Term IV where the Principal, the School Counsellors and the Year Advisers will discuss these issues. The school is extending an invitation to the parent community for one or two parents to attend this important forum. If you are interested in participating in this Forum, or if you have any questions, please email Fabienne Ovadia directly: This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or telephone on 0412 938612. Upcoming Parent Meetings and Events
9.30am-12.00pm, Thursday 2nd September SBHS Open Day Parent MentorsWE ARE LOOKING FOR NEW PARENT MENTORSA Parent Mentor is an informal contact person who will welcome New Parents into the School Community and is available to them to help them through the difficulties encountered in their first year at the School. The aim is to have every parent of a new boy starting at the School matched up with a mentoring parent already at the School. The role of the Mentoring Parent is
The scheme is informal, without a lot of structure and depends for its success on the enthusiasm of the Mentors. The scheme has worked extremely well for four years and has not been at all onerous. All the Mentor Parents this year have enjoyed it tremendously and the New Parents have been extremely receptive and grateful for the contact. As there is an attrition rate every year we need new Mentor Parents. Please join us as the more parents we have the easier is the task. Could you please contact Charles Ovadia on 9386 1221 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it OR Jason Chen on 0403 038048 or This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Or send your details to the Principal’s Assistant Ms Williams on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Or fill in the form [available in the PDF version of this edition of High Notes] and return to the Principal’s Assistant The Parent Mentors application form is available in the PDF version of this edition of High Notes. The Onion BagThe GPS football season came to and end last Saturday with our final round of matches with Grammar. It was great to see a large crowd supporting the 1st and 2nd XI teams. The 1st XI showed great courage and desperation to come back from a 2 goal deficit to draw 2 all. Goals to Jeremy Rajendram and Joe Braverman. The 2nd XI conceded an early goal and despite a lift in intensity, were unable to bridge the gap, eventually losing 2 nil. In other matches the 16As finished off their season with 2 nil win. They suffered only one loss during the GPS season which is a fantastic performance.
Parking Rakulan Arulmurugan (8R) Andrew Chew Cassius Lam Casper Price (11S) Robert Tan (8M) James Chan (9E) Jonathan Chew (7M) Phillip Lam (8T) Jonathan Ren (10M) Andrew Tayeh (8F) Terry Chang (7S) Jesse Cooper (8F) Anthony Maloof Ashwin Rudder (11T) Julian Ubaldi (12R) Kevin Chen George Farrugia (8F) Josh Maloof (7T) Gamitha Samarasinghe (10R) Julie Walton Leighton Chen (8M) Jun Jie Kuang (8S) Vanda Maloof Gautham Shankar (7E) Sida Wang (8M) Wen Chen
Football BBQ
Referees
Dolan cup, Golden Boot and Golden Gloves
Quote of the Week The High Rowing ChallengeIt’s back on ….The High Rowing Challenge starts Saturday 11 September 2010 Old boys, school community, parents and friends If you would like to relive your rowing experience or you'd like to try rowing for the first time ... get involved in the Annual High Rowing Challenge. All ages and abilities welcome. Enjoy early morning rowing for 6 Saturdays with experienced coaches and coxswains. Enter your own crew of 8 or join others in a crew. It all culminates with a fun mini-regatta on the Back to the Sheds Day.
Donation: Includes:
More information and registration – High CulturePlease join us in the Great Hall on Tuesday 31 August to celebrate the achievements of the Year 12 Music and Visual Arts students. Art viewing from 5pm Concert begins at 6pm Refreshments available. Athletics ReportOn the 3rd and 4th of August High participated in the Sydney East Regional Athletics Carnival at Homebush. With strong results from the Zone Carnival a few weeks before and the boys working hard in training sessions under the guidance of TJ and his son Josh Tassell, High performed admirably with 2 records being broken by Chris Morrow in the 17+ Yrs High Jump of 2.00m and Ivor Metcalf in the 15 Yrs 100m Hurdles with a time of 14.09 and High continuing to dominate in the relays. The 12s age group performed to the best of their abilities, and although not securing any podium finishes they narrowly missed out with a number of 4th places and I strongly encourage the boys to train hard during the following athletics season to be even more competitive in the GPS Championships. The 13s also performed well with an unlucky Anthony Chen not running his best time coming in at 6th, and the High relay team finishing well in 2nd place. The 14s did an amazing job with Dominic Mah coming 2nd in the 100m Hurdles by 0.01 seconds, Anton Brockman and Eugene Lee coming in 2nd and 3rd respectively in the 400m and the 800m, and the 14s relay coming in 1st. The 15s age group was fantastic at the carnival, starting off the day with a win in the 1500m by GPS contender Lloyd Perris, who also won the 800m with a good time of 2:11.56. Edward Zhang also did well dominating in the 100m with a sub 12.00 time yet again, and Patrick Krakovsky finishing 2nd in the Long Jump and 3rd in the Triple Jump, and Ivor Metcalf continuing to perform brilliantly with a win in the 200m Hurdles, a highly contested 2nd place in the High Jump and a new record in the 100m Hurdles. Although plagued by injuries and missing key athletes such Michael Phung, Kah-Yang Wong and Andrew Fong, the 16s still performed quite well with Adam Booth winning the 2000m Steeple Chase and placing 3rd in the 1500m, also with Jesse Moffat coming 1st in the 110m Hurdles and Kumudika Gunaratne coming in 2nd and myself finishing 3rd for both the 100m and 200m races. It was unfortunate that the 16s relay was unable to run due to injuries, as I believe otherwise we could have achieved a top 2 finish in that as well.
The 17+ years performed excellently with Chris Morrow winning in the 110m Hurdles, the Triple
Jump and breaking the opens record for High Jump with a massive effort of 2.00m and I’m
sure he’s looking forward to breaking the High Jump record next year as well. There were
also strong performances by Sam Lane, who finished 3rd in 1500m and 800m, and by Anosh
Kanagaratnam who placed 3rd in the 400m. Max Kite continues to throw well with a 2nd place in the
Shot Put and a 3rd in the Discus, and Austyn Guo ran a solid time in the 400m Hurdle to finish
2nd. Coming back from an injury at the Zone Carnival, Josh Tassel ran a comfortable 11.28 in the
100m, finishing 1st on the day but placing 2nd due to an automatically submitted time by an
absent athlete, being very unfortunate. The 17+ boys ran an exciting relay with Josh Tassel
easily gaining 30m on the 1st place runner in the last leg to bring High 1st place.
Congratulations to all the athletes who participated in the carnival and especially those that
made it through to the next stage, and it is a testament to the success of the Athletics program
set up by MIC Mr Devlin, the amazing coaching by TJ and his son Josh Tassell, and all the parents
that have helped our boys out that we have achieved these excellent results, and with intense
training in the following weeks we can look forward to some excellent results at the GPS
Athletics Championships later this term. 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. From the Rugby master’s deskI hope you were one of the many, many High supporters who made it to McKay last Saturday. If you weren’t, you missed a very impressive day both on and off the field. It began with the 13Cs, a team of first year rookies, celebrating the maiden victory arm in arm with their Old Boy coaches singing the school song. Similarly the victorious 14Cs sang their version of “There’s a team in the town” ably led by Mr Moody and Alden Kwok. Then it was 2.55pm, the traditional 1st grade playing time, and a packed McKay 1 roared as a focussed 1st XV entered the arena. The 1st grade team played with all the passion and commitment that High Rugby is known for. They contested every possession as if their lives depended on it and ferociously defended their line for the entire 70 minutes. At the end of the game the 1st XV had earned everyone’s respect. A respect that was evident both on and off the field. On the field and with two minutes left to play, Grammar opted to take a shot at goal instead of the usual “tap and run” or drill the ball into the corner, play your favourite lineout and score a try. The successful penalty goal took their uneasy six point lead to a more comfortable nine point margin. Then after the final whistle, an honour guard was formed by all the High supporters to applaud their heroes from the field. It was a fitting salute to Mr Scrivener, Mr Aldous, the senior coaching staff and all the senior rugby players.
My thanks to all the players, staff, parents and supporters who have made the 2010 rugby season a
memorable one. Ski Team ResultsHigh's Cross-country Ski team achieved Silver in both the cross-country freestyle and cross-country relay events at the State Interschools races held in Perisher this week. The team is Tim Collier (Year 9), Julian Edgtton (Year 10) and Tom Connolly (Year 10). End of Season Rifle DinnerHelp celebrate a great year of High Rifle Shooting by attending the 2010 End of Season Rifle Dinner When? Sunday 19th September 2010, 12:00pm Where? The Outterside Centre, Teviot Ave, Abbotsford Who? Students, parents, coaches, friends and supporters. Dress - Full school uniform for students, smart casual for visitors Why? To acknowledge the commitment and achievements of all our shooters and because friendships made through sport last a lifetime Cost? $30/person. Payable to the school office by Friday 10th September. Please note this is a BYO alcohol function for adults. The 2010 Rifle Shooting Dinner RSVP and payment form is available in the PDF version of this edition of High Notes. Open Day 2010An invitation to prospective parents and students. Please take this opportunity to see our school in action. If you have siblings or friends in Years four and five who are interest in attending Sydney Boys High School could you please forward this information.
Sydney Boys High School
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