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High Notes, Vol 13 No 33, October 26 2012
From the Principal
High Talent
Year 11 Reports
White Ribbon and Proud Schools At High we know we have a percentage of our boys who are not reaching their potential. It is impossible for boys at High to reach their academic and personal bests if they are constantly on guard or in a state of fear about what may be said or done to them in various contexts, at home or at school. In our school context a good question to ask is: “Where’s the harm?” If another person looks or acts differently to me or has differing views, how does that impact on me? I am still free to be me. If there is no harm, leave other people alone! We must learn to co-exist in peace. For the small minority of our students coming to school and trying to learn is very difficult because they are burdened with problems in relationships at home or at school or both. Their reactions might be withdrawal into the cyber world, depression, self-harm or acting out in anger. Excessive internet use or gaming by boys result in underachievement at school. Depression leads to underachievement, acting out leads to exclusion from classes or school. Urge those you know who are showing signs of depression, self-harm or gaming addiction to seek professional help. When the impacts on persons of the words or actions of others are so damaging as to incapacitate them, as a learning community we must do something to help. White Ribbon is an organisation aimed at changing men’s behaviour to renounce violence against women. Such violence includes verbal abuse and physical intimidation. Students have to model respectful relationships with girls and women in their environment, including SGHS. Proud schools is a pilot project aimed at promoting tolerance in schools for same sex attracted and gender questioning students. Various activities are being planned to raise awareness and influence perceptions about the importance of these issues in a just society.
Joint Project Update
SBHS and SGHS need to negotiate agreements to define relationships –between the schools and
DEC, between the schools together and contractors or employees, between SBHS and SGHS in
operational matters once the building is constructed, and between the schools together and third
parties who may wish to use the facility. The next steps are to commit funds together, to hire a
Project Manager and commence detailed investigations of the site and to prepare a DA for
Council. 
Die Deutsche Frage… of several weeks ago has not been answered – hands up who is reading the High Notes online? The answer was WORMS – a city on the Rhine River, famous for its imperial past, but perhaps not a place an English speaker would like to live.
A last attempt – and an easy one: Auf Wiedersehen, Deutschland! What is
the next greeting? A chocolate bar is waiting for you.
3rd-6th Grade TennisMatch Report
Last Saturday, our team faced Newington College for our second match of the season. We managed to
win in all four grades which is an impressive feat in itself. 3rd Grade started off strong with
wins in both doubles matches. Singles however was a mixed affair with only Dominic Mah and Edward
Zhang winning matches winning 6-0 and 6-3 respectively. 4th Grade got off to a shaky start with a
mixed result in the doubles. Singles however were very competitive but Andrew Cheung managed to
pull off a stunning win of 6-0. 5th grade won convincingly with both doubles and smashing
victories by Calum York and Jason Garrett who both won their singles 6-1. 6th grade was much like
4th grade starting off with a mixed doubles result before winning convincingly in three of the
four singles matches. Michael Hauser and Junjie Kuang both won 6-0 while Geoffrey Lin won 6-1. I
would like to congratulate the boys for this stunning result following our not-so-good run last
week. Good work!
High Resolves InitiativeGlobal Leadership Program
Doodling for Disability Throughout terms 1, 2 and 3 the boys attended 8 two-hour working sessions, where they brainstormed ideas, selected the ones that would work the best, broke down into teams, sought permission and organised logistics. At each stage in the process the boys were asked to reflect not only on their project but also what they were learning about leadership. As well as a High Resolves Program Manager the boys were also guided by a number of business mentors from Deloitte. In August, with all the planning complete, the boys took to the streets to spread their message and get people to start doodling. The boys split themselves into groups and targeted Martin Place, Hyde Park and Parramatta station in the morning. In the afternoon, different boys went to Circular Quay and Town Hall. In the meantime, the boys had also launched an online petition.
Back at school, the boys collated all the results and prepared a presentation for members of the
school executive and representatives from High Resolves. The boys managed to get 900
doodles, 200 likes on their Facebook page along with 600 individual hits. Even though the
boys did not achieve their objective, there were many successes, for example, their team work and
their passion for the cause. The group also reflected on the challenges they faced and what
they would do differently in the future. The main findings were that they needed to get better at
managing their time and the importance of communicating across the streams. Overall, the
boys thought that the lessons that they learnt would be very useful for the different leadership
roles they will face in the future.
National History Challenge winnerCongratulations to Thomas Nguyen, who won the Year 8 division of the National History Challenge for 2012! For his entry, Thomas wrote an outstanding essay on the role Tsar Nicholas II played in the creation of a communist state in Russia. He argued that Nicholas’s failure to rule effectively had significant consequences for 20th Century world history, leading to events such as the Cold War and the Cuban Missile Crisis. Several other students made it to National judging, and will receive their certificates shortly. The Challenge is run annually by the state History Teachers Associations of Australia, and is open to all high school students. Each year has a particular theme – this year it was People and Consequences. Although previously the competition has been limited to Australian history, this year the field was broadened to include any aspect of the past, in line with the new National Curriculum for history – there was even a special category celebrating the Diamond Jubilee of the Queen!
Entries for 2013 open early in Term 2 – see the History staff for more details.
MathematicsAustralian Mathematics Competition 2012
Prizewinners UNSW Mathematics Competition
Junior Division
Senior Division
Music NotesMusic Examination ResultsCongratulations to the following boys who have achieved outstanding results:
Frank Zhang (Year 11) Violin A Mus - Pass FundraisingA big THANKYOU to the boys in the Senior Strings who are giving up their Sunday, this weekend, to perform at the Lugar Brae Uniting Church (Waverly) for a fundraiser. The money raised will be donated to the United World and will be used for a hospital and orphanage in North Korea. The concert is scheduled this Sunday, 28th October at 2PM. All boys, staff and parents are welcome to watch! Marching BandThe Marching Band will resume as of WEEK 6, on TUESDAY and FRIDAY AFTERNOONS, after school. Ensemble RehearsalsPlease check the timetable and arrive ON TIME! There are NO EXCUSES for not attending or arriving late to ensemble rehearsals. ALL ENSEMBLES START AT 7:45AM. (unless stated otherwise). Remember a ROLL is TAKEN, and 80% of ATTENDANCE is required. PLEASE REMEMBER to pack up after rehearsals (tidy up the room/and stands back on rack). EVERYONE needs to help and not left to one or two boys. THANK YOU boys for your co-operation! Please remember PRACTICE DAILY, if only for 20 minutes, is required for you to develop your awesome musical skills and make your music tutor happy. Practice makes PERFECT!!!!! The 2012 ensemble rehearsal timetable is provided below:
Tennis ReportHigh vs Newington
1st Grade
2nd Grade For more info check out the tennis website at:
15As and 15Bs Tennis
Basketball: Shooting HoopsHigh v Joeys: Side-by-SideHigh vs. Joeys: Term 4 2012 Results
High vs. Joeys: Term 1 2012 Results
The season has begun! A particular highlight of this week would be 2nd Grade’s amazing performance against Joeys. With the offense led by point guard Bailey Musulin, 2nd Grade held the lead from the beginning of the game and never looked back. This looks a promising season for 2nd Grade, and we hope their performance stays as strong as this throughout the whole season, if not get better.
MR HAYMAN’S TEAM OF THE WEEK; 14As Following this, we have a report by our 6th Grade side member Kenneth Ho about their 40 point domination over Joeys this week. Many encouraging words represent the strength of our open’s divisions:
6th Grade The next week’s game is against Newington, a tough competitor for all our teams. Make sure you prepare yourself for the game both mentally and physically. Good luck to all the boys! SBHS LOVES BASKETBALL!
~ Go HIGH! High v Joeys and NewingtonHigh vs. Joeys: Term 4 2012 Results
High vs. Newington: Term 4 2012 Results
The Saturday before this week the AAGPS Basketball Season officially began! Kicking off the season against St Joseph’s, we saw a positive school effort with only three of our 26 teams suffering a loss of no more than 19 points (23 wins, 3 losses), as well as great wins by the rest of the teams with many having more than 10 points to spare. This week, our school was up against Newington at home, a tough competitor for all our teams. Most of our teams still managed to perform extremely well, with High pulling off 18 wins out of the 26 matches played by the school. Special congratulations go to the 16s division, who won from A Grade to F Grade. Our 1st Grade team also put up an extremely impressive performance to lose narrowly to Newington by only 9 points. High 2nd Grade, led by Bailey Musulin as top scorer once again this week, demolished Newington 2nd Grade by more than double. The rest of our Opens also played very impressively against Newington, with only 1st and 5th Grade suffering defeat. We have so much depth in our program as shown by our results across all teams thus far winning 41 out of 52 games played. This week our school is to be playing against King’s at home. Make sure you cheer on our 1st Grade, as they have a very big chance to take their first victory of the season. 1st Grade only lost to King’s in the Sydney Schools Shoot out in the holidays by 1 point and with your support this Saturday they would be able to get over the line. Good luck to all teams this week! Remember our High Basketball motto: Play Hard, Play Smart and Play Together!
~ Go HIGH!
High FamilyThe Bulletin Board for Sydney Boys High P & C.If you would like to have any parent community news or upcoming events included in High Society, please contact Ian Sweeting P&C President This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Years 7, 8, 9 and 10 Parents - Help NeededAfter years of exemplary service to the P&C, November’s AGM marks the retirement of a number of Year 11 and Year 12 parents from the P&C executive including Julie Connolly, Geoff Andrews and Richard James. These parents have for many years selflessly provided their time and skills to provide a lasting benefit to the school and our boys - they will be sorely missed. We welcome all parents interested in taking on roles within the P&C to get in touch as soon as possible in time for the P&C AGM which is being held on Wednesday 23 November. In particular, we look to parents from the Junior School to step up and play their part in maintaining the high level of support that the P&C provides the school. It is in large part the work of volunteer organisations such as the P&C, the Sydney High Foundation, the Old Boys Union, the Sports Associations and the Co-curricular sub-committees that allows our boys to enjoy the unique experience that Sydney Boys High offers. Some parents are understandably reluctant to take on these burdens and the P&C are committed to a significant re-organisation of meetings and processes to reduce the time and travel demands on busy parents. It is the P&C’s intention to reduce both the number and length of at-school meetings for the P&C executive with many positions not requiring regular attendance. More information regarding these changes will be circulated to parents in the near future. Two important positions that we will need to fill at the AGM are that of the P&C Treasurer and Assistant Treasurer, so if you have a background in accountancy, finance or book-keeping, we would love to hear from you. As well, we are looking to create a new position where experience in the fields of communications or marketing would be very valuable. In addition to the above, we have many individual projects and events that would suit parents who are looking to offer their help in a single area without the need to attend meetings at school. If you would like to help in any way, please contact the P&C This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it or myself This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it Thank you for considering this important issue. Volunteer Parents needed for Orientation AfternoonTuesday 13th November Can you spare a couple of hours between 2:00pm and 4:30pm; or between 4pm and 6:30pm? Please join our team of volunteer parents serving refreshments in the courtyard outside the Great Hall. Our aim is to make incoming families feel welcome and to encourage them to be involved in the school. Please contact Sachiyo James on This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it if you are able to help out on Tuesday 13th November. Thank you!
From the CanteenOnce again thank you for being a canteen volunteer. ALL canteen profits are returned back to the school to help fund projects and facilities which benefit all our sons. Thank you to the volunteers for last week.
Mon 15/10 - Sam Guo, Lynn Chen
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Sydney Boys High School
