High Notes, Vol 17 No 3, February 19 2016
High Talent
School Swimming Carnival
Congratulations to William Lee (9R) who set a GPS record
in the 14 years 50m breaststroke (33.30) last Friday evening. Other winners at the carnival
were: Adam Feng (10S) 16 years 50m backstroke (32.15); Allen Guo (10F) 15 years
50m breaststroke (34.27); 14 years 4x50m freestyle relay – Sae-Jong, Luo, Lee, Xu-
(1.58.50); and 17 years 4 x 50m freestyle relay – Best, I.Haddo, Rowlands, L. Schofield
–(1.45.90). Great job, boys! Old Boys Will Randles and Chris Chiam (SHS 2012)
went head to head in the Jessup International Moot Court Competition at the High Court held
recently. Will’s team represented ANU and edged out the UNSW team Chris was in. Both teams
will go to Washington DC for the international round of the competition in March.
Green Travel
We encourage all boys who can do so to ride bicycles to
school. The SRC has donated a bike rack so that bikes can be parked securely during the school
day. If we had more regular cyclists we would supply more racks to meet the need. Do something
that is good for you and good for the environment.
Early Bird Discounts on Financial Contributions
There is less than a week
left for parents to take advantage of the early bird discounts on our contributions package.
February 26 is the last day to receive the substantial benefit. With the maximum
contribution you get the value of one year of equivalent private school education for your son
for about one-twelfth of the price. Please support the school in its goal to provide opportunity
for your sons to pursue excellence in a wide range of endeavours.
Weights Room
Yearly memberships for the weights room close on 26
February. If you want to have unlimited access to a supervised weights program, act now.
No further memberships will be allowed until next term. At just $231 for a full year of
supervised sessions, this is great value for money.
Holiday Refurbishment Works
During the holidays the Cutler Drive was
asphalted. The six-year project is now complete and the surfaces on the Cleveland St frontage,
Cutler Drive, the Anzac Parade frontage and the Junior Quad have all been resurfaced. This was a
jointly funded project that has cost $200k with nearly half of the money coming from school
sources – P & C donations and the grounds maintenance budget. I think you’ll
agree that the grounds look much better as a result. They are certainly better to drive on! The
cloisters outside the cadet store, High Store and 801 as well as the archways, façade,
balcony and railings were stripped and repainted. Thank you to the P & C parent volunteers
who worked hard to try and get most of the paint off before the contractors started. Our next
project is to paint the Great Hall for the first time in a generation. The GA’s room was
divided and refurbished and a toilet and shower installed in the new space to service staff and
hirers of the COLA. The shower / toilet facility will add another amenity to the COLA to make it
more commercially attractive.
Light Rail Impacts
Security fencing has been installed on Moore Park West,
restricting High to the use of just one field until 2019. We are going to have to learn to adjust
to this new reality on our Monday Wednesday and Thursday afternoon training sessions. The full
compound will be constructed over the next few months, after which the Anzac Parade diversion
will be put in, affecting our access to gates 9 and 10 for the best part of a year. There are
going to be a number of temporary arrangements put in place for school and parking events. I will
keep you informed as to the restrictions as the project progresses.
Free Physiotherapist
Monday Morning Assessments
Each Monday during term time we are offering free
physiotherapy assessments for boys who have suffered injuries of some kind during sports over the
weekend. This service is designed to help families intervene quickly to ascertain the extent of
minor injuries. I read the reports on six boys who used the service this week. I think they were
very informative and helpful for ongoing injury management and prevention. I urge boys to access
this service to manage their physical fitness better.
Tell Them From Me Surveys
We have found that the ‘Tell Them from
Me’ Surveys are very useful for gaining information about listening to community voices. We
have signed up for the program again this year. Respondents have to log on to access the surveys.
Participation is voluntary and anonymous. Students will be surveyed in Term 1 (14 March–8
April). In Terms 3 and 4 the staff and parents will be surveyed. I urge you to take part in this
important survey and to facilitate your son doing his. We are using the data obtained from these
surveys to inform our school planning by helping us to evaluate our progress against the School
Excellence Framework.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal
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