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High Notes, Vol 24 No 20, June 30 2023

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to our Sydney East Regional representatives in cross-country running who will compete at the CHSSA NSW competition in July. Boys 13 years – Owen Smith (7R), 14 years – Nestor Chan (9R) & Elijah Lees (9F), 16 years – Tanish Sarathy (10S), 17 years – Kiran Nayager (11E) & Adrian O’Young (11F), and 18 years – Max Russell (12T) and Ren-Shyan Balnave (12F). This is a big contingent and a credit to themselves and the Sydney High cross-country program headed up by Rebecca Dam. Congratulations to Naeer Nibras (10E) and Harry Xin (11E) who have been selected to represent the school in one of the GPS President’s XV Rugby teams (Under 16s) – a big achievement for them and our rugby program! Jiazi Chen (9T) and Thomas Chen (11S) have been accepted to the 2023 NSW State Senior Wind Band. The NSW State Senior Wind Band is for high potential and gifted music students in NSW Public Schools. Congratulations, boys! CHS Debating trials were held recently. Abrar Chowdhury (12F), Vishruth Anand (11M) and Agastya Govind (12F) were selected in the CHS Representative team this year. Well done, indeed! Our Calcaholics Team received an Honourable Mention in the International round of the International Mathematics Modeling Challenge. There were 55 teams participating, from 31 countries, so receiving the Honourable Mention is an excellent achievement!  Congratulations to Matthias Elgawly (10R), Andrew Pye (10R), Disen Liu (10E) and Jeff Tse (10R). Rachit Saini (12E) has been shortlisted as a finalist in the Top 50 Trailblazer Awards, recognising Stage 6 students who have used their final years of schooling to make an impact in their local community. Well done, Rachit.

Last Day of Term 2

As we wind up the term, I want to thank all of our students for their engagement with the curriculum and co-curriculum delivered by our dedicated and knowledgeable teachers. Our teachers, support staff, ground staff, cleaners, coaches and volunteers have worked hard to provide a high-quality learning experience and learning environment for our boys. I want to acknowledge them and thank them for their efforts on behalf of our students. Behind the scenes we have many parents and Old Boys making important contributions to the programs our school offers. They may be serving on School Governance bodies – P & C, School Council, SHS Foundation Ltd, the Sports Council, Incorporated Associations for Sport or Parent Committees– or as parking volunteers, Canteen servers, barbecue cooks, Fathers of the Night, vehicle drivers, lunch preparers, ticket or program sellers, supper providers or spectators cheering our teams on. Thank you to you all.

Interpreting Year 10 Reports - Semester 1

Boys in Year 10 have had their reports handed out after consultation with the Principal. Year 10 is an important time to try out electives to help identify possible Stage 6 courses that students might be interested in studying. Equally it can confirm which courses students do not enjoy and will not pursue in Stage 6. Above all, Electives should be taken for enjoyment of the subject content and activities.

Parents should be aware that there are changes to the way the rank order is calculated in Year 10. HD’s (6 points) and credits (3 points) etc…are no longer added together to form the scores on which the rank order is based. We use individual marks supplied by teachers. We calculate ATAR equivalent scores for those marks based on 12.3 units (six subjects).

PE is included in the calculations as 30% of two units (a subject) because it has only four periods and is assessed as a practical subject in Year 10. PASS elective scores are calculated in the usual way. Boys good at PE and taking PASS may be advantaged in the ranking. Rank order variations can be large between Years 9 and 10 for these and other reasons. For example, boys take on additional electives which do not have to include history or geography. More than 60 boys are attempting Stage 6 courses as accelerating students and they are assessed on Stage 6 criteria which are more rigorous than those in Stage 5. Sometimes, they spend more time than they should on their accelerated course and get their time management out of balance. Some of their other subjects might have weaker results as a consequence. This can lead to a large rank fluctuation and a reduced ATAR estimate. Some Stage 5 electives, like commerce, robotics and filmmaking, are infused with Stage 6 concepts and content.

The Online Elective can only be calculated as the average of the rest of the students’ scores because it is a mastery-based elective. That calculation may lower a student’s rank or advantage him because he would have done worse in any other elective. Science is delivered in a series of modules – chemistry, biology and physics. Some boys are much more engaged with one science module rather than another.

Regrettably, some boys switch off in subjects they are not planning to pursue in Year 11. These subjects can be electives that they just picked for enjoyment because they had already decided on their Year 11 courses or ones that they chose but with which they have not become engaged.

Please bear in mind the possible impacts on ranking in the cohort of these changed contexts when discussing the report with your son. Quiz him about his three electives and how he is engaging with them and whether he is enjoying them and if he is thinking about his Stage 6 course selections. Look closely at his learning behaviours profile to see how his engagement is perceived by his teachers.

Sentence Conscious Pedagogy:
Before we write, take notes and plan.

Having students reduce multiple sentences to key words, phrase and abbreviations helps students distinguish between essential and non-essential information; boosts comprehension of the information to be written about; enables the retention and absorption of information; promotes analytical thinking; teaches efficient notetaking; and assists students to outline paragraphs and compositions ahead of drafting them. Use a pen or pencil to underline key words. Use abbreviations and symbols: = indicates a definition or explanation; + is and; -> Cause and effect; / new idea…etc.  You can work out your own code to assist your note making.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal