̽»¨ÊÓƵ

High Notes, Vol 24 No 22, July 28 2023

From the Principal

High Talent

Our first grade volleyball team won their way through to the final of the CHS Knockout Competition but were defeated in straight sets by a very strong Ryde Secondary College team. Congratulations on a great effort, boys!  

Our rifle shooting team have finished their season in fine style with 3rd in All Schools, first in the David Rose Snap Match, 3rd in GPS Second grade, first in the Rawson Cup, second in the NRA Shield, first in the Buchanan Shield and first in GPS first grade premiership. Well done indeed to all concerned!  

At the Australian Senior Schools Fencing Championships held at the NSW Fencing Centre last weekend our Senior Boys Foil Team A - Dean Johnsun (11F), Benjamin Dang (9R), Andrew Wang (11S), Daniel Kim (10M) - won Silver. In the Senior Boys Epee Individual - Tommy Xu (10E) won Gold, Jarrod Su (12R) won Silver; Xavier Perry (10M) won equal Bronze. Senior Boys Epee Teams Team B (Hudson Cai (9M), Kelvin Chen (10F), Jack Huang (12T), Jamison Lai (10E) won Silver). Team A (Jarrod Su (12R), Jack Wang (12M), Tommy Xu (10E), Xavier Perry (10M)) came equal 3rd. Senior Boys Sabre Teams Team A (Oscar Shi (11S), Jayden Ho (11M), Samuel Hui (11T), Mahesh Karki (10S) – Gold); Team B (Ethan Li (9F), Nathan Lee (10R), Akith Perera (10E), Andrew Pye (10R)) came equal 3rd. At the NSWSFL U14 Epee Team Premiership our team of Daniel Zhu (8R), Vihaan Rajit (9E), Benjamin Wu (9F), Luke McLoughlin (8T), Lucas Chen (8T), William Huang (7T) were victorious. Congratulations to all our successful fencers!

Leo Lu (11M), Jasper Wu (10F), Tafley Fan (10F), Alex Huang (10R), Benjamin Hyun (12R) comprised our Senior Table Tennis Team who won the CHS Knockout.  Great work, boys!  

Both Max Russell (12T) and Ren-Shyan Balnave (12F) have both qualified to compete in the National Schools Cross Country Championship – a first for High. A wonderful result!

High had 46 competitors qualify for the Regional Athletics Carnival and six relay teams, too!  Max Russell, Mekaeel Khan and Dylan Dutt all qualified in five events – very impressive performances! Nicholas Fung will represent in four events and Lachlan Leung, James McLoughlin and Ren-Shyan Balnave in three. Well done, indeed!

Properties Update

Last week four outdoor tables were installed on the concrete pads alongside the path facing the tennis courts to complement the jarrah benches previously put in place. Immediately, the area became popular with boys studying or eating their lunches utilising the table space. There are several passive recreation areas around the school for staff and students to utilise.

Prefect Elections

This week the ballot list for School Prefects was finalised after an Executive meeting discussed the qualifications of candidates. Some were vetoed due to not meeting the academic standard.  For others, it was a lack of Student Awards Scheme points. Yet for others, the issue was attendance or disciplinary matters.  

The Prefect Election will follow for those allowed to put their names forward on the ballot.

Encouraging NAPLAN results for 2023

Writing - The highest level of scores above 680 and highest level of scores above 640 since the introduction of online exams in 2021. The lowest % scoring below 580, too.

Numeracy - The highest level of scores above 686 and highest level of scores above 640 since the introduction of online exams. 100% above 640 for the first time. Congratulations to our teachers!

Sentence Conscious Pedagogy -
What is the Main Idea? - Topic and Concluding Sentences

A topic sentence expresses a paragraph’s main idea. The sentences that follow provide details that relate to the general idea contained in the topic sentence. Practising developing topic and concluding sentences enables students to make generalisations; promotes analytical and abstract thinking; provides focus to the paragraph writing; and develops the ability to make abstractions. A concluding sentence should echo the idea of the topic sentence but not repeat it verbatim.  One way to make a sentence sound more like a concluding one is to introduce it with an appropriate transition, such as finally or in conclusion, or use a different structure for the concluding sentence. Present students with a series of sentences and ask them to identify the one that is the topic sentence and the ones that provide supporting details. Give them a collection of details and two different topic sentences. Ask them to put the details under the appropriate topic sentence. Write two or three topic sentences about it. Give students an SPB with the details in the form of notes and have them generate a topic sentence and a concluding sentence.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal