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High Notes, Vol 24 No 30, September 22 2023

From the Principal

Term 3 Ends

Thank you to our teachers, SAS staff, ground staff, canteen staff, cleaners, coaches and parent volunteers for their part in what we were able to structure and support our boys to achieve in Term 3.

High Talent

Results from the GPS Athletics carnival were strong this year with High placing 3rd in the Junior Point Score, 5th in the Intermediate Point score and 7th in the Senior Point Score. Individual highlights were headed up by Owen Trinh’s U13 100m GPS record of 11.81 and his win in the 200m in 24.39. Alex Ruhfus won the U14 100m in 11.53 and the 200m in 23.4. Oscar Greville won the Open Shot Put with 13.52m. Max Russell overcame injury to win the 3000m in trying conditions with a time of 8.50.6. Aiden McManus won the U15 800m in 2.03.62. Lachlan Leung won the U15 long jump. Ren-Shyan Balnave won the 3000m Division. Nicholas Fung came second in the U15 High Jump. Mark Yan won the U14 division and was second in the 400m. Dylan Dutt scored second place in the U16 200m and the 100m. Mekaeel Khan ran second in the U13 Division and came 3rd in the long jump. James Law ran 3rd in the U16 110m hurdles division as did Brendan Woo in the U15 100m hurdles division. Success in the relays - U14 4 x 100m 1st in 46.19; U13 second in 49.09 and U15 third in 44.72. Despite the hot weather our enthusiastic supporters made themselves heard to our competitors as they rounded the bend into the home strait.

Thank you to our spectators, staff and coaches for supporting our very solid athletics team. In CHS news, High regained the Kippax Cup for the NSW Public School with the highest points score for boys. Congratulations to the team and their coaches!

Year 12 Farewell and Graduation Assembly 2023

My speech to the Year 12 graduating students is reprinted below:

"Good afternoon Year 12, staff and parents. Welcome to our Farewell and Graduation Assembly for the Class of 2023. I acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation on whose country we meet and pay my respects to elders, past, present and emerging. They represent the aspirations of the traditional custodians of this land.

"One hundred and sixty-nine of you are completing your six year journey at High. This year’s cohort is unusually dispersed with two joining in Year 8, thirty-two in Year 9, one returning in Year 10 and ten enrolling in Year 11. For whatever length of time you have been a part of our community, many of you have tried to participate in school life as much as you can and to bond together in a common purpose. We are still suffering COVID effects, having lost two years of culture-building opportunities. Nevertheless, as I observe in my Principal’s Message printed in the Year 12 Farewell Booklet, which you will receive today, High Spirit is being rebuilt and an ethos of in-depth participation renewed. Also in that document, recognition of a selection of notable results by Year 12 students is included for your perusal. My thanks go to our Student Leaders in all areas of school life for their dedication in rebuilding our school culture – Prefects, SRC, Community Service, PAWS, Equality, Social Justice, Environment, Captains of Sports Teams and Co-curricular Leaders. Thank you to Sean, Landrie and Matthew for their leadership of the Class of 23.

"I want to recognise and honour the ten scholar-sportsmen who competed in two seasons of GPS Saturday sport and earned 99.5 ATAR or higher in the Trial HSC. Abrar, Andersen, Mohammad, Saxon D., Krish, Allan, Tony, Hikun, Landrie and Ryan will be presented prizes at Presentation Night next year. Congratulations to Max Russell for his win in the 3000m and Oscar Greville for his open shotput victory at the GPS Athletics Carnival. Also, Ren-Shyan Balnave won the Open 3000m Division and was 4th in the 1500m Championship. Kaden Kuang represented High in four sports in Year 12. Seven students competed in three sports. There were two ‘Triple Firsts’ in 2023, Ren-Shyan and Ramin Hossain. ‘Double firsts’ this year were: Edward Brownlie, Oscar Chen, Saxon Dean, Oscar Greville, Saxon Gerstl, Edward Ly, Jack Mulder, Subhan Mustafa, Xavier Nath, Hikun Nguyen, Max Russell, Filip Spanovic, Jack Wang and Ryan Woo. In the ‘One-Two Club’ were Andre Baruah, Zayn Hakim, Kaden Kuang, Sean Lim, Allan Tan, James Wachsmann, Byron Xie, Hikun Nguyen and Ross Zhou. I want to thank the 76 Year 12 boys who showed pride in their school and represented High in at least two GPS sports in their last year. Another 61 played one sport. 67.8% of the cohort showed their commitment to our scholar-sportsman ethos right to the end. These statistics again affirm that our students value participation in school sport. Jaden Yi played two GPS sports for six years with 21 others playing one competition sport. I applaud our graduating Year group for their dedication to our ethos. Thank you to all the MICs, coaches and parents who helped in our sporting programs.

"I want to expand a little on the theme of agency in our lives that I offered in my Principal’s Message in your Farewell Booklet. Schools often encounter the so-called ’agency problem’ – a term generally used in the context of company boards and shareholders. An agency problem arises when one party (say teachers) are expected to act in another party’s best interests (say students). The conflict of interest arises when the school management decides to act in a way that is perceived by students as not being in their best interests – let’s say a ban on mobile ‘phones or using generative AI in learning. A complex problem is created in that the school or State decides what is in the best interests of young adults that they have been at pains to teach how to be autonomous, self-directed and responsible in their learning, giving them a sense of agency. There is tension when the State overrides the perceived interests of the individual and it must make a compelling case for the greater good of the students and society because of its actions. Governments, schools and families with a moral compass have increased chances of reconciling the agency problem. The moral imperative needs to take the high ground and defend it. I trust that the Class of 23 has developed the requisite sense of agency and self-efficacy to take on the challenges of the authorities out there who are always claiming to be acting in our collective best interests. I have enjoyed our challenging and rewarding journey together, taking on COVID and coming out the other side. You had a unique Stage 5 experience. Cherish it. As Bob Dylan, the social poet of my generation, remarked: Take care of your memories, for you cannot relive them. I wish you all the best in your HSC examinations and I hope that you will be all successful in gaining entry to your preferred tertiary courses. Good luck and goodbye!"

Sentence Conscious Pedagogy:
Independent Revision of Student Paragraphs

Students need to rework their drafts more than once. Read paragraphs to their classmates and get feedback. Does the topic sentence engage the audience? Are there enough supporting details? Is the vocabulary vivid enough? Does the conclusion refer back to the main idea? Do the sentences vary in length and type? Are there alternative words that are better suited to the type of writing in the paragraphs? Could some sentences be made more interesting or complex using a sentence expanding technique? By polishing a draft after peer feedback, a more satisfying paragraph will be the outcome.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal