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High Notes, Vol 24 No 31, October 13 2023
From the PrincipalWelcome Back to Term 4I hope that staff, students and supporters of our programs had a relaxing holiday break. Term 4 starts off with the HSC examinations, followed by our end of year reporting season. Year 12 references have been completed for 196 students and three dozen UNSW Co-op scholarship applications finalised. Thank you to Yasmin Ilic, Bob Dowdell, Jamie Kay, George Barris, Brooke Ashton and all the teachers and coaches who completed rating sheets and added personal comments about our students. Your efforts added greatly to the quality of the references produced. Our GA, Jim Crampton, supervised a list of holiday works, including line marking on the grounds, carparks and Cutler Drive; recladding of the Cec Rubie (Senior) Library walls (in progress); repainting Room 204; installing extra cameras; foundation works for a boom control at Gate 3; and a major tree pruning and crown uplifting for all our trees on site. The gym refurbishment at the Outterside Centre was completed during the holidays and is in use by our rowers. Thank you to the High Rowing Association Inc for donating the flooring and equipment, to George Barris for his days of hard work to move the project along, to John Taylor for his initiative and drive inside the 探花视频 Foundation Ltd. to speed up approvals and secure the c$100k required to complete the project. Thank you to Brett Harrison for his expert project management, ensuring the project was delivered on time, to the best possible specifications and to the budget allowed. Pictures before and after are published in this edition in George Barris鈥檚 report. Foundation Day AssemblyNeil McGill, School Captain (1973) delivered the Occasional Address in front of 12 or so of his classmates and half a dozen Old Boy Order of Australia recipients and twenty parents. He also kindly donated his blazer and prized Honour Cap to archives for our wall displays. He believed that there should be at least one simple takeaway from speeches. His insight was about how to be effective as a leader. Given that a grasp of operations, policies and procedures are required of any leader, he added determination and empathy as key requirements for effective leadership. Good leaders can empathise with and inspire people at all levels in the organisation. Great leaders can inspire people from all walks of life, with multiple diversities of race, religion, culture and abilities. Luc Tran delivered an uplifting address on behalf of the incoming leadership group ahead of the Prefects Pledge being sworn by all the Prefect Interns. My address to the assembly is reprinted below: "Special guest Neil McGill, School Captain of 1973, Ms Catherine Bavelle, R/Deputy Principal Sydney Girls High School, Mr Christopher Brown OAM, Chair of 探花视频 Foundation Ltd, Mr Geoff Andrews, Life Governor representing the SHSOBU, Professor Ron Trent, President of the Sydney Boys High School Council, Mr John Pointing representing the High Club, Life Governor Mr Phil Lambert and Jill Lambert, Professor Minas Coroneo AO, Emeritus Professor Douglas Joshua AO, other Old Boy Order of Australia recipients, Class of 1973 attendees, Old Boys, former High Student Leaders, staff and students, welcome to our 140th Foundation Day Assembly held on Gadigal land. I pay my respects to Aboriginal elders, past, present and emerging. We are gathered here to re-connect with our traditions, our cultural values, honour those who helped build them, and endorse the candidature of the Prefect Interns who will renew them. We welcome back Old Boys who graduated 50 years ago and try to connect to their context in relation to ours. Much has changed but much more has endured. "In 1973, the signing of the Paris Peace Accords marked the ending of the US participation in the Vietnam War. The US Supreme court decided the Roe v Wade case, a decision recently overturned by the same court. The post-World War II boom ended. There was an oil crisis leading to recession. Recessionary fears are topical today. The federal voting age was lowered from 21 to 18. Today there is talk of reducing it to 17. The White Australia Policy was abandoned. The Sydney Opera House was opened and Papua New Guinea was granted self-government. Lois D鈥橝rcy was appointed as the first independent civil marriage celebrant. Australia received its first F-111 aircraft, in service until 2010. AC/DC performed its first major gig in Sydney. They are still going. "In The Record of 1973, the Headmaster, Greg Bradford, expounded on the theme of goodwill. It was foundational to school success in his view, because co-curricular success 鈥渞elies completely on the goodwill of teachers, parents and Old Boys who contribute so much of their time, skill and financial resources to make it all possible.鈥� Today, we would agree with Mr Bradford鈥檚 assessment of the culture of the school and the foundation stones of its co-curricular activities. We need the continued goodwill of teachers, Old Boys, parents and coaches, as well as strong financial support, to deliver the astonishing variety of co-curricular activities that our students enjoy today. "Also in The Record, like many School Captains before and since, Neil McGill wrote a rallying call to his fellow students about more participation in GPS sport among senior students. He exhorted his fellows to aim for perfection and strive for victory. 鈥楢chieving the victory is not as important as the dedication shown in striving for it.鈥� This idea resonates well with us as 鈥榙edication鈥� is one of our school鈥檚 agreed core values. Fuelling dedication is the 鈥榳ill -to- win鈥� because it 鈥榠s the basis for maximum effort鈥�. "The first XI cricket team won four games and David Nosworthy gained selection in the GPS combined second XI. In the second XI Michael Litchfield took 6-17 against Shore. The 1973 Rugby first XV made High history as the first High team to be GPS Champions. Geoff Stein and Ed Zemancheff were selected in the combined GPS team, along with Steven Treble, Stuart Kelly, Doug Pauling and Neil McGill. GPS defeated CAS 35-0. Geoff, Ed and Doug were selected in the NSW Schools 1st XV with Stuart, Steven and Neil in the second XV. Both Ed and Neil were selected subsequently in the Australian Schools Rugby team. In football, first grade won 2, drew 1 and lost 8, while second grade were co-premiers with 6 wins, 4 draws and one loss. "The first VIII rowed into 7th place at the Head of the River. Basketball had a successful season losing only one GPS game and securing five selections in the Combined GPS team. In the second year of official GPS tennis, first grade won four and lost three matches. Tim Hirshanan and Michael Hersch were selected in the Combined GPS tennis team. Sydney High were CHS golf Champions. The tragic loss of admired Prefect Jack Manchester in his final months of school affected the 1973 cohort. "On Foundation Day we can take this time to examine our historical foundations from October 1883 and our enduring traditions. While much about the school has changed in 50 years, the essentials that define High are the same. We prepare our students for university. We need to constantly rally support for GPS sport in Years 11 and 12. We need to strive perpetually in a very tough sports competition. We always seem to find enough individual success to inspire us to attempt our 鈥榯asks severe鈥� each year. Our student leaders show us the way. "Today, we bear witness to a new cohort of student leaders as they take the Prefect鈥檚 Pledge. These Prefect Interns have had to qualify against performance benchmarks. They had to show lived experience of leadership. They had to meet academic prerequisites. They had to represent their school in two GPS sports in their final two years of school. They had to reach at least platinum level in the Student Awards Scheme and score at least 100 points in Year 11. They have had to comply with standards in terms of school uniform, behaviour and punctuality. They have had an opportunity to compose an online personal statement of why they would like to lead. They have faced an electoral college consisting of their peers in Years 10 and 11, the outgoing Prefects and the staff. They have been elected by their school community. They have had leadership training and been assigned specific roles. These representatives are ready for the tasks ahead. "We celebrate our founding as a school to prepare young men for tertiary study and as an institution that enlarges character through opportunities to pursue excellence. It has influenced character development through its culture of camaraderie. The young men being inducted are worthy bearers of the High traditions of leadership by example, across areas of school life. I offer my congratulations to them and remind them to preserve the best examples from the past while adding their own initiatives to the enhance the leadership culture of the School."
Sentence Conscious Pedagogy:
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Sydney Boys High School
