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High Notes, Vol 24 No 40, December 15 2023

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to our volleyball teams on their successes at the National Schools Volleyball Competition held on the Gold Coast. Our Year 10 team took out silver in the honours division against Scots in the final, losing 1-3. The Year 8 team earned a bronze in the honours division. Our Open Team was weakened by the absence of the Year 12 team members and could only manage 6th place – still highly commendable. Well done to Leon Lu (8F) whose team, Magikid Sydney 7998B, won second place in the VEXIQ 2023 National Championship – a robotics competition.

Thank you to Dr. Love, relieving Junior Librarian, for his promotion of the Premier’s Reading Scheme. We had a record 96 students qualify!

Staff Farewells

We are saying goodbye to several staff members this year. Casey Writer has taught in Social Science for two years. Laurence Chapple has been in Industrial Arts for three years and is moving to the Blue Mountains. Cassandra Pride, our Head Teacher of English, has taught at High for six years and has accepted a position at St. Catherine’s. Andrew Carman, teacher of science and physics for 12 years, NAPLAN Co-ordinator and rock-climbing MIC, has accepted a position at Sydney Grammar. Bonnie Collignon, a teacher in Creative Arts for 18 years, has separated from the Department of Education. Ros Robson (1999-2023) has been our ERN manager, first aid Officer, MIC bum bags manager, and coordinator of students with personal health management plans, for a very long time. We all wish her well in her well-earned retirement. Anthony (Mark) Gainford (1975-2023) has been High’s ethos icon for nearly five decades. Our own version of Mr Chips, Mark has been the soul of High Spirit and much loved by cohorts of boys. Teaching mathematics at all levels, he was a great recruiter for rowing and rugby, both of which he served continuously since his appointment to the school. He was also involved for a time in rifle shooting and cross-country. He contributed as CO of Cadets, long-term editor of The Record, Prefects MIC, Chair of the Badges Committee, and long-serving Executive member of the AAGPS committee. His contribution has been pervasive, long-lasting, and valuable. He has earned his rest.

Final High Notes for 2023

I want to thank all our staff for their collegial work this year to make our school operate efficiently and effectively. Thank you to the editorial staff – Maria, Meredith, Rosa and Brooke – for pushing out an edition of High Notes each week. We have a large number of contributors each week – staff, students, parents, coaches – and much work is required in layout, editing and proof reading. Their efforts to disseminate current news to our school community on a weekly basis takes a lot of time and is much appreciated. Thank you to everyone who helped make the publication a success – contributors and editors alike.

Collection of Reports

All students should have collected their reports by now. There are very few left, mostly belonging to students on extended leave in Years 7-9 and a few Year 10s I have not been able to catch up with so far. I will complete the process early in the new year. With 1207 reports and interviews to schedule, the cooperation level from parents and students has been very high indeed. Thank you to Year Advisers and office staff who have assisted with co-payments and book returns.

Celebrations

Last Saturday, close to 200 people gathered in extreme heat at the Outterside Centre to celebrate the 100 years of High Rowing since 1924. Around 70 rowers, with several crews of Old Boys brave the conditions in a series of sprint races of around 250m. On two occasions the Old Boys captured the favoured northern bank lane – escaping the ebbing tide – and started early to jag a win. The Rowing Committee parents did a marvellous job in preparing, cooking, and serving a seemingly endless supply of party pies, mini-hamburgers, skewers, cheese, and fruit platters, along with cooling beverages. MIC George Barris spoke about the record number of rowers in the program and of the great support staff like Mark Gainford had given to the program. A Barris has been in charge of High rowing for thirty years! There was a very positive vibe on that hot morning, dampened only by the absence of Mark Gainford and Con Barris for health reasons. I was honoured to have the newly refurbished weights room named after me.

Later, back at High, the history making rifle team celebrated its back-to-back GPS Premierships with a luncheon. The Great Hall was quite full of attendees and the Rifle Committee parents served an appetising meal. Guest speaker, Dr. David Jacques, a prominent virologist, spoke about his days at High and how he found an unlikely sporting home in rifle shooting which he pursued to national level standard. MIC Daniel Comben backed up an impressive slide show with a recount of the season successes and a range of awards for a new batch of rifle shooters. He introduced >12 coaches who support the program for very little financial reward and who make up the backbone of our training success, along with the stalwart Sam Kremer. The culture of high expectations and performance is strong in the program.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal