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High Notes, Vol 24 No 8, March 24 2023

From the Principal

Early Bird Discount Support

Thank you so much to the families of the 882 boys who supported the school financially by paying all their invoices by Friday, March 10. We reached our target of 70% (72.95%) and parents benefitted from $221,126 in discounts. Considering the current environment where families are stressed by higher mortgage payments and inflationary pressures on household budgets, the support for our improvement plans, programs and co-curricular activities was outstanding. Thank you! We will honour your commitment by providing the best possible facilities, resources, learning experiences and co-curricular activities for your sons.

Rowing Assembly 2023

Our special guest, Sam Musgrove, spoke about how his experiences in the first VIII and 1st XV taught him so much about how mental discipline and toughness control our performances in sport. As he pursues a professional career in Iron Men competitions, he remembers how performance is about so much more than just winning – an insight he wanted the crews to take away with them. It is important to keep your mind in control to maximise your sporting potential. My speech to the assembly is reprinted below:

"Special guest Sam Musgrove (SHS-2015), rowers of Head of the River crews, parents, students, teachers, welcome to our 2023 rowing assembly. We gather earlier than usual to honour and congratulate our crews as they prepare for their big test at the Head of the River regatta on March 25. We do so, in order to include all members of the first VIII in this ceremony.

"I would like to congratulate George Barris (SHS-2001) for his high standard work as MIC of Rowing and Coaching Coordinator and for his recent promotion to Deputy Principal of the Senior School. Thank you to Con Barris who returned to High to help son George coach the first VIII. Thank you to Steve Comninos (SHS-2013) and Terry Fong (SHS-2014) for their guidance of the second VIII. Thanks to Daniel Xu (SHS-2016) for training the first IV. The Year 10 VIIIs were managed by Gordon Su (SHS-2018) and Adrian Wong (SHS-2021).Thank you to them.

"Our Junior crews’ training was overseen again by our long-serving coach Marguerite Pain. Thank you Marguerite. She was assisted this season by James Appleton (SHS-2019), Kevin Chen (SHS-2021), Gilbert Win (SHS-2021), Jack Ralph (SHS-2018) and Lenny Han (SHS-2018).  Our SHS-2022 alumni helped out with Year 7 this term. Thank you to Nelson Cheng, Jack Smiles, Ivan Samsonov, Thomas Britton and Etai Zemack.

"I want to thank the staff who assist George to run the program – Mark Gainford, Joanna Chan, Vivian Paul and Rosa Brown. Thank you again to the Rowing Committee, particularly the President Binh Johnsun, for her dedication and organisational acumen. Our thanks go also to Camp Coordinators Alan Shao and Kim Puah, Treasurer Niti Singh and parking coordinator Eric Wu.

"An analysis of Head of the River results since 1999 reveals four important things. First, to win crews have to row 5.56.  Second, High crews average 6.26.  Third, the two targets we set in 2001 of winner’s time +10% and +7.50% are realistic, because they have been achieved by High boys like you on 42 times and 28 times respectively.  Fourth, that High crews improve their times more than all the other crews during the season.  Unfortunately, we also start from a slow base. We can lift that base for Term 4 this year by committing to maintaining if not improving, off-season fitness. The ways to achieve that include participating in a winter sport at the highest level possible; maintaining a program of strength and conditioning in the weights room all year; using a resistant band to work out at home regularly; sculling with a club on Sundays; or doing a session or two of ergs each week at school.

"Coaches who inherit crews who can row 6.45 at the start of the season might expect to get boys to 6.15 by the Head of the River.  What you choose to do as a group off season will determine your season starting base and also your improvement predictions, which are around 25-35 seconds of improvement over 2000 metres during a season. Collective efficacy is the capacity of a group to make change happen to reach a goal.  It is much easier to establish and stick to a routine in off-season training if you have your crew or team to do it with.

"In 1994 there was a resurgence of rowing at High. Preseason the boys did endurance training and sculling and their early season erg times were good. The VIII won the C grade final at the North Shore and St George Regattas and rowed their way into the major final at the Head of the River. They won the U17 IV at the Australian Schoolboy Championships in Tasmania. Their mantra was attitude, dedication and commitment. Van Gencur, Captain of Boats, wrote in The Record in 1994, ‘that at the end of the day, it was what we wanted to achieve that determined our success’. The opportunity to train and compete was presented to the boys and they grasped it. ‘We put in the hard yards and more’. The coach in that year was Con Barris.

"To improve in any sport you need to have a passion for it.  ‘Passion means that you care about the same ultimate goal in an abiding, loyal steady way.  Grit is about holding the same top level goal for a very long time’ (Tom Seaver, a major league baseball pitcher for 20 years). For rowers, long term preparation is necessary.  Year 8 scullers who dream of earning a seat in the first VIII have to sustain their passion and grit for three or four years. They need to be dedicated and conscientious. The work hurts but the satisfaction from improvement makes you forget the pain and get up and train. The lessons we learn from our past successes include passion, commitment and an attitude to train more together to achieve a common goal.

"I want to congratulate all the boys who have been selected to compete for High. You have become a part of a long tradition and your history will be written, as it was in 1994. Make your deeds something to be proud of in terms of your own goal setting. Good luck and give it your all out on the course right to the end no matter what your position. You are rowing for a place in High’s history."

Invoices for Summer Activities Co-payments

Later year enrolments in Years 8, 9 and 11, have had statements emailed for term 1 activities. Despite these charges, most activities are also heavily subsidised from school funds, particularly in direct grants from school funds (voluntary contributions), provision of MICs, teacher supervision, WHS compliance costs and first aid costs (co-curricular supervision levy) and parking allocation support. Co-payments are used primarily for the provision of coaching. In basketball alone, a team of 33 people delivers the program! We have staff, students, Old Boys, parents and volunteers working to make your son’s school experiences more enjoyable. It would be appreciated if you could make your co-payments promptly for your son’s summer sport and co-curricular activities. Thank you.

SBHS Parent Operated Canteen

Our school is one of a declining number of schools with a parent-operated canteen. With the help of parent volunteers, our managers Karen and Eirini, deliver high quality, low-cost food options for our boys. They offer seasonal variety and nutritious foods in a certified operating environment. Each year we need parents to give some of their time, once a month for a few hours, to help keep prices low and quality high. Last year some of our Committee members retired once their sons left the school. We are relying on new and existing parents to fill the gaps under the leadership of our new Canteen Committee President, Alison Dao. We need volunteers to act as Treasurer and Volunteer Coordinator. The commitment is a few hours each month. Our High community has always filled these roles, helping to make possible a donation of c$65k annually to school funds from Canteen profits. If you have financial management or organisational skills please contact Andrew Hybler, P & C President or Alison Dao for more details and a role briefing. This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it

Sentence Conscious Pedagogy: Beware of fragments!

A fragment is a group of words that is not a grammatically complete sentence. It does not contain a finite verb. When writing, always reread what you have written after each paragraph to check for possible fragments. Eg. Although I was hardly ever late to school on Fridays…ate a great meal…developed a set of principles. These fragments need either a predicate or a subject to be made into a sentence. Check out what you have written. Is it a complete sentence?
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal