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High Notes, Vol 25 No 15, May 24 2024

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to our Fencing Teams for retaining the Roberta Nutt Shield for individual competition. Medals were earned in seven of the eight events contested, with High fencers earning most points on the day. Daniel Iliffe (11R) won gold in the U18 Men鈥檚 Sabre.

Bursary Scheme Milestone

Our Old Boys, led by Bruce Corlett and Ron Schwarz (SHS-1962), have donated > $1million to the Scheme. Financial assistance over multiple years has been provided to 69 individual students since 2018, exceeding $400,000. Our medium-term goal is to raise $2.5 million to make the Scheme partially or fully self-sustaining, depending on the interest rate environment. This is a great cause and is tax deductible and anyone can contribute through the Old Boys website 鈥�

Sorry Day

In December of 1992, Paul Keating鈥檚 Redfern Speech gave political recognition to the genesis of the racial problem in Australia being that non-aboriginal Australians 鈥渢ook the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life,鈥� essentially as a result of invasion. Non-aboriginal Australians showed their ignorance and prejudice in their treatment of indigenous people. As human beings we failed 鈥渢o imagine these things being done to us鈥�. By December 1993 a Commonwealth Native Title Tribunal was established under the Native Title Act to confront dispossession and find a way to return to indigenous people land that had always been theirs.

A social justice spin-off from this legislation was a public exposure of the policy of assimilation and the forced removal of children from their families. The practice began in the 1800s and continued until the 1970s The report of the subsequent judicial inquiry was handed down in 1997. 鈥�Bringing Them Home Report鈥� accused white society of gross violations of the human rights of indigenous people. The policy amounted to attempted genocide in practice 鈥� communities and cultures were the targets. The report recommended an apology to ATSI people and that reparations ought to be paid to survivors and their families.

A year after this report was tabled, May 26, 1998, the first National Sorry Day was held. It has been held annually ever since. Sorry Day is a precursor to Reconciliation Week and focuses on remembrance of the damage caused by past policies to indigenous families as a result of the forced removal of their children. On Sunday, 29 May 2000, 250,000 people participated in the Corroboree Bridge Walk highlighting the lack of an official apology from the Australian Government to indigenous Australians. Since 2005, the official title for Sorry Day has been a National Day of Healing for All Australians. On February 13, 2008, Kevin Rudd delivered the historical apology to ATSI people on behalf of the Australian Government for the 鈥減rofound grief, suffering and loss鈥� inflicted upon them. 鈥淔or the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry鈥�. A shocking statistic is that today ATSI children are 10.6 times more likely to be removed from their parents鈥� household than non-indigenous children.

Budget Trimmed

Our budget allocation from DoE was reduced by 1.25% on our SBAR last week. Statewide there has been a decline of 25,000 students. Funding is tied to student numbers. All schools will share the burden of funding cuts. This means $167,000 less to spend on school programs at High. Our policy is to retain all core educational delivery services to students as a priority. Some cuts will be made 鈥� eg in our print run of The Record (usually $35k) because digital versions are available. Year 7 and 12 will get a hard copy. Orders will be taken thereafter. We will save $15k. The car park improvements planned on the Anzac Parade frontage will be postponed until 2025 ($150k). We will examine other discretionary spending on a case-by-case basis as the year progresses. We are currently running at 2.7% over budget with one third of the teaching year gone.

Closer Reading: What am I reading?

Comedy is a light or amusing work evoking 鈥榯houghtful laughter鈥�. It is characterised by a faithfulness to life, especially human foibles, or flaws, as presented in the actions and utterances of its characters. Its material is of human nature shown in such a way as to appeal to the sympathy and idealism of the audience (sentimental comedy). Pure comedy, however, is satirical, untinged with sentimental appeal (Congreve, Moli猫re). Restoration comedy [17th century], is also 鈥榩ure鈥�, being satirical, full of amorous intrigue and risqu茅 subject matter. Comedy is further distinguished by being High (sophisticated and witty and patronised by a cultivated audience) or Low (featuring slapstick, fun and the ridiculous stupidities of the ignorant, for a less demanding audience).
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal