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High Notes, Vol 25 No 17, June 07 2024

From the Principal

High Talent

Firstly, congratulations to the 1st Grade Volleyball team who defeated South Sydney, Kingsgrove North and Tempe to win the Sydney East Volleyball Knockout last Friday. They now proceed to the CHS state finals next term. We wish the boys the best of luck!

In Fencing news, last week at the NSWSFL Epee Individual Competition hosted at Barker College, Daxton Sor (8M) and Luke McLoughlin (9T) won equal Bronze in the U14 Epee Individual event, while in the U16 Epee Individual event, Xavier Perry (11M) took home the Gold as Daniel Zhu (9R) and Vihaan Rajit (10E) won equal Bronze. Well done gentlemen and good luck in the National Schools event later this year!

And on Monday, our Symphony Orchestra came second in the Sydney Eisteddfod held in The Concourse Concert Hall, Chatswood. Well done boys!

In staffing news, I鈥檇 like to congratulate Mr Wesley Beare on his permanent appointment to the school last week. Wesley has been working with us since 2023 and we鈥檙e delighted to have him continue here into the future!

School Reports and Results

This week the report cycle begins in earnest. I鈥檝e had the pleasure of meeting the vast majority of Year 8 students to discuss their progress this semester and what they can do to improve. These meetings provided an opportunity for the boys to reflect on their learning and develop a plan for their future growth.

The learning behaviours listed for every course provide the boys with an indication their strengths and areas for improvement in each subject, as well as how these approaches to learning are demonstrated across all courses studied. These learning behaviours are embedded in every report from Years 7 to 12 and are an invaluable source of information for both students and parents to gauge how well the boys are engaging in various aspects of their learning. These are areas that the teachers have deemed critical for success across the range of subjects. Students who are consistently applying themselves across all their courses are to be commended and will also have their efforts acknowledged within the Award Scheme. For students and their parents to know how they can maximise their results in the future, any pattern in the learning behaviours is a good place to start.

On entering Year 8, the boys had the choice of studying a second language on the condition that this was Latin. As a consequence, some students complete ten courses this year, while others study nine. The best nine subject results are used to determine the progress of each student. This may advantage some boys given the ability for one course to not be counted. However, with an additional course to study, they are required to master additional concepts and have fewer outside of class hours to do so.

Fluctuations in performance often occur in the early stages of High School as the boys also learn how to best balance their studies with other aspects of their lives. This is the time in their educational development for students to reflect on what works for them and refine their approach to study in preparation for the senior school. These fluctuations tend to settle as the boys discover effective study routines including their approach to class activities, completion of homework and assignments and how to undertake effective preparation for assessments. This came up in many of my discussions with the boys and it would be good for parents to ask the boys what they鈥檝e learned from this semester鈥檚 report.

Every semester the Principal sends letters to parents whose son has improved significantly from the previous reporting period. Letters to these parents have been sent this week as a way to acknowledge and encourage them to maintain their positive approach.

Additionally, the school wellbeing team check in with students who are underachieving across their courses or have big downward fluctuations in results from one semester to the next. Letters have also been sent home to these parents to reinforce ways we can best support their sons to maximise their results.

As the Year 8 boys reflect on their reports, they should also start considering their electives for next year which will need to be decided in mid-September. Students will pick up two elective courses, so they should start contemplating what their strengths are and speak with their teachers if they have any questions about courses. A full overview of the subject selection process, including the 2023 presentation, can be found on our community website at /curriculum/subject-choices.

With Year 8 and 9 parent-teacher night coming up in the next fortnight, this is an opportunity for parents to speak with their son鈥檚 teachers to get further information on how he is performing in each course. All parents in Years 8 and 9 should have received their notification email about registering for the event and should contact the front office if they didn鈥檛.

Literacy Focus

On a final note, as part of our ongoing literacy focus, the following are a few tips for students in enhancing their extended response writing in the future:

1. Write a brief plan to keep you on track as it鈥檚 good to know your starting point, end point, and how you will get there. The syllabus dot points relevant to the question are a good place to start when planning your response.
2. Use the metalanguage of the subject. A bank of key words used in each subject area can be developed from Year 7 that will add sophistication to your responses over the years.
3. Consider the opening of each sentence, using synonyms to add variety and further sophistication. An appositive could also be used within the topic sentence to give context for the following text.
4. Use evidence to support your argument to maximise its impact.
5. Read your own work out loud to check the flow of your response, including the correct use of grammar and punctuation.

Jamie Kay
Relieving Principal