High Notes, Vol 25 No 21, July 05 2024

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From the Principal

High Talent

Firstly, congratulations to James Carmichael (9R), who has been selected in the Senior State Wind Band and will be performing at the Sydney Opera House later this year. We hope you enjoy the experience of your well-deserved place in this group, James!

In round 2 of the CHS Basketball this week, SBHS won 67-15 against Woolooware High School. Congratulations to the team of Charlie Caro (9T), Rohan Chand (9M), Adam Flocard (9E), Arjit Grewal (9S), Aaron Jin (9R), Jun Kwon (10R), Ethan Liu (9T), Azam Mohamed (10M), Rohan Narushima (9R), Ryan Sharma (9M), Bob Xu (9S) and Daniel Yi (9S) on your big win and good luck in the next round!

Spirit Week

There was a lot happening on our school grounds this week, largely due to the introduction of Spirit Week by our prefect body and the variety of activities they ran to create excitement for the boys. It鈥檚 great to see the senior students so passionate about creating fun opportunities at school. Seeing the boys get excited about everything from push up challenges, inter-school debates, to staff vs students鈥� events is fantastic and really enhances our school culture. Thank you to all those involved for your efforts and providing a platform for these continuing into the future, leaving a lasting legacy on the whole school community.

Parent Teacher Interviews

On Monday night we held the Parent Teacher Interviews for Year 7. By all accounts, this went very smoothly and allowed the parents to gain further understanding of how their sons are progressing in their first semester in the school. Year 10 and 11 parents would have received their invites this week to next term鈥檚 event. Please notify the front office if you haven鈥檛 received this email as we don鈥檛 want anyone missing out on this important part of our school calendar.

Year 10 Reports

This week all Year 10 students met with me to receive their Semester 1 reports. Unlike the junior school reports, these indicate the score and rank for each individual subject which are used to provide an estimated ATAR for the boys. I highly recommend parents discussing their son鈥檚 reports with them to see how much they are enjoying and are engaged with each of their subjects.

Towards the end of Term 3, Year 10 will be selecting their course preferences for the Preliminary HSC and this most recent report will provide an excellent guide on what they should be pursuing. The most important considerations in deciding which courses to study for the HSC are a student鈥檚 performance in the corresponding Year 10 course, as well as his level of enjoyment. The learning behaviours are a great indicator of whether a student is engaged in the course and should be a strong consideration in discussions of whether or not they should continue with this subject into Year 11.

NAIDOC Week

This week we also held our NAIDOC assembly in preparation for NAIDOC Week celebrations from 7 to 14 July during the school holidays. This year鈥檚 theme is 鈥淜eep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud鈥� to honour the vitality of First Nations culture. Fire is a symbol of First Nations people鈥檚 connection to the land, to Country and to each other over many generations. It鈥檚 important that Australia celebrates the stories, traditions and achievements of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander communities through events such as this and it was great to have Dub Leffler here to help raise awareness of its significance.

Learning Behaviours

On Tuesday I spoke with all of Year 11 on various matters, including the need to refine their learning behaviours and get into good habits before they commence the HSC in Term 4.  Evidence indicates that when an individual develops a skill over time, it gradually becomes an activity they don鈥檛 have to consciously think about and becomes something they automatically do, freeing up their working memory. For example, an individual first learning to ride a bike is only focused on balancing, while an experienced rider鈥檚 mind would be free to scan for any potential dangers and could simultaneously have a conversation with fellow riders.

Students in all year groups are strongly encouraged to develop their various learning behaviours to create the habit of engaging in class activities, organising themselves, listening to and applying feedback provided, and importantly, knowing how to effectively create written responses. Under examination conditions, automatically being able to recall how to write extended responses rather than deciding at the time how to structure their work, would free up students鈥� working memory and allow them to better apply their knowledge and understanding to the question at hand. I highly recommend the boys begin this process of automaticity from early in their secondary schooling, to ensure that writing effectively becomes as second nature to them as riding a bike, playing an instrument, or adding two numbers together can be through practice.

End of Term 2

And on a final note, to wind up Term 2, I鈥檇 like to thank all our students for their ongoing engagement in the wide variety of academic and co-curricular activities on offer here at High. Looking over each student鈥檚 report, the levels of participation by the boys has really lifted this year, providing them with a rich array of experiences that will be highly beneficial to their futures.

To all our teachers who continue to deliver quality learning experiences for the boys, while providing feedback to help each student maximise their performance in the second semester, I鈥檇 like to give my personal thanks for your ongoing dedication. Term 2 is always the busiest period of the year, with assessment blocks, reports and parent-teacher nights, so I鈥檓 sure they will all enjoy some well-earned rest over the break.

I鈥檇 also like to thank all the support staff across the school, our coaches and volunteers who help us deliver a quality learning environment in various aspects of the boys鈥� learning. There are so many involved in various roles including the office staff, groundskeepers, P&C, School Foundation, School Council and Co-curricular bodies whose time and efforts are invaluable to the boys鈥� education. The whole school community really appreciate everything you do for the boys.

Have a great holiday everyone!
Jamie Kay
Relieving Principal

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