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High Notes, Vol 25 No 27, August 30 2024

From the Principal

High Talent

Jasper Wu (11F) represented NSW at the Table Tennis National championships held in WA earlier this month. He was a member of the NSW U21 team that won a gold medal in the teams鈥� division. Congratulations, Jasper! Ethan Yu (9F) and Isaiah Goh (8E) will be representing their age groups at the Australian Youth Volleyball and National Development Program in Victoria next month. Well done, boys! At the first Invitational Athletics Carnival held at ES Marks last Saturday, High had thirteen podium results. Congratulations to everyone 鈥� particularly to James McLoughlin (first in U16 hurdles 鈥� 15.38), Roger He (first in U15 long jump - 5.28m) and Reza Bassam (first in U15 hurdles 鈥� 16.47).

Selective Test Placement Offers

First round selective school placement initial offers have been sent to successful applicants. Of the candidates sitting the Placement Test 1,018 chose High as their first preference. Acceptances are running strongly, and we expect to have a full 180 students ready to go by Enrolment Day in November.

Later Years Enrolment Process

Offers have been emailed to thirty students in Year 8, offering them a place in Year 9 for 2025. For Year 10 into 11, 9 offers have been made. Applicants for Years 8 and 10 next year have been sent Reserve List Numbers or 鈥榰nsuccessful after interview鈥� notices. Unsuccessful students have been notified by letter.

School Support Recognition Week 26-30 August

Support staff (SASS and others in non-teaching roles) are essential to us being able to deliver a quality educational experience at High. They are the public face of our school 鈥� the people that parents and visitors interface with and who leave that important first impression on people they meet. They enter a huge amount of data, receive, process and receipt a very large sum of money over a year. They use up to eleven pieces of software to maintain attendance, log health issues, deal with sick and injured boys, move information around our internal network and outwards to the Department, NESA and the wider community. Support staff keep us safe at work and make sure equipment is working. They run our technology 鈥� hardware and software. They print, store, collate and enter marks for our assessment procedures. They keep our grounds, amenities and equipment in working order. They are not as widely respected and thanked for their service as they should be. On your behalf I want to thank our Support Staff for their contribution to High. We have asked the Support Staff what they would like as a more tangible recognition and have negotiated with them to make it happen. Also, a SASS morning tea has proved to be popular 鈥� thanks to our hosts, our three Deputies. In this week (as well as during the rest of the year) let us be mindful of the contribution of our impressive Support Staff!

Wear it Purple Assembly 28 August 2024

Victoria and Vesper participated in a lengthy Q and A about their journeys through life, answering thoughtful questions put to them by the student representatives. My speech to the Assembly was as follows:

"Special guests Victoria Ho and Vesper Lawrence, Equality mentor Ms Stephens, students. Way back on June 28, 1969, New York police raided a gathering place for LGBTQIA+ people, the Stonewall Inn, in Greenwich Village.  During the raid employees were arrested and quite a few of the patrons were roughed up.  Instead of the passive compliance expected, police were surprised by the resistance of the patrons and onlookers.  Five days of 鈥榬iots鈥� ensued, before order was restored.  Veterans of the raid call the event a 鈥榬ebellion.鈥�  Previously, between 1955 and 1967, there were six major protest uprisings in three states. Police raids and harassment were commonplace during the 1960s in Australia, as well as in the USA. Internationally, the month of June now includes a celebration of gay pride, in recognition of the pioneering protesters of the 1960s.

"We have progressed as a society in the fifty-five years since these events. Equality is defended in law and by most organisations in policy structures. We have moved away from fear and shame and can courageously affirm our identities in our homes and workplaces and social gatherings and expect common courtesy and respect from our contemporaries.

"Wear it Purple is a homegrown celebration of diversity from a youth perspective. I wrote about this day in last week鈥檚 High Notes. High has been involved in this event since its inception in 2010, at Burwood Girls High. As a school, we have tried to organise an annual assembly of affirmation of our corporate commitment to respecting diversity in ourselves and others. Akif Kazi (SHS 2019) at the Wear it Purple Assembly on August 30 claimed that High鈥檚 celebration of Wear it Purple Day 鈥渂rought with it a greater acceptance of diversity, and tolerance鈥�. He commended Nelson Tang (SHS 2015) for his initiative in organising a basketball game between SBHS and SGHS. This became a tradition and came to include police officers from Surry Hills.

"Notwithstanding our strides forward together, it is apparent that work still needs to be done, given the discrimination still faced today by the queer community on some occasions and by some social groups. Our hope is that young people will live their lives in high school free from discrimination due to their sexual orientation or identity.  We can all be simultaneously strong and kind. We can all live the values that we agreed upon together - showing each other respect in our relationships and compassion in our words and deeds. We are a very diverse society at High 鈥� culturally, linguistically, spiritually, socially and socio-economically. We share a common desire to maximise our potential in the academic, physical and emotional domains. Wear it Purple Day provides us with an opportunity to display our understanding and acceptance of difference.

"At High we are fortunate to have an Equality Committee. For well more than a decade, its office bearers and members have been striving to promote and support the notion of difference with dignity in our school community. Our Equality Committee reminds us of our better selves, acting as our collective social conscience, so that all in our school may work and play in peace and harmony. It works to nurture a culture of respectful relationships among our students. I commend the work of the Equality Committee in building respect for each other鈥檚 rights to live and work without stress, harassment, bullying or vilification. I wish the newly appointed Leaders of the Committee good fortune in their service and hope that we celebrate equality on August 30 as a peaceful, inclusive learning community."
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal