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High Notes, Vol 8 No 19, June 29 2007
From the Principal
High Talent
Distribution of Reports
Parent Teacher Evenings
Travelling to School
Digital Projection Rollout
End of Term 2 Academic Achievement Lists - Semester 1 2007Year 8 Congratulations to the following boys in Year Eight whose excellent academic achievements in Semester 1 are recognised. Points were awarded as follows - High Distinction: 6, Distinction: 5, Credit: 3, Pass with Merit: 2 Pass: 1, with the qualifying total being 43.
Nikhil AUTAR Year 10 Congratulations to the following students whose outstanding performance in the recent half-yearly examinations is recognised.
Razeen AHMED Any student placed in the top 50% in seven or more subjects in the half-yearly may make a direct claim for the Academic Achievement category in the Student Awards Scheme. See Mr Beringer. Year 11 Congratulations to the following students whose outstanding performance in the recent half-yearly examinations is recognised.
Michael BOCK
Any student placed in the top 50% in ten or more units in the half-yearly examinations may
make a direct claim for the Academic Achievement category in the Student Awards Scheme. See Mr
Beringer. The Year 9 and 10 Da Vinci Reports
Year 9 Da Vinci Decathlon When we got there and found our tables (we actually went around the venue before finding our table near where we came in.) we were given some puzzles and then the day was underway. First up was the Engineering challenge, Art and Poetry, Science and Games of Strategy. With the engineering Challenge, our creative construction team quickly set to work building a structure that could roll a ping pong ball the furthest distance while keeping it 10cm above the ground. We were given the materials of six drinking straws, two A4 sheets of paper, and 50mm of masking tape. They tested several theories, but concluded that using the straws as support and cutting and folding the paper to create a long pathway was the best way to go. The reasoning was sound, as the winners used the same design, but managed to get a longer pathway out of the paper. Science was the task to create a newspaper article on using small things to go a long way, based on a newspaper article provided. Some eager scientists in our group took this task on themselves and managed to come up with a creative solution to the problem. I mean, making cows out of stem cells to provide food, so simple! It’s a wonder it has never been done before. Art and Poetry was the task to create a poem and accompanying artwork based on the working life of Sydney in 2007. Our artists took a good look at the task and managed to come up with some very interesting ideas, but unfortunately by the time they had completed the first stage of the artwork, time was up, which infuriated our creative team members. Time, they say, is the problem of the workplace! Games of Strategy had two parts. The written chess exam, in which our resident chess master had to complete a task within a few moves, and the computer exam, in which the games “mastermind” and “connect four” had to be played against an intelligent computerised opponent. With this last task out of the way, it was time to find a sunny spot outside and enjoy a light recess. Juice was supplied by the tournament organisers, and we had a good half hour break to recuperate from the mental challenges we had faced, and prepare for the ones we were yet to face. Heading inside we were presented with Mathematics, English, and Forensic Sleuths. Mathematics and English were quickly taken up by those students who enjoyed such subjects, while myself and two other team mates tackled the logic puzzles set for us from this paper. We broke right through the easier puzzles, and set to work on a difficult picture with many things wrong. After a few minutes of checking the picture, and then checking our eyes, we managed to complete the puzzles without much further challenge. Mathematics was rather beyond me, but as much as I could extract from the minds hard at work on it, was that it was fairly hard. They seemed to be happy with what they had done, so we checked through the work they had done, and submitted it at the end. English was many word puzzles, some easy (like anagrams) to difficult (deciphering words and the Latin meaning for them, which means what the word is now) but our cultured crew soldiered on through them, eventually completing the paper. During this time, we sent off half of our group to do the “Creative Producers” where your group has to produce an advertisement on a product, which for us this year was “Goldmines Greatest Hits” and our team produced a side-slapping advertisement, but it sadly didn’t stand up to the people who won. They REALLY knew how to speak to an audience. With our tasks done and dusted, we quickly hurried outside for the hot lunches. Pizza from Dominoes! We devoured our allotted Hawaiian and Meat-Lovers pizzas, and spent a few minutes discussing the tasks we had completed, and wondering what was next. But, to our surprise, we had a visitor from Sydney Girls, bearing a gift! More pizza! Our hungry minds and hungry bellies quickly thanked the girls and tucked into our pizza, and by the time lunch was over we had really eaten a lot of pizza. The final challenges were up next, and we assembled at our table to tackle what was bound to be our hardest challenges as a collective force, determined to complete them. General knowledge was a few tasks over a range of subjects, such as current affairs, entertainment, trivia, knowledge of cities and a few famous faces. Such a task was easy with a few minds working on it, and you never know what other people know until they tell you what they know, and it can be very interesting. The final and probably most difficult task was code breaking, in which we were faced with many puzzling things that made no sense at all until we had carefully thought through and collaborated to find our answers. After that, we handed in our final segments and went outside for an ice-cream. Well, when your day is so challenging, it’s nice to relax over an ice cold treat. The final things to do were to watch the winners of the creative producers perform the winning entries. I thought we did pretty well, but these charismatic people totally blew us out of the water. After that, they announced the winners; unfortunately, we didn’t win, but I don’t think anyone minded really. We had fun and put our minds to a challenging test, and we were glad to cheer on the Year ten team who were awarded third place in the Year ten division.
To all those who are thinking of competing, go ahead! It’s a great day and you can learn
all sorts of interesting new things. I’m sure you would enjoy it just as much as we did.
Thanks to Mr Dolan and the Talent Development Committee for giving us the opportunity to compete
in this prestigious event.
Year 10 Da Vinci Decathlon
However, there was something that was different from the other years, and that was our results in the various subjects. Our most noticeable performances were 7th in the Engineering, 3rd in Art and Poetry, 5th in Science, 3rd in Games of Strategy and 3rd in General Knowledge. To top it all off, we came 1st in the pizza-eating competition, held at lunch-time, in the Knox Courtyard. The aforementioned performances (minus the pizza eating) resulted in a 3rd placing and a bronze medal.
Overall, the event was a hectic and frenzied day, however, as always, it was a learning and
knowledgeable experience. Unfortunately, this year was our last year of the Da Vinci Decathlon;
however, the memories will remain with us for many years to come. We appreciate the efforts of Mr
Dolan and thank him for organizing our involvement in this year’s Decathlon. Boggabilla ExchangeOnce again we have billeted the students from Boggabilla and we look forward to our return visit on August 20 to 21, Week 6 Term 3. Priority is given to those who have billeted but we try to take a couple of students at least from Years 7 to 11. If you are interested please contact Mr Barris. Students from Boggabilla can only be involved in the exchange if they have greater than 80% attendance in the month leading up to either visit. This year they actually screened the number of students so there are signs our involvement has a positive impact. I would like to thank the families who billeted the students. (Blomberg, Bastable, Deacon, Joo, Koerber, Lindeback Whtitng, Street, Shuttleworth, Taylor). This year we also provided billeting while two students who have been involved with the exchange for five years attended work experience at the Alexandria Fire Brigade Centre. Dr Jaggar presented Boggabilla school with a Souths football that had been signed by their indigenous players. Mr Stein provided a SHS football which was presented to Todd as the best behaved Boggabilla student on the exchange. Thank you to Mr Kay and Mr Ayre who transported us to the train on State of Origin night, Mr Devlin who collected the Pizzas and Serdar who helped me get the students out of Telstra Stadium and safely home, no mean feat. The following is written by Neil Street: There has been a great deal of public debate over policy regarding the treatment of Aboriginal communities Australia-wide over the last few weeks. It is encouraging to see certain issues being addressed, but here at High we have been actively involved with the Aboriginal community for some years now through our annual cultural exchange with Boggabilla Central School. I have been fortunate enough to billet twice now and go up there once. I urge all of you to get involved in the program not only for your benefit but for the benefit of the Boggabilla students as well. The program involves the students coming down for three nights. One of these is spent at the school's rowing shed. State of Origin is the main drawcard for the majority of the students, but this event is supplemented with visits to other attractions in Sydney. The Powerhouse Museum, for a rare opportunity to make your own music track. The Art Gallery of NSW to see Yiribana: Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander art. Fortunately, our visit coincided with the media's coverage of a robbery from the gallery. We were informed once we had arrived, that a masterpiece had been stolen, worth an astounding 1.4 million dollars. We thought we had spotted the room from which it had been stolen. It turned out to be a contemporary piece involving shards of glass. A Bondi-Coogee walk saw the group spot a waterspout off the coast. A cyclone of sorts that sucks the water from beneath the surface and spits it back out. Something I'd never seen before. Origin was interesting although not much of a league man myself it was an intense and an enjoyable night. Meeting new people was great as was catching up with mates from previous trips.
So once again, I urge you all to get involve so the program can grow and grow and grow. If you
do care about the lives of Australia's indigenous, you may want to consider this
once-in-a-lifetime opportunity. I promise you it is an enjoyable, cultural and rewarding
experience. Did You Know?Did you know that the Royal Society, which was founded in 1660, is the world's oldest scientific academy in continuous existence? Candidates for election as Fellows of the Royal Society (FRS) must have made "a substantial contribution to the improvement of natural knowledge, including mathematics, engineering science and medical science". Eight Fellows have attended Sydney High: Sir Grafton Elliot Smith (1888); Sir John Cornforth (1933); Sir Henry Harris (1941); Graeme Clark (1947); William Levick (1948); Lord Robert May (1952); Herbert Huppert (1959); and Bruce Stillman (1971). Grafton Elliott Smith was Vice President of the Society, 1913-1914 and Robert May was President, 2000-2005.
SHS Old Boys Union Chess NotesAfter 7 rounds of the Eastern Region Inter-School competition 5 of our 8 teams will go on to the finals next term. The Senior, Intermediate A&B and Junior A all won their divisions. Junior B progress due to their strong showing.
Intermediate C and Junior C&D have completed their divisions with pleasing results and all
our players should be congratulated on their effort and commitment. The 2007 SBHS Football DinnerThis year, SBHS Football will celebrate the efforts and achievements of our boys as well as acknowledge staff, coaches and supporters by holding the first SBHS Football dinner: The coach of each team will be invited to attend the dinner as a guest. Players are asked to take responsibility on a team-by-team basis for any end-of-season gifts to their team’s coach. The dinner will be held on
Saturday 11 August 2007 The cost of the dinner will be $30 per adult and student. For children under 11 yrs old there is a special rate of $20. Payment for the dinner can be made at the Main Office from now until Friday 3 August. Tickets are limited. Please detach the form below and hand it in with your payment at the Main Office (Boys to wear school uniform) 2007 FOOTBALL DINNER Student Name ___________________________________ Year/Roll class _______ Football Team _______ TOTAL Number of adults ________ @ $30 per adult = $ _____ TOTAL Number of students ________ @ $30 per SBHS student = $ _____ (Special rate of $20 for family members under 11yrs = $20 per child) TOTAL $ ________ Do you have any special dietary requirements? _____ Vegetarian
______ Other - Please state
____________________________
____ YES! I can help on the day with setting up the hall, table decorations etc. Helper’s name and contact details : _______________________________________ Email address: ____________________________________________________________ Phone Numbers: ____________________________________________________________ Return to Index Music Notes
MusicFest
Tutor of the Week – Adrian Lewis Adrian has been teaching the cello for over twenty years with a number of his former and present students performing with the Sydney Youth and the Australian Youth Orchestras, and some of whom have pursued professional careers in music. As well as at Sydney Boys High, Adrian also teaches at Cranbrook and Scots College, and owns his own private music studio in Randwick. He enjoys teaching very much, and just appreciates dedicated and hard-working students.
Student of the Week – Kevin Lin Adrian writes: “Kevin is working at around 6th grade level, developing a solid intermediate technique. The cello is profoundly lyrical, and Kevin is finding his voice in the instrument, shaping increasingly complex melodic phrases and making the cello sing. He is a lot of fun to teach.”
Piano Competition
Music Tuition Scholarships Rugby Supporters Dinner
High Rugby Friends Inc. invites you to attend the inaugural Special guest for the evening is the coach of the NSW Waratahs Ewen McKenzie Tickets are $40, which includes a two-course sit down dinner. Wine, beer and soft drink will be available for purchase. This night is an important fundraising event for Sydney High Rugby, and the aim is to raise enough money to purchase a new scrum machine. If you are unable to make it, a donation would be much appreciated. Tables are for 8-10 people, however individual tickets are available.
If you have any queries, please contact: To reserve your place:
High Rugby Friends – Rugby Supporters Dinner RSVP: July 15 2007 Name: __________________________________________ Ph: __________________ Email: __________________________________________ I am able to attend and require _________ tickets at $40 each totalling $___________. I am unable to attend but would like to donate $___________. (Cheques should be made payable to High Rugby Friends) Return to Index |
Sydney Boys High School
