High Notes, Vol 8 No 26, August 31 2007
From the Principal
High Talent
Congratulations to the 79 students who volunteered to give up a day to collect money for Legacy
Badge Day on August 31. Your commitment to serving the community is to be applauded! Well done to
the Junior A Chess team who have won their way to the state final. A belated congratulations goes
to the 15 years basketball team that won the Sydney East Regional knockout competition – a
good effort. Well done to Will Randles (7S) who has been awarded a ‘highly commended’
for his entry in the 2007 Sydney Writers Festival Writenow! Competition. He was invited by DET to
join a student panel of young writers at an event for school children in the North Sydney Region.
The Year 11 debating team has reached the state semi-final and will debate early next week for a
place in the final – a very good effort so far boys!
Volunteer Mentors for Incoming Students
I am appealing to interested students in Years 8 and 10 particularly to act as
‘buddies’ or student mentors for new students arriving in 2008. It is important that
High inducts these students well into our programs and school life, to make them feel at home
quickly and to ease the inevitable issues surrounding the transition process to a new school. I
envisage that 20 volunteers will be needed from each of the two Years and at least 2 Year 7 boys
to buddy our two new arrivals in Year 8. The school service role will be to introduce yourself to
the new arrival and to share contact details so that you can answer queries the new student might
have. Primarily, the job is to show the new arrival ‘how we do things at High’ so
that he can feel comfortable quickly. I see this role as lasting for a term by which time the new
student ought to have made his own connections with class or team mates. This school service role
will count towards the Student Awards Scheme. Mr Codey has already volunteered to be the Senior
School New Student Teacher Mentor looking after new arrivals in Years 10-12. Senior School
volunteers will liaise with him and have their efforts signed off. I am seeking another teacher
volunteer to act as the Junior School New Student Teacher Mentor. Staff and students interested
in volunteering for this program should register with the Principal’s Executive Assistant,
Ms Lynne Williams.
The Coaster
Refurbished Rather than get rid of our old work horse, we had an
inspection made and the report assessed at least three more years working life for the vehicle.
Consequently, we spent $8.5k. on replacing the back door, panel beating the ‘dings’
and recovering the seats. I ask students and staff to observe the bus use protocols. I have asked
the P & C to reserve on term deposit $25k per year for the next three years so that we have
the capital to replace the Coaster when it finally has to be retired from service. They have
agreed and have already set aside funds this year. I thank them for their vision and belief in
the necessity for school owned transport in our busy school life.
Another School Bus!
Mr Ayre has scoured the electronic market and secured us a newer 47- seater. It has just been
delivered and with just 330,000 kilometres on the clock it is a relative youngster compared to
the >950,000 kms on the existing old bus that has served us well for three years longer that
it was supposed to. I am pleased that more students will be able to be transported to sporting
venues, events and activities using the bus. I know that students will respect the school
property that has been acquired for their benefit. The old bus will be sold as soon as possible.
We are always looking for staff drivers so if you have the urge to wander and like big vehicles
here is your chance to have your licence upgraded at the school’s expense. For business
people out there with a wide suburban market, we have a pristine vehicle ready for a generous
sponsor who would help a worthy cause and have a mobile advertising opportunity.
Coaching Effects in the Junior School
I caution parents who are investing in coaching
or tutoring for their children. Understandably, they want the best for their child and they want
him to keep up with the pace of the lessons. However, there ought to be a greater confidence out
there in the capacity and professionalism of our teachers who are qualified, willing and able to
deliver the curriculum and produce high quality outcomes. There are at least three purposes of
coaching that occur: augmentation, remediation and substitution. When coaches augment the
curriculum by enriching the units of work being delivered or scaffolding concepts and skills
about to be delivered or reinforcing existing necessary skills, they might serve a useful if
supplementary purpose. Where coaching is aimed at the remediation of a student’s
knowledge of a topic or unit already delivered or his grasp of a skill he is expected to have
acquired, I can also see its purpose. Regrettably, there are far too many instances of coaching
being used as a substitution for teaching time itself. Such a purpose is counterproductive
in several ways. First, parents essentially waste their money achieving something expensively
that they would get for nothing in a term or two in the future if they were patient. Second, the
coached student has a strong propensity not to pay attention in class, to assume he knows the
topic pre taught by the tutor, and to interrupt the learning of others by diverting the
teacher’s attention by arrogant displays of academic superiority or uncooperative attitudes
to class work and homework set. Third, he may not have fully grasped all the necessary concepts
and skills via the substitute teaching and so has been ineffectively schooled twice.
Dr K Jaggar
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Linguistic Logistics- Languages Department
Excursion to the Academy Twin Cinema, Paddington
Le lundi 30 juillet, quelques
classes de français ont regardé un film français, « La vie en rose
». Dans le film, il s’agissait de la vie de la chanteuse Edith Piaf, racontant ses
difficultés, ses joies, ses succès et ses échecs. Voir la vie d'une
célébrité avec une telle complexité était une
expérience fascinante. Souvent, on perçoit des célébrités
comme des stéréotypes artificiels, mais ce film a vraiment présenté
Piaf avec beaucoup d’humanité, avec beaucoup de réalisme. À la fin du
compte, « La vie en Rose » a souligné « le personnage Piaf »
plutôt que seulement « la chanteuse Piaf ».
Pour autant que je sache, chacun a été impressionné du film, que ce soit en
raison de sa structure innovatrice ou de la voix retentissante d’Edith Piaf. Selon moi, les
films français offrent une occasion de se familiariser avec la langue française,
particulièrement des expressions familières et liées à la
culture.
Raymond Roca
Year 12 French
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Year 8 Parents Meeting
Change of Meeting to 10 September
As detailed in the School Calendar, Dr Jaggar will
be addressing the parents of Year 8 on 10 September 2007 in the Great Hall. As such, the parents
meeting planned for 5 September has been rescheduled to coincide with this evening.
Please join your fellow Year 8 Parents for this meeting and discussions afterwards.
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2007 Tournament of Minds
Seven students from Years 7-10, Anirban Ghose, Tadeusz Davenport, Puneet Baweja, Robert
Sternhell, Alex Weinstock, Peter Wu and Anton Jurisevic took up the Maths and Engineering
challenge at the 2007 Tournament of Minds held at Marist College, Kogarah, on Saturday, August
25. Tournament of Minds is a problem solving program, which requires solving demanding,
open-ended challenges. A team of seven students is required to work together on a `Long Term
Challenge' for six weeks without assistance from teachers, parents or peers. We constructed a
song plant that made three different sounds to highlight climate change. We had to work within
predefined parameters with limited materials and present the solution in 10 minutes within a 3
metre X 3 metre performance area. Our ability to think creatively and group cooperation skills
were tested at the `Spontaneous Challenge'.
We have been working during recess, lunch, before and after school and on weekends for the past
six weeks. Unfortunately, we didn't win any honours, but learnt a lot from the experience.
Anirban Ghose (9E)
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Fencing General Meeting
Wednesday 5 September 2007
7pm, Staff Common Room
All fencing parents are invited to attend this meeting to be held on Wednesday, 5 September 2007.
If your son fences, please try to come along. We need your support!
Andrew Byrnes
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Convener, Parents’ Fencing Support Group
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Fencing Report
This report is from the MIC on behalf of our Captain Yu Lin who is busy sitting his trial exams.
Our Senior E team [Cailin McKay, Harry Zhuang, Brian Jian and Nishant Paul] had a forfeit from
Oxley C and a tough match against Manly. Nishant was man of the match with his impressive and
inaugural win.
The Seniors F team [Hayden Schilling, John Aclis, Denaysh Selvakkumar and Simon Chen] had matches
with North Sydney Boys, where our boys showed amazing perseverance against a very energetic
opposition, and Oxley who were in top form. Simon was the dark horse and fenced very well on the
day. A special thanks to Debbie and Juliet Schilling for their support on Saturdays.
Our new fencers competed in their first match on Saturday.
The Minis B team [Weicong Huang, Angus Ng, Harry Liu and Shaun Pak] soundly defeated Edgecliff B
7-2. Their fencing mentor, Boris Zolotarev, reported that they adapted well to each opponent and
took advantage of their weaknesses. Well done.
The Mini Cs team [Ming Chin, Shaun Fletcher, Joel Ng and Tony Chen] fenced St Aloysius Minis A
and all had personal wins. The standout performances were from Shaun who persevered with his
attack and parried well and Tony with a 100% strike rate.
The Minis Ds [Andrew Lau, Jordan Liang, Ankur Paul, Michael Zhu] also fenced and defeated St
Aloysius As 6-3 and had a tougher time against Edgecliff Mini A with a narrow loss 4-5.
Congratulations on your promising start to the season.
The Minis Es [Benjamin Hillier, Frank Li, Ming Pan and Carl Luiker] fenced Glenaeon who were just
unshakable on the day.
There were many new fencing parents at Newington on Saturday who enthusiastically supported our
fencers. Thanks so much for the friendly and enthusiastic atmosphere you helped create.
I would like to especially thank Henry Mack, Julian Byrnes, Andrew Byrnes and Boris Zolotarev who
went out of their way to come and assist the new fencers and parents on Saturday.
Fencing Minis 25 August 2007
Last Saturday was an exhausting program for SBHS Minis
teams. Our Minis As comprising Ian Ho, Anthony Xu, Albert Nguyen and Matthew Chan have had an
outstanding performance in the Schools League winning every match and will be hot contenders in
the finals on 8 September. Congratulations. The experience of competing in 2006 and the
development camps members have attended have certainly reaped rewards in this competition.
Our other Minis teams have only begun fencing. Despite their relative inexperience compared with
other teams in their pool all fencers appeared to have rewarding experiences and lots of fun
supporting their team.
The results overall:
SBHS A 6/6 wins
SBHS B 3/6 wins
SBHS C 1/6 wins
SBHS D 1/6 wins
SBHS E 2/6 wins
Thanks to all the parents for their contribution to a very pleasant supportive and enjoyable
atmosphere. Wild cheers for all especially the Minis As and their awesome efforts.
Good luck in the finals. Final timetable to be published as soon as available.
J May
MIC Fencing
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Athletics Report
The weather was good for our 2nd invitational carnival of our short season. The carnival
consisted of hard opposition but our results were promising as we move into the final
preparations for the GPS carnival.
Some of these great results were Josh Tassel's run in the 100m where he clocked an amazing 11.22.
In the 200m he also scorched the track with a great result of 23.8 seconds. Josh is definitely
one of our best hopes for GPS glory with his consistent results on the podium.
Another consistent performer is Harrison Lane, in his pet event, the 3000m, he ran a time of 9
mins 40 seconds. With this time he is able to run in this event at the CHS state athletics
carnival coming up. On the weekend he took 20 seconds off his previous PB.
Chris Morrow also had a good day at the high jump clearing the 1.55 mark and earning him a 2nd
place. Also the 16s 4X100m relay is peaking at the right time of the season with a time of 46.02.
It was disappointing to see the lack of 17s and 18s competitors. There were only 2 competitors
out of a possible 30.
This year there will be an Athletics dinner for the whole athletics team and it will be urged
that everyone possible will attend. At this dinner the GPS team will be announced. This dinner is
a move forward as Athletics continues to gain more recognition from the rest of the High school
community.
Nelson Ridges
Junior Athletics Captain
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Learn to Row
A successful Learn to Row program has been running out of “The Sheds” on Sunday
mornings since the beginning of 2007. Now supported by several community colleges, participant
numbers have jumped. Volunteer coaches are desperately needed to accommodate this rise in
participants. The coaching session goes from 7:00 till 9:00 Sunday mornings for a period of six
weeks with the most recent course having started on Sunday, August 12. Volunteer coaches will
row/cox as part of the crew they are coaching. So if you think you could get back into a boat and
row three to four slow kilometres as well as putting something back into the school please
contact Ross Bowey on 0428 519 705 or
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as soon as possible.
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Parent Information Evenings
Year 9 2008 Parent Information Evening
A Parent Information Evening will be held on Monday 10 September in the Great Hall at 6.00 pm to
discuss the subjects studied by boys in Year 9 2008.
Year 10 2008 Parent Information Evening
A Parent Information Evening will be held on Tuesday 4 September in the Great Hall at 6.00 pm to
discuss the subjects studied by boys in Year 10 2008. Subject Acceleration (in subjects
such as Modern History, Geography, Music etc) has been offered to Year 10 boys in past years. In
2008 Year 10 boys will study 2 electives (possibly including an Acceleration subject). The
options available to boys for 2008 will be discussed at the meeting.
Year 11 2008 Parent Information Evening
A Parent Information Evening will be held on Monday 10 September in the Great Hall at 7.00 pm to
discuss the subjects studied by boys in Year 11 2008.
R Dowdell
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Parking
The P & C's fundraising parking event is on Sunday September 2nd - the Swans v
Hawthorn AFL game
Please email Alice Paul at
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if you are able to help out. We will have two shifts, so we’ll need people from 9.30 am
to 12.30 pm and also from 11.00 am to 1.30 pm. Newcomers welcome!
If you haven’t been to a parking event before, a Sydney Swans event is a great time to
start.
All parking tickets for Sun 2nd have been pre-sold to Swans members.
We simply collect the tickets, and show drivers where to park.
Student Award Scheme
Boys who help out at Parking events earn points towards the
student award scheme, which encourages and recognises participation in a wide range of school
activities. P&C Parking Co-ordinator
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SBHS Canteen Committee
Invites all Parents and other interested parties to
The Annual General Meeting 2007 at
2.45 pm, Friday 14 September
in the Boardroom
All positions are declared vacant and are up for nomination and election. SBHS Canteen not only
feeds our boys but also supports their development and education.
Please come along and be part of the team.
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Music Notices
GPS Music Festival
We would like to invite you to attend this wonderful evening of
music held at The Kings School in Parramatta from 7pm in their Futter Hall. Our boys have worked
very hard over the year and will be performing with other students from the GPS schools. Please
come along and support our boys performing in their various ensembles.
Piano Competition
Congratulations to the following boys on their achievements in the
piano competition held early this term. Well done to all the students who participated in this
annual event and many thanks to those who came along and supported the performers. Presentation
will be held at the Music Awards Assembly in Term 4.
Senior Division
1st Place – Zhi (George) Zu
2nd Place – Nathan Kwok
3rd Place – Brian Lau
Highly commended – Garry Luu and Dominic Wong
Junior Division
1st Place – Guangzhi Niu
2nd Place – Vivian Le
3rd Place – William Baxter
Highly commended – Evan Wong, Nathan Kok, Ben Wilcox and Peter Wu
John Morrison Jazz and Stage Bands Festival
We would like to invite you to hear the
Junior Stage Band and Jazz Group; Diminished 5ifths perform at the John Morrison Jazz and Stage
competition to be held on Sunday the 9th of September 2007 at the Joan Sutherland Performing Arts
Centre, Penrith. The boys will be competing against other high schools from the Sydney region
with performance beginning at 9am.
Percussion Ensemble
Percussion ensembles are well on its way with rehearsals on Monday and Tuesday mornings. Practice
is held from 7:30-8:30am (Juniors – Monday Rm101, Seniors – Tuesday Rm201) and is
conducted by our Marching band director; Matthew Capper. Thank you the music committee who have
supported us in the recent purchase a wonderful marimba. Please see the music staff if you are
interested in joining.
GPS Concert
Congratulations to the following boys who have been chosen to perform in
the GPS Concert at Kings on September 1.
Tables are of the format 'Surname, Given Name, Year, Instrument'
Symphony Orchestra
|
Li
|
Tian Yu
|
9
|
Bassoon
|
|
Cheung
|
Brendan
|
9
|
Cello
|
|
Lin
|
Kevin
|
8
|
Cello
|
|
Li
|
Benjamin
|
9
|
Clarinet
|
|
Wong
|
Matthew
|
10
|
Clarinet
|
|
Wilson
|
Thomas
|
10
|
Flute
|
|
Wong
|
Michael
|
8
|
Flute
|
|
Wong
|
Wilson
|
12
|
Fr Horn
|
|
Mehmedbasic
|
Ennes
|
7
|
Oboe
|
|
Brown
|
Lachlan
|
10
|
Percussion
|
|
Siu
|
Chapman
|
12
|
Trombone
|
|
Wong
|
Dominic
|
11
|
Timpani
|
|
Brokman
|
Andre
|
9
|
Violin
|
|
Funston
|
Toby
|
7
|
Violin
|
|
Lieu
|
Nathan
|
11
|
Violin
|
|
Luo
|
Steven
|
11
|
Violin
|
|
Mickovski
|
Kiril
|
11
|
Violin
|
|
Sun
|
Tom
|
11
|
Violin
|
|
Truong
|
Gary
|
11
|
Violin
|
|
Tsai
|
Jamison
|
7
|
Violin
|
|
Yeung
|
Alex
|
11
|
Violin
|
|
Zhang
|
Leon
|
7
|
Violin
|
|
Zhang
|
Schuman
|
11
|
Violin
|
|
Kok
|
Nathan
|
8
|
Violin
|
Concert Band
|
Ji
|
Remy
|
11
|
Alto Sax
|
|
Sun
|
Marco
|
11
|
Alto Sax
|
|
Goh
|
Vincent
|
9
|
Bass Clar.
|
|
Chan
|
David
|
8
|
Clarinet
|
|
Han
|
James
|
9
|
Clarinet
|
|
Kim
|
Albert
|
11
|
Clarinet
|
|
Mai
|
Tam
|
11
|
Clarinet
|
|
Nguyen
|
William
|
11
|
Clarinet
|
|
Rosengarten
|
Toby
|
11
|
Clarinet
|
|
Tong
|
Matthew
|
10
|
Clarinet
|
|
Foo
|
Derrick
|
7
|
Flute
|
|
Luo
|
Daniel
|
9
|
Flute
|
|
Phillis
|
Maxwell
|
9
|
Flute
|
|
Beston
|
Samuel
|
8
|
Percussion
|
|
Niu
|
Guangzhi
|
9
|
Percussion
|
|
Ho
|
Anthony
|
11
|
Tenor Sax
|
|
Nadkarni
|
Ishan
|
11
|
Tenor Sax
|
|
Zu
|
Zhi (George)
|
11
|
Trombone
|
|
Chan
|
Abraham
|
10
|
Trumpet
|
|
Kim
|
Sean
|
9
|
Trumpet
|
|
Siu
|
Timothy
|
10
|
Trumpet
|
|
Wong
|
Yale
|
8
|
Trumpet
|
|
Shi
|
David
|
11
|
Clarinet
|
|
Santoso
|
Johan
|
10
|
Tuba
|
Choir
|
Burston
|
Timothy
|
10
|
Tenor
|
|
Chan
|
Timothy
|
8
|
Treble
|
|
Hayes
|
Nicholas
|
11
|
Bass
|
|
Kwok
|
Nathan
|
11
|
Tenor
|
|
Tran
|
William
|
12
|
Bass
|
|
Vuong
|
Jamian
|
7
|
Alto
|
|
Wang
|
David Li
|
8
|
Tenor
|
|
Wong
|
Erick
|
9
|
Tenor
|
Stage Band
|
Sutton
|
Josh
|
9
|
Tenor Sax
|
|
Mehmedbasic
|
Muhamed
|
11
|
Bass Guitar
|
|
Thomas
|
Ashwin
|
11
|
Percussion
|
|
Cerecina
|
Ivan
|
11
|
Guitar
|
|
Zhang
|
Chamberlain
|
11
|
Vocals
|
|
Deacon
|
Lachlan
|
12
|
Trombone
|
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SBHS Cricket
Due to a Computer Server Upgrade for our Website the information to be highlighted by last
Wednesday will now appear during the coming week. My apologies to all for the delay but we
couldn’t resist the $200 cost saving.
The Cricket Website is to be our prime information media channel and will always carry new
information in addition to reminders in High Notes and at Sport Afternoons. Last season too often
I had players and parents say they didn’t know about some information that had been
communicated through High Notes, hand outs, on sports days and in the Daily News sheets and this
season it is my aim to achieve a well supported and smooth running section to alleviate this
problem. A prime example of this last season was the chaotic approach in nominating bus bookings
to attend awkward to get to locations and then find the day before people withdrawing, late
bookings and non attendances on the day, where a different vehicle and driver could have been
used. We will be providing buses this season and the dates will appear on the Website with
timings etc. The cost for a return trip is $5-00 per player which assists in remunerating the
drivers we have to roster and running costs.
A REMINDER to all who are interested in the Open Squads CHECK the High Notes of the last 2
weeks and make sure you nominate and provide the information as required in the notes. If you
have not, you will be missing in the Trial Planning Lists which are to be prepared pre-camp.
Trials- Open Squads
The number of responses to the Expressions of Interest to Trial for the 1st and 2nd XIs has been
terrific and to date a total of 28 have nominated for the Trials. The 1st XI Coach will head the
programme and final selections for the initial teams will be conducted by a Selection Panel
consisting of the Head Teacher Sport, the 1st and 2nd XI Coaches and myself. Be aware however,
that to maintain a position in these teams we are looking for commitment, current form,
consistent performances and attitude to training as High moves into a new phase of cricket within
the school. This will also recognize performances by eligible players in other age groups as the
season progresses so if you don’t make the initial squads do not despair, your season
performances may provide your chance to be capped.
Level 1 Coaching Accreditation Course
In response to several students indicating that the proposed dates conflicted with exams that
would preclude them from attending the course, an application will be made to CricketNSW to amend
the dates for the course. I thank those of you who took the time to contact me regarding this
As a result of the number of enquiries it is essential that those who wish to gain the
Accreditation nominate in writing so that we can illustrate we have sufficient numbers to conduct
an in-house course. There is a cost to this course which normally is $100 for Masters and
Students but due to the interest shown the Cricket Section will subsidize the fee to reduce the
cost to $50-00 per student. This covers the handbook coaching manual and handouts and is retained
by the coaches. Nominations are therefore required by email (
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) by no later than Monday 10th
SEPTEMBER 2007 stating full name, DOB, Address, Home /or Mobile Phone contact plus Email address.
Billets- Australian 5 Highs Carnival
We are calling for early advice on your ability to assist with a billet or billets during the
Carnival from 2nd – 7th December 2007. We have 42 boys from Interstate who will require
billeting during the course of the Carnival. If you are prepared to assist, please advise me by
email over the next 2 weeks and your support will really be appreciated. Players selected in the
5 Highs XI will be required to assist with billets.
For your diaries:
Saturday 22nd September – Net and Centre Wicket Trials for Years 7, 8 and 9. from
9-00 am – 1-00 pm. Location to be advised.
Saturday 22nd September – Managers and Scorers Familiarisation Sessions for Ex
Students, Parents and Senior Student Team Managers in a Centre Wicket Presentation 10-00 am -12
noon. Location to be advised.
Sunday 9th December – Barberis Cup (Year 9) Team Departs for Melbourne. Returning
Tuesday evening 11th December.
Laurie Heil
MIC Cricket
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