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High Notes, Vol 9 No 32, October 17 2008
From the Principal
Welcome back to term 4
High Talent
Foundation Day Assembly Distinguished guests, Old Boy OAMs, former School Captains, Prefect Internees, School Family representatives, parents, staff and students - welcome to our 125th Founders Day Assembly. A special welcome to our occasional speaker today, Professor David Griffiths (1962). I am pleased to include some additional acknowledgements into this year’s assembly to commemorate our 125th year as a school. In today’s assembly we are connecting with our founding traditions, reaffirming our school culture, honouring our elected student leaders for 2009, and recognising the leadership and service of Old Boys in the Order of Australia honours system. In addition, the High Club directors are making a special presentation to two of our students who will be members of the Australian Delegation to The Hague International Model United Nations to be held later this year. In the year our guest speaker joined the school a major celebration was held for the 75th anniversary of the founding of Sydney High. Various assemblies, dinners and dances were organised to mark the occasion. An historical supplement was published - not unlike the series of interesting historical pieces written this year in ‘High Notes’ by the current OBU President, Joseph Waugh. My thanks go to him for adding a sense of history to this year’s publications. We have not matched the 75th year organisers in the quantity or variety of our activities, but we are having a joint cabaret night with the girls school which I trust will be well supported by the wider school community. Over the last nine years we have been conscious of trying to display symbols of our traditions and achievements in the form of pictures of Old Boys, Honour Boards and displays of school blazers and memorabilia. In keeping with the ‘living museum’ concept the school has commenced an honour board series, acknowledging Old Boys recognised by the Federal Government for their contributions to society. In the Australian Honours System appointments to the Order of Australia confer recognition for outstanding achievement and service. The Order of Australia has four levels: Companion, Officer, Member and Medal. Many of those honoured at various levels have kindly joined us here for the unveiling of the first board in the library stairwell. We are honouring Old Boy Medallists and plan to add higher level boards over the next few years. The Medal of the Order of Australia is awarded for service worthy of particular recognition. There are 52 names on the first Honour Board to be unveiled today. 1958 was a special year at High. ‘The Record’ celebrated the 75th anniversary of the School. The Student Editor of The Record, ER Sowey, identified three of the distinguishing features of High. First, it is the oldest school of its kind in the state and is truly public - affording equal opportunity to all in true democratic spirit. Second, it has the honour of being the only state high school among the Great Public Schools, all renowned for their high standards. Third, it is one of the few schools in the state where admission is by merit and impartial selection based on scientific assessment of ability. This system of selection has helped to educate students in an atmosphere of culture and co-operation. I feel certain that students from 1958 who might be time warped to 2008 would feel right at home in the culture of the school. The pillars of our school’s ethos are the same now as they were then. We have more diversity in sports but not in co-curricular activities. The High of 1958 had cadets, debating, trained a substantial choir and organised a school band. The students even performed an opera as a joint production with SGHS. They ran camera and chess clubs and oddly a railway club. High boys have always been involved, created opportunities, and have always demonstrated good teamwork. High boys show initiative and have always been self-reliant. In many aspects, the student culture has not changed much in the intervening 50 years. Involvement in school life has always been heavily promoted. In 1958 the school had four open rugby sides and six open cricket teams and were undefeated in basketball in first and second grade. A high level of sports participation at a competitive level is expected at High. At the foundation day assembly on 1 October 1958, the Governor-General, His Excellency Field Marshall Sir William Slim, was the official guest speaker. In his address, he reminded High boys how lucky they were to live in Australia and attend high school and enjoy the advantages of life. He explained to the assembly that these advantages had not yet been earned. He warned that ‘when you come out from this school, you owe a lot, and, if you will look around, you will see how to pay it back and you can pay it back in the spirit of service and adventure.’ Sir William opined that each boy’s debt could be paid through work and leisure. He extolled the feelings of pride in a job well done and exhorted the boys never to think they were too good to do a job. Finally, he asked them to devote some of their free time to the service of their fellows. I believe that the culture of service is now embedded at High. I am sure Sir William would approve if he could see what High boys are doing these days to ‘serve their fellows’. I encourage all boys to become involved in some way with school or community service. Those in privileged positions, as you are, have a duty to help others. In 1958 the School Prefects were inducted in first term. We intend to hold a similar ceremony in first term 2009 to conclude the Prefect Internship period. As I explained recently in High Notes, we have moved towards the idea of School Prefects earning their badges by continuing to participate in their final year to the same degree that they did in previous years, thereby being great role models to their peers and to the High Junior School in particular. We are discussing particular accountabilities for roles and the possibility of having more staff members involved in monitoring School Prefect performance. Genuine leaders earn their positions through consistent service. Today’s assembly conjoins reflection and celebration. As the Prefect Internees are introduced, we celebrate their achievements in qualifying and being elected, and remember the places they will now occupy in the tradition of leadership at High. I congratulate all the boys who have been elected and wish them well in their roles. I hope you will unite your peers around the common cause of enhancing High’s traditions and that you will connect with them as people to inspire them to do so.
Summer Sports Assembly Good Morning to our special guest today, Mr Russell Grimson, staff, coaches, parent committee members, players and students. Welcome to our 4th annual term 4 summer sports assembly to introduce basketball and cricket teams that will represent High in GPS competition commencing this Saturday. Our basketball program has matured during the 2007-08 season. The Basketball Committee has become the benchmark for large scale cooperative sports management at High. Yesterday, I discussed with George Chow, the Committee Treasurer, the 3-Year Plan for the sport. The plan is carefully thought out and comprehensively budgeted. I approved its strategic directions. The Committee has eleven discrete positions of responsibility and runs quite a complex operation. Thank you to all the parent volunteers who made it possible for us to field 30 teams in competition. I want to acknowledge the continuing good work of Ben Hayman as MIC and Coaching Coordinator. Thank you also to Alex Hayman, Vince Salomon and all the coaches and staff who are putting in a great deal of time and effort to make High basketball prosper. Thank you to Hank Foster for his junior skills development sessions. I look forward to another strong season in an increasingly competitive GPS context. High is aiming for greater than 50% wins this season to establish our depth as a basketball school. We are planning to give the CHS knockout competition a ‘red hot go’ as our latest Premier might say. During the September vacation I was heartened to witness the growing professionalism of our cricket teams in their preseason preparation. Under the guidance of new coach, Barry Davison, the first XI is showing early signs of the commitment, cohesion and discipline necessary for a team to stick to the coach’s game plan. Laurie Heil has again done a great job as MIC and Coaching Coordinator. I want to acknowledge his five years of effort to strengthen High cricket. His dedication, patience and persistence are starting to pay off. On behalf of the boys I want to thank the parent Cricket Committee volunteers who work as team managers, caterers and fund raisers. The time demands associated with cricket are heavy and we could not support sixteen teams without you. Mr Heil has set a goal of a top three finish in GPS competition. I hope that the 2008-09 season will see High cricket achieve closer to its potential across all grades. In 2008, a ‘sports levy’ was introduced. Parents have responded well to this initiative. I am pleased to be able to announce that for the 2008-09 season the summer sports of basketball, cricket and rowing will have a cash injection of $10,000 each from the proceeds of that levy, for the purpose of improving coaching. Our intention is not to use the levy to just maintain sports but rather to add value to the respective programs through more widespread and more professional coaching programs. In this first week of the term I was inspired by the enthusiasm that I witnessed among the encouragingly large number of cricketers and rowers who worked so well at our first Monday afternoon speed and endurance session. As observers, Mr Ayre and I could see the great benefits of mass participation in structured, supervised, intensive exercise. Boys in groups were pushing each other to do the work and supporting each other’s efforts. I really hope that this level of participation is maintained and enhanced during the whole summer season. High teams and crews will become more competitive and individuals in those teams will enjoy their competitive sport more when this culture of extensive preparation becomes the norm. Commitment to a goal is about finishing it, not starting it. Let us keep this training momentum going. It is my firm intent to regulate training at the first grade / second grade A/B level throughout the sporting program. Logbooks and other appropriate monitoring devices will be used to ensure that boys being considered for selection to represent our school are adequately prepared in terms of physical fitness and skills development. High Junior School sportsmen need to embrace this culture of personal preparation for competitive satisfaction. Doing things together makes us stronger. This morning I want to share with you some insights offered by Old Boy Paul Smith in his book ‘How to Have An Outstanding Life’. Phil Jackson, head coach of the Chicago Bulls, taught his team to win by instilling in them the principles of awareness, compassion and selfless team play. In his book, Sacred Hoops, he revealed that before NBA finals games he would read to his players from Rudyard Kipling’s Jungle Book…’the strength of the Pack is the Wolf, and the strength of the Wolf is the Pack’. An awareness of this interconnectedness between individual and group motivation in the pursuit of collective goals is fundamental to improved team performances. Once such an awareness is developed it needs to be supported by trust. Team members need to trust themselves, each other and the coaching staff. Stick to the game plan. Focus on the job you have to do. Be positive in your support of your team mates to maintain their self confidence. The Hockeyroos were dual Olympic gold winners in Atlanta and Sydney and one of the most successful Australian teams ever. Their Mission Statement is informative. “We will win in Atlanta by being the best we can be because Olympic gold is the ultimate challenge in our sport. We will achieve this by playing beyond our previous performances and by never, never giving up. I will be the best I can be by: continually challenging myself to go beyond my comfort zone; making the necessary sacrifices; believing in my ability and the strength of my purpose; valuing excellence, determination and dedication in both training and match play; having faith and confidence in, and being supportive of, my team mates; not making excuses but taking responsibility for my development, performance and my lifestyle; seeking feedback and making contributions to the program; being tolerant of differences in others and respecting them for who they are and what they have to offer; accepting disappointments and frustrations and overcoming them by working together; and by having faith in the course of action chosen for the team and being committed to it knowing that it may not always be my preference” I am not advocating such intense commitment from all of our teams playing sports but I do expect that teams and individuals try to see themselves in this way. Boys in the top teams should embrace the culture of interconnectedness between individual and team which underpins winning performance.
I congratulate all those boys being honoured this morning and wish them good fortune in the
contests ahead. SHS Old Boys' Union
Did you know? The Centre occupies two blocks of land; one purchased by the P&C in 1948 and the other purchased by the 探花视频 Council (a body comprising delegates from the P&C and the Old Boys’ Union) in 1952. Mr Outterside was the driving force behind the Centennial Project Appeal which was launched in October 1980 with the aim of updating the School’s facilities at Abbotsford. The first stage of the project was opened by the Minister for Education, the Hon Rodney Cavalier, on 12 October 1986 as the "探花视频 Educational, Cultural and Sporting Centre". The second stage, including the top floor and roof, was completed in 1995. The Outterside Centre was officially opened on 23 February 1996 by the Chairman of the Australian Olympic Committee, John Coates AO.
Mr Outterside now chairs the Outterside Centre Management Committee, a sub-committee of the
探花视频 Foundation which has held the facility on trust since 1986. Promotional BrochureThe school has produced a promotional brochure to be released next week for fundraising purposes. Within the booklet is a photograph of all current students in Year 8. If any parents have objections to their son’s photograph being displayed in this way please contact the administration office on 9361 6910. Return to Index探花视频 Cadet Unit
Annual Camp 2008 Highlights of the week includes firing the F88 Austeyr service rifle and a challenging session at the WTSS range. The WTSS (pronounced “WETS”) - Weapons Training Simulation System - has been adopted by the Australian Defence Force to provide realistic and safe marksmanship training. The WTSS uses specially modified Austeyr rifles, a computer based projector, laser sensors, a target screen and compressed air to simulate recoil when firing. Installed in a specially built building the WTSS provides great training and is a lot of fun. Another popular activity was the NINOX night vision stand. A purpose built complex at the Infantry Centre provides a range of scenarios that the cadets were required to negotiate in darkness, using the Army’s NINOX night vision goggles. For some of our younger cadets the experience of living in the field in “hootchies” and eating their meals from their daily ration pack was a challenging adventure. Coupled with the necessity of carrying all their possessions for the week in their pack - “house on their back” , the week’s camp was a new experience for our young cadets. SGT Denis Stojanovic, platoon commander and SGT Sam Binns, platoon sergeant, assisted by the corporal section commanders did a great job in leading the High contingent.
125th Anniversary Dinner The Committee is seeking assistance from parents to assist our caterer in the kitchen on the night. Your help will assist in making this a really special occasion. Please contact 2LT William Clegg ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) or MAJ Richard Knowles (0409 304 611) if you can assist. Unit members can now pay for their tickets at the School Office - Unit members and full time students $45.00. RSVP, together with payment, need to be lodged not later than Mon 3 Nov.
125th Anniversary Brochure Deadline is 27 Oct 08. Please contact 2LT Clegg ( This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it ) if you can contribute. Major Richard Knowles Return to IndexEnglish DepartmentWe are all finally coming up for air in term four. Spring has sprung, the grass is risen, and lots of exciting new things are blossoming in English.
The Day my Bard went Psycho! We wanted to alert you about a fantastic competition your son can enter as means of enrichment in English. The Speak Out Competition asks students to make a difference to the way young people are portrayed in the media. What a great opportunity to let people know some positive stories about young people. Go online and read all about it at and be quick, because this competition ends on October 31. One of the most exciting new initiatives on the agenda is our Enrichment Programme of Creative Writing Workshops for Year 9. We are very fortunate to have Dr Camilla Nelson coming to us to workshop some of our Year 9 students. Camilla was named one of the Sydney Morning Herald’s Best Young Australian Novelists of the Year. She teaches Writing and Cultural Studies at UTS and has recently published her second novel, Crooked. We look forward to her workshops with our students, which start next week and continue every fortnight until the end of term.
We are really happy that Year 12 are taking advantage of the study groups which are producing
some excellent peer mentoring in English. Students are largely connecting online to share
resources, exchange ideas, debate different ways of tackling questions, and develop their skills.
Many, many Year 12s have reported that this is an enormously helpful way of preparing for the HSC
exams. All of us in the English staff wish Year 12 well in their exams. May the questions be
good, may your wits be sharp, and may the holidays that follow be wonderfully relaxing. From the LibraryNewsflash- we got a coat of paint, looks fabulous but we still get to keep our brown ceiling! The new photocopier/colour printer has arrived and a new method of paying for printing will be close on its heels.
Library Heralds- Time to order now, great bargain!
Time to reorder online! Boys who did order at the end of last term, as I advertised in the daily notices, your papers are arriving but library staff need you to give us a printed copy of your transaction number so we can negotiate any paper shortfalls on you behalf.
Library Use Survey- or how to bore everyone in the name of truth This new research was meant to inform our Development Committee about whether students actually did anything valuable inside the library quite apart from borrowing books. In other words - did libraries themselves have any value as buildings to invest in? As the survey also covered what students did while in the computer area it was new information to all teachers, to our library staff and to all parents. I will publish actual statistics in later issues of High Notes and just summarize findings in this article. 738 boys were surveyed - One week’s worth of users (including the fact that the survey was not conducted on Open Day as the Librarian was otherwise engaged, so we are 1/3 day short of information). Main activities turned out to be the following - Revision 25%, homework 18.4% assignments 13% reading 6.4%, socialising 5.6%, fads 3.4%, ASX competition 2.6%. (If you take only the first three as being valuable academic activities 56% were engaged in worthwhile activities) Type of activities in the computer area were not vastly different to the work done on tables, oddly enough. Overall usage was evenly divided between Senior and Junior Years. Year 7 - 16%, Year 8 -15.7 %, Year 9 - 17.9%, Year 10 - 13.1%, Year 11 - 23.2%, Year 12 - 14.1%. (The Year 12 figures may not reflect normal library use here as they had finished their courses). Faculty work being done in the library was: Science 19.8%, Maths 19.3%, English 16.9%, Social Science 15.7%, History 9.3%, LOTE 7.6%, DT 5.2% and Art 5%, Careers1.2%
I think it is obvious here that the library is a busy and valuable place in this school and
certainly worth investing in. Letters Re Absence/Lateness/ Early LeaveWhen your son returns to school from being absent he is required to provide a letter of explanation signed by a parent or guardian. If your son is going to be late for school a note is also required. Alternatively you may contact the school by phone on 9361 6910 and dial “4” for the absentee line. If your son has an early leave note he is required to have his note signed by either Mr Beringer, Mr Dowdell or Mr Prorellis before 8:55 am and handed in to the Main Office immediately after. Each letter should be signed by a parent or guardian with the name, date and roll class of your son printed clearly. Your son needs to pick up a leave pass from the Main Office before he leaves the school.
Leave SBHS & SGHS 125th Anniversary Cabaret NightSydney Girls High School & Sydney Boys High School have great delight in inviting you to the Anniversary Cabaret to celebrate 125 years of education for both schools. Friday 21st November 2008, 7:00pm - 12:00am. The Shannon Room, AJC Function Centre at Randwick Racecourse Come and dance to the Shy Guys band, MCs Jessica Rowe and Jack Singleton. Featuring Little Pattie and other performs. Tickets: $150 per person. This includes dinner, pre-dinner drinks in the Panorama Room, drinks from 7pm until 12am, parking and entertainment. Dress: cocktail/lounge suit RSVP: RSVP and pay by 26th September 2008. Guests are welcome to organise their own table of 10. Please advise if a if a vegetarian meal is required.
SBHS Contact: Ms Louise Graul, Ph 9361 6910, email
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SHS CricketThe season is finally upon us and this coming Saturday all teams will be in competition in the AAGPS Competitions in all age groups. It has been a busy period for the 1st and 2nd XI squads who have participated in several trial matches against visiting New Zealand teams and also St Joseph’s College, the latter being half way through a Two-Day fixture. Whilst some of the individual performances have been extremely good, there was a general lack of application and many flaws were exposed in the techniques and skills of players that, whilst not major, need addressing before they can achieve the maximum from their talents. Unfortunately, the most disappointing area was in the fitness of many players and understanding that they have been on vacation, allowances were made for concentration levels, but the physical ability and alertness in many of our cricketers needs to be addressed by them to achieve the Senior XIs of the School. Coaches will now be identifying senior players who will need the assistance of the conditioning sessions conducted by the school on Monday afternoons so that they can improve their fitness and thus enjoy their cricket to a greater degree. Some short reminders for all to consider prior to this coming Saturday and for the following week.
JUNIOR CRICKETERS
TEAM CRICKET KITS
PLAYING DRESS
SUNSCREEN and WATER BOTTLES
TEAM SELECTIONS and CHANGES
TRANS HARBOUR COMPETITION
UNDER 14 and 15 REPRESENTATIVE TEAMS (Brisbane Tour) Good luck to all players for a season full of runs, wickets and wins!!
Laurie Heil SHS RowingThe Rowing season is well under way with a large number of boys vying for selection in the A group or 1st or 2nd VIIIs. The holiday camp was well attended and as a result there will be 24 rowers and 3 coxswains at the next 2 camps. Preliminary selection will take place at Penrith on Wednesday 22 October and the 2 VIIIs will be selected. Final selection will take place in late December. The only change to the Calendar which is on the school website under Rowing is that the Head of the Parramatta for seniors is on the 15 November and there is a junior Head of the Parramatta on November 22. The senior Head is for A group and possibly 1st IV depending on their progress. The junior Head of the Parramatta is for Yr 10 VIIIs and Year 9 quads. Also the top 4 scullers from A group will race the other GPS scullers at Penrith on Friday November 28 after school. Many thanks to David Daish for remounting the shed photos from 94 onwards. Our next task is to try to locate as many old shed photos as possible. The Saturday boating schedule under ideal conditions is 7.00am, A & B on the water, off at 9.00am, breakfast then back on at 10.30 am, off at 11.45am and then C group 30 minutes later on all times. Junior quads get on the water at 8.45 and off from 11.00am onwards depending on actual boating time. Next week we welcome Melbourne High on the first part of our annual exchange. It has been brought forward this year to take some pressure off December. We make our return visit next February. We will train and race them in VIIIs and also race their quad just before the Old Boy challenge on the Saturday. The old boys VIII which formed at the Rowers reunion have been training hard and have trained 5 times in preparation for the challenge with the 1st & 2nd VIII at 7.00am on October 25. I would like to thank Julie Blomberg , the rowing committee and Jack Singleton for making this event a reality. Hopefully it will become a feature of our rowing calendar.
Matt Ling has been elected Captain of Boats for 2009. SHS Basketball: Shootin' Hoops
Hayman Cup Update! Remember when your team wins by over 20 points, they score bonus points for the Hayman Cup. For more information on the bonus points and the Hayman Cup, visit the website or read last term’s last issue of Shootin’ Hoops in High Notes. Hayman Cup points will be counted starting from this week so play hard, play smart and play together this week and come up with a big win to put your team on top!
Cheer for High’s 1st and 2nd Grade against Joeys this week if you can! The more support
our teams receive, the better! Also support High Basketball by purchasing from the
canteen!
Have any questions, feedback or ideas send them to the editor’s email address for
Shootin’ Hoops which is
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Fitness Assessment Sept. 2008The PDHPE faculty has given cardiovascular fitness extra importance this year with the usual 10% of a student’s assessment devoted to their overall fitness profile as well as 10% for their cardiovascular fitness and their 1.6Km performances during the 2008. This was done to reward those students who maintained a high level of aerobic fitness as well as those students who made the effort to improve as the year went on. This practice will continue next year so that a student who gains a distinction or high distinction in PDHPE is an example of a high level of personal fitness. An assessment of 90% or better required a student to run the 1.6km in a time of 6 mins 30 secs, approximately, depending on the age of the student. An assessment of 50% or better, required a time of between 7 and 8 minutes, depending on age. A result of 10% or less means the 1.6km run was completed in a time greater than 9 mins 30 seconds. There were some outstanding performances again this semester including Arjun Punekar (7M) 5m 47s, Anton Brokman (8.4) 5m 41s, Sam Lane (9.3) 4m 53s and Lawrence Liu (10.5) 5m 32s. * Fastest time held by Sam Lane of 4m 53s set in 2008. There were also some great improvements during the year as students tried to improve on their personal best. This aspect is as important as recognising the high achievers. Notable performances included:
Ashley Chan (7M) 10m 50s -> 8m 11s 1.6km results for 2008
Mean results for each year group 2005, 2006, 2007 and 2008
The honour board in Room 901 recognises the high achievers in the 1.6km run over the years.
Our goal remains to have all Year 10 students by the end of 2009 able to score a minimum of 50% for cardiovascular endurance by running the 1.6km in 7 minutes or better. G. Stein HT PDHPE Return to IndexRowing: Back-to-the-Sheds
Back-to-the-Sheds Day
Canteen Price ListOpen from 8:30am to 1:40pm.
8:30 to 9:00 a.m. * a time to place lunch orders * breakfast is available
High Store Price ListThe High Store is your store. This uniform and memorabilia shop is located under the Great Hall, next to the Industrial Arts staffroom and facing the Flat. High Store profits are returned to the school. The High Store is open four days a week - Monday, Wednesday, Thursday, Friday - from 10:30am to 1:30pm. Additional opening times are generally advertised in the High Notes. Autumn/Winter Price List - 2008
Clothing Pool
Payment OPENING TIMESMonday, Tuesday, Wednesday & Friday 10:30am to 1:30pm Telephone 9331 7075 GOODS & SERVICES TAX ( G.S.T. )G.S.T. is included on all prices listed. |
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Sydney Boys High School
