Older Volumes - Sydney Boys High School

High Notes, Vol 25 No 40, December 13 2024

2024-12-13T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Cricketer Saharsh Subramaniam (7F) was the first Year 7 student picked in a 5-Highs Championship Team in the history of the competition – a startling achievement. Advaith Ilavajhala (SHS-2024) has had his Musicology work selected for inclusion in ENCORE – an impressive achievement! Oliver Buikema (10F) won the V Fest Junior Competition for his film made at school. Congratulations to Cassiel Yun (10T) whose artwork on the theme – ‘Everyone has a story’- was judged the winner of the Judy Cassab Prize of $1000, sponsored annually by her son, Peter Kampfner. Some more Year 10 Duke of Edinburgh Bronze Medal awardees – Alexander Pidcock, Adrian Wang, Lachlan Yuen and Lucas Zhang. Well done, lads!

Final High Notes for 2024

I want to thank all of our staff for their collegial work this year to make our school operate efficiently and effectively. Thank you to the editorial staff – Rosa and Brooke – for pushing out a proofed edition of High Notes each week. We have a large number of contributors each week – staff, students, parents, coaches – and much work is required in layout, editing and proof reading. Their efforts to disseminate current news to our school community on a weekly basis takes a lot of time and is much appreciated. Thank you to everyone who helped make the publication a success – contributors and editors alike. I urge more parents to have High Notes emailed to them each week so that they can keep abreast of everything that their boys are doing at High. Thank you to our properties staff- John Prorellis, Jim Crampton and Daniel Xu for the long list of repairs and improvements to the buildings and grounds. We farewell Eden Boundy (Visual Arts) who will be leaving us at the end of this year and thank her for her service.

Scholarships Awarded to Accomplished Applicants

Congratulations to Jude Ou (10R) was a worthy winner of the Sir Roden and Lady Cutler Foundation Inc Scholarship, focused on social justice, community service and civic consciousness. He has $1,500 for both Years 11 and 12 credited to his school account. Matthias Elgawly (11R) was awarded the Phillip Day Memorial Scholarship, emphasising all-round academics, participation and sport. He was credited with $1,750 against his account for 2025. Encouragement Awards went to Dylan Dutt (11F) for $500 and Joshua Chen (8E) for $250.Thank you to the 27 able applicants for this year’s scholarships. It was a difficult and painstaking task to find those who fulfilled the goals of the scholarships most closely.

Collection of Reports

All students except Year 8 should have collected their reports by now. Students in Years 7, 9 and 11 have been very cooperative and all reports have been collected. There a very few left, mostly belonging to students on extended leave and a few Year 10s I have not been able to catch up with so far. I will complete the process early in the new year. With 1207 reports and interviews to schedule, the cooperation level from parents and students has been very high indeed. Thank you to Year Advisers and office staff who have assisted with co-payments and book returns. Thank you to all the teachers who have had students coming and going from their classes to have their interviews with the principal.

Music Awards Assembly

Cameron Morrison (SHS-2011) spoke about the importance of music in his life as enjoyment, stress relief and as an aid to gaining employment in his legal profession. He reinforced the benefits of wide participation in co-curricular activities while at school. My address is reprinted below:

"Special guest Mr Cameron Morrison (SHS-2011), members of the Music Committee, participants in our Performance Music Program, staff, tutors, parents and students, welcome to our Music Awards Assembly for 2024. At this morning’s assembly, we again recognise and honour the accomplishments of our performance music program performers. Many of our students join a variety of ensembles to perfect and perform a varied collection of compositions in a range of styles. High has produced many good musicians, some of whom will perform for you today. The purpose of our assembly is to honour those current students who are upholding the school’s fine performance tradition. I congratulate those boys being acknowledged today and urge them to continue their efforts in musical training and performance.

"I want to acknowledge and thank our performance music staff - Sarah Kim, Suzanna Lim and Peter Aoun. Thank you also to Annette Dilling - Administrative Assistant for Music. Our music staff organise soirees, concerts, music camps, recitals, overseas tours and supply performers for our assemblies and special occasions, such as the Anzac Day marching band. I extend our warm appreciation to you for your work on behalf of the boys, much of which occurs outside of school hours. Specialist tutors provide expert mentoring for our aspiring musicians. The Music Committee raises funds to purchase large instruments and sheet music to refresh our performance repertoire. Our boys are given many opportunities to perform.

"Our music performance program is a very large co-curricular activity. Music and musicians are integral to the many assemblies, formal occasions and special events that define and build our school culture. Musical performance is integrated vertically at High and access to ensembles is based on merit. Performing in an ensemble is an activity that builds teamwork, self-confidence and social cohesion. More importantly, being in an ensemble provides opportunities for students to perform for an audience, which is one important reason why people learn to play instruments. Musical performance publicises the talents of our students to the wider community. It has many styles.

"Country music originated from the combination of English ballads with Irish and Celtic fiddle songs, with a touch of European influences from the old continent’s immigrants. It became popular around 1900 in the Southern States in America. Unlike other music genres, country music doesn’t rely heavily on non-diatonic chords, which are notes that are not in the scale. So, all the notes of diatonic chords are in the scale, but one or more notes of a non-diatonic chord are out of the scale. Instead, this country style of music utilizes traditional chord progressions. The chords are major, meaning that they contain the 1st, 3rd, and 5th notes of the major scale. Country Music artists like to work on duet pieces with fellow artists. It’s also not uncommon to find entire families performing together in the same band. Country music is all about string instruments. These include pedal steel, lap steel, bass, guitar, fiddle and banjo. Country artists often sing with a twang in their voice to separate country music from other music genres. Country Music heavily relies on storytelling. Country music artists often share stories about work, heartache, pride, and love. Some songs are full-blown ballads that narrate a story from its beginning to its end. Country Music is a very popular genre today thanks to Taylor Swift.

"Our special guest today is Mr Cameron Morrison, who is a senior lawyer at the Australian Government Solicitor’s Office. Cameron graduated from SBHS in 2011. While at SBHS, Cameron was heavily involved in the music program - including touring France with the marching band and senior stage band in 2010. Following high school, he attended the University of Sydney for his Bachelor of Arts and Bachelor of laws, graduating with honours. Following university, Cameron worked as the Associate for Justice Thawley in the Federal Court of Australia, before practicing as a lawyer for several years with a private law firm. He holds a Master of Taxation Law from the London School of Economics. He currently works as a senior lawyer at the Australian government solicitor where he acts for the ATO in tax controversy and litigation. Please welcome to the stage, our guest speaker, Mr Cameron Morrison."
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 39, December 06 2024

2024-12-06T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to our 9A Volleyball team which won the NSW Schools Cup last Thursday, coached by Billy Nguyen. Leon Lu (9F) and his team High Voltage, recently participated in the First Tech Challenge Pymble Qualifier and received the Inspire Award and qualified to be in the National competition. Well done, Leon! Duke of Edinburgh Award participation this year was strong, with the following results. Congratulations to our Gold Award recipient Arthav Ramakanth (SHS-2024) and to our Silver Award winners Lucas Su (10) and Alisdair Yong (11). Bronze Awards were earned by - Ryan Allen (10), Joshua Campbell (10), Nestor Chan (9), Benjamin Dang (10), Liam Fong (10), Rajendra Krishnan (10), Shane Ma (10), Isaac Ng (10), Roman Samsonov (10), Lucas Su (10), Aiden Trinh (10), Leo Varthakavi (10), Ethan Wong (10) and Delbert Zou (10). Great work by all!

Interpreting Year 10 Reports – Semester 2

All Year 10 boys should be receiving their reports next week. They have also to complete their stage 6 compulsory Life Ready Course before the end of the year. It is a busy time. The timetable preparation is well underway. Parents are advised to work with their sons in the process of choosing Year 11 courses to be sure they have made the right choices, suitably aligning their abilities, interests, and possible post-secondary plans. It is really important for students to be sure about their selections. Choosing courses for Year 11 study can be assisted by evaluations of Year 10 performances. English and mathematics courses are determined by the school’s pattern of offered courses and by the results of the mathematics selection process for extension 1. For Year 11, 2024 the permitted number will be - as is our custom – seven classes only. Year 10 boys should have done their Career Voyage questionnaire during their Transition Education periods. These results should be discussed in the light of your son’s interests and abilities. Courses can be selected to underscore certain tertiary directions – eg chemistry for medicine, or economics for a commerce degree. Year 10 boys should all have had interviews with a member of staff to discuss their possible pathways and appropriate Year 11 course selections.

As for the semester 1 report, ranks are varied by several factors. Students who have not performed well in PE will have a slightly reduced ATAR prediction because the calculation is made on 12.3 units (using a pro rata for PE based on time spent). Students who do the online elective receive the average of the other units so as to neither advantage nor disadvantage them, whereas they may have taken another elective and earned an above average score or a below average score. Students accelerating have a harder task than non-accelerants as they are assessed at stage 6 standard. Consequently, their scaled marks may be lower, reducing their overall score, and hence rank. Students may also lose interest in electives they are not continuing and record weaker results. Electives done for enjoyment are in contrast to the serious efforts that will need to be made in their stage 6 courses. I do not make a judgement on these outcomes. Stage 5 satisfactory completion is all that is required in Year 10. What matters is what happens next, in stage 6. Therefore, students should choose their suite of courses for Year 11 ultra carefully, with insights gained after research and discussion with parents and staff and by acting in their own self-interest.

Year 10 Drama

Thanks to Anna Barry and her Year 10 drama class, there will be a production of The Book of Everything, by Guus Kuijer (adapted by Richard Tulloch) in The Governors Centre, on Wednesday, December 11. Your support for their efforts would be appreciated.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 38, November 29 2024

2024-11-29T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to Karan Dahiya on his award of a Sydney East Blue for outstanding achievement in the sport of Volleyball.

Interpreting Year 7 Reports - Semester 2

In Year 7, we do not provide ranks to students. We have an Academic Achievement List for high-performing students and a Student Monitoring Register for students performing below expected standards. We try to let students settle in and find their feet before making too many outcome comparisons. Our benchmark is 10 credits or thirty points. A student’s profile of learning behaviours is important to us. We collate teachers’ ratings. A high proportion of ‘consistently’ (c) ‘or ‘usually’ (u) ratings, indicates a student is adjusting well to the demands of multiple subjects (10 in Year 7).

We ask also, that you check your son’s progress in future-oriented earning skills – problem solving, evaluating, working with others, communicating ideas, creating and innovating (PEWCC). Some of these are reported each year in their own text box on the school reports. Faculties have an opportunity to report at least twice on one or more of the five ‘earning skills’ during the six reporting periods during Years 7-9. These skills will be needed in jobs of the future. You can understand more deeply about how your son is building his capacity in the discrete dispositions that we have targeted for development as a school. The idea is that you can track your son’s growth over his three years in the Junior School. These PEWCC skills are very contextual. Hypothetically, your son might be really good at ’working with others in English’ where he is confident and comfortable, but not so effective in mathematics where he is weaker, is reticent, or defers to the strongest mathematician in the work group. Consequently, skill growth might not be a simple progression from 1 in Year 7 to 3, 4 or 5 in Year 10 (depending on the scale in the rubric for each subject). Your son’s progress might be uniform neither across the subjects, nor across the dispositions. We are reporting on growth in individual dispositions by comparing where a student was on the scale in Year 7 and then again in Year 9 in the same subject context. A similar comparison may be made between measures reported in Year 8 and then again in Year 10.

I look forward to an informed dialogue between parents and teachers on the individual student’s development of these important life skills. Go to our website at: /curriculum/pewcc-reporting for a full list of skill descriptors. Our challenge is to develop effective assessment tasks at all levels, in order to describe more accurately where your son stands in his development of these important life skills.

In semester 2, some students choose not to put much effort into one of the languages they do not intend to pursue in Year 8. While this is regrettable, it is also understandable. As history and geography are delivered in semesters, a student might be stronger or weaker in either of these subjects in second semester. The consequence can be that overall achievement level, as measured by our points system, might decline or improve. Students have their second opportunity to choose a subject when they decide on their language/s for next year. Will they do one language or two? What are the commitments if they take offline classes? Will their other activities be affected? Please discuss language choices for Year 8 with your sons. They are perfectly free to choose just one language in Year 8 if they wish.

Outdoor Education Program

It is a strong expectation of our school that all students attend the outdoor education program in Years 7 - 9. We see the camps as important socialising and independence-building experiences in the personal enlargement of our students. I urge all boys to attend to learn life lessons and mature as persons by attending these camps.

December 3 2024 – International Day of People with Disability

Held on Tuesday 3 December, International Day of People with Disability aims to promote awareness, understanding and acceptance of people with disability. This year’s theme, ‘Amplifying the leadership of persons with disabilities for an inclusive and sustainable future’, recognises the important role that people with disability play in creating a more inclusive and sustainable world for all. The Paralympic participation at the Paris Games raised the profile again of people with disability – their aspirations, goals and achievements. In our daily lives we need to be more inclusive of everyone, no matter what their point of difference may be. The focus this year is on the leadership abilities of people with disability. In our population more than 21% of people have a disability. We should be integrating them into all areas of our society where possible.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 37, November 22 2024

2024-11-22T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

At the recent HSC examinations, Alasdair Yong (11T) and Advaith Ilavajhala (12R), had their composition works nominated for possible selection in Encore! Congratulations on your high-quality creative work, lads! Our Junior Theatre Sports Team competed in the grand final at St Andrews Cathedral School this week. Congratulations to Ilyusha Tsoutsman (7M), Brishen Xue (7R), Jason Huang (8R) and Marco Ma (8M) on their impressive development in this demanding discipline. Well done to Daniel Iliffe (11R) who was the successful nomination from our school for the 2024 Olympic Change Maker Award. Cassiel Yun (10T) was nominated as a finalist in the 2025 RSL and Schools Remember ANZAC Art Competition. Very well done, Cassiel!

Clean Up High Month

Our student leaders and SRC are concerned about the cleanliness of our site. Too many boys think it is the cleaner’s job to pick up rubbish. In fact, cleaners are supposed to merely empty the rubbish bins provided for students to deposit rubbish. They also blow away fallen leaves. It is our collective responsibility as a school community to keep our environment clean and safe. The focus for November is ‘cleaning up High’. In response to an SRC request for more bins to be located more strategically, Mr Prorellis has purchased 12 additional large bins. They will be located at the nominated traffic areas: leading onto Moore Park West; between the fig trees in the Junior Quad; in the area around the outdoor basketball courts; outside of the gym; the 100s veranda opposite the tennis court; the bubblers area; and near the entrance to the Junior Quad. Mr Crampton will locate the new bins in the areas suggested. After that, more work will be created for the cleaners who have to empty the bins. Everyone has a responsibility to clean up High!

Scholarship Applications

There is only one week left for students to apply for the Phillip Day Memorial and Sir Roden and Lady Cutler Foundation Scholarships. If you have financial needs due to family or special circumstances; if you are a great all-rounder; or if you have a special talent that needs extra resources to help you develop; or if you are going into Year 11 and you have a strong background in community service, please consider applying. Scholarships are valued at $1500 in school credit per year. Application forms can be downloaded from the school website: sydneyhigh.school/scholarships

Applications close on Friday, November 29.

Student Awards Scheme

Last entries for nomination for the revamped Student Awards Scheme (2024) can be earned up to Friday, November 29. If you check your participation file and detect that something is missing, it is up to you notify the MIC in charge of the activity to have the list of successful participants compiled in the Student Portal File. Awards have to be determined, and medallions/ plaques ordered before the end of the school year so that they will be ready in time for our awards assemblies early next year. We are on a tight schedule. Medallions have to be tallied, ordered and names engraved on them. Workplaces start to wind down for the holidays from now on, so we need to be efficient with our process. The outcome is that all medallions and awards are ready in time for our Student Awards Assembly early next year. Don’t miss out on getting all the nominations you should be awarded! It is very important that individual students go to the Student Portal to check up on their activities, points and nominations. If there are discrepancies, we need to know about them so we can contact MICs or program organisers, so everyone gets what they deserve.

With our new system of recording Student Awards on Sentral, individual students will have quick and easy access to their categories and points earned via the Student Portal. Recording will commence in January 2025 for next year’s awards.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 36, November 15 2024

2024-11-15T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

Roof Replacement Block B – Killip Wing

There will be disruptions from now until nearly the end of term as roofing contractors replace the Killip Wing roof. We have been waiting a long time for this repair. There is scaffolding in place that will restrict access to car parking and movement in and out of the building will be redirected at some entrances. The work should be completed by the end of term. We thank the DOE Assets Management Unit for prioritising this project and allocating funds to complete it.

School Governance Meetings

The final meetings of the year were held this week for the Parents & Citizens Association and the SBHS School Council. The two bodies are important in the life of our school by providing resources in the case of the P&C and policy advice, community liaison and financial oversight in the case of the School Council. The meetings were well attended, varied and informative. I want to thank the President of the P&C, Tania Kirkland, for leadership and recognise the service of outgoing Vice-President Andrew Hybler. The P&C made significant donations to the school this year. To our long-standing School Council President, Ron Trent, thanks again for your longevity of service, wisdom, conviviality and detailed minutes-keeping.

Interpreting Year 9 Reports – Semester 2

Students in Year 9 should have collected their yearly reports. There are often violent fluctuations in rank order as a few marks can determine the difference between a D and an HD. Many boys have really taken to their electives and have achieved well in semester 2. Parents should be aware that boys who have decided to discontinue an elective after Year 9 for any reason, may have reduced their effort, with a negative impact on their overall result. Also, those who will not continue core subjects (such as history or geography) may lose motivation and not perform to their potential in those two subjects. Such actions can also result in large movements in the rank order. Encourage your son to maintain a high standard in the core subjects, English, mathematics and science, as these are compulsory in Year 10. An honest effort ought to be applied to all subjects while students are enrolled in them. ‘N’ awards may be issued in Year 9 for history and geography students as these are stage 5 compressed curriculum courses. Failure to resolve stage 5 warning letters may result in denial of entry into stage 6 courses.

Many boys apply for entry into acceleration courses. The procedure for entry is published on our website at: / curriculum/subject-acceleration. Head Teachers consider applications and make recommend-ations to the Principal on the Individual Learning Plans signed off by parents and submitted by students.

As from this year, students need to be in the top 75 students to qualify for acceleration or philosophy, and in the top 100 for the ‘online learning elective’(OLE). Be aware that students seeking acceleration have two different rank orders. The rank order for the end of Year 9 is one used for dux calculations and is calculated using marks, not points as for the HD-D-credit-PM-P system (6-5-3-2-1). It also comprises Semester 1 and 2 results, not just semester 2. Mr Dowdell uses Z-scores to track the contribution of the results of each subject to the overall rank. We expect to see the subject that a student wants to accelerate in close to the strongest that a student is undertaking in Year 9.

Students who are denied entry to an acceleration course have a right of appeal if they consider they have met the criteria for entry and they have the strong support of the teacher who is currently teaching them in the subject. We accept around 40 boys into acceleration each year. About 35 each year complete their HSC in their accelerated course. The dropout rate 2018-2023 was 16%. There is a safety net for those who for whatever reason do not go on to complete the stage 6 course. Students may be removed from the acceleration intervention if they do not meet the required standard by the end of Year 10 or sometimes, Year 11.

Applicants and parents need to understand that acceleration is a differentiated intervention, managed by the Principal, to meet the learning needs of able, high achieving, autonomous and passionate students - it is NOT an elective.

Mr Kay is assigning Year 9 students to their Year 10 electives and to their acceleration and online courses, based upon their submitted preferences in rank order. If students fail to qualify in one elective, they will be assigned their next choice where possible. Parents should peruse the learning behaviours profile on their son’s report. We expect at least ‘usually’ if not ‘consistently’ for these behaviours. We aggregate these learning behaviours to produce a list of those judged by teachers as having too frequent ‘sometimes’ or ‘rarely’ ratings. Year Advisers are made aware of these students at our report meetings. There is a high correlation between the names on the monitoring register for Academic Support Group and those on the problematic learning behaviours list. We also have lists for the individual learning behaviours so we can target support more accurately. We have Study Samurai and ATOMI supplied free to targeted students who need and desire individualised support programs.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 35, November 08 2024

2024-11-08T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

Year 12 complete their HSC Examination

The last HSC examination was held today, Friday 8 November. Typically, students experience a feeling of relief that the stressful period of study and examination sitting is over. A concomitant feeling can also be one of sadness as a six-year slice of their lives comes to a close. Year 12 portfolios are available from my office on proof of a completed electronic Clearance Form, where one is required. For example, texts or textbooks retained during the examination period. We wish all our graduating students a very relaxing few months before their university course or gap year commences.

Electives Process for Year 9 Boys going into Year 10

Students make an initial free choice with their electives. They are also asked to rank their choices so that if they do not get one, they will be considered for the next ranked choice. Many boys have shown interest in robotics, code-based game development and the online learning elective (OLE). Many others have aspired to accelerate in a particular subject. For those attracted to acceleration, a process is in place to apply and have applications assessed.

For Robotics and Game Design, Ms Dam culls applicants based on their demonstrated mathematics proficiency and previous interest in IA subjects. Usually, a D in Mathematics is a minimum requirement for entry into Robotics or Game Design. Boys who applied for both will be allowed to do only one of these subjects. For the OLE, students need to have an interest in autonomous learning, a proficiency in using excel spreadsheets and to have a rank of 100 or better to qualify.

Raw scores submitted by HTs are used to calculate the dux of the Year group, using z scores, and to rank all students. I cull the accelerant applicants. The criteria are academic in nature. Students apply to Head Teachers who send the forms of recommended applicants to me for assessment. Students have to be above average across their subjects at the Year 9 yearly examinations. They have to have a HD or D in the subject area in which they wish to accelerate. The cut-off rank for accelerants is 75. On rare occasions, highly talented students in just one subject area may be considered if they fall just outside of the cut-off rank.

Year 10 electives are designed for students to branch out and test their interests before settling into stage 6 study. Some of these electives are competitive entry subjects. Students need to choose carefully and follow their interests in a low stakes learning environment but may not always get what they want.

Remembrance Day 11.11.24

Remembrance Day (formerly Armistice Day) commemorates the service of all those who fought in wars in our country’s name. The ending of World War 1, then the most costly war in human history in terms of miliary and civilian lives lost, was seen as a most appropriate date, being the eleventh hour of the eleventh day of the eleventh month. The horrors of World War 1 were so severe that the victorious nations, rather naively, labelled it ‘the war to end all wars.’ Sadly, the international inability to resolve its conflicts peacefully and fairly has led to even more horrific global warfare since 1918. We like to celebrate Remembrance Day as an inclusive event. In our multicultural society, many of our citizens have fought in various wars and grieve for those who died from their extended families.

Our contemporary society has not shown any more skill or resolve to negotiate an end to two significant wars being fought in the Ukraine and Gaza-Lebanon-West Bank. On Remembrance Day we should take the time to consider the cost and ultimate futility of using warfare as a means of settling disputes among nations. The ubiquitous poppy, growing wild in Flanders Fields, is an historically significant symbol of the sadness of the loss of human life on those battlefields. Today, we wear poppies to remember the fallen and to be seen to remember them. Schools hold assemblies to take a minute’s silent reflection on the consequences of armed conflicts everywhere.

Scholarship Applications

There is only one week left for students to apply for the Phillip Day Memorial and Sir Roden and Lady Cutler Foundation Scholarships. If you have financial needs due to family or special circumstances; if you are a great all-rounder; or if you have a special talent that needs extra resources to help you develop; or if you are going into Year 11 and you have a strong background in community service, please consider applying. Scholarships are valued at $1500 in school credit per year. Application forms can be downloaded from the school website: /scholarships

Applications close Friday November 29.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 34, November 01 2024

2024-11-01T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to Tuyvan Mai (9R) who has been awarded ‘Highly Commended’ for his short film Finding a skill, in the 2024 Youth Photographic Award and Short Film Prize competition. This film was made as part of the beginner filmmaking studies Unit and the student project was to make an autobiographical film.

Scholarships Offered at High

SBHS offers only two scholarships – the Phillip Day Memorial Scholarship and the Sir Roden and Lady Cutler Foundation Scholarship. All enrolled or enrolling students are eligible to apply for the Phillip Day Memorial Scholarship. It is a one-year credit on the school account for $1,750. The Selection Criteria cover talented boys in an academic area or a co-curricular endeavour. Good all-rounders qualify as do students with special needs – financial or otherwise. There are many boys in the school who would make good candidates for this award. I urge them to take the trouble to download and complete the application form. The Sir Roden and Lady Cutler Foundation Inc Scholarship is a two-year award with a credit at the school account for $1,500 for each Year – 11 and 12. Only boys enrolled or enrolling in Year 11 are eligible to apply. The criteria for this scholarship are different. It has an emphasis on a prior record of service to others, to the school and / or the community. Boys with initiative, compassion, a record of school or community service and leadership skills, are invited to apply.

Look for the details on the school's community website www.sydneyhigh.school and select Scholarships from the navigation bar. Do not assume that you are not worthy or eligible. Applications close on Friday 29 November 2024.

Interpreting Year 11 Reports Semester 2

Teachers record individual marks for courses, and these are run against an ATAR predictor program. All the raw marks are converted into scaled marks per unit. In the iterative scaling process, students’ marks in one course are compared against all the other students who completed the same course and against their performances in their other courses. The data we use are last year’s HSC results for High. The essential comparative assumption is that boys will perform at around the same standard this year as they did last year. Means and standard deviations are derived from our HSC results from the previous year and applied to our results in the current year. A scaled score out of 50 is calculated for each course on a one-unit basis. Where candidatures are very small – eg visual arts and LOTE- we use historical results in that course in our school to calculate the mean and standard deviation to be applied to this year’s results. We use all 12 Preliminary Units to calculate our ATAR estimate for several reasons. First, we would like students to receive a realistic appraisal of their progress in state terms as well as relative to their peers at High. Second, we want them to know their relative performance in each of their courses, to inform their subsequent choices. Third, it assists them to drop their weakest two units on the basis of scaled marks rather than raw marks. Next April, the estimate process will be moderated against the 2024 HSC results and calculated for the best ten units for each student, including the mandatory two units of English.

At this stage of the year, every Year 11 student faces a choice, some have more choices to make than others. Will I do 12 units, 11, ten or less? For those students who have a guaranteed entrance into Extension 2 mathematics, they can drop two courses immediately (Extension English and a 2-unit course) and still have ten units to present at the HSC. Students who really want to exit a course and have made the rank cut–off for extension 1 mathematics, can keep their Extension English and drop a course. Most accelerants remain doing ten units until their HSC results in the acceleration course are published. Acceleration students have a choice to reduce their load to 8 units if they believe their HSC marks for their completed acceleration course are high enough, but we urge them not to do so until the April Assessment period in Year 12, in order to make certain that they are doing the best thing to maximise their ATAR. Students qualifying and choosing to do four units of English can drop one course. High performing students tend to use acceleration results as insurance and do ten units for the HSC anyway. Others want to be rid of a weak course and explore choosing others – eg picking up one or two-unit studies of religion, or taking an extension unit in history, music or LOTE. Some love all their courses and want to carry 12 units to the HSC. I have no problem with that choice provided that their tertiary course has a lower entrance requirement than their current ATAR prediction and that they are well organised enough to do well in twelve units. Students I speak to when discussing their reports are thoughtful about their strengths and weaknesses and mindful of their preferred tertiary options. Pragmatism often informs their decisions. At this important time, future tertiary intentions are important considerations. Choices are made to maximise enjoyment, ATAR ranks or both. I hope all Year 11 students choose sagely.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 33, October 25 2024

2024-10-25T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Franklin Huang (9M) with his two teammates won 2nd Place at the RoboCup Australian National Championships 2024 held at UQ Centre, St Lucia, Brisbane. Well done, Franklin! Ms Ibbott reports that in the recent Science Olympiad, a prestigious competition, High students earned a record number of High Distinctions. In chemistry and physics – Clinton Chau (11F) and Jeff Tse (11R); in chemistry - Henry Duong (11E) and Rupantar Nirvor (11R); and in physics – Godfrey Jiang (12M), Timothy Wahib (11E) and Tony Bian (11T). Wonderful results, boys!

Staff Changes

At the beginning of term 4, we had several staff changes. Ms Jo Curry was appointed as a permanent full time English Teacher. Beth Hinton was appointed as our Librarian. Leonie Boulle and Harry Charlesworth have temporary positions, relieving in English for term 4. Colleen Nolan is relieving in Mathematics in term 4 for Robin Wang, who is on leave. Lena Park has a temporary appointment in Social Science, replacing Ms Janette Jackson who is on maternity leave. I am pleased to announce that Ms Matise Stringer has accepted the position of Officer in Command of the SHS Cadet Unit for 2025.

Caught doing the right thing

A member of the public called to congratulate the boys who catch the 438 bus from Abbotsford to the city (rowers I’m guessing), who were “beautifully behaved and extremely polite. The boys all got up from their seats and offered passengers a seat”. Well done boys. There is satisfaction to be gained from doing the right thing when no one is watching over your behaviour.

Children’s Week 19-27 October

Coinciding with Universal Children’s Day, Children’s Week highlights the contributions and rights of children and young people. It is a time for children to demonstrate their skills and abilities and to have fun. The theme for 2024 is ‘children have the right to a clean and safe environment’. Parents are urged to encourage their children, particularly in the Junior School (Years 7-9), to think about how they might help to keep their environment safe and clean. Two actions would help. Deposit all rubbish and wrappings and food scraps in the bins provided around the school and in the playground. Report any dangers, trip hazards to a member of staff. If their lack of safety is due to bullying, then the bully should be reported on the student portal or direct contact made with the Year Adviser, School Counsellor or Student Support Officer.

Summer Sport Co-Payments: Term 4

The rolls for summer sports and activities have now been finalised. In many activities co-payments are levied for the season – in this case for Term 4 2024 and Term 1, 2025. Other sports have a policy of fixing co-payments on a term-by-term basis. In either case, invoices have now been posted. For Years 7-10 this means that the summer invoice will be included on individual Clearance Forms. These forms will need to be cleared prior to boys receiving their reports. The base Co-payment for sport for this summer season is $200 for 2024-25. Higher charges are levied by individual sports as a result of resolutions passed by the Incorporated Associations or P & C Support Groups / Parent Committees responsible for supporting particular sports. Year 11 boys have been invoiced for Term 4 or their full summer sport, too. It would help the MICs for these sports greatly if families could pay for their sports in the next ten days or so.

Correct word usage - per cent/ percentage

Per cent is used with numerals. Eg one per cent to one hundred per cent. Eighty per cent of staff attended the meeting. Percentage is the noun derived from per cent. A very large percentage of students take two sports. The noun coming after per cent or percentage, determines the number of the verb. Thirty per cent of the students are taking chemistry. Twenty percentage of my time is spent on staffing matters. Percentage as a word can often be replaced by a number, part, proportion or amount. Only a small number of students attended the athletics carnival.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 32, October 18 2024

2024-10-18T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

Welcome back to Term 4

I trust students and staff had a relaxing break, except for the Year 12 students preparing for their HSC examinations. Good luck to all Year 12 and accelerants in the hectic weeks ahead! Term four is dedicated to reporting and planning. End of year reports are important snapshots of student progress. There is also usually time for revising or planning teaching and learning programs for the following year. I look forward to a productive term ahead.

High Talent

Congratulations to Harrison Guo (12T), Alex Huang (11R) and Harry Xin (12E) who had their HSC Design and Technology Projects set aside for possible inclusion in SHAPE. Six HSC students had their musical performances nominated for possible selection in ENCORE. Congratulations to Jerry Chen (11E), Andy Huang (12E), Ethan Hybler (12R), Ryan Kirkland (11S), Oscar Kuo (11S) and Christopher Lau (12R).

Tell Them from Me – Parent responses needed

Thank you to the 22 parents who have completed the survey. We cannot draw any conclusions for our Strategic Improvement Plan from such a small sample of our parents’ voices. Please share your views!

The survey window closes Term 4, Week 4 Friday 8 November 2024. The parent surveys take approximately 10 minutes to complete.

Surveys can be completed at any time during this window. All surveys will be automatically closed on Friday 8 November at 4:30 pm. Here is the link: http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/5sffr

Foundation Day Assembly

We started off the term with a rousing Foundation Day Assembly, highlighted by Captain Elect Jin Shim’s thoughtful and impassioned speech. Guest Speaker, Glynn Gill, being avowedly iconoclastic, spoke at length about how choices are made and the profound effects they can have on lives. A novel addition to his speech was props, including a ChatGPT generated speech which he theatrically crumpled up and lobbed into the front row of Prefect Interns, and two pieces of fruit from his lunch box, which he placed carefully on the table covered in ceremonial cloth. His speech achieved his twin aims of being different and entertaining. My speech to the Assembly is reprinted below:

"Special guest Glyn Gill, School Captain of 1974, Ms Catherine Bavell, R/Deputy Principal Sydney Girls High School, Mr Jacob Ezrakhovich OBU President, Mr Paul Almond past OBU President, Life Governor Mr Geoff Andrews, Class of 1974 attendees, Old Boys Dr David Sweeting OAM, Joshua Suto (2022), Landrie Zuo and Matthew Lam (2023), Michael Fischer (1971), Stewart Wood, Alan Wong (2020), Ms Shalona Acharya and Ms Nazara Jones (SGHS), staff and students, welcome to our 141st Foundation Day Assembly held on Gadigal land. I pay my respects to Aboriginal elders, past, present and emerging and to any Aboriginal people here today. We are gathered again to re-connect with our traditions, reaffirm our cultural values, honour those who helped build them, and endorse the candidature of the Prefect Interns who will reinforce and renew them. We welcome back our eleven Old Boys who graduated fifty years ago and try to connect to their context in relation to ours. High has enduring continuity mingled with its contextual diversity.

"In 1974, Richard Nixon resigned as President of the United States as a consequence of the Watergate scandal, signalling the slow decline of America’s faith in its political leadership. After a hung parliament in the UK, Tory PM Edward Heath had to resign in favour of Harold Wilson, returning to lead the country for a second time. Gough Whitlam’s Labor Government was returned in the general election at home in 1974. Kheir Starmer won back the leadership of the UK for Labor in a landslide this year. In Israel in 1974, the Kiryat Shmona massacre of 18 people by the Popular Front for the Liberation of Palestine was a precursor atrocity to the October 7, 2023 attacks, both committed in the name of a war for statehood. The anniversary of the Hamas attack was held recently, with no resolution of the conflict in sight, as neither side recognises the other’s right to exist.

"Three legends were born in 1974. ABBA won the Eurovision Song Contest with ‘Waterloo’; Muhammad Ali was immortalised by his famous victory over George Foreman in the ‘Rumble in the Jungle’ in Zaire; and the Volkswagen Golf replaced the beetle as the peoples’ car.

"In The Record of 1974, the Headmaster, Greg Bradford, observed in his Headmaster’s Report that the ‘School is suited to the needs of boys who wish to participate successfully, but not necessarily be the best, in a very wide range of activities. I ask you to make the necessary commitment which will allow you to benefit from the unique opportunities offered by the school’. Also in The Record, school captain Glyn Gill, declared that ‘within Sydney High the essence of a successful six years lies in the student participating in all areas of his interests, participation is in taking the offer’. My annual message to our boys is essentially the same. The modern context has more variety in offerings but also just as fierce competition at the elite level.

"On Foundation Day we can take this time to examine our historical foundations from October 1883 and our enduring traditions. While much about the school has changed in the last 50 years, the essentials that define High are the same. We prepare our students for university. We need to constantly rally support for GPS sport among students in Years 11 and 12. Our returning Old Boys today include representatives from 1974 from the First VIII in rowing, the first XI in cricket, first grade tennis, GPS athletics and the first XV in rugby. Others represented in lower grades in various sports but participated strongly to the level of their ability and training. They are united for over five decades in their appreciation of the opportunities and camaraderie that their lives at High afforded – enduring examples of High Spirit.

"Today in remembrance of the school’s founding and of its student leaders, we celebrate a new cohort of student leaders as they take the Prefect’s Pledge. These Prefect Interns have had to qualify against quite onerous performance benchmarks. They have had to show lived experience of leadership. They have had to meet academic benchmarks. They have had to represent their school in two GPS competition sports in each of their final two years at school. They have had to reach at least platinum level in the Student Awards Scheme and score at least 100 points in Year 11. They have had to comply with standards in terms of school uniform, behaviour and punctuality. They have had an opportunity to compose an online personal statement of why they would like to lead. They have faced an electoral college consisting of their peers in Years 10 and 11, the outgoing 2024 Prefects and the staff. They have been elected by their school community. They will have leadership training and be assigned specific roles. These representatives who will be standing before you are ready for the tasks ahead.

"We celebrate our founding as a school to prepare young men for tertiary study. We celebrate our institution that enlarges character through opportunities to pursue excellence. We celebrate a culture of camaraderie that has influenced positive character development in many cohorts of young men. The contemporary cohort’s representatives are being inducted today. They will prove to be worthy bearers of the High traditions of leadership by example, across many areas of school life. I offer my congratulations to them and remind them to preserve the best examples from the past while adding their own initiatives to enhance the leadership culture of the school. The measure of effective leadership is the legacy it leaves."
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 31, September 27 2024

2024-09-27T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

End of Term 3

Thank you to everyone for all your efforts towards making this term a productive learning and teaching experience for our students and staff. Students were rewarded with success in many areas of school life. We hope that our Year 12 students are well prepared for the examination period to come. As Year 11 complete their Preliminary Course this week, we look forward to them beginning their HSC courses in Term 4. We have important works scheduled for the next few weeks after considerable delays. The School is moving forward and with your support and encouragement, our all-round achievements will continue.

Congratulations Year 12!

In their final few days of school, our current cohort of students displayed the most maturity, positivity, mutual support and respect of any of the 25 cohorts with whom I have interacted at High. Their Farewell Assembly was a pleasure to attend. I was proud of their behaviour during this time, respecting our school grounds, property, fellow students and staff, while having fun off site. I hope this group will set the new benchmark and serve as a model for future purposeful, friendly and dignified final days of school at High.

Parents, Have Your Say

http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/5sffr
A reminder to parents to please take ten minutes of your time to let us know how you feel about how the school operates and how well it meets your son’s needs.

The AAGPS Athletics Carnival

Highlights from last Saturday’s carnival were headed by Dylan Dutt’s U17 400m last stride championship win, following a second in the 200m. Alex Ruhfus came back strongly from injury to win the U15 100m championship. James McLoughlin won the 110m hurdles U17s and Lachlan Leung won the U16s long jump. Notable Division wins were posted by Tim Chen in the U15 100m, with third in the 200m and Nicolas Fung who won the U16 110m hurdles. Strong contributions came from Shawn Handoko in U13s 100m (2nd) and 90m hurdles (3rd), as well as from Mekaeel Khan with seconds in the U14 long jump and 100m Division. Our big effort was to finish 3rd overall in the Intermediate Championship – a great team performance! Our Juniors finished 6th with an 8th place from our senior group. Thank you to Kurt Rich and his staff for supporting our team so well. Well done to those boys who attended as spectators and my thanks go to the supervising staff who gave up their Saturdays.

Year 12 Farewell and Graduation Assembly 2024

For interested students and parents not in attendance, my speech to the class of 2024 is reprinted below.

"Good afternoon Year 12, staff and parents. Welcome to our Farewell and Graduation Assembly for the Class of 2024. I acknowledge the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation on whose country we meet and pay my respects to elders, past, present and emerging. They represent the aspirations and spiritual connections of the traditional custodians to this land and waterways. One hundred and sixty-five of you are completing your six-year journey at High. There have been highs (such as three GPS Premierships this Winter, the Louat Shield for debating, three national teams’ titles in fencing and retaining the GPS Chess Trophy and winning the Terrey Shaw Shield); and lows -(the COVID years of 2020-21 which really impacted boys getting started well at High).

"As I observe in my Principal’s Message printed in the Year 12 Farewell Booklet, which you have received today, the student senior leaders tried hard to bring back the High culture. Also in that document, recognition of a selection of notable results by Year 12 students is included as a memento of the achievements of the Class of 2024.

"To that list we add our Year 12s for first Football –premiers: Daniel Lee, Praneil Manandhar (c.), Pradeepan Nadhan, Ashwin Rajeswaran and Alex Valanidas. For first grade Volleyball - co-premiers: Roy Chae, Karan Dahiya (c.), Arnav Gupta, Dev Punjabi and Jay Ta. For second grade Volleyball - premiers: Lachlan Lefevre, Xile Xie and Haoran Zhang. Toby Huey represented in our GPS and Terrey Shaw Shield chess wins. Congratulations to our Year 12 debaters who won the Louat Shield – a major trophy sought after by GPS schools since 1920 - Vishruth Anand, Luka Miletic and Patrick Nguyen.

"My thanks go to our Student Leaders in all areas of school life for their dedication in rebuilding our school culture – Prefects, SRC, Community Service, PAWS, Equality, Social Justice, Environment, Captains of Sports Teams and Co-curricular Leaders. Thank you to the school leaders who had input into the ‘rally round’ theme – dodgeball, push up challenge, bearpit podcast or the Student Handbook.

"I want to recognise and honour the nine scholar-sportsmen who competed in two seasons of GPS Saturday sport and earned 99.5 ATAR or higher in the Trial HSC. Leon, Brian, Ethan, Christopher, Oscar, Patrick, Samuel, James and Mohammad will be presented prizes at Presentation Night next year. Fourteen students competed in three sports. Ashwin Rajeswaran was a ‘triple first’. ‘Double firsts’ this year were Daniel Bian, Joseph Britton, Brian Cho, Fynn Hopkins, Dean Johnsun, Christopher Lau, Michael Li, Luc Tran, Harry Xin and Jacob Yin. In the ‘One-Two Club’ were Brian Ahn, Roy Chae, Landon Jarvis, Garry Liu, David Kim, Nathan Nguyen, Harry Royal, Leon Shen, Jay Ta, Joshua Tang and Aiden Wong. I want to thank the 81 Year 12 boys who showed pride in their school and represented High in at least two GPS sports in their last year. Another 72 played one sport. So, 79% of the cohort showed their dedication to our scholar-sportsman ethos in their last year at school. A strong number of 26 boys played at least two GPS sports for six years despite the COVID shut down. I applaud our graduating Year group for their dedication to our ethos. The level of ongoing Year 12 commitment affirms that our students value our ethos of scholarship and participation in school sport. Thank you to all the MICs, coaches and parents who helped in our sporting programs.

"In my Farewell Message in your Booklet, I addressed the vital characteristic of resilience. I want to expand a little on that theme today. To strengthen resilience, one needs to develop a clear sense of self-identity and to be psychologically flexible. Act according to long-term values, not short-term impulses. Try to be comfortable with all your emotions, positive and negative. Our emotions often signal to us what we value. For example, feelings of guilt signal to us the need to make amends or to recalibrate our goals. Focus on making right choices, not on being happy. Research seems to show that if we make happiness an end goal, we are prone to being less happy over time. Whatever you do, try to find the fun in life. Laughter is an antidote to stress and triggers secretions of endorphins, dopamine and serotonin. It is a natural high and keeps your psychology positive. Try to maintain your revision and study routines over the next couple of months. Good luck in the HSC. My best wishes go with you all in your future endeavours."
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 30, September 20 2024

2024-09-20T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

Debating Season Wrap

Our GPS first debating team – Vishruth Anand (12M), Liam Nottage (11S), Luka Miletic (12R) and Partrick Nguyen (12T) – won the GPS Premiership and 12-months possession of the Louat Shield. This is the 19th High victory since 1920 in this prestigious competition. In the overall GPS debating season, High earned the number one ranking, after strong premiership wins by our 9A and 8A teams and a co-premiership in GPS Thirds. Vishhruth and Liam were selected in the CHS Firsts team. Congratulations to MIC Viv Paul, the coaches, the teams and the parents who supported the program.

Year 9 NAPLAN results

Numeracy – 2024 target 78% scoring >/= 700. 2024 result 89%

Reading – 2024 target 82% scoring >/= 650. 2024 result 80%

Writing – 2024 target 53% scoring >/= 650 2024 result 68%

We are making steady progress, but we need to push our writing up closer to the level of the other results. We are bedding down strategies in sentence conscious pedagogy to assist in this endeavour. Regular spelling tests are being conducted in classes. We are teaching how to build paragraphs. Teachers are focusing on how texts are composed as well as the content of the writing.

Athletics Assembly

Our guest, Mr Bruce, recounted his switch of sports from a rugby background around age 15 to weightlifting. He told us about his 10-year journey since then, including a Commonwealth Games silver medal and a 10th at the Olympics in weightlifting in Paris. He mentioned his highs and lows and how he needed all his resilience to stay focused after injuries. He urged the boys to stay focused on their goals in sport and academics and to never give up. My speech to the assembly is printed below.

"Special guest, Paris Olympian Mr Kyle Bruce, Staff, parents, coaches, selected GPS athletics representatives and students, good morning and welcome to our annual athletics assembly. I acknowledge this morning the Gadigal people of the Eora nation as the traditional custodians of the land and waterways on which we meet and pay my respects to elders past and present and extend that respect to any First Nations people here today. We are assembled together again today to celebrate our athletics season, extended this year by some additional Tuesday morning train-on sessions in the off season. Our purpose is to honour our teams who will compete in our name on Saturday at the GPS Carnival.’

"The school’s special thanks are extended to Athletics MIC Mr Kurt Rich who has built up our athletics program, impressively particularly over the last few seasons. Thank you also to Natalie Luu who attends and monitors the team at the Invitational carnivals each Saturday of the season. Kurt is assisted on the track by our ubiquitous Head Coach - Neil Song (SHS-2015); for Sprints by Justin Nonis (SHS-2021), Joshua Tassell (SHS 2010) and Liam Scolari; for Hurdles by Jason Huo (SHS-2017) and Kaden Kuang; for distance events by Ren-Shyan Balnave, Daniel Ma (SHS-2018) and Max Russell (SHS-2023). Our field coaches include, for Shot Put – Jack Bowditch and Oscar Greville (SHS-2023); for Long Jump – Davina Strauss and Hikun Nguyen; and for High Jump by Alex Rieger and Ross Zhou (SHS-2023). Rehabilitation for athletes is managed by Nelson Cheng.

"Congratulations to all our competitors in the Combined High Schools Athletics carnival held last week in blustery and difficult conditions. Our U16s 4x100m relay team won gold in a school record time of 44.07. Shawn Handoko won a silver in the U13s 90m hurdles, as did James McLoughlin in the U16s 100m hurdles. Dylan Dutt scored a bronze in the 17+ 200m. The team is primed for a good meet next Saturday.

"In track and field at the recent Paris Olympics, Australia won seven medals, but only one gold, by Nina Kennedy in the pole vault. Our Australian men contributed two bronze medals in the discus and the mixed marathon walk. Athletics for boys and men need greater grass roots funding and a higher profile in our society before our international results will improve. Let us hope that the great media coverage of the Olympics and Para Olympics inspires more boys to take up the sport seriously.

"At High, we run our athletics program free of co-payments because we want to encourage fitness, strength and energetic participation in our student population. Athletic competence is the basis of every sport. We want to encourage and support athletics in any way that we can. I want to congratulate the athletes who have been chosen in our team for the GPS carnival championship and those in division events. You have earned your places by showing dedication and integrity by turning up to train, meeting your commitments and competing in the lead-up carnivals. I wish you the best of luck on Saturday."
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 29, September 13 2024

2024-09-13T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

A belated acknowledgement of some outstanding Davidson Shield Knockout cricket performances. Arjun Narayanan (10F) scored back-to-back centuries 132 n.o. v Alexandria Park HS and 100 against Sydney Technical HS. Eddie Barks also scored 105 against Sydney Tech. Congratulations on your fine knocks! Well done to our Chess team on retaining the Trophy for the High Invitational Chess Tournament, in its 18th year. Our team – Nestor Chan (10R), Anay Gautam (9R), Aaron Huang (10S), Toby Huey (12S), Quan Nguyen (10E), Kayden Santoso (10M), Tanish Sarathy (11S), William Tran (8R) and Lucas Zhang (10R). Great work boys! Also, Toby Huey (12S), Quan Nguyen (10E), Nestor Chan (10R) and Aaron Huang (10S) have won the prestigious Terry Shaw Shield – a state level trophy. Congratulations. At last weekend’s Invitational Athletics Carnival, James McLoughlin won the U16s 110m hurdles (15.52); in U15s Rohan Chand won the high jump (1.7m) and was 2nd in the 200m; Roger He, Mark Yan, Rohan Chand and Tim Chen won the 4 x 100m relay in 46.51; in U14s Mekaeel Khan won the long jump (5.12) and placed third in high jump; and in U13s Heshel Kariyawasam won the high jump (1.65m). Well done to all our athletics competitors!

Hard Copies of The Record

Our annual publication The Record is available in PDF and is also digitised in time and published on our website. We have found that not enough people are valuing an actual hard copy. Our policy for 2024 is that only half the number of copies will be printed. All students in Years 7 and 12 will receive a hard copy. All other years and staff may have a hard copy, but only by ordering one from Ms May in advance. We hope to match supply with demand and reduce wastage.

Tell Them from Me Survey – Parents input into Aspects of School Life

Parents are invited to respond to the survey ‘Tell Them from Me’. Your ideas about school life are important to us and inform our Strategic Improvement Plan during our annual self-evaluation.

The survey window is now open until Term 4 Week 4 - Friday 8 November 2024.
The parent and teacher surveys take approximately 10 minutes and can be completed at any time during this window.
Parents access the survey through a URL unique to your school and can choose the option to complete the survey in multiple languages other than English: http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/5sffr
The parent survey is mobile-responsive, which means it can be completed on all smartphones and tablets with internet access.

Tissues in Classrooms

The SRC managed an initiative to supply tissues to classrooms for the use of boys. The need was seen, particularly over winter. The supply of tissues to classrooms did not seem to lead to wastage and extra rubbish for cleaners to deal with. In terms 2 and 3, up to the end of August, 320 boxes of tissues were distributed to classrooms. The organisation was entirely up to the SRC, and I have had no complaints from staff about how it was handled. I am seeking feedback on the usefulness of the trial and a recommendation as to whether it should be continued, if student volunteers are available.

Interpreting Semester 2 Year 12 Reports

All Year 12 students ought to have their final reports. The ATAR estimate for the second semester report is based on the results of the Trial HSC alone. Students can get a more accurate appraisal of how they would perform if the HSC were to be held now. Historically, these ATAR predictions are replicated in the actual HSC with surprising accuracy. Those who performed better at assessment tasks, practical projects or performances than in formal examinations, are disadvantaged by this method of calculation. However, unless the examination marks are earned, they cannot be distributed to those with the best ranks in the course. Unless students take radical steps to address areas of weakness highlighted by their teachers, or until students adopt rigorous study schedules and stick to them for weeks at a time, then the ATAR predictions given to them at interview based on the Trial will, in all probability, closely reflect the actual HSC ATARs they earn. Intensive effort for a month or so can make a very big difference to examination scores. Students are urged to take the short-term pain for the long-term gain. Working in pairs or triads, sharing question-answering techniques or core essay content, or model answers, can help increase the quantum of HSC marks earned, and hence assessed marks will be scaled up to equal the total of earned HSC examination marks. Student-created resources, as well as ATOMI, are available to students to help boost examination marks after the Trial. Once the rank orders are decided, mutual self-help in revision and study benefits everybody, as the rising tide lifts all boats.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 28, September 06 2024

2024-09-06T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to Jeff Tse (11R), a chemistry whizz, who has been invited to attend the very prestigious Australian Science Olympiads Summer School in January 2025. Well done to Joshua Sim (7R) for his participation in Kids Giving Back during second term and the holidays. Volunteers help make snack and care packages for multiple charities across Sydney – a worthy cause!

Athletics Invitational No 3 – best results: U16 110m hurdles, Nicholas Fung 1st 16.21 and (high jump 3rd at 1.75m); U16 4 x 100m relay – Brendan Woo, Lachlan Leung, Nicholas Fung, James McLoughlin - 1st. 45.69; U17 Dylan Dutt 200m 1st 22.15 and (100m 2nd 11.28). congratulations to our successful competitors!

National Child Protection Week

National Child Protection Week (1-7/9) has a theme which asserts that every child in every community needs a fair go. Also, it is important for us all to remember that ‘Every conversation matters. When young people are stressed or anxious about relationships in their lives or are suffering the effects of neglect or abuse, they need to share their story with someone. Too often feelings are repressed, leading to unhealthy wellbeing outcomes. If you are hurting talk to someone!

National Health and Physical Education Day - 4/9

It is a sad truth that, in our now sedentary society, we need a national day to urge people to get physically active. We are hardwired to move - hence the 10,000 steps rule – replicating our primal daily movements. At High, we believe in the fundamental importance of sport and physical activity in the daily lives of our students. We expect all boys to play two sports each year with a Saturday component, as well as PE and sports training. There are health, wellbeing, social and character-building benefits that are derived from this insistence on physical activity. Stay engaged to stay healthy!

Tell Them from Me Survey 2024 Respondents

The results are in on our latest TTFM survey which DoE requires schools to participate in to obtain state-wide data on the wellbeing and perspectives of our students. Respondents N= 838. Born in Australia 81%. Students plan to finish high school – High 95%, state 77%. Students planning to go to university - High 93%, state 59%. ‘I feel proud of my school’ – agree/strongly agree 73%.

Pedagogy

‘Important concepts are taught well, class time is used efficiently, and homework and evaluations support class objectives’- High 64% state (63%). Year 12 were outliers 58% v state 64%.

‘School staff emphasise academic skills and hold high expectations for all students to succeed’. School 82%, state 69%.

Students overall mark in their current or most recent English class - High 77% state 69%; mathematics class - High 80% state 66%; Science class - High 79%, state 67%.

Students feel classroom instruction is well-organised, with a clear purpose, and with immediate feedback that helps them learn.’ Yes, at High 71% v state 62%.

Classroom: ‘Technology helps me learn’ – Agree/strongly agree (76%); learning spaces help me learn (59%); are neat and clean (63%).

Students must have misread the statement ‘students play sports with an instructor at school, other than in a physical education class.’ - High 50% (state 48%). We have >90% of students in a Saturday sport involving instructors (coaches).

Wellbeing

‘Students feel accepted and valued by their peers and by others at the school.’ School mean 81% (State 57%).

‘Students that do not get into trouble at school for disruptive or inappropriate behaviour.’ School (96%) state (89%).’

‘Students understand there are clear rules and expectations for classroom behaviour.’ School 68%, state 59%.

‘Students feel that they have someone at school who consistently provides encouragement and can be turned to for advice’. High 70%, state 60%.

We realise that even in these areas of positive perceptions by students there are things we could do to lift our performance. On the negative side, even though 91% of students agree that if they are being bullied or see someone else being bullied, they know where they can go to get help, we still have 23% of respondents (state 27%) who are subject to moderate to severe physical, social or verbal bullying or are bullied over the internet. (Our issues are predominantly with social media and often occur outside of school hours). We need to do more to encourage students to report bullying to someone so that we can respond with restorative processes to address the relationship between the students involved as bullies or victims.

Overall, the survey provides us with large scale data on our core business from the perspective of our students. While the survey is flawed and students are sick of redoing it annually, at least the weaknesses are now constants, so we can look at changes and trends more carefully to inform our future practice. We know some areas need improvement in the eyes of our students. We are listening and acting to try and improve our practice.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 27, August 30 2024

2024-08-30T00:00:00Z

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’ 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 – particularly to James McLoughlin (first in U16 hurdles – 15.38), Roger He (first in U15 long jump - 5.28m) and Reza Bassam (first in U15 hurdles – 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 ‘unsuccessful after interview’ 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 – 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 – 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 – 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 ‘riots’ ensued, before order was restored. Veterans of the raid call the event a ‘rebellion.’ 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’s 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’s celebration of Wear it Purple Day “brought with it a greater acceptance of diversity, and tolerance”. 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 – 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’s 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

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 26, August 23 2024

2024-08-23T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Many High boys are celebrating after a strong showing in their winter sports. First grade Football were declared Premiers after an agonising wait for the outcome of another fixture. The win breaks a generational drought for High Football. Our last premiership was in 1995. Congratulations to William Chou (11F), Liam Cowan (12S), Dylan Dutt (11F), Aadi Gupta (11F), Daniel Lee (12E), Lachlan Leung (11E), Praneil Manandhar (c) (12T), James McLoughlin (11R), Aiden McManus (11R), Pradeepan Nadhan (12S), Liam Nottage (11S), Ashwin Rajeswaran (12F), David Sun (11S), Alex Valanidas (12E), Brendan Woo (11E) and Luke Xing (11E). Mr Higgins and his coaching staff have been re-building the football program and this result is a credit to their efforts.

Volleyball first grade earned a hard-fought co-premiership with Scots this year. Since 2003, High first grade teams have been premiers or co-premiers each year except in 2017 – a magnificent record. Well done to Roy Chae (12F), Branson Chan (11F), Karan Dahiya (c.) (12S), Arnav Gupta (12F), Nelson Lee (11R), Owen Li (11S), Athithan Mayuran (10F), Dev Punjabi (12S), Jay Ta (12R), Steven Yin (11E), Jerald Yu (11F) and Andy Zhang (11F). Second grade volleyball were premiers in their competition. Since 2006, High has missed out only twice on securing the premiership at this level. Congratulations to Colin Chen (10M), Aaron Jin (9R), Dash Lam (10R), Frederick Lam (11S), Joseph Lee (11F), Lachlan Lefevre (12E), Xile Xie (12T), David Yoo (10T), Haoran Zhang (12S), Jonathan Zhang (c) (11R), Leo Zhuang (11M).

In Fencing, our season finished very strongly. In U14 Foil SBHS won Gold (1st of 7 teams): Xavier Xie (7T), William Tran (8R), Ian Huang (8T), Rayyan Junaid (8R), Isaac Wong (8E), Keiran Tedjasaputra (8F). In Epee U14: SBHS A Team won Gold (1st of 10 teams): William Huang (8F), Alexander Howe (9M), Daxton Sor (8M) and Bill Han (8T). In Epee U16: SBHS A Team won Gold (1st of 8 teams), Hudson Cai (10M), Daniel Zhu (9R), Ben Wu (10F), Vihaan Rajit (10E). In U19 Epee: SBHS Team won Gold (1st of 7 teams), Xavier Perry (11M), Tommy Xu (11E), Jamison Lai (11E). High retained the Epee Team Premiership Plaque.

Well done to Ryan Allen (10E) who was equal first in Australia in the Australian Geography Competition (54,000 competitors from 600 schools) – an impressive effort! Erratum – Apologies to Oliver Buikema (10F) for omitting his first-place performance in the 16 years High jump at the Regional Athletics carnival.

Book Week August 17-23

Book Week celebrates the importance of reading, stories, libraries and community for learning and inspiration. We need more of our boys to be reading more books, more often. To express ourselves well in stage 6, we need to develop a wide vocabulary to choose the right word for the particular context in which we write or discuss sophisticated ideas. Wide reading in stage 4 helps us build up our vocabulary.

Wear it Purple Day August 30

Next Friday we celebrate Wear it Purple Day. The aim of the day is to celebrate and support diverse young people and to challenge societal attitudes to help shape a fairer, more humane and just society. We have been involved in this celebration since 2010 to demonstrate hope to young rainbow people, to affirm that there are other people who support and accept LGBTIQA+ youth. This year’s theme is ‘your passion, your pride’. It is a rallying cry for young rainbow people to embrace and express their true selves and pursue their dreams.

Young people are encouraged to feel inspired by successful and happy LGBTQIA+ role models. The Department of Education has been rated at silver level in the Australian Workplace Equality Index - the national benchmark for organisational inclusivity. As an organisation, ‘Wear it Purple’ has key focus areas. It acts as a resource for awareness raising through supporting Wear It Purple Days in schools. It provides opportunities for rainbow young people to develop their skills and expand their networks. It provides supportive and safe spaces, both digital and physical, where young rainbow people can feel proud of who they are. Wear it Purple also collaborates with other organisations to further the inclusion of rainbow young people in society. Next Friday, let us all celebrate how inclusive a fair-minded country like Australia can be.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 25, August 16 2024

2024-08-16T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

Relieving Roles

After taking an extended period of leave, it was encouraging for me to find on my return that all the planned activities at High had taken place seamlessly under the strong and effective leadership team of Mr Kay as relieving Principal, Ms Luu as relieving Deputy Principal (7,9,11) and Mr Ohlback as relieving Head Teacher (Teaching and Learning). Ms Kim also stepped up to relieve Mr Prorellis as relieving Deputy Principal (Administration) for several weeks. I want to express my sincere thanks to everyone involved. The feedback I have received has been very positive. The depth of our leadership expertise is increased as people have extended experience serving in schoolwide leadership positions or relieving in a faculty leadership role.

High Talent

At the recent Regional Athletics Carnival, our High team performed strongly with 11 first places. Nestor Chan (10R) won the 15 years 800m and 1500m double and was 3rd in the 3000m; Aiden McManus (11R) won the 16 years 800m and placed 3rd in the 400m; Mekaeel Khan (8M) won the 14 years long jump and placed 3rd in high jump; Shawn Handoko (8T) won the 13 years 90m hurdles; Roger He (9E) was 1st in the 15 years long jump and Lachlan Leung (11E) won the 16 years long jump; Nicholas Fung (11E) won the 16 years triple jump and darcy Li (10T) won the 16 years shot put. Our relay teams were successful in the 13 years and 16 years events. Congratulations to the team and to MIC Kurt Rich and his coaches for their mentoring of our athletes. At the recent final of the Legacy Public Speaking Competition, Gurushaan Thanabalasingam (7S), progressed to the regional Final. Well done, Guru! Thank you to Ms Eggleton who organised the Final to be hosted at High. Maurice Wong (11T) was presented with the NSW Young Volunteer of the Year Award (City of Sydney/Eastern Suburbs). Maurice was recognised for his >300 hours of service in 2023 to St Johns Ambulance NSW. At the recent UNSW 62nd Annual Mathematics Competition Tanish Sarathy (11S) was awarded a prize for 3rd; Eric Scholten (12R) High Distinction; Distinctions went to Andrew Pye (11R), Arthur Qiu (11R) and Jeff Tse (11R); credits were earned by Thomas Cao (11E), Shafayat Hossain (11F), Disen Liu (11E) and Timothy Zhou (11T). congratulations to you all!

Prefect Elections

After a process of application, vetting by the executive and electoral college election, the School Prefects for 2024-25 have been finalised. The Prefects in turn elected their captain Jin Shim, vice-captain Liam Nottage and the Senior Prefect, John Fang. Prefects elect are Thomas Cao, Clinton Chau, Victor Chen, Andrew Ding, Matthias Elgawly, John Fang, Nicholas Fung, Ric Hou, Micah Jouravlev, Jordan Komonen, Matthew Kuskoff, Nelson Lee, James McLoughlin, Akith Perera, Xavier Perry, Brannavan Prabaharan, Andrew Pye, Arthur Qiu, Jeshan Somanader, Nathan Tang, Brendan Woo, James Yang, Andy Zhang, Jonathan Zhang, Oscar Zhang and Timothy Zhou, Congratulations to all!

National Science Week 10 - 18 August

Australia celebrates Science and Technology for a whole week each year. More than 1,000 events are organised across Australia, delivered in universities, research institutions, science centres, museums, libraries and schools. This year’s theme is ’Species Survival More than just sustainability’. The theme aims to highlight the importance of science and innovation in ensuring the survival of different species in an ever-changing world. There are supporting resources available online, including National Science Week.

Bullying No Way Week - August 12-16.

As a society and as a school community we need collective positive action to grow connections to prevent bullying. This year’s theme is ‘Everyone belongs.’ When we all feel like we belong, bullying struggles to find a place. It is about embracing who we are, respecting everyone’s differences and standing up together against unkindness. We have as our school values, compassion and respect, both concepts are antithetical to any form of bullying. We all need to reflect upon the nature of our actions and utterances - spoken, written or on social media. What we say and do should be to avoid harm to someone’s feelings or self-respect. To see what is happening, go to: www.bullyingnoway.gov.au/preventing-bullying/national-week-of-action.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 24, August 09 2024

2024-08-09T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Firstly, a big congratulations to Dean Johnsun (12F) for receiving the 2024 Minister's Award for Excellence in Student Achievement, presented to him by the Deputy Premier and Minister for Education, Prue Car, at the Sydney Town Hall last Monday. Well done Dean on your very well-deserved prize for ongoing commitment in such a wide range of endeavours!

Language Camp

Early this week we had the launch of the Stage 5 language camp, with Year 9 and 10 language students heading to Collaroy to immerse themselves in a number of experiences with the languages staff. Feedback was very positive about this new initiative, and I’d like to thank Mr Tommy Zheng and the languages staff for providing the learning enrichment for the boys.

Back to High Day

This weekend is the annual Back to High Day as we play against Sydney Grammar. This is always an exciting day where Old Boys return to watch and support the current students playing across various sports. I highly encourage students to attend the first and second grade fixtures this weekend to create a real atmosphere for our top teams and demonstrate to all of our returning alumni that High Spirit is as big as ever. The support of a big crowd will hopefully provide that extra bit of lift in the players in the final stretch of the winter competition, with some of our teams in contention for their respective titles. Good luck to all of our students and enjoy the moment!

Subject Selection 2025

In the coming weeks Year 10 will be getting information about subject selections for the HSC and will have the opportunity to meet with a teacher mentor of their choosing to provide guidance in their decision making. These meetings allow the students to discuss their strengths and areas of interest, while also developing goals for the future. More information on the subject selection and teacher meeting process will be provided to Year 10 shortly. In the meantime, I encourage the boys to discuss their current thoughts with their parents and take a look at last year’s resources to help guide them in their decision making: /curriculum/subject-choices.

Spelling for Academic Success

On a final note, I encourage all students to consider the importance of spelling, punctuation and grammar in their written responses. Applying each of these correctly adds sophistication to their work. It’s important for students to consistently practice handwriting with their tasks as writing out words and sentences is very different process to typing. Regularly using a pen and paper removes the technological benefits of punctuation and spelling being corrected automatically, which will help the boys to write properly under examination conditions. Speaking of which, good luck to all of our Year 12 and HSC accelerated students in the upcoming trial examinations!
Jamie Kay
Relieving Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 23, August 02 2024

2024-08-02T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Firstly, congratulations to our 1sts Volleyball team on winning the final round of the NSW CHS knockout, defeating Ryde 3-0. This result is indicative of our exceptionally well-structured program, ably led by Mr Michael Kay in providing ongoing success in the sport over many years. Well done to all the boys and coaches for yet another effective campaign!

Last Saturday we also had success at the 2024 Chinese Eisteddfod, a culmination of a whole term of training with the support of Ms Willa Zhang. Many students won prizes in the Individual and Group categories, including Yuze Li (9F) 1st in the Individual 13-15 age group, and 1st by the Year 10 group in the Group 13-15 age group. Other prizes in the event include Will Meng (7F) with 3rd place in the 10-12 age group, Yuhai Wang (9M) in 3rd and Leo Yuan (7S) 4th in the 13-15 age group, Jeff Tse (11R) with 2nd and Rocky Wu (10R) in 3rd place for the 16–18-year group, Macallister Giles (9F) placing 3rd in the non-native section, while Year 7 and Year 9 both placed 3rd in their categories. A big congratulations to all of you on your many successes!

Another success story in the last week was the school team of Mohamad Rachid (10M), Joshua Kimpton (10S) Tristan Cheung (10R), Balhar Athwal (10M), Vihaan Rajit (10E) and Jude Ou (10R) who placed 12th at the 2024 International Ethics Olympiad, a fantastic achievement in an international competition. Well done boys and a big thank you to Ms Julie Eggleton for her ongoing commitment to the program!

Year 10-11 Parent-Teacher Interviews

This week the Year 10 and 11 parent-teacher night was held via zoom. Once again, the feedback from parents and staff indicated that this event ran very smoothly, and the flexibility of zoom allowed more opportunities for interviews to take place. I’d like to thank Ms Natalie Luu for her organisation of these events over the last few months, along with Mr George Barris and Mr John Prorellis for supporting the staff on those days. Furthermore, I’d like to thank all the teachers who spent several hours in back-to-back interviews to support our students and parents through these important discussions. I’m sure that parents were able to walk away with more knowledge of how their sons are progressing that will assist in their studies and help inform the boys’ decisions regarding their subjects next year.

Reading for Academic Success

On a final note, I’d like to reiterate with all students and their parents the importance of reading in their academic development and success. Reading widely allows students to gain valuable insight into various topics, while also developing more sophistication in their responses through a wider vocabulary and various synonyms that could be used for better flow in their work. I encourage all students to read on a daily basis in whatever form that may be, as they will not only see improved results but also gain significant pleasure from their experience.
Jamie Kay
Relieving Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 22, July 26 2024

2024-07-26T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

As we kick off a new term, it’s great to have a large number of success stories to share with our community.

Henry Lau (12S) has just been signed as a development player for the Sydney Kings for the upcoming season, one of the first development players signed by the Kings in their history! Congratulations Henry on such an amazing achievement and we wish you the best of luck in a thriving basketball career.

Over the holidays at the 32nd Sutherland Shire and St George Youth Music Awards 2024, Liam Greacen (11E) placed second in the SMC Banksia Award for Young Composers and received Highly Commended in the Performance on Alto Saxophone. Well done, Liam!

This week it was also announced that Dylan Dutt (11F) has been accepted into the UBS Finance Academy workshops that run in the October holidays. Well done on getting into this highly competitive program Dylan!

Last weekend, Sydney High won the All-Schools Rifle Shooting event at Malabar in what was a close competition. Mark Sukhovsky (11R) was King of the Range with a score of 115.9. The school also won the David Rose Snap Match with Jensen Wang (10F) as joint King of the Range on a score of 39/40. Well done to all boys in their respective events.

In fencing last weekend, there were numerous great results for the students. Tommy Xu (11E) won equal Bronze in the Boys Epee Individual event. In the Boys Epee Team event the SBHS Epee A Team consisting of Tommy Xu (11E), Xavier Perry (11M), Hudson Cai (10M), Jamison Lai (11E) won Gold, while the SBHS Epee B Team of Daniel Zhu (9R), Benjamin Wu (10F), Vihaan Rajit (10E), Lucas Wang (10R) won equal Bronze.

In the Boys Sabre Individual event Daniel Iliffe (11R) won Gold, Jayden Ho (12M) won Silver and Oscar Shi (12S) won equal Bronze. In the Boys Sabre Team event the SBHS Sabre A Team of Daniel Iliffe (11R), Oscar Shi (12S), Jayden Ho (12M), Samuel Hui (12T) won Gold, while the SBHS Sabre B Team of Ethan Li (10F), Mahesh Karki (11S), Akith Perera (11E), Nathan Lee (11R) won Silver.

Furthermore, in the Boys Foil Individual event Benjamin Dang (10R) won Gold, while in the Boys Foil Team event our team of Dean Johnsun (12F), Benjamin Dang (10R), Andrew Wang (12S), Henry Lin (12S) won Gold.

With a clean sweep in the team fencing events, winning Gold in all 3 weapons, SBHS won the Championship title this year. Well done to all our fencers on this fantastic achievement and their ongoing success this season!

Pre-Trial HSC Practice

In other news, during the holidays we had 142 students complete pre-trial HSC practice papers in the Great Hall over two days. This was a great opportunity for the boys to get invaluable experience at sitting an unseen paper under examination conditions for three hours. I’d like to thank the executive for providing this opportunity to the boys through their preparation of the papers and to Mr Barris for overseeing the tasks during the break. Doing past papers, particularly under time constraints, is such an important skill for success in the HSC. I highly recommend that all boys sitting the HSC (and in other year groups when their examinations are coming up) complete a number of past papers to maximise their results.

Holiday Works

This break there was also a large number of works being done across the school site. The eagerly awaited air conditioning in the Junior Library has been completed in what’s been a long journey including several delays over a number of years. A new NBN line was also installed in the school to allow better access to the internet across all aspects of the school. Additionally, blinds were replaced in various locations across the school, all while a number of rectification works were undertaken around the site. A massive thank you to our General Assistant Jim Crampton for his efforts in keeping the school facilities in the shape that they are.

NAPLAN Results

And on a final note, the school received personalised copies of NAPLAN results this week, which were distributed to students in Years 7 and 9. Further data for analysis across each cohort will be available to the school in coming weeks, when the executive will develop plans to continue students’ growth in reading, writing, numeracy and effective use of language. I encourage parents to look over their son’s NAPLAN report to discuss his areas of strength and areas he could improve. By enhancing the boys’ ability in these fundamental literacy and numeracy skills in their early years of high school they will be better placed to succeed in the years ahead.
Jamie Kay
Relieving Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 21, July 05 2024

2024-07-05T00:00:00Z

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’s 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’ 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’s event. Please notify the front office if you haven’t received this email as we don’t 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’s 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’s 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’s theme is “Keep the Fire Burning! Blak, Loud and Proud” to honour the vitality of First Nations culture. Fire is a symbol of First Nations people’s connection to the land, to Country and to each other over many generations. It’s 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’t 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’s 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’ 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’d 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’s 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’d 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’m sure they will all enjoy some well-earned rest over the break.

I’d 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’ 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’ education. The whole school community really appreciate everything you do for the boys.

Have a great holiday everyone!
Jamie Kay
Relieving Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 20, June 28 2024

2024-06-28T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Firstly, congratulations to the UNSW ProgComp team consisting of Andrew Pye (11R), Archie Wijaya (11F) and Andrew Chen (11F) who placed third nationally out of two hundred and ten teams, an outstanding achievement! They will be competing in the Grand Final at the UNSW Open Day later this year. We wish them good luck in the event. Meanwhile Joshua Li (10S) achieved a Prize in the Computational and Algorithmic Thinking Competition. Well done Joshua!

Annual trips to Armidale and Music Camp

Last weekend 213 boys represented the school on the annual trip to Armidale. From what I’ve heard, the atmosphere was very positive and exciting, with everyone enjoying the clear and significantly balmier conditions than our previous experiences up north. These experiences are fantastic for the boys due to the bonds formed, as well as being great for the boys’ personal growth.

This week we’ve seen 300 boys heading down south for the annual music camp, this year at Stanwell Tops. This was followed by the Music Camp Concert on their return Thursday evening. Seeing what the boys can perform after a few days working extensively on their musical pieces is always a pleasure. Well done to all those involved. It’s always a pleasure to watch our music ensembles and I encourage our school community to attend these whenever possible.

I’d like to also thank all the staff who have attended these two camps, giving up their weekends and evenings. We could not run these without the dedicated staff in our school. So, on behalf of our school community, thank you for your time and effort!

Year 11 Reports

This week I continued to distribute the boys’ reports, meeting with Year 11 students to discuss how they’ve found the transition into Year 11. Understandably, many of the boys found the jump in workload a challenge at first but the majority have found more effective ways to manage their time in the early months of the year.

Each of the boys were provided with an ATAR estimate in their meetings with me. This estimate is calculated using the raw marks for each of their 12 units of courses and scaling them based on the previous year’s HSC results. The boys should use the feedback on their report to start considering their intentions for study in the HSC. This includes whether or not to pick up, or continue with, extension courses. A number of boys also have a course that is significantly weaker than their others, in many cases indicating a lack of engagement through their learning behaviours. These students are encouraged to apply themselves for the remainder of the Preliminary course to see what their best effort will lead to before deciding to drop any subjects.

High Spirit Survey

Last week our School Culture team began to analyse the High Spirit survey results. 426 students responded to the survey, with an even spread of responses across Years 7-12. The data indicated that 70% of boys believe that attending events such as Head of the River and GPS Swimming Carnival increase High Spirit and 70% of boys said that their High Spirit increased since they started at the school. A further 20% remained unchanged since they started, with some of those responders commenting that you can’t get any higher than what they already had coming to the school. It’s great to have such strong baseline data for us to work with as we look to continue enhancing our school culture in the years ahead.

As part of the survey, there was also an extensive range of suggestions the boys made on how we can improve our school. A large number of these suggestions were excellent, and often creative, solutions and many of these are being considered for the future. Announcements regarding these will be made in the coming months.

Student Self-Assessment

On a final note, to enhance the quality of their work, I encourage all students to utilise self-assessment as a tool for their own improvement. Accurate self-evaluation from reflection is a critical life skill that they can enhance through their studies. The boys can use the marking criteria for tasks, including any past papers they are provided with, to evaluate how they performed. This could be in their application of content, structure of the response, use of sophisticated language or many other aspects that each course prioritises for student success. By looking at exemplars the teachers provide, the boys can gain further understanding of what success looks like and utilise this in future tasks.
Jamie Kay
Relieving Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 19, June 21 2024

2024-06-21T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Our fencing teams are continuing to have a great deal of success at tournaments. At the Australian Schools Intermediate Fencing Championships our Intermediate Foil Team of Tom Ye (9T), Jeremy Yan (9F), Jentzen Lim (9F) and Xavier Xie (7T) won Silver in their event. Our Intermediate Epee Team of Daniel Zhu (9R), Alexander Howe (9M), Luke McLoughlin (9T) and William Huang (8F) won Gold in their event. While Oliver Xie (9R) won Silver in the Individual Men’s Sabre event, with William Cahyadi winning equal Bronze in the same event. Congratulations boys!

Combined P&C Meeting

Last week our P&C held the combined P&C meeting with Sydney Girls, inviting guest speaker – Ruby Otero. This session focused on anxiety in students and the resources available to help students in managing this. Research shows that two thirds of anxiety is learned, and we can teach children to focus on what’s in their control to manage their feelings of anxiety effectively. The following is a short film clip shown on the night which goes through some of the cognitive distortions humans may have, where irrational thoughts enter their minds https://m.youtube.com/watch?v=otFrNM7PnME

As discussed on the night, evidence indicates that bone strength develops as we put our body under stress, and inoculation allows the human body to get stronger. Similarly, when we’re put under emotional stress and allowed to struggle, we can learn to manage our emotions and grow. Patterns of behaviour won’t change until we’re educated and guided on how to behave differently. Giving in to the anxious thoughts of adolescents encourages them to continue with their mindset and hinders their growth to manage the situation. Instead, we can acknowledge that it’s hard but tell them that we know they can do it. By showing we believe in them and their abilities, reinforcing times they’ve done similar things in the past, we can help them manage anxious feelings more effectively. I’d like to thank Mr George Barris and Ms Catherine Bavell for their work is organising Ruby Otero to speak at the event and we hope to get more opportunities to develop the boys through organisations such as Parentshop.

Importantly, the co-curricular activities on offer at High allow the boys to push themselves and become more resilient, providing one way for them to better manage feelings of anxiety. As always, we strongly encourage boys in all year levels to be involved in co-curricular programs in their areas of interest, as they can challenge themselves, while creating closer friendships.

World Refugee Week

Relating to resilience, this week is World Refugee Week, with the theme for 2024 being “Finding freedom: Family”. The determination and strength refugees must demonstrate while facing adversity is central to the week’s activities. Refugees develop very close bonds across their journey that have a profound impact on their lives, with family ties enhanced as they manage the complex situations they face. On Thursday, for World Refugee Day, a group of students in the Equality Committee attended a Refugee Day event to gain more understanding and support for refugees and the plights they face. We hope that in sharing what they’ve learned, they can play their part in creating a supportive culture around the world.

Year 7 Reports and Parent-Teacher Interviews

On another note, this week it was a pleasure to meet with each of our Year 7 cohort to issue them with their reports. The excitement many of them have been experiencing in their first months at High was great to hear, with many of the boys commenting on the academic challenge and sporting experiences as highlights of their time so far.

Impressively, the very large number of Year 7s demonstrating exceptional learning behaviours - a record 50 boys in total - bodes well for their year group as they continue their secondary school journey. I highly recommend that parents discuss their son’s report with him to look at his areas of strength and what goals he could set himself for Semester 2. Each year from 7-10 the two semesters’ results are reported on separately, so the boys have a fresh start commencing this week to show what they’ve learned from their feedback on this report.

Coming up in Week 10, we have the parent-teacher interviews for Year 7. History shows that there will undoubtedly be substantial interest in year 7 parents meeting with their son’s teachers. Since 2023 we’ve held a separate event for Year 7 parents to maximise the number of interviews possible. If you haven’t received the email from Edval to sign up for interviews please check your junk mail first, before contacting the front office if further support is needed. Requests for interviews must be placed through our Edval system by Wednesday next week, so ensure you enter your preferences before the deadline. Unfortunately, with each year 7 student having so many different teachers, the schedule is very densely packed. For this reason, parents may not be able to meet with every teacher so please add your priorities. Similarly, we cannot add any late requests for interviews.

On a final note, in order for students to continue developing their written responses, peer marking is an important tool at their disposal. Evidence shows that peer assessment is beneficial to both the assessor and the one assessed. The boys are encouraged to read each other’s work and provide feedback on what they did well and what could be improved. Doing so will allow both students to enhance the quality of their future responses.
Jamie Kay
Relieving Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 18, June 14 2024

2024-06-14T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

Vale Sam Kremer

Firstly, I’d like to pay my respects to Sam Kremer, an Old Boy from the class of 1992 who passed away last week. Sam was highly involved in Rifle Shooting, coaching our boys to numerous successes and his passing has had a profound impact on those who worked with him over the years. He was always to be seen working with the boys and refining the equipment, often arriving early, or staying back late to ensure the best environment for the boys. The school was very lucky to have such a devoted individual who gave so much back to the school, embodying the ethos of High Spirit. He will be missed by many.

Year 9 Progress and Report Meetings

This week I continued to meet with students to discuss their reports, in this case working through the majority of Year 9. In general, the boys were aware of what went well and what they could do to improve for next semester which was great to hear. Many students improved their overall results significantly with the introduction of their two elective courses and fewer mandated subjects. This is a good time for Year 9 students to reflect on what they’d like to study for their three elective courses in Year 10. They will be finalising their preferences in Term 3, so I encourage the boys to speak with their teachers to ensure that they’re well informed before making their decisions.

My discussions with Year 9 this week largely focused on the five learning behaviours reported on across all subjects so that the boys could see the importance of each in their future learning. I recommend parents talk through these with their son for each individual subject, while also considering any patterns that can be found across the report to have a more targeted approach to supporting him. The consistent demonstration of engagement, organisational skills, effective writing technique, utilising feedback and overall behaviour in class is a great indicator of a student working towards his personal best in areas that will have a profound impact on their HSC and beyond. To encourage the boys to pursue excellence in these areas and to recognise their dedication, Award Scheme points are added each semester for those who consistently display these behaviours.

Letters have been sent home to parents of Year 9 boys who improved significantly from last semester to continue their personal growth. We want to acknowledge the efforts of these boys to make such significant inroads in their learning. Students who underperformed this semester also had letters sent to their parents to encourage them to apply themselves to the best of their ability. The wellbeing team will be working with these students to support them in establishing goals and plans to achieve them.

Parent-Teacher Interviews

Next Monday 17 June the school day will finish at lunch due to the Year 8 and 9 Parent-Teacher Interviews. All parents who requested interviews would have received their schedule by now and the zoom links to use on the day. The flexibility these zoom sessions provide, allowing parents to log in from multiple locations (even internationally in some cases) to speak with their son’s teachers has been found to be worthwhile for our school community. We hope parents find these discussions insightful to enhance their son’s learning.

Lost Property

On a separate matter, in recent weeks there have been a large number of student belongings that have been found without clearly labelled names. Please ensure that all items, especially clothing, are clearly labelled so that our Lost Property staff can ensure the items are returned promptly to their rightful owners.

Student Improvement

As a final note, this week I’d like to focus on students’ use of feedback in their written work. Every semester teachers report on how well students are able to reflect on teacher feedback and apply this to their work. Taking note of these comments, reflecting on them, and incorporating this into their own work is an essential skill for self-improvement. If a student is unsure of how to improve after receiving feedback, it’s essential that they clarify this with their teacher.

Once students know how to improve, they need to set themselves one or two goals to develop for the next task. In this way, the boys can enhance their skills one step at a time and receive more feedback for future tasks. Students who refine their work as they’re provided feedback can apply what they’ve learned in a timely manner, increasing the likelihood of retaining the skills they learned for their future success.
Jamie Kay
Relieving Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 17, June 07 2024

2024-06-07T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Firstly, congratulations to the 1st Grade Volleyball team who defeated South Sydney, Kingsgrove North and Tempe to win the Sydney East Volleyball Knockout last Friday. They now proceed to the CHS state finals next term. We wish the boys the best of luck!

In Fencing news, last week at the NSWSFL Epee Individual Competition hosted at Barker College, Daxton Sor (8M) and Luke McLoughlin (9T) won equal Bronze in the U14 Epee Individual event, while in the U16 Epee Individual event, Xavier Perry (11M) took home the Gold as Daniel Zhu (9R) and Vihaan Rajit (10E) won equal Bronze. Well done gentlemen and good luck in the National Schools event later this year!

And on Monday, our Symphony Orchestra came second in the Sydney Eisteddfod held in The Concourse Concert Hall, Chatswood. Well done boys!

In staffing news, I’d like to congratulate Mr Wesley Beare on his permanent appointment to the school last week. Wesley has been working with us since 2023 and we’re delighted to have him continue here into the future!

School Reports and Results

This week the report cycle begins in earnest. I’ve had the pleasure of meeting the vast majority of Year 8 students to discuss their progress this semester and what they can do to improve. These meetings provided an opportunity for the boys to reflect on their learning and develop a plan for their future growth.

The learning behaviours listed for every course provide the boys with an indication their strengths and areas for improvement in each subject, as well as how these approaches to learning are demonstrated across all courses studied. These learning behaviours are embedded in every report from Years 7 to 12 and are an invaluable source of information for both students and parents to gauge how well the boys are engaging in various aspects of their learning. These are areas that the teachers have deemed critical for success across the range of subjects. Students who are consistently applying themselves across all their courses are to be commended and will also have their efforts acknowledged within the Award Scheme. For students and their parents to know how they can maximise their results in the future, any pattern in the learning behaviours is a good place to start.

On entering Year 8, the boys had the choice of studying a second language on the condition that this was Latin. As a consequence, some students complete ten courses this year, while others study nine. The best nine subject results are used to determine the progress of each student. This may advantage some boys given the ability for one course to not be counted. However, with an additional course to study, they are required to master additional concepts and have fewer outside of class hours to do so.

Fluctuations in performance often occur in the early stages of High School as the boys also learn how to best balance their studies with other aspects of their lives. This is the time in their educational development for students to reflect on what works for them and refine their approach to study in preparation for the senior school. These fluctuations tend to settle as the boys discover effective study routines including their approach to class activities, completion of homework and assignments and how to undertake effective preparation for assessments. This came up in many of my discussions with the boys and it would be good for parents to ask the boys what they’ve learned from this semester’s report.

Every semester the Principal sends letters to parents whose son has improved significantly from the previous reporting period. Letters to these parents have been sent this week as a way to acknowledge and encourage them to maintain their positive approach.

Additionally, the school wellbeing team check in with students who are underachieving across their courses or have big downward fluctuations in results from one semester to the next. Letters have also been sent home to these parents to reinforce ways we can best support their sons to maximise their results.

As the Year 8 boys reflect on their reports, they should also start considering their electives for next year which will need to be decided in mid-September. Students will pick up two elective courses, so they should start contemplating what their strengths are and speak with their teachers if they have any questions about courses. A full overview of the subject selection process, including the 2023 presentation, can be found on our community website at /curriculum/subject-choices.

With Year 8 and 9 parent-teacher night coming up in the next fortnight, this is an opportunity for parents to speak with their son’s teachers to get further information on how he is performing in each course. All parents in Years 8 and 9 should have received their notification email about registering for the event and should contact the front office if they didn’t.

Literacy Focus

On a final note, as part of our ongoing literacy focus, the following are a few tips for students in enhancing their extended response writing in the future:

Write a brief plan to keep you on track as it’s good to know your starting point, end point, and how you will get there. The syllabus dot points relevant to the question are a good place to start when planning your response.
Use the metalanguage of the subject. A bank of key words used in each subject area can be developed from Year 7 that will add sophistication to your responses over the years.
Consider the opening of each sentence, using synonyms to add variety and further sophistication. An appositive could also be used within the topic sentence to give context for the following text.
Use evidence to support your argument to maximise its impact.
Read your own work out loud to check the flow of your response, including the correct use of grammar and punctuation.

Jamie Kay
Relieving Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 16, May 31 2024

2024-05-31T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Firstly, congratulations to the 1st Grade Football team who finished runners-up in the GPS Plate Final in a tough fought game against Newington College last Saturday. The intensity and grit shown by the students bodes well for the GPS season ahead. Well done gentlemen!

In further football news, a large number of High students were selected in the GPS football squads to compete in the CIS Championships next week. Congratulations to Alexander Valanidis (12E), Praneil Manandhar (12T), Liam Nottage (11S) and Dylan Dutt (11F) who were selected in the GPS 1st XI Combined squad, and to Aiden McManus (11R), James McLoughlin (11R) and Liwen Deng (10E) who were selected in the GPS 16 and Under squad. We wish you good luck in the upcoming competition.

Congratulations also to the students who recently competed in the Senior School Ethics Olympiad. Sydney High were awarded the silver medal and an honourable mention for their efforts. Well done Tristan Cheung (10R), Joshua Kimpton (10S), Jude Ou (10R), Mohamad Rachid (10M), Lachlan Yuen (10S), Andrew Pye (11R), Ioannis Chatzinikolaou (11T), Tra Nguyen (11F) and Jeff Tse (11R) for representing the school with aplomb.

National Reconciliation Week

This week, we as a school celebrate National Reconciliation Week, which commenced on the 27 May. ‘Now More Than Ever’ is the theme this year, where we as a nation are encouraged to take the time to understand ways, we can all contribute to a more inclusive Australia. By acknowledging the extensive history of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples for many thousands of years, and the contributions first nations people make to our society today, we are able to commit to building a more inclusive future, starting today. This requires strong leadership and we’re confident that the boys in our school have the qualities needed to pursue positive outcomes for our indigenous citizens in the future.

Our Leadership Assembly on Thursday was a clear display of the positive qualities many of our students are gaining that will allow them to make a difference to Australian society. Here at High, we have numerous leadership opportunities for students through a variety of co-curricular programs. To see the passion these students have for what they do bodes well for both their futures and for society at large.

This Friday we also celebrated the students who are about to commence the 1st and 2nd Grade GPS competitions in their various winter sports. These students embody the essence of High Spirit in dedicating themselves to multiple hours of training over many years to hone their skills. Each of these students are developing essential characteristics for their future including teamwork, communication, problem solving, creativity and resilience. I’d like to thank all the staff who contribute to our various sports programs as it would not be possible without their ongoing commitment. And the best of luck to all students in their respective sports over the coming weeks as they give their all, representing our school with pride. With over 97% of students participating in competitive winter sports this season, the scholar-sportsman ethos is well and truly in place.

Student Behaviour in Public

On another matter, I’d like to add a reminder to all students to behave with the utmost respect and integrity while in public and on public transport. Due to recent complaints from commuters, we held a special assembly for the whole school during the week to address the boys’ behaviour in public and what’s expected of them. Parents are requested to discuss these matters with their sons to ensure that their behaviour in public reflects what we expect and typically see from them within school grounds.

Literacy

Finally, with the school’s key focus on improving the literacy skills of students in every year group, students are encouraged to ensure they closely read all questions asked of them, in whatever form this takes.

Many gifted students struggle with multiple choice questions as they either rush through the section or overanalyse them by looking to justify each of the options. The key is to look closely at the question as there may be more than one answer. However, often the most correct response can only be distinguished through very carefully reading the question. A good strategy is to think of potential answers before reading the options (often called the “distractors”). This more clearly focuses the student on the question at hand and allows them to better select the appropriate choice.

In short answer and extended response questions, students must take the time to carefully work through what’s being asked. Too often students see a hint of something they know well and rush straight into answering the question they wanted, which may not actually be the question at hand. Take a few moments to plan your response and check that the plan matches the question asked, including the directive term provided. A “discuss” question response should look quite different to an “outline” or “analyse” response.

As always, the best way to hone a skill is through practice. We strongly encourage all students to complete a variety of questions in preparation for upcoming assessments in order to refine the skill of carefully addressing the question before them.
Jamie Kay
Relieving Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 15, May 24 2024

2024-05-24T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to our Fencing Teams for retaining the Roberta Nutt Shield for individual competition. Medals were earned in seven of the eight events contested, with High fencers earning most points on the day. Daniel Iliffe (11R) won gold in the U18 Men’s Sabre.

Bursary Scheme Milestone

Our Old Boys, led by Bruce Corlett and Ron Schwarz (SHS-1962), have donated > $1million to the Scheme. Financial assistance over multiple years has been provided to 69 individual students since 2018, exceeding $400,000. Our medium-term goal is to raise $2.5 million to make the Scheme partially or fully self-sustaining, depending on the interest rate environment. This is a great cause and is tax deductible and anyone can contribute through the Old Boys website – https://www.shsobu.org.au

Sorry Day

In December of 1992, Paul Keating’s Redfern Speech gave political recognition to the genesis of the racial problem in Australia being that non-aboriginal Australians “took the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life,” essentially as a result of invasion. Non-aboriginal Australians showed their ignorance and prejudice in their treatment of indigenous people. As human beings we failed “to imagine these things being done to us”. By December 1993 a Commonwealth Native Title Tribunal was established under the Native Title Act to confront dispossession and find a way to return to indigenous people land that had always been theirs.

A social justice spin-off from this legislation was a public exposure of the policy of assimilation and the forced removal of children from their families. The practice began in the 1800s and continued until the 1970s The report of the subsequent judicial inquiry was handed down in 1997. ‘Bringing Them Home Report’ accused white society of gross violations of the human rights of indigenous people. The policy amounted to attempted genocide in practice – communities and cultures were the targets. The report recommended an apology to ATSI people and that reparations ought to be paid to survivors and their families.

A year after this report was tabled, May 26, 1998, the first National Sorry Day was held. It has been held annually ever since. Sorry Day is a precursor to Reconciliation Week and focuses on remembrance of the damage caused by past policies to indigenous families as a result of the forced removal of their children. On Sunday, 29 May 2000, 250,000 people participated in the Corroboree Bridge Walk highlighting the lack of an official apology from the Australian Government to indigenous Australians. Since 2005, the official title for Sorry Day has been a National Day of Healing for All Australians. On February 13, 2008, Kevin Rudd delivered the historical apology to ATSI people on behalf of the Australian Government for the “profound grief, suffering and loss” inflicted upon them. “For the pain, suffering and hurt of these Stolen Generations, their descendants and for their families left behind, we say sorry”. A shocking statistic is that today ATSI children are 10.6 times more likely to be removed from their parents’ household than non-indigenous children.

Budget Trimmed

Our budget allocation from DoE was reduced by 1.25% on our SBAR last week. Statewide there has been a decline of 25,000 students. Funding is tied to student numbers. All schools will share the burden of funding cuts. This means $167,000 less to spend on school programs at High. Our policy is to retain all core educational delivery services to students as a priority. Some cuts will be made – eg in our print run of The Record (usually $35k) because digital versions are available. Year 7 and 12 will get a hard copy. Orders will be taken thereafter. We will save $15k. The car park improvements planned on the Anzac Parade frontage will be postponed until 2025 ($150k). We will examine other discretionary spending on a case-by-case basis as the year progresses. We are currently running at 2.7% over budget with one third of the teaching year gone.

Closer Reading: What am I reading?

Comedy is a light or amusing work evoking ‘thoughtful laughter’. It is characterised by a faithfulness to life, especially human foibles, or flaws, as presented in the actions and utterances of its characters. Its material is of human nature shown in such a way as to appeal to the sympathy and idealism of the audience (sentimental comedy). Pure comedy, however, is satirical, untinged with sentimental appeal (Congreve, Molière). Restoration comedy [17th century], is also ‘pure’, being satirical, full of amorous intrigue and risqué subject matter. Comedy is further distinguished by being High (sophisticated and witty and patronised by a cultivated audience) or Low (featuring slapstick, fun and the ridiculous stupidities of the ignorant, for a less demanding audience).
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 14, May 17 2024

2024-05-17T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Leon Lu (9F) participated in the 2023-2024 VEX IQ World Championship as the member of 7998B team, representing Australia in Dallas, Texas. The team secured the Teamwork 2nd place at the Design Division of middle school. Leon is a driving force in this successful team. Well done, Leon! Congratulations to our CHS rugby representatives for Sydney East Zone. Harry Xin (12E), Daniel Bian (12E), Joseph Britton (12S), Naeer Nibras (11E) and Kalan Cusick (11T) attended the CHS Opens Rugby carnival at Bathurst this week. Well done to our fencers at the Roberta Nutt Competition last Saturday. Gold medals were won by: Xavier Xie 7T (U14 Men’s Foil);Benjamin Dang 10R U16 Men’s Foil; Xavier Perry 11M (U16 Men’s Epée) and Daniel Iliffe (12R) (U16Men’s sabre). Our boys are doing well in all three weapons categories!

Sydney Boys High School’s Annual Report 2023

The Annual Report for Sydney Boys High School has been signed off and published. It is available on our website for perusal or download at sydneyhigh.school/publications/annual-report. I commend the document to you as a snapshot of what our school has been achieving. Also, under publications on our website is issue 13 of our bi-annual magazine Flying Higher. Our school prides itself on its lines of communication with its community. If you have any feedback that you would like to share with me about these publications, please email me at - principal@sbhs.nsw.edu.au

Pause on capital works programs in schools

The Department of Education called a pause on capital works, funded out of 6101 appropriation or from community raised funds 6300. The Department has withdrawn funds for both the Table Tennis Project and the Grounds Upgrade – asphalting of additional parking spaces. I am not in a position to know when these projects will get approved to go ahead. I apologise that the works I planned and had approved will not be completed on schedule. I will provide an update once the position is clearer next term.

Interpreting Semester 1 Year 12 Reports

All Year 12 students should have their reports. For the first time during their high school life, the students have an ATAR calculation based on their best ten units. However, not all parts of their courses have been examined at this time. The full examination doesn’t happen until the Trial HSC in August. A limited number of topics have been completed in the HSC courses so far this year. Any predictions about overall success in a course must be cautious. Despite these limitations, the May report is extremely important as a yard stick for possible HSC performance. Every year I would love to be proved wrong. Every year I would be glad to applaud students who do much better than their ATAR prediction derived from their April performances. Inevitably, if nothing changes in the students approach to study and revision, the predictions will be more or less accurate, assuming our quantum and spread of marks earned this year are similar to those earned in last year’s HSC.

The first report in Year 12 is often a wakeup call for boys who have been coasting. Students ought to take advantage of practice tasks, opportunities for re-writes or early submission of drafts of essays to receive very useful feedback prior to submission of their work. Students should be re-visiting their personal growth goals to see whether they are on track or have fallen behind their own expectations in each course. Lunchtime workshops are also offered for some courses. Individual Faculties also provide targeted coaching for students with weaknesses in the period up until the HSC Trial examination. Students with their backs to the wall start to listen when we talk to them about study routines, life balance and focus. I hope parents will support us once again this year by impressing upon their sons how important it is from now on to get themselves organised, stick to a study routine and find the time each week to work hard. It is equally important to maintain co-curricular activities and to sleep well.

Closer Reading: What am I reading?

A fantasy is any work in which imagination is given full rein to create life as it never could be, breaking away from experienced reality. Fantasy exists for its own delicacy and charm, but sometimes is a protest against a rationalist view of life or an escape from the harshness of living. Fairy literature is an example of fantasy (Peter Pan, Midsummer Night’s Dream, Wind in the Willows, even Brave New World or Disney cartoons). A farce, on the other hand, is generally in the form of a play, replete with ludicrous situations, clowning, practical jokes, improbabilities, and exaggerations. It employs broad humour in plot and situation, relying on exaggeration to excite laughter. Famous examples of farce include Comedy of Errors and Charley’s Aunt. A burlesque derives its humour from an exaggeration of other more serious work. A person’s actions may be burlesqued, their features caricatured and their words, parodied. A burlesque holds up persons and institutions to ridicule.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 13, May 10 2024

2024-05-10T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to those students who competed at the Combined Independent Schools Swimming carnival this week: Will Meng (7F), Maksim Kireev (8R), Ryan Chai (9S), Kester Jan (9S), Jiazi Chen (10T), Mark Yan (10F), Jinu Shin (11S) and David Kim (12S). It is a fine achievement to qualify for this high standard meet. Well done also to Hudson Cai (10M), who earned a perfect score in the National Latin Examination. This USA-based competition has tens of thousands of participants and is highly regard by classicists. Congratulations to Tommy Xu (11E) who competed in the world U17 Fencing championships in Riyadh, Saudi Arabia. He finished a creditable 43/150 in Epée – winning five group stage bouts and one elimination bout. Congratulations to our fencing squad who retained the AJ Rae Shield for teams fencing last Saturday. Gold medals were won by – U18 Epée Team [Tommy Xu (11E), Xavier Perry (11M), Hudson Cai (10M) and Daniel Zhu (9R)]; U16 Sabre team [ Ethan Li (10F), Akith Perera (11E), Nathan Lee (11R) & Daniel Iliffe (11R); and U18 Sabre Team [Daniel Iliffe (11R), Jayden HO (12M), Samuel Hui (12T), & Oscar Shi (12S). Well done to all competitors!

Winter Sport Co-payments

Invoices for participation in winter sports have been posted on Schoolbytes and EBS using our spreadsheet of charges endorsed by Associations and co-curricular committees. As usual, we ask for your support by paying them promptly. All of our winter sports depend on a timely settling of invoiced co-payments to pay coaches. Parents are reminded that all programs have to meet their budgetary obligations and cannot do so without maximum support from everyone. Our sports are delivered at a fraction of their actual cost, being subsidised by allocations from the school’s budget, parking revenues and ASF donations, along with the structural support and supervision provided by the school with assistance from the co-curricular support levy. Please attend to your son’s winter sports co-payment now.

Early offers to university agreement

Education Ministers across Australia have agreed that early offers should not be issued by universities before September for 2024-25. They have agreed also that a national framework should be developed in time for 2027 commencements at university. This is a very welcome step towards improving the timing, frequency and transparency of early offers and admissions. Our experience at High has been that students who receive early offers frequently disengaged from the curriculum and perform at the HSC at a level well below their indicated ability. A standard approach by universities will make the final year of schooling more like what it used to be – a rite of passage framed around a high stakes examination.

Closer Reading: What am I reading?

The first step in closer reading is to know what classification of text it is that you are reading, so that you can find its generic features and be prepared for the possible intentions of and expected languages uses by, the composer. Articles are prose compositions found in journals, magazines, newspapers, and encyclopaedias and are factual, informative and topical. An article is usually reliant for comprehension and significance on other matter in the publication. In the case of leading articles, whilst purporting to present objective presentations of fact, they are in reality espousing the editorial policy of the newspaper proprietors. By contrast, in an essay, emphasis is placed on literary qualities and on the personality of the writer. The essay [Montaigne – ‘essai’- attempt] is characterised by brevity and a concern for style and expression. A formal essay is generally critical, biographical, or historical, usually carefully composed, logical and careful in its treatment of its subject matter. An informal essay is personal, imaginative and is characterised by digressions, free association of ideas, humour, and fantasy.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 12, May 03 2024

2024-05-03T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

Welcome Back to Term 2

I trust that everyone had a safe and relaxing break during April. It was a privilege to address the 1959 Old Boys in TGC at their 65-year reunion luncheon during the holidays. The Old Boys were impressed by the facilities the school now has to offer. Thank you to Michael Silva for his time spent as caretaker and tour guide on the day. I was proud of the dedication and skill of our cadets and staff at the dawn service at the Anzac Parade Obelisk on Anzac Day. The catafalque party acquitted themselves well. The service was attended by several hundred people. Thank you to Lieutenant Meredith Thomas for her organisation of the cadets and to Captain Kelly for her supervisory role. Later in the day our marching band performed well again and was featured positively during the broadcast of the Anzac Day March. Term 2 is always a very busy one, with assessment, reports and interviews rolling out nearly every week towards the end of term. Students need to check their calendars daily to ensure they know what their commitments are and when they are accountable for them.

High Talent

Well done to our Theatresports team (Macallister Giles, Nathan Nguyen, Gabriel Zhang and Michael Zhuo) who placed equal first in the first heat of the Theatresports Schools challenge this week.

Staff changes

Thank you to Natalie Luu who relieved as Deputy Principal 7,9 11 during Jamie Kay’s paternity leave and to Sarah Kim who filled in for Natalie as Head Teacher, Teaching and Learning. Your very professional efforts were appreciated by staff, students, and the High community. This term we welcome April Kang, appointed to Science, Shane Jennings, appointed to Industrial Arts and Matt Cotton, appointed as Careers Adviser. For the first week George Barris is on leave and Madeleine Rigby is relieving DP 8,10,12 and Elly Harcourt is relieving HT History. Thank you to you both for stepping up.

Digital Communications Policy

The proliferation of social media, computer apps and text messages has removed any boundaries between work time and personal time for teachers. Sydney Boys High is a six-day school, and many communications are needed between the School and staff, students and parents. Nevertheless, hazards such as stress and burnout may arise due to the excessive number of communications that are expected to be processed by staff, inside and outside of ‘working hours’. We are concerned that staff should have the ability to ‘switch off’ and balance better their personal and professional lives. There needs to be a healthier balance between convenience and intrusion. Sydney Boys High School has two forms of after-hours communication – Clipboard and email. Members of the wider school community seeking information should monitor and use these two forms of communication only.

We have always held to the belief that teachers, as professionals, can work outside of school hours if they choose to do so. However, 24/7 communications with colleagues, students, parents, coaches, and Old Boys, have increased MICs and teachers’ workload and stress levels. We are concerned about the psychosocial harms that excessive digital communications are having, and may continue to have, on school staff.

School staff will only be contacted outside of our school working hours for ‘emergency communications’ ie ‘notifications of misadventure, natural disasters, utility emergencies impacting school operations, and serious student or employee health, safety and wellbeing issues’. Where colleagues, students, parents and members of the community send non-emergency communication to employees outside of their agreed and usual operating hours, employees are not expected to respond until they resume their school working hours. We are encouraging ‘guilt-free’ disconnection for our employees outside of their agreed and usual working hours.

Community members e-mailing school staff on non-emergency matters should expect a reply within 48 hours or two school days. We already enjoy a culture of considerable communication. This policy formalises the approach to digital communication at Sydney Boys High. [Ratified by SBHS Executive on 29.04.24]

High’s Regular Giving Scheme

For new and existing parents – there is a really painless way to help the school reach its capital development objectives – the Regular Giving Scheme. Having successfully completed building the Governors Centre, our next objective is to complete the Junior Library Air-conditioning Project. The Table Tennis Centre will move into design and preliminary construction stage in 2H24. We still need some fit-out finishing touches to The Governors Centre. We need to build a retaining wall and disabled entrance into the Outterside Centre. The basketball courts need to be weather protected and lit for night-time use and day-time shade. The Regular Giving Scheme allows you to make a deduction each month from your nominated credit card account. Deductions occur around the 15th of each month. In late June each year, the ̽��Ƶ Foundation sends you a statement for taxation purposes including the total of your donations for the year. I urge you to do as I do and make a regular financial investment in public education. If you are interested, please click on www.shsfoundation.org.au/regular-giving. I find that philanthropy in a public cause is bidirectional - it benefits the donor and the recipient.

Closer Reading

What am I reading? An extended narrative in which the characters and incidents symbolise underlying moral or ethical ideas is called an allegory. Allegories are symbolic narratives with a didactic (teaching) purpose. They typically employ the devices of personification and metaphor. Shorter narrative forms can also be allegories. A fable is a short narrative in which some moral truth or principle is explained by means of a story. An apologue is a brief story, conveying a lesson or pointing to a moral, using animals and things as characters (Aesop). A parable (putting side by side) is a short tale told with two senses, one illustrating the other by analogy. Its object is to persuade or convince about a point, usually moral or ethical. An exemplum is a short story, stating a point or principle (purporting to be true), and then illustrating it. An anecdote (unpublished) is a short story containing a single incident. Anecdotes are often unwritten tales passed on by oral tradition.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}

High Notes, Vol 25 No 11, April 12 2024

2024-04-12T00:00:00Z

From the Principal

Last Day of Term 1

Thank you to all students, staff, MICs, coaches, grounds staff, cleaners, and volunteers for a very productive term of activities aimed at enlarging the lives of our boys. We all contribute to providing a learning and playing environment in which students can thrive. A big focus each year is to get Year 7 settled in well. The Year 7 Progress Reports issued this week ought to reveal how well this goal has been achieved for individual students. Another priority is to start each stage strongly – stages 5 and 6 – with their differing demands. Teachers are busy responding to the new syllabuses as they are released, to prepare well for their implementation. We are tasked with embedding a range of strategies into Year 9 programs this year to achieve a schoolwide push towards improved outcomes in literacy and numeracy. Several Department of Education policies need our attention in term 2. We will continue with our comprehensive self-evaluation against the School Excellence Framework. In sports, the split summer season was completed with some promising results in swimming, water polo, junior rowing, and junior cricket. We are trialling Tuesday morning off season training to maintain fitness and cohesion for our athletes, in particular. I trust everyone has a relaxing break in the company of family and friends.

Funds held for the benefit of High boys.

The ̽��Ƶ Foundation Ltd holds funds for the benefit of the school. The SHS Advancement Fund enables tax-deductible donations to be made for the purposes of school buildings, scholarships, and student support by way of bursaries. Current funds exceed $500k. The Endowment Fund is designed to hold monies from non-tax-deductible sources – bequests, trusts, gifts and the like. Accounts for the Foundation show that as of December 31, 2023, there were the following balances within the Endowment Fund: $128,854 for the Ethel Killip Memorial Sub-Fund; $202,077 for Prizes; $140,760 for the Phil Day Memorial Scholarship Fund; $116,300 for the Student Participation Account, $100 in the Student Activities/ travel fund Account and $9,241 for the Mitchell Seow Memorial Prize.

In total, SHSF Ltd. manages $597,332 in funds for the school within the Endowment Fund. Artworks owned by or on loan to the school from the Ethel Killip Memorial Art Collection held in trust by SHSF are valued at c. $205,000. The Seow Fund is a specific prize commemorating the sudden death from unknown causes of a much-loved student who had just completed his HSC in 2005.The Student Participation Account supplements the DoE Student Equity Funds with direct financial help to students in necessitous circumstances. The Phil Day Memorial Fund finances an annual scholarship, worth $1,750, in memory of an Old Boy and long serving teacher, Head Teacher and Swimming MIC. The Prizes Fund helps to pay for some of the >$25,000 worth of prizes awarded each year to students. The Ethel Killip Memorial Fund pays for the replacement and upkeep of honour boards, memorabilia of Old Boys, photographs on walls and the Foundation artworks collection, including Na Ngara. The Student Activities/ travel fund is a beginning fund to help teams with commitments for interstate or international travel.

Historically, half of the interest earned on these managed funds is donated to the school for uses as determined by the original Fund Deeds. However, due to a sustained period of very low interest rates, interest has been retained 2014-24, in the interests of maintaining the real capital value of the funds. A secondary objective is to make these funds self-funding so that the School can rely on a predictable annual contribution to its worthy causes going forward. We are always seeking donations for any of these fund purposes. If you would like to help, contact 96629300 or manager@shsfoundation.org.au

Anzac Day Assembly 2024

"Distinguished guests Colonel Andrew White CSC – NSW Brigade Commander AAC, Lt-Colonel Andrew Bernie – CO UNSW Regiment – Commander Andrew Dale RFD RAN (retired), Commander Viv Littlewood (retired) Old Boy, Mr David Jeffrey, representing Bondi Junction-Waverley RSL Sub-Branch and Mr Ken Twyman, representing Maroubra RSL Sub-Branch, welcome to our Anzac Day assembly held on the traditional lands of the Gadigal people to whom I pay my respects and to any Aboriginal people present today. We feel it is important to hold a school Anzac Day Assembly, even if it is still two weeks until the commemoration day, as we do not return to school until April 29th. Sadly, another year has passed in the Russia-Ukraine War, without a resolution in sight. The winter counterattack by Ukraine has failed to regain significant territory and the faltering US support in the form of aid has deprived Ukraine of essential artillery ammunition, leading indirectly to the loss of Avdiivka, where Russian artillery superiority was five to one. Some countries in the EU realise that Europe has to shoulder more of the burden in supporting Ukraine if NATO is to reach a negotiated peace.

"In the Middle East on 7 October 2023, as part of the Hamas-led attack on Israel at the beginning of the Israel–Hamas war, Hamas and other Palestinian militant groups abducted 253 people from Israel to the Gaza Strip, including children, women, and elderly people. The subsequent IDF invasion of the Gaza Strip has had catastrophic consequences for civilians in a densely populated area. The scale of destruction of housing and infrastructure is now nearly equivalent to a nuclear strike. Civilians are paying the price for the underlying issue – mutual recognition. Neither side sees the other as having any legitimacy to govern. Hamas has been the de facto government in Gaza since taking over from the Palestine Authority in 2007. Hamas is committed to armed resistance against Israel and the creation of a Palestinian Islamic state. Israel now wants to eliminate Hamas as a military and political force. It is considered a ‘terrorist organisation’ by Israel and other states, including Australia. The recalcitrance of both sides in negotiating a decent length humanitarian ceasefire is costing tens of thousands of civilians their lives. Let us hope that a cease fire is negotiated soon and that the war does not widen to include more combatants, other than the Houthi rebels in South Yemen.

"On this occasion of honouring our military personnel past and present, I like to draw the attention of the School to some of the current theatres in which our service personnel are engaged. Operation Resolute has 600 personnel involved in protecting our borders and maritime offshore interests. Operation Kudu has 90 personnel training the armed forces of Ukraine recruits in the UK. Operation Augury is the Australian Defence Force framework in support of efforts to counter terrorism and violent extremist organisations around the world (40 personnel). Mercifully, very few of our serving ADF people are in harm’s way.

"In the Gallipoli campaign it was rare not to be in a killing zone for any moment of the eight months it lasted. After the initial ANZAC attacks of April 25-26, in 1915, the Turks counter-attacked ferociously to drive the invaders out of their land. Their heroic efforts failed with horrendous losses. By May, the Allied perimeter was relatively secure. The ANZAC commander Lieutenant-General Birdwood (having learnt nothing from the Turkish assaults) tried to take the offensive. On the evening of 2 May, the New Zealand and Australian Division launched an attack on the dominating Baby 700 position, on the route to Chunuk Bair. By daybreak, it became apparent how exposed the Australian and New Zealand positions were. The soldiers drew heavy fire from the Turks and then withdrew. Of the 1,000 men of the 16th Infantry battalion only 309 remained to answer their names. Private Silas Ellis, signaller, and artist, wrote about the 16th Battalion's roll call on 11 May: ‘Few of us are left to answer our names, just a thin line of weary, ashen-faced men, behind us a mass of silent forms, once our comrades. They have been there for some days, we have not the time to bury them’. Private Ellis survived the war and published his war sketches. His powerful, eye-witness impressions of battle reveal the random horror of death by artillery, bomb, or sniper fire before or after engagement with the enemy in combat.

"On Anzac Day, we take time out to understand more about our military history and to honour those who died for our country in all wars. We pay our respects to those who died fighting for us and never returned to their families. Their families too, were forever changed by war. We think of them today. As a society, we protect and nurture our legatees and veterans who suffer from lasting physical and mental wounds. Thank you to our marching band who will represent us at the Anzac March and also our cadets who will serve at memorials or in catafalque parties. Please play your part on our National Day of Remembrance by attending a service, watching the march, going to your local memorial to see who served and died in your suburb or just by reading or viewing material about the ANZAC tradition. Lest we forget."

Paragraph Conscious Pedagogy: Discussions

Discussions offer different points of view on an issue or topic of interest and present recommendations. Discussion structure – opening statement of the issue – differing points of view (opinions or arguments for and against the issue) – recommendation (a summary in the form of a recommendation). What is the issue? Against – firstly, to begin with, secondly, because; For – However, on the other hand, It also could be argued; conclusion – therefore, consequently, in light of these arguments…Vocabulary used – generic terms, comparative or contrasting words, words that link arguments. Eg However, nevertheless, conversely, nonetheless, subsequently, consequently, on the other hand, similarly, likewise. In addition, furthermore, moreover, therefore, thus.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

{hnpdf}{/hnpdf}