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High Notes, Vol 26 No 14, May 23 2025

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to Daniel Iliffe (12R) for winning the Open National Australian Championships in Sabre and being named 鈥楢thlete of the Year鈥� by the NSW Fencing League.

Musical Co-Production

The students from both SGHS and SBHS offer an evening鈥檚 entertainment for you and your family. The Addams Family features an original story, and it's every father's nightmare. Wednesday Addams, the ultimate princess of darkness, has grown up and fallen in love with a sweet, smart young man from a respectable family -- a man her parents have never met. And if that weren't upsetting enough, Wednesday confides in her father and begs him not to tell her mother. Now, Gomez Addams must do something he's never done before -- keep a secret from his beloved wife, Morticia. Everything will change for the whole family on the fateful night they host a dinner for Wednesday's 'normal' boyfriend and his parents鈥�. Support our combined Schools Musical!

SGHS and SBHS present The Addams Family Musical at The Governors Centre:

• Wednesday 28 May 7pm.
• Thursday 29 May 7pm.
• Saturday 31 May 7pm.
• Sunday 1 June 1pm.

Tickets available at:

Caught Doing the Right Thing

Members of the public were very impressed by the behaviour of our Year 7 students at the Big Day Out at the NSW Art Gallery. Ms May reported that one person said that we were the best school she鈥檇 ever encountered at the gallery and could not believe such a huge number of kids could be so well behaved. Well done, Year 7!

Erratum:

When praising our honest Year 8 boy last week I misspelled his name. It should be Aarosh Hasan of 8R. My apologies, Aarosh!

Public Schools Survey

The Department of Education has commissioned a new survey for public school staff, students and their parents. The New South Wales Public Schools Surveys (NPSS) are designed to gather insights from stakeholders about their experiences at school. The surveys are replacements for Tell Them from Me surveys that have been administered in schools for many years. It was time that they were redesigned and refreshed. They are designed to monitor trends over time and to assess impact. The plan is for the new student surveys to be rolled out in week 6, with staff and parent surveys to be introduced in 2026. The survey takes less than twenty minutes to complete and will be administered in class. If you do not want your son to be involved in the survey, there is an opt out form:

Please let the school know by Monday, June 2, if you want your child to opt out of the survey.

Sorry Day May 26

In December 1992, Paul Keating鈥檚 Redfern Speech gave political recognition to the genesis of our racial problem being non-aboriginal Australians who 鈥渢ook the traditional lands and smashed the traditional way of life,鈥� 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 鈥渢o imagine these things being done to us鈥�. 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 report of the subsequent judicial inquiry was handed down in 1997. 鈥�Bringing them home鈥� accused white society of gross violations of the human rights of indigenous people. The policy amounted to attempted genocide in practice 鈥� communities and cultures were the targets. A year after this report was tabled, May 26, 1998, the first National Sorry Day was held. It has been held annually ever since.

National Reconciliation Week May 27 鈥� June 3
Theme: 'Bridging Now to Next'

During this week as Australians, we need to focus on our awareness of our shared histories and achievements alongside Aboriginal people, and to explore how each of us can contribute to achieving reconciliation in Australia. The week is bookmarked by the successful referendum of May 27, 1967, in which ATSI people were recognised in the census, and June 3, 1992, when the historic Mabo decision by the High Court overturned the 鈥榯erra nullius鈥� legal fiction. Native Title has emerged since the decision, recognising ATSI people as the traditional owners and custodian of lands. National Reconciliation Week started in 1993 as a week of Prayer for Reconciliation to commemorate the International Year of the World鈥檚 Indigenous People. In 1996 the Council for Aboriginal Reconciliation launched Reconciliation Week. In 2001 Reconciliation Australia was established to provide national leadership on reconciliation. Bridging Now to Next 鈥� the 2025 theme - urges us to look ahead and continue the push forward towards a more united and respectful nation as past lessons guide us.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal