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High Notes, Vol 26 No 17, June 13 2025

From the Principal

High Talent

Our Team has qualified for the grand finals of the state TheatreSports Competition. Congratulations to Macallister Giles (10F), Ahyen Haque (10T), Jason Huang (9R), Jasper Jakubauskas (9M) and Mihir Shah (9M). Our thanks go to Nat Jensen, their Coach, and to Anna Barry, their MIC. Leon Park (7T) won an individual gold medal at the 2025 Judo Australia National Championships, 66Kg division. A very impressive accomplishment, Leon! He also won a gold as a member of the successful NSW Judo State Team.

Annual Tax Time Appeal

More and more Australians are thinking about philanthropy, about giving something back to society to help others. Universities and schools are benefitting more than ever before from this growing social conscience. High is a state school providing all the opportunities and activities of an independent school at c.6% of the cost. That’s value for money! We succeed because of the goodwill and financial support of our staff, our parents and our alumni. This year at tax time, please make a donation to a tax deductible SBHS project – preferably to the ̽»¨ÊÓƵ Advancement Fund – which is raising money to begin construction of a replacement for Fairland Pavilion within five years. This is our priority project this year. Alternatively, a donation to the NSW Education Public School DGR Fund would help us to build our new Table Tennis Centre which is currently at the design and approvals stage.

Interpreting Year 9 Reports – Semester 1

By Friday, June 13, all Year 9 boys should have seen me to get their reports. Parents should be aware that students have fewer compulsory subjects in Year 9: English, mathematics, science, history, geography and PDHPE. They have added two electives to the core group of subjects having completed compulsory music, visual arts and technology. All of the stage 5 requirements for history and geography are completed in Year 9, so there is plenty of content and many skills to learn. This also means that students in history and geography may receive ‘warning letters’ for missing assigned tasks necessary for the completion of stage 5 compulsory subjects. The cut-off points standard for Year 9 is 24 (or 8 subjects at credit).

Parents are cautioned that large fluctuations in points earned and rankings in the cohort can be caused by a few marks more or less at the cut-off scores for HDs, Ds or credits. An influx of 30 new students into the cohort has an immediate impact on rankings, enlarging the rank order swings. Also, all the Ds could be near to the top, just below the cut-off mark for a HD.  Sometimes, boys deliberately underperformed last year in subjects they knew they did not have to continue. This would cause a recovery in their rank this year if they tried harder in the subjects they chose this year. Conversely, the additional challenge of stage 5 work or a mistaken elective choice, could impact on a student’s ranking negatively, particularly if he were good at the practical subjects in Year 8.

In Year 9 students are expected to be developing some autonomy. They should be responsible for managing their personal workload and thinking ahead about what commitments they have in the near future. Ask to look at their personal organiser – electronic or paper, to see how well they are managing their time. Their weeks should be planned in advance, not only to ensure that tasks and activities are not omitted, but also to fit in with family, social and leisure activities scheduled for that week. Parents are asked to discuss their son’s learning behaviours profile and the teachers’ next steps recommendations for areas for improvement. We need teachers and families to work together to build boundaries around our boys – both side lines and goal lines – to focus behaviour and inspire maximal personal achievement.

Student Leave Requests – Reminder  

There is a Department of Education and school policy on Student Leave of Absence – Extended Leave Travel requests. This applies to leave that is five school days or more in duration. Parents are reminded that as a matter of policy leave may not be processed or approved unless four weeks’ notice has been given. Also, cogent reasons for travelling during school term need to be supplied. No travel should be booked during the assessment or examination blocks affecting your son. The effect of this decision is that all leave requests that involve that last four weeks of term should have been lodged with me for approval by the end of week 6, each term. If you are planning to travel during the school term you need to download, complete and submit the form for my approval by the closing date.  NB Week 7 is this week!
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal