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High Notes, Vol 26 No 26, August 29 2025

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to Tony Roberts (10E) whose team competed in the RoboCup Junior NSW Open and won first place in the Open Soccer Division, requiring great persistence and the ability to master advanced technologies under stress. His team will now represent NSW in the National Competition in Canberra in October. High has achieved fine results again in the National Latin Examination (an American competition with > 100,000 entries). Gold Medals - Year 9: Theo Su, Abhinav Lahiri, Chase Chan, Bill Han, Aidan Li, William Tran, Yihong Zhu, Leo Chen, Caleb Ma, Andrea Capuano, Shoummo Kar, Alexander Hwang, Aditya Sharma, Mohammed Syed. Year 10: Sajan Thiagalingam, Daniel Zmak, Charles Morgan, Om Kothari, James Carmichael, Felix Tran, Adam Nguyen. Year 11: Hudson Cai, Lachlan Yuen, Kevin Xie. Silver Medals -Year 9: Ryan Zhao, Barry Zhang, Charles Fawcett, Shafayat Khan, Buster Nicholls, Matthew Zhang, Jason Kwok, Troy Daher. Year 10: Lucas Chen, Thomas Qiu. Congratulations to the boys and to their teachers, Dorothy Matsos and Dale Burrow.

Staff changes

I would like to thank the people who stepped up and did such a fine job during my extended leave competing in two major sailing events. George Barris represented the school very well in my absence, while still managing some of his DP functions. Thank you to Kerryn Ibbott for covering George’s position as Deputy for 7, 9 & 11. Well done also to Matthew Hood who relieved as Head Teacher of Science. The three staff members resumed their usual duties on Monday. The depth of leadership experience at High is growing, cementing our policies and practices across the school and promoting better whole school collaboration to work together for the betterment of each and every student.

Enrolment 2026 Update

We received 125 applications for Year 8 with five students placed on a Reserve List. There were 219 applicants for Year 9. Thirty offers were made and five placed on the Reserve List. 57 students applied for Year 10. Five were placed on the Reserve List. For Year 11, there were 61 applications. Seven offers were made and five placed on the Reserve List. I was very pleased with the interest in enrolling in High across greater metropolitan Sydney. Thank you to George Barris who managed the entire process as Relieving Principal. His dedication and efficient management meant the offers could be sent well before the end of August, less than a month since the closing date for applications. Thank you to Maria Glenn for her expert recording and processing of the data and for her liaison with parents of applicants. Thank you to our 20+ Assessors for their prompt attention to the task of assessing and ranking up to 30 applications overnight. Thank you also to our non-staff Selection Committee members - community representative, Xi Chen, and Old Boy representative Paul Almond. We look forward to welcoming these new students to High next year to enhance our scholar-sportsman ethos.

Cadets passing out parade

On Tuesday, our annual passing out parade was held in front of military personnel, returning Old Boy cadets, family and friends, as well as the principals of the two participating schools. The ranking officer, Colonel Cameron, addressed the parade, focusing on four values – courage, respect, teamwork and commitment. He talked about having the moral courage to do the right thing, particularly when no one was watching. He reiterated that respectful relationships must be at the heart of good character. He extolled the importance of teamwork, collaboration and striving towards team goals. He urged cadets to strive to do their best at all times, throughout their life journeys.

The military personnel were very pleased with the standard of the parade and commented on the participation profile of our 140 -strong unit. The mix of ages and strong female representation were seen as auguring well for the future of the unit. Thank you to Lieutenant Matisse Stringer for her leadership of the cadet unit in 2025. A special thanks goes to MIC Natalie Luu for all her coordination of the elements of the program and managing the on-site lesson delivery which is a vital element of the cadet experience. Thank you to Geoff Denyer and Shane Jennings for their assistance during the year and to Rachel Powell for actively supporting cadets at SGHS. I was proud of the efforts of everyone who ensured that the program turned around from languishing to thriving in less than 18 months.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal