From the Principal

High Talent
Congratulations to Darren Fung (Year 7) who has been selected in the NSW Men’s Gymnastics team to represent the state in the Australian Championships – a great achievement! Brendan Kong (Year 10) is to represent NSW as a member of the Ice Hockey team to compete in the National Kurt de Fris Tournament in Perth. Well done, Brendan!

Sorry Day Assembly
The Junior School held an Assembly for Sorry Day last Friday. Ms Powell organised the inaugural occasion with the aim of raising awareness of Sorry Day on May 26 and Reconciliation Week this week. Aunty Fay Carroll, a local Aboriginal elder and DEC Officer, talked about the Stolen Generation and the impact the policy continues to have on Aboriginal people. Khushaal Vyas spoke passionately about the need for empathy for victims of forced removal from their families. In my address I gave an historical context to the treatment of Aboriginal people by Anglo-Celtic Australian society in the 19th century:

"To commemorate National Reconciliation Week (May 17-June 3) and in particular Sorry Day tomorrow, I want to use the occasion of this assembly to apologise to Aboriginal people generally and Kamilaroi people in particular for the events of a dark day in our history, June 10 1838. During the land grab by squatters in the 1830s aborigines were seen as threats to expansion of white settlement rather than as people with hereditary rights to the custodianship of the land. The prevailing attitude was that killing Aborigines was justifiable because they were threats to agrarian livelihood. Sadly, massacres of Aborigines were not uncommon. The Australia day Massacre of 1838 at Waterloo creek was triggered by the spearing of some cattle and the murder of two whites (supposedly by Aborigines). Between 25 and 100 Aborigines were killed by Major Nunn and his troopers who were sent to the district by Governor Snodgrass after complaints by squatters. Convicts and stockmen continued the slaughter after Nunn left.

"Later that year, one of the convict stockmen at Myall creek station, Charles Kilmeister invited the Wirrayaraay group of the Kamilaroi tribe to come and camp at the station for their safety and protection from gangs of marauding stockmen. On June 10, a squatter, John Fleming, led a group of assigned convicts to Myall Creek in search of Aborigines. The Aborigines fled to the station huts, pleading for protection. Instead, they were handed over to the murderers who tied them up and led them away. The twenty-eight people who were subsequently slaughtered with swords were predominantly women, children and old men. The cruellest irony was that Kilmeister participated in the massacre.

"The eleven convict perpetrators of the murders were brought to justice but Fleming, the leader and most culpable, was never arrested. In fact, he was involved in more slaughtering of innocents. At the first trial, all eleven men were found not guilty after the jury deliberated for only twenty minutes. Seven of the group were rearrested and charged with related offences. At the second trial they were all found guilty. All seven were executed on December 18, the only time in Australia’s history that Europeans were hanged for the massacre of aborigines.

"North of Bingara there is a memorial site at the scene of the massacre. It is a moving place to visit. The Myall Creek massacre was a terrible tragedy for many reasons. First, the Aborigines were betrayed and killed by their supposed protector. Second, none of the victims of this racially motivated murder spree was guilty of any wrongdoing against white settlers. Third, the victims died in vain. Despite the legal principle of equality of European and Aboriginal persons before the law, it took two trials to convict the accused and the behaviour of white settlers towards aborigines did not change, the tactics altered. Perpetrators of massacres entered into pacts of silence to nullify prosecution attempts to find evidence. It was rumoured that poisoning of Aborigines was preferred as a “safe practice”.

"In the 21st century we would be accusing such people as criminals against humanity. Australians have a case to answer for attempted genocide in the 19th century. The Wirrayaraay people in northern NSW were in 1838 to the squatters what in 1938 Germany Jewish people were to the SS, non-citizens even sub-humans, who could be killed with impunity.

"On Sorry Day we should reflect on how long racist domination and ill treatment of Aborigines has continued in Australia and resolve to treat Aborigines as equal citizens in our multicultural society. For Sorry Day I want to say ‘sorry’ for what was done at Myall creek and elsewhere in NSW in the 19th century by white society. "

Music Camp Concert
Congratulations to all the performers, tutors, staff and parents who attended the Music Camp Concert on Wednesday and provided such good entertainment. The performances were varied and of high quality. The performance music program was showcased at the concert. A great job was done by all!
Dr K A Jaggar

Die Deutsche Frage - Tipp Zwei

The question has already been answered – by a parent – and yes, Mrs Purcal will get a chocolate bar (and Andreas is banned – he could have insider information!). For those of you who might still be puzzling over the first clue – here is another one: er dreht sich.
Frau St Leon

Sir Roden and Lady Cutler Charity Golf Day

On 17th May 2012, Sydney High entered a team to participate in the Sir Roden and Lady Cutler Foundation charity golf day consisting of Mr Bigelow, Mr Kay, Chris Oei and myself. The weather was initially too cold but it turned out to be a wonderful day for golf with the sun shining over the prestigious Concord Golf Course. All of us had our fair share of good and bad shots but Mr Kay, as usual, led our team to victory winning the scratch event for the day. It was also great to hear Kevin Sheedy’s captivating speeches of his coaching and playing experiences in AFL. All in all, it was great to see so many people out there on Concord Golf Course supporting the charity and I hope we can continue to participate next year.
Shuming Wang

2012 NSW School-Based Vaccination Program

The NSW Ministry of Health has been informed that a small number of Parent Information Kits which contain forms for parents to read and sign for school vaccination may be missing important information.

Please check that all information is included in the Parent Information Kits:

• parents of Year 7 male students should receive a blue Year 7 Boys shrink-wrapped pack that includes 3 envelopes, each containing a Consent Form and Information for you and your child sheet:
  1. a blue Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (dTpa) envelope
  2. a green Hepatitis B envelope
  3. a yellow Varicella (chicken pox) envelope
• parents of Year 10 male students should receive a blue Diphtheria-Tetanus-Pertussis (dTpa) envelope that contains a Consent Form and Information for you and your child sheet.

If all the information is included and you would like your child to be vaccinated, please read the Information for you and your child sheet, sign the Consent Form and return the signed Consent Form to your child’s school. If you do NOT wish your child to be vaccinated, do NOT complete or return the Consent Form.

If any information is missing from your Parent Information Kit, please contact your child’s school immediately and a replacement Kit will be provided.

SBHS Debating

MIC Report

I have been very proud of all the debaters who have taken part in the FED and Eastside Competitions. I have had the pleasure of watching every Year group debate over the last two months and I am very impressed with the standard reached by everyone. Unlike the other schools, we rotate the members of our teams and this means as many of you get an opportunity to publicly debate as possible - which is fantastic. However, it also means that we don’t have the ability to build strong teams who develop a sense of how to work together and this limits the chance of our success in such competitions. This is particularly true in the Junior levels of the competition where we have so many keen debaters. Therefore in many ways we are disadvantaged in the FED and Eastside competitions.

Therefore to see our Year 8 debaters get through to the FED finals is extremely pleasing. For all you boys who debated as part of FED you should be very proud of your contribution to that achievement. The team that won the Semis have been asked to go on to the Finals at Knox on Friday, but Eli is going to be representing the school at Armidale. Eli spoke, as third speaker, with a maturity beyond his years on Friday and summarised both team’s cases, whilst pointing out the “many glaring flaws” in the opposing team’s case extremely clearly and concisely. The last time I saw the Year 8 boys speak was last year and their development as debaters during that time is wonderful to observe. It is testament to the hard work being put in by their coordinator Justin who has worked hard to organise the quiz and lesson plans each week and the other members of the Year 8 coaching team: Chris, Declan and Mitchell and also to the determination of the boys themselves. Very well done and good luck on Friday!

I took the Year 11 PDC team for two rounds of PDC on Tuesday – both against Fort Street. They won both debates and have now won their zone and will begin the inter-zone knock out soon. Well done Agnish, Khushaal, Connor and Wilber. Meanwhile Year 12 won their most recent PDC debate against Moorefield Girls.

Over the weekend some of our Years 11 and 12 debaters took part in trials for the NSW State Debating Team. Five of the twenty five asked to come back for a second round of trials are SBHS students – quite an achievement. Good luck to Christopher, Robert, Julian, Nicky and Connor.

As you can see this is a very busy time for debaters – it is important for you to receive the emails and read them carefully each week.
Rachel Powell

Debating Prefect Report

At last week’s FED semi-finals at Trinity, our Years 10 and 11 teams were unlucky to lose in a close debate against very good teams. However, by all reports they did themselves and the school proud and should be pleased with their achievements. However, our Year 8 team made it through to the finals, a fantastic effort. Good luck to the team of James Goh, Liam Jepson, Masrur Joarder and Thomas Shortridge! The next focus will be the GPS season starting in term 3, and with trials starting for most Years in the next few weeks we're nearly at the most important part of the season. Hopefully we can improve on last year’s GPS results (which by no means were poor, especially for seniors) and judging by our results in Eastside and FED that is definitely possible!
Christopher Chiam

More information can be found at www.sydneyhigh.org.au/debating and will be emailed to you on a weekly basis.
Please CHECK YOUR EMAIL regularly and ensure we have current contact details for both students and parents.
PARENTS: If you are not receiving weekly emails about debating please email us at This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it and ask to be added to the parent group for your child’s year.

Music Notes

Annual Music Camp

On Monday morning (28th May 2012), over 170 students left Driver Ave for Music Camp to Stanwell Tops Conference Centre for three days of intensive music rehearsal with Music Staff and Tutors with guest conductor, Ms Debra Gilmore making a much welcomed return to conduct the Senior Concert Band.

Music Performance Program

Students in the Music Performance Program, ALL Music Ensembles are now up and running, please ensure that you are attending the appropriate Ensembles as 80% attendance to rehearsals is required for award scheme points.

The 2012 ensemble rehearsal timetable is provided below:

High Family

The Bulletin Board for Sydney Boys High P & C

If you would like to have any parent community news or upcoming events included in High Society, please contact Ian Sweeting P&C President This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it  

SBHS and SGHS Joint P&C Meeting

Please be aware that the next P&C general meeting will be the annual Sydney Girls and Sydney Boys Joint P&C Meeting to be held in The Great Hall on Wednesday 20 June at 7:30pm.

Sydney Boys is hosting the event this year at which Anna Liu, a social worker, director of PARENTCALM, and mother of two school age children will be giving a presentation on the challenges facing migrant parents and their interaction with the Australian education system. Anna’s professional training is strengthened in this area by her own experience as a Chinese born mother of school age children. The presentation offers advice for all parents in recognising and addressing the issue of stress in students related to the intersection of puberty with an environment where high academic expectations are the norm.

Sydney Boys High parent volunteers will be serving a light supper on the night, and we look forward to your attendance.

Upcoming Parking Events

Saturday 2 June 7:40pm – Waratahs v Hurricanes (Basketball Supporters Group)
Sunday 3 June 3:15pm – Swans v Bulldogs (Debating Supporters Group)

Upcoming Meetings & Events

P&C Executive Meeting: Board Room – 6:00pm, Monday 4 June
SBHS and SGHS Joint P&C Meeting: Great Hall – 7:30pm, Wednesday 20 June

Ian Sweeting

SBHS and SGHS P&C Joint Meeting

Wednesday 20 June 7:30pm to 9:30pm

SYDNEY BOYS HIGH GREAT HALL

Speaker: Anna Liu

THE CHALLENGES FACING THE MIGRANT PARENT IN THE SCHOOL ENVIRONMENT
It is our pleasure to introduce Anna Liu as this year’s joint P&C meeting guest speaker. Anna is a social worker who runs the Chinese Family Education Project in Mandarin for Family Services in the St George area, as well as being a Director of PARENTCALM and mother of two school age children.

Anna speaks from both a professional and personal viewpoint about the challenges facing migrant parents in their relationship with the education system, including the limitations imposed by the language barrier; the effect of differing cultural expectations; and how these challenges impact on the children involved.

Anna offers practical advice for all parents on how to improve the wellbeing of our daughters and sons in an environment where high academic performance is both encouraged and expected, at the same time as the journey through puberty is being negotiated. Parents are provided with an understanding of the physical and emotional needs of teenagers along with tips on recognising the signs of stress and strategies for addressing it.

We look forward to seeing you on the night. A Q&A session will be held afterwards and a light supper will be provided. Parking will be available via the Cleveland Street and Anzac parade entrances.

Volleyball Notes

GPS Volleyball Results

Date: 26/5/12
Opposition: GRAMMAR

NSW Volleyball All Schools Tournament

Sydney High entered eight teams in the NSW All Schools Tournament on Friday 25th May. First Grade won the tournament defeating Kelso in the final. A detailed report of the tournament will be published in next week’s High Notes.
Michael Kay
MIC Volleyball

SBHS Rugby

High Rugby = High Spirit

Cross-field 7s
The inaugural cross-field 7s worked well with fierce competition shown across all age groups. All members of successful teams will be awarded with ARU backpacks.

Team of the week
Oliver Lethbridge, Jacob Katafano, Adam McCaffery, Jason Hong, Kelvin Luu, Victor Oh & Saransh Saini. After coming off a loss in the round stages, they made the final and won the 14s competition.

Play of the week
1st grade running up 210 stairs at South Coogee.

Team reports –
Each week one team/age group report will feature in the High Notes with the rest going on http://www.sydneyhigh.org.au/rugby/. The site also features photos from important events, like the 2012 jersey breakfast. With the intra-school trial this week there were no team reports.

Kicking coaching
The ARU have been running kicking coaching to develop our tactical kicking game at High. This will continue for the next two Tuesday lunch times.

Sport Donations

GPS sports competition is very demanding on people and resources. At High we have ongoing needs for facilities development, equipment and development through expert coaching. If you would like to help through a tax deductible donation for a particular sport, the appropriate form can be posted to you by calling 9361 6910. Alternatively, you can go to our website www.sydneyboyshigh.com click on Sport /Sports Donations to download either Development Donation Form or Equipment and Facility Donation Form.

SHS Cross Country

Regional Cross Country

Congratulations go to the following students who successfully competed in the Zone Cross Country carnival and are now selected to represent SHS at the Regional Cross Country Carnival on the 14th of June, 2012. A school bus will take competing students to and from the Cross Country venue, The Boulevard, Miranda. Students are to collect a permission note and information sheet from Ms Dam or Mr Kesting in the Industrial Arts staffroom and return it by Friday 8th of June.

12 Years

13 Years

14 Years

15 Years

16 Years

17 Tears

18 Years

This year’s Zone Cross Country Carnival held in Centennial Park was a great success for High. With the majority of the top 10 runners from the School Cross Country Carnival attending, we had a larger turnout of runners this year, with runners from all age groups racing for High from the 12yrs races through to the 17yrs and Opens, with everyone taking on the challenging course through dirt paths, sand, and bushes, before finally hitting the pavement again in each lap, and pushing themselves to make the distance, whether it be 3kms for the 12 and 13 years races, 4kms for the 15s and 16s, or 6km for the 17s and Opens, with the aim of finishing in the top 10 so as to be selected to move onto the Regional Cross Country Carnival.

Starting with the 12 years races and moving upwards, High got off to a great start, with many of our junior runners pushing hard and grabbing places in the top ten, despite it being their first ever Zone Carnival for some of them, with most, if not all, of our runners qualifying for the regionals. As the day wore on, and the weather started to become more windy and cold, High really started to dominate the placings. In the 15yrs race, all six of the runners from High made the top ten places, a fantastic achievement from them! Brendan Hancox scored a high 2nd place, followed by Wesley Beare in 3rd place, Tushaar Garg in 4th place, Luke Hoad in 5th place, Adilmorad Nadir in 6th place, and Chris Chen in 9th place.

As the 16s race approached, the weather took a turn for the worse, and it started to rain moderately. Despite this, the race carried on, with High still dominating, with Anton Brokman winning the race for High with 1st place, followed by Ned Anson in 3rd, myself in 4th place, Lokesh Sharma in 7th place, Han Mai coming 9th, and Kenneth Liu making the regionals in 10th place, once again, all runners from High qualifying again!

By the time the 17s and Opens races had started, the rain had increased and was pouring down heavily, with the runners now having to do 6kms for their race. Adam Booth gained a strong lead and finished in 1st place for the Opens, followed by Jonathan Clements 1st in the 17s, followed by Wilber Koslowski and Vincent Ye.

Overall, High achieved spectacular results that day, with the runners pushing hard, despite the weather, supporting each other and cheering them on as they passed by. The large number of High boys finishing in the top ten and qualifying for the Regional Carnival this year is most impressive. A great effort by all of you this year, and I look forward to seeing you compete in the Regionals!
Steven Chung

Senior Production: The 7 Ages of Man

SGHS and SBHS Present

The 7 Ages of Man

Directors E. Surbey & J Rohr

Senior Production 2012

Opening night - Wednesday 6 June
Closing night - Thursday 7 June

7pm

(Special matinee by invitation 7 June, 1:30pm)

Campbell Hall
Tickets available outside SGHS canteen from 23 May

Concession $5
Adult $10