Music

Barker’s major concert this year saw its senior ensembles make a triumphant return to the wonderful Concert Hall in The Concourse at Chatswood. The College’s resurgent choirs, splendid wind symphony and awesome orchestras dazzled and delighted.

It was barely months ago. But from the twodimensional world of long lockdown, it seems like another era. For once, reality exceeded the promise for the thousand-strong crowd, and the most frequent comment from excited audience members - from parents via emails, from colleagues and members of the School Executive – was: “I could not believe it was a school concert.” This reflected not only the technical attainment of the students in the eight ensembles, but also the quality of their musicianship and their mature ensemble skills. The smooth flowing professionalism of the show was also due to the outstanding work of Barker Music’s backstage team. Another standout feature of the concert was the emotional range of the repertoire. The entire program was made up of music that was composed – with the exception of Brahms – in the 20th and 21st centuries. The Senior Percussion Ensemble was exciting, the Wind Orchestra’s performance was evocative, the Chamber Choir’s ethereal, the Chamber Orchestra was dynamic and expressive, and the first half concluded with the Symphony Orchestra’s joyous Brahms and edgy Shostakovich. The music flourished even during the interval, as the foyer crowd was treated to the angelic voices of the Junior School’s Copeland Choir. The second half opened with a swinging start from the Jazz Orchestra, followed by the Senior Choir’s diverse set, which featured an Australian premiere and many student soloists. The concert concluded with two monumental works performed by the Wind Symphony. Special mention must be made of the two featured soloists; Deron Yip (Year 9) whose compelling performance of the Shostakovich Cello Concerto no 1 had won him the Barker Concerto Competition, and vocal soloist Greg Alexander (Year 5), with his solo in the Wind Symphony’s Angel in the Architecture. A delightful touch came from the two Day in the Life videos which gave us a behind-the-scenes look into the Barker music program. These clips underlined what we could already see from the students on stage - they love their music.

David Saffir Director of Strings

Barker’s Secondary School rock bands put on a terrific event that demonstrated the continued importance of live contemporary music in the culture of the School.

Following the hiatus of live music in 2020, students were excited to demonstrate their musicianship and entrepreneurial nous. After successfully auditioning in front of a panel of Music Captains, students from 20 bands in Years 8 to 12 acted as their own promoters and ticket sellers. They careened down corridors and across the playgrounds of the Campus at lunch times trying to outdo each other in scenes reminiscent of the Battle of Britpop. They easily sold out The Atrium, an historic and much-loved Barker Music venue, while the top-selling bands vied for the coveted last slot of the night. As the long-awaited evening arrived, band members and music fans enjoyed a sausage sizzle while the winter air grew thick with nervous excitement and anticipation. From the opening notes of the first band, the roar of the crowd filled the air, and songs that had only known the inside of practice rooms suddenly exploded from the stage with life. Students were treated to classic rock hits and drum solos, a punkpop version of “Lord Of The Dance” from Yooniversal (Year 11), a stirring crowd-backed rendition of “You Raise Me Up”, and the first ever Barker performance of an all-girl Middle School rock band. It was also an emotional night for The Shrooms (Year 12), a true institution of the Barker rock community, who formed in Year 7 and gave their last ever Coffee House performance that evening. As always, many students demonstrated a range of expressive dance moves, but were ultimately outdone by rock aficionado David Giltrap, whose shouting grew more insistent and inspiring as the night went on. Of course, the event would not have been possible without the smooth sound desk operation of Dean Lovell, the expert roadie skills of Graham Hunt, and Sam Thomlinson’s wise tutelage on safe moshing technique (“Up not sideways”). As we stare into the uncertainty of both the present and the future, we can all remember Coffee House as an ode to music’s ineffable power to bring people together and help us to remember who we are.

Alex Hone Music Teacher

I write this at the end of our third week of online learning, looking down the barrel of at least four more weeks. The Digital Learning Team, like all teachers and staff at Barker (and elsewhere around the state, for that matter), commenced this period firmly positioned in survival mode.

We had a good set of tools and strategies in place, but nothing can overcome the feeling that we just need to “get through the week”. Inevitably, we reach a point where we become more comfortable and familiar with our new modus operandi. It is here where we can shift the focus from surviving online to thriving online. Thrive, as a concept, has been a part of the lingua franca at Barker since Phillip Heath introduced the Barker Thriving Framework (consisting of four domains: Inquiry, Rhetoric, Gratitude, Service). Thriving online follows this example, placing wellbeing together with academic virtues. Thriving Online represents a guide to good teaching and learning in an online context from Pre-K-12. The framework includes five domains: Wellbeing, Design, Agency, Interaction, and Feedback. Interestingly, these don’t just make for good online teaching; they represent good teaching, period.

Wellbeing

A common phrase in education circles is Maslow before Bloom. This refers to two models prevalent in education and psychology: Maslow’s hierarchy of human needs and Bloom’s taxonomy of cognitive engagement. Put simply, Maslow before Bloom means teachers must ensure students’ basic needs are fulfilled before learning can commence. While some students might flourish learning online, for others, it can be isolating and daunting. Having an awareness of this spectrum is vital. To thrive online, teachers help students feel a sense of belonging in their class, establish routines and norms, and emphasise individual goal-setting.

Design

Like face-to-face learning, online learning should balance the need for teachers to engage in good direct instruction and the ability for students to learn independently and from each other. In the online environment, teachers can create this balance by conducting targeted video meetings on Teams to explicitly introduce and scaffold ideas, provide worked examples, and check for understanding. However, we also know that students then need opportunities to think and connect their ideas. For this reason, we keep our video meetings under 30-minutes and allow students time in lessons to develop their understanding.

Agency

Feedback from our online learning experience in 2020 revealed many students valued the ability to work through activities at their own pace. This is one area we will continue to develop this year. When students are well prepared, we know they value the ability to pick up where they’ve left off and work through an activity or project at their own pace. Agency can also come from more unexpected places, like the ability to watch, pause or rewind video content or from having the choice of several activities or topics from which to work.

Interaction

Interaction is often seen as one of the most challenging areas to tackle in online learning. We are lucky to be teaching and learning in a time where technology continues to make interaction and communication more accessible. Many teachers use breakout rooms in Teams to provide students with the virtual space to communicate and collaborate. Microsoft Teams has also become a real hub for asynchronous communication with students and teachers communicating over chat. Our focus for thriving online is to continue to look for ways where interaction, collaboration and communication are developed through learning activities. Conclusions

Teachers and staff learnt a lot from our previous experience of online learning. While we learn more about the nuances of teaching and learning online every day, we are well-positioned to make the most of the challenges that are thrown our way. In 2021, we must set our sights on providing excellent learning opportunities for our students, no matter the context.

Andy Mifsud Director of Digital Learning

Feedback

Feedback in online learning takes on new meaning and importance. In a face-to-face classroom, feedback can happen so subtly, almost subconsciously. When working online, students look for different cues from their teacher to make sure they are on the right path. Using tools like OneNote has helped by giving teachers access to student work as it is being completed. In our next phase of online learning, we will continue to develop feedback options by encouraging individual goal setting, self-assessment, and peer feedback.

Left to right “May the 4th”, Science staff on playground duty; Build time at the Year 7 STEAM challenge; Year 9 iSTEAM rollercoasters.

I have been part of the Barker community for many years in a number of roles. Firstly, as a Science teacher, then the inaugural Head of Girls Boarding in the early 1990s. I returned to Barker in the late 1990s and since then I led the Biology teaching team and the STEAM initiatives across the School. I am passionate about science education and scientific literacy. It is essential that all our students finish their time at Barker College with a rich understanding of scientific principles and that they can use this understanding to make wise choices in their lives and in the matters that they will work in and vote on in their adult lives. Science at Barker goes from strength to strength, with a vibrant talented team of over 30 teaching staff and six science technicians. We offer six different courses in Stage 6, with students in the Science Extension course of 2020 going on to win some significant international prizes for their research projects in early 2021. Laura Redman and Alex Gray entered their work into the Young Scientist competition in late 2020. Laura’s work on filtration using the xylem vessels in Casuarina species to remove E.coli from water went on to be a finalist at the Australian Stockholm Junior Water Prize. Alex’s project, A General Vector Theory of the Dynamics of a Rapidly Rotating Top won fourth prize at International Science and Engineering Fair (ISEF). Both students developed their work under the careful guidance of our talented staff, Dr Alison Gates, Dr Matthew Hill and Dr Katie Terrett. We were thrilled to start 2021 with a fabulous two-day STEAM event for the Year 7 students. This was a purposeful event, where the students competed in House teams on a Faraday Challenge to build a table tennis launcher. The students learned practical, digital, design and collaboration skills whilst engaging in some serious science and engineering challenges. It was a fantastic two days of high energy, fun and serious competition. It was a wonderful opportunity for the staff from each of the STEAM faculties to work together on a cooperative project and to bring together their many talents and strengths to work on the event. The very talented Kevin Jones has joined the Design and Technology team in 2021 and he was pivotal in writing and designing this program whilst he was working in the United Kingdom. We are exceptionally privileged that he is a part of our Barker STEAM team! Barker Science has been fortunate to have 11 new

Photo Build time at the Year 7 STEAM challenge.

Barker Science has been fortunate to have 11 new laboratories added to our faculty from Term 2 and these are an extraordinary asset. We have one small, specialised research laboratory for student work in Science Extension, and five specialised laboratories for each of Earth & Environmental Science and Biology. The laboratories have interconnecting doors and the space is able to be utilised for cooperative learning and school-wide STEAM and Science events. The Science Quad, SQ, now has 15 laboratories in total, with the existing four laboratories repurposed and specialised for Agriculture and Middle School Science. The iSTEAM course in Years 9 and 10 continues to be a solid elective, with clear connections to each of the pillar faculties of Science, Computing, Design and Technology and Mathematics. STEM is a key driver of innovation and NESA has now re-endorsed this course for 2022 and beyond. The Year 9 students showcased their engineering roller coaster challenge at the end of Term 2 where they applied their understanding of physics and motion. They are currently working on an automated green house as they investigate feeding a hungry world, while the Year 10 students are working on a biomedical technology stream. The Barker Drone Academy is continuing to be developed under the careful guidance of Nathan Dumbleton, CO of the Tech/PR wing of the Barker Cadet Unit and chemistry coordinator in the Science department. 2021 has seen a change in our partnership company and some significant work done with the Barker Cadet Unit, setting up an online UAV training course and accreditation. It is anticipated that this STEAM initiative and course will finally be available to the wider school community by 2022. As 2021 continues, the very talented team of teachers in this faculty are endeavoring to keep our students connected with active learning in Science and STEAM, in both the online environment and in our classes at school.

Virginia Ellis Head of Science & STEAM

Early on a cold winter’s morning, 11 Year 10 girls embarked on a journey to UNSW. Catching the train and light rail gave the girls a taste of university life.

What lay ahead was a day filled with interesting speeches and interactive activities. Key speaker, Virginia Wheway, gave an inspiring speech on how she has used data science in her career. From studying black box data while working for Boeing, to analysing online behaviours to target ads when working for Koala, she showed the girls there are endless opportunities for work if you have a degree in Mathematics. Various activities demonstrated the practicalities of maths throughout history while working with likeminded students from other schools. The students looked at how the area of land was calculated using sticks, string and the 3, 4, 5 Pythagorean triangle in a time before computers and calculators. They were also fascinated by various counting techniques and how different problems are interlinked. The girls finished the day feeling inspired and full of knowledge on the importance of mathematics in our lives and the opportunities that lie ahead.

Jess Iles Mathematics Teacher

Global Studies is a Year 9 and Year 10 subject unique to Barker. We explore current global issues through a solutions-oriented lens.

An important part of learning about global issues is to experience them through primary material sources and by learning from people who have experienced these issues first-hand. On 15 June, all Year 9 and Year 10 Global Studies classes travelled into the city to learn first-hand about global issues. While each year group visited the same venues, the Big Issue and the Sydney Jewish Museum, they were exposed to different approaches to solving global injustices. The Year 10 group learned about the value of creating businesses as social enterprises from a Big Issue vendor, while the Year 9 group learned about the causes and potential solutions to homelessness. The Year 10 group learned about how Jewish people resisted the Holocaust, while the Year 9 group learned about the causes of genocide and potential prevention methods applicable to all genocides. Here’s a report from Year 9's Eric Jiang on his excursion experience: The two Year 9 classes spent the most enjoyable and informative day out in the city. First stop was The Big Issue, a magazine business. We learnt they were more than just that; it is a non-profit social enterprise helping people experiencing homelessness. This NGO taught us all about the causes, effects and experiences of homelessness. Hearing from someone who had actually experienced homelessness but now earned a living selling magazines, was really inspiring. After a quick food stop – lollies – was a visit to the Sydney Jewish Museum. Yet another inspiring speaker, Yvonne, presented her memories of surviving the worst genocide in history, the Holocaust. Her main message was to forgive but never forget. A quick tour of timeless artefacts, like parts of the Torah and Nazi propaganda, demonstrated the effects the Holocaust had on the Jewish people at that time. A final talk about documents and attempts that define, prevent and criminalise genocide prepared us for our new topic in class, Preventing Genocide.

Liza Hildreth Global Studies Coordinator

Eric Jiang Year 9

From cooking demonstrations to a Latin Study Day and learning more about the last days of Pompeii and life during WWI in France, our Language students enjoyed several incursions and excursions in Term 2.

Year 7 Languages Cooking Incursion

Year 7 Language students immersed themselves in a culinary incursion. The students were taught how to prepare Chinese dumplings, Japanese Yakiudon noodles, French chocolate balls and ‘salt and pepper’ pasta, as developed by the ancient Romans. Each student enjoyed the hands-on experience of preparing a meal, using their knowledge of the language and consuming the fruits of their labour at the end of the day! The event provided everyone with an opportunity to reflect upon the deep influence that both Asian and European cultures have exercised on Australia’s modern cuisine and lifestyle. Thanks must go to the teachers from the Languages Department and the presenter who provided such an engaging, authentic and delicious language learning experience! Year 9 French WWI Excursion

Our two Year 9 French classes enjoyed a unique opportunity to travel to the Alliance Francaise in the city, where they spent a morning in near total immersion with native French speakers. The chosen topic was the First World War in France. Students learned extremely interesting facts about how civilians and soldiers went through these terrible years. They also discovered who the unknown soldier was through a mystery box game with clues given in French. During the entire workshop the students had to complete activities in French-like quizzes, multiplechoice questions as well as some speaking exercises. It was an enjoyable learning experience, which ended with some students eating French food from the Alliance Café. Everyone offered a hearty ‘merci’ to teachers Sabine Kieken and Ashley Rickman for organising such a great day out.

Year 12 Latin Study Day

The annual Year 12 Study Day at Barker saw over one hundred Latin students from around the country, gather in person - and online - at the end of Term 2. The students enjoyed lectures on texts such as Virgil’s Aeneid, Cicero’s prosecution of Catiline and the genre of Roman Lyric poetry. The day was an opportunity for students and teachers alike to revel in the drama, mystique and romance of the ancient world. Each presentation powerfully resurrected Roman cultural icons, entombed by 2000 years of literary history: Aeneas – the hapless and reluctant founder of Rome; Catiline – the seditious monster who brought the city to her knees; and Catullus and Lesbia – epitomising the agony and ecstasy of love in the first centry BC. The program supported the Barker students’ preparation for the HSC as well as providing an insight into the journey of life-long learning that an ancient language can provide. Year 8 Latin Incursion: the Eruption of Mount Vesuvius

In Term 2 Year 8 Latin students learned about the last days of Pompeii through the eyes of Caecilius and his family. Daniel Woolley and Dr Brent Koppel from Barker’s Science Department showed students the School’s collection of igneous rocks and talked about the type of explosion that took place from Mount Vesuvius on on 24 August 79AD. Tom Nolan demonstrated great knowledge of rocks that originated from volcanic eruptions. Students recreated the eruption using a mixture of vinegar, bicarbonate of soda, detergent and red food dye which caused a rapid pyroclastic flow. This gave Year 8s a hands-on feel for the story of Mount Vesuvius which both Gail Cunnigham and Julia Anstey had recounted during class.

Matthew Ross Head of Languages

The award celebrates students who demonstrate technical expertise and make significant contributions to their team and their wider community, all while maintaining academic excellence. Lael Grant, Barker’s Robotics Coordinator, caught up with Suzanne to find out more. Congratulations on winning the FRC Dean’s List Award for 2021! We are so proud of all you have contributed to Barker Robotics and beyond. How did you get started? I have a long history with Robotics, especially at Barker! My brother joined the team in late 2014 so I travelled as a family member to the 2016 FRC World Championships. I met Daiane and Jeser who started teaching me the basics of FRC and inspired me to compete. Of course, I was in Year 6 and “officially” too young and couldn’t go to Barker yet, so instead, in 2017 I took it upon myself to start a team at PLC, my previous school, with Barker’s help. Then in 2020 I transferred schools and teams to the Barker Redbacks. What is the significance of the Dean’s List Award to you? I am thrilled and humbled to have even been put forward in the first place. I recognise that even to be nominated, mentors must write an essay of recommendation. Out of around 801 teams who selected students, I was honoured to be one of six winners in the Pacific Region. Looking at my history with Robotics, I’ve also participated in many different Robotics outreach activities and given more speeches than I can recount. I’ve collaborated with many students over the years who have inspired me, including previous Dean’s List awardees from the Barker Redbacks; Alastair Pilley (16), Sean Zammit (17) and Ben Schwarz (Year 12). Because of this, I was especially grateful to be nominated, being able to win and count myself among their ranks was quite special. What does a Robotics student’s commitment look like at Barker, and where do you find your motivation? A typical Robotics season for Year 9 - 11 students runs from early January to April and again from September to December. During this time, the Robotics room is open six days a week including most school holidays. Most students attend up to six days a week during the FRC build season and at least twice a week during off season after April. Many of us spend over 200 hours on Robotics in January alone. For me, being a part of Barker Robotics is like having a second family at School. It is a group who has each other’s backs and are ready to celebrate the highs and commiserate the lows together. Especially in the past year where we’ve seen the cancellation of multiple planned international competitions and the world championships. I think that support is part of what’s motivated me in recent times to keep coming back and pushing to achieve my best. My commitment to not only create the best robot, but also to my teammates who I’ve gone through so much with over the past two years. Congratulations, you’ve achieved so much in a short time. What are your future plans? I am currently looking at university courses in mechatronic and/or biomedical engineering for a future career in the engineering and robotics space. I guess the answer should be – stay tuned.

Lael Grant Robotics Coordinator & Computer Science Teacher