17
MIDDLE SCHOOL
Year 7 Brine House boys.
DA VINCI DECATHLON
BEGINNER BAND
BRINE HOUSE BOYS
In June, the 2012 Hale School’s Year 8 da Vinci Decathlon team were successful in winning the Western Australian da Vinci Decathlon title held at Wesley College. Boys are invited to trial for selection into this academically diverse competition.
The ‘Beginner Band’ is a unique Middle School performance group designed to give boys entering Hale School in Year 7 a chance to begin learning an instrument for the first time. This year 17 boys took up the invitation and under the direction of Mr Venables they have made fantastic progress. The boys have chosen oboe, clarinet, trumpet, saxophone, trombone, euphonium and bass guitar this year with which to commence their musical journey. They will perform at the Middle School Parent Night in Term 4.
Brine House is home for 47 boys who live at Hale School as boarders during term time. The boys come from across the state and overseas and in some cases are carrying on family traditions across generations. The boys deal with all of life’s challenges a long way from home but always with the incredible support of the staff in the boarding team. Their weekend, homework and daily interactions with others all take place within this extraordinary community of people dedicated to looking after one another. The Brine House boys bring fascinating perspectives to our School community and perhaps also at times a sense of reality about our own context.
The Western Australian da Vinci Decathlon is an all-day interschool competition operated in the spirit of an Olympic Decathlon. Teams of eight Year 8 students from each school compete in ten events of an academic nature. The Hale School team, comprising Domenic Quail (Captain), Adi Ganguly, Haseeb Riaz, Christopher Shields, Harry Walters, Matthew Blacker, James Dingley and Jonathon Battista won two events and finished well in several others, demonstrating their wide range of abilities. The challenging events included Engineering, Art and Poetry, Science, Games of Strategy, English, Creative Producers, Mathematics, General Knowledge, Code Breaking and Philosophy. The boys travelled to Sydney to take part in the Australian da Vinci competition at Knox College as a result of the success at the Wesley College event!
THE BHD PRODUCTIONS TEAM Clayton Herbst, James Dingley and Matthew Blacker are three Year 8 boys with a passion for video, amongst other things! The boys have created a production company, BHD Productions, and produced a number of outstanding videos. The boys’ work is being used in Year 6 classes at St Mary’s and another film is currently entered into the prestigious ‘Getyaheadright’ competition, which deals with issues that can arise in School communities. The boys are also preparing a video for the students new to Middle School next year.
The 2012 da Vinci Team: Harry Walters, Adi Ganguly, Mr Andrew Dean, Domenic Quail (Captain), James Dingley, Haseeb Riaz, Matthew Blacker, Christopher Shields and Jonathon Battista.
MORGAN MARUTHIAH The United Nations Youth Voice is a public speaking competition held annually for students in Years 8 to10. It provides an exciting opportunity for young people to speak their mind on international issues that matter to them! On the evening of 10 September, Year 8 boy Morgan Maruthiah spoke with clarity and sincerity on his chosen topic of ‘Worst Enemy’. His major premise was that poverty could be considered to be the global community’s worst enemy, affecting people’s access to food, shelter, education and opportunity. In his initial heat, Morgan competed with students from several other schools including Perth and Shenton Colleges. He was successful in his heat and as a result has been selected to compete in the upcoming semi-finals. In this next round, Morgan will be provided with an impromptu topic on the night of the competition and be asked to develop and deliver a three minute speech on this topic. Morgan’s conviction and initiative are a credit to him and an inspiration to us all.