Issue 4 Terms III 2012

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NEWSLETTER Mr Kinsella with Yani Chuang and her artwork titled ‘Self Portrait - Books’

Headmaster’s Message Chaplain’s Message Head of Junior School

Year 6 Canberra Excursion

Issue 4 Term III, 2012

Academic • Christian • Caring

Wonderful Achievements I have just returned from the most wonderful evening of music performed by 350 talented music students from TIGS and 26 other HICES schools.

The Sydney Town Hall provided the venue for the final concert of the 2012 HICES Music Festival and it was a truly memorable occasion.

Elite musicians from Years 7 to 12 performed in concert bands, a stage band, choirs and a symphony orchestra. The finale was outstanding with all students singing with the orchestra and the pipe organ in a performance of Handel’s ‘Zadok the Priest’ – a spine tingling moment.

Next year, students in Years 5 to 8 will have the opportunity to attend the Music Festival, an opportunity not to be missed.

There have been many wonderful achievements by our students in recent weeks and I congratulate everyone on their success: Jarrod Port (Year 12) Olympic Representative U/10 TIGS Pearl Netball Team Undefeated Champions (Well done Cartia Taranto, Annabel Malouf, Toria Tsakaridis, Annie McLearie, Mila Lancaster, Aanya Rakheija, Sarah Van Vrumingen and Selene Chadrawy)

Stephen Kinsella Headmaster

Open Girls Tennis Team To play in the final of the NSW School Championship (Best wishes to Stella Crick, Kirsty McRae, Lily Tuivaga and Hannah Kim) Year 9 Community Problem Solving Team Recently won a $2 000 grant from the University of Wollongong in the Healthy Schools Competition for their project on healthy eating in school (Well done Hannah Kim, Maria Kyriacoudes, Quynh-Nhu Nguyen and Manika Parajuli) Thomas Bolt (Year 11) Quota International Leisure Coast Student of the Year Wollongong Eisteddfod There were so many outstanding results, with Nicole Mealy and James Belcher performing in the Showcase Concert. The list of outstanding performers is impressive – congratulations everyone.

It would be easy for a school to claim the accolades for these achievements. The teachers do work very hard at TIGS in supporting students to achieve their academic and co-curricular goals and it is always a proud moment when the efforts of the students are rewarded with great results. The tutors, coaches and mentors also play a part as do parents and members of the extended family who pay for lessons, drive many kilometres to rehearsals, practices and competitions and provide emotional support during the many highs and lows along the way to success. There is much for us all to feel pleased about these achievements.

The annual presentation of HSC major works for 2012 will be held next weekend – 24 and 25 August. ‘The Works’ is a not-to-be missed event featuring Works of Art, Photography, Film, Furniture, Design and Ceramics. These pieces are on display prior to being assessed by the HSC examiners and are sure to inspire younger students who will be facing the HSC examiners in future years.

In conjunction with ‘The Works’ there will be an exhibition of art from over 40 parents, ex-students and friends of TIGS. These items will be available for sale and proceeds will be used in support of TIGS Foundation Scholarships.

Two major prizes will awarded this year: The $2 000 Acquisitive Award sponsored by Westpac and The Work’s People’s Choice sponsored by the TIGS Foundation.

It is my hope that ‘The Works’ will be well supported by the TIGS community.

Stephen Kinsella Headmaster

Chaplain’s Message

Tapered for the Prize

In my article last week I referred to various ways the Bible uses sport as a metaphor for the Christian life. The Christian life is viewed as a race; the Christian is pictured as an elite athlete doing what she must to run the race to the end; the finish line coincides with our final day on this earth; the victor is the one who has remained faithful to Jesus to the very end; the prize is the unfading glory of eternal life. This week I want to focus in on one aspect of this so-called ‘race’.

Not long before the Beijing Olympics in 2008 Australian cyclist Anna Mears broke her neck in an awful cycling accident. Her prospects of making the Australian team were zero. But Anna Mears would not be denied. She got up on her feet and resumed training. Amazingly, she made the team.

Not content with that, Anna Mears competed like a lion in Beijing. She won silver in the sprint and so earned my deepest respect.

This time for London Anna had a great preparation. She went into her first event - the Kierin - as world champion and hot favourite. Anna failed miserably. She was devastated. Doubt came knocking. In one of her post match interviews Anna Mears literally rallied herself on camera. She said champions do not lie down; they dust themselves off and rise to meet the next challenge. Anna Mears did just that. She lined up for the sprint against the favourite Victoria Pendleton. Anna Mears won gold.

Anna Mears is a legend.

Rev James Rogers Chaplain

In an interview following her victory, Anna revealed something that floored me. She revealed she had been on a chocolate ban all year. She knew that she couldn’t eat chocolate and win gold.

Anna momentarily broke that ban after her disappointment in the Kierin. She ate two small squares of chocolate. And then she resumed her ban and went on to win gold. I knew athletes sacrificed much to reach their goals. I hadn’t realised just how much. Sure, to go without chocolate is no big deal. But it is an indication of what athletes know they must do to perform at their very best. Anna knew chocolate would be her undoing - so she gave it up.

In Hebrews 12.2 we are told we must “throw off everything that hinders and the sin that so easily entangles” if we are to run the Christian race to the very end. Just as Anna Mears knew she couldn’t have chocolate and win gold so we must know that we can’t enjoy those things which displease God and expect we will persevere in the Christian life to the end. We need to discipline ourselves. Anna did it for Olympic glory. There is far more at stake for us - nothing less than eternal glory. Let’s encourage one another in this – and all the more as we see the finishing line approaching.

Rev James Rogers Chaplain

Invitation

‘The Works’ Exhibition 2012

An inspiring exhibition of the collaboration and artistic endeavours of our HSC students, current and past teachers, students, parents and friends of TIGS. A major fundraiser for TIGS Foundation Scholarships.

Friday 24 August 2012 6.00pm - 7.00pm 7.00pm - 9.00pm

The Works 2012 VIP Preview Official Opening

Saturday 25 August 2012 10.00am - 4.00pm

Junior School

IB Attitudes

IB Attitudes

This week let’s take a closer look at the attitudes of commitment and respect. Ask your children to identify when they observe others demonstrating these attitudes and when they demonstrate them themselves. Here are a few examples I could see as I moved around our school this week.

Students who learn an instrument and who progress well usually consistently show commitment to this learning. Sometimes it is their parents’ commitment in encouraging them to practice and persevere but as they mature this attitude becomes owned by the child. The attitude of respect is one that we value highly and work hard to teach to the students. We want them to respect each other, themselves, their community and the world. Respect can be commanded as a behaviour, a response, or even earned but we are more interested in developing the attitude of respect in our children and in each other as a choice, to choose to demonstrate respect. Unless the attitudes of commitment and respect are developed and owned in a real way then they are merely air freshener in a room that desperately needs cleaning. They might have a short term superficial impact but in the long term the room is still smelly. Let’s focus on developing our skills and awareness of commitment and respect this week across our School and even further afield.

Judi Nealy

Dates for your diary:

• Tuesday 28 August – Prep 2 day, Stage 2 and Stage 3 Father’s Day Stall • Friday 31 August – Father’s Day Breakfast • Friday 31 August – Prep 3 day and Kinder – Year 2 Father’s Day Stall Tuesday 4 September and Thursday 6 September – IT Coffee and Chat Sessions Thursday 20 September – Big Day In Head of Junior School

• •

Weekly Awards

Merit Certificates

KD

Ethan Hennessy – Service Lachlan Phillpott – Academic Allegra Fock – Academic Daniel Peden – Academic Angus Kiang – Academic Megan Ashford – Academic Taylor Merritt – Academic Jacobus Newhouse – Academic Jessica Hall – Academic Molly Parrish – Academic Connor Harvey – Academic Lachlan Boardman – Service

Austin Keefe, Jessica Llewellin

KM Xavier Druett 1C

Michela Cavallarin

1M

Aya Naito

1W

Jacobus Newhouse

2H

Hasnain Aly, Clara Swainson, Angkit Jeyachandran

2P

Nathan Molnar

3M

Molly Parrish, Declan Saad, Megan Ashford, Jessica Hall

4W

Zaynab Panju, Connor Harvey, Jayden Grieve

5N

Joanne Karakousis, Kasee Dennis

6T

Isabella Sandy, Samuel Lendrum

6W

Samuel Shalala, Ethan Hennessy

6Y

Ashleigh Mill, Dylan Sormus, Joshua Fullerton-Harvey, Harry Borbilas, Lucas Heidrich, Taylah Pather

Canteen News Online Lunch Orders

Remember to order online so that you don’t miss out on your favourite items. Please visit www.flexischools.com.au and have a look.

How many serves of fruit and vegetables do children need to eat?

The amount children should eat depends on their age, appetite and activity level. Try to offer a variety of fruits and vegetables as different colored fruits and vegetables provide different phytochemicals and antioxidants.

The recommended daily serves of fruit and vegetables for children and adolescents is shown in the table below:

Roster Week 5 Term III Monday 20 August Pupil Free Day

Tuesday 21 August Barb Mandelson Alice Martin

Wednesday 22 August Pat Calchi Daniell Burton

Thursday 23 August

Friday 24 August Melanie Smith

Senior School Sport Under 14’s Rugby League 7’s

State Snowsports

In the first round game TIGS ran into a much bigger and determined outfit from Macarthur Adventist School and were soundly defeated. After this early wake-up call the boys defeated All Saints College and were placed in the plate play-off draw.

TIGS Netball Club

On Monday 13 August nine Year 8 boys went to Bankstown to take part in the CIS Rugby League 7’s. This unique format of 7 a side Rugby League sees fast flowing Rugby League which is entertaining to play and watch.

In the play-off rounds TIGS had an exciting draw with Sutherland Christian School and finished the day on a high with a comprehensive defeat of St Phillips Christian School from Cessnock. Unfortunately TIGS didn’t progress to the plate final and finished third.

Big thanks to casual teacher Mr McRae who come along on the day and played role of coach and trainer.

Congratulations to all the boys who did TIGS proud. A special mention to Christian Kyriakou who was named TIGS player of the day.

Next week TIGS will be represented at the State Snowsports championships at Thredbo by 11 talented skiers across the junior and senior schools. The school wishes Ethan Jackson, Aaron Doherty, Mika Bliokas, Ashleigh Mill, Georgia Webb, Holly Kiteley, Charli Morelli, Tahlia Jackson, Lachlan Prior, Simon Bussoletti and Jack Millar all the best at the championships.

This Saturday is the final week of the IDNA minor premiership competition.

Well done to the seven TIGS teams who have been representing the School every Saturday for the past four months.

Final round matches at Fred Finch Park Berkeley are detailed below and we encourage the TIGS community to come out and support them.

Under 8’s 8.30am court 40 Under 9’s 9.45am court 6 Under 10’s 8.30am court 23 Under 11’s 8.30am court 19 Intermediate B3 11.45am court 30 Intermediate A4 11.45am court 13 Intermediate A2 11.45am court 1 We wish them the best for the finals.

Creative Arts News The Works 2012

Our Year 12 students will continue the tradition of displaying their work at The Works Exhibition 2012 on the weekend of the 24 August. This year promises to provide us with some outstanding work in a range of media. The opening night has become a cultural highlight in Wollongong and your support is really important in its continued success.

The winning entry of this year’s Acquisitive Art Award will be announced and the recipient will receive a $2000 prize which has been made possible by the support of the Westpac Bank. Many of the works will be for sale over the weekend and your support of our local artists and TIGS Foundation Scholarships will enable a local child who could not otherwise afford to do so, access a TIGS education.

On Saturday 10.00am until 3.00pm a coffee shop will be in operation and this is a great opportunity to bring friends and extended family to see the wonderful artistic talent of our students and our artists. We look forward to seeing you this coming Friday night at 7.00pm in the IGC.

Original Artwork

Mr Kinsella’s office has had the recent addition of original artworks. Jake Kuit, Tarni McGovern and Louis Parsons-O’Malley have had their work selected to be hung in this exciting new artspace during Term 3. Congratulations on to these students.

We look forward to seeing more students work over the coming months.

PISA 2012

PISA is coming to our school!

Our school has been chosen to represent Australia for the OECD Programme for International Student Assessment (PISA) which is taking place between 30 July and 7 September 2012. A random sample of 15 year old students will be part of a once in a lifetime opportunity to represent Australia in education!

PISA is an international assessment, occurring every three years, which measures skills in mathematics, science, reading, problem solving and financial literacy at a point when students have almost finished their compulsory schooling. PISA helps to inform policy makers involved with education on how well schools are succeeding in helping students to acquire the skills and knowledge they will need to meet challenges beyond school.

Since the first PISA assessment in 2000, the survey has continued to raise interest amongst educators and policy-makers world-wide. In 2012, Australia will be one of almost 70 countries participating in PISA. More than 800 schools and over 15 000 students will represent our country in this important project.

PISA is part of the National Assessment Program in Australia. Participation in these sample assessments is an obligation for government schools under the National Education Agreement between the Commonwealth and the States and Territories, and an obligation for non-government schools under Commonwealth schools funding legislation and funding agreements for 2009-2012.

What will PISA mean for our school?

25 students who are randomly selected from our school will be sampled to complete a two-hour paper-based assessment consisting of mathematics, science, financial literacy and reading questions. These students will also be asked to complete a questionnaire.

After the paper-based assessment and questionnaire, a sub-sample of 20 students who participated in the paper-based assessment will also participate in a computer-based assessment of problem solving, mathematical literacy and reading literacy.

Every participating school and student has an important role in showing the rest of the world what Australia can do.

ACER will provide your school and participating students with a certificate, recognising their contribution, and students will receive results from PISA. Each student will also receive a small gift in appreciation of their participation.

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