Issue 5 Term II 2011

NEWSLETTER Prep Excursion to Sydney

Headmaster’s Message Not a Popularity Contest Head of Senior School Head of Junior School

Issue 5 Term II, 2011

Academic • Christian • Caring

Not a Popularity Contest At this week’s Senior School Assembly I spoke about leadership and the process by which students are appointed to leadership positions in the School. Year 11 are soon to be appointed as our student leaders for 2012.

Leadership at TIGS, in both the Junior and Senior Schools, is not a popularity contest. The appointment of students to positions of leadership is made, on the advice of staff and students, by the Headmaster.

The School’s philosophy is that all students should have the opportunity to experience the challenges of leadership. It is not uncommon for as many as 90 students to be appointed to leadership positions in Year 12. We believe that if a student is willing to take on the responsibility of leadership they should be given the opportunity.

We also believe that leaders should take Christ’s example as their model for leadership – leaders have their position so they can serve others. There is no place for ego or self-aggrandisement in leadership at TIGS. To be appointed as a student leader, a student is expected to have demonstrated an on-going commitment to the School, its values and its programs. I reminded students that their commitment to the School is monitored right from their first moments at TIGS. A Headmaster long-term and consistent commitment to Academic Excellence, Christian Beliefs and Behaviours and our Caring Community (our TIGS core values) is the starting point when evaluating applications for leadership positions. It is noticed when uniforms are not worn correctly or when participation in House events is not wholehearted.

Stephen Kinsella

In a similar way, the performance of students in leadership training and service activities is also noted. It is exciting to observe latent leadership qualities being revealed during the leadership-training program that spans Years 7 to 11 – it is surprising how often the most popular students are not the best leaders.

The opinions of the students are also considered. Voting takes place by students in Years 10, 11 and 12 for the position of School Captain and School Vice-Captain. All students in each House vote for their leaders, and some current student leaders in areas of responsibility are consulted about suitable candidates to replace them.

There are a number of opportunities to serve as a student leader: • School Captains and Vice-Captains are appointed after an interview with the Headmaster and the Head of Senior School • House Captains and Vice-Captains are appointed in consultation with House Patrons • Prefects and Senior Leaders are appointed in consultation with the teachers responsible for each portfolio and the Senior Dean The decision to appoint a student as a Prefect or a Senior Leader is made after considering their demonstrated leadership skills and their degree of commitment to the School and its values.

Not everyone can be School Captain – the idea of 90 School Captains is scary as well as absurd. It is our intention to find each student, willing to take on the responsibility of leadership, the position that matches their ability and commitment.

We hope that the next round of student leaders will be as good as those that have preceded them.

Stephen Kinsella Headmaster Matthew 20: 26-28 (The Message) Jesus said, “You’ve observed how godless rulers throw their weight around, how quickly a little power goes to their heads. It’s not going to be that way with you. Whoever wants to be great must become a servant. Whoever wants to be first among you must be your slave. That is what the Son of Man has done: He came to serve, not be served - and then to give away his life in exchange for the many who are held hostage.”

“The Jesus I Never Knew”

This week’s article comes from Rev Ian Barnett, Senior Minister at Figtree Anglican Church For many, Jesus is still a person they have never known. In a great book, “The Jesus I Never Knew” written by Phillip Yancey about 10 years ago, he writes about Fyodor Dostoevsky; one of the most famous and accomplished Russian writers of the 19th century.

Early in his life, Dostoevsky underwent a virtual resurrection. He had been arrested for belonging to a group judged treasonous

by Tsar Nicholas I, who, to impress upon the young parlour radicals the gravity of their errors, sentenced them to death and staged a mock execution. The conspirators were dressed in white death gowns and led to a public square, where a firing squad awaited them.

Blindfolded, robed in white burial shrouds with hands bound tightly behind them, they were paraded before a gawking crowd and then tied to posts. At the very last instant, as the order, “Ready! Aim!” was heard and rifles were cocked and lifted upward, a horseman galloped up with a pre-arranged message from the Tsar; he would mercifully commute their sentences to hard labour.

Dostoevsky never recovered from this experience.

He had peered into the jaws of death, and from that moment life became for him precious beyond all calculation. Now my life will change, he said; I shall be born again in a new form. As he boarded the convict train toward Siberia, a devout woman handed him a New Testament; the only book allowed in prison. Believing God had given him a second chance to fulfil his calling, Dostoevsky poured over that New Testament during his confinement.

After 10 years he emerged from exile with unshakable Christian convictions, as expressed in one famous passage: “If anyone proved to me that Christ was outside the truth, then I would prefer to remain with Christ than with the truth.” Such is the attraction of the real Jesus.

The bible says, “For Christ’s love compels us, because we are convinced that one died for all, and therefore all died.” (2 Corinthians 5:14). Remember, if Jesus makes you feel comfortable with your agenda, then he’s not Jesus. Once you domesticate Jesus, he isn’t there anymore.

So can I encourage you, if someone asks you what is the Christian faith all about, try this...“We are all part of the problem, but there is only one man who is the solution. His name is Jesus.”

Rev Ian Barnett Senior Minister Figtree Anglican Church info@figtreeanglican.org.au

Senior School Coming in at number 10 of the Students’ Rights and Responsibilities (p-12 of the School Diary) is the Right: I have the right to benefit from the good name of the School. Paired with that Right is the Responsibility: It is my responsibility to behave so that the community will respect my school. It is my responsibility to wear the School uniform neatly and correctly, and with dignity.

Our students promote the good name of the School within a number of contexts. Within the context of other NSW Independent schools our Cross Country representatives again won the NASSA Cross Country Competition at Macarthur. Not only did they behave outstandingly but they wore their uniforms with pride and dignity and really looked like ‘a team to be reckoned with’ standing out from the crowd in their TIGS sports uniforms.

At the recent Rotary Model United Nations Assembly held at the Nan Tien Temple, Daniel McNamara, Isaac (Young) Kim, Lisa Fernandez and Kishan Wijesinghe earned great respect in the local community for their debating skills, their dignity and presence - so much so that we have been asked to send representatives to the next round of international debate.

Monica Watt

Deputy Headmaster and Head of Senior School

On Friday, in a talk that they gave to the Businesswomen of the Illawarra Region at the Women in Business Conference, Carna Feldtmann and Laura Sunderland described their year group’s work for disabled young people through the Disability Trust at the Sony Foundation Camp in 2010. They talked about the impact of their work on not only the children who attended the camp but also on the families who benefitted from the respite care. Carna and Laura showed images of TIGS students working for and supporting others, showing true servant leadership in the community.

On Friday night Charlotte Gibbs, Lauren Nealy, Alice (Tae) Park, Sunny Kim, Casey (Xuan) Gu and Cheryl (Lu) Ding attended a Women of Culture Dinner – an Ecumenical Celebration of Affinity between women of different faiths. As part of the official order of events Charlotte played the flute. This was the first such event in the Illawarra and was a rich and joyful event of mutual respect and understanding. Our students again enhanced the School’s name by their courtesy and respectful involvement as well as their proud and dignified wearing of the school uniform.

We all benefit when students such as these symbolically inform the community of the good things that happen at TIGS. It is up to each and every student, assisted by each and every parent, to do their own ‘little bit’ and promote the good name of the School going home on the bus or just walking home and wearing the school uniform ‘neatly, correctly and with dignity.’

Junior School

It is time for a very mundane newsletter theme!

Labelling uniforms and rain coats have been the source of many frustrated phone calls and interactions. Can I encourage our wonderful mums and dads to assist the children in developing their own self help skills in this regard? It is a simple task to have a checklist for items that need to be routinely packed in the school bag (including raincoats). Please take the extra 5 minutes to supervise your children as they pack their own bag and reduce the supervision as the children get older. This equips our boys and girls to have the gear they need for each day at hand, they know where it is and they can easily access it. I am a working mum myself and I understand completely the sense that it is “quicker to just pack it for them” however in the long term it is vastly more efficient and productive to teach our children the skills they need to maintain their own equipment for a day at school.

Judi Nealy

Let’s move on to labelling. Many of our community would be quite distressed at the amount of unlabelled lost property that is collected in the Junior School Admin. I remind all students that they need to label their clothing and other equipment clearly so that we can return it to the correct person when it has been lost. There are quite a few families who have requested that all families take a look in their children’s cupboards for any uniform items that may have found their way home in the wrong bag (many years ago my son has done this, imagine my shame when I had to tell Mrs G that we had in fact ‘found’ her sons missing blazer in Joshua’s cupboard!) It can happen easily so please return any found items to the Junior School office and no questions will be asked!

I am pleased to report that we are communicating with the principal at Grantham State School in Queensland. This area was very badly affected by flooding and continues to be in great need. Many of the 71 students at Grantham school have lost everything they own, both in their homes and in their school. At the Karobran welcome luncheon, money was raised to assist a Queensland school and community affected by flood and this money will go to Grantham School. In addition we would like to give our own children an opportunity to reach out the children at Grantham and we will be making care packs to send up to this community so much in need. More information will come via the children shortly as to how they can be involved in this great service learning opportunity.

Head of Junior School

Lastly thank you for your patience at car line during this wet weather. Please take the opportunity to thank our staff who are out in the rain still smiling and ensuring that the children are safely put into the cars.

Dates for your diary:

Thursday 9 June – Junior School Assembly

Merit Certificates

Merit Certific ates Amelia D ru Mia Ston ett e

Alexandria Gunther Niamh Christopher Aaron Doherty

rit tes e M ica f arwal i t Cer osh Ag Brown k J rew ldoc And an Wa l Ash

- Weekly AWARDS -

•

KM

Charlotte Palmisano

KA

Emily Sutherland, Artan Karwarz, Lauren Ayers, Aya Naito

1W

Andrew Brown

1B

Terrence Kwon, Lachlan Boardman

1D

Gabriella Valenzuela

2P

Michael Piela

3M

Ruby Tilden

3Y

Selma Celik, Micah Sullivan

4R

Evelyn Parrish

5N

Caitlin Koloski, Darcy Scrine

6Y

Perri Moustoukis

6C

Matthew O’Hanlon, Joshua Buchanan

TIGS P&F Karobran Update - Term II 2011

Thank you to those who attended the last week’s Karobran meeting. It was an opportunity to share ideas and make plans for our future direction. We will collate this information and share it with all of our families in a format that will allow some feedback.

To read the full report please click here.

TIGS Biggest Morning Tea

It certainly was TIGS Biggest Morning Tea! We raised over $2,900 ($1,000 more than last year)and had a lovely morning enjoyed by almost 100 family and friends. Our guest speaker Merewyn Partland, highlighted the importance of continuing to support such a great cause and how many people cancer effects. So a big thank you to everyone, whether you donated your time, money or ideas, your support is much appreciated. I look forward to TIGS biggest morning tea growing each year.

Thank you!

Mary Shalala

The TIGS P&F Recycled Uniform Service

The TIGS P&F Recycled Uniform Service is currently without a coordinator. I would like to pass on the thanks of the school community to Mrs Jacey Dema for diligently and energetically giving her time to provide this service over the past year.

The exciting news is that as of next term the P&F Recycled Uniform Service will have a permanent home behind the TIGS Uniform Shop in a demountable building. We are now looking for people to be coordinator/s and/or go onto a volunteer roster to keep this service available to families. It will not be a full time service. The P&F will have discussions with the School to work out the best arrangement for operating hours.

If you are interested in being involved please contact Barbara on 0409 969044 or pandf@tigs.com.au

2011 TIGS Great Fete

I hope you have all put your feet up after a magnificent effort on Saturday 21 May. We don’t yet have a final figure for the funds raised because we are still receiving invoices from various suppliers and providors. We are expecting it will be only a fraction short of last years record. The final amounts will be communicated to you as soon as possible.

We can safely say that the weather was incredible and the atmosphere was amazing. We have had some very positive feedback about the new rides company and the three new stalls. The Reptile Show, African and Korean food stalls were all very well patronised. If you would like to give any feedback, either positive or constructive please feel free to contact us.

The P&F would like to thank everyone who played a part in the success of the day. This includes volunteers before, during and after the Fete, the visitors and families who attended, the School Development Office who promoted the event, our generous sponsors and the staff who facilitated our activities.

Changes to TIGS Bus Service

Due to additional students being required to stay at School for the Senior School Production of Westside Story rehearsals, the 5.00pm bus run is experiencing a heavy demand on a Tuesday and Thursday afternoon.

For the next 3 weeks commencing Tuesday 31 May to Thursday 16 June the buses will be leaving at 5.15pm and not 5.00pm as scheduled. Due to this slight change to the bus run, rehearsal time will be finish at 5.00pm and thus will allow ten minutes packing up time for students to leave the IGC at 5.10pm.

Thank you for your attention and cooperation during this time.

Please contact transport@tigs.nsw.edu.au if you have any questions.

Canteen Corner Online Ordering

To order canteen food online visit www.flexischools.com.au.

The new menu for Term II has commenced. Please ensure you are checking the new menu prior to placing an order as there have been some price changes to existing products.

Canteen Roster Week 6 Term II Monday 6 June Help Needed Lana Tutt

Tuesday 7 June Snezana Bujaroska Anne Jones

Wednesday 8 June Nichole Anastas Pam Parkinson Heather Rugg

Thursday 9 June Vanessa Cross Assunta Disibio

Friday 10 June PUPIL FREE DAY

Holiday Study Blitz

Study courses are being held at the School during the Winter School holidays for any student from Years 7 - 12.

The courses being run are: Study Skills and Strategies - Years 7 - 9 Senior Study Skills and Strategies - Years 10 - 12 Essay Skills - Years 10 - 12 Advanced Reading Skills - Years 10 - 12 Please click here for more information and to download your enrolment form.

School Contact Details Have you changed contact details recently?

Current details of all students including names, addresses, emergency contact information, medical conditions and parent contact details including mobile phone numbers and e-mail addresses need to be kept on file and accurate at all times.

Please ensure that any change of any details during the year are noted on a Notification of Change in Contact Details form and returned to the School office for recording.

2012 Enrolments and Beyond Limited places are available for 2012 with places filling quickly for 2013 onwards.

Students currently in Year 6 are automatically enrolled into Year 7 for 2012. Should your child not be continuing on to Year 7 in 2012, written notification to the Headmaster is required not later than 23 September 2011.

Please contact our Enrolments Secretary, Ms Nicci Fripp, on 4220 0216 or email nfripp@tigs.nsw.edu.au for an Application Form or further information.

Senior School Sport Rugby League

Congratulations to Lachlan Shrubb(Year 11) who has been selected in the CIS Open Rugby League Team.

Senior NASSA Cross Country

TIGS were once again overall champion school. We also won the Junior, Intermediate and Senior Shields. Congratulations to all students in the school team on these great results. Every student in the team made a difference and enabled us to this successful result.

The top ten achievements in each age group have given the following students selection in the NASSA Cross Country Team: 12 Year Girls 2nd Lilly Sands 3rd Kelsey Cresswell 4th Mili Haber 12 Year Boys 9th Kai Middleton 13 Year Girls 2nd Margot Allison 7th Alice Fox 10th Chloe Kuiper

13 Year Boys 1st Julien Smith 2nd Angus Pryde 3rd Zac McLaren 4th Matthew Galanti 10th Adam Galanti 14 Year Girls 5th Madeline Negus 10th Hannah KIm 14 Year Boys 1st Caleb Stamper

4th Jesse Price 5th Joel Moore 6th Cameron Barrett 15 Year Girls 2nd Lilli Bennett 15 Year Boys 1st Hamish Paine 2nd Alexander Seal 3rd Angus Cochrane 4th Jaiden Fullerton-Harvey

5th Michael Ledwidge 6th Harrison Steele

4th Tegan Richards 10th Tiara Dobbs

16 Year Girls 1st Siobhan Butler 9th Caroline Hamilton-Smith

17 Year Boys 7th Alexander Morlando 10th William Harrison

18 Year Girls 16 Year Boys 3rd Benjamin Goodhew 3rd Emily Debrot 4th Damian Galanti 18 Year Boys 4th Dylan Mena Naydovski 17 Year Girls 9th David Manton 2nd Emma Ramsey

To keep up-to-date with the latest news and events that are happening in and around our School, we encourage you to subscribe to the email Newsletter.

Simply visit our website: www.tigs.nsw.edu.au and sign up on the home page.

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