Issue 6 Term III 2015

Newsletter Academic Christian Caring

ISSUE 6

TERM III 2015

Ben Giason and Cooper Kerridge at the Australia National Cross Country Championships held in Melbourne

Headmaster At TIGS, we understand that self-confidence is key to delivering a successful performance.

From our elite athletes competing with the world’s best, to our champion debaters and talented musicians, success hinges on having the confidence to get up and masterfully demonstrate the skills that have been honed, the songs that have been rehearsed or the speech that has been prepared. We are delighted to see our TIGS students graduate as well-rounded individuals, active in their communities and with the confidence to go out and chase their dreams. We watch on proudly as our alumni become leaders in their field of endeavour, from medicine to music, business to sport. Australian academic and researcher Herbert W Marsh has studied this effect and writes that “Individuals in all walks of life are likely to accomplish more if they feel competent in what they do, are self-confident and feel positively about themselves” (Marsh 2003, p.364).

The same is true for academic performance.

How crucial it is that our students enter the HSC exam room or sit for a class maths test with a sense of confidence in their ability to answer the questions posed. For a parent, recall the feeling of dread as you attempt to deliver a speech underprepared or make your first attempt for your driver’s licence in a manual transmission vehicle without the confidence that you have mastered the allimportant hill start. I was recently reading an excerpt from the book ‘David and Goliath’ where well respected author Malcolm Gladwell states that “how you feel about your abilities, your academic self-concept, shapes your willingness to tackle challenges and finish difficult tasks” (Gladwell 2013, p.3). This is such an important concept for students as they traverse their learning journey. At TIGS we not only provide our students with a world class education, but also the support and belief in their abilities which gives them the confidence to tackle the school subjects, the university courses and the careers they aspire to.

The concept of academic self-concept also has important implications for school choice. Marsh’s research shows that the academic self-concept of gifted students in schools of mixed ability was higher than for academically gifted students grouped in selective schools. “Students compare their own academic achievement with the academic achievement of their peers and use this social comparison impression as one basis for forming their own academic selfconcept” (Marsh 2003, p.366). When students change schools, there is a repositioning which occurs on the basis of academic achievement which can negatively impact on academic self-concept, particularly if the student is used to being top of the class or a “big fish in a small pond”. There are also implications for how students are assessed.

The HSC for example rates students on how they rank versus their peers, promoting performance relative to other students whereas the IB Diploma awards grades based on established criteria.

At TIGS, we love to celebrate the success of our students and see them shine. We believe in their dreams and work with you, their parents, to provide the support, care and belief to make it happen. This is one of the differences that sets us apart at TIGS, our ability to support students to flourish, whatever their field of endeavour. The resources of the School, the committed teachers and the vast opportunities offered to each student as part of a TIGS education, mean the opportunity is there for students to rise to be their best.

Stephen Kinsella Headmaster Marsh, H. W. & Hau K-T. 2003 Big Fish-Little Pond Effect of Academic Self-concept: A Cross-Cultural (26 Country) Test of the Negative Effects of Academically selective Schools. American Psychologist; May 2003 (pp. 364-376).

Gladwell, M. 2013 Excerpt from David and Goliath: Underdogs, Misfit and the Art of Battling Giants (p.3).

Chaplain’s Message FORM AND FUNCTION

UPDATE ON MYP AUTHORISATION

something we do? By that I mean, is our art-making and art-loving something that is fundamental to what it means to be human in this world or is it just a human construct?

We have now received the final report from the IB MYP Pre-Authorisation visit earlier this term. During this visit, a highly qualified IB Consultant interviewed stakeholders right across the school community to gauge our progress in preparing for full authorization as an IB MYP school. The report indicates that as a school we have made excellent progress in meeting the requirements and are well placed to receive full authorisation in mid 2016.

STUDENT WELLBEING

Welcome to staff from Santa Sabina College, Strathfield, who visited TIGS this week to learn about our unique programme promoting student wellbeing in the Senior School.

Rev James Rogers Chaplain This week, for reasons I can’t entirely explain, I decided to paint our living room. It was one of those jobs that needed doing from the moment we moved in nearly four years ago. But now? This week? Surely, it could have waited to the holidays. Yes! Anyway, it is done. And so am I, almost...

There is nothing like freshly painted walls to freshen a place up.

Everything is clean. I like clean.

As much as the freshly painted walls have revitalised our living room the finishing touch for me is always hanging the art on the walls. It’s odd in a way but it is only when the art is back on the walls that I feel the work is truly complete.

What is it about art? Why do we have this connection to the aesthetic, this need for beauty? It seems that function is not enough. We need form as well. Is it real or just

The Christian worldview says art is a deep structural component of the created order. Our love of art, our yearnings for beauty and transcendence, are stamped into the creation by the Creator. We see this very early on in the biblical narrative. In Genesis, as the account of God’s creation of all things is simply yet elegantly laid out for us, we are told that “God made all kinds of trees grow out of the ground – trees that were pleasing to the eye and good for food.” (Genesis 2. 9) There it is – form and function. We don’t just get trees that are useful; we also get trees that are pleasing to the eye. God loves beauty. He is an aesthete. And so we have cherished art ever since.

I love how the Christian worldview accounts for all of life. It gives a solid rationale for the things we do. It takes us beyond mere explanations which just describe what humans do and tells us why we do what we do. I like rationales as much as I like clean. Rationales give substance to life. They ground what we do in something that is real, not just in idle fancies. Art is real.

It would be remiss of me at his point not to congratulate our Arts Department on another great Works Exhibition. Again, the students’ work was exemplary. The Arts bring so much richness to our shared life at TIGS. I have tried in this article to give an adequate account of that.

Rev James Rogers Chaplain

Senior School

OUTSTANDING STUDENTS whose skills and abilities in the outdoors were well beyond the average adult.

Those who did shine in this environment and have been mentioned as outstanding by all staff are Andre De Ruyter and Daniel Laing. Let me quote the comments of James Edgerton our Outdoor Education Coordinator: “From what I witnessed of all the groups and speaking to the guides and staff these two boys were standouts. There were many personal victories on camp and many personal achievements, which were amazing to witness, but these boys were rocks within the group. Not only did they manage themselves, they also helped manage the rest of their group. They were both a major factor in the success of that group doing so well. The guide that was assigned to that group said he would have hired them for the week.”

Monica Watt Head of Senior School Deputy Headmaster Our Outdoor Education Programme is challenging and rewarding, builds resilience, develops self-confidence and allows students to demonstrate leadership. This year our Year 10 Outdoor Education Winter Programme conducted at the Snowies proved to be very challenging for our students but what emerged from this experience were many wonderful outcomes, a true sense of camaraderie amongst the groups, personal challenges met and fears conquered and some outstanding examples of students

Congratulations and thank you Daniel and Andre.

Over the last two weeks, our HSC students have not only been sitting for their HSC Trials but the students who have subjects with practical components have been presenting and practising as much as they can. We viewed the major works at last week’s The Works. These were outstanding examples of students’ creativity. Congratulations to Margot Allison, Cameron Barrett, Claire Bonaccorso, Lauren Carberry, Rachel Craft, Clara Davidson, India Davis, Caelan Goncalves, Madaleine Hah, Joshua King, Manussavee Kittikowit, Maria Kyriakoudes, Madeline Laing,

Kelsea Latham, Simone Lindsay, Kaitlin McKeon, Verity Miller, Joel Moore, Madeline Negus, Namika Parajuli, Olivia Poate, Peemawat Poolpol, Koranith Rusakul, Lachlan Scott, Jacob Shalala, Gabrielle Starkey, Stephanie Thomson, Holly Trenaman, Lily Tuivaga, Cara Turney, Margaux Walker and Adrian Whitehall. If you don’t have a copy of the programme of The Works you might be able to get a copy by contacting our Marketing Department. This will give you some idea of the outstanding talents that have been nurtured and developed at TIGS. There were also great performances on the night from our HSC dancers Claire Bonaccorso and Clara Davidson. They were quite mesmerizing. And the HSC Drama Group-devised piece was a challenging, unusual and thoughtful reflection on war. Congratulations to Maudie Skyring, Madaleine Hah, Caelan Goncalves, Adrian Whitehall and Claire Bonaccorso who composed and presented on the night and again at Assembly.

We have so much to be proud of. Our students’ hard work and commitment are to be commended. Well done!

Monica Watt Head of Senior School and Deputy Headmaster

TIGSFOUNDATION Fundraising Event

"Not so secret" Men's Business brings you “Surf ‘n’ Turf” “Rugby World Cup Wash Up” with

Glen Ella

Former Australian Rugby Union Player

TIGS Foundation TIGS COMMUNITY BUSINESS DIRECTORY Are you interested in advertising your business within the TIGS Community?

A new fundraising initiative of TIGS Foundation is the creation of an on-line business directory, which will enable TIGS Families to promote their business/s by advertising their details on the TIGS Website.

There will be an annual fee of $300 per business each calendar year of advertising in the Directory.

Upon approval, immediate applications for 2015 will receive a bonus of several months’ free advertising, expiring 31 December 2016.

The Business Directory will provide an opportunity to strengthen and tighten the bonds between the School, parents and the businesses contained within the School Community.

6.30pm Friday 13 November 2015 North Beach Surf Club, North Wollongong SPONSORED BY

TICKETS ON SALE FROM FRIDAY 11 SEPTEMBER 2015 Visit www.tigs.nsw.edu.au or enquiries to Lisa Wilson on 4220 0264

If you are interested and would like to be involved please phone, Lisa Wilson on 4220 0264 or Joanne Danckwardt 0426 264 771, or email: foundation@ tigs.nsw.edu.au

Senior School Sport ACHIEVEMENTS: Rory Hanrahan has been selected in the U/13 State Hockey Team.

James Seal broke the 1500m record at AICES Athletics Maudie Skyring 16th and 2nd in the 5 x 2kms relay team at the Australian All Schools Cross Country Championships in Melbourne last week.

All students represented the school with pride, displaying excellent sportsmanship but deserving special mention is Samuel Moore who was called to the race organisation tent at the event and was highly commended by race officials, given a time bonus for stopping his race to help another rider who was injured. He also reported the injury to race officials before continuing with his ride. This selfless act epitomises the mission and values of TIGS and reflected in the sports programme.

MOUNTAIN BIKE

This year TIGS entered 2 teams in the ACT Schools Mountain Bike Championships in Canberra. The event is a collaboration between the ACTSSSA, CORC and is run each year in August.

This year it attracted over 400 participants. The event aims to develop mountain biking at all levels and promotes safety and fair play.

Our senior team comprised of Samuel Moore, Domenic Esposito and Lucas Heidrich. This team placed 37th out of 50 teams, which was very pleasing. Our Team placed 11 from 14 teams and Max Moore, Giancarlo Esposito and Harry Smith represented TIGS admirably.

TIGS NETBALL CLUB

It’s been a fantastic Year of Netball for the 50 TIGS Netball club members from Years 2 – 9. This year we had five teams competing in the local Saturday competition at Berkeley and training on Friday afternoons at TIGS. The TIGS Diamonds were Minor Premiers for 2015, finishing top of the competition ladder. They won their Semi Final convincingly and they are now off to play in the Grand Final this Saturday. We wish them all the best for their Grand Final.

RUN WOLLONGONG

Over the past two years the funds raised by the community through Run Wollongong has significantly contributed to the construction of brand new Illawarra Children’s Assessment Unit, which is now home to a purpose-built community paediatric clinic and specialised assessment areas in a family-friendly environment. This year we are inviting the wider TIGS community to register online and sign up to our TIGS Team. We are hoping to make a difference with 100% of your entry fee going to support this fantastic cause.

Ashley Dribbus 14 Girls 100, 200 and 400m Charlotte Gaynor 13 Girls High Jump Teagan Johnston 17-19 3000m Elizabeth Martin 16 Girls 800, 1500 and 3000m Azalea Nassau 17 Girls Javelin James Seal 15 Boys 800, 1500 and 3000m Maudie Skyring 17-19 Girls 1500 and 3000m

What: Run Wollongong -12km run, 6km run or 6km walk

LUNCHTIME SPORTS

When: Sunday 18th October 2015

The lunchtime sports are well underway in the IGC and open to all students. We are currently running Volleyball on Wednesdays, AFL on Thursdays and Basketball on Fridays.

Where: Win Stadium and the run/walk will take you along the Wollongong foreshore.

Cost: $52 with all money going back into our community to support the refurbishment of our Children’s Hospital.

Register online to the TIGS Team at https://runaustralia.com. au

AICES ATHLETICS We had a team of 35 students make it through to AICES Athletics this year, unfortunately a number of athletes were unable to compete. This meant that our team was diminished to 22 students on the day. Special mention to the following students who are now off to CIS Athletics: Caitlin Chadrawy 15 Girls High Jump Margaux Chauvet 13 Girls 100, 200 and 400m

Junior School SCHOOL SPORT AUSTRALIA NATIONAL CROSS COUNTRY CHAMPIONSHIPS

This week we have had two students participate in the School Sport Australia National Cross Country Championships held in Melbourne.

Cooper Kerridge and Ben Giason have had outstanding success at our School carnival, NASSA, CIS, NSW PSSA and then were selected to represent NSW at this prestigious event.

Both boys have been coached by Mrs Dribbus, who has shared her expertise in athletics as well as a great deal of her time in bringing these boys to such a high standard. The boys themselves have been committed to their training, spending their weekends and out of school time training with Mrs Dribbus.

The results in Melbourne were absolutely fantastic, Cooper placed 8th and Ben 9th in their respective age group with Ben coming first in the NSW runners and Cooper coming second. Cooper’s NSW team came 1st and Ben’s NSW team placed 3rd.

Judi Nealy Head of Junior School

MERIT CERTIFICATES

Academic

Saif Jaber Oscar Kiely Rory Swainson

Congratulations to Ben and Cooper on an outstanding result and to Mrs Dribbus for her effort and enthusiasm in supporting these boys in achieving such great results. We are very proud of you all!

‘CONGRATULATIONS’ This week I received the best email a Head of School can get, it was titled “Congratulations” (which is always a good sign!) and went on to outline how a past parent and member of the Illawarra Community had spotted a group of Year 6 students who were in the Wollongong Mall for their Exhibition Unit into Adolescent Mental Health.

“I was impressed with their presentation, and also with the way they were able to engage with an adult in conversation. They were confident young people and I was very impressed with the next wave of TIGS students!”

WEEKLY AWARDS

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This is wonderful feedback for these individual students and also for the entire Year 6 cohort as I have been listening to their action proposals for the exhibition and I know that every group is taking age appropriate and confident action that reflects their learning during this Unit of Inquiry. I warmly invite our entire community to come along to the opening ceremony and display of the Exhibition on Monday 7 September at 4.00pm so that you too may see the amazing learning happening and the action it allows.

Zara Clark, Daniel Cox, Alexander Mackay Harrison Stone Anthea Zaki, Jannah Kermali Nicholas Radojicic, Calix Langton Rhea Khanna, Rhys Chieng Lola Stephenson, Tom I’Ons Oscar Kiely, Thomas Partland, Fergus Dutch Samuel Robinson, Samra Tarrant Kasim Kermali, Abha Mundada, Saksham Sirohi Archer Ryan, Ashton Tregonning Alexander Vartazarian, Spencer Clark, Stephanie Fiorio Ashika Bahl, Brandon Nugara Ashley Armstrong, Pia D’Rozario Angkit Jeyachandran Taylan Arapali, Charlie Taylor

G&T CAMP On Monday 24 August, 7 students from Year Six travelled to Sydney to take part in a 5 day Gifted and Talented camp. They were chosen to participate in specialist core activities that included: Robotics, Documentary, Words in the World, Artefacts and Archaeology, Flight, Drama, Problem Solving, Sports Science and Music. These topics formed the major part of the learning for the week, culminating in a presentation time to share their understandings and demonstrate new skills.

Students also had the opportunity to participate in ‘Wild Topics’ such as Cryptology and Unusual Traditions which provided some light relief from the academic rigor of the core topics. Night time activities were also popular and included a disco, trivia competition and talent quest. On the first night, guest speakers from Robogals Engineering gave a special presentation highlighting the importance of female participation in engineering, science and technology.

The HICES Gifted and Talented camp was a great example of a collaborative, interschool approach to achieve both social and academic goals that extended students in fun and engaging ways.

Congratulations to: Alana Newhouse Emma Black Lina Lee Ella Vartazarian Elliot Winn James Kirby Tanay Shrestha

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Library News Book Week 2015 has been full of excitement.

We had the pleasure of hosting Will Kostakis for Years 3 – 8 and the Wollongong Library youth coordinators entertained P – 2.

Will Kostakis had the students in fits of laughter with his grandiose, entertaining storytelling. He helped students construct their own story and modelled how to develop a story line.

Thank you to those of you that have already returned your order form for

Will Kostakis’s books, the deadline for returned notes is Monday 8 September. More information and a copy of the note can be found at the TIGS Library OLLE page.

Stacey Wales and Laura Gomes from Wollongong Library engaged in some readers theatre where they even managed to get some of the teachers acting out elements of the book.

There were some fabulous costumes in the Book Fair Parade this year. Well done to everyone who put the time and effort into making their favourite

character come to life. Check out the library OLLE page to see a photo gallery.

Congratulations to everyone that completed the Premiers Reading Challenge this year, certificates will be sent out later in the year and handed out during library lessons.

Thank you to all the families at home that continue to support the love of reading by getting involved in the Book Fair, Book Week Parade and continue to read to their children at night.

Extend@ TIGS The Arts UPCOMING EVENTS •

Elective Drama Night 10 September at 6.30pm in the IGC

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Elective Dance Night 14 September at 6.30pm in the IGC

Uniform Shop HOLIDAY OPENING TIMES •

Thursday 1 October 9.00am - 2.00pm

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Friday 2 October 9.00am - 2.00pm

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Saturday 3 October 9.00am - 2.00pm

Extend@TIGS has a lot of different and exciting upcoming events organised. We have weekly science activities as well as outdoor sport and craft. We are also expecting a special visit from Gilbert the Gecko on 15 September and would love for you to come along to meet Gilbert.

HOLIDAY PROGRAMME BOOKINGS ARE OPEN! Book by Friday 4 September to avoid a late fee.

We have heaps of fun activities planned these school holidays and can’t wait for you to attend! Create a windsock by combining science, technology, engineering, art and maths. Channel your inner architect as you design, construct and build a magnificent 3D tower. And create an amazing airplane piggy bank complete with wings and a propeller. Participate in all this and more at Extend’s Spring Holiday Programme.

To check out what’s on visit our website at extend.com. au and book via the Parent Portal.

Please do not forget to check the Newsletter for our weekly program

Week 8 Activities:

Monday 7 September Outdoor Sport: Soccer on the oval Craft: Pom Pom Shooter Tuesday 8 September Extend @ Library Craft: Clay Mammoth Party Afternoon for Bridie’s Birthday Wednesday 9 September Craft: Creating a Shopping Corner Outdoor Sport: Soccer Drills Thursday 10 September Outdoor Sport: Tunnel Ball followed by Soccer Friday 11 September Science: Balloon Rocket Competition Outdoor Activity: Soccer

ONLINE BOOKINGS: extend.com.au CALL OUR OFFICE: 1300 366 437

UPCOMING

EVENTS

WEEK 8

Year 6 PYP Exhibition Opening

Commences 4.00pm sharp Monday 7 September in the Goodhew Research Centre (Library)

Year 6 PYP Exhibition

9.00am - 10.30am and 11.00am - 12.00pm Tuesday 8 September in the Goodhew Research Centre (Library)

WEEK 9

Headmaster’s Handball Challenge Tuesday 15 September

Junior School Big Day In Senior School Great Race Thursday 17 September

Year 12 Graduation Ceremony and Formal Last Day of Term III Friday 18 September

WEEK 1 - TERM IV

Tuesday 6 October 2015