Issue 7 Term II 2012

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NEWSLETTER School Production - The Boyfriend

Year 6 Canberra Excursion

Issue 7 Term II, 2012

Academic • Christian • Caring

A Globalised World Did you know that in the Junior School (Pre-prep to Year 6) there are 83 students that come from homes where a language other than English is usually spoken? Our School community is representative of the diverse cultural mix that is modern Australia.

In an increasingly globalised world it is a disadvantage not to have the skills necessary to interact with people from a different cultural context. These skills go beyond merely mastering language.

Students in the Junior School, studying under the Primary Years Program (PYP) of the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO) are taught to develop attributes appropriate for the 21st Century. There are ten attributes which collectively form the Learner Profile: inquirers, knowledgeable, thinkers, communicators, principled, open-minded, caring, risk-takers, balanced, reflective. These are recorded on the ‘plastic children’ in the garden as you walk into the Junior School.

The IBO says the “Learner Profile describes a list of attributes that promote academic rigour and the establishing of a personal value system leading to international-mindedness.” Two of these attributes are described as: •

“caring - they show sensitivity towards the needs and feelings of others, and have a sense of personal commitment to helping others”

•

“open-minded - they respect the values of other individuals and cultures and seek to consider a range of points of view”

These attributes sit well with our own Statement of Mission and Values which includes:

Stephen Kinsella Headmaster

“All relationships within the School should be characterised by courtesy, grace and understanding. This forms the basis for the caring community that is The Illawarra Grammar School.”

The key word is ‘understanding’. Too often our society promotes ‘tolerance’ instead of ‘understanding’. To ‘tolerate’ implies coexisting with those that view the world differently. Differences are maintained and, with no reason for dialogue or change, continue to divide communities and societies. Prejudice, distrust and disrespect easily exist in a relationship that is defined as tolerant.

‘Understanding’ is to see the world through the eyes of others. It requires the social skills of empathy and sensitivity as well as the higher order intellectual skills of comprehension, application, analysis, and synthesis.

When people understand each other they are able to enter into discussion about their differences from an informed position. Prejudice, distrust and disrespect are unlikely to occur when the world view of others is understood.

Understanding does not exclude differences of opinion. It is possible to understand the world view of others and maintain an alternative view. Strong communities engage in discussion and debate while respecting the views of others.

With apologies to Animal Farm, tolerance is good but understanding is better.

“My own eyes are not enough for me, I will see through the eyes of others.” C.S.Lewis

All students have now received their half-yearly reports and my congratulations go to everyone that has worked hard and made excellent progress during the first semester.

As is my usual practice, I am currently interviewing every student in Year 11 about their report and how they can improve their performance. While the advice seems obvious, it is surprising how often students fall into the same traps.

Students in younger year groups would do well to think about their study routines well before they enter Year 11. My advice to students entering their final two years of schooling is: •

There is a direct correlation between how much you study and how much your results improve.

•

Students that say they will study harder ‘next year’ are usually still saying it in Year 12 when it is too late.

•

If you have a part-time job, play four sports, have dancing lessons and spend hours playing computer games when you are not on Facebook, you cannot expect to achieve your best academic results.

•

Excellent preparation for Year 12 involves establishing regular study routines well before the HSC year. Use a study timetable or keep a record of how much time you spend studying each week.

•

Maintain balance in your life. Keep active and persist with the activities that you enjoy and your study will be more productive. You are a whole human being, not a study machine.

Stephen Kinsella Headmaster

Chaplain’s Message

The iGeneration

When Polish Astronomer Nicolaus Copernicus first suggested that the sun and not the earth was at the centre of the universe as we know it he was greeted with some resistance (to say the least!). While his theories have undergone development since the middle of the sixteenth century (especially in the hands of Galileo in the seventeenth century) his basic contention has been accepted - the earth is not at the centre of our universe, the sun is.

While we all might agree with that now there is a similar truth we find harder to accept – that we are not at the centre of the universe, God is. I was reminded recently how natural it is for us to think about things from the perspective of our centrality when I read these following challenges pertaining to the Christian life: •

We ask ‘Where does God fit into the plan and purpose of my life?’, when the real question ought to be ‘Where does my life fit into the plan and purpose God has for the world as revealed in the Bible?’

•

We talk about ‘applying the Bible to our lives’ when we really should be thinking about how we can apply our lives to the plan and purpose of God as revealed in the Bible.

•

We sometimes wonder ‘What mission God has for me’ when really we should be asking ‘What kind of me God wants for his mission.’

Rev James Rogers Chaplain

These are challenging questions aren’t they? They turn our natural way of thinking on its head. It is not all about us. It is all about God. He has an eternal plan and purpose which he is working out. He has graciously revealed that plan and purpose for us in the Bible. In Ephesians 1.10 we are told straight out what that plan and purpose is – it is to bring all things in heaven and on earth under one head: the Lord Jesus Christ.

Well, that’s what God’s on about. The challenge we are left with is to question what we are on about. To be more specific: Have we aligned ourselves with God’s plan and purpose as revealed in the Bible or are we on about our own thing, perhaps even hoping that God will bless our plans, whatever they might be. If we are on about the pursuit of our own plans – thinking that the world revolves around us – then perhaps something of the nature of a Copernican revolution needs to happen in our own life. I know I’ve got some fine tuning to do. How about you?

Rev James Rogers Chaplain

Senior School

Congratulations

It’s great when students receive awards and we have so many extremely talented students who achieve so much. Just recently we have celebrated with Ethan Butson for his awesome awards in Science both nationally and internationally. See him at: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=pYSgklFzkw0; There has also been great success for Daniel McNamara, Hugh Allison and Isaac Kim who have progressed to the finals of the Bond University Mooting Competition to be conducted on the Gold Coast this weekend as well as all our outstanding musicians, dancers and public speakers who are achieving success in the Eisteddfod.

We also have students who selflessly serve both the School and the community or who excel at Sport or in the Production. There are many pathways towards the glittering prizes.

But it is also very rewarding to present Head of Senior School Awards to those students who have worked hard in their classes and in their studies, who have committed themselves to supporting their House in many and various ways, have helped out at school events and activities and have been involved in Community Service. By accumulating a number of such awards - as contributors and maybe not as stars - they then progress and could ultimately receive a Headmaster’s Award at Presentation Day. A fitting reward for consistent effort.

So to all students who have received Head of Senior School Awards this week: Well Done. You achieved the award in a unique way, based on your gifts and talents and their unique combinations.

We are very proud of you.

Monica Watt

Deputy Headmaster and Head of Senior School

This week’s Head of Senior School recipients were: Breana Anastas, Fabian Benitez, Nathan Bow, Robert Brodie, Siobhan Butler, Kristen Chadrawy, Joshua Chapple, Zoe Chelin, Clara Davidson, Ashleigh Doherty, Elizabeth Dominis, Kezia Eyre, Fondas Haris, Emma Hatton, Harrison Heycott, Henry Hulme, Kyle Locke, Aaron Milner, Aidan Mison, Elise Morton, Sameeruddin Mohammed, Emily Nugara, Olivia Poate, Emma Poate, Aveenash Rajpal, Peter Rekouniotis, Matthew Scavarelli, Mungo Skyring, James Sutherland, Nikhil Verma.

Congratulations.

Monica Watt Deputy Headmaster and Head of Senior School

Junior School Who learns at school?

EVERYONE! We are a community of learners.

Parents as learners: This week we have held parent training sessions in ICT. They have been well attended and our parents have learnt about Google Docs and Picassa. It is a great thing to model adults as learners to the children, inspiring them to continue to be a lifelong learner themselves. Thank you to Mr Cross and Ms Windsor for being our instructors this term. For other interested parents, I encourage you to get on to the parent portal and link through to the “Coffee and IT blog”. You can follow what we are learning about, add comments and get involved.

Judi Nealy

Head of Junior School

Teachers as Learners: Last Friday the teachers were all busy at School, being students! The Professional Development Day was a busy and productive time for all staff at TIGS. We each committed to displaying the behaviour that we expect for the children every day, that is, that we would collaborate, be open minded, inquire into new things…. Children you will know the rest of these attributes, they are the Learner Profile in action!

Why do we do this?

If one of most important factors in the efficacy of student learning is teacher quality (and the research says that this is true) then we must value the development of our teaching and support staff enough to spend time and money ensuring we are well informed and up to date. At TIGS we do this in several ways. There is a generous allocation of funds for staff to attend professional development opportunities. Staff are also encouraged and supported in continuing their education through the attainment of Masters Degrees and other qualifications and Professional Development Days are held throughout the year to learn together. Professional Development Days are important because they offer the opportunity to pursue whole school agendas. We learn together as a staff, Kinder teachers alongside Year 12 physics teachers and every other combination imaginable. At the last Professional Development Day we looked more deeply into 21st Century Learning. We unpacked with increasing understanding and confidence, how to prepare the children that we care for right now, for a future we cannot imagine. We used our transformed library to work in groups, use technology, respond creatively and push boundaries so that we might do a great job in teaching our students.

Students, you will be proud of your teachers, they were excellent collaborative learners! We were reflective about our practice and asked ourselves hard questions about what is best for the learning outcome for the children. Not a moment of the day was wasted and every student in our School will benefit from our day of learning together.

Parent Training Seminar IT

Dates for your diary: • • • •

Tuesday 19 and Thursday 21 June – Prep Open Afternoon Wednesday 20 June – Japanese Obento Friday 22 June – Last day of Term II Monday 16 July – Junior School Athletics Carnival for Years 3-6

Class Awards KD KM 1C 1W 2P 2R

4R

Thomas Saffoury, Ella Fennell Samuel Stevenson Mayson Russell Jude McCann, Jai Hemsley-Oades Zachary Birch Katie Gorham, Damiel Grieve, Chloe Loca Vincent Qiang

Merit Certificates

Ajay Rindani – Service Miles Denison-Pender – Academic Isobel Kinnear – Academic Daniel Tubman – Academic Kiarna McIlwraith – Academic Luke Jansen – Academic Cooper Kerridge – Academic Zachary Birch – Academic Chloe Loca – Academic Jessica Llewellin – Academic Daniel Grieve – Academic

Commitment to Learning Badge Dean Borbilas Annalise Chadrawy Izac Saad Rubey Williams Isobel Kinnear

Junior School Sport NASSA Oz-Tag and CIS Touch Trials On Thursday of Week 3, both a boys and girls team competed in the NASSA Oz-Tag Gala Day at Penrith. At the completion of the Round Robin the boys were awarded winners and the girls were runners up. All players displayed great team play and improvement of individual skills.

Congratulations to the following students on their selection in the NASSA Touch Teams and their attendance at the CIS Touch trials in Week 6.

Sam Okely Austin Pallone Samuel Shalala Ashley Dribbus Zoe Dribbus Isabella Sandy At the trials both Ashley and Zoe Dribbus were selected in the CIS Touch team.

They will now go on and compete at the NSW PSSA Touch Championships in August at Parkes. We wish them the best of luck.

Student Success - Girls Football Ashley Dribbus represented Combined Independent Schools (CIS) last week at the NSW PSSA Football State Carnival which was held over three days at Endeavour High School and Seymour-Shaw Park, Miranda. 14 teams representing their respective school regions played at the carnival. CIS played eight games over three days

and placed 2nd in Pool B and were narrowly defeated by MacKillop in the semi-finals.

At the completion of the tournament Ashley was selected in the NSW PSSA Girls Football team to compete at the School Sport Australia National Football Titles to be held in Darwin in early September. Congratulations to Ashley on this outstanding achievement!

CIS Rugby Congratulations to Ethan Hennessy who trialled for the NSWCIS Primary Rugby team last week. Ethan was selected into the second CIS team to play against the CIS first team in the coming weeks.

Athletics/Speed Training – Junior School After School Activity Sprint training sessions for Athletics have been organised after school on Wednesday afternoons, commencing Week 1 Term 3, 18 July at the Kerryn McCann Athletics Centre, Beaton Park from 3.40pm to 4.40pm.

We have been fortunate to acquire the services of Lucas Chodat, a highly motivating Sprint and Personal Training expert. A reduced fee of $60 will be charged to cover part of the overall associated costs.

Lucas will offer a range of sprint moves to benefit those participating in ball sports and athletics events. The

coaching session will include sprints, running drills and agility exercises that aim to increase speed over 5 to 60 metres and also athletic distances of 100 and 200 metres. He will do a range of activities in the coaching sessions to ensure improvement in technique, speed, agility, flexibility and core strength Limited places are open to all interested Year 3 – 6 students.

If interested please collect a permission note from the junior School Office and return with payment by the end of Term 2.

Tennis Parker’s Tennis Coaching has 1 spot available for a lesson on a Tuesday morning at 7.15am - 7.45am at the TIGS tennis court. We also have a few spots available for our afternoon tennis programs at Wests Illawarra Tennis Courts. For any further information, please call Andrew on 0407 029 731 or email on arparker@bigpond.net.au.

Swim Squad During Term 3 morning swim squad will continue on Thursday mornings only.

This is available to all Year 3 to 6 students at McKeon’s indoor pool at Unanderra commencing at 7.00am.

Cost is $3.00 entry and school bus returns students to school.

Short Term Homestay Required 28 July 2012 – 8 August 2012 Students from Shonan Koka Daigaku Fuzoku High School in Kanagawa, Japan will visit TIGS for a study tour in July this year.

Our Homestay Coordinator would like to invite TIGS families to participate in this study tour. Any families interested in providing homestay for payment are invited to contact Sally Ann Gail at the School on 42200269 or via email sgail@tigs.nsw.edu.au

TIGS Uniform Shop Holiday Opening Times The Uniform Shop will be open during school holidays on the following two days: Friday 13 July 9.00am - 2.00pm Saturday 14 July 9.00am - 2.00pm

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.

Canteen News Thank you

Thank you to all the Families that have joined Flexi Schools. This is a wonderful system for both Families and the Canteen, if you have not already joined please go to www.flexischools.com.au and have a look.

Roster Week 9 Term II Monday 18 June Help Needed

Tuesday 19 June Barb Mandelson Alice Martin

Wednesday 20 June Marie McCorquadale

Thursday 21 June Help Needed

Friday 22 June Melanie Smith Jeanette Young

Tuesday 17 July Barb Mandelson Alice Martin

Wednesday 18 July Marie McCorquadale

Thursday 19 July Nicole Anastas Kelly White

Friday 20 July Help Needed

Tuesday 24 July Rose Dragutinovich Lauren Cunio

Wednesday 25 July Pat Calchi Daniell Burton

Thursday 26 July Help Needed

Friday 27 July Melanie Smith Jeanette Young

Roster Week 1 Term III Monday 16 July Help Needed

Roster Week 2 Term III Monday 23 July Sonja Forte Julie Chiaverini

Apprenticeships & Traineeships Information Sessions What do employers want? Where do I find the jobs? How can I give myself the best chance of getting one? Strategies and Resources...?

Hear from and talk to Employers, Current Apprentices, Group Training Companies, TAFE NSW Illawarra Institute, Australian Apprenticeship Centres and NSW Dept of Education and Communities.

When and Where

Wollongong Master Builders Club Monday 18 June 2012 6.00pm – 7.30pm

Bookings

Phone:

(02) 4225 2526

Email:

The Shellharbour Club Tuesday 19 June 2012 6.00pm – 7.30pm info@iswlp.org.au

Senior School Sport AICES Cross Country

Congratulations to the 33 TIGS students who represented NASSA for the AICES Cross Country Championships last week at Macarthur Anglican School.

TIGS had excellent results winning the overall medal count.

Outstanding individual podium finishes included: Siobhan Butler

Elizabeth Martin Alexander Seal Hamish Paine

Caleb Stamper

17 years 13 years 16 years 16 years 15 years

2nd place 3rd place 1st place 3rd place 1st place

School Team results: 18 Girls Team - 1st Place Phoebe Fraser, Emma Ramsay, Tessa McMillan, Rosemary Davis 16 Boys Team - 1st Place Alexander Seal, Hamish Paine, Angus Cochrane, Robert Gyngell 15 Boys Team - 2nd Place Caleb Stamper, Cameron Barrett, Jesse Price, Joel Moore 14 Boys Team - 1st Place Matthew Galanti, Angus Pryde, Zac McLaren, Adam Galanti Well done to all of these runners! We look forward to their results from the NSWCIS Cross Country Championships at Eastern Creek raceway.

Senior School Athletics Carnival The Senior School Athletics Carnival is on Thursday 21 June at the Kerryn McCann Athletics Field.

It is a compulsory school event where all students compete for their House to claim the Inter-House Athletics Trophy.

Results from this event go towards the Shell Shield. House shirt and school sport shorts must be worn by all students at this event. If a student cannot participate it is important for them to come along and help with the various jobs that need to be done and assist their house patrons.

Students may make their own way to the venue. Supervision will be available from 8.15am at the track. Buses will also run from the School down to Beaton Park from Western Avenue at 8.30am. The carnival is expected to finish at 3.00pm and all students must stay for the duration of the day. The Senior School athletics program is available for download on Narradan. If the weather looks inclement please listen to 96.5 Wave FM for cancellations.

Student Success Congratulations to Byron Leitch in Year 6 who recently attended the Australian Gymnastics Championships. He made the finals and came sixth overall. An outstanding result, well done Byron!

The Illawarra Grammar School proudly presents

The

Boyfriend Click Here to Book Now!

Show Times 7.30pm Friday June 15 2.00pm Saturday June 16 7.30pm Saturday June 16

TICKETS $10

School Aged Students

$20 Adult

Tickets available for purchase online via the TIGS Website

www.tigs.nsw.edu.au

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