Newsletter Issue 3 Term III 2016

Newsletter Academic Christian Caring

Year 5 Excursion to Minnamurra Rainforest

ISSUE 3

TERM III 2016

Headmaster By learning the IB way, students not only cover the knowledge and skills taught in the classroom, they gain an understanding of the processes and language of learning itself. The focus becomes learning about learning rather than learning ‘stuff’ for the teacher for a test or examination.

These are skills essential for success in the HSC, DP, in further study and in the workplace.

Students have the opportunity to publicly demonstrate their understanding of learning at three significant points in their journey through TIGS: •

Year 6 Exhibition

•

Year 10 Personal Project

•

DP Extended Essay

On all three occasions students demonstrate their understanding of the process of learning by identifying a topic of personal interest, defining a research question, breaking the task down into achievable components, engaging in research and demonstrating their learning to others.

They also quickly learn the importance of time management.

Stephen Kinsella Headmaster One of the benefits of a TIGS education is the consistent approach to learning that extends from The Piper Centre through to Year 10, and into Year 11 and 12 from next year. This consistent approach is delivered through the programmes of the International Baccalaureate Organisation (IBO): •

Primary Years Programme (PYP) for students in Prep through to Year 6

•

Middle Years Programme (MYP) for students in Year 7 to Year 10

•

Diploma Programme (DP) students in Years 11 and 12 have the choice at TIGS between the HSC and the DP

The IB programmes at TIGS provide a consistent approach across the whole school that intentionally engages students in their learning.

The IB philosophy requires active engagement in learning rather than passive participation in learning. The IB approach requires that students respond to their learning in active and tangible ways.

Year 10 students are currently engaged in the presentation of their Personal Projects before submitting their final Project Reports for assessment. The following are some of their reflections on what they have gained from engaging in the research: “It was a great experience working with high power electronics, which pushed and expanded my skills. The mechanics of the electric skateboard really tested my skills as I ran into a lot of problems that I learnt from, and in the end I solved.

In the end the board is great fun to ride, it has changed how I get around now as it is so easy to get to places.” Chris KP “I was able to learn more about something I love through connecting with others who share my passion for recycling and helping the environment.”

Ellen M “As musical theatre is the career I am interested in pursuing, I now have a broader knowledge on musical theatre.” Molly S “One of the reasons I chose to do this as my topic was so that I could improve my design skills and those were definitely improved while undertaking this task.”

Matt S “Having the incentive to undertake the rejuvenation process on my grandfather’s land.” Andrew P “It has allowed me to research in detail a topic that I have been very interested in for a while and not only

that, but present it in a cohesive and comprehensible form.” Zara W “My understanding of sound physics has improved, and I also have a far deeper understanding of the computer programs required to make my project possible.” Alex R “In undertaking the Personal Inquiry Project, I was able to widen my own understanding of the world and how in learning these concepts and issues, I could better the validity of my own perceptions, beliefs and opinions. I was also able to reflect on and ultimately change and broaden my opinions on humanity and the world in which humanity exists.” Tayla S “My communication and researching skills have improved greatly as I had to perform an interview with people and also research a lot of my information.”

Samuel S “In aiming to improve others’ understanding of homeless youth and de-stigmatise the issue, I have in turn created a far better awareness within myself, particularly through meeting with some of those who are homeless in the Illawarra region, which was an extremely moving experience.” Jana M “My knowledge of our planetary system was broadened significantly and my vocabulary was vastly improved as well.” Zane D “I was given the opportunity to arrange a major work of my choice, and express my expertise and my passion for music.

The project has helped me better understand new ways to compose and communicate emotion as well as learn time management, dedication and communication through music as an art form.” Oliver D “Over the period of time working on the project, I have not only been able to inform others but also learned how I can be healthier in the way that I eat.”

Riley C

The enthusiasm of teenagers excited about their learning is quite infectious.

Those that attended the exhibition last week could not help but be inspired by the enthusiasm of the students for their research and for the quality and depth of their learning.

If you missed attending the exhibition you have another opportunity to be inspired - a selection of Year 10 projects will be displayed again in the Library on Tuesday 6 September between 6.30 and 7.30pm.

Well done Year 10 students.

Stephen Kinsella Headmaster

Chaplain’s Message HUMANKIND WRIT LARGE The Olympic Games certainly allows a city to show itself off to the world. That was definitely the case with Sydney in 2000. Our beautiful city was showcased to the world. We were anticipating a stream of visitors after the Olympics.

And then came 11 September 2001.

After the attacks on the Twin Towers, many were frightened to fly, especially to remote parts of the world like Australia. As a result, we failed to cash in on the wonderful promotion afforded by the Olympics.

Rio is another beautiful city. Its physical grandeur is truly breathtaking. Who wouldn’t want to spend a couple of lazy weeks basking in the sun on Copacabana Beach? It is easy to imagine many have already made plans to visit Brazil following the Olympics. But then occasionally we have seen a darker side. Athletes have been held up at gunpoint or knives have been used to intimidate and terrorise tourists. One wonders what effect this will have on tourism. We are at once drawn by the beauty of the place and repelled by its ugliness.

It all sounds very familiar really. I can’t help thinking that Rio is just humankind writ large. Human beings are both majestic and miserable, wonderful and woeful. The Bible has a good explanation for this. Human beings are made in the image of God, hence their awesomeness; human beings are alienated from God (and by extension,

each other), hence their awfulness.

We are two things at once.

Some of us might prefer to think in more simple terms: that there are some good people and some bad people in the world. That is a convenient truth, especially given that we usually place ourselves on the side of the good. But the Bible is not as neat as that. It paints a more troubling picture. Each of us is a mix of good and bad. Sometimes we are shocked ourselves by how bad we can be.

In Romans 7, one of the greatest Christians of all time - the apostle Paul - documents how this was so for him: “I have the desire to do what is good, but I cannot carry it out. For what I do is not the good I want to do; no, the evil I do not want to do – this I keep on doing … What a wretched man I am! Who will rescue me from this body of death? Thanks be to God – through Jesus Christ our Lord.” (Romans 7.1819, 24-25) During the Olympics, we have all marveled at the statue of Christ the Redeemer as it towers over the surrounding countryside. In the above passage the apostle Paul says this same Christ (although, of course, he is referring to the true historic Christ) is the only one who can redeem us from the evil that too often torments us. As Paul says in another place:

Rev James Rogers Chaplain “In Him [i.e., Jesus] we have redemption through his blood, the forgiveness of sins, in accordance with the riches of God’s grace that he lavished on us with all wisdom and understanding.”

(Ephesians 1.2-8) Rev James Rogers

Junior School ASSEMBLY/CHAPEL 2T will be hosting Chapel next week. Chapel begins at 12.10pm on Thursday in Rees Hall.

JOIN TEAM TIGS IN THE MOUNT KEIRA FUN RUN & WALK Please join our team and help us to raise funds for this cause. To join the team please click on the link below. You will need to register first. Once you are part of Team TIGS you can share the team Fundraising Page and get sponsored. Click here to join or sponsor Team TIGS. This event is another great opportunity for us to get together as a community and support a local fundraising event. You can choose to walk, run or ride, it’s up to you to decide how you would like to participate or perhaps just sponsor one of your friends or family members!

Judi Nealy Deputy Headmaster, Head of Junior School

This event is not a formal school event and while students can register as part of Team TIGS, they are under the care and responsibility of their parents.

CO-CURRICULAR CLUB HIGHLIGHT Junior School Public Speaking Club

OFFSITE PARKING GEARDS PLACE Please be mindful of our TIGS neighbours when looking for a park at afternoon pick up time.

Some parents are parking in a manner that is obstructing the access of residents in Geards Place to their homes. Private residences need to have access to their properties at all times.

A REMINDER The sibling waiting facility which operates daily until 4.00pm is only available for children in the Junior School who have younger siblings in the Prep. All other Junior School students who cannot be collected at 3.30pm must be booked in to Extend@TIGS.

The Public Speaking Club meets every Monday lunchtime straight after eating time. It’s available for students in Years 3-6 and provides coaching for nervous speakers whilst also extending those with a talent in this area. Students learn how to compose and deliver prepared and impromptu speeches on a variety of topics. The Public Speaking Club have been sharing their personal speeches and

CROSSROADS DISCO On Friday evening students from Kinder – Year 4 were invited to attend the Crossroads Disco. This is a student-run fundraising event for the outreach visit to Hong Kong later in the year. Our Year 10 students worked hard to organise the entire event including the music, DJ duties, games, a sausage sizzle and decorations for the night. Thank you to Rev Grieve and Ms Epoff for their work in supporting the senior students in putting together this fun evening for the children.

Starting from Kindergarten TIGS offers opportunities for everyone in our community to serve in developmentally appropriate and meaningful ways. Crossroads is an important service opportunity for our Year 10 students who spend a week in Hong Kong working for the Crossroads Foundation - a Hong Kong based non-profit organisation. Their goal is to connect people in a broken world by bringing together those in need and those who can help.

Students will work in their Global Distribution Unit and will be packing quality goods donated by business and private donors. These are distributed to people in need, in Hong Kong, and around the world. Students will also participate in simulated experiences that are aimed at developing global citizenship.

WEEKLY AWARDS

MERIT CERTIFICATES

KP

Akilan Kumaresan, Eva Grimm

Academic

1M

Gabriel Beebe, Roscoe Kambouris

1Y

Alexander Burden, Arwen Bowman

2C

Lachlan Taylor, Andrew Neal

2M

Isaac Turner, Amaan Vakil, Subodh Parab, Max Clark

2T

Lola Stephenson, Connor Hutchinson

3S

Thomas Partland, Jocelyn Ayers

4M

Allegra Fock, William Dolan

Lola Stephenson Joanne Park Alexander Mumford Hannah Makotsvana Hamish Lepp Aditya Kumaresan Kyah Dema Molly Buikstra Jocelyn Ayers

4Y

Ella McIlwraith, Mayank Aurangabadkar

5H

Jay Segar, Aya Naito, Matthew Bond

5S

Molly Buikstra, Arielle Goedde

6C

Enuri Gamage, Alec Varmedja

6K

Amelia Druett, Mathilda Hoy

Service Nicholas Chiaverini Ella Smith Allegra Fock Jocelyn Ayers

Personal Presentation Kyah Dema

Junior School Continued . . .

YEAR 5 EXCURSION – MINNAMURRA RAINFOREST As part of our unit of inquiry into Sharing the Planet, Year Five are focussing on the central idea: Living things have features and adaptations that help them to survive in their environment. We are looking specifically through the concepts of form, causation and change.

On Monday 15 August Year 5 visited the Minnamurra Rainforest. We began our excursion with a lesson from our guide Vanessa on the special features and adaptations of plants and animals unique to this ecosystem. We looked closely at taxidermy animals and were even interrupted by a Lyrebird scratching for food outside the classroom. After a short break, we participated in a bug hunt where we used tools to examine, classify and count the range and diversity of living things in a sample of soil. We found an abundance of worms, a variety of insects and even a millipede. It was then time for our guided tour of the rainforest. We were in awe of the trees that have stood for more than a thousand years and appreciated the few surviving Red Cedars who managed to escape the logging industry. Our guide asked us to take a few minutes to lay down and focus on the sounds around us.

We learnt just how much we can see and hear by being careful observers and living in the moment. Remembering this experience when we feel stressed will certainly help to calm our minds in the future. After lunch we set off on a one-hour return trek to the falls. ‘Are we there yet?’ ‘My legs hurt!’ ‘How much longer?’ These phrases echoed through the rainforest as we climbed the steep track to the falls. Unfortunately, we could only see the waterfall through the trees as the path is being upgraded but this did not bother us as we were glad to catch our breath and begin the return journey to school. The students are excited to go deeper into their inquiries and build on from this wonderful experience over the next few weeks.

Senior School Last week the Headmaster reported in his newsletter about the successes of both individuals and teams in a variety of activities ranging from UN representation, future problem solving to high level success on the sporting field. It is a feature of a TIGS education that students are exposed to a wide range of activities that enrich learning in the classroom. I have some other significant successes to report on this term.

•

Greg Lanyon Head of Senior School •

Gateway8 is an academic gala day involving Problem-Solving.

This event provides teams of eight students the opportunity to engage in creative and higher order thinking skills. The tasks involve disciplines such as Drama, Maths, Science, Visual Art and Music.

The competition was held at Macarthur College this week with 23 teams competing in the Year 9 - Year 10 competition and 26 in the Year 7 - Year 8 competition. TIGS Year 9 team of Min Seo Kang, Seh Meh, Archita Sitharthan, Malachi Sigmund, William Barber, Nicole Russo, Lola Bond and Francesca Lambert placed 2nd in this event and move on the next round.

Congratulations to all our teams that competed this week. Thank you also to Mrs Katrina Toland for her support to the teams.

Football The School’s U/15 boys Football team, which is competing in the Bill Turner Cup, on Wednesday progressed to the final four teams in the competition, after defeating the champion Victorian school, John Fawkner College 2-1, in Albury. What makes the win even more impressive is that this college is renowned as a feeder school to Melbourne City Football Club.

Keep in mind that TIGS team has students from Years 7 to Year 10.

The secret to their success is a combination of high skill levels and outstanding teamwork.

•

Photography Many of our students regularly enter photographs in the Australia wide schools’ competition, sponsored

by Ilford. As of the end of Term II, TIGS is in first position in Australia, in the Digital Inkjet Category.

We have also just received news that one of our students, Indiana Brown won the Year 11 and Year 12 Digital Category, with her print, “Between Here and Somewhere Else”. Her work is also featured on the invitation and catalogue for “The Works” Exhibition which opens in the IGC from Friday 26 August.

•

The Australian Brain Bee Challenge (ABBC) is a competition for high school students in Year 10 to learn about the brain and its functions, learn about neuroscience research, find out about careers in neuroscience and to dispel misconceptions about neurological and mental illnesses.

Two of our students, Alexander Santos and Risini Gamage have reached Round 2 of the competition, which is the State Finals, held in each State and Territory in Australia. Both students achieved a high score in Round 1 and have been invited to attend a full day of activities at the University of Western Sydney.

As well as participating in two rounds of live questioning to determine who will become the State champion, Alexander and Risini will experience a day filled with activities to educate them about neuroscience research. This may include lab tours, demonstrations, lectures, experiments and the opportunity to speak to researchers.

There is also a team competition on the day where teams compete against each other to win prizes for their school. Good luck to both Risini and Alexander.

‘THE WORKS’

EXHIBITION An inspiring exhibition of the creative major works of our 2016 HSC students

OFFICIAL OPENING FRIDAY 26 AUGUST 2016 7.00pm - 8.30pm in the IGC

SATURDAY 27 AUGUST 2016

Academic • Christian • Caring

11.00am - 2.00pm in the IGC

An International Baccalaureate World School

YEAR 10 PERSONAL PROJECTS For parents or students who were unable to attend last Wednesday’s exhibition of Year 10 Personal Projects, a selection of the projects will be displayed again in the Library on Tuesday 6 September between 6.30 and 7.30pm. It would be a good opportunity for younger students to be inspired and to start thinking about their own project when they reach Year 10.

WESTERN AVENUE CARPARK Please note that, with the safety of students and staff in mind, students should not be dropped off or picked from the Western Ave carpark. This entrance is to be used for staff and visitors only.

Extend@TIGS WEEK 4 ACTIVITIES

Monday 22 August Morning: Zombie Ball Rush, Boat Challenge Afternoon: Basketball, Mask Making Tuesday 23 August Activity: Dress ups Outdoor sport: Soccer Wednesday 24 August Craft: Craft Animals Sport: Wembley Thursday 25 August Craft: Pattern worms Sport: Dodgeball

Friday 26 August Craft: Nautical Hama Beads Sport: Handball

SPRING HOLIDAY PROGRAMME BOOKINGS ARE OPEN!

Book by the deadline to take advantage of lower rates! NSW booking deadline is Friday 16 September.

We have heaps of fun activities planned these school holidays and can’t wait for you to attend! Have fun with science experiments, participate in a bunch of craft activities with access to a plethora of art media, and get active with a variety of sports and team games.

Join in on 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.

Extend@TIGS has a lot of different and exciting upcoming events organised. Last week we had heaps of fun Bubble Snakes, Hama Bead Food, Caterpillars and Crazy Cupcakes. We also played games including soccer, dodgeball, Wembley and French Cricket. This week we have a range of exciting science, craft and cooking activities planned so please come along and join in on all the fun ONLINE BOOKINGS: extend.com.au CALL OUR OFFICE: 1 300 366 437

Senior School Sport TARA ANGLICAN INTER-SCHOOLS EQUESTRIAN

With over 400 competitors, the Tara Anglican Inter-schools proved to be a challenging equestrian event. This year TIGS had Lucy Koder in Year 7 competing for our school on her horse Angus.

Lucy and Angus achieved 1st place in both the Rider and Bareback and were highly commended in the Bareback ride. The team also placed 2nd in Best Educated, 3rd in Pleasure and a 4th in Best Presented. We are still waiting for all her results to come through, however we congratulate her for her fantastic performances over the competition for TIGS.

BILL TURNER CUP

TIGS travelled to Albury to compete in the quarter finals of the Bill Turner Cup against John Fawkner on Wednesday 24 August. We started strong, with Thomas Main scoring an easy goal within the first five minutes into the back of the net. Harry Borbilas then followed five minutes later, kicking a cracker shot to put us in front 2-0. We remained composed and kept John Fawkner out to remain ahead 2-0 at half time.

Into the 2nd half John Fawkner gave everything they had to us and had a number of quality shots at goal. Fortunately, Nickita Peros put his body on the line countless times and Deniz Celik was outstanding as GK, keeping the ball out of the goal despite their strong attack. John Fawkner were a great team, but fortunately on the day our team rallied hard to keep them out and played with physical and mental toughness in defence to help us win the game 2-1. A special mention to Michael Kyriakoudes and Zachary Winter who were also brilliant in defence.

We are now off to the finals at Lake Macquarie Regional Football Facility on 5 - 7 September for the Trophy Final Series.

We wish the boys all the best as they compete against the final eight teams in Australia. This is an awesome accomplishment and the possibilities for this team are endless. We can’t wait to see how they go against the best in Australia.

Memorial Service MR JOCK MACKINNON

Mr Jock Mackinnon AM was the second Headmaster of the Illawarra Grammar School from 1966 to 1971.

His family has asked for the details of the memorial service, being held at Radford College, be made available to the TIGS community. All are welcome to attend.

Memorial Service to give thanks for the life of our Foundation Principal

Jock Mackinnon, AM

The Mackinnon Family, the Chairman of the Board, Ian Morison, and the Principal, Fiona Godfrey, invite you to join us for a Memorial Service to give thanks for the life of Jock Mackinnon, AM, Foundation Principal of Radford College.

Jock Mackinnon AM, Principal 1984-1988

DATE

Thursday 1 September

TIME

9:30 am – 10:30 am

Celia Lindsay celia.lindsay@radford.act.edu.au or 02 6162 6240

VENUE

Radford College Chapel 1 College Street Bruce ACT

Please confirm your attendance by Monday 29 August.

RSVP

UPCOMING

EVENTS

WEEK 5

Pupil Free Day Staff Professional Learning Day Monday 22 August

Michael Grose Information Session 7.30pm Monday 22 August in the IGC

‘The Works’ Exhibition

7.00pm to 8.30pm Friday 26 and 11.00am to 2.00pm Saturday 27 August in the IGC

State Snowsports Championships Saturday 27 and Sunday 28 August

WEEK 6

Music 2 HSC Concert Monday 29 August

Father’s Day Stall

Tuesday 30 August and Friday 2 September

Father’s Day Breakfast 7.00am Friday 2 September in Rees Hall

WEEK 7

Music 1 HSC Concert Monday 5 September