f rom th princi pal
Diversity
IGS is a school built on strong core values. These qualities underpin our activities, actions and behaviours.
The five core values are: Diversity Personal Achievement Connectedness Authenticity Vibrancy
Each of these has a set of behaviours that flow from the core value. I have added some explanatory notes which I hope you will find useful.
IWe believe that through diversity and intercultural understanding, students will acquire a global perspective. We value this as an essential quality for our kids to achieve by the time they finish school. Our language learning program is a key plank in this process. Children develop an understanding of themselves and others through language, music and art. We honour all cultures and rejoice in learning from the diversity of our students and their families. We value all members of our community and the contributions each can make and share - this brings dignity to our community. The globe on our school logo represents our perspective and our place in the world; the arc which spans the globe represents the bridges we are building between people and cultures.
Personal Achievement
Quality learning requires passionate teachers and learners. We aim to provide a quality environment for every student. To this end we design rich and challerging learning experiences within a broad curriculum and co-curricular program. Learning is designed to allow every student to maximise their potential and, through success, grow in selfesteem and develop as an individual. Our students acquire self-awareness, esteem, confidence, humility and resilience through their learning. Our approach to teaching is to focus on each individual, meeting his or her needs as a learner. This allows us to adapt programs as students develop. The curriculum is as flexible as possible, allowing us to tailor programs for individual students as the need arises.
Connectedness
It is essential to provide a warm, friendly and caring environment so that every child will feel safe and secure at school. We provide challenges and risks, which are necessary for student development, within a nurturing and caring community. We want each individual to feel welcome and accepted; part of a team who will support his or her growth and development. We believe that students grow when they feel safe and happy and when they are strongly connected to others. To this end, every child is part of a close-knit Homeclass or Tutor Group. All our structures
are designed to ensure connectivity between students, teachers, parents and the wider community. Participation promotes a healthy lifestyle and our children are encouraged to share, cooperate and work together. The school is not an isolated entity; it is a learning community which directly involves staff, parents and students in student learning. Parents are always welcome in the school, and are encouraged to take an active role in the community, working as collaborators in student learning.
Authenticity
We aspire to high levels of personal responsibility. Children learn best when they are responsible for their own learning, so we encourage independence and self-evaluation. Students learn that consequences flow from their behaviour choices. We express support and compassion through our relationships with others. We value individual character, maturity and integrity. We encourage students to set goals and directions, and the aspiration to achieve them. We encourage students to increase their independence and self-discipline, especially as they move into senior high school. Our relationships are transparent, honest and ethical. We trust our students and parents, and are proud of the interpersonal relationships between staff and students. We will maintain and nurture our culture of high levels of staff support for students.
Vibrancy
This is probably the hardest to articulate. It defines the unique tone and mood of the school. Newcomers feel this immediately upon entering the building - an emotional response to the colour, the buzz, the relaxed vibrancy of the school. We are informal, friendly, contemporary, happy - it is fun to be in the school! We do things in new ways; we experiment and use innovative methods and technology, whilst pursuing quality at all times. We are an inner-city contemporary, cosmopolitan community - and we are proud of this.
I hope you enjoy this edition of Jigsaw; the essence of our school is well portrayed on these pages.
Kerrie Murphy, Principal
The Elephant's Child was a music/drama performed by the Primary Choir in assembly on Wednesday 2 May. It involved Primary Choir students from Years 3 to 6 and it was a lot of fun!
The work was based on Rudyard Kipling's Just So stories, and this one was about how the elephant got his trunk. It was humorous, had a great storyline and beautiful music. The production was very colourful because of the great range of colours in the jungle animal's costumes and the set which really appealed to the audience and made a spectacular impact.
All the participants designed and made their own costumes and they all turned out spectacularly! The whole process took roughly nine weeks from learning the first song to the performance, which was really fast considering how hard the music was. We think that Ms Moss and Miss Ellis had a great time preparing and learning all the lines, movement and musical parts, and of course the Primary Choir enjoyed it as well. We also had lots of great fun building the set, painting our pillow cases, in some cases making monkey ears, and making the crocodile costume, but it took a lot of hard work. Marie Louise Bethune created the elephants' costumes and ears and did a marvellous job on the crocodile head.
We're sure the whole choir was glad they had the opportunity to perform the Elephant's Child, and we are looking forward to our next musical.
Eve Osborn and Olivia Nemes-Nemeth, Year 6
mentortng
Enrichment Maths group meets for a comprehensive and rigorous Maths session. Currently thirty or so students from Years 5 & 6, as well as one student from Year 2, are working on the Australian Maths Challenge which provokes a greater interest in, and an awareness of, the power mathematics has on our everyday lives. Students develop a desire to succeed in solving interesting mathematical problems and with it comes great satisfaction in their success.
The practice of placing certain students with experts or professionals for the
specific interests or proficiency that cannot be provided within the regular classroom needs no introduction. It is indeed a most powerful tool that reinforces what a student is currently learning and is offered in addition to student's regular coursework
We have been most fortunate in having accelerated maths students from high school work with individuals within this Enrichment class. Their ability to process and achieve well beyond grade level enthuses the younger students and encourages them to strive. The older students have assisted greatly in helping the younger students be more self-directed,
provide a variety of delivery methods and challenges in learning experiences which enhance the strength of the program. Stage Three students have stated that they all feel they have done well, have improved and that mentoring is one of the highlights of Enrichment Maths.
Thank you to all those high school students who have contributed so well to this valuable learning experience.
Anne Moss, Enrichment Coordinator
Years 3-6
Bhunthumwatrarnd
LI A
Stephanie Pen nas
Liom K lift/I
Portia Hyland
Victor Kirk
Tiane O'Connor
Christopher Walters
Sarah Teutenberg
On a picture-perfect morning 225 students, and 28 teachers set oUt for our annual language camp at varioussites. Language camp isa valuable opportunity for students to use the language and to develop and foster relationships in a less formal environment. Students at all sites enthusiastically participated in many activities and enjoyed interacting in their target language.
primary Lang uages
German Film
Filmbericht - Emil und die Detektive
Dies ist ein wunderbarer Film! Es hat viele witzige Momente und die Handlung war sehr spannend.
Es handelt sich urn einen 12 jahrigen Jungen, der Emil heiBt. Die Eltern sind geschieden und er wohnt bei seinem Vater, der keinen Job findet. Auf einmal bekomrnt er einen Job, aber kann nicht anfangen, da er einen Autounfall hat und 3 Monate lang nicht fahren darf. Er hat semen Arm gebrochen und kann nicht auf Emil aufpassen. Ein Lehrer von Emil, schlagt dem Vater vor, Emil konnte bei seiner Schwester in Berlin wohnen, bises ihm besser geht. Emil will seinem Vater helfen und nimmt 500 Mark aus seiner Spardose mit. Er hat vor, in Berlin seinem Vater einen FOhrerschein zu kaufen. Aber im Zug stielt ein Krimineller das Geld von Emil. Emil versucht, dem Kriminellen zu folgen und lernt dabel ein Mädchen kennen. Er erzahlt ihr, was passiert ist. Sie hat viele Freunde und sie beschlieBen, Emil bei der Geldsuche zu helfen. DasAbenteuer beginnt!
Ich gebe diesem Film fOnf Sterne..
Ich wurde diesen Film gerne wieder sehen!
Wilber Koslowski, Year 6
Japanese excursion
Years 3, 4, 5 & 6 Japanese students went to see a puppet show Lulie the Iceberg on 13 March. Lulie the Iceberg is about an iceberg that travels to the other side of the world. At the end of her journey Lulie melts, but before she melts she helps lots of people. In my opinion Lulie the Iceberg was great because it shows that global warming Is a problem.
Audrey Ferris, Year 6 Japanese
Harmony Day
We like to think that every day at IGS is Harmony Day but on Wednesday 21 March our Preschool to Year 3 students joined many schools in the country in celebrating Australia's success as a diverse society. Students were irvolved in many activities during the day with many wearing the traditional colour orange, while others stepped out in national costumes.
Vilma Rotellini, Head of Languages - Primary
Literature Circles are ed book groups that develop
Viunit. the Circles are that
Imind, pinions, take an i an issue, read the ally and question
The annual Primary Cross Country, Years 3-6, was held at Queens Park on Friday 27 April. The competition was extremely dose with Gura just finishing in front of Kuyal for second place. All the students did really well as it was cold and windy with slight rain for the morning run.
House points:
Baado 1st (181 points)
Gura 2nd (139 points)
Kuyal 3rd (131 points)
Age Champions
Age Female
8 Clementine Landels
9 Marianna Ebersoll
10 Elodie Hennessy-Trupheme
11 Allegra Bauchinger
12 Xanthe Dumbrell
Male
Mikhail Capodistrias
Ringo Taylor
Samuel Greco Schwartz
Dominic Cox
Ryan Williamson
The following students have made it into the IGS Cross Country team to compete at the ASISSA Cross Country Carnival at Queens Park: .
9 yrs Boys: Ringo Taylor, Charlie Morgan, Patrick Hayes, Louis Kelson, Noah Landels, Chris Walters, Joseph Howe, Jack May, Dominic Trajkovski and Raphael Weir
9 yrs Girls: Marianna Ebersoll, Tiane O'Connor, Ariane Bauchinger, Gabriella Pirintji, Rachel Gammel, Leona Cohen, Stephanie Pennas, Natasha Jabbor Boag, Tayla Law and Delphine Croke
10 yrs Boys: Samuel Greco Schwartz, Daniel Black, Hugo Perron, Mathias Richter, Julien Christopher, Claudio Ramondino, Daniel Brownlow, Lucas Bickerton, Brandon Colby and Spencer Ferrier
10 yrs Girls: Elodie Hennessy-Trupheme, Sarah Teutenberg, Frances Potter, Portia Hyland, Mollie Beehan, Lauren Huggins, Lara Weingarten, Maira Wilkie, Hestea Cook and Chloe Kennedy-Rollason
11 yrs Boys: Dominic Cox, Regan McKee, Thomas Stirk, Mihail Mihajlov, Ned Gardiner, Andrew Bolton, Oliver McNeilly, Payton Ellis, Oscar Read and Anton Bouckley
11 yrs Girls: Allegra Bauchinger, Eleanor Kozak, Bronte Gray, Georgia Briers, Anna Garton, Alice Landels, Genevieve Gorman-Deane, Isabella Pirintji, Nicola Irvin and Alexandra Karikios
12 yrs Boys: Ryan Williamson, Nicolas Hilliard, Wilber Koslowski, Calvin Goessler, Jesse Zammit, Rhys Williams, Charles Schacher, Liam Doyle, Callum Florance and Callum Hawkins
12 yrs Girls: Xanthe Dumbrell, Eliza Atkins, Pacale Riley, Nina Pepper, Ruby Fisher, Georgia Sloane, Lily Brister, Madeleine Gardiner, Alberta Khoury and Gemma Colagiuri
Emma Chipchase, Head of Primary PE/Sport
High School Swimming Carnival
The annual Swimming Carnival was held at the Des Renford Aquatic Centre on Wednesday 14 February 2007. The final results were: Kuyal - 1st (1144 points), Gura - 2nd (1018 points) and Eaado - 3rd (954 points).
Interestingly this year, in just the girls events, Gura scored the most points, with some strong performances.
Champions are as follows:
Tuesday Afternoon Sport
Our Tuesday afternoon sporting teams performed well in Term 1 with the Year 7 boys basketball team winning the CSSA Competition convincingly. The senior boys team fought valiantly in the final to finish second in the competition. In addition, the girls competed in the Eastern Suburbs Touch Competition with a number of excellent wins, particularly from the Year 7 girls who were new to the game.
Invitational Basketball Match
On Friday 23 March, IGS hosted a basketball match against an English language college team from the local community. A selection of our senior boys played a very close and hard fought game, unfortunately losing by only a few points. This was an excellent opportunity yet again for lGS students to make links with others in the local community and it is hoped more games can be scheduled throughout the year.
Kristie Carroll, High School Sports Coordinator
It has always been a goal here at IGS to have staff that are at the cutting edge of the teaching profession. Every year the school commits considerable resources to the professional development of our teachers and support staff.
The first te'm of this year has already seen many of our staff participate in professional development. Thirty-one teachers gave up a day in their Christmas vacation to attend a special course in adolescent mental health conducted b, Catherine Boland, Head of Child and Adolescent Development at IGS. This course has greatly enhanced the ability of the staff to provide quality pastoral care to our students.
Several other staff have also attended courses in their holidays and outside of school hours to improve their professional practice. In fact, by March this year, IGS teachers had completed a total of 249 hours of professional development outside of school hours. In total 918 hours of formal professional development was conducted in Term 1, all of which was aimed at improving teaching and learning across the school.
The school has also been able to attain Australian Government Quality Teaching Project grants in the areas of pedagogy, innovation and leadership. These grants provide opportunities for teachers to work together in small groups on specific research action projects designed to improve student learning outcomes.
David Hamper, Head of Staff Development
Year 7 Art
In Term 1, students in Year 7 investigated their own image for the basis of a large mixed media piece.
To start with, students were introduced to the concept of a portrait in words, and collected different examples of text or fonts used in the media or other forms. They were then introduced to a range of drawing techniques and procedures including the use of different drawing media. The students familiarised themselves with the formal and aesthetic potential of various conventions of mark and surface making, such as flat colour washes with ink, cross hatching in a range of ways, scraffito in gesso media, drawing with twigs and brushes and rubbings.
The students explored the artmaking practice of Joy Hester and Xu Bing. The work of Xu Bing allowed students to focus on the creation of aesthetic and symbolic meaning in his calligraphic works. Joy Hester's direct, spontaneous and expressive portraits were also shown so that students could consider using these with their chosen text.
Process 1: The students did portrait studies of themselves in the style of Joy Hester.
Process 2: Students wrote a 100 word statement about themselves and from this they
isolated and identified certain adjectives and verbs which went on to form the basis for their portrait.
Process 3: The teacher then took a digital image of each student in the class and demonstrated in Photoshop how to drop out the colour within the images and then adjust the contrast and brightness of the image. The students printed the images and combined them with their ink drawing and their 100 words.
The students then cut and tore up work done in the above 3 processes and reconstructed and rearranged it to represent more complex aspects of themselves as individuals.
Andrew Thompson, Head of Art
The art unit of Term 1 was very suggestive - IN YOUR FACE!!!
My portrait incorporated surrealism and reality with a balance of black and white and grey through dry brushing and some text. The portrait contains a fair amount of white, mostly in the face, providing plenty of resting places for the viewer. / have used my text to lead the viewer's eyes around the face in its circular motion as well as enticing them to enter the face at certain points.
Ashley Adolphe, Year 7
Artwork by Daniel Moar,
In Term 2, IGS competed in the Chapman Cup HICES Debating Competition.
Four teams were entered with students from Years 6 to 12 involved. The teams debated against four local independent coeducational schools on tooics ranging from 'That celebrities should keep out of politics' to 'That green is better than red'.
Keren Skyring, Primary Teacher-Librarian, coached the junior team of Year 6 studerts. The three high school teams, consisting of Middle, Senior and Open Division, were coached by experienced debaters
The Mock Trial experience in 2007 has been an interesting one. For the uninitiated, a mock trial is literally a "mock" or "imitation" trial. Two teams meet in a mock courtroom - usually a library or classroom - to fight charges that can be either civil or criminal. Cases can range from misrepresented holiday destinations, to nightclub assaults or to a tree falling on a car.
As
In the mock trial there are 6 people per team and each has a different role. There are 2 barristers, a solicitor, 2 witnesses and a court officer/magistrate's clerk. The barristers do all the arguing and interrogate witnesses. The solicitor instructs the barristers and takes notes on the proceedings. The witnesses are examined and cross-examined on the evidence so as to find the facts of the case. The court officer/magistrate's clerk helps out the magistrate (judge). Each role is different and exciting in its own way and roles are shuffled from round to round. This activity is a very enjoyable one as it appeals to people who like public speaking, debating and even acting.
from the University of Sydney Debating Union. A number of our debaters had attended a one-day debating workshop in Term 1 run by the Union and were keen to have an opportunity to extend their debating skills in a more formal manner.
One of the first victories reported was the Middle Division team which won against Emanuel School on May 8. They successfully debated the negative to 'That the digital revolution has changed life for the better'.
Neryle Sheldon, Head of the Learning Centre
This year our tern consists of myself (Daniel Hickie), Ayla Jones, Georgia Tsambos, Gabriella Lowgren, Jessica Long, Dina Vassilevska and Ben Strum. Our coach is an IGS parent, David Hirsch. He is very good and helps us to understand each case intimately, and how we should go about presenting it. We are also given tips and taken to the Mock Trials by Mr Miller, with the return journey sometimes creating stories that in themselves could be the subject of a trial (e.g. taxi rage), and will never be forgotten.
Overall the Mock Trial experience has been a very enjoyable one as we learn about the law and have been able to improve some skills that are normally not learnt, in a comfortable and protected environment.
Daniel Hickie, Year 10
Guy Renner (Yr 9) and Paddy Gidney (Yr 8)
Lucy Benjamin and James Covic (Yr 9)
(From L-R) Daniel Hickie, Dina Vassilevska, Georgia Tsambos, Gabriella Lowgren, Ben Strum and Ayla Jones.
Years 2-6 Swimming Carnival
The Years 2 to 6 Swimming Carnival was held on Friday 2 March at Heifron Pool. Throughout the day competition was strong between the three Houses, in the stands with the vibrant colours and constant cheering, but also in the pool with most students swimming personal best times. An increased participation and improved level of competition was present throughout the year groups. Well done to all Year 2 to 6 students.
House points:
lst — Kuyal 1056
2nd - Baado 958
3rd —Gura 841
Age Champions
Age
7
8 Sasza Koczanowski Kallen Ferrero 9 Arianne Bauchinger Joseph Howe 10 Chloe Oscar Draper Kennedy-Rollason
11 Allegra Bauchinger Thomas Stirk
12 Pascale Riley Max Draper
ASISSA and CIS SWIMMING
The ASISSA Swimming Carnival was held on Monday 12 March at Warringah Aquatic Centre. IGS had 50 primary students from Years 2 to 6 competing at
the carnival and all of them did extremely well. This carnival provides an avenue for students to progress to represent ASISSA at the CIS Swimming Carnival.
The following students represented ASISSA at the CIS Swimming Carnival on Wednesday 28 March at Homebush Aquatic Centre: Max Draper, Thomas Stirk, Daniel Black, Jesse Zammit, Clive Nicolson, Joseph Howe, Hugo Perron, Oscar Draper, Mathias Richter, Hestea Cook, Tiane O'Connor, Arianne Bauchinger, Chloe Kennedy-Rollason, Eleanor Kozak, Tamsin Airey, Pascale Riley, Allegra Bauchinger, Matilda Elliott and Nina Pepper.
ASISSA Soccer
On Thursday 15 March the ASISSA boys and girls soccer trials were held at Queens Park. The trials are held for students to try and gain selection into the ASISSA soccer team to play at CIS. The following students represented IGS at the trials: Boys: Andrew Bolton, Regan McKee, Dominic Cox, Kane Foreman, William Punch, Nicolas Hilliard, Stathi Weir, Joel Di Qual, Cian Galea, Wilbur Koslowski and Jesse Zammit. Girls: Madeline Gardiner, Pascale Riley, Elodie Hennessy-Trupheme and Elina Christian.
ASISSA Netball
On Thursday 29 March the ASISSA Girls Netball Gala Day was held at Moore Park. The gala day was new this year within the association and 7 schools entered the competition. The gala day was held for the students to try and gain selection into the ASISSA Netball team as well as play in an interschool competition. IGS entered one team and played extremely well throughout finishing undefeated. The following students represented IGS: Nina Pepper, Hannako Howard-Shibuya, Ruby Fischer, Madeline Gardiner, Gemma Colagiuri, Bronte Gray, Alice Landels, Pascale Riley, Xanthe Dumbrell and Niamh Galea.
OS Girls Soccer
On Monday 2 April the CIS Girls Soccer Gala Day was held at Kellyville. The following girls represented ASISSA at the gala day: Madeline Gardiner, Elodie Hennessy-Trupheme and Elina Christian.
asBoys Soccer
On Friday 4 May the CIS Boys Soccer Gala Day was held at the Kings School. Dominic Cox (Year 5) represented ASISSA at the gala day.
CIS Netball
On Thursday 10 May the CIS Girls Netball Gala Day was held at the Anne Clarke Centre in Lidcombe. The following girls represented ASISSA at the gala day: Nina Pepper, Hannako Howard-Shibuya, Ruby Fischer, Madeline Gardiner and Xanthe Dumbrell.
the weapons man
In this edition of Jigsaw I'd like to take the opportunity to introduce you to the Mathematics staff. There are eight members in the department, all of whom have much to contribute to IGS and the teaching of Mathematics. For fear of implication that one is any better than another, I will introduce each in the order that they commenced at the school.
Jagdish Raniga is our longest standing staff member. It is the teaching of Mathematics which fuels him by providing him with a continuous challenge. Jagdish believes that Mathematics is a tool for many other fields of study. Without Mathematics, technology and progress would come to a halt.
Andrew Campbell and I, Jacqui Baker, both started at IGS in 2004. Andrew's favourite area of Mathematics is calculus. It is the interaction with the students and the opportunity that we get as teachers to experience how students perceive their world around them which keeps Andrew coming back to the classroom. Well, that and his fear of a mundane desk job.
My favourite area of Mathematics is problem-solving. This area is important to me as the skills used in solving mathematical problems may be abstracted to use in all areas of our lives. Mathematics and problemsolving are a means of making sense of our environment and it is truly rewarding to work with students as they develop this process themselves.
Jane Martin and Joanna Souroullas both cDmmenced at IGS in 2005. Jane finds
Mathematics Department Who We Are a nd Wht
that teaching what she believes to be an important skill and assisting and watching students learn and achieve to the best of their ability is a very satisfying experience. As she has experienced a number of careers prior to teaching Mathematics, she is able to say that although she did not actually use calculus or geometry, she did use the intellectual discipline and the rigour that Mathematics requires. Mathematics demands that you acknowledge and use given facts, justify every assumption and argument and write in a highly structured and logical manner. These are skills that are important in any field of study.
For Joanna, teaching Mathematics enables her to utilise her own creative energy. She enjoys using a combination of interactive games, technology and the internet to enable students to develop at their own pace. It is the satisfacton that students feel when they observe their own improvement which keeps Joanna in the classroom.
Ken Crossman and Jennifer Tran joined us in 2006. Ken also agrees that Mathematics permeates our everyday lives and continues to be fascinated by the beauty of numbers. He relishes in the knowledge that his birthday begins with a perfect number ard although he has been teaching for a certain
number of years he is still driven by the vibrant energy of the classroom interaction between students and staff.
Jeri agrees that Mathematics is a subject that all students are able to learn and enjoy, whether it is their best or their worse subject. She also marvels at just how much Mathematics permeates all aspects of our existence.
Tan Nguyen is our newest member of the department, yet has been at IGS for a number of years in administration. He will also argue that Mathematics is everywhere you go, whether you are learning, working or playing. Having had a number of years of experience in an administrative field he has come to realise that Mathematics is the discipline that we are using when we explain and justify our actions in a professional context.
Although each member of the Mathematics faculty has a distinct reason for their own love of Mathematics and desire for teaching there is one clear commonality amongst us. All of us agree that Mathematics forms the thread for our understanding of our own environment. It is simply everywhere we go and everywhere we are.
Jacqui Baker, Head of Mathematics
.icqui Baker, Jennifer Tran ann Jane Martin.
Year 7 History Year 8 History
RO11E ASSIGNMENTS
Two of the Year 7 History classes have recently completed research assignments on Ancient Rome. Amongst the many tasks, students had the opportunity to create replica models of important Roman buildings arid/or weapons. Meta Cohen (pictured) went one step further and created a cake in the shape of the Col4sseum - including citizens made from chocolate drops. Her classmates thefl helped her reduce it to ruins!
Anthony Dennehy, HSIE Department
Year 8 History students have recently role played medieval society and the impacts of the plague on people who lived during the time.
Members of the class were assigned a variety of roles ranging from Queen to merchant, physician, knight, executioner all the way through to lowly peasant. Roles were assigned after students had applied for the positions. Not surprisingly many opted for the role of executioner. Shortly after however the plague swept the land and 2/3 of the class perished. Students picked cards from the "Envelope of Doom!", and if they selected the grim reaper ... then their time was up. There was much delight and wailing as the cards were chosen.
Anthony Dennehy, HSIE Department
ytdI V LdITIJ.
The Year 9 Camp was a great, fun-filled learning experience for all of us in Year 9!
On a bright and very early Tuesday morning, we hopped on the buses and set off to our camp. My group went to Mooney Mooney, and we arrived with Miss Chipchase at around 10.00 a.m. and met with our instructor Jules.
The first day marked the beginning of a two day 26km canoe ride back to Crosslands. Taking much longer than we should have, we eventually arrived at our camp site. We set up our tents and met our new pal "Dug" (the toilet) and "HiJean" (the sink). Wednesday we spent paddling. It felt like miles before we reached Crosslands. Thursday was a day of activities at heights. We went on the Flying Fox, the Leap of Faith and the High Ropes. By Friday we were all really excited to go home! It was our last day of activities.
Alexia Fuller, Year 9
Once we got to our first campsite (a swampish, mosquito ridden forest) we set up camp and cooked our dinner (Spaghetti Bolognese, without the meat!). The next day we got up, packed and left for a long trip in a canoe, but nothing could beat the sense of satisfaction upon arriving at the camp and seeing our friends in one of the other groups. After we arrived, I and five others were assigned to the job of cleaning the canoes, which eventually led to a mud fight. The highlight of the night was dinner: butter chicken with no chicken (formally known as butter).
The next day we experienced the sheer exhilaration of the Flying Fox, the concentration of the High Ropes and the battle of vertigo in the Leap of Faith. After that we headed back to camp and followed the usual routine of cooking and cleaning. The next day we headed up to the final activity, Quest, a set of mindboggling puzzles and teamwork activities. After this it was time to go home. Although it was sad to leave, we were all happy to see our family and friends.
Thomas Grant, Year 9
The Poet's Picnic
The Inner West Poet's Picnic is an annual event organised by MLC School Burwood, comprising of a number of readings of poetry by both published poets and student poets from a range of Sydney schools.
The poetry read presented a range of stimulating subject matter, from the political to the personal. Issues such as homelessness, individuality and the 'prime minister's [bum]' were among those raised in an engaging and entertaining way.
Among the poets were established performance poets Tug Dumbly and Jess Cook. Entertaining delivery was what made these poets the obvious favourites of the audience, which was comprised almost entirely of students.
Daniel Head, my fellow Extension 2 English student and I found this a rewarding and informative experience as we are both composing poetry for our HSC Extension 2 English Major Works. In particular, as I am studying performance poetry, I found it very useful to see how poetry translates from the page to the stage. Both Daniel and I had the opportunity to deliver our own poems to the audience and see the effect of our words and delivery on the audience. The poem I read is printed to the right. Popi Silk, Year 12 English Extension 2 Student
Untitled 27
My eyes are a gory picture of eloquence
Mouths silenced
Tongues tied up in talking
Stumbling over soundless words
Quite devoid of any coherent meaning
When they lie and say "we are not for each other now"
Clash of bawdy, jocular weapons
Ringing long (brash and unwelcome) into the silence
Lips stinging - you are salty - I am burning
(mostly in my throat) as undiluted passion
Goes down the wrong way.
You should have had me microchipped.
An intoxicating, bloodshot, loveshocked gaze
Is what's become of little, fortunate children
Changlings in our own house - found amazed
At the discovery of sticky sweetness,
Chasms of syrupy yearning
A devoted laserstare
Killed the blaze of remotely advancing armies
Bloodshed in the autumn -there'll be youth again in spring
In spring - it was October - charging into summer
I felt touched
(the lioness scoops her cub into her jaws
In the same breath murders a gazelle)
I find, increasingly often now,
I am both cub
And gazelle
Emotional growth = nothing when I am undone, a show, out on display
You undo me like a boot
Help me take myself off, I give me blisters.
It's winter.
And you are like slippers.
The Rostrum Voices of Youth Public Speaking Competition
The Rostrum Voices of Youth Public Speaking Competition is aimed at developing the communication skills of the youth of Australia. It provides the opportunity for our future leaders to practise their public speaking skills and for the community to recognise those with outstanding ability.
On 27 March, the Rostrum Voices of Youth Public Speaking Competition heats were held at St Mary's Cathedral School. Mrs Tatsis organised a group of IGS's amateur speakers to test their oratory skills against those from several other schools. Students completed a 6-8 minute speech before a live audience. With a choice of topics ranging from 'What the world needs now' to 'Prevention is better than cure', students between the ages of 13-17 attempted to showcase the best of their rhetoric.
As a whole, IGS students achieved an admirable result. Students participating included : Paddy Gidney, Dylan Parker, Isabella Polger, Ariane Psomotragos, Remi Harvey, Jessica Miller, Adam Marks and Mark Thompson. Dylan Parker achieved excellent results coming second.
Dylan Parker, Year 10
Popi Silk
languages
IGS Evening Language College
£Every Tuesday night a band of intrepid language learners attends the IGS Evening Language College. Their motives vary - some want to learn the language that their child is learning at IGS, some are planning to travel, some just have a passion and curiosity. Lessons are mostly taught in the second language using texts written for adult level learning, with lots of motivating games and speaking practice. Beginner level classes are held in French, German, Japanese, Spanish, Italian and Chinese.
Noriko O'Leary, in the Japanese class, says "I wanted to see how much I could learn in 12 months". Interestingly, Noriko spoke Japanese with her mother until she was six years old, but then moved to Australia,
stopped speaking it and lost it all together. She plans to visit Japan in 2008. Noriko says the class has really enjoyed their progress and has learnt a lot from teacher Harumi. "It's a small class, so it's fantastic," says Noriko.
The French class, led by the dynamic Florianne, includes a family group of three - Trish, Steve and their son Patrick (16) McCarthy. The family's positive experience of hosting a French student inspired them to learn the beautiful language, and they plan to visit France in the future. They love Florianne's encouragement, enthusiasm and the variety in her lessons.
Robyn Moloney, Director of Languages
The McCarthy family with teacher Florianne.
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Ste end DeWed,, Manik CI ache Fmazoeanch, wichfig in uneerer
Jepaniooh, ltaliemeoh Schole Jade
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chueutach SWede Mooik pro Woche.
Unsere Schule
I On Thursday 29 and Friday 30 March, valuable investment into improving the I the School held the annual Bandaged lives of sick children and their families. Bear Day in order to raise money for the Thank you to everyone who supported our bandaged
I Children's Hospital at Westmead. fundraiser to help the children at Westmead
I The money raised will be directed to the Hospital. A special thanks to the Year 6 bear I areas within the hospital that are most leaders, Stathi Weir and Niamh Galea, and • in need. These funds are used for special their team of volunteers for all their hard I purposes such as replacing specialist work and dedication. According to Charlie I medical equipment and funding research Schacher, on the first morning we raised day into the causes and cures of childhood $30.00 a minute! The total raised was $2,439. diseases. Every dollar donated is a very Sarah Vitel
the footprint and the child researcher EII
and the child researcher
continued
the freedom to investigate and to try, to make mistakes and to correct mistakes, to choose where and with whom to investigate their curiosity, intelligence and emotions. Yet this valuable apprenticeship, which cannot be left to chance, can only be accomplished when children are assured of the broad and active co-participation of adults. Therefore we aim to provide a curriculum that is adult-framed but child-directed. We provoke this thinking by planting ideas for exploration and research.
In Term 1 we challenged Transition Gold with the mystery of a mysterious footprint that had been sighted whilst walking along the beach. The possible explanations were myriad and probably we will never know the true story, but the processes we went through in this explanation gave us faith and further understanding into the thinking of our children in Transition Gold.
The children went through a back and forth process. Ideas were brainstormed, research plans constructed, tests undertaken, hypotheses examined, and generalisations tested and in many cases found lacking. Specifically the children initially hypothesised that the footprint was in fact from a dinosaur. They explored various footprints of dinosaurs,
Is :measured, reconstructed the poten:ial characteristics of the dinosaur that owned the mystery footprint, and discussed their findings. Further they explored the dinosaur world and then finally decided that the footprint could not have possibly come from a dinosaur because it was only the other day that the footprint was seen and there are no more dinosaurs left.. .or are there?
This then led into a question of if there were possible some dinosaurs still left on the earth and why had no one had seen them. Maybe
the dinosaur was an underwater living dinosaur and decided to come and have a look at where it was. This began the exploration of how a dinosaur would live underwater, what it would eat, how would it breathe and why did it come out of the water and finally concluding that if there were dinosaurs in the sea then divers would have found them.. .so back to the drawing board.
All in all the explorations were complex, moving through a system of hypothesise, discuss, test, evaluate and conclude no findings, and then start the process over again. There is no end to this project as there is no answer. What is gained from it is an opportunity for children to think, experiment, verbalise and consider. We have been busy observing the processes undertaken by Transition Gold. We have been making notes about individual students and their contributions - their ability to describe, to discuss, to interact, to understand basic time and historical facts. The experience was about counting, measuring, time, space, listening skills, verbalisations to problem solving.
Our educational image of children in IGS Early Childhood is that they have immense potential to develop as learners - none of us, even as adults ever lose that potential.
Rebecca Waud, Head of Preschool
Angus and Kai experiment with a variety of tools and attempt to sculpt and re-create their ideas of what the owner of the footprint might look like
ijed, Jonari and Suzanna use informal units of measurement to work out the size of the mystery footprint
Year 7 did a lot more than just go somewhere new for the camp. On 7 March Year 7 took to the hills!
Alice
All of us had a great time. We did lots of fun activities like the flying fox, high ropes, leap of faith and many more.
Molly
Everyone wanted a second go on the flying fox, but it was not all flying from a cliff and screaming until your lungs were dry. It involved a lot of team work to make sure the person got down safely and had a good time.
Alice
The leap of faith really did involve some support from the people on the ground, while the canoeing was about working together to make the canoe move forward! High ropes was a wobbly business and not all made it to the end.
Alice
On the third day our group did The Quest. The point of this activity was to work together as a team and find the code for the box which had the prize inside. First of all we had to build a raft and go across the river, and then discover different lock codes. The prize was a bag of snakes (lollies!)
Molly
The camp was a good way for people to get to know each other as friendships
were still being formed. It was a great experience and has left me with good memories.
Alice
In the end that would have been the best camp I've ever been on!
Molly
Alice Englert & Molly Blythin, Year 7
drama
It has certainly been a busy and productive time for Drama. We have just recently commenced after-school Drama Companies and, together with curriculum students, we prepared a night of entertainment for our Drama Showcase which was held on March 22.
Students devised, enacted, appropriated and physicalised performances as varied as Where the Wild Things Are by Maurice Sendak, prepared by Physical Theatre Drama Company, to The Maids by Jean Genet and performed by Year 11 Drama students.
Year 9/10 Dramabilities created pieces which displayed their learning of Laban's System of Expressive Movement These devised pieces were entitled Pirates, The Cycle of a Relationship and Missing Girl. The latter was inspired after our attendance at the Sydney Theatre Company to see the play Ruby Moon by Matt Cameron. Drawing from their study of Ruby Moon and 7 Stages of
and Daniel Head devised an original piece of drama entitled A Tale of Grief. This piece explored suffering, marginalisation and loss as subject matters which pervade the Australian psyche.
Year 11 students each performed and directed pieces which were related to their study of Elements of Production in Performance. Theatricks students performed pieces which tested their ability to deliver comedy with attention to timing and characterisation.
In addition we had aselect group of students invited to become Griffin Theatre Ambassadors. Athena Vlotis, Jessica Miller, Daniel Head and Popi Silk were given the privilege of attending theatre workshops and performances as part of the programme.
NW-by Debra Oswald performed by Luciana Smith, Gus Malfroy Year 11 Drama
Vlotis, Ariane Psomotragos Yr 11 Drama
by Jacqueline Fisher Theatricks 9/10
Miller and Janina Waldmann Yr 11 Drama