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High Notes, Vol 27 No 15, May 29 2026

From the Principal

High Talent

Congratulations to our School Captain, Jude Ou, on his selection in the Australian Schools Debating Team. He will represent Australia at the World Schools Debating Championships in Africa. A rare achievement, indeed! Well done to Ben Wu (12F) who won gold at the NSWFL U19 Epee Individual Championships last Saturday. Great news for Jack Yong (SHS-2025) whose clay work was short-listed and selected for exhibition in the international Clay Gulgong festival in the Holtermann Museum. Congratulations to the 14 Legal Debating boys, who spent Thursday - Sunday last week competing at Harvard Model United Nations. There were nearly 500 students at the event, from all around the country and some international teams. Our students came away with a quarter of the awards, as well as the overall best delegation award. Well done to - Aarav Shah, Akshobya Kumar, Maxi Ibrahim, Charlie Cheshire, Alay Mahidadia, Vivaan Wadhwa, Om Dave, Tilak Patel, Tuyvan Mai, Aarya Retnasingham, Sharvil Pande and Hriman Joshi.  All these boys are developing valuable life skills through this program. Thank you to Hazel Stephens who is a quiet achiever in legal debating and MUNA.

Interpreting Year 8 Reports Semester 1

All boys in Year 8 should now have their reports. Parents need to know that a few marks up or down near cut-off scores for Distinctions or High Distinctions can make a big difference in their son’s points’ totals. Also, these grades are sometimes calculated from only one or two snapshot assessment tasks, thus providing a narrow view of achievement. When moving from Year 7 into Year 8 students get to make a decision – one language or two? As a consequence, some boys do ten subjects as in Year 7 and others, nine. To calculate the boys’ scores, their best 9 subject outcomes are counted (27 points at credit level). So, boys doing more subjects may have an advantage. Conversely, they may be disadvantaged by having more subjects to master. Language choice can affect ranking outcomes. For example, some boys chose Chinese Advanced. Some chose Latin, others chose Latin and Classical Greek. These are demanding subjects. Getting Distinctions in these subjects is harder – fewer students do them, too. Boys not doing two languages have to have their PE results counted.

Sometimes boys in Year 8 start to think about what electives they might do in Year 9 and what the compulsory subjects there are. These projected future choices might affect their motivation to succeed in some of the compulsory subjects that they are doing currently. Because of the semesterisation of history and geography, students who perform much better in one of these disciplines more than the other can produce big swings in points earned at the half yearly or yearly report. Quite a few boys who have done well in their Yearly Report in Year 7, take their foot off the accelerator and coast through semester one, with effects on their ranking. Often, they get back on track by the time of the Yearly Report again. In short, there are many reasons for big swings in rank. I think that greater than +/- 20% of the cohort (36+) positions of swing means that something has altered. Their biggest issue usually is distraction, due to gaming, unrestricted device use, social media immersion or other myriad teenage activities.

Often, big positive or negative fluctuations are due to changes in learning behaviours: boys listening in class, acting on teacher feedback, being organised and managing their commitments, taking good notes, doing homework, accessing past papers and revising before assessment periods. Alternatively, if they stop doing these things, their results may decline. Circumstances in their domestic life may affect their learning concentration or motivation and result in big swings in the rank order also. Despite the shortcomings identified, our stable statistical expectations over more than two decades provide a fairly reliable overall academic profile for students and parents to consider. Also included in the reports are teacher statements about recommended next step/s for students to improve their learning. We hope parents will discuss these suggestions with their sons and encourage them to implement them.

Student Leave Requests – Reminder

There is a Department of Education and school policy on Student Leave of Absence – Extended Leave Travel requests. This applies to leave that is five school days or more in duration. Parents are reminded that as a matter of policy leave may not be processed or approved unless four weeks’ notice has been given. Also, cogent reasons for travelling during school term need to be supplied. The effect of this decision is that all leave requests that involve that last four weeks of term should have been lodged with the Principal for approval by the end of week 6, each term. If you are planning to travel during the school term you need to download, complete and submit the form for approval by the closing date.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal

Assembly: 2026 National Day of Healing

"Good morning, I would like to begin by acknowledging the Gadigal people of the Eora Nation, the Traditional Custodians of the land on which we meet today. I pay my respects to Elders past and present. I extend that respect to any Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people here with us today. This assembly falls during an important historical period for Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander people. Yesterday was National Sorry Day. It recognises the Stolen Generations. Children who were forcibly removed from their families and their culture was disrupted.

"Sorry Day asks us to acknowledge that truth and to recognise the ongoing impact of the decisions made in the past.

"Today, National Reconciliation Week begins. Today is historically important as on May 27, 1967, an important referendum occurred. One that saw a record 90.77% of voters vote "Yes" to amend the constitution regarding Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples, specifically to include them in the census and enable the Commonwealth to create laws for them. A moment when Australia voted to remove discrimination from the Constitution. Reconciliation week ends on another historically significant date – 3 June - as it marks the anniversary of the Mabo decision. A decision that recognised Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples’ rights to land. Reconciliation is about stronger relationships between Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander peoples and all other Australians. It recognises that our history includes dispossession, violence and racism. It recognises that while progress has been made, there is more to do.

"This year’s theme is All In for Reconciliation. Being all in means we do not stand by and allow reconciliation to happen without us. We commit to it, each day, in our words and in our actions. We show respect through the way we speak and behave. We deepen our understanding of Aboriginal and Torres Strait Islander cultures. As a society, each of us has a responsibility to act and to contribute to meaningful change. Thank you."
George Barris
Deputy Principal