Issue 2 Term IV 2014

Newsletter Academic Christian Caring

ISSUE 2

TERM IV 2014

Ethan Butson (Class of 2014) Nominated in the NSW State Finals for Young Australian of the Year

TI G S

The Illawarra Grammar School

Headmaster intensive learning to improve their proficiency in English in preparation for entry into mainstream classes.

They also learn how to learn in an Australian school which for many is a much different experience to that in their home schools.

TIGS is an internationally minded school and we intend for our students to be confident in their understanding of and interactions with people from other countries.

This week we welcome the students and staff of St Gabriel’s College, Bangkok to our School. The teachers, Mr Watthanath Phatpukittkoon and Mr Pongpol Suansri, are leading a group of 21 boys (9 Primary and 12 Secondary) that will spend two weeks in our classrooms getting to know our students and gaining an understanding of how Australian students learn.

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It is not unusual for the students from other countries and cultures to be found on the TIGS campus: •

TIGS enrols up to 40 students each year in its programme for international students. Students from Japan, South Korea, People’s Republic of China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Vietnam and Thailand are regularly found enrolled at TIGS. Many life-long friendships have been forged between local and international students since the programme commenced in the 1980s.

All our international students spend some time in the TIGS Centre for English under the tuition of Mrs Helen McCall.

Under her expert guidance (she speaks five languages) our international students undertake

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TIGS has formed formal partnership with four schools with students regularly being exchanged for the purpose of cultural immersion and language learning. These schools are: • Sapporo Nichidai High School, Japan • Caritas Junior & Senior High School, Kawasaki, Japan • Prasarnmit Demonstration School, Bangkok • Chi Lin Primary School, Hong Kong TIGS students also have the opportunity to engage in international travel and learning through regular excursions: • • • •

New Caledonia – Language learning in French Sapporo Nichidai High School – Language learning in Japanese Vietnam – Senior School study in the subject of Society & Culture Crossroads - Community Service in Hong Kong

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TIGS also sends and receives students on international exchanges through local service clubs.

The School’s commitment to maintaining and building international mindedness in our students is most obvious in our commitment to the PYP and MYP programmes of the International Baccalaureate Organisation. Study under the IB programmes requires a commitment: •

to the study of an additional language TIGS students are required to study an additional language (Japanese, Mandarin or French) through to Year 10 with the opportunity to continue study in an additional language through to Year 12

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to intercultural awareness and understanding. The IBO describes this as follows:

The IBO promotes “intercultural understanding and respect, not as an alternative to a sense of cultural and national identity, but as an essential part of life in the 21st century.

All of this is captured in our (The IBO) mission statement: ‘The International Baccalaureate aims to develop inquiring, knowledgeable and caring young people who help to create a better and more peaceful world through intercultural

Chaplain’s Message ONE JUST LIKE US

One of the great moral battles in the Bible was between Elijah the prophet of God and Ahab, one of Israel’s most wicked kings. The arena of their greatest conflict was Mount Carmel where Elijah proved beyond reasonable doubt that the Lord, the God of Abraham, Isaac and Israel, was the one true God and not Baal as Ahab and his supporters were inclined to think. You can remind yourself of the details of this great contest in 1 Kings 18.16ff.

understanding and respect.

To this end the organization works with schools, governments and international organizations to develop challenging programmes of international education and rigorous assessment.

These programmes encourage students across the world to become active, compassionate and lifelong learners who understand that other people, with their differences, can also be right.’” http://www.ibo.org/mission/ As an IB World School, TIGS is committed to our students participating in an education that will empower them to be contributors to and leaders of the 21st Century.

We welcome all our international visitors.

Stephen Kinsella Headmaster

There is another less conspicuous battle between Elijah and Ahab which is of equal significance. It is recorded in 1 Kings 17.1 just after Ahab assumed the throne. It might have gone unnoticed if it wasn’t for the fact that it is taken up and commented upon by James in his letter in the New Testament.

In 1 Kings 17.1 Elijah declares to Ahab that there will be neither dew nor rain in the next few years except at the prophet’s word. And sure enough, the land entered into a debilitating drought that almost crippled the nation. It reads as a direct assault upon the wicked king Ahab and his unwholesome regime. It reads as well as if the prophet is simply delivering a message to Ahab that he had received from God. That is, until we read James’ account in the New Testament.

James is talking about the necessity and power of prayer for God’s people as a way of drawing them into an active and expectant prayer life. To embolden us he gives the example of Elijah and says this about him: “Elijah was a human being, even as we are. He prayed earnestly that it would not rain, and it did not rain on the land for three and a half years.

Again he prayed, and the heavens gave rain, and the earth produced its crops.” (James 5.17-18) Remarkably, at the heart of this

contest between Elijah and Ahab was prayer. Elijah was much more than a deliverer of a message from God to Ahab; he was an active participant in this contest. Jealous for the honour of God’s name and the good of God’s people, Elijah prayed for a drought to bring Ahab to his knees; and God delivered a drought. God caused the whole cosmos to bend to Elijah’s prayer. Ahab was undone.

And the amazing fact in all this is how James brings Elijah down to our level (or us up to his, whichever way we are inclined to think of it). Elijah was a human being, even as we are. In other words, this sort of cosmos-bending, evil-crunching crouch we call prayer is not the preserve of “special” people like Elijah, but the birth right of all God’s people. God hears the prayers of his people and acts upon them to work out his good and just purposes for the world. Wow! All this is a way of inviting you to the next TIGS Prayer Breakfast on Thursday 13 November in the School Library.

The details can be seen in the notice in this week’s newsletter. I look forward to sharing this powerful moment with you.

Rev James Rogers Chaplain

Senior School

WHAT WERE OUR STUDENTS DOING LAST WEEKEND?

Our students and staff give so much of their time, their effort and skills, their loyalty and their love to so many events and service activities that are hosted here at TIGS and offsite. And often it is unheralded and unacknowledged. Sometimes to name a few events does not do justice to the scope and range of the commitment of all students in so many different contexts but I will mention in particular two events which have been noteworthy and which both happened last weekend.

This is a graphic example of how rich and intense is the life of a school!

The first event was the Sony Camp where our students commit their weekend, Friday through to Sunday night, to provide respite for families of children with disabilities. The students who attended and worked tirelessly were: Margot Allison, Chloe Aubin, Fabian Benitez, Miriam Birt, Joel Bloomfield, Lauren Carberry, Olivia Day, Tom Evans, Sachin Gasper, Tahlia Jackson, Susan Jah, Teagan Johnston, RobertJover, Hannah Kim, Josh King, Maria Kyriakoudes, Stephanie McEwan, Kaitlin McKeon, Yaru Mizori, Dominic Mortimer, Quynh-Nhu Nguyen, Lauren O’Neill, Zahra Panju, Natalia Panovski, Namika Parajuli, Shae-Lyn Phipps, Bryce Prior, Brady Rengger, Copter Rusakul, Elise Serefli, Caleb Stamper, Gabi Starkey, Tom Stocker, Lily Tuivaga, Aislinn Turner, Cara Turney, Raman Wadhwa, Margaux Walker, and Adrian Whitehall.

The other huge event was the Indian community’s ‘Diwali Festival of Lights’ celebration for over 500 people last Saturday in the IGC. TIGS Tech students helped set up all the staging and audio equipment in the initial ‘bump-in’ while the Year 12 VET Entertainment students assisted with the event which went for almost the

whole day as well as there being a rehearsal the previous Sunday. They did a remarkable job under quite demanding circumstances. Those students were: Caelan Goncalves, Madeline Laing, Kelsea Latham, David McMahon, Natalia Panovski, Peem Poolpol, Bailey Sheehy, Adrian Whitehall and Bryce Prior(the last two helping with the rehearsal but attending Sony Camp.

Whew!)

We are all immensely proud of the great work and dedication of our students and also of the time and effort given by staff, both teaching and support staff. So thanks to Dori Previati, Brian Vickers and Fiona Fisher for organizing, attending and working tirelessly at the Sony Camp. Thank you to Matt Unwin, Joey Morris, Steve Skeparoski and Matt Field for their commitment to supporting the Diwali Celebrations.

And a very special thank you to Margaret Biggs our Manager of Development and Community Engagement who has been responsible for initiating these Community Service Activities and

Monica Watt Head of Senior School Deputy Headmaster who has, through her love and commitment to serving and assisting others, empowered our students to go out into the world and continue this wonderful work during their tertiary studies and beyond.

Some of those alumni who continue to assist the Disability Trust are Amy Carberry, Justine Harman, Emma and David McKeon, Josh Hutton, Jordan Scocco and Nicola Xanthopoulos. A special thank you to you all.

TIGS

Prayer Breakfast

Parents, staff and friends are invited to gather to pray for our School community

Thursday 13 November 2014 7.30am - 8.20am TIGS Goodhew Research Centre (Library) Breakfast and supervision is available for children Please contact Mrs Moore for more information on 4220 0284 or email nmoore@tigs.nsw.edu.au

RSVP: Friday 7 November 2014

Vist www.tigs.nsw.edu.au

Last chance to have dinner with Adam Gilchrist!

The Illawarra Grammer School entry via Powell St

Junior School STUDENT LEADERSHIP

In the Junior School we are beginning the leadership selection process for 2015.

Students in Year 5 have been asked to consider their willingness to nominate for leadership positions and to consider the skills they can bring to the task. Each year we are so impressed with the leadership ability of our students and the commitment they bring to the task. I look forward to meeting with the students as they pursue this opportunity to serve their school community.

REPORT ON MARKET DAY There was a great feeling of excitement this week as Year 5 put their final touches on their Market Day preparation. The current unit of inquiry is within the Transdiciplinary Theme of “How We Organise Ourselves” and the Central idea is “Team work can be central to achieve goals”.

The students in Year 5 have inquired into the roles that make up a team and that teams enable access to goods and services locally and globally.

Judi Nealy Head of Junior School

In collaborative groups the Year 5 students have identified charities, investigated the details of this charity, who it assists and how funds are raised and used. They have connected with one that they found particularly worthy and have worked as a team to organise a fund raising event. These events were all held on our Market Day that occurred on Tuesday 21 October.

Overall our school community was extremely generous in support of the Market Day and it was a wonderful conclusion to the Year 5 learning.

DIARY DATES • •

Year 6 Exhibition Pupil Free Day (Professional Development)

Tuesday 28 October – 4.00pm to 6.00pm Library Friday 31 October

WEEKLY AWARDS

MERIT CERTIFICATES

KD KM KP 1M 1T 1WJ 2C 2H 2M 3R 4C 5A 5S 5Y 6G

Academic

Daniel Llewellin, Annaliese Brunskill Alexandra Da Deppo, Nicole Choi Yasmin Matar, Vanshika Daruvuri Jahzara McCann Joshua Burden Estella Loeser, Samuel Lowe Stephanie Fiorio, Lilli Fellowes Chloe Jackson, Reuben Grundy Cohen Sawyer, Brandon Nugara Inaaya Kermali, Oscar Ryan Alison Guo, Isabella Atkinson Bodhi Hemsley-Oades, James Taylor Victoria Summerill, Ruby Moore Isobel Kinnear, Ruby D’Rozario Mark McAlary, Zoe Dribbus

Thomas Main Aaron Avenido

PYP

Exhibition Year 6 2014

Join us in celebrating the PYP exhibition of Year 6 2014 DATES

Opening Night

Tuesday 28 October 4.00pm to 6.00pm

Exhibition Open

Wednesday 29 October 9.00am to 10.30am

VENUE Goodhew Research Centre (Library)

RSVP Friday 24 October

Email rgrneski@tigs.nsw.edu.au

Engaged in collaborative, transdisciplinary inquiry, Year 6 students have explored real-life issues of local and global importance and demonstrated attributes of the IB Learner Profile that have been developing throughout their engagement with the PYP. The exhibition has provided students with the opportunity to synthesise the essential elements of the PYP (Knowledge, Concepts, Skills, Attitudes and Action), and most importantly, to share with the whole school community.

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STUDENT SUCCESS: Jonathan Fowles – Cricket

Represented NSW All Schools 19 years and Opens in 2 matches against Queensland during the holidays.

The first match was a 1-dayer that NSW won. Jonathan opened the batting and scored a handy 32 runs.

A 3-day match followed which was unfortunately washed out, however, Jonathan opened the bat again scoring a very neat 56 runs. He also chipped in with the ball taking 3/28 off 16 overs. With NSW State selectors looking on, Jonathan has put his best foot forward. Congratulations!

Senior Sport TERM IV SUMMER SPORTS Mondays

Thursday

Surfing 6.30am – 8.00am North Wollongong Beach

Rowing 7.00am – 8.00am Illawarra Boat Sheds

Tuesdays

Surfing 6.30am – 8.00am North Wollongong Beach

Swimming 7.00am – 8.00am University Pool

Stand Up Paddleboard 6.30am – 7.30am Belmore Basin Girls Strength Conditioning 3.30pm – 4.30pm ReKreate Coniston Hangdog Climbing 3.30pm – 4.30pm Hangdog Racquet Sport 3.30pm – 4.30pm ORB Sporting Complex Figtree Hangtime Trampolining 3.30pm – 4.30pm Hangtime Coniston Street Dance 3.30pm - 4.30pm Begbie Dance Studio

Stand Up Paddleboard 6.30am 7.30am Belmore Basin

Hangdog Climbing 3.30pm – 4.30pm Hangdog Tennis 3.30pm – 4.30pm Beaton Park Tennis Courts Hangtime Trampolining 3.30pm – 4.30pm Hangtime Coniston Boys Gym – 3.30pm – 4.30pm University Recreation Centre

Friday

Swimming – 7.00am – 8.00am University Pool

The Years 7-10 Co-curricular Sport programme for Term IV started this week. If students/parents are unsure about which sport they are doing it can be found on the students timetable, accessible on Edumate.

If the Sport occurs off the School premises a bus will bring students back to school in time to catch the 5.00pm North and South buses.

These buses will leave from the IGC car park.

If it is a morning Sport, buses will bring students back to school in time for the start of the school day.

For any questions regarding Sport please contact Mr Michael Toussis or Mrs Leonie Hinch on 42200258 or email mtoussis@tigs.nsw.edu.au

UPCOMING

EVENTS

WEEK 3

Pregnancy, Baby and Kids Expo (TIGS Host) 9.00am to 1.00pm Sunday 26 October 2014

WEEK 4

Year 7 2015 Parent Information Evening 6.00pm Monday 27 October 2014 in the IGC

Year 6 Exhibition

4.00pm to 6.00pm Tuesday 28 October 2014 and 9.00am to 10.30am Wednesday 29 October 2014 In the Goodhew Research Centre (Library)

P-12 String Concert

6.30pm Wednesday 29 October 2014 in the Recital Room

Pupil Free Day

Friday 31 October 2014

WEEK 5

Sports Presentation Night

6.30pm Wednesday 5 November 2014 in the IGC

WEEK 6

TIGS Prayer Breakfast

7.30am Thursday 3 November 2014 in the Library