Newsletter Academic Christian Caring
ISSUE 5
TERM IV 2015
Sports Presentation Night
Headmaster “De virtute in virtutem” – “from strength to strength” A motto can say so much about a school, its history and values. The TIGS motto, which translates from the Latin “De virtute in virtutem” into English as “from strength to strength”, has a fascinating history which is quite inspiring. The first meetings held to discuss the formation of an Independent Anglican School in the Illawarra region were held at St Michael’s Cathedral, Wollongong in 1952. The School came into being with the passing of The Illawarra Grammar School Ordinance on 15 December 1958 by the Synod of the Diocese of Sydney. The School’s opening day was 3 February 1959 when 28 boys attended their first lessons, held at St Mark’s, West Wollongong, with the first Headmaster, Rev R.F. Bosanquet. During 1959, work commenced on the first School building on our current site and on 10 October of that year the foundation stone was laid. This is the stone that is on display in the reception area of the Senior School Office. This was also the time the School Motto was chosen. Archdeacon Rev Campbell Begbie, who was the driving force behind the establishment of the School, chose an extract from Psalm 84 that captured the mood of the founders. Their intention was that through all the challenges that the new School experienced, the newly formed TIGS community would persevere and that the School and its students, under God’s grace, would flourish. Since 1959, our School has evolved into the vibrant, active and progressive community that it is today. Our distinguishing core values - Academic, Christian and Caring - that define what we know as the TIGS tradition, are the end result of the commitment of our former and present students, parents and staff to go from “strength to strength”. Our Statement of Mission captures these values and points to the future: “Blessed are those whose strength is in you, who have set their hearts on pilgrimage. As they pass through the Valley of Baca, they make it a place of springs; the autumn rains also cover it with pools. They go from strength to strength, till each appears before God in Zion.”
“The achievement of academic excellence in a caring environment that is founded on Christian beliefs and behaviours, so that students are equipped to act with wisdom, compassion and justice as faithful stewards of our world.” The achievement of these aspirations is not something that is easily attained. It requires commitment and perseverance by all who ‘sign up’ for the journey at TIGS and when this occurs our School flourishes. Similarly, when students, staff and families do not share the vision of a TIGS education, then participation in the programmes becomes pedestrian and there is a risk that the School would become just like any other school. Fortunately, TIGS is blessed with staff, students and families that share the beliefs and aspirations of the founders of the School and actively contribute to TIGS going from “strength to strength”. It is the combined efforts of our community that makes TIGS a place where students can flourish.
Psalm 84:5-7 Stephen Kinsella Headmaster
Chaplain’s Message THE HEART OF THE PROBLEM
I am constantly amazed to hear of the experience of many celebrities when it comes to social media. They report extreme forms of bullying, slander, and insult, even threats of physical harm. Some have been so traumatised by the experience they have had to avoid social media altogether. Some persist with it and end up paying a huge price. We know that the life of a celebrity is extreme. But it is not totally removed from the life of the normal person. Too often our students, our children, struggle with the same issues. Perhaps, as well, they are tempted to use social media to speak poorly of others. How can we find ourselves in the 21st century with all of the technological and scientific advancements we have enjoyed over the past couple of hundred years and still be so overcome by these basic human problems? Jesus says it’s a heart problem that we all share. In Matthew 15:19 he sums up what he sees as the cause of this problem: “Out of the heart come evil thoughts, murder, adultery, sexual immorality, theft, false witness, slander.” According to Jesus, we have a brokenness deep within. This brokenness is made visible through our hurtful words and actions towards others. He goes on to say that this deep brokenness defiles us before God and necessitates cleansing (Matthew 15:20). From whence comes this cleansing? From whence comes the power to change? The Bible has some good news for us here. There is a cleansing available to us; there is power to change. In 1 John 1:7 we are told the blood of Jesus cleanses us from all sin. Behind this verse is the sacrificial system of the Old Testament in which the blood of animals was offered as a payment for our sin. Often the blood represents cleansing. The New Testament claims this was all pointing to Jesus, the Lamb of God, who takes away the sin of the world (John 1:29). So, in 1 John 1:9 we are told “if we confess our sins, God is faithful and just to forgive us our sins and to cleanse us from all unrighteousness.” This is good news. But it doesn’t stop there. There is also power to change. In Ephesians 4:22-24, as a result of God being at work in and through us by his Spirit, we are told to put off our old self, which belongs to our former manner of life and is corrupt through deceitful desire and to put on the new self, created after the likeness of God in true righteousness and holiness. As we listen to the experience of celebrities talking about the menace of social media and as we see that mirrored in our own children’s lives (perhaps even in our own) it is clear our world needs more of this new life that Jesus offers. Let’s be sure to receive it so that we might live it. Rev James Rogers
Rev James Rogers Chaplain
Senior School SPORT AFTER SCHOOL
At last week’s Sports Presentation, which was a wonderful night, it was so good to hear from our guest speaker, Katie-Louise Patterson, who had been School Captain in 2008. Katie-Louise has carved a career as a management consultant with Deloitte but has also created history as the first female referee to officiate at a national level FFA Cup match between Melbourne Victory and Rockdale City Suns earlier this year. She received great acclaim after the match and is now setting her sights very high in carving out her ‘other’ career. Katie-Louise has always been an engaging public speaker and it was enthralling to hear her chart her journey as a soccer official. But the most inspiring aspect of her story was the way in which she explained how she had dealt with apparent failure. She had made a very serious error early in her career which resulted in her being relegated from the pool of referees for the women’s competition. Undeterred, she decided to forge her way ahead in the men’s competition. She is now back in contention for the big games in both the men’s and the women’s competitions. Well done, Katie-Louise. Her message was about resilience. The strategies that she employed and detailed for us were the very strategies and approaches that we currently teach in the Year 7 and Year 8 Student Wellbeing Programme and it was wonderful to hear them enunciated and so clearly successful for Katie-Louise.
Monica Watt Head of Senior School Deputy Headmaster
Another ex-student and fine athlete who is forging ahead as a referee, this time in Basketball, is Kelly-Jane Mann (Class of 2000). In September, Kelly-Jane flew to Ecuador as the Australian referee for the Women’s World Cup Basketball Tournament and recently she refereed the Men’s Gold Medal Game at the U/20 National Titles in Canberra. Congratulations to both and we look forward to following their careers in the future.
Second-hand Uniform and Textbook Trading The School is conscious of the need to provide an efficient process for families to be able to recycle and trade their textbooks, uniforms and other student resources. We are pleased to inform you of the School’s new initiative to provide our School community with the ability to trade secondhand items via the Sustainable School Shop. Results from other schools have been excellent; families have enjoyed a more comprehensive and convenient method of trading these items. The service provides year round access to second-hand textbooks, uniforms, calculators, stationery, musical equipment, etc. Individuals can trade within the school community or with members from other school communities; many schools use this service. For • • • • • • • • •
the best results: Register on the Sustainable School Shop website (www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au) List your items for sale List wanted ads for those items you are looking to buy The School’s uniform and booklists are loaded into the system to make listing ads easy The system matches the ads of buyers with sellers and notifies the buyer (wanted ad) via email Buyers contact sellers and arrange where and when to trade Most trading will occur with other members of the school community Families are well supported via Sustainable School Shop’s telephone (1300 683 337) and email help lines The system is simple and easy to use - If you don’t have a computer, internet access or an email address, please call the Sustainable School Shop for assistance • You can pre-arrange the transaction and then trade after the texts are not required. Families are offered three levels of access: • Search only - registering/logging-in on to the Sustainable School Shop, searching all the for sale ads and gaining the sellers’ contact details is free. • Single items cost $1.00 to be advertised • Subscription - an annual subscription costs $19.95 and is the most anyone will pay. These are taken by families who have many items to advertise. All enquiries should be directed to the Sustainable School Shop on: 1300 683 337 or help is also available through ‘Contact Us’ on their website at www.sustainableschoolshop.com.au We are very excited about this new initiative and we hope you will make the most of this opportunity and gain the benefit from recycling your student’s school items.
Junior School
I receive a lot of thinking stimulus on various on-line networks and professional communities. Sometimes I am jolted into completely rethinking an approach or entrenched belief, other times a slight shift is begun by an idea I have been able to access. This week I am sharing with you a post from LinkedIn. A brilliant study conducted along with astonishing result. I want to credit the author Dhaval Shah, who is the founder at The Hollis Tree in Mumbai. I find it really exciting to be able to access the thinking of people so far away and a great shift in our approach since commencing our IB journey into international mindedness. This post resonated with me as I am currently reading student reports and thinking about the effort that has gone into learning. Please enjoy this post and perhaps consider it as you are reflecting on reports when they arrive and also when you are watching your children work and learn at school and at home. As parents and teachers we play a very important role.
Praise Effort, Not Intelligence or the End Result Posted by Dhaval Shah via LinkedIn, Nov 2015
If you want your child to reach her potential, one of the most important Judi Nealy traits to nurture is tenacity—the “I’ll stick with it” approach to challenges. Head of Junior School Carol Dweck, PhD, Professor of Education at Stanford and author of Mindset: The New Psychology of Success, wrote a classic research study that demonstrated how well-intentioned but misguided praise could go awry. She conducted a relatively simple experiment that demonstrated the dramatic differences in children’s performance based on the type of praise they received. Fifth graders were given a series of puzzles designed so that all children would do fairly well. After the first part of the test, the children were then told their scores and given a single line of praise. One group was told, “You must be smart at this”; the others were praised for their effort: “You must have worked really hard.” The students were then given a choice of which tests to take for the second round. Students could choose a test that would be harder but from which they’d learn a lot, or an easy test similar to the first. Ninety percent of children praised for their effort chose the harder set of puzzles, whereas the majority of those praised for their intelligence chose the easy test. Next, all the students were given a difficult test that was two years above their grade level. As expected, it was difficult for all of them, and most were not able to complete the tasks. The students who had been praised for their effort on the first test assumed they simply hadn’t worked hard enough. Those praised for their intelligence took their failure as proof they were no longer smart or maybe never were. Their discomfort was visible. Then a final round of tests, as easy as the initial test, was given after the “failure round.” The children who were praised for their intelligence initially did worse than their very first attempt, and those praised for their effort showed improvement. This study suggests that we should recognise the process, not the product, and praise effort rather than grades and test scores.
WEEKLY AWARDS
KD KH KP 1T 1Y 2M 2Mc 2S 2T 3R 3WJ 4M 5G 5S 6C 6K
Lucia Ding, Johanna Hernandez Tobias Knight, Bridie Hughes, Gabriel Beebe, Arwen Bowman, Jack Cleary Jia Tang, Tahlie Oxman Saxon Gerovasilis, Subodh Parab Leonardo Attorre, Aahan Rakheja Fergus Dutch, Tom Armstrong Bhargav Jagarlamudi, Samuel Robinson Abha Mundada, Kasim Kermali, Wyatt Toland Geraint Dodd, John Perri Ishe Chibanda, Ainslie Goodman Alexander Attorre, Ella McIlwraith, Georgie Lancaster Guoqin Ding, Aya Naito, William Rice, Charlotte Palmisano Zoe Turner, Nathan Molnar Mia Cawley, Sophie McGuire Lauren O’Hanlon, Esther Bigirindavyi Deepika Parajuli, Ella Vartazarian
MERIT CERTIFICATE Service
Reid Gunther Thomas Devlin Thomas Saffoury Alexander Attorre
Academic
Mia Mitchell Charlotte Palmisano Reid Gunther Ella McIlwraith Benjamin Lu Johanna Hernandez Jack Cleary Ashley Parker Gabriel Beebe Bhargav Jagarlamudi John Perri Bridie Hughes Eleanor Middleton Ronghao Logan Chen Charlie Taylor Leonardo Attorre Jia Tang Anthea Zaki Damon Glynn
Lilian Bradley Ishe Chibanda William Rice Ella Smith
DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES: Thursday 19 November Saturday 28 November Monday 7 December Thursday 10 December
Year 6 Progression Dinner Infants Pageant 10.00am – 12.00pm to be held in the IGC Christmas Celebration Year 3 - Year 6 Presentation Evening
Junior School Sport Equestrian Interschool’s Challenge
Kyah Dema competed at the Camden Equestrian Interschool’s Challenge last term where she positioned 1st in four events and 3rd in one. Kyah performed tremendously well overall and was awarded the Year 5 Age Champion and Champion Rider. This is such an outstanding effort and wonderful achievement. Well done Kyah.
TIGS Foundation Have you been online recently to visit the new initiative of TIGS Foundation? The TIGS Community Business Directory is enabling TIGS families to promote their business/s by advertising their details on the TIGS Website. There is an annual fee of $300 per business each calendar year for advertising in the Directory. Upon approval, immediate applications for 2015 will receive a bonus of several weeks’ free advertising, expiring 31 December 2016. Applications for 2016 are currently being finalised. The Business Directory will provide an opportunity to strengthen and tighten the bonds between the School, parents and the businesses contained within the School Community. If you are interested and would like to be involved please phone, Lisa Wilson on 4220 0264 or Joanne Danckwardt 0426 264 771, or email: foundation@tigs.nsw.edu.au TIGS reserves the right to decline any advertisement or request changes before accepting any submissions.
Senior School Sport SPORTS PRESENTATION EVENING Last Wednesday we had our annual Sports Presentation Evening. As the Head of Sport it is always a pleasure to acknowledge and reward our students for their effort and achievements across the countless sports at TIGS. For many of our students, sport is their excellence, it’s their chance to shine and it provides many of our students their chance be the best that they can be. It doesn’t matter what sport, what skill level or what representative level; our students are always encouraged and supported to give it a go and to always give 110%. The night was a success, with almost 160 students recognised during the night across athletics, cross country, cricket, equestrian, football, futsal, hockey, swimming, snowsports, triathlon and many more sports. There were a number of major awards presented in the Senior School: •
Illawarra Mercury Team of the Year:
U14 Boys and U14 Girls Futsal Teams
•
Melinda Sharpe Team Spirit Award 2015:
Ethan Dorrian-Nancarrow
•
Keith McPherson Pratt Junior Sportsperson 2015:
Margaux Chauvet
•
Hurley Trophy Intermediate Sportsperson 2015:
James Seal
•
Sportswoman of the Year 2015 (Year 11 - Year 12):
Maudie Skyring
•
Sportsman of the Year 2015 (Year 11 - Year 12):
Jesse Price
•
NSWCIS Athletics Merit Team 2015:
Margaux Chauvet, Charlotte Gaynor, Maudie Skyring
•
NSWCIS Cross Country Team 2015:
Elizabeth Martin, James Seal, Maudie Skyring
•
NSWCIS Hockey Team 2015:
Chloe Johnston
•
NSWCIS Surfing Team 2015:
Finley McLaren
•
NSW All Schools Athletics Team 2015:
James Gorham, James Seal
•
NSW All School Cricket Team 2015:
Jonathan Fowles
•
NSW All Schools Cross Country Team 2015:
Maudie Skyring
•
NSW All Schools Equestrian 2015:
Lauren O’Neill
•
NSW All Schools Football Team 2015:
Lachlan Scott
•
NSW All Schools Snowsports Team 2015: Hunter Danckwardt-Bruce, Matthew Fargher, Rory Hanrahan, Ethan Jackson, Tahlia Jackson, Michael Lill, Charli Morelli, Aiden Wingate •
NSW CIS, All Schools and Pacific School Games Swimming Team 2015:
Ethan Dorrian-Nancarrow
I would like to congratulate all our athletes, coaches, teachers and parents across Year 7 - Year 12. 2016 is going to be an exciting year for Sport at TIGS and I cannot wait to see our sports programme evolve in the New Year.
SPORTING SUCCESS Micah Sullivan – Sailing
Micah recently competed in the State Sailing Championships. Despite terrible weather, Micah’s team got off to a great start, however the team capsized. Round two is in the coming weeks. The predicted winds are positive for sailing and we wish him and his team all the best as they embark on their next sailing challenge.
Co-Curricular Sports Choices for 2016
Online sports choices for our summer sports across Term I and IV will take place on Friday 20 November during Mentor. All students will be expected to sign up to a sport or an exemption. Students may select an exemption for the Summer Sports or for the full year. Students invited to participate in TAP (Talented Athletes Programme) will complete a separate sign up indicating their availabilities for the Tuesday and Thursday sessions next year. TAP students may also select a recreational sport through the normal sign up system. The summer sports for 2016 are:
DAY
SPORT
MONDAY AM 6.30am – 8.00am
SURFING City Beach Surf Club Wollongong
MONDAY AM 6.30am – 8.00am
STAND UP PADDLE BOARDING Belmore Basin
TUESDAY AM 6.30am – 8.00am
SURFING City Beach Surf Club Wollongong
TUESDAY AM 6.30am – 8.00am
STAND UP PADDLE BOARDING Belmore Basin
TUESDAY AM 7.00am – 8.00am
TAP - CROSS FIT JAC (By invitation only)
TUESDAY PM 3.30pm – 5.00pm
GIRLS FITNESS ReKreate Fitness
TUESDAY PM 3.30pm – 5.00pm
HANGDOG CLIMBING GYM
TUESDAY PM 3.30pm – 5.00pm
TENNIS and SQUASH Collegians
THURSDAY PM 3.30pm – 5.00pm
BEACH SPORTS Belmore Basin and City Beach
THURSDAY PM 3.30pm – 5.00pm
TAP - BEACH BOOTCAMP/AQUATHON (By invitation only at Belmore Basin)
THURSDAY PM 3.30pm – 5.00pm
STAND UP PADDLE BOARDING Belmore Basin
THURSDAY PM 3.30pm – 5.00pm
BOYS FITNESS City Beach
From top left: Margaux Chauvet - Keith McPherson Pratt Junior Sportsperson 2015, Under 14 Boys Futsal Team - Illawarra Mercury Team of the Year, Under 14 Girls Futsal Team - Illawarra Mercury Team of the Year, Jesse Price - Sportsman of the Year 2015 and Maudie Skyring - Sportswoman of the Year 2015
Class of 2015
Class of 2015
Extend@TIGS SUMMER HOLIDAY PROGRAM BOOKINGS ARE OPEN!
Booking deadlines:
Book for December by Friday 27 November Book for January by Monday 21 December We have heaps of fun activities planned these school holidays and can’t wait for you to attend! Participate in an epic egg drop challenge, make your own burlap pillow, and play lots of sport including cricket and basketball! Join in on all this and more at Extend’s Summer 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 creating crazy door hangers, our own puzzles, a tornado in a jar and playing mixed games, soccer and bowling. 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. Please do not forget to check the Newsletter for our weekly programme.
WEEK 7 ACTIVITIES:
Monday 16 November Activity: Dress ups and Drama Outdoor sport: Soccer Tuesday 17 November Activity: Lego Bridge Challenge Outdoor sport: Mixed Games including dodgeball Wednesday 18 November Craft: Aboriginal Shield Craft Outdoor Sport: Soccer Thursday 19 November Science: Heart Rate Science Outdoor Sport: Soccer Friday 20 October Craft: Recycled craft Outdoor Sport: Soccer ONLINE BOOKINGS: extend.com.au CALL OUR OFFICE: 1300 366 437 Please join us any time between 5.00pm and 8.00pm to catch up with Monica and wish her well in her retirement DATE Friday 20 November 2015 AT The Illawarra Grammar School In the Goodhew Research Centre (Library)
RSVP Essential - Friday 13 November 2015 Visit TIGS website
www.tigs.nsw.edu.au/events-and-bookings
Academic • Christian • Caring
An International Baccalaureate World School
UPCOMING
EVENTS
WEEK 7
Year 6 Progression Dinner 5.15pm Thursday 19 November in the IGC
WEEK 8
House Quizzes
1.40pm to 3.10pm Monday 23 November in the IGC
Year 10 Formal
6.30pm Friday 27 November at the Villa D’oro
Infants Pageant
10.00am – 12.00pm Saturday 28 November in the IGC
WEEK 10
A Christmas Celebration Monday 7 December 5.30pm Picnic 7.00pm A Christmas Celebration in the IGC
Year 3 – Year 6 Presentation Evening 6.00pm Thursday 10 December in the IGC
Senior School Presentation Day 10.30am Friday 11 December in the IGC