Newsletter Academic Christian Caring
ISSUE 8
TERM IV 2016 Christmas Celebration
TI G S
The Illawarra Grammar School
Headmaster One of the many wonderful examples of student achievement that crossed my desk in the last few weeks was the following story: The Christmas Story By Harrison Stone (Year 1) It all began when Mary was busy working. Then Gabriel appeared and said “you will be the mother of God’s son, you must name him Jesus”. Later in a dream Gabriel told Joseph – it was kind of a vision. Months later Joseph and Mary had to get counted in Bethlehem. They had to stay in a stable because the inns were all full. In the stable the promised king Jesus was born. Everyone was excited. On the fields angels were scattered and told the shepherds Jesus has been born.
Stephen Kinsella Headmaster The end of another year is upon us and with it comes all the wonderful end of year activities that remind us of the achievements and hard work that have contributed to a successful year. In quick succession we have celebrated the Infants’ Pageant, the Christmas Celebration and the Year 3-6 Presentation Day. It all comes to a conclusion for the year on Tuesday with the Senior School Presentation Day Ceremony. What a lot of effort has gone into the year by students, staff and families. We can all feel proud of what has been achieved and look forward with confidence at what will be achieved in 2017. We are sad to say farewell to some long serving members of staff and we wish them well in the next phase of their lives: Ms Indarella Krishnan Mrs Renae Pinazza Mr Martin Sormus Mrs Margaret Biggs
When three wise men got there Jesus was given gold, frankincense and myrrh. Harrison’s teacher, Mrs McGoldrick, wrote “your writing is AMAZING, Harry”. What a wonderful way to finish the year. Great writing Harrison and an excellent summary of the Christmas story. From reading the Yearly Reports of every student, I can confidently say that there has been a lot of AMAZING achievements by our students this year, just like Harrison has achieved. Excellent academic progress, a deeper understanding of the Christian faith, and a genuine care for others - these are the core values of our School and it is wonderful to see how these values are shaping the lives of our students. Congratulations to all members of the TIGS community for a successful 2016 and thank you for the part you have played in making TIGS such a special place. Please accept my best wishes for the coming Christmas and holiday season. I look forward to celebrating what we will achieve together in 2017. Stephen Kinsella Headmaster
But the angel said to them, “Do not be afraid. I bring you good news that will cause great joy for all the people. Today in the town of David a Saviour has been born to you; he is the Messiah, the Lord.” (Luke 10: 10-11, NIV)
Chaplain’s Message CHRISTMAS CELEBRATION 2016 We have a number of events throughout the year that capture well the essence of us as a School. The Christmas Celebration is one of those events. On this evening we parade and applaud the wealth of talent that is The Illawarra Grammar School, all to the praise and glory of the Author of Life. I thought the best way to celebrate the Christmas Celebration was not in words but in pictures. I hope you enjoy the reflections of the night on the following pages as I am sure you enjoyed the night itself. May God grant you and your family every blessing this Christmas as you reflect on his great love for us in Jesus. Rev. James Rogers
Rev. James Rogers Chaplain
Important Information LAST DAY OF TERM IV 2016
THE PIPER CENTRE
On the last day of Term IV, Tuesday 13 December, Preparatory students will finish class at 12.00pm and Kindergarten to Year 12 students will finish at 12.30pm.
We are pleased to announce that The Piper Centre has received notification from the NSW Department of Social Services that they will become an Approved Carer from 2017. This allows parent/guardians to apply to receive the Child Care Rebate and Child Care Benefit if they are eligible. The core educational programme will remain at the same high standard, with the flexibility for families to take up the longer hours or increased weeks depending on their family requirements. We continue to seek to attract families that are committed to a TIGS education and the regular application and enrolment fees to join our school community will still apply.
Buses will be running as usual but at this new time.
CHRISTMAS CLOSURE During the Christmas School holidays the Office will be open from 9.00am until 3.00pm from Wednesday 14 December until Friday 16 December. The office will re-open for business on Monday 9 January 2017 from 9.00am until 3.00pm.
All existing families are encouraged to finalise their requirements for 2017 as soon as possible before this announcement is made to the broader community. Families will be required to complete an updated Piper Centre Enrolment form which has been emailed out this week and a Request to Change Booking form if they wish to vary their enrolment.
A Christmas Celebration
Junior School
Judi Nealy Deputy Headmaster, Head of Junior School
DATES FOR YOUR DIARIES Tuesday 13 December Students last day Kindergarten to Year 6 will be dismissed at 12.30pm The Piper Centre students will be dismissed at 12.00pm
It’s hard to believe that I am writing the very last newsletter for 2016, although the many end of year events that we are all attending over the last few days reinforce that this is indeed the case! Our students have had a wonderful year of learning and growing together and it has been great to see them all contribute with such confidence at these end of year events.
A few hints for activities for the holidays:
Christmas with the Aliens (the Infants’ Pageant) was a magnificent event. It was an absolute delight to watch our youngest learners on stage performing and telling the story of the birth of Jesus. Thank you to our staff for their hard work in putting together this performance (images included below). The Christmas Celebration again gave us some insight into the creative talent of our School Chaplain Rev. Rogers. This is a great opportunity for our School to proclaim our very real desire to share the gospel message with our own community and further afield and I love the opportunity for the whole community to come together from PrePrep right up to our Senior Students. The Year 3 to Year 6 Presentation Day provided an opportunity to celebrate academic excellence and effort. It is right that we come together as a school to acknowledge those who have excelled in this aspect of school life and this event was a fitting end to our academic year. The children are looking forward to their long summer holidays and we are seeing the ubiquitous candy canes being enjoyed on car line so we know that Christmas is near!
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Do some cooking and measure the ingredients
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Get digging in the garden
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Play grounds are fantastic for gross motor development and upper body strength
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Help mum and dad write the Christmas cards
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Make some home made wrapping paper
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Keep reading each day
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Build a cubby house out of old sheets and blankets or a cardboard box
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Do a puppet show for younger siblings or cousins
I look forward to welcoming all of our children back to school in 2017 and hearing about their Christmas break adventures. I wish you all a happy and safe break!
MERIT CERTIFICATES
Academic
Wyatt Toland Oscar Kiely Matilda Hughes William Dolan Jocelyn Ayers Lara Vujic
Co-curricular Club TAEKIDOKAI
Service
Alexander Vartazarian Wyatt Toland Lily Still Oscar Kiely Matilda Hughes William Dolan Please note these awards will be presented to the children in their classrooms by Mrs Nealy and Mrs McRae on Monday 12 December. If your child is absent on this day the awards will be posted to your home address.
Taekidokai is a unique Martial Art run by founder Sensei Rodney Day 7th Dan Black Belt with over 40 year experience. At Taekidokai Martial arts we teach our students respect, discipline and tolerance. Our club is made up of students from all different parts of the community, single mums, people with a disability, young children with Autism, cancer patients, men, women and children wanting to instill the values of Taekidokai. We pride ourselves on being community focussed as we are formed of and represent our community. On Tuesday afternoon we teach the children from The Illawarra Grammer School, the children enjoy their training, we focus on self discipline, respect, confidence and fitness among a lot of general life lessons. The children progress through Taekidokai by attending gradings which they get excited about as they get new tips on their belts or a new coloured belt. They then learn new techniques and katas. If you would like your child to join us on Tuesday afternoons, we are in the Rees Hall at 3.15pm. Training for Term I starts back on 7 February 2017. www.tkma. com.au or phone Jennifer on 0421566312.
Senior School Students are now in the final week of the school year, having completed their last assessments and looking forward to the Christmas and New Year break ahead. I have been impressed with the way that they have been conducting themselves in these final weeks, with so many involved in rehearsals for the Christmas Celebration and the Presentation Day on Tuesday 13 December.
Greg Lanyon Head of Senior School
The Annual Presentation Day event will commence at 10.30am in the IGC if parents, grandparents or friends of family are planning on attending this event. Reserved seating will be available near the front and it would be best to arrive about 15 minutes before the event starts. The Presentation Day is an opportunity for us as a school community to acknowledge outstanding achievements by students in academic, co-curricular and service activities. It is also a time to reflect on the school year, celebrate success and look to the future. The final week at school was also an opportunity to showcase the work of Honours students in Years 7 and 8. On Monday these students set up individual displays in the Library of personal interest projects that they have been working on all year. During the evening they had the opportunity to speak to parents, students and teachers about their passion and in some case the products they had developed. The range of interests was reflected in the diversity of the projects presented. One project was the development of the “Sharkmate” App that will be used to provide real-time information to surfers about the potential dangers, of particular locations, of a shark attack. Another student has developed a
Risini Gamage in Year 10
live blog about major global political issues such as the recent US election. One student has invented a directional blinker for pushbikes for which he had designed and made a working model. Others presented projects in robotics, cosmology, picture books, creative writing, graphic design, photography, sailing, model building, philosophy, dressage, coding, women’s cricket, statistics, magic and nutrition and sport. The breadth and quality of these projects was outstanding and a testament to the commitment and skills of all the students and their mentor, Mrs Dubowski. Risini Gamage in Year 10, has become the national “brain bee” champion in the final stage of the Australian Brain Bee Challenge held in Hobart last week. In order to achieve this, she had to compete against other state and territory winners from around Australia in four neuroscience challenges held over two days. The challenges included an anatomy challenge, a written short answer challenge, a patient diagnosis challenge and a live question and answer challenge. This was an outstanding achievement and we wish Risini all the best in the international final sometime next year. Finally, I would like to wish all the school community a safe and happy Christmas and New Year. Enjoy a well-earned break and I hope to see you all again next year as we embark on the next stage of our educational journey together.
Uniform Shop
Extend@ TIGS
The Uniform Shop is open from 8.30am to 4.00pm Tuesdays and Thursdays during term time. Avoid the queues! Make an appointment by contacting the Uniform Shop email tigs. uniforms@permapleat.com.au or phone 4220 0230.
Extend@TIGS has a lot of different and exciting upcoming events organised. Last week we had heaps of fun getting creative making wool eye craft, Christmas ornaments, pony bead lizard, marshmallow challenge and funky hair self-portrait. We also played games including Wembley, pacman and helicopter as well as a bottle flip comp and bug catching. 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.
EXTRA TRADING DAYS
Term IV • Monday 12 December
Back To School Trading Hours 2017 • Monday 23 January • Tuesday 24 January • Wednesday 25 January • Monday 30 January • Tuesday 31 January • Wednesday 1 February
Year 12 2016 The images from the Year 12 2016 Graduation and Formal are now available to view via the below links: • •
Graduation Formal
WEEK 10 ACTIVITIES
Monday 10 December Craft: Paper flowers Outdoor sport: soccer
Tuesday 11 December Craft: Rainbow folded paper garland Sport: crocodile crocodile Wednesday 12 December VACATION CARE Thursday 13 December VACATION CARE Friday 14 December VACATION CARE ONLINE BOOKINGS: extend.com.au CALL OUR OFFICE 1300 366 437
Senior School Sport CRICKET: DOUGLAS SHIELD
Each year TIGS enters a side in the prestigious Douglas Shield competition for open age cricketers. TIGS has a proud tradition in the competition and this year our first round opponent was Amity College at Dalton Park, Fairy Meadow. After winning the toss and batting it became clear that our little known opponents had come to play and after surviving a fiery opening spell TIGS battled to be 1/68 at drinks. The second stanza saw a blitz from our TIGS batsmen led by Samuel Okely (52 not out) and Samuel Shalala (68 not out). TIGS was able to post a competitive total of 199 off the allotted 40 overs. The small boundaries meant that 200 was certainly an achievable target and Amity College applied themselves to the task. After 39 overs our opponents needed with 8 runs to win with 2 wickets in hand. TIGS were unable to hold out the fast finishing Amity College. For TIGS Luca Gibbs bowled beautifully taking 4/34. He is a young cricketer who will be leading the way for TIGS cricket into the future. Our TIGS side whilst disappointed can hold their heads high as it seems Amity College will be difficult to beat this season. The team was: Anish Abey, Nikhil Balaji, Noah Butler, Joseph Daly, Elliot Hutt, Noah Koder, Samuel Okely, Austin Pallone, Joshua Shalala, Samuel Shalala.
NASSA CRICKET JUNIOR GALA DAY The NASSA Junior and Senior Cricket Competition was played under new conditions this year. The new gala day format saw teams playing 15-over innings in a more upbeat fast-paced day of cricket. TIGS played three games over the day. Game 1 – TIGS took on Broughton Anglican College and batted through without loss of a wicket to score 91. Logan Davis (49 not out) and Prathamesh Agalgaonkar (24 not
out) carried their bats in an impressive display. TIGS whilst impressive with the bat, dropped crucial catches in the field and gave away too many extras, which saw Broughton get home with an over to spare. Game 2 – TIGS took on Macarthur Anglican School. We bowled first doing well to keep the opponents to a total of 82. TIGS batted well in reply with Joseph Druett top scoring with 36 runs, but some crucial late run outs saw TIGS fall just 2 runs short. Game 3 – TIGS took on Georges River Grammar and totally outclassed their opponents with Joseph Druett starring with the bat again and Hunter Powell delivering a lively spell of fast bowling backed up by great catching. The team was: Prathamesh Agalgaonkar, Samuel Aubin, Logan Davis, Joseph Druett, Luca Gibbs, Rory Hanrahan, Brendan Hardie, Angus Leadbitter, Ethan McIlwraith, Maxwell Okely, Austin Pallone, Hunter Powell.
NASSA CRICKET SENIOR GALA DAY The NASSA Senior Cricket Competition was also revamped this year in the same format as the Junior Day. TIGS played four games during the day. Game 1 – TIGS took on Macarthur Anglican School. We batted well to see a total of 71 posted. Samuel Okely chalked up 50 runs, hitting the final ball for six! TIGS whilst impressive with the bat, gave away too many extras, 28 in all, which saw Macarthur get home easily. Game 2 – TIGS took on Broughton Anglican College. We batted first, but only managed 58 runs. This total was never going to be enough to win, despite a great effort from our bowlers. Game 3 – TIGS took on Thomas Hassall Anglican College and after holding their opponents to just 58 were able to cruise to victory with balls to spare, largely thanks to Benon Harris’ hardhitting 36 not out.
Game 4 – TIGS took on Penrith Anglican College and it seemed that the 4th game without a break started to take its toll on our boys. Penrith incredibly scored 110 runs off their 8 overs. TIGS fought valiantly but only managed 66 in reply. A fun day was had by all. The senior team is now finished for the year. I am encouraged by the efforts of all players. This group of students in particular has always shown loyalty to TIGS cricket. I look forward to one last season next year with them. The team was: Anish Abey, Nikhil Balaji, Noah Butler, Joseph Daly, Elliot Hutt, Noah Koder, Samuel Okely, Austin Pallone, Joshua Shalala, Samuel Shalala.
AUSTRALIAN ALL SCHOOLS ATHLETICS Congratulations to Elizabeth Martin, James Gorham and James Seal who competed at the recent Australian All Schools Athletics Championships in Canberra. Elizabeth Martin smashed three seconds off her PB and came 8th in the U/18 Steeplechase. James Gorham placed 8th in the U/16 Pole Vault. James Seal placed 13th in the U/16 3,000m.
2017 STAGE 5 SPORT Year 8 and Year 9 have just made their sport selections for 2017. The sports that will run in Term I and IV 2017 are: Surfing: Tuesday mornings 6.30am at City Beach Surf Club Stand Up Paddle Boarding (SUP): Tuesday mornings 6.30am at Belmore Basin Tennis: Thursday afternoon 3.30pm at TIGS
Girls Fitness: Thursday afternoon 3.30pm at ReKreate Surfing/SUP: Thursday afternoon 3.30pm at Belmore Basin/City Beach Your child’s sport selection will be emailed to you in Week 10. Students not attending sport need to complete a Sport Exemption form and return it to the Sports Office.
TIGS NETBALL CLUB All girls from TIGS in both the Junior and Senior School are invited to join TIGS Netball Club for 2017. Training will take place on Friday afternoons 3.30pm - 5.00pm during Term II and Term III and games are played on Saturdays between 8.00am and 3.00pm (depending on the age division) at Berkeley. Expressions of interest can be completed using the following link. Please contact Mrs Lane if you have any questions klane@tigs.nsw.edu.au
AUSTRALIA DAY AQUATHON Permission notes can be collected from the Senior School Sports Office for the Australia Day Aquathon at Belmore Basin on 26 January 2017. Permission notes must be returned by Tuesday 13 December 2016.
TALENTED ATHLETES PROGRAMME (TAP) Expression of Interest are now open for TAP in 2017 in the Senior School. Please complete the expression of interest form here or contact klane@tigs.nsw.edu.au
Student Success TIGS congratulates Alexandra Wall (Year 6), who has had a wonderful year of music making with the Regional Youth Orchestra NSW (RYO). Alex auditioned for the orchestra on cello and secured a coveted position in three projects on offer for successful candidates. She went to Sydney to work with members of the Australian Opera and Ballet Orchestra (AOBO). The RYO rehearsed for three days in the Opera Centre and the project culminated with a performance for family and friends of two pieces from Bizet’s ‘Carmen’. In September, Alex was again off to Sydney for three days, this time working with members of the Australian World Orchestra (AWO) under the baton of Alex Briger. Working with such high calibre musicians was an incredible opportunity. The final project for the year was held in Dubbo where the RYO rehearsed intensively for four days and gave the closing concert for the 2016 Artlands Festival. Congratulations Alex on your musical success!
UPCOMING
EVENTS
WEEK 10
Senior School Presentation Day 10.30am - 12.30pm Tuesday 13 December in the IGC
Last Day of Term IV Tuesday 13 December
SCHOOL HOLIDAYS
Piper Centre Reopens
Monday 16 January - All year round bookings
WEEK 1 2017
First Day of Term I
Wednesday 1 February - Preparatory and Year 1 to Year 12
Year 7 BBQ and Camp Information Evening Wednesday 1 February
First Day of Term I
Thursday 2 February - Kindergarten
New Parents’ Evening Friday 3 February
TI G S
The Illawarra Grammar School
We wish you and your family a Joyous and Peaceful Christmas