High Notes, Vol 17 No 34, November 04 2016
High Talent
Congratulations to Dibyendu Roy (11E) who has been selected
for the 2017 Physics Olympiad Summer School – a fine achievement. It was a great effort by
Adam Steele (10T) whose syndicate placed 1st in NSW in the ASX Share Game. He won a trophy and a
cheque for $400. In the Alliance Francaise Schools challenge, listening and speaking, Christopher
Ta (9R) was awarded first place! Oscar Dumas (10E) was first among Francophone entrants in the
writing challenge. Great job boys!
Student Awards Scheme
The Student Award Scheme for points to be earned for
this calendar year will close on Friday 25 November. All students will have their points
calculated as of this date. Year 11 Prefect Interns will have their final points calculated and
must have qualified to continue as Interns by earning an award this year. Even if they have carry
over points, they must earn 100 this year to stay as a Prefect. The 2017 Scheme commences on 1
December 2016. Boys who are close to getting an award should fire up now in parking, school
working bees or volunteering to reach the threshold required. Check out your points tally on the
student portal.
Scholarships Offered at High
SBHS offers only two scholarships/bursaries
– the Phillip Day Memorial Scholarship and the Sir Roden and Lady Cutler Foundation
Scholarship. All enrolled or enrolling students are eligible to apply for the Phillip
Day Memorial Scholarship. It is a one-year credit on the school account
for $1,500. The ‘Selection Criteria’ covers talented boys in an academic area or a
co-curricular endeavour. Good all-rounders qualify as do students with special needs –
financial or otherwise. There are many boys in the school who would make good candidates for this
award. I urge them to take the trouble to download and complete the application form.
Applications close on Wednesday 30 November.
The Sir Roden and Lady Cutler Foundation Inc Scholarship is a
two-year award with a credit at the school account for $1,500 for each Year 11
and 12. Only boys enrolled or enrolling in Year 11 are eligible to apply. The criteria for this
scholarship are different. It has an emphasis on a prior record of service to others, to the
school and / or the community. Boys with initiative, compassion and leadership skills are invited
to apply. Look for the details on the website: www.sydneyboyshigh.com/scholarships. Do not
assume that you are not worthy or eligible. Applications close on Wednesday 30
November.
Weights Room for 2017
High’s weights room offers exceptional value
for money. The room has appropriate equipment for preparing the bodies of teenage boys and
crucially, it is constantly supervised. When handling weights, technique is vitally important and
boys need to learn the correct way to lift to avoid injury and to maximise their benefit from the
routine. Kurt Rich, our Head Strength and Conditioning Coach, is a well-credentialed and
experienced trainer. His presence ensures that the boys are training safely and sensibly. So, as
well as getting gym facilities, clients have a supervisor and adviser to help them during their
unlimited visits. The Weights Room operates much more effectively if all boys
get their training in how to use the various pieces of equipment and in proper lifting technique,
as soon as possible. Kurt Rich provides this service at the beginning of each year and can tailor
individual programs for members after the introductory sessions. Having a fixed clientele makes
his job more productive and leads to a better training experience for members and better strength
outcomes for participants. Hence, we decided to close off memberships by the end of February each
year. Boys who have not paid by that time can no longer attend the weights room.
Costs for this service are held down to a minimum and reduced by boys taking out a full
year’s membership. For 2017, a full year Weights Room membership costs
just $240. Boys wishing to have full year membership must register and pay by
Tuesday 28 February 2017. There will be no extensions of time nor another window
of opportunity later in the year if you forget to pay on time.
The Co-Curricular Supervision Levy
For us to run a six-day school with
after-hours activities for 15 sports, debating, music and chess, we need to provide a
teacher/ MIC / manager for organisation of the activity and supervision of staff to meet
our duty of care obligations. Some parents are asking: ‘Why should I pay this co-curricular
levy when I’m paying quite a lot in co-payments for a sport or activity for a season? The
money from the levy is used to pay for the time that supervising teachers/MICs have to spend:
hiring and managing coaches, organising teams, fixtures and venues, buying and managing
equipment, supervising coaches during training sessions, coordinating results recording /
publishing, following up on attendance, awarding participation points in a text file, getting
reports from captains, as well as travelling and being there for competition fixtures on Friday
nights or Saturdays. All these duties take time for which personnel must have some compensation,
by way of time, money or a combination of both.
In addition, the levy is used to pay for physiotherapy services at venues and
for the extra allowance given to the Head Teacher Sport to manage the overall sports program. The
levy should meet the cost of running athletics and swimming programs which are provided
free of charge to all students. The levy does not cover the
running costs of sports – coaches’ fees, venue hire, equipment, consumables. All
these have to be funded through co-payments.
To clarify why the levy is necessary and should be supported by all parents, I want to share with
you the direct costs to the school of management, supervision and duty of care. Staff members are
remunerated by way of allowances (time free from face-to-face), or the period equivalent in money
or a combination of the two. Non-teachers are paid the equivalent of the period allowance that
would be offered to teachers. The cost to the school for these services in 2017 will be >
$400,000. At its present level of support, the co-curricular supervision levy is
contributing < 33% of these supervision and management costs borne by the
school and none of the coaching costs. The shortfall must be made up from
general contributions. Please support the school and your sons in their sports by contributing to
this levy each year.
Dr K A Jaggar
Principal
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