It was wonderful to see so many parents at the Junior School morning tea today. As our children get older and commence adolescence, our reliance on significant others to co-parent our children increases. I subscribe to the view that if our children know that the parents of their peers know each other, then it increases the likelihood that kindness and consideration is embraced across student peer groups. Somewhere between age 12 and 14 our sons stop asking us to take us to the theatre or sporting event, they just ask us for the tickets so they can go with their friends. It is by this time that we need to have established strong bonds with families across the community. Shared values are vital to ensure the careful co-parenting of our children, and knowing that other adults in our School community are going to reinforce the same messages is most comforting.
Last week a team of Year 7s represented Saints in the da Vinci Decathlon 2018 competition. The competition placed a particular emphasis on higher order thinking skills, problem solving and creativity. The boys worked incredibly well together as a team and were very proud to achieve first place in general knowledge, second in science and third in mathematics. Overall, we came fifth out of 23 schools; this is a tremendous achievement. Congratulations to Rayan Abou-Hamdan, William Barone, Archie Goodson, Angus Koeroessy, Darren Nguyen, Ed Nitschke, Henry Nitschke and Gunin Singhal. The Year 9 students also performed very well, coming second in mathematics and code breaking, and placing third in cartography. Overall the Year 9s placed third out of 19 schools. Congratulations to Riley Brunsgard, Tom Hosking, Chatula Kiriptige, James Loftus, Jack Maitland, Sachin Ravindran, Eric You and Eton Williams.
This week our Year 10 students commenced the Pushing the Boundaries outdoor education expeditions. This experience is a bridge through adolescence that seeks to draw out the inner strengths and personal capabilities that are masked by the walls of classrooms. I know that some boys have been apprehensive yet I am confident they will return pleased with the enormous achievements they will have made. I am sure this expedition will be and remain a highlight of their senior schooling.
A group of young students competed at the Cross Country Championships at Oakbank this week with some outstanding results:
- Zac Connell (Year 10): bronze medal
- Adam Goddard (Year 9): gold medal
- Jon Harris (Year 7): gold medal
- Harry Raff (Year 8): placed 8th with more 120 competitors
- Luke Robertson (year 10): placed 18th with more than 120 competitors
The students have all qualified for the national cross-country trials and I wish them the best of luck.
Finally, congratulations to Chathula Kiripitige (Year 9) who was a semi-finalist in the Rostrum Voice of Youth High School Public Speaking Competition. Chathula will compete in the finals at Parliament House in late June.
Tim Browning
Headmaster