Issue 4TERM II 2014

TI G S�e Illawarra Grammar School

NewsletterAcademic Christian Caring

Cyberbullying was an unfamiliar term to most people until the growth of social media in the early 2000s. Parents and schools have had to quickly learn how to respond to the age old problem of bullying behaviour that is now expressed within the framework of the latest technology.

Cyberbullying has been defined as an electronic form of communication, most commonly digital/social media, to hurt, threaten, embarrass, annoy, blackmail or otherwise target another person.

Social media enables unwelcomed behaviour from a bully to be directed toward the victim at any time and in any place. The bullying behaviour can be made very public through social media amongst those in the social network. At the same time parents and the School can be excluded from the network and therefore be unaware that the bullying is occurring.

Most parents believe they have a good idea about their children’s involvement in social media but this is not something that is supported by research.

• Most parents believe that their children sleep at night, yet Facebook is most heavily utilised at 12:30pm! This may explain the lethargy of some of our children in the morning

• One researcher has found that 93% of parents feel they have a good idea of what their teenagers are doing on the internet yet 41% of teenagers say their parents have no idea what they are doing on-line

A victim of cyberbullying is often shocked and troubled by the bullying and is not sure how to respond. It is also not uncommon for them to feel somehow responsible for the bullying behaviour and uncertain as to what action to take. Such hesitancy is interpreted as weakness by the bully and the situation can quickly escalate.

It is the role of the responsible adults in the lives of our children to be vigilant in looking for the warning signs of cyberbullying. The following list of behaviours, indicative of a child being subjected to cyberbullying, may be helpful:

1. Hesitant to be online or unexpectedly stops or avoids using the computer

2. Nervous when an Instant Message, Text or Email appears (watch your child’s response)

3. Visibly upset, angry, or depressed after using the computer or cell phone

4. Hides or clears the computer screen or cell when you enter or doesn’t want to talk about online activity

5. Starts using the computer when you’re not in the room (a change in pattern)

6. Keeps going back and forth to check screen in shorter spurts

7. Withdraws from friends, wants to avoid school or peer activities or uneasy about going outside in general, pulls away from family members

8. A sudden sullen, evasive, withdrawn,

marked change in personality or behaviour

9. Trouble sleeping, loss of appetite, excessively moody or crying, seems depressed

10. Suspicious phone calls, e-mails and packages arrive at your home

11. Possible drop in academic performance or a falling behind in schoolwork Source:http://micheleborba.com/11-possible-signs-of-cyberbullying/

Parents that believe that their child is being subjected to cyberbullying should contact the School immediately. The contact person in the Junior School is currently Mrs Stanis and in the Senior School parents should contact the child’s Dean.

Stephen KinsellaHeadmaster

SPECIAL NOTICE

Barbara Arrowsmith-Young will be featured on the 60 Minutes program

this coming Sunday 1 June where she will discuss the Arrowsmith Program.

It is a must see for any interested parents. You can watch a preview of

the interview by clicking here

Headmaster

It is one of the greatest mysteries in recent times: an airliner carrying 239 passengers and crew disappears on route from Kuala Lumpur to Beijing. It has been 11 weeks now without a trace. Not a splinter from the aircraft has been found. Nothing. It seems inconceivable.

Harder still is trying to fathom the grief of those whose loved ones have vanished. The loss of loved ones is hard enough under normal circumstances. How anyone can cope with such a loss in these extraordinary circumstances I will never know. But I suppose no one is coping. And that is completely understandable.

I was pleased to learn this week that the Australian Government has committed up to $97 million over two years towards the search effort. Partly, that is out of responsibility for the six Australians who have been lost on the flight. But there is also an element of compassion in our response. We serve 13 other countries who have lost their own in this great tragedy.

The search effort has been extensive. One phase - Ocean Shield, an Australian ship that has been deploying a US Navy mini-sub to scour the ocean depths – will end this week. The next phase will involve using sophisticated equipment to scan the unmapped ocean bed.

The search is testimony to the value of human beings. We are more than flotsam and jetsam. We matter. The Bible gives a reason for this. Human beings are God’s image-bearers. This can be said of nothing else in all of creation. We were made to be like God for relationship with him. One of the primary expressions of our likeness to God is our mastery over the universe. For sure, this is limited and conditional – a faint glimmer of God’s own mastery - but it is real nonetheless and far more advanced than anything else in creation. Human beings are unique. The Bible tells us why.

And so we search for those who are lost to us. And even this speaks of how we image God. In Luke 15 Jesus tells two “search” stories – the search for a lost sheep and a lost coin. He connects our proclivity to search for things lost to us with God’s determination to search for that which has been lost to him. When we were lost to God in our trespasses and sins he came in search of us in the person of his Son Jesus. As we rejoice when we find what has been lost to us so God rejoices when he finds what has been lost to him. Jesus’ point is that we matter to God, more than we could ever imagine.

So in the end the ultimate rationale for our search for the missing passengers of MH370 – the rightness of it - is founded in God’s activity toward us in Jesus. We search for them because he searched for us. Human beings are much more than flotsam and jetsam. Let’s hope that in due time we might find some answers to the great mystery of Flight MH370 so the families of those lost might find some consolation in their grief.

Rev James RogersChaplain

Chaplain’s MessageSEARCHING FOR MH370

Bookings are now open on the TIGS website for two important events:

The Secret Garden - the Senior School Musical Production for 2014.

It follows recent TIGS performances of block-buster musicals, including Les Miserables Jesus Christ Super Star, West-side Story, The Boy Friend and Cats. It is the perfect way to be introduced to the wonderful talent of our students and the brilliance of staff in The Arts Faculty.

The season runs from Wednesday 18 June through to Saturday 21 June. Book here

Barbara Arrowsmith-Young - Friday 27 June from 7.00pm to 8.30pm

Barbara Arrowsmith-Young has a great personal story to tell. The Arrowsmith Program that bears her name gives hope to parents of children with learning difficulties. Using neuroscience based research she has developed targeted exercises for the brain that can correct the cognitive deficits that underpin some learning difficulties.

TIGS is pleased to feature Barbara Arrowsmith-Young at this special event which is also open to the general public. Book here

You’ve probably read or heard about all the information on OLLE our On-Line Learning Environment before, in various publications or at information meetings here at school. OLLE is currently a work in progress where staff and students are beginning to develop the best and most appropriate ways to build learning relationships within each of the academic disciplines. We’re exploring and trialing what suits students and staff best, what achieves the best outcomes for students and uses the technology as a tool for authentic learning. The ultimate aim is to provide teachers and students with a secure place to connect and collaborate, share content and educational applications, and access homework, grades, class discussions and notifications. Our goal is to harness the power of social media to customise the classroom for each and every learner.

OLLE will also bring together a number of programmes that are used at TIGS to manage various aspects of school life. For example: when OLLE is fully operational, it will enable students and parents to have access to the most recent information, including: assessment tasks, schedules and marks. At the moment we are negotiating the best way for OLLE to communicate with our Academic Management system where some of the data is stored and managed as well as communicate with other operating systems that we use. It is no easy feat and not something that is achieved overnight.

Our situation and context as a school is unique; there is not an off-the-shelf software system that can provide everything which we require. Therefore we are pacing the process. Parents do not have access to very much information yet and some students are using it extensively while others have limited exposure. We are in the early stages but there are some classes where the system

has proved to be ideally and more readily suited to the subject area and its learning outcomes. In these cases OLLE is working well. I will bring some of these to your attention in the weeks that follow.

As you become familiar with OLLE you will notice that on occasions there are inconsistencies. This is due to the inherent difficulties in synchronising the different technologies as we work towards a cohesive and comprehensive learning management system. It looks as though we will be able to open up access for parents to marks in the next few weeks and after that will come access to learning spaces. For the rest of this year we would appreciate constructive feedback emailed to Melina Sangster msangster@tigs.nsw.edu.au so that we can respond directly to the needs of our school community.

It’s an exciting time of change and development and in that regard we view OLLE as a vital way we can build relationships and be partners in each student’s education.

Senior School AUTHENTIC LEARNING THROUGH ACTION

YEAR 12 CHARITY TRIVIA NIGHTTrivia Night Recap Year 12 has been raising funds for Brisbane based charity Street Swags. The Trivia night held on the 23 May proved to be a fruitful evening, raising over $3500. The evening was a great success and team “The Smarties” (Class of 1970) were the quiz champions. Best dressed went to “The Spartans” (Class of 2012). Teams were tested in eight different categories along with many games such as the much loved ‘whisky toss’ and ‘heads & tails’. We would like to thank everyone who attended the evening and made it the great night it was.

Year 12 School Captains

Monica WattHead of Senior SchoolDeputy Headmaster

2014 SCHOOL PRODUCTION

18 JUNE - 21 JUNE 2014TICKETS$15 Concession $25 Adult

Tickets available for purchase online visit TIGSwww.tigs.nsw.edu.au

Music by Lucy SimonBook & Lyrics by Marsha NormanBased on the novel by Frances Hodgson Burnett

BY ARRANGEMENT WITH ORiGiN™ THEATRICAL ON BEHALF OF SAMUEL FRENCH INC.

TIGS 2014 SCHOOL PRODUCTION Tickets now on sale! Visit TIGS website

Junior SchoolREMINDERSThere are two pick-up times for the Piper Centre. The early pick-up concludes at 2.40pm. The late pick-up begins at 3.40pm.

Please do not arrive before 3.35pm to pick up your child from the Piper Centre for late pick-up. You will find it difficult to park and will only add to the congestion of cars picking up Kinder to Year 6 students.

Thank you for helping to keep your children safe.

Recently the Junior School teachers have been learning about writing and how to teach it more effectively to our students from Kinder to Year 6. Our aim was to find a comprehensive, reliable, teacher and student friendly assessment based writing programme with the idea being to find a common language to talk about and assess writing.

Writing assessment shouldn’t be about a rank or a number but about the teacher and student sitting down together and observing the qualities of a piece of writing and the teacher using this to guide on-going learning. Writing can be seen to encompass the following six traits:

1. Ideas - the heart of the message

2. Organisation - internal structure, the thread of meaning, the logical pattern

3. Voice - the soul of the piece, the style, feelings and convictions

4. Work choice - rich, colourful, precise language that moves and enlightens the reader

5. Sentence fluency - the flow of the words, the sound of work patterns

6. Conventions - the writings correctness, grammar and mechanics

Plus one presentation - the form and layout, pleasing to the eye!

The 6 + 1 Traits of Writing model is a form of analytic assessment, a method of looking at the main characteristics of writing and assessing them independently from one another. The traits, developed by Ruth Culham, allow both the reader and writer to note strengths and challenges in their work as they move through the writing process. By clearly defining the qualities of good writing and helping teachers use that knowledge in the classroom the model ensures that students receive useful feedback to improve their writing as it develops.

We look forward to developing this method in our Junior School classrooms.

AWARDSWeekly AwardsKD Annaliese Brunskill, Lachlan TaylorKM Alexander Mumford, Alexandra Da DeppoKP Andrew Neal, Vanshika Daruvuri1M Jahzara McCann, Kasim Kermali1T Sadurshi Prabaharan, Archer Ryan2C Teerth Khanna, Spencer Clark2H Alexander Vartazarian, Joel Turner, Bhargav Jagarlamudi2M Georgie Lancaster, Daniel Peden3B Jamilla Perri3R Jade Walker, Harry Jenner4R Clara Swainson, Isaac Saffoury4Y Zoe Turner, Faisal Syed5A Krishnendu Gupta, Keya Murty6G Kano Hiramatsu, Winnie Cheng

Merit CertificatesAcademicAnika RindaniAlexandra Da DeppoSamuel Lowe

Personal Presentation Rory HanrahanBen GiasonLloyd Oliver

Dates for your diary:Friday 6 June Pupil Free DayWednesday 18 June- Saturday 21 June Production Performances – IGC

Narelle McRaeActing Head of Junior School

Merit CertificatesAcademicAnika RindaniAlexandra Da DeppoSamuel Lowe

Personal Presentation Rory HanrahanBen GiasonLloyd Oliver

NEWSFLASH!!!6 June: Pupil Free Day bookings

Please note there will be a Pupil Free Day on Friday 6 June. Extend will offer a full day service on this day, subject to minimum bookings of 12. If you would like to book in for this full day service which runs from 8.00am – 6.00pm, please call the Extend Office. As we require minimum bookings for the service to run, there are strictly no refunds or cancellations on Pupil Free Day bookings.

Bookings close Friday 30 May and parents who book in will be notified on this day by COB. Fees are $53 per child – pay between $9.55 - $26.50 after child care entitlements, including the non-income tested 50% Child Care Rebate.

ONLINE BOOKINGS: extend.com.auCALL OUR OFFICE: 1300 366 437

Extend at TIGSMonday 30 June to Friday 18 July 2014Winter School Holiday Programme bookings NOW OPEN at your School!NEW – Don’t pay Full Fees!

We have heaps of jam-packed activities and incursions ranging from Arts & Crafts, Cooking, plenty of games and sports and lots of Winter activities! We are also now offering Excursions! Visit the Extend website at extend.com.au for your programme timetables, booking forms, and activity descriptions.

Bookings close Friday 13 June – book now to avoid disappointment.

The Woman Who Changed Her BrainAs the creator of one of the first practical treatment applications in using the principles of neuroplasticity, Barbara Arrowsmith-Young is recognised as a pioneer. Her experiences not only led to the groundbreaking Arrowsmith Program, but the genesis of her international bestseller, The Woman Who Changed Her Brain.

Arrowsmith-Young holds a B.A.Sc in Child Studies from the University of Guelph and a Master’s degree in School Psychology from the University of Toronto.

In her presentation entitled “The Arrowsmith Program: Addressing Learning Difficulties—A Cognitive Approach,” Barbara Arrowsmith-Young will talk about her journey of discovery, the lines of research she combined, and the outcomes achieved over her 35 years as an educator and researcher.

She will describe a number of learning difficulties, from those that impact the learner in school to those that affect us in life. The focus will be on learning difficulties that impact academic performance such as reading and writing, and some of the outcome studies demonstrating cognitive and academic performance change in these areas as a result of students engaging in the Arrowsmith Program’s cognitive exercises. There will be a book signing after the event and the opportunity to register your interest in the establishment of the Arrowsmith Program at TIGS.

Friday 27 June 7.00pm to 8.30pm

FREE Presentation The Arrowsmith Program

Venue: TIGS The Illawarra Grammar Centre (IGC)

For more information or to book your ticket please visit www.tigs.nsw.edu.au

An International Baccalaureate (IB) World School

Hosting

BARBARA ARROWSMITH

YOUNG

STUDENT SUCCESS: Gymnastics: At the National Gymnastics Championships in Melbourne Rhoan Edwards (Year 12) achieved 1st Place in the teams event representing NSW and on individual apparatus came 2nd in the Parallel Bars. Rhoan has managed to balance his school commitments with a rigorous daily training regime to achieve these outstanding National results. We look forward to following his success in the future.

Hockey: Congratulations to Teagan Johnston (Year 11) and Brittony Smallhorn (Year 9) on their selection in the CIS Open Girls Hockey Team. Great effort!

Football: Congratulations to Kaitlyn Matias (Year 11) on being selected in the AICES Open Girls Football Team and Zoe Correa (Year 10) as a goal keeper shadow player.

BILL TURNER TROPHY – U/15 GIRLS FOOTBALLThis term the U/15 Girls Football team have been competing in the Bill Turner Trophy Football competition. After having great success last year, making it to the Regional Final, there were high hopes for the team this year. Our first game was against Corrimal High School at Figtree Junior Soccer Club. TIGS controlled this game from start to finish, creating many scoring opportunities and not allowing any for Corrimal. TIGS came away with a 4-0 win after that game and went into the next round against Holy Spirit College with great confidence.

Playing at Holy Spirit, was a daunting task, but the girls were up to the challenge. Holy Spirit was a very formidable side and they dominated much of the play. TIGS created a couple of goal scoring opportunities, but was no match for the speed and precision of the Holy Spirit Team. TIGS lost the game 4-0.

It was a great effort by all the girls and they were all wonderful ambassadors for the School. The team was: Sophie Correa, Emelia Bujaroska, Milli Haber, Zoe Correa, Isabel Bodey, Ruby Pallone, Claire Nguyen, Rebekah Hutton, Ashley Dribbus, Lily Sands, Jesse Pupovac, Emma Franco, Zara Winter, Elizabeth Martin, Mia Whitehall, Annaliese Phipps.

AICES AND CIS FOOTBALLOn Monday 19 May, the AICES Football Championships were held at Valentine Park, Glenwood. TIGS was well represented in both the girls and boys NASSA teams who competed on the day. After a very long day of competition, the boys NASSA team were knocked out in the semi-final, while the girl’s team were successful, winning the grand final with a dramatic goal in the last ten seconds of extra time to take the victory 2-1.

Kaitlyn Matias was successful in being selected to represent the AICES Girls team at the CIS Football Championships held at Meadowbank Park, West Ryde on Tuesday 27 May. The AICES team was named the champion team, remaining undefeated in all their games (even winning one game 10-0).

The students who represented NASSA were:Girls: Elizabeth Dominis, Kaitlyn Matias, Rebekah Hutton, Ashley Dribbus, Zoe Correa

Boys: Kyle Dell, Lachlan Scott

Sport SENIOR SCHOOL SPORT

TIGS Prayer Breakfast

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

Wednesday 4 June 20147.30am - 8.20am

TIGS Goodhew Research Centre (School Library)

Breakfast and supervision is available for children

RSVP: Friday 30 May 2014To RSVP please visit www.tigs.nsw.edu.au/events-a-bookings

WEEK 6P-12 Piano Concert

6.30pm Wednesday 4 June in Recital Room

TIGS Prayer Breakfast7.30am Wednsday 4 June in the Goodhew Research Centre

Pupil Free DayFriday 6 June

WEEK 7Queens Birthday Holiday

Monday 9 June

Guitar Concert6.30pm Thursday 12 June in Recital Room

WEEK 8School Production ‘The Secret Garden’

18 - 21 June 2014 in the IGC

WEEK 9Barbara Arrowsmith-Young

7.00pm Friday 27 June 2014 in the IGC

UPCOMING EVENTS

Date Change Please note the following amendments have been made to the School calendar.

• The Piano Concert which was originally scheduled on 11 June will now be held on 4 June