From the Principal

Sandra and I enjoyed another wonderful Senior Music Festival last Friday evening at The Concourse, Chatswood. The program was extremely diverse and the standard of the individual performances was consistently high. It was a truly elevating ending to the week.

The first three pieces were very skillfully programmed, starting with J S Bach’s well-known Jesu, Joy of Man’s Desiring. This was followed by a pulsating performance of Japanese drumming. The third piece was terrifically exciting and moving: Baba Yetu, a Swahili translation of The Lord’s Prayer, composed by Christopher Tin, was sung by the Combined Choirs with selected soloists and accompanied by the double strings quartet and percussion ensembles of the first two items. The Intermediate Jazz ensemble carried the audience into the intermission with a fun-filled performance which included an opportunity for all the musicians to step forward in pairs to play short improvisations, as though they were performing a Latin American dance. The overall program included opportunities for Year 12 Music students to perform pieces which they will play as part of their coming examination performances. The second half of the program was unified by wonderful arrangements of The Beatles music, which took me back to my student days as a fan of their music. Sgt. Pepper’s Lonely Hearts’ Club Band provided a fantastic finale, with the Year 12 students singing, dancing and playing instruments on the stage and supported by the rest of the Music students singing in the gallery.

We must congratulate Coordinator of Music, Mr Darren Kuilenburg, his Music teachers, tutors and accompanists, and all the support staff and friends who contributed to this year’s Senior Music Festival.

The final week of term has included another visit from Mr Mark Church who continues to work with our academic staff as they continue to learn more about the Harvard-based Cultures of Thinking and Learning model. This time it was a number of Junior Campus teachers who had an opportunity to undertake learning walks into the classrooms of their Senior Campus colleagues and to observe and then discuss what they have witnessed of the model in practice in the Secondary School. Mark continued his work with a group of middle academic leaders after lunch in reporting on progress in the Action Research activities, which are being carried out across this year. Finally, Mark met with all the Junior Campus teachers to explore and understand that the goal is not to simply use Thinking Routines in teaching but to use what they learn from making students’ thinking visible to help them plan for what thinking by their students do they wish to make routine.

The Secondary School annual House Athletics Carnival was held on Wednesday in sunshine that smiled on the event amid the dark clouds which book-ended that day. The day was a well-balanced mix of high level competition and strong participation and House spirit. Congratulations to Dumolo upon their win on the day and thank you to staff and students who helped manage the day.

Tomorrow evening the Year 12 Formal will be a great finale for the term, before they lead into preparations for their Trial Examinations early in Term 3. I do wish them all the best for these important examinations and also urge them to make sure that they plan their break to allow themselves time to relax as well, especially by maintaining physical wellbeing through exercise and a healthy diet and not spending too much time chained to their devices. This last advice I also offer to all students during the mid-year break. It is a great time to recharge batteries following a busy first semester.

Dr Peter Lennox

Photo caption: Secondary School students delighting the audience with their musical performances at the Senior Music Festival.