Volume 22 Semester 1 2015

International Grammar School Magazine

Incorporating Community Relations and Alumni News, pages 29-33

Also Inside…

Into the World Reg St Leon Building Shakespeare Boot Camp Maths splash STEAM ahead ANZACs remembered New Bay St building Community joins the conversation ArtsFest magic Stage Lights Indigenous journey

Reg St Leon honoured, p.3

From the Principal ����������������������������������������������� 1Lights! Camera! Action! �������������������������������������� 2Reg St Leon honoured in building naming �������� 3Shakespeare Boot Camp ����������������������������������� 4Maths splash ������������������������������������������������������� 6ANZAC Connections ������������������������������������������ 8Co-curricular notes ������������������������������������������� 10Staff profiles: David Hamper and Paul Bourke ����������������������� 10STEAMing Ahead ��������������������������������������������� 12Little snapshots ������������������������������������������������� 14Onward and upward in Bay Street ������������������� 15Student Leaders’ staircase ������������������������������� 16Community forums engaging our parents ������� 18Music notes and good sports �������������������������� 19ArtsFest magic �������������������������������������������������� 20Stage lights ������������������������������������������������������� 22Indigenous journey continues �������������������������� 24Good causes ���������������������������������������������������� 27Exchange news������������������������������������������������� 26Nature on the wall art splash ���������������������������� 28Community Relations and Alumni News ���������� 29

Cover: Our youngest Primary School students Chenelle and Ethan present founding Principal Professor Reg St Leon with flowers at the naming of the Kelly Street Building in his honour, 3 February 2015.

Back Cover: Year 7 and their coaches get ready for Shakespeare Boot Camp in March.

4–8 Kelly Street, Ultimo NSW 2007Phone: 61 2 9219 6700Fax: 61 2 9211 2474www.igssyd.nsw.edu.au ABN 74 002 807 525CRICOS Provider Code: 02281C

Jigsaw is a regular publication produced by International Grammar School.Editor: Rosemary Pryor

Contents

Semester highlights

Building named, see page 3

Shakespeare Boot Camp, see page 4

Community forums, see page 18

Science meets the Arts, see page 12

Marking the ANZAC centenary, see page 8

Professor Bashir visits Koori Club, see page 25

facebook.com/igssyd

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The role of Principal is an enormous privilege. It embodies the unique responsibility of conserving the School’s past, nurturing the present and building the future.

Each morning when I pass the portraits of our previous Principals I am reminded of Paul Galea’s observation that IGS has been very lucky. “We’ve had leaders with the right skills, at the right time, who each managed, in their own way, to keep that vibe going.” I am indebted to my predecessors. Each fostered the strong learning culture that I see today.

Keeping the IGS vibe going is one of the best parts of my job. We have a passionate community. Our DNA is creative, collaborative and ‘roll your sleeves up’ optimistic.

IGS is a great place to teach and to learn and we have much to treasure about who we are and what we have achieved.

In my first year I have listened deeply and engaged in lively conversations about our school. It has been compelling to notice the coalescence across our community about what we value most: a school that nurtures the individual, an innovative cosmopolitan school with a love of diversity and academic pursuit, a vibrant learning community with languages and music at its centre.

We are now drafting a renewed strategic plan and our first master plan to take our school into a strong and exciting future. It is called Into the World. We have three strategic aspirations upon which the plan is being built. They are limitless learning, empowered students and a sustainable future and these are provoking rigorous professional conversations as my colleagues and I envision IGS in 2020 and beyond. We have articulated our purpose, which is to equip our students to be world ready. This mission urges us to explore what the world will be like when our students leave school. We must equip them with a 21st century toolkit that allows them to navigate the world with courage, agility, confidence and capacity.

The development of our first master plan is emerging from a creative design project and a new partnership with the School of Architecture at UTS� Masters students under the tutelage of Professors Deborah Ascher-Barnstone and Anthony Burke are analysing our use of space across the campus� They are working with IGS students and senior staff to co-design new learning spaces for our students as we reimagine and redevelop IGS for the future� Our recent purchase of 77–79 Bay Street*, Glebe is an exciting development that is opening up the possibilities of an IGS learning village here in the cultural and educational precinct that is Ultimo�

As I move towards the end of my first year as Principal, I do so with a great sense of purpose and anticipation� I look forward to continuing to harness the combined efforts of our amazing community to ensure that IGS continues to be a unique school, leading the way in providing its students with an outstanding educational journey, a sense of belonging to something that is special and bigger than themselves and the capacity to go out into the world and make it a better place�

Shauna ColnanPrincipal

Into the World

From the Principal

1

Ms Shauna Colnan, Principal of International Grammar School, attended Harvard’s Think Tank in May

Head Boy Charlie Morgan and Head Girl Mollie Beehan�

Visit from Kindy�

* See page 15.

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Semester 1 saw some great 'Lights! Camera! Action!' with several media and film projects on site.

The ABC children’s drama (Ready for This) involved over 25 IGS students as extras over several episodes (in March and April); the Great Spelling Bee team benchmarked their show on the spelling levels of our savvy Year 9s in April; SBS World News headed to IGS for our wildly successful Eurovision lunch party in May and NITV News Reader Natalie Ahmat gave a talk to Year 4 in June.

That’s showbiz!

Lights! Camera! Action!

3

On a very special Founders Day (3 February) this year, IGS celebrated the naming of the Kelly Street campus to Reg St Leon Building in honour of our founding Principal, Professor Reg St Leon.

State MP Alex Greenwich and City of Sydney Councillor Linda Scott joined Reg’s family, Board Chair Larissa Cook, Principal Shauna Colnan, members of the Board and staff and students of the School at a special senior assembly and unveiling of the plaque.

The day saw our Founding Principal, Professor St Leon, honoured for his strong commitment to bilingual education and for his tenacity in ensuring that IGS would go on to become the School it is today. On the day, Professor St Leon was accompanied by his wife Isabell who also taught at IGS “in the early days” (and who, Prof. St Leon said, worked for many weeks on half pay when the School struggled financially) and their son Carl, himself an IGS alumnus.

Building named after founder Reg St Leon

Imagine a future for Sydney –

indeed, for all our Australian

cities and towns – where every

community member spoke

more than one language ...

What a wonderful vision.

It is this vision on which IGS

is delivering. Linda Scott

City of Sydney Councillor

You were always kind, positive, supportive and diplomatic and you believed in your staff, trusted your staff and encouraged us to try new ideas and be bold risk takers.

Rita Morabito IGS Foundation teacher

We’re talking a lot about courage at IGS this year and Reg absolutely epitomises it. I know from my conversations with him over the last six months that founding IGS is the most satisfying professional accomplishment of his life. He’s proud and so he should be.

Shauna Colnan IGS Principal

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It’s been great, it’s been really

interesting, surprising in some

ways because basically no one

knew anything about Shakespeare

and the week's turned out to be

really informative and exciting.

Lily McGuiness Year 7

I think this week is about them (the kids) getting an opportunity to simply use this man’s writing and incredible words as a platform to study themselves and the way they think.Damien Ryan Sport for Jove

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Our revels now are ended. These our actors, As I foretold you, were all spirits and Are melted into air, into thin air…

Shakespeare Boot Camp is the first project in the new SAGE program, a unique curriculum offering that IGS is rolling out for Years 7–10 over the next two years. Once a year, students will be immersed in a fun, hands-on, challenging learning experience that takes them out of the classroom, across the disciplines and beyond their stage of learning. We will put our students on the shoulders of giants by bringing in world-class experts to work with them and to teach them something new.

Artistic director Damien Ryan and 10 actors from his award-winning theatre company Sport for Jove moved in to IGS for a week during March and guided our students through the study and performance of some of Shakespeare’s finest works. By the end of the week, four theatre companies had emerged: The Rose, The Swan, Blackfriars and The Globe. Thrilled at the revelation that we are literally off Broadway, our students boldly staged moments from Macbeth, The Tempest, Romeo and Juliet and King Lear - intense, imaginative, funny and moving performances by the entire cohort.

Shakespeare Boot Camp brings magic to Year 7

I want the students to

understand that Shakespeare

is physical, Shakespeare is

about embodiment, by acting

out Shakespeare and getting

up on their feet, they will

engage more and they’ll

understand his work.

Shauna Colnan

Principal

I hope that the students will be hooked on Shakespeare forever as a result of this, I hope that they will love his work…to change their lives, that’s the dream, that’s the hope.Shauna Colnan

Maths splashMaths in the fast lane as this class takes off Head of Mathematics Jane Martin writes…

Last year, we introduced an accelerated mathematics class in Year 10, which gave high performing students the opportunity to complete both Year 10 mathematics and the Year 11 2 unit Mathematics course at the same time� This meant that their Year 10 Term 4 was also their first HSC term for Mathematics!

Twenty-two students began in the accelerated class in 2014 and of these 15 will sit for their HSC examination in Mathematics in October� These students have worked very hard and have consistently achieved at a high level� From time to time, many of the students have experienced difficulty in coping with the increased workload and expectations of a Stage 6 student – but in the end they have� Each of them has enjoyed the challenge of working ahead and to a higher level, and feel that this experience has helped them to establish sound study routines and to cope with the inevitable stress that Year 12 will bring� As their teacher, it has been a pleasure watching these bright and capable young people strive to achieve and fulfil their potential�

Our second class of accelerants is now in Year 10 and there is considerable interest amongst Year 9 students to be considered for acceleration�

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IGS students tackle their first Maths OlympiadOlympiad ‘timekeeper’’ and Maths and Science teacher, Laurence Moss writes …

This year saw the launch of the IGS Senior Maths Olympians team� The overall aim is to encourage students in Years 7 and 8 to develop important mathematical problem solving skills in an enjoyable environment� http://www�apsmo�info/apsmo_v2/APSMO_Home�php

The Maths Olympiads consist of five separate contests held approximately one month apart between May and September� A team of twenty students have attended problem-solving sessions in their

lunch breaks, practised past papers posted on the School’s dedicated Moodle site and sat the first two Olympiad papers�

We know the development of these problem solving skills is important for promoting limitless learning and to prepare students for a life beyond school� Therefore, it is great to see the enthusiasm the team brings to each session� Prizes will be awarded after all five Olympiads for participation, effort and achievement�

At the lunchtime fundraiser BBQ for the upcoming production of Oliver!, students were incredulous to see our IT Team Leader as the musical’s accompanist. Some queries around the piano included “Hey aren’t you the guy who fixes the computers?” “Are you really playing that or is the keyboard playing by itself?”

Meet Paul in staff profiles on page 11

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Painting by numbers? Maths Teacher Andrew Georgiou shows art students how to scale for drawing�

It has been a pleasure watching these bright and capable young people strive to achieve and fulfil their potential.Jane Martin

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Cameron Fraser with his great grandfather

Herbert Wilkes' photo and letter.

William Chatfield, great, great grandfather to Armani and Chenelle Carr.

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IGS commemorated the Centenary of ANZAC – and World War 1 in many ways over the past weeks including special assemblies and a display at school, ceremonies beyond the School and even a batch of Anzac biscuits.

There was also a display set up in the David Baker Learning Centre to commemorate the ANZAC (and WW1) Centenary. The overall display included photographs, an original ship flag, postcards home, a carved canon shell, a message for fallen soldiers and a replica cap.

Year 10’s Cameron Fraser was announced winner of the best senior display contribution for letters and memorabilia belonging to his late great grandfather, Herbert Wilkes.

Primary School’s Armani (Year 2) and Chenelle (Kindergarten) Carr provided the best junior contribution for the story of their great, great grandfather William Chatfield who was an Indigenous soldier serving on the front line.

Other commended contributors included Alex and Emma McArdle (Years 6 and 3); Ava and Dylan Jenkin (Years 7 and 9); Ricardo Klement-Wulfhorst (Year 8); Os Kalageropoulos (Year 11) and Noah Faber (Year 9).

Our ANZAC and WW1 connections remembered

David Hamper is Assistant Principal of Staff Services. In a special twist, Jigsaw turns the staffing spotlight on David! …

What is your background in teaching and learning and how long have you been with IGS?

DH: I have been at IGS for nearly nine years. My teaching background is in the humanities, with a speciality in Geography. Before coming to IGS I was a Head of HSIE at another school and taught a range of subjects including Modern History, Legal Studies, Commerce and of course Geography. My real passion in teaching is Geography though. In my role now I have the opportunity to take a much bigger picture approach to teaching. I get to work with teachers from Early Learning to Primary to High School and I am now really interested in looking at ways to incorporate innovative teaching approaches into everyday classroom practices. I’m also really interested in looking at ways we can establish more cross-curricular approaches to teaching and learning.

What is it like being at the helm of staff services? What does your role involve?

DH: I have a really interesting role that enables me to work with all staff at IGS. I love the opportunity to build relationships with all our staff. My role is very diverse: I look after traditional HR functions like recruitment, employment relations, career planning and Work Health and Safety as well as more education specific roles like managing our Professional Development Program, supporting teachers to complete professional accreditation and managing our mentoring and feedback schemes.

Staff profiles Anjali has it coveredAnjali Jayanthi (Year 6) was thrilled to see her Jigsaw cover shot (from 2008) still displayed in the Communications office recently … and so we took another snap!

Anjali is also on the primary school debating team! See story below�

Debating tradition continues

Consummate debater Madeleine Goodsir (Class of 2014) has been helping

coach this year’s primary HICES teams…

International Grammar School has once

again had a terrific start to the HICES

Debating Tournament� This follows our

success in 2014, when all the IGS

teams progressed to the finals, with our

Senior team winning the Grand Final�

This year, more IGS students than ever

before have enrolled, keen to be a part

of our winning formula�

The IGS team includes two ‘new’ junior

debating teams from the primary

school� Prior to entering the

competition, these students had no

previous involvement in an inter-school

debating or public speaking

competition� Each week, the students

met my fellow debating coach, Cian

Galea and me to work on their skills and

prepare for the tournament� As a result

of their hard work and ability to tackle

topics dealing with environmental

issues, metaphors and freedom of

speech, one junior team progressed

through to the finals� The other junior

team also performed well, and received

high praise from the adjudicators for

their strong debating skills�

We are proud that five of our eight

teams have progressed through to the

finals with both our middle team and

open team remaining undefeated (at

time of print)� This shows a great

commitment by these students and

we wish them all the best for the

final series�

Madeleine Goodsir

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I couldn’t believe that the

school still has that photo of

me from 2008, and it makes

me feel really special. This

photo reminded me of my

old friends and teachers.Anjali

Are there certain areas of school life that you are passionate about?

DH: I have a real interest in working with early career teachers. One of the interesting bits of my role is looking after our extensive internship program. We work with student teachers from all different universities including several overseas unis. I support and supervise these pre-service teachers and then I get to mentor and work with teachers as they begin their careers here at IGS. This is something I really enjoy and I see supporting teachers as they transition from being pre-service to early career teachers as very important for our profession. I also love teaching my class, I usually teach one of our senior Geography classes each year. It helps me reconnect with the things that drew me into teaching in the first place and spending time with young people is always a great way to get some perspective. When I first started teaching an old hand told me that teaching keeps you young at heart and as I get older now I couldn’t agree more.

Tell Jigsaw a bit about your other interests –

DH: One thing that most people probably don’t know about me (except our Library staff) is that I am an avid reader of 19th Century literature. I love the classics, especially Dickins. My other great interests are travelling, which comes from my Geography background and I am a big fan of cricket, watching an Ashes test is my ideal way to spend a few hot summer days. My two daughters love the travel, not so much the cricket but I am working on it!

Paul Bourke is the Information Technology Team Leader with a musical flair

What is your background in teaching and IT and how long have you been with IGS?

PB: I studied at Sydney Conservatorium and at a number of technical colleges� After teaching Music and Computing for over 15 years, I joined IGS in 2004�

What is it like working in IT at IGS on a daily basis? What does your role involve?

PB: Each day is different and presents fresh challenges� We are generalists and our team responds to a wide variety of technology related issues� IGS has many IT and communications systems in and beyond the classroom, which we administrate, so that teaching and learning can continue as smoothly as possible�

What is the most unusual request you have had?

PB: Years ago, we were asked to help connect a “Natural Fuse” houseplant to the IGS network� This was part of a learning activity around co-operation, carbon footprints and energy conservation� When I was learning about routers, switches and firewalls, I had no idea I would one day need to grant a houseplant access to the World Wide Web!

You are currently sitting at a different keyboard – a musical one this time – as accompanist for our school musical Oliver! What is that like?

PB: It’s great to be able to help out with the piano part for Oliver! Whilst I was already familiar with the music, the 2015 IGS production is based on a revised version of the score, which includes new and interesting accompaniments and incidental music� I am certainly enjoying the opportunity to swap a computer keyboard for a piano keyboard�

Tell Jigsaw about anything else that you’d like to add – can be totally unrelated to work!

PB: Not so many years ago, people had never heard of things like the world wide web, smartphones, Wi-Fi, apps, Google, Facebook, Youtube, Twitter or 3D printing� It was only in Science Fiction that people could interact with equipment using voice recognition, touch control or gestures� I believe it’s important for us to encourage our students to dream and to be imaginative� Many technologies began as just a crazy idea in someone’s mind, and now they are commonplace� At the same time, however, we must equip our students with the knowledge and skills to evaluate technology, to remain aware of its impact on their lives, and always to use it responsibly�

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Principal Shauna Colnan announced earlier this year that IGS is pushing into the STEAM space: Science, technology, engineering, the arts and mathematics, i.e.STEM plus the arts. "A STEAM project is a project in imagination – elegant patterns, new ways of thinking about how things work, teams sharing new technologies and applying them in novel situations, a growing sense of empowerment, awe and wonder", Ms Colnan said. "Immersing students in STEAM projects at a young age can spark their curiosity, engage them creatively, push them intellectually, build their appetite for innovation, enhance their capacity to think flexibly, inspire them".

In January, our Head of Mathematics Jane Martin and NSW's first STEAM Innovator (and our former Head of Design and Technology) Melissa Silk travelled to New York’s Museum of Mathematics to present a workshop called Winter Wonderlamp. The workshop was well-attended and was truly wondrous!

In June, Melissa Silk collaborated with UTS’s Kathryn Hunyor and Kimberley Pressick-Kilborn and IGS’s Languages and Maths departments to run a special Tanabata day. The day saw traditional Japanese crafts (origami, kyrigami) meld with maths and design. UTS Master in Education students and our own Year 11 Maths accelerants helped the Primary School participants with the tasks.

Bringing STEAM to our creative young students

Little snapshots

IGS Japanese Language teacher Noriko Yamanaka was excited that her

students’ singing at Tanabata was enhanced by the Orff Schulwerk

music approach with the assistance of Michele Ellis.

“The day gave our students a deeper

and richer understanding of Japanese

culture,” Noriko said�

Noriko said that the maths and

science components of the Tanabata

Festival were incorporated well and

that the day “truly allowed for a view of

the world from every classroom”�

“The Tanabata STEAM project was a

language camp theme that grew into a

cross-cultural and cross-curricular

learning project� This was a learning

opportunity for my Japanese language

students and myself and also reflects

the School’s values of diversity,

personal achievement, connectedness

and authenticity”�

Noriko provided immersion teaching

to the Japanese group as well as

creating resources� Noriko also liaised

with parties to set up connections in the

wider community�

“Delivering collaborative learning to

IGS children from Years 1–4 was

successful and a great example of

integration of different subjects

through a Japanese Cultural event

of Tanabata�

“In the Tanabata workshops, children

completed worksheets, sang tanabata

songs, made origami, and learned to

write vocabulary in Japanese�

The incorporated Orff Approach

combines music, movement, drama

and speech into lessons� It was used

here for the Tanabata song”�

A full report on all of our exciting

STEAM initiatives will appear in the

next edition of Jigsaw

Cooking up some bread rolls

Making Anzac biscuits

Reading day for Literacy

Noriko and Principal Shauna Colnan

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Just as STEAM is fuelling our students’ imaginations and skills, the recent acquisition of a new campus building in Bay Street will become a key part of the reimagining and redesigning of IGS’s campus, going forward.

“As an urban school, IGS has always been creative with our use of space so imagine our excitement when we successfully bid for 77–79 Bay Street, so close to the rest of our campus,” Principal Shauna Colnan said.

“The new campus addition is the first freehold property acquisition in our school’s history”, Ms Colnan added.

every day at IGS is a wonderful big day for our little ones.

Invention

Harmony Day

Enrichment in learning … to playing ‘shops’

Receiving a very IGS special

teddy bear in Kindy

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Onward and upward in Bay St

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Student leaders’ staircase 2015

❝

❝

Being a leader isn’t just about giving speeches and standing on stage, it is about being there for the others as both a mentor and a friend.

Gloria

❝

❝

Being a leader involves being a responsible role model, having self-confidence to speak at assemblies and requires great organisational skills which will assist you in high school.

Cian

❝

❝

Student leadership assumes a greater responsibility in voicing thoughts of individuals and the collective in order to have a meaningful impact upon the school.

Kailesh

17

❝ ❝As student leaders we have interactions with other students of all ages and backgrounds … this creates a sense of camaraderie and school spirit unique to IGS.

Head Boy, Charlie

❝ ❝What it means to be a student leader for me is being able to proudly represent a school that has had such a significant impact on my life.

Head Girl, Mollie

❝ ❝I see it as an opportunity that the School has given me to be responsible.

Tiger❝ ❝

To me being a student leader means the responsibility to set a positive example, commitment to uphold the promises I made when elected and to always represent the students of IGS in the best possible way.

Imogen

❝

❝Being a student leader is a great responsibility and lots of fun. I feel, as student leaders, we help build a stronger IGS community.

Mischa

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The IGS community embraced the opportunity to attend forums on a range of topics. The successful PTF Thought Leadership Forum series continued with two forums this semester, the first presented by renowned Professor Ian Hickie on 21st technologies for mental health and the second by our Director of Counselling Services Joseph Degeling on the Early Learning Years.

A third community forum took place in June. The conversation between Principal Shauna Colnan and 100 parents with an introductory provocation by Dr James Chin Moody (scientist, futurist and CEO of Sendle and TuShare) explored the School’s future options as part of the strategic planning process – Into the World. Over 100 parents joined this conversation about their collective aspirations and ideas for their children’s education in a rapidly changing world.

Staff also took part in Into the World forums.

Community forums bring the conversation to the table

Coming upThe Thought Leadership Forums series continues next semester:

❙❙ 10 September- Professor Kate Steinbeck presents on Puberty hormones’ effect on teenage behaviour

❙❙ 5 November – Professor Tim Gill and Dr Kieron Rooney present on nutrition and Are school lunches (mis) shaping a nation?

More info: www.igssyd.nsw.edu.au

Professor Ian Hickie

Music notes

Good sports Year 11’s Lloyd Conolly writes …

In March, I participated in the National Rowing Championships of Australia, at the Sydney international Regatta Centre� The Regatta Centre was purpose-built for the Olympics in 2000, and is one of the world’s most amazing rowing venues� It was an incredible week and an experience I will never forget�

Thanks to my amazing teachers (who rescheduled my exams), I was able to enjoy this international event, rowing against people my age from across Australia and from Hong Kong, Singapore and Indonesia� I didn't win

any medals, but rowing as a 16-year-old in the under 19s events meant that the competition was strong�

I started training for this event in May last year� My coach Frank Thorn from Leichhardt Rowing Club accepted me to participate in an athletic training program for 38 weeks, training 5–7 mornings on the water at 5am and up to four more sessions a week in the gym after school� I had to learn to deal with going to bed early, and manage my time very well due to spending an average of 15 hours a week training�

Around the grounds

Prize-winners Gabriel (centre left) and

Kailesh (centre right) with their parents

as well as APRA AMCOS staff members

Lloyd in his quad race� Lachlan Andrew (IGS 2013) was also part of his crew in the quad when they raced in the under 21s�

Gabriel Wright

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These musicians are well composed

Congratulations to Kailesh Reitmans (Year 12) and Gabriel Wright (Year 10) who won first and second place respectively in our recent APRA AMCOS sponsored Composition Competition. Both students had the opportunity to perform their works at the Music Ensemble Evening held in Term 2 at IGS, to resounding applause

from the audience! They also received cash prizes for their efforts.

In third place was Anouk Ely (Year 7), who will have her composition performed at a special assembly in Term 3 and will also win a prize.

Thank you to APRA AMCOS for supporting us in this way.

Magic was the theme this year for our 14th annual Inter-House Arts Festival and what a completely magical day it was. We had amazing performances, incredible films, beautiful artworks, intricate stories and poems and musical performances that literally left the audience enthralled and in awe of the amazing talent that makes up the IGS student body. The day then finished with the grand finale of the Whole House Performances which just get better and better with every child in every house, up on stage dancing, performing, singing and absolutely having a blast!

We all know it means so much more than the artworks, films, monologues, dances and music. It is about Year 7s dancing with 12s, tutor groups working as teams to create entries, our big kids helping and supporting the younger students. It is about disconnected students connecting. It is about new kids being enthralled. It is about kids being able to take that risk and feel safe to belt out a song on stage, knowing they will be cheered on regardless of the outcome. It is certainly about House Spirit and the pride of belonging.

Lucy Howard-Shibuya, Head of Student Wellbeing – High School

And the winning House was ...Kuyal!

ArtsFest Magic

20

I was overwhelmed with the enthusiasm that the younger years had for ArtsFest this year and the amount of effort everyone, teachers and students, put in to make it such a great day. I think ArtsFest is a really important day for IGS because it is so unique and special to our community and everyone has such a great time.Max Saunders (Gura)

ArtsFest is one of the most exciting, tiring and competitive moments

of the school year. For me, entering the School in Year 8, artsfest was

the first example of the stupendous amount that the School had to

offer me. This year, as a leader of Baado House, I had the fun of

helping organise my House for ArtsFest. Although coming at a

stressful time, one of the best things about the lead up to ArtsFest

were the continual offers of help from other year groups, the

enthusiasm from the younger years and the confusion from Year 7s

as they tried to understand what on earth the fuss was all about. For

me on the day, it, unexpectedly, wasn’t about how good we were at

our performances or even beating the other Houses. It was about

sitting with my house, laughing at drama performances, cheering

musicians and above all re-learning what ArtsFest really means. It is

a symbol of the immense range of vibrancy, diversity and unity that

our school has to offer.Phoebe Finlayson-Cook (Baado)

21

And the winning House was ...Kuyal!

ArtsFest Magic

ArtsFest always brings out the

best in students, and as a house

leader I had the opportunity to

appreciate more fully how much

work and creative collaboration

goes into the day. During

preparation I loved working

closely with students from all

years, everyone worked so well

and inclusively with each other

Jordan Pardoel (Bamaal) As always, ArtsFest 2015 was a day

which showcased the enormous

talent at the school, and it was

thoroughly enjoyed by everyone.

Having now experienced the day as

a House leader, I can easily say my

views on the day have been

transformed. It is now easy for me

to be able to appreciate the

amount of effort that teachers and

students alike put into the day.

However, as stressful an event it

may be, it is and always will be

worth the effort.

Andrew Salkeld (Kuyal)

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Semester 1 was full of exciting opportunities and possibilities for IGS Drama students.

They viewed theatre at the STC and Seymour Centre with Endgame, After Dinner, Macbeth and ONSTAGE. They watched and participated in workshops at school with Zeal Theatre’s King Hit, and Matriark Theatre together with devising freeform works with visiting New York artist Matuse. Students staged the play The Dining Room and created original performances in a variety of styles and forms such as Melodrama, Commedia dell’Arte, Brecht and Absurd theatre for showcase events. Students even adapted traditional fairy tales through researching linguistic and cultural origins and weaved language learning into their performances. Year 11 Drama offered insight into a City of Sydney Council youth theatre passport initiative. Drama Companies competed at Theatresports and are in rehearsal for Shakespeare and a primary play – and curriculum classes are working towards International Day and HSC viewings.

Rita Morabito, Head of Drama, Art, Design & Media

Stage lights …

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Special Ambassador’s visit Her Excellency Professor Dame Marie Bashir AD CVO, one of our special ambassadors for the IGS Indigenous Scholarship program joined the School’s young Indigenous students for afternoon tea in June. At the special Koori Club, Professor Bashir shared stories from her own childhood with the students – as well as talking to them about Nelson Mandela who is one of her heroes and imparting on them the value of education.

Professor Bashir’s visit coincided with National Reconciliation Week and the School’s display of the Wall of Hands.

Koori Club also met up in Term 1 and helped get the Harmony Day tree started.

Tribal Warrior daysOur theme for professional development this year is Views of the World from Every Classroom and our starting point was for all staff to take a cultural journey aboard the Malu to build our collective understanding of Aboriginal people as the First People of Australia and to build cultural awareness about the longest surviving culture on earth.

Year 3 also headed to Goat Island later in Term 1 – followed by a visit to the Art Gallery of NSW’s Indigenous art exhibition. Responses included: “I liked being on the island and seeing how they lived” (Leni), “I liked the hand paintings in the rock caves” (Charlie), and “the art gallery afterwards was great!” (Kiki)

Indigenous journey

I really liked being on the

top level of the boat and

seeing everything – also

when the boys had a crack

at playing the didgeridoo

but the girls didn’t because

for women in the Aboriginal

culture, it’s a didgeri‑don’t!

Tiggy.

IGS's annual cultural exchanges to Europe provide students with the opportunity for linguistic, intellectual, cultural and personal development�

Below are the reflections of some of the students who participated in the 2014–2015 Summer Exchange Program to France, Italy and Spain:

Exchange news

A couple of our French students also took an

Exchange to a school closer to home, the Lycée

Condorcet in Maroubra� Pictured: Languages teacher

Juliette Bates, French student Georgie Pullham and

Denise Hamilton, Deputy Principal of the Lycée�

Personalmente, me ha

beneficiado mucho el

participar en este

programa porque me ha

permitido madurar como

persona, además de

extender mi habilidad de

comunicar, entender y

utilizar otro idioma.

William Armstrong

Year 12 Spanish

Pendant mon séjour en France, j’ai découvert

plusieurs choses et je pense que j’ai amélioré mon

français. Ma famille en France m’a appris beaucoup

de choses sur la culture française tels que les plats

typiques, les différences entre le nord et le sud de la

France, et autres choses comme ça.Delphine Crocker

Year 12 FrenchE` stata una delle esperienze più belle della mia vita, e siamo tutti ritornati con una conoscenza veramente migliorata della lingua italiana.

Maxim Adams Year 12 Italian

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IGS continued the tradition of supporting worthy causes this semester, particularly in response to the major natural disasters in Vanuatu and Nepal with several thousand dollars raised.

Other projects included Year 11 Nick Walker’s climb to Kosciusko for Cerebral Palsy League; High Resolves for Salvation Army Oasis blanket appeal; Book costume day for the National Indigenous Literacy Foundation, ‘Wild and Onesie’ Day for WWF and a petition stall against the cruelty to dogs at Yulin.

A big thank you to the IGS community!

Good causes

Petition against Yulin

Nepal appeal

Nick Walker on top of Kosciusko

Primary community service leaders Imogen and Tiger (in a shark suit)

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Nature on the WallYear 11 artworks

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From honouring our founding Principal Professor Reg St Leon in February (see page 3), to an Alumni meet up in New York in May (see page 31), we’ve once again had a busy semester of community events at IGS!

We launched our inaugural Annual Giving appeal this year and I would like to sincerely thank all of those members of our community who were able to contribute through a donation to the appeal. Funds received will go towards assisting us with three key projects at the School which are our Science Lab Refurbishment, our Indigenous Scholarship Program and our Class of 2014 Language Exchange Bursary.

I hope you’ll enjoy reading from our alumni on the following pages and as always, please do contact me if you would like to share your story with the community about your time spent at or since IGS.

Warm regards,

Julia Glass (IGS Class of 2003) Director of Community Relations JuliaG@igssyd.nsw.edu.au

P.S. Alumni can book to join us for a performance of Oliver! The Musical by IGS students in the School Hall for just $20 on 28, 29 or 31 July by heading to www.trybooking.com/HWHR

Message from the Director of Community Relations

From the Archives…

WHEN:Friday 9 October 2015 6.00pm – 7.30pm (optional tour of IGS from 5.15pm)

WHERE: IGS, 4-8 Kelly Street, Ultimo

HOW MUCH?Member of the IGS Alumni/ Past Staff Member/Partner: $25

Member of the Class of 2005/ Student: $20

(includes drinks and nibblies)

TO BOOK:trybooking.com/HMIS

FOR MORE INFORMATION: alumni@igssyd.nsw.edu.au

Join us Welcome Back to IGS Night & 10 Year Reunion Drinks for the Class of ’05

#back2igs

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Where are they now?

To begin on a positive note, I would like to refer to one of the happiest people I know, a staff member at the Juilliard School: Dr Kyle Blaha� To ease our panic and paranoia of the weekly tests we had, he would jestingly have us recite a ‘mantra’ to ourselves, “The Juilliard School”� What I realised from his good humoured joke is that with every big opportunity would come challenges and risks�

My experience at IGS, where I began studies in Year 3 and left in Year 6, was short but had a great impact on me� IGS opened up my perceptions, where through the determination of the students and encouragement of the staff it brought a reassurance that dreaming big and aiming for the highest standard possible is something for anybody if they are keen� Going back to Dr Blaha’s mantra, it was from there I developed my own sort of frame of mind or ‘mantra’ that I still carry with me today: to always look as far ahead as I can, see the range of possibilities, then fire�

It was over the past few years, when school was coming to a close that the frame of mind I had obtained brought me towards fulfilment in the aims I had set my sights upon� Recalling the class presentations that we did at IGS (where my friends would daringly put on accents and fearlessly throw themselves into whatever character that took their fancy), I found the years following my time at IGS had an incredible impact on my future achievements as a result of my time there� Similarly to my daring friends, I

decided to throw myself into the person I wanted to be. As a young classical guitarist in Year 11, I decided to participate in the Christopher Parkening International Guitar Competition, the biggest competition for classical guitar worldwide. I achieved 5th place, and was the first woman and youngest competitor to make it to the semi-finals in the history of the event. With the encouraging and inspiring words in my mind that my teacher Ms Celine Zammit had said in Year 6 (that I had an ability to be very persistent about what I wanted) I realised that this wasn’t the end of the possibilities I had around me. In high school, I was awarded for the majority of my time there awards of academic excellence and consistently topped my class throughout the years, not allowing guitar to be used as an excuse for dismissing the other side of my life that I considered to be equally important in the opportunities that came with it.

Approaching Year 12, I had big aims ahead of me that I wanted to strive for, although just one of those aims seemed to me to be a huge challenge. I wished to have a place in the best music school overseas on full scholarship and a backup plan for a successful career by achieving a place in a top course at Sydney University, where my interest fell in Media and Communications. During the HSC, it was an intense year though not so different from the dress rehearsal-like years that had preceded it, and I was

grateful when I got into the course I wanted at Sydney University. Not long after, I received my results from Juilliard and was ecstatic to have been awarded a full scholarship.

During my time at Juilliard – from the moment I began my studies till now at the end of my freshman year – I have had the opportunity to give a recital where I received my first review, the privilege of giving interactive performances to children as well as being encouraged by my teachers to become a Teaching Fellow in both Diatonic Harmony and Ear Training. I came to realise after these events that the self-belief I had was not only a result of my own inspiration, but of the belief that others had in me. A strong example of this was my music teacher at IGS, Mr Chang, who provided me with opportunities to play in concerts and performances, and it was acts of kindness like these in the School and afterwards that accumulated into the enormous delight and drive that brought me far beyond what I had expected of myself. I began my story with Blaha, and now I finish with Hawking, “However difficult life may seem, there is always something you can do and succeed at”.

Alberta KhouryClass of ‘13

I achieved 5th place [in the Christopher Parkening International Guitar Competition], and was the first woman and youngest competitor to make it to the semi-finals in the history of the event.

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In May, when I visited the States for a professional development opportunity at Harvard, IGS Alumni Alberta Khoury (Class of '13), Asmira Woodward-Page (Class of '91), Daniel Samuels (Class of '04) and Nidhi Prakash (also Class of '04) joined me for lunch at The Loeb Boathouse Central Park. They each had beautiful memories of their time at IGS and were in high praise of their teachers and of the School’s focus on the development of the individual.

Renowned Juilliard-trained violinist Asmira and gifted classical guitarist Alberta (who has just completed her first year at Juilliard on full scholarship) started a conversation over lunch about the possibility of returning to Australia and doing a concert at IGS to raise money for our Indigenous Scholarship Program. Asmira has also let me know that when she returns to

perform later this year, our Music students will be welcome to attend a private rehearsal at the Opera House.

Ed. A small group of IGS music students will be lucky enough to attend a rehearsal of The Australian World Orchestra and hear Asmira under the baton of Sir Simon Rattle on 28 July!

Asmira, Alberta, Daniel and Nidhi are carving out astonishing careers in New York. Daniel is an environmentalist and Nidhi is a journalist.

It was lovely to talk with them about their happy school days and the way IGS equipped them for the world. They agreed that the ability to think creatively and to maintain a strong sense of self are the key attributes our students will need for world readiness.

Shauna Colnan Principal

IGS in the Big Apple

Callum HawkinsClass of ‘13

After completing my HSC in 2013 at IGS, I embarked on a year of travel and education in Outdoor Extreme Sports� 2014 was comprised of travelling to several countries to achieve great dreams of mine� Some of the highlights consisted of summiting Kilimanjaro and volunteering at local schools and orphanages in Africa, technical mountaineering expeditions in the southern alps of New Zealand, leading on summer camps in America and completing a 3 month Outdoor Leadership Training Program in the remote wilderness of Vancouver Island� After returning from these travels I have planned out my next adventures which include an Australian Mountaineering First Ascent attempt of several high altitude and technical peaks in the Himalayas in late 2015 and a full traverse of Nepal in 2016 with my mum and sister� I attended IGS from Preschool to year 12 (1998-2013)� IGS provided me with great knowledge and firsthand experience of travelling and IGS’s drive to create global citizens was of great use to me� In my final year at IGS, I was fortunate enough to have such encouraging support from my fellow teachers to strive for my dreams and give it all I’ve got and my dreams have now become a reality�

IGS provided me with great knowledge and firsthand experience of travelling and IGS’s drive to create global citizens was of great use to me.

[The Alumni] agreed

that the ability to

think creatively and

to maintain a strong

sense of self are the

key attributes our

students will need

for world readiness.

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The following beautiful images were sent in by alumna Rebekah Hawkins who says “These photos are from Africa, Nepal, Europe, New Zealand and Tasmania. I graduated in 2010 and travelled quite a bit with IGS (5 trips overseas!) so I think I caught the travel bug there!”

Alumni Travel Photo Competition

IGS Head of Student Wellbeing – High School Lucy and her daughter alumna Hanako caught up with fellow alumna TJ from the Class of ’13!

Waitlist preference for

Alumni childrenDid you know that IGS Year 12 graduates who are

now parents themselves will be given preferential

consideration for their child’s enrolment at IGS?

Please be sure to note on the Enrolment Application that

you are an ex-student of the School in order to receive

this priority placement on our waitlist for your child.

You can visit our ‘How to Enrol’ page on the IGS website

for more information:

http://www.igssyd.nsw.edu.au/why-enrol/how-to-enrol

If you would like to have your travel photos published in Jigsaw and go into the draw to win a great prize, please send them through to Alumni@igssyd.nsw.edu.au

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sThank you to the class reps and parents from Kindergarten, Year 2, Year 4 and Year 5 in 2014 for collecting funds which enabled a generous donation to our Indigenous Scholarship Fund. The donation was made possible by one of our IGS mums, Marg Butler, who kindly donated the end of year gifts for the teachers.

Thank you!Grazie, Danke, Merci, Arigatō, Gracias, Xièxie

Earlier in the year the Production Company “My Life Pictures” worked with IGS students on the ABC drama Ready for This which has a storyline featuring young Indigenous musicians� After filming finished the company made a donation to our Indigenous Scholarship Fund to thank the IGS students who participated as extras for the show and we would like to thank them sincerely for their gift!

Thank you to our 2015 Annual Giving donors:

Mr Stephen and Mrs Maria Aguilera-Mendoza

Ms Melissa Baker and Mr Fernando Gomez

Mr Bruce and Mrs Louise Bickerton

Ms Sandra Browne and Mr Chris O’Connor

Ms Bonnie Cai and Mr Wei Li

Dr Anna-Lisa Camberis and Mr Sascha Moege

Ms Shauna Colnan

Ms Hestea Cook

Mr Ian Dunlop

Mr Graeme and Mrs Melinda Gillies

Ms Julia Glass

Mr Jeremy Horniblow

Mr Paul Jesse

Mr Jon Johannsen

Mr Robert Johnson

Mr Phillip and Mrs Carmel Kanaley

Ms Silke Kerwick and Mr Patrick Armstrong

Mr George Lombard and Ms Magdalen Rozsa

Mr Nikos Paipetis and Ms Barbara Karakassidis

Mrs Kate and Mr Stefan Perumal

Ms Rhonda Pryor

Mr Andrew Rothery

The Hon� Frank Sartor AO and Mrs Monique Sartor

Ms Kelly Tall and Mr Matthew Moore

Ms Kari-Anne and Mr Justin Thai

Mrs Jean and Mr Bradley Wahl

Mr David Walker and Ms Olga Ganopolsky

Ms Denise Ward and Mr Glen Turner

Mr Mark Webb and Ms Kate Brophy

Mr Joshua Winestock

Anonymous (19)

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