Binghi Term 1, 2018
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binghiISSUE 180 – TERM 1 2018 INSIDE: RESIDENTIAL FUTURE CHEIKA CHECKS IN ROUND SQUARE State of the art Wallaby coach the guest TAS hosts Young boarding house opens at TAS Rugby Carnival Regional Conference IN THIS ISSUE From the Headmaster 2 New Boarding House opens ..................................... 3 Wellbeing Navigating the digital world ..................................... 4 James Holbeck shares his journey in faith ........... 4 Academic FROM THE Middle School launches IB ........................................ 5 HSC Workshops ............................................................. 5 HEADMASTER Science & Engineering Challenge success ........... 6 Students relish summer science schools.............. 6 Building community a hallmark of TAS Co-Curricular Cloisters Run ................................................................... 7 Educational research and many years of experience tell us that students will do Mountain Bike honours for Angus.......................... 7 best and staff will be happiest when they feel connected to something bigger Cricketers take premierships .................................... 8 than themselves. At TAS we are deliberate in our efforts to build a sense of school Solid finish for rowers .................................................. 8 community that enhances the wellbeing of every member of it. Creating that sense Athletics, Swimming carnivals ................................. 9 of community is all about honouring traditions, connecting across generations, Honours for hockey players ...................................... 9 feeling pride in representing the School and finding an intuitive understanding of Addams Family a monstrous success .................... 10 what we value and what we aspire to. The pages of this edition of Binghi cover the Wallaby coach praises Rugby Carnival .................. 11 raft of activities through Term 1 that reflect this and whilst no particular event or Footballers selected for NCIS .................................... 11 achievement should stand out as most important, collectively they represent a spirit that we should grab hold of and treasure. Leadership, Service & Adventure Inverell Toughen Up .................................................... 12 For some our sense of community will be best expressed in the opening of our Prefects lose locks for charity ................................... 12 new boarding house for girls. It has brought all our boarding girls together in the Middle School Monitors appointed ....................... 13 one house, created a new sense of identity for them and enabled growth in our TAS swells Coffs Ocean Swim ................................... 13 residential community. Presenting this very fine new facility on time and under Cyclists saddle up in Tour de Rocks ....................... 13 budget is the collective achievement of our Business Manager Pat Bradley and Round Square News co-project manager Stewart McRae, both Old Armidalians, builder and former TAS Beijing conference challenges thinking ............... 14 parent Nick Rice from Rice Constructions and our architects BVN and I congratulate TAS hosts Junior RS conference ............................... 14 them as a team. The new house is also an important milestone for the School and Junior School News significant for Armidale as a whole. Whilst we renovated and extended Abbott Excursion Week .............................................................. 15 House several years ago and constructed a new wing for White House recently, Chess success ................................................................. 16 the girls’ house is the first to be constructed in Armidale for 30 years. Investing in Taronga Zoo comes to TAS ........................................ 16 boarding has been a high priority in recent years and the positive impact that new Carnivals bring out spirit ............................................ 16 building and renovations have had on our community has been palpable. TAS Foundation 17 Building community though is about more than physical structures, even when they Old Armidalians’ News 18-20 are built by members of our community, or even the cohesiveness of our residential students and staff. Bringing real purpose to the reasons we come together requires Binghi is a production of The Armidale School published at focus on events and activities that will naturally resonate with our traditions and the end of each school term. Editor: Tim Hughes ambitions. Some of those depicted in Binghi this term, such as the Cloisters Run, TAS Photography: Tim Hughes (and others as indicated) rowing, the Coffs Ocean Swim, the Inverell Toughen Up Challenge and Tour de Rocks Layout and Design: Donna Jackson are fairly recent additions to our calendar. Others, like team academic competition, Contributions for inclusion are most welcome. The cricket championships, Round Square conferences and the annual school musical submission deadline for Binghi 181 is 22 June, 2018. have long had pride of place in school life. What all of them have in common is that Tim Hughes they are voluntary, they are challenging and there is no guarantee of success. While The Armidale School many social commentators might say those elements will turn adolescents off, at Locked Bag 3003, Armidale NSW 2350 TAS they are the secrets to their success. Our students consistently prove that they Tel (02) 6776 5851 | [email protected] | www.as.edu.au want to challenge themselves and they want to do that together. Tackling challenge Cover: Ellen Coote as Wednesday in The Addams Family as a team, especially when there is connection to school culture, brings our students Musical which packed the Hoskins Centre in March. and staff closer together and helps to build the sense of community that has long See page 10 for more photos. (Photo: Stu Kang, Year 11) been and will continue to be such a special characteristic of our school. Building community a hallmark of TAS New boarding house heralds the future of residential life Photo: Jeff MackayPhoto: Tim Scott Tim Delivered on time and under budget, the Other facilities include music practice first new student residence constructed at rooms (one with a piano), laundry, and a an Armidale school since the late 1980s has sophisticated security system. welcomed its first residents. The three-storey development caters for 64 boarders and In time, Middle School girl boarders will three residential staff and is stage one of a revert to Dangar Moyes, home of girl facility that will ultimately accommodate boarders for the past two years, which will 130 female students. replicate the boarding structure for boys. Just 13 months after the first trenches “Rice Constructions Group has been were dug, the construction team from incredible in overcoming challenges caused Rice Constructions, TAS maintenance staff, by wet weather delays earlier last year, along Business Manager Pat Bradley and Project with the co-operation of various Manager Stewart McRae worked right sub-contractors,” Mr Bradley said. up until the day before Term 1 started to complete landscaping work in time to The Headmaster Murray Guest said the welcome boarders. School was also grateful to Armidale Regional Council for its considered and The new facility is full of life, and currently timely approval of the development. home to 58 girl boarders from Years 6-12. Junior girls share quad rooms, with Year 11s Construction is being financed through a generally in twin rooms while Year 12 girls commercial arrangement between the TAS have their own study bedroom. Foundation and Regional Australia Bank, A generous common room and kitchenette with no funding coming from school fees on the ground floor is complemented by paid by parents nor the Federal or State smaller, breakout spaces on all levels. governments. Nick O’Neil and Hannah Neilson work on their evidence Binghi 180 – 3 BoardingAcademic Focus Photo: Alex Pollitt Alex Photo: Digital wellbeing strikes a chord In 1993 TAS was the first school in Australia to connect to the internet. In 2018 it is taking a lead in encouraging its community to know the importance of disconnecting from it as well. During Term 1 there has been a heightened focus on helping students, staff and parents manage the potential pitfalls of the internet - including areas such as cyber- bullying, content filters, addiction to screen time and the withdrawal from face-to-face communication. Against a background of growing research about the impact of screen time on a young person’s physiological development and high-profile tragedies caused by cyberbulling, the school’s wellbeing team and IT staff have Year 11 students Joe Baker, Georgina Watson and Will Forsyth discuss the digital landscape lead several initiatives to navigate the digital landscape. with Brett Lee In Advisor groups, students took up a five week ‘digital The messages about the permanent Essentially, use of mobile phones is detox challenge’ that focused attention on smart phone and public nature of the internet, the not permitted during school hours. and social media usage. Students downloaded an app that impact of one’s digital footprint and “The changes have been made in records phone usage to raise awareness and moves on to the realities of response to a growing trend of phone challenges such as not accessing social media for 24 hours, decision making about posting, use generally in society, which we see only using full words and grammatically correct sentences sharing and consuming social media